Monday Mailbag – Grading Chiarelli’s Trade Deadline

Can you believe that we’re in March already? It’s strange to think about the fact that we’re coming down the home stretch with light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know what to do with my hands. Draft related sadness is a story that we’ve seen many times before, but there hasn’t been any draft talk around these parts and that’s something new and exciting. Playoffs? We’re actually talking playoffs! But on this day we take a look at the answers to everything you’ve ever wanted to know when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers, and life in general. My friends, it’s mailbag time.

C+. Desharnais is an important addition to the team, and secures a third-line centre position which has been a real problem all year. I’m not wild about the acquisition cost; in a vacuum I’d rather have Davidson though Desharnais obviously does more to address team need than Davidson did (more on that here). I’d personally have taken a more aggressive approach, targeting at least an additional RW, because I think there’s a chance this team could go on a run. I understand Peter Chiarelli’s skepticism, though. There’s not enough here to bump up the grade – not when teams like Boston or Nashville were able to add cheap insurance on the wing – but there’s also nothing worth getting too upset about.

I am terrible with grades, but would say C+. C because they should have gotten a goalie and + because they didn’t trade any draft picks. I find it difficult to be critical of Chiarelli because he didn’t trade Jeff Petry for draft picks.

Peter Chiarelli took a realistic approach to the deadline. If you wanted one of the few big names out there, you won’t be happy, but I think adding David Desharnais was a solid move that was needed in the bottom six. Big moves, if made, need to come in the summer. Solid B-plus, maybe even an A. 

C- I think they have had a weakness on the wing for the entire season and the price to fill it was very low. Parenteau of Vanek for a sixth or a third and an AHL D was very low and could have had a huge impact on the roster. At bare minimum, it would have opened up options for McLellan. So they swapped out Davidson for Desharnais and really nothing else. I think this team had a chance to walk away big winners but didn’t. 

I would give Chia a B+. First of all, I wasn’t expecting much coming into the deadline, so I wasn’t really surprised that he didn’t do much. AND he told us that his plan was not to do much. I’m excited to see Eberle & RNH in the playoffs for the first time in a long time.

I’d give Chia a ‘C’ because I wasn’t really expecting much in the first place. I like Davi but I don’t mind the Desharnais trade. I would have liked to see something more than Justin Fontaine added for RW depth, but to me that says that they’re going to be recalling Poolparty before the playoffs start.

With the West being the way it is, I have argued for a more aggressive strategy. Even if we avoid the extreme version of that (Russell, Davidson out; Shattenkirk in, hard run at Vrbata, hard run at Boyle) I don’t think a depth pick was too high of a price to pay for a veteran winger. However, it’s not hard to understand the reasoning here. If Edmonton’s going to be competitive in the coming seasons, it’s going to need good, cheap, young players and that means a lot of college recruitment and draft picks. On that score, it’s hard not to like the addition of Ryan Mantha to the team – right defence is an area of weakness in the prospect pool and he helps address that. 

I think the general manager was in fact hamstrung from not having his own second-round pick. The club has been using their picks more wisely in recent years so keeping those picks makes sense to me.

Yes.

Not from my perspective. The draft isn’t going to save the Oilers any longer. The team is simply too good to expect big returns from the draft. Their best young players are a lot more likely to come outside this route, like Matthew Benning and maybe this Mantha kid. Now that this club should be in the 18-31 range for the foreseeable future, the value of their picks will plummet. 

I am a little bit confused with the Taylor Beck trade. Seemed sort of lateral to me. Although it seems apparent Chia is looking to sign older guys so if that’s what he’s going for he followed through with it. With that said it will be nice heading into this years draft with a bunch of picks (minus a second).

Apparently, this year’s draft class isn’t overly good so keeping picks wouldn’t matter as much. That said, maybe Chiarelli is going to use them as trade bullets for the draft or as a means to keep Vegas’ grubby mitts away from someone specific. At the end of the day, I’m just happy that we’re not talking about where the Oilers will be drafting this year.

I know a lot of people have a problem with this, but I don’t really. Brossoit has to make the jump now if he’s going to be on the team next year, and given that he has to clear waivers we can look at this as his career being at the crossroads. There’s also the concern of taking on additional salary given the Oilers’ likely rookie bonuses. To me it comes down to the coaching staff being willing to give Brossoit a few starts over the next month and a half. If Brossoit plays the Colorado game on Mar. 23, one of the Vancouver games on Apr. 8/9, and one or two others, that should be enough.

Mess up may be a bit strong, but I bet on some level Mr. Chiarelli wanted to add a goalie.

Mess up? No. Was it worth looking at? Sure.

Yes. He’s working without a safety net. You won’t know you needed one until it’s too late.

It would have been nice bringing a guy like Halak in while letting Brossoit win an AHL chamipionship but I’m not angry we didn’t get one. I’m fine with him playing the odd game. Talbot has not gotten fatigued…yet. For now I will assume this is impossible and that he’ll play in the NHL until he’s 50. 

No, he didn’t screw up by not adding a backup goalie at the deadline, he screwed up by adding Gustavsson in free agency. There were much better options out there and Chiarelli landed on Gustavsson which didn’t make any sense. Remember how I said that at the time and some of you guys roasted me for it? I’ll wait for my apology cards to come in the mail.

I didn’t think Vanek was a fit for Edmonton – he’s been one of the four most sheltered forwards in the entire analytics era – and Todd McLellan just doesn’t run his lines like that. As much as he would have been a help to the power play, it’s hard to find room for a slower, one-dimensional forward at evens. I’d have had time for P.A. Parenteau for a sixth-round pick; that’s basically no cost for a guy who can help the power play and chip in on a veteran third line with Desharnais and Pouliot.

Not really, no. The Oilers time will come and when it does. I expect we will be dancing and singing.

I wouldn’t have minded seeing Curtis Lazar get a second chance in Edmonton. Minor deal, but I think there’s a useful bottom six forward there. 

You mentioned Vanek, that one for me stands out. His reputation is in the gutter with a lot of fans (and hockey people) but that’s real talent acquired for almost nothing. I still would have loved to see the Oil swing for the fences and go for Shattenkirk. The price was not that high and I would have bet on myself as GM that I could sell him on being 97’s teammate with an extension.

I thought the Parenteau deal was very plausible and surprising. Wish we could have got him.

I too think the Parenteau deal was something that Chiarelli should have looked at. Heaven forbid we don’t lose that sixth round pick. Vanek might have been nice to bolster the power play, too. The real prize was Shattenkirk but it didn’t sound like he wanted to be here anyway so what was the point of trying to force a square peg into a round hole?

I’m not worried about them solidifying their playoff position. They’re almost certainly in, barring something truly catastrophic happening. What I’m curious about is whether they can climb the standings in the Pacific division and get some of the kinks ironed out prior to the postseason. Given the softness of the schedule, something like 7-4-2 would be the minimum that I’d find acceptable, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they went on a real tear.

I think this is the point in the season when it is hard to do that, to be honest. If Edmonton clinches third place and cannot reach second in the final four games, we may see players rested. I will say they should average more than a point per game, though.

Oilers should win eight of those 13 games.

8-4-1 is a record I would be pretty happy with. It seems lofty, but it’s doable. Edmonton has opponents breathing down their neck. They need to separate themselves if they want home ice in the first round. It’s barely more than a month before the regular season is over. Finish strong heading into the playoffs. 

Honestly, I feel like they could clinch the playoffs by going 7-4-1 but I think they are going to do much better than that. 9-1-3. Book it!

They need to win at least 60% of these games which equals out to about eight wins. They have a friendly schedule against a lot of non-playoff teams down the stretch and they’ll need to take advantage of that as Calgary and LA are now right on their heels. 

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