Report: Oilers fire 4 scouts week before draft
The Edmonton Oilers reportedly made changes to their scouting staff just before the draft. (USATSI)
When Peter Chiarelli was hired to take over the Edmonton Oilers and attempt to turn around what has been one of the worst teams in the NHL over the past decade, significant change was inevitable.
What is surprising is the timing of the change that reportedly happened on Saturday night when the Oilers fired four scouts, including head amater scout Stu MacGregor, head pro scout Morey Gare and two additional scouts according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
MacGregor and Gare had both been with the organization for more than a decade.
It’s such a noteworthy change to the scouting staff at this point because the NHL draft is less than a week away, kicking off on Friday night in Florida where the Oilers will own the No. 1 overall pick for the fourth time in the past six years.
Even though they have been picking at the top of the draft for several years now — they’ve had just two first round picks lower than seventh overall since 2006 — the team has not had much success when it comes to drafting and developing players, especially when it comes to picks after the first round. Since 2005 the only player selected by the Oilers after the first round to appear in at least 200 games in the NHL has been defenseman Jeff Petry. He was traded at the 2015 trade deadline to the Montreal Canadiens for a second-round draft pick.
Petry and Tobias Rieder are the only two players the team has picked after the first round since then that have scored at least 10 goals in the NHL over that time, and even that is misleading because Rieder was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in 2013 before he ever appeared in a game for the Oilers. All of his goals (13) have come as a member of the Coyotes.
Including the No. 1 overall pick, the Oilers have 10 picks in the 2015 draft, including two picks in each of the first three rounds. The Oilers also have the No. 16 overall pick which they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward David Perron.
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