All-Things-Chiarelli & The Front Office

[smack66]

I said it when the Boychuk trade was made... if this season is full of suck because of Chia's ineptness in recent years, he definitely needs to be considered on the hot seat. Not fired necessarily unless we, say, miss the playoffs. But he needs to be told his job isn't safe at that point, and to fix his mess that many of us might have avoided with relative ease.

I'm quite interested in what you would have done to "fix this mess"

 

[Stone Clode]

And yet the team always seems to have cap issues. So if he stinks at drafting, doesn't trade well, and his cap management is poor, what exactly does he bring to the table?

Putting together a roster that competes for and wins Stanley Cups, apparently.


I don't really think the team always has "cap issues" though. If your team is on a 6 year stretch of making the playoffs every single year, making 2 Stanley Cup finals, and finishing near the top of the league every year, while managing these supposed "cap issues", then I'd say you're doing a pretty good job.

The problem that many GMs run into is that they try to run a team and be at or close to the cap every year while being competitive. It's usually one or two awful contracts that they hand out though that handcuffs a team so badly that their run of success is short lived. If you really look at the Bruins roster and the contract situations, there really isn't an AWFUL contract. There are certainly a few guys getting paid slightly more than they are worth, but not to the point where they aren't moveable if necessary or completely prevent the team from doing anything. Even with the Iginla bonus, this team still has the necessary cap space to make a move to improve the team come deadline time. The only contract I guess you could say is "awful" is the Kelly contract, and even then, it's only 3 million in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't handcuff them, persay.

While we don't necessarily agree with a lot of the moves he makes, and doesn't always get the guy we want, and sometimes trades away the guy we like, his mismanagement of the cap is horribly overblown on these parts. He does show loyalty to his guys. He overvalues some players that he shouldn't, and doesn't value some of the players he absolutely should.

I'd say his biggest mistake as GM was giving Seguin the extension too early. He almost managed to convince himself that he made a mistake with that deal, and along with the supposed off-ice issues, managed to convince himself and others that trading him was the right thing to do. That contract looks like an unbelievable steal at this point. But if anything, it got him (at the time) a guy who wouldn't produce as much offensively, but was still a gifted offensive talent for a million and a half less, and was able to slide in one or two entry-level contracts with one only getting a small raise on a new deal. Obviously, Eriksson hasn't lived up to his billing, and that's the thing. Those things happen. I know we all had problems with the Seguin deal because we knew what he'd become. But nobody on here, NOBODY knew that Eriksson was going to underperform the way he has. And sure, you can put the onus on Chiarelli for not being able to see that, but its not exactly common for a guy to suddenly produce at nearly half his normal pace out of nowhere. With no real discernable injury (other than the concussions, which we agree he's sorta past at this point), it was really difficult to predict that. I know you and others have pointed to the lockout season as a potential sign, but do you know how many guys have had down seasons before? You can observe a player as much as you want, as long as you want, in every scenario, but until you actually place him in your own system, with your own guys, with your coach, you truly don't know what you will get. And that's the risk with every trade. We have people clamoring left and right for Jordan Eberle, for example. But we truly don't know if he will ever fit here.

And again, your right to criticize why he makes the deal then, if he knew what he had in Seguin and had already seen what he did in this system. But even in trades, you don't deal in absolutes. That this guy absolutely will do this, and this guy absolutely won't do that. You have to take chances. Some will make you look like a genius (Horton, Seidenberg) and some make you look like a bumbling fool (Eriksson). At the end of the day, he managed to put together a successful product on the ice, and nearly has 2 Stanley Cups to his credit. The way you describe him, its as if the team managed to put itself together and succeed in spite of him.

And does that absolve him from any criticism? Absolutely not. If this team continues to trend in the wrong direction, and it gets worse? As in they get knocked out in the first round this year, and then again next year? Or even worse, miss the playoffs? Then the idea of going in another direction becomes a real possibility.

 

[LSCII]

Putting together a roster that competes for and wins Stanley Cups, apparently.


I don't really think the team always has "cap issues" though. If your team is on a 6 year stretch of making the playoffs every single year, making 2 Stanley Cup finals, and finishing near the top of the league every year, while managing these supposed "cap issues", then I'd say you're doing a pretty good job.

The problem that many GMs run into is that they try to run a team and be at or close to the cap every year while being competitive. It's usually one or two awful contracts that they hand out though that handcuffs a team so badly that their run of success is short lived. If you really look at the Bruins roster and the contract situations, there really isn't an AWFUL contract. There are certainly a few guys getting paid slightly more than they are worth, but not to the point where they aren't moveable if necessary or completely prevent the team from doing anything. Even with the Iginla bonus, this team still has the necessary cap space to make a move to improve the team come deadline time. The only contract I guess you could say is "awful" is the Kelly contract, and even then, it's only 3 million in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't handcuff them, persay.

While we don't necessarily agree with a lot of the moves he makes, and doesn't always get the guy we want, and sometimes trades away the guy we like, his mismanagement of the cap is horribly overblown on these parts. He does show loyalty to his guys. He overvalues some players that he shouldn't, and doesn't value some of the players he absolutely should.

I'd say his biggest mistake as GM was giving Seguin the extension too early. He almost managed to convince himself that he made a mistake with that deal, and along with the supposed off-ice issues, managed to convince himself and others that trading him was the right thing to do. That contract looks like an unbelievable steal at this point. But if anything, it got him (at the time) a guy who wouldn't produce as much offensively, but was still a gifted offensive talent for a million and a half less, and was able to slide in one or two entry-level contracts with one only getting a small raise on a new deal. Obviously, Eriksson hasn't lived up to his billing, and that's the thing. Those things happen. I know we all had problems with the Seguin deal because we knew what he'd become. But nobody on here, NOBODY knew that Eriksson was going to underperform the way he has. And sure, you can put the onus on Chiarelli for not being able to see that, but its not exactly common for a guy to suddenly produce at nearly half his normal pace out of nowhere. With no real discernable injury (other than the concussions, which we agree he's sorta past at this point), it was really difficult to predict that. I know you and others have pointed to the lockout season as a potential sign, but do you know how many guys have had down seasons before? You can observe a player as much as you want, as long as you want, in every scenario, but until you actually place him in your own system, with your own guys, with your coach, you truly don't know what you will get. And that's the risk with every trade. We have people clamoring left and right for Jordan Eberle, for example. But we truly don't know if he will ever fit here.

And again, your right to criticize why he makes the deal then, if he knew what he had in Seguin and had already seen what he did in this system. But even in trades, you don't deal in absolutes. That this guy absolutely will do this, and this guy absolutely won't do that. You have to take chances. Some will make you look like a genius (Horton, Seidenberg) and some make you look like a bumbling fool (Eriksson). At the end of the day, he managed to put together a successful product on the ice, and nearly has 2 Stanley Cups to his credit. The way you describe him, its as if the team managed to put itself together and succeed in spite of him.

And does that absolve him from any criticism? Absolutely not. If this team continues to trend in the wrong direction, and it gets worse? As in they get knocked out in the first round this year, and then again next year? Or even worse, miss the playoffs? Then the idea of going in another direction becomes a real possibility.

Winning it once was great, but the goal is to compete for it year over year. Getting back to the finals was good, but they didn't have the horses to beat Chicago, when it mattered most. Last year was a disaster playoff wise. Aside from winning the cup and getting back to the finals, this team has crapped out hard in the playoffs against teams they should have beaten easily. This year? I don't see how this current roster honestly qualifies as a cup contender. They're missing too many pieces, IMO.

I honestly think this cup window has closed. Decent run, but I don't think PC has done a good enough job to get them back to another cup win.

EDIT: I don't give PC credit for Seidenberg because he actually signed Morris instead, and then botched that signing by giving him a NTC, which forced him to take less than market value after he decided to move Morris to make room for Seids. And as for Loui, he showed slippage in the lockout year. That should have been a red flag, or at least something they should have been concerned with. I also don't like that they didn't even get Dallas' top prospect, FFS. Just atrocious.

 

[Blowfish]

Each year is it's own representation of the job he's doing. So far this season, he left the team short a first line RW, and with the Boychuk trade, he left them short a top 4 dman. He also thought it was a good idea to "get faster and more skilled" but didn't bring in anyone who was actually fast or skilled. He messed up the cap situation to the point where guys like Krug and Smith didn't get to participate in camp, and that has clearly hurt Smith's game. So this season up to this point he's done a very poor job of managing the cap, addressing roster holes, and actually meeting the goals he himself set (IE get faster, more skilled up front). I mean look at this roster. His main contribution to it from last year has been Simon Gagne. Does that sound anything close to being faster or more skilled? Now, midseason, he wants to add heaviness? Jesus, that is a recipe for disaster. Either get faster and more skilled or stay with the heavy physical game, but you can't oscillate between the two in the middle of a season. And because of that, I'd say this season the team looks like a ship without a rudder.

I'm pretty confident many here were excited to see the bruins did leave some spots open for prospects to fill in...It was intentional by the bruins brass. Unfortunately the prospects haven't really impressed. Chia is now forced to make a trade.

 

[ODAAT]

Winning it once was great, but the goal is to compete for it year over year. Getting back to the finals was good, but they didn't have the horses to beat Chicago, when it mattered most. Last year was a disaster playoff wise. Aside from winning the cup and getting back to the finals, this team has crapped out hard in the playoffs against teams they should have beaten easily. This year? I don't see how this current roster honestly qualifies as a cup contender. They're missing too many pieces, IMO.

I honestly think this cup window has closed. Decent run, but I don't think PC has done a good enough job to get them back to another cup win.

EDIT: I don't give PC credit for Seidenberg because he actually signed Morris instead, and then botched that signing by giving him a NTC, which forced him to take less than market value after he decided to move Morris to make room for Seids. And as for Loui, he showed slippage in the lockout year. That should have been a red flag, or at least something they should have been concerned with. I also don't like that they didn't even get Dallas' top prospect, FFS. Just atrocious.

How many teams, legitimately can say they are or have been worthy of being mentioned consistently as Cup contenders in the last, say, half dozen years? ? I'll say 6 max, I'm a fan who in my dream world would have our boys always contending.

The realist in me says, there will always be a year or two where a transition of personnel has the team take a small step back

 

[TMac21]

I'm glad Lonnie is not my boss!

 

[Hali33]

I just thought the transition years were supposed to be toward's the very end of Chara's career/the post Chara years. Not during the final years of his dominance. He'll be 38 these playoffs. We like to pretend Chara is going to be dominant forever but he isn't. Making mistakes at this time might be the difference whether Chara ever brings Boston a 2nd Cup in his career. That bothers me a lot.

 

[Danton Heineken]

I just thought the transition years were supposed to be toward's the very end of Chara's career/the post Chara years. Not during the final years of his dominance. He'll be 38 these playoffs. We like to pretend Chara is going to be dominant forever but he isn't. Making mistakes at this time might be the difference whether Chara ever brings Boston a 2nd Cup in his career. That bothers me a lot.

Hamilton is already becoming this team's next #1 defenseman.

 

[LouJersey]

And yet the team always seems to have cap issues. So if he stinks at drafting, doesn't trade well, and his cap management is poor, what exactly does he bring to the table?

Luck. Thank God Washington and Philly passed on Timmy for peanuts.

Seriously though Chia was an absolute all-star in 10-11.... Nasty Nate, Soupy...Pevs, Kelly and Kaberle at the deadline. Wonder where those balls went.

 

[LSCII]

I'm pretty confident many here were excited to see the bruins did leave some spots open for prospects to fill in...It was intentional by the bruins brass. Unfortunately the prospects haven't really impressed. Chia is now forced to make a trade.

Open spots at the bottom of the roster, sure. Top line RW? Not in a million years. That spot was supposed to filled by Eriksson. Unfortunately, it appears Eriksson is not useful unless paired with at least one fellow Swede.

 

[LSCII]

Luck. Thank God Washington and Philly passed on Timmy for peanuts.

Seriously though Chia was an absolute all-star in 10-11.... Nasty Nate, Soupy...Pevs, Kelly and Kaberle at the deadline. Wonder where those balls went.

I honestly think the best move PC made so far was getting Recchi. But yeah, that list you pu together is a stark contrast to the moves he's made or failed to make lately.

 

[Stone Clode]

Winning it once was great, but the goal is to compete for it year over year. Getting back to the finals was good, but they didn't have the horses to beat Chicago, when it mattered most. Last year was a disaster playoff wise. Aside from winning the cup and getting back to the finals, this team has crapped out hard in the playoffs against teams they should have beaten easily. This year? I don't see how this current roster honestly qualifies as a cup contender. They're missing too many pieces, IMO.

I honestly think this cup window has closed. Decent run, but I don't think PC has done a good enough job to get them back to another cup win.

EDIT: I don't give PC credit for Seidenberg because he actually signed Morris instead, and then botched that signing by giving him a NTC, which forced him to take less than market value after he decided to move Morris to make room for Seids. And as for Loui, he showed slippage in the lockout year. That should have been a red flag, or at least something they should have been concerned with. I also don't like that they didn't even get Dallas' top prospect, FFS. Just atrocious.

That's dumb though, about Seidenberg. He wasted 41 meaningless games with Derek Morris. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. He ended up with the right player. He owned up to his mistake signing Morris, and got Seidenberg. Why do you dwell so much on the semantics of the situation? You've done this with the Sox too, and I guess that's more warranted, but if they are going to put a winning product out there, does it really matter how exactly they do it? As long as its done? I think the necessity to nitpick those types of things is because of the fact they are actually doing a good job and just the necessity to pick apart everything to try and discredit it a bit.

And of course it should have been a red flag, but so many people have had down years that have more than recovered, and there were more than enough factors to dispel that potential notion (lockout season, changing linemates, etc). I'm not arguing much (and neither are you) that in hindsight they lost that trade. Because they did. I'm just more of looking at it from right that moment trade. He was certainly thinking not just about the present but about the future, and I just think the dramatic dropoff of Eriksson isn't entirely his fault, as it was so difficult to really see it. I think its disingenuous to blame a guy entirely for that. But I guess that's why they get paid the big bucks. I just don't judge him for that trade alone, as many want to do.

And as for the deadline, I think 3 out of 4 deadlines he did what he had to. 2012 the exception. In 2011 he got Kelly, Peverley, and Kaberle. In 2013 they needed a top 6 winger (maybe top 9, but insurance if one of their current top 6 underperformed, which turned out to be the case), and he nearly got Iginla and still got Jagr. I don't think it was the lack of horses that lost them that series. 3 OT games (that can go either way), both teams won a game at home by 2 goals, and an incredible last second finish in game 6. With 1/10th of Bergeron. Hardly what I'd call "lacking the horses". They had enough to win the series. And in 2014, they had 8 Top-6 forwards, a load of horsecrap calling for them to trade for another top 6 forward is disingenuous. They were near the top of the league in goalscoring. As a GM, I see that as not needing more goal scoring. The Kings, regardless of the price they paid, acquired Gaborik because they were at the bottom of the ****ing league in goals. He acquired Meszaros, who obviously wasn't ideal, and McDonald might have been a difference maker. But I still think with the roster they had, and the consistency to which they played during the regular season, that they entirely just choked against Montreal. And you can rightly say that the team therefore had a fundamental problem. But as a team that in every way outperformed the cup final team from the year before, and with much of the cup roster still here, you've come to rely on a roster that has already done it twice before, and you expect them to do it again.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Luck. Thank God Washington and Philly passed on Timmy for peanuts.

Seriously though Chia was an absolute all-star in 10-11.... Nasty Nate, Soupy...Pevs, Kelly and Kaberle at the deadline. Wonder where those balls went.

not to mention some of his other gets...Recchi, Seids, McQuaid, Thornton.

*IF* I was an advocate for firing Chiarelli (not sure I'm there yet), it would be because you look at his tenure pre-cup and look at it post-cup, and it's like night and day. He has not done very much to improve this team in a while. On paper last year's team was a contender, but just like on the ice, results matter. if Chia continues to fail to get results then he has got to go IMO. He shouldn't get any more slack than Shero got in Pitt IMO.

 

[LouJersey]

not to mention some of his other gets...Recchi, Seids, McQuaid, Thornton.

*IF* I was an advocate for firing Chiarelli (not sure I'm there yet), it would be because you look at his tenure pre-cup and look at it post-cup, and it's like night and day. He has not done very much to improve this team in a while. On paper last year's team was a contender, but just like on the ice, results matter. if Chia continues to fail to get results then he has got to go IMO. He shouldn't get any more slack than Shero got in Pitt IMO.

The Recchi deal was masterful. That's what happens when you DEAL PROSPECTS THAT DONT FIT IN EARLY WHEN THEY HAVE ACTUAL TRADE VALUE.

Seids was correcting a mistake, but he should have just signed him over Morris and saved us a 2nd rd pick. Thornton was huge in re-identifying this team..McQuaid was a total steal...hate however that the pick we dealt was used to take Jamie Benn..

 

[Shoebottom]

That's dumb though, about Seidenberg. He wasted 41 meaningless games with Derek Morris. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. He ended up with the right player. He owned up to his mistake signing Morris, and got Seidenberg. Why do you dwell so much on the semantics of the situation? You've done this with the Sox too, and I guess that's more warranted, but if they are going to put a winning product out there, does it really matter how exactly they do it? As long as its done? I think the necessity to nitpick those types of things is because of the fact they are actually doing a good job and just the necessity to pick apart everything to try and discredit it a bit.

And of course it should have been a red flag, but so many people have had down years that have more than recovered, and there were more than enough factors to dispel that potential notion (lockout season, changing linemates, etc). I'm not arguing much (and neither are you) that in hindsight they lost that trade. Because they did. I'm just more of looking at it from right that moment trade. He was certainly thinking not just about the present but about the future, and I just think the dramatic dropoff of Eriksson isn't entirely his fault, as it was so difficult to really see it. I think its disingenuous to blame a guy entirely for that. But I guess that's why they get paid the big bucks. I just don't judge him for that trade alone, as many want to do.

And as for the deadline, I think 3 out of 4 deadlines he did what he had to. 2012 the exception. In 2011 he got Kelly, Peverley, and Kaberle. In 2013 they needed a top 6 winger (maybe top 9, but insurance if one of their current top 6 underperformed, which turned out to be the case), and he nearly got Iginla and still got Jagr. I don't think it was the lack of horses that lost them that series. 3 OT games (that can go either way), both teams won a game at home by 2 goals, and an incredible last second finish in game 6. With 1/10th of Bergeron. Hardly what I'd call "lacking the horses". They had enough to win the series. And in 2014, they had 8 Top-6 forwards, a load of horsecrap calling for them to trade for another top 6 forward is disingenuous. They were near the top of the league in goalscoring. As a GM, I see that as not needing more goal scoring. The Kings, regardless of the price they paid, acquired Gaborik because they were at the bottom of the ****ing league in goals. He acquired Meszaros, who obviously wasn't ideal, and McDonald might have been a difference maker. But I still think with the roster they had, and the consistency to which they played during the regular season, that they entirely just choked against Montreal. And you can rightly say that the team therefore had a fundamental problem. But as a team that in every way outperformed the cup final team from the year before, and with much of the cup roster still here, you've come to rely on a roster that has already done it twice before, and you expect them to do it again.

Excellent post. Stating the facts.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

The Recchi deal was masterful. That's what happens when you DEAL PROSPECTS THAT DONT FIT IN EARLY WHEN THEY HAVE ACTUAL TRADE VALUE.

Seids was correcting a mistake, but he should have just signed him over Morris and saved us a 2nd rd pick. Thornton was huge in re-identifying this team..McQuaid was a total steal...hate however that the pick we dealt was used to take Jamie Benn..

compare that to the guys he has acquired since...Krug was a great signing. After that....Pouliot, Bourque, Meszaros, Mottau, Rolston

Loui, Smith, and Morrow were good pickups in a vacuum, but not when you consider what we gave up of course.

All in all, way more misses than hits since that 08-11 stretch

 

[Stone Clode]

compare that to the guys he has acquired since...Krug was a great signing. After that....Pouliot, Bourque, Meszaros, Mottau, Rolston

Loui, Smith, and Morrow were good pickups in a vacuum, but not when you consider what we gave up of course.

All in all, way more misses than hits since that 08-11 stretch

No Jagr or Iginla?

 

[member 96824]

No Jagr or Iginla?

Those cancel each other out

 

[Stone Clode]

Those cancel each other out

Come on, man. Jagr itself was a good trade, not Chia's fault for Claude telling The Jagr what to do. You let that man do whatever the hell he wants.

 

[member 96824]

Come on, man. Jagr itself was a good trade, not Chia's fault for Claude telling The Jagr what to do. You let that man do whatever the hell he wants.

I'm real high on Dickinson, even higher on Hartman(the pick after Dickinson) and most of the defenders that were taken in the 2nd round (Bigras, Hagg, Heatherington, Bowey)

But yeah, you're right Jagr was a good deal, especially considering it was option #3 after Iginla and Morrow. Just didn't work out.

 

[Over the volcano]

Winning it once was great, but the goal is to compete for it year over year. Getting back to the finals was good, but they didn't have the horses to beat Chicago, when it mattered most. Last year was a disaster playoff wise. Aside from winning the cup and getting back to the finals, this team has crapped out hard in the playoffs against teams they should have beaten easily. This year? I don't see how this current roster honestly qualifies as a cup contender. They're missing too many pieces, IMO.

I honestly think this cup window has closed. Decent run, but I don't think PC has done a good enough job to get them back to another cup win.

EDIT: I don't give PC credit for Seidenberg because he actually signed Morris instead, and then botched that signing by giving him a NTC, which forced him to take less than market value after he decided to move Morris to make room for Seids. And as for Loui, he showed slippage in the lockout year. That should have been a red flag, or at least something they should have been concerned with. I also don't like that they didn't even get Dallas' top prospect, FFS. Just atrocious.

I dont know man. The team that lost to Chicago was a GREAT team- injuries and the truly bizarre 1 goal in 44 games of Seguin+Jagr sunk that ship. The team that lost to the Habs last year was stacked too. I have a hard time laying those at the feet of Chia- he provided the horses.

 

[LSCII]

That's dumb though, about Seidenberg. He wasted 41 meaningless games with Derek Morris. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. He ended up with the right player. He owned up to his mistake signing Morris, and got Seidenberg. Why do you dwell so much on the semantics of the situation? You've done this with the Sox too, and I guess that's more warranted, but if they are going to put a winning product out there, does it really matter how exactly they do it? As long as its done? I think the necessity to nitpick those types of things is because of the fact they are actually doing a good job and just the necessity to pick apart everything to try and discredit it a bit.

And of course it should have been a red flag, but so many people have had down years that have more than recovered, and there were more than enough factors to dispel that potential notion (lockout season, changing linemates, etc). I'm not arguing much (and neither are you) that in hindsight they lost that trade. Because they did. I'm just more of looking at it from right that moment trade. He was certainly thinking not just about the present but about the future, and I just think the dramatic dropoff of Eriksson isn't entirely his fault, as it was so difficult to really see it. I think its disingenuous to blame a guy entirely for that. But I guess that's why they get paid the big bucks. I just don't judge him for that trade alone, as many want to do.

And as for the deadline, I think 3 out of 4 deadlines he did what he had to. 2012 the exception. In 2011 he got Kelly, Peverley, and Kaberle. In 2013 they needed a top 6 winger (maybe top 9, but insurance if one of their current top 6 underperformed, which turned out to be the case), and he nearly got Iginla and still got Jagr. I don't think it was the lack of horses that lost them that series. 3 OT games (that can go either way), both teams won a game at home by 2 goals, and an incredible last second finish in game 6. With 1/10th of Bergeron. Hardly what I'd call "lacking the horses". They had enough to win the series. And in 2014, they had 8 Top-6 forwards, a load of horsecrap calling for them to trade for another top 6 forward is disingenuous. They were near the top of the league in goalscoring. As a GM, I see that as not needing more goal scoring. The Kings, regardless of the price they paid, acquired Gaborik because they were at the bottom of the ****ing league in goals. He acquired Meszaros, who obviously wasn't ideal, and McDonald might have been a difference maker. But I still think with the roster they had, and the consistency to which they played during the regular season, that they entirely just choked against Montreal. And you can rightly say that the team therefore had a fundamental problem. But as a team that in every way outperformed the cup final team from the year before, and with much of the cup roster still here, you've come to rely on a roster that has already done it twice before, and you expect them to do it again.

It doesn't matter much, except that it shows you his judgement was off. Sure he corrected it, but that decision was clearly shown to be poor. That means something regardless of whether he fixed his mistake or not. It also makes me question him on future moves. Same thing with Kaberle. He wanted that guy so bad, and when he came here, he didn't fit at all. It may not have hurt them, since they still won the cup that year, but it shows me that despite doing a good job, he still has his fair share of miscues.

 

[Stone Clode]

It doesn't matter much, except that it shows you his judgement was off. Sure he corrected it, but that decision was clearly shown to be poor. That means something regardless of whether he fixed his mistake or not. It also makes me question him on future moves. Same thing with Kaberle. He wanted that guy so bad, and when he came here, he didn't fit at all. It may not have hurt them, since they still won the cup that year, but it shows me that despite doing a good job, he still has his fair share of miscues.

Absolutely, positively, 100%. He has had his miscues. I am not excusing him of those at all. But that's why my point stands true. We critique those mistakes extra heavily because he's done such a good job. He set the bar high for himself with the great moves he's made, that we tend to scrutinize the bad ones and say "damn, those were awful". That's the thing, though. Not every move he makes is going to be a good one. Hell, the average GM makes more bad moves than good moves. It's the nature of the beast.

 

[bme44]

Hamilton is already becoming this team's next #1 defenseman.

Hamilton and Morrow wiil be a great one and two for the future . Morrow is the reason I do not think the Seguin trade is as bad as other's on here seem to think. I think it would be a major mistake if PC was replaced.

 

[Hali33]

I dont know man. The team that lost to Chicago was a GREAT team- injuries and the truly bizarre 1 goal in 44 games of Seguin+Jagr sunk that ship. The team that lost to the Habs last year was stacked too. I have a hard time laying those at the feet of Chia- he provided the horses.

I don't think Chiarelli's been as bad as some since the Cup win. I don't really blame him for what happened last playoffs. Had we made it to the finals I think we really would have felt the lack of a top 4 defenseman but the team blew it well before we got there. I don't think we contend with Marchand and Krejci playing that way.

But I can't defend what he's done this off season. I think it looks like a disaster. I think the reason this team is having such a hard time coping with these injuries, at least offensively, is because they were put in a weakened state before they even occurred. I don't think one player is going to fix this team. I think there's several moves that need to happen big and small for this team to reach it's potential and really contend this season.

I don't think he should be fired nor do I think he believes everything is fine and is sitting back doing nothing. But I do think he's created a ton of work for himself that is going to be hard to get done with the season already started. Not impossible. But he's going to have to have a really strong year to do it. I'm not encouraged by what I've seen so far this season.