I just think trying to do too much with the roster will end up getting us in more trouble. Theres some hindsight that if Chiarelli had done basically nothing that this team would be better than it is.
I just dont think trading away draft picks for players is a viable solution. The team has to draft and develop. Everyone knows it but we always want quick fixes.
We basically need to do three things:
1) Cap management - Try your hardest to move Lucic and Sekera contracts. Try to move out Manning, Spooner, etc contracts. These are short term contracts so its not a huge deal if you cant move them. Dont buy out 1 year contracts. This team has so many holes, need cap space to fill it. Trading Cagguila for a more expensive Manning was so stupid.
2) Draft and Develop. Quit trading aways picks especially though Rounds 1-3. But once again they traded a third for Petrovic who doesnt even help this team. I mean ... such poor decisions are/were made by management.
3) Need to find good players at decent prices. Take a chance on a guy with lesser value. Find diamonds in the rough in free agency. Find guys who need a change of scenery. This is a harder task to complete, management really needs to make their money here. A good sport science / analytics department would help here. From what we have seen in the past, this teams pro scouting is terrible, which goes far beyond Chiarelli.
Nicholson in his presser said that decisions were made as a group, which is pretty obvious when it comes to anything in business. Chiarelli had the last say (supposively) but it just seems to me that the whole group is full of poor decision makers. I also just think they dont even know what their aim or goal is. The manning and petrovic trades really stand out in this regard. I just think the whole hockey operations group needs to be purged. Pro scouts, amateur scouts, contract admin, cap people, decision makers, have all been terrible.
The problem with this team is that it needs someone who is patient, methodical, creative, focused (with a clear plan) to run hockey operations but with McDavid we cant afford to build for the next 3 years because previous management has done such a poor job.