The Oilers: Let’s Start the Insanity
by Ryan Snow
Ever since Ryan Smyth was an Oiler, I have divided my time between them and the Habs. I will always be a die hard Habs fan, but I love Edmonton. Something about the ice surface in their arena and watching a game at 10:30 PM eastern time has always been magical for me for some reason. Ever since the McDavid era, Oilers fans have a lot to be optimistic about. However, there have been several head scratching moves that seem to have gone against the betterment of the team. Without being too long winded, the following are the moves they have made during the McDavid era that I hated the moment it happened, without hindsight.
1-Trading Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson one for one
The Oilers had just finished their first year with McDavid, and despite missing half the season with injury, it was evident he was the next great player in the league. Hall was the perfect complement to McDavid’s speed and skill, as Hall was fast, could score and would play left wing with Connor. I know the Oilers needed D at the time, and Larsson is a great player, but having two legit number one overall picks on the same line should have been the way to go. Hall would go on to win the Hart in New Jersey, but had he stayed in Edmonton, perhaps they would already have a couple of cups.
2-Trading Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome one for one
Again another one for one trade I hated at the moment. Eberle was a highly offensive right winger on a team with three very good offensive centers in McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins. Trading for another centre made zero sense to me, especially when you were giving up the master of clutch in Eberle. Had the Oilers not made the last two trades, they would have had a line of Hall-McDavid-Eberle in their prime. Again, a couple of cups?
3-Trading a 16th overall pick and 33rd overall pick for Griffin Reinhart in 2015
This has been discussed a lot already, but again, the Oilers making moves screws them. The 16th overall pick turned out to be Matthew Barzal, who has had a great NHL career. Again, if instead of being trigger happy and being patient and doing NOTHING, the Oilers top 2 lines in 2016 could have been:
Hall-McDavid-Eberle
RNH-Draisaitl-Barzal
Cups?
4-Alienating Holloway and Broberg
The one thing the Oilers have had trouble doing is developing their players. With Holloway if he was not scoring a hat trick every game he was scratched or playing 10 mins a game. This is not the way to develop young talent. They need to feel confidence out there to play their game and use their strengths. Same with Broberg. A lot of talent and offensive skill. He was great at moving the puck out of the defensive zone. (the Oilers were annihilated in this aspect the last two games vs the Panthers) But again he was a healthy scratch and got limited ice time. You gotta play young players, you need to have them use their strengths to help the team win. A perfect example is the Marty St-Louis approach, look what he has done with Caufield, Hutson and Demidov. No wonder Holloway and Broberg signed offer sheets. The Oilers coaching is out to lunch. And of course, they had great seasons with the Blues.
5-Corey Perry
Not much to say here, but the Oilers should have done anything to keep him. Great in the playoffs and can play literally anywhere in your lineup and is a PEST.