GDT: Craig MacTavish vs. HF Oil | End of Season Presser | 2:00 PM | Streamed

[OilTastic]

The big take away for me is that Mact would not trade guys like Hall, Eberle and Nuge and would try other ways to fix problems

and failed ! but ya the love he had for our so called "big 3" was nauseating and one of the reasons why we never won jack. at least Chia had the b.alls to trade one of them for a much needed very good RD and thus begin the turn to respectability. MacT's reward for 2 years of ineptness? a job in the organisation! @thewaydarylkatzrolls.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Welcome to the darkest years of our adventures, Taylor... 97 years....

 

[bone]

I'll never forget the hopeless feeling I had at the time. Didn't really care about the lottery. Was just ready for more terrible years and more free time with my family.

Casually watched the lottery and when the Oilers won, I was momentarily pissed off thinking he may bail out this team of incompetents. Then everything changed. Chia makes mistakes too, but it at least feels like the team has solid direction now, something they didn't have in those bad years.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Not gonna lie I was near the end too. I was contemplating jumping ship it go so bad. I hate myself for thinking it but I did .

Then Connor happened......and my life changed forever

Was almost the end for me the day MacT was hired as GM. I saw the MacT hiring for what it was: Another puppet GM while Lowe still had a huge say in most/all of the possible moves or trades (hence the 'I think I know a thing or two about winning' diatribe, even though about 10 years of losing at that point had proven that conviction to be completely lacking in substance). What a horrible, horrible day that was. Good lord. I thought we'd forever be stuck with Lowe in a position of authority over the teams players and personnel changes. But yeah, thank the gods we're in a better place now, and I can try to bury the bitterly awful memory of that day.

 

[McShogun99]

The one thing that I can give Mac T credit for is that he has an excellent eye for defensemen and defensive players.. He also set up a good foundation for the team by selecting Nurse, Klefbom and Draisaitl.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Was almost the end for me the day MacT was hired as GM. I saw the MacT hiring for what it was: Another puppet GM while Lowe still had a huge say in most/all of the possible moves or trades (hence the 'I think I know a thing or two about winning' diatribe, even though about 10 years of losing at that point had proven that conviction to be completely lacking in substance). What a horrible, horrible day that was. Good lord. I thought we'd forever be stuck with Lowe in a position of authority over the teams players and personnel changes. But yeah, thank the gods we're in a better place now, and I can try to bury the bitterly awful memory of that day.

I thought MacT couldn't possibly be worse than Mr. Dithers Tambellini...

how wrong I was

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

The one thing that I can give Mac T credit for is that he has an excellent eye for defensemen and defensive players.. He also set up a good foundation for the team by selecting Nurse, Klefbom and Draisaitl.

I'm pretty sure Tambellini selected Klefbom.

And MacT didn't handle the Jeff Petry, Nikita Nikitin, and Justin Schultz situation well at all with respect to defencemen. His eye failed him with the first 2 in particular.

 

[bone]

double post

 

[bone]

The one thing that I can give Mac T credit for is that he has an excellent eye for defensemen and defensive players.. He also set up a good foundation for the team by selecting Nurse, Klefbom and Draisaitl.

Jeff Petry says Hi.

What about Nikitin. Ference. Grebeshkov. Belov (well, that may have been bad coaching).

Okay with his drafts, his view of defense was pathetic.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Jeff Petry says Hi.

What about Nikitin. Ference. Grebeshkov. Belov (well, that may have been bad coaching).

Okay with his drafts, his view of defense was pathetic.

Nikitin was terrible, Ference was overwhelmed and broke down, I don't think the signing was bad, but signing him as the #1 (basically) was problematic.

Yes bringing Grebeshkov back was bad, but it's a guy he trusted previously, and it's not like he was slow to get him moved out.

 

[rboomercat90]

Watching that press conference today for the first time in two and a half years and with the benefit of hindsight what jumps out at me is Mactavish knew he was a lame duck GM. I think he wanted to make big moves but wasn't allowed to and he felt helpless and out of ideas. I also think he knew his days were numbered. Makes me wonder why he even bothered holding that presser when he had absolutely nothing to offer the fans. His biggest problem, outside of never being qualified for the job in the first place, was his inability to think things through to determine what the upsides and downsides of his actions would be. He just assumed everything would work out for him and when they didn't, he was lost. This press conference summed up his tenure as GM perfectly.

 

[OilTastic]

The one thing that I can give Mac T credit for is that he has an excellent eye for defensemen and defensive players.. He also set up a good foundation for the team by selecting Nurse, Klefbom and Draisaitl.

I'm pretty sure Tambellini selected Klefbom.

And MacT didn't handle the Jeff Petry, Nikita Nikitin, and Justin Schultz situation well at all with respect to defencemen. His eye failed him with the first 2 in particular.

Yup I just can't agree that MacT has a "good eye " for d-men or any other players.

 

[rboomercat90]

Was almost the end for me the day MacT was hired as GM. I saw the MacT hiring for what it was: Another puppet GM while Lowe still had a huge say in most/all of the possible moves or trades (hence the 'I think I know a thing or two about winning' diatribe, even though about 10 years of losing at that point had proven that conviction to be completely lacking in substance). What a horrible, horrible day that was. Good lord. I thought we'd forever be stuck with Lowe in a position of authority over the teams players and personnel changes. But yeah, thank the gods we're in a better place now, and I can try to bury the bitterly awful memory of that day.

He was a puppet GM and nobody was more surprised to learn that than he was. He had big plans for this team when he was hired. Once he started on the job though, we never heard about his bold plans again.

 

[rboomercat90]

The one thing that I can give Mac T credit for is that he has an excellent eye for defensemen and defensive players.. He also set up a good foundation for the team by selecting Nurse, Klefbom and Draisaitl.

Going back to his coaching days, both Mactavish and Lowe were terrible judges of talent. Every year, it seemed, we'd here at least one of them at some point in the season talking publicly about how they had misjudged and overvalued the talent on the team. Where the myth started that he was competent in that area is a mystery to me. That was one of the reasons I was so angry the day he was appointed GM.

 

[KarmaPolice]

He was a puppet GM and nobody was more surprised to learn that than he was. He had big plans for this team when he was hired. Once he started on the job though, we never heard about his bold plans again.

Possibly so. It wouldn't surprise me if that was true to a large extent. And if that's the case, it adds more credence to my strong dislike of Kevin Lowe. The SC run in '06 was nice, but within the context of 10+ years of being a non-playoff team and many times finishing near the very bottom of the league while being a league-wide laughing stock of an organization for FAR too long does not give him a good history as a front office man and 'knowing how to win' ('if that was ever a concern', and yes Lowe, it was ALWAYS a damn concern). He should retired to a house in the middle of the prairies years ago, yet he still hangs around like a terrible rash that refuses to clear up and go away. He has just has so much damn pride and arrogance that it blinds him to all sorts of real world events that happen around him, and I think always affected his ability to do his job as GM and think with an objective and clear mind (see the Comrie thing, and Souray, and many other events that were terribly handled).

 

[Jumptheshark]

and failed ! but ya the love he had for our so called "big 3" was nauseating and one of the reasons why we never won jack. at least Chia had the b.alls to trade one of them for a much needed very good RD and thus begin the turn to respectability. MacT's reward for 2 years of ineptness? a job in the organisation! @thewaydarylkatzrolls.

I think about his BOLD move comment.

Mact was not man enough to walk into Katz Lair and tell him--"I am trading Hall and Eberle"--Chia did the trade then told him "Got the D-man we needed"

 

[guymez]

I think about his BOLD move comment.

Mact was not man enough to walk into Katz Lair and tell him--"I am trading Hall and Eberle"--Chia did the trade then told him "Got the D-man we needed"

I think its more likely that Katz had made it clear (to Lowe and MacT) that all the first overalls and Ebs were core players and that the mandate was to showcase them and build around them.
Katz's closeness to MacT and Lowe was a huge problem. I believe that Katz wanted to be a part of the rebuild by steering the hockey ops.

So fast forward past years of failure and we arrive at Nicholson being hired. I think this is where the separation (between Katz and the hockey ops) started. I am willing to bet that when Chiarelli was hired he wanted complete control over the roster decision making. I believe thats why he negotiated the President of Hockey Ops position in addition to GM.
He clearly got the reassurance from Katz and Nicholson that this was going to be his baby.
If I am Chiarelli....I dont take the job unless that control was included.

 

[Red Deer Rebel]

It's been 2 years and the only players that will be in this seasons opening lineup from when Mac T was the GM are Draisaitl, RNH, Slepyshev(IR), Khaira, Klefbom, Nurse and Broissoi. That's a huge changeover in 2 seasons.

MacT hit it out of the park with Draisaitl. Many on here were saying Draisaitl "couldn't skate", and we should pick Bennett.

Slepyshev looks like a very good pick for a 3rd rounder.

Nurse was a decent pick, but, in retrospect, there were other players on the board (Ristolainen) who are now well ahead of him.

So, only 2 really decent acquisitions left from two full seasons as a GM. Nurse is okay, but not a homerun pick by any means.

 

[Draiskull]

I think about his BOLD move comment.

Mact was not man enough to walk into Katz Lair and tell him--"I am trading Hall and Eberle"--Chia did the trade then told him "Got the D-man we needed"

MacT didnt have Connor friggin McDavid in his back pocket.
Taylor Hall was the Connor McDavid for MacT and he would have been burned alive if he traded away Hall for a guy like Larsson.

Chia had the luxury to make that move.

 

[McShogun99]

MacT didnt have Connor friggin McDavid in his back pocket.
Taylor Hall was the Connor McDavid for MacT and he would have been burned alive if he traded away Hall for a guy like Larsson.

Chia had the luxury to make that move.

Without Mcdavid there was almost zero chance that Hall, Eberle and RNH get moved. We were going to die on that hill.

 

[KarmaPolice]

MacT hit it out of the park with Draisaitl. Many on here were saying Draisaitl "couldn't skate", and we should pick Bennett.

Slepyshev looks like a very good pick for a 3rd rounder.

Nurse was a decent pick, but, in retrospect, there were other players on the board (Ristolainen) who are now well ahead of him.

So, only 2 really decent acquisitions left from two full seasons as a GM. Nurse is okay, but not a homerun pick by any means.

Drai was basically a 50/50 coin flip. It was gonna be either Drai or Bennett, and everyone knew it (or fully expected it). Not sure you can give him much credit for that: Drai seemed to many (including myself) to have a higher ceiling (as he was bigger, had more tools, more hockey sense) so it seemed like an easy pick to me, and skating can be fixed so I never saw that as a huge issue. But meh, give him credit for not bungling it up. The Nurse pick could've been better, but let's not forget that many here wanted Lazar selected with that 7th pick!
So it could've been much worse (even though I'm not sold on Nurse as a top-4 moving forward, he should at least be a solid 3rd pairing guy).

(EDIT: Oops, we had the 7th pick overall, not the 9th. So I changed that to reflect reality.)

 

[rboomercat90]

Drai was basically a 50/50 coin flip. It was gonna be either Drai or Bennett, and everyone knew it (or fully expected it). Not sure you can give him much credit for that: Drai seemed to many (including myself) to have a higher ceiling (as he was bigger, had more tools, more hockey sense) so it seemed like an easy pick to me, and skating can be fixed so I never saw that as a huge issue. But meh, give him credit for not bungling it up. The Nurse pick could've been better, but let's not forget that many here wanted Lazar selected with that 9th pick!
So it could've been much worse (even though I'm not sold on Nurse as a top-4 moving forward, he should at least be a solid 3rd pairing guy).

After having and failing with a lineup of small skilled forwards there is no way this team was drafting Bennet over Draisatl. Anybody that thinks the Oilers even considered it is delusional.

 

[KarmaPolice]

After having and failing with a lineup of small skilled forwards there is no way this team was drafting Bennet over Draisatl. Anybody that thinks the Oilers even considered it is delusional.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. I think it was pretty much a far-gone conclusion that we were taking Drai. I don't remember feeling much doubt about it. I seem to recall a pervasive feeling by pretty much everyone that we needed that prototypical big centerman, and Drai was our best chance at getting just that.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

I'll never forget the hopeless feeling I had at the time. Didn't really care about the lottery. Was just ready for more terrible years and more free time with my family.

Casually watched the lottery and when the Oilers won, I was momentarily pissed off thinking he may bail out this team of incompetents. Then everything changed. Chia makes mistakes too, but it at least feels like the team has solid direction now, something they didn't have in those bad years.

I have an hypothesis. If you make great deals and rip off everyone all the time then eventually no one will trade with you.

But if you throw in a few so so one's.......

 

[Paperbagofglory]

I have an hypothesis. If you make great deals and rip off everyone all the time then eventually no one will trade with you.

But if you throw in a few so so one's.......

That's actually a pretty plausible theory. Something a skilled politician would think of.

Of course the simple explanation could be that nobody has a crystal ball and even the great's make mistakes.