Ladies and Gentlemen, the wait is over. The NHL season opens tonight and the Battle of Alberta is kicking off festivities.
This season the expectations for the Edmonton Oilers are finally, appropriately high. They might even be TOO high, but after years of being given a free pass to be mediocre, it’s a nice change. This is a club that was held to such a low standard by fans, media, management, and ownership that despite being objectively terrible for almost a decade, the building remained packed. Steve Tambellini stayed at a Holiday Inn and nobody figured out he wasn’t remotely qualified to be an NHL GM for years!
I personally feel that the roster, today, is not remarkably improved from the one that lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs last spring. It is probably worse, taking into account Sekera’s injury. Has that stopped Vegas oddsmakers and NHL pundits from suggesting that the Oilers could win the Cup this year? No. It has not. And that’s OK.
It is about damned time that the Oilers are held to a proper standard – The Standard. For Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers, success will only be measured in Playoff success. Nobody will look back at Connor McDavid’s career and call it a success if he never has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Fair or not, he’s expected to win it at least a couple times in his career. By proxy that means the Oilers are held to that level of expectation.
There are 31 teams in the NHL and only 1 gets to claim that prize every year so it’s not going to be a cakewalk, but these Oilers have generational talent on their side. It’s going to be about bringing everyone else up to speed. When McDavid is on the ice, the Oilers can do anything. Every play is dangerous for the opposition. When he is off…that’s where they need to improve.
We are hopeful that development from Benning and Nurse help things on the back end. They need to make more plays, consistently. The physicality is there. The ability is there. They just have to keep pushing the coaching staff for minutes. They are only going to do it if they can handle taking on more established opponents. For Nurse that’s going to happen when he makes calmer plays with the puck under pressure. For Benning it’s going to be about proving he wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
The non-McDavid lines will be under a lot of pressure to perform this season. It will either be RNH or Draisaitl in that feature spot. Today, it’s the Nuge. He has to regain his offense and push the play at both ends of the ice. He has become a defensively responsible player, but it’s come at the expense of points. He had previously established himself as a player who can get to the mid-50’s consistently. After inconsistent seasons from both he and his linemate Lucic, there is going to be a push from the 2nd line to perform from day 1.
Well, today is day 1 for the Edmonton Oilers. Enjoy. LINEUP
The Oilers sent Anton Slepyshev down to the AHL on a conditioning stint. Chris Kelly is practicing with the club moving forward, but does not have a contract.
Maroon McDavid Draisaitl Lucic RNH Yamamoto Caggiula Strome Jokinen Khaira Letestu Kassian
Klefbom Larsson Russell Benning Nurse Gryba
Talbot
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Dynamic Duo. Plan A did not involve Draisaitl and McDavid on the same line, but a few lackluster performances in camp forced the Oilers to go with their most lethal combination to start the year. I think we’ll see lots of different looks, but when things aren’t up to McLellan’s standards, this is something he will probably default to. And why not? They were the highest scoring duo in the NHL last season. With McDavid putting a greater emphasis on shooting, the playmaking ability of both players can make them dangerous everywhere on the ice. It’s a confluence of speed, size, passing, and hands that is very difficult to defend against.
2) Redemption Line. The 3rd line for the Oilers features newcomers Ryan Strome and Jussi Jokinen. These are two players looking for redemption. Ryan Strome is coming off of two seasons that have limited him to 30 or fewer points. In camp he started on McDavid’s wing but was quickly transitioned further and further down the lineup. He seems to prefer Centre to Wing and that’s where he’ll start the year. As for Jokinen, he has been an established top 6 forward for years, but the wheels came off the bus last season. He is here to prove that he can still produce like he did before. This line is a bit of an x-factor for Edmonton. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to see, but there is potential there.
3) Battle of Alberta. After being swept in the regular season series against the Oilers and in the 1st round of the playoffs, the Flames took the offseason to load up. They went after Hamonic to turn a solid defense into the best in the Pacific and maybe the NHL. The names added are the aforementioned Hamonic, Stone, Foo (AHL), Goalie Smith, and now the legendary Jaromir Jagr. It may not be enough to unseat the Ducks or the Oilers, but it’s as strong an attempt as they could possibly have made. I’m not sold on Smith as the answer in net, but this is a team that wants to make a big push. Both teams want to win the Pacific division and see the other as an obstacle in their way. This season is really and truly set up to be a real Battle of Alberta.
Puck drops tonight at 8PM Mountain Time on Sportnet. Game On! Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy