After a terrible tenure in Edmonton, the Pittsburgh Penguins must avoid hiring Peter Chiarelli at all costs.

After weeks of radio silence, the Pittsburgh Penguins organization suddenly made headway on their general manager search. Sources confirmed several candidates the Penguins spoke to for an initial interview. The list of names was among the expected and previously discussed ones, except for one terrifying standout: Peter Chiarelli. Despite his years of experience, he would be a horrible choice as the Penguins' next general manager or president of hockey operations. 

Most Penguins fans might remember Chiarelli from his days with the Boston Bruins organization. He spent nearly a decade as their general manager and won a Stanley Cup at the helm. After being dismissed by Boston in 2015, he quickly moved on to the same position with the Edmonton Oilers. 

It was there that Chiarelli's performance and abilities dropped off. He was able to secure long-term extensions for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisitl, the two easiest personnel decisions in league history, and then completely failed to build a team around them. Below is a list of some of the curious trades made by Chiarelli in his three and a half seasons in Edmonton. 

1. Traded Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson

2. Traded Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome 

3. Traded Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner

4. Traded Justin Schultz to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 3rd round draft pick 

And then there's the even more confusing free agent contracts he gave out. In his first big move in the summer of 2015, he signed an aging Andrej Sekera to a six-year contract that paid him $5.5 million per season. He followed that up a few years later when he signed Mikko Koskinen, after a stretch of just 55 games that he played well in, to a three-year, $13.5 million contract to be the Oilers' starting goaltender. Last, but certainly not least, he gave an injury riddled, downward trending, and 29-year-old Milan Lucic a seven-year contract worth $42 million. 

The Penguins suffered under the poor and tired talent evaluation skills of Ron Hextall and Brian Burke. Players like Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev, Sam Lafferty, John Marino, and Mike Matheson were all traded for other players that were either downgrades or not the right fit. Going forward, the Penguins need a general manager and team around them that not only has a better eye for talent, but also has an eye for how they might fit with this team. 

Chiarelli has demonstrated an inability to build a winning team around a superstar duo. His attempts were generally confusing, misguided, and generated no results of note. After three seasons of underachieving in Edmonton, he was fired midseason by the Oilers. In that time, how has Chiarelli improved? He hasn't. 

Look at a candidate like Jason Botterill. After being dismissed by the Buffalo Sabres, he rebounded beautifully in Seattle as an assistant general manager. Now, he is once again in running for another gm position. Compared to Botterill, or any of the other emerging candidates, Chiarelli is clearly trending downward. The Penguins would be wise to avoid him, unless they want to continue down the road Hextall and Burke started them on. 

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