Edmonton Oilers 2015-16 Season Primer

Looking at the Edmonton Oilers heading into this season – outlook, potential lines, roster, top prospects, draft history, stats and season schedule.

2014-15 record: 24-44-24, 62 points
Where they finished: 6th in the Division, 13th in the Western Conference, 28th in NHL

Total Cap Hit: $68,511,249
Total Salary: $70,031,250
Cap Space: $2,888,751
Source: General Fanager

In: Anders Nilsson, G (T – Chi), Mark Letestu, C/RW (FA – CBJ), Andrej Sekera, D (FA – LA), Lauri Korpikoski, RW/LW (T – Ari), Brad Ross, LW (T – Tor), Eric Gryba, D (T – Ott), Cam Talbot, G (T – NYR), Griffin Reinhart, D (T – NYI), Todd McLellan, Head Coach (Named), Eetu Laurikainen, G (FA-Europe), Peter Chiarelli, GM (Named)

Out: Viktor Fasth, G (FA-Europe), Liam Coughlin, C/LW (T – Chi), Matt Fraser, LW/RW (FA – Wpg), Richard Bachman, G (FA – Van), Boyd Gordon, C (T – Ari), Martin MAri)ncin, D (T – Tor), Travis Ewanyk, LW (T – Ott), Steven Pinizzotto, RW (FA-Europe)

Source: Sports Forecaster

Outlook for the Season:

It seems as if the Edmonton Oilers have spent the last decade ‘on the upswing’, so it’s hard to be confident about the club going into the 2015-2016 season. Oilers fans have watched as seasons of rebuilding amounted to no real tangible improvement out of the club, and it’s hard to imagine that things will magically become different.

That being said, this is the first time that a generational talent has been drafted with one of the club’s four first overall picks — and Connor McDavid alone can’t save a franchise, but he can certainly go a long way towards pushing it out of the ever-expanding hole it keeps on digging.

On offense, expect McDavid to get his shot at serving on the top six pivot — likely with Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, although it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility to see new head coach Todd McLellan do some tinkering. Benoit Pouliot was a pleasant surprise for the Oilers in the 2014-2015 campaign — on a roster that struggled to meet expectations, Pouliot surpassed his own when healthy. There’s a sense that 2012 first overall selection Nail Yakupov is finally ready to play at the level everyone expected him to.

The team’s bottom six is still a big question mark, but not necessarily in a bad way. The deal that sent David Perron to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a first round selection yielded a pleasant surprise in heavyweight possession driver Rob Klinkhammer. He may not be a true long-term solution in a bottom six role, but he certainly doesn’t hurt the club when out on the ice. There’s an expectation that he won’t be alone in finding success in the lower forward lines, either — keep an eye out for Anton Lander to finally click with the club’s penalty kill. Potentially look for an effective use of Leon Draisaitl following an abysmal use of his talents in a half-hearted rookie campaign. Even Lauri Korpikoski, dealt to the Oilers by the Arizona Coyotes for fourth line centre Boyd Gordon, seems like a reasonable candidate for a bounce-back year.

The team’s back end, of course, still needs work — something that ties the current Oilers roster to nearly every Oilers roster in the last decade. The problem now, though, isn’t necessarily that the team lacks back end talent, it’s a matter of how far along the team’s back end talent will be in development this year. Darnell Nurse is still young, and Griffin Reinhart is still a question mark — but both are expected to be talented back end prospects within the next handful of seasons.

Cam Talbot plays with all the poise and confidence in net of someone expected to succeed. Despite doubts that the guy nicknamed ‘Calm’ Talbot won’t be able to save Edmonton’s year, expect him to improve the goaltending corps from the year prior. Whether he’s joined by Anders Nilsson (dealt to Edmonton by Chicago over the summer) or team vet Ben Scrivens — that’s still a question. Still, even goaltending has some promise on the horizon. Former Calgary Flames prospect Laurent Brossoit made his NHL debut behind the disastrous Oilers of 2014-2015, and he made nearly 50 saves en route to a disappointing loss. He and Finnish netminder Eetu Laurikainen give the team hope in net down the line.

The problem with Edmonton has never been talent; from Sam Gagner and Devan Dubnyk to Justin Schultz and Ben Scrivens himself, the Oilers have always started their seasons with big names and hopeful faces. Something always seems to be missing, though, and the hope is that the addition of McDavid and a new management staff (selected for resumes, not cup rings while on the ice) will finally change that. Whether it can or not remains to be seen, but as an Oilers fan, it’s hard not to think that this may finally be the year.

No, really.

Trending Up

Anton Lander (C/W) –  Lander was heralded in his draft year as the type of prospect that develops into a Patrice Bergeron, Anze Kopitar, or Marian Hossa. The question since then, though, has been whether his failure to live up to these expectations is due to his own shortcomings or the team’s development system — this may be the year fans see which is the case.

Based on Lander’s play in an inconsistent bottom six role for Edmonton, it’s likely that a combination of poor coaching, deployment, and development (putting blame equally between coaches and management staff) has caused Lander’s lack of ‘oomph’. The Swedish two-way centre is capable of playing the wing, and it seemed — at the end of last season, at least — as if that may be where he was headed. Under McLellan and former Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli, this seems to be the best year to hope for Lander to truly come into his own.

In 38 games with the Oilers last season, Lander recorded six goals and 20 points. Stretched out into a full season, that’s roughly 13 goals and around 43 points. If Lander can contribute even at that level, he’ll be the team’s first real success outside of the first round of the NHL draft in years. That’s a lot of pressure for the 24 year old forward, but certainly nothing he’s not capable of living up to.

Nail Yakupov (RW) – It’s hard not to have strong feelings about Yakupov, whether they’re strong feelings of admiration for his flashy style and infectious enthusiasm or strong feelings of frustration towards his excessive celebrations for highly inconsistent goals scored. One thing is clear, though — the 21 year old Nizhnekamsk native is also poised for a breakout year.

Midway through the 2014-2015 campaign, a switch seemed to flip for Yakupov and the young winger began tearing up the league. It’s possible that a switch at centre from fellow league newcomer Mark Arcobello — decent at possession but new to the NHL and undersized by league standards — for veteran Derek Roy was the answer to all the problems. Regardless, though, Yakupov seemed to finally find his comfort level at the NHL game; the expectation is that he’ll take his 14 goal season and only go up from there. There’s still risk involved in looking at Yakupov as a sure upward trend, but there aren’t many skaters on the Oilers who don’t come with a giant question mark; given that this is a good one, it’s hard not to point him out as someone to watch.

Trending Down

Andrew Ference (LD) – By the time Ference left the Boston Bruins, the undersized blue liner was little more than a serviceable bottom pairing at the NHL level — and by now, he’s certainly an asset with nowhere to really go but down. At 36, Ference is slowly but surely declining, and it’s showing. The best the Oilers can hope for is continued locker room presence, but there’s little else to say beyond that. The team needs to hope he provides little harm beyond simply playing on heavy years.

Matt Hendricks (C) – Although Hendricks was an excellent captain at the 2015 World Championships this spring, he — like Ference — is on the way down. The 34 year old Minnesota native is a hopeful 5-10 goal scorer per season with decent possession figures, but things seem to slow down more and more each year for Hendricks — and as he ages, the physical edge brought into his game will become less and less of a threat. There isn’t much to hate about Hendricks’ game yet, but he’s still a declining player on a team full of young talent and hopeful up-and-comers.

Trade Deadline Outlook

You’ll notice that in the trending down section, there isn’t much in the way of an explanation for either name, and that’s in large part due to the uncertainty of the Oilers any given year. The club, after all, tries to keep players from remaining on the roster past their prime — so while Justin Schultz and Nikita Nikitin seem to be more or less who they are (and some fans don’t like what that is), there aren’t many skaters who look like they’re poised to get noticeably worse in Edmonton next year. Former roster members like Keith Aulie and Boyd Gordon are gone, Viktor Fasth made it clear he’s finished with North America, and Derek Roy wasn’t brought back on board for the upcoming season.

Every year something seems to strangely go wrong for the Oilers, and the team always seems to deal one or more of their never-ending cupboard of hopeful (if inconsistent) assets to try and tweak the roster. Whatever is going wrong never seems capable of being fixed, and that leaves the team constantly rotating in and out their non-core stars.

Six goalies in a single season in 2013-2014 suggest that if something goes wrong in net, the Oilers would be the first team to try making a change. Jeff Petry was the perfect cautionary tale for an under-performing Justin Schultz, and Mark Arcobello saw himself dealt for a more useful piece in a way that a skater like Lander should keep an eye out for in the future.

The Oilers may have a retooled front office, but the old brass is technically still around — and they’re getting desperate. Edmonton seems like they’re giving it the old college try for one last season before they’ll have to admit that something really just isn’t working with their ‘core’. If so, keep an eye open for a big piece to get traded if the club really can’t set things straight.

Then again, if things start to go right, expect to see excess youth talent shipped out for better assets that needed now. By the deadline, the Oilers will have a clear understanding of where their year is going, and that’s going to impact their trade moves in a huge way.

Written by Catherine Silverman, who can be found on twitter @CataCarryOn

Oilers: Outlook | Lines and Roster | Top Prospects | Draft History | Stats | Schedule

Potential line combinations, defensive pairings, and goalies.

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall – Connor McDavid – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell
Rob Klinkhammer – Mark Letestu – Matt Hendricks
Ryan Hamilton

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Andrew Ference – Eric Gryba
Nikita Nikitin

Cam Talbot
Ben Scrivens

Oilers: Outlook | Lines and Roster | Top Prospects | Draft History | Stats | Schedule

Some top Edmonton Oilers prospect lists heading into the season.

* Different sites have different guidelines for who is a ‘prospect.’ Dobber Prospects bases their rankings on future fantasy value.

1. Connor McDavid: Centre – 6’1” / 195 lbs – Until he starts his career, there is not much that can be said about McDavid that hasn’t already been said. This will be his first and only appearance on a prospect ranking as he will immediately usurp RNH as the Oilers top line centre. There is no chance he will be returned to Erie in the OHL, the only question is, how dominant will he be in his rookie season? His most prominent comparison is Sidney Crosby, who in his rookie season scored 102 points in 05-06; to score at that pace in today’s game would be impressive as Jamie Benn led the entire NHL in scoring last season with only 87 points. Can he duplicate Mario Lemieux’s first impression by scoring on his first game on his first shift off his first shot? These are the bench marks he will begin to be measured against.

2. Darnell Nurse: Defence – 6’4” / 205 lbs – After a two game audition in the NHL at the start of the season, Nurse was returned to junior wherehe dominated the Sault Ste. Marie blueline scoring ten goals and 33 points in 36 games, as well as help Canada win Gold at the WJC. Nurse also led the Greyhounds to the Conference Championship where he was assigned the unenviable task of shutting down future teammate Connor McDavid, and although the Sault came up short against McDavid and Erie, Nurse was a standout in the series. After the OHL playoff run ended, Nurse finished the season in the AHL playing in four playoff games and recording four points. He projects as more of a big minute logging shut down top pairing defender in the NHL and like most big defencemen will need some development at the AHL level, but he is close.

3. Griffin Reinhart: Defence – 6’4” / 217 lbs – Reinhart returns to Edmonton where he dominated in junior as a key member of the Edmonton Oil Kings and helped lead them to a Memorial Cup Championship. The fourth overall pick of the Islanders from 2012 received an eight game audition on long island to start the season, but ultimately was assigned to the AHL. After posting a minus -13 in his rookie season while recording 22 points in 59 games, he was sent to Edmonton in exchange for a first and second round pick. With Nurse and Reinhart representing the long term future top pairing defencemen in Edmonton, the long criticized Edmonton defence will soon become a strength, not a liability.

4. Iiro Pakarinen: Right Wing – 6’1” / 215 lbs – The Edmonton Oilers have found money in the free agent signing of Pakarinen, who was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers. Pakarinen seems to be a late bloomer as the 24 year old started the season in the AHL, and was recalled after scoring 28 points in 39 games. He did not look out of place in the NHL scoring three points in 17 games before a knee sprain ended his season. With little to prove at the AHL level he may have to switch to the left side to crack the Oilers top nine. He has good NHL size and can play a physical role, with his offensive upside he could be a very valuable third line option.

5. Bogdan Yakimov: Centre – 6’5” / 232 lbs – Yakimov had an impressive rookie camp with countryman Vlad Tkachev last year, performing well enough in training camp to earn a short look with the Oilers in an early season game. He was then sent to the AHL for his first pro season in North America. In 57 games with Oklahoma City he scored 12 goals and 28 points. He has tremendous size, but could learn to use it to his advantage more and have a bigger influence on games. His offensive upside is a question at the NHL level but should fit in as a fourth line centre with some upside. With McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins holding down the top two centre positions, and Leon Draisaitl and Anton Lander competing for third line duties, anything above fourth line for Yakimov would be a challenge. Matt Hendricks and Mark Letestu also offer potential fourth line options and offer more experience. Another year in the AHL could best suit Yakimov to allow him to develop both his offensive game and learn to exert a physical influence on the game.

* Different sites have different guidelines for who is a ‘prospect.’ Dobber Prospects bases their rankings on future fantasy value.

Expanded Top 10 Edmonton Oilers prospects with videos and stats can be read here.

Oilers: Outlook | Lines and Roster | Top Prospects | Draft History | Stats | Schedule

A look at the Edmonton Oilers drafting from 2010 to 2015.

Oilers: Outlook | Lines and Roster | Top Prospects | Draft History | Stats | Schedule

Edmonton Oilers 2014-15 player stats.

Oilers: Outlook | Lines and Roster | Top Prospects | Draft History | Stats | Schedule

A look at the Edmonton Oilers 2015-16 schedule.

Oilers: Outlook | Lines and Roster | Top Prospects | Draft History | Stats | Schedule