The rebuilding started at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft with the Oilers brass selecting Taylor Hall first overall. Prior to the draft, the Oilers brass, the media, and fans like ourselves were debating between Windsor Spitfires' Taylor Hall and Plymouth Whaler's Tyler Seguin. Taylor Hall had the hype behind him winning back to back Memorial Cup MVPs with his very stacked Windsor team and Tyler Seguin tying Hall in the OHL scoring race while carrying a not so strong Plymouth team on his back, contributing 48% of the Whaler's total offensive output. Taylor Hall is a winger that could play centre, with explosive speed, dynamic offensive skill, a lethal shot and a drive towards the net. Tyler Seguin is a centreman with incredible vision, underrated shot, amazing playmaking ability and good head on his shoulders. As we all know it, being the team with the first overall pick, we can't go wrong with either. So as the draft day approaches, Oilers pick Hall, the Bruins with Toronto's pick select Tyler Seguin.
Despite having Taylor Hall, the Oilers had other young studs in the making, namely Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, and Linus Omark. Additionally, these rookies were joined with the Oilers other young guns, Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano. All off-season, Oilers waited in anticipation for the 2010-2011 season knowing that this was the start of a new era in Oil Country and fans are eager for the change that has occured in this organization. Although expectations are tempered a little and that the upcoming season could be a long winter, it nonetheless generated a lot of excitement and hope for the future.
So the season began with a bang. The new-look Edmonton Oilers defeated Darryl Sutters "turn the clock back" Calgary Flames 4-0 in one of the most exciting Oilers games I've watched. Jordan Eberle, the kid who made destiny panic, scored a highlight reel goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZYaIjvEqIA) and gave the oilers faithful a preview of their future. And how can anyone forget about Steve MacIntyre putting Ratis Ivanans in his place with a knockout punch that rang through Rexall Place? That game against the flames was literally a storybook opening for the Oilers but with all the hype and excitement comes the despairing notion of reality. Losses are going to come and they came in stampedes, some ugly, and some heartbreaking. As expected for the Oilers, or any other rebuilding team for that matter, teams aren't suppose to be built over one season. The Oilers were bound to take their lumps this season.
And the question everybody wants to know, how are the kids performing? From my understanding, the kids have performed well above expectations and we need to keep in mind that our expectations must be monitored and reasonable for players like Hall, Eberle, and Paajarvi and even Omark. They are the future of this team and there is no denying in that, however, expectations and patience can be tested when young players undergo long stretches of bad games and in a hockey hotbed like Edmonton, that is to be expected. From what I've seen, Taylor Hall and co. have really matured as individuals from the microscopy of scrutiny from the Edmonton media.
As for our other players, Dustin Penner, although not as dominant as last year, is still light years ahead of the Dustin Penner of the 2008-09 season where he was the favourite whipping boy of then coach Dustin Penner and the centre of scrutiny from the Edmonton media. Although Dustin Penner may be slow and at times, doesn't use his size to his advantage, he is a big presence up front and this is crucial especially for a team that lacks size up front. Shawn Horcoff who took a lot of criticism from last year's underwhelming performance and his atrociously overpaid salary has demonstrated leadership that will play a crucial role in the development of our young players. We cannot underestimate what Horcoff brings to the table. Not just leadership per se, but his solid two way play, his respectable faceoff percentage, and his penalty kill.
In the 2007-08 season, the Oilers welcomed two hot rookies: Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner, and at that time, we all thought they were the future of the Oilers. However, in 2010-11, they're more whipping boys than golden boys. Andrew Cogliano has regressed tremendously from a player that looked like he had potential of becoming a solid top 6 forward to a player that adjusted his role into a bottom 6 forward. His underwhelming performance last year has garnered a lot of support from the Oilers faithful into thinking his time with the Oilers are numbered. He signed a cheap serviceable 1 year, $1 M contract to give him a chance to prove himself and given his poor start, almost every Oilers fan wanted to chase the poor guy out of town. I really like Cogs, I really do, but at that time, I really started to feel maybe its best for Cogs to part ways with the Oilers and start afresh on a new team. However, in the calendar month of January of 2011, Cogs have started to pick up steam and is starting to look more and more comfortable and this might be attributed to the fact that he has finally accepted a role as a bottom 6 centre as opposed to a top 6 player. Despite Cogliano's tremendous speed, he lacks decent hands, low hockey IQ, subpar faceoff %, and weak long the boards have driven Cogliano down the depth chart. But with Cogliano's speed, I knew there was going to be a decent niche that Cogs will find in the NHL, and the question of whether that will be with the Oilers or not remains to be seen. Personally, I would love to see Cogs on the Oilers for the time being but in my honest opinion, I don't see him remaining an Oiler for long. But his performance as of late on the third line can change that and his play as a bottom 6 forward might give him a chance to be part of the rebuild.
In addition to Cogliano, we can't forget about Sam Gagner and what he has done lately. There is without a doubt that Gagner came to the Oilers with a strong junior performance with London and a MVP calibre tournament at the Super Series against the Russians. Samwise seems like a player that is going to have a bright future with the club. His rookie season saw him accumulate 49 points despite an atrocious -21 rating. In his sophomore season, he regressed to 41 points, however he did score 16 goals which is 3 more than his rookie's 13 goals. His third year remained at 41 points despite him playing only 68 games. So the numbers don't lie, he hasn't improved offensively. But looking at the big picture, he has improved marginally from a defensive standpoint. Part of the reason why his offensive production regressed is because he started to focus more on his defensive game rather than his offensive output which in my opinion is a smart thing to do. Good players know how to play the puck on both ends and he's worked hard to improve in those areas. One of Gagner's glaring weaknesses are his horrid faceoff percentages, his strenghth on the puck, and his not-so-blazing speed (however, with him losing weight, he's gotten faster and that's a good sign). But at the same time, he does get knocked off the puck plenty of times and it is frustrating to watch. Does that mean we should give up on Sam Gagner, the former golden child? Of course not. Four years may be a long time for a player to develop but for fuck sakes, it's the NHL. Let's not jump to conclusions and say Gagner has hit his potential at 21 and will be a mediocre player for years to come. Let's not forget that Gagner is one of the hardest working players on the Oilers team and with his work ethic, and his team first character, there is no reason to believe he won't improve. I believe Gagner is a late bloomer who needs time to get to the next level. And lastly, let's not forget the fact that Gagner was rushed into the league and that he's been developing under a non-ideal environment. The Oilers organization during Gagner's first three seasons were chaotic, lacked direction and an identity, and lacked stability within the locker room. Some fans believe Gagner has been ruined permanently because of it, I say that's balognie!
But I will say this, Gagner plays much more effectively with players with size that creates space for him to complement Gagner's lack of size. I'm tlaking about players like Dustin Penner, Ryan Jones, and Liam Reddox (although he's not big, he does create space for a player that needs it i.e. Gagner). Let's not forget that Gagner is a cerebral type player that requires the time and space to show his offensive creativity on the ice.
I also want to discuss about Ryan Jones emergence as one of the best bottom 6 forwards I've seen in a long time. When I think of hard nosed gritty third liners, I think of Ethan Moreau back in his prime (around the early 2000s). Up until last year, Ethan Moreau has been one of my favourite players because I admired his work ethic, his hard nosed no nonsense attitude, and overall his heart. Moreau epitomized what a true Oiler was and during his twilight days as an Oilers, that aura disappeared and I grew to hate Moreau, especially last year when he was known to me as Captain Momentum Killer. But now going back on topic about Jones, Jonesy does remind me a bit of Moreau back in the day and for a team that is known to be "soft", Jones' presence is highly valued. He does a good job of countering that with his hard hitting, bone crushing hockey style. You cannot argue the fact that he gives it his all every shift and he contributes on the ice every shift. Liam Reddox is also a player I absolutely admire because of his heart and work ethic. Although he isn't as talented as Jones, he is a prototypical third line grinder that can make a difference with every hit.
As for the underacheivers:
-Smid hasn't looked as great as I anticipated but knowing our supposed lack of defensive depth, I wouldn't mind signing him to a cheap contract of 2 or 3 years with regards to how our defensive prospects pan out (i.e. Petry, Marincin, Motin, etc.)
-Fraser has been a colossal disappointment. He was brought here to be a gritty and responsible 4th liner, however, he's been nothing but invisible and unnoticeable, so the question pose, why is he here in the first place. We might've overestimated his value as a 4th liner given that he just came off from a Stanley Cup winning team, Chicago Blackhawks.
-Gilbert "Creme" Brule: for a guy I thought surpassed Cogliano on the depth charts last season, it looks like he took a tremendous step backwards and further proof is he's a walking band-aid. In my opinion, Brule is now back in the dumpsters where he started and it is really looking like his career in the NHL is in jeopardy once again after it appeared to be on track given his strong performance in 2009-10. However, I wouldn't give up on him yet, he's had trouble staying healthy and it's only a matter of time before we see what Brule can do down the stretch.
-Turnover Tom Gilbert: Don't get me started, he's been an absolute turn over machine. For a guy who was thought to be the next up-coming star defenseman after that stellar season in 2007-08, Gilbert has looked like nothing but average at best and at worst, he's the oppositions best player. He gets knocked off the puck easily, lacks competitiveness, isn't very smart decision maker, and once again, TURNS THE PUCK OVER GAZZILLION TIMES! And worst of all, he's getting paid $4 million dollars per year and is signed for three more years after this one. Not a worthy investment on K-Lowe's part, that's for sure. So with his heavy cap hit and another three years, it looks like Turnover Tom will be an Oiler for a while. Although he does show glimpse of offensive potential, his horrendous defensive play is costing the Oilers and leading to almost 85% of the Oilers defensive breakdowns. For the love of god, he's got the team's worst +/-!
-Kurtis Foster has been a disappointing free agent signing as well. I expected a lot more out of him, knowing he is a veteran and I was expecting him to QB our PP the way Souray has, but that hasn't happened very often. He may have a booming shot but he's not very great defensively in his own end and tends to turn the puck over quite frequently. Not somthing I was expecting
-Zach Stortini: oh my, where do I begin. He's a nice guy, I'll give him that. He plays his heart out and gives 100% every shift, but effort along cannot make up for his immense lack of talent. He is an enforcer, a lousy one. An atrocious fighter and the rest of the NHL view him as a joke of an enforcer, ouch!
I wouldn't say Jason Strudwick is an underacheiver but man oh man, this guy just plain sucks. No hockey talent whatsoever. Nice guy if you're just nice and no skill, you don't belong in the NHL.
So by glancing over the standings and having a rough overview of what the season is going to entail, we can conclude with almost perfect certainty that the Edmonton Oilers will miss the playoffs for a franchise record 5th straight season. OUCH! Not something the 2010-2011 Edmonton Oilers are going to be pleased with. A team with such a proud history of winning, are now playoff-less for half a decade. It seemed like yesterday when the Oilers were playing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in 2006 against the Carolina Hurricanes, but as we all know, Pronger (and wife) fucked us over and we are here where we are because of it, ultimately.
As of January 27, 2011, the Oilers sit with 38 points with a record of 15-26-8 record, 15th in the West and 28th in the NHL, only ahead of the perennially dreadful New York Islanders and the ridiculously disappointing, yet surprising, New Jersey Devils. So what are my thoughts of the Oilers season going into the All-Star break? First of all, I can assure you that the Oilers will not make the playoffs and as big of a fan I am, I hate to admit this. I hate watching the Oilers miss the playoffs and I hate losing. I take pride in being an Oilers fan and I never am a fan of tanking a season for a high draft pick. A high draft pick is inevitable it seems but it should never be the goal, IMO. As a fan who takes immense pride in the Copper and Blue, I cannot fathom myself cheering against my beloved hockey team just for a draft pick. However, given the circumstances of this expectant poor season, the long term future of this team must be considered.
Given our place in the NHL standings, we are looking to draft another young hockey player that will take part of our rebuild.. The 2011 NHL draft isn't going to be a two player race (like last year's Taylor vs Tyler), but four young players have the potential of becoming the 1st overall pick! They are Drummondville Voltigeurs' centre Sean Coutrier, Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson, Kitchen Rangers' Swedish Left Winger Gabriel Landeskog, and Red Deer Rebels' centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. I will be talking about these prospects in a subsequent blog later on this month.
So in conclusion, the Oilers of 2010-2011 are just as bad as the Oilers team that finished 30th last season. The only difference, we have Taylor Hall lol. We are rebuilding like we should've done a while ago. The Oilers have a very bright future ahead of them despite the lowly record. This season is about growth and transition, not so much about winning and making the playoffs(which is the long term goal, not the short term goal). For the Oilers going into the second half after the all-star break, the Oilers have plenty to play for and I am not implying a playoff spot (although it would be nice ;)). Players need to realize that jobs for 2011-2012 are going to be on the line and if the players don't smarten up from here on til the end, they may find themselves out of work. As a rebuilding organization, the sense of entitlement must be shed and internal competition must be promoted so players that work hard and put the effort in are rewarded a roster spot to play for the Edmonton Oilers.
I believe this rebuild is going well and like I said, this is not a one year turnaround, but a multiyear process and it will take time. But don't fret Oil Faithful, the future is bright and better days are ahead of us. GO OIL!!!
