Think Like a GM: Inside the Mindset and Strategies of Winning General Managers

What separates championship teams from everyone else?

It is not just star players. It is not luck. It is not one big trade.

It is the thinking behind the team.

In Think Like a GM, hockey analyst Christopher Hodgson takes readers inside the front office and breaks down how winning teams are really built. From scouting and drafting to trades, free agency, salary cap management, and roster construction, this book pulls back the curtain on the decisions that shape franchises and define dynasties.

Built for passionate hockey fans, aspiring analysts, fantasy hockey players, and anyone obsessed with the strategy behind the sport, Think Like a GM explores the blueprint used by the NHL’s best organizations to stay competitive in a league where one bad contract or one bad trade can derail everything.

Inside this book, you will learn:

• How great general managers evaluate talent

• The hidden science of drafting and prospect development

• Why asset management is the foundation of sustainable success

• How smart teams weaponize the salary cap

• The psychology behind trades and free agency

• What separates contenders from champions

Whether you have argued trades from your couch, rebuilt teams in franchise mode, or dreamed of sitting in the war room on draft day, this book gives you the tools to see hockey the way the people running it do.

Because winning in hockey is not just about playing the game.

It is about understanding how the game is built.