Reasons Why The Edmonton Oilers Have The Worst Winger Depth In The NHL

There are many issues with the Edmonton Oilers and one of them has been glaring for a long time now.

This piece will be taking a more in-depth look into the drafting, free agent signings, and trades that have led the Edmonton Oilers to have the worst winger depth in the NHL.

I was initially going to write on whether or not the Edmonton Oilers had the worst winger depth in the National Hockey League. However, I realized that it is blatantly apparent that Edmonton’s wingers don’t even compare to any other team’s depth chart, and that this is not news to anyone.

So instead of looking at what is a dumpster fire of a depth chart in comparison to the lineups of the leagues bottom feeders. I’m going to analyze how the team managed to get to this point in the first place, and what’s stopping them from surrounding their elite core with a supporting cast that can pull their weight.

Misfired Trades

Taylor Hall? Jordan Eberle?… Who needs them?

There was no doubt that at the time one of them would have to go in order to fetch the top pairing defencemen Chiarelli was in search for. But Adam Larsson isn’t it, sorry to tell you. At least not for what the Oilers gave up. I mean c’mon,  Hall just went on to win a Hart Trophy in 2018… A FREAKING HART TROPHY!

And remember when the Oilers made the playoffs, and there was a proven top 6 winger in the lineup… good times.

Now don’t get me wrong, there were some negatives in Eberle’s game. Many weren’t happy that he didn’t score at all in 13 playoff games, he had struggles in the defensive zone, was far from the fastest player on the ice, and has a 6 million dollar contract.

However with that said, Eberle was also third in points on the Oilers that season before he was traded, with only Leon Draisaitl and Connor Mcdavid racking up more points in 2016/17.

So if you are trading a guy who is consistently putting up over 20 goals and 50 points, you better be getting someone back who can replicate that.

And no, the fact that Pat Maroon had one season where he flirted with 30 goals does not mean you can afford to move on from one of your most consistent goal scoring wingers just to save a quick buck. Somebody in the organization should’ve stepped up and said that wasn’t sustainable to rely on a couple of big, slow-moving forwards to make up most of the scoring from the wing.

So there you have it. In a matter of two years, the Oilers managed to trade away two proven top six wingers out of their lineup and brought in nobody capable of replacing them. That’s an easy way to ruin your depth chart.

Why not add salt to the wound by going on to trade a guy in Drake Cagguila who had a consistent spot in your forward lineup and provided some offensive flair (along with some defensive issues) for a defenceman that can’t even crack a d-core dealing with injuries?

And why make that move in a year that all the spotlight is on how the Oilers only have four players that can put the puck on the net?

Sure, there were some small scale trades that paid off in the short term. But those guys aren’t with the Oilers anymore and are barely keeping their NHL careers above water. So what good is that to the team now?

One last point: If you are losing Ryan Strome and Drake Caggulia trades, there is an issue. Let’s leave it at that.

Free Agency Slam…Flunks

Milan Lucic… enough said.

But in all seriousness, Free Agency has by no means resulted in any slam dunk signings in recent years. Who was the last free agent you remember having a significant impact on the success of the Oilers? I’d love to know. Not that Edmonton should ever expect to be the dream destination for potential free agents, but even a few small payoffs isn’t too much to ask.

Kris Russell and Mikko Koskinen have been guys that come to mind as being substantial additions but came at a high price point for their respective roles. And don’t help the fact that Edmonton currently has the worst winger depth in the entire league.

So if you aren’t finding them outside the first round of the draft, and trading away the ones you do see in the first round, how else are you supposed to find guys that can contribute?

Well, the Oilers thought they found that guy Lucic, and if they had gotten the Milan Lucic of 2011 they might have found their fix. But it would turn out that Edmonton had picked the worst year to be big spenders on the market. A year that saw the likes of veteran forwards David Backes, Andrew Ladd, Kyle Okposo, Loui Eriksson, and of course Milan Lucic all get signed to big money over long-term.

They missed on their big fish, along with everyone else in 2016. But even their recent depth additions up front haven’t provided much get behind.

Tobias Reider hasn’t even scored yet this season for the Oilers. A guy who stepped away from the term in order to get a chance to prove himself worthy of a bigger contract this coming July is currently writing his own career obituary in Edmonton.

Reider has been a reliable addition to the penalty kill, but Peter Chiarelli was banking on him being a guy that could provide some offensive options among the forward group. Instead, he got a guy who is still goalless in January.

What It Comes Down To

The fate of the Edmonton Oilers atrocious depth on the wing all boils down to a decade of incompetence on the draft floor. The misfire of several trades involving key players (and most recently losing almost every swap involving depth players). As well as overpaying free agents that were a ticking time bomb regarding when their play was about to fall off.

It is the year after year of mistakes made by multiple tenors of management that has led the team to where they are now, and it isn’t something you can fix overnight.

This was a team that just two years ago had many fans thinking they were finally sailing in the right direction. Until the man in charge quickly steered them directly back into an iceberg… and it’s about time he sank with the ship.

Good luck to whoever has to try and fix this mess after him.