Since Peter Chiarelli arrived as Edmonton Oilers general manager in the late spring of 2015, men occupying that position have treated the team’s youth pipeline like a never-ending resource.
Most of the picks awarded and prospects uncovered have been sent away for immediate help. Often that help was shy of cost and short-term in nature.
How much, if any, damage has been done? Can current management avoid repeating history? Here’s a look.
Early and often
Chiarelli waited about one hour after drafting Connor McDavid before hurrying roster improvement by trading youth and picks for players who were supposed to help immediately.
His dealing of two high picks in a historically strong draft year (2015) for unproven defenceman Griffin Reinhart signalled the franchise was willing to make risky moves and pay in full.
Reinhart didn’t help immediately. In fact, he didn’t help at all.
A list of players who were in their formative years and dealt away (sometimes for very little return) is breathtaking.
The dealing of young NHL veterans like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz has been well documented. Draft picks sent away turned into names like Mathew Barzal and Jonas Siegenthaler.
The return on these deals included some quality (specifically Adam Larsson and Cam Talbot) but the organization lacked the quality and depth to be making these deals at the time.
Chiarelli’s riverboat gambler style of trading won the Boston Bruins the Stanley Cup in 2011, but he never got close in Edmonton. The team’s prospect pool bled rivers of talent during his time with the Oilers, while the older players acquired were closer to free agency and big contracts.
It was a massive drain on the talent across the franchise and resulted in Chiarelli’s firing.
Holland’s strategy
Ken Holland had an added degree of difficulty due to the pandemic but created additional problems (Zack Kassian contract, Andreas Athanasiou acquisition and then walking the player) over his five seasons with the team.
Draft picks and prospects surrendered during Holland’s time include Brock Faber (an emerging star with the Minnesota Wild) and Lane Hutson (who is authoring a similar story with the Montreal Canadiens).
Maveric Lamoureux (a giant defenceman who is already playing in the NHL) and Tanner Molendyk (still in junior with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades but trending well) may well develop into quality NHL players as time goes on.
Additionally, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg accepted offer sheets after Holland’s exit, but management’s inability to protect the assets in the year before the St. Louis Blues came calling reflects poorly on the regime’s decision-making process.
The combined impact of the Chiarelli and Holland years? The Oilers are a team with a farm system that is low in quality and quantity and has been continually compromised by trades made in search of immediate help.
The unforgivable fact in all of this? Edmonton bled all these picks and prospects in search of a Stanley Cup victory that never came.
History will be unkind to both.
What’s next?
Stan Bowman, the third veteran general manager brought in to win since McDavid arrived, is actually named after the Cup he is pursuing. His middle name was inspired by Glenn Hall and he was general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks during their three most recent championships.
Bowman replaced Broberg and Holloway with two astute trades. The cost was modest (a third- and fourth-round pick and aging defender Cody Ceci) for Ty Emberson and Vasily Podkolzin, with both men owning cap numbers of $1 million or less.
Bowman also invited Travis Dermott and Mike Hoffman to training camp (Dermott winning a job), traded for defenceman Ronnie Attard and claimed Kasperi Kapanen off waivers.
All of these moves reflect a team with a shallow prospect pool, a keen eye on accruing cap room for the deadline and a need to add players who can help at the NHL and AHL levels.
None of these moves can be considered signature additions.
Bowman has an interesting dilemma. There’s very little cap room, several needs (right defence, scoring wingers, perhaps a right-handed centre and some see goaltending as a primary issue) and limited assets that would be viable trade pieces.
Additionally, there are several players with no-movement clauses (McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Jeff Skinner) and one with a limited no-trade clause (Mattias Janmark).
Rock, meet hard place.
Bowman is unlikely to trade Emberson or Podkolzin, plus Viktor Arvidsson, Adam Henrique, Corey Perry, Connor Brown, Derek Ryan, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard.
That leaves Dermott, Kapanen and Troy Stecher. All three are NHL talents but have limited trade value.
Bowman needs a dollar-in, dollar-out deal for real NHL help and his most valuable pieces are predictable.
Draft picks. Young talent.
Bowman did himself a favour by picking up Paul Fischer as part of the transaction with the Blues in the Broberg-Holloway deal. Remember that name, Fischer could be in play.
A recent look at possible trade chips uncovered names like Maxim Berezkin (delivering a strong season in the KHL), the team’s 2026 first-round draft pick, plus three prospects the club would probably prefer to keep (two-way centre Sam O’Reilly, puck mover Beau Akey and AHL scoring winger Matt Savoie).
Edmonton’s new GM knows what he needs to do, having done it several times before.
He acquired college defenceman Nick Leddy before he played an NHL game, effectively stealing an inexpensive and immediately useful talent from the Minnesota Wild in 2010. Bowman acquired veteran blueliner Johnny Oduya at the 2012 deadline, plus a seemingly finished Michal Handzus at the 2013 deadline.
All turned out handsomely for Chicago.
Ideally, he finds a young plug-and-play, under team control, making a smaller salary ($3 million or less). That’s a very limited market and a big ask.
Attractive defencemen in that range might include Henri Jokiharju of the Buffalo Sabres. An older player who might fit is Olli Maatta of the Utah Hockey Club. Bowman for him once, in the summer of 2019.
When will it happen?
The recent success of the Oilers (11-6-2 after a 0-3-0 start) allows Bowman some time to wait for prices to ease and the market to take shape.
Rumours have the team acquiring a left-handed defenceman who can play the right side, but Brett Kulak has solved that problem with strong work as Nurse’s partner on the second pairing.
In an on-air conversation with Daniel Nugent-Bowman at The Athletic this week, he stated it was possible a forward could be the target.
If there’s any uncertainty Bowman is sure to keep his powder dry. He has improved the team since arriving, and done it without surrendering any assets that would be considered dear.
If Bowman can acquire a useful player on an expiring contract for less than a first-round selection or any of Savoie, O’Reilly or Akey, it would make sense for Edmonton.
If he’s going to surrender a key asset, Bowman must be sure. Oilers fans have yet to forgive the Griffin Reinhart trade and are even more steamed about the St. Louis offer sheet.
A clear win is required as his first signature deal. The sooner the better.
(Photo: Danny Murphy / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
