The Edmonton Oilers were once considered a power house in the 1980s, but lately, all they’ve been known to do is finish near the bottom of the NHL standings.
The 2015-16 season was no different for the Oilers. Only the Toronto Maple Leafs finished with less points than Edmonton last year.
Everyone knows the Oilers have plenty of talent up front. Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and company will carry the load offensively. The problem is that they still don’t have enough quality defensemen on their roster.
General manager Peter Chiarelli shook things up this off-season, but will it be enough to get them into the playoffs?
Off-season recap
Many expected Edmonton to take a defenseman with the fourth overall pick. Instead, the Oilers took Finnish winger Jesse Puljujarvi, who no one expected to be available at Edmonton’s spot.
In free agency, they spent a good chunk of money on rugged winger Milan Lucic. The 28-year-old gives Edmonton the power forward they believe they were missing, but he didn’t come cheap. He’ll cost the Oilers $42 million over the next seven years.
To land a quality defenseman, Chiarelli was forced to make a trade...and boy did he ever!
The Oilers GM shocked the hockey world when he sent left winger Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson.
Public opinion wasn’t on Edmonton’s side after the trade was announced, but the Oilers clearly think they’re better with Larsson and without Hall.
We’ll only find out how much better they are once the season kicks off in October!