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1) Strong 2 way center to complement RNH's abilities and also create balance in the top 6.
The Oilers will never go anywhere with the top 6 as it currently stands and sorry Gagner fans but he's the weakest link.
2) Strong, physical defenseman. I'm pretty confident that Schultz will be a top pairing defenseman at the very least at some point and that Smid and Petry will be solid 2nd pairing guys. Klefbom is a few years down the line but he looks to be tracking well to be a top 4 defenseman at some point. The biggest problem is that none of them outside of Smid are tough to play against, crease clearers and even though Smid is tough as nails, he's not what i would consider very physical, he's more of the shot blocking, positional sound type. Musil could be that tough guy but he is several years away.
Similar to the top 6, there's not enough balance between puckmovers and toughness and this needs to be addressed if the Oilers want to be tough to play against when the games become tight checking playoff type games. There is a reason why they struggle the most against big, physical teams like L.A., St. Louis and Phoenix.
3) I don't think goaltending is as big a concern as others make it out to be and this isn't necessarily because i feel that Dubnyk is the guy, it's more because i feel that it's easier to acquire a goalie than it is to fill the other positions of need plus i have really high hopes for Bunz down the line and i think that Dubnyk will be adequate enough.
I see this team in the mold of the Penguins and Blackhawks teams (the way they are being built, not saying they will be as good). Even throw in the Red Wings teams who were built primarily with skill. Those teams had mediocre to good goaltending, not superstars.
MAF is good but not a superstar, Osgood was meh as was Niemi so i believe that if the Oilers reach that level, they won't need superstar goaltending to be elite.
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