Alright, I am going to drop some knowledge on everyone. Did you know that the Edmonton Oilers defence is absolutely atrocious? As in, one of the worst in the NHL? I am just as shocked as you. How were we to know an NHL team icing the names of Nikitin, Ference and Aulie would suck so bad?
Oh wait. EVERY SINGLE HOCKEY FAN IN THE WORLD DID!!
Some people had false hopes and dreams that the Oilers would be better, but most had the Northern Albertan team as a bottom feeder. Again. And rightfully so.
I think the worst part of it all, is that most Oiler fans know it’s going to be the same song and dance next year.
What makes most fans just as upset is that there is no generational player coming our way. While the Oil might have a slim chance to get Crosby version 2.0. They have an even bigger chance of dropping out of the top two. Or Hell. Even the top three. Personally, I am actually hoping for this.
As much as Crosby the second or Modano Junior would be big helps this this hockey club, we don’t need more skill up front. With guys like Hall, Eberle, Nuge and Yakupov, the Oilers are set for points. Plus they have a huge German kid that will be up in a year or two as well. A guy who, by the way, is dominating the CHL in a big way since being sent down. That would make 5 out of their top six future forwards. They don’t need a sixth. Generational player or not. Edmonton would draft a guy guaranteed to score 200 points a year and it still wouldn’t help them much.
THEY NEED HELP IN OTHER PLACES.
The Oilers need to add some size and puck battle winning skill to the top nine, but that is the easiest issue to fix of their glaring needs.
The next hardest would be goaltending. The Oilers haven’t had a starting goaltender since Roloson left town. Some might argue Dubnyk could have been that guy, but let’s be honest, he never was going to be that guy here. He didn’t want to be here and would have stunk even worse if he hadn’t been traded. Remember, he went to the AHL the rest of the year, so it wasn’t just Edmonton who thought he wasn’t good enough. Nashville had lost a few goalies to injury and he couldn’t make it back up.
With the additions of Fasth and Scrivens over the last 8 or 9 months, MacT is showing he’s trying to get some stability in net, unfortunately, it isn’t much better than the Dubnyk days. Also, MacT is showing that he’s not afraid to take a risk. Personally I’d point the high pay high reward gun at John Gibson. But that’s a chat for another day.
The biggest issue in my mind…the biggest issue in many of your minds as well, is the state of the defence. They suck. And that’s being very nice about it. Let’s take a closer look:
Nikitin
-A guy who cashed in big time to play for a crap team and still came to camp horribly out of shape. Awesome veteran leadership we were expecting hey?!
Ference
-Oh captain my captain. He’s an excellent character player on most teams, with many flaws, but on a horrible defence with many minutes, he is getting exposed more that Kim Kardashian.
Schultz
-A great offensive talent. Who has played a lot better since the Todd Nelson takeover. Flapping his stick around with his glove over his eyes, but is still a power play specialist who doesn’t have a good shot and should have shielded minutes.
Fayne
-I don’t have much bad to say about him. He’s exactly what he was pegged to be. Reliable. Not flashy or a game breaker, but reliable and steady, just as any UFA, overpaid, bottom three shutdown guy should be.
Klefbom
-A glimmer of hope in a season of despair. He has come in and shown many why he was a first round pick. He makes good plays, shoots the puck and is physical…but still a rookie who makes rookie mistakes.
Aulie
-A player who can draw in when you have an injury to the 5 players who should be put in ahead of him on an ACTUAL NHL team. In the Oilers’ case, that equals the top of the depth charts. *Sigh* He is not an NHL talent, he’s a guy who can come in and maybe play a VERY limited role as a big meanie pants.
Marincin
-Honestly, I just don’t know about Marty. He’s more up and down than a merry-go-round, and coincidentally, kind of spinny like one as well. With guys like Klefbom passing him by and Nurse on the way, I don’t see him being here much longer.
There you have it. Not a single top pairing guy. One potential #2 guy if the stars align…and maybe a second pairing guy on a good team with a good partner…but a very “Swiss cheese” backend, if I do say so myself.
The Oilers need help on the backend, in a very bad way. They don’t need to be signing or trading for a bunch more bottom pairing guys, but instead, looking for some legitimate top end talent to make this team better. You could go the free agency way, but I don’t have any confidence in them when it comes to this. If Nikitin and Ference can get that much out of the Oilers, can you imagine what guys this year would scam them for? Mike Green could get at least 8 a year from them. The only positive there is that he’s hurt most of the time anyways. So Edmonton wouldn’t be on the hook for ALL of that salary.
You may laugh, but we gave Pouliot $4m a year on a 5 year deal. Just let that sink in.
I would much rather see this team end up picking 3rd overall. A guy by the name of Noah Hanifin. A left shot defender out of Boston, he brings a lot to the table that the Oilers have been needing for almost a decade. He’s a good defender.
Let’s take a look at what Hockey’s Future wrote about him:
Talent Analysis
“Hanifin is a smooth-skating defender with good size and acceleration who can generate some offense from the blueline but is also solid defensively. Although not a truly physical defenseman, he does not shy away form contact and will initiate it when necessary. Hanifin also has leadership qualities that could make NHL captain material down the road. Overall, he is an elite defender with a few holes in his game.”
Out of all that my biggest draw would be “elite defender with a few holes in his game”. We in Edmonton haven’t seen any guy on the back end with anything but many, many, many holes in their game. Glaring holes. Ones you could fly the Starship Enterprise through.
The thought of having a guy on the backend who could play a solid game is very exciting. He doesn’t have to be “elite”…just solid. A guy who could very well be a solid number one d-man down the road, or at the very worst a #2 or 3 solid defender. The prospect of this makes me giddy with excitement. How about you?
Thank you so much for reading! Have a great day! Don’t forget to add everyone from @theoilersrig on twitter!
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