Nick Paul and Connor Brown were redundant though as they brought in Giroux, Debrincat and had to make room for a healthy Pinto as well.
As a Canucks fan it's hard to see any worse GMs in the league honestly.
Do you mean Benning or Allvin? The latter hasn't been there long enough to have enough of an analysis, minor trades and a few signings. I don't see these signings as that bad, a bit of risk for Miller but I can see him remaining a good player for years
For the Sens, Nick Paul is a guy you absolutely KEEP. He's a premium defensive forward, versatile, strong as an ox, great on face-offs and never takes anything for granted Plus it seems like he had another gear offensively. IIRC he only wanted something like 3.25 AAV for 5 years... Instead Dorion traded him for Joseph who he gave 2.95 AAV for 4 years. I like Joseph and he is a great skater but he has nowhere near Paul's hockey IQ
Seeing Paul traded pissed off Connor Brown, his friend and linemate with who he had an incredible chemistry with. They were a joy to watch on the PK. He asked for a trade but if the Sens kept Paul in the first place, they could have enjoyed Brown at 3.6 AAV only this season. It might have become hard to figure out next year with DeBrincat and Pinto RFA and Zub UFA but look at the bottom-6 now when healthy :
Motte - Pinto - Joseph
Kelly - Kastelic - Watson
Motte is a great 4th liner but should not be played above. Joseph is an "ok" 3rd liner. Pinto is a rookie who just missed a full season. Kastelic is also a rookie, not the greatest skater but has a lot of qualities. However he plays with Watson (barely NHL level anymore) and Kelly (who should be a call up option, not a guy on a 1-way). Gambrell is "fine defensively" but that's about it. Brassard has been a nice depth add though but he is far from his prime and has the worst defensive stats among Sens forwards
Pinto has been forced to play in the top-6 (Brassard too) with Norris (and now Stutzle) injury. I would be shocked if this isn't the worst bottom-6 in the NHL
The Top-6 is great but a Bot-6 is also very important, it needs to be excellent defensively while being able to chip in offensively. Paul and Brown (and well Formenton) was a massive advantage
The bottom line is that some viewed the Sens (much like the Canucks) as this breakout team due to their forward depth in the offseason and it was folly in both cases and quite predictable to boot.
I had my reserves as this is still coached by DJ Smith & co and managed by Pierre Dorion... probably the worst duo in the NHL. Dorion always find ways to screw up, I could explain if you want.