Who would you have replacing Poile?

Viqsi

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In addition to the open revolt we have going against Hynes, there's been some talk of giving Poile a gold watch and a "thank you very much" as a result of recent questionable roster construction calls and the Hynes hire.

I personally don't like seeing people fired unless a replacement can be lined up or there's good folks to look at. With Hynes, that's not much of an issue - there's plenty of decent coaching candidates I can think of. But for Poile? I don't know GM candidates all that well, and so I'm curious as to what other folks here think. The only guy I know of for sure is Sully, and, well, he didn't exactly last in Arizona so I'm not sure what was going on there.

To those who want to claim "it doesn't matter, anyone is an improvement" - remember, it can always get worse. ;) If we're going to be giving the only GM this franchise has ever known the heave-ho, I'd want to see if we're truly going to be able to get an upgrade.
 

Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
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I still don't believe it can get worse on the coaching front. :ipeace

But it definitely could on the GM front. I think we usually have even less of a clue about who are rising candidates in the GM world than we do coaches, too. I just want Poile to fire Hynes so it doesn't even really become something we need to worry our pretty heads too much over. If he can just do that, then I'm all good with getting a few extra miles out of Poile as GM before he retires.

The thing that makes me nervous, just on general principle, is the prospect of his son being named the heir. It sure feels like that's the plan. And for all I know Brian Poile is fully capable. But it just worries me.

I really want to see this team under The Right Coach, first. I still can't buy that this team should be so bad. I look at our Cup run, or the Pres Trophy year, and all Poile has really done is work to upgrade and add elements to those core pieces, and yet somehow we are this much worse as a team? I mean, granted, having Subban evaporate as a player hurt us, and the goaltending isn't the same as Pekka at his best. But is that enough to go practically from first to worst? I just want David Poile to Do The Right Thing and get us a different style of coach first. Then if that still doesn't work, we can talk about blowing things up, and maybe giving a new GM the detonator to perform that task. I'm not at that point just yet.
 
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triggrman

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In addition to the open revolt we have going against Hynes, there's been some talk of giving Poile a gold watch and a "thank you very much" as a result of recent questionable roster construction calls and the Hynes hire.

I personally don't like seeing people fired unless a replacement can be lined up or there's good folks to look at. With Hynes, that's not much of an issue - there's plenty of decent coaching candidates I can think of. But for Poile? I don't know GM candidates all that well, and so I'm curious as to what other folks here think. The only guy I know of for sure is Sully, and, well, he didn't exactly last in Arizona so I'm not sure what was going on there.

To those who want to claim "it doesn't matter, anyone is an improvement" - remember, it can always get worse. ;) If we're going to be giving the only GM this franchise has ever known the heave-ho, I'd want to see if we're truly going to be able to get an upgrade.
Not many know GM candidates, so few will have any clue.
 

Bringer of Jollity

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Oct 20, 2011
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Not sure who I'd want, but I'm definitely afraid it's going to be Kealty and we'll continue with all the USA Hockey bullshit for the next 10+ years.

Walker is interesting, being a former player that has grips on the "heart" and "style" of the Preds org, but I'm not sure whether he has enough experience to get the big chair after Poile leaves.
 

NoNecksCurse

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Oct 19, 2011
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Not sure who I'd want, but I'm definitely afraid it's going to be Kealty and we'll continue with all the USA Hockey bullshit for the next 10+ years.

Walker is interesting, being a former player that has grips on the "heart" and "style" of the Preds org, but I'm not sure whether he has enough experience to get the big chair after Poile leaves.
agree on both. walker, sullivan may tug at heart strings but i don’t see enough on their resumes to be considered anywhere close to GM of an NHL team.

if Kealty was poile’s replacement, I’ll be pissed beyond belief.
 
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glenngineer

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Jan 27, 2010
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There's something to be said about hiring guys who played the game, played it at an elite level, won championships, and also have the brains to be guys who can build a roster. While I know guys like Yzerman and Sakic are tied to their respective clubs, those are the guys we need to be targeting. Unfortunately, we've never had a player or players that had that sort of success here.

We need championship pedigree in that locker room and it has to start somewhere. We had some of that with Laviolette and guys like Bonino but we didn't have that go-to guy. Chicago is competitive because of high-end guys like Kane and Keith who have won championships. The young guys buy-in because they've been there. While Detroit is still a work in progress, do you think any of them want to disappoint Yzerman? Sakic has done a masterful job of building a great team in Colorado. He was helped out by having some high picks but he's also filled out the roster with a solid ensemble.

At the end of the day, would a guy like Peter Forsberg or Paul Kariya have the wear with all to come in and be a GM? Both played at another level. Both have won championships. Both are cerebral assassins. Maybe they don't have what it takes to build a team or even the interest but these are the sorts of guys you target. Guys who see the big picture. Guys who can walk into a room and have the respect right off the bat. Guys who can negotiate with free agents and get them to come here.

Poile builds nice teams, he doesn't build championship teams.
 

NoNecksCurse

#164303
Oct 19, 2011
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There's something to be said about hiring guys who played the game, played it at an elite level, won championships, and also have the brains to be guys who can build a roster. While I know guys like Yzerman and Sakic are tied to their respective clubs, those are the guys we need to be targeting. Unfortunately, we've never had a player or players that had that sort of success here.

We need championship pedigree in that locker room and it has to start somewhere. We had some of that with Laviolette and guys like Bonino but we didn't have that go-to guy. Chicago is competitive because of high-end guys like Kane and Keith who have won championships. The young guys buy-in because they've been there. While Detroit is still a work in progress, do you think any of them want to disappoint Yzerman? Sakic has done a masterful job of building a great team in Colorado. He was helped out by having some high picks but he's also filled out the roster with a solid ensemble.

At the end of the day, would a guy like Peter Forsberg or Paul Kariya have the wear with all to come in and be a GM? Both played at another level. Both have won championships. Both are cerebral assassins. Maybe they don't have what it takes to build a team or even the interest but these are the sorts of guys you target. Guys who see the big picture. Guys who can walk into a room and have the respect right off the bat. Guys who can negotiate with free agents and get them to come here.

Poile builds nice teams, he doesn't build championship teams.
Kariya was the ultimate professional and by far the best player we have ever had in our franchise history.

Kariya has the pedigree as a player that I would be over the moon w/ him as GM. Talk about a fantasy though.
 
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Osprey

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Feb 18, 2005
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Dean Lombardi, please.

Along with a few others here, I got to see firsthand the job that he did rebuilding LA. Like Nashville, LA had little team culture when he arrived. There wasn't much of an identity and they hadn't won anything. He gave them an identity and established a winning culture. It wasn't instant and was bumpy in the beginning, but it paid off. He established a 5-year plan and stuck to it. Year 6 was 2012. It wouldn't necessarily take that long here, though, because the Preds have more to work with.

He's focused and meticulous. One of the things that he did was make sure that the NHL and AHL teams played the exact same system, so that players felt comfortable and were ready to contribute when they were called up. That paid off, especially with players like King and Nolan, who were called up and made an immediate impact in the Spring of 2012. He also made smart trades at the right time that paid off quickly, like Brayden Schenn for Mike Richards and Jack Johnson for Jeff Carter. He also refused to hand out big contracts until the players really proved their worth. All of his eventual bad contracts (like Gaborik) were handed out as rewards after winning the Cup, not as down payments before any success. He wouldn't have given Turris or Duchene the contracts that Poile did, for example. He's not perfect, but he's smart, detail oriented and knows how to build a team.

If he could convince Darryl Sutter to come out of coaching retirement, as well, that would be even better, IMO.
 
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Scoresberg

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May 28, 2015
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I still don't believe it can get worse on the coaching front. :ipeace

But it definitely could on the GM front. I think we usually have even less of a clue about who are rising candidates in the GM world than we do coaches, too. I just want Poile to fire Hynes so it doesn't even really become something we need to worry our pretty heads too much over. If he can just do that, then I'm all good with getting a few extra miles out of Poile as GM before he retires.

The thing that makes me nervous, just on general principle, is the prospect of his son being named the heir. It sure feels like that's the plan. And for all I know Brian Poile is fully capable. But it just worries me.

I really want to see this team under The Right Coach, first. I still can't buy that this team should be so bad. I look at our Cup run, or the Pres Trophy year, and all Poile has really done is work to upgrade and add elements to those core pieces, and yet somehow we are this much worse as a team? I mean, granted, having Subban evaporate as a player hurt us, and the goaltending isn't the same as Pekka at his best. But is that enough to go practically from first to worst? I just want David Poile to Do The Right Thing and get us a different style of coach first. Then if that still doesn't work, we can talk about blowing things up, and maybe giving a new GM the detonator to perform that task. I'm not at that point just yet.

I'm right here as well. This should be a good team, better than the ones who actually had success, but for some reason (Hynes) it isn't translating on the ice.

This is still Poile's team and his core. I want to see them under a better coach first before retiring Poile. Of course, if he fails to make the moves to squeeze more out of this roster, then his head is also on the chopping block.
 

Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
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I'm right here as well. This should be a good team, better than the ones who actually had success, but for some reason (Hynes) it isn't translating on the ice.

This is still Poile's team and his core. I want to see them under a better coach first before retiring Poile. Of course, if he fails to make the moves to squeeze more out of this roster, then his head is also on the chopping block.
I just don't understand why he himself wouldn't feel some desperation to see this core succeed similarly. He put in a lot to build, retain, tweak this roster. And he's getting near the end of the line. You'd think he'd have the shortest fuse of all with any coaching issues.
 
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Scoresberg

In Trotz We Trust?
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In my opinion, Poile's biggest roster building mistake for this year was rushing Fabbro into a top-four role and not having a backup plan for it.

It's no coincidence the start of our struggles as a team line up with the Subban trade and losing that elite shutdown pair behind Josi and Ellis. Fabbro's had his moments but overall he's struggled to make an impact and the 2nd pair is nowhere near as good as it were with Subban.

I think it affects the whole team from top to bottom, and I think we could've gotten away with it 2017-2018 Rinne but the fact is our goalies need more help. I think with having a legit shutdown pair and Fabbro handling that 3rd pair, we'd be much better off.
 
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Bringer of Jollity

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Oct 20, 2011
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Dean Lombardi, please.

Along with a few others here, I got to see firsthand the job that he did rebuilding LA. Like Nashville, LA had little team culture when he arrived. There wasn't much of an identity and they hadn't won anything. He gave them an identity and established a winning culture. It wasn't instant and was bumpy in the beginning, but it paid off. He established a 5-year plan and stuck to it. Year 6 was 2012. It wouldn't necessarily take that long here, though, because the Preds have more to work with.

He's focused and meticulous. One of the things that he did was make sure that the NHL and AHL teams played the exact same system, so that players felt comfortable and were ready to contribute when they were called up. That paid off, especially with players like King and Nolan, who were called up and made an immediate impact in the Spring of 2012. He also made smart trades at the right time that paid off quickly, like Brayden Schenn for Mike Richards and Jack Johnson for Jeff Carter. He also refused to hand out big contracts until the players really proved their worth. All of his eventual bad contracts (like Gaborik) were handed out as rewards after winning the Cup, not as down payments before any success. He wouldn't have given Turris or Duchene the contracts that Poile did, for example. He's not perfect, but he's smart, detail oriented and knows how to build a team.

If he could convince Darryl Sutter to come out of coaching retirement, as well, that would be even better, IMO.
Lombardi was definitely successful, and I'm with you on Sutter for sure, but gosh I loathe him. :laugh:

At the same time, I think the Pred I liked the most is gone, and there's only a handful I'd be broken up about losing (and I think those, Josi/Forsberg, might be kept around by DL anyway), so I think his hatchet job would be easier to stomach this time around. Just as long as we fire him before he starts handing out awful 2nd/3rd contracts.
 

Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
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Maybe instead of spending all that money on Duchene we should have gone after a Pietrangelo or some other star-level D to replace Subban.

I mean, it wasn't really trading Subban that was the problem, it's that Subban himself fell apart and couldn't play anymore. At least Poile got out of that contract in time. But instead of doubling down on a #2C after spending big on Turris, maybe we could have spent that money on a Subban replacement instead. :dunno: Or something that actually helped our team more anyway. Instead we just flipped that straight onto Duchene, and he simply hasn't done anything for us whatsoever.

Fabbro is still fine, but to be honest I'd like to see him not knocked down to the 3rd pair, but rather promoted to the 1st pair! Run with Josi-Fabbro and Ekholm-Ellis for a while. I think it might force Josi to be a little less reckless... he seems to have a comfort level playing with Ellis for some reason that I don't even feel is supported by Ellis' level of play. But having an Ekholm-Ellis pairing might give them both a little breathing room as well.

I would definitely like to target signing David Savard in the off-season as a free agent. Possibly Adam Larsson as a fallback although I'm more leery about him these days.
 

Predsanddead24

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Mar 7, 2019
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Maybe instead of spending all that money on Duchene we should have gone after a Pietrangelo or some other star-level D to replace Subban.

I mean, it wasn't really trading Subban that was the problem, it's that Subban himself fell apart and couldn't play anymore. At least Poile got out of that contract in time. But instead of doubling down on a #2C after spending big on Turris, maybe we could have spent that money on a Subban replacement instead. :dunno: Or something that actually helped our team more anyway. Instead we just flipped that straight onto Duchene, and he simply hasn't done anything for us whatsoever.

Fabbro is still fine, but to be honest I'd like to see him not knocked down to the 3rd pair, but rather promoted to the 1st pair! Run with Josi-Fabbro and Ekholm-Ellis for a while. I think it might force Josi to be a little less reckless... he seems to have a comfort level playing with Ellis for some reason that I don't even feel is supported by Ellis' level of play. But having an Ekholm-Ellis pairing might give them both a little breathing room as well.

I would definitely like to target signing David Savard in the off-season as a free agent. Possibly Adam Larsson as a fallback although I'm more leery about him these days.

Should have signed Pavelski and Shattenkirk in the 2019 offseason are my revisionist but also something I proposed at the time takes.
 
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