Well if you haven’t read it by now, Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer has sent out a tweet that has the oilogosphere more confused than Pat O’Neill Riley from SNL. Let’s check it out below and then do some analyzing afterward.
I don't see the Oilers moving the #10 overall pick for some immediate help. And don't think EDM will be "chasing" pricier UFA's. But. Could see the Oilers moving out a contract with term and getting a player who provides a different "ingredient" to the lineup
So according to Stauffer, the Oilers are going to sit on their pick (a good idea) and see how things play out. If Adam Boqvist drops as a lot of people are prognosticating, then good for the Oilers! He’s really the kind of player they need but won’t be ready for a few years mind you. I talked to a scout in Sweden this morning and he said Brynas has one of the best d-corps in the SHL and that Boqvist would be given a chance to break into their lineup next year but would probably be a no.7 defender on their team and PP specialist. Makes you wonder if the team that selects him moves him to their AHL club immediately if that’s going to be the case for Boqvist in Sweden.
Bobby S. then says that the Oilers won’t be “chasing” the pricier UFAs and that says to me that perhaps there’s a UFA out there that is considered amongst the pricier ones who is willing to come to Edmonton. No chasing required hence the word being in quotation marks.
Lastly, the juicy part and the timing couldn’t be any better as we’re coming up to the annual Chiarelli special, a June 1-for-1 trade!
So a player with term for a player who brings a different dynamic to the team? What does that even mean?
Oh and if you don’t know, No movement clauses, no trade clauses, modified ones, they all mean nothing to me. They’re a request away from being waived. Just because a player has one doesn’t mean he’ll use it.
Who are the players with term?
McDavid
Draisaitl
Nugent-Hopkins
Lucic (NMC)
Kassian
Well, I know which one a lot of fans want to be traded and he very well could be. Milan Lucic is never going to become Pavel Bure over the course of a summer. Hell, he probably couldn’t become as good-a-skater as Kassian over the offseason. So asking him to change his body composition is a tall ask and I know there are teams out there that would trade for him. Vancouver being one, Montreal being one, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit of a team like Carolina wanted him.
but I’m going to say that if the player with term being moved out is a forward, it’ll be Zack Kassian. Chiarelli loves Lucic too much and I imagine he’s learned from his trade with Eberle but Kassian’s got one more year after this one at $1.95M and that’s a tad too much for what he brings in the regular season production-wise. I love the guy so much but I do believe the team could find a similar type of emotional player for cheaper.
Klefbom
Larsson
Sekera (NMC)
Russell (NMC)
Two players stand out right away for me here. Oscar Klefbom and Andrej Sekera. That’s because Larsson and Russell will be required come playoff time 🙂
The Klefbom for Krug rumors started a while back but kinda of kicked it into another gear this year. I wrote about it twice. Once when Jimmy Murphy tweeted something out and again when Fluto Shinzawa. So the trade fires are burning in Boston.
I think with Oscar there are a couple ways of looking at his situation.
Great player WHEN HEALTHY. Do we know that he has the ability to stay healthy? As a fan, are you willing to give him that chance? He’s a 40pt dman and is the team’s PP threat from the point when he’s not on that IR.
Given his contract and age, he could very well bring back an excellent return and now that he’s had surgery on that bum shoulder of his, he should be ready to tear it up. Great! More value.
If Krug IS the return, that’s not bad but you’d hope there’d be a bit more to that as Krug is older and makes more money. He also produces more points mind you but as a lefty. Could he be paired with Larsson leaving Nurse to play with who? Sekera? Russell? Benning?
As for Sekera, who knows with him. He seemingly had a good World Championships as we never heard a peep about a poor performance or struggling like he did when he returned to the team last season. I think he’d be the kind of guy who would waive his NMC because he just wants to play and probably sees the writing on the wall or maybe he’s received an invitation letter from Ference Island…
My personal preference is for the team to move on from Andrej Sekera. I’ve never been a huge fan of his and I’m more afraid for his playing future than Milan Lucic’s. But would a trade involving him bring back a player that moves the needle for the Oilers because I’m still trying to figure out what the bloody ingredient is that Stauffer is talking about?
Is it a PP producer from the point like Krug? Is it a faceoff specialist like Ryan O’Reilly? Is it a speedster like Chris Kreider?
Could it be a player that is so far off the radar? A guy like Phil Kessel?
Since Chiarelli is the worst poker player on the planet and has already telegraphed his moves this year, I assume it’ll be a PP quarterback like Krug or Faulk or maybe Ristolainen.
Surely Bob will clear the air a bit on his radio show today…
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
The Vegas Golden Misfits are going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018!!! Love ’em or hate ’em it’s an amazing story and this is one punk rocker’s way of giving tribute! Click the pic above and get yours today!Welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to the NHL in style! Click the image above to pick up this sweet t-shirt!Click the image and head over to our Teepublic shop to grab some sweet BLH merch.
The latest from Fluto Shinzawa of the Athletic (sign up here) has him pontificating upon the future of the Bruins defense. Personally, I think it should stay right the F where it is. It looks outstanding when healthy and why mess with that? Krug is pretty essential to the Bruins breakout too when he’s on the ice but Shinzawa believes they’ll be looking for a different look on the left side.
The question the Bruins need to answer is whether Krug’s offensive touch is worth the defensive compromise. It would be one thing if the Bruins had a thicker defender behind the 5-foot-9 Krug. They do not.
So I’m assuming that Shinzawa has Chara at 1LD, Krug at 2LD, and Grzelcyk at 3LD. I can definitely see his point here. I imagine it would be nice for Boston to have a bigger bodied LHD behind Krug or Chara like Nick Holden (6’4″ 210lbs) or Chris Breen (6’7″ 224lbs).
Is it just me or is something not adding up here. Are the Bruins looking to move Krug’s contract? He makes $5.25M for the next two seasons before turning UFA at the age of 29. He’s got a partial no-trade in the final two years of that deal.
But here is where the Oilers come in,
Edmonton had the NHL’s worst power play this season (14.8 percent). GM Peter Chiarelli signed Krug in 2012. Edmonton has 24-year-old Oscar Klefbom (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and 23-year-old Darnell Nurse (6-foot-4, 221 pounds) on the left side. A one-for-one deal is unlikely for either, given the Edmonton defenders’ age and promise. Sweeney would have to package Krug with additional assets.
Fluto Shinzawa is right, Boston would have to send more than just Krug to make a deal happen for Klefbom or Nurse but he isn’t the only member of the Bruins media to toss Torey Krug’s name out there. Jimmy Murphy has as well.
Hearing from another NHL source again today that #NHLBruins and #Oilers have discussed D Torey Krug but B's not interested in moving him now. Also two NHL sources now have told me D Oscar Klefbom has been discussed in these discussions and w/other NHL clubs.
That is back in February and I wrote about it here.
Geez, all we need is Joe Haggerty to say something and we’d have a well-fueled rumor out of Boston!
With the way things are sounding with regards to the coaching staff, the rumored additions of Glen Gulutzan and Trent Yawney will directly affect the penalty kill. That leads me to believe that McLellan and whomever they hire as the no.3 assistant coach (Manny Viveiros?) will be running the power play. And with those corrections, I think both will bounce back.
I don’t see a good fit for Edmonton and Boston as trade partners unless Chiarelli can find a way to send Klefbom and a dodgy contract to the Bruins in return for Brad Marchand.
Unlikely. But not impossible. I’ve thought a bit about Boston shipping Marchand out for his playoff antics and I’ve also considered Darnell Nurse not to be as untouchable as people make him out to be…
Edmonton just needs to sit back, relax and let the team do the work. Don’t force it through via trade or massive overpayment in the free agent market. Learn from past mistakes and let’s allow the players to dig themselves out of this hole. There’s no reason that a team that believes in itself can’t do the improbable, right (Vegas)?
Oh and don’t even think about moving the #10 overall. There’s going to be a player available there that the Oilers will regret taking if they trade out of that spot because it sounds like there are some prospects making some very late season pushes into the top 10 that might push a player down to where the Oilers are picking.
A NEW KICK ASS OILERS PODCAST
My friend SPR has started a new podcast called “Late Night with the Oil Knight” and he’s having it hosted by Oilers Live. You HAVE to check this out. It’s no holds barred Oilers podcasting and it’s amazing! It’s foul and honest and it cuts right to the bone of what is the Oilogosphere. It’s a very refreshing voice for this generation of Oilers followers.
in SPR’s inaugural pod, he and fellow Beer League Heroes contributor The Dirtbag get into it regarding the Oilers media, the coaching, the draft, and much much more! Check it out below!
A couple of quotes to set the stage for you:
“Who the fuck are your smart people?” and “I went on Lowetide’s blog and thought, what the fuck is happening here?”
Enjoy!
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During last night’s Oilers/Sharks game I was pleased as punch to see Edmonton kicking the snot out of San Jose in the 1st period. I thought we might have something here… And then the hit.
Look, the play was moving quickly but that’s no excuse to the clown in stripes with his eyes fixated right on the play in question. It’s no wonder the NHL’s stars are openly mocking the refs and throwing their equipment at them on the ice. It’s BS.
The other thing that was BS was the lack of a response from the Oilers after the incident occurred. Where was Matt Benning’s backup? At least one of Klefbom, Draisaitl, Rattie, or Cammalleri could’ve bull rushed Kane…
I remember a lot of this during Taylor Hall’s days as the de-facto “leader” of the Oilers. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. To me, it displays a lack of togetherness on the club despite what I’ve been told by those I’ve talked to who are VERY close to the players.
Just quick I want to talk about the goals that came after the Kane incident.
First off, it’s a team game and so everybody can take a slice of the blame pie but did Cam Talbot have a chance on any of the remaining goals?
Sharks 2nd goal from Braun was tipped by Lucic.
Sharks 3rd goal went off of Sekera’s leg.
Sharks 4th goal was a roof daddy special but Talbot was out of position anticipating the pass across.
Maybe the 4th goal Talbot could’ve done a better job but I have a hard time faulting him for the first two. I’d say get outta the way Milan on #2 and Leon, you gotta do a better job containing Meier so he doesn’t walk out and get a clean chance on net for goal #3.
If really feels like the other teams are scoring at least 1 flukey goal a game vs. Edmonton this year. I think the Oilers should fire Peter Chiarelli because of that… What?!
Milan Lucic is leading the team in posts hit this year, right? How much would have that turned the course of the game had he scored on that wide open cage?
Anyways, that game is over. Now to look forward to the remaining 19…
This is what I want to see from the Oilers to play out the season:
Keep Leon and Connor away unless it’s an absolute imperative that they must be reunited.
Put Nuge on Connor’s LW because we need to see what Strome and Khaira can do down the middle. If all three perform well in their given assignments, that will do a few things:
It’ll give the Oilers a scoring LW instead of having to trade out for one.
It’ll give the Oilers their bottom-6 centres.
It’ll give the Oilers a chance to simply focus on re-signing players instead of having to focus on acquiring new ones.
Good, consistent performances from the players who are underperforming this year. Those include:
Matt Benning
Drake Caggiula
Oscar Klefbom
Zack Kassian
For Puljujarvi to go on a nice scoring run to show everyone there’s a player there. Maybe the addition of Pontus Aberg helps that?
Connor McDavid’s march to the Art Ross should be fascinating as well
But don’t discount Leon Draisaitl’s ongoing assault on the scoring charts. Can he make it into the top ten despite having an “off” year?
Funny thing with Jesse, he’s “only” scored 11 goals and 14 assists in 74 games to date but did you know that by the time Phil Kessel had played 70 games, he only had 11 goals? Did you know Jakob Voracek only scored 9 goals in his first 80 games or that Matt Tkachuk had only 13 goals by game 76. Even Marian Hossa took more than 66 games to score 15 goals.
This is a 19-year-old man-child growing up in front of our eyes. He’s not McDavid and he’s not Leon but he’s going to be a force for this team someday. Book it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0H7LfylDeY
Bloody kid almost fluffed it too… I wonder when he’s going to do something about that twig of his… Seems like it’s more a hindrance than a tool of scoring destruction. Good to see the Grinnin’ Finn smiling again though!
Now sometimes I make the mistake of heading over to Hockeybuzz to read Matt Henderson’s BS and something usually sets me off. Well, today it happened.
In addition to questionable standard scoring stats, Aberg has been challenged to maintain decent possession numbers relative to his team. He was at the bottom of Nashville’s forward group in Corsi, Fenwick, Shots, and Scoring Chances. All the shot metrics. All of them!
What Henderson didn’t tell you is that Pontus Aberg was near the top of Nashville’s team (and the whole league for that matter) for goals for % (GF%) and high-danger goals for % (HDGF%).
Even higher than Connor McDavid has for Edmonton.
Aberg’s GF% was 62.96% (6th best LWer in the NHL) and his HDGF% was 69.23% (4th best LWer in the NHL). Those numbers are for LWs who played more than 390 minutes and at 5×5 and they’re courtesy of naturalhattrick.com.
If I’m correct, what this means is that when Aberg’s line was on the ice nearly 63% of the goals were scored by his team and nearly 70% of the high-danger chances were converted into a goal for.
And I’m not sure if Matty-Boy has noticed but the increased possession totals haven’t helped the team score goals let alone win games. As illustrated by the Minnesota Wild being 30th in the league in CF% and Chicago being 3rd.
It’s fine to be good in the shooting metrics but you can’t base your opinion of a player simply on shooting stats.
And one more number to help everyone feel better about the addition of Pontus Aberg. His sv% is 3rd in the NHL at 95.52% and what that tells us is the other team has a helluva time scoring when his line is on the ice.
Now I know that taking a player who’s played not even 60 games and trying to pump his tires isn’t the best use of statistics but it goes the other way too when you’re criticizing a player. His possession numbers are horrid, it’s easy to see that but… #smallsamplesize
So I’ll add Pontus Aberg’s impact in the final 19 games as one of the things I’m looking forward to watching.
Lastly, I was listening to yesterday’s Oilers Now and a few things jumped out at me.
Chiarelli had minimal offers coming in.
This coincides with what the Oilers GM said at his presser, that the market was pretty dry. Stauffer also said that Boston trading for Rick Nash hurt Maroon’s trade value and the return Vancouver got for Tomas Vanek killed it.
Was Peter Chiarelli aggressive enough at the deadline? Nobody can be sure but pushing on a closed door is a good way to get shot.
Stauffer said he knows for a fact that Tampa was “bird dogging” Maroon because of the questions he was being asked by other scouts AND seeing Tampa Bay’s AGM Pat Verbeek at the Oilers games.
This is interesting because the pundits said there was ZERO interest in Maroon from Tampa…
Stauffer also said there was action on Strome.
I’d keep an eye on this. Strome is still a young player and one that can toss up 15 or more goals a year. Could he be sacrificed to bring in an older player at the same price point? I guess that depends on how his final 19 games go, right?
I’ve come to really like Strome. He’s finally finding his stride in Edmonton and his work on the PK since going there full-time has been quite good.
Stauffer and Spector asked each other, would you do Klefbom for Barrie or RNH for Barrie?
Both said yes to offer A and no to offer B and I’m in agreeance.
I believe that a lateral move here wouldn’t hurt the team. To me, Oscar Klefbom is a solid 2-way defender but he’s the one with the value and he plays in a position that is a point of organizational strength for the Oilers. His contract is good, his age is good but he’s not making the impact that this team needs.
So if the Oilers could get Barrie for Klefbom, do it. If the Avs insist on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers must insist on Barrie and the 1st round pick that Colorado obtained from Ottawa in the Duchene deal because that could very well turn into Jack Hughes aka Pat Kane v2 minus the dirtbaggedness.
Chiarelli also mentioned adding speed to his team, more spcifically w/regards to moving the puck.
I assume Chiarelli is talking about his defenders.
This has been one of my major pet peeves this season. Slow puck moving from the defense and I’m surprised that the coaches haven’t altered their gameplans because of it. Have the forwards come down and gather the puck if the defenders can’t pass it fast enough or rush it up the ice.
Whatever he does, it’s sure to divide the fanbase even further. lol
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In this audio clip above Bob McKenzie wonders aloud what Peter Chiarelli might do at the deadline and this summer so that this year doesn’t repeat itself next year and I think that’s a really valid question.
My opinion on that is, he should stick with the majority of the players he has and simply add better veterans. Maybe a PK specialist. I’d hope he avoids the big trade, not because his history tells us he might overpay, but because the players rumoured to be heading out are players this team has developed and need right now. Unless of course, my proposed RNH+Klefbom for OEL goes through.
Just before I get into this, I want to put out there that I can’t get on board with what a majority of the Oilers blogs and influencers are doing this season. The negativity and the constant need or lust to slag the team that some of the writers who cover the team is a tragedy to me. A real shame that these people use their enormous platforms to spew negativity out there instead of using it to bring positivity and encouragement to the Oilers. I suppose it’s much easier to beat a guy when he’s down than to pick up him though.
They’ll call it “being real” or “being realistic” but to me, doing that is just a quicker way to mediocrity and honestly a real insight into who a person really is.
You can call me a homer or someone who “drinks the kool-aid” and that’s fine by me. My self-worth is not tied to the success of the team, a reader’s opinion of my blog, nor the desire to be right. My opinion is just that. I don’t pretend to think that I’m smarter than the people running the team because I don’t know what I don’t know and that’s something I urge lots of fans to realize when you’re out there “fanning”. The numbers might tell you one thing, but you don’t know what you don’t know.
One more time: You don’t know what you don’t know.
Be humble and enjoy having the best 2 centres under the age of 24 in the entire NHL for the next 8 years.
I’ve never loved an Oiler as a kid growing up. Never really had a hero from the Oilers. But I loved the team and I still do love the team. For better or worse and through the good times and the bad. It’s about the crest on the front because players will come and go but that logo will always be there for me.
WHY I SUPPORT CHIARELLI AND HIS STAFF!
I’m pretty sure I’m on an island by myself and a few select others in my support for the current GM and this is something I’m fine with. I’ve never been one to go along with what the cool kids are doing and I’ve always liked the underdogs. Luckily for me, the Oilers have been just that for some time now.
You see, I can’t justify firing Chiarelli when all of the bets he made last summer blew up in his face this season. The way I feel about him is he’s had a tough year, just like the rest of the Oilers are having and that includes the coaching staff as well. The analytics guys will tell you not to give up on a player after a bad year and most likely that player will go back to his normal production rate the following season. Who’s to say that bounce back won’t happen in 2018/19 with the Oilers?
I had a guy on Twitter say that one bad year could set a team back a decade! Get out of here with that bullshit!
If you’re grading Chiarelli on his moves, let’s look at the NHL ones and make a judgement after that!
Martin Marincin traded to Toronto Maple Leafs for 107th pick in 2015 and minor league Brad Ross (WIN)
Eric Gryba acquired for minor leaguer Travis Ewanyk and 107th pick in the 2015 entry draft (WIN)
Cam Talbot and the 209th pick in the 2015 draft acquired for the 57, 79th and 184th picks (WIN)
Griffin Reinhart for the 16th and 33rd picks in the 2015 draft (FAIL)
Lauri Korpikoski for Boyd Gordon(FAIL)
Mark Letestu signed as an unrestricted free agent, three years, $1.8 million per (WIN)
Andrej Sekera signed as an unrestricted free agent for six years, $5.5 million per (WIN)
Anders Nilsson acquired for former fifth round pick Liam Coughlin, then traded for a fifth round pick and Niklas Lundstrom (WIN)
Oscar Klefbom signed to a seven year, $4.17 million per deal (WIN)
Zack Kassian acquired for Ben Scrivens (WIN)
Justin Schultz traded for a 2016 third round pick (FAIL)
Teddy Purcell traded for a 2016 third round pick (WIN)
Patrick Maroon acquired for Martin Gernat and a 2016th fourth round pick (WIN)
Adam Larsson acquired for Taylor Hall (UNDECIDED)
Jonas Gustavsson signed for one year (FAIL)
Milan Lucic signed for seven years, $6 million per with a No-Movement Clause (WIN)
Matt Benning signed as college free agent to entry level deal (WIN)
Drake Caggiula signed as college free agent to entry level deal (WIN)
Kris Russell signed to a one year, $3.1 million deal (WIN)
Nail Yakupov traded for Zach Pochiro, 2017 third round pick (UNDECIDED)
Brandon Davidson traded for David Desharnais (WIN)
Extended the following players:
Connor McDavid – 8yrs, $100M (WIN)
Leon Draisaitl – 8yrs, $68M (WIN)
Kris Russell – 4yrs, $16M (FAIL)
Zack Kassian – 3yrs, $5.85M (WIN)
Jujhar Khaira – 2yrs, $1.35M (WIN)
Eric Gryba – 2yrs, $1.8M (FAIL)
Jordan Eberle traded for Ryan Strome (FAIL)
Signed Jussi Jokinen to a one year, $1.1M deal (FAIL)
Signed Yohann Auvitu to a one year, $700k deal (WIN)
Traded Jussi Jokinen for Mike Cammalleri (WIN)
Claimed Brandon Davidson off of waivers (WIN)
Acquired Al Montoya for a 5th round draft pick (conditional) (WIN)
I think that puts us up to date. If I’ve missed one of his NHL moves please let me know.
If you took all of those moves (I think there are just over 30 of them) into consideration, how many are wins/losses/undecided? I’ve got the wins with a much greater number than the fails and undecided.
When a GM takes a team over he wants to build it in a way that he’s had success with in the past. It’s my belief that Chiarelli has no time for egos and it’s possible that some of those players that he has shipped out in the past might’ve rubbed him the wrong way. You can’t blame a guy for having the courage of his convictions. You might also say that he wants to have the biggest ego in the room too…
When Mike Keenan got hired on with a new NHL team as GM, he’d often trade one of its most popular players away. Denis Savard was his first trade when hired in Chicago. He dealt Luongo to Vancouver during his time in Florida. While he was GM in St.Louis he traded Phil Housley and Brendan Shanahan…
Chiarelli signing all of those AHL vets puzzled me though. Was it because he thought they’d bring more success to the team? That they’d help insulate the young defensemen that were coming into the team? It didn’t work anyhow.
You’ll notice that I’ve got the Larsson/Hall trade as undecided but the way I feel about that deal is that Adam Larsson brings the team something they haven’t had for quite a while in a sturdy stay-at-home dman who is actually quite smart and skilled. To add to that, there was no way Peter Chiarelli was getting the dman he wanted without trading Hall. The Oilers were over a barrel at the time and every GM in the league knew it.
I’ve also got the Yakupov trade as undecided because I don’t really know if he would’ve improved his on-ice play and off-ice attitude towards the team had he stayed. He’s on his 3rd team now and if one of the best coaches of all-time in Ken Hitchcock couldn’t find a way to mould him into a regular top-6 forward, then it’s probably not going to happen and he was better off playing elsewhere anyhow.
I did say Jultz was a fail though and that’s an interesting one to me because had he stayed another season in Edmonton, the fans might’ve tried to lynch the guy. I just wonder if he’d have been okay with just one more year.
So some deals I absolutely feel that Chiarelli missed the boat on which is fine but I can’t subscribe to the theory that because he “downgraded”, as they put it, on the wings by dealing Hall and Eberle, that’s the reason the Oilers are underperforming. Because 5×5 scoring ISN’T a problem for this team. Keeping the puck out of the net is and last I checked, Hall and Eberle are doing a fantastic job of doing just that in New Jersey and Brooklyn this month.
You can look down on Lucic’s deal and Russell’s deal for sure. I concur, both are too long but I’m on board with their price point. And there are the NTCs that everyone points to but everyone forgets that these are simply bypassed with a request from the GM. Rick Nash was traded with one. Roberto Luongo was traded with one. Dion Phaneuf as well. Players like Tobias Enstrom and MA Fleury waived their NTCs for the expansion draft…
So let’s not pretend that these clauses are iron clad and those players are impossible to move. It’s ridiculous. Lucic is more than likely going to be an Edmonton Oiler for most of his deal but I can see Russell and/or Sekera being moved without issue.
So if you can’t use his transaction record as a crutch to criticize Chiarelli, what’s left? He’s got a history of building winning teams. He’s got two Stanley Cup appearances under his belt. He seems quite good at drafting and the Boston Bruins of today are using a lot of players that were added/developed during his tenure as Bruins GM.
That special portion of the Oilers fanbase needs to realize that the cupboards were bare before Peter Chiarelli was hired on. There were few viable options coming through their developmental system and that’s partly because they were drafting so high in the 1st round, throwing those 18-year-olds into the fire the next season, and picking coke machines in the 2nd/3rd rounds that never panned out.
Now Chiarelli is getting value players in the mid-latter rounds of the draft and starting next season we’re going to start seeing those players populate the Oilers’ AHL squad in Bakersfield.
**Just an aside for one moment. Jason Gregor reckons the Oilers will fire their AHL coach because he’s not doing what’s expected of him. That leads me to wonder if Bob Stauffer’s favourite WHL coach, Manny Viveiros, might be the leading candidate for that job?**
The problem I see here is that for years the Oilers fanbase was crying for a Milan Lucic type and they Oilers wasted a lot of draft picks trying to find one. Once they got him the switch flipped because their beloved Taylor Hall was sacrificed to bring him in. To add to that, everyone expected Looch to be banging and fighting every single game and were disappointed when they learned that’s not the case with him. How do you think he’s managed to play so many games for so many years? Plus nobody will fight the guy anymore. I think Derek Engelland is the only guy that might drop ’em with Lucic now.
So we have a lot of fans whose feelings are bruised because Hall is gone and Eberle is gone and they’re not on board with the long-term vision that Chiarelli has because their favourite players were dealt for less-than-expected returns. Yet, what the team does have, well that doesn’t matter because Hallsy and Ebs are outtie 5000 and loving life elsewhere and they should be! They’re in the prime of their careers playing in the Metropolitan Division! But the Oilers are stuck with a roster that was built to compete in the playoffs, which it did.
The word that best sums up the year for the Oilers is: Outlier.
Can you honestly tell me that it’s Peter Chiarelli’s fault that the Oilers’ PK would be 1st on the road and worst at home? I’d love to hear that explanation if that’s the way you feel.
Is it Chiarelli’s fault that Benning and Caggiula have been more off than on this season. Do we point the finger at the GM when the goalie can’t stop a the first shot of the game for a 5th of the season? Should the GM be held accountable when his coach won’t play the players he signed, like Auvitu or Jokinen earlier in the year?How do we blame PC for the scoring droughts of Strome, Lucic, Puljujarvi, and Cammalleri? How is the GM at fault for the underwhelming number of PP chances the Oilers have gotten this year? Should we berate Chiarelli because Draisaitl got concussed at the beginning of the season?
If so, can we also praise the GM for the season Darnell Nurse is having. Can we give him props for the year that RNH was having before being injured? Should we be shaking the hand of the GM whose team he built beat the best teams in the NHL this year? Is the emergence of Jujhar Khaira something we should put solely at the feet of Peter Chiarelli? What about Leon and Connor being two of the best 5×5 players in the league?
They say that this team isn’t built to compete with the quicker teams in the NHL but I call bullshit on that. NJ, Tampa, Vegas, and the Islanders are all quick teams that Edmonton beat this year.
Should they get faster? It wouldn’t hurt but don’t go 100% back to small/skilled.
So to sum it up, I support Chiarelli because I believe in his plan. I understand why he made the trades he did. I see proactivity during his time so far which is much better than what I saw during the DoD. I see a guy who’s had a tough year but feel that it’d only fair to give him one more year to see if this season was the outlier or if 2016/17 was. I really do feel, because I’ve seen what this team can do when it’s on its game, that this team is closer to last year’s level than this year’s. A lot of bad luck has hit the team this year but if the team gets off to a bad start next year, I have no problem with the Oilers moving on to someone new. It’s the nature of the beast. But I won’t call for his head like the mob did with Lowe.
TRADE RUMORS!
Hearing from another NHL source again today that #NHLBruins and #Oilers have discussed D Torey Krug but B's not interested in moving him now. Also two NHL sources now have told me D Oscar Klefbom has been discussed in these discussions and w/other NHL clubs.
I think this would be a mistake. Krug makes $5,5M per year and last year Klefbom outscored him. Also, if the Oilers can’t buy a PP with the best player on the planet, Krug isn’t going to be of much use given that 40%-50% of his point totals come from the man advantage.
Murphy did talk about the Bruins using Brandon Carlo in a package to acquire Ryan McDonagh though and I do wonder if the Oilers would be willing to make a deal for the Rangers captain? That’s probably the kind of trade where I’d be okay with using Klefbom as trade fodder.
