Chia Addresses Media After Purcell, Schultz and Nilsson Trades 2-27-16

[Replacement*]

Again, Chia was new on the job, he hadn't seen this player play yet. Naturally, he wanted to see if he can succeed under a proven, veteran coach before throwing him to the scrap heap. I'm sure that most GMs would have done the same for a young, once promising player getting his last shot. It was a one year extension, not a big deal really.

Purcell was MacT's trade and he was their most veteran RW. Again, a season of evaluation and they built his value up from waiver fodder to 3rd rounder. Seems like a success to me.

Once again, this was a year of evaluation for GM and coach. Weeding out the deadweight and it's starting to happen. Of course the hope was for this to not be a doomed season but this wasn't going to jump from MacT garbage last placed team to a playoff team in one offseason, the key injuries just compounded all the struggles and here we are.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about where the team is now and I'm concerned that it's going to be tough to get the Dmen they need, but as far as today is concerned, Chia did about as well as can be expected IMO. We're just going to have to wait for meaningful player change. Whether or not Chia is the right man to get this thing done and whether or not Mclellan is the right coach is yet to be determined. It seems like you have your mind made up on them, I'm going to wait more than 6 months to evaluate them.

And did you say that Sekera is a liablity? Yet another that you have made up your mind on already.

Did you honestly think SChultz would improve under McLellan? I didn't.

Purcell is a career floater that has had good coaches. There was nothing more to see.


I don't buy either that it is acceptable for a new GM to see one more year of players who were already completely useless. There is such a thing as game films. We've suffered all year with these players because an INcoming NHL GM has "never seen these NHL players" Schultz was considered nuclear waste by almost every NHL fan. an ongoing laughtrack of sublime defensive comedy. Stand up D you could call it. Oilers style. How could an NHL GM possibly be unaware of how bad Schultz was. seriously.

 

[BlowbyBlow]

Why would he want to be warehoused and demoted by an org with zero interest in him and wherein he would have no opportunity.

He got fired from the head coaching spot.

I think the real snubbing by management was hiring Eakins, then having Mact behind the coach with the guy.

My only opinion about the coaching carousel was that not the number of coaches, but the fact that the one guy who sucked the worst got the most leash - Eakins.

Renney had one year with Quinn, then by himself where he chose to play veterans over the rookies - gets fired
Krueger - shows good signs in a shortened season, fired
Eakins - had some of the longest losing streaks in franchise history, used a swarm that was full ******, still got 1 1/2 years (longer than Renney/Krueger/Nelson if you don't count Renney's time with Quinn, same for Krueger)
Nelson - showed some strengths in a brief time with Lander, Yak (though late in the season).

I think Nelson not being a coach was more of a decision to put the onus on the players.

 

[Replacement*]

In terms of getting a good first pairing d man, you can count on me easily on moving anybody other than McDavid and picks for one. But the chances of something like that happening won't be during the TDD. It'll be at the draft or offseason. Besides, you know its not great when Ladd was the top trade deadline player.

That happens later, not at the TDL.

Some teams with good D that might be interested in rebuilding have missed the playoffs. Seems theres some fishing that could've been done. This is a bit of an atypical year in that regard.

myself though I'd throw the works at getting someone like OEL. Like I say I'd give up roster players and EVERY pick we have next season, to get something like that done. Arizona has to rebuild anyway. Just one example. Go big or go home.

 

[Philly85*]

I don't necessarily agree with Replacement, and I do think his comments could be interpreted as a bit "salty" - again, talking about this moment specifically and not the overall 10 year trainwreck this has become; I also don't disagree however, with the idea Chiarelli deserves some sort of props for what he's accomplished here.

He's done his job at the very best, and nothing more. Clearing out contracts for magic beans shouldn't be recognized as something overly impressive or worthy of props.

He's got a ton of work to do the next 6 months, more yet over the next 12-18. Chiarelli will have to earn his keep and while he's won a SC already, working out this debacle in Edmonton should define his career IMO.

 

[McAsuno]

Some teams with good D that might be interested in rebuilding have missed the playoffs. Seems theres some fishing that could've been done. This is a bit of an atypical year in that regard.

myself though I'd throw the works at getting someone like OEL. Like I say I'd give up roster players and EVERY pick we have next season, to get something like that done. Arizona has to rebuild anyway. Just one example. Go big or go home.

I notice GM's being more hardball and stubborn in terms of dealing players. The only teams that have made moves so far to actually win a cup have been the blackhawks, kings, and panthers anyways.
As for OEL, you can bet I'll be all over him easily. Although, I highly doubt the yotes will trade him considering their D will look like utter crap without him. OEL is my pipedream though. We'll see what Chia does nonetheless.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Some teams with good D that might be interested in rebuilding have missed the playoffs. Seems theres some fishing that could've been done. This is a bit of an atypical year in that regard.

myself though I'd throw the works at getting someone like OEL. Like I say I'd give up roster players and EVERY pick we have next season, to get something like that done. Arizona has to rebuild anyway. Just one example. Go big or go home.

Yeah if you don't mind giving up Nurse or Klefbom. Arizona isn't stupid and most NHL GMs aren't stupid either. Would you give up McDavid? Because that's basically what #1 D are to teams around the NHL. Completely untouchable.

 

[CupofOil]

I don't necessarily agree with Replacement, and I do think they could be interpreted as a bit "salty" - again, talking about this moment specifically and not the overall 10 year trainwreck this has become; I also don't disagree however, with the idea Chiarelli deserves some sort of props for what he's accomplished here.

He's done his job at the very best, and nothing more. Clearing out contracts for magic beans shouldn't be recognized as something overly impressive or worthy of props.

He's got a ton of work to do the next 6 months, more yet over the next 12-18. Chiarelli will have to earn his keep and while he's won a SC already, working out this debacle in Edmonton should define his career IMO.

Well, no ****.

The conversation is about today. Getting three useable assets for three useless players in the sense that they were all gone after this season is a positive. Even if all three were just waived, the team is better. Getting three mid round picks that can used as trade assets is helpful, it gives Chia a bit of extra flexibility.

It's not a big deal in the long run but being a seller at the deadline isn't going to yield sexy returns.
Obviously, much heavy lifting is left to be done and we'll have to wait until the offseason unfortunately.

 

[Dallas]

We should be a seller of picks instead of a buyer of picks. I don't care how many picks we give away or which ones. I'd give ALL our picks away next year If I thought it meant a good first pairing NHL D coming back to us.

WE need to turn the corner ASAP. The losing is completely demoralizing to every player on this squad. They need help now, not in prospects, drafts. Screw picks.

Didn't Chia allude to the fact that he was stock piling these picks in order to trade them for players at the draft? Didn't he trade picks for players at last year's draft? I'm not saying he's been perfect... nobody is. But taking out the last ten years of frustration on Chia is a little misplaced.

 

[shoop]

Didn't Chia allude to the fact that he was stock piling these picks in order to trade them for players at the draft? Didn't he trade picks for players at last year's draft? I'm not saying he's been perfect... nobody is. But taking out the last ten years of frustration on Chia is a little misplaced.

All the anger is misplaced.

Chia did an excellent job today. The worst being said about Chia is he was partly responsible for some of the mess he cleaned up today.

Any sort of fan of this team should be really happy with Chia's work today.

The final quarter of this season will be dreadful. Today was a ray of sunshine through the clouds. Be happy and enjoy it. All reasonable people will.

 

[Philly85*]

not here to argue or debate (honestly), but "useable assets"... yes, in the sense they will either get traded or selected... Purcell and Schultz were also "useable assets"... active players, garbage or not, in the NHL that 2 other teams better than Edmonton took a chance on and traded for.

I wish we could hit fast forward and get down to the nitty gritty. I know it's not a popular opinion but I'm a firm believer the team needs to be gutted and reworked dramatically. Don't know how, or if it can happen, but I'm tired and worn out, just like 3/4's of the team appears to be. It's only natural to be. The damage has been done IMO.

Taking into account what they will have to ship out in order to yield the quality they so desperately need, factoring everything else in, it inevitably creates another hole or 3 on the roster, holes I'm not convinced can be filled in 2 off seasons through FA and more trades. The Oilers are so lacking in quality prospects and organizational depth it makes me angry.

 

[BlowbyBlow]

All the trades are meh imo. None of these trades are hockey trades. They can all be summed up as rentals for future prospects/picks.

Your not going to see many full time nhl player for full time nhl player. Look at the Ladd for Dano, 2016 1st (Dano is a third line player/maybe the first is a second liner)
The Phaneuf trade is now a player for prospects trade.
The Reimer trade is the closest hockey trade where he will help them down the line, and Stalock, Smith will play a role on there team, but its more because of how bare there team is.

The Oilers traded a #5-6 d-man in schultz, then traded on most teams a bottom 6 player in Purcell for picks.

These are trades that help you restructure your cap, that's about it. Next year no Purcell (4.5), Schultz (3.9), Ference (3.25), Nikitin (4.5), Nilsson (1) = 17 million in cap savings

 

[McAsuno]

All the anger is misplaced.

Chia did an excellent job today. The worst being said about Chia is he was partly responsible for some of the mess he cleaned up today.

Any sort of fan of this team should be really happy with Chia's work today.

The final quarter of this season will be dreadful. Today was a ray of sunshine through the clouds. Be happy and enjoy it. All reasonable people will.

The fact that he managed to get a third round pick for Justin Schultz makes me happy. I no longer need to roll my eyes watching that pylon play.

 

[BlowbyBlow]

not here to argue or debate (honestly), but "useable assets"... yes, in the sense they will either get traded or selected... Purcell and Schultz were also "useable assets"... active players, garbage or not, in the NHL that 2 other teams better than Edmonton took a chance on and traded for.

I wish we could hit fast forward and get down to the nitty gritty. I know it's not a popular opinion but I'm a firm believer the team needs to be gutted and reworked dramatically. Don't know how, or if it can happen, but I'm tired and worn out.

Taking into account what will have to be shipped out to get a good return, it creates more holes on the roster, holes I'm not convinced can be filled in 2 off seasons through FA and more trades. The Oilers are so lacking in quality prospects and organizational depth it makes me angry.

Every team makes bad decisions looks at one NYR traded for Yandle. The Hawks have thrown around so many picks in the last few years, they signed Bickell for way to much who hurt there cap hit. L.A. lost Stoll/Richards/Voynov all in one year. The important thing is you can fix your mistakes and also you can have a reliable core that is reliable. The Oilers have unreliable core, but they also have a bare cupboard of prospects/players who can challenge and compete with players on the roster right now.

 

[CupofOil]

not here to argue or debate (honestly), but "useable assets"... yes, in the sense they will either get traded or selected... Purcell and Schultz were also "useable assets"... active players, garbage or not, in the NHL that 2 other teams better than Edmonton took a chance on and traded for.

I wish we could hit fast forward and get down to the nitty gritty. I know it's not a popular opinion but I'm a firm believer the team needs to be gutted and reworked dramatically. Don't know how, or if it can happen, but I'm tired and worn out.

Taking into account what will have to be shipped out to get a good return, it creates more holes on the roster, holes I'm not convinced can be filled in 2 off seasons through FA and more trades. The Oilers are so lacking in quality prospects and organizational depth it makes me angry.

Purcell and Schultz aren't useable assets to the Oilers. The season is lost and they were gone after the season, they have no use to this organization anymore.
The picks will be useable in the offseason to either trade for players or to replenish the shallow prospect pool. It's something for nothing essentially.
Nothing to get overly excited about but it's something. Did anybody honestly expect Schultz to net a 3rd? I'm still in shock over that.

Agreed with the rest of your post. I don't think merely adding one top 4 Dman (like say, Hamonic) will be good enough. I think the forward group needs to be reshaped as well. More players that are tough to play against and more players with "man strength" so Chia has quite the job ahead of him.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Chia bought out the remainder of the Schultz contract according to sources.

It's called salary retention, he retained a percentage of his remaining contract, you can't just buy out the remainder of the contract in the process of trading him. We will pay a specified portion of the salary that is owed to Schultz and the Pens will pay the other portion and get a reduced cap-hit as a result.

WE need experienced players. Not more prospects. Unless the latest rebuild plan is the next decade..

Completely agree we need more experienced players, but now is the time of year when experienced players generally cost the most (aside from players on horrible contracts). Best to go vet shopping at the draft when picks are at their most valuable, or through free agency when experienced players don't require the expenditure of any asset other than money. This season is down the tubes no reason to pay full price on something that you know will be cheaper later.

Of course I'd bash it because the same team that considers these players useless, and of negligible value gave those players HUGE roles in which they cost us greatly this year. How would I not be pissed at that bit of double standard. Think about it.

I'll go half and half with you here, signing Schultz to any extension at his RFA qualifier or beyond was a mistake and I called it out as such in the offseason, we also gave him way more rope and icetime then he deserved and should of limited his minutes or benched him completely for long stretches of the season after it became evident he was a huge liability, all his gaffes and the losing he contributed to wasn't worth a 3rd round pick. I give Chia a small concession in that he was new to the organization and not fully familiar with the player (though I think sitting down and watching a couple hour of clips would of been enough to decide not to sign him), I suspect he relied on his assistant GM's opinion on whether or not to sign him and the wrong decision was made. If he makes a similar mistake in the future now that he is familiar with the organization, its players, and the people who are feeding him their opinions I won't be so lenient.

With respect to Purcell I can't really call him out on that, its a player already under contract with the organization and in an ideal world I'm thinking they want Ebs and Yak as the top 2 RW's on the team, but between injuries and Yak just not playing upto that level Purcell took on that open spot. Purcell was little more than insurance against Yak not being able to hold that top 6 role and while he's a player there was no future in, he still filled a hole that needed filling. While placeholders might seem stupid, if there is a player you think can grow into that role, but just needs a little extra time to get there it's not an inherently bad idea to have someone in that spot or who can atleast challenge them to fight for a certain spot in the line-up and seize it from them.

By the sounds of his presser he's done for now and not making any big deals.

It didn't sound like he was done to me, it sounds like he has more irons in the fire, but I'm not expecting a big splash and I don't think now is the time for a big splash either. If we are to trade a young gun the best return will likely be at the draft and there will be more teams that can get into the discussion with more salary cap space available to play around with. Good teams also hold onto good players pretty tight, but an embarrassing playoff performance can at times free those players up that wouldn't normally be made available at any other time in the year.

 

[Philly85*]

Every team makes bad decisions looks at one NYR traded for Yandle. The Hawks have thrown around so many picks in the last few years, they signed Bickell for way to much who hurt there cap hit. L.A. lost Stoll/Richards/Voynov all in one year. The important thing is you can fix your mistakes and also you can have a reliable core that is reliable. The Oilers have unreliable core, but they also have a bare cupboard of prospects/players who can challenge and compete with players on the roster right now.

I have no idea if you're trying to agree or disagree with me... your comment doesn't really make sense... all I know is CHI and LA are two dominant, model NHL franchises who have great depth, rock solid coaching and the necessary core pieces to get it done.

The Oilers have Connor McDavid and maybe Taylor Hall, no balance, plus a couple of decent supporting players. Cupboards are completely bare.

 

[HallOfGreatness4]

We just keep recycling players in and out of here, shuffling deck furniture on the titanic. Nothing ever changes here.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

We should be a seller of picks instead of a buyer of picks. I don't care how many picks we give away or which ones. I'd give ALL our picks away next year If I thought it meant a good first pairing NHL D coming back to us.

WE need to turn the corner ASAP. The losing is completely demoralizing to every player on this squad. They need help now, not in prospects, drafts. Screw picks.

The worst team in the history of the NHL got more picks... I don't even....

This org is now the biggest joke ever in the league.

karma I guess for Wayne's comments about NJ.

Did you not listen to the press conference? He flat out said that not all those picks will be used to draft players. You're arguing with yourself in a circle. Chia's going to do exactly what you're saying.

 

[HallOfGreatness4]

not here to argue or debate (honestly), but "useable assets"... yes, in the sense they will either get traded or selected... Purcell and Schultz were also "useable assets"... active players, garbage or not, in the NHL that 2 other teams better than Edmonton took a chance on and traded for.

I wish we could hit fast forward and get down to the nitty gritty. I know it's not a popular opinion but I'm a firm believer the team needs to be gutted and reworked dramatically. Don't know how, or if it can happen, but I'm tired and worn out, just like 3/4's of the team appears to be. It's only natural to be. The damage has been done IMO.

Taking into account what they will have to ship out in order to yield the quality they so desperately need, factoring everything else in, it inevitably creates another hole or 3 on the roster, holes I'm not convinced can be filled in 2 off seasons through FA and more trades. The Oilers are so lacking in quality prospects and organizational depth it makes me angry.

I couldn't agree more... it's like who even cares at this point. We are the Browns

 

[Bryanbryoil]

"We got picks for Schultz and Purcell not live bodies" well no ****! Who would you trade from our team for Schultz? For Purcell at $4.5 million?

You can put Chia's balls to the bandsaw if you want to after the draft and FA if he's done nothing. Until then step back from the ledge before you step on a fresh pile of bird crap and fall off.

 

[BlowbyBlow]

I have no idea if you're trying to agree or disagree with me... your comment doesn't really make sense... all I know is CHI and LA are two dominant, model NHL franchises who have great depth, rock solid coaching and the necessary core pieces to get it done.

The Oilers have Connor McDavid and maybe Taylor Hall, no balance, plus a couple of decent supporting players. Cupboards are completely bare.

I was agreeing with you, it seems when your a successful organization everyone thinks your batting a thousand; i was pointing out it's not true.

The Oilers because they have been batting so low for so long with free agency, draft picks past the first round for anyone to be happy they have to do even way better then what is the average.

A good analogy is you lost a lot of money, well the cure to make more isn't going to be putting more money in, lot of time it's cutting your losses.

I won't evaluate Chia till I see "his guys" on the roster. Schultz/Purcell and a few others don't seem like his type of players. Ideally 2 more top d-man, and some role players like Weise will be available in the summer.

 

[Bangers]

I can kind of see what Replacement is saying, as I thought Chia should have bought out Nikitin and acquired another D-man (I knew this was going to be another bottom 5 finish), but I can't really complain with any of the moves Chiarelli has actually made (except Reinhart) and thought he did well today.

In regards to Purcell, he has a cap hit (and real salary) of 4.5 million. I seriously doubt any team would have acquired him last off-season, even for future considerations; Chia's only other option would have been buying him out, so it made a lot more sense for the team to keep him, play him and hope he pumped up his value. He had some bad games at the beginning of the year, but overall the team was better with him than without him, and they were able to acquire a pick for him, so it worked out.

In regards to Nilsson, it was basically moving Coughlin for a few good games by Nilsson, a 5th round pick, a minor league backup prospect and some extra development time in the AHL for Brossoit (since he would have been called up earlier when/if the team traded Scrivens for Kassian). It also kept the Oilers from signing a backup to a longer deal; Nilsson was cheap and enabled the team to save a bit of money on Scrivens's contract by sending him to the minors. All for Liam Coughlin. Again, a good move IMO.

The one move you can really question was re-signing Schultz in the first place, but there's a reason that he was able to be moved after a horrible year; teams look at his bad play and somewhat excuse him because Oilers. I can't really blame Chiarelli for watching film on him, seeing some talent and wanting to take a flyer on him. In the end, it probably would have been better to just let him walk last off-season, but I can understand the team's decision to re-sign him (not the team's decision to keep playing him though) and I thought the return on him was pretty good.

Those draft picks are valuable too. It's not so much the picks themselves, but they do allow Chia to sweeten the pot when trying to make a deal.

Overall, I thought he did well.

 

[Bangers]

Also, going into next season, the team now has:

- McDavid
- some excellent players/valuable trading chips (Hall, Eberle, Nuge, Draisaitl, Klefbom, Talbot)
- some good role players (Pouliot, Sekera, Hendo, Kassian - hopefully)
- some young players with upside (Yak, Nurse, Davidson, Brossoit)
- some ok roster-fill (Letestu, Pak)
- a high (possibly 1st overall) draft pick
- a bevy of other draft picks

and only really 2 bad contracts (Fayne & Korpikoski, asI think Ference is either bought out or placed on LTIR again).

The team also has around 15-20 million in cap space.

If Chia does his job well this summer, the team could turn around very, very quickly.

 

[dustrock]

Friedman said the #1 thing he'd change about the NHL is the salary cap. Really think it hurts hockey trades.

 

[GRadio]

People need to remember that, like politics, policy takes time to trickle down. If Chiarelli came in as GM and instantly traded a bunch of our assets, he would have inevitably screwed us over.

As a result of injuries and a solid coach, we've seen the value of many different players and what each brings to the table. That is important information which you need to make a successful and valuable trade or acquisition. Him taking his time to fix the team is a mark of wisdom and not naïveté and anyone of you who are looking for a quick change is asking for more of the same instead of a change in management.

Next year we will see a different team. It takes more than 1 season to change a bad team with lots of assets into a good team with effective players.