General Manager

Case Study
Anthony Porcari
 Sport managers are required to have a variety of
skills to succeed in business. Manager’s ability to
lead organizations to success requires them to

General have expertise in decision-making, prioritization,

and resource allocation. Decision-making skills

Introduction
help sport managers make decisions quickly and
effectively. Prioritization skills allow sport managers
to order their most important tasks first to last.
and Resource allocation skills help sport managers find
available resources that can be used for various
Managerial things. If a sport manager has expertise in all three
of these areas then they can allocate resources,
Mandates prioritize what is most important and if they can
make the rights decisions at the right time, they
can create a competitive advantage over
competition. The areas of decision-making,
resource allocation, and prioritization will be
discussed further in the following sections.
 Case Context

As COVID-19 has infected a lot of people around the world, Brian MacLellan, General Manager (GM) for the
Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) has gotten sick. Therefore, you will be replacing
him as the interim GM until he can return. MacLellan has developed good relations with the fanbase and
ownership by bringing in exceptional talent such as Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson and
Brayden Holtby to name four franchise players. Over the years MacLellan has been able to bring in a lot of
talent to support the team’s stars at the right price. The fans supported him since day once because he has
managed to deliver an exciting team every single season. Since drafting Alexander Ovechkin first overall in
2004, the team has won three Presidents Cup Trophies for finishing with the most points in the regular season
in 2010, 2016, and 2017. In 2018, the team won its first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The fans and ownership
are super loyal to MacLellan because he has proven consistent success with the different combinations of
teams, he has made over the years with the salary cap. As players want to play their last years with
organizations that have the most potential to win a cup, the Capitals are the number one interest for players
to join. As the GM you also know that some of your star players are getting older and you will have to make a
lot of tough decisions in the near future regarding contracts. To continue to bring excitement to the fans and
for the organization to be successful over the next few seasons you are tasked with developing the next steps
of the organization. You will be tasked to make selections from the Metropolitan Division to enhance the
team. You will look at age, points, and salary to find the best fit. The reason we are using the Metropolitan
division is to increase our chances of getting some of the best assets from our direct competitors to enhance
our chances of coming out on top of our division.
 SALARY
ANGELLO, ANTHONY 833750
700000
BEMSTRÖM, EMIL 925000
925000
GAUTHIER, JULIEN 863333
675000
GUSEV, NIKITA 4500000

0
925000
KAKKO, KAAPO 925000
786666
LAFFERTY, SAM 767500
792500
MACINNIS, RYAN 874125
725000
ROBINSON, ERIC 874125
864166
NECAS, MARTIN 863333
863333
DI GIUSEPPE, PHILLIP 700000
1000000
HAYDEN, JOHN 750000

2 3 4 5 6
925000
ANDERSON, JOSEPH 925000

7
700000
THOMPSON, NATE 1000000

9
850000
RODRIGUES, EVAN 2000000
750000

10
ROONEY, KEVIN 700000
2750000

11
LADD, ANDREW 5500000
750000
NASH, RILEY 2750000
3100000
PITLICK, TYLER 1000000
7142857
BJUGSTAD, NICK 4100000
2500000
FOEGELE, WARREN 746667
1000000
MCCANN, JARED 1250000
1600000
HATHAWAY, GARNET 1500000

12 13 14 15 17 18 19
3000000
BOYD, TRAVIS 800000
1850000
GRANT, DEREK 700000

20 22
750000
BRASSARD, DERICK 1200000
894166

23
CLUTTERBUCK, CAL 3500000
863333
LEIPSIC, BRENDAN 700000
2750000
MARTINOOK, JORDAN 2000000

24 25
4900000
ZACHA, PAVEL 2250000

POINTS
3000000

26
MCGINN, BROCK 2100000
2100000
28 SIMON, DOMINIK 750000
6000000
SHORE, DEVIN 2300000
3500000
NIEDERREITER, NINO 5250000
2300000
POINTS VS. SALARY

BRATT, JESPER 749167

2750000
KOVALCHUK, ILYA 350000
5500000
2 9 3 03 2 3 3 3 4 3 5

RUST, BRYAN 3500000

3100000
BJORKSTRAND, OLIVER 2500000
36

3500000
TROCHECK, VINCENT 4750000
5500000
HÖRNQVIST, PATRIC 5300000
37

700000
SVECHNIKOV, ANDREI 925000
points and a relatively low salary?

3250000
JENNER, BOONE 3750000
5166666
ZUCKER, JASON 5500000
5750000
HISCHIER, NICO 925000
3350000
KONECNY, TRAVIS 5500000
4650000
LEE, ANDERS 7000000
4625000
NELSON, BROCK 6000000
700000
OSHIE, T.J. 5750000
5000000
DZINGEL, RYAN 3375000
5500000
DUBOIS, PIERRE-LUC 894166
863333
VORACEK, JAKUB 8250000
5875000
KUZNETSOV, EVGENY 7800000
9500000
BÄCKSTRÖM, NICKLAS 6700000
5350000
COUTURIER, SEAN 4333333
5400000
AHO, SEBASTIAN 8454000
8275000
PANARIN, ARTEMI 11642857
9538462
CROSBY, SIDNEY 8700000
3 8 4 04 24 6 4 7 4 95 05 15 2 5 3 5 4 5 6 6 06 16 26 66 9 7 2 7 4 7 6 8 38 58 78 19 0 0
How will you use the Pivot Table function to select a forward that has a high number of

Total
Points vs. Salary
The Pivot Table function allows me to order
data and select categories to make graphs.
This bar graph compares forwards total
points 2018-19 and their current 2019-20
salary. Mathew Barzal from the New York
Islanders has 62 points and his salary is
$863,333. Pierre-Luc Dubois from the
Columbus Blue Jackets has 61 points and his
salary is $894,166. The graph shows that
these two forwards have a high number of
points and a relatively low salary. The graph
allows me to prioritize these players on my list
of finding the right fit for the team. As the
GM I can now go back into the data set
and further analyze these key players to see
their age and contract end dates. They may
have no-trade clauses or be restricted free
agents, which will be factors to making any
decisions.
 Salary

1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
7000000
8000000
9000000

0
10000000
Carlsson, Gabriel
Dobson, Noah
Fox, Adam
Gavrikov, Vladislav

0
Lindgren, Ryan
Marino, John
Mermis, Dakota
Peeke, Andrew
Fleury, Haydn

1
Myers, Philippe
Ruhwedel , Chad

3
Riikola, Juuso
Claesson, Fredrik

4
Hick ey, Thomas
Siegenthaler, Jonas

6
Carrick, Connor
Edmundson, Joel

9
Smith, Brendan
Mueller, Mirco

10
Staal, Marc
van Riemsdyk, Trev or

11 12
Johnson, Jack
Schultz, Justi n

13
Toews, Devon

14
Braun, Justin
Hägg, Robert

15
Harrington, Scott
Mayfield, Scott
Boychuk, Johnny

Assists Gudas, Radko

16

Nutivaara, Markus
Sav ard, David
Niskanen, Matt
ASSISTS VS. SALARY

17

Pettersson, Marcus
Skjei, Brady
18

Jensen, Nick
Kempný, Michal
19

Provorov, Ivan
Dumoulin, Brian
20

Greene, Andy
21

Dillon, Brenden
Leddy, Nick
22

Subban, P.K.
23

Slavin, Jaccob
with a lot of assists and relatively low salary?

Butcher, Will
Deangelo, Anthony
26

Orlov, Dmitry
Sanheim, Travis
27

Gardiner, Jake
Gostisbehere, Shayne
Murray, Ryan
28

Pulock, Ryan
Severson, Damon
Werenski , Zachary
Letang, Kris
Trouba, Jacob
33 40 42 57

Carlson, John
Total
How will you use the Pivot Table function to select a defenseman for the 2020-21 season
Assists vs. Salary
This bar graph compares defensemen assists in
2018-19 and their current 2019-20 salary. Ryan
Pulock from the New York Islanders had 28
assists in 2018-19 and his salary is $2,000,000.
Anthony DeAngelo from the New York Rangers
had 26 assists in 2018-19 and his salary is
$925,000. This graph shows that these are two
defenseman that have a high number of assists
and low salary. As a GM, there is a high interest
in selecting a player that can perform at the
NHL level and fit within the team’s budget. Ryan
Pulock and Anthony DeAngelo both fit those
categories and are important to further
analyze. Resource allocation is an important skill
to have as a GM because I have a low budget
and want to find feasible assets that will keep
our team a fierce competitor.
 SALARY

MERZLIKINS, ELVIS 874125

0
SAMSONOV, ILYA 925000

SHESTERKIN, IGOR 925000

JARRY, TRISTAN 675000

0.887
KORPISALO, JOONAS 1150000

0.897
REIMER, JAMES 3400000

0.9
SCHNEIDER, CORY 6000000

0.903
ELLIOTT, BRIAN 2000000

0.907
LUNDQVIST, HENRIK 8500000

SAVE PERCENTAGE %
VARLAMOV, SEMYON 5000000
0.909

HOLTBY, BRADEN 6100000

0.911
SAVE PERCENTAGE VS. SALARY

GEORGIEV, ALEXANDAR 792500

0.914

MRÁZEK, PETR 3125000

HART, CARTER 730833

0.917

BLACKWOOD, MACKENZIE 697500

0.918

MURRAY, MATT 3750000

0.919
How will you use the Pivot Table function to select our next franchise goalie?

GREISS, THOMAS 3333333

0.927
Total
Save Percentage vs. Salary
This bar graph compares goalies save percentage in 2018-
2019 and their current 2019-20 salary. Mackenzie Blackwood
from the New Jersey Devils had a 0.918 save percentage in
2018-19 and his salary is $697,500 in 2019-20. Carter Hart from
the Philadelphia Flyers had a 0.917 save percentage in 2018-
19 and his salary is $730,833 in 2019-20. The graph shows that
these two goalies with a high save percentage and a low
salary. As a GM I can now go back into the data table I
created and look at the goalie’s age and contract end
date to analyze the players in more depth. Brayden Holtby
has been stellar as our main goalie, but it is important to start
looking for the next best. Save percentage and low salary
allows me to identify who are some of the best goalies in the
Metropolitan Division that can perform in the NHL and be
signed for a long contract. A back-up goalie is on the top of
our prioritization list.