Oilers will be in tough, even with an abbreviated NHL schedule

[Wheatking]

Sure, Shultz and Yaks won't have a huge impact, but they will have a impact. I mean Shultz especially is more than NHL ready. You have to think they are very least are upgrades over last year. If you add in all the other young players getting a year older. I think this team can improve by leaps and bounds over last year. I think we can be any where from 25th in the league to 10th. I would suggest closer to 10th.

I think you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. We missed the playoffs by 20+ points last season. Yakupov, Schultz, Kreuger and the natural progression of Hall, Eberle and RNH aren't going make up for that. I mean maybe they do but it's very unlikely.

Lets also not forget that while Schultz and Yakupov are exciting offensive players, they both are going to have a tough time in their own zone this season. Schultz was pretty average in the AHL. He is most likely going to bleed goals as an NHL rookie.

 

[CornKicker]

i just hope the oiler make the 7-8 seed, the kids get tons of ice time. the oilers finish ahead of the flames and yakupov or schultz win the calder and both finish ahead of bartschi in the voting.

 

[XxJackmodexX]

I think you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. We missed the playoffs by 20+ points last season. Yakupov, Schultz, Kreuger and the natural progression of Hall, Eberle and RNH aren't going make up for that. I mean maybe they do but it's very unlikely.

Lets also not forget that while Schultz and Yakupov are exciting offensive players, they both are going to have a tough time in their own zone this season. Schultz was pretty average in the AHL. He is most likely going to bleed goals as an NHL rookie.

Pretty average?

Rookie of the month in October, 48 pts in 34 games, +8, playing 30mins a game.

 

[Wheatking]

i just hope the oiler make the 7-8 seed, the kids get tons of ice time. the oilers finish ahead of the flames and yakupov or schultz win the calder and both finish ahead of bartschi in the voting.

Same here. We're not asking for much. Just for absolutely everything to perfect for us

Pretty average?

Rookie of the month in October, 48 pts in 34 games, +8, playing 30mins a game.

I'm talking specifically about his play in his own zone. Not his offensive production. Thought that was obvious...

 

[dustrock]

Anyone want to tell me the last time a team this young jumped from 30th to the playoffs?

The Pens?

 

[Wheatking]

Anyone want to tell me the last time a team this young jumped from 30th to the playoffs?

The Pens?

The Penguins went from 29th in the league to 5th in the conference. That was the year they added Malkin and Staal.

The Flyers went from 30th in the league in 2006-07 to 6th in the conference. That was after the summer where they added Briere, Hartnell, Timonen, Lupul and Smith. They also got Coburn around the deadline for basically nothing.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I'm projecting the Oilers to go from 29th overall in the league to 5th in the Conference. Lottery team to playoff team in 1 year.

Sure some of that's based on some optimism... but they have a lot of talent on this team and with the same old proviso that "if they remain fairly healthy"... I think that talent drives them to a playoff spot this season.

 

[The Big Unit]

i think we'll be in the hunt but 7 games against both Minnesota and Vancouver won't bode well for us. Minny eats us alive all the time and with Parise and Suter now on that roster I don't see that changing this season. As for Vancouver, they're weaker, especially with Kesler recovering slower than expected, and many of their players rusty but they're still going to be a force. Calgary is going to be a desperate team right out of the gate and i expect them to play desperate hockey from game 1. Finally, let's not forget Colorado has a similar situation to ours, a young team on the upswing, except they have better goaltending and defence.

9 of the remaining 10 teams in the West finished ahead of us in the standings last year and LA, San Jose, Phoenix, Dallas, Nashville, Chicago, and St. Louis are still better than us. I'm very optimistic about this team though and I can see us surprising a lot of teams but it won't last and we'll fall short of the playoffs unless Tambellini finds another stud on D or Dubnyk raises his game to another level.

 

[McGoMcD]

I think you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. We missed the playoffs by 20+ points last season. Yakupov, Schultz, Kreuger and the natural progression of Hall, Eberle and RNH aren't going make up for that. I mean maybe they do but it's very unlikely.

Lets also not forget that while Schultz and Yakupov are exciting offensive players, they both are going to have a tough time in their own zone this season. Schultz was pretty average in the AHL. He is most likely going to bleed goals as an NHL rookie.

Ya, but bottom line young teams tend not to get a bit better every year, there is a year where they jump. Pitts, Chi ect.. THis is the year we jump. I am not saying we win the cup, but I think we make the playoffs. Yes, 20+ point improvement in one year.

 

[McGoMcD]

I'm projecting the Oilers to go from 29th overall in the league to 5th in the Conference. Lottery team to playoff team in 1 year.

Sure some of that's based on some optimism... but they have a lot of talent on this team and with the same old proviso that "if they remain fairly healthy"... I think that talent drives them to a playoff spot this season.

Ya, I agree, perhaps I am setting my self up for disappointment, but I think there is too much talent, young or not, it is going to start shinning through. Even though we were 2nd worst last year, the team showed a lot of improvements. I don't see why a big jump in the standings, if we stay fairly healthy, won't happen.

 

[molsonmuscle360]

i think we'll be in the hunt but 7 games against both Minnesota and Vancouver won't bode well for us. Minny eats us alive all the time and with Parise and Suter now on that roster I don't see that changing this season. As for Vancouver, they're weaker, especially with Kesler recovering slower than expected, and many of their players rusty but they're still going to be a force. Calgary is going to be a desperate team right out of the gate and i expect them to play desperate hockey from game 1. Finally, let's not forget Colorado has a similar situation to ours, a young team on the upswing, except they have better goaltending and defence.

9 of the remaining 10 teams in the West finished ahead of us in the standings last year and LA, San Jose, Phoenix, Dallas, Nashville, Chicago, and St. Louis are still better than us. I'm very optimistic about this team though and I can see us surprising a lot of teams but it won't last and we'll fall short of the playoffs unless Tambellini finds another stud on D or Dubnyk raises his game to another level.

The way I see it is we probably crush Calgary most games. We beat Vancouver any game they find themselves in penalty trouble because our power play will crush older teams. And probably be pretty even with Colorado. Minnesota will probably win the division.

LA is going to slip in my opinion. Kopitar is hurt and Quick is just getting back from serious injury. And I think the Pacific teams are going to be splitting a lot of games with each other, keeping their point totals lower.

 

[The Big Unit]

The way I see it is we probably crush Calgary most games. We beat Vancouver any game they find themselves in penalty trouble because our power play will crush older teams. And probably be pretty even with Colorado. Minnesota will probably win the division.

LA is going to slip in my opinion. Kopitar is hurt and Quick is just getting back from serious injury. And I think the Pacific teams are going to be splitting a lot of games with each other, keeping their point totals lower.

Agreed on the Pacific Division but we'll basically be in the same position. Crushing Calgary but getting crushed by Minnesota and then splitting the season series with Colorado and Vancouver puts us in the same position as the Pacific teams....that is in the logjam. I'm not saying that's not a good thing because we won't be a bottom feeder anymore but not quite a playoff team unless we destroy one of the other divisions. Which brings us to the Central.

I see Nashville and Chicago battling for the Central crown with St. Louis not far behind. I think this is the year the wheels come off in Detroit and the Jackets are the Jackets. We usually play well against the Blues and destroyed Chicago last year. Nashville will give us trouble but with no Suter and only 2 games against them I see us picking up 14 or 15 points out of 20 from this division. I think this is going to be the key to the Oilers playoff hopes.

 

[plikestechno]

I'm glad hockey's back, I'm excited to see the Oilers and the new guys but I don't see how we avoid a long losing streak or two and in a 48 game season that will crush us.

We pick up a lot of wins playing against the east, too. A west-heavy schedule isn't going to help us either. We're still not great against our own division, even. I don't think we have the goaltending or the defensive game to hang in a west-heavy schedule. OKC wasn't very encouraging to me as far as our stars' defensive play goes.

But hey, how about a shortened season where we get a high pick one more time, get the kids more experience and then get rid of a lot of bad money over the summer?

I'll take that and then we start to crush. I think next season is the one to be excited for, that's when things will HAVE to turn around. This year I'm keeping my expectations low.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Anyone know what the schedule format will be like yet?

Possibilities to get 48 games...

6 games x 4 divisional teams + 24 games outside the division (I assume a few games vs eastern teams like Wpg/Tor/Ott/Mont might be in there as well.)

I could see 24 divisional games and then 2 versus each of the other 10 teams in the West and then 8 games in total versus the eastern Canadian teams. That would give a total schedule of 52 games and that sounds like the number the league might be shooting for.

 

[Oilerz]

I think their is a pile of pessimism in this thread disguised as not wanting to over estimate results (Perhaps lockout hangover). I think that great strides have been made and the coaching change could be the catylist. The vast majority of our players have been skating in meaningful games and are probably in better shape than 2/3 of the league. I think we could come out of the gate like gangbusters, settle back a bit, then make a run and GET IN the playoffs.

 

[Insta]

I'm optimistic for the first time in years. The line between bad and good in the NHL is very small and I think they could very well cross it this season. The addition of Schultz and Whitney coming back healthy is going to be huge as is Dubnyk getting a chance to be a starter full time.

The Oilers were abysmal last season when going into the 3rd period tied and with the additions and the big guys a year older I think they will go from losing almost all of those games, to winning a good number of them. Will it be enough to get into the playoffs? I'm not sure about that, but I think they will be close.

 

[joestevens29]

I don't know where to put this, but sounds like there will be little competition in camp.

Edmonton Oilers ‏@EdmontonOilers
Krueger confirms training camp will consist of 15 forwards, 8 defencemen and 2 goalies, not including Jones and Sutton (both injured)

 

[plikestechno]

I think that great strides have been made and the coaching change could be the catylist.

What changes have been made that will keep the puck out of our net? Yakupov and Schultz and a "healthy" Whitney coming back are exciting but they're not going to help keep the puck out of the net which has been our problem a lot of nights over the past few years. Since Pronger left, really. I think this will make a big difference in a shortened season.

 

[t0mf00lery]

Imagine the apoplexy on this board if they finish last again.

 

[plikestechno]

I wouldn't be surprised if they finished close to last. They need more defensive support and secondary scoring. Maybe they'll get more next year.

Some of these draft picks we thought would work out and could help out for our 3-4 lines don't seem to be doing so as quickly as we'd hoped (Paajarvi, Pitlick, Teubert, Marincin, Lander). Hartikainen at this point seems like a better prospect than any of those guys. I don't know if the cupboard is as full as we think. We might need to hit up other teams for support players in the coming years.

As I said earlier, I'm more excited for next year than this year. I hope it's not another bottom 5 finish but wouldn't be surprised if it was.

 

[joestevens29]

I wouldn't be surprised if they finished close to last. They need more defensive support and secondary scoring. Maybe they'll get more next year. As I said earlier, I'm more excited for next year than this year. I hope it's not another bottom 5 finish but wouldn't be surprised if it was.

I don't know if secondary scoring is that big of an issue, as much as consistency is the issue.

Points from d-men were an issue last year, but hopefully with the addition of Schultz some of that issue dissapears.

 

[Faelko]

Anyone know what the schedule format will be like yet?

Possibilities to get 48 games...

6 games x 4 divisional teams + 24 games outside the division (I assume a few games vs eastern teams like Wpg/Tor/Ott/Mont might be in there as well.)

I could see 24 divisional games and then 2 versus each of the other 10 teams in the West and then 8 games in total versus the eastern Canadian teams. That would give a total schedule of 52 games and that sounds like the number the league might be shooting for.

No Eastern conference games from what I've been reading.

Maybe 7 x 4 Division = 28
Home and Home with rest of conference for the other 20?

 

[Insta]

People talk like they were the worst defensive team last season and that they scored bucketloads of goals. The Oilers were 23rd in goals against and 20th in goals for.

 

[awesomo]

I think this season will be highly unpredictable.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Who finishes with more points this season? Oilers or Islanders?

The Isles just lost Visnovsky, so I think the Oilers have a better chance.

Especially since the Isles will likely have to play the majority of their season against the Rangers, Penguins, Flyers, and Devils.