Oilers attempting to get rid of Milan Lucic.

Oilers attempting to move Lucic out of Edmonton.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Oilers attempting to get rid of Milan Lucic.
Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM/Zuma

It is going to take many years for the Edmonton Oilers to recover from the bumbling management of infamous National Hockey League general manager Peter Chiarelli , that is if they ever recover at all, but it looks like they are already trying to take measures to do just that

Over the past few weeks there have been some very significant trade rumors surrounding the Oilers, most notably trade rumors regarding the availability of former Oilers first round draft pick Jesse Puljujarvi, but with less than 2 days to go before the trade deadline for the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season no trade has materialized. Now normally that would not raise too many eyebrows but the issue here is that there seems to be significant interest in Puljujarvi and additionally there seems to be a desire from the player to move on to greener pastures. 

Puljujarvi's agent made, Markus Lehto comments this season that would indicate his client does not believe he has a future in the Oilers organization. 

"I think it's hard to reset," said Lehto at the time. "It's like, when the player is not trusting anymore.... 'Do these guys really want me here? Do they really trust me to become a Top 6 guy? A top 9 guy? An offensive player?' The player is uncertain."

"Are we reaching the point that for the team and for the player, it might be actually beneficial for going different paths, different routes?"

So if there's interest from outside the team, and if the player himself wants out, and it's clear that he has not worked out as the Oilers would have hoped, then you have to wonder why Puljujarvi remains an Oiler at this time? Well National Hockey League insider Larry Brooks may have revealed that reason in his most recent report. According to Brooks the Oilers have been insisting that team's interested in Puljujarvi must also take on the contract of veteran forward Milan Lucic as part of the deal.

From Brooks:

Jesse Puljujarvi is on IR with a lower-body injury that may cost him significant time. So he is not likely to be dealt by Monday. But the 2016 fourth-overall winger wouldn’t have been on the move anyway, not with Oilers interim GM Keith Gretzky insisting that interested parties also be willing to pick up the final four years of Milan Lucic’s deal at an annual $6 million cap hit.

Seems like the Oilers are trying to get rid of two problems at one time, but you can easily see why adding Lucic to any deal would turn most suitors for Puljujarvi away in a heartbeat. I certainly can't fault Keith Gretzky for trying to correct one of Chiarelli's biggest blunders as Oilers general manager, but I don't know how realistic his chances are of making that a reality really are.

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