Islanders: An old friend being interviewed for new GM job

Remember Peter Chiarelli? You know, the former GM of the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers? As a New York Islanders fan you probably have fond memories of Chiarelli, specifically when he was at the helm of the Oilers.

And now it seems that he's got a good chance at getting the GM job with the Chicago Blackhawks. On Sunday, the Blackhawks tweeted that they interviewed the former GM and current VP of Hockey Ops with the St Louis Blues.

I know "interviewing for a job" doesn't equal getting the gig. But it's very rare that an NHL team will openly state who they're interviewing for such an important job let alone blog about it:

New York Islanders an Peter Chiarelli

In case you forgot, or you wanted something fun to read, let me run down what Chiarelli did, somehow inadvertently for the New York Islanders while GM for the Oilers:

1. Took Griffin Reinhart for a 16th overall and 33rd overall pick:
Reinhart was a former fourth overall pick but hadn't been able to break into the Islanders NHL squad. Chiarelli clearly thought he could be getting a top pair shutdown guy to complement McDavid.

So Chicarlli gave the Islanders the 16th overall pick that year, which they used to select Mathew Barzal and an early second-round pick. Garth Snow would package that second and his own to move up the draft and take Anthony Beauvillier with the 28th overall pick.

Reinhart played 29 games for Edmonton before they too found out he wasn't an NHL'er and had him selected by Vegas in the expansion draft. Meanwhile, we know the impact Barzal and Beauvillier have had (and continue to have) on this team.

2. Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome:
After a strong sophomore year, Strome fell off from being a 50 point player in the NHL and was routinely used on the third line by the Isles. Almost exactly a year after the Reinhart trade, Snow and Chiarelli made a deal once again.

Ryan Strome went to Edmonton while Jordan Eberle, an easy top-six, righty, went to the Island. One for one. Strome would stumble in Edmonton and be dealt for Ryan Spooner sometime later.

Eberle would score 169 points in 272 regular-season games and 34 points in 49 playoff games for the Isles before being selected by Seattle.

Peter would also trade Johnny Boychuck to the Islanders for a 2015 2nd, 2016 2nd. Picks they used to get Brandon Carlo (a pretty good shutdown D) and Ryan Lindgren (now with NYR). The Boychuk trade wasn't that one-sided, but it still benefited the Isles well.

The Islanders desperately needed someone like Boychuk on the blueline. Along with Boychuk and Nick Leddy the Islanders revamped their blueline from irrelevant to at least competitive overnight.

May be back

And now Chiarelli might be back. Again, it's just an interview, but Chiarelli gets the gig in Chicago, Garth Snow's name must be immediately added to the business directory as "AGM for Chiarelli related negotiations".