Are the Edmonton Oilers forwards (already) better than last season?

Speaking of them, the two are everyday proving to be already not only the future of the franchise, but the present.

McLeod was another one who took some time to renew his contract with the Oilers, but for the team, it was an excellent value, with $798.000 but for only one year.

We can be sure that “clouder” will give everything he can to play even more minutes after his rookie season. And if playing with McDavid or Draisaitl isn’t enough motivation, he can work his way to get a lot of more money next season.

The kid is fast, skilled and has already proved to be a NHL player. We can only expect him to improve even more in this and next seasons

And we can’t talk about the future of the Edmonton Oilers without talking about Dylan Holloway. After spending so much time injured, he showed in the AHL and in the few games in the Rookie Camp and in Pre-Season that it is worth to give him a place in the big league.

Apart from that, the amount of experience he can get with a good offensive team like the Oilers and such a good coach staff with Jay Woodcroft, who knows pretty well how to develop prospects is amazing. It is already the time to see the kid getting some minutes, even in the top 9.

On the bottom lines, such as every year, we can expect a good competition for some ice time with the Oilers. Names like Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan are probably getting this spot at first, along Mattias Janmark, who just arrived in the team.

But Tyler Benson, Greg McKegg, Devin Shore and even Brad Malone will never take their eyes off the price. Beyond them, a lot of prospects are working each day in Bakersfield to get there as well, such as Colton Sceviour or even younger ones, like Seth Griffith, Cooper Marody and Xavier Bourgault.

"Dylan Holloway deserves the opportunity in the bottom six this season, and Devin Shore has proven himself to be a decent player in that role as well. On top of that, guys like Tyler Benson, Brad Malone and Seth Griffith can play the bottom 6 role whenever called upon, leaving a bit of a log jam having 4-5 guys who can play in the NHL, but only using 1-2 of them. Moving Foegele not only clears up some space to make another move, but would add some draft capital, or even a depth defender that the Oilers have been looking for this summer. Coming to mind immediately would be Carson Soucy from the Seattle Kraken, although the Oilers would likely have to toss in a bit more on their end."

To summarize all the three articles, are the Oilers better than last season?

The answer is: ABSOLUTELY 

McDavid and Draisaitl can be playing the best hockey of their careers, Hyman and Kane are ready to give everything on ice to help the team. Puljujarvi and Yamamoto are great, but want to prove it to the world. New names like McLeod and Holloway are getting there. The competition for bottom 6 places is great.

The defense is the one who got the biggest evolution from last year. Nurse can be a marvelous defender, and wants to prove it too. Ceci, Kulak and mostly Bouchard can have their best season in stats. And Jack Campbell finally gives us a unanimous first goalie, but with Stuart Skinner in the backup position, this can change in some years.

The expectations are high for the season that is about to start, and every Oilers’ fan who watched last decade’s games deserves to feel this positive felling. The Oilers can finally fight for the Stanley Cup again!!

#LetsGoOilers