TSN: Dreger Report: The Peter Principle

[Danton Heineken]

Chara was the single greatest free agent signing in sports history.

 

[Bruins Uncensored]

The notion that he'd quickly find work if released and the notion that he has made a few notable blunders as GM are not mutually exclusive.

We like Pete. We just want him to think more and stop making questionable moves.

Hindsight is always 20-20. Its easy to be a head coach or GM in a time machine.

 

[Yeti34]

Boychuk was easily our best defenseman vs the Habs... I must have watched a different series.

Easier to just say he looked bad in the series after the trade even if its not true. Its what we do in Boston.

 

[Marchy63]

If the upper management decide to fire Chiarelli and Julien, then I hope nothing but the worst for this franchise ... Garbage move to make with the way this season has gone (injuries to their top players, etc etc). ONE bad year does not make for judgement the last 7 years.

Too much power hungry *******s at top. Didn't they learn their lesson during the 39 year drought??!!

I don't think it would be completely based on this one bad season. You have to look at every season that Chiarelli has been here. There is always two ways to look at everything.

1. Chiarelli has put together a team that made the playoffs every year for the last several years and has won 4 Division Titles, 1 President''s Trophy, 1 Stanley Cup and been to the finals 1 more time.

2. Chiarelli built a team that won the Cup once and has lost in the first round 2, second round 3 times, cup finals once and missed the playoffs once.

If you look at his resume as a whole you can see some positives, but you can also see some negatives as well. You can also do the same when looking at track record with trades, free agents and drafting.

His best trades were for Seidenberg, Boychuk (1st time), Horton, Kessel, Soderberg. However, the Kessel trade was not expected to be nearly was good as it ended up being and no one even knew if Soderberg was ever going to come over to play in the NHL. His worst trade has to be Seguin trade and I don't think anyone can dispute that, that trade alone would have had other GMs fired across the league. I think the Kessel trade made him (and the rest of management) feel like every thing they thought or did was perfect and would always work out in their favor. The Seguin trade I think has made him feel worried about getting screwed over again and GMs around the league probably feel he will overpay to get the player he wants (see Buffalo). Result: Even at best

Other than the contraversial (in that no one knows for sure if he had actually signed them or not) signing of Chara and Savard, who has brought in through free agency that actually panned out? Krug & Miller are the only players currently in the lineup that was brought in through free agency. Right now he either cannot sign players due to cap problems or he can only sign them to one year deals with huge cap bonuses for the following year. Sure he has been able to keep players here, but how many got NMC/NTC to go along with a pretty fair paycheck? Result: Failed

Drafting has been probably the worst it has been for a long time. Since 2006 only Seguin (no longer here), Hamilton & Pastrnak have played full time in the NHL for Boston. That is pretty bad considering it has been almost 10 years since are last productive draft that saw Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand play for Boston. Result: Failed

So you have to ask yourself if it is worth keeping a GM who has not been able to draft well, not been able to sign free agents to help the team (either due to cap issues he created or players not wanting to be here) and has a hit or miss record with trades. Yes he has brought the Bruins back to respectability, but with that comes the expectations of winning that every elite franchise wants. If the Bruins had been winning cups like Montreal, Detroit and Toronto (I know it has been a while) in the past, would anybody be impressed with 1 cup and 1 trip to the finals in almost 10 years of service? The bigger problem Chiarelli has, 4 teams have done the exact same thing (Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago & LA) with 2 teams actually doing better (Chicago & LA) in the exact same amount of time.

 

[Number8]

You can say it in such a simplistic manner to make it sound absurd...

but in a way he is. Or any top 4 defenseman is.

If we happen to be in a fantasy land I guess. But in the real world? Not a chance - no way, now how.

I'm not happy about the way the JB55 trade worked out, but to suggest that this team was a top 4 defenseman (JB or anyone else) away from correcting what has been a massive underperformance across the board is hard to swallow. Players didn't deliver in playoffs last year, and haven't delivered this year.

Why, I don't pretend to know.

 

[Marchy63]

I don't know if it was the fact that Boychuk was traded or if it was the timing of the trade that had the most impact on the team. You see this from time to time when well liked players are traded and it it kind of shocks the room. The Bruins have been known as a very tight team and Boychuk was looked at as one of the most well liked players and also looked as one of the leaders so this could have impacted the entire team in a negative way. Throw in injuries to Chara, & Krejci, Seidenberg & Kelly coming back from injury and the fact Krug and Smith both missed all of training camp and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

[ODAAT]

Chara was the single greatest free agent signing in sports history.

Dave Clarkson says hello

 

[Blowfish]

Hindsight is always 20-20. Its easy to be a head coach or GM in a time machine.

 

[LeafsNation75]

The Seguin trade I think has made him feel worried about getting screwed over again and GMs around the league probably feel he will overpay to get the player he wants (see Buffalo). Result: Even at best

Please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Seguin traded more due to the fact he didn't fit the Bruins team first way of thinking? So it seems like Chiarelli was forced to trade him and it shows in this video.

 

[Iceage]

Easier to just say he looked bad in the series after the trade even if its not true. Its what we do in Boston.

He didn't look worse than anybody else. That being said, he didn't look any better than anybody else also.

 

[Marchy63]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Seguin traded more due to the fact he didn't fit the Bruins team first way of thinking? So it seems like Chiarelli was forced to trade him and it shows in this video.

Seguin was said to be traded due him not being mature enough and fitting into the culture that management wants here. Unfortunately he did not get nearly the return he thought he was going to get, but in no way did he have to trade Seguin to Dallas for what he did, he just thought that any deal he made was going to be a genius move on his part and it blew up in his face. Now that it has he seems hesitant to make a trade involving more established players and would rather trade draft picks for potential second liners and crappy prospects for washed up veterans.

 

[Replicator]

Seguin was said to be traded due him not being mature enough and fitting into the culture that management wants here. Unfortunately he did not get nearly the return he thought he was going to get, but in no way did he have to trade Seguin to Dallas for what he did, he just thought that any deal he made was going to be a genius move on his part and it blew up in his face. Now that it has he seems hesitant to make a trade involving more established players and would rather trade draft picks for potential second liners and crappy prospects for washed up veterans.

That is hugely speculative. The reason Segs was traded is irrelevant (and there are many other threads devoted to it) - the team moved on and the consensus is that what we got in return was less than we gave up. But what we know the least about is what Chiarelli's mindset was.

 

[BearAttack]

In all this thread there has been no mention of how PC screwed over Tim Thomas. Timmy comes in from Finland and refuses to sign for just one year because he wanted more security for his family. Turns out good for the Bruins because he gets the opportunity to show what he had. He plays his way to an all-star selection in 08 and 09 and wins the Vezina. PC is rumoured to be trying to trade Timmy.
2010-11 Timmy helps the B's win the cup. During the Bruins' playoff run, he set the record for most saves in a single postseason with 798 and the most saves in a Stanley Cup series with 238 and wins the Conn Smythe. PC agin is trying to trade him. I think TT took that year off because he was fed up with doing everything for the Bruins and they still were trying to trade him away! This was all on PC. All the while he overvalues players playing on the third and forth lines with contracts that have hamstrung the team. Other teams with cap issues are because of the money being paid to their top players NOT their third line players!

 

[DKH]

As much as I criticize Chiarelli for his moves at times I find it a Seguinesque overeaction to firing him. Once Neely does this the Bulls eye shifts to him. I appear to be in the minority but like bordering on love what he did trade say. I'm a Connolly guy since his days in WHL. He didn't overpay for a hamburger at a filet price. These are risk high reward you take. Would have done it in a heartbeat

I'd advise Cam you really should give him this next year.

Also, the defense needs a decent tweek- not an overhaul but I love our forward group overall.

I see sun shine in the forecast even if today is overcast- and lots of it

 

[veganbruin]

The draft. If this guy had been drafting better the past 8 years then this wouldn't even be a discussion. He forced his own hand by continuing to rely on poor scouting, and failed draft picks. The cap problem, trading away good players for little return, can all be traced back to drafting. That being said, Keith Gretzky did a heck of a job with this last draft. If we had a couples years to wait around, I think both PC and him would look a lot better. But Chara is old as dirt. Our window has closed.

 

[Latrappe]

That is hugely speculative. The reason Segs was traded is irrelevant (and there are many other threads devoted to it) - the team moved on and the consensus is that what we got in return was less than we gave up. But what we know the least about is what Chiarelli's mindset was.

Irrevelant? Really? Why would trade someone like Seguin without having a very good and legit reason to do so. People need to understand that when you trade a young player on the rise, you rarely get the full value. That's the nature of that kind of trade. You never win, period. Now, Smith has been serviceable for the Bruins and he's a signed player for the next 2 years. In the end, the result of this trade you will be judged by the successful development ( or not ) of Morrow. If Smith become a 25 goal scorer and Morrow a top 4 D-man, I think we will be able to say that the return was "ok".

 

[Fierce1]

I believe it's a hard core unfortunately loud minority here that what him gone. Dam annoying shame.

The negative minority are always the loudest. If they applied the same standards to every other GM in the league maybe two would be left standing. It's @#$%ing ridiculous, do they not remember the last 20 years of Harry Sinden and then baby Harry. (Mike O'Connell)

 

[Fierce1]

Irrevelant? Really? Why would trade someone like Seguin without having a very good and legit reason to do so. People need to understand that when you trade a young player on the rise, you rarely get the full value. That's the nature of that kind of trade. You never win, period. Now, Smith has been serviceable for the Bruins and he's a signed player for the next 2 years. In the end, the result of this trade you will be judged by the successful development ( or not ) of Morrow. If Smith become a 25 goal scorer and Morrow a top 4 D-man, I think we will be able to say that the return was "ok".

I'm sick to death with this Seguin debate. Lets wait ten years before we anoint Dallas the winner or at least wit until they actually do something in the playoffs.

 

[Gargyn]

I'm sick to death with this Seguin debate. Lets wait ten years before we anoint Dallas the winner or at least wit until they actually do something in the playoffs.

Why? Just because Seguin and been have no supporting cast, the deal was a slam dunk for dallas. And nobody can argue that.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

Seguin was said to be traded due him not being mature enough and fitting into the culture that management wants here. Unfortunately he did not get nearly the return he thought he was going to get, but in no way did he have to trade Seguin to Dallas for what he did, he just thought that any deal he made was going to be a genius move on his part and it blew up in his face. Now that it has he seems hesitant to make a trade involving more established players and would rather trade draft picks for potential second liners and crappy prospects for washed up veterans.

I would haven preferred a better player than Fraser (Chiasson would have been realistic), but other than that, if Chia gets the Loui that played for DAL (the defensive player we have seen, but one that could finish and put up 60-70 pts), it would have been a good deal.

Unfortunately, the B's got Loui 2.0.

 

[3rdLiner]

Chara was the single greatest free agent signing in sports history.

Ehh, Revis might be better?

Revis immediately results in a SB. Chara was part of the turn around but Savard and the emergence of Krejci, Lucic, Marchand played big roles. But, Timmy T was the most important piece in the playoffs the year they won the cup.

Brady, Gronk had made the trip before and couldn't finish, makes it look like Revis was really the missing link.

 

[wetcamelfood]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Seguin traded more due to the fact he didn't fit the Bruins team first way of thinking? So it seems like Chiarelli was forced to trade him and it shows in this video.

The footage is staged (as is all reality TV) and a PR move to get people to drink the kool aid on the idea that it's great to get guys that buy into a system right away, even if they suck, just because they don't want to wait for a superstar to grow up (and this is coming from someone that didn't mind him being traded and liking Loui).

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

The negative minority are always the loudest. If they applied the same standards to every other GM in the league maybe two would be left standing. It's @#$%ing ridiculous, do they not remember the last 20 years of Harry Sinden and then baby Harry. (Mike O'Connell)

The last 20 years of Harry Sinden? Do you remember?

The Bruins only missed the playoffs twice in Sinden's enter GM career and one of those was a tank job that brought the B's Joe Thornton and an instant rebuild.