Brian John MacLellan (born October 27, 1958) is a Canadian former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward and current president of hockey operations of the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with five teams between 1983 and 1992, winning the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

with the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

. Internationally he played for the Canadian national team at the 1985 World Championships. He joined Washington front office in 2000 and spent 13 seasons in various roles before becoming

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in 2014, and in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

won the Stanley Cup with the team.

Playing career

MacLellan was born in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. After playing his college hockey at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, MacLellan signed as a free agent with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

in 1982. During his tenure with the Kings, he would play on a line with

Marcel Dionne Marcel Elphège Dionne (born August 3, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre (ice hockey), centre. He played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers be ...

, and he would have his best year statistically in 1984–85 (31 goals, 54 assists). Despite this, he was traded to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in the middle of the 1985–86 NHL season. He would be traded again, this time to the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

prior to the 1986–87 NHL season, where he would score a career-high 32 goals. Near the end of the

1988–89 NHL season The 1988–89 NHL season was the List of NHL seasons, 72nd Season (sports), season of the National Hockey League. The Calgary Flames won an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens four games to two. This remains the last ti ...

, MacLellan was acquired by the

for their playoff drive, which paid off as the Flames won the

. He would remain with the Flames for two more seasons. He would close out his NHL career playing with the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

for the 1991–92 season.

Post-playing career

On May 26, 2014, MacLellan was named senior vice president and general manager of the

. MacLellan had been a fixture in Washington for the previous 13 seasons, serving first as a pro scout, then as director of player personnel and, for the seven seasons prior to being named the general manager, as assistant general manager under George McPhee. MacLellan and McPhee had been childhood friends and teammates in Guelph, Ontario and also college teammates at Bowling Green. The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup under MacLellan in

. Following the 2023–24 season, MacLellan was succeeded as general manager of the Capitals by Chris Patrick, while retaining his role as president of hockey operations.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclellan, Brian 1958 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey players Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey forwards Detroit Red Wings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Los Angeles Kings players Minnesota North Stars players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen National Hockey League general managers New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers players Ice hockey people from Guelph Stanley Cup champions Undrafted National Hockey League players Washington Capitals executives Washington Capitals scouts