Edmonton Oilers: The Impact of Adding Ryan Spooner to the Lineup
By Adam Girard
We take a deep look at the trade the Edmonton Oilers made in acquiring Ryan Spooner. Did the team make the right call?
On Friday, the Edmonton Oilers decided to swap problems with the New York Rangers, a strategy that has so far proved successful in Montreal and Arizona and was most recently attempted by the Penguins and Kings.
With 2 points in 18 games this season it was becoming pretty apparent that Strome’s time was running out in Edmonton. It’s hard to say the Oilers improve from a trade like this right off the bat. But Spooner has shown signs of scoring potential in the past few seasons.
And while Peter Chiarelli has not fared well in many recent trades, it’s tough to argue his talent analysis when it comes to the draft floor.
The fact that he targeted a player he drafted all the way back in the second round of 2010 shows that there must be something about Spooner he feels can bring value to an Oilers roster that has now lost 6 of its last seven games resulting in the firing of head coach Todd McLellan.
Can we expect improvements from his disastrous start to the season?
Spooner was able to put together 49 points in 2015/16 and was scoring at a 60 point pace for the Bruins last year when he was shipped to New York in a package deal for Rick Nash. And he’s averaged 0.60 points per game (50 point pace per season) since 2014 until the end of last year.
Strome, on the other hand, has never scored at a higher rate than a 35 point pace since his 50 point campaign riding shotgun with Tavares back in 2014/15. So if I were taking bets on who is likely to see success from this change of scenery, I’d be putting my money on Spooner.
This is the first real season in his career as an NHL regular that he hasn’t been scoring somewhere in the ballpark of his usual 50 point pace (although he’s never been able to hit the 50 point mark). All the signs point to this just being a slump for the new addition, and being slotted into the right situation might be just what he needs to get back on track.
Where should Spooner be utilized in the lineup?
As of right now, you got to start placing Edmonton’s winger depth among the worst in the league, if not the worst. So if Spooner can prove to be a viable option on the wing, potentially next to Nugent-Hopkins, it would bring a much-needed scoring boost to slide into the top six.
With that said, Spooner also spent a significant amount of time playing with Lucic in Boston. If he could get something, anything, even a smear glimpse of some offense to come from centering the third line with Lucic it would make this trade a win for the Edmonton Oilers.
But I think he would still need a capable winger on the right side to make something work, maybe Reider could be a good fit there once he’s back in action. Spooner’s career faceoff percentage of 42.9 is pretty much right on par with Stromes.
However, he was sporting a 57 percent success rate in the faceoff dot this season before being shipped to Edmonton. If Spooner can continue to build off that and show some chemistry with the Oilers depth forwards, he could be a reliable asset down the middle.
Hot-take
I don’t think the Oilers gave Strome anywhere close to a chance to succeed as an Oiler. Expecting him to carry a line of Lucic and a mix up of AHL caliber wingers was never going to work, and you really can’t blame him for that.
I honestly would have liked him to get a lengthy look alongside McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins. I mean he did score 50 points when he was on the Islanders first line with John Tavares. Even if it didn’t work out, I think the coaching staff should have given it an honest chance to work. I guess now we’ll never know.
Let’s just hope they give Spooner a fighting chance at finding success in Oil Country.