LIVIN ON A PRAYER
Joined: Oct. 2017
Posts: 6,496
Likes: 6,467
"oIlErS fAnS nEeD tO bE pAtIeNt"
No, this was the season - ESPECIALLY after the run they started the season on - for Holland to invest prospects (like Safin, Samorukov, Wells, and picks beyond this years' 1st rounder) in order to fuel a run with this roster. This team has missed the playoffs in what's looking to be the 13th time in 14 years. The only message this regime has effectively sent to McDavid is that they are incapable of icing a roster capable of contending and that there appears to be no panic or immediate desire to do so.
The fans are finally learning, and they've quit going to the games in droves. Once Katz gets that message and grows the balls to fire Bobby Nicks, there MIGHT be change.
"No GM in Oilers history has been patient"
Tambellini would like a word. The only time an Oilers GM was impatient (in recent memory) was when Chiarelli took Hall, the 2015 #16OA pick, and the #33OA pick and turned the trio of them into Adam Larsson. If this team needs to be in the playoffs at minimum to keep McDavid (and Draisaitl?) from wanting out, something needed to happen sooner. They cannot keep hoping to contend for a wildcard position. If Holland wanted to ice a winning roster right now, Benson - who you correctly identify as being successful in the AHL right now - should have been called up alongside Lagesson and Yamamoto. They'd be more than willing to move Puljujarvi and their upcoming draft capital - neither of which are going to help the team win now or within the next 2/3 seasons anyways - to be taking a genuine run at the Pacific division when it's never been weaker. A berth in the Western Conference Final was almost guaranteed up until Hall was traded to a divisional rival that's trending upward faster than Edmonton is. That's unacceptable for any manager, and it's insulting to the fanbase and the players here long-term to be that tone-deaf and out of touch with the league. The franchise - in terms of its personnel, players, and fanbase - needed to be in the playoffs this season. Any manager that unwilling to restructure his plan strictly because doing his job and winning the cup(???) is beyond the scope of building the team for 5 years down the road should NOT be a general manager in the NHL.
Based solely on the return for Hall, Edmonton likely could have kept Bouchard and Broberg in any deal. Samorukov - despite being a quality asset - is expendable. Klefbom, Nurse, and Broberg likely maintain the top-3 positions for LD in some capacity for the next decade. Even if they move Nurse, you only need a short-term top-4 option until Broberg assumes that role. Jones and Lagesson are fine prospects too.
Up to this point in his tenure as GM of the Oilers, I'd be very willingly deem Holland a failure, but not yet on the level Chiarelli was. Not drafting a top forward in 2019 with the #8OA, wasting money on non-NHL options for the bottom-six and backup positions, overpaying Chiasson (term specifically), and failing to improve his team by the New Year despite the utter lack of resistance the Oilers could have had to a playoff berth is just unacceptable for me and other fans.