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If there was one thing Oilers fans and observers learned in the Decade of Darkness, it’s that accountability is crucial at all levels of the organization if the team is going to win.

That means that a GM who takes a mediocre team and turns it into a terrible one should not be allowed to then try to orchestrate a major rebuild.

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In today’s context, it means a GM who has a generational superstar should be expected to steadily improve his team until it’s firmly established each year as a contender for the Stanley Cup. Anything less than that is unacceptable.

So far, Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli has passed this test. Since taking over the Oilers in April 2015, Chiarelli has hired a new coach, a new asst. GM, and made more than 20 major player personnel moves, with roughly 75 per cent of those moves turning out well for the Oilers, and about a third of them proving to be majorly beneficial, such as his trades for Cam Talbot, Patrick Maroon and Zack Kassian, and the work he did last year fixing the Oil’s defence by bringing in Adam Larsson, Kris Russell and Matt Benning and bringing back Eric Gryba.