GM of the Year is a Two-Horse Race
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate with Gord Stellick and Scott Laughlin. He was asked about the General Manager of the Year award, and he believes it is a two-man race between the Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill and the Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Gord Stellick: ‘The General Manager of the Year voting, is now two rounds into the playoffs. David, I wonder, and I don’t know whether it’s a good idea or not, that others should follow suit or what have you, but I wonder the changing, like who you would have voted for at the end of the regular season, and then who you would think of voting for after two rounds at the playoffs.”
David Pagnotta: “Yeah. I mean, it would have been, for me, probably going back to Dallas, back to Jim Nill for third year in a row. I think for him, with what he’s been able to do with this club. And we touched on Vegas not being afraid to take swings. Jim Nill and his staff and the Stars have not been afraid to certainly, take big swings either and take advantage of certain situations.
Their guys being out of action frees up some cab space, allows them to make big, bold moves, not just, and not just strictly with respect to Mikko Rantanen. But bringing in some other pieces. The deal they made with San Jose to bring in Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci on the back end, to deepen the roster even further was impressive to me. I really liked that move at the time.
And going into the playoffs, I thought those caliber pieces were going to step up for the Stars. And now you fast forward here, as we get to the Conference Final. I still would put Jim Nill right at the top, or near the top. But just looking at the Panthers and what Bill Zito has done with with this group year after year, and taking those swings as well, by bringing in (Seth) Jones, by bringing in (Brad) Marchand, and just realizing and recognizing that certain players like Jones would be able to fit and mesh well with within their system and improve as time progresses.
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And he’s going to get that much better in the coming years with how he’s able to play, you know, with this group. And one of the things he acknowledged after the game yesterday (Sunday) as well against the Leafs was sitting down with the coaching staff, going through tape after tape after tape over the first couple of weeks of joining the club and adjusting his game to being a little bit more aggressive. Offensively, in a manner in which that fits the team structure, and to recognize that this player who a lot of people thought might be on the downside of his career, is even at a fairly young age. That takes a lot of guts, and it takes a certain eye for talent.
For me, it would be a flip of a coin right now between Bill Zito and Jim Nill for what they’ve done for their franchises over the last several months here.”
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