New York Rangers: The Edmonton Oilers firing Peter Chiarelli is bad news
After years of chronic mismanagement as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, Peter Chiarelli was fired. This comes at the detriment to the New York Rangers as the team attempts to rebuild.
The life span of any executive in the NHL is a never-ending cycle of self-preservation. Those that are effective manage to stave off the vultures and produce a successful product on the ice for the franchise. In New York, it took a while for Glen Sather to find his footing as team president and G.M. but he eventually came around and understood the importance of the draft.
Teams in the NHL that struggle for the long term can often be attributed to chronic mismanagement. Whether it be draft picks being busts, making bad trades or handing out terrible contracts, it does not take much to derail a franchise and become a running joke amongst those within the league.
“The trade is one for one,” will live on in infamy up in Edmonton when G.M. Peter Chiarelli traded Taylor Hall, who would go on to win the 2018 Hart Trophy, for Adam Larsson, a fringe top-four defenseman. Simply put this was a trade on another level of bad that put the Oilers on a one way trip to the cellar.
The simple fact is, Chiarelli failed at every level as G.M. to compliment a generational talent in Connor McDavid. The best player in the league missed the playoffs again last year and barring a dramatic turn around with a new G.M. will out for the third time in his four years as a professional.
How it impacts the Rangers
Before the Oilers’ brass canned Chiarelli last night, the rumor mill was flooded with the message that the G.M. would make a dramatic last gasp trade to try and preserve himself and make the team more competitive. Based on Chiarelli’s track record when it comes to trades, this was a risk that ownership was not willing to take.
The Rangers were able to take advantage of Chiarelli once already this year when G.M. Jeff Gorton traded Ryan Spooner to Edmonton for Ryan Strome. Since the trade happened, Strome found a spot nicely in the Rangers’ lineup and become one of the team’s better secondary scorers. As for Spooner, Edmonton put the former Bruin and Ranger on waivers.
As recently as yesterday afternoon, prior to the Oilers loss to the Detroit Red Wings, there were strong rumors that Edmonton was interested in trading for Mats Zuccarello. If this were the case, New York could have had a realistic chance at Jesse Puljujarvi in a trade.
The former number four overall pick of the 2016 draft is mired in the mess that Chiarelli made. The promising prospect was never given an opportunity to break through because he did not have anyone to play with.
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Instead of another potential piece being added to the mix, the Rangers will miss out on a golden opportunity. I’d like to have a moment of silence for all of the “will the Rangers trade player x for McDavid,” jokes that are gone with Chiarelli’s dismissal.