Edmonton Oilers: Nikita Nikitin and Snake Oil

You know, the Edmonton Oilers just lost 5-2 against the Canucks in one of their last games of the preseason. Sure, it’s preseason. It means nothing, I say. It’s just a meaningless win as we get ready for the season.

However, if there was a glaring blackhole of everything good for the Oilers, that blackhole that exists on the back end and wears number 86.

It’s time for Peter Chiarelli to make a MacT bold move and get Nikita Nikitin far away from the Edmonton Oilers. It does not matter how. It does not matter where. Nikitin, for the love of everything Oiler related, has to be gone.

The Trade

Remember when we acquired Nikita Nikitin’s rights? I do. I remember defending the move. Yes, that’s right. Just like the other snake oil salesmen, Dallas Eakins, that I fell hook line and sinker for the sales pitch.

Oh! I remember Nikitin in Columbus. I remember him bringing a physical game and a hard cannon of a shot. I remember saying how it would be beneficial to have such an esquisite talent like Nikita Nikitin on the Edmonton Oilers.

Then came the contract: Two years. 4.5 Million per. Oh yeah, I had to, JUST had to, defend that one as well. I argued that the deal was so short term that the cost did not matter at all. Meanwhile, management would give Jeff Petry a contract for less money and less term. Ah, the beauty of hindsight.

But hey that’s okay! Nikitin is going to fit right in with the Edmonton Oilers. Or so I thought.

First Season

Nikitin was absolutely dreadful last year and was the biggest target for the goat horns and the wrath of Edmonton Oilers fans. First, he shows up to camp out of shape. That’s a great message to send to a new team: showing up to training camp out of shape. Not only was he sluggish out there, he was also injured. Nikitin would have a nagging back injury and I had some sympathy for him. Maybe, that back injury was the cause for him to be so out of shape. Back injuries are quite the nagging injury and can be quite difficult to shake off. I wanted to give Nikitin a second chance. I really wanted to see Nikitin turn it around. I wanted Nikitin to admit that last season did not work out and that he would be fully committed to the new season to make a positive impact for his team. There were even reports that he would be bought out. Would that not be great motivation to turn it around?

Do you all see a trend here?

The Now

I can safely say, that without a doubt, Nikita Nikitin is one of the laziest players I have ever watched play for the Edmonton Oilers. I’m not the usual type to slam a player and have a player that I want ran out of town. I’m usually the guy who wants anything but that. However, Nikitin is the exception to my usual trend.

I have never seen a player, who is supposedly fighting for a roster spot, look so horribly out of shape. Every shift I see this player skate, he is huffing and puffing. From the first practice it was reported from Jason Gregor that Nikitin was struggling to keep up with the other players. This is completely inexcusable.

“He’s an embarrassment to the logo on the jersey and embodies everything wrong these last few years as an Oilers fan: someone we hoped would actually be a player but turns out to be utter garbage.”

Then take tonight’s game, which I will not get too much into. Nikitin was constantly out of position, too slow to catch up to the other player. The most damning one was the first Bo Horvat goal where Horvat went into the slot unmolested. Ference was behind the net taking the guy who had the puck and where was Nikitin? On the nine million dollar club island, skating in a good few seconds too late to do anything remotely useful.

Whenever Nikitin touched the puck, it was like handling the grenade. Forget any creativity in the offensive zone: as soon as Nikitin would touch the thing, it would be a turnover where he would be losing another foot race.

Nikita Nikitin owes the Edmonton Oilers nine million dollars. How an NHL veteran shows up to camp in the same condition, or even dare I say worse condition, is beyond me. It paints to me, that this is a guy who cashed in his paycheque and he’s set for life. He’s an embarrassment to the logo on the jersey and embodies everything wrong these last few years as an Oilers fan: someone we hoped would actually be a player but turns out to be utter garbage.

Please, Peter Chiarelli. Getting anything for Nikitin would be a massive win. I’d even consider an empty roster spot as a step up over this giant blue and orange pylon that wears 86. He’s the biggest rip off that I have witnessed on this team. He tops a long list of doozies.

Next: An Open Letter to ESPN From an Oilers Writer

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