It was a good day for the Edmonton Oilers yesterday. They beat the Seattle Kraken in what I would describe as a below-average effort by the team. Then a couple of hours later the Golden Knights lost which means as of right now the Edmonton Oilers are sitting in 2nd place in the Pacific.
With the way things played out last night, the Oilers are at 74 points while the Vegas Golden Knights are sitting at 73. This is the case even with the Oilers playing 3 fewer games. The Oilers can now set their sights on the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks currently have 83 points but have played 4 more games than the Oilers. If the Oilers win their games in hand the gap would be 1 point. Something for the team to keep in their sights for the rest of the season.
Trade Deadline Is 5 Days Away, What Are The Oilers Going To Do?
The trade deadline is a fun time for fans of whichever sport you are interested in no matter who you cheer for. The Oilers and the NHL are a part of that. Every year both fans and insiders speculate on what moves the team is going to end up making and this year is no different.
With the position the Oilers are in this team should be trying to improve as much as it can before it gets into the playoffs. The Oilers are one of the teams that have a legit chance of winning the cup so anything they can do to increase those odds should be done.
The question, as it is every year, is what are the Oilers going to do? There are many articles on this site as well as other sites, that look at where the Oilers need to improve and who they should bring in to fix their weaknesses. Whether that be a top-six forward or a 7th defenceman and everything in between. It is one thing to hope for a player, but making the trade is much harder than that.
An issue for the Oilers and most competitive teams is cap space. Being as tight to the ceiling as the Oilers are to bring in a player they are going to have to trade someone away. Trading away a player can cause a momentary rift in the room, but on the day the players on the team want to win, so if they end up better after the trade deadline, then they will get over it.
The week leading up to the deadline is always a crazy time as rumors are flying. As an Oilers fan, it always seems like if there is a player the Oilers are always connected. It is good to have hope, but in my opinion, the worst thing Ken Holland and his management team can do is nothing. I don't care if it is the tiniest move they need to try and improve in at least one area or it will be a fail.
Oilers Take On Penguins
The Oilers have a chance tonight to pull away from the Golden Knights as they face the Pittsburg Penguins tonight. Just like the Oilers the Penguins played a game last night. The main advantage is the Oilers game started at 2 PM while the Penguins game started at 8 PM. The Penguins will be the more tired team and the Oilers need to take advantage of that and get another 2 points in the standing.