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MacTavish tries to explain Oilers’ nightmare start

Craig MacTavish.

Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish announces the firing of head coach Ralph Krueger during an NHL hockey news conference in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday, June 8, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jason Franson)

AP

The day after his free-falling Oilers dropped to 4-14-2 with a 3-0 loss to Dallas -- a defeat that set a rather ignominious franchise record -- a “frustrated” and “pissed off” Craig MacTavish met with the media Thursday (audio).

Among the things Edmonton’s embattled general manager communicated, per the club’s Twitter account:

--- New head coach Dallas Eakins isn’t going anywhere. “What this team needs is continuity in coaching, and they’re going to get it.”

--- The Oilers “self-destructed” and made “junior mistakes” in their first five or six games. (Ahem: remember what Lars Eller said?)

--- The blue line needs improvement. “Do we need a big stud defenseman? It would help immensely.”

It sure would. Of course, if a team’s lucky enough to have one of those “stud defenseman,” it usually likes to keep him. Hence, the challenge in fixing the Oilers.

MacTavish was named GM in April. At the time, he called himself an “impatient guy” prepared to do “bold things” in order to “move the team forward in a rapid fashion.” So you can imagine his exasperation. After just 18 games, the Oilers’ chances of making the playoffs are close to zero.

Not surprisingly, MacTavish is willing to trade future draft picks for help today.

“I don’t view another first-round draft choice as what we need,” he said, per Jason Gregor of TSN 1260. “Whether I can get suitable value for that remains to be seen.”

Frankly, there was nothing all that surprising about MacTavish’s comments. It’s no secret the team is off to a nightmare start, and it’s no secret the GM is willing to make moves to fix things.

Mostly today was an exercise in public relations. The Oilers haven’t made the playoffs since 2006. The rebuild was supposed to be over by now. The fans’ patience has run out.

“It’s painful,” said MacTavish, “but we’re going to get through this and eventually be a much improved team.”