This is a guest post from a young man who’s looking to dabble in the blogging game. His name is Terrance Grise and he’s got a love for the Edmonton Oilers that burns hotter than the sun itself. So much that he’s willing to make his opinions on the team public. So let’s give him a warm welcome and make sure you leave comments (nice ones) for him below as this is his first go.
As the Edmonton Oilers entered this year’s deadline, it would be an understatement to say that they were in a precarious position. With no legitimate GM guiding the team, Keith Gretzky and the management group around him had a daunting task ahead of them.
Sitting eight points out of the final wild-card spot (seven after the game in Nashville), was it time to sell or maybe add a piece that could help address the forward depth?
Although they tried to makes some moves happen, the most discussed attempt being to acquire former Erie Otters teammate to Connor McDavid, Connor Brown. This is a move I would have really liked, had it of happened. Not only does Brown have history with McDavid, but he is also a former 20 goal scorer who shoots right and has the potential to force a winger down the lineup.
Obviously, management decided to hold off on making any moves, not from a lack of effort. It would have been nice to see Brandon Manning who is currently down in Bakersfield moved to clear up some cap for next season. Based on his play relative to his cap hit, my feeling is the Oilers are stuck with that contract until it expires, or they buy it out in the offseason.
Here is my take on the Oilers trade deadline this year.
If there was a deal to move out a guy like Petrovic or Manning, the team should have pulled the trigger. My guess is no one was going to bail the Oilers out of the Manning contract since everyone and their dog were flabbergasted at the deal when it took place earlier this year. Having said that I wouldn’t have been on board with making a bunch of deals just to get late round draft picks.
We all know that there is a shortage of NHL talent, specific to the wings, on this roster already. So had management pulled the trigger to get rid of expiring contracts such as Chiasson or Reider they would have been forced to call-up some talent from Bakersfield.
After a win in Tucson last night to extend the streak to 17 in a row (second longest streak in AHL history), guys like Marody, Gambardella, Yamamoto and maybe even Benson would have been called up to fill the gaps on a struggling NHL team. When was the last time this organization could say that the guys in the system were making a big difference on the farm? I want to see these guys continue to make a difference and have a strong playoff run down there. Let them feel like they’ve accomplished something big rather than struggle at the NHL level in a long run attempt to grab the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
Does this organization need any asset they can get their hands on? Yes. But what they need even more is homegrown rookies entering the big leagues with confidence, swagger, and a burning desire to win.
That leads me to Alex Chiasson. A guy that has cooled down as of late, but has been one of the better stories around the team this season. To me, Chiasson is a player that has that winning attitude and brings a wealth of experience along with it. There has been a lot of talk about his advanced analytic numbers which I agree with, but this is a guy I’d like to see playing for the Oil next season. If they could get him signed on a one or two year deal, at a 1.2 – 1.5 million dollar cap hit, that is a deal I would be all for.
Reider is another guy I wouldn’t mind seeing back, he is an RFA so they should be able to work out a tolerable contract. Plus it would be hard to imagine that he could struggle this much to find the back of the net for a second season in a row. However, I am assuming that some moves are made in the offseason that would allow both of these guys to fill bottom 6 roles.
Given everything the team was dealing with I’m not going to hold too much of a grudge over the fact that they couldn’t make anything happen, but I also wouldn’t give them a passing grade.
Worth noting I am also a firm believer that the team should give it their all in the final stretch of the regular season.
Although it is highly unlikely that they can claw themselves back into the race, the entire league believes this organization has a losing mentality, so it’s in the best interest of the organization to prove them wrong. And come on, how amazing would it be to watch these guys go on an absolute tear and squeak into the playoffs? Even if they get throttled by Calgary in the opening round.
Follow Terrance on Twitter @tgrise94
