freelancer

Edmonton • Canada • 25 Years Old • Male

Locked and Unloaded

Originally I started writing this blog about how the Oilers were once again involved in a trade deadline where they only unloaded players but Chiarelli ruined that by actually adding things to improve the team.

I digress...

By now you all should know what deals went down so here is the Oiler's current roster.

Hall-Draisaitl-Kassian
Pouliot-McDavid-Eberle
Maroon-RNH-Yakupov
Hendricks-Letestu-Cracknell, Lander, Pakarainen

Klefbom-Sekera
Davidson-Fayne
Nurse-Gryba
Pardy-Clendining

With injuries to RNH, Pouliot, Klefbom we may not see this whole roster together but it gives us a glimpse into what Chiarelli might try and do this summer.

Patrick Maroon
In a surprising move, Chiarelli actually used draft picks to acquire a real NHL player. Maroon, like Kassian is a big physical winger who has decent hands despite being a larger man. He isn't as fast as Kassian but has proven he can play with guys like Perry and Getzlaf. This has been a rougher year for Maroon but in general it as been a strange year for the Ducks. 1.5 million dollars for a 27 year old who should bounce back to a 30 point player is a pretty good bet.

Pardy and Cracknell
I won't really bother touching on Pardy as at best he might be a 7th D. But Cracknell could potentially be a roster player for next year. The 210lb winger has 10 points in 44 games with the Canucks. Word is Benning was hoping he would slip through waivers, another black mark on a poor day for the Canucks. Cracknell would be an excellent cheap 4th line option.

There is an obvious common trait here. Chiarelli has stated since arriving in Edmonton that he wanted the Oilers to have more size and team toughness. Kassian, Cracknell, Maroon are players that fit that model. My best bet is over the summer we could see as many as 10 current roster players gone. That is a huge turnover and shows how much work still needs to go into making this team respectable.

With Purcell and Schultz gone and the above mentioned players brought in, it should be pretty obvious to the players what their General Manager wants in his players. Over the last 3 games the Oilers have been playing much closer games, matching teams like the Ducks and Kings in physicality. The players need to continue this over the next 18 games or they will most likely find themselves on a different team come October.

Thanks for reading

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