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Peter Chiarelli

Edmonton Oilers Willing To Move 10th Overall Pick

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Though rumored for some time, Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed that he has had discussions with teams about moving the tenth-overall pick in the upcoming draft. Nothing is imminent, but with the team missing the playoffs last season despite being in a win-now mode, it seems obvious that they would be willing to discuss acquiring some immediate help for future assets. Chiarelli also claimed that his team would select the “best player available” should they keep the pick, instead of targeting a certain position of need.

This all confirms what we’ve heard out of Edmonton for the last few weeks, as many have speculated that they’d be willing to move the pick. That draft position rarely gives you a player who can step into the lineup right away, something that the Oilers desperately need as they look to cash in on some of Connor McDavid’s prime years. Though the captain is only 21, he’ll already be the most expensive player in the league next season and is doing enough to expect the team to be real Stanley Cup contenders. The team needs more help up front and several bounce back seasons from key defensemen, or else they may waste another 100-point season from the two-time Ted Lindsay Award winner.

It’s not clear exactly what Edmonton would be after in a trade for their first-round pick. Though obviously scoring is a necessity, many have speculated on the need to add another right-handed puck-moving defenseman to the mix. Teams aren’t quick to give up those players though, as they remain some of the hardest to find in the entire league. Up front it depends on whether Chiarelli sees Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl as wingers or centers going forward, as both have played—and found tremendous success—alongside McDavid at times over the last two years.

The pick might be of interest to several teams looking to add youth to their group. There have been rumors of the Montreal Canadiens looking to trade down, but don’t really have the defensive assets that would interest Edmonton after moving Mikhail Sergachev last summer. A team like the Buffalo Sabres are involved in nearly every discussion about first-round picks, but most of the speculation around them centers on Ryan O’Reilly. Chiarelli said last season that it may not be wise to use a huge chunk of your assets on centers—at that point speaking about McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins—making O’Reilly perhaps a bad candidate for trade.

Regardless of who is a perfect fit, you can bet almost every team would have interest in finding out how expensive the pick would be in terms of assets. Even teams closer to contention might find themselves in a position to trade up, especially if they have some burgeoning young players ready to take over at the NHL level.

There is also the question of Milan Lucic and the reports that the Oilers are trying to get out from under his hefty contract, but not as a pure cap dump. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Chiarelli seemed to indicate today that Lucic would be back for Edmonton next season with a new level of motivation, but nothing is certain at this point in the summer. That could easily be the Oilers’ GM trying to pump up an asset that he’s looking to trade, or perhaps he truly believes that Lucic can return to the 50-point winger that he has been for much of his career.

Either way, there are changes coming in Edmonton before the 2018-19 season begins. Whether it is enough to get them back into the playoffs is still yet to be seen, but Chiarelli is obviously doing everything he can to try and get back to contention.

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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Free agency is now a little less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Edmonton’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Ryan Strome – When GM Peter Chiarelli and the Oilers decided last summer that Jordan Eberle had to be moved out because of his high-priced contract, the eventual return was the underperforming but talented Strome. The team enjoyed a $3.5MM cap cut, while hoping that the 24-year old forward could find his footing in Edmonton. After all, Strome was a fifth-overall pick who had scored 17 goals and 50 points in 2014-15, and could perhaps be relied upon as a long-term option down the middle.

Now, after another disappointing season where Strome’s below average skating was exposed on a team that lacked speed, and he struggled to maintain any kind of offensive consistency at center or the wing, there’s some uncertainty about where his future lies. As a restricted free agent, he doesn’t have a great case for a substantial raise over the $2.5MM cap hit he carried each of the last two seasons. After scoring just 34 points in 82 games—an even worse pace than his final year in New York—it’s not clear if he’s part of the problem or can still be part of the solution in Edmonton. He certainly won’t cost as much as Eberle’s $6MM cap hit in 2018-19, but neither side may look for a contract that stretches far beyond next season.

D Darnell Nurse – Perhaps the biggest problem in Edmonton this year was that several of their defensemen took substantial steps backwards, but one can’t really say that about Nurse. The 23-year old set career highs in games played, minutes played, goals, assists, points, +/-, penalty minutes, shots, hits and blocks, essentially leading the entire Oilers defense corps in nearly every category. He followed that with a big role on Canada’s IIHF World Championship team, and looks ready to blossom into the player Edmonton was hoping for when they selected him seventh-overall in 2013.

Still, it’s not clear exactly how long a contract the Oilers can afford to give their young defenseman. With so much money tied up in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the team has to be careful how they spend the rest of their cap. Nearly $20MM of the remaining funds are already committed to Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Kris Russell and Adam Larsson for the next three seasons, meaning any deal buying out unrestricted free agent years for Nurse is likely too expensive to take on right now. That still leaves plenty of room for a short-term deal, but he’s the one heading into negotiations in a position of leverage after a career year.

Other RFAs: F Anton Slepyshev, F Iiro Pakarinen, F Drake Caggiula, D Matt Benning, F Braden Christoffer, D Ben Betker, F Patrick Russell, F Kyle Platzer

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Mike Cammalleri – A few seasons ago, the idea of Cammalleri walking in free agency might be a big story. Now, the veteran forward is just hoping for another contract. Cammalleri came to the Oilers in a midseason swap with the Los Angeles Kings, and found some of his old offensive juice for the team. With 22 points in 51 games he was relatively effective, and cost them very little in terms of salary. That could be a reason to bring him back on another incentive-laden contract, but there are likely bigger fish to fry in the coming weeks, as the team prepares for the draft and negotiates with the above listed RFAs.

Cammalleri will turn 36 in just a few days, and isn’t by any means a necessary piece for the Oilers to bring back. After agreeing to a $1MM contract with $200K in performance bonuses last season, he may be even less expensive if they decide his experience is worth the money and roster spot in 2018-19.

Other UFAs: D Yohann Auvitu, G Laurent Brossoit, F Brian Ferlin, D Mark Fayne, D Dillon Simpson, D Joey LaLeggia, F Grayson Downing

Projected Cap Space: It’s never a good thing when a team that missed the playoffs doesn’t have a lot of cap space, but that’s the situation the Oilers find themselves in. With just around $15MM in projected cap space for next season depending on where the upper limit lands, they won’t have a ton of space to find upgrades after re-signing their restricted free agents. That, and the lack of success despite another fantastic season from McDavid, is a reason why Edmonton is linked to nearly every rumored player on the market at one point or another.

There have been rumors in the past about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins potentially being available as the team looks to clear money, but after finding a home alongside McDavid on the top line he likely is now off limits. If the team could find a taker for Milan Lucic or one of their aging defensemen they likely would jump on the opportunity, but it won’t be easy. Chiarelli and his staff also need to prepare for their upcoming goaltending conundrum, as Cam Talbot and the newly signed Mikko Koskinen are unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2019.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Poll: Should The Edmonton Oilers Trade The 10th Pick?

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The Edmonton Oilers are picking in the top-10 again this year. That was not the expected outcome after their 103-point 2016-17, and especially not with a healthy Connor McDavid. The team finished 36-40-6 this year, and wasted the last season of McDavid’s relatively inexpensive entry-level contract. The captain will start his eight-year $100MM extension in 2018-19, and immediately put a strain on the team’s finances.

So, what do you do this summer? Do you select another high-upside player and hope that he and other young prospects like Jesse Puljujarvi can quickly ascend the ranks to dominate at the NHL level? Or do you pick up the phone and try to make a move to improve the club immediately?

As we wrote yesterday, Peter Chiarelli is apparently considering both options carefully. The Oilers’ GM is open to the idea of trading the 10th-overall pick, and Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal even called the odds “high” that it is moved at some point between now and June 25th. As Chiarelli put it:

A player at No. 9 or No. 10 isn’t going to play next year. We’ll certainly listen to offers, and if there is a trade, it would probably be on the draft floor.

The question is, should there really be a rush to compete? Now that McDavid is already into his expensive extension, and Leon Draisaitl is already on year two of his eight-year $68MM deal, it’s not like there is a closing window. In fact, with their best two players both 22-and-under, there could still be an argument to be made that the window will be widest after two or three more years. That’s incidentally when some of the expensive contracts for underperforming defensemen will come off the books, giving the team more flexibility to go after free agents or lock up internal options.

By then, the 10th-overall pick could be ready to be an impact player in the league, while whoever they trade for could be headed for the open market.

On the other hand, Cam Talbot is signed for just one more season and is now on the wrong side of 30, while Milan Lucic is already showing drastic signs of slowing down. Waiting could open up other holes on the roster, that can’t be filled without trading other valuable assets.

So should the Oilers make a move? Does it make sense to hold onto the pick? Cast your vote and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Snapshots: KHL, Oilers, Tkachuk

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Recently, Sport.Buisness-gazeta out of Russia published a list of players that were expected to leave the NHL this summer and return to the KHL. The list was made up of Nikolai Kulemin, Victor Antipin, Nikita Soshnikov, Rinat Valiev, Sergey Tolchinsky, Radel Fazleev, Andrey Pedan, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Sergei Boykov, Yakov Trenin and Anton Slepyshev. With the news this morning of Dyblenko’s pending contract termination, another one of the players have been confirmed to be returning. When added to the already confirmed exits of Tolchinsky, Valiev and others, it lends credibility to the entire list, meaning several others will likely be announced in the coming days.

Players like Soshnikov and Antipin were expected to be contributors to their NHL squads in 2018-19, but are both pending restricted free agents meaning they can easily go home if they so choose. For the NHL club, extending a qualifying offer will retain the exclusive negotiating rights with the player going forward, rights that won’t expire because of the lack of a transfer agreement between the two leagues.

  • The Edmonton Oilers are set to select 10th in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, but as Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes, GM Peter Chiarelli has made it clear they will explore trading the pick. Connor McDavid is already one of the best players in the league, and the Oilers need to take advantage of these prime years while they have them. Their defense corps just wasn’t good enough this season, and whoever they would take this season likely wouldn’t be ready to contribute until 2019-20 at the earliest. The Oilers have plenty of other tough decisions to make this summer, as they face contract negotiations with Darnell Nurse and Ryan Strome, and the daunting task of providing some support for McDavid up front. The team has already brought in some competition for Cam Talbot in the form of Mikko Koskinen, who cost the team a one-year $2.5MM contract.
  • Speaking of draft picks who won’t make an impact next season, Mike McMahon of College Hockey News is reporting that the plan right now is for Brady Tkachuk to return to Boston University for his sophomore season. Tkachuk is expected to be a top-5 pick in the upcoming entry draft, and could still obviously be convinced by an NHL team to leave school early. That may change the draft board for some of the top teams who want to compete in 2018-19 and are hoping for a player who can step right into the league in October.

Peter Chiarelli Will Return As GM Of Edmonton Oilers

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Edmonton Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson met with the media today, and immediately confirmed that GM Peter Chiarelli would be back next season. Chiarelli will retain the position as President of Hockey Operations, and “has a plan to get [Edmonton] in the playoffs next season.” Nicholson did not, however, lend a vote of confidence to the coaching staff, instead saying that Chiarelli would evaluate all of them and make a decision.

Chiarelli’s tenure as a GM in the NHL has been checkered at best, with many fans pointing out the long list of star players he has traded away in the past. After the impressive MVP-worthy performance from Taylor Hall this season, that list—which also includes Phil Kessel, Blake Wheeler, Tyler Seguin, Jordan Eberle, Dougie Hamilton and others—was waved around as a reason to fire the veteran executive at the end of a disappointing year. The Oilers were expected to compete for the Stanley Cup, and instead found themselves missing the playoffs entirely despite an 108-point season from Connor McDavid.

Whatever plan Chiarelli has in place will be a difficult one to pull off. With McDavid’s $100MM contract extension kicking in, the Oilers have almost $62MM in cap space tied up in just 14 players for the 2018-19 season. That’s before they deal with restricted free agents like Ryan Strome, Anton Slepyshev, Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning, or any UFA signings they decide to make.

Obviously, the Oilers could bounce back and be one of the league’s best teams next season. With McDavid and Leon Draisaitl leading the offense, and improvement from the blue line and in net could easily push them back into the playoffs. Still, betting on a turnaround from those two positions isn’t exactly a plan, meaning there is something else coming for Edmonton in the next few months. If your mind immediately goes to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and a potential trade, Chiarelli implied that he will not trade the young forward in yesterday’s press conference.

Milan Lucic, Kris Russell, Andrej Sekera and Cam Talbot all hold no-movement clauses at the moment, and though Talbot’s turns into a limited clause in the summer he is probably the least likely of the group to be moved. The other three don’t carry much value in trade because of their high price tags and diminishing returns, meaning Edmonton would likely have to eat some salary in any potential move.

Nicholson praised Chiarelli’s relationships with other GMs as a positive during the presser, indicating that it will help him turn things around through trade if he decides to. Though that may be true, it’s not like other teams will be lining up to fix the problems with the Oilers roster. With a high draft pick and some interesting young talent, Chiarelli will be must-watch TV at the upcoming draft and free agency period.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: General Manager Hot Seat, Cholowski, Cullen

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With many teams starting to see the writing on the wall that their season is coming to a close sooner than they had intended, the next question that comes about is whether the team has any intentions of making changes to their staff. After a look at possible changes to the coaching ranks, the next question would likely turn to which general managers are on the hot seat. The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) takes a look at 10 candidates who could find themselves without a job this offseason.

Mirtle quickly addresses the obvious ones, including Detroit’s Ken Holland and Toronto’s Lou Lamoriello, both who have been rumored to either be on their way out or moved to a different role within the organization. However, Mirtle also admits that both could easily stay in their present roles too.

The next stage of general managers that are most likely on the hot seat include Peter Chiarelli of Edmonton, the New York Islanders Garth Snow and Montreal’s Marc Bergevin, while other general managers might be given more time to prove to the organization that their plan works. Colorado’s Joe Sakic, Arizona’s John Chayka, Minnesota’s Chuck Fletcher and Columbus’ Jarmo Kekalainen are all likely to be on short leashes due to their inability of taking their teams to a new level.

  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that while 2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen might make the Detroit Red Wings team next season, the real prospect to keep an eye on will be 2016 first-round pick Dennis Cholowski, whose having a stellar year with both the Prince George Cougars and the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. The 20-year-old blueliner is in his final year of junior and has 14 goals and 50 assists this year. St. James writes that while Rasmussen must make the Red Wings roster out of training camp to stick, Cholowski could play with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL and get a midseason callup if he can’t break into the Red Wings lineup.
  • StarTribune’s Sarah McLellan writes that the NHL Players Association released a players poll this week and for the question of which player would make great coach after they retire. Minnesota’s Matt Cullen won the poll. He received 4.5 percent of the votes, yet Cullen hasn’t decided if that’s the avenue he plans to go down. “I’ve never really put a lot of thought into it, to be honest,” Cullen said. “I guess I’ve had a lot of experience, and I’ve been through a lot through a long career, I guess. Truthfully, I’ve never thought a lot about it. I don’t know. I’m not sure what I’ll do when I’m done playing.”

Edmonton Trades Brandon Davidson To Islanders

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The Edmonton Oilers announced they have traded defenseman Brandon Davidson to the New York Islanders in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick, a move that might be considered a win-win move for both teams.

For the Oilers, the team really cashed in on Davidson’s success this season considering he was untradeable just a couple of months ago. He was picked up in the middle of the year when Edmonton claimed him from the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 3. The Canadiens, who tried to trade him off could find no takers at the time and forced them into placing the blueliner on waivers. However, he fared well in Edmonton as a bottom-tier defenseman. The fact the team was able to get a third-rounder for him is an excellent move from Edmonton general manager Peter Chiarelli. Many people assumed the Oilers might keep the 26-year-old defenseman around for next season. Ironically, it marks the second time in two years the Oilers have traded Davidson at the trade deadline. They sent him last year to Montreal in exchange for forward David Desharnais.

As for the Islanders, the team adds some much needed defensive depth for a team that is struggling with injuries on the blueline. Davidson immediately fills in as a bottom-pairing defenseman where the team needs the most help. The Islanders, who have the No. 4-ranked offense in the NHL, need help on defense as they have allowed more goals per game than any other team in the league at 3.56 per game. Nevertheless, the Islanders are still fighting for a playoff spot, which if they can secure a spot, might aid them in their bid to re-sign center John Tavares at  the end of the season. Davidson, who makes $1.425MM this year will be a restricted free agent for the Islanders when the offseason hits. He is unlikely to make much more than that next season, making him a solid, inexpensive player who might fill the shoes of one of their potential defensive free agents like Calvin de Haan or Thomas Hickey.

Davidson played 13 games for the Canadiens earlier this year and had just one assist in limited playing time. He had played 23 games for the Oilers since being acquired and has had three goals and an assist and is averaging now 16:29 of ice time combined between both teams as the Oilers have used him quite a bit. While not a great puck-moving defenseman, Davidson is a solid defenseman who can hit hard.

The Islanders may still have a bigger move planned in the upcoming days before the deadline as they have moved a 2019 third-rounder instead of moving one of the multiple picks they have for this year’s draft. New York has two first-rounders, two second-rounders as well as their third, fourth and fifth round picks for 2018, most of which they picked up in the Travis Hamonic trade in the offseason with the Calgary Flames.

Edmonton Oilers Will Not “Blow It Up”

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Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli scheduled a press conference today where he took questions from several media members, and the overriding theme of the day was that the team would not “blow it up.”  Chiarelli is not looking to dump players for draft picks just to start the development process again, but instead make tweaks to the roster to try and get back to the level of success found in 2016-17. The team is prioritizing speed in any acquisitions they make, and admitted that they had looked at a couple “hockey deals” recently.

Chiarelli also said that there had been interest in both Patrick Maroon and Mark Letestu, though wouldn’t go into specifics on either player. He also said they’d looked into extensions with some of their pending free agents.

The Oilers have struggled through a very disappointing season, but aren’t going to push the eject button just yet on this group. Though there is work to be done, a Connor McDavid-led team could jump right to the top of the league next season with some adjustments, just as it did a year ago. Chiarelli says he’s not involved in some bigger things going on around the league, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Edmonton is one of the quietest teams at the deadline, outside of perhaps selling off a few rentals. Any big changes are more likely to happen in the summer.

Mark Letestu’s Trade Value Dropping

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Veteran center Mark Letestu has been a hot name on the rumor mill this season. The 32-year-old is an impending free agent coming off a career-high 35 points last season. While not a statistical machine, Letestu has been the definition of reliable in his nine-year NHL career. He can play on the power play and penalty kill, excels at the face-off dot, and is hardly ever found taking a bad penalty. With the Edmonton Oilers struggling this season, it seemed that one silver lining could be the return they could get for the dependable Letestu.

That dream may have slipped away already though, as 2017-18 continues to be just as disappointing for Letestu as it has for the Oilers. Through 48 games, Letestu’s 16 points puts him well off his pace from last season and much of those offensive struggles have come lately. Letestu has not recorded a point in 14 games and his last assist came back on December 12th, as his production has dried up completely. Tack on Letestu’s -15 rating, the worst on the team, and the once-reliable forward has been both an offensive non-factor and defensive liability this season. As a result, his ice time has suffered. Letestu has skated in under 10 minutes in six games this season, including back-to-back eight-minute games last week; he had one such game last season.

Now, coach Todd McLellan has taken the next step. Even with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sidelined with injury, the Oilers’ bench boss has decided he has had enough of Letestu’s lackluster play, making him a healthy scratch for tonight’s big game against their Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames. Even taking into account the poor play of the entire Oilers team this year, it still does not excuse the drop-off in all around play by Letestu this season. Now, not only has he been objectively bad, but even his team has lost confidence in his ability. Perhaps this benching will jump start Letestu’s season and he can rebuild his trade value over the next month, ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. Otherwise, GM Peter Chiarelli may essentially give away the expiring center, as he won’t come close to the once-promising return he may have gotten earlier in the year.

Peter Chiarelli Talks About Direction Of Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers’ season hasn’t gone as expected. After taking the Anaheim Ducks to Game 7 of the second round last year, the Oilers were expected to be a Stanley Cup contender and steamroll over the Pacific Division with a dynamic offense led by Connor McDavid. Instead, Edmonton has just 118 goals on the season and sits 13th in the Western Conference standings with just 39 points through 43 games.

Peter ChiarelliBecause of their struggles, head coach Todd McLellan’s name has been thrown around as a potential scapegoat, while GM Peter Chiarelli has felt some of that heat himself. Chiarelli said as much when speaking with TSN’s Ryan Rishaug today in a long interview that goes in detail on several topics.

Chiarelli once again stated that he would not be firing McLellan this season despite the struggles, and refuses to pin all of the blame on him or his coaching staff. Instead, the GM believes there has been a confluence of issues that have resulted in a poor record and the front office is still working out what exactly has gone wrong. With that, he wouldn’t reveal which direction the team will take at the trade deadline but admitted that a decision would have to be made soon.

Rishaug was quick to mention that McDavid’s entry-level contract is up after this season, at which point his cap hit will balloon to $12.5MM for the next eight years. With Leon Draisaitl already making $8.5MM this season, the Oilers will have trouble adding much in terms of free agency over the coming years. There simply won’t be much money to go around if they’re going to continue to lock up their homegrown talent while paying $21MM to their top two offensive talents.

The Oilers do have expiring assets that could be used as bait as the deadline approaches. Patrick Maroon, Mark Letestu and Mike Cammalleri are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the year and could be interesting additions for various clubs around the league. Beyond that, Ryan Strome, the player acquired in exchange for Jordan Eberle in the offseason (a topic that is broached by Rishaug in the interview) is a restricted free agent that could be viewed as another buy-low candidate for a rebuilding team. Strome is due a $3MM qualifying offer this summer and is arbitration eligible, making it possible that Edmonton can’t even afford him depending on how they view his value going forward.

Looking forward there is quite a number of unknowns in Edmonton. Cam Talbot is only signed through the 2018-19 season and has seen his play drop off this year, while is a trio of veterans with full no-move clauses and big cap hits. Milan Lucic, Andrei Sekera and Kris Russell are all on deals that take them through at least the 2020-21 season, and combine for a $15.5MM cap hit. Though each brings some value to the team, they can only be relied upon as complimentary players at this point in there careers.

It’s unclear which path Chiarelli will take at the deadline, and whether any core pieces will be moved out to try and send the team in a different direction next season. It does seem likely that if there isn’t a marked improvement at this point next year, Chiarelli’s seat might not just be hot, it might be gone.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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