well, Paille became an atrocity. he was good but drafted too high, then he was good and found a role, then he was mediocre, then last season -- and a bit of the previous one -- he was not good.
now, for the questions about Campbell: you don't have to believe me -- nor Julien -- but he was one of the best Bruins last season. if you can only see flash, you miss his worth, but if you analyze statistics you can see how a strong center that prevents goals and moves the puck forward is a key cog to a defensive team that needs puck progression. "eye test" from the couch all you want, but dissing Campbell, Kevan Miller, Bartkowski really shows what type of fan you are. I'm no Campbell nor Bartkowski fan, but those guys have a lot of real value. if you can only see worth in goals scored by the player, go cheer for Ovechkin.
if you can understand why a guy who prevents goals against and moves through zones for the stars to have offensive faceoffs is important, you wouldn't support his being forced off the team when it was really Paille sinking that line. I always liked Paille. I wanted him back because I like his skillset and style, but he was an anchor. go crunch some numbers with zone starts/finishes and relative plus/minus and try to understand how those factors are important and why a team would need some players with strength in those areas. then try to see if Paille and Campbell should share the blame hoisted upon them. I'm serious; your "sense" of a player is not tied to actual worth and value to a team.
