THE 2015-16 OILERSNATION SEASON REVIEW

Last summer, I rounded up the writers to sit down and preview the 2015-16 season. While not one of the writers thought that the Oilers would make the playoffs, this year, there wasn’t anyone that thought they would end up in the league basement yet again. In this season review we’ll take a look at where the Oilers went wrong, what needs to happen over the summer, and whether or not the Oilers improved despite finishing in 29th place.

I think the Oilers were bad, but not 29th place bad. But at this stage 10 years in you are either playoffs or non playoffs. No chance the Oilers were going to make the playoffs this year even though I started the season as I always do: betting my idiot friend in Calgary $100 the Oilers would make the playoffs.

Unfortunately you can’t separate the two, so I’ll say they were bad because of all the injuries. While ANY team in the league would have a hard time keeping pace after losing their top two centres, two of their top D, an impact bottom pairing defender and one of their top six wingers, it also exposed the lack of depth on the Oilers roster when they went into such a tailspin.

I contend that if the Oilers had a full roster for even 20 more games, an extra five wins would have been a completely reasonable expectation, which would have put them in the same territory as Buffalo and Arizona. That would have kept them in the playoff mix for a little longer, and would have been an 18 point improvement on last season.

I would say injuries had a major impact on the team. They halved their GF-GA gap, and that is progress. Plenty of work to do, and injuries cannot be blamed for all of it (lack of roster balance was an issue) but it was a factor.

Injuries shaved some points from their final total for sure, but the same can be said of every team. I thought they’d be at 82 points, but even that total would have left them 21st-23rd overall. I wouldn’t call that being derailed because they weren’t good enough to contend for a playoff spot even healthy.

Injuries were certainly a factor, but a bigger one to me was the increase in parity at the bottom end of the NHL standings. Dead last in the NHL this year was 69 points, and there was an 18-point gap between last place overall and the last-place playoff team. A year ago last place was 54 points, and the gap between 30th and the lowest playoff team was 43 points. They’re probably better than 29th with even average health, and 29th this year is not the same as 29th a year ago was.

The roster is better than the 29th placed finish. Fans hate hearing about the injury excuse, but losing Klefbom’s 25 minutes a night, three months of McDavid, and about four other key lengthy injuries absolutely affected this team. Still not a playoff team, but I’d like to believe a lot closer to one.

I don’t want to be that guy to blame this season on injuries, but I am. I am not ashamed to say that we depend on a 19 year old kid to lead our team. We’ve all seen the magic that Connor can do on the ice. I’m not sure how many one goal games we lost without Connor, but I believe if we had him, we would have won a lot more. 

The argument that McDavid couldn’t do it all on his own is valid. So let’s look at the other dozen long-term injuries we had this season: Klefbom, Nuge, Yakupov, Eberle. With a healthy roster, this season WOULD have been different. But injuries are part of the game, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Before the season started I said there was no way that the Oilers would finish last and I was right. Sure, it came down to a loser point in the last game, but I was still right and that’s all that matters. 

Chiarelli made only good moves and made the team much tougher. Connor McDavid showed up as promised when the Oilers drafted him last July and delivered the goods.

The biggest difference to me this year was the team didn’t just fold up shop the second they got down by a goal or two. We saw a lot of comebacks and a lot of one goal losses this year. A 2-1 loss is worth the same amount of points as a 5-2 loss, but I thought games were much more enjoyable to watch this year on a whole. They battled hard on most nights this year, which is something that couldn’t have been said the last couple of seasons.

I think the goaltending improved, and they did have better structure when veterans were in place. The 5×5 offense looked good for much of the season and I do believe it will be a strength. In terms of high-danger scoring chances, the team was -73 this year, -168 a year ago. So, that is progress.

McDavid did McDavid-y things really well. Goaltending was solid. The trade deadline was handled rather well, I thought.

Did they do something well? They kept secrets about injuries and their timelines very well. Not a lot of positives after that.

On the ice? Not a whole lot (beside’s Connor McDavid). Off the ice, management did some great things as far as a transition year goes. They locked in the best goalie the Oilers have had in years for three more. They brought in the dark horse, Pat Maroon, for not a whole lot in return. Along with acquiring Zack Kassian and Adam Pardy which I still think are good moves.

The Oilers improved their goal differential by 40 goals, which is no small feat. Were they still bad? Of course, but they didn’t get blown out as often as they had in the past and that in itself is a win. The team looked like they’ve had the best structure I’ve seen in years and I’m looking forward to seeing what McLellan can do in year two.

Play competitive ice hockey on a night to night basis. Way too many nights off again this season.

Obviously the power play was a disaster more often than not this year. And they were the fifth worst team in the league in shots against per game, and if it weren’t for the MVP play of Cam Talbot they probably would have had an even worse season than they already did. Shoring up the defence in the summer should help BOTH of these things next season.

The major issue for me was beginning the season without balance. Some of the things that went sideways were predictable—Nikita Nikitin has some back issues and that is hurting his mobility, Andrew Ference has lost a step and that does happen as a player ages—and the team clearly decided to see if they could cobble together a season with this defense. That was a poor decision for 2015-16, but a good one for 2016-17.

The power play wasn’t very good, particularly without McDavid. The penalty kill got bailed out by the goalie but really wasn’t all that good. The bottom-six was mostly bad. The Hall line was really good and then fell apart over the last 40 games. The defence was mostly bad throughout.

Pick anything. They weren’t good enough in any aspect of the game that matters. They didn’t score enough, save enough goals, produce on the PP, weren’t overly physical, couldn’t stay healthy. The list goes on.

I didn’t like how they managed Laurent Brossoit at the end of the season. I think he should have stayed down in Bakersfield instead of sitting on the bench, losing confidence in Edmonton. This, along with their general play on the ice altogether. Their special teams got nowhere, and well their defence is…you know.

I don’t understand the leash that some players get over other guys on the team. To me, it looked like some guys would make mistakes over and over and never really get the same pee pee slap as some of their teammates. I also don’t understand why Justin Schultz played so many minutes despite not deserving them, and I also don’t understand how the power play sucked so bad considering the forwards they had out there.

I think Chiarelli is about to show everyone why he was voted “most likely to succeed” at GM school. I think there will be a series of moves and a whole bunch of new players come fall.

Chiarelli dropped a quote the other day that basically said there is a way to go where they improve the defence without having to give up a roster player. If he somehow manages to pull that off I will personally build the 500 foot statue outside Rogers Arena (can we come up with a cool nickname for this place?).

HOWEVER, I don’t think that’s likely to happen. I would guess that Eberle is the most likely to be moved; he’s a winger which is an easier position to replace than a top six centre, he’s a proven 60+ point player and I feel like his “clutch” mystique from all those World Junior tournaments still carries come cache around the league. I doubt a straight across Eberle for whoever nets you a top three defender, but I would think he’d be a pretty desirable centrepiece of a trade.

I do think someone will go, and will guess Jordan Eberle. That said, remember I said a guess because that is what it is. A major item in who is leaving comes from the team Edmonton has targeted and their ask. Peter Chiarelli’s job is to find the best possible defenseman for an acceptable price. I expect it will be Eberle.

Yes, guaranteed.  Taylor Hall would bring the best return but I’d be hesitant to move him unless the deal included getting a bonafide first-pairing right-shot D-man in his prime. That deal would have to include a name most hockey people would rank among the top-20 NHL D-men. For me, Eberle is the other prime candidate, although the return would be less and there won’t be much left on the right side without him.

Peter Chiarelli did seem to telegraph that at his press conference, so I’d say yes, with the exact name based on return. Jordan Eberle is the most likely player to depart, but it may be that Edmonton can’t land the defenceman it wants without moving a centre. In my view, Taylor Hall only goes in the event that an elite defender becomes available.

I think Eberle gets moved. I fear Nuge gets moved. I can’t even entertain the thought of Hall moving.

I don’t think we will be seeing Yakupov or Eberle come training camp. As much as I hate to say it cause I love them dearly, I think they’re the ones to go. As we’ve said over and over again though, no one is safe. Taylor Hall could potentially be moved, along with Oscar Klefbom or Brandon Davidson in order to get a solid top pairing defenceman.

I think Eberle is gone and I fear that Nuge will be gone too despite the importance of having depth at centre. Paul Maurice one said that in an ideal world he would have 12 centres on his team because of versatility. Remember, a centreman can play wing much easier than a winger playing centre. See: Hall, Taylor – Smyth, Ryan – Pouliot, Benoit – Hendricks, Matt. Depth at centre is hugely important. 

Good? OK? It’s so hard to tell with this defensive corps. He seems good but I have been tricked before.

I was confident he’d be really solid this year, but he managed to exceed all of my expectations. Obviously he got off to a bit of a slow start, but then rose like a Phoenix from the ashes and has looked exactly like the goalie the Oilers have needed for 3 or 4 seasons now.

I thought he played well, but during the early part of the year had some issues—and he needs to clean that up this coming fall. Edmonton needs to contend for a playoff spot deep into the year, and part of that will be getting a few wins via their goalie stealing a win.

I thought he was terrific, especially in the second half of the season.

Since Dwayne Roloson left town, Edmonton has had two legitimate starting goaltenders: Devan Dubnyk in 2013 and Cam Talbot this year. Talbot struggled early, but even so it’s hard to look at that as anything other than a success.

Glad it ended stronger than it started. I thought as a whole it was good. He became a reliable stopper by the end.

With the history the Oilers have in terrible goaltenders, I thought that when Cam Talbot lost it in November and Nilsson took the reins, was pretty much Talbot’s hammer on the nail. The way he bounced back from that bad month is absolutely incredible. From there, his foot was on the pedal and he never took it off. Very proud of him!

Apart from the early struggles Talbot was rock solid throughout the rest of the year. I don’t remember who tweeted it out, but there was a graphic that showed Talbot had the best save percentage of any goaltender that played 40+ games since 1982. I think Chiarelli found a winner.

Nurse is a beast. I can’t wait for him to add 45 pounds of additional muscle and start whooping people on the reg.

Jordan Osterle was an incredibly pleasant surprise this season. I don’t think he’ll make the team out of camp next year but he’ll definitely be on the bubble to be one of the first call-ups when half the defence goes down again. He’s looked good on the bottom pair and he can actually get a shot through to the net from the point!

I thought Jujhar Khaira would get another chance late in the season, but he was more valuable in Bakersfield for the Condor’s playoff push. I can see him playing a decent amount of games in the NHL next season depending on how the summer and training camp goes. I think there’s a legit player in there.

If we are excluding Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse and Iiro Pakarinen, I will go with Jordan Oesterle over Jujhar Khaira in a close race. I was impressed with the performance of each of the callups this year, for me they all seemed to step in and add to what was here. That hasn’t happened a lot in past seasons (imo). I was surprised David Musil did not receive a call. He played well last season and is waiver eligible this fall. It may indicate the Oilers prefer other options moving forward (like Oesterle).

Darnell Nurse. Only spent six games in Bakersfield and likely could have used more, but, overall, he impressed me. Still a lot of rough edges to knock off, but I like his physical edge and his willingness to compete. Struggled at times and looked in over his head, but he didn’t make the call-up, the Oilers did.

Leon Draisaitl is the obvious one, if we can really call him a call-up. If not, I’d say it was a tie between Jujhar Khaira and Jordan Oesterle. Oesterle is a better player than I expected; I knew he could skate but his ability to support the attack was a surprise to me and he wasn’t nearly as bad defensively as I had been expecting based on previous looks. He’s developed nicely in the AHL. Kharia, meanwhile, finally showed some offence, which is basically the only item holding him back from an NHL career.

I thought Miller might have had a chance to come up. I was most impressed with Oesterle as a call up. He was playing huge minutes because he was the only one who could move the puck. People will remember that.

I think Jordan Oesterle is the easy choice here. He moves the puck out of the zone with so much confidence you’d think he’d been in the NHL this whole time. If I had to choose someone else, it’d be Iro Pakarinen. He started the year in Bakersfield but got called up with all the initial injuries. He played to stay, got first-line minutes (whether he deserved them or not), and played a tough, gritty game. 

I liked what I saw from JJ Khaira. The big man has some size, will throw his weight around, and seems to be finding a little bit of touch. If he can work on his offense a little bit than he may be able to fill an important role in the bottom size, at some point. I also liked what I saw from Jordan Oesterle after Brandon Davidson went down. I had zero expectations for Oesterle and he showed very well in his late season call up. 

I can’t even think about this yet. Ten years out of the playoffs is still front and centre in my brain cortex at the moment.

Obviously the most intriguing name is Steve Stamkos, but I don’t see a legitimate scenario where the Oilers actually sign him. The Oilers are looking for a backup goalie and a name that really stands out to me is Chad “Not Ocho Cinco” Johnson. He’s put up really solid numbers as the main man in Buffalo this season, which is a feat in itself. And two seasons prior, as Tuukka Rask’s backup he posted even better numbers. Coming off a $1.3 million dollar contract this year I think he’d be a reasonably priced, safe signing to backup Talbot next season.

I really like Jason Demers in Dallas, for me he has a lot of what Edmonton needs. I also like Dan Boyle, who would be a perfect fit if he was 10 years younger, but the Oilers are probably looking longer term. Milan Lucic has always been a favorite, I don’t think this team needs him, but suspect there is interest. David Backes would be a fantastic addition.

I think you have to at least pick up the phone and have a chat with David Backes, Milan Lucic and maybe Keith Yandle. Don’t see a UFA defenceman that fits the top-end, first-pairing guy the Oilers need. Lucic, if he doesn’t re-sign with LA, fits the size-with-skill type of player Chiarelli prefers and they have ties back to Boston.

There is a long list, so I’ll give you the short version. Edmonton needs help on the right side defensively, which makes Jason Demers interesting. It needs right-shooting wingers generally, which makes Radim Vrbata, Chris Stewart, P-A Parenteau, Lee Stempniak, Brad Boyes and perhaps even David Perron or Teddy Purcell intriguing. It needs a third-line centre, with David Backes a fascinating if unlikely option there. That’s nine possibilities; I could probably get to 20 or 25 potential fits depending on what else happens this summer.

Demers at D. Backes at C. Lucic for the right price. Stamkos for one year at a reduced rate just for fun.

Honestly not any that I can think of right now, I’ve been in Connor McDavid mode for 15 months and have trouble thinking about anyone else but him. Jeanshorts has said this before and I’m very intrigued by it. We should start looking at more college players to sign instead of focussing so much more on drafting players, because they are so much more developed at 22 than 17/18. I’m interested to start looking into college free agents this summer and see what the pool is like.

If the Oilers are going to trade Jordan Eberle I could see Chiarelli taking a run at Kyle Okposo. I also see Chiarelli taking a shot at Lucic, which I would love except for how much it would likely cost to come play here. If the Oilers move Nuge I’d like to see them kick the tires on David Backes to see what he would want to come here and add some veteran leadership to a team that lacks it. 

Patty Maroon. This guy could be a fan fave for years to come and the fact Chiarelli made the Ducks pay 25% of his salary is high-larious! I plead the fifth for who disappointed in a year of disappointments.

Though he played less than 20 games Patrick Maroon was a damn revelation! A big man who’ll gladly stand up for his teammates, and has the hands to tap home perfect passes from Connor McDavid? MORE PLEASE!
I wouldn’t say he personally disappointed me, but I was really looking forward to Oscar Klefbom making even more strides toward become an impact, top 4 D-man. He was well on his way until that damn staph infection ruined everything! I think he’ll be better than ever next year and continue to progress, but I can’t help but think of the impact he would have had on the team had he stayed healthy for most of the season.

Leon Draisaitl really stepped up, I was so impressed with him. Patrick Maroon after the deadline was an impact player. I liked Iiro Pakarinen too, although one wonders if there is enough offense there. All of that fades when we begin discussion of Brandon Davidson, who was absolutely a revelation. From fringe defender to outstanding value contract, he took one giant step as an NHL player.

Jordan Oesterle was a pleasant surprise, so was Leon Draisaitl in the first half of the season. Didn’t see the strides I’d hoped for from Griffin Reinhart. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a tough season.

In our preseason round table I predicted Leon Draisaitl would take a scoring job and run with it, but I didn’t see him being this good; even with the end-of-year slump he had a good season. Somehow Connor McDavid managed to be better than expected. Brandon Davidson had a phenomenal year. I was pleased, but not surprised, to see Teddy Purcell bounce back. 

I expected more from Mark Letestu at five-on-five, so that was a disappointment. Justin Schultz couldn’t score on the power play, and I had thought he was going to have a good year. The lack of progress from Nail Yakupov was disconcerting. I was also hoping for more from Darnell Nurse, but that’s probably less to do with him and more to do with my own expectations being a bit too high.

Davidson blew me away with how good he was. Absolutely blew me away. Nobody was more of a surprise for me. Disappointed? Schultz was much worse than even I expected. Fayne struggled a lot early as well.

Darnell Nurse is the first guy to come to mind when I think of disappointment. Granted he was thrown in the NHL when he wasn’t ready and it wasn’t his fault. He needs to start the year in Bakersfield next year as it was very apparent he was struggling all season. 

We all know what kind of player Matt Hendricks is and has been for us, but this year he really stood out to me in a great way. He doesn’t put up great points but for the year we have, finishing +2 I think is pretty impressive for a bottom six player. It was really apparent that he was missing when he was out on the IR. The guy brings so much energy to the team, and you can always count on him to stand up for guys when needed, and throw his body around.

He was only here for a short time but we all had a good time cheering for Pat Maroon. The guy is a loveable giant that scored some big goals down the stretch and was always willing to defend his teammates. I love the guy and hope that he can build off his finish and come back for a strong 2016-17 campaign.

I have to say that I was disappointed with Justin Schultz in every way possible. I thought that playing for a solid coach like Todd McLellan would have improved his game but it didnt… at all. I was also disappointed that I didn’t get to see Nail Yakupov play more games with Connor McDavid after they both came back from injury. There was something there with ConYak and we never really got to see much more of it.

Thank god Todd McLellan is behind the Oilers bench. More than any other Oilers Coach or Management type in years past I actually think this guy knows more about what it means to be an Oiler than most of the Oilers. In Todd I trust across the board. Chia needs to get him some more committed players and this guy will lead us back to the playoffs I am certain of it.

I’d give him a solid B. Like pretty much every coach before him he didn’t have the worlds best roster to work with. But there were quite a few decisions that I still don’t really understand. Letestu got way too much power play time, and once again Justin Schultz was gifted way too many minutes a night for no apparent reason. We’ve all said our piece about Yakupov already but I feel like he could have been utilized better.

I think he succeeded in communicating, both with the players and the media. And while it’s obviously not completely on him the special teams (mostly the power play) clearly need to be tweaked next year.

I thought he had a good season, in several areas. Many of the young players (Davidson, Leon) spiked under him and the veterans (Hall, Pouliot, Eberle) delivered solid production. He had a more difficult time sussing out the defense, but in fairness there wasn’t a lot to work with there. I also think he was outstanding with the media, calling out Corsi while introducing something called Shot Volume—the exact same thing! He is a very smart man, a veteran coach and a big get for the Oilers imo. 

Like all coaches, I think he got maybe a little stubborn on some players. Lauri Korpikoski was not a Shot Volume monster, and Darnell Nurse struggled mightily before McLellan placed him in a less stressful slot in the order. I think coaches are always going to be criticized for this kind of thing, partly because they may not be the ones pulling the strings in terms of roster makeup and deployment.

I’d give him a C-plus. Never used injuries as an excuse even though they were a factor.  Liked his honest assessments of team and player performances.  There’s always a feeling out process with a new coach and I thought McLellan handled the transition well. When the player personnel at his disposal improves, so will he. No doubt about that, given his track record in San Jose.

B-. The team was in games for the most part, and the number of serious embarrassments – both big losses and long-term losing streaks – were kept to a minimum. The team never seemed to crash and burn the way past editions have, though the overall results weren’t a lot better. On the improvement side of things, the penalty kill needs to allow fewer shots, the power play needs to be more effective and puck possession needs to improve dramatically at five-on-five. Also, less Lauri Korpikoski would be great.

C+. His Power Play was not effective and didn’t adjust enough to take advantage of what he had available. He also played Korpikoski way too much and in situations that mattered when he bled chances against. I’ll say this, it’s hard to show well with so many injuries.

It’s tough to grade a guy when all the past coaches have C’s & D’s. So maybe a B for McLellan? It’s nice having a coach in Edmonton that is so easy to talk to and straight forward with the media. He’s brought in a lot of ideas (from reading practice recaps) that I feel a lot of guys wouldn’t think of. Granted he didn’t have MUCH to work with due to our defence roster and injuries, I still kind of wish he would have found a way to get our powerplay going. Always room for improvement.

I think Todd McLellan did a lot of the things we expected him to apart from improve the power play. The Oilers improved in several major categories (the bar was set extremely low) and I think they played with a much better structure than we’ve seen before. The Oilers also didn’t have that “lay down and die” look about them which was prominent in the Eakins era. 

Character and honour. If you don’t want to be an Oiler you need to go regardless of your skill level. And 4 D would be just great.

I’d like to see a third line that can contribute more offence. I know a lot of people seem adverse to the idea of having three lines that can score, and I agree that it’s probably not the best idea to have three lines playing essentially the same type of game, but if they could find a way to have guys with good possession numbers, who are responsible defensively but are also a threat to score on any given shift that would be amazing. 30-35 points per player on the third line would be ideal, and I don’t think that’s too unreasonable.

I would say he needs two right-handed defensemen, a right-handed two-way center who can play third line or better, a Pisani-type to replace Korpikoski, a strong backup goaltender option, a watershed draft devoted to procuring forwards, and an extremely active free-agent signing season—specifically CHL, College and Euro free agents.

The Oilers finished 29th. There isn’t any area Chiarelli doesn’t need to improve if he can.

The right side of the roster needs help. If Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl aren’t both playing centre, though, the biggest need may be a quality third line pivot, ideally a right shooter who can help on the power play and handle a two-way role at even-strength. A backup goalie should be added as well.

I very passionately believe that the defensemen this team is missing are affecting every aspect of the game. No offensive defensemen mean the Forwards aren’t getting the puck enough. Nobody who can play 25 mins against top opposition means weakness in the own zone too. Fixing the D will lead to more goals for and less against. We won’t know what this group can do without two quality defenders.

We talked a little bit about this in the office, and the only thing I can think of is maybe staff and people behind the scenes that the public doesn’t really know about. This may be a dumb accusation but would a completely different training/medical staff have affected all the injuries we had this season? I think only he knows that, so I’m interested in seeing any behind-the-scene staff changes he may or may not make.

Defense is obviously the biggest hole on the roster, but I think he also needs to work on the third line. It would be nice if the third line was able to generate a little bit more offense, and help contribute more up ice. That is more nitpicking than anything since everyone knows that defense is the major issue around here.