murphydump55 wrote:In 2010 the Panthers had 3 1st round picks. 3rd, 19th, and 25th. They ended up with Gudbranson, Bjugstad, and Howden. Some of the names that they could have had included: Johansen, Neiderreiter, Skinner, Granlund, Fowler, Schwartz, Taresenko, K Hayes, Kuznetsov, Coyle, Nelson. In the second round they had 2 picks in the top 5 and passed on Faulk to select McFarland and Petrovic. Not a very good draft when there was a lot of talent available. Nothing is guaranteed, but you'd think he might get lucky once out of those 5 picks.
The draft tends to be a crapshoot under the best of circumstances. Unless there's generational players available. Like Lemieux, Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby, McDavid. I'd argue that the best player eligible to be drafted in 2010 was Artemi Panarin, who went undrafted in both 2010 and 2011. Mark Stone went 178th overall. The Pens won a cup in Staal's 3rd season, and he was a 2nd overall pick. But I would argue that Toews, Backstrom, and Kessel have all been better players. The only fair way to judge a draft is to look at what every team did. And very few people have time to do that. You're dealing with 18 year old kids. That's often too early to identify what a player will become. Which is why everyone missed so badly on Panarin and Stone.
I would bet that if you analyzed every NHL GM under a microscope you could make a case where they miss more often than they hit. There's no disputing Tallon made mistakes, but so did everybody else. He was the architect of the Hawks. No one can dispute the team he put together. He was the GM until July of 2009, and the Hawks won their first cup less than a year later. He's the one who signed Hossa, who was the finishing touch to their run.
His tenure in Fla gives the best look at his strengths and weaknesses. He built them into a playoff team, then got bumped upstairs. He wasn't great at negotiating contracts, and he made administrative mistakes. But after Rowe's failure, he was put back in the GM's chair. When he was, the owner made very clear he was always in charge of personnel decisions because it was his strength. They recognized his weaknesses, but found his strengths too valuable to discard. If not for the controversy this summer, it's possible he'd still be in charge.
The Panthers posted a 47–26–9 in 2015–16, but were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the New York Islanders in six games. The team began the 2016–17 in last place in the Atlantic Division with an 11–10–1 record. On November 28, 2016, the Panthers fired head coach Gerard Gallant and moved general manager Tom Rowe to fill the vacancy. Darren Dreger of TSN reported that Tallon would return to "taking a day-today management and player management player personnel decisions." However, Vincent Viola, the team's owner, refuted Dregar's report of organizational changes, and clarified that "[Tallon] has always had final say over hockey decisions." He added, "What we had done is bifurcate Dale from some things he didn't need to worry about anymore [negotiating contracts, for example]."
On April 10, 2017, the Panthers announced that Tallon would return as the general manager after his successor Rowe was demoted from the role
Micromanaging is easy. The big picture tells the tale. He procured a lot of talent for one dynasty, and got the Panthers to a level that they hadn't approached in over two decades. People are getting bent out of shape because of tunnel vision and micromanagement. Tallon has a strong reputation for player procurement.
He doesn't have to be the only person added. In fact, he won't be. They've already added Daley. He wasn't given the title of asst GM, but his job description reads like a dual asst GM, asst coach position.
The team said Daley will assist in player evaluations at both the NHL and minor league levels and help the coaching staff during games.
It also was pointed out that Daley will report directly to JR. It doesn't sound too different from how Ron Francis got started.
Following a career in which he established himself as the greatest player in Hurricanes franchise history, Francis re-joined the organization in November 2006 as the team's director of player development. He was promoted to assistant general manager on Oct. 4, 2007, but returned to the team's locker room on Dec. 3, 2008, when he joined Paul Maurice behind the bench as associate head coach. While serving as a coach, Francis maintained a voice in the Hurricanes' front office decision-making, serving as the team's director of player personnel. He returned to the front office full-time in June 2011, accepting the role of director of hockey operations.
I don't see the negatives to bringing Tallon onboard. He's got a lot of experience, and the Hawks will be his greatest legacy. He's not being brought in to handle contract negotiations, or administrative tasks. He's another voice. I honestly doubt he will carry the title of asst GM. It's very possible no one carries that title. Which doesn't matter. It's just a title. Last summer he added Cullen, this year Daley. First they need to be able to do the job, then they have to figure out how they like it. That's your young blood. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Scott Young promoted. If he's interested.
Sure, they could bring in someone younger with a track record. But why would that ultimately be more successful? JR hired Maurice and Laviolette as young, unknown coaches. Both speak of him in glowing terms. As do Francis and Guerin. Tallon is not being groomed as a successor. You don't have to have a successor hand picked. Most teams don't. The Pens never have. By the same token, by the time JR retires we may be looking at someone like Daley, Cullen, or Young. Tallon won't be the only hire if they in fact hire him. He already isn't with the Daley hiring.
