[Emanresu]

Edmonton Oilers

Additions

Connor McDavid, Cam Talbot, Eric Gryba, Andrej Sekera, Griffin Reinhart, Lauri Korpikoski & Mark Letestu

Losses

Martin Marincin, Boyd Gordon, Viktor Fasth, Derek Roy, Matt Fraser & Jesse Joensuu

Preview

Edmonton, 9 years now with just misery and early draft-picks. It’s almost as if talent dies when it arrives at the gates of Rexall Place. I mean, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Nail Yakupov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Benoit Pouliot. These are all 1st-rounders and Hall, Yakupov and Nugent-Hopkins are all No. 1 draft picks. How can a team with that much talent play so bad that they manage to get another 1st pick? That brings me on to this year. The Next One, Connor McDavid will arrive at the gates and I really hope that he won’t lose his talent in Oilers as well. It would be a shame for the whole league and community of NHL if a boy, who is closely compared to Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby, would just disappear after a few years and become just another player in the sinkhole that (up ‘til now) is Edmonton Oilers.

Goaltending

Ben Scrivens was everything but stable last season and Oilers’ staff has tried to make that up by acquiring Cam Talbot, who has been the backup goalie to Henrik Lundqvist, from New York Rangers. When Lundqvist was injured, Talbot had to show his best game and managed more than well with 21-9-4, 2.11 GAA and .926 SV%. The intention is to make Talbot the starter but that is something we won’t get to know until the pre-season games has been played.

Defense

The weakest part of Oilers is their defense. Yet they’ve still mostly picked forwards when they’ve had the chance with 1st draft picks. This year they’ve acquired three new defensemen in Andrej Sekera, Eric Gryba and Griffin Reinhart. They also have Darnell Nurse who will try to make the team (2013 7th overall pick). This means that they’ve replaced about half the blueline, but will that be enough? Will Sekera be the minute eater that the Oilers so desperately needs him to be? If he can, they will have a good chance of turning their downwards spiral and get back on track.

Offense

Connor McDavid, is there anything else I need to say? The people of Edmonton are ecstatic about this and have already begun comparing the upcoming years with the golden Gretzky era. There are still a few things that need to be addressed before Oilers can begin to dream themselves. They need to be more determined around the net and really want to score the goals. I’ve mentioned quite a few players earlier (RNH, Hall, Eberle…), and these players really have to step up and show everyone that the Oilers are something to count with this year.

Summary

Do I believe that the Oilers have the possibilities to go far in the season and perhaps even take the Cup with them home? Yes. Will it be easy? No. If the newly acquired players turn out to be what Oilers need and McDavid turns out to be this superb player in the NHL as well, they will have a shot at making it all the way.