Speculation: Is John Weisbrod Sneaking his Way to Becoming the Head of Hockey Operations in the Summer of 2020

[Intangibos]

Was so irritated when they hired him (and still am)
but if Weisbrod was able to land the other Hughes and get everyone but himself fired it might kill two birds with one stone.
What better accomplishment could you expect of the head of hockey ops? At least he'd have earned it
What year would Jack Hughes become a UFA if refuses to sign an ELC and finishes college?
What if they kept it secret at the draft and grabbed another C in the top 5 in addition to that?

In this scenario we'd be laughing, even if Weisbrod somehow worm-tongued FA into the plan and we all despise him

By being part of a management group that built the worst roster in the NHL to get us in position to pick him?

We're dealing with a master tactician here.

 

[Kryten]

I have no doubt he sees himself as an “alfa male”..

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

I have no doubt he sees himself as an “alfa male”..

I asee him as more of an 'alfalfa' male

 

[Melvin]

You don't need a law degree to say we should get clarification. That there was no league clarification made on the rule prior to making the offer, makes the entire Flames hockey operations department to blame. You don't just blame the guy with the PhD... If not one in the hockey department suggested to get a league clarification on the rule, when they saw a potential grey area, the hockey operations department is to blame. If they didn't realize a potential grey area, the hockey operations department is to blame. The Flames hockey operations department is clearly to blame. Weisbrod is not free from blame just because he is isolated from the camera. Feaster leaned heavily on Weisbrod for decisions. Weisbrod was the assistant GM. He obviously knew about the offer sheet, if he didn't orchestrate it himself. I think it matters less who's idea it was... I'm all for creative thinking (all GM's and AGM's should be thinking about how do we creatively gain an edge)... What matters is who didn't suggest to get league clarification before jumping on the idea? It should not happen. It was incompetence that it happened.

It didnt happen, actually. And Feaster the lawyer believed it was going to be fine. Why would Weisbrod say otherwise?

It's such a non story and its pathetic that we have to keep going over it because Weisbrod has done nothing with the Canucks that is worth wringing our fists over.

 

[F A N]

You don't need a law degree to say we should get clarification. That there was no league clarification made on the rule prior to making the offer, makes the entire Flames hockey operations department to blame. You don't just blame the guy with the PhD... If not one in the hockey department suggested to get a league clarification on the rule, when they saw a potential grey area, the hockey operations department is to blame. If they didn't realize a potential grey area, the hockey operations department is to blame. The Flames hockey operations department is clearly to blame. Weisbrod is not free from blame just because he is isolated from the camera. Feaster leaned heavily on Weisbrod for decisions. Weisbrod was the assistant GM. He obviously knew about the offer sheet, if he didn't orchestrate it himself. I think it matters less who's idea it was... I'm all for creative thinking (all GM's and AGM's should be thinking about how do we creatively gain an edge)... What matters is who didn't suggest to get league clarification before jumping on the idea? It should not happen. It was incompetence that it happened.

How do you know that Weisbrod didn't suggest getting clarification? Regardless, AGMs aren't suppose to be master of everything. They are often delegated certain tasks. Feaster had Weisbrod scouting for him. His job wasn't to handle CBA matters. If he recommended signing O'Reilly and O'Reilly sucked then he deserves the blame. Like I asked, if this happened to the Canucks, would you blame Henning? Do you expect him to get Gilman and or Gillis to double check to see if their interpretation of the CBA is correct? I would not. Similarly, under current management, Gear and Wall are in charge of CBA matters. If the Canucks misinterpreted the CBA, I'm not blaming Weisbrod. Blaming him for that is stupid.

 

[I in the Eye]

It didnt happen, actually. And Feaster the lawyer believed it was going to be fine. Why would Weisbrod say otherwise?

It's such a non story and its pathetic that we have to keep going over it because Weisbrod has done nothing with the Canucks that is worth wringing our fists over.

An incorrect interpretation of the rule that led to the flames exposed to lose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for a nothing return did happen.

It was such a non story that it was all over the sports news. It was such a non-story that it had Calgary on edge. It was clear incompetence.

You don't have to keep going over it... You are free to not go over it. What weisbrod has learned from his death threat days is to stay out of the light. If you think this line of thinking is pathetic, that's great. You don't have to participate. You can f*** off and stick to discussions you feel are worthy of your posts.

 

[Melvin]

An incorrect interpretation of the rule that led to the flames exposed to lose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for a nothing return did happen.

It was such a non story that it was all over the sports news. It was such a non-story that it had Calgary on edge. It was clear incompetence.

You don't have to keep going over it... You are free to not go over it. What weisbrod has learned from his death threat days is to stay out of the light. If you think this line of thinking is pathetic, that's great. You don't have to participate. You can **** off and stick to discussions you feel are worthy of your posts.

Not sure where this hostility comes from.

Jay Feaster said they talked about it as a department and felt that it wasn't an issue. We will never know if they were correct or not because the avalanche rendered it moot and the nhl refused to comment.

If Feaster thought it was going to be fine, why would John Weisbrod the English major be expected to tell his boss the lawyer that he read the CBA wrong? That seems like quite a reach. We don't even know for certain if Feaster read it wrong because the CBA is often confusing, requires interpretation, and I am not a lawyer. I suspect the nhl would have never made them put ROR on waivers. But we will never know. In any case, pinning it on Weisbrod is weak and repeating it ad nauseam as for why he's terrible as AGM of the canucks is weaker still.

Constantly bringing up ROR whenever we talk about Weisbrod to me is like the Jbfc endlessly bringing up Gillis. It has nothing to do with the current situation.

 

[I in the Eye]

Not sure where this hostility comes from.

Jay Feaster said they talked about it as a department and felt that it wasn't an issue. We will never know if they were correct or not because the avalanche rendered it moot and the nhl refused to comment.

If Feaster thought it was going to be fine, why would John Weisbrod the English major be expected to tell his boss the lawyer that he read the CBA wrong? That seems like quite a reach. We don't even know for certain if Feaster read it wrong because the CBA is often confusing, requires interpretation, and I am not a lawyer. I suspect the nhl would have never made them put ROR on waivers. But we will never know. In any case, pinning it on Weisbrod is weak and repeating it ad nauseam as for why he's terrible as AGM of the canucks is weaker still.

Not sure where you're sensing hostility.

Were you on this board when the Ryan O'Reilly offersheet happened? There was much in-depth discussion about it... perhaps more on this forum and board, and Flames board then typically outside. Posters on this forum can be pretty hardcore on the details... Weisbrod was pin-pointed as one of the main Flames management f***-ups in this situation... by those closer to the situation than canuck fan posters... I'll try and dig up links and old threads when time permits. Obviously, similar to here with Benning and Linden and the Canucks can pick and choose what to believe as a source (as we don't know exactly what goes on in any management team or behind-the-scenes situation) but Weisbrod wasn't just pulled out of thin air.

You ask, "why would John Weisbrod the English major be expected to tell his boss the lawyer that he read the CBA wrong?". Because Weisbrod is the AGM, and as the AGM, he is privy to the CBA (everyone is), and if he had a different or unclear interpretation then it doesn't hurt to get the league to set it straight. There were posters on the Business of Hockey Board who got it correct right away upon hearing of the offer. If John Weisbrod was a janitor before an AGM that doesn't excuse him. He's either good as an AGM, or not. Yes, the CBA is often confusing and requires interpretation, and that is why the league is available to answer questions. That is why AGM's and GM's go to the league and get clarification. Benning and Linden and Weisbrod got called out here by the NHL for not correctly interpreting the rules... and it was explained by the NHL to Benning and Weisbrod and Linden that the NHL is available for clarification. A decision maker should not be operating under an incorrect interpretation of the rules. Ignorance is not an excuse. At the bare minimum, an AGM, a GM, should know what the correct rules are before acting. It is not too much to ask, and it should be a bare minimum in determining competence.

 

[Melvin]

I was on the board when it happened. I remember it well enough.

I don't believe I offered an opinion of whether or not he's a good AGM. Likely he is not, but there is little he's done with the Canucks to even talk about, and the ROR thing is weak to me.

Maybe Weisbrod did want to ask the league for clarification. Maybe Feaster said no dude, it's fine. Im a lawyer. Trust me. Who knows. Knowing the nhl, they would have never let it happen.

Like I said, it just seems so weak. Five years ago he was working for a team that almost made a big mistake maybe while he wasn't in charge. Okay, so as a Canucks Agm how has he performed?

 

[I in the Eye]

I was on the board when it happened. I remember it well enough.

I don't believe I offered an opinion of whether or not he's a good AGM. Likely he is not, but there is little he's done with the Canucks to even talk about, and the ROR thing is weak to me.

Maybe Weisbrod did want to ask the league for clarification. Maybe Feaster said no dude, it's fine. Im a lawyer. Trust me. Who knows. Knowing the nhl, they would have never let it happen.

Like I said, it just seems so weak. Five years ago he was working for a team that almost made a big mistake maybe while he wasn't in charge. Okay, so as a Canucks Agm how has he performed?

There is little he's done here that is in the public eye that we can talk about. We don't know much about Weisbrod in his time as a Canuck... As an AGM, 4 years in, Gilman was a known commodity. We could talk about Gilman with an idea of strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures. We could sense that we know Gilman, and get a sense for his character and tendencies. That's the way it should be... accountability. Being an AGM should involve some public appearances at certain times... like when the president is fired. Why on earth would Green be there at the press conference instead of weisbrod? This doesn't even receive a peep because it's been accepted that weisbrod doesn't do it. Four years in, as AGM, we barely know Weisbrod. We can't attach much (if anything) to his strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures. All we know is that Weisbrod plays a major role in the decision making as a Canucks AGM... and the Canucks have achieved piss poor results with Weisbrod as AGM. We know at the Weisbrod hiring Benning considered weisbrod very smart. There is very little to no accountability that can be attached to Weisbrod to judge how smart or not he is. For the general public, that would be fine... but for a bunch of HF posters who spend a great deal of time on the details, there is very little that can be attributed to him. I can see how Brian Burke would say he didn't know what Weisbrod did... Do any of us really know what Weisbrod does here?

Incorrect interpretation of the rules has followed Weisbrod from Calgary to Vancouver. This is a fact. If he's directly responsible or not, who knows... but he certainly didn't stop them from occurring. I don't keep an ear out around the league, but does misinterpretation of the rules that results in teams making mistakes happen often around the league?

 

[Seattle Totems]

Are we ignoring all the mistakes this regime has made with the CBA since Gilman was fired and those that Weisbrod was attached to in Calgary? Seriously. Has this not been written about enough already?

 

[Hit the post]

Ok, I will grant you all that. Where does the leap come he is some evil puppet master who is hell bent on taking over the Canucks?

At least evil has a purpose - the wrong one mind you. Weisbrod's main skill in avoiding getting fired/getting promoted. He's kind of like the Ted Baxter of sports. We've all worked with these types of guys in the workforce.

What this team needs isn't another high level manager that isn't good at his job. But that's just my perception of him (not based on any particular set of "facts" I'll admit).

 

[pgj98m3]

I was on the board when it happened. I remember it well enough.

I don't believe I offered an opinion of whether or not he's a good AGM. Likely he is not, but there is little he's done with the Canucks to even talk about, and the ROR thing is weak to me.

Maybe Weisbrod did want to ask the league for clarification. Maybe Feaster said no dude, it's fine. Im a lawyer. Trust me. Who knows. Knowing the nhl, they would have never let it happen.

Like I said, it just seems so weak. Five years ago he was working for a team that almost made a big mistake maybe while he wasn't in charge. Okay, so as a Canucks Agm how has he performed?

As Canucks AGM he has been part of a mgmt team that has led this team to the basement while spending to the cap.....that’s enough to earn contempt from just about anyone.

 

[Fire Benning]

Lol

 

[Shareefruck]

Weisbrod really does seem to give the impression of a straight up evil sniveling maniacal super villain than anyone else I can think of.

Even guys who were more damaging like Keenan/Messier, are a little easier to humanize, I find.

 

[vancityluongo]

 

[mathonwy]

Ok. ASAR (assuming shit ain't rigged)

In order to run a competent company, you need a details guy on your exec team to make sure the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted.

Linden is a dummy.

Jimbo is a dummy.

And that leaves effing Weisbrod.

If you look at this team's transactions since 2014, you will see that it is in the details where this team gets bled and bled and more bled.

Weisbrod needs to be shot out of a cannon. Effing piece of garbage hockey exec.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Ok. ASAR (assuming **** ain't rigged)

In order to run a competent company, you need a details guy on your exec team to make sure the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted.

Linden is a dummy.

Jimbo is a dummy.

And that leaves effing Weisbrod.

If you look at this team's transactions since 2014, you will see that it is in the details where this team gets bled and bled and more bled.

Weisbrod needs to be shot out of a cannon. Effing piece of garbage hockey exec.

This is so true. In today's league of enforced parity this is where the differences come.

 

[F A N]

Are we ignoring all the mistakes this regime has made with the CBA since Gilman was fired and those that Weisbrod was attached to in Calgary? Seriously. Has this not been written about enough already?

What mistakes? Apparently Weisbrod is being blamed for not getting his boss with the law degree to seek league clarification on CBA matters and at the same time being called incompetent for being part of the management group that sought league guidance.

 

[Melvin]

As Canucks AGM he has been part of a mgmt team that has led this team to the basement while spending to the cap.....that’s enough to earn contempt from just about anyone.

Contempt, sure. But he's not some kind of supervillain, he's just another boob.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

It is.

Just as Judd Brackett is the board darling based on basically nothing, so too is Weisbrod the villain based on nothing.

To answer the question, no. I don't believe there is some long term conspiracy centred around luring Jack Hughes to the canucks in 2026.

"Based on nothing"....
Why Canucks fans are concerned about John Weisbrod’s influence

 

[Melvin]

"Based on nothing"....
Why Canucks fans are concerned about John Weisbrod’s influence

Yes, this article has been linked a thousand times and I've addressed it a thousand times. It's the same old trash. Blah blah blah Ryan O'Reilly, Mark Jankowski, some basketball team. I don't even have to click on it.

Can we talk about his actions as AGM of the Vancouver Canucks?

 

[Josepho]

I don't want Weisbrod as President and I don't know how much good he's done in his career as an executive but it's stupid as f*** to judge him based off of his work with the Magic -- that's entirely on their owner for promoting someone from an ECHL front office straight to an NBA general manager.

Also, Jankowski wasn't really even a bad pick.

 

[Jay Cee]

It's funny that after being our AGM for so long, people just point to stuff he did with other teams as reasons for this weird conspiracy stuff.

 

[I in the Eye]

Yes, this article has been linked a thousand times and I've addressed it a thousand times. It's the same old trash. Blah blah blah Ryan O'Reilly, Mark Jankowski, some basketball team. I don't even have to click on it.

Can we talk about his actions as AGM of the Vancouver Canucks?

Sure, as AGM of the Canucks, Weisbrod has operated under the cloak of secrecy... end of discussion. As Canucks AGM, Weisbrod cannot be judged on anything... other than on a macro-level, the entire regime has done a shitty job.

Without linden as President, we'll see if Weisbrod sticks his head out of the hole more... or maybe it's Green that will address things instead.