It has finally happened. After months of speculation, outrage, despair, inappropriate laughter, and a series of questionable moves, Peter Chiarelli has been relieved of his duties as the Edmonton Oilers General Manager.

With it, ends a 44-month stint that saw him try unsuccessfully to solve the defence issue, despite sacrificing a league MVP and handing out buckets of money on July 1. He turned Jordan Eberle into, well, nothing. He anchored the team with an untradeable and buy-out proof, Milan Lucic, which has contributed to the Oilers swimming around in a horrendous cap situation.

But what’s likely worst of all, is he managed to waste the first four years of Connor McDavid’s career, all the while handcuffing the team for the foreseeable future.

It’s been a wild ride.

Fantasy Impact for Edmonton

The team on the ice is unlikely to be altered much by this dismissal. The players may have wanted this move as badly as the fans and media, but normally the players take a firing personally – they didn’t produce and so their manager is paying the price. It’s difficult to know if the team feels either of these ways, but if they do, we won’t even see that quick burst in the following days thanks to the All-Star break.

In the long run, we can hope this impacts the entire team in a positive manner. Ridding themselves of a manager who has stumbled through nearly every decision must weigh heavy on the organization.

The most amazing this has to be that Chia was able to extend Mikko Koskinen to a wildly questionable deal just 36 hours before being canned. How does something like that happen?

Chiarelli giving Mikko Koskinen a 3 year extension as he was about to be fired is the hockey equivalent of farting right before leaving a room

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) January 23, 2019

Who this helps

• Connor McDavid
• Leon Draisaitl
• The rest of the Oilers’ team

Who this hurts

• Opposing General Managers looking to trade
• UFAs-to-be
• The Media

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It’s easy to joke about this – Peter made it so. However, at the end of the day, a person lost their job. It is surely a difficult time for him and his family right now. Let’s be sure to keep that in mind moving forward.

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