George McPhee has been named the first-ever general manager of Las Vegas’ NHL franchise.
Team owner Bill Foley made the announcement during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Most people will recognize McPhee, 58, as the longtime GM of the Washington Capitals. Now that he’s back at the helm of an NHL club, let’s review some of his career accomplishments.
He spent 17 years in Washington
McPhee began his management career with the Vancouver Canucks in 1992, but the vast majority of his career has been spent in the front office of the Capitals.
McPhee spent 17 years in Washington, and took his team to the playoffs in 10 of them. The Capitals claimed seven division titles under McPhee, as well as the Presidents’ Trophy in 2009-10. Washington also made it to the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup Final under his guidance — in his very first season at the helm, to boot.
He’s not afraid to make some changes
When you spend the better part of two decades with one team, you’re bound to have some highs and lows… and maybe even a rebuild. Beginning in 2003-04, McPhee and team owner Ted Leonsis rid the club of its biggest stars — and heftiest contracts — and embarked upon a bold rebuild. They bid farewell to big names like Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra and Sergei Gonchar in exchange for draft picks and salary relief.
The rebuild began with the selection of Ovechkin in 2004, and the new-look team made it back to the playoffs a few seasons later in 2007-08 to begin a six-year playoff streak. They failed to make the playoffs in 2014, and McPhee was relieved of his role shortly after.
He’s got a decent draft record
Yes, the Ovechkin draft was an obvious slam dunk. And while McPhee has seen his fair share of draft busts, he’s been able to build well through the draft. Take a look at the current roster: Cornerstones Nicklas Backstrom (fourth overall, 2006), Braden Holtby (fourth round, 93rd overall, 2008), John Carlson (27th overall, 2008) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (26th overall, 2010) were all selected by McPhee.
He’ll never live down the Forsberg trade
Any praise for McPhee for selecting Filip Forsberg in 11th overall in 2012 was quickly erased when he traded him a year later for… pretty much nothing. The seriously lop-sided transaction saw Forsberg — who has turned out to be the best player to come out of that draft — dealt to the Nashville Predators in return for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Ouch.
He spent seven seasons as a player in the NHL
McPhee had a successful college career, even winning the Hobey Baker Award in 1982. Though he was never drafted, the winger did manage to spend parts of seven seasons in the pros where he scored 24 goals and added 25 assists in 115 regular season NHL games with the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
He can throw a punch
Back in 1999, McPhee earned himself a one-month suspension and a $20,000 fine for punching then-Chicago Blackhawks head coach Lorne Molleken following a pre-season game. McPhee was angered by the Blackhawks’ rough play, and confronted Molleken outside Chicago’s locker room.
“An executive should not be involved in a physical confrontation,” McPhee said at the time of the suspension. “I’m sorry for the incident, but I will never regret standing up for the organization or for what I think is right for the league.”
He spent the 2015-16 season with the Islanders
McPhee’s contract with Washington wasn’t renewed after the 2013-14 season, but he didn’t remain out of the game for long. The longtime executive spent the past year as a special advisor to New York Islanders GM Garth Snow.
