If there are no major signings/trades druing the off season, I see the Oilers back at the draft lottery. It takes a lot of time for these young players to develop when they're tossed into the lineup. I understand that both Hall and RNH did very well in their first seasons, but they aren't physically mature enough to handle the rigors of a full season. They and Yakupov aren't large players and I think going directly into the NHL is/was hard on them from a physical stand point. If all three, with Yakupov making the team, play to their abilities and avoid injuries, the Oilers could be near a playoff spot. Give them another 2 - 3 years to grow physically and the Oilers will be a force in the West.
If the Oilers management team repilicates the last 2 seasons with a refusal to ice a competitive team than no where but another lottery pick is their destination.
If the Oilers decide they actually want to compete and win games, it could be interesting, but still lots of work to do. They need some major upgrades on defense and net but have a solid core upfront, but their defense is worst in league arguably.
28th overall in the league. Probably will win the lottery and take McKinnon.
At some point Edmonton will have so many young forwards they wont be able to dress any defensemen. They'll implement the first 18 forwards 0 defensemen and 1 goalie system.
no one thinks that a decent d makes a 20 win 914SV% dubnyk look better, he was quite good in the 2012 part of this yr
also why have this pool when everyone seems to hate the oilers due to winning something they had no control over other then being in the draw and there is a lot of changes that can happen over an off-season
Dont see where the defense is going to improve, Murray made too much sense.
Not sure he would step in immediately next year anyways.
Smid-Petry
Whitney-Schultz
is a decent top 4 if Whitney can stay healthy and have a good offseason. If not we're in trouble and we could obviously use a legitimate number 1 but they aren't easy to find and if you draft one they take a few years to grow into that player.
If the Oilers management team repilicates the last 2 seasons with a refusal to ice a competitive team than no where but another lottery pick is their destination.
If the Oilers decide they actually want to compete and win games, it could be interesting, but still lots of work to do. They need some major upgrades on defense and net but have a solid core upfront, but their defense is worst in league arguably.
I won't vote till the offseason has passed.
Only from jealous HF posters that feel the need to pre-emptively doom the Oilers future
By every other metric or from every other source, there's other teams that are worse than the Oilers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leafidelity
Dont see where the defense is going to improve, Murray made too much sense.
Yea, I wonder how all those guys under 25 will get better.
And those guys in the pipeline are never going to crack an NHL roster, right?
I expect they will end up somewhere between 9th-12th in the West and about 20th-26th in the league. If we add some depth on defence we may actually be able to keep ourselves in some games. The oilers lost so many one goal games this year it was ridiculous lol
it's a little premature to say without knowing what they'll do with the defense. but i think the best case scenario is probably barely missing the playoffs...
