Oilers Receive Difficult Message

The 2014-15 Edmonton Oilers season will be remembered as a difficult one. It’ll be remembered as a season of pain, where the Flames surged and the Oilers completely fell apart yet again. It will also serve as a stark reminder of just how far off the Oilers truly are from being a competitive hockey club.

Just a week ago, Oil Country was feeling awfully good. The Oilers were on a three game winning streak, and had just ended the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars’ realistic playoff hopes. There was a thought process that Todd Nelson had got the message across, and that the Oilers were starting to finally turn into that dynamic offensive team we expected when the rebuild began.

Three games later, and the doom and gloom has returned stronger than ever. The Edmonton Oilers received a very strong message from the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames, you aren’t ready, you aren’t even close to ready.

The Oilers looked like a bottom three NHL team, and that is being polite in regards to last week. To borrow a saying from Jordan Eberle, they looked like a junior team.

The Oilers were smacked 5-1 in Anaheim on Wednesday night, then 8-2 in Los Angeles on Thursday night in completely embarrassing fashion. To put the icing on the cake, the Calgary Flames came into town on Saturday night and completely manhandled Edmonton, winning 4-0.

As I said, the message was made loud and clear, the Edmonton Oilers are not good enough, not even close to good enough, to compete with these playoff teams out west. Yes, the Ducks are one of the best teams in the NHL, but both the Kings and Flames are bubble teams, teams in the spot Edmonton expected to be in prior to the season.

So, why are we here?

Goaltending:

Let’s be honest here, the Oilers do not have a starting goalie at the NHL level. This was made painfully apparent again this week, as Ben Scrivens struggled badly. He can’t be faulted too much for Anaheim, there were a lot of break downs, but the Kings game was arguably his worst as an Oiler, you can argue that game should have been scoreless after one.

He wasn’t terrible against the Flames either, but he did give up two goals that can’t go in, specifically the first goal of the game. Can Ben Scrivens be a backup at the NHL level? Absolutely, but it’s quite clear he is not a starter. If the Oilers want to make a jump in the standings next season, adding a legit starting goalie is an absolute must.

Options include Craig Anderson, Frederick Andersen, Antti Niemi, Michel Neuvirth and Jonathan Bernier this summer via both free agency and trade.

Defense:

This is another massive issue for Edmonton, the defensive group is FAR from good enough. I know, the group was banged up, but even healthy this unit is simply not good enough. Only Mark Fayne is a proven NHL top-four defender, but Oscar Klefbom will soon join him.

The Oilers do not have a leader on the back-end. Yes, I know Andrew Ference can lead in the locker room, but at this stage of his career he is simply too old to get it done on the ice. Edmonton badly needs that silent leader that goes out there and gets the job done. They need a guy to follow the mold that Chris Pronger provided in 2006, which is much easier said than done.

The Oilers need to add a legit veteran top-four defender this summer at minimum. The team needs a defender that can go up against the other team’s top weapons and put up a legit fight, someone that can anchor the penalty kill and show the young defenders how to be successful on the ice in this league.

Edmonton doesn’t have that guy, and hasn’t since Sheldon Souray was sent away for speaking the truth. While I think Edmonton needs two of this player type, I think expecting only one is a far more realistic option. I do believe a strong veteran defender will be added, it’s just a matter of who and how.

Trade options include Dion Phaneuf and Brent Seabrook, while free agent options include Mike Green and Paul Martin. This, behind goaltending, is the most important part of the Oilers’ upcoming off-season.

The Forwards:

While Edmonton was able to score on Colorado and Dallas, they were completely shut-down by the Ducks, Kings and Flames. The Oilers have a lot of good pieces here, but still lack legit NHL center depth, and still need some help on the wings. I’d argue the Oilers are a solid center and a winger away up front, but your opinion may be different.

Here’s the thing, the message was sent this past week, the Oilers can’t generate things against big and physical hockey teams. They haven’t been able to for years, which is why Edmonton has been a low-scoring hockey club, they just can’t solve these good teams.

Edmonton’s top-line is fine, but a heavy second line center, like UFA Carl Soderberg, and a real veteran winger, like Justin Williams, would no doubt fix that to a degree.

The forwards are the best part of this team, but it was clear once again last week that the mix of forwards is completely wrong for the Edmonton Oilers. More players who can win battles are needed, and they were needed yesterday.

The Final Thought:

It was a feel good week two weeks ago as Edmonton won a few games and jumped up in the standings, but it was proven to be just a mirage by last week’s debacle. Edmonton finally faced some teams in the playoff chase, and got smacked around decisively in all three tilts, that’s an awful sign.

We know the Oilers are pretty far off, but these games just reinforced how far off the Oilers are. The Edmonton Oilers can’t even compete with the bubble teams in the west, this team is still at least two years and multiple pieces off. It’s a grim message, it’s one that people don’t want to hear, and one that will likely result in me getting bashed in the comments section, but it’s a message that was received loud and clear this past week.

There is a long way to go, my friends.