What You Don't Know About: Being a GM | By Jim Rutherford

[ThatGuy]

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jim-rutherford-what-you-dont-know-about-being-a-gm/

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[Winger for Hire]

It's really awesome to actually hear GMJR layout his thought process on the trades and his philosophies.

 

[SEALBound]

Awesome article. Just...awesome.

 

[Fordy]

easily one of the best of these

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Pretty awesome article. Loved it. Especially the part about forming your own identity instead of copying past winners.

 

[End of Line]

Amazing article to read.

 

[Peat]

Great article.

The line that jumped out and caught my eye:

"See, when you’re a new player brought in to a team that has just won a Cup, you don’t always feel part of it. It’s very hard to integrate."

Think this helps explain the lack of movement this summer. No point trading for guys or signing big contracts with UFAs if they're going to struggle to fit in and produce their best, not unless you have to. Better to let the team move past the moment. Obviously there's more to it than that - just feels like it played part of his thinking.

 

[Shady Machine]

Really good stuff from JR and the ghost writer.

 

[Winger for Hire]

JR has the 2nd best ghostwriter in the business, behind

 

[dr robbie]

great article.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Fun read, but it would have been nice to get more analysis of 2014-15 and what went wrong during the MJ era.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Fun read, but it would have been nice to get more analysis of 2014-15 and what went wrong during the MJ era.

Chapter 1: The Problem- Hiring MJ
Chapter 2: The Solution- Firing MJ

 

[DegenX]

The first part of that article ... man, right in the feels.

 

[Shady Machine]

Fun read, but it would have been nice to get more analysis of 2014-15 and what went wrong during the MJ era.

For sure. I doubt he wanted to talk about stuff that didn't work out well.

 

[Konstantin Koltsov]

So good, love these articles.

Hornqvist calling Hagelin his best friend is adorable.

 

[mpp9]

For sure. I doubt he wanted to talk about stuff that didn't work out well.

He indirectly addressed it when he was talking about how the league changes from year to year. Kings won in '12 and '14 being big and physical. Hawks in '13 and '15 being more skilled.

He stopped trying to chase what other good teams are and built a team based around what's best for us. Speed.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

For sure. I doubt he wanted to talk about stuff that didn't work out well.

Yeah, I get it. It's a victory lap. The human aspect is good to hear about, especially with how heated fans get. I.E. While some were complaining that Hagelin would be an albatross Hornqvist was elated his best friend was coming to play on his team.

Still, though, I'd love to hear him discuss the Despres trade, for example, especially since it ultimately worked out in the sense that they won a Cup and Lovejoy was a not insignificant part of that. It would also be interesting to know his thinking on the Winnik deal and Scuderi's role, etc.

I guess for me failures are more interesting to analyze than successes.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

Great article. Is it just me or is it a bit weird that a man as old as JR has an 8-year-old son?

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Yeah, I get it. It's a victory lap. The human aspect is good to hear about, especially with how heated fans get. I.E. While some were complaining that Hagelin would be an albatross Hornqvist was elated his best friend was coming to play on his team.

Still, though, I'd love to hear him discuss the Despres trade, for example, especially since it ultimately worked out in the sense that they won a Cup and Lovejoy was a not insignificant part of that. It would also be interesting to know his thinking on the Winnik deal and Scuderi's role, etc.

I guess for me failures are more interesting to analyze than successes.

The andwers are the same. Just with different results. Looking for fit and character and balancing short vs long term and checking his box. He chose personality, and fit (rhd) over talent in yhe despres deal. He added gritty depth that he thought would fit Johnstons methodical stule in Winnik just didnt work out etc. i mean just look at the Perron deal. The same thing could have been said before we acquired him. Good person, in a bad fit/situation and fits style of play the coach wants to run. Just didnt work out.

P.s. I find it awesome that Daniel Winnik seems to be the trade deadline kiss of death.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Good article.

Great article. Is it just me or is it a bit weird that a man as old as JR has an 8-year-old son?

It's not just you.

 

[ColePens]

I mean... it's a damn worthy read to say the least.

 

[TheSniper26]

Great article. Is it just me or is it a bit weird that a man as old as JR has an 8-year-old son?

We should be happy we have a GM that embraces youth. Shero only adopts 30+ year olds.

 

[billybudd]

Yeah, I get it. It's a victory lap. The human aspect is good to hear about, especially with how heated fans get. I.E. While some were complaining that Hagelin would be an albatross Hornqvist was elated his best friend was coming to play on his team.

Still, though, I'd love to hear him discuss the Despres trade, for example, especially since it ultimately worked out in the sense that they won a Cup and Lovejoy was a not insignificant part of that. It would also be interesting to know his thinking on the Winnik deal and Scuderi's role, etc.

I guess for me failures are more interesting to analyze than successes.

I think he'd be burning bridges by doing that. Going all Brian Burke in print and saying something like "You know, one trade I'd take back is when I sent a second round pick and change to Toronto for Daniel Winnik. I thought we needed a little more muscle and he had 15 goals that year, but man, night in night out, that guy's just collecting a paycheck. We should have looked at a lot more game tape on that one," kind of eliminates options for him.

Like, what if JR wants to sign a guy who happens to live down the block from Winnik in the offseason? Not going to get a real ringing endorsement.

Basically, what you're looking for, you'd have to run into him at a bar.

 

[EliteGoaltending]

I don't know if it's offtopic or not, but I actually think that Sullivan has been a blessing to Rutherford, the organization and to us all.

Many give a lot of credit to Rutherford, which is fair, I guess, but I give the biggest credit to Sullivan for how this team is working now and how they were able to win the Cup. Isn't Sullivan the one who preached about finding a team identity since the day one? If I'm not mistaken, he was talking about it in his very first interview as a head coach with Bombulie at a parking lot.
I think Sullivan gave the direction for Rutherford by finding this team identity. Speed and quick puck movement. JR went for Hagelin and Schultz then. Before that he was more of just collecting (trading for/signing) random players, especially in his first year. Some of this worked out though, but imagine this team after MJ was fired if they hired someone else, not Sullivan. I think we would see the same, not impressive team, and Rutherford probably would be trading for some veterans at the deadline, a la Despres for Lovejoy.
Sullivan trusted the young players more than the management ever did. He brought these guys along with him from WB and at first they weren't producing at NHL level, but he stick with them and later their games are kinda progressed. I think he's the main man behind this team "youth movement".

So Sullivan found an identity, trusted young players, kinda brought a different, good atmosphere to the team, not to mention an actual play on the ice, Pens are looking like a well olied machine at times.
Of course JR and co built the team, but I think without Mike Sullivan we wouldn't be here.

 

[Al Smith]

Interesting article. Kudos to JR for not bragging on the other side of the Daley equation - what he unloaded on them.

The article after JR's by James Neal was also a good read (notwithstanding Neal's two-way shortcomings, I always liked Neal and was sorry to seem him go). Many will cringe at his praise of a former coach who shall not be named. . . .