The Direct Line To The NHL

With the second round of the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs coming to an end tonight, the eight teams playing in the Division Finals are set. There are no Canadian teams in this upcoming round after both Calgary and Abbotsford were eliminated, but two former IHL teams will square off as Milwaukee will meet Grand Rapids. That means a former IHL team will be among the final four teams competing for the Clarkson Cup which still blows my mind considering that the AHL was always seen as the better league when the IHL and AHL competed for talent. While this is something I looked at a few years back, there's another trend that seems to be developing based on who won the Calder Cup, and there may be teams who continue the timeline on this trend based on what they do this summer and beyond in their front offices.

Since 2001-02 when the Chicago Wolves won the AHL's Calder Cup over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, eleven of the general managers running the 15 different teams to have won the Calder Cup have been promoted to NHL jobs. Dave Barr, who guided the Houston Aeros to the Calder Cup in 2002-03, and Mike Vellucci, who put the Charlotte Checkers on top in 2018-19, are the only former AHL general managers to have not gone into management at the NHL level, instead becoming assistant coaches. Barr worked for the Avalanche, Wild, Devils, Sabres, and Sharks since winning the Calder Cup while Vellucci joined Mike Sullivan's staff in Pittsburgh after his win.

The other nine men include the likes of Kevin Cheveldayoff, Bob Clarke, Bob Gainey, Tim Murray, Julien BriseBois, Jim Nill, Rob Blake, Bill Zito, and Kyle Dubas, and it seems like there could be another name that could join the list in Hartford's Ryan Walter who is currently the assistant GM with the New York Rangers. While there's no guarantee that an AHL GM will be promoted to run the NHL affiliate, Walter might be a perfect example of team wanting to change directions and needing someone with fresh ideas.

While Bob Clarke and Bob Gainey were running the show at both the AHL and NHL levels, other NHL teams opted to look outside their affiliates for help. As we know, Kevin Cheveldayoff jumped from the Chicago Wolves to the Winnipeg Jets, Tim Murray went from the Binghamton Senators to the Buffalo Sabres, and Jim Nill jumped from Grand Rapids to Dallas. I don't know how many GM vacancies there will be this summer, but whether it's Walter in Hartford, Scott White in Texas, or Stacy Roest in Syracuse, there are very capable candidates should a vacancy develop.

The reason the eleven AHL GMs have gone onto NHL roles is quite simple: they win. The NHL is a definitely a win-now league, so the guys who do win at the AHL level are often seen as having the insights and expertise to build an NHL roster after guiding an AHL team, whose roster is always changing, to the Calder Cup championship. Long-term success only gets one so far, it seems, but winning the Calder Cup seems to be the feather in one's cap to make NHL front offices sit up and take notice. It's hard to understand why that seems to be the case, but winning a championship seems to be the catalyst in getting promoted in the management ranks.

I can't say that there aren't guys who would prefer to stay where they are as Doug Yingst spent a number of years collecting championship rings with the Hershey Bears without ever jumping to the NHL ranks. Phil Wittliff, Joe Baumann, and Godfrey Wood had their coaches ascend higher than they did in the hockey world, so it's not like all successful AHL GMs get to steer the big ship at the NHL level. There are only so many GM positions available, so there may be a little luck involved when it comes to timing as well.

What shouldn't be discounted, though, is that NHL teams will scour the AHL for their next GM just as they've done over the last two decades. As stated above, there are immediate candidates based on the successes of the eight AHL teams still standing and in the past few years, and I have a feeling at least one of those guys will be promoted to an NHL position sooner than later. One of Hershey, Hartford, Cleveland, Syracuse, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Coachella Valley, or Ontario will win the Calder Cup this season, and the next great NHL GM could be running that franchise at this very moment.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!