Chiarelli didn't make the Dougie Hamilton trade. That was Sweeney. Fun fact: Edmonton offered more for Hamilton than Calgary did but Sweeney wanted Nurse, the 16th, and 33rd.
Russell is going to be fine, Edmonton has at worst 3 LHDs better than him (Klefbom, Sekera, Davidson, potentially Nurse) so he shouldn't see anything higher than the bottom pairing, which means he'll do fine. No need to panic, Sabres have Cody Franson at a slightly higher AAV for one more season, imagine that :D
1. Nolan Patrick projects like a slightly worse RNH from what I've heard. Liljegren would look great in an Oilers sweater, just imagine a top pairing of Klefbom-Liljegren ;)
2. That's not how it works, Oilers will keep the new draft picks and trade away guys like Klefbom and Draisaitl
3. You could have jumped ship during any of the 10 years and NOW is when you start thinking about jumping the ship? wtf?
Once again, what is wrong with performing as a depth defenseman when that's exactly what you are? It's not like you're going to have Josh Gorges on your top pairing so stop whining, thanks.
That's the thing though: Edmonton has 3, maybe 4, LHD that are better than him. Why throw 3.1M away for a year when you can use that money on a guy like Trouba or give Wisnewski a cheaper contract. Tampa dropped him in order to afford Kucherov, not cause he had a bad camp. I'd honestly rather Franson for a year over Russell for a year: Edmonton has one RHD in Larsson, and neither Fayne nor Gryba should be playing the middle pair.
Klefbom-Liljigren would be dirty as hell. I don't want the Oilers picking in and around where he'd be available unless they just miss playoffs and fluke into the #2 pick. Should still trade it though.
I reckon RNH gets traded before Draisaitl, but I'd rather keep both and push Nugent-Hopkins to the wing once Pouliot's contract expires or if Vegas picks him up in June.
The first 3 years after the 06 cup run can be excused, but the middle years of the Oilers seemingly unending rebuild I can't explain. Lucking into McDavid kinda sucked me back in. Had they been picking in the 3-5 range I wouldn't be invested in them at all anymore.
Speaking of good-looking RHD prospects in this upcoming draft, Cal Foote looks like he's going to have a career. This year doesn't look to be insanely deep but its already looking better than last year's draft.