A Different Looking Roster

IThe Edmonton Oilers under Peter Chiarelli have a much different looking roster compared to when he inherited the team in Spring of 2015.

There’s no denying it – the 2016-17 Edmonton Oilers will be a very different team from the previous season. However, the million dollar question has yet to be answered:

Are the Edmonton Oilers actually better?

2015-16 Starting Roster

Here’s the starting lineup from the season opener when the Oilers took on the St. Louis Blues on October 8th 2015. (It’s important to note that Eberle was injured, Nurse and Draisaitl were in the AHL and Davidson was a scratch.)

Hall-Nugent-Hopkins-Purcell

Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov

Slepyshev-Letestu-Hendricks

Korpikoski-Lander-Gazdic

Klefbom-Schultz

Sekera-Fayne

Reinhart-Gryba

Talbot

Nilsson

Top six: looking fine, although the lack of Eberle was a glaring hole from the get go. The Bottom Six is a mess: Letestu and Hendricks were playing well above their heads while Slepyshev would be AHL bound in a week or two. The Fourth Line was a possession black hole.

Defensively, Sekera and Klefbom struggled out of the gate, although I think Klefbom being burdened with Justin Schultz had a huge part to play in this. Fayne would be put on waivers and later recalled, while Reinhart would have a couple stints in the AHL.

Talbot was shaky at the start of the year. There is no avoiding this.

2016-2017 Starting Roster

Again, this is just an approximation on my part. Bolded are the acquisitions after the start of the 2015-16 season.

Lucic-McDavid-Yakupov

Pouliot-Nugent-Hopkins-Eberle

Maroon-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi

Hendricks-Letestu-Kassian

Klefbom-Larsson

Sekera-Fayne

Nurse-Davidson

Talbot

Gustavsson

Departures from the opening roster of 2015-16: Taylor Hall (traded to New Jersey), Teddy Purcell (traded to Florida, signs with Los Angeles), Justin Schultz (Traded to Pittsburgh, currently a UFA), Anders Nilsson (traded to St. Louis, later flipped to Buffalo), Lauri Korpikoski (bought out), Luke Gazdic (not tendered a contract, signs with New Jersey) and Eric Gryba (currently unsigned).

Other departures from the organization that played with the Oilers during last season: Adam Pardy (waiver pickup, current UFA). Adam Cracknell (waiver pickup, signed with Dallas). Nikita Nikitin (waste of 9 million dollars, probably going back to Russia).Rob Klinkhammer (left for the KHL) .Adam Clendening (waiver pickup, signed with the New York Rangers).

Draisaitl and Nurse are AHL call ups from last season and are more likely to stay, although I firmly believe that’s the case for Draisaitl rather than Nurse barring a transaction.

Another huge help will be having a healthy roster: McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, Pouliot, Davidson, Hendricks, Yakupov, Klefbom all missed time due to injury. Being healthy would be a huge difference maker.

The Differences

I will stress this: this is not a look at the trades or grading the roster moves. The Hall and Larsson trade has been beaten to death and will be a hot topic throughout the summer. Rather, my intention is to look at the overall make up of the roster compared to last year’s starting edition.

On paper, this edition of the Edmonton Oilers certainly looks different. There can be no criticism for Peter Chiarelli for pulling a Steve Tambellini and sitting on his hands all day: this is quite the upheaval. Chiarelli was not afraid to make trades during the season by dealing pending UFAs (Scrivens and Purcell) or a struggling player that needed a fresh start (Justin Schultz). When Chiarelli said he envisioned his team being much heavier and harder to compete against, I believe Chiarelli has made his intentions quite clear.

Gone are the offence and driving capabilities of Taylor Hall. That is the biggest subtraction of the off-season, hands down. On the Oilers roster are newcomers Milan Lucic, Adam Larsson and Jesse Puljujarvi. Each of these players stand over 6’3 and weighing over 200 pounds. With the addition of Lucic, and to an extent Patrick Maroon, the Oilers top nine presents a much more balance roster that combines size and a willingness to get into the dirty areas. I do not think we will be hearing how the Edmonton Oilers contain too much of the same in their top six any more.

Defensively, Adam Larsson is underrated, which I addressed in my ramblings post last week. I envision a Larsson-Klefbom pairing to be quite dreamy; I think it’s not so much Larsson benefitting from Klefbom but rather Klefbom benefitting from a capable defensive partner to start with rather than playing with Justin Schultz.

On paper, this Oilers roster looks to be tougher to compete against and is far more balanced rather than being top heavy. Puljujarvi, the gift that fell to our 4th spot in the entry draft, is the wildcard: I have him playing on the third line to ease him into the line up, but it’s very likely he plays top six minutes from the get go. I’m very high on Puljujarvi but it’s also not fair to expect him to solely replace Hall’s production. Rather, I think it will be a committee approach with Lucic and Pulujarvi.

Burning Questions

Can the Oilers fill that 2nd Right Handed Puck Moving Option this Summer?

Listening to Edmonton Sports Radio, Stauffer and guys from TSN 1260 seem confident. I cannot believe Peter Chiarelli being done with the make up of this roster with a glaring hole on the back end still remaining. Tyson Barrie remains a name that is intruiging, especially considering he is heading for arbitration with the Colorado Avalanche. Heck, even if the Oilers missed out on Tyson Barrie, I would be fine with James Wisniewski for a year or two (although Chiarelli has mentioned he does not want stop-gap measures.)

As pointed out on Twitter, if the Oilers traded for Barrie, some salary would have to be moved out if they intended to sign Barrie long term. Would a Nugent-Hopkins for Barrie swap work? I’d be worried with our Centre depth and would require a third line signing.

Is this Roster better than last year’s edition?

I can’t say. It’s certainly different, but it’s far too soon to be assuminging the Edmonton Oilers will be making the playoffs. However, if (and it is a big if) the Oilers fill that puck moving option, I think they can compete for the playoffs next season – not necessarily making it, but being in the thick of the race.

I think fans will like this newer look of the roster as long as the team wins. I feel Oilers fans always loved hard workers and will be pleased with having Milan Lucic there. I imagine he will be a fan favorite relatively quickly.