Oilers year in review

[yave1964]

2016-17 A QUICK LOOK BACK 

  After a decade of wandering around the wildnerness since their last playoff appearance the Oilers led by McDavid and Draisatl decided to make a bold move, trading former first pick Taylor Hall to the Devils for steady stay at home defender Adam Larsson a move much reviled, then used the money saved to sign Milan Lucic to protect McDavid. Shot blocker Kris Russell was added on the cheap and they hoped it would be enough to end a decade of futility.

  Did it ever. The Oilers were solid and deadly all year, Cam Talbot was protected in net by the two new guys, the kids on defense followed their lead and the back end was good enough.

  McDavid won the leagues scoring title hitting the century mark in points and turned it into the Hart trophy as the leagues MVP,  Draisatl scored 79 points playing Robin to McDavid's Batman, Patrick Maroon added 27 goals. Lucic set the tone in the first game of the year getting in a fight to protect his young captain and although a bit inconsistent still managed 50 points. 

  As for what went wrong, RNH seems to have lost his game and Eberle was okay at least until the playoffs when he turned awful. The monster bombed as the backup in net. Sekera did not justify his deal from a few years ago.

  They surprised the Sharks in the first round and pushed the Ducks to 7 games in a delightful second round series before falling. At seasons end their only big move has been moving Eberle to the Isles for younger cheaper Ryan Strome.

 

FREE AGENTS

 

RUSSELL was resigned for his shot blocking and nice clearing pass.

 

POULIOT was allowed to leave for the Devils and PITLICK to the Stars. 

 

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS

 

1) IS THIS THE START OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL?

 

Hopes are high in Oil country, as they should be. But keep in mind they are in a rugged division well built for the rigor of the postseason, there are three California teams that love to hit and hit hard and are deep and skilled and Calgary is a comer. Edmonton was essentially a two line team last year with a lot of nice hitters on the lower lines but not a lot else. Klefbom was the only blueliner who scored with any regularity. An awful lot was put on the shoulders of the two kids and while they have not come close to their peak teams are going to adjust as time goes by. I see them in the short list of teams that if all breaks perfect they could be a serious cup contender but they could have a one year blip as well and slip back a bit.

 

2) 100 MILLION FOR EIGHT YEARS? TOO MUCH TOO SOON?

 

No. Worth every single penny. I would have given the Hart to Crosby last year based off the overall game but McDavid is head and shoulders above anyone his age and there are some damn good ones his age out there. He has a chance to do things that Crosby cannot do, there arent a lot of people you can say that about.

 

3) STROME FOR EBERLE, HOW MUCH OF A DROP OFF SHOULD YOU EXPECT?

 

 This is one that I read fan sights ripping, they understand the money part of it but think the Isles won the trade, I disagree. Eberle could not perform with McDavid, he was mediocre with Draisatl and the nightmare postseason thrown in, the Oilers rightly threw up their hands and dealt him away. Isles fans are drooling over him playing with Tavares but seriously, if he is only good for a soft 50 points playing with McDavid and Draisatl why should they expect more?

  As for Strome, he got kind of lost in the Isles system, lots of kids jostling around, a game on the top line here then the third line the next night and only averaging 14 minutes a night. He is probably drooling over a chance to play with one of the two big boys nightly and I would not only be surprised if he outscores Eberle I fully expect it. I wouldnt bet the grandkids college tuition but i would throw a friendly wager out there. 

 

 So overall a damn satisfying season for the kid and the team and high hopes, a cup or more in the next five years is certainly not out of the question. Still holes on the bottom lines and some defensive question marks but man oh man lots to love.

[JR Ewing]

Nice write-up.  

 

Eberle/Strome: because Strome will probably get Eberle's minutes with Nugent-Hopkins and Lucic, my guess is that it works out something like

• Eberle, 25-30-55
• Strome, 15-30-45

I know that he will get more offensive opportunities with Edmonton, and I wish I could say that he'll score more goals, but he just doesn't shoot the puck very much per 60 minutes. That said, I still think this was a very good trade for the Oilers. They will spend about 40% as much as Eberle cost, and (I think) get back about 80% of Eberle's production, and that is far better bang for their buck than Eberle can provide, especially considering Eberle's indifference to the fact that there are two nets on the ice. Strome also brings better wheels. Essentially, that smaller-than-most-think-it-will-be scoring gap is the only thing that Jordan Eberle has over Ryan Strome.

 

Most of this depends on how Edmonton uses Strome. If he plays RW, then I think we'll have the point gap from above. If he's played as a centre, then that point gap I talk about becomes a gulf.

---

 

Last year, a lot of things came up in Edmonton's favour, and I worry about certain things for the upcoming season.

• The Oilers weren't hit at all with the injury bug last year, and you generally have to expect this to come up more often than that.
• Andrej Sekera (whom I thought had a much better year 2) will be gone for half the season. This hurts, and makes me really hope that either Darnell Nurse or Matt Benning are ready to play an expanded role. For what it's worth, Nurse showed noted improvement last year, and Benning's puck moving numbers were very strong.
• McDavid's contract is, as you say, great news: the biggest day the franchise has had since he was drafted. He's an Oiler for pretty much his entire prime. The real risk comes in the form of Leon Draisaitl's contract. He wants Kopitar money, and I think the team would be much better suited to spending Tarasenko money on him.
• If Talbot is injured, the Oilers are in serious trouble.

The real trick, I think, is what you suggest: rounding out depth. Not much will get accomplished in this respect until Draisaitl's contract is signed, if I'm guessing correctly.

---

 

Three young players are very important in Edmonton:

 

-Anton Slepyshev stepped in the playoffs and outplayed Jordan Eberle on RW. Could this be the year where he gets an expanded role? He has good size, can skate, and has a strong shot.

-Jesse Puljujarvi had a difficult season. He struggled with language, culture, and the expectations of North American coaches. If he is ready to play this year, this is a huge item for the Oilers.

-Don't be shocked if Kailer Yamamoto plays 9 games for Edmonton at the beginning of the season. He doesn't have Puljujarvis' size, but I think he may be a better offensive player.

---

 

Prediction for the year: Patrick Maroon scores 25 goals, ask for a big raise, and the Oilers let him walk to sign a big UFA contract elsewhere. This will happen over and over in Connor McDavid's career, and Peter Chiarelli can't afford to get caught up in it.

 

[Edanl]

I think that Edmonton had a fantastic year even though that they came short in the playoff against the duck which in my opinion, was a part of bad officiating. They should have held the lead in game 5 and should have won the series. It was a season that they had finished the drought of a playoff appearance and I was so happy for them and sad that they lost.

In my opinion, it was a season that everything clinched and they had great chemistry in the clubhouse and among the players. Talbot was fantastic at goal, and the offense was spectacular which led by McDavid which in my opinion is one of the best players in the league, and it was only his second year in the league.

 

I believe that they should get another good goalie that will be a secondary goalie to Talbot, in case if he will get hurt or need the rest. Last year he was fantastic, and when he didn't play, they had trouble at the goalie. I think the defense of Edmonton is great and helps in protecting Talbot but the need a backup good goalie.

 

I believe that they have an incredible roster and a great team, but in my opinion, they shouldn't have trades, Eberle in exchange to Storme. He was great at the offensive line with Mcdavid, and they were a great combination.  I think that Storme will be good and will help Edmonton but will be less productive than Eberle but still will be a good center on the team. He will help Edmonton, and I am waiting to see how he will perform and what his production will be next year. They should do what ever it takes to hold to the young players, and the big and long-term contract of McDavid is the right move to do, and he deserves every penny. He should be the face of the franchise, and they should build around him, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

 

In my opinion, Edmonton has an amazing group of talented young players that are led by Mcdavid, and we can expect great thing from them. I think that what we saw this year is only the start of great seasons and in my opinion, they have the right management that Gretzky is leading which will make them a Stanley Cup contenders in the years to come. I think that they have one of the best teams in the western conference if not in the top three and will be at the top of the Western conference in the next years. In my opinion, they have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup in another two or three years and hopefully I right, and we will see them win it.

 

 

 

 

[Ian Blooms]

This has been quite the year for this team. It has seen so much change and evolution over the years. Looking forward to next year. Leadership seems strong. http://oilers.ice.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=87437