Chiarelli meets with Oilers

[Jasmine]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/ex-bruins-gm-peter-chiarelli-meets-with-oilers-what-might-his-future-role-be/

[Jasmine]

Reports: Peter Chiarelli to join Oilers' front office

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/peter-chiarelli-to-join-oilers-front-office-reports-1.3046815

[Josh]

It's like they never get rid of anyone, only add. How many people does that put their front office at now?? How will anything get done?!

[Jasmine]

Now confirmed:

The Oilers shook up their front office in a big way, bringing in Peter Chiarelli as president and GM to replace Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish.

[Josh]

Wow. Oilers fans rejoice! I guess a replacement for Nelson is next. I'll be very curious to see what moves Chiarelli makes.

[Jasmine]

Yeah this is a huge step for the Oilers. One thing is for sure, it can't be worst ...so really, it should only get better from here. I can see McDavid smiling a little more when he hears his name beeing called on draft day. ;)

[Alfie11]

Seems like the Oilers are pretty serious about rebuilding. Other than Chara, PC gave the Bruins an amazing defensive corps who weren't huge names until they joined the Bruins. Their forward group was made by great drafting outside of the 1st round - Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci,

[Josh]

I would say it's very likely that the Oilers do not re-sign Derek Roy; he was underwhelming in Edmonton and they have enough talent at C, especially with McDavid on the way.

I think you've got the centre depth like this:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Anton Lander
Bogdan Yakimov (20)/Leon Draisatl (19)/Connor McDavid (18)

I would suggest that if all five of those players were in their primes, they would only want to keep three of them. I think that Lander and Yakimov are the two lowest ones in terms of pedigree, but that Draisatl and even McDavid might not be ready for 2C/3C next season.

So you see where Draisatl and McDavid are at. If you judge that they can both slot into the lineup immediately, you trade Lander and Yakimov. If only one of them is ready, you trade Yakimov, and if neither are ready then you let them both continue developing and keep Yakimov and Lander on board.

[Jasmine]

Are there any D with potential in their farm team? Any goalie? It seems like this is where Chiarelli will have a lot on his plate.

[Alfie11]

I don't know a ton of information about the Oilers system.

I think McDavid is ready for a #1 centre role next season. Will he be a bonafide #1 centre? Probably not. But he should be able to put up 55-65 points as a rookie, which is great. Him and RNH will make one hell of a 1-2 punch for years to come. I'm not familiar with Yakimov, but Lander has shown he'll be at least a good third line centre (potentially more).

They'll eventually have to deal some of their forwards. They have too many guys who will probably be big money players sooner rather than later. RNH, McDavid, Hall, Eberle, Yakupov.

[Alfie11]

Are there any D with potential in their farm team? Any goalie? It seems like this is where Chiarelli will have a lot on his plate.

I think they have some alright D prospects, but nothing that blows you out of the water.

[Josh]

I would have a blast in Chiarelli's shoes:

RE-SIGN: Schultz (RFA), Pitlick (RFA)
TRADE: Lander, Klinkhammer, Nikitin, Ference, Scrivens
ACQUIRE: Phaneuf (trade), Franson (signing), Niemi (signing) OR Ward (trade)

---

Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle

Pouliot - McDavid - Yakupov
Slepyshev - Draisatl - Purcell
Hendricks - Gordon - Pitlick

Phaneuf- Franson
Klefbom - Schultz
Nurse - Fayne

Niemi/Ward
Bachman

[Jasmine]

Will be interesting to see all he does between now and training camp. This team will get a make over and maybe be a little sexier in the fall. :)