Edmonton is No Good VI: Chia•den•freu•de

[GGG]

Tkachuk, Barzal, Hall, Eberle, Drai, RNH, McDavid

That’s a scary top 7 forwards.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Chiarelli has been everything we could have hoped for. I tho k he made 4 very coritical errors that lead to the situation they are in. There are more than 4 errors but these are the worst imo in order:

1. Trades the 16th pick (who could have been Barzal, Connor, Chabot, Boeser, Kinect) and the 33rd pick (who could have been Aho, Carlo, Andersson, Dunn) for Griffin Reinhart. This move right here was truly his worst. They might not of picked those players but imagine if they had Chabot and Aho? In addition to McDavid that draft would set them up for a decade.

2. The second worst move was Hall for Larsson. 1 for 1 simply a shocking trade at the time. Hall is a superstar and Larsson is simply a bland second pair D.

3. The third biggest mistake was the Lucic contract. The deal was ugly from the get go bit people thought he would probably be good for 3 years of that deal but the Oil got one year that was acceptable the second was a disappointment and it only is getting worse. The bonus structure and C make the deal unmovable.

4. The last critical error was drafting Jesse Puljujarvi with the 4th pick in 2016. Tough to blame him for taking the clear cut top choice at the time but this bust has set the Oilers back as they desperately could use a top 6 winger.


Eberle for Strome for Spooner was bad.

4x4 for Russell with a NMC was brutal. Sekera 5.5x6 would have proven to be a terrible deal but the injuries cloud that take a little bit.

Paying McDavid and Draisaitl top $ to buy maximum ufa years was smart imo but it left little room for error and this team is full of bad contracts. Bad drafting has highlighted this further. Just to think of what Chiarelli inherited and what he did with it was just awesome from a flames fans perspective.

I don't think Chiarelli makes all the decisions, I think he has been mostly a puppet for whatever the "big boys club" want. I know that Mactavis was a big Lucic fan so it was no surprise when they when out and picked him up. The oilers came into this thinking they had a master plan to build a team of superstars by losing and picking up draft picks every year. So what did they do in the meantime?; "they started a losing culture". They rewarded players for losing and drinking koolaid, "while paying them millions to keep drinking it".

They have cycled through several coaches, soiled and placed blame on spoiled (but skilled players while trading them away to appease fans). Poor management and drafting strategy "while assuming the chips would fall into place" has proven to be very shortsighted and incompetent.

The oilers don't really have a plan. it fizzled. The only thing they can do is start over, reestablish a new culture and identity. They could also trade McDavid, but that would mean admitting everything they did was wrong, shoddy and poorly constructed. I think it will be an entrenched philosophy + pride that will prevent them from making any meaningful change.

Even if they let Chiarelli go, the next person will still have to swim with the old boys club.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

I don't think Chiarelli makes all the decisions, I think he has been mostly a puppet for whatever the "big boys club" want. I know that Mactavis was a big Lucic fan so it was no surprise when they when out and picked him up. The oilers came into this thinking they had a master plan to build a team of superstars by losing and picking up draft picks every year. So what did they do in the meantime?; "they started a losing culture". They rewarded players for losing and drinking koolaid, "while paying them millions to keep drinking it".

They have cycled through several coaches, soiled and placed blame on spoiled (but skilled players while trading them away to appease fans). Poor management and drafting strategy "while assuming the chips would fall into place" has proven to be very shortsighted and incompetent.

The oilers don't really have a plan. it fizzled. The only thing they can do is start over, reestablish a new culture and identity. They could also trade McDavid, but that would mean admitting everything they did was wrong, shoddy and poorly constructed. I think it will be an entrenched philosophy pride that will prevent them from making any meaningful change.

Even if they let Chiarelli go the next person will still have to swim with the old boys club.

And its not even just that.

The overall structure of that roster is horrible. Their defence is paper-thin, there is no toughness anywhere in the lineup, no talent beyond the obvious, too much roster money locked into immovable contracts, wildly inconsistent goaltending which is both a problem and the symptom of a deeper problem and they have no goalies signed for next year anyways.

Ultimately though, they're in Cap Hell with players and contracts that are effectively impossible to move because of their structure and the fact that they have no 'sweeteners' left.

Nobody is taking back bad players on bad contracts without the Oilers giving something up and, frankly, they dont have anything left to give other than picks.

And they need their picks, more than that they need their picks to start panning out.

Look at the major differences, when the Oilers are struggling there is no help in Bakersfield so the thinness of their NHL roster is a symptom of the lack of depth in the NHL as well as all the way down.

They have no players that they could package up for immediate help and even if they did that they're just robbing Peter to pay Paul and ultimately treading water.

They can fire Chia if they want but its just polishing the brass on the Titanic.

What would the next GM even do? Even if he wanted to burn the whole thing to the ground outside of their only 3 decent players its effectively already in that state, theres almost nothing left to burn. None of their players have any return value other than the players that they pretty much cant deal.

Think about it. Even if they just started all over again and drafted and developed well there are so many holes to fill that even if, through some incredible feat of Nostradamian clairvoyance drafted brilliantly they would probably still be 2-4 years away from those players being NHL ready, then they'll have burned through half of McDavid's deal, half (more) of Draisaitl's, lord only knows what happens to RNH and the players that they already have will still be bad just older and likely being paid more.

And quite frankly, they'd even be in tough finding someone who would even be willing to take on a project of that magnitude and be competent enough to accomplish it.

Thats really the best part. This tire-fire that we're seeing right now? This is just the beginning. Its not going to get better from here anytime in the near future. They are trending down from here.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Locke

Thats really the best part. This tire-fire that we're seeing right now? This is just the beginning. Its not going to get better from here anytime in the near future. They are trending down from here.

It's amazing how far they've come since McDavids first season. Speaking in the downwards direction.

And there's no end in sight for it either which is definitely the best part.

[the2bears]

This is some generational Chiadenfreude.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Dan02

It's amazing how far they've come since McDavids first season. Speaking in the downwards direction.

And there's no end in sight for it either which is definitely the best part.

I find their blindness towards their own roster and reality itself both hilarious and terrifying.

"This team made the playoffs and won a round and were cheated out of beating the Ducks! They have what it takes to win it all, we just have to give them the right coaching and the Cups will just start pouring in!"

Ummm....its an entirely different team than that one. While they still get the League's easiest schedule, they dont have all the stars aligning for them like they did that time. And that was years ago, the players who are still left are older and whatever lightning they caught has long been let out of the bottle.

It kind of reminds me of the Edmonton Oilers post 2006. Re-signing all of the old heroes and warhorses and then wondering why the magic all of a sudden stubbornly refused to repeat itself.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Locke

And its not even just that.

The overall structure of that roster is horrible. Their defence is paper-thin, there is no toughness anywhere in the lineup, no talent beyond the obvious, too much roster money locked into immovable contracts, wildly inconsistent goaltending which is both a problem and the symptom of a deeper problem and they have no goalies signed for next year anyways.

Ultimately though, they're in Cap Hell with players and contracts that are effectively impossible to move because of their structure and the fact that they have no 'sweeteners' left.

Nobody is taking back bad players on bad contracts without the Oilers giving something up and, frankly, they dont have anything left to give other than picks.

And they need their picks, more than that they need their picks to start panning out.

Look at the major differences, when the Oilers are struggling there is no help in Bakersfield so the thinness of their NHL roster is a symptom of the lack of depth in the NHL as well as all the way down.

They have no players that they could package up for immediate help and even if they did that they're just robbing Peter to pay Paul and ultimately treading water.

They can fire Chia if they want but its just polishing the brass on the Titanic.

What would the next GM even do? Even if he wanted to burn the whole thing to the ground outside of their only 3 decent players its effectively already in that state, theres almost nothing left to burn. None of their players have any return value other than the players that they pretty much cant deal.

Think about it. Even if they just started all over again and drafted and developed well there are so many holes to fill that even if, through some incredible feat of Nostradamian clairvoyance drafted brilliantly they would probably still be 2-4 years away from those players being NHL ready, then they'll have burned through half of McDavid's deal, half (more) of Draisaitl's, lord only knows what happens to RNH and the players that they already have will still be bad just older and likely being paid more.

And quite frankly, they'd even be in tough finding someone who would even be willing to take on a project of that magnitude and be competent enough to accomplish it.

Thats really the best part. This tire-fire that we're seeing right now? This is just the beginning. Its not going to get better from here anytime in the near future. They are trending down from here.

I know, it is bad. REALLY BAD! It is like putting someone with no experience to run construction company, the only result would be a huge mess. The people upstairs are not and never been qualified,they were gifted their jobs and go about it blindly. To make matters worse it, the malady probably runs through the whole organization.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Locke

I find their blindness towards their own roster and reality itself both hilarious and terrifying.

"This team made the playoffs and won a round and were cheated out of beating the Ducks! They have what it takes to win it all, we just have to give them the right coaching and the Cups will just start pouring in!"

Ummm....its an entirely different team than that one. While they still get the League's easiest schedule, they dont have all the stars aligning for them like they did that time. And that was years ago, the players who are still left are older and whatever lightning they caught has long been let out of the bottle.

It kind of reminds me of the Edmonton Oilers post 2006. Re-signing all of the old heroes and warhorses and then wondering why the magic all of a sudden stubbornly refused to repeat itself.

^This

It is like living a lie but because the motherboard is infected everything and everyone else is deprived of perception. The oilers koolaid is quite different from the stuff that Johnny, Mony and Elias are drinking!

[カナダ人です]

I really really hope Chia doesn't get fired. The entertainment he provides the rest of the (hockey) world goes beyond mere philanthropy. He's basically a Saint.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Awaiting the Chiasson extension.

Seriously. He’s actually in their top 6.

[drewtastic]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Chiarelli has been everything we could have hoped for. I tho k he made 4 very coritical errors that lead to the situation they are in. There are more than 4 errors but these are the worst imo in order:

1. Trades the 16th pick (who could have been Barzal, Connor, Chabot, Boeser, Kinect) and the 33rd pick (who could have been Aho, Carlo, Andersson, Dunn) for Griffin Reinhart. This move right here was truly his worst. They might not of picked those players but imagine if they had Chabot and Aho? In addition to McDavid that draft would set them up for a decade.

This is so well-argued.

Out of everything Chia has done (or not done), this trade is arguably the very worst, in hindsight--including passing over Tkachuk.

I cannot believe how many misses they've made post-McDavid, in their drafting and trading. Like other posters have listed, you consider the "what-ifs" for that team, and they are legitimately terrifying. Instead--thankfully--they are what they are.

I consider the Oilers the "Coronation Street" of the NHL: in this case, the longest running entertainment viewing for non-Oiler fans.

[CaptainCrunch]

So CaptainCrunch for fun has decided to become the new GM of the Oilers


Frankly I walk into Darryl Katz mansion and tell him that I'm his next GM because frankly nobody from outside of the organization is going to take the job, and also if he fires Chia and hires Gretz's little brother or Messier or any other member of the old boys club that the fans will burn his fancy new building down.


My contract terms are


1) I'll work cheap, $275k a year
2) He doesn't have to fire Lowe or Mac-T or any other members of the old boys club, instead he can send them on scouting trips with one way tickets
3) 15 minutes in his pharmacy warehouse un supervised.
4) I want a hairless office cat.


So he hires me because I can't be any worse. After a quick evaluation of the talent pool in the NHL and the AHL and the prospect pool I quickly realize that I have nothing to work with.


I quickly write a letter to the fans telling them that I have a massive mess to fix and we're going to focus on a different style of hockey. I storm down to Hitchcocks office and tell him that he's not the coach for the organization. I also fire GG just because.


I then reach out to Bob Hartley and tell him that I want his face paced no structure hockey, I also want a coach that's going to instill a work ethic into the team. He likes the cut of my jib and jumps aboard.


I then realize that I'm in cap hell and I don't have the assets to get rid of Lucic, so I decide that this team is going to be horrific for the rest of the year, but the fans will understand.


I call Connor into my office and tell him that we're rebuilding, I offer him a one time chance to be traded. He takes it, I tell him to keep it quite.


I'm now going to solve my cap problems right now.



I offer out Connor McDavid for at least a young top 6 scoring winger, a young top pairing defenseman and a first round pick right now, but I open a 10 day auction.



Chances are that a team is going to pay that price, and I immediately drop about 5 million dollars off of my payroll and have improved my depth.


I then call Draisaitl into my office and tell him to stop being half the player he should be and its time to drive a line.


I then put RNH on the market, my price is going to be a first round pick and a prospect. I expect that Montreal would for example jump on that because Dorain is a dope.


I've now shaved probably another 4 to 5 million dollars off of the payroll. Lets say that with the trade of Connor and RNH I'm saving about $11 million bucks.


I then pause for a minute to take some drugs that I took from the warehouse.


I offer Koskinan a extension at $3.5 million for 2 years as a show me contract.


Ok so without McDavid but with my new young dman and winger, I still finish in the lottery, but I now have three first round picks.


We go to the draft, if I win the lottery I draft Hughes. If I don't I package up my lottery first round pick and probably Nurse and PoolParty to hopefully dupe whoever won the draft.



I pick Hughes, I still have two more draft picks in the first round that I can use to rebuild my prospect base. I ignore my scouts in Lowe and Mac-T.


I then take some of my new found wealth to target a pure finisher like Skinner


I also try to convince Goalie Bob or Varlamov to come and play for the Oilers.

[TheScorpion]

Fun post, Cap, but...

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I then put RNH on the market, my price is going to be a first round pick and a prospect. I expect that Montreal would for example jump on that because Dorain is a dope.

...what?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Fun post, Cap, but...



...what?

D'oh wrong GM


OR wrong team


You never know.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by カナダ人です

I really really hope Chia doesn't get fired. The entertainment he provides the rest of the (hockey) world goes beyond mere philanthropy. He's basically a Saint.

No respected GM with any track record of success is going to want to work in Edmonton under that hockey ops department, at this point in time (a huge mess). Does anyone think that Chiarelli will ever get another shot at being a GM? I don't.



Promote from within. It is the Oiler way (especially since nobody else wants it).



I look forward to a new tenure led by someone named Messier, or Gretzky, or Gretzky (they have both of them!).



What the Oilers are really, really good at is putting on a sitcom. Not many shows are this entertaining for a decade +! Three's Company only lasted 8 seasons. Seinfeld lasted 9 seasons. Friends lasted 10. Oilers will last a lifetime my friend, and they will never get stale.



Bring in the new characters with fresh content that we can fall in love with all over again please!

[drewtastic]

The most accurate thing about Capt's post ^^ above is that the only way the (C)oilers get out of this mess at this point is to trade (one of) McDavid (or Draisaitl).

"Ze Cherman" is basically un-tradeable, given his contract. But McDavid would command a fortune.

The decision the (C)oil has to make is: do they want to be Cup-competitive, or do they want to keep the shiniest toy in the store?

And I already know their answer.

As a Flames fan, I am happy to know this answer, because it means that E will remain NG. As a hockey fan in general, however, I am sad to realize that the next greatest NHL player will continue to be mired in mediocrity for the next decade, rather than be showcased in an actual NHL market.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by drewtastic

The most accurate thing about Capt's post ^^ above is that the only way the (C)oilers get out of this mess at this point is to trade (one of) McDavid (or Draisaitl).

"Ze Cherman" is basically un-tradeable, given his contract. But McDavid would command a fortune.

The decision the (C)oil has to make is: do they want to be Cup-competitive, or do they want to keep the shiniest toy in the store?

And I already know their answer.

As a Flames fan, I am happy to know this answer, because it means that E will remain NG. As a hockey fan in general, however, I am sad to realize that the next greatest NHL player will continue to be mired in mediocrity for the next decade, rather than be showcased in an actual NHL market.

Heres the thing though....even trading McDavid, despite the haul of assets isnt going to get them anywhere.

There are just too many holes. Its like trying to plug a leaking boat, another hole just opens up and water just keeps pouring in.

Right now their strategy is trying to keep everything air-tight and banking on some McOffence, and its keeping them treading water but its not going to appreciably move them up the standings and even more, you cannot win in the playoffs without depth.

So this is going to get them nowhere other than where they currently are. Which, coincidentally, is nowhere.

If they trade McDavid they'll get multiple players of lesser talent but its more than likely that their offensive punch, anemic as it is already, is going to suffer.

Will their defensive game and goaltending be sufficiently upgraded via that transaction to offset that hit to their offense?

Because nobody has sufficient NHL-ready assets to make that trade. Some of the balance is going to have to be made up in picks.

And unless those picks are Top 5 they're basically toilet-paper in the Oilers' hands.

So once again, it leaves them screwed.

The alternative and most likely course of action is to stay the course. Bank on McDavid and Draisaitl and hope as Resolute mentioned, for CBA Compliance buyouts to hopefully shorten an ensuing rebuild.

But even then they have to draft and develop well and get their own players into the NHL and contributing.

That however, takes time, time that is burning McDavid's contract and patience as well as anything else thats going for them such as other players that arent complete crap are getting older, worse and more expensive and the cycle just becomes self-perpetuating.

And I mean that, about the self-perpetuating cycle. Because this is at least the 3rd or 4th time the Oilers have gone around this particular merry-go-round. Whether they want to admit it or not.

They're just constantly getting on exactly where they got off last time.

[TheScorpion]

I kind of want to see Calgary get Eberle from NYI at the TDL, just to see the Oilers' reaction.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Realistically, outside of an abject has-been, no established NHL-caliber General Manager is going to bite on the Oilers gig.

Are there ambitious assistant GM candidates out there? Sure. Given ownership's propensity to retain incompetent "Alumni" OBC overseers, I'm not sure that's an inticing opportunity.

For instance, a guy like Craig Conroy. Way to crater one's career taking on that tire fire.

E=NG

[Erick Estrada]

I would expect the new GM would be one of the many cooks in the kitchen within such as Keith Gretzky or Messier.