Nah it really is. That organization had been a tire fire for years before he even got hired. GM's do not act alone, they rely on their core in the office. Whether their assistants, presidents, scouts, etc. You think Chia said "**** it, let's do Hall for Larsson" without asking his pro scouts and assistants? You think they traded the 16th OA pick without consulting their scouts on who was there and what the potential of that D was? He didn't run these trades past the suits who "know how to win"?
Of course not. And that same core exists today. Did he do an amazing job? No of course not. But Oilers fans have been great at making him into the scape goat for every failure the organization has done in recent memory. When the reality is, the issue is a lot deeper than that.
Let's not forget Oilers fans were even more hyped when Chia was hired than Holland.
Load of nonsense excuses.
Chiarelli also traded away Seguin, Wheeler, let Kessell walk for an offer sheet. Hall trade was his master stroke move because he had his golden boy Lucic lined up to sign to a ridiculous 7 year contract.
Which makes it that much worse, not only he do that Hall eyes wide open, he did it so basically he could go get Lucic.
The GM's job is to sign off on all major moves, not to have his hand held like a baby either. Scouts are supposed to help out on stuff like 2nd/3rd/4th round picks, not to tell you which major trades you should be making.
He was woefully incompetent given all the assets he had to start with.
