Quoting: DirtyDangles
Huh, maybe because NO COACH/GM thinks he can do it! Jesus Christ man! People who are way smarter than you when it comes to hockey clearly know more!
An NHL GM last year traded Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith (2/3rds of one of the best lines in hockey) for effectively Alex Petrovic (3rd pair dman) and a 4th-round pick. Another this year gave an AHL enforcer a 4-year NHL deal. A third gave Cody McLeod, an abysmal player in every way, one of the worst if not the worst in the NHL, a contract to play for them. A fourth one gave a 4-year deal to a 32-year-old who's 5v5 game died years ago. That one was also rebuilding. A fifth traded a for a winger to play center so he could play a center on the wing. That move was predicated on the coach's decision to play the center on the wing despite the center consistently having better results as a center than as a winger. A 6th traded this year's MVP for a decent top-pair defenceman. A 7th traded a first rounder right before his team bottomed out.
Yeah, NHL GMs aren't the best authorities.
Coaching highlights include: the aforementioned refusal to play the center at center, the decision to play Johnny Boychuck ahead of the younger and more effective Ryan Pulock, and Randy Carlyle's entire career in Toronto, which was an absolute smorgasbord of bad coaching.
But perhaps the best indictment of coaching decisions and Gming decisions comes from the Vegas Golden Knights. A team composed of depth pieces made the cup finals. Why?
FLA's GM horrifically undervalued 2/3rds of their top line
CBJ's coach refused to give opportunities to the other 1/3rd
Their 2C was refused top-six opportunities
Their 3RW was hugely undervalued by his organization, and had not been given an extended NHL stay
Their #1D was never used in a top-4
Neither was either part of their (excellent) 2nd pairing.
Vegas's run should damn well have put to bed the idea that NHL coaches and GMs are an authority. The NHL is a massive old boys' club and the effectiveness of their talent evaluators is severely compromised because of this. Appealing to them as an authority in an argument is not a valid point.