Top 10 Best/Worst Moves by MOC
Everyone remember old pal Mike O'Connell, often known to screw Bruins fans over? Now with the LA Kings organization, I wanted to give tribue to our fellow friend.
Top 10 Best Moves by MOC and co.
1. Trading Jason Allison and Mikko Eloranta for Jozef Stumpel, Glen Murray. Allison went on to being overpaid and injured. He never lived up to expectations and was a complete disaster in LA. Eloranta never amounted to anything except a 3rd-4th liner in LA. In Boston, Murray became a potent goal scorer and he is still on the team and is still a great goal scorer. Stumpel, the other ex-Bruin coming back in the deal was a solid 2nd-3rd line center. He only was here for a season before being dealt back to LA. He did have come good chemistry between Murray and Samsonov though.
2. Trading Anson Carter for Bill Guerin. Talk about lopsided. The Oiler got snubbed in this deal. Carter was still a good player, but nowhere near the talent of Guerin. Guerin quickly became a fan favorite and developed into a 40 goal scorer, not that he wasn't before. Carter ended up getting traded to the Rangers and fading away for a few years until resurfacing in Vancouver.
3. Acquiring Brad Boyes in exchange for Jeff Jillson. Jillson has not become much in his NHL career and likely won't amount to anything better than a 5th defenseman. Boyes on the other hand, once a promising prospect in Toronto and San Jose, has become a great player and will continue to develop. Boyes, in his 2nd season, was considered to be in the running for ROY and if it weren't for Ovechkin, Crosby and Phaneuf, would have likely won it. Brad Boyes, Brad Boyes, watcha gonna do when he scores on you?
4. Trading Rob DiMaio for Mike Knuble. DiMaio, now with the Lightning, is nothing but a 4th liner. He was nothing special in Boston, a 15-15-30 guy most of his career. Knuble was also nothing special in New York with the Rangers, but became a dynamic player for years in Boston. Him, Thornton and Murray became the 600 lb. line and could shut down almost any team. A complete steal looking back.
5. Letting Byron Dafoe walk. Not necessarily a move, but good thing it happened. Dafoe was a great goalie with the Bruins, but sucked in the playoffs. He wanted around 4 million or so per season with the Bruins, and they wouldn't bite. They let him walk and he ended up signing with Atlanta. He has never resurfaced as a starter. He is currently playing in Europe. The Bruins lack of a spending appetite finally came in hand.
6. Walking away from Dimirti Kristich. At the time, bad idea. He had just come off a solid season, despite not performing well in the playoffs. He wanted way to much money for the Bruins at the time. He went on to sign the the Maple Leafs and never rebounded. He became nothing and ended up playing in Russia for Evgeni Malkin's former club, Magnitogorsk Metallurg.
7. Trading Shoane Morrisonn, 2004 1st and 2nd round pick, and a 2006 second round pick for Sergei Gonchar and Michael Nylander. Now, you may think this is a bad trade, but Morrissonn was the only part that was hard to let go. He has been a farily good defenseman in Washington, and makes little money. Gonchar and Nylander left after the season, but if the team hadn't blown a 3-1 series lead el habitants, they would have been more valuable. This bolstered the offense and defense. The Capitals wasted the draft picks they acquired and all their choices so far have been busts.
8. Trading Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk for Samuel Pahlsson, Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, and a 1st round pick in the 2000 or 2001 draft. First off, Bourque ended up winning the cup the next season in Colorado, which is one reason why this was such a great move. Andreychuk left after the season in Colorado and ended up resigning in Buffalo before going to Tampa Bay to win a cup. Rolston, became a dynamic forward and is still playing well in Minnesota. Rolston set the team record for most short-handed goals by a Bruin in one season.
9. Trading Dave Scatchard for David Tanabe. Not a great trade talent wise, but cap wise. The Bruins signed Scatchard to a 4 year deal worth 8.8 million. Scatchard wasn't great in the 20 games he was here, but wasn't bad. Atleast we got out under his contract and got Tanabe for 1 year, 900,00.
10. Signing Tim Thomas from Europe. At the time, nothing special, not expected to play. Well, he ended up becoming the Bruins number 1 goalie for 2005 and now 2006. We have to remember that MOC was the guy who made this happen.
Now for the worst...
1. Trading Joe Thornton for Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm. Well well, I had to bring it up. Thornton was under contract for 2 more years at 6.6 million. He was only 26 years old and was entering his prime. He was the captain and a fan favorite. Now, this deal came out nowhere. We all thought a minor move or two was going to be made, but not a franchise altering one. The thing is, we could have gotten Dany Heatley from Atlanta before the season. Anyways, Thornton ended up winning the MVP and won the scoring title with 126 points. Sturm was a 30 goal scorer and teamed well with Bergeron and Boyes. Stuart has been a good defenseman, but no Bourque. Primeau has been an average 3rd line center. The Bruins main fault in this deal was not acquiring Patrick Marleau. If they were to trade Joe, they needed a franchise guy in return which they failed to get. It looks like Sturm and Primeau are sure to be gone after the season, and the Bruins will try to resign Stuart, but he will likely get crazy money elsewhere unless we resign him before he hits the market.
2. Signing Alexei Zhamnov to a 3yr/12.4 million dollar deal. This was MOC's worst offseason. He missed out on Modano, Forseberg and others and ended up signing Zhamnov. He played in only 10 games and scored 1 goal. He broke his ankle and retired this offseason.
3. Trading Robert Lang. He was a prospect at the time, but became a 100 point man in Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit. He would have been great on the team and was key on the team he played for. We will never known what it would have been like to have him here in Boston.
4. Signing Martin Lapointe to a 4yr/20 million dollar deal. This is after he left Guerin go for 2 million more. This was more a JJ move to piss over Detroit's owner. Lapointe was coming off a 20 goal season, but never lived up to his 5 million a season salary. The only thing he brought to the team was some grit.
5. Trading Sergei Samsonov for Edmonton for Yan Stasnty and a 2nd round pick. Why are we trading Sammy again? We got a player we had in the beginning of the season and a cheesy draft pick. Samsonov went on to be a solid player the remaining of the season for Edmonton. He then signed with the Habs and has sucked majorily while being there; he has recently demanded a trade request.
6. Letting Brian Rolston go. Talk about a bargain, he is only making 2.8 million or so and is putting up outstanding numbers. He was a great player in Boston and to let him go was a shame.
7. Letting Mike Knuble go. See Rolston. He is still a 30 goal scorer in Philadelphia and recently resigned with the team on a new 2 year extension, at cheap money.
8. Drafting Lars Jonsson. With the the 7th overall pick, a complete bust. With guys like Boyes, and Justin Williams picked after him. Maybe it was the luck that DiPietro, Heatley, Gaborik, Hartnall and Torres were taking right before him. Jonsson never played a game in a Bruins uni and is now with the Philadelphia Flyers.
9. Signing Shawn McEachern to a 2yr/2.1 million dollar deal. He was supposed to be this speedy winger made for the new NHL. He sucked. He was demoted to Providence and was boughtout this offseason by the Bruins. All he is now is dead cap space, taking up 1.050 in cap space. Another MOC blunder.
10. The Entire '06 offseason. He messed up. He had 37 million dollars in cap space and signed a team of stiffs. No Forsberg, Modano, Satan, Naslund or anyone we thought we would get. YAY, Brian Leetch! Wait, no he was a disaster also, not to the extreme of some others.
Top 10 Best Moves by MOC and co.
1. Trading Jason Allison and Mikko Eloranta for Jozef Stumpel, Glen Murray. Allison went on to being overpaid and injured. He never lived up to expectations and was a complete disaster in LA. Eloranta never amounted to anything except a 3rd-4th liner in LA. In Boston, Murray became a potent goal scorer and he is still on the team and is still a great goal scorer. Stumpel, the other ex-Bruin coming back in the deal was a solid 2nd-3rd line center. He only was here for a season before being dealt back to LA. He did have come good chemistry between Murray and Samsonov though.
2. Trading Anson Carter for Bill Guerin. Talk about lopsided. The Oiler got snubbed in this deal. Carter was still a good player, but nowhere near the talent of Guerin. Guerin quickly became a fan favorite and developed into a 40 goal scorer, not that he wasn't before. Carter ended up getting traded to the Rangers and fading away for a few years until resurfacing in Vancouver.
3. Acquiring Brad Boyes in exchange for Jeff Jillson. Jillson has not become much in his NHL career and likely won't amount to anything better than a 5th defenseman. Boyes on the other hand, once a promising prospect in Toronto and San Jose, has become a great player and will continue to develop. Boyes, in his 2nd season, was considered to be in the running for ROY and if it weren't for Ovechkin, Crosby and Phaneuf, would have likely won it. Brad Boyes, Brad Boyes, watcha gonna do when he scores on you?
4. Trading Rob DiMaio for Mike Knuble. DiMaio, now with the Lightning, is nothing but a 4th liner. He was nothing special in Boston, a 15-15-30 guy most of his career. Knuble was also nothing special in New York with the Rangers, but became a dynamic player for years in Boston. Him, Thornton and Murray became the 600 lb. line and could shut down almost any team. A complete steal looking back.
5. Letting Byron Dafoe walk. Not necessarily a move, but good thing it happened. Dafoe was a great goalie with the Bruins, but sucked in the playoffs. He wanted around 4 million or so per season with the Bruins, and they wouldn't bite. They let him walk and he ended up signing with Atlanta. He has never resurfaced as a starter. He is currently playing in Europe. The Bruins lack of a spending appetite finally came in hand.
6. Walking away from Dimirti Kristich. At the time, bad idea. He had just come off a solid season, despite not performing well in the playoffs. He wanted way to much money for the Bruins at the time. He went on to sign the the Maple Leafs and never rebounded. He became nothing and ended up playing in Russia for Evgeni Malkin's former club, Magnitogorsk Metallurg.
7. Trading Shoane Morrisonn, 2004 1st and 2nd round pick, and a 2006 second round pick for Sergei Gonchar and Michael Nylander. Now, you may think this is a bad trade, but Morrissonn was the only part that was hard to let go. He has been a farily good defenseman in Washington, and makes little money. Gonchar and Nylander left after the season, but if the team hadn't blown a 3-1 series lead el habitants, they would have been more valuable. This bolstered the offense and defense. The Capitals wasted the draft picks they acquired and all their choices so far have been busts.
8. Trading Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk for Samuel Pahlsson, Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, and a 1st round pick in the 2000 or 2001 draft. First off, Bourque ended up winning the cup the next season in Colorado, which is one reason why this was such a great move. Andreychuk left after the season in Colorado and ended up resigning in Buffalo before going to Tampa Bay to win a cup. Rolston, became a dynamic forward and is still playing well in Minnesota. Rolston set the team record for most short-handed goals by a Bruin in one season.
9. Trading Dave Scatchard for David Tanabe. Not a great trade talent wise, but cap wise. The Bruins signed Scatchard to a 4 year deal worth 8.8 million. Scatchard wasn't great in the 20 games he was here, but wasn't bad. Atleast we got out under his contract and got Tanabe for 1 year, 900,00.
10. Signing Tim Thomas from Europe. At the time, nothing special, not expected to play. Well, he ended up becoming the Bruins number 1 goalie for 2005 and now 2006. We have to remember that MOC was the guy who made this happen.
Now for the worst...
1. Trading Joe Thornton for Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm. Well well, I had to bring it up. Thornton was under contract for 2 more years at 6.6 million. He was only 26 years old and was entering his prime. He was the captain and a fan favorite. Now, this deal came out nowhere. We all thought a minor move or two was going to be made, but not a franchise altering one. The thing is, we could have gotten Dany Heatley from Atlanta before the season. Anyways, Thornton ended up winning the MVP and won the scoring title with 126 points. Sturm was a 30 goal scorer and teamed well with Bergeron and Boyes. Stuart has been a good defenseman, but no Bourque. Primeau has been an average 3rd line center. The Bruins main fault in this deal was not acquiring Patrick Marleau. If they were to trade Joe, they needed a franchise guy in return which they failed to get. It looks like Sturm and Primeau are sure to be gone after the season, and the Bruins will try to resign Stuart, but he will likely get crazy money elsewhere unless we resign him before he hits the market.
2. Signing Alexei Zhamnov to a 3yr/12.4 million dollar deal. This was MOC's worst offseason. He missed out on Modano, Forseberg and others and ended up signing Zhamnov. He played in only 10 games and scored 1 goal. He broke his ankle and retired this offseason.
3. Trading Robert Lang. He was a prospect at the time, but became a 100 point man in Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit. He would have been great on the team and was key on the team he played for. We will never known what it would have been like to have him here in Boston.
4. Signing Martin Lapointe to a 4yr/20 million dollar deal. This is after he left Guerin go for 2 million more. This was more a JJ move to piss over Detroit's owner. Lapointe was coming off a 20 goal season, but never lived up to his 5 million a season salary. The only thing he brought to the team was some grit.
5. Trading Sergei Samsonov for Edmonton for Yan Stasnty and a 2nd round pick. Why are we trading Sammy again? We got a player we had in the beginning of the season and a cheesy draft pick. Samsonov went on to be a solid player the remaining of the season for Edmonton. He then signed with the Habs and has sucked majorily while being there; he has recently demanded a trade request.
6. Letting Brian Rolston go. Talk about a bargain, he is only making 2.8 million or so and is putting up outstanding numbers. He was a great player in Boston and to let him go was a shame.
7. Letting Mike Knuble go. See Rolston. He is still a 30 goal scorer in Philadelphia and recently resigned with the team on a new 2 year extension, at cheap money.
8. Drafting Lars Jonsson. With the the 7th overall pick, a complete bust. With guys like Boyes, and Justin Williams picked after him. Maybe it was the luck that DiPietro, Heatley, Gaborik, Hartnall and Torres were taking right before him. Jonsson never played a game in a Bruins uni and is now with the Philadelphia Flyers.
9. Signing Shawn McEachern to a 2yr/2.1 million dollar deal. He was supposed to be this speedy winger made for the new NHL. He sucked. He was demoted to Providence and was boughtout this offseason by the Bruins. All he is now is dead cap space, taking up 1.050 in cap space. Another MOC blunder.
10. The Entire '06 offseason. He messed up. He had 37 million dollars in cap space and signed a team of stiffs. No Forsberg, Modano, Satan, Naslund or anyone we thought we would get. YAY, Brian Leetch! Wait, no he was a disaster also, not to the extreme of some others.
posted by Matt at 2:43 PM
4 Comments:
Interesting piece here. The Thornton trade was terrible player wise but i think the most horrible fact in that trade was the reason why the pull the trigger. The front office said that it was a " shake-up " move; i think it was the proof that the ownership never believed that Thornton could bring a the big prize in Beantown. In fact, no player can, by himself, bring a cup to a city.
Letting go Rolston/Knuble was Jacobs idea. Of course, MOC took the heat but in that case, i think Jacobs should take full responsability for this situation.
The only thing that I disagree with on your list is trading Samsonov. He was going to be a free agent this past summer, he would have walked and left us with nothing. By trading him, at the very least, we got Yan Stastny, who despite being up-and-down between Prov. and Bos. is better then nothing.
I am still pissed we let Rolston and Knuble walk away. After the 24% rollback, Knuble would have been a steal, moreso then he already was.
For once I agree with latrappe.
And my No. 1 bad move would be letting Rolston go. Sure, it's not as embarrasing as what happened with Thornton, but I miss Rolston a lot more!
It's interesting that most the bad moves were in his last years... by then nobody wanted to sign with the B's. I don't think that was so much his fault as ownerships'. I'm seeing MOC these days a good GM that maybe could have done better managing his coaching staff, but in the end was really a victim of Jacobs.
speakin of rolston http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyv7HRS7yXg&NR
check out that link. its his shootout goal from the other night. pretty impressive.
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