Talent laden is the best description of the Edmonton Oilers roster. Disappointing, woeful, inept, snake-bitten, hard luck, and a host of other terms are used for a team that manages to miss the playoffs, despite the talent, for so many years, ten and coutning.
It has been written elsewhere that this past season seemed different and yet in the end the Oilers’ most recent charmed pick of Connor McDavid was disappointing in his first season when he played only 45 games due to injury. Given a full season in his rookie year McDavid might well have won the rookie-of-the-year honors.
Cam Talbot needs a solid year to help the Oilers – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
There was plenty to be disappointed about the Oilers’ defense this past campaign. As with any club it all starts with defense and the Oilers were 27th in the NHL with a 2.95 goals against per game average; much of the blame can be laid squarely on the blueline which is young and unexperienced.
Despite his youth, Oscar Klefbom is seen as a future stalwart of the Edmonton blueline. He was injured last season and played in only 30 games collected four goals and 12 points on the season along with a -4.
This season he gets some help on the presumptive first defensive pairing with the addition of Adam Larsson who was picked up from the New Jersey Devils in a trade for Taylor Hall.
The Larsson trade may eventually prove the right move but the Oilers gave up their leading scorer from last season for the defenseman and Larsson will be under the microscope and called out every time he boots a play.
What the Oilers did add that they lacked was a heavy hitting player in the form of Milan Lucic late of the Los Angeles Kings. Lucic signed for seven years at $6 million per year. His physical presence on the ice should pay dividends immediately with opposition players giving more respect to Oilers’ young stars like McDavid.
Not for lack of effort or desire, the Oilers goalie status was questionable last season. A porous, soft blueline left goalie Cam Talbot one-on-the-world most games. The 2015-16 season was his first as an NHL number one goalie and it was not to his satisfaction. But he still needs to take some of the responsibility for the poor defensive play and failure to keep the puck out of the cage.
Connor McDavid – Photo by Jack Lima
This season Talbot will have a credible backup in Jonas Gustavsson to help shoulder some of the load and provide the Oilers with insurance.
All the talent on the bench for so many years and the Oilers have missed the postseason for 10 straight campaigns. They co-own a record for futility with the Florida Panthers.
In the last seven years, Edmonton has had the number one pick in the NHL Entry Draft four times and still cannot make the playoffs. They were seventh in the Pacific Division last year and the question is whether or not a team full of young talent mixed with a few veterans can change the course they have been on for so many years.
The common theme appears to be that everyone pins their hopes on the latest young star of the future to be drafted and no one really thinks about braiding this new star in with the “old” ones. It seems to be that most times the game plan is to just let everyone play their game and to blazes with a coherent scheme of meshing talent and abilities.
Milan Lucic comes to Edmonton as a means to toughen up the Oilers – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Todd McClelland had a year on the Oilers bench as the boss and made some changes last season but was hamstrung by injuries and a soft team. This is his year to make an impact on the Oilers and push or carry them forward.
Not this year. Larsson will have the weight of the Oilers nation on his back and the loss of Hall for Larsson will add to the pressure. Talbot is a good goalie but can he survive another year of breakaways and no one taking the man down low? Lucic is a solid addition but can he police the entire ice for 60 minutes?
We don’t see the Oilers making the playoffs this campaign and they will own the NHL-record for futility. They will be better but then again so will everyone else in the division and conference have gotten better.
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