Quoting: Lenny7
HadesOfSoCal (added you because we might as well all discuss)...
I think GMBM gets a one year pass, for the sole fact that he's managed to build the farm up a bit. Eakins and crew need to be gutted though. It's absolutely laughable that this team is this bad. IMO, with the right coach/leadership, this team should have been fighting for a wildcard. The main reason Eakins was hired was because he had already worked with a lot of the young guys that were coming up, but developmentally, it really hasn't translated, unfortunately. It's getting to the point where their poor asset management is now affecting the value of their key assets, which is ridiculous. Anyone who watches John Gibson play knows that he's easily one of the top goaltenders in the league, but from a numbers standpoint, mainly due to systems that Eakins has put into place, he doesn't stand a chance. He's a bottom 10 starter if you look at the numbers, which is an absolute crock of $hit. On GMBM's side though, waiving him was possibly the dumbest thing I've ever seen. You waived a guy that was absolutely underperforming from a counting stats perspective, but every outlier available showed that it wasn't regression, and rather a case of a small sample size being used to judge a player. He showed his hand, nobody picked him up (Nobody was going to claim anyone that's making above $1.5 mil this year anyway), but the value that he has was pretty much flushed down the toilet, so that the team could "Send a message".
Great friggin' message.
Hire someone that can competently implement a system, and add from there. Don't get me wrong, I have no qualms about firing Murray, but I'll reserve judgement until I see what happens at the trade deadline.
GMBM will be allowed to "play out" his contract more likely than not, the Samuellis, while tremendous owners may be a touch too loyal if he is allowed to do so. Eakins getting hired has screamed Jeff Blashill to me (mainly becuase the Wings are the team closest to me geographically) but there are a ton of similarities between the two. Eakins was and in my mind still would be a good AHL coach, but he shouldnt be an NHL coach. Every single day Eakins still has a job hurts the Ducks in the future, if there was one move I could make regarding any player/staff member firing Eakins would without doubt be the move I make.
GMBM is in a tough spot, but his insane claim that this is a competitive roster is the main reason he has to go, at best we are a team that is lost in purgatory, not bad enough for the basement but not good enough for the playoffs. Again like I said I believe the Samuellis will allow him to finish his contract.
Heres a quote from an Athletic article about a year ago now: (About GMBM) “The Ducks must take steps forward now. They may have to start winning for his sake. His contract is up in 2022. He sold the Samuelis on a roster retooling that had to be done, that’s still in the process of doing. These owners are extraordinarily patient but until this fruitless two-year stretch, they’ve been used to playoff money coming in. No GM has a lifetime deal. How much longer will he be allowed to have the keys?”