As the NHL playoffs advance into the Conference finals, it is becoming increasingly that Steve Yzerman has had one of the finest rookie seasons of any NHL General Manager I can remember. Not only should be the GM of the year in the NHL, I would nominate him as GM of the year for all sports teams. When this season started you did not hear many (if any) experts picking Tampa to make an extended playoff run, but that's exactly what they are doing (I'm watching game 2 as I'm writing this and Boston is winning thanks to the heroics of Tyler Seguin). The Lightning however are having success thanks to the acquisitions of their rookie GM. 7 of the top 8 scorers on the Tampa roster were signed, re-signed, or acquired by Yzerman. Steve Yzerman was my favourite player growing up, and after mentoring under Ken Holland for a few years, his move to the GM's chair has been an incredible success.
Here are his most notable moves this calendar year.
1. Re-signed Teddy Purcell, who now has 13 PTS (and counting) in the playoffs.
2. Acquired Simon Gagne from Philadelphia for a cheap price, and Gagne has 8 PTS in 9 playoff games.
3. Signed Dominic Moore, who has 9 PTS in the playoffs (more PTS than Stamkos).
4. Signed Sean Bergenheim, who has 8 goals in the playoffs.
5. Re-signed Steve Downie, who has 12 PTS in the playoffs.
6. Acquired Dwayne Roloson for next to nothing, Dwayne is 9-3 in the playoffs with a .941 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against average.
7. Acquired Eric Brewer for a good price, and he has been their top defenceman in the playoffs logging 26 minutes a game in ice time and 6 PTS.
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