The Edmonton Oilers are probably about done their off season. Now the question becomes how did they do? And who might still be available if there's more moves to be made? Let's go through the roster position by position and find the strengths and weaknesses of this team. The position listing will also have below it who's most likely to be next up as a replacement if needed due to injury or play. Note: the Who's in list will only include free agent signings and trades. Draft picks who could play will either show up on the roster or below the roster as the next up to play if needed.
Goaltending
Ben Scrivens
Victor Fasth
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Richard Bachman
Goaltending is definitely one of the strengths of this team. Scrivens has had some very good games and Fasth has a lot of potential. However, I still have a problem with this goal-tending duo. I need to see more before either one is heralded a legitimate NHL starter. I know a lot of people aren't going to like me saying that, but it's the truth. Ben Scrivens hasn't even played a full NHL season in his career and Victor Fasth doesn't even have a half season. That is way too small of a sample size to tell how good a goalie will be. That being said, I do think they are both good goalies (Scrivens especially, I'm still not totally sold on Fasth), however, the final judgement on that needs to wait until more games are played.
Defense
Who's In
Keith Aulie
Mark Fayne
Nikita Nikitin
Who's Out
Taylor Fedun
Denis Grebeshkov
Anton Belov
Philip Larsen
The Roster
Mark Fayne
Nikita Nikitin
Andrew Ference
Martin Marincin
Jeff Petry
Justin Schultz
Keith Aulie
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Oscar Klefbom
Darnell Nurse
Who's still Available (UFA)
Jamie McBain
Derek Morris
Raphael Diaz
Joe Corvo
The defense is much improved from last year, however, it still has problems. Fayne and Nikitin will help out in both experience and taking on some major minutes that other players couldn't handle as well. Aulie adds some depth so that Klefbom and/or Nurse now have to earn a roster spot through competition instead of having it handed to them. I do think Nurse and/or Klefbom see quite a bit of action, but for now Aulie has the roster spot. Another good thing is they didn't lose any major pieces. Some of those players did play significant minutes last year, but at the same time I don't believe they will be missed too much. The problem I have with the defense is there still isn't anyone who jumps out off this roster as a certain top two impact and that could still hurt them, but overall they should be better.
In terms of who's still available I don't believe there's anyone there the Oilers should be interested in. They're all either older or non-impact players. The only names that I wouldn't mind would be those of Morris and McBain. I wouldn't mind either of those signings if they were cheap enough, but I also think that money could be better spent elsewhere. Rumours still do turn up once in awhile of a trade. This mostly involves the Flyers and one of either Coburn or Schenn. I think Coburn would cost them too much and I'm not big on Schenn. I do believe the defense is going to stand pat for now.
Wingers
Who's In
Benoit Pouliot
Teddy Purcell
Who's Out
Ben Eager
Ryan Smyth
The Roster
Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall
Nail Yakupov
Luke Gazdik
Jesse Joensuu
David Perron
Benoit Pouliot
Teddy Purcell
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Steven Pinzotto
Curtis Hamilton
I'm not showing who's still available because the Oilers don't really need any Wingers. This starting cast of wingers is very strong. Benoit Pouliot is a very nice pick up as he has both experience and skill; he should be able to help them out a lot. Teddy Purcell is also a solid pick up however, Oilers fans shouldn't expect too much of him because of his size. A bit like Dustin Penner, Purcell is big, but plays more of a skill game than a big power forward game. As long as fans can curb their expectations he should be a good addition. I think the Wingers are the best part of this team.
Centres
Who's In
Nobody
Who's Out
Sam Gagner
The Roster
Matt Hendricks/Boyd Gordon
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Marc Arcobello
Leon Draisaitl
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Anton Lander
Will Acton
Anton Lander
Who's Available
Andrei Lochtionov
I know you're wondering why I have one spot as two players. Well, I couldn't decide who to put there but that spot is likely going to one or the other. Nugent-Hopkins is certain number one and Arcobello and Draisaitl likely have to duke it out for number two. Draisaitl shouldn't even be making this team automatically his first year. However, a lack of depth almost certainly puts him in. I just hope that due to Draisaitl having no NHL experience Arcobello gets the #2 job to start. Make Draisaitl earn a trip up the depth chart. The number two centre is what could really prevent the Oilers from making drastic improvements. I'm not convinced the problem is solved in either Arcobello or Draisaitl, it could be one or the other who emerges as a legitimate centre, but I'd rather not bank on solving a problem on what could be. Arcobello should be a number three centre and ideally Draisaitl should go back to junior. If the Oilers are bottom five in the league again this year second line centre will likely be the culprit.
In terms of the available player to them I say why not sign Lochtionov? If nothing else it will add some depth as another option, and there's a chance that he solves things at the top two centre. He would likely be cheap and as abysmal as it looks for the Oilers at second line centre I don't think they could lose at signing Lochtinov to a cheap deal and seeing what he could do for them.
This Oilers team should be improved from last year. However, don't expect the playoffs. I expect that they could be in the hunt a lot longer than they have been in a long time, but ultimately there hasn't been enough improvement at centre or defense for them to have a real chance at contending for the playoffs.
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