Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:
The Edmonton Oilers managed to take a step forward last season, but things didn’t turn out nearly as well as they were hoping for. After earning three straight first-overall draft picks, the Oilers were able to steer clear of the Western Conference basement and in some respects, they were a pretty decent team.
Goaltending has often been regarded as one of the team’s weak points, but Devan Dubnyk put up respectable numbers in 2013. Taylor Hall also took a step forward as he slowly establishes himself as one of the league’s elite forwards. At the same time, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had disappointing showings, while rookie defenseman Justin Schultz ended up doing well offensively, albeit was questionable in his own end.
After missing the playoffs for seven straight seasons, Edmonton will enter 2013-14 with a new head coach in Dallas Eakins. The former AHL Toronto Marlies bench boss inherits a wealth of skilled forwards, but whether or not the team will be tough enough or defensively sound remains to be seen.
The addition of Boyd Gordon should help fortify the center-ice spot which was under fire during the lockout-shortened season, However, the middle is still an area of concern with Nugent-Hopkins coming back slowly from major shoulder surgery in April and most likely to miss the season opener.
There is reason to be excited about the future if you’re an Edmonton Oilers fan, but the same could have been said two years ago. Eventually teams need to turn promise into results and if the Oilers can’t do that in the next year or two, then some of that young talent might end up getting dealt for veterans in the hope of finally moving forward.
Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:
Dobber’s lowdown on: Denis Grebeshkov – Grebeshkov was a promising, though somewhat injury-prone offensive rearguard for the Oilers, tallying 39 points in 2008-09 in his second full season. In Russia he played more of a defensive role while his team went with the likes of Dmitri Kalinen and Kevin Dallman as their quarterbacks. Dallman is like Bobby Orr over there, I kid you not. So whether Grebeshkov can recapture his offense now that he’s back in the NHL remains to be seen, but for now I would acquire him only via the waiver wire and not through the draft.
There are 11 defensemen in the mix, with an argument to be made that both Klefbom and Nurse are ready. But the team is going in a new direction. No more rushing guys. New GM Craig MacTavish added extra defensemen this year, making it extremely doubtful that Nurse makes the team, and highly unlikely that Klefbom gets anything more than a cup of coffee with the club. That still leaves Larsen, Below, Potter and Grebeshkov battling for two spots. While Belov is on a two-way deal, the other three are on one-way deals. And I believe that Grebeshkov was brought in to help Belov. So to start the year, you’ll see nine defensemen, but two of them in the press box. Injuries would clear up the clutter, but otherwise – Potter and Larsen are used to being scratched and I’m sure the other two guys will get rotated out as well.
Omark led the Swiss League in scoring last year and he played the first half (during the lockout) on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Damien Brunner. Late in the season, if he is traded, he will come back to the NHL and would be one to watch.
Petry had six points in 34 games when Ryan Whitney was in the lineup. He had six in 14 with Whitney out. Now that Whitney has gone bye-bye, Petry has a clear path.
Ignore Potter’s 21 points of 2011-12. He knows that to stay in the lineup he has to transform his game to that of a defensive specialist who can chip in on the second PP unit if needed. He did a good of that last year, but the numbers game still works against him.
Perron had 19 points in 23 games to kick off last season, but slowed to six in his last 25. Hemsky also had a hot start (17 in 26) and slow finish (three in 12, plus a foot injury).
Follow link for more info and stats
Additions: F Will Acton, G Richard Bachman, D Anton Belov, D Andrew Ference, F Boyd Gordon, D Denis Grebeshkov, F Ryan Hamilton, D Brad Hunt, F Jesse Joensuu, G Jason LaBarbera, D Philip Larsen, F Andrew Miller, D Lee Moffie, F David Perron.
Subtractions: D Kyle Bigos, F Philippe Cornet, G Yann Danis, D Mark Fistric, D Shawn Horcoff, F Darcy Hordichuk, F Tanner House, G Nikolai Khabibulin, F Magnus Paajarvi, D Theo Peckham, F Kristians Pelss, F Lennart Petrell, D Alex Plante, F Jerred Smithson, D Garrett Stafford, D Andy Sutton, D Colten Teubert, F Chris VandeVelde, D Ryan Whitney.
Promotion candidates: D Oscar Klefbom, C Anton Lander
Player salaries: $58,841,666 (24)
Cap Number: $67,774,167 ($9,150,000 in bonuses)
Cap Space: $1,348,333
Forwards: $42,499,167 (13)
Defensemen: $20,600,000 (9)
Goalies: $4,500,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek
Forwards
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
David Perron – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov
Ryan Jones – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky
Ryan Smyth – Anton Lander – Jesse Joensuu
Mike Brown
Defensemen
Ladislav Smid – Jeff Petry
Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz
Nick Schultz – Denis Grebeshkov
Philip Larsen – Corey Potter
Goalies
Devan Dubnyk
Jason LaBarbera
2013 Edmonton Oilers Draft Results
| Rd. | Draft # | Player | Team | Pos. |
| 1 | 7 | Darnell Nurse | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) | D |
| 2 | 56 | Marc-Olivier Roy | Blainville (QMJHL) | C/LW |
| 3 | 83 | Bogdan Yakimov | Nizhnekamsk (RUS) | F |
| 3 | 88 | Anton Slepyshev | Novokuznetsk (RUS) | LW |
| 4 | 94 | Jackson Houck | Vancouver (WHL) | RW |
| 4 | 96 | Kyle Platzer | London (OHL ) | C |
| 4 | 113 | Aidan Muir | Victory Honda Midget (MWEHL ) | LW/RW |
| 5 | 128 | Evan Campbell | Langley (BCHL) | LW |
| 6 | 158 | Ben Betker | Everett (WHL ) | D |
| 7 | 188 | Greg Chase | Calgary (WHL) | C |
Edmonton Oilers Top Prospects
| NHL.com | Hockey Prospectus | Dobber Prospects | Hockeys Future | The Hockey News | |
|
1
|
Darnell Nurse | Oscar Klefbom | Darnell Nurse | Nail Yakupov | Darnell Nurse |
|
2
|
Oscar Klefbom | Darnell Nurse | Oscar Klefbom | Justin Schultz | Oscar Klefbom |
|
3
|
Martin Marincin | Martin Marincin | Linus Omark | Darnell Nurse | Martin Marincin |
|
4
|
David Musil | Toni Rajala | Philip Larsen | Oscar Klefbom | Marc-Olivier Roy |
|
5
|
Marc-Olivier Roy | Anton Slepyshev | Mark Arcobello | Martin Marincin | Tyler Pitlick |
|
6
|
Daniil Zharkov | Martin Gernat | Martin Marincin | David Musil | Martin Gernat |
|
7
|
Martin Gernat | Jujhar Khaira | David Musil | Olivier Roy | David Musil |
|
8
|
Toni Rajala | Marc-Olivier Roy | Martin Gernat | Marc-Olivier Roy | Jujhar Khaira |
|
9
|
Olivier Roy | Bogdan Yakimov | Jajhar Khaira | Martin Gernat | Jackson Houck |
|
10
|
Jujhar Khaira | David Musil | Anton Lander | Daniil Zharkov | Anton Slepyshev |
2012-13 Edmonton Oilers Player Stats
| Player |
Pos
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
PP
|
SH
|
GW
|
OT
|
S
|
S%
|
| Taylor Hall |
L
|
45
|
16
|
34
|
50
|
5
|
33
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
154
|
10.4
|
| Sam Gagner |
C
|
48
|
14
|
24
|
38
|
-6
|
23
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
113
|
12.4
|
| Jordan Eberle |
C
|
48
|
16
|
21
|
37
|
-4
|
16
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
133
|
12
|
| Nail Yakupov |
R
|
48
|
17
|
14
|
31
|
-4
|
24
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
81
|
21
|
| Justin Schultz |
D
|
48
|
8
|
19
|
27
|
-17
|
8
|
4
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
85
|
9.4
|
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins |
C
|
40
|
4
|
20
|
24
|
3
|
8
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
78
|
5.1
|
| Ales Hemsky |
R
|
38
|
9
|
11
|
20
|
-6
|
16
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
82
|
11
|
| Magnus Paajarvi |
L
|
42
|
9
|
7
|
16
|
-1
|
14
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
75
|
12
|
| Ryan Whitney |
D
|
34
|
4
|
9
|
13
|
-7
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
30
|
13.3
|
| Ryan Smyth |
L
|
47
|
2
|
11
|
13
|
-5
|
40
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
69
|
2.9
|
| Shawn Horcoff |
C
|
31
|
7
|
5
|
12
|
8
|
24
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
41
|
17.1
|
| Jeff Petry |
D
|
48
|
3
|
9
|
12
|
1
|
29
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
66
|
4.5
|
| Lennart Petrell |
C
|
35
|
3
|
6
|
9
|
-4
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
13
|
| Nick Schultz |
D
|
48
|
1
|
8
|
9
|
-13
|
24
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
33
|
3
|
| Ryan Jones |
L
|
27
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
0
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
38
|
5.3
|
| Mark Fistric |
D
|
25
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
32
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
0
|
| Corey Potter |
D
|
33
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
8
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
36
|
8.3
|
| Ladislav Smid |
D
|
48
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
-1
|
55
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
30
|
3.3
|
| Teemu Hartikainen |
C
|
23
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
-8
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
4.8
|
| Eric Belanger |
C
|
26
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
-1
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
31
|
0
|
| Ben Eager |
L
|
14
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-4
|
25
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
7.1
|
| Mike Brown |
R
|
27
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-8
|
53
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
16
|
6.3
|
| Jerred Smithson |
R
|
10
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
14.3
|
| Anton Lander |
C
|
11
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
-4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
11
|
0
|
| Chris VandeVelde |
C
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-3
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
| Theo Peckham |
D
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
| Mark Arcobello |
R
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Darcy Hordichuk |
L
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Player |
GP
|
GS
|
W
|
L
|
OT
|
SA
|
GA
|
GAA
|
Sv
|
Sv%
|
SO
|
G
|
A
|
| Devan Dubnyk |
38
|
37
|
14
|
16
|
6
|
1132
|
90
|
2.57
|
1042
|
0.92
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
| Nikolai Khabibulin |
12
|
11
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
376
|
29
|
2.54
|
347
|
0.923
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
| Yann Danis |
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
59
|
7
|
3.82
|
52
|
0.881
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.
