The big news of the week was the firing of Peter Chiarelli as the General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers (and deservedly so). Chiarelli took over the team in May 2015 and had the first overall pick in the draft which was Connor McDavid. That was a no-brainer that even my 89-year-old mother could have made, but what followed did not endear himself to Edmonton fans.
His off-season moves got off to a poor start when he traded a first round pick in 2015 (Pittsburgh’s) and the Oilers second round pick for Griffin Reinhart who was drafted fourth overall in 2012. Reinhart did not do much for the Islanders and did about the same for Edmonton before they lost him to Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft. He is currently playing in the minors. By the way, the Islanders took Mathew Barzal with the first pick and Mitchell Stephens with the second rounder.
His first free agent pickup was Mark Letestu who signed on July 1, 2015 and he didn’t do a lot after that until the following off-season.
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There were some minor trades and then Chiarelli sent Justin Schultz to Pittsburgh on February 26, 2016 for a third round pick. Schultz turned into a stud for the Penguins, something that pundits thought would happen in Edmonton but never did.
On July 1, 2016, Chiarelli spent $42 million over seven seasons to get Milan Lucic in an Edmonton uniform. Lucic had a very good first season with the Oilers with 23 goals and 50 points but has 15 goals and 46 points in 132 games since then.
Two days earlier, on June 29, Chiarelli made the trade that really hurt the Oilers franchise when he traded Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. Nothing against Larsson who is a solid NHL blueliner but Hall was the Hart Trophy winner last season.
The Oilers drafted Jesse Puljujarvi with the fourth overall pick and while he has not had a good start to his NHL career, you can’t blame Chiarelli on this one as most had him as the consensus third overall pick behind Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine.
The following year, on June 22, 2017, another trade that turned out badly was made by Chiarelli as he dealt Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome. Strome failed to do much in an Edmonton uniform as he had 14 goals and 36 points in 100 games, and Chiarelli dealt him this season to the Rangers for Ryan Spooner who was placed on waivers last week and sent to the minors this week.
Strome has been a bit better with New York with six goals and 11 points in 29 games while Eberle has 36 goals and 82 points in 126 games with the Islanders.
The Oilers drafted Kailer Yamamoto in the first round in 2017 and he is still trying to find himself a spot in the NHL although to be fair, he is still only 20.
He hopefully did okay when he signed Mikko Koskinen from the KHL and when he drafted defenseman Evan Bouchard in the first round this off-season but the jury is still out on both.
There were plenty of other moves but mostly all were inconsequential. However, looking back, Chiarelli has set the franchise back years with these moves and the new General Manager will have his hands full fixing the mess that the former GM made.
It’s a surprise he wasn’t fired earlier.
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WEEK OF JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 3
4 Games - Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg
3 Games – Boston, Buffalo, Columbus, Dallas, New Jersey, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay
2 Games –Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Toronto, Vegas, Washington
1 Game – Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, St. Louis, San Jose, Vancouver
The Pittsburgh Penguins play three games at home this week.
Tampa Bay plays three games on the road this week.
INJURIES
Nathan MacKinnon has a foot injury and could miss the All-Star game. (Click here to see the rest of the injury list.)
Note: A tired team is one that has played the day or night before and is going against a team that did not play the previous day or night. The reverse is true for a rested team.
ANAHEIM
Games this week
@ Winnipeg
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Ondrej Kase is out for the season and will miss the next five-six months as he needs surgery on his shoulder after suffering the injury a week ago. Kase will be missed as he has been the top offensive player for Anaheim when he was in the lineup. Kase had 30 points in 30 games this season. Ryan Getzlaf has only 33 points in 45 games this season. Cam Fowler was not at all happy with the performance of the Ducks on Wednesday and said it was one of the worst games he was involved in. Michael Del Zotto finally saw some game action Wednesday as his visa to work in the States finally came through after a week. Ryan Miller skated on Tuesday for the first time since his knee injury on December 11. Corey Perry practiced on Tuesday for the first time since blowing out his knee on September 24.
ARIZONA
Games this week
@ San Jose
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Coyotes now have five players in double digits in goals but their best goal-scorer at this time is Conor Garland who has nine goals in 23 games, including eight in his last 10 games. He has been streaky as there was a five-game goalless streak in there that was halted with a power play goal Wednesday. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was injured Tuesday in Ottawa, as he suffered a lower-body injury and missed Wednesday’s contest. Vinnie Hinostroza has only seven goals this season but three in the last three games. If you are looking for penalty minutes, Lawson Crouse is a nice pickup as he has 58 minutes in 49 games with eight goals and 14 points.
BOSTON
Games this week
vs. Winnipeg, vs. Philadelphia, @ Washington
Rested Team: vs. Winnipeg (Tuesday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
Tuukka Rask suffered a concussion on Saturday but the Bruins are hopeful that he will be able to return next week. The Bruins were off all week and that break should be most helpful to Rask and every other Bruin who has bumps and bruises. A lot was expected from Ryan Donato at the start of the season after he had five goals and nine points in 12 games last season. He has had trouble this season in the NHL with six goals and nine points in 34 games and has been a healthy scratch on occasion including Saturday. Anders Bjork is gone for the season after undergoing successful shoulder surgery. He is expected to be out five-six months.
BUFFALO
Games this week
@ Columbus, @ Dallas, vs. Chicago
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Dallas (Wednesday)
Notes
The Sabres play three games in four nights this week so expect Linus Ullmark to play twice with Carter Hutton getting the call in net once. There was not much news out of Buffalo this week as the Sabres have been off since January 18. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was drafted in the second round in 2017 and the goaltender backstopped Finland to a Gold Medal at the 2019 World Junior championships. Look for Luukkonen to make his pro debut next season as he is having a great season in the OHL with Sudbury. Rasmus Dahlin had five goals and 26 points in 48 games this season and the 18-year-old rookie who was taken first overall is a plus-six. Fellow Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has yet to be a plus player in his six seasons and is currently a minus-13 in 48 games this season.
CALGARY
Games this week
@ Washington. @ Carolina
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Johnny Gaudreau had his 11-game points streak snapped on Tuesday and is currently tied with Connor McDavid for second place in NHL scoring with 73 points. He had 10 goals and 22 points in the 11 contests. Matthew Tkachuk saw his eight-game points streak end on Tuesday as well. He has six goals and 10 points and has 24 goals with 33 assists this season in 51 games. Throw in 45 penalty minutes as well as a plus-12 rating and Tkachuk is one of the finest fantasy forwards in traditional pools. The Flames sent Juuso Valimaki to the minors on Wednesday and the Flames are hopeful he can return after the All-Star break. He has been out with an ankle injury since November 23. Oliver Kylington had only one goal in his first 24 games this season but has goals in back-to-back games.
CAROLINA
Games this week
vs. Vegas, vs. Calgary
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Alex Nedeljkovic made his first NHL start Wednesday and stopped 24 shots in a 5-2 win over Vancouver. The rookie was sent to the minors after the game due to the All-Star break and don’t be surprised if he is not recalled as Curtis McElhinney could return to action from a knee injury. Nedeljkovic is 20-5 this season in Charlotte with a 2.68 GAA and a .903 save percentage. The 23-year-old could be the Hurricanes goalie of the future. Jaccob Slavin is on a three-game points streak and has five goals and 23 points in 50 games. Nino Niederreiter has four goals for Carolina in four games since his trade from Minnesota. Micheal Ferland left Tuesday’s game with a back injury and was not in the lineup on Wednesday.
CHICAGO
Games this week
@ Buffalo, @ Minnesota
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Dylan Strome has been hot of late with two goals and seven points in his last four games. The move out of Arizona seems to have done wonders for his confidence and career. He has nine goals and 21 points in 27 games for the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane was the NHL’s third star of the week with four goals and 10 points in three games. He has 71 points in 50 games this season and is definitely back on track to average at least a point a game, something he did five straight years in a row before last season. Jonathan Toews has six goals and 13 points in his last 10 games and that includes a five-point night with a hat trick Sunday.
COLORADO
Games this week
vs. Vancouver
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Avalanche are having a big problem between the pipes as Semyon Varlamov and Philipp Grubauer are not doing the job. Varlamov was extremely hot in the early going but has been a mediocre goaltender for most of the season as he is 13-12-5 with a 2.82 GAA and a .908 save percentage. He started the season on fire with a 4-2-2 mark as he gave up only 13 goals on 261 shots but has given up 71 goals on 650 shots since then. Grubauer was the Avs supposed top pickup in the off-season as he had been a solid backup in Washington the last three seasons, winning 36, losing 25 as well as six overtime losses. His peripherals had been outstanding with a 2.35 GAA and a .918 save percentage, his worst. But this season he is 9-6-3 with a 3.38 GAA and a .891 save percentage and that has not got the job done.
COLUMBUS
Games this week
vs. Buffalo, @ Winnipeg, vs. St. Louis
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Anthony Duclair was the Blue Jackets best player Saturday after being a healthy scratch according to coach John Tortorella. Artemi Panarin is having an outstanding season with 19 goals and 53 points in 46 games this season, he has been especially hot of late with 19 points in his last 14 contests and four power play goals (of his six on the season) in his last six games. He is going to get quite a big salary raise as he is an impending UFA. Sergei Bobrovsky is another UFA-to-be but he has struggled this season. His record is fine at 19-14-1 but his 2.91 GAA and .904 save percentage are pedestrian, especially for a two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
DALLAS
Games this week
vs. Buffalo, vs. Minnesota, @ Nashville
Rested Team: vs. Buffalo (Wednesday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Stars play three games in four nights so look for Anton Khudobin to get one start in net while Ben Bishop will see the net twice. The Stars did not play this week so they sent Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz to the minors to get in some playing time. Connor Carrick was also sent down to Texas of the AHL as he has played in only 13 contests this season with most of his games missed due to a foot injury. Blake Comeau had a pair of goals Saturday as he has been moved up to play with Jamie Benn and Radek Faksa. Julius Honka was the Stars first pick and 14th overall in 2014 but he has been a healthy scratch the last two games. The defenseman has only four assists in 29 games this season.
