Potratz Picks: 2015-16 Oiler Edition

Well i’m fighting a bout of strep throat that has made me cancel all my plans for the rest of the day. Luckily it happens to be NHL Season Eve!

Here are my fearless predictions. I’ll go into Edmonton Oiler categories, before making my epic NHL predictions at the end of the blog.

THE OPENING LINEUP

OUR OILERS
#/Name/Stats/(THN Prediction)
97-Connor McDavid 81GP 25-53-78 (83)
4-Taylor Hall 77GP 32-45-77 (69)
93-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 76GP 23-47-70 (57)
14-Jordan Eberle 64GP 24-30-54 (76)
51-Anton Lander 82GP 22-26-48 (33)
10-Nail Yakupov 81GP 27-17-44 (53)
67-Benoit Pouliot 72GP 22-21-43 (41)
16-Teddy Purcell 76GP 14-24-38 (29)
19-Justin Schultz 82GP 9-28-37 (42)
2-Andrej Sekera 77GP 5-29-34 (25)
77-Oscar Klefbom 75GP 6-22-28 (25)
28-Lauri Korpikoski 76GP 11-16-27 (31)
42-Anton Slepyshev 59GP 10-16-26 (NR)
55-Mark Letestu 78GP 8-11-19 (25)
23-Matt Hendricks 82GP 7-8-15 (14)
5-Mark Fayne 82GP 2-12-14 (NR)
8-Griffin Reinhart 58GP 3-10-13 (17)
58-Andrew Miller 34GP 2-10-12 (NR)
29-Leon Draisaitl 35GP 3-8-11 (22)
88-Brandon Davidson 48GP 3-7-10 (NR)
12-Rob Klinkhammer 54GP 6-3-9 (14)
20-Luke Gazdic 44GP 2-4-6 (NR)
21-Andrew Ference 37GP 0-5-5 (14)
62-Eric Gryba 56GP 1-3-4 (9)
15-Tyler Pitlick 12GP 2-0-2 (0)
GOALIES
33-Cam Talbot 50GP 24W
39-Anders Nilsson 38GP 15W

It’s very hard to predict exact totals for an entire team, and really these are just based on ballpark figures.

FIRST LINE

While Teddy Purcell will start on this line, I believe the spot belongs to Jordan Eberle. Pouliot, Nuge and Ebs played extremely well at the end of last year and had the same chemistry in the preseason before the Eberle injury. I think highly of Nugent-Hopkins and I believe he will breakout in a big way thanks to teams having to decide if they want to match their best against Nuge or McDavid. Eberle should still score 20 even though he’ll miss time, and Benoit Pouliot is simply a good fit for this roster. He’ll crack 20 for the first time in his career.

SECOND LINE

I truly believe the Hall-McDavid duo is going to be deadly. It doesn’t matter who is playing on that right wing. Slepyshev starts on that line, but by the end of the season it’s possible we’ll see Draisaitl or even Andrew Miller on this line. Teddy Purcell probably grabs the spot when Eberle comes back, but Slepyshev could flourish and stick. I’m betting on Slepyshev keeping up early before fading out as the year goes on. This is Slepyshev’s spot in the future though.

THIRD LINE

This is my favourite line on the club. While I believed Draisaitl earned a spot, the Oilers decided to stick a veteran winger in Korpikoski on this line instead. Korpikoski looks like a player, and I have been very impressed with his speed. He could surprise with offence if Yakupov breaks out like I believe he will. I’ve already extensively discussed my praise for Anton Lander in a previous blog that you can read here. I think Yakupov competes for the Cy Young scoring 27 goals, with many of them coming on the power play. This line may be the Oiler’s secret weapon.

FOURTH LINE

Nothing flashy here, but you will see three guys that will compete and work for every puck on every shift. Mark Letestu could see a spike in his offence if injuries force him up the lineup, and Matt Hendricks has some knuckle scoring skills. Luke Gazdic will provide muscle, but he’s more than Doug Glatt from Goon. The guy is learning to play.

EXTRA FORWARDS

I’m really high on Andrew Miller. He reminds me of Mark Arcobello, except he has more skill and more speed. I liked Miller’s play at the end of the year and I thought he would challenge for a roster spot. When injuries come up, I believe he’ll get another shot. You may also see I have Draisaitl playing 35 games this year scoring a modest 3-8-11. I may be selling him short because he looked good, but I believe he’ll be better in the long run by spending more time in the minors.

FIRST PAIRING

I love the Sekera-Fayne pairing. Mark Fayne worked well with the extremely underrated Andy Greene in New Jersey and Greene plays a similar game to Sekera. Sekera’s inflated offensive numbers once again come from the strong Oiler power play. While Schultz is the main QB, Sekera will man the point on one of the big power play groups.

SECOND PAIRING

The future top pairing. I’ve been a big fan of the Oscar Klefbom deal, and I truly believe he will grow better and better with each season. I was the complete opposite toward Justin Schultz until watching him this preseason. While it’s only preseason, Schultz looked like a brand new D-man. His coverage defensively was highly noticeable, and he was producing offensively. He’s the PP QB, so he’ll pick up points.

THIRD PAIRING

There are four names that will appear on this pairing, and it starts with Reinhart and Gryba. However, I believe it will finish with Reinhart and Davidson. Davidson is a sleeper who I believe will carve out a niche role on this third pairing. Reinhart will get the headlines, but Davidson will sneak in under the radar. Ference will be used very sparingly before being bought out in the summer and Gryba will provide grit when necessary but I don’t see him becoming a mainstay on the point.

GOALTENDING

I may be a little too high on Anders Nilsson and a little cautious with Cam Talbot, but I truly believe these guys will play more of a split season like Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo did in Calgary last year. Nilsson is a very interesting case, in which he has NHL experience, but he didn’t perform much better than average in the big leagues. The KHL was where Nilsson found his game, much like the aforementioned Karri Ramo.

EASTERN CONFERENCE PREDICTIONS

Atlantic Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning*
2. Montreal Canadiens*
3. Detroit Red Wings*
4. Boston Bruins
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Florida Panthers
7. Buffalo Sabres
8. Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division
1. Washington Capitals*
2. Pittsburgh Penguins*
3. New York Islanders*
4. Columbus Blue Jackets*
5. New York Rangers*
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. Philadelphia Flyers
8. New Jersey Devils

My surprise team in the Eastern Conference is the Boston Bruins. While I think they’ll fall short of a playoff spot, I think their new forward group will be exciting to watch, and barring injuries, they should exceed. What’s holding them down is their “D” group. The Columbus Blue Jackets are another club that I think is ready to take a big leap, while the New York Rangers (after having played the most playoff games over the last few years) stumble out of the gate and come dangerously close to missing the playoffs.

WESTERN CONFERENCE PREDICTIONS

Central Division
1. Chicago Blackhawks*
2. Dallas Stars*
3. Nashville Predators*
4. St.Louis Blues*
5. Minnesota Wild*
6. Winnipeg Jets
7. Colorado Avalanche

Pacific Division
1. Anaheim Ducks*
2. Calgary Flames*
3. Los Angeles Kings*
4. San Jose Sharks
5. Edmonton Oilers
6. Vancouver Canucks
7. Arizona Coyotes

The Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames will take the next steps toward being contenders, while our Oilers will push for a playoff spot, but ultimately fall short. I truly believe the final playoff spot will see four or five teams within four points. The Minnesota Wild could get hot at the right time and go on a little run for themselves, but we all know the Ducks and Blackhawks are part of the upper echelon.

BIG TIME WINNERS

Stanley Cup: Washington Capitals
Runner Up: Anaheim Ducks
Conn Smythe: Alex Ovechkin
Hart Trophy: John Tavares
Vezina Trophy: Carey Price
Norris Trophy: Roman Josi
Lady Byng: Jonathan Toews
Calder Trophy: Connor McDavid
Art Ross: John Tavares
Rocket Richard: Tyler Seguin

Here’s to one hell of a season!