Edmonton Oilers
Additions: Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, Marty Reasoner, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Jan Hejda, Petr Sykora
Subtractions: Chris Pronger, Ty Conklin, Georges Laraque, Jaroslav Spacek, Sergei Samsonov, Mike Peca, Dan Smith
Analysis
Last year’s Cinderella Team, the Edmonton faithful got to watch the team that came within one game of the Stanley Cup get pretty solidly dismantled in the offseason. From the shocking news that Norris-caliber defenceman Pronger had requested a trade, to the departure of Spacek, Samsonov, Laraque and Peca, it seemed for a while like the team was coming apart at the seams.
Give credit to Kevin Lowe for salvaging what he could and preparing yet another young, fast, hungry team for next season. His first major task - an unexpected and unwanted surprise no doubt - was squeezing maximum benefit out of his stud defenceman. Unfortunately, since Pronger had requested a trade, and since there were so many high level blueliners soon to be available for free, his job was not as easy as one would hope.
The best possible result would have been replacing Pronger with a defenceman who could immediately step in, eat up the majority of Pronger’s minutes, but be younger with more room to develop, and also grab a prospect or pick to pick up the slack (there aren’t many Pronger caliber guys in the world). This proved to be either impossible or simply not in the interests of the Oilers, so Lowe did the next best thing. While he did ship Pronger to a conference rival (watch out for the Ducks next year), he got back one of the best defensive prospects (Smid) who is expected to slide into the team (albeit not close to Pronger’s 30 minutes per game) and projects as a top two defenceman, an almost as young forward who managed 28 goals in only his second season in the NHL and also managed 9 more in the playoffs - including one four goal night against Colorado. Finally, Lowe picked up a couple high end draft picks that hopefully will eventually make the fans in Edmonton saw “Chris who?”
Unfortunately, that still leaves a big hole on the blueline, and Spacek didn’t help matters when he departed shortly thereafter. The defence in Edmonton this year will be much younger, much less experienced, and will face some growing pains. Hopefully Edmonton doesn’t try to rush Smid into too much too fast. Plenty of players with big P potential have flubbed after facing too much pressure early in their careers. I think it’s safe to say however that Lowe and McTavish are too smart for that.
Locking up goaltender Dwayne Roloson and forwards Fernando Pisani, Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff and Jarrett Stoll has occupied much of the rest of Lowe’s time, and it has been time well spent. Edmonton has perhaps the best crop of young forwards in the NHL this year, and they’ll all be a year older. Speed and depth will be had aplenty, and should make Edmonton both a fun team to watch and a hard team to face. The addition of Sykora adds even more depth and scoring punch. No team ever can have too many 20 goal scorers, but the Oilers are taking a run at being the first.
Edmonton should be safely in the playoffs next year and could walk away with the division title if Roloson stays healthy. Rolly the goalie has been a consistent performer his entire career and should continue that trend. The blueline may have been thinned too much to repeat a deep run, but the forward lines will roll all the way over most opponents. I doubt the Oilers can get much beyond the first round of the playoffs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, with their combination of speed, youth, and that great ice in Edmonton, they put up the best home record in the league next year.