Oilers Armchair GM Thread

ConnorMcMullet

#12 Colby Cave
Jun 10, 2017
10,290
18,008
(This will be similar to the trade rumours/discussion, except it is based solely on proposals and discussing others proposals. This isn't only limited to GM moves. It can also include firings and hirings. Let me start it off)

1: Fire Jay Woodcroft and Todd McLellan. Hire Joel Quenneville if available.
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2: Hire Paul Fenton as General Manager. Assign Chiarelli as head of our scouting department (scouting has been much better under him).
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3: Draft Oliver Wahlstrom/Evan Bouchard/Noah Dobson in that order based on who's available.
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4: Make two trades that shed cap and get us a top pairing RHD:
a)
:coyotesKris Russell, 3rd round pick 2019 (NYI)
:edmontonFuture Considerations
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b)
:bluesAdam Larsson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
:edmontonColton Parayko, Tage Thompson
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5: Sign RFAs to 1 million deals, except Strome to 3 and Nurse to 4.16
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6: Sign UFAs: John Carlson 7.4 x 5, James Neal 5 x 3.
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Set the lines like this:

Neal - McDavid - Yamamoto
Thompson - Draisaitl - Puljujarvi
Lucic - Khaira - Strome
Aberg - Cagguila - Kassian

Nurse - Parayko
Klefbom - Carlson
Sekera - Bear/Bouchard/Dobson

That will give McDavid and Draisaitl some quality wingers, give us a killer top 6 on D, and puts Lucic in a position to succeed with limited minutes with other power forwards.

What are your thoughts on this ? Make your own ideal offseasons in this thread.
 

PaPaDee

5-14-6-1
Sep 21, 2005
13,335
2,093
Saskazoo
My pipe dream off-season:

1) Chia hires Fenton as GM, and Chia keeps the role of POHO.

2) Fenton's first act as GM is to fire TM and his coaching staff.

3) Oilers trade Nurse , Strome + for OEL and Domi, signs OEL to an extension worth AAV $8.5M (starting in the 2019-20 season)

4) Oilers trade Slepy & picks for Adam Lowry

5) Oilers sign Grabner to a $2.5M AAV contract


RNH (6.0) - McDavid (12.5) - Pulju (.925)
Grabner (2.5) - Draisaitl (8.5) - Domi (2.0)*
Lucic (6.0) - Lowry (1.75)* - Kassian (1.95)
Caggiula (1.0) - Khaira (.675) - Pakarinen (.75)*
Aberg (.65), Rattie (.725)*

OEL (5.5) - Larsson (4.167)
Klefbom (4.167) - Sekera (5.5)
Russell (4.0) - Benning (1.5)*
Auvituu (.75)*

Talbot (4.167)
Montoya (1.062)

Buyouts: (1.33)

Total Caphit: $78M
 

CanmoreMike

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
2,815
614
#YEG
I usually don't go for these things but I'm feeling it here before bed so I'll bite. For those looking for snarky posts of firing Chiarelli and McLellan or trading whipping boys will be sorely disappointed. Sorry. This one might be pretty boring. Sorry for that as well.

I believe teams that stick together, win together. Constant change does more harm than good.

Coaching
I should know where this coaching staff is now nearing the end of the season. I want to figure some things out with them, namely why the PK was so horrendous at home but so dominant on the road. I'm also looking for answers on what they are willing to change next year if and when plans go off the rails. If these guys seem really ignorant about what just happened and really don't see the need to change anything, then yes, I would be exploring other options.

AHL Coaching
Biggest focus is on rejigging the AHL for optimum development. Finding a coaching fit where the focus is on teaching, development and playing.

Milan Lucic
Not sure what has been up with the big guy this season. He also just doesn't look his old self. And there have been stretches he has been the big, bad bear. Not sure where he is at personally or emotionally but if something is wrong and we can fix it, lets. If something has changed with the team and he needs a change I'll look to see how I can accommodate him or encourage he and his agent to reach out to teams to figure out a fit for both of us. If it is not going to work the last thing the team needs is that cap hit.

Key FAs
I want Nurse signed long term ASAP. I want to do a mid-range deal with Strome - 3-4 years in and around $3M per season (I see him fitting in finally as 3rd line centre). Matt Benning in the 2-3 year range would also be ideal; thinking $1.75-2M or so. I also want to hammer home a 2-3 year bridge deal with Jesse Puljujarvi if possible.

Rest of FAs
I pretty much want to bring everyone else back at no more than $1m. AHL cap price - I want to be able to send these guys down to the minors without it killing the cap with the Oilers. Drake Caggulia, Anton Slepyshev, Ty Rattie, even be open to keeping Laurent Brossoit and Mike Cammallari. With Slepyshev and LB I make promises that if it doesn't work out they'll be on waivers and if need be we will figure out a way to loan them elsewhere (other teams AHL and wait for a trade).

Kris Russell/Andres Sekeras
Having a sit down with both, explaining we are exploring options to add another RHD and that with the depth we have on the left side one of them may be deemed redundant. Both have NMCs that we will honour but open up a dialogue and see if one wants to get out and where. See if we can't figure out a landing spot. If not, then there is a good chance one will be our 7th man next year especially if we get that second RHD and Benning takes another step forward. I think Benning has played really well this last quarter of the season. If one or both experiences a huge decrease in playing time the interest in accepting a trade may grow.

Draft
BPA. I am looking at right shots first and foremost but I want the best player. On the off chance Oilers win the lottery I will explore options to move down if the package makes sense. I believe in our left side (particularly the top-2) and will take Dahlin if nothing prompts me to trade that pick. I don't imagine there is a package of players out there that will win me over to trade the pick outright but a combination of picks and prospects to slide down to the 3rd or 5th spot and take someone we wanted to anyway? Yay, I'm good with that.

And whatever happens, I really don't want this kid playing on my team this year. I don't want that contract kicking in till next year.

Trades

I want a heavy, accurate, effective right shot. Ideally on defence but if nothing else then I'll take it on the wings. Player I have in mind is Justin Faulk - he is paid $4.88M cap hit but starting next year and the following year his salary is $6M. A budget team like Carolina might be inclined to move him. I would be inclined to offer something similar to what the Flames offered, but I want that pick top-10 protected. I would have to be an absolute moron to not protect it.

July 1st

I am hunting kids finishing off entry level deals and offering one year contracts in the range of $1.5-1.75M for one season. Think Nik Petan of the Jets. I want someone who should be able to compete for a roster spot but if need be I can send him to the minors and eat the $500-750K on the cap. It is risky but instead of focusing on procuring talent from college ranks I like this because I am more familiar with these guys and they might be even more NHL ready. The upsides are that their current teams might be pinched to match offer knowing they'll be sending a kid down to the AHL and paying them $1.5M down there. Plus, there is no compensation for these guys. I would really only be looking for one or two signings like this.

I'm stealing this one from someone at The Athletic, but if LB doesn't stay I'd also offer sheet Juuse Saros of the Preds for about $3.5M per on a 2 year contract. Goalies are always in demand so if Talbot bounces back this year you have option to trade another potential starter. If he doesn't you have another potential starter.

I am looking for another forward in the $1-2M range looking to rebuild his market.

Forwards
McDavid, Nuge, Lucic, Draisaitl, JP, Jujhar Khara, Ryan Strome, Zach Kassian and Iiro Pakarinen make up 9 of the 14 forwards we will run with.

Caggulia, Slepyshev, Cammellari, Rattie, Kailer Yamamoto, Kirill Maksimov, Pontus Aberg plus the two forwards I found on July 1st plus some other bodies I have in the system should make for a competitive camp. The players here should have zero to minimal impact on the cap if they don't play in the NHL next year. And they'll provide depth later on.

Defence
Mostly same old but hopefully we've added Justin Faulk and hopefully Benning can play close to how he's played down the stretch. Shelter JF as much as possible and use him primarily in o-zone starts and PP.

That's it.
 

Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
72,141
27,826
I'd hire Fenton as GM and Ken Holland as POHO, Chia out.

Joel Quennville or Alain Vingenault as coach. McLellan out.

Keep Keith Gretzky as assistant GM.

Roster wise I wouldn't go nuts. I'd try to bring back Maroon if he's able to be had at reasonable price (3 mill per x 3 years) if not try and get Vanek.

I'd put in offers for OEL and Karlsson, because you kinda have to at least try, but it probably doesn't take.

Roster wise I think at this point given our cap situation, we might as well stand pat. There's not much we can do until Lucic/Russell/Sekera can be cleared off the cap and that will take a couple of years probably.

I'd sign Nurse long term (4.5 mill x 7 years)

RNH McDavid Puljujarvi
Vanek Draisaitl Yamamoto
Lucic Strome Caggiula
Aberg Khaira Kassian

Nurse Larsson
Klefbom Sekera
Russell Bear
Benning
 

thadd

Oil4Life
Jun 9, 2007
26,717
2,718
Canada
Ban management from trading the following players:

McDavid - Duh no kidding
Drai - Need a 2nd line
Hopkins - He's looking great on Hopkins' wing and he's a great insurance policy in case one of Drai or McDavid get hurt.
Puljujarvi - He's only going to get better and our depth at RW is pretty sad.
Yamamoto - A year or two from now he's going to be a great top 6 right winger and our RW depth issues could be over.
Kassian - Great contract. Has faded the last few months but so has the team at times. He plays better when the team is emotionally invested in the game. We'll be back on top before you know it and we'll enjoy every shift he plays once again.
Klefbom - Selling cheap is dumb. Klefbom wasn't able to manage an injury this year and it resulted in him not having a career year for the first time since coming to North America. He's got good size, he skates well and he's our only d-man with a point shot.
Nurse - Great home grown talent. Can skate as well as any d-man in the league and we love his toughness and mean streak. Due to his lack of offensive production he's going to be a cheap resign compared to most players that as effective as he is.
Larsson - It's nice having d-men that play on the right side in your top 4. It's even nicer when they're actually right handed. He's looked average this year but with the exception of Nurse who hasn't on our back end?

Got a bunch of RFAs that didn't do a whole lot this year:

Nurse - 3.5-4M per year bridge deal or 5M max term. Give him a full NMC so that future management doesn't get any dumb ideas.
Strome - 3X3M He's not what people wanted in return for Eberle but let's face it, we needed the cap space and Eberle was dead weight on most nights during his last 2 seasons with the Oilers. At his worst Strome is going to be a 35 point player. If he had better players to play with I think he'd be good for 40-45 this year.
Benning - 1.5M per year for 3 years. If he sticks to the 3rd pairing he'll be fine.
Rattie, Pacman, Slepyshev and Caggulia - Qualify them all and offer Slepyshev and Caggulia 2 year deals. Worse case scenario they don't impress in training camp and 2 of them are put on waivers.

Time to say goodbye to:

Cammalleri - Looks pretty good on a team that's not going to the playoffs. Not so good on teams going to the playoffs.
Auvitu - Doesn't bring enough to the table to justify sticking up with the big club. We've got youngsters coming up to the farm team that are going to need ice time in the AHL next year, too.
Montoya - Don't see the point in keeping him. We need our 2nd string goalie to be able to play 25-30 games without craping the bed. Can't expect that much out of Montoya. We could resign him to a 1 year deal and just put him on waivers if we find a better option. Worst case scenario we lose him on waivers.

Don't expect to see these guys to go anywhere:

Lucic - His value is so low and he's got a NMC. I'm pretty sure we're stuck with Lucic for at least 3 seasons. After the 19/20 season he's got 2 years and 9M left and a buyout won't be nearly as toxic. For now he's a middle 6 left winger for us. Best we can do is cross our fingers that he endeavours to lose weight and improve.
Sekera - Another NMC. Started the year broken and looked great last year and the year before. No reason to believe that he won't be back to his normal self next year. When his NMC becomes limited I imagine he'll be traded but till then he isn't killing us.
Russel - Not quite good enough to be a 2nd pairing guy on a playoff team and makes too much to play on the 3rd pairing. It's hurts, but we're going to have to wait for his NMC to become limited, as well. At least he's consistent enough that he isn't worth buying out.

Conclusion:

Management and coaching staff made their own beds. If they can't figure out where to go from here they should resign.
 

Burnt Biscuits

Registered User
May 2, 2010
9,164
3,179
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2: Hire Paul Fenton as General Manager. Assign Chiarelli as head of our scouting department (scouting has been much better under him).
___
We did change our head of the scouting department shortly after we hired Chiarelli, also had a fairly big turnover in our scouts, if you appoint Chia the new head guy you could just be disempowering the people who are actually responsible for the perceived turnaround and who are the ones doing the actual scouting, would Bob Green stick around after having his job essentially stolen by Chia? Chia has also displayed strong player preferences in the past and if he was actively scouting himself I'm sure he'd be much more opinionated and potentially instill his biases in overriding or vetoing the larger scouting staff. Like in the old Oil Change documentary's I recall Stu MacGregor being rather belligerent about how special Erik Gudbranson was and all the intangibles he brought to the table, but it would of been a bad pick and that is the kind of player I think Chia would stick up for too, just look at how loose he has been trading away skilled wingers in the past.
 

Porkleaker

Registered User
Mar 19, 2017
9,708
8,304
Onterrible
Fire Chiarelli, fire Nicholson, fire Gretzky and Lowe, fire MacT and Todd and everyone beneath him, fire every single last ex-oiler straight into the sun and take Lucic along with them. This season is a massive embarrassment
and I want heads to roll.
 

Aceboogie

Registered User
Aug 25, 2012
32,649
3,896
I like this thread better. The trade rumours thread sucks because you can post good ideas but at the end of the day its the dumb GM who will make the trades. So most convos are unrealistic because they are actually level headed trade ideas

Personally I wouldn't do much. Id fire Nicholson, Chiarelli and maybe TM (if good coaches were out there, would rehire Nelson) and let them make some smaller moves. Id try and trade Russell for a pick only if I could acquire Green/Edler or the like for a reasonable price. I would try my damn hardest to trade Lucic for anything. Id try and find some cheaper depth players if the price was right.

Other than that, Id stand pat. the team will rebound next year. Just had league low PDO to start the year and that sunk them, they didn't have the ability to bounce back. Next year they'll able to handle some adversity and bounce back. And if we get some bounces to start the year off hot well be off to the races

Worst thing will be to trade Klefbom and/or RNH and/or Draisaitl
 

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