New Oilers depth forward failing in the role GM Stan Bowman acquired him for

There's been a number of instances where opposing teams have got physical with the Oilers and their goalies, causing Corey Perry to call out the team to have better responses.

The Oilers made a trade deadline deal with Boston to get tougher with two gritty forwards in Trent Frederic and Max Jones. Frederic brought it in his few shifts, but Jones hasn't lived up to his role.

In his first few games with the Oilers, Jones was a physical presence and getting in on the forecheck with some hits. Last night in a chippy game with 9:39 of ice time, Jones only threw 1 hit.

Not only that, Jones frankly hasn't been a positive impact on the Oilers lineup at all. In very limited minutes, Jones has a brutal rating of -8.

Some nights Coach Knoblauch has benched Jones harshly, getting as low as just 4:45 of ice time.

Jones isn't having a positive impact on the team's results, and if he isn't hitting or being a physical presence at all either, then he's failing in his role with this team.

It is a given that Jones will be the first player to come out of the lineup when the team gets healthier, and at the end of the day it may not be so consequential - but the Oilers did spend trade assets to acquire him, which isn't looking like a good choice.

Hopefully Trent Frederic can actually fill the pest role, and even bring a little scoring when he returns, to make the trade with Boston look at all salvageable.