NHL
The Edmonton Oilers Have Added Four Depth Skaters and a Solid Backup and Hope for a Chance in the Pacific.
The Edmonton Oilers are trying to bounce back from a disappointing season last year. After missing the playoffs by a large margin, GM Peter Chiarelli made moves to add depth up front and on the back end. Although he did not move Milan Lucic like many thought was going to happen, Chiarelli kept him in hopes of a bounce-back year.
Have the Oilers Gotten Better?
I would say that yes the Oilers did get better. The only thing they need now is a bounce-back year from Milan Lucic and a huge bounce-back from their Special Teams Units. Last season the League average Power Play Percentage was 20.18 percent, while Edmonton’s PP% was 14.76%. While on the Penalty Kill, Edmonton had a 76.73 percent success rate, while the league-wide PK% was 79.82%. If the Special Teams can get better the team has a chance at having an outstanding year.
Additions
Let’s start by taking a look at the Forward help they received this offseason. Tobias Rieder was signed and may slot anywhere from the second line down. In 78 games last year between Arizona and Los Angeles, Reider scored 12 goals and added 13 assists. Tobias Reider is the right guy for the team to add goal scoring in the depths of the lineup. Kyle Brodziak was signed on July 1st. Brodziak scored 10 goals and tied his career high of 23 assists. Kyle Brodziak will be a great depth center who can slot perfectly on the 3rd and 4th line.
Jakub Jerabek and Kevin Gravel were added to a slot in on the bottom pair d-lines. Combined the two played 52 games and totaled two goals and nine assists for 11 points. Not bad for bottom pair defensemen but is still less than the combined total the Edmonton’s bottom pair scored last year.
Mikko Koskinen played last season in the KHL and was signed by the Edmonton Oilers this summer. Koskinen had 29 wins last year with a GAA of 1.57 and SV% of .937. This is a good addition in my eyes.
Subtractions
There were only two players that the Edmonton Oilers moved from. One being Mike Cammalleri. In 51 games last season, Cammalleri earned 22 points by scoring four goals and adding 18 assists. By ranking the Oilers by points, Mike Cammalleri was 8th, four points behind Darnell Nurse.
In goal, the Edmonton Oilers lost Laurent Brossoit. Last season Brossoit posted a 3.24 GAA and a .853 SV%, totaling 14 wins. Brossoit had games where he dazzled and games where it looked like he could not stop a beach ball. This is a good guy to lose for bringing in Mikko Koskinen.
Darnell Nurse is still an unsigned RFA that has not been tendered by the Oilers. I am not adding him to the Net Gain total of the subtractions because Edmonton retains his rights and can sign him at any time before December 1, 2018.
Where the Edmonton Oilers Stand
Combining the additions and subtractions gives us 47. A Net Gain of 47 is pretty good. The Edmonton Oilers strengthened their forward depth with additions to Reider and Brodziak. Both players will slot in well on the 3rd and 4th line. This should help out the defense quite a bit.
With the addition to Koskinen, the Oilers look to have a great back up or 1-B type goaltender. Koskinen may also be the man that Edmonton Coach Todd McLellan falls back on if Cam Talbot has another bad season. I would say that the goaltending duo is the Oilers’ biggest wild card this year.
Once again the Edmonton Oilers will be without Andrej Sekera who should be back in December. The Oilers can bounce back from last year but may barely squeeze into the playoffs and finish 4th in the Pacific Division.
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