Monday Mailbag – Is Chiarelli building the right kind of team?

Another Monday is here to ruin your practice retirement and that means it’s time to collectively waste company time until the next weekend rolls around. As such, the mailbag is here to help you kill off a few minutes of your day and maybe, just maybe, help you learn a little something while you’re at it. If you’d like to join in on next week’s mailbag, you can email me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Now sit back, relax, and waste as many work hours as possible. Have a good week, everybody.

The heat is on, Trent! Peter Chiarelli is charged with winning a Stanley Cup for the Edmonton Oilers. Several of his summer bets have been found wanting in the early days of the season. I think we all have our own clocks set on making calls on things like trades and auditions and the slow start has caused many to carve the general manager. Tough business, but losing in Edmonton brings back some harsh and somewhat fresh memories. That’s the job.

Criticism is part of the gig. Fair? I don’t know if that comes into it. At this point of the season it certainly is premature — and that would hold true for over-the-top praise if the Oilers were off to a 7-2-1 start.

It was fair to ask the question in June. The Oilers have had holes in their lineup for months and plenty of opportunities to address them. Absolutely Peter Chiarelli should be questioned. Today, tomorrow, next week, every minute of every day it is wholly appropriate to question the General Manager of the Oilers regardless of whether they are doing great or poorly.

Nah definitely not. The same articles came out when he traded Taylor Hall and he eventually gets nominated for GM of the year. He’s made some questionable signings and of course, when we lose the haters will come out. But in the next 10 games when we start winning again, you won’t see any bad take on Chia.

Of course it’s fair. It’s part of the job. I still do think the Oilers are playing better than their record but soon that’s not going to matter if they keep digging this hole they’re in. This is Peter Chiarelli’s team now, he’s the one that should be on the hot seat.

I think things ebb and flow and everyone chases the latest winner. There is more than one way to win and I do think a team with a range of skills is better off than a one-trick pony. You can have a big club with speed included and you want some offensive ability on as many lines as possible. Edmonton is not horribly flawed nor are they perfectly aligned. Balance is the ideal.

If size succeeds over time teams pattern their rosters after that. Same with speed. It swings back and forth. Build a roster with a bit of both. The Oilers added the size they need but are now a step slow here and there. Trick is to find the balance.

I think the Oiler defence has speed on every pairing (or can have speed on every pairing) so that helps. I do not like the speed on their second line but after that, I think they are fine. If Lucic and Strome weren’t both so damned slow it wouldn’t be such a pronounced issue.

Speedy NHL teams are definitely succeeding lately, with the Penguins as a prime example. I don’t think we have a terribly slow team. Our ‘enforcers’ who often slow a team down aren’t THAT slow. Maroon’s getting faster every year, Kass has speed, and Lucic… well Lucic is slow but that’s okay.

The Oilers definitely needed some size in the lineup but the problem is that they’ve also downgraded on skill. Getting Connor McDavid is fantastic but he can’t be the one that does everything and the fact that the Oilers are struggling to score goals right now is wild considering who’s been moved out.

I think they’re going to score a lot of goals if they keep shooting as much as they have early in the season. Driving to the net helps, better luck helps, but I think there’s a danger in making sweeping statements too early in the year.

Lots of little things, including what you mention, go into producing goals. Part of producing rebounds is getting people in front of the net before the puck gets there, not after.

I think I would like to see Lucic and Strome crashing the net more but I’m not worried about them being too fancy just yet. Outside of McDavid trying to pass the puck when he should shoot sometimes, I think most of the time they are just snakebitten and not making poor decisions.

I think if they were being ‘too pretty’ we wouldn’t see half as many shots as they’re currently taking. Honestly, I don’t really know why they aren’t scoring, and It’s frustrating as hell. We’re getting a ton of chances but then you have Matt Murray making his bid for save of the year in a game against us. Not fair!

I guess? Maybe? Sometimes? I mean, I think the Oilers could definitely do a better job of getting themselves to the front of the net. They’re getting a lot of shots this season but there’s rarely any traffic in front of the opposing goaltender.

I think it shows the coach is casting about for secondary solutions after the early, obvious options are gone. This is often followed by a trade.

Both. Letestu can produce and he’s very good in the circles.

My very first reaction was that this team needs to make a trade for a real top six winger ASAP. No, it is not normal for the 4C to be the 2RW, and I’d buy the idea that faceoffs were the main concern if Nuge hadn’t been off to a decent start in the circle. If Letestu starts more than five games at 2RW all year then we have a major problem.

It’s a little scary seeing him up there. He’s been playing great so it is definitely deserved, except I think it really shows off a lack of depth on our part.

I love Mark Letestu but I think even he would admit he’s probably not a top six winger. Plain and simple, this comes down to a lack of depth on the right wing. Say what you will about Eberle, the only top six plan available after he got traded was Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Strome or two teenagers. Not exactly set up for success.

I’m not sure it is a slow start, but am not concerned at this time. Wish he had a more skilled centre down there for sure.

No. Given where the Oilers are at right now, that’s well down my list of concerns.

Yep. Of course I’m concerned. At the same time, I know it’s early and he could have one great game that puts him on a pace that befits a player of his pedigree. He’s had something like 14 shots in the last two games and it’s likely he’ll break through eventually. He’s just a kid, but obviously, I would feel much better if he was picking up lots of points.

A little bit. I’m trying not to be but so far he hasn’t exceeded expectations in either the AHL or NHL. Give him the year in Bakersfield to work it out, but I’m crossing my fingers we see the Poolparty we all dream about soon.

He’s a teenager working through things that teenagers need to work through. He doesn’t have any goals but he’s not exactly playing with much skill either. He’ll be fine. No need to rush prospects into the NHL anymore… well… ideally.

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