Defending McPhee

The Hockey News unveiled its third annual GM rankings in the March 30 issue and somehow Caps GM George McPhee is ranked 18th. First let's examine what THN said about GMGM:

George McPhee
Career: 395-397-126 (.516)
Cups: 0
Playoffs: 3-5 series record
The Capitals haven't changed their line-up much since last season, but have continued their upward trajectory into a Stanley Cup contender under coach Bruce Boudreau. Getting Mike Green under contract long term was essential, but after years of being a budget team, the Caps are in danger of being squeezed by the salary cap in the future. Signing the underrated Brooks Laich for $2 million a season was a good move. The Jose Theodore signing will be judged by his playoff performance.

That doesn't sound so bad, right? Props to THN for mentioning Brooks Laich, who clearly offers more than his stats indicate. And, while we can't disagree with their assessment of Jose Theodore, how is GMGM in the bottom half of the rankings?

The top two GMs, Ken Holland of Detroit (11th season, three Cups) and Lou Lamoriello (21st year, three Cups) of New Jersey, without question have earned those spots. The next two, Doug Wilson of the San Jose Sharks and Peter Chiarelli, probably deserve their place too.

But then comes the confounders: David Poile of the Nashville Predators, ranked fifth; Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leafs, ranked seventh; Dean Lombardi of the L.A. Kings, ranked ninth; and Jacques Martin of the Florida Panthers, ranked 12th. (The others in the top-dozen are Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames, Darcy Regier of the Buffalo Sabres, Bob Gainey of the Montreal Canadiens and Dale Tallon of the Chicago Blackhawks.)

None of the aforementioned GMs have done a better job than McPhee. Nothing against the former Caps' GM, but David Poile's tenure with the Predators hardly has been noteworthy. Nashville has made the playoffs the last four seasons but haven't won a playoff series yet. Poile's lifetime playoff record as GM (some with the Caps) is an embarrassing 7-18. Ouch.

If this was a ranking of all-time GMs, then Burke would be ahead of McPhee. While Burke has an impressive 412-334-141 record in his 10 seasons as GM with one Stanley Cup (with the Anaheim Ducks in 1996), he's only gone 7-6 in the playoffs -- and four of those series wins came during the Cup run. There's no doubt Burke has impacted the NHL in a good way, but his performance as a GM the last few years leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, Toronto might return to prominence. But it's not happening for a few more years. The New York Rangers' Glen Sather (who clearly is past his prime) was buried at 28th, but somehow Burke made the top-10. Go figure.

As for Lombardi, there's no doubt that the Kings have a very bright future ahead. But Lombardi has just a 2-5 playoff record and a 327-371-126 lifetime record. He certainly has a strong case for future rankings, but not this time around. He somehow jumped from 27th last year to ninth this time around. Maybe he should have been 18th.

And then there's Martin, the biggest head-scratcher of them all. In his third season as Cats' GM, he's got a 107-90-34 record. Not bad. But they've missed the playoffs every season (although they might squeeze in this year) and does get credit for hiring coach Peter DeBoer. But that's not enough to place him 12th.

Others in front of McPhee include Scott Howson of the Columbus Blue Jackets (a franchise that's never made the playoffs), Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins (who inherited both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin), Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks (in his first season as GM), Doug Risebrough of the Minnesota Wild (2-5 in the playoffs) and Paul Holmgren of the Philadelphia Flyers, the only one of that list that belongs near McPhee (besides maybe Shero).

Yes, McPhee's playoff record isn't overly impressive. But to say that the Caps are "in danger of being squeezed by the salary cap in the future" isn't telling the whole story. Elsewhere in the same feature, THN lists that the Caps have drafted 33 players (1999-2008) who have suited up in the NHL. There's also a picture of Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green with the caption "Washington's four biggest stars were all drafted and developed in-house."

That list doesn't include regulars Jeff Schultz or Eric Fehr and doesn't give McPhee credit for knowing that Laich would blossom before reaching the NHL (not including a one-game, cup-of-coffee with Ottawa). It fails to note that the Hershey Bears are thriving and have boatloads of talent waiting to crack the Caps' roster or, in some cases, have played in the NHL this season -- such as Karl Alzner, Chris Bourque and Simeon Varlamov.

It doesn't mention that McPhee smartly passed at this year's trade deadline because of the salary cap and omits the fact that some players from this year's team (most notably Michael Nylander) probably won't be returning. Finally, it leaves out that GMGM hired Bruce Boudreau to coach the Bears and then the Caps, which proved to be brilliant.

Yes, the Caps haven't won a Stanley Cup -- although that should change very soon. But to bury McPhee behind the GMs of Nashville, Columbus, Minnesota, Florida, Toronto and L.A. is just plain insulting.