I agree with you on MacT. I think that at the end of the day, his Achilles heel was his lack of experience in upper management (only one year of hockey operation duties prior).

Another thorn that comes up is the hiring of Eakins, as you mentioned, thus firing Kreuger, who I thought would have implemented a good system with the options he had in terms of players. The whole process of hiring Eakins was rash and subject to an incomplete thought. Furthermore, I think Yak's career would have a completely different outcome with Krueger in charge of coaching duties.

Other than that, he made some interesting/noteworthy moves such as the Perron trade and can be seen as a crafty GM (draft picks acquired in 2013 & 2015). Definitely would like to see him be the GM for Edmonton now that he has some upper management experience under his belt (glad that Edmonton kept him in an upper management position).
- EdmHockeyMan

Totally disagree. Kruger got us a Hot streak in a short season...as the season progressed the Oilers were plummeting down the standings. He is completely over rated as a coach, or rather his “success” is greatly exaggerated by dippoops that look at point totals and a merger jump in the standings.

You cant compare Edmonton and Toronto. Its a lot easier to attract high end players in a metropolis, and convincing them to go there is a lot easier then asking a guy "hey would you like to uproot that hot wife of yours and your 2 kids and come to Edmonton, we are only 2000 kms away from anything that matters to someone who makes the kind of money you make and there's a good chance you actually wont freeze to death in April but I wont guarantee it". The city is nice but with the players having so much power to decide where they want to play it makes it really difficult for us to either trade for a player with a NMC (most good players have these) or sign them outright in the offseason.

We are usually stuck trying to sign guys like sekera who are still ok but past their best days but still want to be paid like they are 23 again. Which leaves us to drafting, the only way we can get high end talent and guarantee they stick around long enough to realize the city is worth living in.
- benmacw

Bullpoop. Many players liked Edmonton , especially if they had kids.
It all comes down to winning. Can I win a Cup there? No. That GM they have is a tool, I’ll sign elsewhere.

Bullpoop. Many players liked Edmonton , especially if they had kids.
It all comes down to winning. Can I win a Cup there? No. That GM they have is a tool, I’ll sign elsewhere.
- HonkyTonkMan

Since when lol, when was the last high valued Free Agent that chose edmonton. Name him. Edmonton has had like 2 eras, when we had gretzky, and when we didnt. When a cup was almost gauranteed, sure maybe some players wanted to come here but that was also before they could play in places like LA, SanJose, ETC. Edmonton will never be a FA first choice, ever. BUT, if we can do the almost impossible and build a superpower on the backs of draft picks and win some games then maybe.

Sean Maloughney: A Blog About That Blog
A few comments regarding the Oilers organization and the state of the fan base's psyche.
- freelancer

Not even on the job for 3 months and already you are using Hendo's shtick.

Totally disagree. Kruger got us a Hot streak in a short season...as the season progressed the Oilers were plummeting down the standings. He is completely over rated as a coach, or rather his “success” is greatly exaggerated by dippoops that look at point totals and a merger jump in the standings.
- HonkyTonkMan

It was a mixed bag of a season overall. There were some positives and some negatives, as expected considering the circumstances. Over the duration of things, I think that Krueger was/would be the right guy to bring into a young team. Yakupov, for example, had a good season under Krueger's reign (leading goal-scorer).

All in all, firing Krueger without giving him a shot to prove his worth over a full season was a mistake. He at least deserved that much of a warrant. He, to me, proved that he should have been given at least another year to see what he can truly coup together with some stability, time, and patience from management, along with a full season.

The spontaneous and unnecessary hiring of Eakins just continued the roulette of coaching changes and provided no stability with regards to coaching, one thing that was a big negative impact, especially to young players, on the team.

Since when lol, when was the last high valued Free Agent that chose edmonton. Name him. Edmonton has had like 2 eras, when we had gretzky, and when we didnt. When a cup was almost gauranteed, sure maybe some players wanted to come here but that was also before they could play in places like LA, SanJose, ETC. Edmonton will never be a FA first choice, ever. BUT, if we can do the almost impossible and build a superpower on the backs of draft picks and win some games then maybe.
- benmacw

Since ever. Who wants to live in Detroit or New Jersey? Edmonton hasn’t been a Cup contender in almost 30 years, and that’s the biggest reason why we haven’t attracted the big names. Sure, beaches and huge metropolitan areas are other reasons to sign elsewhere, but winning is key.
Slag them all you want, but Lucic and Sekeras were 2 of the biggest names in their respective UFA classes, why did they sign here? They didn’t get paid over and above what they would have got elsewhere. They signed because McDavid , they felt, gave them a chance to win.

It was a mixed bag of a season overall. There were some positives and some negatives, as expected considering the circumstances. Over the duration of things, I think that Krueger was/would be the right guy to bring into a young team. Yakupov, for example, had a good season under Krueger's reign (leading goal-scorer).

All in all, firing Krueger without giving him a shot to prove his worth over a full season was a mistake. He at least deserved that much of a warrant. He, to me, proved that he should have been given at least another year to see what he can truly coup together with some stability, time, and patience from management, along with a full season.

The spontaneous and unnecessary hiring of Eakins just continued the roulette of coaching changes and provided no stability with regards to coaching, one thing that was a big negative impact, especially to young players, on the team.
- EdmHockeyMan

I don’t disagree Kruger should have been given another season, but only idiots think that Yak would have somehow been less retarded over the long term with Ralphie.

Haters are gonna hate, (frank)boi Fanboys are going salivate...but here’s the facts.

Kevin Lowe and Co paid a high price for a run to the finals that we felt for years and I’m glad he did it, even with the mass exodus of Pronger etc, and it was well worth the ride. Lowe was an excellent General Manager despite having a poor scouting staff, and a strict budget enforced by ownership. Helped that he had the 2nd greatest Oilers coach of all time behind Slats. Passing grade.

Steve Tambolini was a piss poor choice for GM...unless he was mandated , by being an outsider, to run the team into the ground to get a couple 1st overall picks, and then (frank) off and take all the blame. That part of the plan worked to perfection, however the part of a rebuild he (frank)ed up on was the fire sale. He got Peanuts for Souray, Hemsky, Penner( the lone exception) Roloson and averyone else with value because he either waited too long or didn’t move them at all, which meant that the few young guns drafted in the 1st round he had were the only up and comers he had.
Complete failure.

Craig MAC Tavish was much better. He identified the need for stop gap players on defence , but he picked the wrong ones in a few cases, took some low risk gambles on Russian players that didn’t pan out, moved a broken down Hemsky and an overpaid Horcoff. He was very hesitant to move our young talent and missed the boat on Acquiring Center depth, and was a poor evaluator of veteran and goaltender talent. He made all the right moves, but they were the wrong players or too late (Roy)....he still had an awful roster ,but it was made worse by hiring Eakins....tho not even Scotty Bowman could make them a winner. Overall...passing grade, but barely.

Peter Chiarelli inherited the Oilers with Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent Hopkins , Justin Schultz, Oscar Klefbom, Nail Yakupov, an NHL ready Leon Draisaitl and a young Darnell Nurse, and an extra 1st round draft pick.In the 3 years since he got us a paltry 3 decent prospects in Jesse P, Yamamoto, and Bouchard, signed Lucic Russel and Sekeras , traded for Strome, Larsson, some nothing picks and prospects only EdmHockeyFan sees as NHL players, and all it cost was Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Nail Yakupov and a 1st round pick in a deep draft, and we missed the playoffs 2/3 years.
How can this be anything but a complete failure?

I honestly think they should give back the reigns to Lowe and MacTavish, but that’s for another day.
- HonkyTonkMan

(frank) Lowe and Crack-T they had their chance and blew it. Why go backwards.

It was a mixed bag of a season overall. There were some positives and some negatives, as expected considering the circumstances. Over the duration of things, I think that Krueger was/would be the right guy to bring into a young team. Yakupov, for example, had a good season under Krueger's reign (leading goal-scorer).

All in all, firing Krueger without giving him a shot to prove his worth over a full season was a mistake. He at least deserved that much of a warrant. He, to me, proved that he should have been given at least another year to see what he can truly coup together with some stability, time, and patience from management, along with a full season.

The spontaneous and unnecessary hiring of Eakins just continued the roulette of coaching changes and provided no stability with regards to coaching, one thing that was a big negative impact, especially to young players, on the team.
- EdmHockeyMan

Kruger / Nelson should have been given the reigns as a tandem.

(frank) Lowe and Crack-T they had their chance and blew it. Why go backwards.
- Reveen.

A) Mac T didn’t blow anything. He had the job for 2 years...not long enough to turn the ship around.
Kevin Lowe did a fine job. Oilers fans are just idiots for thinking we could have acquired enough assets in 2-4 years of rebuilding to be a playoff team.
B) As much as I can’t stand Chia, he has a tough gig working for Bob Nicholson, who works for Katz, who also has Wayne and Mess on payroll, talking in his ear all the time. If Katz wants those guys around, he might as well get a manager those guys will support.

Kruger / Nelson should have been given the reigns as a tandem.
- Reveen.

Tandem head coaches? Brilliant

A) Mac T didn’t blow anything. He had the job for 2 years...not long enough to turn the ship around.
Kevin Lowe did a fine job. Oilers fans are just idiots for thinking we could have acquired enough assets in 2-4 years of rebuilding to be a playoff team.
B) As much as I can’t stand Chia, he has a tough gig working for Bob Nicholson, who works for Katz, who also has Wayne and Mess on payroll, talking in his ear all the time. If Katz wants those guys around, he might as well get a manager those guys will support.
- HonkyTonkMan

MacT hired Eakins nuff said... Kevin Lowe frequently over played his hand and waited to long to cash in on players when they had value.

Katz needs to (frank) off and the boys on the bus need to go with him.

Tandem head coaches? Brilliant
- HonkyTonkMan

No you (frank)ing dolt... Kruger as the coach and Nelson as his assistant. Kinda like McLennan and Woodcroft.

The success of the year before rejuvinated my love for the Oilers and gives me hope for this year and moving forward.

However, last year was a disappointment that cause me to miss games I normaly would not have, and my interest last year was at an all time low.

This year will be decider IMO of the "another Chiarelli hate blog" crew. I hope the Oilers of 2016/17 were the real deal and I can finally tell all those $%^&* to $%^&&* off.

IMO the team on paper is a good one and the success of the previous year would not have been possible without the current managment group.
- Aerchon

I'm still waiting for you to name all those good,fast wingers that Edmonton has drafted over the last few years!

Haters are gonna hate, (frank)boi Fanboys are going salivate...but here’s the facts.

Kevin Lowe and Co paid a high price for a run to the finals that we felt for years and I’m glad he did it, even with the mass exodus of Pronger etc, and it was well worth the ride. Lowe was an excellent General Manager despite having a poor scouting staff, and a strict budget enforced by ownership. Helped that he had the 2nd greatest Oilers coach of all time behind Slats. Passing grade.

Steve Tambolini was a piss poor choice for GM...unless he was mandated , by being an outsider, to run the team into the ground to get a couple 1st overall picks, and then (frank) off and take all the blame. That part of the plan worked to perfection, however the part of a rebuild he (frank)ed up on was the fire sale. He got Peanuts for Souray, Hemsky, Penner( the lone exception) Roloson and averyone else with value because he either waited too long or didn’t move them at all, which meant that the few young guns drafted in the 1st round he had were the only up and comers he had.
Complete failure.

Craig MAC Tavish was much better. He identified the need for stop gap players on defence , but he picked the wrong ones in a few cases, took some low risk gambles on Russian players that didn’t pan out, moved a broken down Hemsky and an overpaid Horcoff. He was very hesitant to move our young talent and missed the boat on Acquiring Center depth, and was a poor evaluator of veteran and goaltender talent. He made all the right moves, but they were the wrong players or too late (Roy)....he still had an awful roster ,but it was made worse by hiring Eakins....tho not even Scotty Bowman could make them a winner. Overall...passing grade, but barely.

Peter Chiarelli inherited the Oilers with Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent Hopkins , Justin Schultz, Oscar Klefbom, Nail Yakupov, an NHL ready Leon Draisaitl and a young Darnell Nurse, and an extra 1st round draft pick.In the 3 years since he got us a paltry 3 decent prospects in Jesse P, Yamamoto, and Bouchard, signed Lucic Russel and Sekeras , traded for Strome, Larsson, some nothing picks and prospects only EdmHockeyFan sees as NHL players, and all it cost was Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Nail Yakupov and a 1st round pick in a deep draft, and we missed the playoffs 2/3 years.
How can this be anything but a complete failure?

I honestly think they should give back the reigns to Lowe and MacTavish, but that’s for another day.
- HonkyTonkMan

Gonna have to firmly disagree on MacTavish not qualifying as a failure. His abject failures in talent evaluation (Nikitin), his blase attitude towards respecting some of his key players (Petry, Dubnyk), his absolute inability to acquire support players of significance (Ference and Gordon) and his fear of making moves are precisely what led us to the hiring of a guy with a track record of making big moves at a loss in value.

Change for the sake of change became appealing due to MacTavish's absolute incompetence in moving the team forward and his further inability to conceptualize any manner of plan to his team's fans. MacTavish's ONLY redeeming quality is his unwillingness/inability to make a big move because he was worried about losing the trade- all while his team continued to lose games.

If you're going to trash on Chiarelli, at least be reasonable and recognize that MacTavish's brand of incompetence was equally awful for the team. Despite his faults (of which there are many), at least Chiarelli can and does acquire support pieces, has a clear identity for his team and his staff's drafting philosophy seems to make sense. The argument can easily be made that the road to Chiarelli's biggest misplay (Hall for Larsson) was paved by MacTavish's incompetence ("testing" Petry).

But but but koskinen ! But but but the plan

Jesus Eff.

Fire these incompetent fukheads and hire me

Ill never quit cheering. But I just want them to be good .
And I figured once we got Connor and were 9 years into a rebuild, they would be

Too much to ask of these “professionals” I guess

Haters are gonna hate, (frank)boi Fanboys are going salivate...but here’s the facts.

Kevin Lowe and Co paid a high price for a run to the finals that we felt for years and I’m glad he did it, even with the mass exodus of Pronger etc, and it was well worth the ride. Lowe was an excellent General Manager despite having a poor scouting staff, and a strict budget enforced by ownership. Helped that he had the 2nd greatest Oilers coach of all time behind Slats. Passing grade.

Steve Tambolini was a piss poor choice for GM...unless he was mandated , by being an outsider, to run the team into the ground to get a couple 1st overall picks, and then (frank) off and take all the blame. That part of the plan worked to perfection, however the part of a rebuild he (frank)ed up on was the fire sale. He got Peanuts for Souray, Hemsky, Penner( the lone exception) Roloson and averyone else with value because he either waited too long or didn’t move them at all, which meant that the few young guns drafted in the 1st round he had were the only up and comers he had.
Complete failure.

Craig MAC Tavish was much better. He identified the need for stop gap players on defence , but he picked the wrong ones in a few cases, took some low risk gambles on Russian players that didn’t pan out, moved a broken down Hemsky and an overpaid Horcoff. He was very hesitant to move our young talent and missed the boat on Acquiring Center depth, and was a poor evaluator of veteran and goaltender talent. He made all the right moves, but they were the wrong players or too late (Roy)....he still had an awful roster ,but it was made worse by hiring Eakins....tho not even Scotty Bowman could make them a winner. Overall...passing grade, but barely.

Peter Chiarelli inherited the Oilers with Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent Hopkins , Justin Schultz, Oscar Klefbom, Nail Yakupov, an NHL ready Leon Draisaitl and a young Darnell Nurse, and an extra 1st round draft pick.In the 3 years since he got us a paltry 3 decent prospects in Jesse P, Yamamoto, and Bouchard, signed Lucic Russel and Sekeras , traded for Strome, Larsson, some nothing picks and prospects only EdmHockeyFan sees as NHL players, and all it cost was Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Nail Yakupov and a 1st round pick in a deep draft, and we missed the playoffs 2/3 years.
How can this be anything but a complete failure?

I honestly think they should give back the reigns to Lowe and MacTavish, but that’s for another day.
- HonkyTonkMan

Thanks hallfan for the novel. But as you have said in other characters... fack off.

Not even on the job for 3 months and already you are using Hendo's shtick.
- leonkennedy

Bullpoop. Many players liked Edmonton , especially if they had kids.
It all comes down to winning. Can I win a Cup there? No. That GM they have is a tool, I’ll sign elsewhere.
- HonkyTonkMan

Name 2.

Since ever. Who wants to live in Detroit or New Jersey? Edmonton hasn’t been a Cup contender in almost 30 years, and that’s the biggest reason why we haven’t attracted the big names. Sure, beaches and huge metropolitan areas are other reasons to sign elsewhere, but winning is key.
Slag them all you want, but Lucic and Sekeras were 2 of the biggest names in their respective UFA classes, why did they sign here? They didn’t get paid over and above what they would have got elsewhere. They signed because McDavid , they felt, gave them a chance to win.
- HonkyTonkMan

06 ring a bell? Only grabbed like 5 guys at the dealine that year.

Since ever. Who wants to live in Detroit or New Jersey? Edmonton hasn’t been a Cup contender in almost 30 years, and that’s the biggest reason why we haven’t attracted the big names. Sure, beaches and huge metropolitan areas are other reasons to sign elsewhere, but winning is key.
Slag them all you want, but Lucic and Sekeras were 2 of the biggest names in their respective UFA classes, why did they sign here? They didn’t get paid over and above what they would have got elsewhere. They signed because McDavid , they felt, gave them a chance to win.
- HonkyTonkMan

No one wants to live in edmonton or winnipeg or buffalo either when NY LA or chicago are other choices.

From other crazy Muricans with guns.
- shack67

You or a member of your household are more likely to be shot by your own gun than the boogyman intruder.

No one wants to live in edmonton or winnipeg or buffalo either when NY LA or chicago are other choices.
- wreckage

It really does all boil down to winning. Fans like to pretend the centre of the hockey universe is Toronto, but before Tavares who was the biggest free agent signing? Not guys who weren't good who just got overpaid like Komisarek or Clarkson. Mogilny, 15 years ago?