I wrote about it a few weeks ago when some pumped MB's tires and claimed that he had turned a corner last summer. And here we are, none of the team's major needs addressed, just lateral moves this past summer.
One good summer last year does not make up for his prior years which are marred with incompetence, a reactive rather than a proactive approach, the absence of a plan and how it was only in year 7 of his tenure that he finally decided to build through the draft (even if there are still mixed signals at play).
And since he's done nothing of consequence this summer, the following list maintains its relevance:
- Missing the playoffs 3 out of the last four years is abysmal.
- Hiring Therrien, Lefebvre et als and then holding on to them too long, is abysmal.
- He went out of his way to keep Lefebvre's job open while he took nearly two months to try and find an assistant coaching job in the NHL. No one wanted him but MB gladly took him back.
- The GM claiming that this was supposed to be a reset and he ends up in no man's land with the worst lottery pick while he's supposedly resetting. No sense.
- The GM gutted the whole left side of the D and replaced Markov with Alzner. And then claimed the D was better than the year before. You can't make this stuff up.
- Took him 7 years to shore up the center position cause apparently, "they're not available." Meantime, several centers moved about during those 7 years.
- He trades his Norris winning D for a D who is almost 4 years older and doesn't get an offset for the age difference.
- He fails to recognize where the league is going, relying instead on slow, lead footed acquisitions that cost his team futures. Abysmal.
- Upon being hired, he claimed he was going to build through the draft. And only began doing that in his 7th summer. Abysmal.
- The Habs have always been a cap team but somehow, he manages to go through two consecutive seasons with massive cap room and not use it. Abysmal.
- He's been clueless, getting saved from himself by the stupidity of others. He went in deep with Lucic, Bonino and Belesky. Only other GMs saved him from more Alzner-deals.
- He overpaid Price. A goalie should never be a franchise player. No Stanley Cup winning teams in the last 25 years had a goalie as their franchise player.
- After he overpays his no. 1 goalie, he didn't have anyone remotely close in talent to be able to take over from Price in the event of injury. Only much later did he begin to address it and it cost him a series and a season. Poor planning. Abysmal.
- He made public ultimatums in his negotiations with Radulov and Markov and ended up losing both and had no Plan B. He ended up signing Alzner and Hemsky, lol. Abysmal.
- Rick Dudley. Nuff said. Abysmal.
- Larry Carrière and his son. Abysmal.
- He inherited a good core and two compliance buyouts and squandered them.
- He made sure that his childhood friend JJD would get an assistant coaching position over Larry Robinson and manufactured a lame excuse for never giving him an opportunity. Abysmal and unprofessional.
- He's lied repeatedly to the fanbase. "PK will be a Canadien for a long time." And trades him a few weeks later. Abysmal.
- Has not had a plan that he's implemented since his first day on the job. Continues to wing it. Last season was supposed to be a reset, implying that it should have put the team in a position to keep improving his core. Instead of that, he made no moves to favor the reset at the TDL, he held on to all of his roster in an effort to make the playoffs. Meantime, the Rangers, who were in the same place as the Habs when they announced their rebuild, schooled MB on how it's done.
- He's repeatedly taken fans for idiots with statements about "I can't tell you what we're planning, other GMs might be listening." Funny how the Rangers didn't hide what they were doing and were able to implement their plan successfully.
- He chased Drouin for all the wrong reasons and let go an asset that could have been groomed for the top 4 or even top 2 as a LD. And continues to feature a gaping hole at first pairing LD. Abysmal.
- His management appointments are mostly lacklustre. Abysmal.
- He's continuing to trust the same staff that recommended Ott, King, Martinsen and Alzner. Abysmal.
- He's running hockey ops without any stringent, arm's length performance reviews. Had he implemented such a system, he would have been able to weed out his nepotist failing buddies earlier. Abysmal.
- He crossed the line when he became good buddies with Therrien, went on vacation with him and had Therrien introduce him to a girlfriend. How unprofessional. Says a lot about his standards as an individual in a position of authority.
- He has failed to convert on the Habs massive spending advantage given that they're a top 3 revenue team. Habs should have had an edge on non-cap expenditures.
- He's created a climate of personal confrontation with high profile players who don't perform to his liking. Abysmal.
- How many playoff series have the Habs won during his tenure? Abysmal.
- He's learned nothing about roster construction. Habs are plagued with the same poor asset mix as when he was hired, completely dominated by western teams.
