Where's MacT?

[MrM]

I'm surprised there are so many MacT supporters. I'm hoping that his input is minimal in the sense that he wants to stay on board and Katz is paying him anyway.

I personally can not sugar coat the job he has done as GM. He did a terrible job. I'm not going to compare him to other crap GM's and say he was less crappy than so and so. He was bad. There are a number of excuses for it, inexperience, stubborness etc but they don't change the end result.

 

[MrM]

No one is saying MacT's job was easy. We're just saying he sucked at it and deserves to be taken out of hockey operations completely. He had his chance. He blew it. No other organization would keep their failed GM around in a lesser role.

It's just the same lack of accountability that Oilers fans were tired of with the old regime. It's evidence that nothing is going to change.

This^^^

 

[oobga]

The last time the guy left the Oilers he interviewed for multiple jobs and couldn't land anything outside of a coaching gig in the AHL. No NHL team wants him.

I'm not sure how anyone who has heard one of his pressers can say he has a great hockey mind.

Highly doubt he would get a sniff at even an assistant GM job anywhere else. Maybe a pro scout on a bad team.

 

[McGoMcD]

MacT is a great hockey mind and would have a job really fast if he wanted. He was not the one who put us in this situation.

I agree, for the most part, though he did mess up on a few points, mainly Eakins and Nikitin. I think they should keep him. I would love to see him be officially given the role as as assistant GM. The big thing is it wasn't his fault that he was put in over his head so quickly. MacT is a great hockey mind, really, those who don't think so just have a hate on for him.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I agree, for the most part, though he did mess up on a few points, mainly Eakins and Nikitin. I think they should keep him. I would love to see him be officially given the role as as assistant GM. The big thing is it wasn't his fault that he was put in over his head so quickly. MacT is a great hockey mind, really, those who don't think so just have a hate on for him.

it's MacT fault for bring in Eakins..which set this franchise back 2 years

and I doubt he finds another job with another team in management..he'd get "scouting" duties at best

 

[MrM]

I agree, for the most part, though he did mess up on a few points, mainly Eakins and Nikitin. I think they should keep him. I would love to see him be officially given the role as as assistant GM. The big thing is it wasn't his fault that he was put in over his head so quickly. MacT is a great hockey mind, really, those who don't think so just have a hate on for him.

What is it about his great hockey mind that seperates him from every other AHL coach, scout, NHL coach or scout...GM, assistant GM...commentator? Former player? We should add PJ Stock to the braintrust.

I think it comes down to a persons actions. He tried and failed.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Too bad. The guy really is an idiot.

This is the first showing of bad judgement by Nicholson and Chia.

I don't think for a second that MacT is an idiot, he did not perform well in the GM role, but that doesn't mean he can't help us in another capacity.


Secondly I think you are assuming too much, Nicholson and Chia are the guys with the power, but I wouldn't discount for a second Katz in the background mandating that MacT has to stay onboard in a prominent role.

Personally I was hoping MacT would of joined our pro scouting team, I think he has a good eye for identifying AHL/NHL players who could fit into a 3rd/4th line checking role. While our 4th line is kind of on the expensive side Hendricks-Gordon-Klinkhammer is easily the best one we've had since Glencross-Brodziak-Stortini. He also played a big role in developing all of Horcoff, Stoll, Reasoner, and Brodziak here (to a lesser extent Marchant and R. Murray); he is good at identifying these kind of players because this is his world, leave the skill players, d-men, and goalies to someone else; but I think he can select and build good checking lines.

 

[Oilhawks]

How long is his contract anyway? This is probably just until it expires. Katz probably didn't want to toss away more money and by the sounds of that article Chiarelli's discussion with MacT the option for him to quit (and thus take the money off the books) was probably part of it.

He could potentially get an assistant GM position elsewhere as long as the hiring organization could forgive some of his biggest transgressions (namely Eakins, the Petry mishandling and - the one that frustrated me the most - the seemingly nonchalant attitude to the upcoming season at the presser). Like another poster mentioned, we're not privy to the discussions he's had with other GMs and perhaps others have seen potential coupled with the decent moves he made: decent drafting, Perron pt 1 & 2, Hendricks & Fayne, Pouliot.

Either way, glad he's out of a position he clearly wasn't capable of.

 

[Jet Walters]

I would like to know if it is 100% Chiarelli's call to keep him in the management team, or has Daryl Katz/Kevin Lowe been pushing keeping him around. It has the same feel to it as Bucky and Smith being pushed on Eakins by the higher powers. Old Boys club is still alive and well in Edmonton.

My hope is that they are keeping him around until the draft is over as he probably has a lot of inside info on who the Oilers like.

 

[Gone]

Dammit. I wanted that loser gone.

You and about 200,000 other people.

 

[Dorian2]

Some posters won't let the water run under the bridge. Not sure if I'd want to deal with some of you in real life.

 

[Up the Irons]

I don't like this at all. He and Lowe should be completely removed from hockey ops, ideally, outright fired. That they are still around makes the last 2 weeks only an 8 out of 10 instead of 10/10. This is being done ONLY for sympathy.

Not sure it will prove to be a mistake. Probably just a nothing move, but it still shows they can't bring themselves to completely purge the problem.

Visually, it would reflect better on the organization if they just fired 'em. Do it for the optics.

Likely ends up having little or no effect on the decisions of Charielli and Nicholson, but they'd be better off without Lowe/Mact around.

 

[Jumptheshark]

If i see him in prague i will find a hole to drop him into

 

[Master Lok]

This is nothing but lip service to the old boys club. Peter obviously does not respect Mac T as a general manager or he would not have insisted on getting both titles.

I just hope he can ignore Mac T as well I ignore my wife while watching hockey

I don't think you have any idea as to what Chiarelli knows or wants but just spouting off random opinion without any forethought, based on your hatred of MacT.

Why did Chiarelli want the POHO title?

Check out the Bruins management structure. Cam Neely was installed as POHO after Chiarelli was hired and was apparently secondguessing Chiarelli's moves. Imo, Chiarelli wanted the POHO title to make sure that that doesn't happen again - in particular to circumvent Kevin Lowe from having more authority than him.

If Chiarelli didnt want Mactavish to be part of his management team, then he would have terminated him or moved him to work with Lowe on the business side. He didn't, and as the Sun article stated, that he wants MacT to be the #2 guy. Clearly, Chiarelli does respect Mactavish's opinion. From what I've heard about Chiarelli, he likes to surround himself with a number of opinions and people to assist him, but in the end Chiarelli wants to be the one responsible for making final decisions.

 

[Master Lok]

I'm surprised there are so many MacT supporters. I'm hoping that his input is minimal in the sense that he wants to stay on board and Katz is paying him anyway.

I personally can not sugar coat the job he has done as GM. He did a terrible job. I'm not going to compare him to other crap GM's and say he was less crappy than so and so. He was bad. There are a number of excuses for it, inexperience, stubborness etc but they don't change the end result.

If Chiarelli wants Mactavish to be #2, then clearly its not a minimal role. People stop letting your bias prevent you from reading what is clear and obvious.

a) Chiarelli wanted Mactavish as part of his management team.
b) If he didn't, Mactavish would have been terminated/fired. That's far easier than keeping the previous GM in the same building.
c) As #2, Mactavish is going to have a major say but not the final responsibility or decision making power. That's reserved for Chiarelli.

P.S. I'm not supporting this decision or Mactavish. I'm just saying to read what Chiarelli lips are saying.

 

[OilTastic]

I would like to know if it is 100% Chiarelli's call to keep him in the management team, or has Daryl Katz/Kevin Lowe been pushing keeping him around. It has the same feel to it as Bucky and Smith being pushed on Eakins by the higher powers. Old Boys club is still alive and well in Edmonton.

My hope is that they are keeping him around until the draft is over as he probably has a lot of inside info on who the Oilers like.

^i don't think it really matters, Lowe will no longer have a say on what goes on with the Oilers on ice and MacT will have very little if any say, but if he does, it's still going to need to be cleared with Chiarelli. i wouldn't worry too much about it. here's hoping Scott Howson is the next to be shown the door !

 

[oilers9799]

EBMA. Weekend class course that touches on MBA subjects to supplement and provide resume padding for people that already have extensive management experience (that MacT claims he never had when he was trying to excuse himself from all the management failures of the Oilers past). From what I've seen all MacT learned in those weekends were business buzzwords.

To contrast Chiarelli has a degree from Harvard.

Chiarelli has an undergrad from Harvard and MacT has an EMBA from Queen's. They are both utterly useless degrees for running a hockey team. Its laughable if MacT suggested his EMBA helped him with 'running' the Oilers.

 

[PinSeeker]

Some posters won't let the water run under the bridge. Not sure if I'd want to deal with some of you in real life.

I've come to realize 99% of the vitriol people spew on here they wouldn't have the guts to say to an actual human being, so it is a moot point.

As far as I am concerned, Chia kept MacT on because he has done a heckuva lot of scouting for this draft, which is a very important one.

I am fine with it. MacT is a fine puppet.

 

[OilTastic]

in Chiarelli's case, his education probably doesn't matter much now. he's got legit NHL management experience and has had success doing it, winning a Stanley Cup. that's really all that matters.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

If Chiarelli wants Mactavish to be #2, then clearly its not a minimal role. People stop letting your bias prevent you from reading what is clear and obvious.

a) Chiarelli wanted Mactavish as part of his management team.
b) If he didn't, Mactavish would have been terminated/fired. That's far easier than keeping the previous GM in the same building.
c) As #2, Mactavish is going to have a major say but not the final responsibility or decision making power. That's reserved for Chiarelli.

P.S. I'm not supporting this decision or Mactavish. I'm just saying to read what Chiarelli lips are saying.

MacT as #2 means he has as much power as an assistant GM...basically another voice in the room

 

[OilTastic]

I've come to realize 99% of the vitriol people spew on here they wouldn't have the guts to say to an actual human being, so it is a moot point.

^that's because people can verbally debate issues, even if it gets frustrating, without resorting to physical violence. sad and pathetic!

 

[Master Lok]

I agree, for the most part, though he did mess up on a few points, mainly Eakins and Nikitin. I think they should keep him. I would love to see him be officially given the role as as assistant GM. The big thing is it wasn't his fault that he was put in over his head so quickly. MacT is a great hockey mind, really, those who don't think so just have a hate on for him.

I think there's too many black and white opinions on here. Many posters think Mactavish is an idiot or the worst GM in history - which I disagree with strongly. Why?

This is what an idiot GM would have done.
- trade the first overall draft picks for underperforming but established player (e.g. Yashin, Kessel)
- get locked into overly long cap heavy contracts that would doom the team for years (e.g. DiPietro, Yashin, Clarkson)

Mactavish has done neither.

Was Mactavish a good GM?

Good lord no. He almost signed David Clarkson to an even worst contract that Toronto, hired the worst coach in the NHL (Eakins), was ridiculously overoptimistic on youth (Draisatl, Schultz) and his lack of evaluation of good defenders (Petry, Schultz).

He did make some solid moves like trading down in the 2013 draft for extra picks, being openminded to picking Russian players like Slepyshev and Yakimov, signing Boyd Gordon, Benoit Pouliot, drafting Darnell Nurse, re-signing Yakupov instead of trading him, trading for Perron.

In my opinion, Mactavish was a poor GM but definitely better than Tambellini who salted the earth of the Oilers organization.

 

[Master Lok]

MacT as #2 means he has as much power as an assistant GM...basically another voice in the room

Agreed. But he's not a janitor in the organization. He is going to have the ear of Chiarelli. At least until we see who else Chiarelli brings into the organization. I'm not suggesting that Mact is a good choice. I'm hoping Chiarelli brings in better opinions and help.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Tag team WWE gif time.

 

[McGoMcD]

it's MacT fault for bring in Eakins..which set this franchise back 2 years

and I doubt he finds another job with another team in management..he'd get "scouting" duties at best

The error in your logic is pretty simple, you are assuming that some how MacT should have known Eakins was a horrible coach. Yet some how most of hockey didn't realize this. The Cunucks who wanted to interview him didn't as well. Sure it was bad in retrospect but I dont' think any one really saw it coming. Eakins was considered around hockey as one of the best up and coming new coaches.