The Athletic - Boston Fluto's readers poll - Should the Bruins rebuild immediately? The Athletic’s fan survey shows a divided fanbase

[McGarnagle]

No GM is perfect and Chiarelli had a series of blunders in 2014. He probably deserved his firing but Sweeney gets much more rope to make mistakes because he's Cam's boy.

Chia went all in for the 2014 Cup with the Seguin trade and signing Iginla to an incentive-heavy over-35 contract. It failed in the second round as shit happens. But because of the iggy deal pushing cap hits onto the 14-15 cap, he had to extricate his way out of that. He had to jettison a defenseman and he decided to keep Seidenberg coming off an ACL tear over Boychuk, and history quickly showed that was the wrong decision. The 2015 team had a lot of injuries - if Krejci is healthy they at least make the playoffs as an 8 seed and I think that Chia keeps his job. The real death knell for Chiarelli's tenure here was the Brett Connolly trade at the deadline. Two 2nd rounders for a guy who breaks his hand in his first practice and doesn't see the ice until there are only 3 games left and they're out of a playoff spot.

Again, Chia went all in for another cup and it didn't work out. I don't think I disagree with his termination but Sweeney has made just as big mistakes and keeps his job.

Just like how no one's perfect, no one is completely futile as well. Don's had his good moments, signing our stars to some great contract extensions and making some decent trades along the way. In retrospect, would you go back to 2015 and just keep Chiarelli on as GM? I go back and forth on it

 

[TCB]

Just like how no one's perfect, no one is completely futile as well. Don's had his good moments, signing our stars to some great contract extensions and making some decent trades along the way. In retrospect, would you go back to 2015 and just keep Chiarelli on as GM? I go back and forth on it

I loved what PC did in bringing the Bruins a Cup. He started out great with a helping hand from Jeff Gorton but PC brought in G. Campbell, Horton, Seidenberg, Paille, Recchi, Boychuk, McQuaid, and Ference. All those guys names are on the Cup. Sweeney biggest deal just might be his last one in Lindholm. For me there's no comparison PC was the superior GM but at the time of his dismissal, yea it may have been time as PC may have been heading in a downward spiral with Seguin deal, The Connolly deal I think he looked at as Connolly for Boychuk deal as he received the isles next two 2nd rounders and he gave up the Bruins next two for Connolly but that turned out bad because Boychuk was a heart and soul guy and Connolly never developed into the player he had hoped he would like the way it did with Nathon Horton.

He also traded Kessel which turned into Seguin and Hamilton, but then the return for Seguin was weak, followed by Boychuk and that set the stage for Neely who wanted him gone to make a move on it, but his resume up till then speaks for itself and compared to Sweeney I'd take him all day every day. So do I look back and say they should of kept PC, I've never had but I have looked back many times and said they should of hired Jeff Gorton not once, but Twice before Sweeney, and yea I still can't believe he has a job, because of outside of signing players to nice hometown discounts he's been terrible and his disastrous outside FA signings simply wrecked the signings of his current players who took a discounted rate. His trades overall have been nothing special, he's made some really bad ones, some terrible ones but yea he has made a handful of good ones but not nearly enough to still be employed as a GM.

PC was a whole lot better in his time span and he helped bring the Cup back to Boston and Neely decided to fire him. Sweeney hasn't been nearly as good and his contract is about to expire, so maybe it is time for Neely to go along with Sweeney if he truly feels this guy is worth signing to an extension, as imo Sweeney has been far, far worse than Chia.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Listen, Chiarelli's record after he was fired from Boston speaks for itself. He was awful in Edmonton. I have to believe that Cam and some others there saved him from some similarly bad moves in Boston and that played a part in his demise.

At the end of the day, the insiders know who pushed for which signings, trades and draftpicks and that goes a long way in firing decisions.

For all we know, some of Sweeney's worst 'decisions' might have been orders from above.

 

[TCB]

Listen, Chiarelli's record after he was fired from Boston speaks for itself. He was awful in Edmonton. I have to believe that Cam and some others there saved him from some similarly bad moves in Boston and that played a part in his demise.

At the end of the day, the insiders know who pushed for which signings, trades and draftpicks and that goes a long way in firing decisions.

For all we know, some of Sweeney's worst 'decisions' might have been orders from above.

I call BS on this, because there's been, just way too many for this to be factual.

He's the GM and he has the final call, Neely job is to make sure the GM is making the right final decision which obviously isn't happening enough. Now Cam needs to do his Job and sign another GM, as his current GM contract is about to expire.

 

[BruinsBtn]

I call BS on this, because there's been, just way too many for this to be factual.

He's the GM and he has the final call, Neely job is to make sure the GM is making the right final decision which obviously isn't happening enough. Now Cam needs to do his Job and sign another GM, as his current GM contract is about to expire.

Neely himself said it's Cam who has the final call.

 

[Chevalier du Clavier]

Neely himself said it's Cam who has the final call.

And you believe him?

 

[BruinsBtn]

And you believe him?

uhhh yeah. You think Sweeney is telling his boss what's what?

 

[quietbruinfan]

I call BS on this, because there's been, just way too many for this to be factual.

He's the GM and he has the final call, Neely job is to make sure the GM is making the right final decision which obviously isn't happening enough. Now Cam needs to do his Job and sign another GM, as his current GM contract is about to expire.

Cam needs to resign asap if not before.

 

[Chevalier du Clavier]

uhhh yeah. You think Sweeney is telling his boss what's what?

Sorry, I misread your original post.

 

[22Brad Park]

Neely himself said it's Cam who has the final call.

They should have all been fired for Foligno deal in my opinion.Clear sign they are not good at their job.

 

[Forester65]

^^^THIS!^^^ Sweeney gets chance after chance at trying to keep the team afloat, but Chiarelli was fired right away. Sweeney has done a lot of half measures and made a bunch of mistakes and miscalculations that actually surprise me. Being that he's been in the NHL (almost) his whole adult life I expected that his experience would've guided him. Instead, he seems to be flailing at answers and IMO guessing at what will work. I don't understand his seeming lack of intelligence at what works and doesn't work. He's got a ton of history to learn from along with his own experience yet he still seems to make odd personnel decisions as though he's thumbing his nose at everyone else. Then we get the obscure explanation when he's put on the spot.
IMO, Chiarelli ran into trouble with a couple of iffy moves and he was fired pretty quickly. I don't know if Chia would've traded Looch, and Hamilton (etc for those picks) but I do wonder what he would've done that summer if he were still around and given a chance to make those decisions.

Chia also gave out no-trade clauses like candy.
Nothing like being bent over a barrel by players who aren't earning hefty contracts.
Meanwhile the guilty GM chalks it up to a learning experience and transitions to another organization.

 

[TCB]

Neely himself said it's Cam who has the final call.

On trades ?

I think maybe he has to officially ok them being the President and all but its Sweeney who's making the deals, not Cam

 

[MattFromFranklin]

If the team gets off to a slow start next year I can't help but wonder if they will get some "Fire Sweeney" and "Fire Neely" chants going. IIRC, there were some "Fire Doc" chants at Celtics games the year before KG and Allen were acquired.

Given how sensitive Neely is, he might throw some more water bottles at a wall.

 

[bp14]

Chia also gave out no-trade clauses like candy.
Nothing like being bent over a barrel by players who aren't earning hefty contracts.
Meanwhile the guilty GM chalks it up to a learning experience and transitions to another organization.

Which is what hopefully happens to Sweeney, as he happily picked up the mantle of Willy Wonka of NMCs.

Did I read Nick Foligno has a no movement clause!?!?! Nick Foligno???? How could that possibly have been necessary to sign him?

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Excellent to see the media applying pressure. Perhaps Sweeney and Neely do end up moving on before the draft.

 

[GloveSave1]

It’s too early to say.

If Bergeron and Krejci come back…it’s hard to justify a rebuild or transition starting this upcoming season. What are they going to say…no? Of course they’d take them back if they are willing.

We’ve heard or said “this is the last run” many times, but this one would be blatantly obvious.

Cobbling together another chip and a chair playoff team wouldn’t be that hard.

DS can move money around, it’s one of the things he “can be” good at doing.

It’s going to be interesting to see what coach they bring in…because they’ll presumably have to think about the upcoming rebuild/transition more than the last hurrah.

Look, I’m with everyone, with an eye on the upcoming gear shift, but they took Carolina right to the limit. It’s really optimistic to hope for the ultimate goal next year, but they’re simply not far enough away from it to remove it as a possibility (if the vets return).

Most importantly, DS would have to hit on the roster tweaking, which hasn’t been his strong suit. That’s what I’d worry about the most.

 

[Forester65]

Which is what hopefully happens to Sweeney, as he happily picked up the mantle of Willy Wonka of NMCs.

Did I read Nick Foligno has a no movement clause!?!?! Nick Foligno???? How could that possibly have been necessary to sign him?

Sweeney hasn't won a cup like Chia did.
Can't see him gliding over to another organization because other teams don't see him as a gifted architect.
Under his leadership, this has become a decadent hockey club riding on its core players until they age out.
After that, Sweeney's lousy drafting and sparse acquired talent will leave him exposed (hint: it's happening as we speak).
Of course Jacobs still won't fire him.

 

[Gordoff]

Cam disliked Chia and almost fired him after 2010 along with Julien. They certainly would have gone after 2011.....except

I'm surprised that he didn't pull the trigger because of the Dave Lewis fiasco.

 

[Gordoff]

Chia also gave out no-trade clauses like candy.
Nothing like being bent over a barrel by players who aren't earning hefty contracts.
Meanwhile the guilty GM chalks it up to a learning experience and transitions to another organization.

The same thing that Sweeney does but without filling holes that have been there for 6 years and now we may be down
two Centers. At least Chiarelli has a Cup to his name. Nothing like Sweeney with his poor USA signings and then he has to give away assets to get rid of his mistakes.

 

[Gordoff]

Cam disliked Chia and almost fired him after 2010 along with Julien. They certainly would have gone after 2011.....except

I'm surprised that he didn't pull the trigger sooner because of the Dave Lewis fiasco.

 

[EvilDead]

Jay Leach may ultimately prove to be a great coach but I think he’s really benefiting from the fact we don’t know much about him. It’s like there isn’t enough info there to pick apart. Trotz has won everywhere but his style is well known so we nitpick him to the point where most voters would rather an unknown than a proven commodity.

I've now shifted to the Trotz camp because I know what he is and he's a guy that will bring back defensive structure to this team and get the most out of the lower parts of the line up.

 

[Gordoff]

Excellent to see the media applying pressure. Perhaps Sweeney and Neely do end up moving on before the draft.

Yeah, I can see that ninny Charlie Jacobs having Dean Malkoc running (ruining) the draft for the Bruins.
After which he makes him the GM.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

It’s too early to say.

If Bergeron and Krejci come back…it’s hard to justify a rebuild or transition starting this upcoming season. What are they going to say…no? Of course they’d take them back if they are willing.

We’ve heard or said “this is the last run” many times, but this one would be blatantly obvious.

Cobbling together another chip and a chair playoff team wouldn’t be that hard.

DS can move money around, it’s one of the things he “can be” good at doing.

It’s going to be interesting to see what coach they bring in…because they’ll presumably have to think about the upcoming rebuild/transition more than the last hurrah.

Look, I’m with everyone, with an eye on the upcoming gear shift, but they took Carolina right to the limit. It’s really optimistic to hope for the ultimate goal next year, but they’re simply not far enough away from it to remove it as a possibility (if the vets return).

Most importantly, DS would have to hit on the roster tweaking, which hasn’t been his strong suit. That’s what I’d worry about the most.

Bergeron and Krejci weren't enough 2019-2021; at their current age, in Pro-athlete years, really playing with the proverbial fire waiting for their decline to start showing.

Hate to say it, but while we have some good young talent (McAvoy, Swayman, Pasta), the team seems to be be heading downward, although there are many positive spins on it, I don't think another "last hurrah" is worth it. And likely ends with hockey ending in early spring again.

 

[UncleRico]

Yeah, so much different than a team like Boston who was starved for centers back then.

Well clearly the bruins had the same philosophy and that’s exactly why they are potentially looking at Coyle/haula/Frederic/nosek next year at center

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Interesting survey results. The disaffection with Sweeney and Neely amongst the fanbase runs deeper than I thought. I suspect the extremely high opinion of and support for Cassidy is at least partly influenced by the widespread view that he was scapegoated. The significant backing of Leach I'd say is simply down to him being seen as 'one of us' more than a rational decision made purely on its merits. Which isn't to say he wouldn't be a good choice, but reality is we just don't know how he'd go in the hot seat.

We are in murky waters. There's simmering discontent amongst the fans, and the media is becoming hostile. Belief that the franchise is going in the right direction has largely vanished. But is it all just the short-term product of a disappointing end to the playoffs and a rough start to the offseason which will prove ephemeral, or will it carry on into 2022-23? Huge amount of uncertainty around so many aspects of the team at present, who knows how things will look come opening night?