In his first interview with national media since being hired as General Manager of the Las Vegas team name to be decided in a few months, George McPhee joined Power Play with Scott Laughlin and Steve Kouleas on SiriusXM’ NHL Network.
McPhee talks about the head coach timeline, hiring a scouting department, building through the draft, his relationship with The Creator, and much more.
Name – George McPhee
Born – July 2, 1958 Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Playing Career
1976-1978 – Guelph Holody Platers
1978 -1982 – Bowling Green State University
1982-1983 – Tulsa Oilers
1982-1984 – New York Rangers
1984-1985 – New Haven Nighthawks
1985-1988 – New Jersey Devils
1988-1989 – Utica Devils
1988-1989 – New Jersey Devils
Highlights
Managerial Career
1992-1997 – VP and Director of Player Operations – Vancouver Canucks
1997-2014 – General Manager/VP of Hockey Operations – Washington Capitals
2015-2016 – Special Advisor to the General Manager – New York Islanders
2016 – Co-GM of Team Canada in the IIHF World Championship
Highlights
Personal
Son, Graham, selected 149th overall in the 5th round to the Edmonton Oilers in 2016 Draft
Arguably the most important man in Las Vegas hockey has been named, and his name is George McPhee. At a press conference today at the T-Mobile Arena, The Creator unveiled McPhee as the first general manager for the brand new Las Vegas NHL franchise.
George is well respected around the league. He is a leader who knows every aspect of the game, both as a player and as a hockey operations executive, having been the GM for 17 years with the Capitals, a well-managed and successful franchise. It was important to me that our General Manager be someone that I know I can work well with and someone who is as committed to building a winning franchise for the people of Las Vegas. -The Creator
McPhee’s most recent gig was as a Special Advisor to GM Garth Snow and the New York Islanders. He’s most known as the GM of the Washington Captials from 1997-2014, the longest tenure in Capitals history.
During that time the Caps went to playoffs 10 times in his 17 seasons including a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in his very first season. He was in charge when Washington drafted Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Braden Holtby, Alexander Semin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and John Carlson. And was the GM when the Capitals tallied 121 points in the 2009-2010.
During his 17 year stint as general manager in Washington he made 128 trades, none more scrutinized than the trade in which McPhee sent Filip Forsberg to Nashville for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Erat was a disaster in Washington and was sent away seven months later after being demoted to the fourth line and eventually being healthy scratched for the first time in his career. Latta is yet to register more than seven points in a season for the Caps. Forsberg meanwhile has become a rising star as a Predator.
I am honored to have been selected to be General Manager of this historic franchise. This is an exciting opportunity to work with Bill Foley, to be involved with this franchise from the beginning, and to leverage my leadership skills and extensive hockey experience as we build a winning team. -George McPhee
So much for that August first date. The Creator will hold a special press conference from the visitor’s locker room at the T-Mobile Arena beginning at 1 PM tomorrow.
Bill Foley, the majority owner of the newly awarded NHL franchise, will hold a press conference to announce the new General Manager of the Las Vegas NHL franchise. -Michelle Kersch, VegasIsHockey.com Press Release
We’ll be there live and will be streaming it on Facebook Live.
There’s heavy speculation by some highly respected NHL sources that The Creator will name George McPhee the franchise’s first general manager. Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review Journal is also now reporting it will indeed be McPhee.
We’ll see ya tomorrow!
**Here’s a look at the press conference announcement email they sent out.**
We’ve been speculating for a while now who may become the first general manager in Las Vegas franchise history. Names like George McPhee, Dale Tallon, Scott Mellanby, and my personal favorite Jason Botterill have been tossed around by just about everyone.
However, recently I’ve begun getting the feeling The Creator and his team want someone much younger, more eager, taking a big step up, and probably someone most of us have never heard of. No one has told me anything to confirm this suspicion, but the context clues from both conversations I’ve had and attempting to read in between the lines of comments made publicly have led me to this belief.
The confirmation from the RJ that Dale Tallon was not interviewed has only beefed up my theory.
One who wasn’t contacted was Florida Panthers president Dale Tallon. ‘We never talked,’ Tallon said. ‘I know he asked my owner (Vincent Viola) for permission and he was given it. They’re both West Point guys. But I never heard from Mr. Foley.’ -Steve Carp, LVRJ
Tallon is probably the guy with the best resume to take this job. He’s got the most experience and the most success, but father time is not on his side.
Last week we began a spirited discussion over the activity, or inactivity, we’ve seen from the new Las Vegas NHL franchise over the first three weeks of its existence. There will never be a true answer to that question, but during the discussion there was one question that kept coming up in my own mind and now it just won’t seem to go away.
We learned there are nine (not five) full time members of the NHL staff at the moment. Most of them are in sales with a majority of them specifically focused on ticketing. A few communications people, our buddy in social media, and another in events. Add it all up, and there’s literally not a single paid employee with knowledge of how to properly select a GM.
That brings us to the only name linked to this organization that does have the background to help select the right person to head up the hockey side of the operation. His name is Murray Craven, the 18 year NHL veteran who is “advising” The Creator in the process of setting up the organization.
But that’s really all we know about Craven’s involvement. Any time he’s referenced it’s as just that, an advisor. Since 2014 when this whole thing began, Craven’s name was linked to The Creator’s. Something comes up about hockey, must have been Craven’s idea. Now though, seemingly within days, or at least weeks, of hiring of the GM, we still don’t even know if Craven is, or is ever going to be, an official employee of the organization. Thanks for the help Muz, see ya!
So who really is making what may go down as the most important decision the organization ever makes, hiring its first general manager? Is it the billionaire who owes his wealth and prosperity to brilliance in the field of finance? Is it Murray Craven? Are there others?
As we speak The Creator and his staff are somewhere in Montana coming up with a game plan for the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Stanley Cup winning Penguins signed GM Jim Rutherford to a three year extension through the 2018-19 season.
The common thread between those two pieces of news is the name Jason Botterill. Botterrill is the Associate GM in Pittsburgh and has widely been considered the GM-in-waiting to take over with Rutherford’s decides to hang em up.
The 40 year old Canadian was the 20th overall pick in the 1994 NHL Draft to the Dallas Stars. His playing days ended abruptly appearing in just 88 NHL games before suffering a miserable concussion that forced him into early retirement in 2004. It didn’t take long before Botterill found his way onto the other side of the glass as a scout in 2006 for the Stars and eventually made his way to Pittsburgh a year later as their salary cap-ologist.
He was then promoted to Associate GM after the 2013-14 season ended and appeared on his way to being the full GM shortly thereafter. Now, with the Rutherford extension, Botterill may just be the perfect candidate to become Las Vegas’ first General Manager.
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