Report: Oilers set to make “panic trade”

In a week where multiple NHL insiders reported that Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli is set to make some big moves on the trade front, you can excuse Oilers fans for being a little nervous.

TSN’s Ryan Rishaug first reported that the Oilers are in a “full court press” to acquire a forward via trade and have put up their 2019 first round pick, a goaltender and a “young developing forward” up as collateral. This report led fans and analysts to speculate that goaltender Cam Talbot and former 4th overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi could be on the move.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet also reported that the team’s first round pick is “definitely in play,” and that Puljujarvi is being discussed, as well. Friedman went on to issue this cryptic statement:

It sounds like people above Chiarelli are taking a “playoff or bust” mentality.

You hear that? That was the entire Oilers fan base recoiling in horror…

In his latest article for NBC Sports, analyst James O’Brien digs through Chiarelli’s trade history and fears that a panic trade could be coming. Just take a look at some of his previous transactions when in this exact same situation throughout the years:

In a more immediate sense, it feels like Chiarelli’s been more likely to make a one-for-one-type “hockey trade,” then moving a pick or prospect for a rental. After all, his most famous (Oilers) blunders involve Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson, Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome, and then somehow losing another Strome trade with Ryan Spooner (who the Oilers are – pause for laughter – already trying to shop).

After all, Chiarelli traded Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik. The disastrous Tyler Seguin trade has Chiarelli’s fingerprints all over it.

Yikes… if we’re sitting here in five years talking about Puljujarvi the same way we talk about Wheeler, Seguin or Hall… man…. I sincerely feel bad for Oilers fans.