News Article: Friedman: Oilers ‘an organization on edge’

[Del Preston]

I understand the Katz criticisms, but until someone else is willing to spend to the cap and keep the team in Edmonton we don’t really have a better option.

I've got $200 in my wallet.

 

[Cloned]

I've got $200 in my wallet.

I’ll take that for safe storage.

 

[RegDunlop]

Elliotte, nothing has changed in Edmonton. Peter Chiarelli was lipstick on a pig. Same guys who ran the last era of that team are still sitting at the dinner table getting a paycheque every week. The only significant change we've made is in regards to our amateur scouting--and even those guys are full of **** half the time because they buy into the same trends all the other scouts do.

The Oilers were a severely broken team when we got Connor. Teams that lack prospect depth and fail to consistently develop NHL talent struggle to ice competitive teams. The awful part is that I'm worried someone important is going to blame these setbacks solely on Peter Chiarelli and it'll be just his guys who get the boot. Meanwhile, the same guys who are responsible for putting us in the position to draft Connor McDavid will be sitting at that boardroom table easing Bill Scott into the GM chair.

I have no faith in Edmonton's ability to hire the right people to run a sports franchise.

Sorry to quote and respond so late in thread.

I'm not sure if I could have summed up how I feel any better than what you said.

I've experienced a bit more than the average bear in the world of hockey. Saying that, I've never witnessed such incredible ineptitude, arrogance, and greed as has been portrayed from this org, in any other team, league, or quite frankly any other sport. At least not for almost two decades.

As you refer to - NOTHING can or will change until a full scale cull is engaged. And to me that includes Nicholson as he is not a trusted man by any means.

Such an absolute shame for those of us who witnessed one incarceration of this team as arguably the greatest hockey team ever assembled.

How could anyone let this happen. Or more importantly how do these people all own this to continue happening?

DIS MAN TLE every single fuc**ng thing.
And regarding the in house bulls**t audit from years ago that never seemed to get completed or disclosed? As fans we should demand an RCMP audit, not inhouse, as this has been nothing short of criminal.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Honestly I don't really care who is fired anymore. McLellan should go because he has lost the room and that you can't recover from but management and whatever I don't care.

Just care about the players. Care about promoting growth and skill. Put faith in the prospects. Don't trade players in the middle of slumps for bad players as that always bounces back.

Don't lose trades value wise cause "that's the price you pay". You hold out and if the player is good, the value will be there. No more giving Hall away for only Larsson's (love Larsson but that's not a one for one trade).

Put players in positions to succeed, whether that be in the lineup or in proper league's. Benson staying down and Bouchard being sent down is a great start.

The GMs job here should be not to make trades for a while, no matter what fans want really. Build from within, build player value and if you need to, sell high. Move middle picks for YOUNG players who are struggling in a depth chart. (Duclair, Domi, etc great examples).

I'm ranting but this team is in trouble, trading for big players won't help, big free agent signings won't help. Noattwe who we bring in we have to be patient. Have to promote strong prospect growth. Find a way to get a coach that breeds confidence and can work with this generation of player.

 

[CM4]

Remember when they let Scott Howson go just to end up finding out he was scouting for the team and re hired, Good times.

 

[RegDunlop]

I haven't written the season off. We should be pounding the piss out of this weak ass division. Everyone--including San Jose has a fatal weakness. The Oilers need to **** or get off the pot in regards to this coaching change. It's been apparent since the playoff run that he and Chiarelli don't see eye to eye when it comes to the personnel on this team. Todd's coaches getting canned was another hint. They aren't fooling anybody keeping this guy in charge.

You know, breaking it down to its roots - this is it exactly.

This dysfunctional team has so many problems upstairs that they can't even pull the trigger down below when its apparent to EVERYONE, including themselves that it needs to be done.

A major disconnect between coach and manager and nothing had been done about it for so long. WTF is actually going in here?

 

[RegDunlop]

Then the scouts got that wrong because if you line them up on skill, there's nothing I can see that Puljujarvi is better at. Skating? No. Passing. No way. Puck handling. No. Stick handling? Not even close. Shot? Puljujarvi has a harder shot but Barzal's shot is more accurate and that's more important. Hockey IQ? Barzal is clearly way higher.

Even if they blew it on that pick they had every oppurtunity gift wrapped to them to get a terrific player at 16 in 2015 or 33 in 2015 or 32 in 2016. And they blew it on every pick.

That's where this team is amazing, they don't just **** one thing up, they **** every chance they get up. And even if they ****ed all those picks up all they had to do was literally not trade their 2nd best player for Steve Staois. And they still couldn't do that.

This was a tap in putt, that they shot it into the lake.

You're incorrect about JP. At the time of his draft he was a lock.

Not sure if I can argue any of your other points though. Unfortunately for all of us fans, I think your right.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Same crap post after crap post by you. You are the Chiarelli of HF Boards.

The solution is what it has always been. Draft and develop. Chiarelli decided to attempt to speed up the rebuild process by trading draft picks for players who were "further along" to appease "fans" like you.

Common sense fans realize this is the NHL, and there are 31 teams competing for talent and the best way to do it is to draft talent. It is not so easy to fill holes overnight.
.

Entirely disagree, and Soundwave just says what you guys don't like to hear.

It might be a valid point, if the Oilers could develop anything they drafted. But already this year we've seen them mismanage draft picks left and right, joining a long list of "prospects" they've busted.

There's a fan love to hug on prospects and not want to give them up for anything. You can entirely trade them if it makes your team better. For reference in baseball today, the Yankees traded top prospect Justice Sheffield for James Paxton. Why? Because Sheffield might become Paxton in 3 years, but Paxton is Paxton today. He also might bust. The Red Sox just won the World Series with very little home grown talent. They made shrewd trades to be contenders and winners, they fired their manager last year and hired a good one, boom championship.

Problem is Chiarelli is not shrewd. Neither is Todd. And neither is anyone else with a parking stall at the Oilers head office.

 

[RegDunlop]

You don't need to have experience, you can study any pro sport, it's the same story.

The Oilers in the 80s had 5 jack pots in the 79 and 80 drafts, that's the reason they could screw up virtually every other pick in the 80s and still win 5 Cups.

The Chicago Bulls made a lot of dumb moves in the 80s/90s but they hit a massive home run with the Scottie Pippen pick and that basically set them up for 6 championships.

The Oilers of the eighties were also masters of obtaining role players and significant contribution through trades.

Not a good anology

 

[RegDunlop]

And the Leafs will likely be run out of the playoffs yet again when defense becomes tighter and they can't galavant over other teams.

But

They will make it there

 

[RegDunlop]

We traded Taylor Hall and we have the worst D I've seen in the league.

We then spent any cap saved by the subtraction of Hall by blowing the wad on Milan Useless Lucic.

We're paying plenty for D and still have no serviceable D.

The Pens won cups with ONE profile Defenceman and addons.

That you chronically defend the present realm is uncanny. You'll make any arcane argument to do so.

It's amazing you bring up the salary cap and completely ignore its existence in the same post. I'm amazed.

'The core' died the moment we drafted Connor McDavid. It was going to be too expensive to round out the roster beyond year three--especially if the Oilers intended on addressing any of the weaknesses--specifically the defense--during that time-frame.

Your post assumes teams in this state of the NHL don't require a reliable defense to win. And it's very wrong.

I'm not sure I can follow you two! To me I don't really give a rat's ass if its this current regime or the previous one. We all know the future one is going to be just as fu**ing incompetent.

Rotten to the core means just that. Audit my ass. Full cull.

 

[RegDunlop]

This organization is masterful at selling its fanbase on bull **** narratives.

In the summer it was alllll about "blame Woodcroft and the assistants!". "We're a good team, we just got sabotaged by awful special teams coaching!". And all about "bounce back!" years for all of Lucic, Talbot, Sekera (well until the injury), Strome, Klefbom and break out seasons for Puljujarvi. "How dare you say this is a one line team!" Etc. etc. etc.

And any time an Oiler fans dares to question the narrative and not drink the kool-aid gets a "how dare you!" response.

The new batch of kool-aid they're whipping up now is going to be "we're a great team! Just need to get rid of McLellan, it was his fault" and as soon as the worm turns and they get the greenlight you'll have media lackeys like Stauffer, Spector, etc. all pushing that angle hard.

I don't listen to there bulls**t.

I just see.
I see Lucic on the PP and on the ice with under 2mins to go needing a goal.
I see a winger get on a heater then tossed 1,2, or even 3 lines down.
I see a GM who puts players on the table that look like crap, except I can't confirm they're crap because this coach wont give them a chance to show anything different.
I see a D core that's pressured so severely at times it reminds me of the most asinine system from the most ridiculous clown coach we ever witnessed.
And I see a goaltender that has a team playing comfortable in front of him, while the starter continues to struggle. Run with the hot hand? Nope.

I could go on and on but I'll stop. I don't disagree with your take on the org, but I firmly do on your stance about TMac. My patience is gone and I can't figure out what he's been doing. In fact I question if he even knows anymore.

 

[rboomercat90]

Gotta disagree here. If you told any of us in the early 2000’s leading up to the lockout that we’d have a max cap team and a single (rich) owner who didn’t skimp on keeping players around,... we’d have died and gone to heaven. Do you not remember being a “small market” team and the constant (real) threat that the team would move? Losing Weight and Cujo as yet another reminder that we didn’t have the money to compete in this league? (This of course after having seen the Boys on the Bus dismantled for cash as well)

I mean the fact that it has been mismanaged on the hockey ops side is an entirely different point. And you may be right to criticize Katz loyalties to the OBC... but you can’t deny he’s throwing money at the problem... and that’s not something you’d do if all you cared about was making margin on your business.

In all fairness, why shouldn’t he be throwing money at the team? The fans have held their end of the bargain. They’ve bought every single ticket that’s been on sale since he bought the team. Not just cheap tickets either, like other markets have, but some of the highest prices in the league. They did this, and continue to do this even though the team has only had one good season in the 11 or so seasons he’s owned the team. The City did their part too. They fronted all the money to build him the arena he wanted to help expand his empire. The very least, and I mean the very least, he can do is spend money on the team. Sounds just as much like a business decision made by a savvy businessman as a guy doing it for the love of the team to me. I know which one I believe it is. That’s why I want to wait to see how he operates the team if he ever starts having some lean financial years here before I’m ready to gush over his love of the Oilers.

 

[rboomercat90]

I’ll take that for safe storage.

Michael Largue?

 

[rboomercat90]

The Oilers of the eighties were also masters of obtaining role players and significant contribution through trades.

Not a good anology

Sather brought in a few fresh hungry vets every year to keep the rest of the guys motivated.

 

[SaltNPeca]

The Oilers of the eighties were also masters of obtaining role players and significant contribution through trades.

Not a good anology

Yup. Watching how Tkatchuk trolled the Oilers, turned the game into an absolute war, and ultimately was on the winning side reminded me of one of the greatest Rats: Kenny Linseman.

In the 1982 offseason Sather absolutely fleeced the Flyers for Ken Linseman.
"his arrival in the summer of 1982 was the most important trade Sather made during that time period and it played a big role in helping this team reach Peter Pocklington’s goal of hoisting the Stanley Cup within five years of joining the NHL."
source: https://thehockeywriters.com/ken-linseman-oilers-history/

 

[Fourier]

Nobody gets fired because the cheap owner can’t stand to pay someone for doing nothing.

I don't think this is the case. The Oilers have spent money on far too many mistakes to blame this on Katz being cheap. In many ways it is the opposite. He is far too willing to allow money to substitute for accountability. In a franchise where the owner pinches pennies heads would have rolled far sooner. Guys like MacT and Howson would have been out of the organization. They paid tens of millions of dollars for guys like Souray, Nikitin, and Fayne to play in the minors and for Ference to ride around on his bike. They are paying $1.63M this year to Pouliot and Gryba just for fun.

 

[Oilers in NS]

I haven't written the season off. We should be pounding the piss out of this weak ass division. Everyone--including San Jose has a fatal weakness. The Oilers need to **** or get off the pot in regards to this coaching change. It's been apparent since the playoff run that he and Chiarelli don't see eye to eye when it comes to the personnel on this team. Todd's coaches getting canned was another hint. They aren't fooling anybody keeping this guy in charge.

The only one I want left is Keith Gretzky. He seems to drafting good. Whoever was behind that Reinhart deal should be hung at 12 noon in front of Rogers Place

 

[Oilers in NS]

You don't need to have experience, you can study any pro sport, it's the same story.

The Oilers in the 80s had 5 jack pots in the 79 and 80 drafts, that's the reason they could screw up virtually every other pick in the 80s and still win 5 Cups.

The Chicago Bulls made a lot of dumb moves in the 80s/90s but they hit a massive home run with the Scottie Pippen pick and that basically set them up for 6 championships.

I agree with ya but are we surrounding our drafted players with the required experienced players? The drafting brains on this team are a train wreck. The team needed defence in the worst way for years but kept on drafting forwards. I don’t know if the rumours are true but they say Murray was their pick but someone upstairs over ruled them and they had to take Yak. I seen Yak play that year in Prospects game. To me, he wasn’t even in the top 10 that night

 

[Oilers in NS]

Looking forward to the Leafs D getting caved in come playoff time. I'll gleefully tag Soundwave.

I am as well looking forward to Leafs getting demolished but the Pens won their last cup without a good defence what so ever

 

[Oilers in NS]

Could you imagine being this bad at your job and still employed like Todd and Chia?

That is what I can’t understand. This has been going on and on and nothing is done. I finally realize what Steve Miller was singing about when he sang Take the Money and Run. He was singing about the Oilers ownership

 

[Oilers in NS]

I'm still waiting for Panty and Stocking season 2. It's been a nice 8 years.

U might be able to get some stocking stuffers picking up shirts off the ice

 

[Oilers in NS]

I don't listen to there bulls**t.

I just see.
I see Lucic on the PP and on the ice with under 2mins to go needing a goal.
I see a winger get on a heater then tossed 1,2, or even 3 lines down.
I see a GM who puts players on the table that look like crap, except I can't confirm they're crap because this coach wont give them a chance to show anything different.
I see a D core that's pressured so severely at times it reminds me of the most asinine system from the most ridiculous clown coach we ever witnessed.
And I see a goaltender that has a team playing comfortable in front of him, while the starter continues to struggle. Run with the hot hand? Nope.

I could go on and on but I'll stop. I don't disagree with your take on the org, but I firmly do on your stance about TMac. My patience is gone and I can't figure out what he's been doing. In fact I question if he even knows anymore.

It sure looks like there is a disconnect from the team to Todd. This blender BS is useless. Easy way to shutdown your top 2 lines? Put 2 grenades out there. What Chia and Todd have to get in their heads is this is a young game now. 25 years old is old now.
I’ll take Puju for instance. He was an MVP in world Jr and Todd puts him in the bottom 6 on one little mistake. His confidence was crushed. Lucic an Benning are train wrecks and there is no accountability . What does that show a young player ? Now, Chiarelli will trade him for a 3rd round pick

 

[iCanada]

Still think its indescribably stupid for the org to have gone with the Boston model, and Chia hire. We already knew with Ference's alignment with Eakins what an errant crap show the Boston Strong philosophy was. Really it just seemed a new way to be myopic regarding players and assets. There is absolutely no way after the Seguin fiasco particularly and the outed videos of the bruins conferences that Chia should have been hired.

In short only an idiot would hire this idiot. The guy was an imposter, and I said as much. Just like I said with eakins, and asshats like Ference. Really I rue the day that Boston managed to win a cup edging Vancouver in the most unlikely SCF since 2006. Without that I doubt we'd have gone so far in this stupid direction. The Boston view on players tended to be as hateful as the MacT/Lowe version. Really hardly any other org in the league is so confrontational and negative re: players. We hired the one GM that I feared the org would go get. We continued to hitch our wagon to outlier dinosaurs that have contempt for pro players.

Nicholson should be fired into space for everything he's done here. What a ****ing clown.

I mean, the hockey is bad... but have you had the Ceasar with the little bacon burgers in em? What about the bobby-nicks burger???

 

[RegDunlop]

It sure looks like there is a disconnect from the team to Todd. This blender BS is useless. Easy way to shutdown your top 2 lines? Put 2 grenades out there. What Chia and Todd have to get in their heads is this is a young game now. 25 years old is old now.
I’ll take Puju for instance. He was an MVP in world Jr and Todd puts him in the bottom 6 on one little mistake. His confidence was crushed. Lucic an Benning are train wrecks and there is no accountability . What does that show a young player ? Now, Chiarelli will trade him for a 3rd round pick

Agree on all counts.

The thing that is so sad, is that if that actually happens, we as fans look back and realize we could see it coming for ages. Why the hell can't they?