Outlook:
A few years removed from a Stanley Cup appearance, the Edmonton Oilers have done nothing much since, missing the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. Needless to the say, it was time for some housecleaning for the upcoming season.
The first order of business was in the management department. On May 26, the Oilers named two-time Jack Adams award winner Pat Quinn as their head coach.
An ex-Memorial Cup dual champion as an owner and a player (with the Edmonton Oil Kings), Quinn has led two teams to the Stanley Cup Finals—Philadelphia and Vancouver. Quinn also had a stint as head coach with the Los Angeles Kings and most recently with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Although he hasn’t coached since 2006, make no mistake about it, Kevin Lowe, Steve Tambellini and company made the right choice to hire Quinn. Former New York Rangers head coach Tom Renney comes in as the associate head coach.
The biggest acquisition for the Oilers roster unquestionably is goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. A former Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, “The Bulin Wall” was least seen in a Chicago Blackhawks uniform from 2005-09.
While spectacular at times, Khabibulin has shown some inconsistency at times as well, but his addition is an upgrade from the departed Dwayne Roloson, who signed with the New York Islanders during the summer.
With that being said however, the Oilers did not improve much on offense, which was ranked in the bottom half of the league in scoring. Mike Comrie returns to Edmonton, but he has been plagued by inconsistency since his last 30-goal season in 2005-06 with Phoenix.
The missing piece in Edmonton is consistent goal scoring from the forwards. Defenseman Sheldon Souray had 23 goals and so did forward Ales Hemsky, but those were the only two players who lit the lamp over 20 times last year.
Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner should continue to improve this year but Dustin Penner and Shawn Horcoff need to step up need to step up their game. A healthy Fernando Pisani and a full season from Patrick O’Sullivan—who was acquired from the Kings in the Trade Deadline—should also help the Oilers this year.
The presence of “The Bulin Wall” should help the Oilers D, which was ranked 22nd in goals against last year. Souray, Lubomir Visnovsky and Tom Gilbert are good puck moving defenseman and should all contribute to the power play, while Steve Staios and Ladislav Smid stay at home on the blueline. Denis Grebeshkov, had a career high in points, and can play both roles.
While the Oilers should improve this year, let’s not forget they are in a brutal Western Conference. As stated before, the battle for the eighth and final playoff spot could come down to the final day of the season.
Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville, Dallas and Los Angeles all could be in the battle with Edmonton for eighth. While I have Edmonton out of the playoff race, and finishing 11th in the West, they should improve on their 85 point total from 2008-09.
Prediction: Third in Northwest, 11th in West
Projected Lines:
Mike Comrie – Shawn Hocroff – Ales Hemsky
Patrick O’Sullivan – Sam Gagner – Dustin Penner
Ethan Moreau – Andrew Cogliano – Fernando Pisani
Robert Nilsson – Marc Pouliot – Zack Storini
Sheldon Souray – Lubomir Visnovsky
Denis Grebeshkov – Tom Gilbert
Ladislav Smid – Steve Staios
Nikolai Khabibulin
Jeff Delsauriers
