Peter Chiarelli has failed the Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are arguably worse off right now than they were when Peter Chiarelli took over in 2015. 

Back in 2015, the Edmonton Oilers were desperately seeking a reversal of their fortunes. They hadn’t made the postseason since their Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2006. The Oilers went for the biggest name available – former Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. Three years later, it’s hard to argue Edmonton is better off than they were in 2015.

Chiarelli was brought in to build the Oilers into Stanley Cup champions, much like he was the architect of the 2010-11 Stanley Cup champion Bruins. Instead, he has found a way to have the best player in the world and still not have a Stanley Cup contender.

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Despite having four seasons of Connor McDavid, the Oilers have only made the playoffs once. That’s simply inexcusable. The Pittsburgh Penguins became an annual playoff team with Sidney Crosby as soon as his second season. They won a Stanley Cup in his fourth season. McDavid’s currently in his fourth season.

The Washington Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin, became a postseason fixture starting in his third season. If you have a talent as special as Crosby, Ovechkin, or McDavid, success should be expected.

Then Versus Now

When Chiarelli took over in 2015, Oilers core consisted of the following players after the NHL Draft.

• Jordan Eberle
• Taylor Hall
• Ryan-Nugent Hopkins
• Benoit Pouliot
• Justin Schultz
• Oscar Klefbom
• Leon Draisaitl
• McDavid
• Cam Talbot

Anyone could have selected McDavid with the first overall pick. Yes, even you. Chiarelli had nothing to do with the 2014-15 Oilers season, so why give him credit for walking up to the podium and selecting McDavid with the first overall pick?

Hall, as many Edmonton fans know, was traded in 2016 straight up to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Adam Larsson. Larsson, to his credit, has been solid for the Oilers. However, Edmonton unquestionably gave up the better player, so it’s hard to see the trade as anything less than a downgrade. And, before anyone claims Hall wasn’t a great player in Edmonton, the Oilers were a much better team with him on the ice than they were without him.

Eberle was traded in 2016 for Ryan Strome, who was a major disappointment. Strome was then traded for Ryan Spooner, who has been even worse. All Chiarelli has to show for trading a proven top-six forward who consistently scored around 20 goals a year is a fourth-line caliber forward. That’s an indisputable downgrade.

Pouliot was bought out, so the Oilers got absolutely nothing for him. Schultz, who was constantly underutilized and miscast in Edmonton, got traded to the Penguins for a third-round pick. When healthy, he’s a top-four defenseman.

Let’s take a look at the Oilers right now. Chiarelli’s additions are italicized.

Forwards: McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Alex Chiasson, Jujhar Khaira, Milan Lucic, Ty Rattie, Tobias Rieder, Kyle Brodziak, Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, Zack Kassian

Defensemen: Darnell Nurse, Klefbom, Andrej Sekera, Larsson, Kris Russell, Matt Benning, Caleb Jones, Kevin Gravel, Brandon Manning, Alec Petrovic

Goaltenders: Talbot, Mikko Koskinen

The job of a general manager is to add talent to their roster. Where has Chiarelli done that, other than the blue line and in net? And even there, the Oilers haven’t shown much improvement defensively from 2015 to right now.

Puljujarvi and Yamamoto have been grossly handled, as both players have, at some point, been asked to develop in the NHL. That’s no way to handle young players. There’s a reason the AHL and junior leagues exist – for development. The Oilers have never handled young players well. That hasn’t changed one bit under Chiarelli.

Offensively, Edmonton, on paper improved. They scored 2.35 goals per game in 2014-15. As of Dec. 31, the Oilers have scored 2.82 goals per game. That’s with McDavid, who is fourth in the league in points and is averaging 1.5 points per game.

From 2015 to 2019, the Oilers have gone from one of the worst teams in the NHL to a team with a point percentage of just over 50 percent. And again, recent history shows when a team gets a player like McDavid (Crosby, Ovechkin, etc), their success is nearly immediate.

Sure, the Penguins took a bit to be a playoff team under Mario Lemieux, but this was when the playoff format was flawed (I know, it’s always been flawed, but bear with me). Only the top three teams in each division got in. The Penguins, on more than one occasion, finished with more points than other playoff teams from the same conference.

All Chiarelli has brought the Oilers during his tenure is an appearance in the second round of the postseason. Considering it’s their only one since 2006, that’s an upgrade. But, frankly, if Chiarelli were fired today, it’s nearly impossible to argue he has been anything short of a failure. He would arguably leave them in a less desirable spot than they were in 2015. If they are more desirable now, the only reason that would be the case is McDavid.

Chiarelli couldn’t build a consistent contender even when McDavid was on an entry-level contract. Why should they expect him to build one when he’s the league’s highest-paid player?