With the Draft completed with drafting Connor McDavid, acquiring Griffin Reinhart and Cam Talbot, there were a couple more transactions that Chiarelli made leading up to July 1st.

In total, there were four trades in July and August that are of note. Unfortunately, for the most part, these trades did not pan out. There were some surprises but some were not good value and one trade in particular was awful.

As usual, Hindsight is 20/20. It’s easy to say now when a trade works or does not work: there is always a risk involved. That’s what makes the game so much fun.

The Trades

Martin Marincin to Toronto for Brad Ross and a 4th round pick in 2016

Martin Marincin. The Eye test vs Fancy Stats example personified. Marincin had a great rookie year in 2013-14 combining with Jeff Petry to form a good defensive pairing on the Oilers. Sadly, the Oilers happened as Jeff Petry was traded for a second round pick in last year’s trade deadline. However, Marincin did not have a great sophomore campaign as he had a terrible preseason and spent time in the AHL. A lack of battle in the corners and conditioning questions soured my opinion on him. Yet, Marincin was a player. A developing player. The trade itself? Not great. The Oilers acquired an banished Steroid user in Brad Ross and a draft pick that would later be flipped.

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/614832786567000064

Marincin meanwhile, has been playing great as of late after Roman Polak has been moved.

https://twitter.com/SteveBurtch/status/712102465559207936

Was the trade, for the value the Oilers received, a good one? No. It was not.

However…. Marincin would have risked being burried or past over with Andrej Sekera being signed (more on that below), Griffin Reinhart acquired (although he wasn’t the one who bumped him) Oscar Klefbom and the emergence of Brendon Davidson.

Grade: D+ I understand why the Oilers would move him and he’s a decent defender. That said, it wasn’t a great return on a soon to be flourishing young player. The Leafs got a good deal at the time of the trade.

Travis Ewanyk and 4th round pick in 2016 to Ottawa for Eric Gryba

The fourth rounder acquired for Marincin was immediately flipped to the Ottawa Senators along with Travis Ewanyk for big physical defenceman, Eric Gryba. As a Sens fan (after the Oilers!) I saw enough Gryba to like the trade initially. Not known as a puck mover and having speed issues, I found Gryba to be surprisingly effective at clearing the body in the corners and adding that physical presence to the Oilers blue line. He’s strictly a third pairing defenceman. He does not produce much offensively and is not the greatest for possession but provides size to clear up that pesky cycling. The best part of Gryba? A right handed shot.

That said, it’s hard to say what Gryba’s future will be as he is a UFA at the end of the season and is currently out with injury. I do not mind Gryba, but I could see him being bumped off.

Grade: C+ Ewanyk and a 4th was cheap for Gryba. Chiarelli took a prospect unlikely to make it to the NHL and a later round pick for a servicable defender in Gryba. Not a bad trade, solid but not spectacular.

Boyd Gordon to Arizona for Lori Korpikoski

Look at that photo. It’s like Dougie Hamilton is smiling because he has to face Lauri Korpikoski. He probably knows what’s up.

The Oilers did a one for one deal trading an expensive, older but servicable Boyd Gordon for a versitile winger in Lauri Korpikoski. Initially I was alright with this trade because I figured Korpikoskki could provide more offence in place of the departed Gordon.

Oh boy was I ever wrong in that assessment. Check out this from Oilersnation featuring Cat Silverman, which kind of gave us a heads up.

Or this tweet from Woodguy55:

Coach loves him!!! RT @Archaeologuy: Korpikoski 6.25% CF through 2 periods. 1-15

— Woodguy (@Woodguy55) March 27, 2016

Want to take a guess who’s ranking near last for possession metrics? Lauri Korpikoski. The man who went from Corporal Korpi to Korpse is a fitting name: when Korpikoski is on the ice, he is a black hole when it comes to being dominated in terms of possession. The puck is simply more often than not, in our end when Korpkoski is on the ice. He’s bad to the point where he was playing with McDavid at one point and McDavid could not produce with him on his wing.

The worst part of this trade: Gordon is a UFA at the end of this year. Korpikoski is not as his contract runs out after next season. Somehow, he has 10 goals this year. Somehow.

Grade: F. My first F grade given and with good reason: Korpikoski is not a good player on the Edmonton Oilers.

Liam Coughlin to the Blackhawks for Anders Nilsson

Peter Chiarelli did a trade that we start to see here: trading a prospect that is a long shot for an establish player. Although in the case of Anders Nilsson, to say he was established was a stretch. Immediately after acquiring Nilsson, the Oilers signed Anders the Giant to a one year contract worth a million.

Nilsson spent the previous season in the KHL. It was rumoured that Nilsson took off to the KHL because of wanting better minutes and not wanting to play in the AHL any longer.

Early return, up to January, Nilsson looked very solid. He was a huge part of the Edmonton Oilers six game win streak in late November and early December. Unfortunately, it seemed to be lightning in the bottle: since December 6th, Nilsson’s last ten outings averaged a paltry 0.851 save percentage. That even included a thirteen save cameo in relief of Talbot against Montreal!

Chiarelli would not be too stubborn as Nilsson was traded prior to this year’s trade deadline for Niklas Lundstrom and a 4th round draft pick in 2016.

Considering that Chiarelli originally traded Liam Coughlin (a fourth round pick) for Nilsson and acquired a 4th round pick plus a goaltending prospect, it was a solid return.

Grade B- Based on the trade and even though Nilsson did not work out, it was a solid job for Chiarelli to acquire a back up for Talbot. It would create a battle for the crease where Nilsson rightfully won over Ben Scrivens, who was banished to the AHL.

Conclusion

The trades Chiarelli made during the summer were not spectacular (save for Cam Talbot, but he was a different story ). Marincin hurt the Oilers, but they do have good depth on the left side and I speculate that is what caused Marincin to be the odd man out. The Korpikoski for Gordon Swap is a diaster as Korpikoski is a gaping black hole of any decent possession statistics. However, Gryba was a decent acquistion that did not cost much, likewise was Nilsson.