A Look Back

On April 24th 2015, Peter Chiarelli was hired by the Edmonton Oilers as president of hockey operations and general manager. A position that was highly coveted at the time, considering the Oilers had won the NHL draft lottery less than two weeks prior, gaining the ability to pick a franchise player and generational talent in Connor McDavid.

Chiarelli quickly made his stamp on the franchise that offseason. After selecting "McJesus" 1st overall, Chiarelli went on to make trades for defensemen Griffin Reinhart and Eric Gryba, forward Lauri Korpikoski, and goalie Cam Talbot. He gave extensions to Justin Schultz, Tyler Pitlick, and Brandon Davidson, as well as signed one of the better unrestricted free agents on the market, defenseman Andrei Sekera to a 6 year deal. In his first season as the boss, Chiarelli's oilers finished with 70 points. One point ahead of Toronto who finished last, and five points behind Vancouver who finished in front of the Oil. McDavid suffered a broken collarbone in his rookie year, limiting him to only 45 games played. McDavid's and other injuries hurt the team, but it was a disappointing season nonetheless, with the likes of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan-Nugent Hopkins, and Leon Draisaitl still in the picture. Justin Schultz would be traded away at the deadline and would go on to win two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The next offseason, PC addressed what he felt was a massive hole in the Oilers lineup. A top pair, shut-down defenseman. On June 29th 2016, Oilers 2010 first overall pick and scoring leader from the previous season, Taylor Hall, was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson... one for one. A deal that caused major controversy in Edmonton and had Oilers fans fuming. To replace Taylor Hall on the left side, unrestricted free agent Milan Lucic was given a massive seven year deal worth $42. Critics were silenced that upcoming season as the Oilers had their best season in well over a decade, finishing with 103 points and only two points behind division leader, the Anaheim Ducks. This was accompanied by an impressive playoff run, that saw the Oilers take out the previous years' Western Conference Champions, the San Jose Sharks, in 6 games, and take the powerhouse Anaheim Ducks to seven games. The Oil unfortunately lost the 7th game 2-1, however many Oil and NHL fans feel their fate was decided before the series had even started...(an argument for another day).

After an impressive season, many Oilers fans felt not much needed to be done in the offseason. The Oilers best player and captain, McDavid, was going to get an extension even though he had one year left on his entry-level deal. Leon Draisaitl needed a new contract as his ELC was up. They were both going to get a lot of money, however the Oil had wiggle room in their salary cap. One other area that needed to be addressed was a top-4 defenseman, as Sekera had suffered a knee injury in the series against Anaheim that would keep him out of the lineup until atleast Christmas. McDavid got his extension and Draisatil got his contract late in the summer, however PC never addressed his hole on defense.

Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins trade talks had been surfacing, because the Oil would be in some salary trouble once both McDavid's and Draisaitl's contracts were on the books. Both Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins had underwhelming playoff performances, which heightened the talks.

Just under a year before Hall was traded away, another cornerstone of the franchise was traded east, as Jordan Eberle was shipped to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome...one for one.. again. However, this time the trade was seen as a salary dump. The Oil would have eventually had to move one of Eberle's or RNH's 6 million dollar cap hit... right? Right. This deal wasn't questioned as much as the Hall trade, for a number of reasons. Eberle was not the player Hall was, Eberle had a really bad playoff showing, and many believed this "cap dump" was going to make room for a top 4 defenceman. Unfortunately, PC refused to address this need. He extended shot blocking guru Kris Russell to a gross 4 year $16 million deal - a contract that is not well liked by most of the Oilers faithful. He also bought out Benoit Pouliot's contract, which was also a head-scratcher, as he had only one year left on his deal. Instead the oil were penalized with multiple years of buyout penalties against their cap.

I could write an entire article on what went wrong in the 2017-18 season. Injury problems, lack of performance, unrealistic expectations, disgusting new Adidas jerseys (the white ones are actually nice, I'll admit). However, one cannot help but look at the lack of help on the blue line as the glaring need at the start of the season. A problem that crippled the Oilers to a horrible start to the season and made it nearly impossible for them to climb back to the top.

Aside from McDavid's 108 point season, there was nothing positive to look back on from the previous year. Perhaps the strong showing from Darnell Nurse who has blossomed into what could be an effective two-way top 4 defenseman in the NHL. Talbot struggled in goal, Oilers number one d-man Oscar Klefbom struggled through injury, and head coach Todd McLellan's blender of line combinations never seemed to click.

So we take a look at this offseason by Peter Chiarelli and the Edmonton Oilers. A solid pick at 10th overall, Evan Bouchard will play on the blue line for the team one day, maybe not this season, but for sure in 2019-2020. Matt Benning, Drake Caggiula, and Ryan Strome all have their new deals. We are still waiting on Nurse's new contract, which we believe to be a bridge deal. Kyle Broadziak is signed to a two-year deal, adding to the forward depth. Kevin Gravel signs a two-way contract adding depth to the blue line. And my favorite move by Chiarelli, signing Tobias Rieder to a one year deal. This guy can play throughout the lineup, and may have some German connection with Leon Draisaitl - a guy desperate for some help along his wing.

So comparing this offseason to the previous two, I think we should be happy with how quiet PC and the Oilers have been. Beside a potential deal to move Milan Lucic and his monstrous contract, Chiarelli should be done on the trade front. After seeing Taylor Hall win league MVP and Jordan Eberle pick up 59 points as second line right wing on the island, PC and Oil fans should feel reluctant in trading another one of their stars.

As we approach the 2018-19 season, Oilers fans await a pivotal year for the franchise. What year was the anomaly? Last years' disappointing 78 point season? Or the surreal season two years ago that seems like a dream - a win away from the conference final. The team's success in the upcoming campaign will also most likely decide the fate of Peter Chiarelli, as the franchise and fan base gets hungrier for success with perhaps the best player in the world in the lineup for the next eight years. Time will tell the way in which the franchise is moving.

Let us know what you think of Chiarelli and the Oilers' offseason compared to the previous ones!

sources: www.NHL.com