Not my fault you see it that way and decide to not read what I said and then start lobbing insults my way.
I never said the trade was bad. I never said he ruined the tank.
I said I was not excited about a 3rd being the best we got this deadline from our best flippable/rental asset, and that I think Duclair played well enough to get us a couple points we might not have with Lorentz or whomever on the team, and that we could therefore miss out on being the worst team in the league with the best odds to get Celebrini.
After we missed out on a top 3 pick last year because we eeked out a few points we might not have if we traded players sooner, or didn't have certain players, you might take just a moment to understand why I have some uneasy feelings towards that happening again this year.
Sure, but the worst team in the league last year who we lost out to by 2 points was the Ducks, at 58 points from 23 wins and 12 OTL's. Hawks at 26-49-7.
We iced a roster that is on track for 19-20 wins, and might not get there. And we're
still second-worst, which sucks. But was Grier (or anyone) supposed to clearly predict just how bad the Hawks were going to be? Remember the hawks also tried to sign veteran leaders (even better ones than us - Perry) to be a bit more competitive and mentor their young players. So it's not like Grier messed up significantly by doing what he did in the offseason - we were universally seen as the likely 32nd best team in the league. He was doing his job.
It's a bummer that the best we got was a 3rd, I agree, but it's hard for me to rail against Grier for that.
As I've said... My opinion is that Grier hasn't proven it yet, but he also hasn't made any real major mistakes and he's had a few pretty major wins. The rest is on the margins and within noise.