Washington Capitals: Brian MacLellan snubbed of GM of the year award

Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan should have been one of the three finalists for the NHL’s general manager of the year award.

On Tuesday, the NHL announced its three finalists for the GM of the year award. This season’s nominees are Peter Chiarelli from the Edmonton Oilers, David Poile of the Nashville Predators and Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators. Notably absent from the list is Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan.

Each of the nominees had a solid year in their own right. However, how does one judge a general manager? Using the things they can control (roster management and acquiring assets come to mind) is a pretty good litmus test.

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There’s not a sane soul in the land who will argue Poile shouldn’t have been a nominee. Heck, he should probably be the winner. Acquiring P.K. Subban changed the team for the best. Factor it in with the fantastic job he’s done over the past few years and this nomination is long overdue. However, GMBM should been a finalist over the other two. Here’s why MacLellan should have been a nominee over two of the finalists.

Peter Chiarelli

My problem with Chiarelli being a nominee is he didn’t play too much into the Oilers success this year. Strictly looking at his moves from the end of last season to this one, his only impactful move was trading Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. The latter is a solid defenseman, but the former is a borderline elite scorer.

Had Larsson been the difference between the 2015-16 Oilers and this year’s team, he might have a case. But even Chiarelli’s biggest supporters must admit a healthy Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom, Leon Draisaitl and a much better Cam Talbot determined Edmonton’s success more than the former New Jersey Devils defenseman.

Pierre Dorion

This is a downright questionable decision to have Dorion as a nominee. His most impactful move? Hiring Guy Boucher. Admittedly, it was a brilliant move. However, what else did he do? Dorion acquired Alexandre Burrows, Victor Stalberg, Derick Brassard and Tommy Wingels. Brassard is the lone great player of the bunch and the Senators gave up Mika Zibanejad to get him. Burrows has been virtually invisible in the playoffs, with just four points in 14 games. Stalberg has two points in 12 games while Wingels has zero in seven games. It’s not unreasonable to say Boucher has made Dorion look brilliant.

Brian MacLellan

His obvious big move was trading for Kevin Shattenkirk. Sure, he gave up a first round pick and Zach Sanford to do it, but it’s the kind of move contenders are justified to make. Maybe the Caps don’t beat the Leafs without Shattenkirk, especially if one factors in the Karl Alzner injury.

MacLellan also traded for Lars Eller, who showed why he’s worth the two second round picks he gave up for him. GMBM basically got a trade deadline acquisition in the summer. That’s called planning ahead and it’s what the best general managers do. Signing Brett Connolly turned out to be a pretty darn good move (his playoff benching not withstanding). MacLellan also found a way to squeeze Dmitry Orlov under the cap, which was brilliant.

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It’s hard to think what else the Capitals general manager could have reasonably done to help his team win. He gave Barry Trotz a ton of talent to work with. At the end of the day, that’s all a general manager can do. MacLellan did his job better than Chiarelli and Dorion, and one could probably argue Poile as well.