Marc Savard: Bruins Nation must lay off Chiarelli

Peter Chiarelli answering questions after the trade deadline. (via: CBS Sports)

Former Bruins playmaker and center, Marc Savard, looked to Twitter to try and silence the Chiarelli critics. General manager Peter Chiarelli has achieved a Stanley Cup victory and even made it back to the final again for a second time in 3 years. Most long time Bruins fans could agree he has been a far better selection than Mike O'Connell and Harry Sinden, former general managers. However, this season the Bruins stand at eighth place in the East, and fourth in the Atlantic Division. Players have underperformed, the team has been hit with constant injury, and questionable moves over the past few seasons have brought Chiarelli's job into jeopardy. The Bruins have a very tight cap, one that was supposed to go up, remember? As the regular season comes to a close, it doesn't appear that there will be a decent hike in the cap, and the Bruins continue to battle.

In his nine year term, Chiarelli has also taken the Bruins to four division titles and seven consecutive years of the Bruins making the playoffs. This, again, is on top of the two Stanley Cup appearances and a combined record of 345-206-71. However, controversial trades such as the Tyler Seguin trade to the Dallas Stars and the Johnny Boychuk trade to the Islanders, Chiarelli has been catching heat. We have also seen the inability to draft over his tenure in Boston, proving so when the organization fired their head scout in 2013 along with others. Marc Savard believes Chiarelli should be treated with more respect and shouldn't have to fear losing his job:

Bruins nation need to lay off Peter Chiarelli !! In the last 5 years his record speaks for itself a Stanley Cup and a Stanley Cup final !!!
— marc savard (@MSavvy91) March 5, 2015

Peter Chiarelli just announced the signings of Torey Krug to a one-year extension, worth $3.4 million, and Reilly Smith to a two-year extension, worth $3.425 million per year. There seems to be mixed reactions across the board on both of these signings. What Bruins Nation must remember are the contracts that these two gentleman signed prior to the regular season. Krug and Smith both took a respective pay cut allowing Chiarelli to fit them under the cap for this season. These contracts are right where they should be money-wise compared to what both players are making this year. Although both players have also struggled this season, we have seen what Krug can do with his offensive capabilities and especially on the powerplay. We have seen that Reilly Smith skates well with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand and has the ability to be a consistent 20-30 goal scorer.

Chiarelli has had some historical trades that have ended in our favor, and quite a few times. Watching Phil Kessel go to Toronto for three picks, two of which would become Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton. Acquiring Nathan Horton and Greg Campbell for three picks that became nothing. Snatching Dennis Seidenberg and the rights to Matt Bartkowski in exchange with Florida for lowly prospects in Byron Bitz, Craig Weller, and a draft pick. These are just some of the moves that helped the Bruins become a powerhouse in the NHL. (via: NHL Trade Tracker)

So with his tenure in Boston and all that Chiarelli has achieved, does he deserve a chance to try and fix the situation?

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