What To Watch For – Oilers Style

For a ninth season in a row, the season is a wash and over as the weather turns warm across North America. The Oilers season was crushed by mid-November, leading to changes within the organization. Out is Dallas Eakins and in is Todd Nelson, while out are David Perron and Jeff Petry and in is Rob Klinkhammer and a plethora of draft picks.

Without a doubt, there are more changes coming to Edmonton between now and the opening of training camp in September of 2015. There will be new players, and quite possibly new coaches coming into the fold. Not only will it be an interesting off-season, but it will be an extremely important one.

With that said, there is still a handful of games left to be played this season. What should Oiler fans be watching for in this final stretch of games? Let’s have a quick look at them.

The Returns of Hall, Nikitin and Lander:

The Oilers will be getting three players back from injury within the next few weeks. First off is star F Taylor Hall, the best player that the Oil have. Hall is a chance machine for Edmonton when he is clicking, and he is by a mile the best offensive player this organization has seen in years. Getting him right goes a long way to getting Edmonton back to respectability.

Nikita Nikitin was actually playing decent hockey before he got hurt in January, while Anton Lander had finally established himself as a real NHL player before he also got hurt. Seeing these three get back into the line-up, and watching how they perform, will be a huge part of the final stretch here.

I’ll be watching to see if Hall can regain his dominating form, while I’ll be watching Nikitin for consistent and solid defensive play. As for Lander, just keep doing what you were doing prior to getting hurt.

The Play Of Ben Scrivens:

Let’s be honest here, Ben Scrivens has had a bad season. He’d admit that if asked I’m sure. That all said, Ben Scrivens is not a bad goaltender at all. Yes, he is having a bad year, but every other season of his pro career has been at least average. I’m not saying Scrivens will ever turn into an elite starter, but I am saying he isn’t as bad as he has shown this season.

Yes, Edmonton still needs to add a goalie this summer, but I’d suggest keeping Scrivens on board as at least the back-up for next season is a solid idea. He’s bound to bounce back, just as Devan Dubnyk has in Minnesota this season.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on Scrivens the rest of the season to see if he can right the ship a little bit here. He’s had some great games (V. Boston, @ Minnesota, V. St. Louis, @ Chicago) recently.

Klefbom-Schultz:

The pairing of Oscar Klefbom and Justin Schultz has been pretty good for Edmonton since Todd Nelson put them together. The pairing handles large minute totals, while going up against a middle-level of opposition and with heavy offensive zone-starts. This group can play 20+ minutes a night, but they need to be sheltered in a big way.

This pairing can’t be a top-pairing in terms of zone-starts and opposition, but they can play heavy minutes and be a part of a good team. I’ll be watching them closely to see if this chemistry and solid play continues. This could be a very solid second-pairing next season and beyond for Edmonton.

Martin Marincin:

Arguably the biggest mistake Dallas Eakins made as Oiler coach was his treatment of Martin Marincin this season. Marincin was a solid piece of the 2013-14 team, playing the tough minutes against the top opposition and with heavy defensive zone-starts. Honestly, he was the light in a dark season.

This season, Eakins sent him to the AHL for some absurd reason, and Marincin’s confidence was shot. He struggled when he was recalled, and never seemed to regain form after what was a questionable decision right out of training camp.

Under Todd Nelson, thins have changed, as Marincin is clicking again, this time with Mark Fayne on a tough-minutes pairing. Marincin’s advanced stats are solid, while he also passes the eye test in a big way. I’m convinced, Martin Marincin will be a real NHL defender.

I’ll be watching him the rest of the way to see if he can keep it up and cement a spot on this team for next season. Barring a trade where a real upgrade comes in, there is no excuse to move this player, none whatsoever.

Solid Efforts:

Edmonton has had some really solid efforts since Nelson took over. The team played the Blues, Ducks and Blackhawks VERY well, and have beaten Boston, Minnesota, San Jose and Montreal. If Edmonton can bring the kind of intensity and effort that they showed in those games, then there might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Not only that, but it might also cement Todd Nelson as the full-time head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Solid efforts also means this team is finally starting to get it, which would just be a monumental breakthrough for this organization.

This, to me, will be the most interesting thing to watch for the rest of the season.