In 1992, McPhee assumed his first major NHL management position, starting as vice president and director of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks, assisting then-general manager Pat Quinn. With McPhee, the team made the playoffs four times, won a division championship, and played in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, which they lost to the New York Rangers.
Washington Capitals
When McPhee joined the Washington Capitals in 1997, the team was looking to turn around its long storied history of being a top regular season performer that disappointed in the playoffs. His tenure began well as he engineered the club's first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals appearance in his first season, which the Capitals lost to the Detroit Red Wings. The team played well under the general management of McPhee, winning seven Southeast Division championships, eight 40-or-more win seasons and a franchise-record 121-point season. On September 25, 1999, McPhee, angry at what he perceived to be dirty play by the Chicago Blackhawks, punched then Blackhawks head coachLorne Molleken outside the Chicago locker room after their teams' exhibition game. Molleken sustained injuries to his head and in response, Blackhawks players and team aides jumped McPhee, leaving him with a torn suit. On October 1, 1999, NHL commissionerGary Bettman suspended McPhee for one month without pay and fined him $20,000. Throughout the 2003–04 season, McPhee and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis opted to dump salary on the Capitals' roster and focus on youth. In a "fire sale", the Capitals traded Sergei Gonchar, Jaromír Jágr, Peter Bondra, Michael Nylander, Mike Grier, Robert Lang and captainSteve Konowalchuk that season. McPhee began rebuilding the team by selecting Russian phenom Alexander Ovechkin with the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft; Ovechkin would live with McPhee's family as a rookie during the 2005–06 season. The 2007–08 season would prove hopeful for McPhee, as the Capitals appeared poised to turn the corner in their development. However, after the Capitals began the season with a 6–14–1 record, McPhee fired head coach Hanlon on November 22 and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau, the head coach of the Capitals' then-American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears. McPhee's change worked and the 2007–08 season would end with an unprecedented comeback and an unexpected Southeast Division championship. McPhee's trade deadline acquisitions of veterans Sergei Fedorov, Matt Cooke and Cristobal Huet all played large roles in leading the Capitals to their third Southeast Division title. In 2013, McPhee traded Swedish winger Filip Forsberg to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Forsberg was the Capitals' first-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, selected 11th overall. On April 26, 2014, McPhee was fired as the Capitals' general manager. He was succeeded by Brian MacLellan, a childhood friend and teammate from Guelph, Ontario, and a college teammate at Bowling Green.
New York Islanders
On September 23, 2015, it was formally announced that McPhee had joined the New York Islanders in the role of an alternate governor, vice president and special advisor to general manager Garth Snow.
Vegas Golden Knights
On July 13, 2016, McPhee left the Islanders organization after he was hired by Bill Foley, owner of the Las Vegas expansion franchise to be the new general manager of the team. McPhee was named a finalist for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award after the Golden Knights had a phenomenal inaugural season, which he would be awarded on June 20.
Personal life
McPhee interned on Wall Street in New York for two off-seasons while playing for the Rangers in the 1980s. After retirement from his professional playing career, he studied law at Rutgers University's law school in New Jersey and clerked for a judge on the United States Court of International Trade before moving into a hockey management career. McPhee is married to wife Leah, with whom he has three children: son Graham and daughters Grayson and Adelaide.
