Tag Archives: Darryl Katz

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Edmonton Oilers: Katz Looking to Replace Nicholson According to Inside Source

Early this morning, I was contacted by one of my sources and what I was told wasn’t shocking. It was nothing I hadn’t already been aware of thanks to Nick Kypreos and other NHL insiders. But what did stand out for me was the urgency to get the message out.

I was told, “The fans have to know what’s going on. They’ve been in the dark too long and nobody is saying a f*cking thing.” and “Just copy and paste everything I say.”

It wasn’t the type of language I was used to in dialogues that I’d had in the past with this source.

My feeling is that changes really are coming and they’re going to be sweeping. It sounds like Darryl Katz has been embarrassed by those running his team and their actions and that he’s going to be taking some real action.

I’ve found that the one thing people with money hate most is being embarrassed or having their brand humiliated and regarded as one of the worst in its industry. I reckon we’re at that point with Katz.

Now, some might feel that Katz is out there sitting on a bed of money not giving two shits about his team but I’d be willing to bet that he knows more than a lot of fans choose to believe. As if he doesn’t hear what the fanbase is saying from his family and friends.

We’ve heard Elliotte Friedman talk about a “crisis of confidence” and how that is affecting Katz’s bottom line and if you’re an owner of a hockey team, you can handle losing some money each year. It happens. But can you handle losing money AND being lumped into the same sentence as Eugene Melnyk every week?

Let’s get into this thread on Twitter a bit.

DARRYL KATZ

“Katz heard Bob’s comments. He’s not impressed. Sounds like he himself will find a POHO and then that POHO will hire a GM.”

“Katz isn’t impressed. Gave Nick some shit. Sounds like Katz will hire the POHO and remove the hockey side from under Nicholson.”

“Katz isnt a public eye kind of Owner. He doesn’t want to be and never has been obviously.”

Nicholson really screwed the pooch with those Rieder comments but not so much in that he’s embarrassed the player or himself but more in that he’s made the team (aka brand) look terrible all the while preaching character and culture.

This isn’t the first time this year that Katz has laid into Nicholson. I’m under the impression he let Nicholson know what for when McLellan was fired and Chiarelli was let go.

The patience has worn thin and the people he’s trusted to manage his investment have failed. You would have to wonder if he’ll go back to the Hockey Canada well for more help though because it hasn’t really worked out.

Katz has been thrust into the public eye now. He doesn’t like it one bit it sounds. Hence why you never see the guy at those season ticket events.

THE NEW GM

“Well Katz quietly wants Holland for POHO potentially and McCrimmon as GM if possible. If not Holland, he will find someone else. I know the fans don’t want Holland but he wouldn’t be the GM. McCrimmon would be the GM and get FULL autonomy.”

This goes right in line with what Nick Kypreos said on Headlines this weekend and what Elliotte Friedman was talking about recently on the 31 Thoughts podcast. Although he pontificated on Holland as GM and Glen Gulutzan as the head coach I believe.

A lot of fans really don’t want Ken Holland as the team’s President of Hockey Operations and I get that his team hasn’t been great in recent years but this is a man who has been at the head of one of the greatest hockey dynasties ever. You wouldn’t want that sort of knowledge being part of the brain trust in Edmonton? He’s not going to be GM. So he won’t be making the deals and signings.

As for Kelly McCrimmon, the Oilers want to focus on skill and speed, right?

 

What better template to copy than that of the Vegas Golden Knights? So go out and get the man that is partly responsible for said template. IF you can convince him NOT to go to Seattle…

ON THE TEAM

“I expect a full sweep coming.” This is talking about the pro scouting I believe.

“The team has not improved. Chia never listened but at the same time the team needs to win. It really sucks ass but things need to turn around here. Pete isolated himself hardcore for half last season and all of this season. The word needs to get out.”

“The focus was on big heavy hockey for a long time. But now it’s back to speed and skill. A lot of people in the org disagreed with Pete over most of his trades. I mean, where do I begin. That’s why he isolated himself as fast as he did.”

“The Ottawa loss did it for me. Boys didn’t even compete that much. They’ve given up. It pisses me off. Keith is doing his best and honestly. He’s a great guy. He uses EVERYONE. Everyone. He uses all of his sources. I really like Keith. I couldn’t stand Peter.”

“The Oilers won’t make the playoffs. Thats the thing. They don’t believe in Koski. You can see it on the ice. He lets in a bad goal every game. The new contract for him is awful”

It’s hard not to believe that the pro scouts are going to be cleaned out. When Jason Gregor asked Nicholson about the openness of changes to the pro scouting department, I believe the reply was, “definitely’.

So does that mean the three guys they have employed as pro scouts are gone? It could. It could also mean that the head scout is removed too. My thought is that if Chiarelli really went into isolation with Duane Sutter and Ken Hitchcock (talk about some pro-heavy hockey men) in the final months of his tenure, one of those gentlemen are gone, why wouldn’t the other two be as well? And there’s a pretty good feeling that Hitch won’t be back behind the bench next year, so that leaves Sutter.

I’m not as worried about Koskinen as some. Sure his glove hand works but at least he saves the first shot of the game/period. Maybe the Oilers look at a new goalie coach? Because didn’t Talbot get beat quite a bit on the glove-hand too? Or at least over his shoulders?

MORE ON NICHOLSON

“Katz is removing the Hiring from Nicholson. He’s going to hire a POHO himself who will then hire a GM. Oilers culture is fast, aggressive hockey. Attack attack attack. Exciting hockey. Nicholson couldn’t even answer the culture question with Gregor.”

“The Oilers at one point were the fastest team in the NHL. Now, they’re among the slowest. It’s going to change. Otherwise the fans will drop like flies.”

“Nicholson is being removed to focus on expanding the brand on the business side with Lowe. Katz will hire a POHO to fix this shit.”

“Katz doesn’t want to feel like a Harrold Ballard so to speak. He doesn’t want that label. And if the fans can’t realize that, then I don’t know. Leafs fans hated that shit back in the day.”

When Gregor asked Nicholson about hiring a POHO and the reply was that the GM would be the priority, I had to question this. Why would a team do that? Unless of course, the POHO candidate was already in the organization… Would Wayne Gretzky step in there? He held that position with Team Canada at the Olympics, no? Would Kevin Lowe take the job on the short term as he’s been in that chair under Nicholson before? Ken Hitchcock? Craig MacTavish?

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POSSIBLE SUMMER MOVES

“I do personally believe that MacT will stay on. He runs Bako and they’re killing it.”

“Hall is open to returning. At a DISCOUNT price. That’s all I’ll say on that. I can’t say more.”

“Lucic is in a handshake agreement to move in the offseason. Then we would bring Hall back. I can’t say much more.”

“It would be Lucic and a piece on D. About 10M leaving off the cap after Lucic is paid his bonus”

I’ve heard that MacTavish will stay on and that he’ll be dismissed. So who knows with that one. Could Keith Gretzky do that job just as well? Probably but I won’t pretend to know what all goes into performing the duties the position entails.

I’ve just felt this year that maybe it’s time for folks like MacTavish and/or Howson to move on and for the Oilers to bring in fresh(er) blood.

Bob Stauffer’s been touting Hall back to Edmonton for a few months now. Combine that with the rumored return of Jordan Eberle and the Oilers trading for Sam Gagner… It’s almost insane to think that Taylor Hall would come back after all the BS he went through but I’ll say this, I wasn’t a huge fan when he was in Edmonton but if he came back at a discount, I’d be willing to forget about his first stint with the team.

Tons of people don’t believe the Oilers can move Lucic. I’m not one of those. I do believe there are GMs who exist that value his skillset and would be willing to make a move for him. Now, if it’s him and a defender whose contracts add up to around $10M that are moved, who’s the dman going with him?

Lucic – $6M

Klefbom – $4.1M
Larsson – $4.1M
Russell – $4M
Nurse – $3.2M

I imagine Andrej Sekera is an option as well but I think the team really values his locker room presence and puck moving and they’d prefer to move Russell. I can’t wait until the trade is announced… I am very curious as to what team would take on two of those five players.

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It’s really hard to speculate on any moves without the team having a general manager in place though. I believe that some headway was made on summer moves but it’ll be up to the new guy to agree to or augment them to his liking.

One name I want to throw out there that isn’t getting that much traction is LA’s Mike Futa. I’m reading a book right now called, “The Art of Scouting” by Shane Malloy and inside there are some stories from scouts about the hijinks involved amongst the scouting fraternity. I’ll share one here,

“There are so many good people in the industry and I’ve become good friends with Keith Gretzky of the Phoenix Coyotes, and we have ongoing pranks with those guys. I remember two years ago at the NHL draft our schedules crossed, so we knew which players they were metting with and we knew they wanted defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, like hugely. We also knew that we wanted to take a forward, but nobody else knew that; they assumed but they didn’t know for sure.

I remember we had the name bars written up for the prospects at the draft. We saw Evander Kane went to Atlanta and I leaned back and took a deep breath. Then I just look to my right and Gretz (Keith Gretzky) looked at me and his eyes were burning through me and he gave me a look that said, “Who are you taking?” and I mouthed back to him, “Ekman-Larsson.” He just about fell off his chair and his whole face turned white and he began go sweat. We started to dig into the bag of name bars we had. We were taking Brayden Schenn all the way-if he was there, he was our guy. But it looked like the Coyotes staff were freaking out. Gretz told me later that they said, “I thought you were friends,” and “What the f*ck?” At that time, I was shuffling through the bag for the Ekman-Larsson name bar so I could pull that out to even add a little more pain.

If you click that link above and buy the book, you’ll be helping me a bit. It’s an affiliate link, so I’ll get a small commission for it.

So if Mike Futa gets the job a job in Edmonton… Don’t be surprised if Keith Gretzky has a lot to do with it.

Lastly, it’s really interesting who comes in with the kind words when the rumors align with their own thoughts about the direction of the club. “I don’t normally support these kinds of rumors but…”

Give me a break…

What do you think about the quotes above? Let me know in the comments below!

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31 Thoughts Part 2: Marek/Friedman on the Oilers Going Forward, the Old Boys Club, Darryl Katz, and More!

This week’s 31 Thoughts podcast was an Edmonton Oilers-Themed one and I’m going to try and transcribe the best parts of it for you here with my comments. This could be a long read, so you might want to grab a coffee, tea, beer, two-four of your favorite hard alcohol and buckle up!

EF=Elliotte Friedman
JM=Jeff Marek

Part one is here. They talk about the timing and why Peter Chiarelli had to be fired. They also speak to analytics more so in that segment. 

Here’s part two!

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Can One Happen Without the Other?

JM: Work with me on something. It seems like two different streams were running at the same time in that press conference. One, Bob Nicholson was clear that they’re not letting go of assets… But We’re going to get better. Can one happen without the other? Can they get better without moving some type of asset? You can always pick around the edges and the crust but if you’re going to do something, don’t you need to move one or two of those assets?

EF: They made it very clear they’re not interested in rebuilding and you’re not changing the coach. He’s for the rest of the year. Okay, so what are we talking about here? 

JM: Is there a magic wand you can wave over everybody to make them play better?

EF: They said, “We’re not giving up any of our young assets unless we get something we can keep.” basically. 

JM: Not for rentals but the goal is still to make the playoffs this year. So if someone comes to Keith Gretzky, “I’ve got a player that can help you get into the playoffs but he’s on an expiring contract, we would like your first round pick.”

EF: No. Unless… The only way I would say that that’s different is, if I was Keith Gretzky and I really wanted this guy, I would ask for 48 hours to talk about a contract extension. 

My first kick at the can here is that the only way they can improve drastically is by dealing one of Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and we’ve mentioned Draisaitl recently. 

But I don’t believe they’ll use their main assets to upgrade the roster. I think players like Tyler Benson, Dmitri Samorukov, Kirill Maksimov, Filip Berglund, and Ostap Safin might be used as trade fodder. 

How Do They Get There (Playoffs)?

EF: I don’t have an answer for you on that. (Laughter ensues)

Look, who are you trading? Who are you going to trade that’s going to make a difference in terms of what you get? Who on that team has serious trade value?

JM: You have an interesting asset in Cam Talbot. 

EF: Did you hear Burke? (Brian Burke: I don’t think you can move him at that salary, I just don’t think he’s movable.)

JM: Until someone gets a goalie injury.

I agree with Marek here. I think a team like Washington, who is on a mad losing streak right now, might be tempted into trading Andre Burakovsky for an upgrade for their backup position and possibly depth on defense. 

EF: It’s a tough one for Talbot right now. So who else?

JM: Evan Bouchard.

EF: I can’t see it. Can I go the Doug MacLean route, I’ll tell you what I’ve heard, I won’t tell you if it’s true. I heard there was some team that had asked about Bouchard and they (Oilers) just said no.

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Who’s Got Value?

EF: Well let’s go through, who’s got value? That you can trade and get something for. 

JM: Leon Draisaitl.

EF: Yes, you could do that. Would you do that?

JM: Depends on the return. I would trade anybody…

EF: There’s one person you’re not trading, Connor McDavid. 

JM: Even with the Hall deal. I had no problem trading Taylor Hall, you just need to get more. I had no problem moving Taylor Hall or Jordan Eberle or whatever. So long as you get more in return. Justin Schultz, need to get more for that player. So I have no problem moving anyone outside of 97 on that roster. Do you?

EF: No. I mean I look at a guy like Nurse. He looks like he really wants to be part of the solution. So show me a trade that makes sense for a guy like that. A guy that clearly looks like he wants to be part of your team. 

To me, the guys on that team that have value are, duh, McDavid but you’re not doing that. Draisaitl, Nurse, Klefbom, but I don’t think you can do that. Nugent-Hopkins, Puljujarvi, the 1st round pick, and I think Yamamoto would have value too. 

Leon and Darnell will definitely come up in more trade rumors as time passes by and that’s just because they’re young, they’re very talented, and they’ll bring back what the Oilers could be looking for, right? 

If you trade Leon, can you get a center back who is more defensively responsible like Sean Couturier and an upgrade on defense like Ivan Provorov or Shane Gostisbehere? Could Darnell Nurse net the team a desperately needed winger like Kasperi Kapanen or Jake DeBrusk?

JM: Although listening to the Bob Nicholson press Conference, do you not get the sense, because I do; that Puljujarvi is being pulled out of that discussion and they’re going to season him. Nicholson pulled out the old Ken Holland line and said “Over-ripen”. 

EF: One of the guys I’ve kinda heard they’ve had some interest in but I’m not sure if he’s actually available is Athanasiou from Detroit.

JM: See that would indicate a significant philosophical shift away from “We’re a big, heavy, strong team. We’re a fast, speedy, quick puck moving team.”

When the shift from a fast and quick team to a big heavy team happened, I was 100% all-in. I was tired of watching the team get pushed around. Things have changed but growing up the Oilers M.O. was that they were one of the best skating teams in the entire league. I would be in favor of a return to that style. 

EF: I’m not sure that, A) Detroit wants to do that. He’s still one of those guys that averages a lot of goals for the time he plays. You know the relationship between Athanasiou and the Red Wings has never been easy but Ken Holland strikes me looking at that situation and saying, “He’s still a very valuable young player and we’re not really looking to do anything if we don’t have to.” 

But let’s just say this for argument’s sake, what’s it going to cost you to get him? It’s going to cost you a lot. So, in theory, since we’re playing GM here, if you’re Edmonton would you give up one of your young pieces for him?

JM: Yes, because he is a young piece himself and he can play with McDavid and that tempo that would be frightening to the rest of the NHL. You wanna talk about backing up defenseman on the blueline, that’s how you do it.

EF: Here’s my question to you, Bob Nicholson says, “We’re not giving up our young pieces for rentals.” but he’s not a rental. So does that change the equation? Possibly. If he’s available. 

This will make my friend Joseph happy. He’s really on the Athanasiou train and I don’t blame him. But at what cost? Yamamoto? Benson? I wouldn’t support a Puljujarvi for Athanasiou trade but I could see a package that included one of the other two I just mentioned going to Detroit for him. 

I mean, if we’re dealing with Detroit, why not see if faceoff specialist Luke Glendening and blooming defensive forward Tyler Bertuzzi are available as well?

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The New Direction of the Team?

JM: I come back to the philosophical shift perhaps that we’ll see in Edmonton. The “let’s build it heavy and not get pushed around” I’m assuming is done now. I’m assuming the new direction for this team is sympathetic to what the rest of the NHL has gone through and that’s foot speed, move the puck quick, quick, quick. Up-tempo.

EF: You need guys that can play with him. The feeling is that team didn’t play fast enough, so I’m sure they will put something on that.

Now, I don’t see anything wrong with having a tough team but to me, toughness is a lot of different things. It’s not just like, “We’re big and tough and we’re going to crush you.” Toughness is also playing through…

JM: Look, Darnell Nurse is fast and he’s tough.

EF: To me, McDavid is pretty tough. He takes a lot of abuse and he just plays but there is room for toughness.

Your best team has to be everything but there’s no question that they need to play at a faster pace than they have. 

I have a theory that the league is going to over-compensate here on the small skilled guy and in a few years, there’s going to be a change of guard again but maybe not so extreme as this one has gone. A player like Quinton Byfield, who is a highly regarded prospect for the 2020 draft, is going to change the way teams look at power forwards. My thinking is, get on it now, find the good skating physical players and develop them and reap the benefits when the pivot happens. And it will happen at some point. 

Who Do You Remove?

JM: Who do you remove from this lineup to make it better and how can you?

EF: I think those names are obvious but I think the biggest question is, how can you? So do you wanna just say, “Look, we’re buying out Lucic. We know we don’t get a ton of relief. We know it’s a big waste of money but we’re doing it to make a statement.” Do you wanna do that?

JM: If you’re the next GM it’s pretty tempting. 

EF: That’s one the owner has to let you do. 

I don’t know if I’d go the buyout route, it’s really expensive and this team needs all the cap room it can get. Might it make more sense to eat 50% and trade Lucic? There’d definitely be a market for him. Especially in the Metropolitan Division… 

Darryl Katz

JM: Do you have any problem with Darryl Katz? The ultimate question is, do they have enough stability up top for this to be a successful franchise?

EF: We had a conversation a while ago about what you ask when you’re going in as a GM and my no.1 thing was the owner. I would look at Darryl Katz and I would say, he’s got a brand new building, he spends money on the team, he spent $100M on Connor McDavid, he spent a ton of money on Draisaitl. 

I don’t look at anything he’s done from a financial POV and say, “This is a problem.”

This is a guy who is unafraid to spend money on his team and at the base, I like that. 

Marek/Friedman go on to talk about the emotional investment Katz has in the team and I’m thinking that could be what’s in the water in Edmonton. Katz’s emotional investment. Maybe he needs to step away and just let his employees do their jobs without interference. 

The No.1 Question for Contending GMs

EF: The no.1 question that contenders for this GM job going in will be, “How does it work in your organization? Who reports to who? Who talks to who? Who has the say?”

I don’t think that Wayne Gretzky would do anything to prevent a GM from doing what he/she wants to do. I don’t think he would. But I think people get intimidated by him and I think also Katz listens to him. He’s Wayne Gretzky, he’s smart. And I think you have to be very secure to go into that position and say, “Okay, I know this dynamic is here and I can handle it.” Even though I think it would be Gretzky’s goal to be helpful to anyone who went in there.

Bring a guy like Mark Hunter in, who played against Wayne during the 80s. I can guarantee that he’s not intimidated by the Great One.

There’s a bit of talk going on about how much collaboration there was with Chiarelli during his tenure and I can be sure he had full autonomy until the last few months here. 

So it’s natural to suggest that the new guy should have full control but isn’t that what Chiarelli had? After all, he was the President of Hockey Operations AND the General Manager. 

The Old Boys Club

EF: I have heard that. That he (Kevin Lowe) doesn’t get in the way. MacTavish does his job, offers his opinion, tries to stay out of the way. I’ve heard there were things this year that with Gretzky that he didn’t agree with but he’s like, “It’s not my call. I’ll offer my opinion but it’s not my call.”

However, there’s no question, they all get together. They all talk. They all have opinions. 

I just think that if you’re going to go in there, you have to understand that that’s the way it is. But I don’t buy the idea that they’re interfering with these guys or preventing these guys from doing their jobs. 

Tell me how Wayne Gretzky or Craig MacTavish or Kevin Lowe or any of those guys working there prevented Peter Chiarelli from doing what he wanted to do. Give me evidence. 

JM: The only thing I’ve heard about that level of management is that they’ve talked Darryl Katz off the ledge sometimes. And Katz has wanted something to happen and Gretzky’s come in to say, “Hold on a second, pull back, big picture this one. Let’s not act emotionally.”

I can second this. From what I’ve been told, Katz has flown into Oilers games before, calling for heads only to be calmed down and convinced otherwise by either Bob Nicholson or Gretz. 

EF: I’ve heard the same thing. Darryl Katz was the guy who said we’re taking Nail Yakupov. So, you can make all the excuses you want or you can come up with things you want and I have chased this story as much as anybody else has because we always here it, “The old Oilers are preventing the new guys from winning.” But I’ve had guys swear up and down to me that they really try their best now to stay out of the way because they know how the market feels about it. 

I just think it’s a convenient excuse for fans to make up when everything else has dried up. It hasn’t helped that there’ve been more than a few reunions in recent years. So the OBC has been around a bit more often than previous to McDavid arriving. 

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The Toxicity Around the Organization

JM: What does that mean to you?

EF: It’s what we talked about. It’s the crisis of consumer confidence. Your fans don’t believe in your vision, they don’t believe in you. They’re not showing up to games. They’re not buying their renewals. You’ve made the playoffs once since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006 and they love their team. 

Like I mentioned. I don’t see this consumer crisis as THAT bad. Have you seen how many people show up to Florida Panthers games? What about games in Anaheim, Carolina, or Arizona (When Edmonton isn’t playing there)? Those are clubs where half or more of their arenas are empty for a majority of their home games. 

I don’t see this during Edmonton games at all. When’s the last time the Oilers tarped off portions of the upper deck during the regular season to try and make the arena appear more full than it actually is?

The Oilers are lucky that their fanbase has been this loyal to them. Very lucky and still very passionate.

How ridiculous was it two years ago when they went to the 2nd round of the playoffs and people were paying what, $80 to buy a ticket to stand in the concourse. They couldn’t even see the game. 

That is definitely ridiculous. Might as well hit up a nearby pub or just hang out outside the arena with a phone or a tablet and watch the game there. Save the $80. 

On the ex-Oiler thing, I have heard that they are well aware of how people feel about them and they do their jobs and they ask their opinions as they are told and they try to stay out of the way. Again, I heard that there were things that some of them didn’t like this year or last couple years and they just said, “Okay.”

The other thing that I think Wayne Gretzky has to offer is there’s only one guy that can talk to McDavid peer-to-peer and say, “I know how you’re feeling.” or “I can help you get through this feeling.” and that’s Wayne Gretzky. That, to me, is a very valuable service.

Right now, what’s Edmonton really sensitive about? Their fans when someone from Toronto steps up and says, “Well, Connor McDavid is going to be unhappy there.”

Now I don’t believe that. It’s going to take longer than this for McDavid to his patience, though I think the losing kills him. But that’s where Gretzky comes in. “I can manage you through it, I can help you with this.” and there’s probably only one guy in the world that can talk to McDavid at that level who’s an executive, and that’s the guy that is employed in the organization. 

That’s it. 35 minutes of Edmonton Oilers talk. If you missed part one, it’s right here.

What do you think about what Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman said? Let us know in the comments below!

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Edmonton Oilers News: A Decision Was Made, Win in California or You’re Toast

So I’m sure you’ve all come to the conclusion that the meeting between Katz and the brass resulted in a big fat pile of nothing and a hat tip to those of you who said they thought nothing would happen. Me? I was near 100% convinced because the media was ridiculously quiet after the game and not only that but Todd McLellan sounded like a defeated man during his post-game presser.

If you’re interested in the more abbreviated version of this blog, watch TSN’s Insider Trading from last night and you’ll have a good idea of what I’m going to write about today but if you’re gung ho and ready to go, scroll down and let’s get it on!

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**Obligatory disclaimer: Take what you’re about to read with a grain of salt. Things change all of the time at the NHL level. At the very least, this will be a great pub or water cooler banter but by no means am I an insider. I just happen to be friends with people who are close to the club and have been given permission to relay their words online. – BLH**


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I woke up this morning to this message in my inbox,

Everyone on the roster except for RNH, Connor, Leon, Klef, and Lucic (at Chiarelli’s discretion) is available.

I guess the owner is happy to blow things up? He certainly has a lot of trust in Chiarelli to make a trade when the previous blockbusters have had him feeling less than pleased.

I’d have Adam Larsson in that group too if I was the owner. He’s been very solid this year.

Katz said behind closed doors that he’s f*cking tired of the inconsistencies and he’s giving the organization, that includes Nicholson, Chiarelli, Gretzky (Keith), and McLellan, the California trip to turn this around or he’s making changes. 

See, now this is where I get a little bit confused. The owner has given his GM permission to go out and alter the make-up of the roster but in the same meeting has told his management team that if they don’t turn things around in 7 days, changes will be made.

So does that mean as fans, we should expect some big trades to come down the wire in the upcoming 10 days?

The Oilers like Klef but the don’t feel he’s back to what he was in 2016/17. They figure he’d be further along than he is. Klefbom himself is too inconsistent. The major issue with the defense right now is that their not transitioning the puck.

Katz said the biggest issue he sees himself is the inconsistency of the goaltending, doesn’t sound like their bringing Talbot back; it sounds like they’ll try to move him for a prospect or a pick or a younger back-up goalie and Katz wants Chiarelli to try and look at fixing the D from a transitioning standpoint because when you have a player like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your team and you can’t get them the puck with that defense, it’s a BIG BIG issue. 

I thought Klefbom had been playing very well this year. He’s taken some big hits this year and not fallen apart. I’d have thought he’d be the last guy to get shat on this year. I mean Klef and Larsson have been the best defenders on the squad this year.

Now the goaltending is another story and I imagine when Katz said “goaltending” that he meant Talbot because Koskinen has been nothing short of amazing this year and Cam has been nothing short of disappointing.

As for the poor-puck moving defenders, I don’t really know what to do there apart from cutting bait on them. Can they be trained to move it better? Would any other team be interested in them even?

Personally, I’d have no issues with the team moving away from Matt Benning and I wonder if it’d be possible to maybe bring in a Tony DeAngelo for Benning?

Nicholson tried to sugar coat things with Katz and Katz told him to cut it out (in so many words) and reminded everyone at the meeting that 18 months ago they were a playoff team and now the team is under .500. Something is going on and fix what needs to be fixed and let’s get things going here or else it’s your jobs. 

I wonder how Nicholson took that? These kinds of men are rarely told to shut up but Katz isn’t wrong. These guys need to get off of their asses and do something for those massive paychecks they’re earning.

I asked why the GM and coach couldn’t be fired if their replacements were readily available in-house with Keith Gretzky and Glen Gulutzan and I was told this,

Katz is giving them a chance to turn it around. Quenneville doesn’t want to coach for a while, so he’s off the market for the time being. Katz isn’t paying Gulutzan to he head coach, he was brought in to he an assistant and Keith doesn’t have any GM experience, he’s a tremendous scout. 

Katz believes in Chiarelli. He’s built a Cup winner before and Katz has faith in him that he can build another. 

So we’re back to having Katz in Chiarelli’s corner again. Which is fine but must be confusing to everyone at the meeting including Chiarelli himself.

Something that occurred to me earlier is that the Bakersfield Condors are playing well and so are the Edmonton Oil Kings. Two teams that fall under the OEG umbrella and two teams that Peter Chiarelli has a hand in how they’re run. Chiarelli hired the Oil Kings new GM this year and he also placed Jay Woodcraft in Bakersfield to run that team.

Do you think that Katz looks at that and thinks perhaps that Peter Chiarelli is maybe better suited in the POHO (president of hockey operations) position than the GM’s role?

We’re in year 4 now and there are no excuses this season like there were in years 1-3. This is a team that I believe has the talent to produce better results than they’re doing but they’ve got these mental blocks that they go behind when adversity strikes.

Inconsistency seems to be the buzzword of the day here. You know what kind of players generally don’t have inconsistencies in their game? Veterans.

Had the team just acquired the right veterans, we wouldn’t be hearing about how inconsistent the 2nd youngest team in the NHL is…

So what happens if the team goes 1-1-1 on this trip? Everyone safe? Would 1-2-0 be the final straw? What about 2-1-0? Is THAT enough to save jobs? I mean if they go 3-0-0 and then 2-5-1 right after that, what’s the bloody point?

If the Oilers are out of it and then Chiarelli decides to drop the hammer on McLellan, how does that help?

So in a sense, a decision was made yesterday and the decision was that the brass and coaching will get another 7-10 days. (scroll down, there’s more)

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!

Here’s the thing with deciding who to fire. You have to ask yourself, would you be prepared to go through another 2-3 years while the new GM builds the team in his vision or would you be happy with the possibility of a performance bump in the short-term if the coach was let go?

Is there a rush to get out from under that Lucic contract? Would you be willing to part with a Jesse Puljujarvi, Tyler Benson, or Kailer Yamamoto to do so? That’s what we’d be looking at if a new GM came in.

Now, conversely, a new coach could come in and say, “Get that Pulju kid back up here. I can use him and I know how to get the best out of him!”

All I’m saying is that we’ve gone through a few fresh voices in the playing personnel, how bad would it be to hear a new voice at head coach?

Darryl Katz should man up and do what needs to be done or be prepared to feel the wrath of not only the Oilers fans but the dozens of articles that will be written by major outlets shaming the club in a very public manner.

It’s getting to the point to where we’ll start seeing billboards rented out and parked in front of the Oilers offices again. Darryl Katz doesn’t want his team to be a national news headline again for the wrong reasons. So he should take action instead of giving the men responsible an earfull.

St.Louis, LA, and Chicago have all done it this year. When will the Oilers hold their coach accountable?

There’s a changing of the guard going on in the coaching ranks, maybe it’s time the Oilers got in touch with the times.

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers News: A Decision Will Be Made

As I sit here, I’m still shocked at what transpired last night. Not only with what happened in the Oilers game (because that was a bloody joke) but with what I was told after it. I was literally on the worst emotional roller coaster possible as it pertains to the Edmonton Oilers.

I do apologize to my followers for having to experience that with me…

**Obligatory disclaimer: Take what you’re about to read with a grain of salt. Very rarely do things come to fruition because things change all of the time at the NHL level. At the very least, this will be a great pub or water cooler banter but by no means am I an insider. I just happen to be friends with people who are close to the club and have been given permission to relay their words online. – BLH**

First it was, McLellan is gone. Then it was, nope, he’s staying. Nicholson thinks they need to stay the course and just ride out this slump. Now I’m hearing that after the game there was a closed-door meeting between Bob Nicholson, Wayne and Keith Gretzky, and Peter Chiarelli and there’ll be another meeting tomorrow between all of them and the owner.

A decision will be made.

I had a feeling something was up when Bob Stauffer didn’t tweet anything out after the game. He’s usually got a thought or two on the result of each Oilers match but nothing last night. To me, that’s the smoking gun. The Oilers media team is getting prepared.

Furthermore, I found the usual barrage of tweets coming from the MSM that covers the Oilers to be less chatty on Twitter after the game. Nothing from Lowetide and nothing from Jason Gregor should speak volumes.

It’s pretty obvious what’s going on here right? The trade has already happened that usually prefaces the firing.

A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!

THE OIL KNIGHT GOES OFF!

My friend SPR (@theoilknight) was spitting fiery hot truths from the pulpit after the game and I’d like to share some of that with you if you haven’t read it yet. Click that link besides his name and give him a follow.

If you don’t think the Oilers need a new voice in the room and on the bench you’re kidding yourself. This team quit on him last year and it’s happening again. Some coaches are doing much more with much less right now around the league. This team is mentally done right now.

*cough* The Islanders *cough* The Canucks *cough* The Sabres *cough* The Rangers *cough*

If u think the Coyotes have more talent than EDM u need ur head checked. Their leading scorer has 12 pts & Raanta has been hurt. McDavid & Drai both have 12 GOALS apiece. EDM had ELEVEN 1st rd picks on team. TMac ran 3 off. Don’t tell me the coach didnt have anything to work with

Man, I’d love to know who suggested the Coyotes have more talent than the Oilers because that is definitely the hot taek of the week. Didn’t they deal their best player to the Habs?

This team quit on their coach last season & are doing it again. Blame his stubbornness, outdated systems, poor adjustments & inability to relate or motivate his players properly. Blame the GM for not firing him sooner. Just don’t tell me this team isn’t talented cuz that’s b.s.

I found an article by Shane Sander that was published nearly to the day from last year (11/22/2017) entitled, “Don’t Fire McLellan, Point Fingers at Players and Chiarelli”. At first, I thought that he’d posted it recently but then I checked the date and had a laugh because nothing has really changed in a calendar year and that is a MASSIVE problem.

SPR even wrote about McLellan in January. A post called, “If This is the End, Now What?”. I think this is a must read given the scenario Oilers fans are facing.

Talbot, Lucic, Strome, Puljujarvi, Yamamoto… all zero confidence. Do all these players actually suck or do they suck under Todd’s system & tutelage? Think about it. Even Eberle was in TMac’s doghouse before he got traded. What is the common denominator? (Ok Strome sucks).

Hall and Schultz as well. Maroon slumped before he was dealt too.

All assistant coaches got fired yet Todd still runs the PP, a ridiculous PP with 5 lefties. All rookies/2nd yr players run off team. Couldn’t get it going under Todd’s system. In game adjustments have been awful. How can anyone still be blind that coach isn’t the root cause here?

For the last couple of weeks, McLellan has had a righty on the 1st unit be that Ty Rattie (a healthy scratch for some reason last night) or Alex Chiasson but he still has them in Lucic’s old role beside the goalie. I’m flabbergasted as to why he won’t like Viveiros do what he was brought in to do and that’s run the friggin’ PP. Just another way that Todd McLellan continues to defy the wishes of his superior.

Truth is whether TMac apologists admit it or not, the players hate playing this system, hate how the coach plays favorites, hate how their team gets outcoached, hate coming to the rink. THEY need a change.

I know Sean and Marty Klinkenberg had a bit of a go on this point and it’s a lot easier for Klinkenberg to say that he goes to the rink every day and the players look fine than it is for SPR but I’d have to agree with Sean here. To add to that, if the players are going to practice every day with smiles on their faces and glee in their eyes, someone needs to slap them and tell them to wake the f*ck up! This isn’t Never Never Land. Wipe that sh*t eating grin off of your face and get to work! Moreover, if you’re eating sh*t and grinning, it’s probably not your day anyhow.

Ask yourself one question. Do you think McLellan could do any better with a “better roster”. I mean, C’mon. LOL. What does that even mean? Are we talking a stacked roster that basically coaches itself? This isn’t a video game. What coach couldnt do better with a better roster? 

Trades are not easy to make in the cap world and Chiarelli is right back to where he was when he was hired. Bent over a barrel because his team is poor. There’s no GM in the NHL that is going to give him a deal that’ll help the Oilers in the short-term that won’t burn them in the long-term.

Is it the Coach’s job to wait to get a stacked roster before he turns it into wins or is it his job to get the most of what he has? Do you think McLellan has gotten the most out of his team? More than the Coyotes, for example?

I think it’s the Coach’s job to get the most out of the squad he has but time and time again we hear about McLellan’s inability to communicate with the players. He’s a “hands-off” sort of coach. He likes to leave the intermission talks to the leadership group and I can only imagine how mind-numbingly quiet it is in there…

At least Chiarelli can point to Bakersfield and the CHL (and Sweden) for reasons why he should stick around. What the hell does McLellan have to show for? 31st PP and PK last year? Ridiculous amount of lethargic efforts over the last 2 seasons?

And this is a HUGE reason why Chiarelli shouldn’t be canned. He’s taken what was one of the emptiest minor league systems and filled it. If he doesn’t trade any of the kids he’s drafted, next year Bakersfield will be overflowing with prospects. A very welcome change.

Best PP QB in EDM- Bouchard. No sniffs on PP1 by coach, sent back. Most skilled players on team other than 97, 93, 29 – Puljujarvi & Yamamoto. Coach shows zero confidence in Jesse despite big camp, puts Yamo with Drai zero chemistry. Both sent down. GM or Coach’s fault there?

Don’t forget about Pontus Aberg. Chiarelli brought him in to provide some skill on the wing and yes, he did make a mistake off the ice but was it fair to punish him to the extent they did? Now he’s in Anaheim and seems to be fitting in nicely there.

The fact of the matter is every coach has a shelf life. Before there was Sullivan in Pittsburgh, there was Bylsma, before Bylsma, there was Therien. Sometimes a team has to go through the motions a bit before they can find their groove.

I for one am tired of Todd McLellan’s style of coaching and his style of hockey. I’m ready for a change on the coaching front and I think the players are as well.

As for that meeting that I’ve been told will take place tomorrow. This is just my personal feeling, no source info here, but I wonder if Katz might just say thank you to both Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan and let Glen Gulutzan and Keith Gretzky ride out the rest of the year as replacements.

Last year, after that Dallas game when Katz wanted McLellan fired then, he was talked out of it by Chiarelli and Nicholson. I don’t think there’ll be a repeat of that this time around and if there is, refer to the paragraph above.

It’s much easier to find a coach and/or a GM in the summertime and if I had my picks I’d probably have a guy like Doug Weight come in but I like Mo Jaber’s suggestion too.

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