Edmonton Oilers: Problems start at the top with management

Edmonton Oilers ownership and management don’t want to admit it, but deep down, it’s quite clear who deserves the blame for this team’s decade-long mediocrity.

The Edmonton Oilers were supposed to rebound after a letdown 2017-18 season, but Connor McDavid and company will be forced to watch the playoffs from home once again. Since their Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, when they fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in a hard-fought seven-game series, the Oilers have missed the playoffs all but one year.

Their lone playoff appearance since then was in 2017 when McDavid ran away with both the Hart and Art Ross Trophies. The Oilers had five 20-goal scorers and fell just one game short of a surprise trip to the Western Conference Final.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

But over the last two seasons, Edmonton’s depth has been depleted, due in large part to some awful trades by former general manager Peter Chiarelli. Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, two reliable 20-goal and 50 to 60-point guys, are long gone.

The former was sent to the New Jersey Devils in 2016 for blueliner Adam Larsson, A year later, Eberle went to the New York Islanders in exchange for Ryan Strome, who no longer plays for the Oilers. Heck, the guy they traded him for (Ryan Spooner) doesn’t even play for them anymore.

Chiarelli thought he could replace Hall’s production by inking power forward Milan Lucic to a seven-year, $42 million contract. “Looch” had 23 goals and 53 points in 2016-17, but he regressed mightily last year with a mere 10 goals and 34 points on the season. In 2018-19, Lucic has just five goals and 18 points on the season.

All of these moves crippled Edmonton’s roster depth and their cap situation. Two months ago, the Oilers mercilessly fired Chiarelli.

But just when we thought Oilers’ management figured out that their GM was the one who got them into this mess, team CEO Bob Nicholson actually pointed the finger at Tobias Reider, who has never topped 37 points in a season.

To Nicholson’s credit, he would later apologize for his words and owned up to his mistake. But his remarks against Rieder was just another example of how the Oilers refuse to admit where the problems are coming from.

Edmonton’s management is often referred to as “The Old Boys Club”, since the organization loves bringing in players from the 1980s dynasty days to manage and/or coach the team.

This includes Kevin Lowe (GM from 2000 to 2008), Craig MacTavish (head coach from 2000-01 to 2008-09 and GM from 2013 to 2015), Wayne Gretzky (a team executive since 2016), and Paul Coffey (assistant coach since Jan. 2018).

Just because these guys won Stanley Cups 30-plus years ago, it doesn’t mean they have what it takes to run a hockey team. But Edmonton ownership has leaned on “The Old Boys Club,” for two decades now.

The Oilers have the league’s best player in McDavid, a 40-goal and borderline 100-points guy in Leon Draisaitl and a two-way star in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. And if head coach Ken Hitchcock, who is third all-time in coaching wins isn’t able to take this core to the postseason, maybe the players aren’t the problem?

When a team has this much young talent but falls short of expectations every year, it’s not hard to figure out that the problem comes from management. The Oilers lose seemingly every trade. They never get their money’s worth in expensive free agent signings.

McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins are in their primes. They’re not going to be scoring at ridiculous paces like this forever. You just can’t help but wonder if the Oilers will ever realize that it’s time to start shaking up that front office.

It’s time to bring in personnel with strong, proven leadership, but judging by how they’ve been ran since the start of the 21st century, there’s no reason to believe the Oilers are prepared to do that.