Thread for those who disagree with the Rutherford hire

[MaxVerstappen33]

Instead of fighting with ppl on the main threads, I thought we could have a thread where all the ppl who oppose the hire could discuss.   I really wish I could be mildly positive about the future. I could be mildly positive if it was anyone but.

 

So here it is. Jim Rutherford.

 

The question for those who disagree is ,how  ̶b̶a̶d̶ will this go ? What was his mandate from Aqualini ? I am guessing its the exact same as the mandate for Benning. Otherwise he wouldn't have taken the job. He likes pulling on levers. I think he will be rotating in and out, bottom 6 forwards on a yearly basis just like Benning did. (we hope)

 

Carolina fans and Penns fans say that he is willing to over pay for things he thinks he needs.

 

I think he might make a trade even as the interm GM just because. He's got 3 rings. Why not.

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by MaxVerstappen33

[MaxVerstappen33]

What in the world is Jim Rutherford doing in Pittsburgh?

 

One of the greatest gifts that professional sports can offer is the ability to witness history.

 

Whether it’s Hank Aaron setting the home run record, Wayne Gretzky passing Gordie Howe in career goals, or Cal Ripken Jr. playing in his 2,632nd consecutive game, the ability to look back on a unique moment in history and say you were there is something magical.

 

Well, my friends, you better pay attention. Because Jim Rutherford is on an absolute heater right now. And if you can definitively confirm just what on God’s green earth Trader Jim happens to be doing, congratulations — you are the smartest person alive.

 

First, let’s go over some facts. Is Rutherford desperately stripping his organization of any and all future foundation? Yes. Is he constructing a roster seemingly built to bow out of the 2012 Stanley Cup in five games? Absolutely. And is he talking out both sides of his mouth while doing it? You betcha.

 

Those are all facts. Point any of that out, though, and the elder statesmen’s biggest supporters will hit you with another one: Jim Rutherford is bulletproof.

The guy’s a Hall of Famer, for Pete’s sake, not to mention a three-time Stanley Cup champion and the only GM in the salary cap era to win two back-to-back.

 

Following those consecutive Cups in 2016 and 2017, Rutherford took the inability to win a third as perhaps the most devastating slight of his entire life. From the 2018 offseason and beyond, he set the Penguins upon a path of total and unflinching destruction, in which Tuesday’s Matt Murray trade serves as the latest chapter.

 

It all began on July 1, 2018, the day Rutherford handed a then-31-year-old Jack Johnson a five-year, $16.25 million contract that was doomed from the moment the idea first popped into his head. Even at the time, Johnson was considered perhaps the worst analytical defenseman in all of hockey, someone possessing the unique dual threat of complete possession-driving ineptitude while opting to treat the defensive zone like an Olive Garden. When you’re there, you’re family.

 

Everyone signs bad contracts, though. This is the NHL — financial boat anchors are a pillar of the economy. And when taking those boat anchors into account, Johnson’s $3.25 million cap hit wasn’t horrible, per se. Rather, it was the way Rutherford doubled down — and then tripled down, and then quadrupled down, etc. — on the deal’s perceived genius that made it stand out.

 

“Here’s my summary of this situation,” Rutherford told The Athletic’s Josh Yohe in a piece titled “GMJR defends Jack Johnson, wants him to finish career as a Penguin” that was published on Aug. 20, “Maybe Jack Johnson isn’t as good as I think he is. Maybe. But he’s not as bad as all of the anti-Jack Johnson people think he is.”

 

“Whether it’s for someone else or it’s for the Penguins, he’ll play the three years what’s left on his deal.”

Rutherford bought Johnson out a little over a month later.

 

Done to help relieve the Penguins’ tight cap situation, Johnson’s departure was only possible thanks to Rutherford acquiring his replacement — both in a financial and productivity (or lack thereof) standpoint.

 

In shipping forward Patric Hornqvist to the Florida Panthers for Mike Matheson, Rutherford managed to swap out one analytically-ineffectual defender signed to a laughably lucrative and undeserved contract for another.

 

Only with Matheson’s current deal expiring in the fictional year of 2026, his is longer.

Matheson, whose career-high in points is 27, didn’t exactly have a stellar 2019-20, serving as a frequent healthy scratch for the Panthers in both the regular season and playoffs all while pulling down a $4.875 million cap hit.

 

Yes, Matheson is actually more expensive than Johnson was. And when combining his earnings with Johnson’s $1.667 million buyout penalty, the two easily eclipse the $5.3 million that Hornqvist — who was traded for cap reasons, remember — is owed for the coming season.

 

Oh, and that aforementioned $1.667 million finally comes off Pittsburgh’s books in 2026. Right at the same time as Matheson. What a fun fact!

Is there more? You better believe there’s more.

 

In late August, Rutherford dealt a first-round pick, prospect Filip Hallander and depth forward Evan Rodrigues (along with a random depth D) to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return for a 27-year-old RFA winger signed to a KHL contract, a disappointing defense prospect and Kasperi Kapanen.

Kapanen was, of course, the pièce de résistance of the deal, with the price for his services being justified by Rutherford’s assertion that the 24-year-old can play in Pittsburgh’s top-six and, perhaps more importantly, flourish alongside one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

 

If Rutherford had done even just a smidge of digging on the subject, or taken a quick trip over to Leafs Twitter, he would’ve learned something a tad different. Namely, that the whole reason behind the Maple Leafs putting Kapanen on the trade block at all was, in fact, his inability to play in the top-six and flourish alongside their own two superstar centers, Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

 

So, to recap: Rutherford shipped out the 15th overall pick in what many labelled the deepest draft in recent memory (frittering away the potential of employing a high-end contributor making ELC wages under a flat cap) and the No. 2-ranked prospect in a Penguins pipeline that The Athletic’s Corey Pronman deems the second-worst in the entire NHL for a player whose track record to this point lists him as incapable of fulfilling the two distinct roles he was acquired for.

And those are just the latest moves.

 

Sure, I could go on for days about Rutherford’s litany of recent mistakes. About his failure to maximize Phil Kessel’s 94-point season in 2019 and instead trading him for a fourth-rounder and Alex Galchenyuk, who was then dealt less than a year later. About his decision to give up a 2021 third-rounder in exchange for eight games and two points from a 40-year-old Patrick Marleau. Or even about his desire to lock Brendan Tanev up for six years for reasons beyond human comprehension.

 

But all of that and much, much more, would distract from the latest edition of this tantalizing saga. The one which kicked off Day 2 of the 2020 NHL Draft when Rutherford sold off the goaltender who helped net him those consecutive Stanley Cups before losing Calder eligibility to Ottawa for a second-rounder and a “meh” prospect.

Talk about Murray’s pricey impending contract all you want, a 26-year-old, two-time Cup winner should be able to fetch more than that. He has to.

 

And yet, even as Rutherford reads this piece and begins arrangements for my dismissal from the hockey media industry, he can still turn to the two Stanley Cup rings adorning his mantle and feel peace.

Maybe they can figure out what he’s doing.

[BlakeQuinnAndEggs]

Lol

[MaxVerstappen33]

HF Boards main board reactions

 

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I almost feel bad for Canucks fans.... almost lol.

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Lmfao Canucks

"Waiting for the right guy" my ass. Jim Rutherford will hemorrhage your assets and it doesn't work a vast majority of the time. I mean JR is better than Benning, but you went from a guy who makes stupid mistakes and refuses to fix them to a guy who makes stupid mistakes and pisses away even more assets to fix them.

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Yikes...that'll backfire

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He definitely will make some moves.

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Congratulations, you did it again

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This is my favorite Jim Rutherford trade tree, though:

-1st and Sundqvist to St. Louis for Reaves and a 2nd. Sullivan hated Reaves and never played him, because he viewed him purely as a fighter.
-Reaves, Cole, Gustavsson and a 1st to Ottawa for Brassard at 50%. Brassard blew out his groin early in his time with the Penguins and was a massive failure in Pittsburgh.
-Brassard, Sheahan and a 2nd (plus some other minor picks) to Florida for Bjugstad and McCann. McCann was good for the Penguins, but was lost due to the expansion draft last year. Bjugstad was good for like 15 games, got hurt and the Penguins had to retain half of his deal to get out of his contract.

This is what I mean when I say JR pisses away assets to fix mistakes. Each of those trades individually may not be bad, but the overall sum of his moves are absolutely hemorrhaging assets. The only effective player the Penguins got out of this deal was McCann and they paid effectively 2 1sts, a young bottom-6 forward and a good goalie prospect for that. This doesn't even touch on the negative impact that Reaves, Brassard, Bjugstad and the retained money on Bjugstad had on the Penguins, either.

 

[D.B Cooper]

Here we go again 

[Industrious1]

I mean, can we see how he does before we crap all over him?

[MaxVerstappen33]

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Oh yeah, one more major flaw with JR: he doesn't give a shi*t about what he's paying to acquire the player he wants. He loves selling low on players who are struggling in attempted "shake up" trades, too.

So get ready for Boeser for Kapanen, Canucks fans. The sad thing is that I can totally see that happening, too

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This is a guy that Jim Benning was able to swindle in a trade and that says everything right there.

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The man that aquired Erik Gudbranson, Jack Johnson, and Mike Matheson for a contending team is going to come here and fix our blue line… LMAO

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by MaxVerstappen33

[D.B Cooper]

26 minutes ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

Instead of fighting with ppl on the main threads, I thought we could have a thread where all the ppl who oppose the hire could discuss.   I really wish I could be mildly positive about the future. I could be mildly positive if it was anyone but.

 

So here it is. Jim Rutherford.

 

The question for those who disagree is ,how  ̶b̶a̶d̶ will this go ? What was his mandate from Aqualini ? I am guessing its the exact same as the mandate for Benning. Otherwise he wouldn't have taken the job. He likes pulling on levers. I think he will be rotating in and out, bottom 6 forwards on a yearly basis just like Benning did. (we hope)

 

Carolina fans and Penns fans say that he is willing to over pay for things he thinks he needs.

 

I think he might make a trade even as the interm GM just because. He's got 3 rings. Why not.

 

He is the Prez.  Not the GM.   
He will hire a qualified GM.  
The guy brings a wealth of knowledge to that position, which is something we need. 
 

Id agree if he was the new GM, but he isn’t  

This is a solid move. 

[86Viking]

lock this up! complete nonsense imo, what did Rutherford do in Pittsburgh, he won 2 &^@#ing Cups. If we ever win 1 I won't give a $&!# about how bad the contracts are going forward or how many picks got dealt, just win a stanley cup at all costs!

 

 

Enjoy your thread Max...time to join the club!

[Down by the River]

Be honest, you don't care about other people's opinions. You just like starting threads to get attention because it is easy for people to gloss over your posts in a main thread.

 

Will Rutherford work? Who the &^@# knows? Why would you have any sort of information on whether he'll be good or not? Judge based on results, not speculation. 

[250Integra]

[PhillipBlunt]

[Rubik]

[Patel Bure]

20 minutes ago, D.B Cooper said:

He is the Prez.  Not the GM.   
He will hire a qualified GM.  
The guy brings a wealth of knowledge to that position, which is something we need. 
 

Id agree if he was the new GM, but he isn’t  

This is a solid move. 

This is exactly how I feel right now.  Well said.

[MaxVerstappen33]

17 minutes ago, Down by the River said:

Be honest, you don't care about other people's opinions. You just like starting threads to get attention because it is easy for people to gloss over your posts in a main thread.

 

Will Rutherford work? Who the &^@# knows? Why would you have any sort of information on whether he'll be good or not? Judge based on results, not speculation. 

I just believe he's one of those ppl in life who's failed forward and got lucky. Something i would not say about Brian Burke or Ken Holland.

[JM_]

Max lost his shizz.

[MeanSeanBean]

So we have 1 so far. Pretty exclusive little hate club here.

[BlakeQuinnAndEggs]

This guy's quoting HF boards posts as if they're Elliot Friedmans Twitter account.

 

Relax girl

[PhillipBlunt]

5 minutes ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

I just believe he's one of those ppl in life who's failed forward and got lucky. Something i would not say about Brian Burke or Ken Holland.

Failed forward.....what in Heaven's name are you talking about, man?

[MeanSeanBean]

2 minutes ago, BlakeQuinnAndEggs said:

This guy's quoting HF boards posts as if they're Elliot Friedmans Twitter account.

 

Relax girl

Over under they're all the same poster?