Welcome to our offseason initiative — 30 teams in 30 days.
From July 16 until Aug. 14, we’ll be dedicating each day to a new team by recapping the offseason and looking ahead to 2012-13.
There will also be a series of posts looking at key stories, player profiles and burning questions regarding each squad.
Today, that squad is the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers on-ice performance over the last few years has been nothing short of abysmal. They have won between 25 and 32 games in each of their last three seasons and have consequently failed to come even close to making the playoffs.
However, beneath that pitiful record is a team brimming with promise.
Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have emerged as three of the best young forwards in the league. They already had an impressive core of youngsters to compliment that trio, but this summer they got even more top-tier prospects.
For the third straight year, the Edmonton Oilers were given the first overall pick and this time they took Nail Yakupov. On top of that, free agent prospect Justin Schultz decided to join Edmonton, giving them some much needed help on the blueline.
The Edmonton Oilers rebuild appears to be on the cusp of entering its next phase, but can all their young talent live up to the hype and even if they can, will it be enough to transform the Oilers into a legitimate contender for a playoff spot?
Stay tuned for our extended coverage.