Edmonton Oilers Defense Key to Impactful Change
The 2016-17 season is bringing on a new chapter for the Edmonton Oilers. This chapter will have a different tone than what we are used to seeing.
For most teams, having the Edmonton Oilers come to town or even playing a Western Canada road game in Edmonton typically meant a win or at the very least a trip to overtime with a second chance at a win. The Oilers were easily categorized as a high-flying, first round talent group of youngsters that played poor defense and even worse goaltending.
Despite the number of top round picks that Edmonton was able to secure in the NHL Draft, they never seemed to amount to anything. This was a place where your NHL career was sucked in to a black hole, and your coaching career ended before the first puck dropped. The Oilers certainly have had the offensive talent to score goals and win games over the years. However, when adversity would hit, the team never seemed to play as a full unit.
What Has Changed This Season?
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Defense. The departure of star forward, Taylor Hall, and reallocation of the team’s salary in order to upgrade the defense with Adam Larsson and Kris Russell, has certainly been a helping hand this season.
Edmonton’s defense has been an Achilles heel since the rebuild for the Oilers began. The Oilers were able to clear just about $2 million in cap space by bringing in Larsson from the New Jersey Devils, and only spent an additional $1.2 million on Russell than what the team originally started with.
Though many fans are still upset about the lack of value coming back to the Oilers in return for the former 1st overall draft choice, the Oilers certainly have gotten two defensemen that are proving their worth. What Edmonton needed was not more offensive minded players on their team, but players who could back check, block shots, and help keep the puck out of the back of the net. By bringing in two top 4 guys such as Larsson and Russell, the Oilers have helped solidify one of their worst problems without putting nearly any pressure on their salary cap.
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What Should We Expect?
The Edmonton Oilers are a prime example, and are set to reap the benefits of a new and evolving NHL that we see today. A high-flying, high scoring, young man’s hockey game that won Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, and the Pittsburgh Penguins another Stanley Cup is where the game is headed. And who better to reap the benefits than the boys who grew up in the game than the ones who are playing in Edmonton.
The team looks to have re-tooled and now seems capable to compete with the rest of the NHL. With only seven games in the books for the Oilers, there is still a lot of hockey to be played and adversity to overcome. One thing is for certain though, under Head Coach Todd McLellan and Captain Connor McDavid, there will be no easy games when it comes to playing against Edmonton anymore.