The highlight of the Oilers off-season so far was signing UFA defenseman Anton Belov.
I'd say drafting Darnell Nurse was the highlight, and he might very well be. We'll just need a few years before we know for sure. I'd be saying the same thing about anyone the Oilers could have drafted. It's always a wait-and-see situation with picks.
Let's just do a little review of where we are at this point of the summer:
L1: Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
L2: Paajarvi - Gagner (when re-signed) - Yakupov
L3: We've got no 3rd line
L4: Smyth - Lander - ?
ex: Mike Brown
D1: Smid - Petry
D2: NSchultz - JSchultz
D3: Klefbom - Belov
ex: Corey Potter
G1: Dubnyk
G2: ?
So how do you feel about this? Me? Not so good. But it gets worse.
1. Lost Teemu Hartikainen to the KHL
2. Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff both want to be elsewhere. We want both to go away.
3. Ryan Jones and Lennart Petrell have not been re-signed.
4. Eric Belanger and Ben Eager have not be dealt, so I have no idea what the Oilers do with them.
5. No one currently signed by the Oilers is a capable backup goalie.
There's all the horrifyingly bad news. Now time for the good news:
- Once the Oilers ship out Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff, the team will have $20mil in cap room to fiddle with. Meaning, they'll have the ability to overpay some people. Meaning, we have a hope of attracting a UFA or two.
So how do I, in my expert opinion, see this going? Here's the Best Case Scenario I can offer.
1. The Oilers won't get Nathan Horton, Danny Briere or Vincent Lecavalier. Toronto will get two of these players, and perhaps Montreal will get the other.
2. Considering the Oilers complete mess up front...missing four starters...the team MUST focus money on bringing forwards in. The situation on D is far better, if that can be believed.
3. Ales Hemsky will be dealt to Ottawa for Zack Smith. He'll instantly become the Oilers 3rd line C. Good call, Travis Yost.
4. I am hearing Clarke MacArthur is another Leafs player the Oilers could bring in via free agency. It would make sense. A decent 2nd line LW, allowing the Oilers to move Magnus Paajarvi to the 3rd line.
5. I think the Oilers will re-sign Ryan Jones to be the 4th line RW.
6. The Oilers will make a serious offer for Viktor Stalberg. Magnus Paajarvi will move to the right wing.
7. Ray Emery will be the goalie the Oilers try to bring in to backup Dubnyk.
So after all of this, we have the Oilers roster at...
L1: Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
L2: MacArthur - Gagner - Yakupov
L3: Stalberg - Smith - Paajarvi
L4: Smyth - Lander - Jones
ex: Brown
D1: Smid/Petry
D2: NSchultz/JSchultz
D3: Klefbom/Belov
ex: Potter
G1: Dubnyk
G2: Emery
All I can say is, if MacTavish can pull all of this off, I'll somewhat forgive him for the draft nightmare. This team would easily fit under the cap, and would have at least a little bit of talent on each line. Ryan Smyth is the only really broken piece, but you can't have a summer where you get rid of Smyth, Horcoff and Hemsky. The Ghost of 2006 would kill the Oilers dead if that happened.
The only other possibilities I can add to this situation?
1. Perhaps replace Clarke MacArthur with Ryane Clowe. He'd cost more, but he'd bring a more physical edge, which is what the Oilers need.
2. Replace Ladislav Smid with Brayden Coburn. The Oilers would likely need to shift their 2nd round pick in 2014 as well to make this work. I am less worried about the Oilers dealing Smid now that they drafted a tougher, meaner eventual replacement in Darnell Nurse.
3. Replace Emery with Ilya Bryzgalov, assuming the Flyers go after Emery hard, because he'd be a cost-effective option in goal. Emery might go for the Flyers instead of Oilers, just because there's a better chance there that he could become the starter.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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