Their eyes are bloodshot, their fancy suits are rumpled and even if they’re not smoking much anymore, their phones still are.
At least right now.
Yes, NHL general managers are basically like well-dressed walking dead around trade deadline season as — regardless of what side of the buy/sell equation they’re on — this is not the time of year when they get much sleep.
A bunch of GMs are in search of players who could put them over the top or at least help win them a round or two, while others are trying to set their squad up for success in the future — when they can only hope to still have their jobs.
Of course, not every GM seat feels the same as these guys navigate the 11th hour of the trade deadline. Some surely feel as secure as you can in a tough business, while others know now is as good a time as any to show ownership that you can build a winning franchise.
With that in mind — and with the final, frantic swap talk happening ahead of Friday’s 3 p.m. ET / noon PT deadline — we’re using this week’s Power Rankings as an avenue to take a quick peek at the GM situation for all 32 squads.
1. Florida Panthers (43-16-4) Bill Zito is in his fourth season running the Panthers and, realistically, can dine out on the Matthew Tkachuk deal from the summer of 2022 for a long time. If recently acquired Vladimir Tarasenko can help Florida make another deep run, Zito will be as secure as any GM out there. He does have some high-stakes negotiations ahead of him, though, as Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour can all hit the open market this summer, followed by Aaron Ekblad in 2025.
2. Winnipeg Jets (39-17-5) Kevin Cheveldayoff has been Winnipeg’s GM since the Jets returned to Manitoba in 2011 and, for a guy whose teams have never made the final and have advanced past Round 1 just twice in 12 tries, his position seems incredibly secure. Still, could anyone have navigated the past 10 months better than Cheveldayoff? He made a great trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to L.A., then refused to panic with Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele both inching toward free agency and wound up extending the pair. Also, his first move this deadline season was acquiring centre Sean Monahan, who has eight goals in 13 games with Winnipeg.
3. Edmonton Oilers (38-20-2) Ken Holland’s contract is up at the end of this season and there’s a strong sense this could be his last season as an NHL GM. If he does retire or step into a reduced role, he’ll be able to put his feet up knowing he oversaw four Cups in Detroit. Winning in Edmonton would truly make him one of the most accomplished GMs in league history.
4. Boston Bruins (36-13-15) Don Sweeney played over 1,000 games with the Bruins and has been running the show as GM since 2015. For all the success the B’s have had, they’ve been past the second round just once in Sweeney’s tenure, making the 2019 final. That said, hiring Jim Montgomery as coach in 2022 was a fantastic move and the B’s — in the face of many doubters — have carried on incredibly well in the wake of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retiring.
5. New York Rangers (40-18-4) It was a bit of a surprise when the Rangers cleaned house in 2021 and made Chris Drury the GM. New York went to the final four the next year and Drury — from making the hard call to replace Gerard Gallant with Peter Laviolette as coach, to drafting Gabe Perreault last June to believing Jonathan Quick had tread left on the tires — has made some quality calls.
6. Dallas Stars (38-17-9) Jim Nill has been the Stars GM for more than a decade after a long and highly successful run as a front office guy in Detroit. More than anything, the Stars’ shrewd drafting has them well positioned to chase titles from now through the end of the decade.
7. Colorado Avalanche (39-20-5) Chris MacFarland, after a long run as Colorado’s assistant GM, became the Avs GM shortly after the team won the 2022 championship. He’s got the core pieces to win at least one more if he can make the right moves around Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen. He did well covering his tracks on the Ryan Johansen mistake by sending him to Philly on Wednesday in the deal that landed defenceman Sean Walker.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (36-18-8) With the benefit of hindsight, it just seems like both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brad Treliving needed new starts when the pair found each other last May. As much as Treliving’s work in free agency — John Klingberg, Ryan Reaves, Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi — doesn’t look great, this is a team that will be judged and judged alone on how it performs in the post-season. Both Domi and Bertuzzi may yet prove to be positives adds in that regard.
9. Carolina Hurricanes (36-19-6) It sort of seemed like Don Waddell had perhaps moved upstairs for good when he became Hurricanes president in 2014. Four years later, though, he succeeded Ron Francis as GM and the Hurricanes have been sniffing success more or less ever since. Now it’s Waddell’s job to get them over the top.
10. Vancouver Canucks (40-17-7) So much has happened in the past couple seasons in Vancouver, it’s almost hard to believe Patrik Allvin has only been on the job for 26 months. The second European to be named an NHL GM after Jarmo Kekalainen, Allvin is someone whose name is usually mentioned in tandem with his team’s president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford. However decisions get made in Vancouver, there’s no arguing with the results, and Allvin already ticked a huge task off his summer to-do list by inking Elias Pettersson to an eight-year extension on Saturday.
11. Los Angeles Kings (31-19-11) Rob Blake has overseen a fantastic retool in L.A. Still, he had to fire a coach this year and his prized off-season acquisition — Pierre-Luc Dubois — has been a major disappointment. Can the Kings steady the ship and get past the first round for the first time on Blake’s watch?
12. Nashville Predators (33-22-7) When the New York Islanders axed Barry Trotz in 2022, the sense was he wanted a different role when he re-entered the league. That’s exactly what happened when the guy who stood behind the Preds bench for 1,196 games took over as GM of the Preds (officially) on July 1. Trotz aggressively changed the roster, eating money to move out Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen in favour of Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn. Right now, the Preds look good to make the playoffs in Year 1 under Trotz and the coach he hired, Andrew Brunette.
13. Detroit Red Wings (33-23-6) Believe it or not, Steve Yzerman has been back with the Wings nearly five years. He had a big job ahead, so it’s reasonable that this may be the first season Detroit gets into the post-season during his tenure. By and large, the Wings have drafted pretty well under Yzerman, despite some tough lottery luck early in his tenure. You can quibble with his aggressive pursuit of established free agents the past two summers, but it seems to be moving Detroit’s rebuild along better than its Atlantic cousins are seeing in Ottawa and Buffalo.
14. Vegas Golden Knights (33-22-7) Kelly McCrimmon took over from OG Vegas GM George McPhee after the Knights’ second season. What can you say, the team is in on everybody and just won the Cup.
15. New York Islanders (27-29-14) Do you want to tell Lou Lamoriello it’s time to find something new to do with his time? This absolute legend — who turns 82 in October — is one of three guys, along with Glen Sather and David Poile, to oversee more than 3,000 NHL games as a GM. (It’s Poile, then Lamoriello, and the latter would basically need to remain in his current post for two full seasons after this one to pass Poile.) Lamoriello is 20 years removed from his last championship, so you can understand why some Islanders backers are ready for new blood. Still, no suit in hockey commands more respect.
16. Philadelphia Flyers (32-23-8) Daniel Briere was pretty transparent with his vision for the rebuilding Flyers when he took over last spring. Full marks to him, despite Philly’s surprising season, he’s sticking to the blueprint.
17. Tampa Bay Lightning (33-24-6) Yes, Julien BriseBois inherited an excellent team when Steve Yzerman left, but his work at the 2020 deadline — when he got both Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman — helped tipped the balance for Tampa, which won consecutive championships on his watch and made three straight finals.
18. Seattle Kraken (28-23-11) Ron Francis is going to get a long runway to build a sustainable winner in Seattle. By this time next year, we could be talking about how Matty Beniers and Shane Wright are a strong 1-2 down the middle.
19. Washington Capitals (28-23-9) Brian MacLennan has been the Caps GM for a decade now. In fact, the only GMs Washington has had since the early ’80s are David Poile, George McPhee and MacLennan. His task now is to refresh the Caps without leaning into being bad. I’d like to be optimistic, but that’s always a tough ask.
20. Calgary Flames (30-26-5) Can we at least step back and acknowledge Craig Conroy, who became Calgary’s GM last spring, has walked into as difficult a situation as a first-time GM could? He inherited a roster littered with pending UFAs that’s also weighed down by some bad contracts. It’d be one thing if he had the freedom to tear it all apart, but he’s had a tough needle to thread on all these deals in terms of landing both draft picks and players who can help Calgary right now or very soon. I’m not sure anybody will need a nap more than Conroy when this deadline passes.
21. St. Louis Blues (32-27-3) Meet the longest-tenured GM in the league, Doug Armstrong. He took over the team in 2010, built it into a consistent contender and won the only title in franchise history in 2019. Now what? Armstrong has a great, young 1C in Robert Thomas the Blues found in the back half of the first round. But this team has work to do to get back to being a perennial threat.
22. Pittsburgh Penguins (28-24-8) Kyle Dubas’ first summer on the job in Pittsburgh included acquiring Erik Karlsson in a go-for-it move. His first deadline is all about selling. His task appears to be constructing a winner around three over-35 players without drafting very high in a sport where even the best draft finds often take a couple seasons to hit. Stay tuned.
23. Minnesota Wild (29-27-6) Bill Guerin is as bold as anyone in the business. Acquiring Brock Faber in the 2022 deal that sent Kevin Fiala to L.A. may be the signature move of his five-year tenure. Strong drafting has Minny well positioned to succeed, but the Wild can’t be in this non-playoff position again 12 months from now.
24. New Jersey Devils (30-28-4) Tom Fitzgerald just fired a coach, which tells you how things have gone this season in New Jersey. Yes, the Devils’ problems run a bit deeper than goaltending, but if Fitzgerald can find a stopper this summer, he could run back the exact same lineup, get even average injury luck and reasonably expect New Jersey to compete for a Cup.
25. Buffalo Sabres (29-29-5) Basically every big-picture blurb I write about the Sabres starts with the same word: Ugh. That’s not because thing are completely ugly, but rather because the fans are surely sick of hearing “so-and-so is actually doing a good job, it’s just not showing yet.” Kevyn Adams has overseen the construction of a golden prospect pipeline. On Wednesday, he used a position of strength (centre) to address a position of need (defence) when he flipped Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram. It is entirely possible Adams is doing a good job, we still just don’t know it yet. (Sorry!)
26. Montreal Canadiens (24-28-10) Six months into being a rookie GM, Kent Hughes held the first-overall pick in the 2022 draft, which just happened to be located in Montreal. There was no slam-dunk choice, but nearly two years later, it’s beginning to look like Hughes and his staff made a good call with Juraj Slafkovsky. That, alone, probably makes his time overseeing a ground-up rebuild a success so far.
27. Columbus Blue Jackets (21-31-10) Jarmo Kekalainen was one of the longest-tenured GMs in the league when the axe fell a few weeks ago. Whoever winds up holding the full-time post in Columbus is starting with a leg up, given the presence of Adam Fantilli, a solid crew of prospects and, quite possibly, another top-five — even top-three — pick this June.
28. Anaheim Ducks (23-36-3) Pat Verbeek has been on the job just over two years in Anaheim. His first draft pick was Pavel Mintyukov at No. 10, in 2022. Win. He had the courage to take Leo Carlsson at No. 2 when a majority of draft observers had Adam Fantilli going there; he swooped in and snapped up Cutter Gauthier when the Boston College star said he would not be signing with Philly and he may yet trade 2019 ninth-overall pick Trevor Zegras between now and next fall. Never boring, never scared and quite likely very good in the near future.
29. Ottawa Senators (25-32-3) Steve Staios was initially named the interim GM in Ottawa when the Sens booted Pierre Dorion early this season, but he’s got the official title now. There’s major urgency for this team to get better and he’ll have to figure out how to overcome Dorion giving UFA goalie Joonas Korpisalo a five-year deal last summer that looks awful right now.
30. Arizona Coyotes (25-32-3) The Coyotes have some good, young players, there’s a pretty good prospect cupboard and an absolutely absurd amount of draft-pick capital in the next couple years. Also, GM Bill Armstrong operates under financial constraints none of his contemporaries do. Still, anybody who looks at Arizona and tells you he or she knows where it’s all going is brilliant or devious.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (16-42-5) Kyle Davidson was 33 when he got the GM gig with Chicago in 2021 and remains the youngest GM in the NHL today. Despite his inexperience, he was given carte blanche to scorch the Illinois earth. Absolutely he got an all-time bounce when Connor Bedard fell in his lap, but Davidson has made far less obvious picks in the 2022 and ’23 drafts that look very shrewd.
32. San Jose Sharks (15-39-7) As bleak as things look on the ice, the Sharks’ 2023 draft is starting to look pretty solid. Mike Grier is coming up on two years on the job and if his Fins can win the lottery this year, there will officially be a sense of optimism that competitive hockey can return to San Jose before too long.