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This morning, Oilers GM Craig MacTavish dealt away our longest serving member, Jeff Petry, to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2015 2nd round pick, and a conditional 2015 5th rounder that - according to The Hockey News - can become a 4th round pick should Montreal win one playoff round.
If Montreal was to win two rounds, the draft pick will become a 3rd round selection.
After the deadline passed, he spoke for twenty minutes answering questions from members of the media.
Craig's comments
I translated what I felt were MacTavish's most interesting comments on Twitter this afternoon:
On Jeff Petry:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>MacT says he was chasing a good deal late into the night, but it fell apart.</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572498797114208256">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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So he had to circle back to Montreal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"We had to challenge Petry on a 1 yr deal. His game clearly hit another level this year." - MacT</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572501238488547330">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"There are quite obvious holes we have. We will be looking to move picks as we approach the draft." - MacT</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572497949940314112">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>MacT on where the Oilers lie: "We are on the cusp. Whether it's next yr or 2 yrs, the worst of this is in the rearview as we sit here today."</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572499721794666496">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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He also noted how the perceived value of Petry wasn't near what he was actually able to pull in:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"I think if I was making the [Petry] deal with the media, I would've got a prospect." - MacT on Petry's value.</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572498703652528128">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Craig was asked about whether or not the Oilers needed to add defencemen. He responded with this:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Craig MacTavish is talking about how the team needs experience hours after trading their longest serving member. Okay.</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572500465910300672">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"I'm reasonably comfortable going forward w/ Klefbom, Schultz, Nikitin, Fayne, Ference." - MacT</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572500782538342400">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>MacTavish feels Nikita Nikitin came to the team out of shape this season.</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572500881079324672">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On Nail Yakupov:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>MacT on Yakupov: "I see our relationship continuing to evolve. I have had no interest in trading Yakupov."</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572501724478377985">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>MacTavish is happy with the progress of Yakupov. Ready for the long haul with him.</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572501909191315456">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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He also spoke about how Yakupov is beginning to show the things they saw when he was drafted 1st overall in 2012.
On Jordan Eberle:
Kevin Weekes reported this morning that the Bruins were in on Jordan Eberle, however MacT has no intention of moving him:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"I had no interest in trading Jordan Eberle." - MacT</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572501467921170432">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On the players he would like to see come up from OKC during the remainder of the season:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>MacTavish lists Brandon Davidson, Andrew Miller, Curtis Hamilton, Bogdan Yakimov and Laurent Brossoit as potential recall candidates going.</p>— zlaing (@Loweded) <a href="https://twitter.com/Loweded/status/572502639977504768">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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What do you think of Craig's comments?