Lou Lamoriello named Leafs General Manager

[bustaheims]

Is that worth a 3rd round pick, though?

Considering how easily the Leafs will be able to replace that pick in the 3 year period they have to relinquish it, yeah. The thing with compensation for coaches and executives is that teams don't have to send their own pick. They can negotiate to send whatever 3rd round pick they've acquired, and the Leafs are probably going to be acquiring a good number of them over the next few seasons.

 

[rdowdall]

I think the title of GM is what concerns people.  If he was hired as an adviser or director of making Hunter and Dubas better, then it would sit better with those that think this isn't going to work.

I think that's accurate. But we've all known for a long time that whoever came in as GM wouldn't be a traditional general manager. That's not going to change just because we brought in a bigger name than we were expecting.

edit: Also, god I wish his official title was actually "Director of Making Hunter and Dubas Better".

That's true.  I kind of figured that they were just going to forego the hiring of a GM altogether.  I thought that one of Hunter and Dubas would be promoted, or they would take an unconventional approach of getting rid of the GM role in the organization and splitting those duties between Dubas and Hunter.  That's why I find this hiring shocking.  I did not think they were going to hire anyone in to the role.

 

[AvroArrow]

I'm not excited about this hire as I'm not sold on Lou's body of work, but I'm not gonna panic and say we're doomed or screwed.  We'll have to just wait and see how things play out.

Hopefully this means we'll start shipping some players out.

 

[Zee]

I don't understand why people are freaking out.  Shanahan is still the guy in charge.  He would have told Lou what to expect before coming aboard.  If Lamoriello thinks he's going to usurp Shanahan and start doing things his own way I highly doubt he'll last long.  I'm guessing this is a "mentoring" role for Lamoriello to bring along Dubas.  The guy is going to be 73 soon, he's ready to hang them up soon. 

 

[Highlander]

Agreed, this is a full metal Mentor thing.  Lou knows more in his big toe than Dubas actually thinks he knows.  Dubas in my mind will be GM in two years and then consolidate the 5 families.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I think the title of GM is what concerns people.  If he was hired as an adviser or director of making Hunter and Dubas better, then it would sit better with those that think this isn't going to work.

I think that's accurate. But we've all known for a long time that whoever came in as GM wouldn't be a traditional general manager. That's not going to change just because we brought in a bigger name than we were expecting.

edit: Also, god I wish his official title was actually "Director of Making Hunter and Dubas Better".

That's true.  I kind of figured that they were just going to forego the hiring of a GM altogether.  I thought that one of Hunter and Dubas would be promoted, or they would take an unconventional approach of getting rid of the GM role in the organization and splitting those duties between Dubas and Hunter.  That's why I find this hiring shocking.  I did not think they were going to hire anyone in to the role.

Scott Cullen posted this and while Cuban is an NBA guy I don't see why the same concepts wouldn't hold true for other North American sports:

http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen/status/624251591240097792

 

[Redleaf]

Factoid: Shanahan was Lamoriello's first-ever draft pick as head of the Devils (No. 2 overall) in 1987.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Press conference at 2 is here: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/v2/ext/live/

 

[ZBBM]

Probably because the general perception of guys like Lou is that they are alpha's that don't take a back seat to people.  So when they are asked to come in to a roll where they have to take a back seat to others ideas, that doesn't fit their perception and therefore can't see them performing well in that roll.

But then why take this job? Again, we can be pretty sure that nowhere in his interview with Lou did Shanahan ever say "you have full and complete control of this team". Lou knows exactly what job he signed up for, there won't be any surprises here.

Also, Lou is 72 years old, turning 73 about when the season starts. He was just be ousted out of the franchise that he basically created. Is it so hard to believe that he left that situation just a little bit humbled by how everything went down and realizes that he can't be the same GM he was 20 years ago? Why would it be hard to believe that at this tenure of his career he's actually looking forward to a change in pace?

Yes, it's hard to believe.  Alpha males never willingly become betas.

Because his other alternative was fading into the sunset as NJ's President.  If he wants to be more involved again in this aspect of a team, this is his opportunity.  He's not getting any younger.  As the link I posted states, he was made aware of what his role is going to be.

I don't know if it will be successful, but it's not great or terrible on its face.

The bolded above is the answer to CTB's question in the next post.  He's alpha -- he doesn't want to fade away.  Of course he's going to tell Shanahan & Co. that he can be a team player -- he wants to be a GM, not a figurehead.  Just color me very skeptical that this particular leopard will be able to change his spots.

 

[Andy007]

Probably because the general perception of guys like Lou is that they are alpha's that don't take a back seat to people.  So when they are asked to come in to a roll where they have to take a back seat to others ideas, that doesn't fit their perception and therefore can't see them performing well in that roll.

But then why take this job? Again, we can be pretty sure that nowhere in his interview with Lou did Shanahan ever say "you have full and complete control of this team". Lou knows exactly what job he signed up for, there won't be any surprises here.

Also, Lou is 72 years old, turning 73 about when the season starts. He was just be ousted out of the franchise that he basically created. Is it so hard to believe that he left that situation just a little bit humbled by how everything went down and realizes that he can't be the same GM he was 20 years ago? Why would it be hard to believe that at this tenure of his career he's actually looking forward to a change in pace?

Yes, it's hard to believe.  Alpha males never willingly become betas.

Because his other alternative was fading into the sunset as NJ's President.  If he wants to be more involved again in this aspect of a team, this is his opportunity.  He's not getting any younger.  As the link I posted states, he was made aware of what his role is going to be.

I don't know if it will be successful, but it's not great or terrible on its face.

The bolded above is the answer to CTB's question in the next post.  He's alpha -- he doesn't want to fade away.  Of course he's going to tell Shanahan & Co. that he can be a team player -- he wants to be a GM, not a figurehead.  Just color me very skeptical that this particular leopard will be able to change his spots.

I don't know, that really makes no sense to me. Wouldn't there be opportunities elsewhere if he wanted to be a alpha-rogue GM? I don't see why this guy would go through the trouble of saying all the right things and vowing to follow a certain team's view only to shit all over it when he can simply be given the reigns somewhere else. This is someone who has accomplished everything, is turning 73 and probably is looking for a different challenge right now. I'd be really surprised if he suddenly turned into a cowboy GM spurning management, particularly with a team that has such a distinct, clear vision.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

[tweet]624281749082755074[/tweet]
[tweet]624282867741401088[/tweet]

 

[Rick C.]

Don't know if it's been posted or not.  George McPhee was also interviewed for the GM position.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The bolded above is the answer to CTB's question in the next post.  He's alpha -- he doesn't want to fade away.  Of course he's going to tell Shanahan & Co. that he can be a team player -- he wants to be a GM, not a figurehead.  Just color me very skeptical that this particular leopard will be able to change his spots.

Let's assume you're right then. He's still going to be an alpha without the powers of an alpha. He's not in a position where he can say "screw this rebuild I want to trade Rielly for Eric Staal" or anything like that. He's in a position where he's going to be forced into working within a team. If he proves that he can't or won't shed the alpha mentality then there's a pretty simple ending to this story and that's him and the team "mutually" agreeing to part ways.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

3-year contract for Lou.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

[tweet]624285536413478912[/tweet]

Geeze this has been in the works since May? Way to go Dreger!

 

[Redleaf]

So the Leafs, in less than a summer, went from being one of the most inexperienced management teams to one of the most experienced, with the additions of Babcock and Lou. Crazy fast turn around. Let's hope we see a difference with the on-ice product from it. Exciting summer, and something tells me they're not done yet.

 

[Highlander]

Yes Redleaf and as Frankie has it on his gravestone: "The best is yet to come"

 

[Rick C.]

I just read somewhere that Lou says he has full autonomy.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

http://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/624289638694408192

RIP media.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I just read somewhere that Lou says he has full autonomy.

Also said this:

[tweet]624292611981975552[/tweet]

So he has autonomy but he also has a boss above of him. That's basically the same situation Nonis was in. It won't change the fact that Lou has to follow his boss' vision or he'll be out of a job.