The Edmonton Oilers completed just one trade on Monday before the NHL’s trade deadline passed.
The Oilers sent forward Patrick Maroon to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for prospect forward J.D. Dudek and a third-round draft pick.
“I spoke with Pat Maroon briefly,” Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli said after the deadline. “He’s a good kid, a good young man. We talked about his time here a little bit. He was very thankful that we could resurrect his career, but he did a lot of that on his own.”
LISTEN BELOW: 630 CHED’s Reid Wilkins speaks one-on-one with Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli
Maroon leaves the Oilers after being acquired by the team at the trade deadline two years ago. Maroon played 154 games for the Oilers recording 49 goals, 37 assists for 86 points.
He recorded three goals and eight points in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Dudek is a forward currently playing his third season for Boston College in the NCAA and has six goals, 11 assists for 17 points in 33 games. His best season came a year ago when Dudek scored 13 goals, nine assists for 22 points in 40 games.
“Edmonton! What a fun ride it’s been!” Maroon tweeted on Monday night. “Thank you for all the amazing support the past couple of years.
“Closing one chapter and opening a new one.”
On an Instagram account for Maroon’s dog Bernadette, a farewell post to Edmonton garnered dozens of comments and over a thousands reactions.
The Oilers made two moves over the weekend, trading Mark Letestu for Nashville winger Pontus Aberg and trading Brandon Davidson to the New York Islanders for a draft pick.
“We’re happy with what we did,” Chiarelli said. “It’s not pleasant to be a seller but we felt comfortable in our returns. We’ll look possibly to use those picks to pick a player, but more probably, that we try and acquire a player in the summer.”
Watch below: Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli said it was a “tough market” ahead of the NHL trade deadline. He talks about the Patrick Maroon trade below.
Going into the deadline, Chiarelli said the team’s goal would be to get returns that would immediately assist the organization. He said that’s what happened in one of the team’s transactions but acknowledged it didn’t in the other. However, the general manager says fans need to see that the moves did improve the team.
“We don’t like being sellers. That’s the way it feels, it feels like we’re subtracting,” he said. “Obviously the players don’t like being moved around… it’s not a happy time.”
Watch below: Looking ahead to the NHL Draft, Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli said he wants a faster team that moves the puck better
Chiarelli also talked about how he felt it was more difficult to get trades done at this year’s trade deadline.
“I think that’s probably a function of the league,” he said. “The significance that is put on those young prospects and, I guess, the next level would be those picks.”
He said another part of the problem was the way the Oilers have been playing this season.
The focus now shifts to the upcoming NHL draft. The Oilers theme is “faster, quicker, move the puck better,” according to Chiarelli. He wouldn’t speculate on what his team will do as the draft approaches.
“I’d like to see progress, and this is a period of evaluation.”
For a breakdown of trades across the league, click here.