Word from eastern teams: MacTavishis very eager to land a center. Source says "noone is off limits." Normal procedure to get talks going.
— Darren Dreger(@DarrenDreger) November 24, 2014
That’s a series of tweets that tell us one thing. Change is coming to this roster.
The Oilers made the cardinal sin of depending on an 18 year old to play a feature role on their hockey club. Perhaps falling in love with Leon Draisaitl’s man-strength and obvious talent and projecting the player he might be in a few years onto the kid he is today. To paraphrase Tom Renney, without a Center you’re playing scrabble without any vowels. Well this is an Oiler team without enough vowels to make use of the consonants it does have.
Whichever 2 skilled wingers are strapped for playing time every game if they are on Draisaitl’s wing. It was pointed out very early on that the defensive responsibilities for those wingers also changed to compensate for their centerman’s inexperience. So in addition to playing fewer minutes than they probably need to produce, they are finding themselves in positions on the ice they arent accustomed to, which in turn likely leads to fewer offense.
Frankly, it was a serious gamble on the part of MacT, one that many pointed to in August as something that had a very large probability of failure.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that this team has significant problems and at bare minimum some significant changes need to be made. Despite increasing their possession share the team is still relatively soft, not particularly “hard working”, prone to the occasional 5 Star defensive breakdown, is missing a legitimate 2C, missing a legitimate top pairing defender, and missing a starting Goalie.
That’s a pretty big list of things they don’t have.
Here’s what they do have. They have a 1C. They have one of the world’s best LWs. They have at least 3 other quality wingers. They have a 4th line that might be the best 4th line in Hockey based on their actual role. They have about 3 really decent 2nd pairing defenders. They have about 3 NHL 3rd pairing defenders. They have 2 blue chip defensive prospects. They have a very young Center who probably has a very bright future as a 2C on this team. And, they have a 1st Round pick that is entering Holy Grail country.
The Oilers are a team missing a few key ingredients, but they arent completely bereft of talent. Edmonton wanted to get bigger. They got bigger. They wanted more possession of the puck. They are one of the most improved teams in the NHL by those standards.
What they never fathomed was that more than 20 games into the season neither goaltender would have a .900 sv% and the club will have yet again given up more goals than every other team in the NHL. MacTavish likely never imagined that his “Norris Trophy potential” defenseman would only be 35th in points by defensemen and 56th in shots by defensemen, not to mention completely devoid of any defensive awareness.
Change is on the way.
The team is taking calls on anyone and everyone in an attempt to upgrade down the middle. David Perron is apparently being dangled, perhaps Nail Yakupov or even Justin Schultz.
I would assume the only safe people on this team are Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
If I were making the calls I wouldn’t be calling about that 2C unless the return is someone fantastic though. I would likely be targeting the Oilers D. If that many pieces are available then I think it behooves this team to find someone who can play 25 minutes a night in all situations. I would be willing to take risks on Goaltenders no matter what their character flaws too.
Do the Oilers need a 2C? Yes they do, badly. But they need a goalie and someone who can stabilize the back-end before they need the C. This team can roll 3 lines all year and keep Draisaitl playing 11 minutes a night if they have someone stopping the puck and someone else who can move it back up ice.
It’s probably too late to save this season though. Whatever moves MacT makes need to set this team up into next year at least. That’s why I believe its imperative to find a fix for this blueline. Rookie seasons from Nurse and Klefbom arent going to fix that group. They need something more. A lot more.
UPDATE
As per Ryan Rishaug the Oilers have fired Freddie Chabot and Dustin Schwartz of the Oil Kings will replace him!
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