Edmonton Oilers: 3 moves that doomed Peter Chiarelli
Peter Chiarelli’s disaster-filled tenure as the Edmonton Oilers general manager is officially over. Here’s a look at the moves that sealed his fate and defined his tenure.
Everyone knew the 2018-19 NHL season would be a crucial one for the Edmonton Oilers. Another season without the playoffs would inevitably cause change, right? Well, the Oilers decided to get the change started early. After head coach Todd McLellan got fired in November, they are parting ways with the head clown of the circus, general manager Peter Chiarelli.
Keith Gretzky will take over most of Chiarelli’s roles for the rest of the season. The Oilers will need to find a full-time general manager since it’s clear Gretzky’s only an interim guy. They probably need to do a full cleaning of their incompetent front office. That Chiarelli was able to last so long is a testament to how poorly guys like Bob Nicholson have performed.
More from Edmonton Oilers
- Can Connor McDavid reach 200 points in a single-season?
- The winners and losers from day one of the 2023 NHL Draft
- 2023 NHL Draft Live Updates: News, Draft Selections, Trades and More
- 2023 NHL Awards: Connor McDavid Wins Hart Trophy
- 2023 NHL Awards: Matty Beniers Wins Calder Memorial Trophy
Edmonton’s not going to see much change unless the guys who enabled Chiarelli’s shenanigans are shown the door as well. But at the same time, the Oilers are arguably not much better off now than when he took over. Chiarelli’s tenure in Edmonton is a complete failure because of this. At least it’s over before he could damage their future further than he already has.
Chiarelli’s time with the Oilers can be summed it in three moves. These moves doomed Edmonton and will continue to haunt them for years to come. Let’s take a look at the three worst moves Chiarelli made.
Honorable mentions: Trading for Alec Petrovic and Brandon Manning, for some odd reason. Who knows why Chiarelli was that desperate? At least Petrovic is a free agent after this season. Manning, on the other hand, has another year left. Ouch.
It’s hard to find just one dumb thing he’s done with Jesse Puljujarvi, so let’s lump all of that into one thing. Chiarelli and the Oilers expected him to develop in the NHL. The NHL is not a developmental league. Why they thought it was a good idea to try to force Puljujarvi to develop while playing a fourth line role is beyond me.
I was tempted to include the Griffin Reinhart trade. It was still an awful move. Just not bad enough, which should tell you enough about how bad the moves on the list are.