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Oilers Time Of Death - 9:48PM |
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The Oilers passed away quietly last night at 9:48PM in a shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes, surrounded by about 3/4 of Rogers Place's capacity. The team is survived by the Bakersfield Condors who have won 15 straight and you all should absolutely check them out. The team is also survived by the management group that were responsible for putting the team into the ground and you all just know they are all going to survive this too.
Edmonton is not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and I don't want to be the one to strip the final shreds of hope that some of you still might have; believing the team could go on a run and squeak in to the final playoff spot... but I'm going to do it anyway.
The Oilers find themselves 6 points out of a playoff spot with 23 games left to play and in the Bettman era; that is equivalent to climbing Everest naked. It isn't impossible, yet it is highly unlikely. Edmonton sits second last in the Western Conference, have a goal differential of -33, and has one win in their last 10 games. They sit behind the Arizona Coyotes who have been plagued by injuries all season, as well as Anaheim who had only 2 wins in 54 days, and are dangerously close to being surpassed by the Kings who were declared dead in the water back in November.
As I have written here many times before, Oilers fans deserve so much better. The enthusiasm for the game of hockey in this city is second to none. There is no other fan base in the league that would continue to walk through the dead of winter to bars, arenas, and friend's houses to watch their team.
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Finishing off the final quarter of the season, there are still plenty of stories to cover. Edmonton needs to still smartly navigate the trade deadline, acquiring some value for assets while ensuring they have NHL calibre players on their roster for next season. The Jesse Puljujarvi saga continues to steamroll forward with no one sure what will happen. Leon Draisaitl will crack the 40 goal mark and could potentially even come close to 50. Finally Connor McDavid has fallen back in the scoring race but do any of us really believe he is out of it?
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LOOKING AHEAD
There will be plenty of time to discuss the future of this team and the moves and decisions that need to be made to give this team an honest chance in 2019/2020. Ponder on the lineup that I have illustrated below. This is what I believe the Oilers lineup should look like next season, with players playing in the spots they should be. I am not adding in RFA or UFA's yet, nor am I including players I believe will be gone before the end of the season.
_____-McDavid-Draisaitl
_____-RNH-_____
Khaira-_____-Gagner
Lucic-Brodziak-Currie
Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Sekera
Russell-Benning
Koskinen
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Who fills in the blanks? Which names from this list won't be here come October?
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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