Are the Edmonton Oilers About to Fire Peter Chiarelli?
By Pelle
The Edmonton Oilers are in the midst of a five-game losing streak at home, and the future isn’t looking bright. Will their latest defeat seal the deal for general manager Peter Chiarelli? According to one report, yes!
It’s time. The air around the Edmonton Oilers organization stinks of failure, and it’s an odor that has lingered since Kevin Lowe was running the club. They’re four years into the Connor McDavid era, and the only season they’ve made the playoffs was the one where injuries didn’t derail them.
What Has Gone Wrong This Year?
The Oilers have gone through two significant winning streaks and two major losing streaks. The only difference being that one of the losing streaks (the current one), has been due to the holes left by the injuries to Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell.
As head coach Ken Hitchcock has stated, players are being slotted above their playing level, and that’s massively important in the NHL. If your team falls into an injury crisis, like the Oilers and Predators this year, that can have a massive impact on how your team performs.
That being said, secondary scoring has been non-existent. The fact that Edmonton has to rely on players like Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto so early on in their careers is a clear indication that Peter Chiarelli hasn’t done a good enough job procuring talent over the years.
What Can Be Done to Salvage the Year?
Given the Oilers current cap crunch, I don’t think much more than tinkering or finding a team as desperate as they are to make a change will help. Whoever the GM is next week will need to find a way to move some money because they need some wiggle room to make a substantial trade.
Who Can Be Moved Out?
Cam Talbot will be a name that comes to the forefront of trade rumors I believe. Milan Lucic‘s name will always be the first to come up though. Between Talbot and Lucic, that’s ten million dollars the Oilers could free up, and I know that Philadelphia is looking for a goalie. Will Chicago be looking now that Corey Crawford is back in the IR? The Penguins are looking for some muscle to counter Washington’s Tom Wilson too.
On a more unlikely note, players like Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could be moved if there was an appetite for a more blockbuster-like trade.
Bottom Line
Peter Chiarelli has had ample time to get this roster in order and has failed to have done so. In the coming years, the Oilers will feel the impact of his work in the draft, but at the moment; the fanbase and the media in Edmonton are sick of losing.
A sacrifice must be made.