Analyzing the Future of the Edmonton Oilers

[mouz135]

The Oilers do have a very bright future. The only issue is the short term.

The most valuable pieces on the Oilers are the youngest players. Nurse, Bouchard, and Puljujarvi will fill the remaining holes we have. The exception is in net, but I think Talbot can bounce back. We have some decent goalie prospects in the pipeline. Also in the prospect pool, there is Jones, Bear, Benson, and others that will be ready to make the jump soon-ish.

And the fact is, that with Draisaitl and McDavid down the middle, all we need in order to be a consistent contender is for the rest of the team to be average. Just average. However, the potential for this team minus McDavid and Draisaitl is to be better than average.

I'm hopeful that if we can stay healthy, we will make a strong push for the playoffs again this season. We are a better team on paper than we were in 2016-17 so I like our odds.

I love your posts. You are always living up to your name.

Though I'm fairly certain, that if you want to be a consistent contender, your team needs to be more than just average. Average gets you mopped in Round 1.

 

[Bank Shot]

The biggest need with the team is wingers. That's a pretty good spot to be in going forward.

Wingers are generally the fastest to develop out of the draft and also the cheapest to acquire in trade and free agency.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

It's just very hard for me to take them seriously.

 

[Aurinko]

The management will fly aaall over the world trying to trade Lucic. In the end they trade him to minnesota for dubnyk and win the cup

 

[CraigsList]

How the hell do you not make any moves when you missed the playoffs with essentially the same squad as your playoff run. Teams have got you figured out.

You’d think having McDavid and Draisaitl would help, but two people cannot do it all. The Oilers need some help. And it starts with management. They’re not going to make any kind of noise in the playoffs let alone make them with the roster they have. If they do miraculously make it, you shut down Connor you shut down the majority of the Oilers’ offense.

 

[I am not exposed]

Overall a good analysis OP, although I thought you were being a bit harsh on Sekera! Has he really declined that much? I thought he was a solid top 4 defenseman.

 

[Maladroit]

How many games do they need to lose in October before Chiarelli pulls the trigger on something incredibly dumb like Draisaitl for Parayko?

 

[MNRube]

Pains me to say it but its hard to envision the Oilers being down for long. Their strength down the middle is elite and they have quality pieces around them. They just have to get faster and they will be back in the hunt. Obviously goaltending has to improve. I think the development of Bouchard and Puljujarvi will be deciding factor in their ceiling. On paper they should be perfect fits.

 

[McIce Whole]

Disagree with the defence assessment but the rest wasn’t too far off. Our biggest issue is wing depth. It has been completely gutted and we have no cap space to bring anyone in because of bad contracts (Lucic, Russell) and money being tied up into our best players.

The saving grace for this team is that Yamo and Puju are both still so young and both have quite a bit of upside to them. If they can come in and contribute in the top 6 in the next year or two here, our wing depth is going to be decent.

Defence, we need Klefbom to bounce back. Played with an injury all year last year but year before he was healthy and him and Larsson formed a legit top pairing. Sekera bouncing back would be a huge bonus too.

Management is trash and we all know that.

 

[Kelly]

Talbot has a bounce back season, and they find some secondary scoring from Puljuj, Strome, Yamamato and others I think they'll make it.

I don't think their the team some Oilers fans were talking about two years ago, but still a decent team.

Chia is trying his darnest to f*** it up tho.

 

[McIce Whole]

How the hell do you not make any moves when you missed the playoffs with essentially the same squad as your playoff run. Teams have got you figured out.

You’d think having McDavid and Draisaitl would help, but two people cannot do it all. The Oilers need some help. And it starts with management. They’re not going to make any kind of noise in the playoffs let alone make them with the roster they have. If they do miraculously make it, you shut down Connor you shut down the majority of the Oilers’ offense.

Several players underperformed last year + not having much cap room to make any changes = similar roster.

I do like what Chia did with the limited cap space he had, although it is his fault for getting us into cap trouble but that’s a different story.

Fixing our problems was going to come internally. Young players taking the next step, Better special teams and bounce back seasons from a few players.

Our PK was downright terrible, so we brought in a couple players that can help us in that department. PP was terrible too but we brought in a brand new coaching staff for McLellan.

Had the Oilers got average special teams and average goaltending from Talbot, we would have been fighting for a playoff spot. So I wouldn’t go as far as saying “miraculously make the playoffs.” I will be surprised if they aren’t in the hunt when it’s all said and done.

 

[CraigsList]

Several players underperformed last year + not having much cap room to make any changes = similar roster.

I do like what Chia did with the limited cap space he had, although it is his fault for getting us into cap trouble but that’s a different story.

Fixing our problems was going to come internally. Young players taking the next step, Better special teams and bounce back seasons from a few players.

Our PK was downright terrible, so we brought in a couple players that can help us in that department. PP was terrible too but we brought in a brand new coaching staff for McLellan.

Had the Oilers got average special teams and average goaltending from Talbot, we would have been fighting for a playoff spot. So I wouldn’t go as far as saying “miraculously make the playoffs.” I will be surprised if they aren’t in the hunt when it’s all said and done.

If you guys are in the hunt, it’s because of improved special teams. Alberta both changed their coaching staff, so much of next season depends on that too.

 

[DancesWithWookies]

I think it's a bleak future.

 

[bukwas]

I think it's a bleak future.

The short term doesn't look so great but with a couple key pieces already in place things could turn around if they make some good picks and moves in the next 2 years.
It's a bit of a bonus to be able to bask in McDavids individual glory while waiting for a decent supporting cast to be assembled. Without him, bleak would be a more acceptable description.

 

[McIce Whole]

If you guys are in the hunt, it’s because of improved special teams. Alberta both changed their coaching staff, so much of next season depends on that too.

That’ll play a huge role in it, no doubt. Especially considering we were dead last in the league in PP and PK .

But don’t think that’ll be the only thing. Like I said earlier, need a couple bounce back seasons and one of the younger kids to take a step forward (puju).

 

[THall4]

I'd be scared of Edmonton with McDavid if they had competent management. With the current group of muppets they have in place, I don't think they give McDavid the help he needs to push them over the hump.

Can't wait to see the next big Chiarelli trade.

I don't think that trade will ever come...I think if the Oilers miss the playoffs again, Chiarelli gets canned...I mean, he really hasn't done a lick this summer to help improve the team besides the draft and signing 2 bottom 6'er.

The cap hole we are in (because of Chiarelli) will be someone else's job to clean up...

 

[Rubi]

That’ll play a huge role in it, no doubt. Especially considering we were dead last in the league in PP and PK .

But don’t think that’ll be the only thing. Like I said earlier, need a couple bounce back seasons and one of the younger kids to take a step forward (puju).

And then there's the effort issue..

 

[hockeyguy1967]

-The Bigger problem is. Mcdavid has not missed 1 game in the last 2 years. No way that continues year after year. He's going to get injured or sick or something and miss time, its going to happen soon. Expecting a player to play 82 games every year until their career is over is beyond nuts

He had Mono for a month last year and missed no games.

 

[hockeyguy1967]

I would be willing to Avatar bet that they are a 100+ point team this upcoming season.

 

[Scott Stevens]

Now being a fan of a division rival, you could argue that I'll be bias, but I think I can do a decent job

Biased

 

[Del Preston]

I don't think it is as bad as it seems. Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong last season did go wrong.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

Good wingers are in dire need.
Talbot is good and the defence is workable. But those wingers are ass bottom 3 if not the worst in the league(depends if drai is on wing or center).

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

I would be willing to Avatar bet that they are a 100+ point team this upcoming season.

I'm in.

 

[hockeyguy1967]

I'm in.

I am a Leafs fan though just FYI so you would have to choose accordingly.

 

[Icebreakers]

Why is this on the main forum? Go post this in Edmonton thread.