Follow @SMaloughney 2018 is approaching a merciful end for the Edmonton Oilers. Personally I have looked back on my own year and am grateful for so much; I have a family that I am close with, a long term relationship with a woman who somehow has managed to put up with me for almost six years now, and a job that I truly enjoy. On top of all of that, I started writing here at HockeyBuzz and get to provide you, my readers, with as much Oilers related topics as I can provide. I shall continue to do so in 2019 and will strive to improve and continue delivering my takes on the goings-on.
The Oilers 2018 has been a whole different story….
Dating back to January 1st 2018, the Oilers have gone 37-38-5 through this year. They have been outscored 259-228. At the end of the 2017-2018 season the Oilers finished 23rd in the league. At the end of 2018 the Oilers sit 21st.
The Edmonton Oilers continue to be one of the worst managed teams in all of sports, even with the best player on the planet in Connor McDavid.
Chiarelli continued to prove his ineptitude and inability to evaluate this roster with his trades made on Sunday. The first trade for Alex Petrovic I was fine with, in the sense that it traded away a decent asset in a 3rd round pick for a player that might be able to log some okay minutes. It was about as harmless of a trade as one could expect from this general manager.
The second trade was brutal and truly represents how out of touch this management group is.
Brandon Manning is not a good hockey player. He actively hurt the CF% of every big name in Chicago; Saad, Kane, Toews, DeBrincat, all their numbers dropped when Manning was on the ice. What can Edmonton expect from him? A whole lot of hitting and putting himself completely out of position. When a member of the opposition scores from the slot...look for Manning to be the guy trying to get back into the play. As I mentioned in my thoughts yesterday as well, Manning is signed on for this season and next at a cap hit of 2.25 million dollars.
Take a look at what Blackhawks Blogger Justin Lowe had to say on Manning here.
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Drake Caggiula was by no means a perfect player. Before this season began, I was critical of him not only because of his poor possession numbers and weak defensive play, but also because the amount of time he was on the ice, versus how much he actually produced were drastically different.
This year Caggiula made improvements in both areas; albeit his offense dried up under his new coach. Nevertheless he had the ability to play in the top 9 and once again Chiarelli has created a hole while addressing nothing.
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In the spirit of celebrating 2018, let’s take a look back at every signing, move, and trade Chiarelli has made and where they are now:
EDM acquire Al Montoya from MTL for a 4th round pick - Currently in Bakersfield with a .879 SV%
EDM trades Brandon Davidson...again to Islanders for a 3rd round pick - Davidson has played 7 games in Chiacgo
EDM trades Mark Letestu to NSH for Pontus Aberg - Aberg was later release on waivers and claimed by the Ducks. He has 11 goals and 8 assists in 34 games this year with Anaheim.
EDM trades Patrick Maroon to NJD for a 2019 3rd round pick. That pick was then flipped to PHI for Cooper Marody. Marody has had a strong AHL season and is occasionally removed from his success with the Condors to sit in the Oilers pressbox.
EDM signs Jakub Jerabek to a one year deal.... Less than a month later they would trade him for a 6th round pick.
EDM signs Alex Chiasson and Jason Garrison to PTO’s. Chiasson is the Oilers third highest goal scorer and Garrison was just traded to CHI for Brandon Manning.
EDM sign Matt Benning to a 2 year deal at 1.9 million a year. He is still an Oiler at the time of writing this blog.
EDM sign Drake Caggiula to a two year deal worth 1.5 million a year. He was just traded to CHI for Brandon Manning.
EDM trade Ryan Strome to NYR for Ryan Spooner. Strome has 6 points in 18 games with New York while Spooner has 3 points in 17 games. It has been reported that Spooner was attempted to be packaged in with the Manning or Petrovic deals.
EDM acquire Chris Wideman from OTT for a 6th round pick. Wideman suited up for 5 games with the Oilers before being shipped off to FLA as part of the Alex Petrovic deal.
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The above moves are not the deals made by a general manager with a clearcut plan...these represent Peter Chiarelli grasping at straws and blindly throwing darts at a dartboard and hoping something sticks.
Oh right, the Oilers play hockey tonight too. The Oilers are looking for their first win on this 6 game homestand....it's game 6.
--- LINEUP
OILERS (courtesy of @JasonGregor)
Lucic-McDavid-Rattie Rieder-Draisaitl-Spooner Khaira-RNH-Puljujarvi Gambardella-Brodziak-Kassian
Nurse-Petrovic Manning-Larsson Jones-Benning
Koskinen
Both Petrovic and Manning look to be in the top 4 immediately after a press conference where Peter Chiarelli said neither player were top 4 defensemen.
JETS (via DailyFaceOff)
Ehlers-Schiefele-Wheeler Connor-Little-Laine Perrault-Lowry-Tanev Copp-Roslovic-Lemieux
Morrissey-Trouba Chiarot-Morrow Kulikov-Myers
Hellebuyck
--- 4 KEYS TO VICTORY
1) Bring On The New Guys. The newly acquired players won't have much time to get acquainted with their new teammates as both Manning and Petrovic look to be playing tonight. Both will likely play more minutes than they have in any game yet this season as Hitchcock likes to ride his top 4 hard, and apparently, that is what these two players will be. 2) Without Buff. The Winnipeg Jets will likely be without Dustin Byfuglien until well after the All-Star Break. Without him the Oilers will only have to worry about Morrissey, Trouba, Chiarot, Myers..... wait a minute how come other teams seem to be able to have defensemen...
3) Remember That Goal McDavid Scored Last Game Against The Sharks? That was pretty cool. McDavid is good at the hockeys.
4) Have A Safe New Years Regardless of how this game goes, everyone be safe, don't drive drunk, and have a great evening.
FILM OF THE DAY