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Oilers Roster Appears Set

July 14, 2017, 1:40 PM ET [308 Comments]
Matt Henderson
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
We are at the halfway point of July which means we ought to be right around the part of the summer that all things hockey grind to a halt. There may indeed be a few players signed between now and the end of August, but it’s also conceivable that the majority of unsigned guys wait until training camps open up.

The Oilers made a few notable changes between the end of the season and now. I think it’s fair to assume that this is the roster that the Oilers will go into 2017-2018 with. We can all hope that Jagr becomes an Oiler (or at the very least doesn’t become a Flame), but things appear to be set for now. Here are the changes at the NHL level or the team. I’ve accompanied them with an array of stats from last season.

OUT
Jordan Eberle 82GP, 20-31-51, 51.8% CF, 53.3% FF, 55.6% GF
Benoit Pouliot 67GP, 8-6-14, 48.3% CF, 49.5% FF, 46.0% GF
David Desharnais 49GP, 6-8-14, 49.6% CF, 49.1% FF, 56.4% GF
Matt Hendricks 42GP, 4-3-7, 45.1% CF, 47.4% FF, 48.0% GF
Tyler Pitlick 31GP, 8-3-11, 45.5% CF, 46.7% FF, 50.0% GF
Anton Lander 22GP, 1-3-4, 49.4% CF, 50.2% FF, 50.0% GF
Griffin Reinhart NA

IN
Jussi Jokinen 69GP, 11-17-28, 53.3% CF, 51.8% FF, 39.4% GF
Ryan Strome 69GP, 13-17-30, 45.4% CF, 45.0% FF, 45.8% GF
Yohann Auvitu 25GP, 2-2-4, 49.8% CF, 48.6% FF, 57.1% GF
Ty Rattie 9GP, 0-2-2, 47.6% CF, 47.2% FF, 33.3% GF
Kyler Yamamoto NA

As you can see, there’s more that went out than came in for the Oilers. The gambles that the Oilers are taking are as follows (I’ve placed them in order of importance to the Oilers that they pay off):

1) Jussi Jokinen can find his previous top 6 form and find a spot beside one of Edmonton’s centers.
2) Ryan Strome is a better fit in the Oiler system, potentially a 3C.
3) The loss of Eberle is made up by Jokinen and Jesse Puljujarvi
4) The loss of Hendricks and Pitlick is made up by internal growth from the likes of Caggiula and Slepyshev
5) Yohann Auvitu’s solid numbers in New Jersey are a precursor to greater success in Edmonton and he would be more likely to help in the short term than Reinhart
6) Ty Rattie revitalizes his professional career
7) Kyler Yamamoto breaks the NHL roster on opening day

So we’ll start from least important and move up from there.

7) There is no expectation on Yamamoto to make the Oilers, but he is a highly skilled player with great goal scoring and skating ability. He is teeny tiny and if he makes it late in camp then that alone should be seen as a huge accomplishment. If he’s here in October it’s because he blew everyone’s socks off.

6) Rattie is in the “Project” role for this year. Some people who value his WHL work ahead of his professional work will still think he has a great chance to be an impact player, but at this point it would be nice for him to have a solid season in the AHL and become a 1st call-up option. There’s obviously a player there, but at 24 years of age how much upside is left?

5) With Sekera’s injury there was a need for more LHD who can move the puck. Auvitu’s scouting report from Ken Daneyko and his underlying numbers suggest there’s an NHL defender there. His greatest opportunity (barring more injury) will come in the first 2 months of the season. It’s a small window to shine but as a 7 with a chance to do more there isn’t a lot to hate about Auvitu’s spot on the team.

4) Losing Hendricks will be a tough loss for the character of the team and I think everyone wanted Pitlick to finally have an NHL career. Pitlick will get his chance somewhere else and Hendricks appears to be at the end of his NHL journey. Both suffered poor underlying numbers and in many ways were already replaced. As long as Caggiula and Slepyshev don’t falter there shouldn’t be an issue there.

3) Eberle’s departure freed up some Cap space that the Oilers will use to sign Draisaitl, but his 20-30 goals a season are going to be missed. He had a brutal playoffs and that’s what a lot of people will point to, but you need to score goals to make it to the playoffs in the first place. Jussi Jokinen adds a solid chance to replace the majority of the down season that Eberle had in 2016-2017, but the real wild card is Jesse Puljujarvi. The big Finn drafted 4th overall in 2016 has a ton of skill but had a difficult transition to North America. If he can start to hit on that potential then the Oilers will have found a real replacement.

2) Ryan Strome was supposed to be a lot better than he has proven to be thus far in his career. He managed to reach 50 points once but hasn’t found that magic since. In interviews since being acquired by the Oilers he expressed that his preferred position is at Center and he’s been forced to the Wing on the Island. There is a reasonably good chance that he will get an opportunity to play 3C for the Oil this fall as long as Draisaitl occupies the RW spot beside McDavid. If Draisaitl plays center then Strome may very well get a chance to play wing with McDavid. He’s in a decent position.

1) The most important gamble for the Oiler changes this coming year is that Jussi Jokinen can bounce back. He produced less than half the offense last year than he did the year before that. If he can get back to the 45-60 point range then the club will have found gold with Jokinen. He is getting paid peanuts and can play at even strength, on the PP, and on the PK. A lot of people in Florida were upset to see him go and with a little chemistry he could be a great fit on the McDavid or Nugent-Hopkins line. As long as he hasn’t lost too much of a step, his brains will give him a chance.

I have 2 configurations of the Oiler forward and defensive lineups. At forward one has Draisaitl on the wing, the other has Draisaitl at center. On Defense one has Russell on the left, the other has Russell on the right.

Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
Lucic RNH Jokinen
Caggiula Strome Puljujarvi
Slepyshev Letestu Kassian
Khaira Pakarinen

Klefbom Larsson
Russell Benning
Nurse Gryba
Auvitu Fayne

Talbot
Brossoit

Maroon McDavid Strome
Lucic Draisaitl Jokinen
Caggiula RNH Puljujarvi
Slepyshev Letestu Kassian
Khaira Pakarinen

Klefbom Larsson
Auvitu Russell
Nurse Benning
Gryba Fayne

Talbot
Brossoit

The Oilers made some notable changes to their lineup, but there’s also a lot of familiarity. The defense in particular seems set up to go unchanged unless Auvitu can force open a door. The middle 6 forward positions has the most change and I think we are going to have to wait until camp before we get concrete about what’s happening there. Too much will depend on chemistry to make an accurate guess.

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