Around this time of year, the conversation turns from winning games to the NHL entry draft. Yes, the Oilers are going to miss the playoffs for the tenth season in a row and yes, they are probably better off for the future by getting the highest draft pick possible. As of now, the Oil are projected to pick second overall at June’s entry draft in Buffalo.
I went on the record last year as saying that I didn’t care where the Oilers picked, I wanted them to win games and try and build a foundation for the future. That, of course, didn’t happen and the Oil finished 28th in the NHL. Luckily for them, they won the lottery and selected Connor McDavid, who has emerged as a legit superstar talent in his rookie season.
This season, I’m saying the same exact thing. I believe that it is in the best interest of the Oilers to win as many games as they can in their final nine tilts and move as far up the standings as they can. With Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan entrenched as the guys moving forward, and most of this young roster likely to return next season, I believe that setting the foundation is very important.
The Oilers finished with 24 wins a year ago and 62 points. So far this season, they have 28 wins and 63 points, already some real improvement. The Oilers haven’t won 30 games since 2011-12 (32 wins) and haven’t hit 70 points since that same season (74 points). The goal the rest of the way should be to crack both 30 wins and 70 points.
Hitting the 30 win mark should be a shoe-in at this point. If the Oil go around .500 the rest of the way (4-5 or 5-4), they will end up with 32 or 33 wins, not a bad total. In addition to that, they would pass the 70 point plateau. This should be the goal, not losing and catching the Toronto Maple Leafs in the race to the bottom.
Why is that so? The Oilers have been losers for ten straight seasons now. The team hasn’t gained any momentum and, whether you believe it or not, the team has gained a losing mentality. The players have yet to really be held accountable and a culture where losing is acceptable has been born. It’s a mess and it needs to be corrected.
Obviously, changing out players is a big step towards fixing the losing culture and I’d imagine we see some substantial movement come the summer. Until then, however, this group needs to take it into their own hands to change the culture. Starting with consistent efforts and a strong finish is first and foremost.
Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Cam Talbot and Darnell Nurse; these guys have never been through a death march and these guys are all key parts to the team moving forward. Keeping them from the typical Oiler finish is very, very important if you ask me. The Oilers need to instill into these guys that finishing strong, regardless of position, is very important.
On top of that, the Oilers need to build a bit of a foundation for the 2016-17 season. A strong finish will do exactly that. If Edmonton can finish their last nine games by winning five or more, it will show pending free agents that this team has started figuring it out and can play competitive hockey when healthy.
Remember the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007-08? They missed the postseason that year, but they finished strong and drew a lot of attention in free agency because of it. Brian Campbell noticed and he signed with Chicago, and he was a massive part of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 teams that started this modern day dynasty.
The Oilers won’t just go from bottom feeder to Stanley Cup contender, it takes time. If Edmonton really wants to start the long climb up the ladder, it needs to start now. Finish strong, move up the standings and gain some attention. 30+ wins and 70+ points isn’t anything to hang your hat on, but when you consider the team’s tough start and all the injuries, it’s actually quite respectable.
If Edmonton can get to 33 wins and, say, 73 points, it’ll represent an improvement of nine wins and eleven points. That’s a pretty big increase year over year. It shows improvement in the standings and that’s what we asked for this season.
So, instead of just going through the motions and tanking the final nine games of this season, let’s see something positive here. Shoot to win five of these games and show some improvement, give this organization something to build on moving forward.
I know many will disagree, but setting that foundation is much more important than draft position to me. Besides, winning is more fun anyways.
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