Has anyone else here had an imaginary argument in the shower, rehearsed it, memorized it, and when it came time to have it in real life you were left speechless? That is how I feel writing this blog about the firing of Peter Chiarelli.
The Chiarelli era will be remembered as a time of complete and utter failure. This team could finish with 85 or less points and still be one of the top five seasons of the last 13 years, that is the kind of ineptitude that has seeped into this organization.
Bob Nicholson and members of the Oilers organization will say that it was the events of this season that led to Peter Chiarelli’s firing; in reality the moves that Chiarelli made this season were small potatoes when comparing his entire body of work. It is crucial to remember that throughout his tenure, there were staunch supporters of Chiarelli. “Hall was a problem in the dressing room. Eberle was too soft. Wait and see how the season goes before you act all negative.… These phrases were uttered by fans and members of mainstream media alike and represent a flawed understanding of how the NHL is played.
There are plenty of trades that Chiarelli made that will cripple this organization for years to come, here are the most blatant examples of ineptitude.
Griffin Reinhart For Picks 16 and 33. Peter Chiarelli’s first trade for the Edmonton Oilers was arguably the worst one he made during his entire tenure. Many think about the trade as Matt Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier for Reinhart, and while that does create the worst scenario for Edmonton, it only represents one fraction of the real problem.
The 2015 Draft was looked at as one of the deepest drafts in years, with potential for top NHL talent existing throughout the first round. Edmonton had an opportunity to take McDavid first overall and potentially acquire two more difference makers. Between 16-33 here are the most notable players that were selected:
Matt Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Colin White, Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny, Anthony Beauvieller and Christian Fischer. As a bonus for good measure Travis Dermott and Sebastian Aho were selected with the 34th and 35th picks selectively. Some leaks have come through the pipes that the Oilers were not going to select Barzal with the 16th pick… as if somehow that makes it better. In the end Reinhart never became an NHL defenceman and the Oilers missed out of high producing players on ELC’s.
Taylor Hall For Adam Larsson One year and three days later, Chiarelli would continue to not learn from his mistakes by uttering a phrase which still induces rage spasms, “the trade was one for one.… The Hall for Larsson trade represents everything that is wrong with this organization. Hall is a brilliant young player who produced at ridiculous high rates while surrounded by lesser talent. However in managements eyes he was not enough of a leader, there were questions about his character, and a whole bunch of other drivel that has nothing to do with the product on the ice.
Adam Larsson is a fine player, but he will never be worth Taylor Hall. This trade was essentially a foghorn through the league that shouted “our players are not worth as much as your players!… Every time Pete tried to state that trades for top defencemen don’t exist, or that the price is what they had to pay; it was because of his own doing.
The Oilers Sign Milan Lucic To A 7 Year Deal Worth 6 Million A Year In Chiarelli’s eyes the Oilers could afford to lose Taylor Hall because they were going to replace him with Milan Lucic. Like all free agent signings, the GM knew that the deal would be tough on the team in the later years...but that was a problem for Future Pete. The deal went sour almost immediately. Lucic had 50 points with the Oilers in his first season, on par with his prior production, however his even strength scoring fell off a cliff and has not recovered since. After his unsustainable powerplay numbers dried up the Oilers were left with, at best, a third line winger signed to an untradeable contract.
Edmonton needs another proven top six winger but are strapped to actually sign one because of the Milan Lucic signing.
Jordan Eberle For Ryan Strome Cut and paste most of what I said about Taylor Hall here and just trade the word “leadership… for “too soft.… Another trade where the Oilers received less than the player was worth. The Oilers traded a top 6 winger for a third line centre, and of course cap space. Unlike the “Hall for Larsson and Lucic… justification, the cap space that the Oilers saved that year ended up as empty salary.
Every Move In the 2018/2019 Season The desperation of Chiarelli reached critical mass this season, seeing a number of small signings and moves. Zykov, Wideman, Spooner, Petrovic, Manning, and Cave. Waiver pickups and depth moves that the General Manager prayed could fix the problems he created. All of these signings ranged from harmless like the pickup of Valentin Zykov, to idiotic, like moving Caggiula for Manning.
---
Peter Chiarelli came into Edmonton with a vision on how to make the team competitive and his vision clearly had buy-in from the rest of the Oilers organization. Three years from now, this team may only have one Chiarelli player on the roster; Connor McDavid, a pick that could have been made by anyone with a passing knowledge of hockey. That is the legacy that Peter Chiarelli will be remembered for in Edmonton.
Posting about these trades had a dual purpose. The first was catharsis for myself to put all of this on paper. The second purpose was a chance for everyone to review the mistakes of the past and figure out how to not make them again. For better or worse (it's worse) this is what the Edmonton Oilers are. Whoever ends up taking over as general manager is going to have their work cut out for them to pull this team out of cap hell and turn it into a competitive organization.
There can't be more lost trades, forsaking talent for intangibles. They can no longer put rookies or prospects in over their head and expect them to save the team. They cannot go into free agency with a blank check and ignore how it will affect the future. If I was to try and pull a silver lining out of the nightmare the Oilers currently find themselves in, it would be that by making every mistake possible, the organization now knows how to move forward and not repeat the mistakes of the past...
Right?