If you feel a shiver going down the back of your spine when we mention Peter Chiarelli, then you’re clearly an Oilers fan who lived through his reign of ‘terror’ in Edmonton. During nearly four years in Alberta, he hurtled from one calamity to another, to the point that you wondered if he was making all his decisions as one big joke at the expense of the Oilers; surely no one could be that incompetent as a general manager?!?!
Sadly though, it turned out that Chiarelli really was that bad, including making arguably the worst trade in team history, replacing Taylor Hall with Adam Larsson. Other disasters included moving Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome and, as we referenced on Wednesday, signing Mikko Koskinen to a three-year extension despite the goalie having yet to prove himself over any extended period of time.
Another ‘beauty’ by Chiarelli, was signing Milan Lucic to a seven-year, $42 million deal, which even at the time seemed excessive. After playing decently — not great, decently — in his first season in Edmonton, he had subsequent campaigns of just 34 and 20 points respectively to highlight his poor play, resulting in the Oilers trading him to Calgary Flames.
Demers spills the beans
Now though, we’re able to share some more information on the background behind the negotiations to sign Lucic in the first place back in 2016. As per Oilers Nation, the team almost signed Jason Demers, but the deal to sign Lucic ‘kind of got in the way’.
Demers explains that he was in town with his dad to meet the Oilers, having been told the team really needed a right-shot defenceman. He explained during his interview with Oilers Nation, that he was really keen to sign.
