George McPhee - To Stay or GO?

 

I read A LOT of sports articles on the Washington Capitals.  At the end of every article, I scroll through the comments section and see what fans have to say about how the Washington Capitals are performing.  I'll see some comments that are very knowledgeable and others that make our huge fan base look foolish.  Seriously, people write some ridiculous things.  Stuff like, Ovechkin should be traded, and Oates is a horrible coach, and blah blah blah.  One that I've wrapped my brain around is the classic "GMGM needs to go" comment that I see more and more often.  I'm not here to say that GM should stay or go.  I'm simply here to state the facts and let you decide for yourself.

Is George McPhee really the reason the Caps have struggled to bring a Stanley Cup to our nation's capital?  Lets take a look at what George McPhee has done since being hired as the General Manager in 1997.

In McPhee's first season as general manager, the team executed throughout the playoffs and made it's first and only appearance in the Stanley Cup finals but were swept by the Detroit Redwings. He has put pieces in place for the Caps to qualify for the playoffs in 10 of his 15 seasons as GM.

Between 2003 and 2007, (one season cancelled due to lockout) McPhee spent some time tearing the team apart and rebuilding a contender.  He went about his rebuilding the correct way, utilizing the draft to push youth and talent into the lineup.  Some of the players he drafted were starters after their first camp and others were drafted and developed in the Caps affiliate leagues.  With the help of McPhee's drafts, the Hershey Bears made it to the Calder Cup championship four times in five seasons between 2005 and 2010 and won the Calder cup three times in that span.

McPhee had a shaky start at drafting in his first five drafts and only two of the players he drafted in that span became NHL regulars (Brian Sutherby and Matt Pettinger.)  Since then he's had a better record of recognizing NHL level talent.  He has drafted some impact players and a lot of NHL caliber guys. These guys would include: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordan, Semyon Varlamov, Michael Neuvirth, Jeff Shultz, John Carlson, Marcus Johansson, Karl Alzner, Mathieu Perreault, Braden Holtby, Cody Eakin, Filip Forsberg, and Tom Wilson.  He has also drafted prospects that are playing in leagues around the world that are developing into NHL starters as well.  These guys include Evgeny Kuznetsov, Philipp Grubauer, Andre Burakovsky, Riley Barber, and Madison Bowey.  Kuznetsov has been a NHL top prospect for a few years and would be an incredible addition to the Caps if he would leave Russia. Andre Burakovsky has 9 goals and 18 points in 13 games in his first year in the OHL.  McPhee has had a few busts (Anton Gustafson is probably the biggest) but so have the other GMs around the league.

McPhee has done everything possible to get this team past the 2nd round of the playoffs.  He has traded draft picks and prospects and signed players with leadership and every style and skillset in the offseason and before the deadline to help get this team over the hump.  He has fired and hired coaches to apply different systems into this squad.  What else does he have to do?  He can't trade away the team and start over at this point.  He has great players waiting in the wings.

The defense is struggling and everyone should trust that it has McPhee's full attention.  This league is conducted as a business and there isn't a magic move that can put the big, physical defensemen that we need on the blue line.  Guys like that are few and far between.  Maybe McPhee's recent waiver pick up (Alexander Urbom) can learn this system and provide that presence.  The defensemen currently in the lineup have a ton of talent.  You can't knock McPhee for putting it there.  It's time for the talent to blend.  It's time for these players to play to their capabilities and help this team get what they've never gotten. 

It's time for everyone to realize the fact that George McPhee is only getting better as time passes.  He's helped this team win seven Southeast division championships and set a club record for wins and points in 2009-10.  When a Presidents Trophy winning team is put on the ice by a general manager, and they lose in the first round of the playoffs to an 8th seeded team, should the blame be placed on the general manager, or the players and coaches? 

When McPhee hired Adam Oates, he hired an ex player who is in the Hall of Fame.  The amount of respect between players and coaches is at a level it has never been before.  Let's hope George McPhee's recognition of this need is what the Caps will need to get their names imprinted on the Lord Stanley's Cup.  There's 70 games left to be played this season.  With the level of talent on this roster, I know I'll be watching.

Zach