Which of these organizations was the worst run during their time period?

Which was the worst run organization?


  • Total voters
    300

Critical13

Fear is the mind-killer.
Feb 25, 2017
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Sitting at a desk.
Eakins and Chia Era together is just bad. I'm surprised people think the Hall trade was the worst trade. It's the 16th(Barzal) and 33rd(Beauvillier) for Griffin Reinhart that was the worst AINEC. I still hate it till today

Those are two truly atrocious trades lol good point.
 

HarryLime

Registered User
Jun 27, 2014
4,828
2,552
Halifax
It's between Oilers/Sabres

It took Edmonton winning 4 draft lotteries, one of them being McDavid... Also a slew of other high picks for them to turn things around. Drai at #3. Pool Party at 4. Nurse at 8. They picked something like 1-1-1-3-8-1-4 in a 7 year stretch.

Buffalo has had their fair share of high picks, but they didn't land McDavid, and won half the lotteries the Oilers did.
 

Poppy Whoa Sonnet

J'Accuse!
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Jan 24, 2007
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Note one of the big arguments for Chia Oilers being horribly run was the Draisaitl contract, which ironically became maybe the best contract in hockey.

I'm going with Coyotes. On top of the athletic report, you have the illegal combine, and the fact that a cap team of vets was built with almost no future, barely scraping the playoffs. That team seems like a complete disaster for the foreseeable future.
 

Filthy Dangles

Registered User*
Oct 23, 2014
28,584
40,162
I'm convinced Peter Chiarelli sabotaged the Edmonton Oilers.

Like, I would call for RCMP, which I understand is the Canadian FBI equivalent, to open an investigation if I was Ownership.
 

CanadianCoyote

Registered User
Oct 11, 2020
466
781
Ontario, Canada
The fact that the Ballard-era Leafs aren't on this poll is kinda insane. I'd legit say that era of Leafs is worse than all of the options on the poll put together in terms of how the team was run.

Of the options available, I think the Pegulas have done the worst job.

Pierre doesn't have a Jack Eichel or Rasmus Ristolainen to work with, and neither did Chayka. Katz' management got the Oilers McDavid and Draisaitl, who have been huge for that team since being drafted and have since been built around by other GM's to flesh it out.

The Pegulas took Jack Eichel and Rasmus Ristolainen and have since surrounded them the likes of Cody Eakin and the fossilized corpse of Vladimír Sobotka. They could easily be in the same spot as the Oilers right now if they hadn't practically blown their own feet off with terrible moves like getting nothing for ROR.

They couldn't even get their franchise's 50th anniversary celebrations done without f***ing up repeatedly.
 
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Spawn

Something in the water
Feb 20, 2006
43,648
15,117
Edmonton
Close between Edmonton and Buffalo.

Arizona/Ottawa haven't been bad enough for long enough to be part of this conversation yet.

The Oilers went 10 straight seasons without a playoff berth which tied an NHL record. The Sabres will tie that record this season.

The Oilers finished bottom 6 times in that stretch. The Sabres I believe are currently at 5 but that could change this year. The Sabres have finished last 3 times to the Oilers 2, but Edmonton had more years in the bottom 3.

Both truly remarkable examples of sustained incompetence across a multitude of GMs/coaches. Shining beacons of garbage.
 

GingerJesus28

This is the way
Feb 25, 2015
3,949
6,011
Saskatchewan
First off, if you're going to compare what years are the worst, they should be equal in terms of length. Giving the Oilers 8 years and the Sabres 10 is unfair, so i'm going to do 13-current Sabres and leave the 08-16 Oilers

2011-present Sabres:

20-21: not going to make the playoffs, current last in division with a deadly top 6, 4th worst in NHL points %
19-20: Missed the playoffs when there was 24 TEAMS!, 7th worst in NHL
18-19: 22 points back of playoffs, 5th worst in NHL
17-18: 35 points back of playoffs, worst in NHL
16-17: 27 points back of playoffs, 5th worst in NHL
15-16: 15 points back of playoffs, 8th worst in NHL
14-15: 44 points back of playoffs, worst in NHL
13-14: 41 points back of playoffs, worst in NHL
--------------------------------------------------------
12-13: 7 points back of playoffs (short season), 8th worst in NHL
11-12: 3 points back of playoffs, 12th worst in NHL

2008-2016 Oilers:
15-16: 17 points back of playoffs, 2nd worst in NHL
14-15: 35 points back of playoffs, 3rd worst in NHL
13-14: 24 points back of playoffs, 3rd worst in NHL
12-13: 10 points back of playoffs (short season), 7th worst in NHL
11-12: 21 points back of playoffs, 2nd worst in NHL
10-11: 35 points back of playoffs, worst in NHL
09-10: 33 points back of playoffs, worst in NHL
08-09: 6 points back of playoffs, 10th worst in NHL

So, not including 11-12 and 12-13 for the Sabres:
"Loser" points (1 point for the rank they were): 32 (as of today)

Oilers:
"Loser" points (1 point for the rank they were): 29

So hardly much better (higher the better)

Points back of playoffs?
Sabres: 194 --- (that includes 10P back rn), and if it was a normal wild card last year then tack on 13 more points for 207
Oilers: 181

Both managements are completely inept during these times, but the HUGE thing about this is that the Oilers have made the playoffs twice, potentially 3 times during McDavid's era, and Sabres will be 0/6 in their Eichel era.

You compared pre-McDavid era and current Eichel era, soooo to me, this should be a landslide towards the Sabres, they havent even SNIFFED the playoffs with Eichel in 6 years --- let that sink in to all you Oiler haters.
 

McFlash97

Registered User
Oct 10, 2017
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As bad as the Oilers were...Sabres overtake them this season as the worst run franchise for a 10 year period.
 

Xspyrit

DJ Dorion
Jun 29, 2008
30,847
9,785
Montreal, Canada
Sure and 1 year out of 3 was almost a SCF finish, and then last 2 years went to rebuild mode.
Just weird to include a successful team in 2017.
If date range was different sure.

Yeah it's factually incorrect as the problems started in December 2017, nobody knew at that moment how bad things would become. So it's pretty much all of 2018 and 2019 but things had settle in 2020 leading up to a killer draft.

Dorion/DJ are still highly questionnable but Sens are too good at drafting, they will get out of their own mess because of it. Hopefully Melnyk ends up selling the team in the near future, Sens fans don't want to see that 2019 & 2020 crap ever again.
 
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Dr Salt

Bedard saved me
Feb 26, 2019
1,604
879
ym
Arizona has the off the ice shitshow so them.

Ottawa is an odd case because with Melynk you never truly know if recovery is coming. It's an odd case because they still undersold on guys like Stone, and at the same time, getting Stutzle feels less of good organizational structure vs San Jose shooting themselves in the foot and having a slam dunk pick to go off in the moment, so I think its too early to call it at an end now.

Buffalo, oh boy, they can be gifted so much talent and be ruined. They'll need four straight lottery wins to save that franchise.
 

LEAFANFORLIFE23

Registered User
Jun 17, 2010
45,606
14,465
How is Buffalo not winning this poll? They are STILL DEAD LAST in the NHL by total points if you want to do points% Congratulations they move up to 29th but they are working on it.

There hasn't been a single shred of progress made in 10 years, in fact it's worse. They should be running away with this poll.
 

Marmoset

Registered User
Apr 4, 2015
712
362
GTA
I don't think the Dorion-era Senators belong with the other three choices. Management had its good and bad decisions, and maybe it wasn't top notch, but the owner was the real problem behind the team. For them, the issues were basically about Melnyk. For the other three organizations it's more complex, not about a single individual.

The Oilers and Coyotes had major issues with the owner AND management. Buffalo I feel is more on management than ownership.
 

Crabapple

Registered User
Jun 17, 2010
5,022
1,542
Edmonton
I'm convinced Peter Chiarelli sabotaged the Edmonton Oilers.

Like, I would call for RCMP, which I understand is the Canadian FBI equivalent, to open an investigation if I was Ownership.
Honestly, I believe the Koski contract was Chia throwing one last grenade before he left. He knew he was getting fired, there was no reason to sign such an unproven goalie to that contract with so few games played.
 
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Crabapple

Registered User
Jun 17, 2010
5,022
1,542
Edmonton
Ottawa doesn't belong on the list. The real race is between Oilers and Sabres, the Coyotes were somewhat competitive on the ice, despite few playoff appearances and no success. Oilers needed a literal generational player to pull them out of it (barely), but Buffalo still hasn't put anything together. If there was a tie I think I'd choose that, but if Buffalo had McDavid and we picked 4th I don't think we're any better than Buffalo is today.
 

McFlash97

Registered User
Oct 10, 2017
7,469
6,505
Think about this.

The Sabres right now have 5 players drafted in the top 2 in the NHL on thier active roster, all of whom are past thier entry level contracts and are at their prime years except Dahlin...but still are garbage.

If you include top 10. They may sitting close to an NHL record.

10 players on thier active roster drafted in the top 10 !

Sorry they have surpassed Edmonton as the most inept franchise for a 10 year stretch if you include this year.

It isn't ending anytime soon. Yikes.
 

Critical13

Fear is the mind-killer.
Feb 25, 2017
12,617
9,435
Sitting at a desk.
Ottawa doesn't belong on the list. The real race is between Oilers and Sabres, the Coyotes were somewhat competitive on the ice, despite few playoff appearances and no success. Oilers needed a literal generational player to pull them out of it (barely), but Buffalo still hasn't put anything together. If there was a tie I think I'd choose that, but if Buffalo had McDavid and we picked 4th I don't think we're any better than Buffalo is today.

I would say there was an 18 month period where Ottawa was worse than any other option, but they seem to be leveling out. It was just incident after incident for months and months. Horrendous management. I agree most people would take that peak awful over prolonged awful.
 

McFlash97

Registered User
Oct 10, 2017
7,469
6,505
Buffalo not running away in this poll is perplexing.

The Sabres are the worst run franchise in sports. Bar none. All time.
 

Big Empty

He's a big horse
Jan 27, 2020
4,389
8,015
Montréal
Chayka is horrific and the new owner they’ve got in Arizona is a joke from what I read in the Athletic article.

Is Chayka not banned from the NHL for 1 year or something like that?

AZ here for me

It’s definitely not the Sens. Second worst is probably Buffalo.

The Oilers at least won a playoff round with Chiarelli and he got them Drai at 8.5M
 

Critical13

Fear is the mind-killer.
Feb 25, 2017
12,617
9,435
Sitting at a desk.
Think about this.

The Sabres right now have 5 players drafted in the top 2 in the NHL on thier active roster, all of whom are past thier entry level contracts and are at their prime years except Dahlin...but still are garbage.

If you include top 10. They may sitting close to an NHL record.

10 players on thier active roster drafted in the top 10 !

Sorry they have surpassed Edmonton as the most inept franchise for a 10 year stretch if you include this year.

It isn't ending anytime soon. Yikes.

If Edmonton doesn't land McDavid, they start look a lot like Buffalo does now IMO.
 

JoVel

HFBoards Sponsor
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Jan 23, 2017
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If Edmonton doesn't land McDavid, they start look a lot like Buffalo does now IMO.
Yeah swap Eichel and McDavid and this isn't even close. Oilers drafted a generational player 6 years ago and still haven't done anything with it.
 

Bouboumaster

Registered User
Jul 4, 2014
9,723
7,796
Off ice: Arizona, by far. 2nd place would fall on Melnyk's Sens (Chayka f***ed the Coyotes into the ground and Melnyk only recently stopped being a cheap asshole. I mean, Dorion isn't the GM of the Decade for damn sure, but he had the nasty job of working with Melnyk's ressources)


Hockey related: Oilers, in that time period. Stupid trades (Bergevin litteraly stoled Jeff Petry (aka The Best D-man they produced in that time period) and let's not even start on the Taylor Hall trade lol), stupid coach choices (Dallas Eakins is the worst coach I've seen in my life - I'm too young to have seen Jean Perron), poor product, etc. At the end of the day, they got McDavid and Draisatl, but it was a long walk in the desert for their fans
 

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