Oilers need to go back to drawing board
The dumpster fire seems to be under control in Edmonton. Columbus, in total disarray after sacrificing a massive chunk of the future in a reckless attempt to win a Stanley Cup this spring, has moved past the Oilers and become the NHL franchise most similar to a three-alarm blaze at the moment.
For a while there, it looked like the firing of general manager Peter Chiarelli had created an even uglier situation with the Oilers than what Chiarelli had created. Connor McDavid had taken on a nightly look that made you constantly wonder if he was about to burst into tears.
The trade deadline passed without interim general manager Keith Gretzky doing anything crazy, like hastily dumping the disappointing Jesse Puljujarvi, but a one-sided 6-2 loss in Toronto last week seemed to signal the Oilers were still capable of new horrors before they could put a wrap on the 2018-19 season.
Late in that loss to the Leafs, however, the Oilers looked like they stopped being embarrassed and started to get a little mad. Edmonton winger Brad Malone injured Travis Dermott with a dangerous hit from behind into the side boards and got away with it, both on the ice and with no discipline afterward from NHL hanging judge George Parros, surely the most clueless individual to hold that post since Gil Stein was giving suspensions for non-game days.
Later in the third period, with Toronto up 6-1, Zack Kassian ran over Freddie Andersen in the Leafs crease, allowing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to put the puck in the net. Everyone was so bored by the one-sided game, including the yawning referees and NHL ops people, apparently, that they called it a goal just so the game would be over more quickly. But the Oilers got a reward for somebody, in this case Kassian, showing a little life.
The Oilers went out the next night and beat the Belleville Senators, who Eugene Melnyk dressed up as his NHL squad that night, and since then things have started looking up a little bit for Edmonton. Triumphs over that imploding Blue Jackets team, the mediocre Sabres and then Vancouver have at least temporarily turned down the heat on the organization. The team’s playoff hopes are still dim, and maybe that’s OK, as another lottery pick would probably help this club more at this stage.
Gretzky, brother of No. 99, has quieted things down. It’s clear there are going to be many choices for president Bob Nicholson when it comes to hiring a new GM, and Gretzky probably deserves some consideration.
This is going to be a massive hire for Nicholson, who doesn’t have a lot of success on his resumé since joining the Oilers in 2014. He’s already made it clear that this time, after quickly deciding on Chiarelli the last time Edmonton needed a GM, he’s going to interview a lot of candidates.
The challenge for Nicholson is going to be whether he’s more inclined to listen to somebody who sells him on a way to turn this situation around quickly, or whether he realizes the Oilers are a poorly built team that requires major surgery and a new team philosophy and therefore might go backward before it can move forward again.
In that light, this recent improvement may not be helpful to Nicholson. It may get too many folks thinking this club can be quickly altered to get the Oilers to contending status. Already, for example, you’ve got some suggesting perhaps Kassian could be McDavid’s permanent winger because he’s scored a few goals lately. Oh my.
Look, McDavid is the fastest player in the NHL, and somehow the Oilers are one of the league’s slowest, least mobile teams.
They are swimming against the current of what wins in today’s NHL. That has to change immediately.
So McDavid, obviously, and Leon Draisaitl can stay. Darnell Nurse hasn’t played 300 NHL games yet and it’s always a mistake to make a decision on a talented young defenceman until at least that point in his career.
Otherwise, the rest of this team can be exchanged for an entirely different type of team, probably smaller and definitely faster.
They’ll need a coach — perhaps Sheldon Keefe — who thinks that way too, and they’ll need to clear up their payroll situation.
Milan Lucic, with four years left on his deal at $6 million per season, would be a perfect fit in Ottawa next season to help get the low-budget Senators to the salary-cap floor. Gretzky should have been on the phone to Pierre Dorion yesterday asking what it would take to make that happen.
This isn’t a total tear down because the Oilers have McDavid and Draisaitl, but it’s close. There’s a cinder-block foundation, and that’s it. The executive who comes in telling Nicholson those cold, hard facts is the person who should get the job, not the one who comes in talking playoffs in 2020.
The dumpster fire may be under control now, but it’ll flare up again unless the Oilers realize this team needs a total redesign, not a little sprucing up.