Boston Bruins: Who Will Be The Next General Manager?

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

After the warranted firing of GM Peter Chiarelli, the after celebration by fans, it’s now time for Cam Neely, who has recently been given the power and control to hire and fire personnel, to find the next field General. Someone who can return our beloved Boston Bruins to the Post Season.

Writers such as the Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa have suggested the job is ex-Bruins player Don Sweeney’s to lose. Considering Don learned under Chiarelli I for one hope he isn’t the next GM going forward. Sweeney’s time may come but at this point the Bruins Must “hit” on their selection of GM. This person can’t be someone inexperienced, can’t be someone that will learn as they go and must be someone that is forward thinking, bold and aggressive with a clear image of what the next team should look like, play like and share that same image with Neely and company. He must also be able to handle the Salary cap and player contracts. Without these attributes nothing will have changed and we’ll end up with more of the same subpar product.

For me there are 4 clear candidates. Those four are:

Ray Shero, Paul Fenton, Julien Brisebois and Jason Botterill.

Ray Shero; is the former GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a perennial Playoff team. Ray had to deal with superstar players and in some cases babies (Sidney Crosby), while balancing the cap fairly well. If you look up Shero’s trades, he has made a number of very good deals where he was the clear winner of the trade. Ray also has the most experience at the position and was previously considered for the Bruins open GM position before it was given to Chiarelli. I would feel comfortable with him in command.

Paul Fenton; is a long time member of the Nashville Predators organization and current Assistant GM. Nashville is a team that has been steadily on the rise and is presently in the Playoffs with a lot of exciting young players. Nashville plays the type of game that Cam Neely has in mind. Paul oversees the Pred’s amateur player development, manages the teams professional and amateur scouting staff and advises the President of hockey operations. Fenton is said to be instrumental in bringing in many of Nashville’s core players via the draft, trades and or free agency. I would feel comfortable with him in command.

Julien Brisebois; is the Assistant GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Julien is said to be highly intelligent with his handling of the salary cap, player negotiations and other financial and legal matters.  He has a degree in Business Administration and is a member of the Quebec and American Bar Association. Tampa is another organization that Cam may want to model his team after as a perennial Playoff team and with exciting young players like Steven Stamkos. As GM of the Lightning’s top affiliate, (the Syracuse Crunch), Brisebois has created  teams that reached the Calder Cup Finals in two of the previous three seasons, including winning a championship in 2012. I would feel fairly comfortable with him in command.

Jason Botterill; is the current Associate GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He assists the GM on all hockey related matters, including scouting, player development and contract negotiations. Is said to have been a “key cog” in building the 2009 Stanley Cup team. He is also known as a solid handler of the cap. While in charge of the Penguins top minor league affiliate, (the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins), his team made the playoffs all 5 years. He would be my last choice of the four but still warrants an interview at the least.

There may be other candidates, ones that the Bruins brass may very well interview but these are the four men I would interview and feel the most comfortable hiring. Here’s hoping they choose the best one.  Is there someone you’d like to see?