OILERS’ GM PUTS ONUS ON PLAYERS
Chiarelli admits to weight of expectation, but says his team needs to ‘figure it out’
As the Edmonton Oilers limp towards the quarter point of the NHL season, general manager Peter Chiarelli was asked for a progress report on a team that had entered the year as a legitimate Stanley Cup favourite.
His answer: look at the standings.
“We’re second-last in the (Western Conference), so it’s obviously not satisfactory,” Chiarelli said at the annual GM meetings in Montreal. “General take-away is general disappointment. There’s your headline. But I do believe in the critical mass of the team and I do believe that we’re still in it.”
This obviously hasn’t been the start anyone expected out of the Oilers. Most expected that the team would build on the success of last season, when Edmonton finished second in the Pacific Division with 103 points and then came within a win of reaching the conference final in the playoffs. Instead, the mountainhigh expectations seem to be weighing down the young team.
After 19 games, the Oilers have more wins than only the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres. Connor McDavid has nine goals and 22 points, but the rest of the players have had trouble scoring and can’t seem to find any consistency in their games.
In particular, the off-season trade for Ryan Strome (three goals and eight points) hasn’t been a success, with Jordan Eberle having scored seven goals and 14 points with the New York Islanders.
“For me, it goes back to where our mindset was in terms of managing expectations,” said Chiarelli. “We fell behind the eight-ball at the start for a number of reasons. Execution was one of them and now you’re in that recovery mode and you lose runway. So that’s where we are right now.
“I’m not putting blame for our record on (the pressure of meeting expectations), but I think it’s something that we needed to address and we did. And maybe we didn’t do a good enough job of it.”
Chiarelli said the recent trade for Mike Cammalleri, a 35-yearold veteran, should help the team in that regard. And there might be more moves on the horizon. But he also stressed that he hasn’t given up on the current group.
“Do we need more help? All teams in the league need more help,” said Chiarelli. “But at this point, these guys have to figure it out also.”
This year’s general managers’ meetings were held at Montreal’s Le Windsor, the site where 100 years ago the league was formed.
It was a chance to reflect on the past, but also to look at the future of the game. Though the GMs were unanimous in their assessment the game is in a good position and heading in the right direction, the 31 caretakers of the league were interested in assessing the stricter enforcement of slashing violations, coaching challenges and any number of topics. One issue that garnered a lot of attention among the GMs was goalie interference and finding clarity on how it was being called.
The GMs were shown 10 videos of goals and asked to vote on whether it should have counted or waved off because of goalie interference. According to Chiarelli, there was 70 per cent consensus from the 31 GMs on what constituted goalie interference.
Scoring has been on the rise this season and several GMs believe the increase in power plays resulting from more slashing penalties could be behind it. But according to Colin Campbell, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, the two are not related.
Instead, he shifted the blame to Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and other players who are not yet old enough to order a beer in the United States.
“I think it’s a reflection of younger players in the league,” said Campbell. “We’re down to an average of 23 and 24 being our biggest segment of player. I think our players are faster and more talented, but older players are more defensive and have more patience. I think younger players make more mistakes.
“But is there anything wrong with that? We always say if you want more goals you need bad goalies and more mistakes.”
Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said on Friday that he would accept and support the NHL returning to Quebec City — and wouldn’t seek expansion or relocation compensation — but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman denied the league is interested in adding a 32nd team at this time.
The timing could not have been more perfect.
A day after Philadelphia’s Radko Gudas clubbed Winnipeg’s Mathieu Perreault over the head with a slash, NHL Department of Player Safety’s George Parros made a presentation on how the league is taking a tougher stance on slashing infractions that lead to injury.
Parros said the league is paying particular attention to even mild-looking plays that happen away from the puck and would issue warnings and fines to repeat offenders.
“My focus has been on slashes that are done intentionally, behind the play, non-hockey type of things. Slashes that land on the hands, fingertips area.