Dean Lombardi - As GM

As GM

Upon taking over the San Jose Sharks, he was widely criticized for signing veterans. This move, however, proved to be beneficial while stockpiling the team's farm system with homegrown talent. During his tenure as Sharks GM, he drafted Patrick Marleau, Brad Stuart, Scott Hannan, Marco Sturm and Marcel Goc in the first round along with Jonathan Cheechoo, Mark Smith, Ryane Clowe and Christian Ehrhoff in the later rounds.

He also traded for established veterans, including Owen Nolan, Teemu Selänne, Adam Graves, Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Kyle McLaren, Mike Vernon, Todd Harvey, Bryan Marchment and Scott Thornton, while developing their prospects slowly. All would become vital in the Sharks success during his tenure. The team would increase their point total for six straight seasons during his guidance, becoming only the second GM in NHL history to accomplish the feat. Only Hockey Hall of Fame GM Bill Torrey accomplished more consecutive seasons of increased point totals, seven (1972-73 to 1978-79), in his overseeing the dynasty of the New York Islanders into the early 1980s.

Lombardi was relieved of his duties, late in the 2002–03 NHL season, a season in which many felt the Sharks would go deep in the playoffs, but struggled with a slow start and never recovered. This could be mainly attributed to the lengthy contract hold-out of star goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Shortly after his firing he was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers as a Western Conference scout, a position he held until April 2006 when he was appointed president and general manager of the Los Angeles Kings. He brought along Ferreira as a special advisor. As with the Sharks, Lombardi was a shrewd drafter and developer of talent, drafting the likes of Jonathan Bernier, Trevor Lewis, Alec Martinez, Slava Voynov, and his most notable draft pick, Drew Doughty, the number two overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Lombardi also complimented the draft picks with solid veteran signings and trades for Dustin Penner, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter, among others. As he did with the Sharks, Lombardi's Kings saw gradual improvement yearly, culminating with a 101 point season for the 2009-10. However, the Kings were eliminated in the first round of the 2010 NHL Western Conference Quarter-Finals by the Vancouver Canucks. The following season the Kings won the same amount of games (46), and had 98 points, but were defeated in the first-round once again, this time by his former team, the San Jose Sharks.