I hope this statement is true, but I also hope if he decides to trade one of them that he knows what kind of value he deserves in return.Upon further reflection, here's how I think it could go down:
We can assume that if things do not go well this season, besides the goalies, it will be because some for the 'core' hasn't performed up to snuff. The Hall-Ebs-RNH-Yak-Schultz cluster is on high alert. Chia probably gives these guys until mid season and if he doesn't like what he sees from any of the aformentioned players, they're gonzo at the TD, and that includes Hall and RNH.
Of course, it is doubtful more than 2 would ever be traded, but very likely at least one will be gone in the event the team doesn't take a step, yet again. And wouldn't that be the right thing to do? These guys have had enough time. If they are ever going to dominate as a group, they should be doing that by the end of this calendar year.
Chia is not married to any of these punks, like Mact and KLowe were/are. Put up or see ya.
Upon further reflection, here's how I think it could go down:
We can assume that if things do not go well this season, besides the goalies, it will be because some for the 'core' hasn't performed up to snuff. The Hall-Ebs-RNH-Yak-Schultz cluster is on high alert. Chia probably gives these guys until mid season and if he doesn't like what he sees from any of the aformentioned players, they're gonzo at the TD, and that includes Hall and RNH.
Of course, it is doubtful more than 2 would ever be traded, but very likely at least one will be gone in the event the team doesn't take a step, yet again. And wouldn't that be the right thing to do? These guys have had enough time. If they are ever going to dominate as a group, they should be doing that by the end of this calendar year.
Chia is not married to any of these punks, like Mact and KLowe were/are. Put up or see ya.
Chia wasn't married to Seguin or Boychuk either and that's the reason he was fired and is here in the first place.
The GM's job is to make meaningful additions to the lineup without sacrificing the core players in the lineup. This is what good GM's of competitive teams have done for years.
Before one impulsively pulls the trigger on players like Hall, RNH, Eberle, Yak one must support them with quality supporting cast, D, goaltending, to see how they do. To this point Chia has not done that.
Does the "put up or see ya" still apply to Chia?
I've been less than impressed with his summer.
I definitely agree that he hasn't fixed our team. He's done a few very good moves though, and I think he aims to let this group play and then to re-evaluate. We are at a fragile period where nothing is all that certain.
Besides, what GMs out there succeed in fixing a mess like Chia had in one offseason? I think there are deals he wanted to do but it didn't happen. Like everyone. A team like Philly should be in full win-now mode considering the ages of Giroux and Voracek but making the necessary deals is extremely difficult in this league considering that the type of players they need (and we need) are in low supply
Chia wasn't married to Seguin or Boychuk either and that's the reason he was fired and is here in the first place.
The GM's job is to make meaningful additions to the lineup without sacrificing the core players in the lineup. This is what good GM's of competitive teams have done for years.
Before one impulsively pulls the trigger on players like Hall, RNH, Eberle, Yak one must support them with quality supporting cast, D, goaltending, to see how they do. To this point Chia has not done that.
Does the "put up or see ya" still apply to Chia?
I've been less than impressed with his summer.
The mess is less than one would think. We do have here an embarrassment of offensive riches that many GM's would drool over and the reason this was an attractive location for Chia and Mclellan.
Interestingly what we need has been available. Calgary for instance solidified their goaltending and D in years where the Oil were settling for lesser agents. Imagine if the Oilers had Calgarys D and goaltending. What a difference that would make.
I'm not a make a big flash kind of guy but what concerns me is this org doesn't know (still) how to build and supplant its vet assets. It instead just replaces deckchairs. No sensible org would have got rid of Gordon, Petry, Roy. Those were solid character vets with good attitudes. This org has done that and has retained such players as Ference, Nikitin, Purcell.
Worse, other players are also impacted by the departures. Hendricks will be a mixed blessing without Gordon. The two worked well together. Hendricks needs a Gordon. Yak did real well with Roy. The team had used Petry as one of their top D and matched him with developing D. How helpful would this be with players like Nurse and Reinhard coming up.
Very little of what this org does makes sense. They just don't retain their faithful vets. They seemingly don't differentiate in the slightest on the vets that are helpful, and those that are less helpful.
Finally, they've added useless vets like Korpi and Gryba just because.
The mess is less than one would think. We do have here an embarrassment of offensive riches that many GM's would drool over and the reason this was an attractive location for Chia and Mclellan.
Interestingly what we need has been available. Calgary for instance solidified their goaltending and D in years where the Oil were settling for lesser agents. Imagine if the Oilers had Calgarys D and goaltending. What a difference that would make.
I'm not a make a big flash kind of guy but what concerns me is this org doesn't know (still) how to build and supplant its vet assets. It instead just replaces deckchairs. No sensible org would have got rid of Gordon, Petry, Roy. Those were solid character vets with good attitudes. This org has done that and has retained such players as Ference, Nikitin, Purcell.
Worse, other players are also impacted by the departures. Hendricks will be a mixed blessing without Gordon. The two worked well together. Hendricks needs a Gordon. Yak did real well with Roy. The team had used Petry as one of their top D and matched him with developing D. How helpful would this be with players like Nurse and Reinhard coming up.
Very little of what this org does makes sense. They just don't retain their faithful vets. They seemingly don't differentiate in the slightest on the vets that are helpful, and those that are less helpful.
Finally, they've added useless vets like Korpi and Gryba just because.
What team would want Nikitin or Purcell at their current cap hits? Wasn't a fan of the Gordon for Korps trade but you fail to mention that we also brought in another character guy in Letestu who happens to be a lot cheaper than Gordon. Petry wasn't on our current GM. It was a mistake giving him a one year, everyone knew that except for MacT apparently. But if there is one thing you can rely on Chia for...its bringing in character players. Look no further than the Bruins roster he assembled and his loyalty to his character players was a fault of his. Handing out the contracts he did to guys like Kelly hurt the B's. The Ference comments seen a bit ridiculous. He may not have much left in the tank but how could you not consider him a quality character vet with a good attitude?[/QUOTE]
Because he's complete garbage and doesn't even train consistent with being a WC NHL D. He's about the thinnest D in the conference. I could give a **** if he can walk a thousand stairs if he can't move anybody out of the crease. He's forsaken strength for endurance. No brawn whatsoever. For a guy getting paid millions I don't consider someone having a good attitude and dedication for not even training specific for their sporting position.
What kind of sense would it make for a football lineman to go all Ference/Eakins freakout bike regimen? None at all.
Train specific to your role, and dedicate to that, or GTFO.
Because he's complete garbage and doesn't even train consistent with being a WC NHL D. He's about the thinnest D in the conference. I could give a **** if he can walk a thousand stairs if he can't move anybody out of the crease. He's forsaken strength for endurance. No brawn whatsoever. For a guy getting paid millions I don't consider someone having a good attitude and dedication for not even training specific for their sporting position.
What kind of sense would it make for a football lineman to go all Ference/Eakins freakout bike regimen? None at all.
Train specific to your role, and dedicate to that, or GTFO.
Endurance is a huge part of a defenseman's ability. That's honestly the best part of Duncan Keith's game (which is saying a lot).
I do agree that Ference shouldn't sacrifice strength for endurance, but I don't know if he's actually doing that.
This team is going to seriously challenge for if not make the playoffs next year. And I am saying this being known as one of the big doom sayers on this site.
We have a real GM
We have a real Coach and staff
We have a 1st year fracnhise player
We have some maturing good young players.
We have upgraded defense and probably goaltending.
Chiarelli made a lot of potential improvements without getting rid of one core piece. We can worry about dealing people at the dead line.
I think Chiarelli made the right call in not trading any of our younger assets.
For starters, a lot of their trade value is very low, so it would not be good asset management.
Second, I think it's fair that he as a GM get to know the players and see them first hand before just willy nilly making trades for like a Yakupov.
If by Christmas it's not working, then sure start shopping people.
If Boston's front office wasn't so petty, we would probably have Hamilton right now too, capping off basically a perfect off-season, but oh well. We'll get that player sooner or later.
So amped for McDavid. I still can't believe we got him. I remember a week before the lottery, I played NHL 15 with McDavid on the Oilers just because I figured "well it'll take a miracle to get him, but lets enjoy the fantasy of him on the Oilers for a few days before he gets picked by the Coyotes or Leafs or Sabres".
You can imagine the loud yell that went up in my house on April 18th.