The dust has now settled on the busy couple of weeks for NHL General Managers. The Expansion Draft, Entry Draft, and Free Agency day are now in the books. I believe the Edmonton Oilers are a better team now than they were at the end of last season. Here are the 3 reasons why.
1- More Offensive Depth
With the signing of Zach Hyman, the Oilers finally have two top 6 left-wingers for the first time in a long time. Zach Hyman gives the option of playing Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on separate lines. This provides the ability to have two dangerous goal-scoring lines. Then if they want to put McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line they can move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to center with Hyman or Jesse Puljujarvi on his wing.
Trading for Warren Foegele is another much-needed move to be done. This moves slots players into spots where they are better suited for. No offense to Tyler Ennis or Alex Chiasson but Warren Foegele is a much better fit for that role. Foegele is also an excellent penalty killer and will fill the hole left by the loss of Jujhar Khaira.
2- Top End Defensive Experience
The big trade of the offseason for the Edmonton Oilers was acquiring Duncan Keith from the Chicago Blackhawks. Keith adds the most experience this off-season. Winning a couple of Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks and playing over 130 playoff games, Keith has played in almost every NHL scenario. It’s not just the playoff games, he has played nearly 1,200 regular-season games. His leadership in the locker room will hopefully take this team far into the Playoffs.
Cody Ceci who was signed as a replacement for the loss of Adam Larsson will also add some experience. Playing 400 more games than Ethan Bear will add the experience they need in the top 4.
3-Goaltending Wasn’t a Problem Last Year
After the Edmonton Oilers got swept out of the NHL Playoffs by the Winnipeg Jets no one was blaming the goaltending for those four losses. Now that time has gone by there are lots of people, both fans and media, saying that the Oilers should have upgraded their goaltending. I do not think that is 100% true. The Oilers had the 9th least goals scored against last season, so goaltending was not a problem.
I think that having a healthy Mike Smith at the start of the season will help Mikko Koskinen’s numbers get better as well. Koskinen’s play decreases if he is asked to play too many games in a row. We have seen this twice now after they traded away Cam Talbot and to start last year when Smith was injured. If the Oilers can give both goalies the amount of rest and playing time they require there is reason to believe that they will be as good, if not better than they were last year.
Unfortunately we will not truly know if any of the these points are valid until the Edmonton Oilers hit the ice as a team later this year. Till then all we can do is speculate on how the team will do, along with keep taking looks on how the lineup will look on opening day.