For the Edmonton Oilers, the deal that former Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli secured former Boston Bruins winger, Milan Lucic to was an incredibly poor deal; plain and simple.
However, it’s now been definitively proven that any team can escape from any deal. It was widely felt that the 7-year $6 million per term contract with no-move clauses built-in and pretty much buy-out proof, was a deal that the Oilers were never going to get out from. New General Manager Ken Holland had essentially been hamstrung from day one with it.
However, in seeing them move out Lucic for James Neal; suddenly there’s a realisation that deals can occur for players that seem to lack even fourth-line value in the modern NHL.