Carter was pretty bad for a lot of his time here but that wasn't exactly his fault. He didn't put a gun to Hextall's head to sign him instead of keeping McCann. And he sure as hell didn't force Sullivan to play him way too much and in way too important situations.
One thing I'll give Carter is he was definitely clutch. He had some good playoff performances here and even this year there were a few games down the stretch where we needed a big goal and he came through for us. Didn't he score in that game against Tampa that the Pens nearly blew? Yeah we didn't end up making the playoffs but we almost did and Carter had a few moments.
Imagine being "pretty bad for a lot of his time" and being 2nd in scoring for the Penguins in the playoffs. Jake had 9 goals over 2 playoffs when Jeff came over, the 2nd most is Carter at 8. He was over used by Sullivan for his age, I kept mentioned it over and over again, that he was getting way too many minutes and of course, dipshit Sullivan kept playing him more anyway.
All the hate Jeff Carter gets, is entirely Mike Sullivan's fault, not his, as you mentioned. Given that Hayes is here now, we can put the Hextall forcing Carter narrative to rest. Sullivan likes these types, clearly.