What Are The Edmonton Oilers Doing?

Take these quotes...

"I'm reasonably comfortable going forward w/ Klefbom, Schultz, Nikitin, Fayne, Ference." - MacT

— zlaing (@Loweded) March 2, 2015

That's the worst defense in the league.

"We had to challenge Petry on a 1 yr deal. His game clearly hit another level this year." - MacT

— zlaing (@Loweded) March 2, 2015

He was one year from unrestricted free agency.

"He is a top-four NHL defenceman," MacTavish on Nikitin.

He wasn't in Columbus before acquiring him

...add in this:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired winger David Perron from the Edmonton Oilers for a 1st round pick in 2015 and forward Rob Klinkhammer.

The Edmonton Oilers traded defenceman Jeff Petry to the Montreal Canadiens a 2nd round draft choice and a conditional 5th round draft choice.

Washington Capitals gave up second-round and third-round draft picks to the Calgary Flames for left wing Curtis Glencross.

MacTavish somehow managed to get less relative value for both Perron, with one year remaining on his deal, and Petry, a right-handed puck-moving defenseman than the Flames got for a pending unrestricted free agent wing.

...and figure out how he gets to here:

MacT on where the Oilers lie: "We are on the cusp. Wether it's next yr or 2 yrs, the worst of this is in the rearview as we sit here today."

— zlaing (@Loweded) March 2, 2015

Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid must be Ganesha and Jesus Christ all wrapped into one.

It's would be a shame for such incompetence to find salvation in the form of McDavid or Eichel. Yes, the never-ending nightmare of being an Oilers fan would finally be over, but this galling malfeasance would still loom over the team, ready to do these same asinine things over and over again.

There's an old Andy Capp comic in which Andy's wife catches him coming home late and tells him that she can read him like a book. Andy's punchline is "And she never skips one flippin' page". The Oilers are Andy and the rest of the league and most of the intelligent fans can read them like a book.  Everyone knows it's coming.  I imagine 29 other General Managers have Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" as Craig MacTavish's ringtone.

These men are lost. They're so far from the path that even Ueli Steck couldn't find them.