The Edmonton Oilers have traded defender Justin Schultz to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a third round pick in the 2016 NHL entry draft. The Oilers will retain half the salary remaining for the defender. Schultz, who signed to much fanfare during the 2012 off-season, just never lived up to his potential.
This is a player who was billed as a top four defender at the NHL level, but in reality he never performed like one. Over the course of four separate seasons, Justin Schultz never once filled a top four role adequately. Part of the issue is because Schultz played a soft style and never developed, but part of the issue was that the Oilers didn’t handle him correctly. He was thrown into the deep end and never given a hand, that falls on the organization.
Schultz was a liability for the Oilers this season, no doubt about that. He didn’t take a step forward and made key mistakes at the worst possible times. It became clear that Justin Schultz did not fit in with the Edmonton Oilers and that he wasn’t going to be part of the solution here. Essentially, for the Oilers, this is addition by subtraction.
Penguins send a 3rd rnd pick to Oilers for Schultz.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 27, 2016
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For Schultz, this is also a welcomed move. He’s a better player than he is showing, but his confidence is a mess and he wasn’t going to turn things around here. He’ll go to a solid Penguins team and play in a much more suitable role.
As for the return, it’s more than I expected. Justin Schultz is completely a project and is not certain to be one of the six best defenders in Pittsburgh. Getting a third round pick for the player is a job well done by Peter Chiarelli. The Oilers have now opened a roster spot on defense, cleared out a bad contract situation, and added a useful asset in one transaction.
With Justin Schultz out of the picture, it becomes clear that Peter Chiarelli is going to makeover this defensive group this off-season. It’s too bad things didn’t work out between the Oilers and Schultz, but breaking off this relationship is long overdue.
That’s the second trade today that Peter Chiarelli has gotten good value on, certainly a positive sign.
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