Writers Who Could Be GMs

Chris will be rejoining the NHL world very soon. His new position should be announced within a week or two.

 

It's easy to be an OK GM. Hire good scouts and coaches and then stay out of the drafting. Do some of the work in finances and help in free agency since those guys will have already proven what they can do and you would need to have some say in how much to spend on who so the salary cap is good. That's it. Basically do the finances, be the accountant, and stay out of the scouting.

It is very, very hard to be a great GM. Guys like Polian are great because they are great scouters. Not everyone can see the right things in players and know who to draft. That is the difference between great GM's (great scouters), OK GM's (hands off approach) and horrible GM's (thinks they can scout great but in reality suck at it).

It's kind of like color commentary. A lot of people can do a good enough job. You just have to like to talk and at least somewhat know the sport. It is very hard to be a great color guy because you have to immerse yourself into everything and do countless hours of research so you know everything or have it on paper right in front of you.

 

I believe that the Jacksonville Jaguars offered the GM job to Mort a number of years ago. Or maybe it was assistant GM.