Edmonton Oilers 2014-15 Season Primer

The Edmonton Oilers are the last team in our 2014-15 season primer series. There is some optimism regarding the Oilers, but a playoff berth is unlikely once again.

Use the below Tabs to view Oilers info for this upcoming season, as well as some numbers from last year.

2013-14 Record: 29-44-9, 67 points
Where they finished: 7th in the Pacific; 14th in the Western Conference; 28th in the NHL

Player Salaries: $67,126,666
Cap Payroll: $64,817,500
Bonuses: $5,465,000
Cap Space: $4,182,500
Forwards: $39.96 million (14)
Defensemen: $19.66 million (7)
Goalies: $5.2 million (2)
Source: CapGeek.com

In: Benoit Pouliot LW, Iiro Pakarinen RW, Keith Aulie D, Mark Fayne D, Nikita Nikitin D, Teddy Purcell RW/LW

Out: Anton Belov D, Ben Eager LW, Denis Grebeshkov D, Sam Gagner C, Taylor Fedun D

2014-15 Team Outlook:

The Edmonton Oilers are entering into that time of year where hopes are high, optimism is through the roof and fans and players alike have yet to throw the season away. The sense of optimism and high hopes often fades fast in Oilerville. The good news is that there are positives emerging for individual players and coaches alike that are making the sense of optimism a little more realistic than in years past.

Here are the three biggest positives heading into camp:

1. Nail Yakupov and Head Coach Dallas Eakins Have Reinforced the Bridge

The most distressing thing for me last season was that Yakupov looked like a disaster; his confidence was shot, he looked unhappy, his relationship with Dallas Eakins appeared to be fractured, and you could say he was more overwhelmed than he was as a rookie. The good news is that Eakins has seemingly lived up to his reputation as a relationship builder and used the off-season to repair the fracture between himself and Yakupov. All indications are that there is a renewed outlook on the new season from both Yakupov and Eakins. The smile appears to be back on Yak’s face and he is saying all the right things. The best part about this off-season was that Yakupov dedicated himself to getting his fitness and strength up to an NHL level. He spent the majority of the summer in Edmonton working on everything including diet, strength, skating and cardio

2. Martin Marincin Bulked Up … Finally

The biggest knock on Marincin for some time has been his inability (unwillingness?) to bulk up and put on some strength and weight in order to fully handle the rigours of being an NHL defenseman, specifically in the Western Conference. After last season’s success and experience, it seems that Marincin may finally understand the importance to fill out his frame. Coming into camp at 215 pounds is a significant jump for this player and I am excited to see how it translates into his overall game. We already know that he is a smart defender with a long reach and the ability to make smart heads up passes. Now that he has filled out, the hope is that he can become more punishing to opposition players and more effective in one-on-one battles. He could be paired with Justin Schultz to start the year and the door is open for both those players to take leaps forward this season and cement themselves as legit top-four defenders.

3. New Additions Bring Different Dimension to Team

Forwards

This off-season was not a full success in terms of changing the roster over, but there are some significant additions that are going to have an impact on the team this season. Firstly they have added size to the top-nine which has been a significant weakness for this team. The need for crashing and banging is not what I mean, but rather the ability to control the puck using your size in the corners and winning battles down low. By adding Teddy Purcell and Benoit Pouliot, maybe possibly Leon Draisaitl, the top-nine  is immediately beefier, which hopefully will translate into more battles won in the offensive zone. The top-nine hasn’t looked this good on paper in many, many years and if Eakins can get the most out of this roster, this team is going to be much harder to play against.

Defence

On top of these new additions up front, the back end is significantly improved heading into the 2014-15 season. Mark Fayne and Nikita Nikitin are going to have a positive impact on the defence. Fayne makes simple, smart and effective plays with the puck, while excelling in his own end. He brings a legitimate top-four defender into the mix to help Jeff Petry and Andrew Ference out with all the young, inexperienced players. Nikitin meanwhile is a couple seasons removed from his best years in Columbus, but he should have a lot left to offer and no shortage of ice time to work with. He is experienced in the top-four, and can play the point on the powerplay as well. He may not be worth the money he is being paid, but he makes the Oilers stronger on defence and gives the young players rising more time to develop their games. It will be an improved defensive core no doubt, and should give the goaltenders more support than a year ago.

Goaltending

The Oilers goaltending has improved compared to a year ago. Neither Viktor Fasth nor Ben Scrivens has proven to be a number one goaltender, but both have shown themselves to be on the verge of blossoming into one. By having two guys that are right on the cusp of taking that next step, it affords the Oilers a luxury should one take a step backwards. On top of this they will be competing against one another, and the competition is going to be strong. There are no guarantees in net, so every minute played will be earned and fought for, which makes the team as a whole better.

Even though there are reasons for optimism, there are still some questions heading into the season, with the main one being, who will center their second line? With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins anchored in at No. 1 and Boyd Gordon slotted at No. 4; Anton Lander, Mark Arcobello and Leon Draisaitl will battle for the second and third line slots.

This hole in the lineup is not new, when Sam Gagner was injured early in the season, Taylor Hall and Ryan Smyth were just two of the options the Oilers tried in a feeble attempt to fill the hole down the middle. Eventually Arcobello took the position and did quite well, but he never truly captured the full confidence of head coach Dallas Eakins. Now with training camp starting and no moves made this summer to fill the most glaring hole by Mac T, it will be the most important battle in camp and pre-season.

Mark Arcobello did reasonably well last season on the second line, posting 18 points in 41 games with a Corsi rating of 47.9% and a Corsi Rel% of 3.38%. He was not lights out offensively, but being thrust into the position of de facto second line center and being forced to anchor the struggling Nail Yakupov, meant Arcobello was just trying to stay afloat in his own end of the ice. This season if Arcobello hopes to lock down the second line role, but he will need to show more offensive prowess at the NHL level and prove that the grit and determination he displayed in 2013-14 was not an aberration.

Anton Lander has been struggling his way through the Oilers development system since he was unjustifiably thrust into a fourth line/utility role as a rookie in 2011-12. He made the team out of camp that season, but he most certainly shouldn’t have as he struggled mightily all season long and his development took a big hit. Since then he has been working spot duty as a callup. Last season in the AHL Lander had a breakout year offensively with 52 points in 46 games, but once again he failed to replicate that success at the NHL level recording just one assist in 27 games with the Oilers. This season the best hope for Lander to win a job in the NHL is that he has to show a versatility to not only play center and wing, but kill penalties and start to chip in offensively. He doesn’t have to be a top 6 scorer, but he needs to be someone that doesn’t let the scoring chance die on his stick. This is likely Landers last chance with Edmonton so we should expect him to come out flying.

The third and final option for the second line center role is Leon Draisiatl. Drafted 3^rd overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Leon is a big bodied, puck possessing center with sublime passing skills. He comes to camp weighing in the 215 pound range at only 18 years of age. A stark contrast to the little boy that the Nuge was when he entered the league and lit it up. Leon is getting the push in camp, lining up with Benoit Pouliot and David Perron, two veterans with lots of skill and the ability to crash and bang. This line has the potential to start the season as the second line, but Leon needs to show that he can be defensively responsible enough to handle the rigours of playing the second best opponents on any given night. It is not a stretch for him to make it on skill alone, and in fact will find much success on the power play, but if he can’t handle the extra curricular aspects of being a NHL center, the right choice for Edmonton is to not rush him into a position to fail.

Written by Shaun Maddex, who can be found on twitter @maddex19.

The depth chart listed below was taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30. 

FORWARDS
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
David Perron – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov
Benoit Pouliot – Mark Arcobello – Teddy Purcell
Jesse Joensuu – Boyd Gordon – Matt Hendricks
Anton Lander – Luke Gazdic

DEFENSEMEN
Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry
Nikita Nikitin – Mark Fayne
Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz
Keith Aulie

GOALTENDERS
Ben Scrivens
Viktor Fasth

A look at the Edmonton Oilers top prospects heading into this season. Each source may use different classifications as to if a player is deemed a prospect or has graduated on from a prospect.

* Dobber Prospects – Prospects based on relevance in a fantasy-hockey keeper league, not actual talent on the ice.

Edmonton Oilers Draft History from the past five years

Performance and Usage Charts for the Edmonton Oilers from last season, from Extra Skater.