Poor decisions cost dearly

CHICAGO, Ill  – Keeping Niklas Hjalmarsson in a Blackhawks uniform will cost Chicago $14m over the next four years, after the Stanley Cup winners opted to match the offer sheet San Jose made last week. Whilst keeping Hjalmarsson makes sense on the ice, off it Chicago’s cap situation remains precarious. Already the club has seen Dustin Byfuglien and Kris Versteeg depart via trades and surely more will follow if the Hawks are to be able to stay under the cap ceiling whilst also retaining the services of some of its other free agents such as netminder Antti Niemi.
 
Chicago’s success last season and the retention of stars such as Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toew’s ‘paper over the cracks’ a little for the Windy City natives, but it cannot hide what can be at best described as some ‘questionable’ management decisions over the past couple of seasons which have left them in this state.
 
While the salary cap, the pain of the lockout, the zero tolerance rules and such likes have made a difference in one way or another no amount of change can ever defend against one crucial factor – bad management.
 
As said previously, keeping stars like Toews and Keith mean the impact is limited somewhat in places like Chicago. A solid core will remain no matter what, which will ensure the club remains competitive. But it’s hard to ignore the bumper deals Brian Campbell and Cristobel Huet have which are hampering the Hawks, especially with Campbell almost impossible to shift thanks to his no movement clause.
 
But other franchises are also feeling the sting off mismanagement, often by previous General Managers, but sometimes by existing ones who now have to deal with difficulties their own decisions have created.
 
Edmonton are perhaps one of the best examples here. Whilst their current euphoria stems from drafting and subsequently signing Taylor Hall and other good prospects, the entire reason they were ever in a position to select Hall at all must not be forgotten.
 
Too many Edmonton players were signed to mid or long term deals at higher values with little to show for it. The infamous offer sheet signing of Dustin Penner is perhaps the best known ‘blunder’, with Penner’s only real ‘good’ season coming last term as he scored 32 goals and 63 points, but Shawn Horcoff has also struggled to live up to the deal which saw him placed as the clubs highest earner. To top it off, Sheldon Souray has made little secret of his desire to leave Alberta but GM Steve Tambellini has thus far been unable to find a willing partner to make a deal with, even putting the former Montreal blue liner on waivers failed to stoke any interest.
 
Worse still is the overpayment of players like Horcoff and former Stanley Cup winner Nikolai Khabibhulin could compromise the teams ability so keep hold of its young stars like Sam Gagne. Attempted short term gains leading to long term pains for the men in blue and orange.
 
In Boston, the Bruins are now faced with an unenviable situation as they look to keep Blake Wheeler this summer as well as persuading Zdeno Chara he should stick with the Bs beyond the coming season but have little cap space and seem to have one of the leagues worst contract deals sat on the bench, as Tim Thomas now seems to have been relegated to the back up role.
 
Even Buffalo might question the wisdom of matching former Oilers GM Kevin Lowe’s offer sheet for Thomas Vanek. The Austrian winger has talent and does produce, but enough to justify just over $7m worth of the Sabres cap?
 
In other pastures, certain issues seem to be almost seasonal jokes now. Philadelphia managed to get to the Stanley Cup finals this year, but people still doubt their ability in net. Ottawa have been through a string of coaches, the Jekyll and Hyde story of Ray Emery, traded an openly upset Dany Heatley and now have Jason Spezza’s future seemingly in the balance
 
Even well established markets such as Montreal have had their share of head scratchers. Whilst Mike Cammalleri, and to a lesser extent Brian Gionta, turned up when it really counted during the 2010 post season, the reasons behind acquiring Scott Gomez and his $7m+ contract from the Rangers still remain a mystery to nearly all but ex-Habs GM Bob Gainey.
 
All this before we even touch upon Glenn Sather’s pendulum like swings from the smart (Gaborik, bringing Avery back to New York) to the baffling (Chris Dury’s $7m+ deal, Wade Reddens $6.5m deal).
 
Still, at least he didn’t sign Alexei Yashin to a mega deal that his team are still paying for…..
 
Of course no GM is immune to making a bad decision at times – not every player fits every bench, room or franchise. Not every trade will have the impact of Roy’s arrival in Colorado or Gretzky’s departure from Edmonton.
 
But equally some of the moves made in an era where every penny counts defy logic at times. And while the levels of competitiveness, financial imbalance and the on ice product can perhaps be tinkered with and addressed by the league or the NHLPA (or both), at the end of the day there simple is no way to avoid bad decisions by the people who sign the cheques.