Which of these is the Senators franchise worst decision of all time?

[John Holmes*]

Who knows what the city will look like by 2021. Good chance that Kanata is an urban center by then.

There was a time when the civic hospital was the far west of town.

 

[John Holmes*]

Out of those options Redden over Chara

But some of you posters who might not have been around back then need to realize that most people thought it was, at the time, the right move

Well I certainly remember it, and there was no 'choice' of Redden over Chara. They were offered identical contracts. Redden said yes, Chara said no.

The choice was made by Chara.

Fans of course pointed to the trouble that Chara had in the playoffs (while concealing an injury) and convinced themselves that they were really better off. Then add on all the 'new nhl' junk and the fact that we made the cup finals without him.

People are real good at rationalizing these things.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Well I certainly remember it, and there was no 'choice' of Redden over Chara. They were offered identical contracts. Redden said yes, Chara said no.

The choice was made by Chara.

Fans of course pointed to the trouble that Chara had in the playoffs (while concealing an injury) and convinced themselves that they were really better off. Then add on all the 'new nhl' junk and the fact that we made the cup finals without him.

People are real good at rationalizing these things.

While what you say is true, it wasn't a black and white issues at the time nor was it as easy decision. Yes Chara was injured, but he still struggled late that season and into the playoffs. His lack of footspeed seemed to be a major factor as he couldn't hook up and interfer with people anymore.

Redden played the same as he always did, and was still an elite defenseman. He seemed like the safer choice to many.

 

[MtRundle]

While what you say is true, it wasn't a black and white issues at the time nor was it as easy decision. Yes Chara was injured, but he still struggled late that season and into the playoffs. His lack of footspeed seemed to be a major factor as he couldn't hook up and interfer with people anymore.

Redden played the same as he always did, and was still an elite defenseman. He seemed like the safer choice to many.

Count me as one of the guys who thought Redden was a better choice.
There was a time when he was an all-star and capable in his own end- Mr. "best 1st pass" in the NHL.

From 2000-2005 he was +20 every season and scored +40 points except for one.
Really from the Cup run on he really started breaking down/got bad, and Chara started dominating the year after.

 

[pepty]

The Hossa/Heatley trade just set off bad karma. Hossa was one of the best, if not the best talent developed here.

He was caught totally by surprise by the sign and trade and his close friend and countryman, Chara was outraged and that may have been a deciding factor in his decision to leave. .

That underhanded sign and trade is the reason so many players started demanding no trade clauses which came back to bite the Sens down the road with the Redden and especially the Heatley situations.

And there is another decision that is never discussed- the GM decisions ,Sens hung on to Muckler too long and then switched to Murray bypassing the heir apparent to Muckler, Peter Chiarelli who built a power house in Boston and has a Stanley Cup while the Sens who were a top team,spent a few years wondering in the desert with some poor coaching hires and trades.

The ship has been righted now and it seems like we have the right coach and good homegrown talent. But the GM decision was an important one that is never mentioned.

 

[We Want the Cup 2010]

Well I certainly remember it, and there was no 'choice' of Redden over Chara. They were offered identical contracts. Redden said yes, Chara said no.

The choice was made by Chara.

Fans of course pointed to the trouble that Chara had in the playoffs (while concealing an injury) and convinced themselves that they were really better off. Then add on all the 'new nhl' junk and the fact that we made the cup finals without him.

People are real good at rationalizing these things.

I don't remember that being the case at all. There was talk of trying to keep both of them if they both were willing to take a discount ($5 M I believe) and after that fell through, Ottawa negotiated with Redden only, and did not even offer Chara a contract. They let him walk for nothing. Chara wanted to stay, and I was among many fans that wondered what management was thinking choosing Redden over big Z. But fans can spin it however they want to make themselves feel better about a major blunder by Muckler.
www.ottawacitizenallstar.com/the-players/former-senators-leave

(Might to google it as I am on my ipad)

 

[alfie follower]

you dont find 7 feet tall D who can move like him, shoot like him, fight like him, or have his conditioning and work ethic anywhere in the league.... instead we kept the party animal and all his issues....

 

[ErikNorrisson]

Sending down Zibanejad has gotta be up there.

 

[Back in Black]

Picking up Cocolate Leclair when it was a fact he was always injury prone year after year, after year, after year!

 

[We Want the Cup 2010]

Picking up Cocolate Leclair when it was a fact he was always injury prone year after year, after year, after year!

And ending up with Lehner as part of the trade... What a travesty

 

[John Holmes*]

That's a pretty stupid justification for a terrible trade.

I guess we won the Havlat trade too since Wiercioch isn't complete ass like the rest of the deal's players.

Derp.

 

[MiscBrah]

Ottawa is the farm team for the rest of the NHL. Pretty ridiculous when you look around the league at all of the players we developed and were then unable to keep a hold of.

Probably going to happen again in a couple years.

 

[Taoiseach]

And there is another decision that is never discussed- the GM decisions ,Sens hung on to Muckler too long and then switched to Murray bypassing the heir apparent to Muckler, Peter Chiarelli who built a power house in Boston and has a Stanley Cup while the Sens who were a top team,spent a few years wondering in the desert with some poor coaching hires and trades.

This is what I think the Sens worst decision of all time is.

Another possible suggestion, if we want to look way back, is the Senators passing Aurèle Joliat over. Had we not have alienated the local Franco population, there's a chance the team might not have moved in 1934. The team likely would have still lost money, but I think there's a good argument to be made that the Senators could have weathered the storm long enough to see better economic times had they have tried to mitigate their losses by, you know, signing a future hall of famer, Franco-Ottawan...

On another note, if I had have been GM, we'd still have Hossa and Chára... And Demitra... And Jaroslav Halák would be our goalie. Team Slovakia FTW!

 

[KarlssonnSchultz]

Yeah I don't know if it was the worst but my least favourite was Heatley/Hossa. Hated it from day 1, hated it every day we had Heatley, hate it more now.

 

[Rals]

Not picking up Semin as a UFA 2 years ago.

 

[Benjamin]

Ottawa is the farm team for the rest of the NHL. Pretty ridiculous when you look around the league at all of the players we developed and were then unable to keep a hold of.

Probably going to happen again in a couple years.

All small market teams are farms in every league/sport in the world.

 

[jbeck5]

I've been thinking of all the bad decisions this franchise has made. I just thought I'd ask your opinion of which you thought was the worst decision OF ALL TIME. I think the worst really came under Muckler when he made the Hossa for Heatley trade.

Not resigning binghamton goaltender Barry Brust

Keeping Redden but letting go Chara

Not claiming Daigle on waivers 05-06 season just before playoffs

Hossa for Heatley trade

Not resigning Ryan Keller after leading Binghamton in goals

Though brust and Keller were huge mistakes, I think trading away John emmons a for Craig Millar was our biggest mistake.

 

[CanadianHockey]

you dont find 7 feet tall D who can move like him, shoot like him, fight like him, or have his conditioning and work ethic anywhere in the league.... instead we kept the party animal and all his issues....

Hindsight bias is a marvelous thing...

At the time, it was a choice between two essentially equally dominant defencemen. Redden was more established in the community and was seen as 'ideal' in the 'new' NHL. Taking him, at the time, wasn't an awful decision.

And ending up with Lehner as part of the trade... What a travesty

That's a pretty stupid justification for a terrible trade.

I guess we won the Havlat trade too since Wiercioch isn't complete ass like the rest of the deal's players.

Derp.

Agreed with Holmes on this one. Lehner takes the sting off that deal a little bit, but by no means was the trade a clear 'win' for us.

Yeah I don't know if it was the worst but my least favourite was Heatley/Hossa. Hated it from day 1, hated it every day we had Heatley, hate it more now.

I hated the Hossa/Heatley trade, too. Hossa was one of my favourites and I was never a big fan of Heatley.

 

[We Want the Cup 2010]

That's a pretty stupid justification for a terrible trade.

I guess we won the Havlat trade too since Wiercioch isn't complete ass like the rest of the deal's players.

Derp.

So just ignore that part of the trade? I guess the Leafs got Kessel for free then?

This is the first I'm hearing from anyone that draft picks are not included when assessing trades.

Derp? Don't be ignorant.

 

[Lyndon Slewidge]

Drafting Lee, O'Brien in the 1st round

Redden over Chara

 

[Xspyrit]

OP must be trolling, can't be serious

That's a pretty stupid justification for a terrible trade.

I guess we won the Havlat trade too since Wiercioch isn't complete ass like the rest of the deal's players.

Derp.

Well, people easily forget the reality parts. WE HAD TO CHOOSE between Fisher and Vermette, and we chose to keep Fisher. We were very tight to the cap back then and both were or were going to be paid like 2nd line centers.

Leclaire busted because of injuries mostly, but Sens brass salvaged the trade by making a glorious pick in the draft... Murray's brass also somewhat offset the Havlat by picking up Wiercioch. A 2nd round pick doesn't have a ton of value but if you make a good pick, then it's all good

Agreed with Holmes on this one. Lehner takes the sting off that deal a little bit, but by no means was the trade a clear 'win' for us.

Reality is that most NHL trades don't end up as WINS or LOSSES. Vermette/Leclaire didn't help in the short term but will in the long term thanks for that extra 2nd. So for me, it's not a trade that worked well right away, but it did after a few years, there's no notion about a "win" or "loss".

 

[inthewings]

Top 3:

1. Trading Hossa for Heatley
2 Redden over Chara
3. Not drafting Kopitar

Came here to post these three.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Drafting Lee, O'Brien in the 1st round

Redden over Chara

O'Brien? You realize he was a 29th overall pick who's panned out as a NHLer, right? Its not like there was some obvious world beater like Kopitar on the board. Kinda puzzled by this unless you're just not all that familiar with the draft.

 

[inthewings]

O'Brien? You realize he was a 29th overall pick who's panned out as a NHLer, right? Its not like there was some obvious world beater like Kopitar on the board. Kinda puzzled by this unless you're just not all that familiar with the draft.

Yeah, especially considering that there were only two markedly better players taken in the 2nd round.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Hossa for Heatley created arguably the best line we've seen in the NHL post lockout and was key in the team getting farther than it ever has before. Not even remotely close to being even considered a bad decision let alone WORST decision.