Edmonton Oilers: Time to Take the Team Seriously

The Edmonton Oilers have had an incredible bounce-back season. Last year at this time, they were preparing for the off-season, planning big offseason moves to help the team become playoff ready.

Now, the team is preparing for its first playoff series in 10 seasons, and are making headlines as one of the hottest teams in the league. Their power play is the sixth best in the NHL, and they finally have a starting netminder between the pipes and depth in the right places.

However, some believe this team has just made their first postseason as a surprise to many. It is time to finally take this team seriously, and see how this team built its own success.

First off, they are in the thick of a tight Pacific Division race and have shown the ability to beat teams like the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. Edmonton has what it takes to match up to some of the bigger, faster teams in the league.

Second, the team has an overwhelming amount of physicality, and this has truly helped them this year. Milan Lucic has brought not only a lot to the lineup, but to the locker room. He makes the team tougher and stronger and gives them a tougher mentality. Add him in with Patrick Maroon, Zack Kassian, Matt Hendricks and Darnell Nurse, and you have one of the toughest teams in the league. This, of course, has led them to be more aggressive and tougher to play.

A Team Built on More Than Luck

Many would argue that the team got lucky with their draft picks. That would mean that the team had years to build depth and it finally came together. This is simply not true; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle are statistically having the worst seasons of their career. Taylor Hall is no longer a member of the team, and neither is Nail Yakupov. The only draft picks remaining are Nurse, and then the NHL’s deadliest duo, Leon Draisaitl and of course, Connor McDavid.

This team is not one that built a winning squad on luck. They made the right moves, especially when it came to bringing in Adam Larsson and Kris Russell to build the backend. Head coach Todd McLellan has also helped the squad turn into a playoff-contending team. For instance, he turned Mark Letestu into a stable face-off man, and a power-play asset. Not only that, but Peter Chiarelli took the reins, and helped turned this team into one with a winning culture.

Overall, this team did a lot to develop over time, and this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Right now, this team has changed its look and culture, and that is why they are a winning team.