The Edmonton Oilers had one of the most miraculous runs in hockey last season. From starting near the bottom of the league, winning 16 games in a row, and an almost historic comeback in the Stanley Cup final, each storyline was better than the rest.
Many around the hockey world were rooting for the Oilers the entire way, whether it was for Connor McDavid to win his first cup or for a Canadian team to finally reclaim the title.
That goodwill all but evaporated in the summer after the organization hired Stan Bowman as their new general manager. Bowman, who has a deplorable history as the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks, had to be reinstated by the league to take the position with the Oilers.
The general sense around the hockey world was that Bowman should not have been able to accept such a prime position as the role with the Oilers, and evidence is starting to show that teams are doing what they can to silently protest.
Sneaky moves
The first main indication of this occurred late in the offseason when the St. Louis Blues signed Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer sheets on the same day. Both were significant enough to make it nearly impossible for the Oilers to retain both former first-round picks.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong had quite the history with Bowman when he was GM of the Chicago Blackhawks, so this came as no surprise. Despite Armstrong’s protest saying that he would have offer-sheeted his mother under the same circumstances, there was no doubt that this was a direct hit towards Bowman.
Adding to the conspiracy theory, Ken Holland and Armstrong are long-time friends. If Armstrong claims he would have offersheeted his mom, why did this happen immediately after Bowman supplanted Holland in the GM chair?
What added even more fuel to the fire was the handling of Raphael Lavoie’s wack waiver wire moves this week. After being claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights and then immediately put back on waivers, the Oilers made the logical move to pick Lavoie back up to send him to the AHL.
The only caveat would be that if another team higher in the standings last year than Edmonton also put a claim in for Lavoie, then the Oilers would be unable to send him directly to the AHL.
Guess what happened.
After watching Vegas and Edmonton throw in claims, another Western Conference team that was better than the Oilers last year simply put in a claim to ensure the Oilers would get screwed. It’s possible that the trend was competitive balance, but the history of that happening in the past is rare.
Rumors have pointed fingers at the Colorado Avalanche as the culprits, but that is purely speculation. If it’s correct, it’s another Central Division team with a history against Chicago doing something to mess with the Oilers’ front office.
The Oilers may have a target on their backs this season, given that they are in a cup-or-bust campaign, but adding the controversial GM to their hockey operations staff surely didn’t help. One instance of this happening may be digging too deep, but two within a few months starts to make you wonder.
Time will tell what else the Oilers get mixed in with this season but for now, it looks like something is awry.
what a load of BS
Bowman is a fk idiot crook, need to get rid of this clown as soon as possible,
This writer has to be a liberal! Absolutely as woke as you can get! Man up ffs!
Wow, could you have any more red neck cliche things to toss into this comment dipshit? Go vote for Trump you mouth breathing hillbilly.
Lol. Bowman said he was notified beforehand about the possibility of sheets from the Blues.
I think Lavoie thing is managers trying to figure out rhe bottom ends of their rosters and cap space.
This website loves a good conspiracy.
Not many positive articles tho.
I think the problem with Lavoie is a team w
I think the problem is that Vegas was able to get Lavoie and send him to minors.
It is meant to give players a chance to stay in NHL
I feel a fool for actually reading this piece
I still don’t understand why we brought in Bowman. There was no need, one of Brad Holland or Keith Gretzky could have done the job under Jackson. It’s just drama we don’t need. I think the offer sheets happen anyway, but the crazy Lavoie waiver-favour is a bit sus.
Bowman has a history of poor trades. Not having two good young players under contract and leaving them
Unprotected is on him . Loosing a guy on waivers happens but this is just the beginning. He is still riding daddy’s coat tails. Follow his trade history you’ll see a pattern . @notthebestGM
Ridiculous article.
Pathetic commentary from a misdirected, spurious and vexacious Wannabe!
Who cares if they are trageting Bowman or not, he has reacted very poorly to each situation and left the team with a horrible d line and average, at thier very best, goaltending. His goal was apparently to have space to make a move at the deadline, but forgot that you need to be in a competative spot when you get there AND have some assets to trade in order to make that move. This guy is Chiarelli 2.0, and sadly hes in a position to cause much more damage. At least the got 29 signed….