Give GMJR a Grade (cumulative)

[Darth Vitale]

trending upward to a C-

Damn. You are a tough grader. Glad I didn't have you for my college econ classes.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

So...adding Winnik would have put them over the top then? If everyone was healthy.

I didn't use the term "over the top," nor would I when it comes to the bottom six, but if they were healthy then he would have definitely added high quality depth and made the Pens more formidable.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

Sutter deal - A+

Perron deal - C

Winnik deal - D-

Neal deal - D

Despres deal - F

Kessel deal - A+

Goc deal - C

Cole deal - A

I'm going to go with a C+ for the job he's done so far. Dumping Scuderi would definitely bump him up to B or B+ if he can dump the whole contract on some sucker team.

 

[Asuna]

I didn't use the term "over the top," nor would I when it comes to the bottom six, but if they were healthy then he would have definitely added high quality depth and made the Pens more formidable.

Perron - Crosby - Hornqvist
Kunitz- Malkin - Comeau
Winnik- Sutter - Bennett
Spaling - Lapierre - Downie

Sorry, but that's not a Cup winning crop of forwards, to me. Adding Winnik does not make it that much better at all.

 

[tom_servo]

I can't see an A+. I'm sorry. The Despres trade wasn't that long ago (I've never seen a GM regret a trade so soon). The Winnik deal turned out to be a boondoggle. Ehrhoff was a semi-bargain, but a bust at the expense of a smarter signing. Then you need to consider the late-season cap mismanagement.

This offseason had been an A+ for sure. The Kessel trade alone deserves some kind of medal. However, I'll still be a little gunshy around the next deadline if we need even the slightest thing.

B+.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

Adding Winnik does not make it that much better at all.

That's an extreme statement.

 

[Asuna]

That's an extreme statement.

No. It's not. Winnik is an average forward.

 

[Shady Machine]

B.

JR took a number of missteps last year that ended up hurting us, but the great off-season he's had so far made up for a lot of it.

Credit where credit's due...getting the Leafs to retain on Kessel without giving up one of Maatta or Pouliot, moving Sutter for a better cheaper player, signing Plotnikov and Fehr, and getting back prospects/upgrading draft picks in the process was surprising and impressive.

If he can somehow get rid of Scuds now, he'll be up to a B+.

Agreed. He's a B overall for me. I really liked the Perron trade but if he doesn't pan out and they let him walk, then that wasn't a good trade, regardless of how Kessel changes things.

Despres trade sucked and Winnik trade was expensive and unnecessary.

Most of the rest has been good to great.

 

[Shady Machine]

My opinion is much different then most.

I'd give him a D.

I don't like the direction hes taking this team, hes been here for about 1 year and hes already traded away 3 number 1 draft picks, we could have the worst set of prospects in the NHL right now.

I would of rather had a GM that would of tried to draft and develop young talent rather then making win now moves.

You are entitled to your opinion but it's wrong haha

 

[Shady Machine]

I think to say they weren't a contender if very subjective. At the deadline the Pens were still very much in the mix and didn't start their spiral until the last few weeks of the season.

A GMs job is to determine where his team is realistically at and make moves accordingly. That team was never a contender. It was a transition year. There was no need to spend assets on mediocre roles players last year. It was a bad trade because it was unnecessary and expensive.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

A GMs job is to determine where his team is realistically at and make moves accordingly. That team was never a contender. It was a transition year. There was no need to spend assets on mediocre roles players last year. It was a bad trade because it was unnecessary and expensive.

They were never a contender? Before the injuries started piling up the Penguins were dominating.

 

[tom_servo]

I regret that I didn't view the Winnik trade as negatively as I should've. It was basically Daniel Sprong for a few months of a 3rd line forward.

 

[Shady Machine]

They were never a contender? Before the injuries started piling up the Penguins were dominating.

In my opinion they were never a serious contender. Most regular posters on here expected last year to be a transition year. We didn't want JR trading valuable draft picks or prospects for rentals. I understood why we traded for Winnik but I didn't agree with it. I didn't think he would make a big enough difference to make them a real contender. So why waste the assets when Shero did the same thing for 5 years?

 

[HugoStiglitz]

In my opinion they were never a serious contender. Most regular posters on here expected last year to be a transition year. We didn't want JR trading valuable draft picks or prospects for rentals. I understood why we traded for Winnik but I didn't agree with it. I didn't think he would make a big enough difference to make them a real contender. So why waste the assets when Shero did the same thing for 5 years?

It was viewed as a transition year in some respects, but at the same time they were still expected to be a contender.

At the end of the day though, whether or not the Winnik trade was a bad one, it wasn't detrimental or profound to the future of this team. Maybe that's why I don't factor in too hard to his grade.

I know we all say this, but I think we underestimate what JR walked in to or how his back was up against the wall with all the injuries that happened. The reason I give him an A all around is to me the sign of a good GM isn't judge by his moves as a hole, but how he responds.

While he made some questionable moves in his first season, the moves of this off-season prove he has his pulse on what's going on and is not only acutely aware of what needs to be done, but he was careful, calculated and aggressive about making the necessary moves.

 

[Nakawick]

the moves made at the trade deadline sucked. The off season moves have been good. I'll give him a C+ trending upward.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I think most of his moves range from good to great. There were three moves that didn't work out in my opinion; Ehrhoff, Winnik and Despres.

I don't fault him too much for the Ehrhoff thing. I thought it was a good signing at the time. No one could have predicted that he was going to be constantly injured and have his game fall off a cliff the way it did. Luckily it was only a one-year move so it ultimately doesn't hurt us at all.

I don't/didn't hate the Winnik trade as much as others. Winnik was disappointing, but I understand the thought process behind the trade. We ended up getting our 2nd back, and I can't be too angry about the lack of a 4th and Sill.

The Despres trade is one of the worst trades in recent memory. Not just the Penguins. Any team in the league. It's the one big black mark on JR's resume as Penguins GM. It made no sense then, it makes no sense now, and it'll only look worse as time goes forward. But I don't put the blame solely on Rutherford. It was clear from the initial press conference that he wasn't fully on board with the move. After most trades, Rutherford seems confident.. and almost smug, in his pressers. In this one he seemed nearly as confused as I was. Even still, he didn't fight it. He let it happen, so he has to take some of the blame and it lowers his grade as such.



However this off-season has been phenomenal, and it was made possible by his last off-season. Signing a bunch of players to one-year contracts enabled us to have the cap space to make the big splash he did so far. Everything this off-season from the way he drafted to Kessel to the Sutter trade has been close to perfect. If he finds a way to move Scuderi, I'll almost forgive him for the Despres trade.


I mean Game 7 against the Rangers our roster was

Kunitz-Crosby-Gibbons
Jokinen-Malkin-Neal
Glass-Sutter-Stempniak
Vitale-Goc-Adams

and now we're looking at something like

Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist
Plotnikov-Malkin-Kessel
Kunitz-Bonino-Bennett
Sundqvist-Fehr-Dupuis


He totally revamped the top-6 by bringing us one of the best wingers in the league, one of the best net front presences in the league, another skilled winger, and even shopped in Europe to find a big forward that potentially fills a need in the top-6. All while taking our bottom-6 from the very worst to having two solid third lines.

I'd give him an A, but the Despres trade holds me back from it. I'll give him a B to B+ for now. If he moves Scuderi and potentially Kunitz, it'll be an A for sure.

 

[plaidchuck]

Yeah the perron trade is the one that will tip the balance for me. I just don't have a good feeling about the guy, from his body language to some of his comments.

Despres was bad but bostons baffling management has really reinforced the "could always be worse" mindset for me.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

My point was that Detroit didn't go all in when Zetterberg and Datsyuk were younger.

They kept there younger players, so now they are able to surround Zetterberg and Datsyuk with good young talent.

The Wings haven't been out of the 1st round since '09.

A solid young supporting cast for Sid and Geno in their mid-30s wouldn't be much consolation if all they had to show for the next half-decade was a couple 2nd round appearances.

 

[TheStatican]

It's totally fair. The Penguins weren't contenders for the Cup. That move was looked at as a move to 'put them over the top'...when they weren't even close. No need to get Winnik at all.

They were 35-17-9 79 and only 4 points out of first place in the East when they made that move; http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/2015/2/25/

Pretty safe to say they still viewed themselves as contenders at that point.

 

[Corvidae]

I can't give him anything above a C with Scuderi still on the team. I know it's not easy, but worse contracts get moved / bought out all the time. It's not acceptable to have him on the team, eating minutes and cap.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I can't give him anything above a C with Scuderi still on the team. I know it's not easy, but worse contracts get moved / bought out all the time. It's not acceptable to have him on the team, eating minutes and cap.

Can you name some of these "worse contracts" that have been moved?

The only one I can think of is Clarkson, and that was a very different situation. Unlike Toronto we aren't in a position to pay someone 5.3M to not play.

There's things to criticize Rutherford for, but Scuderi being on the team isn't one of them in my opinion. It's not his fault that Shero gave him that contract and a NTC. If not for that NTC he'd be gone already.

 

[tom_servo]

Neal deal - D

Don't see how you could give him such bad marks for converting Neal into a similar-quality player. Spaling was a waste, but Hornqvist has a real identity here. I would think the grade at least improves in retrospect with the acquisition of Kessel.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

No. It's not. Winnik is an average forward.

He was great for Toronto all year and we needed better size and depth.

For all my criticisms of JR last year, I'm not going to get on him for Perron or Winnik. Both guys represented things we needed. What pisses me off most is when we make moves that either set back the big league roster or have no rhyme or reason to them. And there were no shortage of those in '13-'14.

 

[eXile59]

I think most of his moves range from good to great. There were three moves that didn't work out in my opinion; Ehrhoff, Winnik and Despres.

I don't fault him too much for the Ehrhoff thing. I thought it was a good signing at the time. No one could have predicted that he was going to be constantly injured and have his game fall off a cliff the way it did. Luckily it was only a one-year move so it ultimately doesn't hurt us at all.

I don't/didn't hate the Winnik trade as much as others. Winnik was disappointing, but I understand the thought process behind the trade. We ended up getting our 2nd back, and I can't be too angry about the lack of a 4th and Sill.

The Despres trade is one of the worst trades in recent memory. Not just the Penguins. Any team in the league. It's the one big black mark on JR's resume as Penguins GM. It made no sense then, it makes no sense now, and it'll only look worse as time goes forward. But I don't put the blame solely on Rutherford. It was clear from the initial press conference that he wasn't fully on board with the move. After most trades, Rutherford seems confident.. and almost smug, in his pressers. In this one he seemed nearly as confused as I was. Even still, he didn't fight it. He let it happen, so he has to take some of the blame and it lowers his grade as such.



However this off-season has been phenomenal, and it was made possible by his last off-season. Signing a bunch of players to one-year contracts enabled us to have the cap space to make the big splash he did so far. Everything this off-season from the way he drafted to Kessel to the Sutter trade has been close to perfect. If he finds a way to move Scuderi, I'll almost forgive him for the Despres trade.


I mean Game 7 against the Rangers our roster was

Kunitz-Crosby-Gibbons
Jokinen-Malkin-Neal
Glass-Sutter-Stempniak
Vitale-Goc-Adams

and now we're looking at something like

Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist
Plotnikov-Malkin-Kessel
Kunitz-Bonino-Bennett
Sundqvist-Fehr-Dupuis


He totally revamped the top-6 by bringing us one of the best wingers in the league, one of the best net front presences in the league, another skilled winger, and even shopped in Europe to find a big forward that potentially fills a need in the top-6. All while taking our bottom-6 from the very worst to having two solid third lines.

I'd give him an A, but the Despres trade holds me back from it. I'll give him a B to B+ for now. If he moves Scuderi and potentially Kunitz, it'll be an A for sure.

Dear god. These guys are 12th or 13th forwards on their teams if they are even in the NHL and they were expected to contribute to playoff team. This is why you lost your job Shero.

 

[Sam Spade]

Surprised more people haven't mentioned the hiring of Johnston. Didn't think he was the right guy then, still don't.

That alone puts JR below an A, combine that with Despres and he is a B-/C+ for me.

Oh yeah didn't like the Ehrhoff signing, completly unnecessary, said so at the time, think the team would have been much better either re-signing Niskanen or extending Martin, especially now that they have moved Despres AND Harrington.