Two playoff series wins in 12 years (I'm not counting 1998). He's made some big-time mistakes and for the most part his drafting outside of the first round has been extremely poor. I don't think McPhee needs to go right now, but let's see how the season ends. Poti's contract - terrible. Schultz's contract - terrible. Remember Nylander and all those awful years where our defense was made up of Doig and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre? You can even argue he overpaid for Semin and Laich. I don't think he's a bad general manager but let's be real: a miracle run in 2008 thanks to Ovechkin (GMGM made some great moves at the deadline to help) saved his job, and he deserves to be on the chopping block. At what point does he not get the blame for an organization that cannot win? It IS his fault to an extent when he brings in players who can't get it done or gives players bad contracts. A general manager should be able to have some kind of pulse of the team and I fault him for believing in Bruce for as long as he did, though I think Ted had some influence on that as well.
He is not a top-three general manager. Not even close. The guy has won two playoff series in a decade! Ken Holland craps all over McPhee, as does Ray Shero. Both are incredibly superior, Boston's GM Chicarelli is also much better, and I give Glen Sather a lot of credit for building this current Rangers team that is pretty damn scary.
The team was rebuilding for 5 years. He can't be blamed for that stretch, as he actually got the team winning sooner than expected. Nylander was also not his fault- maybe you can blame him for sticking with Hanlon through the offseason, but Nylander was able to play Hanlon's style, not Boudreau's. This offseason the Caps had by far the best offseason of any team- which does not guarantee victory, but it does signify a good GM. You can argue sticking with Boudreau too long as well (though I don't agree). Schultz, believe it or not, had an excellent year before getting his contract. He led the league in +/- that year (granted he was playing on a loaded offensive team, but that means he didn't screw up very often either). Poti, I admit, was bad. But every GM makes bad decisions.
Holland is the best in the league. I would argue about Shero- His best players were inherited, and I attribute the Penguins' good play more to Bylsma than him. Thomas, by far the Bruins' best player, was around before Chiarelli came. McPhee is the only one of those who built his own team from scratch. Their failings in the postseason are more the fault of the coaching than of the GM. I think Hunter is the one to fix that problem. McPhee's hirings have been made with specifically the postseason in mind- an experienced D and former #1 pick in Hamrlik, a playoff player in Ward, and a great goalie in Vokoun who, don't look now, is carrying the team.
