Today was quite the busy day for the Edmonton Oilers, seeing three players – Anders Nilsson, Teddy Purcell and Justin Schultz – dealt to seperate teams today ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
Peter Chiarelli just wrapped up a brief press conference regarding the trades that took place today.
Concerning Nilsson
Chiarelli felt that Brossoit was ready for being the number two, and wanted to get something for Anders. Chiarelli wanted to be proactive.
My Take: It was pretty simple and straight to the point. Brossoit has been very good in the AHL and Anders has struggled. Chiarelli managed to get a 5th rounder and goaltending prospect Niklas Lundstrom for Nilsson, which is decent value considering Liam Coughlin (traded to Chicago for Nilsson’s rights) was a fifth round pick himself.
Concerning Purcell
Chiarelli stated that Purcell’s contract was coming to an end and that the Oilers were not a contending team. Chiarelli also said that there were three or four teams that were interested in Teddy Purcell and that he felt the time to move on was now rather than later in regards to a better return.
My take: A third round draft pick in 2016 for a pending UFA in Purcell, isn’t a bad trade. There were some reported interest from Los Angeles today where it was rumoured that the Kings were going for a package deal for both Purcell and Schultz. It’s fair value, and although I would have loved a second, I cannot blame Chiarelli here.
Concerning Schultz
Chiraelli mentioned how he seen players get booed and go on to have success elsewhere. He compared Dennis Wideman to Justin Schultz during his time in Boston. Chiarelli also alluded that there were several teams interested in both Purcell and Schultz and stated that maybe Schultz got a bit too much too quickly here in Edmonton, but also noted that he did not follow Schultz as closely as he did prior to joining the Oilers.
My Take: Another good trade by Chiarelli. Schultz was the whipping boy of the Edmonton Oilers and the return was way better than I expected. In the long run, the 50% retention doesn’t really matter. One guy that’s compared to Schultz is Tom Poti.
On other notes:
Chiarelli mentioned how he felt disappointed that he did not get the chance to see all three centres(McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl) play at the same time. Chiarelli also said that he had two days to dig down on other “stuff” that doesn’t get done at the deadline and touched upon the compensation for Boston, adding that next year Boston will most likely get their second round draft pick. Lastly, Chiarelli hinted at another minor deal on a defenceman that could be coming up.
My Take: It’s quite apparent that Peter Chiarelli does not want to move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He also mentioned about Draisaitl being moved to the wing. It makes sense: both Peter Chiarelli’s Bruins and Todd McLellan’s Sharks had outstanding centre depth. The “digging down on other stuff” is ominous enough; it’s up to open interpretation as to who might get moved this summer. My take is that it still is Jordan Eberle, but that’s just my humble opinion. The compensation rule, now abolished, is still stupid. That said, the Oilers now have 16 draft picks 10 draft picks (I made an error.) for this upcoming draft (although I could be mistaken). That’s a lot of bullets to play with. The hinted defenceman is probably Mark Fayne.
It was a very busy day for Peter Chiarelli. Beyond another defenceman, possibly Mark Fayne, I’m not sure if we will see more activity on Monday. It’s been a respectable return so far.
UPDATE: Here’s the Peter Chiarelli Press Conference in full if you want to watch it.
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