What Approach to Team Building Would I Take as an Expansion GM? 

Next video title ‘I won the American powerball and bought an expansion franchise but I’m still making videos because I’m GD THG!’

This was the best job interview for a GM job ever

When the Thrashers first got their team, one of the potential GM's they interviewed was Brian Burke who said his vision for the team would be to build them up as the biggest toughest team in the league to attract the college football-focused market that is Georgia but he was turned down in favor of Wadell's building through speed and offense plan and Burke ended up in Vancouver.

I can absolutely see Shannon in a Money Ball style movie getting pointed when somebody asks why a GM likes a player and saying "He shoots on net." "Shannon, do I care if it's a rebound or a one-timer?" "You do not."

I agree with your roster construction and philosophy. I would also try to lure an aging star veteran to spend 2-3 seasons to build some hype and sell tickets. That player could be a mentor figure to the young core.

An interesting case study are the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild from the 2000 expansion. The Jackets went out and signed some veterans that would of normally retired or have very reduced roles on other teams. As for the Wild they got young projects that they considered '' forgotten'' in other teams farm systems. Results, yes the Jackets started out better in the first year, but eventually imploded, and the Wild made the playoffs by year 3 .

Name your captain the day before entry draft and have the captain name the team's first pick. Put your players front and centre in big NHL spotlights at every opportunity.

I think one of the most important positions and most overlooked- head scout. Those guys are the ones I believe are most important to team success and longevity.

THG for Toronto's GM ! Sack Treliving !

Like the fact that you understand the realities of each individual Market, and that you have a longer term view of success for a franchise.

I love the premise of this video so I’m gonna try my hand right here in your format. Head coach: Young motivator surround with experienced assistants Captain: voted on by the players after 20 games, second and third highest in votes get the As Top six: Players with high scoring upside who have not had the chance at a top six role be it from this league or another. Bottom six: tough, veteran, defensive Defense: veteran, defense first but cannot they cannot be scared to handle or pass a puck like it’s a hot potato Goalies: a vet and a guy who hasn’t had his shot yet Salary cap: spend to within 5 of the ceiling with flexibility in short term deals Win expectation: 25 GAA: just don’t suck GF: more than you give up Playoffs: year 5 Free agency: one year deals only in year one unless presented a high end opportunity Team identity: hard working, never give up

When you talked about contacting lots of people in hockey and considering character in the search for coaches and veteran player leadership, I kept thinking of that farce of a press conference last summer when Mike Babcock was announced as the new head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. John Davidson and Jarmo Kekäläinen stressed their "due diligence," which apparently consisted solely of asking for opinions of Babcock among people they knew are his friends.

Depending on how much salary cap space you get for the inaugural season, what you could do is let go of most of your expansion draft picks and use the extra cap space for veteran free agents like the Carolina Panthers did in 1995. Or, you could go the route that Tom Coughlin took with the Jacksonville Jaguars the same year and build your core around younger players.

I’d grab a guy like trotchek, duclair, or vatrano for captain. They just go hard every shift and are all good for transition players. You could argue they are 2nd or 3rd liners, but they are heart players.

WWTHGD is my favorite type of video

This is absolutely fascinating! I think I learned some important points regarding hockey! Thanks THG

Awesome insight. I'd love a detailed breakdown of the how's and why's things worked or didn't of the more recent expansion teams

There is a fine line between expansion and over saturation. When I was a kid there were Howard Johnson's everywhere and by the 1970's it was the largest hotel and restaurant chain in the world, fifty years on and the last Howard Johnson closed it's doors in 2022. There are many examples of too much expansion destroying a once thriving business.

This was an awesome video. Keep up the good work THG.

Something I would make sure to do is hire an assistant coach that was good with developing young players. I've seen plenty of head coaches that didn't seem to know how to handle younger players & give-up on them. I wouldn't name a captain, I'd let the players do that, probably later in the season after they have had time to get to know each other. If you name someone that the players don't have a lot of respect for or don't like on a personal level, the team won't gel. For expansion picks, I would focus on effort over skill by drafting hard working, defensive-minded players. Guys that can forecheck relentlessly and/or kill penalties effectively are easy to trade at the deadline to acquire a bunch of assets, because they usually don't have big contracts & are the type of player that contending teams are looking to acquire at that time. Maybe I don't load-up on 1st round picks, but a couple of late-round picks & a young skilled prospect would be a realistic return.

More GM oriented videos please. Would love a series of videos where you explain what you would do if you were hired as a GM for team A, team B, etc.

come up with a team name and logo and jersey and show us what your ideal franchise image would look like!

Shannon, you have the best hockey channel on RU-vid and I always enjoy watching your videos👍

the Atlanta Thrashers tangent at the end made me think of an interesting summer idea which goes along the lines of the NHL Redrafts: Redrafting Expansion Drafts. Obviously it would require the lists of who was available being out there to find but it could be an interesting idea to me at least

Great job, Shannon! In addition to what you mentioned, I would add skill to the top 6 and tenacity for the bottom 6

fun video idea here, you should keep expanding upon this!!

During the offseason could you do a series where we send you our GM mode teams and you kinda break them down and say what you like and what you don’t like.

Vegas aside, how can you build a team (like Florida or Carolina) where they pick up cast offs (Bennett, Bobrovski, Tkachuk, and so many examples from the Hurricanes) and help them reach their potential, that they weren't necessarily before.

This was a GREAT video idea

Loved this video.

I'm am skeptical about expanding. The other big 3 North American leagues haven't gone beyond 30/32. And there are teams that are currently struggling in the Nhl. I would be worried about the smaller marker teams if there is more expansions

I am SOOO glad Atlanta is returning. Miss those games.

I'd start with strong goaltending or you'll have 10+ goals against every game... Then you go with a solid D corps... Now the forwards with scoring touches for the first three lines and a bit of toughness...but not easy to knock off the puck... The fourth line go to the heavy hitters/checkers/pests... Set a salary cap that will actually leave at least $5M - $10M of wiggle room at the top... My GAA should be in the top quarter of the league if all goes right...

Great idea for a video!

Todd Nelson definitely deserves a full time gig in the big show. He’s been a two-time Calder winning team and had a decent interim period with the Oilers.

Head Coach: Would look at guys who had successful short term NHL careers, cut short by bad losing streaks. Jay Woodcroft and Dean Evason would be Top 2 on that list currently. Captain: Named at the end of the Preseason, before Season Opener. Team first guy, who leads the locker room organically before getting a title. Top Six: Combination of veteran 20-30 goal scorers, Guys with 2nd line upside maybe currently stuck on deep teams, with some top prospects or top AHL/SEL/SM-Liiga players. Bottom Six: Energy guys. Guys who bring 200% work ethic, solid PK guys, and willing to fight for every puck. Battle in the corners, get the crowd into it.. Defense: Top Pairing AHL guys on deep teams. Guys who have been stuck on an AHL first pair, because the NHL team doesn't have an opening to give them a shot. Goaltending: A serviceable journeyman NHL Goalie, a quality prospect, and a Top ranked Rookie Draft addition to have a stopgap for now until the draft pick develops. Salary Cap: High Value with low Salary to start. Save the cap space until contending. Goals? Playoff team by Year 3. Improve every year. Develop from within. Maximize Draft picks and prospect pool early. Free Agency would focus on veterans to help teach and develop the younger guys, but not steal Top 6 roster spots.

Head coach: Sam Hallam (multiple champion with Växjö Lakers in the SHL as head coach)

This guy needs to do a EA Sports NHL franchise mode, and do it realistically with these tenants. I’d watch the CRAP out this! 😳😤

The way I would go about the captaincy situation will be to not have a captain until at least the third or fourth season. That way, the group can gel together over time. I would actually choose a mix of experienced veterans and young talent around the 25 to 27-year-old range for both the offence and defence. I would actually make the backup goalie a veteran (preferably a former starter) and the starter a younger goalie so that the backup can teach the younger starter some tips about being in the NHL.

Whoa!!! A Houston Texans magnet on THG channel! Go Stars & Go Texans!! I hope Houston gets a team! My hometown & would be my second favorite hockey team!

It might happen!

remember the CBC show 'Making the Cut'? Do that again and there's your next 2 teams in Houston and Quebec

Cool to see you sporting the old third sweater the team had, even if it was one of their least popular

You are hired!

so serious question. you are looking at available players for an expansion draft, how important is term of said contracts?

LETS GO THRASHERS!!!!! YAY! THRASHERS JERSEY LOOKS GREAT!!!

No Houston Aeros hockey logo 😂

SLC FTW!

When I did my expansion team in NHL24 (went to Utah and are called the Utah Mountain Elk) i went for a lot of youth and players who where signed to longer contracts like Eric Cernak. But during the year I made some trades and got some experience in the line up like Jeff Carter and Sean Monahan. The one player I was most excited for was Chytil and my goalies are insane.

IMO having more teams than the NFL is a bad idea. But then, I've been a fan since there were only six, so there's that.

I mostly agree with this. I will say you need probably two guys who are ticket sellers. People that the fans are coming to watch. You can do with one SUPER dynamic star but the chances of that being available are small.....so try to get two mid star level talents that can wow a crowd.

For some reason out of any city to actually get a team in bettmans vision is Utah and Atlanta it has to be somewhere so random and obscure

What about Wisconsin?

The salary cap has made things much easier for expansion teams. This is why expansion teams are able to compete right away. It's almost like a create a team in a video game.

Shannon - what are your thoughts on allowing expansion teams to take part in the draft a year in advance of their inaugural season? A good player can stay in juniors and / or play in the AHL instead of being rushed to the NHL. This allows new teams to get a good player without established teams having to expose players they dont want to, and by the time the first team takes the ice they have two years of draft choices.

I was excited for a second thinking the fleur de lis was for New Orleans

Defense: The kind of guy you're describing is Brandon Montour when he was traded from Buffalo to Florida. Good D, but pretty undistinguished, under the radar. But after parts of six seasons in the league he had it figured out.

Young assistant coach from NHL never been head coach before, francophone for Quebec, can you lure Alex Burrows away from Montreal? Hahaha

I want to watch a Hockey Guy expansion franchise mode series now.

Hey, it's my favorite NFL team 😎

You left out long-term goals. What is the timeline to be playoff competitive? I doubt fans in any city want the fiasco that is the Sabres plaoff drought.

The coach has to be a good communicator as well as the GM. I do agree that the team has to be competitive as NHL ticket prices demand a return on investment from fans as the novelty of a new team will wear off very quickly.

Sean Kuraly is the next Thrashers captain, confirmed

You know what would be a cool video idea? Who you think the Thrashers would have taken if the expansion rules were the same as Vegas had. Then how the team would have done.

You just described the Calgary Flames. HaHa😅😅

That would be funny on a team's website under "front office" GM: The Hockey Guy.

It did take a long time for the Thrashers to be in the same zip code as competitive and then awful ownership ensure that the stars didn't want to stay. One question: How badly do you think the NHL wants to expand before the current CBA is up to prevent the players wanting in on expansion fees in the next CBA?

Might want to take a flyer on Matt Murray.

so when are you moving to utah? they'd be insane not to hire you

Expansion team can have Hakstol after he gets canned in 4 weeks. Biggest advantage Expansion teams have nowadays is a clean Salary Cap. One change the NHL should institute is allow the expansion team to draft the year before they start playing, even if it’s slot 33 and 34

Forwarding link to Perry Pegula. Better late than never.

I was thinking my top six would be older/with slowness but to each their own

One of the biggest problems for the Thrashers, contributing to their eventual relocation, besides the 2007/2008 financial crisis, was the arena being located in the middle of downtown Atlanta No one wants to point it out, but the demographic that would go to hockey games don't live anywhere near there. Last I checked, most of the revenue for NHL teams comes from ticket sales, and Winnipeg by contrast sells out most games. Even having one of the best black-American hockey players at the time didn't attract the local demographic. Especially since the Thrashers ownership was terrible at marketing Locate a new team in Atlanta in the Northern suburbs, which is where the potential NHL arena is being built that's an hour from downtown Atlanta, where the people are who would go to games

My biggest question is, would you bring back Jagr (maybe even as captain)? What a story that would be if an expansion team did that 💪

Come to Columbus

Maybe US college coaches could provide a coaching diamond in the rough, too. Hey, the NBA is okay with players picking their team. We all use our fingers on the dry-erase board. 😊 Even with the markers that have an eraser on the end.

Serious question: has there been an NHL GM with equivalent success as Ozzie Newsome had as the Baltimore Ravens GM?

Do it.

100% would not spend to the cap right away. If you have the cap space, you then get to be the team that’s like, “oh, you need cap relief because you spent too much? Don’t worry! I’ll take off your hands! Just staple a pick to him too.”

Hadn't thought of this before, but if I was expanding into a market that already had a minor league hockey team, I might want to start my first season with some of the minor league players from that team if they were 'fan favorities' so to speak. Just some familiar faces for the local hockey loyalists, even if those minor leaguers only were able to compete at NHL level for a handful of games. Just a good 'marketing' bridge so to speak, and maybe one of the local heroes could make good on the chance.

As long as we're fantasizing let's pretend the fleur de lis is for new orleans! You know you want it

Do me a favor, forward this video to the ownership of the Columbus Blue Jackets. They've NEVER been able to figure it out. Jarmo was good at scouting and drafting, but didn't know how to build a roster. Hopefully they get it right with the new GM. I figure the new GM's job security will be attached to wins and losses (as it is with any GM). As such, he will want his own coach, so the entire Columbus coaching staff will be out the door. If he can move Elvis and his contract, I'll build a statue of him. It's not that Elvis is that bad, but he's far too sensitive and emotional to play the goalie position. Being a goalie in the NHL is like being a relief pitcher in baseball, you have to be able to put a bad day (regardless of whose fault it is) behind you.

Do the simulation on nhl24

As long as only 16 teams get to play for Lord Stanley, they could expand to 50 teams for all I care

That jersey! Holy 🔥🔥

i never realized after all these years the thrasher logo was a bird haha wow im blind.

Never miss an opportunity to wear a Whalers jersey

Hes basically the nhl's raiders😂

It pains me Quebec prolbably won't come back (Winnipeg did so I suppose there is some hope, but Canada is not as strong a market with its lower dollar, higher taxes, cold, etc)

EVERY bight needs to be some sort of promo night....from bobbleheads, to replica pucks, autograph night, etc... Sell this team to the entire city, before the first preseason puck drops!

No matter where the team was I'd look for a quebec born franchise goalie.

What would THG do if TOR would hire him tomorrow?

About the need for a bilingual coach, Jim Gaffigan has a great joke about that... "in Canada, about a quarter speak French so they made this deal where the English speakers agreed to take French in school and the French speakers agreed to keep speaking French"

Alright guys I think it’s time to get Shannon in a front office

Very good video. We need a team in Salt Lake City. That would work well and make everybody $$$.

It really sounds like you should be a flyers fan instead of a bruins fan

There's no way THG would get to be GM... we all know he'd just trade Crosby like players to Van for Future Considerations... lol. Honestly though... I bet THG would make an excellent GM.

"Eventually my vocabulary is gonna be like 4 words." And those four are: "Welcome back, alright so..."

I'm sure that the eventual return of the Quebec Nordiques won't be as much successful as if they would have returned 10 years ago. I just went on the Centre Vidéotron website and they are selling the nose bleed tickets for $75 each for 2 pre-season games for the Kings vs the Bruins and against the Panthers next October. Meanwhile, you can have descent tickets at the CTC to regular season games for $35 and less for half of the Sens home games. NHL and PKP are laughing at Québec fans.

THG knows hockey, lives it, eats it spread on a bread slice. You’d have to be a fool to disregard hockey’s own Bill James…and he’d do well as an AGM before getting his own team.