Saturday open thread: Who is the best general manager in Detroit right now?

There’s a lot of excitement in the air when it comes to Detroit sports. Though none of the major sports seem to be in a position to make a playoff run quite yet, a good majority of them seem to be in good hands and might not be too far away.

In late April, we got to see Brad Holmes work his magic, making moves to come away with two players in the top-12. This past Thursday, it was Pistons’ general manager Troy Weaver’s turn to work some magic. After a couple of moves made, Weaver got the two players he was eyeing from the beginning: Jaden Ivey at fifth overall and Jalen Duren at thirteenth overall. Heading into the free agency, they also have a ton of cap space to work with.

The Red Wings are also in a great spot with general manager Steve Yzerman, who left his footprint on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who—at the time of me writing this—are still in a position to win their third Stanley Cup Championship in a row. Yzerman has done fantastic work for the team since he arrived, getting rid of bad contracts, adding young talent, and acquiring assets to build for the future. Pretty soon we will see if they are ready for the next step.

And last but not least, the Detroit Tigers. Many believed that despite all of the positivity just mentioned about the other three major Detroit sports teams, it was the Tigers that might have been the team in Detroit closest to making a playoff appearance. That was until they actually started playing baseball this season and found themselves back near the bottom of the standings. It’s been a major disappointment for a team that has been rebuilding for nearly a decade now. Al Avila took over as Tigers’ general manager in 2015 and things haven’t improved much under his watch. He seems to be trending in the opposite direction than the other three GMs in Detroit.

Today’s Question of the Day is...

Who is the best GM in Detroit right now?

This is an extremely tough decision to make and the only thing I feel certain about is placing Avila at the bottom. The rest, I think you could make an argument for any order. Here is how I would list them right now:

1a. Steve Yzerman (Red Wings)
1b. Brad Holmes (Lions)
1c. Troy Weaver (Pistons)

4. Al Avila (Tigers)

It feels crazy to me that Weaver isn’t higher after what he’s done since he’s arrived, adding so much young talent in just a few years, but that just speaks to how great of a job Yzerman and Holmes have done so far. Holmes not only took over a busted up roster with very little talent but also made a complete overhaul to the team’s culture, which was in a bad place thanks to the previous regime.

But it’s the Red Wings that I believe are in the best hands right now. Yzerman is a proven GM that has already done the work of building a championship-caliber team before coming back to Detroit. The track record speaks for itself, and most recently, his first-ever draft pick for the Wings just won the Calder Trophy (hockey’s equivalent to Rookie of the Year).

Your turn.