Some old man wisdom about not getting too high or too low.
Yeah..that's why. Lol
The Oilers media dramatizing every bump and dip in the rollercoaster has always been half the fun. They buy in, ALL in, with every win streak and then are shocked and appalled, claiming the sky is falling when it takes a turn. Great stuff.
I mean how could none of these guys that's covered the game for 30 years not see beyond that stretch and even consider it might be a new coach bump, and not so much an indication that all their team's holes went away overnight? You think they'd opt for even cautious optimism at some point but nope.
What's funny is yet again another Calgary win provoked this change. They fired McLellan earlier in the year after a loss to the Flames, St. Louis fired Yeo, and Chicago fired Quenneville. There will be no one left for Edmonton to fire by year's end!
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The best part of this is that it's going to be tough to fix this roster without just waiting out the bad contracts they have. What do they really have to trade of a value outside of McDavid and Draisaitl?
FWDs signed passed this year:
Lucic: No one is taking on that deal (4x $6M)
RNH: Probably their best trade chip but not sure how they upgrade on him by moving him. (2 x $6M)
Spooner: No one wanted him for free off waivers (1 x $3.1M)
Kassian: Overpaid but team may look at grit for playoffs (1x $2M)
Brodziak: Waiver wire type (1 x $1.15M)
Veteran FWD RFA/UFAs
Reider: Not much return for a guy with 0 goals
Rattie: Just cleared waivers
Khaira: Probably a guy they will try to re-sign for bottom 6
Chiasson: Perfect sell high candidate riding a high shooting percentage...they will probably re-sign him
Defense signed past this season:
Klefbom: Has value but like RNH unlikely they could move him for an upgrade (4 x $4.17)
Sekera: No sure anybody is taking him at 33 due to injury history / contract (2 x $5.5M)
Larsson: Tough to move since return won't be close to acquisition cost (2 x $4.17M)
Russell:Probably not getting much in return (2 x $4M)
Nurse: Likely has some value as physical d are always coveted (1 X $3.2M)
Manning: No team will take a guy that was a heathly scratch on Chicago and Edmonton now (1 x $2.25M)
Benning: Also a waiver fodder type (1 x $1.9M)
RFA/UFA
Petrovic: Maybe they get a 3rd or a 4th
Gravel: Maybe a 6th
Goalies:
Talbot: Appears to be refusing to waive his NTC
Koskinen: Just resigned at 3 x $4.5M after 27 games
Picks/Prospect:
Puljujarvi: Would be selling low on his potential
Yamamoto: Not having a great first pro season and a piece they should keep
Bouchard: Need to let him develop
2019 Picks: 1st, 2nd, Islanders 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th
Not like they have anything they can really move to make this team better in the short term without mortgaging more of the future picks/prospects.
Chiarelli took over a team with 2015 1st Overall (McDavid), 16th Overall (Barzal), 33rd Overall (Stephens but Aho taken 2 spots later), Hall, Eberle, RNH, Draisaitl, Yakupov, Klefbom, Schultz, etc and turned it into this dumpster fire. Honestly I still think that if they don't make the playoffs this season or next season that McDavids going to demand a trade and they will be starting from scratch again.
IMO they have to trade Nugent-Hopkins or Draisatl. If you assume that the forward unit is built around McDavid, then re-signing Nugent-Hopkins in 2 years would make that team even more top heavy, unless you move Draisatl. Lucic is an anchor and like Ottawa with Bobby Ryan, the best bet is to hold onto him rather than paying over the odds to make him disappear.
1. Trade one of Nugent-Hopkins or Draisatl
2. Bargain bin shop for UFAs to fill out roster, flip for picks if they overachieve
3. Manage the icetime/expectations of young players to develop as long term solutions
4. Suck intentionally for 2 years
5. Try to rise again after that, as long as Bobby Orr hasn't leveraged McDavid out of the tire fire
To me, the only way out of this for the Oilers is a scorched earth tear down, which makes this yet another rebuild, while wasting McDavid's years with the team and potentially driving him out of town.
That being said, they will likely mortgage the future to make the playoffs, which if they do they are going to only make it as one of the lowest point total 8th seeds, likely to be crushed.
Loubardias ended by comparing the Oilers's young players to the situation the Flames are currently in. He said that Monahan and Gaudreau are now approaching 25-years-old, winning is hard, and they have worked their asses off for a long time to get to where we are now.
It gave me pause to think about how important Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie and Mikael Backlund have been for this team. All three were developed in the organization and the Flames are all they have ever known. When there are three good players like that in place, there is no opportunity for entitlement for anyone. Not ever.
Let's not forget the impact of Bob Hartley on the young guys as well.
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"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
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Yeah, I agree - the only path I can see is a rebuild. You'd have to get McDavid to buy-in to having 4-5 years of patience, which will be tough. If he's not with the program, the best actual thing to do would be to trade him for a crazy return.
If he is in, you trade probably Draisatl for assets to try and load up. Build properly through the draft and patiently develop.
If I were a fan, I'd rather have that hope than cut corners and likely at best end up in mediocrity. This of course is all dependent on purging the organization of rotten culture it has.
But - they probably won't purge, McDavid probably isn't that patient in his prime, so the likely result is a hasty retool with predictable results. Edmonton = No Good!
What's funny is yet again another Calgary win provoked this change. They fired McLellan earlier in the year after a loss to the Flames, St. Louis fired Yeo, and Chicago fired Quenneville. There will be no one left for Edmonton to fire by year's end!
I went up to Edmonton for the game on Saturday, and there was a Flames fan a section over holding a sign cheekily asking the Oilers NOT to fire Chiarelli. Pressed it right up on the glass a few times as well, and had to fight off a drunk Oiler fan trying to steal it.
I laughed at the time, of course, but this unnamed Flames fan has been on my mind a little but more this morning.
I posted last night on Twitter on about how I thought Chiarelli did a tremendous job. Immediately an Oiler fan responded and told me to "leave this world". I thought he was just being salty but I guess he thought I was being serious and couldn't sense the sarcasm. lol
