What just happened?

[cshea]

Maybe it's the case of beer speaking, but I'm not going to rake them over the coals for the draft picks yet. The by the book approach under Chiarelli yielded poor results. I won't pretend to know anything about the kids in the draft not named McDavid and Eichel. Pastrnak last year was a bit of an off the board selection, and that seems to have panned out. Who really knows. Projecting these kids is tough.

The trades though....man. Hard to see what was accomplished today. The roster is significantly worse and the salary cap situation wasn't rectified. Hard to see a clear, distinct direction here. I guess the roster, as of now is:

Eriksson - Krejci - Pastrnak
Marchand - Bergeron - Connolly
Kelly - Spooner - Smith
Talbot/Kempainnen/other guys

Chara - McQuaid
Seidenberg - Krug
Morrow - Miller

Rask
Jones

They need a lot of work.

 

[LogansDad]

OMG, Adam McQuaid is the Bruins' first line defenseman for 4 more years.  
 
cshea, you aren't making me feel any better.

 

[Fred not Lynn]

Only winner today was Chia

(And, yes, I know he helped cause this outcome)

No, not so much. His inherited supposed-to-be arch rival stole his thunder on what should have been "his" day.

 

[lexrageorge]

Seems to be a case of a management team trying to remake the team in the some sort of idealized, utopian and archaic image as opposed to simply building with good and talented players. Interestingly, they failed miserably at both over the past 24 hours.

 

[lexrageorge]

Seems to be a case of a management team trying to remake the team in the some sort of idealized, utopian and archaic image as opposed to simply building with good and talented players. Interestingly, they failed miserably at both over the past 24 hours.

 

[AimingForYoko]

Holy shit. Yesterday actually happened.

Maybe if I go back to sleep it will be better and McQuaid's contract will have been voided for reasons.

 

[twibnotes]

No, not so much. His inherited supposed-to-be arch rival stole his thunder on what should have been "his" day.

I'm just saying that Bruins fans will now associate the team's issues more with Sweeney than with Chia.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

I'm just saying that Bruins fans will now associate the team's issues more with Sweeney than with Chia.

And in many ways that would be a huge mistake. This was Sweeney playing the awful hand Chiarelli dealt him. I do think Sweeney botched it, but Chiarelli is complicit here. Sweeney may have been the guy who lit the match, but Chiarelli poured the gasoline first.

 

[twibnotes]

And in many ways that would be a huge mistake. This was Sweeney playing the awful hand Chiarelli dealt him. I do think Sweeney botched it, but Chiarelli is complicit here. Sweeney may have been the guy who lit the match, but Chiarelli poured the gasoline first.

Yup. Of course one wonders how much Sweeney and Cam contributed to the recent gaffes during the last few years.

 

[TSC]

And in many ways that would be a huge mistake. This was Sweeney playing the awful hand Chiarelli dealt him. I do think Sweeney botched it, but Chiarelli is complicit here. Sweeney may have been the guy who lit the match, but Chiarelli poured the gasoline first.

Honestly - at this point it looks like Chiarelli may have been the only thing keeping the Bruins on a semi-straight and narrow path over the last couple of years.

It looks like Neely might have been (and now continues to be) driving the crazy train to Leafstown. Nothing this team has done since letting Chiarelli go has made even the slightest of sense, but falls perfectly in line with all the head scratching deals we previously attributed to Chiarelli.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Honestly - at this point it looks like Chiarelli may have been the only thing keeping the Bruins on a semi-straight and narrow path over the last couple of years.

It looks like Neely might have been (and now continues to be) driving the crazy train to Leafstown. Nothing this team has done since letting Chiarelli go has made even the slightest of sense, but falls perfectly in line with all the head scratching deals we previously attributed to Chiarelli.

I don't see any reason to think that.

 

[twibnotes]

Sorry if this has been brought up already, but I just saw this in yesterday's Herald:

The key domino is Hamilton, the restricted free agent whom the Bruins fear could be the recipient of an offer sheet from another NHL team. Both Sweeney and Neely stated unequivocally the B’s will match any offer Hamilton signs — even, presumably, if it’s in the $6-7 million range.

“We’re going to do whatever we have to do to protect the player,” said Sweeney.

“We will match,” said Neely.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/bruins_nhl/boston_bruins/2015/06/harris_dougie_hamilton_deal_a_problem_for_bruins

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

I'm picturing Zane McIntyre stuck in a prison cell underneath the Garden, screaming at guards who pretend he's not there; "You've got the wrong guy! I didn't sign any contract, I'm Gothberg I tell ya, Gothbeeeeeeerg!"

 

[TSC]

I don't see any reason to think that.

Have you completely blacked out in the last 24 hours? Look at the deals the Bruins just made. Look at their drafting. Does a single move they made make any sense whatsoever?

 

[Dummy Hoy]

That's the kind of hyperbole that bugs me a bit. yesterday was a complete and utter disaster at the end of the day, but the Lucic trade was a solid return and the pick of Zboril looks pretty good too. The Hamilton deal is stunning and the McQuaid deal looks to be the least defendable signing I can remember. I'll give them some lea way on their 2nd and 3rd picks, but you are always suspicious when guys rated as borderline first rounders get snagged at 15. Yesterday was bad enough even if you try to be reasonable about it.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

You know the Bruins are totally fucked when they've lost T4P.

 

[tmracht]

The biggest problem with yesterday for me was that you trade two major pieces and managed to actually make your cap situation worse. How are you going to get a player to replace Lucic for roughly 3m when that's the going rate for McQuaid and 5m gets you a Soderberg.

They are putting a lot of faith in a slow bad transition defense. And a ton on the plate of Connolly and Smith.

Sigh.

 

[Steve Dillard]

The McQuaid thing totally destroys the rationale for trading Hamilton to save 2 mill per year.
 
Using the picks made sense if you had Barzal and Connor in mind.  However, if you had DeBrusk and Senyshyn in mind, and are convinced of that, you trade back, like Edmonton did at 16 in order to get some additional capital, precisely because the "obvious" picks of Barzal and Conner were coveted by all the other teams.  
 
I'll wait and see on the Bs picks, as both have good offensive potential.  But, like the Sox picking Trey Ball on upside instead of Austin Meadows, I suspect we'll longingly look at the Islanders and Winnipeg and say Sweeney should have gone with the "obvious" choice.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Another note: If you are blowing it up and rebuilding, why does it matter who you are trading Hamilton to? You take the best deal, period. Sweeney has already demonstrated severe incompetence, this is depressing.

 

[Toe Nash]

 
As someone who worshiped Neely growing up I'm really hoping he was on vacation or something today.  Cam was my favorite athlete and there wasn't a close second.  If he really is behind the dismantling of the B's I'm not sure how to take it.
 
I would much prefer to blame Jacobs even if they had nothing to do with this.  

Sorry dude, the signs are all pointing that way.

 

[jk333]

I don't see any reason to think that.

What Bruin contracts do you dislike? The Kelly, Campbell type of contracts are more of the same with this new McQuaid deal. The Hamilton trade is more of the same as the Seguin trade.

Nothing has changed. At least in the Seguin trade they got a former all star on a affordable contract back. This trade was worse.

Are they trying to compete now? If so, Hamilton was the dman they need. Are they rebuilding? If so, why keep Krejci, Chara or Kelly. Hamilton could have been part of the rebuild. This strategy makes no sense. Also, with Hamilton, Kessel and Seguin gone, they shouldn't start any of these draft picks in the NHL. That hasn't worked for them at all. Hopefully Pastrnak isn't next.

 

[j44thor]

Regarding the picks wasn't there hope that we had finally turned a corner on that front with new director of amateur scouting?  How did that lead to arguably the biggest reach in the past decade?  I'm hoping to do some research to validate later today but I can't recall another time a player Central Scouting ranked in the 40s went with the 15th overall pick.
 
Funny we can finally definitively answer the question of who won the Kessel trade: Calgary & Dallas.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Another note: If you are blowing it up and rebuilding, why does it matter who you are trading Hamilton to? You take the best deal, period. Sweeney has already demonstrated severe incompetence, this is depressing.

So much incompetence in so many different ways. From here it looks like he's a shit talent evaluator (McQuaid), godawful negotiator (Hamilton, potential trade-ups), and all-around dumbass (not adequately shopping Hamilton, not trading down to get more assets + his guys). Won't comment on the picks themselves because I haven't seen them play but the quotes coming out from DS combined with these moves also suggest a stunted team-building philosophy.

 

[TheRealness]

Upon further reflection, the McQuaid signing is still horrendous, and they didn't get near fair value for Hamilton. Those moves still sting a lot. The Lucic trade was fair, and they got decent value.

As far as the draft picks, I researched all three guys a lot this morning and Zboril has elite potential and his grade was consistent with his draft slot. DeBrusk and Senshyn however were big home run swings as while their draft grades are all on the lower end (to be fair, central scouting had DeBrusk at 19) they all exhibit top line potential from what the scouting reports say. Both forwards have very good skating ability and speed, and I think Sweeney went off the board because he thought they I had greater potential. Given I don't know these guys well, I am willing to take a wait and see approach on them moving forward.

This does not excuse giving McQuaid four years, or trading Hamilton for pennies on the dollar, but at least I can understand the draft picks.

 

[joe dokes]

I get the "chia is complicit" point. But once the FO decides that moving Hamilton and Lucic is part of their path to getting out from complete cap hell, the way of doing that is *all* on Sweeney and, I assume Neely. (maybe even more so Neely; only Neely could like Mcquaid *that* much.)  Its like Chia drove the car into a ditch, but miraculously its still running.  So Sweeney/Neely hop in and drive it into a wall.

 

[jscola85]

The one move that absolutely fucking infuriates me is re-signing Adam McQuaid.  If they didn't think they could re-sign Dougie, fine.  The haul was a bit light and you can quibble with the picks but at least they got something and you have to try to see how the picks play out.  Lucic's trade was quite smart IMO and got them some great assets given what Looch is and the clear reality they weren't re-signing him.
 
But McQuaid?  Fuck.  That might turn out to be the single biggest overpay in team history.  This is a guy who should've been non-tendered.  They have literally the exact same guy, but better, in Kevan Miller on the roster for $900k.  And they just paid McQuaid like a borderline top-4 defenseman!  Even ignoring his remarkably checkered injury history, you just paid $2.75M for a guy who averages less than 10 points per season and whose plodding style is quickly becoming defunct in the NHL.
 
That contract, more than the Dougie trade, the failure to move up, the confusing selections at 14 and 15, highlights to me that the current regime doesn't have a fucking clue.  That, plus the comment from Julien about being pissed at Dougie for wanting to get paid fair market value.  They clearly hate playing and paying under-25 players unless those guys sublimate all personal desires for the Spoked B.

 

[4 6 3 DP]

Obviously none of us know what goes through these guys minds. The nice thing about social media is situations like this, as while the Jacobs probably don't care what the fans think in the least, they are well aware of the reaction to these moves and as such the moves have a target on them.
 
What frustrates me about the deals is Sweeney's insistence on 2015 picks, given that the Bruins obviously didn't have high grades on most of the projected talent in the 5-20 range. It reeks of PR. That Neely and Charlie Jacobs didn't want to deal these assets this year for 2016 picks, and felt they needed to deal them at least for something that could be quantified in present time. Which might make sense if you could say "we had what in a normal year would be top 10 grades on 16 players in the top 20". But they can't say that because they reached so heavily on the picks.
 
If the Jacobs' don't understand that they need another critical thinker in that room (like at the end of the Sinden/O'Connell days) then they deserve what they get. After last night, they have the evidence that Cam/Sweeney need to be checked with an opposite voice. I have no idea how competent Sweeney is. What I know is that just like Danny Ainge - all cocky executives fall in love with players and ideas sometimes and while you need an organizational philosophy, you also need competing voices. You need the common sense person to talk down the executive that's fallen in love with a player or idea just to keep it in check. Every good business has this setup, it stops group-think, it forces critical decisionmaking. There is none right now on Causeway St. It's called Bruins.
 
That's it - that's what happened last night.

 

[Granite Sox]

Another note: If you are blowing it up and rebuilding, why does it matter who you are trading Hamilton to? You take the best deal, period. Sweeney has already demonstrated severe incompetence, this is depressing.

 

Regarding the picks wasn't there hope that we had finally turned a corner on that front with new director of amateur scouting?  How did that lead to arguably the biggest reach in the past decade?  I'm hoping to do some research to validate later today but I can't recall another time a player Central Scouting ranked in the 40s went with the 15th overall pick.
 
Funny we can finally definitively answer the question of who won the Kessel trade: Calgary & Dallas.

 

So much incompetence in so many different ways. From here it looks like he's a shit talent evaluator (McQuaid), godawful negotiator (Hamilton, potential trade-ups), and all-around dumbass (not adequately shopping Hamilton, not trading down to get more assets + his guys). Won't comment on the picks themselves because I haven't seen them play but the quotes coming out from DS combined with these moves also suggest a stunted team-building philosophy.

 
I also think that what transpired yesterday also means the team hasn't learned a goddamn thing from the Chia Experience.  The baffling approach to the draft continues with 'reaches' in the face of superior available talent... the team continues to ship its highest-end talent out the door for spare parts... there is a glaring inability to capably manage the cap to create a sustainable approach to team-building... and yesterday revealed a panicked and/or poorly constructed  trade plan.
 
The gap between the aged graybeards (Chara, Seidenberg, Eriksson, Kelly) and the next generation average-to-below-average group (Smith, Spooner, Krug, Miller) is only growing, with only Bergeron, Noseface, Rask and Krecji standing between them and the abyss.  And then there's McQuaid...
 
If I'm a rival GM, I'd put a plan together pronto to try and fleece the B's of any remaining talent.  The present construction of this team is about as fragile as we've seen in a long, long time.

 

[allstonite]

I, like T4P, tend to look positively and can defend most of the moves that are made. Most would consider me a homer and that's probably true. I got absolutely nothing today. The Thronton trade needed to be done even if the return sucked at the time and never really improved. I liked the Kessel deal because it was clear he didn't want to be here and they got a great return even before knowing where the picks ended up. Even the Seguin trade I talked myself into because I liked Loui a lot prior to the move and Seguin didn't fit in personality wise with the team.
 
The Hamilton deal makes absolutely no sense. They had 100% of the leverage and pissed it away. Tell him to go shop for offer sheets and if he gets one that's too pricey take the picks. If he overestimated his market then sign him to a reasonable deal. He can't do anything else. That's the beauty of restricted free agents. He's exactly the type of player you open the checkbook for and keep around for 15 years. 
 
Everything else is so bad it feels like sabotage. It just feels like there's no direction to any of the moves. If they made all of these and ended up saving $5-10 million on the cap, at least you could see what was happening and they could maybe be big players in free agency or take on a high priced player in a trade. But they're spending $5.5 million on McQuaid and Lucic to play in LA. 
 
On the draft picks, if you have 3 in a row maybe take a risk and reach on one of them. But when your team needs are "everything" play it safe and take the best players available. I think he expected to trade up and didn't have a plan beyond that when it failed. And Sweeney saying "more boos?" or whatever really made me want to jump through the TV. I didn't think I could hate him more after the trades but then he topped himself. 
 
I don't understand what happened and I don't know what to do. This sucks

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

I took a trip down Masochism Lane and read through a good chunk of the Seguin trade thread. I couldn't find the post, but basically someone implied that the FO has apparently decided that the only way you get paid on this team is to pay your dues. That we're doing this song and dance again today just reiterates something I KNOW EJ said in that thread: The Bruins should just stop drafting in the top 5 of any draft ever. They simply do not have the patience and dedication to see out a young player's development and keep elite talent from cradle to grave.
 
Maybe DeBrusk and Senyshen turn out to be great picks, and maybe Zboril turns into a bit of what the Bruins hoped Dougie would be. But from today's point of view, this team just got worse without the benefit of huge cap savings.

You know the Bruins are totally fucked when they've lost T4P.

 
Since Dougie's gone, can his new tagline be "RMPS's Walter Cronkite"?

 

[mwonow]

Well...there's reason to believe that the FO has great insight into mediocre defensemen and oft-injured big guys. So there's that...

 

[FL4WL3SS]

The McQuaid signing is completely indefensible as others have mentioned. There was no reason to rush to a signing on this guy. They should have waited until free agency to test his market value and made a judgement at that point.

It's even more egregious when you look at the list of available defensive free agents.

It seems that Sweeney rushed into these decisions and whether that was due to inexperience or something else, we can only hope he learns from this off season and gets better. More thought needs to be put into the timing of these deals and how they affect the long term picture. They seemed like panic moves and that's the last thing you want to see from your rookie GM.

 

[j44thor]

Upon further reflection, the McQuaid signing is still horrendous, and they didn't get near fair value for Hamilton. Those moves still sting a lot. The Lucic trade was fair, and they got decent value.

As far as the draft picks, I researched all three guys a lot this morning and Zboril has elite potential and his grade was consistent with his draft slot. DeBrusk and Senshyn however were big home run swings as while their draft grades are all on the lower end (to be fair, central scouting had DeBrusk at 19) they all exhibit top line potential from what the scouting reports say. Both forwards have very good skating ability and speed, and I think Sweeney went off the board because he thought they I had greater potential. Given I don't know these guys well, I am willing to take a wait and see approach on them moving forward.

This does not excuse giving McQuaid four years, or trading Hamilton for pennies on the dollar, but at least I can understand the draft picks.

 
Not sure I agree with that. Senyshn was 9th on his team in scoring despite playing the 2nd most games.  He put up 45 pts in 66 games.  I'm not sure how that translates to top line NHL potential.  There is a reason he was considered a huge reach.  Reading the scouting reports of Barzal and Connor compared to this kid just continues to fuel my anger.  
 
edit After a bit more research it appears he did play mostly 3rd and 4th line minutes but he is going to have to make a significant jump in production next season to justify this slot.  I'll reserve judgement for now.

 

[54thMA]

Although I've been a fan for over 40 years, I consider myself a casual fan; when they are good, I pay attention, when they suck, I could care less.
 
The people I feel the worst for are the true blue, diehard Bruins fans and there are plenty of them, those fans who've stuck with this team through the thick and the thin must be ready to boil over at this point.
 
It's scary to me when the posters on this forum who are my go to guys for all things hockey are puzzled and have no answers to this, that makes it even worse in my mind.
 
I've been to more than my fair share of games in the past five years or so and that building is electric, nothing compares to the passion Bruins fans bring to the table in this town.  Of all the championship parades I've been lucky enough to attend, the Bruins parade was by far the best one.
 
I look at what they did yesterday and just shake my head and move on; the diehards must be lining up at bridges everywhere in Revere, Saugus, Everett, Quincy, Braintree, Charlestown, Dorchester, Billerica, Stoneham and elsewhere.
 
What a fucking shame.  

 

[DJnVa]

They've thrown the nuclear bomb onto the franchise. They cleaned house, 

 
They didn't clean house--at all. Had they dealt Rask and some others, at least you could see the semblance of a plan.

 

[1918stabbedbyfoulke]

Honest question here. How much influence does Julien have with FO moves? I ask this as a casual fan who had the distinct impression Julien did not like Dougie at all. Again, casual observations here, but it seemed that Hamilton always had much less rope than Krug over youthful mistakes. If Krug screwed up he lost some ice time but still played. It seemed, especially two years ago, if Dougie screwed up he was a healthy scratch for at least two games. Given the apparent comments made by Julien after the trade and what I perceived as general antipathy towards Dougie from Julien, I wonder how much Julien pushed the FO to get Dougie out of Boston.

 

[Steve Dillard]

Loyko seems to be in on Sweeney's process.
First, he pointed out that all three first picks were represented by Octagon
 
Now:

Bruins have now taken a prospect from the OHL, WHL, 2QMJHL, 2USHL looks like Sweeney is trying to get each area scout one of their guys. Probably be an international next
 

 
And, viola, Bruins take Czech goalie.

 

[McDrew]

I should start a prediction thread on how many games Claude lasts before he's scapegoated. 

 

[Chief_Macho]

We are screwed till the whole front office is removed.   Arrogance and Ego. 

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Regarding the picks wasn't there hope that we had finally turned a corner on that front with new director of amateur scouting?  How did that lead to arguably the biggest reach in the past decade? .

Maybe the new director of amateur scouting doesn't just look at the scouting bureau lists? The Bruins have had some pretty big successes reaching for guys (Bergeron, Lucic).

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Honest question here. How much influence does Julien have with FO moves? I ask this as a casual fan who had the distinct impression Julien did not like Dougie at all. Again, casual observations here, but it seemed that Hamilton always had much less rope than Krug over youthful mistakes. If Krug screwed up he lost some ice time but still played. It seemed, especially two years ago, if Dougie screwed up he was a healthy scratch for at least two games. Given the apparent comments made by Julien after the trade and what I perceived as general antipathy towards Dougie from Julien, I wonder how much Julien pushed the FO to get Dougie out of Boston.

I don't think Dougie has been a health scratch since his rookie year.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Kirk Luedeke, who is pretty much as good an NHL draft/prospect reporter as you will find, has some positive reports on Senyshyn. According to a scout he spoke to, Senyshyn would have been gone by pick 20 at the latest. If he was their guy it probably made sense to take him at 15.

Look, the Bruins cap situation sucks. The Hamilton deal sucked. The McQuaid deal wasn't as bad as giving up a second elite talent within 2 years and not getting an elite return, but it was an inexplicable unforced error none the less. Yesterday was a bad, bad day for the Bruins organization.

All of that said, there is no reason to think that the Bruins botched 13-14-15 yesterday. Same people running the Bruins' draft this year as last year, no? And last year was maybe our first really good draft year since 2006. There is a lot to be upset about - picks 13-14-15 isn't part of that.

 

[mcpickl]

Regarding the picks wasn't there hope that we had finally turned a corner on that front with new director of amateur scouting?  How did that lead to arguably the biggest reach in the past decade?  I'm hoping to do some research to validate later today but I can't recall another time a player Central Scouting ranked in the 40s went with the 15th overall pick.
 
Funny we can finally definitively answer the question of who won the Kessel trade: Calgary & Dallas.

Just last year #53 on Central Scouting list went 17th.

 

[Ed Hillel]

I should start a prediction thread on how many games Claude lasts before he's scapegoated. 

Well, Clode's quote on Hamilton doesn't make me think the guy's blameless. Who wants to play for a coach that thinks that, particularly any of the younger talent? Clode comes off like a crotchety old man.

 

[Myt1]

And in many ways that would be a huge mistake. This was Sweeney playing the awful hand Chiarelli dealt him. I do think Sweeney botched it, but Chiarelli is complicit here. Sweeney may have been the guy who lit the match, but Chiarelli poured the gasoline first.

Yeah, eight years of being really good fucking sucked.

How did Chiarelli force Sweeney's hand on the McQuaid deal?

The issue is that Sweeney set a dumpster fire and then dropped it in the North Atlantic. Everything was at cross purposes. I'm half convinced that the 2015 5th rounder for the 2016 5th rounder was actually in the Onion and everyone is just fucking with me.

 

[j44thor]

Kirk Luedeke, who is pretty much as good an NHL draft/prospect reporter as you will find, has some positive reports on Senyshyn. According to a scout he spoke to, Senyshyn would have been gone by pick 20 at the latest. If he was their guy it probably made sense to take him at 15.

Look, the Bruins cap situation sucks. The Hamilton deal sucked. The McQuaid deal wasn't as bad as giving up a second elite talent within 2 years and not getting an elite return, but it was an inexplicable unforced error none the less. Yesterday was a bad, bad day for the Bruins organization.

All of that said, there is no reason to think that the Bruins botched 13-14-15 yesterday. Same people running the Bruins' draft this year as last year, no? And last year was maybe our first really good draft year since 2006. There is a lot to be upset about - picks 13-14-15 isn't part of that.

I'd agree if we knew to what degree Sweeney let the scouts run the draft. Barzal/Connor seems like a clear miss and worth tracking.
The trade in the 5 th Rd is incomprehensible.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Spending the day at long trail brewery didn't help calm me down. Sweeney is still the dumbest executive in sports.

 

[veritas]

Kirk Luedeke, who is pretty much as good an NHL draft/prospect reporter as you will find, has some positive reports on Senyshyn. According to a scout he spoke to, Senyshyn would have been gone by pick 20 at the latest. If he was their guy it probably made sense to take him at 15.

Look, the Bruins cap situation sucks. The Hamilton deal sucked. The McQuaid deal wasn't as bad as giving up a second elite talent within 2 years and not getting an elite return, but it was an inexplicable unforced error none the less. Yesterday was a bad, bad day for the Bruins organization.

All of that said, there is no reason to think that the Bruins botched 13-14-15 yesterday. Same people running the Bruins' draft this year as last year, no? And last year was maybe our first really good draft year since 2006. There is a lot to be upset about - picks 13-14-15 isn't part of that.

 
Totally agree here. There's tons of legitimate criticism to go around about the Hamilton deal and McQuaid contract but it's kinda silly to be roasting the FO based on a pick or two that didn't line up with the NHL Central Scouting rankings and the Mel Kiper equivalents. It's a very small sample size but this new scouting department had a great draft last year. Beyond Pastranak, Danton Heinen looks like a gem in the 4th round. I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this year's picks.

 

[twibnotes]

Is it me or does the Bruins FO take a disproportionately low number of American players?

Realize this doesn't mean anything w/r/t passing on Barzal, but Connor is American.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Yeah, eight years of being really good fucking sucked.

How did Chiarelli force Sweeney's hand on the McQuaid deal?

The issue is that Sweeney set a dumpster fire and then dropped it in the North Atlantic. Everything was at cross purposes. I'm half convinced that the 2015 5th rounder for the 2016 5th rounder was actually in the Onion and everyone is just fucking with me.

 
I didn't say Chiarelli was bad the whole time he was here.  Obviously he wasn't.  But his salary cap management left a lot to be desired, and because of it he left the team in a hole.  The team's poor drafting/development throughout the latter years of his tenure didn't help matters.  
 
Sweeney wasn't forced to sign McQuaid for 4 years (personally, I'd call that move an unforced error), and he wasn't forced to trade Hamilton for 3 draft picks.
 
But he did inherit a top-heavy team loaded with big contracts (Chara, Bergeron, Rask, Lucic, Krejci, and Hamilton all looking at more than $5 million per year) and short on quality depth (both on the NHL roster and in the system).  
 
There had to be some type of reckoning.  
 
Now, as it happens, Sweeney has:

• given himself some flexibility with the cap - from not having to sign Hamilton.
• added significant depth (a legitimate backup goaltender and 6 picks in the top 2 rounds of a deep draft) 

I don't like the way he chose to go about it - I'd rather have signed Hamilton and tried to shed salary via a firesale of any player not named Hamilton or Bergeron if it came to that.  I doubt there is any player on the Bruins' roster who will have more value than Hamilton over the next 5 years.  Maybe Rask, but that's about it. 
 
And the willingness to sign McQuaid to huge term while commenting about how unfortunate it is that under the CBA Dougie is entitled to ask for big money now is just scary.  It reminds me of Mike O'Connell saying he's rather have 2 guys making $2 million than one guy making $4 million.  I have no idea whether Sweeney will ultimately be a good GM or not, but to this point it looks prety bad.
 
That doesn't change the fact that if Chiarelli left the team in a bad spot.