Prospect surrendered by Oilers for GM firing placed on waivers by Panthers

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported today that Studnicka was hitting waivers today from the Panthers. It's largely an inconsequential roster move, which really, is good news for the Edmonton Oilers.

Oilers insider Mark Spector highlighted the news as relevant info for fans in Edmonton. Studnicka was the player selected with a draft pick the Oilers were forced to surrender for hiring GM Peter Chiarelli in 2015.

On April 18th, 2015, the Oilers won the draft lottery that would deliver them Connor McDavid. Edmonton immediately wanted to restructure their front office to meet the moment of drafting McDavid, and they made a colossal mistake just a few days later.

On April 24th in 2015, the Oilers hired Peter Chiarelli. It was an era marked by brutal errors, and it began with an NHL punishment. For hiring Chiarelli while still under contract with the Bruins, the Oilers had to give up their 2nd round draft pick in 2016 - the pick used to select Studnicka.

At the time, that 2nd round draft pick held significant value for the Oilers. They were already a last-place team, so the pick was projected to be early in the second round with promise of selecting an NHL player.

Thankfully for the Oilers, the pain of losing the pick doesn't sting so much seeing that Studnicka is struggling to stay in the NHL. He's played just 129 NHL games with 4 different teams.

But still, there were valuable players left in the draft at that time. Notably, Buffalo's starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was drafted with the next pick. Fabian Zetterlund, Michael DiPietro, and Morgan Geekie were all drafted shortly afterward too.

Losing the second round pick was a brutal start to the Chiarelli era in Edmonton, and his decisions as a GM were awful too - arguably setting the Oilers back years. At least Studnicka didn't also turn out to be a superstar.

Also read on Edmonton Hockey Daily :
Blues provide injury update to forward after scary collision with McDavid