Solid moves and excellent timing. The Duchene trade coincided with the collapse of Ottawa (who had similar luck with Karlsson), thus getting them a better than expected pick. Identifying good defenseman and giving them time to develop, either lower in the depth chart or not in the NHL. In a word - Patience.
The biggest thing is not rushing the rebuild, which is where Chiarelli failed, and I'd argue Dubas failed with the Tavares signing. Dubas has traded away like 6 of the last 8 first round picks, so there's no real help coming from within at this point. Holland has his warts, but I've been happy that we haven't rushed Broberg, Bouchard, or Mcleod. Normally Edmonton management just chucks prospects to the wolves...I think if he actually makes some smart moves at the deadline and brings in a capable goalie, we can just focus on making the playoffs and not rushing or going "all in", let's see the team win some games in the playoffs first before we start selling the future like the Leafs. We have an opportunity to develop some young forwards that can actually make an impact in the next 2 years, plus cap space. We need a medium term good starter and see what we have in Konovalov.
I can't see us hitting grand slams like Makar, but if our two Dmen can take the next step and we can fix the goalie situation, we have a good opportunity of consistently challenging in the playoffs. I get that everyone is doom and gloom about McDavids prime, but we have a chance to actually complete the rebuild if we don't throw it all away in the next 2 years. We can retool the roster this year to be a little more competitive going into next season, expect to make the playoffs and keep building. Impatience is what f***ed us last time. If the Avs can spend half of Mackinnons uber team freindly contract, getting better season by season and staying patient, so can the Oilers with McDavid's prime.