What makes a GM....."good" or "great", or....."the best" ???

In the last post my fellow blogger, Smith, raved and ranted on just how great Brian Burke is. As an Oiler fan, and a big fan of Kevin Lowe, i didn't take it so well, as I'm not to sure any other Oiler fans would. So i thought to myself, okay, lets play along. So i have done my homework and have come up with the NHL's top ten General Managers, based on wins, Stanley Cup wins, draft choices, and "pull a rabbit out your hat" trades. So without further ado, here is the top ten countdown to greatest GM in the league.

Number 10--Jim Rutherford ( Carolina Hurricanes), he has been the Hurricanes GM since 1999, and though the team has had very up and down seasons, he has proven true brilliance through it all. He is responsible for aquiring key kogs Ray Whitney, Justin Williams, and Rod Brindamour. He also drafted players Erik Cole, Cam Ward, Eric Staal, and Jack Johnson. He helped guide the Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup victory in frinachise history in 05-06.

Number 9--Darcy Regier (Buffalo Sabres), though the Sabres have not yet won a Stanley Cup under his control, they have made the final, and been a very successful franchise even under a personal salary cap. He is responsible for drafting players such as, Maxim Afinogenov, Ryan Miller, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, and Thomas Vanek. His great trades include acquiring Chris Drury, Daniel Briere (for next to nothing), Tim Connolly, and J.P. Dumont.

Number 8--Kevin Lowe (recently Edmonton Oilers), possibly one of the more controversial general managers in the league for such actions as handing out lucrative offer sheets to Thomas Vanek and Dustin Penner, forever changing the way RFA's are seen. He is responsible for drafting players such as Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll, Andrew Cogliano, and Sam Gagner. He is also responsible for one of the most productive trade deadline flurries in recent history. After much turmoil throughout the year, he traded away next to nothing for defenseman Jaroslav Spaeck and Dick Tarnstrom. He also aquired Sergei Samsanov and Dwayne Roloson. All of these aquisitions helped the Oilers catapult themselves all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in 05-06.

Number 7--Brian Burke (just recently stepped down from the Anaheim Ducks), okay so yes he IS ahead of Kevin Lowe, purely because Kevin Lowe has not won a Stanley Cup as general manager. Burke is responsible for building up a powerhouse Vancouver Cunucks team that went on to dominate the Northwest Division for two years. He is responsible for drafting the Sedin twins, and for keeping around the likes of Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison. In Anaheim he made traded practically nothing for Francois Beuchemin, and helped build a team up to eventually win the 06-07 Stanley Cup. Many believe he also pulled one of the more lopsided trades in recent history, sending Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid and two first round picks to Edmonton for perennial all star defenseman Chris Pronger, who was probably one of the most important parts of Anaheim's Stanley Cup victory.

Number 6--Doug Risebrough (Minnesota Wild), he has been the Wild's General Manager since they were introduced into the NHL. He is responsible for helping to build up the team they are now. Adding players such as Brian Rolston, Pavel Demitra, and drafting superstar Marian Gaborik. He has shown time and time again his true brilliance in signing key players who had been ignored by other teams. He has also drafted all star goaltender Nicklas Backstrom and has guided the Minnesota Wild to their first division championship in 07-08. The Wild’s 253 wins in its first seven years are the most of any of the nine NHL expansion teams since 1991 (Nashville is second with 232), and second most since NHL expansion in 1967-68 (Edmonton 314). Under his guidance the Wild have made it to the Western Conference finals once.

Number 5--Bryan Murray (Ottawa Senators), built the Anaheim Ducks that made it to the Western Conference finals in 05-06, and Western Conference Champions of 02-03. He was also responsible for drafting such players as Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Joffrey Lupul, and Shane O'Brien. He also was the first GM of the Florida Panthers helping them make the Stanley Cup final in 1996. That year he was also elected NHL executive of the year. He also spent 4 seasons as the General Manager in Detroit drafting players such as Kieth Primeau, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Mike Knuble, Chris Osgood, Darren McCarty, and Tomas Holmstrom, all of whom were important players in the Red Wings Cup winning teams of the later 90's.

Number 4-- Glen Sather (New York Rangers), many people will eat me alive for this but considering his resume, i think he deserves to be in the top 5 at least, i actually had him ahead of Gainey but thought maybe even that would be too bold. Anyways, Sather has 5 Stanley Cups under his belt and helped to build possibly the best team the NHL will ever see in the Edmonton Oilers of the 80's. He is possibly one of the greatest minds in hockey right now. He is responsible for drafting players such as Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Jari Kurri, Esa Tikkanen, Grant Fuhr, Andy Moog, Jason Arnott, Miroslav Satan, Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff, Mike Comrie, Henrik Lundqvist (205 overall), Marek Zidlicky, Brandon Dubinsky, and Marc Staal.

Number 3--Bob Gainey (Montreal Canadiens), previous to being the Canadiens General Manager, Gainey resided in the head offices of the Stars. He built the team up for greatness as they won two Presidents Trophies in 1998 and 1999. The Stars finally won the cup in 1999. The Stars were always one of the major powerhouses in the league throughout those years. Since he joined the Montreal Canadiens, the Canadiens have grown from a non contender, to leading the Eastern Conference last year. His drafting resume include players such as: Jamie Langenbrunner, Marty Turco (124th overall), Jarome Iginla (quickly traded to the flames), Brendan Morrow, Antii Miettinen (224 overall), Mike Smith, Trevor Daley, Andrei Kostitsyn, Mark Streit (262 overall), and Carey Price.

Number 2--Lou Lamoriello (New Jersey Devils), okay first off he does happen to have Martin Brodeur as his goalie which is a big help, but you still have to build a good team around him, and that's where Lamoriello comes in. Under Lamoriello the Devils have made the playoffs in all but two of the twenty seasons he has been GM. They have won 3 Stanley Cup championships, 7 Atlantic Division titles, 4 Eastern Conference titles. Oh and add in that he has drafted players such as Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Petr Sykora, Patrick Elias, Sheldon Souray, and Brendan Morrison. This guys resume just blows me away every time i look at it.

Number 1--Ken Holland (Detroit Red Wings), since he has been GM the Wings have won eight Central Division titles, the Presidents Trophy four times, five western conference titles, and three Stanley Cup championships. Before the beginning of the 08-09 season Holland had a record of 493 - 211 - 72 ties - 44 OT/SO loses. His draft picks include, Pavel Datsyuk (171st overall), Henrik Zetterburg (210th overall), Nicklas Kronwall, Valtteri Filppula, and Johan Franzen. He is the best Gm in the league right now, and probably gonna be the best for a while.