Cherry picking three of the only good UFA signings is pretty weak on your part.
Again, if you can't figure out that Thomas Vanek is good for 40-50 points after literally doing it years in a row, you shouldn't be a GM.
Look, I'll help you:
2013-14: 59 points
2014-15: 52 points
2015-16: 41 points
2016-17: 48 points
Based on the above, do you think it was likely he scored over 40 points again, or not likely? If not, why not?
To pretend like Edmonton still isn't at the bottom of most players list for desirable places to play is also ignorant.
This strangely was not an excuse last summer when Lucic took less money to sign here and the Oilers turned down Jason Demers even after he toured the new rink. Once again, very convenient that suddenly Edmonton is a wasteland again.
Kuemper was awful last season as a backup and was on his last legs to stay in the league.
Except no, this is fiction. Kuemper had been a solid backup for literally years. Again, if you can't look at his resume/tape and realize the one bad year out of five might have been a fluke, you are a bad GM.
People would have laughed if we had added him last offseason. maybe he could have sent the slow and old Vanek the DVD to show how much better a city Edmonton is than Vancouver.
No, people laughed when Laurent Brossoit showed once again that he was unable to play consistently at the NHL level, and Chiarelli had to surrender a fourth round pick for Al Montoya. That's what they laughed at. I'm sorry that facts aren't your friend.
I'm sure after scoring 2 goals in 20 games for Florida and being a total bust there fans would have been over the moon with the signing, thinking he was the final piece of the puzzle.
Here's the list again, in case you missed it the first time:
2013-14: 59 points
2014-15: 52 points
2015-16: 41 points
2016-17: 48 points
Fans had no need to be "over the moon", but they would have been fine with the fact that Peter Chiarelli had at least attempted to fill the goal scoring hole left by Eberle.
But Chia didn't. He's not a good GM, no matter how hard you push the narrative.
Crying about us not signing these guys is no different than crying about a late round pick that turns out ok for another team.
Yes, crying about a general manager shirking his duties and letting his once-competitive team die on the vine is exactly the same as "crying" about a late round draft pick.
The proof is in the pudding. I'm sorry that you can't accept it.