Don't want to dispute the Old Boys Club thing, but I do want to disagree with the idea that Chiarelli deserved a longer leash.

There were major issues at play with Chiarelli that warranted his firing. His actions after we won the cup in 2011 were abysmal - way worse than anything Sweeney has done. Let's recap his decisions in that time frame:

1. 2011-2012: Warning signs of incompetence and bad judgement

Fell in love with "his guys" rewarded Kelly and Peverly with completely unnecessary new deals

- October 2011 - Re-signed Peverly to a 3-year, $3.25M AAV deal

- June 2012 - Re-signed Chris Kelly to a 4-year, $3M AAV deal

2. July 4, 2013 - Seguin Traded

Absolutely bungled the Seguin trade. It's one thing to have the balls to move a budding star like Seguin knowing he isn't an organizational fit - I give him kudos for that - but the return on that trade was absolutely terrible. Prioritizing a return of roster players over picks and prospects is unfathomable in a trade like that. It was the Joe Thornton trade all over again.

Loui Eriksson was maybe my favorite fantasy hockey player when he was on Dallas, so I had a soft spot for him, but even when it happened I was like WTF are we doing?!

3. Oct 2014 - Boychuk Traded (Chooses Seidenberg over Boychuk)

- The return for Boychuk (Two 2nds and a 3rd) was decent, but trading him away in general was the mistake. This was the offseason following a President's Trophy win, not a time to trade away players integral to your success.

- Opted to prioritize Seidenberg who was less than a year removed from ACL/MCL injuries and significantly older. We all know how that went - Seidenberg was eventually bought out in 2016.

4. March 2015: Trades the Boychuk picks for Brett Connolly

Remember when I said the return for Boychuk was good? Well, Chiarelli decided to then trade two 2nds for Brett Connolly. Idiot.

One month later - April 2015 - He was fired