Oilers to stick with Chiarelli

OILERS CEO BOB NICHOLSON CONFIRMS CHIARELLI BACK AS GM

Edmonton Oilers CEO and vice chair Bob Nicholson still has full confidence in general manager Peter Chiarelli. The same can’t exactly be said for head coach Todd McLellan and his staff.

Nicholson addressed reporters in Edmonton on Thursday and stated that he believes Chiarelli, also president of hockey operations, is still the right guy to lead the Oilers’ front office and isn’t going anywhere — despite Edmonton missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons under his guidance.

However, when asked about McLellan or his assistants returning for 2018-19, Nicholson would only say the organization still has some thinking to do heading into the offseason.

“We will have a plan coming out in the near future with how we are moving forward,” said Nicholson. “I think we want to do an evaluation and make the decisions we think are right. We are going through the process with not just the coaches but everyone within hockey operations and (Oilers Entertainment Group) staff. “It’s all being evaluated.” The Oilers entered the 2017-18 season with high expectations, but things quickly went downhill after they started the year 3-6-1 in the month of October and chased pack the rest of the way.

Despite another strong outing from superstar forward Connor McDavid — who earned his second straight league scoring title — the Oilers had a 25-point drop in the standings from the previous season, when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2006 with 105 points.

Edmonton finished 23rd this year with a 36-40-6 record. The Oilers were 25th in goals against, dead last on the power play and 25th on the penalty kill.

Nicholson plans to discuss coaches with Chiarelli, but says the GM will have the most input in any coaching changes.

“On the whole it was a challenge for our coaches this year,” Chiarelli told reporters in Edmonton on Wednesday. “I think Todd is a very good coach but we’re in a period of evaluation right now with him and his staff. Certainly we didn’t perform the way we expected.”

Nicholson hired Chiarelli in April of 2015.