NO MIDNIGHT OIL: WITH THESE STARS, THE SUN WON’T SET
Believing his window to win won’t be brief, Edmonton GM is playing the long game
The problem with windows, Peter Chiarelli said, is that sometimes they can be difficult to pry open. Once you do, the challenge then becomes how to keep them from closing.
It’s an analogy, of course. The Edmonton Oilers’ general manager was not actually talking about windows when he was asked about his team’s Stanley Cup aspirations following the NHL general managers’ meetings on Tuesday, but rather the delicate time frame a team has in trying to go for it.
On one hand, the Oilers are a rebuilding team led by a 20- and a 21-year-old in scoring. On the other, they are a team with three players on long-term deals worth US$6 million each and another five earning $4 million or more. With the entry-level contracts for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl due up in the next one or two years, Chiarelli was asked if the window was starting to close just as it was opening.
“I hope the window’s bigger than that,” Chiarelli said, laughing. “The window for me is there shouldn’t be talk of a window if you’re doing your job right … I think the window can be as big as you want it to be. You have to be proactive in managing your players. For me, that applies to Edmonton.
“I don’t even think we’re in the window yet. There’s an argument that we are at the start of it. It’s just trying to stay competitive and (trying) to get these young guys some experience.”
Experience is really the only thing holding Edmonton back. McDavid leads the league in scoring, goalie Cam Talbot is ranked fourth in wins and the team is sitting in second place in the Pacific Division. But there is still a large unknown when it comes to the playoffs.
Neither McDavid nor Draisaitl has played in the post-season or even been involved in a meaningful game this late in the year in the NHL. Chiarelli hopes this last stretch of games — the team holds a 7-8-0 record since the allstar break after Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders — will prepare McDavid and others for what’s to come. But he also admitted it takes competing in a seven-game series to fully understand what’s at stake.
Sidney Crosby was in his second season in the league when Pittsburgh qualified for the playoffs. They lost in five games. A year later, the Penguins made it to the Stanley Cup final — and they won it the following season. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, who also missed the playoffs in their first year in Chicago, went to the conference final in their second year and won in their third.
“For me, with this group and Connor specifically, it’s about here and now,” Chiarelli said. “These are heavy games and they’re the games that we have to get through and find ways to win. Sometimes they’re not exciting games from a player’s perspective — they’re so tight-checking and not a lot of action — so it’s having them know this is what to expect. And we’ve been telling them that.
“Once we’re in it, it’s a sevengame series — like, anything can happen — and you have to learn to control your emotions and have composure and know that you have to remove the effects of the last game. That’s stuff that you learn as you go along.”
That might explain why Edmonton’s major trade deadline acquisition was depth centre David Desharnais. This isn’t a year to go all-in, Chiarelli said, it’s a year for the team’s youngsters to get their feet wet.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, the youngest club in the NHL with a pair of rookies leading in team scoring, took a similar approach at the deadline by adding fourthline forward Brian Boyle.
“The most important thing for us is not worrying about the end result, just keep doing the things we’ve been doing in developing our players,” Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello said. “If we do it right, the end result will take care of itself.”
It wasn’t just the young teams that stayed patient. While four of the seven Canadian teams are sitting in a playoff spot and two others are within striking distance, no one is pretending to be in the same tier as Washington, Pittsburgh or Chicago.
That doesn’t mean Montreal, Ottawa or Calgary can’t surprise some teams and go on an extended run. But as Senators GM Pierre Dorion said, just getting there means the window is more open than it was a year ago.
“We’ve always had the goal to get into the playoffs, and adding those pieces makes our trek to the playoffs probably easier,” said Dorion, who added depth forwards Alex Burrows and Viktor Stalberg at the deadline. “I still think there’s without a doubt certain teams that are definitely above the pack. But if we can make a bit of noise, that’s what we’re looking to do.”