On paper, the Oil should have the best 3 lines in the league. With Eberle coming off a 76 point campaign and Hall coming back from his Frankenstein cut and ankle/shoulder injuries, they should be primed to put up numbers. Yakupov is a wild card, a man who has never truly played a team game. With Galchenyuk (in Sarnia) he was getting set up, but he lacks the big league vision to make those thread the needle passes. Lander has slowed down his potential, Omark wants out and may stay in the Swiss league and the clock is ticking on Magnus Pajaarvi Svensson. Devan Dubnyk is coming off a shaky campaign. However, his last 10 games of last season he truly looked like a number 1 goaltender. With Khabby willing to take a back seat role and help his odds and ends. He could materialize into the 14th round pick that the Oilers thought he would be in 2004.
Ebs in the minors put up 51 points in 34 games. Of those games, they dismantled the teams as one unit. They truly put up team performances. Which is rare.
Eberle, Hall, and Nugent-Hopkins (coming off of the 15 point MVP WJHC) are all in midseason form. If teams in the west aren't scared by the amount of goal potential they have now. They should be
The 2013 oilers are not going to be the 80's Oilers and successfully outscore everyone all the way to the Stanley Cup. Which raises the question? Dubnyk may be a number 1... He doesn't have 6 solid NHL calibre defensemen in front of him.
Assuming they keep Theo Peckham to opening day, they have a grit defenseman. A slow grit defenseman at that. One who takes stupid penalties and gives up chances to make the big hit,
Corey Potter, Jeff Petry and Schultz will come in with a lot of weight on their shoulders. It is quite pertinent that you watch Jeff Petry closely, as they will likely try to pair him with N. Schultz and load him up on the powerplay when they can.. This season means something to the Oilers, and of all the teams. The Oilers may benefit the most (youth+more games= not as many injuries as other teams). Corey Potter comes in as a wild card, he can slide from 3-6th defenseman and even lower if Klefbom (now injured) has a stellar camp. Where Teubert fits in, maybe as a quick fix until Sutton finds his way back from injury.Where does Justin Schultz come in? Powerplay only? can they afford his big plays to give up scoring chances? I am unaware if they plan to play Cam Barker (or sign him) or sit him again.
Ladislav Smid comes in as the Veteran next to Nick Schultz, likely to play a shutdown in big game situations. That makes one solid defensive pairing. The rest can have a very off season because of the timing, the youth, and the fact they never went through the last lockout.
At the time of writing this I had forgotten about long injury-plagued Ryan Whitney, I don't know where he fits in, or how long he will remain healthy. I see him as top pair with Smid/Schultz, Peckham seems most logical to be moved, as he has no defensive hole to fill. Defensive specialist Smid is a tight fit and a very good one with Petry again. There is a solid 4 defenseman.
The biggest question for Edmonton is Defense and the health of defense. Assuming the defense plays well enough, Dubnyk shouldn't let in more than he should, and should gain confidence (which he lacked last season)
How Yakupov plays in the Edmonton system will be interesting to watch
BOLD PREDICTION: Oilers make the playoffs.
Regards, Devon
I don't want to write out Schultz anymore.
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