Is Jim Rutherford the best GM of all time?

[lawrence]

Did he draft crosby and Malkin? No. So therefore no hes not. I mean is it really that surprising that a team with 2 of the best players in the world are champs again?

so Craig Patrick is the Best GM?

 

[NyQuil]

hi

Washington also has 2 of the best players in the world (OVechkin and Backstom) they havent won a stanly cup

Steve

Please.

Malkin != Backstrom.

 

[BraveCanadian]

No.

This hilarious. Is "something pens" best of all time?

What is next?

Are the hot dogs served at PPG the best hot dogs of all time?

It is hilarious.

By the way, the hot dogs served at PPG are obviously the best.. hotdogs back in the 80s and 90s were horrible.

The hot dogs in the league are just plain better now. If they went back in time they would dominate the hot dogs from past eras.

 

[T REX]

Is the water served at PPG the coldest of all-time?

 

[Cyclones Rock]

It is hilarious.

By the way, the hot dogs served at PPG are obviously the best.. hotdogs back in the 80s and 90s were horrible.

The hot dogs in the league are just plain better now. If they went back in time they would dominate the hot dogs from past eras.

Everybody knows this. Quit stating the obvious.

 

[Extra Texture]

He made a great move in getting Kessel but other than that he inherited a stacked team that everyone knew could win the cup any given year

But that's an oversimplification that ignores a lot of the other stuff. Hornqvist, Hagelin, Daley. Those were all good moves that remade the team. Sitter for Bonino was awesome. Bortuzzo for Cole was another that looked like a depth move at the time but has come out a win. The smaller moves are more impressive IMO given that we were right against the cap.

 

[pbgoalie]

Im a Ducks fan, but wasn't JRs hiring ridiculed, and some of his moves BBQd??

Seems he has done pretty well for a stop gap guy

 

[Ugene Magic]

It seems all JR needs is a open pocket book.

Of all time, ridiculous.

 

[tarheelhockey]

LOL, no.

He ran the Hurricanes right into the ground, in case people forgot.

My take: He's an old-guard GM who is perfect for the Penguins right now. He'll keep the trains running on time and as long as the vet core of Crosby/Malkin/Kessel, etc. are playing at a high level he will add pieces and make moves to supplement that core and keep them competitive.

But he's unimaginative and gives very little thought to the long term. At some point in the future the play of that veteran core will fall off, but he'll refuse or fail to recognize it and he'll keep plugging holes with trades and FA's to stay competitive in the short-term while sacrificing the long term. I think he's also blinded by his loyalties sometimes both to coaches and players which compromises his ability to properly evaluate a situation.

The above summarizes my thoughts so completely that I'm tempted to just co-sign.

But for the sake of adding a bit of original content: This doesn't make JR a "bad" GM. He's obviously good enough to win 3 Stanley Cups in 11 years with two different franchises. It's just that he's also good enough to completely ruin a team when things aren't falling perfectly into place.

 

[DaveG]

It seems all JR needs is a open pocket book.

Of all time, ridiculous.

He had said open pocket book a few times in Carolina... those also just so happened to coincide with some of his worst seasons in Carolina, 09-10 most notably.

 

[generalshepherd141]

This has got to be a joke, right? Sam Pollock is the best of all time, and Rutherford isn't even the best right now (Holland, Poile, Yzerman, Bowman, Lamoriello at the very least are all better)

 

[BigT2002]

Ken Holland says hi. I'm sure Lou would like a word as well.

 

[snipes]

No.

This hilarious. Is "something pens" best of all time?

What is next?

Are the hot dogs served at PPG the best hot dogs of all time?

Everyone knows that the best dogs were the old Montreal Forum hot dogs

 

[Flair Hay]

Rutherford has been really smart this tenure. Right now not close at all though.

 

[madinsomniac]

People undersell the constraints he had in Carolina ... he built a cup team there with a hand tied behind his back.. he had no real ability to spend what he needed to do anything after that

 

[madinsomniac]

No.

This hilarious. Is "something pens" best of all time?

What is next?

Are the hot dogs served at PPG the best hot dogs of all time?

Ask Kessel... he will know...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

If your history means the last two years, then yes.

But better than Sam Pollock or Bill Torrey? No. Judging by your post, you probably don't even know who those names are.

 

[Boud]

Sullivan.

he played all those rookies, Murray, Sheary, Rust, Wilson, Kuhnhackl, Guentzel. this wouldn't have happened in 1000 years under Bylsma.

Who hired Sullivan?

Rutherford.

 

[Roboturner913]

People undersell the constraints he had in Carolina ... he built a cup team there with a hand tied behind his back.. he had no real ability to spend what he needed to do anything after that

Not true at all. He moved heaven and earth to trade for Jordan Staal and then signed him to a $6 million/yr contract. He signed Alex Semin to a 7 million/year contract. He traded Ladd on his rookie deal for Tuomo Ruutu and then signed him for big money. Same for Pitkanen and Gleason. He brought back Erik Cole from Edmontona and then re-signed him.

He made bad moves. He drafted poorly for damn near a decade.* He overcommitted to some players who were old and injury-prone, he put faith in guys who didn't have a long enough track record to justify it. Some of that is probably due to the fact that Carolina has never been a free agent destination and he had to work with what he could get personnel-wise.

From 1997 to 2002, the following were his draft hits: Erik Cole, Shane Willis, Josef Vasicek, Niclas Wallin, Cam Ward. And I'm giving Willis the benefit of the doubt, assuming he would've built on his promise had Scott Stevens had nearly killed him with that open ice hit. Seriously, look at the Hurricanes draft history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Carolina_Hurricanes_draft_picks

It's horrific up until 2010 when he somehow hit on Faulk and Skinner the same year. Francis took over the draft after that.

 

[Bouboumaster]

There's only one good answer, and it's Sam Pollock.

 

[NJDevs26]

My answer to this is. Check out Casey Stengal's record as a MLB Manager before he got the New York Yankees job.

Casey Stengel did not pick the players in those places...Rutherford did in Carolina.

 

[Jacksonbobson]

Basically everyone apart of the 2016-2017 Pens are the best of all time.

Outside of the D, which is the worst of all time.

That's what I gather from reading this board anyway.

 

[gordie]

Basically everyone apart of the 2016-2017 Pens are the best of all time.

Outside of the D, which is the worst of all time.

That's what I gather from reading this board anyway.

That's why I commented on here to give Jim Rutherford his due because I knew the negativity this thread would get. I was not in favor of his hire but the proof is in what he has accomplished in 3 seasons.

 

[eddiefromirwin]

His crowning achievement is Kessel, and how useful of a piece he has become in winning Cups. Don't get me wrong, I love Phil. But I could see him being very frustrating to coach. You will hear in the coming days of all of these players having surgical repair from these playoffs. But not for Phil. Phil doesn't do physical contact for the most part. Fortunately we can digest a player like that and make him shine. That's good coaching, and GMing.

 

[HawkNut]

Stan Bowman? This is without his Dad's advice right??

Bowman has done more than just win three Cups. He has done this while also having to trade many pieces in the process because of the cap situation.