What Did Peter Chiarelli Ever Do?
It's no secret that Peter Chiarelli is a dangerous figure in hockey. He has a reputation, and that reputation precedes him by about a mile. He trades star players and doesn't care what he gets back. He lucks out at the draft and he signs bad players to even worse contracts.
So let's go back and do a year-by-year ranking of NHL General Manager, Peter Chiarelli. Remember, I try to grade based solely on the manager's moves that year. The outcome counts, but if it's because of a signing 1 year prior, that's where the points for that championship will be.
This is the 2nd in a multi-part series "What did _____ ever do?" where I rank the performance of NHL GM's. We take into consideration how the GM chose to handle the NHL Entry draft and any transactions made over the year. The first subject, Lou Lamoriello, scored a paltry 53% (160 points out of a possible 300).
Chiarelli started his management career in Ottawa as an Assistant GM under Bryan Murray and spent two seasons there before leaving to join the Boston Bruins as General Manager - this is where we will start our look.
What I discovered about Pete is that he basically runs on the DeBoer principal. That is, fellow "Pete" Pete Deboer. This principal has a manager or coach join a team and implement a direction that is phenomenally successful, but only for a short while. In Pete's (Chiarelli) case, this means joining the Boston Bruins and immediately signing, trading and assembling a Stanley Cup calibre team. Despite this being followed up by good results in the standings, the quality of moves overall drop significantly and the entry draft is near wasted on anything other than a top 5 pick.
Pete similarly led the Oilers to a great first season, but that was followed up by some of the worst trades in modern NHL history.
Overall, Peter Chiarelli scored: 58/110 (52.77%)
2006-2007: Getting His Feet Wet - 35-41-6 (76 Points, Last in the Northeast)
Chiarelli's first ever go at being an NHL GM. He joined the team in May of this year, so he was a part of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft for the Boston Bruins. How did they do?
'06 Draft:
In the first round, Chiarelli drafted Phil Kessel. He also added Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand in this draft.
Acquired: future considerations, Philippe Sauve, Stanislav Chistov, 2008 4th rd (TJ Brodie), Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference, Dennis Wideman, Adam McQuaid
Traded: Wade Brookbank, Yan Stastny, Milan Jurcina, Brad Boyes, Wayne Primeau, Brad Stuart, 2008 4th rd (TJ Brodie), 2007 5th rd (Jamie Benn)
Free Agents Signed: Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard
Free Agents Lost: Hal Gill, Brian Leetch
Waiver Claim: Joey MacDonald
Nothing really exciting here. Chiarelli tried to give himself a clean slate and shed some older guys in exchange for picks and cap space (a new thing, still). Jurcina was probably the best player they let go, but he couldn't hold TJ Brodie's jock strap. Problem is, Brodie never played a single game for the Bruins OR their AHL team as that pick was traded to Calgary subsequently. Still a decent job by Chiarelli to start the way he wants.
Signing Chara on it's own proved to be a move that made Boston a perennial contender for a decade. But also adding Kessel, Lucic and Marchand basically built this team in one year. This must be one of the best single seasons for a GM in the Salary Cap era.
Pete's Grade: 10/10
2007-2008: Enter the Julien effect - 41-29-12 (94 points, 3rd in Northeast)
Just prior to the draft, Chiarelli sacked the head coach and brought Claude Julien aboard. This will absolutely factor in to his score. Again, a GM trying to run a team his way. Totally fine.
'07 Draft:
In 2007, Peter Chiarelli took Zach Hamill. Hamill would play 20 games for the Bruins NHL team. He was the closest thing to a success for Pete at this draft.
Other players available included Logan Couture, Ryan McDonaugh, and Kevin Shattenkirk.
'07 Transactions:
Acquired: Manny Fernandez, Peter Schaeffer, Carl Soderberg, Johnny Boychuk
Traded: basically nothing.
Free Agents Signed: Shawn Thornton
Pete added a lot of not much for basically nothing. I think he came out on the right side of these trades, but they don't do much to bolster the team. His team improved in the standings largely due to his moves, but he failed miserably at the draft and traded picks away the year prior that would have made his team better.
Pete's Grade: 6/10
2008-2009: I'm a CHAMPION in the east - 53-19-10 (116 points, 1st in the East)
Here ya go. A big result for a GM's 3rd year at the helm. For the Julien led team, Marc Savard led with a paltry 88 points, and Tim Thomas was Tim Thomas. But, how did Pete do?
'08 Draft:
Pete took Joe Colborne with his first pick at the draft, passing over Jake Gardiner, Jordan Eberle, and John Carlson. Pete also drafted future Winnipeg Thrashers burn-out Michael Hutchinson.
Overall, another bad draft for Chiarelli. I'd be interested to see what he did with the scouts they used during his first draft. This smells of a "new direction."
'08 Transactions:
Acquired: Mark Recchi and 2010 2nd rd (Alex Petrovic)
Traded: Martins Karsums and Matt Lashoff.
Free Agents Signed: Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder
Pete managed to squeeze the last two years of life from Mark Recchi and got 40 points or so out of him as a Bruin. And Petrovic would have looked good as well, but he was traded before he ever got to play. He also managed to pick up Blake Wheeler before he turned in to a real superstar. He also let Wheeler walk before he turned in to a real superstar.
Pete's Grade: 4/10
2009-2010: The Thrill is Over - 39-30-13 (91 pts, 3rd in Northeast)
Here it comes, the biggest trade in Chiarelli's career to date. This is also the year Marc Savard would start to quickly lose his career to tragic injuries. Let's see how Pete did.
'09 Draft:
Pete drafted Jordan Caron in the first round, he also drafted real people: Ryan Button and Ben Sexton.
He passed over players like Kyle Palmieri, and Ryan O'Reilly (2nd).
It's hard to hold Pete at fault for passing on O'Reilly, because the entire league did at least once. There wasn't much available in the late first round, but Pete could have done better.
'09 Transactions:
Acquired: Patrick Eaves, 2010 1st (Tyler Seguin), 2011 1st (Dougie Hamilton), Dan Paille, Denis Seidenberg, Gregory Campbell and Nathan Horton
Traded: Phil Kessel, Dennis Wideman, 2010 1st (Derek Forbort), Byron Bitz, 2010 2nd (Alex Petrovic), Aaron Ward.
Free Agents Signed: Blah, who cares.
That is one big trade. Imagine if he ended up trading those incredibly talented young assets for pennies on the dollar. Oh wait, he did. Well, that absolutely has a bearing on this trade. Hindsight is a luxury I have in this review. He did improve the team, but another poor draft, and a decrease in the standings.
Pete's Grade: 6/10
2010-2011: I'm a CHAMPION yes an actual champion - 46-25-11 (103 pts, 1st in Northeast)
Pete got to lift the Cup. After trading an offensive asset out of a defensive system, and seeing a great player lose his career. What a season for Bruins fans.
'10 Draft:
With the second overall pick, Pete took Tyler Seguin. At the time I thought this was a steal behind the - IMO - less talented Hall. I later changed my mind on this, but he got a hell of a player. No screw up here.
Pete also took Jared Knight, Ryan Spooner and Craig Cunningham. He could've taken Alex Petrovic (he even had the pick), Justin Faulk or Tyler Toffoli. All-in-all though, he did a great job at this draft and set his team up with Seguin - who he would trade a couple years later for an old guy.
'10 Transactions:
Acquired: Colby Cohen, future considerations (nothing), Rich Peverly, Tomas Kaberle
Traded: Matt Hunwick, Marco Sturm, Blake Wheeler, Mark Stuart, Joe Colborne, 2011 1st (Rickard Rakell)
This is the last year Chiarelli would trade in bulk. He gave away a lot of good players to win now. But, he won now. So it's hard to fault him for giving up picks and players that would turn out the way Rickard Rakell and Blake Wheeler would. Ask any GM in the league and they'd gladly trade those players for a Stanley Cup.
Pete's Grade: 9/10
2011-2012: Bye bye old guys - 49-29-4 (102 pts, 1st in Northeast)
Tomas Kaberle moved on to Carolina, Mark Recchi retired, Ryder went to Dallas (30 is kinda old). Bye bye old guys.
'11 Draft:
This really is my favorite part, because so far after doing Lou Lamoriello's entire career and this far into Pete's, it seems like GM's just all suck at drafting. Maybe it's just these two....
Pete takes Dougie Hamilton in the first round. Great pick. He took the best player available. The Bruins also drafted Khokhlachev, Anthony Camara and Lars Volden.
They had a chance at both Brandon Saad and Nikita Kucherov in the second round, but again, the entire league passed them up so I can't hammer Pete for this.
'11 Transactions:
Acquired: Honestly, nothing that's that notable happened for Chiarelli this season.
So, basically he had a good not great draft and had a bit of a cup hangover. His team was in good shape letting some old guys go, but the GM didn't make any efforts to improve for the following year....at least noe worth noting.
Pete's Grade: 4/10
2012-2013: Sweet Janine We Nearly Did it Again! - 28-14-6 (62 pts, 2nd in Northeast)
In the lockout shortened season, the Bruins nearly went all the way. This is, yes, the year that they had the oh so wonderful comeback against the Leafs in the first round. Shut up.
'12 Draft:
Pete takes Malcolm Subban in the first round over Brady Skjei and Tanner Pearson. A good pick that would end up as a waiver pick up for the Vegas Golden Knights. He also took Seth Griffith, who looks like a really really good AHL player, bordering on 3rd/4th line NHL player, for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Not a terrible draft, I think Pete did well with the options he had available.
'12 Transactions:
Acquired: Jaromir Jagr, Rob Flick
Traded: Tim Thomas, Maxime Sauve
Another year that Chiarelli doesn't do much, and it shows in the team's result. A near win in the Cup Final. Jagr wasn't given the chance he needed and showed the next season (after leaving Boston via free agency) that he had gas in the tank.
Pete's Grade: 6/10
2013-2014: ARGHAGEJEDBFCOSUW - 54-19-9 (117 pts, President's Trophy)
Ok, this is where Pete went loopy. He traded away all the good players, grew a moustache and somehow they still managed to win the President's Trophy as the NHL's best team based on his first little run as GM. So, what kind of craziness did Chiarelli get up to?
'13 Draft:
With no 1st round pick, he traded it to Dallas, Pete had to wait for the second round, when he would select Linus Arnesson from Sweden over guys like Brett Pesce, Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Guentzel. Based on me knowing who those 3 are, and having to trust that Linus Arnesson is a real person, I'd say he could've done better.
That said, Pete was going mental, so I'll let it slide, mostly.
'13 Transactions:
Acquired: Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser, Andrej Meszaros
Traded: Tyler fuckin Seguin, lol.
There was other stuff, but that's all I need to write for this season. What a lopsided deal. Reilly Smith is a good player, and Loui Eriksson, I'm told, despite his absolutely fucking mediocre possession metrics, is good. But they are no Tyler Seguin. The kid is amazing and will be for years.
Pete, you lose.
Pete's Grade: 3/10
2014-2015: "You're Fired" - 41-27-14 (96 pts, 5th in Atlantic)
That's right. Pete's last year in Boston and the team didn't even make the playoffs. That's not to say they had a bad year, because 96 points should get you a spot in the post-season. But, it wasn't enough this year and Chiarelli got the chop, having dealt away most of Boston's future in the process. He couldn't have made it worse, right?
'14 Draft:
At the 25th spot in the first round, Pete took David Pastrnak. He good. He very good. Actually, at 25th overall, he's a fuckin' legend. I like Pastrnak. For the sake of the post, he passed over Josh Ho-Sang....and that's about it.
For the record, Pastrnak is way fuckin' better than Ho-Sang.
'14 Transactions:
Acquired: 2015 2nd, 2016 2nd, Zack Phillips, Maxime Talbot
Traded: Johnny Boychuk, Jared Knight, Jordan Caron
Really not much to see here.
So, after a stellar grab at the 25th spot in the draft, and almost no trades, Pete says farewell to Beantown.
Pete's Grade: 6/10
2015-2016: Hello Edmonton, Hello Connor - 31-43-8 (70 pts, Last in Pacific)
Welcome to Edmonton Mr. Pete. Can I get you something to drink? Maybe a tall glass of the 1st overall pick? Yeah, that's right. The guy that got shit canned from Edmonton farted his way into the 1st overall pick in the draft with the most highly coveted 1st overall pick since Sidney Crosby.
Speaking of which, how did Wayne Gretzky end up.....oh, he was signed as an underage free agent by the sneaky Indianapolis Racers. So sneaky, nobody even knows where they are to this day.
Any way, how did Pete treat his first year in Canada's coldest hockey town?
'15 Draft:
He took Connor McDavid, next.
Just kidding, whoa, actually no.....that's it. The Oilers didn't select again until the 4th, which, who the fuck cares who got drafted in the 4th.
'15 Transactions
Acquired: Adam Larssen, Griffin Reinhart, Cam Talbot, Eric Gryba, Zack Kassian
Traded: Taylor Hall, 2015 1st (Matthew Barzal), 2015 2nd (Mitchell Stephens), more picks, Martin Marincin, Brad Ross, more picks, Ben Scrivens,
Why would you trade Taylor Hall for nothing? Oh my God that's a bad trade. Wow.
Reinhart really wasn't projecting to be much, Talbot was a great pickup, and of course, adding Connor McDavid to water would turn it into wine. But fuckin Taylor Hall, oh my God!
Pete's Grade: 1/10
2016-2017: Bah God the Oilers are in the Playoffs! - 47-26-9 (103 pts, 2nd in Pacific)
Edmonton is nowhere near the Pacific Ocean. Also, Connor McDavid is good.
'16 Draft:
At the 4th overall spot, the Oilers select Jesse Puljujarvi, who is very good at hockey., Hard to go wrong at #4 though. And the Oilers may have missed on taking Tyler Benson over Alex DeBrincat or Samuel Girard. Time will tell.
'16 Transactions:
Acquired: David Desharnais, Ryan Strome
Traded: Nail Yakupov, Jordan Eberle
Oh my God why why why would you trade Nail Yakupov and Jordan Eberle for nothing! Ryan Strome is so bad. Pete's gone full mental, get him out of here quick! Before he does any more damage. At least they still have McDavid.
Pete's Grade: 3/10
2017-2018: Year to Date - 11-14-2 (24 pts, 7th in Pacific)
I guess those players Pete traded were actually good. Weird.
'17 Draft:
Kailer Yamamoto, the Oilers first round pick looks good, but it's too soon to tell what he'll turn in to. Good pick by my eye.
'17 Transactions (oh my God, don't do anything crazy):
Acquired: Mike Cammalleri
Traded: Jussi Jokinen
*A collective sigh of relief for the old guys trade*
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