right now Chia will be viewed badly because the team is bad. That is rightfully so, but c'mon. He's made a lot of good trades and signings.
Hall for Larsson looked great last season, and now it feels flipped because the spots in the standings have been flipped. Either way, they needed a top line forward and we needed a D like Larsson. Chia inherited a bad trading position and a team that needed that type of player, the type of player that is rarely available. Even last year I said the trade was fair even as people were saying the Oilers won it. We would not be able to afford a re-signed Hall anyway.
Chia's great moves include the Maroon trade, Sekera signing, the first Russell signing, and the Talbot trade. Despite criticism over the moves now, the Klefbom signing, Lucic signing, and 2nd Russell signing have been decent, although mixed (I'm leaning against the 2nd Russell signing but I like the player). Losing Yak and Schultz was not bad either considering Chia inherited baggage there, created by the GMs before, and they were distractions who were not going to be successful here and needed fresh starts.
He's had some bad moves too, but considering we were successful last season even with them shows that they weren't ruining the team. The Barzal thing is classic hindsight, and even though a lot of fans called that one at the time that is dubious considering that we never remember the times the fans get it wrong. Quite a few teams with a lot more research than fans have passed on Barzal. But for sure, losing those picks for what ended up being Vegas' expansion pick for the Oilers is definitely in the loss column, although many teams lost that kind of value on expansion day.