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Could the 2024-25 season be make or break for these Edmonton Oilers?
Edmonton Oilers Raphael Lavoie Darnell Nurse Philip Broberg
Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports - Bob Frid/Sergei Belski/Perry Nelson
Zach Laing
Aug 17, 2024, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 17, 2024, 14:02 EDT
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For a few Edmonton Oilers, the 2024-25 season is becoming make or break territory for them.

And there might not be a bigger name than a player who not long ago was considered one of their top prospects.

Raphael Lavoie

It’s time for Raphael Lavoie to decide what his future as a hockey player looks like, reaching a point in time where he needs to make the jump to the next level. His ability to score goals is becoming more and more prominent, racking up 53 goals and 95 points over his last 127 games. Those came over the last two AHL seasons, where his game has started to hit another level.
The problem? The Oilers don’t exactly need a prominent goal scorer in their bottom six. They need players who can play solid, defensive hockey, outscore the opposition and kill penalties. Lavoie could certainly help in the goal-scoring department, but in his NHL debut last year where he played seven games with the Oilers, he took only four shots on goal, as the team was outscored 2-0 with him on the ice in 50 5v5 minutes.
He’s a big body, who controls the puck well and, in the words of Bakersfield Condors head coach Colin Chaulk, was “a man versus boys” at times last season. Lavoie should get a long look in training camp this season, and it’s going to be up to him to show he belongs with the big club, especially considering the Oilers picked up a player similar to him in Roby Jarventie this summer.

Philip Broberg

The opportunity is there for Philip Broberg to seize it, should he return to the Oilers after the St. Louis Blues’ offer sheet.
His story in Edmonton is well known as Ken Holland’s first draft pick with the team, and as someone who has taken time to develop. The Oilers haven’t done right by Broberg in one sense of the term, given that the team often carried him on the NHL roster as an extra defenceman, and at times, as a seventh man. In fact, last December when word broke that Broberg had requested a trade, only to be sent to the AHL where he dominated, he had been yet to play in over 50 percent of a seasons games at either level.
Yet, once he got the opportunity to play on the Condors’ top pair and in all situations, he shone bright, scoring five goals and 38 points in 49 games. His point-per-game rate was among the highest on the team last year, and he truly came into his own as a player. So much so that when the playoffs rolled around in Edmonton and he was thrust into the action late in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars, he looked excellent, carrying that play over to the Stanley Cup Finals.
With Vincent Desharnais departing for Vancouver this offseason, Broberg is set to step into NHL minutes and it’s going to be up to him to prove he’s worthy of them over a full season.

Darnell Nurse

There are few players who have been more controversial in recent years than Darnell Nurse.
While he’s a player who has always had ups and downs throughout his career, with his most recent up landing him a massive contract extension. And since, he’s had a fair share of struggles trying to live up to the expectations of a $9.25-million. It all came to a head during the playoffs this year when Nurse was on the ice for the most goals against of any player. Among all players to play over 150 minutes at 5v5, his 3.78 goals against per hour was second worst.
The woes landed Nurse on Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli’s trade targets list with a critical review of the defenceman’s game.
We outlined the short and long-term problem that Nurse presents for the Oilers on Tuesday. This would be a difficult, complicated transaction to tackle – and there are so many unknowns now, including: who will be the next GM in Edmonton? What will his view of the situation be? At the very least, the Oilers should be looking for ways to be creative, maybe swap one problematic contract for another. Because Nurse could rebound into a solid Top 4 defender. But he’s already not on the first unit power play or penalty kill, he’s stuck on the second pair, and that doesn’t leave him much opportunity to play up to his $9.25 million cap hit. Other teams are already leery of his contract structure with regards to the $24 million in backloaded signing bonus that makes it almost impossible to buy out.
Players don’t land on a trade list without reason, and it’s an indication of the temperatures rising around Nurse, his play, and the salary cap situation the Oilers are in for the next number of years. This could be a make-or-break season when it comes to his future in Edmonton.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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