Oilers forward appears to demand a trade.

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Edmonton Oilers this season and it now appears that there is nothing that will be able to right the ship on time in order for them to make an entry into the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It is a crying shame that the Oilers will miss the playoffs yet again in spite of having what is widely considered the best hockey player in the world on their roster in the form of superstar forward Connor McDavid. There's plenty of finger pointing to go around but if you were so inclined to ask my opinion I would lay the blame squarely at the feet of the terrible management from former Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli. Not only did Chiarelli execute some laughable trades during his tenure as general manager but he also made other plunders like signing free agent Milan Lucic to a mega money deal. On top of all that it now seems like another one of Chiarelli's decisions is coming back to haunt the Oilers.

According to a report from Sportsnet's Mark Spector it now sounds an awful lot like one of the top draft picks of the Chiarelli era has all but had it with being a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Spector reported comments made by Markus Lehto, the agent of note who represents Puljujarvi, earlier this week that appear to strongly indicate that Puljujarvi intends to force the Oilers hand by making a trade demand. Now to be clear Lehto did not officially demand a trade but if you read his comments you'll be hard pressed to argue that that is not exactly the kind of message that Lehto was trying to send the Oilers.

"I think it's hard to reset," said Lehto. "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?"

It sounds like Puljujarvi wants off the sinking ship that is the Edmonton Oilers and given the current state of things in Edmonton I can hardly blame the young man. That being said he has not lived up to hype he created when he was selected 4th overall in the first round of the 2016 National Hockey League Entry Draft so it's unclear how much value a trade of that nature could even bring the Oilers.

[pub]