GRILLING ‘THE GHOST’

Chiarelli has much to answer for: Jones

It was Wednesday at noon when “The Ghost” finally appeared.

That’s the name the media guys who are around this team every day came to give Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli this season.

This year he’s been like smoke or fog, blowing away and never there for a comment or a quote like Glen Sather used to be between periods in his booth in the press box any game or for a quick scrum here or there like most of Chiarelli’s predecessors in the position.

You could count on one hand (and not use all the fingers) the number of times he made himself available to that dedicated group. But this was a day they were waiting for — the annual season in review general manager’s analysis.

A full 50 hours after his head coach met with the media for his year-end review and took blame for the most disappointing season in Oilers history, it was Chiarelli’s turn in the barrel.

And yet, did the general manager step up like the head coach he may be about to fire and take any blame?

He used the word “maybe” a lot.

But that was it.

I asked the question. To what extent did player performance negatively impact the management team and to what extent did the management team performance negatively impact player performance this year?

“I’m certainly trying to be accountable here but the player, except for two or three, performances were subpar. I’m not saying my performance was above par ... but I think both played a part.

“If you want to dissect the player personnel moves, there were a number of veteran players we didn’t bring back or traded that was borne out of necessity. Could we have done a better job of replacing those players? Maybe. Did we over-project on a couple of young guys? Maybe early on we did.”

If you took a poll to determine whom the fans believed to be most to blame for what happened here this year, I believe Chiarelli would rank No. 1, ahead of coaches and players.

Matter of fact we did take a poll.

It was our annual “You Be The Boss” poll that comes out in the next few days. I expect it to show the fans placed more blame on Chiarelli than on McLellan.

Chiarelli has terrible optics right now with the Oilers’ position in the standings and a lot of external situations.

He’s the guy who traded away Taylor Hall, who is likely running 1-2 with Nathan MacKinnon and a photo-finish-for-third field in the voting for the Hart Trophy.

He’s the guy who shipped out Jordan Eberle and his US$6 million deal for Ryan Strome and his $2.5 million, with Eberle producing 59 points and Strome 34.

He’s the guy who gave up a first-round pick that became Islander rookie Mathew Barzal (22 goals, 85 points), the heavy favourite to win the Calder Trophy, and a second-round pick to acquire Griffin Reinhart, lose him in the expansion draft and spend the season with the AHL Chicago Wolves.

He’s the guy who gave Milan Lucic a $6-million contract for seven years (five years remaining) and ended up with a 28-year-old player who looked 38 this past season and now has to bet on him returning to form because there’s no way in the world he can move him.

Chiarelli is a guy with a rap sheet from before he came here that included trading Tyler Seguin, Blake Wheeler and Phil Kessel.

It took a very direct question from your correspondent to get him to come right out and publicly say what the fans have been waiting weeks to hear him say. JONES: “Would you definitively say that it is your intention to keep Nugent-Hopkins as a member of the core group of this team?” CHIARELLI: “Yeah. I would say that.”

There are a lot of extenuating circumstances attached to Chiarelli’s rap sheet, and I’d have done a lot of those deals, including Eberle and, at the time, Hall.

And I’m of the school that Chiarelli and McLellan should both stay and both get committed to taking the team back to where it was from the 103-point regular season trip to Game 7 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last year.

Because if they don’t do that, they’re both going to be gone anyway.

And I believe both are among the best in the business despite Chiarelli’s rap sheet and McLellan’s playoff past.

And yes, Chiarelli is the same guy who last year, quite rightly, was being given credit for making all the right moves.

But for him not to come flat out and admit he deserved much of the blame — not to mention being “The Ghost” all year — shows an aloofness that doesn’t play well in this town.

I’m certainly trying to be accountable here but the player, except for two or three, performances were subpar.