Edmonton Oilers

[chuckcouples]

A top 20 finish in the NHL next season would be a very large accomplish for the Oilers. ON PAPER they do not look much better then they did last year. They are weaker at center as neither Arcobello or Draisaitl are as good as Sam Gagner was although who ever wins the battle for 4th line center will be better than Will Acton. They are a little stronger at winger since Pouliot and Purcell are both proven NHL players. They are slightly better at defence as they have replaced Anton Belov and Ladi Smid with Nikitin and Fayne. Not much of an upgrade but it should be a small one. On paper, they are weaker in net as Devan Dubnyk had a career save percentage of .920 heading into last season while the career save percentages for Scrivens is .917 (including 25% of his games played with LA where I could probably have a .900 save percentage) and it's .915 for Fasth. Neither have these goalies have any kind of a track record as an NHL starting goaltender.

The biggest differences I see for the team this year is that they have an actual NHL coach behind the bench now in Craig Ramsay who replaces Kelly Buchberger and Steve Smith. This alone should be good for a GAA drop of about .2. The 2nd hope is that Fasth and Scrivens have a better start than Dubnyk did last year which should help the Oilers start the year with some confidence. Last year's start killed the entire season. There is also hope that the young players start to mature and become actual 2 way NHL players but this could be wishful thinking. My prediction has the Oilers finishing 6th in the Pacific Division with 82 points.

[Vanek! at the Disco]

LMAO

Do you guys actually watch any of the games out West there or do you all live in different time zones? lol

Los Angelese
Chicago
San Jose
Colorado
St. Louis
Anaheim
Dallas
Nashville
Phoenix

feel free to stop me once I hit a team that EDM can compete with

Winnipeg?
Vancouver?
Calgary?

maybe? but not quite.

[rikkitikki]

I would say that they can compete with Nashville, Arizona, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary. Are they going to beat them out maybe, maybe not, but they should compete. It really depends on how they gel, if they come out to play and how their young players develop.

[golfguy1672]

I think the oilers can best Arizona, Calgary, buffalo, Carolina, Florida, Nashville, New Jersey, Long Island, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg

Granted only 4 of them are in the west, still think Oilers will be that much better than eastern teams.

[Vanek! at the Disco]

I think the oilers can best Arizona, Calgary, buffalo, Carolina, Florida, Nashville, New Jersey, Long Island, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg

Granted only 4 of them are in the west, still think Oilers will be that much better than eastern teams.

I would say that they can compete with Nashville, Arizona, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary. Are they going to beat them out maybe, maybe not, but they should compete. It really depends on how they gel, if they come out to play and how their young players develop.

Wanna buy a bridge?

[doulos]

LMAO

Do you guys actually watch any of the games out West there or do you all live in different time zones? lol

Los Angelese
Chicago
San Jose
Colorado
St. Louis
Anaheim
Dallas
Nashville
Phoenix

feel free to stop me once I hit a team that EDM can compete with

Winnipeg?
Vancouver?
Calgary?

maybe? but not quite.

Aside from the insults, I actually agree with you. The Oilers were dead last in the Conference. Let's say they get a little better goaltending, a few more goals, and a slightly better defensive team play. What's that get them? Let's go extremely optimistic and say it gets them an extra 10 wins, or 20 points.

That puts them into 11th in the Conference, barely ahead of Winnipeg and Vancouver, and well ahead of Calgary.

The Oilers would have to get about 15 extra wins on the season to even make the playoffs as the 8th place team in last season's standings, and I don't see the changes they made amounting to that kind of turn around.

I think you have no clue when it comes to thinking the team is going to intentionally tank though

[golfguy1672]

All I look at is this. Oilers in their first 21 games are 4-15-2. Pretty brutal. But new coach again. Horrendous tending. Injured gagner.

After that they are 25-29-7. Not fantastic at all. But I think over a full season and improved possession depth and one the same coach for back to back seasons for first time in forever, they take a good step forward.

Call me optimistic. Because I am!

[rataylor22]

Wanna buy a bridge?

Everyone meet the newest troll off dobberhockey, who has no idea what he's saying and slings insults around because he doesn't have the intelligence for a proper debate.

[doulos]

All I look at is this. Oilers in their first 21 games are 4-15-2. Pretty brutal. But new coach again. Horrendous tending. Injured gagner.

After that they are 25-29-7. Not fantastic at all. But I think over a full season and improved possession depth and one the same coach for back to back seasons for first time in forever, they take a good step forward.

Call me optimistic. Because I am!

That's an interesting way to look at it. If they can improve by about 5-7 wins on that optimistic pace, then they are looking much better. I suppose I've had most of the optimism beaten out of me by now.

On a somewhat related note, I have satellite radio in my new (to me) truck for 30 days. I don't drive a ton, but twice now, in the past 3 weeks, I have gotten into the truck, put on the NHL station, and they were playing a replay of the Game 7 Stanley Cup Final game between the Oilers and Canes on the radio. I was feeling very much mocked by by new truck.

[golfguy1672]

That's an interesting way to look at it. If they can improve by about 5-7 wins on that optimistic pace, then they are looking much better. I suppose I've had most of the optimism beaten out of me by now.

On a somewhat related note, I have satellite radio in my new (to me) truck for 30 days. I don't drive a ton, but twice now, in the past 3 weeks, I have gotten into the truck, put on the NHL station, and they were playing a replay of the Game 7 Stanley Cup Final game between the Oilers and Canes on the radio. I was feeling very much mocked by by new truck.

Well that's just mean! Haha. It's like they know you're an oilers fan!

And ya it's my theory to try and not get to the point of not caring about next season.

I feel if you can't see bright side of your team you cheer for, then probably time to pick a new team.

[doulos]

Well that's just mean! Haha. It's like they know you're an oilers fan!

And ya it's my theory to try and not get to the point of not caring about next season.

I feel if you can't see bright side of your team you cheer for, then probably time to pick a new team.

Well, I'll be watching way too many games no matter how they do. I'm a hopeless addict. I'd realy like to see them competitive though.

[doulos]

So Roy, No Ribeiro, no worries!

It's Arcobello's time to see what he can do.

Lowetide (not sure if any of you read his blog) had some really interesting things to say about Arcobello, how he was used last season, and how he held up. Really positive things. I'd invite you to take a look (with a skeptical eye of course) http://lowetide.ca/blog/2014/07/arco...y-woodguy.html

I don't see the Oilers doing anything else at center this offseason, so let's hope Arcobello can be the next Peverley, and Driasatl is ready to go. Awfully big gambles, but I guess it is what it is.

[Axeman33]

So Roy, No Ribeiro, no worries!

It's Arcobello's time to see what he can do.

Lowetide (not sure if any of you read his blog) had some really interesting things to say about Arcobello, how he was used last season, and how he held up. Really positive things. I'd invite you to take a look (with a skeptical eye of course) http://lowetide.ca/blog/2014/07/arco...y-woodguy.html

I don't see the Oilers doing anything else at center this offseason, so let's hope Arcobello can be the next Peverley, and Driasatl is ready to go. Awfully big gambles, but I guess it is what it is.

Maybe this was MacT's plan, but the options are few and far between now. He either took shots at guys like Derek Roy and Olli Jokinen and got turned down because this is Edmonton, or he simply wants to give Arcobello and Draisaitl the opportunity.

Either way, MacT said he wanted to address his center and defense this offseason. So far, I dont mind the D. The center position is still weak and thin and needs attention.

[rataylor22]

I agree Arco can do it, but I still think the Oilers have made a mistake. If Nashville can get Ribs or Roy for 1 mil, how much would EDM have to pay? 2 mil? That article sums it up perfectly. If Arco or Nuge get hurt, they have literally nobody to step in to the top 6. I doubt LD is ready to do it, Gordon definitely can't, nor can Lander. Depth is just as important, especially at center.

[joeb323]

I'm a huge Oilers fan. I think a successful season for them next year with the current roster is 10th place in the West, but that's probably unlikely. There's just no getting around how stacked the West is. However, I do think the Oilers have made a number of minor improvements that hopefully will all stack up to a better team overall.

New coaching, upgrades on D, and some depth on the wings should certainly help them be more competitive on a nightly basis. I don't really care if they are one of the weaker teams at the end of next season again, but what I would like to see is that when I turn on a game, I'm not disgusted at what I'm watching. If they lose but it's a competitive game, I can live with that.