NHL Season Preview: Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers



Last Season's standings: record- 41-28-13 for 95 points. The Oilers were the Spoilers last year finishing in the 8th and final playof spot, 3rd in the Western Conference. They also went on a major play off run, coming within one game of winning Lord Stanley's Cup.

In: Joffrey Lupul F (via trade w/ Anaheim Ducks); Ladislav Smit D (via trade w/ Anaheim Ducks); Jan Hjeda D (via trade w/ Buffalo Sabres); Fernando Pisani F; Dwayne Roloson G; Marty Reasoner F (prev. team: Boston Bruins); Daniel Tjarnqvist D (prev. team: Minnesota Wild); Shawn Horcoff F; Jarret Stoll F; Ales Hemsky F

Out: Chris Pronger D (via trade w/ Anaheim Ducks); Jaroslav Spacek D (new team: Buffalo Sabres); Georges Laraque F (new team: Phoenix Coyotes); Micheal Peca F (new team: Toronto Maple Leafs); Sergei Samsanov F (new team: Montreal Canadiens); Dan Smith D (new team: Detroit Red Wings); Radek Dvorak F (new team: St. Louis Blues); Ty Conklin G (new team: Columbus Blue Jackets)

Season Outlook: Poor. By far the biggest headline of the Oilers off-season was the trade demand of Chris Pronger shortly after the Oilers narrowly missed winning the Cup. A secondary headline was the continued inability of the Oilers to keep their good players. Losing Samsanov, Dvorak, Peca and Laraque, 4 players who made major contributions to last season's suprise run is really going to hurt. Luckily, their longest serving player Ryan Smyth is back to attempt to help the Oilers make the playoffs again. Raffi Torres, Jarret Stoll and Fernando Pisani are looking to repeat the fantastic play in the Playoffs. Scoring depth will be an issue the Oilers will have to deal with throughout the upcoming season.

Season Prediction: The Oilers will compete right up until the end for the final playoff spot, but they will fall short finishing 3rd in the Northwest Division, 9th in the Western Conference.