NHL Power Rankings: A look at every team’s GM situation ahead of trade deadline

The change of pace from trade deadline season to stretch run for NHL general managers must be quite something. For weeks in January, February and early March, you’re sacrificing sleep in the name of endless scouting, staff meetings and phone calls with fellow GMs as you work every conceivable angle to improve your club. Then, one morning, you wake up and the only thing you can do to help your team is make someone’s day by telling him he’s been promoted from the AHL.

It’s quite a turnaround.

For eight more days, though, until the March 7 deadline hits, GMs still have considerable ability to shape their teams. That’s true whether you’re trying to find a piece that puts you over the top, just gets you into the dance or sets you up down the road.

So, exactly who are these bleary-eyed souls in expensive suits? For this edition of the power rankings, on the precipice of the deadline, we’re doing a quick check on the GM situation for all 32 teams.

1. Winnipeg Jets (42-14-3): Kevin Cheveldayoff will be the longest-serving GM in the league if he holds the post through next season, when Doug Armstrong is scheduled to step aside in St. Louis. He was hired in 2011 to helm the return to Winnipeg, and while things have gone well on balance, a 2018 run to the West final still stands as the only time the club made a deep playoff push. A quick exit this year with this fantastic squad would be excruciating.

2. Washington Capitals (38-12-8): Chris Patrick became the Caps GM when he took the job in early July. Of course, much of the credit for this surprising season and incredible re-tool goes to Brian MacLellan, who held the gig from 2014 to ’24 before dropping the GM title to focus on being president of hockey operations. The continuity in D.C. is incredible. Patrick is just the fourth Caps GM since 1982 and has been with the club since 2008-09. MacLellan, meanwhile, is in his 24^th season with Washington.

3. Dallas Stars (37-19-2): Jim Nill has yet to deliver a Cup to Dallas in a dozen years on the job, but it’s hard to argue that many people are doing it better than the longtime Stars and Red Wings executive. Dallas is poised to be a contender for years to come, thanks to fantastic drafting and development.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs (36-20-2): This is Year 2 for Brad Treliving in Toronto, and his work last summer — signing defenceman Chris Tanev and goalie Anthony Stolarz, specifically — looks really good.

5. Los Angeles Kings (31-17-8): It seemed like Rob Blake might take a slow-and-steady approach to rebuilding the Kings when he became GM in 2017. But L.A. made big off-season moves to acquire players like Kevin Fiala and Pierre-Luc Dubois in consecutive summers. Now, according to Nick Kypreos’ latest trade board, there’s a chance the Kings would consider moving 2020 second-overall pick Quinton Byfield if the return was somebody who could help L.A. punch through in the playoffs.

6. Vegas Golden Knights (34-18-6): Kelly McCrimmon took over from original GM George McPhee after Vegas’ second season. The two men — McPhee is president of hockey ops — have formed, unquestionably, the most aggressive front office duo out there.

7. Tampa Bay Lightning (33-20-4): Julien BriseBois took over from Steve Yzerman in Tampa in 2018. His 2020 moves to acquire Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow at the deadline helped Tampa finally get over the top, and his acquisition of Brandon Hagel three years ago ahead of the deadline was a winner, too.

8. Florida Panthers (35-21-3): All Bill Zito has done since taking over the Cats in 2020 is deliver two Eastern Conference titles and the first Cup in franchise history. His deals for Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett were home runs, and plucking Gus Forsling off waivers might be his masterpiece.

9. Edmonton Oilers (34-20-4): Stan Bowman was reinstated by the NHL on July 1, 2024 and hired about three weeks later to be Edmonton’s GM. Bowman had been banned from working in the NHL since late 2021 due to the fact that he was part of a staff in Chicago that had an “inadequate response upon being informed in 2010 of allegations that Chicago Blackhawks player Kyle Beach had been assaulted by the team’s video coach.” We’ll see how Bowman, a three-time Cup winner in Chicago, shapes the Oilers roster that came within one victory of a title last spring.

10. Minnesota Wild (34-20-4): Bill Guerin was hired by the Wild in 2019, and his profile is only going to grow in the coming years. For one thing, Minnesota is almost clear of the dead cap money created by buyouts for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Also, Guerin just put together the U.S. roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the Massachusetts product will be constructing Team USA’s 2026 Olympic entry.

11. Detroit Red Wings (30-22-6): How are we feeling about the “Yzerplan” these days? Steve Yzerman was named Wings GM in 2019 and has yet to get the club into the playoffs. If that doesn’t change this year, angst is going to really spike.

12. Colorado Avalanche (34-24-2): Chris MacFarland took over the GM duties right after the Avs won the Cup in 2022 when Joe Sakic moved upstairs to focus on being president of hockey operations. MacFarland has been bold this year, dealing pending-UFA Mikko Rantanen and completely making over his goalie battery by acquiring Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. Odds are, he’s not done yet.

13. Carolina Hurricanes (33-21-4): Eric Tulsky is living the blog-boy dream, having gone from hockey writer to GM of the Hurricanes. He was hired a decade ago by the analytics-forward Canes as an analyst and became the GM last summer. He’s got himself in quite a pinch right now, having made a daring move to acquire Mikko Rantanen but suddenly running out of time to either get the pending UFA’s name on a new deal or flip him before the deadline to recoup some assets. Stay tuned.

14. New Jersey Devils (32-22-6): Tom Fitzgerald has been on the job since early 2020, and the Devils are firmly in win-now mode. He made a big swing two years ago at the deadline to grab Timo Meier from San Jose and tried to address the team’s shortcomings in net by getting Jacob Markstrom in the summer. Let’s see if Jersey adds some sandpaper before March 7.

15. Calgary Flames (28-21-8): Craig Conroy really got thrown into the fire last year as a first-year GM, with a slew of pending UFAs — Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov — to put on the trade market. Conroy won’t be selling anybody this year as his squad, to the surprise of many, sits a single point outside the playoffs right now (and holds games in hand on the teams directly above it).

16. New York Rangers (29-25-4): Chris Drury — the Rangers GM since 2021 — has likely had a higher profile than he’d hoped for this season, with the organization more or less openly feuding with former (and since traded) captain Jacob Trouba and seeing a note he sent other GMs indicating Chris Kreider — the longest-tenured Ranger — was available via trade become public knowledge. His team also went 4-15-0 from Nov. 21 to Dec. 30, so about the only thing that can salvage this season is a surprise playoff run.

17. Columbus Blue Jackets (28-22-8): It felt like 66-year-old Don Waddell was done being a GM when he took the job as president of the Hurricanes in 2014. But he eventually assumed the GM reins there, and he resigned that post last May to take over the Jackets, who are challenging for a playoff spot and face a tough call on whether or not to trade pending-UFA defenceman Ivan Provorov.

18. Utah Hockey Club (26-24-9): Bill Armstrong surely feels like he got a new lease on his professional life when the cash-strapped Arizona Coyotes — who hired him in 2020 — moved to Utah. There’s a go-for-it mandate now, and Armstrong has the stockpile of futures to make it happen.

19. Vancouver Canucks (27-20-11): Patrik Allvin became the first Swede and second European after Jarmo Kekalainen to be an NHL GM when the Canucks hired him just over three years ago. He’s already traded one top-six centre this season in J.T. Miller, and it’s an ongoing subplot to see if he’ll move another in Elias Pettersson before the latter’s no-move clause kicks in on July 1.

20. Ottawa Senators (29-25-4): Steve Staios has been on the job for about 15 months in Ottawa. You can bet he’ll be examining every possible way to squeeze this Sens team into the post-season while hoping his prized off-season acquisition — goalie Linus Ullmark — finds his form soon.

21. Boston Bruins (27-24-8): Don Sweeney, who will mark his 10-year anniversary as B’s GM in May, is in unfamiliar deadline territory right now. Boston is outside the playoffs and signalling it could be a seller, possibly even parting with captain and pending-UFA Brad Marchand.

22. Montreal Canadiens (27-26-5): Agent-turned-GM Kent Hughes was hired just over three years ago by new (at the time) hockey ops president Jeff Gorton to get the Canadiens back up on their feet. The Habs are fringe playoff contenders and probably need to win every game between now and the deadline to dissuade Hughes from selling.

23. Anaheim Ducks (25-25-7): Pat Verbeek was hired in February of 2022 to shape the Ducks into a winner. It feels like Anaheim needs to make a meaningful leap next season.

24. Philadelphia Flyers (26-26-7): Former Flyers player Daniel Briere has been adamant about this being a full-scale rebuild since he was hired as GM nearly two years ago in March of 2023. Matvei Michkov landing in North America is a big win for the team, but it sure feels like Philly would benefit greatly from a Top-3 pick that doesn’t seem to be coming.

25. St. Louis Blues (27-26-6): Doug Armstrong showed he still has a fastball when he inked Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets last summer that the Edmonton Oilers ultimately chose not to match. The longest-tenured GM in the league took over the big chair in 2010 in St. Louis, but he’s turning it over to Alex Steen in the summer of 2026. Of course, Armstrong — after putting together Canada’s victorious entry at the 4 Nations — has another roster to construct for the 2026 Games.

26. New York Islanders (25-25-7): This is Lou Lamoriello’s 38th season as a GM in the NHL. Put it this way: The 82-year-old had a 20-year career at Providence College before taking over the Devils in the late ’80s. Will this be his last year in the post? In classic Lou fashion, we don’t really know.

27. Buffalo Sabres (24-27-5): Kevyn Adams was hired in 2020 to helm the Sabres, and things just haven’t gotten any better. If he loses his job before the Sabres make the playoffs, the next person will be the fifth general manager the Sabres have had since last qualifying for the post-season in 2011.

28. Seattle Kraken (25-31-4): Ron Francis, along with Steve Yzerman and Rob Blake, is one of three NHL GMs who were Hall-of-Fame players. After a long run in Carolina, he was hired in the summer of 2019 to start the Kraken blueprint. Seattle is about to miss the playoffs for the third time in four seasons, and let’s face it, expansion teams get less grace than they did 20 years ago.

29. Pittsburgh Penguins (23-28-9): Kyle Dubas was hired in the summer of 2023 and made two critical mistakes that summer: acquiring Erik Karlsson and inking Tristan Jarry to a long-term deal. His task — rebuilding the Pens without having the ability to deal away the team’s veterans — is one of the most fascinating and challenging in hockey.

30. Nashville Predators (20-30-7): Let’s just say the Barry Trotz experience has not been what we anticipated when he replaced the only other GM Nashville has ever had, David Poile, two years ago. Trotz has done a double-gainer into the UFA pool each of the past two summers — but especially in 2024 — and sadly, the results speak for themselves.

31. Chicago Blackhawks (17-34-7): In fairness to Kyle Davidson, these things take time, and it seems like rebuilding in the NHL — just like winning the Cup — is harder than it’s ever been. Still, you can sense patience wearing thin in the Windy City, where Davidson has been the GM since the fall of 2021.

32. San Jose Sharks (15-36-8): Mike Grier was hired as GM of the Sharks in 2022, and even one year ago, it was hard to claim the club was clearly moving in the right direction. Flash forward 12 months and, after getting the lottery luck every bottom-feeder hopes for, San Jose has Macklin Celebrini at the top of the lineup, another great prospect at centre in Will Smith, a stud defence prospect in Sam Dickinson and a clear goalie-of-the-future in Yaroslav Askarov, who Grier dealt for in the summer. All in all, it feels like San Jose is in good hands.

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