Stan Bowman has gotten a lot of heat during his time as the Edmonton Oilers general manager, and deservedly so.

Some of the big swings that he’s made, like the Tristan Jarry trade and acquisition and extension of Trent Frederic, have really blown up in his face.

While it’s totally fair to criticize him for how bad some of those larger moves have looked, it’s also fair to give him some credit for some of the smaller moves that he’s made, and a lot of the good moves have been attempts to make the Oilers younger.

Acquiring Vasily Podkolzin for a draft pick was a great move. I’m personally a fan of the Ryan McLeod for Matt Savoie trade, and I think the value that Savoie is going to give the Oilers next season, while he’s still on his entry-level contract is going to be incredible.

I liked the move to bring in Ty Emberson while also moving on from Cody Ceci’s contract, even if it did cost a mid-round pick.

The move the team made last summer for Isaac Howard shows that this front office wants to get young players who are close to ready to make an impact in the NHL, and I think that next year, he could be another value piece for this lineup.

The question I want to look at today is based on the Oilers continuing........

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