What is the single worst decision your team ever made?

[Moose Head]

Hiring Ronald Corey as President. It’s really when other factors started to be more important than hockey factors in Montreal.

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

Pittsburgh Penguins...
Keeping Dan Bylsma for too many years.

We wasted a bunch of Crosby/Malkin prime years on a minor league coach.

 

[RSPens]

I already saw it mentioned, but trading for Alex Stojanov most definitely is one of the Pens worst decisions. Also signing Jack Johnson. More recently, giving a contract extension to a coach that still had at least a year left on their contract, but had lost in the first round 3 years in a row. What was the rush?

 

[RSPens]

Since I've been following the Penguins since around like 2004 I'd say that it would probably be signing Jack Johsnon. You gotta think this was a favor to Crosby, given his history with JJ and JJ's financial woes.

Honorably mention to the 2012-13 season when they decided to dump a ton of assets for Iginla, Morrow, Murray, and Jokinen only to get embarrassingly swept by Boston.

This wasn't a bad decision by the team, the bad decision was thinking Byslma knew what to do with the line-up. If he had of at least used Iginla in the position that he played his entire career, things might have gone differently.

 

[Sensinitis]

Drafting Brian Lee over Anze Kopitar has to be up there.

You could have had prime Spezza and Kopitar as your 1-2 center punch on that already very strong Senators team.

 

[rfournier103]

Toronto signing Tavares when they had a whole crop of good forwards coming up has gotta be up there. Matthews about to walk into free agency without sniffing the 2nd round.

If I remember correctly, almost every single Maple Leafs fan on here loved the Tavares signing. Maybe they gave him too much money, but I still think it was a pretty great move. To the best of my knowledge, he's been better than anyone Toronto had in the pipeline at the time, or since then.

Toronto's biggest mistake of all time was not finding a way to sign Bobby Orr.

The Boston Bruins would very likely had gone belly-up without Orr. Every bit of the Bruins' success since 1966 has its genesis with Orr coming to the Bruins. He literally saved the franchise. Had Orr been a Maple Leaf, the Leafs win more Stanley Cups, and the Bruins go extinct.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

So nice of you to dodge the question because obviously you know I'm right and it's a sensitive topic for you.

What have they done in the 5 years since they signed Tavares again? How many playoff rounds have they won? I'll let you think about it a little longer buddy. Perhaps it'll stay rent free in your head.

What would you have done for the team with that money instead?

 

[Rodgerwilco]

This wasn't a bad decision by the team, the bad decision was thinking Byslma knew what to do with the line-up. If he had of at least used Iginla in the position that he played his entire career, things might have gone differently.

I don't totally disagree with you, giving Bylsma that lineup is like handing a student driver the keys to a Lambo.

I just think overall it was just far too many moving pieces there to reasonably slot everyone in and make it work in that short of a time. Couldn't really think about too many other glaringly bad decisions.

 

[Brodeur]

TBH I don't think theres anything he could've done.

Niedermayer had won everything possible and the only thing left that he wanted to do was win the cup with his brother. Anaheim knew that so its not as easy as Lou trading for Rob.

That was my thought too, but I stumbled on an old article awhile back where it seemed like Niedermayer was amenable to a long term deal in the summer of 2004. Unfortunately with the lockout looming, teams weren't sure what the next CBA was going to bring. Although the team did give long term deals to John Madden and (unfortunately) Richard Matvichuk. Perhaps Lou was overly worried about Niedermayer making more than Brodeur. But he did allegedly offer 40 million to Bobby Holik in the summer of 2002.

Niedermayer's $7M equals largest in arbitration

Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer was awarded a one-year, $7 million contract in arbitration Friday, equalling the largest award ever issued by a hockey mediator, ESPN the Magazine's E.J. Hradek reports.

www.espn.com

Niedermayer, last season's Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman, had requested a five-year contract reportedly worth $45 million.

With hindsight, the Devils would have gotten Niedermayer at a relative bargain with the 24% rollback post-lockout. Having Niedermayer around would have prevented Lou from signing Dan McGillis and Vladimir Malakhov as replacements. Malakhov ended up costing a late 1st to unload his cap hit.

Although with Niedermayer, we don't have the cap space for Brian Rafalski (and perhaps somebody else). Not sure if the delta between Niedermayer/Rafalski would have been a difference maker for those 2005-2010 squads who did well in the regular season but didn't have much postseason success.

 

[sabremike]

 

[End on a Hinote]

Trading Cam Neely

 

[rahad]

Habs trading for Gomez......

 

[Mrb1p]

Firing Savard/Demers and installing Houle/Tremblay to replace them.

This would be it if it wasn't for Bozovin.

 

[quackquackquack]

That whole Shea Theodore thing to get rid of Clayton Stoner.

 

[Raistlin]

when Copp inceptioned Aqualini to plant the idea in his head that he cannot entertain the notion of a rebuild in Vancouver without financial ruin. It all started from there.

 

[WeaponOfChoice]

I'd argue drafting Noah Welch while Patrice f***ing Bergeron is still available. Trading Jagr for scraps is stupid but a blatant salary dump.

 

[dukeofjive]

Having old players run the team from top to bottom. The pairing of rejean houle and mario tremblay pissed off roy so much he asked for a trade, and that was the blackest day for me as a habs fan.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

That was my thought too, but I stumbled on an old article awhile back where it seemed like Niedermayer was amenable to a long term deal in the summer of 2004. Unfortunately with the lockout looming, teams weren't sure what the next CBA was going to bring. Although the team did give long term deals to John Madden and (unfortunately) Richard Matvichuk. Perhaps Lou was overly worried about Niedermayer making more than Brodeur. But he did allegedly offer 40 million to Bobby Holik in the summer of 2002.

Niedermayer's $7M equals largest in arbitration

Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer was awarded a one-year, $7 million contract in arbitration Friday, equalling the largest award ever issued by a hockey mediator, ESPN the Magazine's E.J. Hradek reports.

www.espn.com

With hindsight, the Devils would have gotten Niedermayer at a relative bargain with the 24% rollback post-lockout. Having Niedermayer around would have prevented Lou from signing Dan McGillis and Vladimir Malakhov as replacements. Malakhov ended up costing a late 1st to unload his cap hit.

Although with Niedermayer, we don't have the cap space for Brian Rafalski (and perhaps somebody else). Not sure if the delta between Niedermayer/Rafalski would have been a difference maker for those 2005-2010 squads who did well in the regular season but didn't have much postseason success.

On the topic of Niedermayer and the 05 lockout.

The other team he would have gone to was his home province team of the Canucks.

It would have cost us 6 million but we chose to spend it on re-upping Naslund.

A completely defensible decision at the time, but man did their careers go in different directions from that moment onwards.

 

[BLNY]

This would be it if it wasn't for Bozovin.

They're still worse in my opinion.

 

[innitfam]

I'd argue drafting Noah Welch while Patrice f***ing Bergeron is still available. Trading Jagr for scraps is stupid but a blatant salary dump.

?

I don't remember a Noah Welch from the first 2 rounds of the 2003 draft

 

[McPoyle]

Selling Gretzky.

 

[Mrb1p]

They're still worse in my opinion.

They didn't waste a generational talent for 15 years, at least. They wasted one for half of that, lol.

Don't get me wrong, all three are fubar GMs, and I still can't udnerstand how Houle turned Turgeon, Roy, Leclair, Desjardins, into... Nothing ? I don't think any assets gained from his trades actually survived him, lol.

With that said, Bergevin had it all, not unlike Houle, got a contender that needed a few pieces and when he left, he actually crippled the team with bad decisions. At least, Houle didn't cripple the team, mostly because of the salary cap but what ever.

 

[WeaponOfChoice]

?

I don't remember a Noah Welch from the first 2 rounds of the 2003 draft

Sorry, meant Stone. God our draft history sucks outside the top 3 picks.

 

[crobro]

Canucks ownership calling Gretzky in the middle of the night to accept their offer to sign with the Canucks

 

[BLNY]

They didn't waste a generational talent for 15 years, at least. They wasted one for half of that, lol.

Don't get me wrong, all three are fubar GMs, and I still can't udnerstand how Houle turned Turgeon, Roy, Leclair, Desjardins, into... Nothing ? I don't think any assets gained from his trades actually survived him, lol.

With that said, Bergevin had it all, not unlike Houle, got a contender that needed a few pieces and when he left, he actually crippled the team with bad decisions. At least, Houle didn't cripple the team, mostly because of the salary cap but what ever.

Houle and Tremblay didn't cripple the team? Hahahahahaha.

You're entitled to your opinion of course, but I'm gonna stick with mine.