The Edmonton Oilers have had four first overall picks since 2010, one of them being Connor McDavid. For a team to get that many first overall picks, you have to be incredibly lucky. Because even one first overall pick can take your team from a rebuilder to a contender. But somehow, in the 2019 season, the Edmonton Oilers, who had four of them, ranging from 2010 to 2015, are still on the outside looking in.
The reason they are not winning after their incredible luck in the draft is because of one person. His name is Peter Chiarelli. Every time the Oilers had a glimmer of hope, Chiarelli has gone ahead and traded that hope away. Chiarelli looked attractive to the Oilers in 2015 because he had a cup under his belt with the Boston Bruins, and on April 15th 2015, the Oilers took a chance on the Ottawa native. But the Oilers forgot some things he did in Boston that weren’t so awesome. He essentially traded his best prospect, Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley and Ryan Button for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser and Joe Morrow. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against any of these guys. But Chiarelli essentially traded Tyler Seguin for Loui Eriksson. Eriksson played 3 seasons with the Bruins before signing with the Canucks in 2016. As for Seguin, he ended up being an elite number one center in Dallas. The Boston Bruins are still a terrific team, but imagine how good they would be had they had Tyler Seguin on the roster.
The Oilers overlooked that as a one-time thing. Bad decision. His first bad trade was so bad, Oilers fans get a headache simply hearing the name Matthew Barzal. Just months into his tenure as GM, Chiarelli traded the 16th and 33rd overall picks in the 2015 draft to the New York Islanders, in exchange for defenceman Griffin Reinhart. The Islanders ended up trading the 33rd pick to Tampa Bay, who picked 196 pound centreman Mitchell Stephens. Stephens is currently playing with the Syracruse Crunch, Tampa Bays farm team. He has yet to play an NHL game.
But who the Islanders picked 16th overall might haunt the Oilers forever. The Islanders picked 2018 Calder trophy winner Matthew Barzal. Barzal is the number 1 centre in New York, now that John Tavares, the face of their franchise is gone, he has taken the reigns and carried the team that missed the playoffs last year, and has led them to the top spot in the Metropolitan division. He’s done all that before his 22nd birthday. Where is Griffin Reinhart now, you ask? He is currently playing with the Chicago Wolves, the Vegas Golden Knights farm team.
Maybe you could forgive one bad trade. But this second one was inexcusable, and it should have sent Chiarelli packing. But it didn’t, and that came back to bite them in the butt. He shipped Calgary native Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils, in exchange for defenceman Adam Larsson. Again, nothing against Adam Larsson, but he’s a top 4 defenceman at most. Rumors were flying around that he was traded because of his negative influence on the locker room. I agree that if a guy is not meshing with your team, you need to take action. I just feel like if you’re trading a Hart trophy winner, you need to make sure you get a good return.
And just to rub the salt in the wound for Oilers fans, I’m gonna bring up the Eberle trade. The Oilers ended up trading 6 time 20 goal scorer Jordan Eberle for Rangers forward Ryan Strome. The Oilers then traded Strome to Boston for Ryan Spooner. Then, just months after the trade, Spooner was placed on waivers. So Chiarelli essentially traded Jordan Eberle for absolutely nothing.
I could go on all night about all the things Chiarelli did, but to resume in one sentence, the Oilers will be better without Chiarelli pulling the strings. I can see Wayne Gretzky coming in as GM, because he is someone who is very familiar with this team. But don’t take my word for it. I’m just a ten year old aspiring GM.
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Until next time,
Johnny.