Edmonton Oilers: Peter Chiarelli Must Focus on Plan A

Is Peter Chiarelli doing all that he can for the Edmonton Oilers? He’s said that he has a contingency plan if the Nurse deal goes south. Is that the right move?

Peter Chiarelli hasn’t been winning any fans over of how he has handled the Edmonton Oilers the past few years. An argument can be made that he’s done more harm to the team than to its benefit. But patience has also been a virtue to the fanbase in giving the man one more shot in turning this ship around.

A lot of hockey experts weren’t that impressed with the changes he made to the team during the offseason. Some have said that the team is nearly identical to what it was last year, and can’t expect this group of talent to be better than what they were last season.

The Edmonton Oilers had a press conference with Peter Chiarelli being the headliner. The biggest news that came out of it was his displeasure that Erik Karlsson was traded to a divisional rival. He did say that the Oilers were never in the running to acquire him because he never included the Oilers in his trade list.

So you can’t fault Chiarelli for trying to pursue one of the best players in the world if he never had a shot, to begin with. But that wasn’t the most surprising thing he said in the press conference.

He mentioned that they are still in the negotiated phase of the contract situation with Darnell Nurse. He suggested that if the talks break down, he will then move on to Plan B. To many Edmonton Oilers fans, that isn’t something they want to hear at this very moment.

Darnell Nurse is a young and promising player who has years ahead of him when it comes down to development. No way he should be looked at as a guy the Oilers can move on from just because the money situation isn’t ideal for both sides.

The Edmonton Oilers might be strapped for cash when it comes down to spending money on players for the short term. But best believe that Nurse isn’t one of those guys you don’t attempt to lock a deal in right away.