According to the Oilers’ Twitter account, the team has placed defenceman, Brandon Manning, on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Bakersfield Condors. In the immortal words of Trooper, the man was here for a good time but not a long time. 

Isn’t Peter Chiarelli’s tenure as GM the gift that just keeps on giving? Less than two months after being acquired in the trade that sent Drake Caggiula to Chicago, Brandon Manning’s tenure with the Oilers is over after only 12 games played and a whole lot of time in the press box. Given his usage and general abilities, it wasn’t overly surprising to see the team announce that they’ve placed the 28-year-old defenceman on waivers with the intent of assigning him to the Bakersfield Condors, though, I can’t imagine that anyone would be all that broken up about it if he got claimed by someone else. That said, the chances of a claim happening are slim to none given Manning’s abilities and bloated contract that sees him being paid $2.5 million for this season and next.

At the time of the trade, there were media out of Chicago that couldn’t believe that the Blackhawks were able to move Manning’s contract and today’s waivers news is a pretty good reminder of why. Ignoring the obvious weirdness of spending a year trying to bring in the guy that broke your captain’s collarbone, the reality is that Brandon Manning was not near good enough and yet Peter Chiarelli thought it was a good idea to send out the team’s fifth leading goal scorer to acquire him. I don’t know who in the organization was scouting this deal but they should definitely be fired and embarrassed about how things played out. Now, less than 60 days later, the Oilers have even less depth on the wings than they started the year with and the only return they got in the Caggiula deal is on his way down to Bakersfield. You can’t make this stuff up.

I think the thing that’s even more confusing about this season is that the team allowed Chiarelli to do his thing for four months and then spend the rest of the season trying to erase those mistakes. Two days ago, Keith Gretzky managed to get rid of Ryan Spooner’s contract, replacing him with Sam Gagner, and I’d bet the farm that he’s been trying to do the same with Manning without finding any takers. Just the idea that the team allowed Chiarelli to make these deals only to have his replacement spend the first month on the job trying to undo almost everything is every shade of annoying that I can possibly think of. From wasted assets, to downgrades in skill, to general mismanagement of the salary cap, the Oilers keep finding new and creative ways to shoot themselves in the foot, creating a death spiral that can’t end soon enough.

In 12 games played with the Oilers, Brandon Manning has one goal, 10 shots on net, and 13 hits while averaging 13:25 worth of ice time. Now, I can’t help but wonder if Keith Gretzky consulted Connor for his blessing to punt Manning out of town the way Chiarelli reportedly asked if it was cool to bring him in?