Damage Control?

The Oilers have just finished their road trip from hell. Serious. Its been brutal, sure they won in Chicago, but losing 7-1 in Raleigh, 6-2 in Detroit, a tough 4-3 OT loss in New Jersey, and finally an 8-2 beating in  New York. One would start to question weather this is a good environment for the new Oiler rookies to be developing in. It would be one thing if they were losing close-er games, but being blown out every couple games can't exactly be helpful in the growing process. The Oilers seem to have a 5 year plan in mind. Ok thats good, so what year are we now? I'd say we are already in year 2. Last season was year 1, as we bombed and grabbed Taylor Hall, with Eberle and Paarjarvi already in the system.

I would compare this years Oilers to the Chicago Blackhawks, circa 2007-2008. They won the Stanley Cup 2 seasons later.  2007-2008 marked both Patrick Kane's and Jonathan Toews' emergence into the NHL. The Hawks team at the time already featured a young up and coming defense corps. Also, a good mix of veteran leadership and a sprinkle of decent young players were involved. In net things were eerily similar, with Nik Khabiboulin minding the twine, of course then 4 years younger then the current version on the Oilers roster. That year, the Hawks finished tied for 9th, with 88 points (with the Oilers), just 3 points out of the playoff picture.

This was the first time in 7 seasons that the Hawks had finished above the .500 mark. Their forward corps looked like this:

Patrick Kane-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Sharp
Jason Williams-Robert Lang-Martin Havlat
Andrew Ladd-Dave Bolland-Dustin Byfuglien
Adam Burish-Yanic Perrault-Rene Bourque

Compared to the Oilers current forward corps:

Taylor Hall-Shawn Horcoff-Ales Hemsky
Dustin Penner-Sam Gagner-Jordan Eberle
Magnus Paarjarvi-Andrew Cogliano-Gilbert Brule
Zach Stortini-Colin Fraser-Ryan Jones
*highlighted in red are rookies

Of course it is hard to compare as we haven't seen what the Oilers current lineup have accomplished over 82 games just yet, but with math, we can calculate what they are on pace for. True, not exactly accurate, but it gives a number. An obvious difference right away is the average age difference. Currently, the oldest Oiler forward is Shawn Horcoff (32). Whereas, the 07-08 Hawks possessed (at the time); Robert Lang (37), Yanic Perrault (36), and Craig Adams (did play over 50 games) (31). Possibly another major difference and helping hand, was the skill in the faceoff dot, with one of the best (Yanic Perrault), and Robert Lang both lining up. Which that in turn probably helped the younger centers learn. The Oilers on the other hand, rely heavily on one man; Shawn Horcoff. Of course comparing the Oilers current rookies to Toews and Kane might be an overshot, but Kane and Hall are both 1st overall picks, and Paarjarvi and Toews are both top 10 picks (Toews at 3 , Paarjarvi at 10).

Possibly the biggest separating factor for these two teams is the defense. The Hawks had already been working on theirs, which now has become one of the most formidable in the NHL.

Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook
James Wisniewski-Brent Sopel
Cam Barker-Andrei Zyuzin/Jordan Henry

compared to this years Oiler defense:

Tom Gilbert-Ryan Whitney
Kurtis Foster-Ladislav Smid
Theo Peckham-Jim Vandermeer/Jason Strudwick

So lets not kid around., Keith and Seabrook are a franchise D pairing. Ryan Whitney, not a stud. Tom Gilbert, not a stud. Kurtis Foster and Ladislav Smid are 3rd pairing defensemen on most other teams, and although Theo Peckham has had a strong showing, he is also basically a 3rd pairing guy. As for Vandermeer and Strudwick, they shouldn't be playing in the NHL. Compare that to Keith and Seabrook (team Canada champs 2010), Cam Barker was highly regarded, he's fallen a bit, but id still take him over the Oilers last 3-4 Dmen. Brent Sopel is an absolute warrior, so is James Wisniewski, neither are highly skilled, but they work their tails off. If anything, this is where the Oilers need the biggest improvement.

So the Oilers need to definitley start tweaking things, because that offseason, the Hawks added; Chistobal Huet, and Brian Campbell, ya sure both are over payed, but they both played integral parts to what the Hawks were to become. In the Hawks second year, they also saw a few players from within make the step up; Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer, Colin Fraser, and Ben Eager all had impacts on the 08-09 Hawks roster. To me the Oilers need to be somewhere similar when this season finishes. I'm not hoping for playoffs, but I am hoping for competitiveness, enough to get them close-ish. Of course the needs are very apparent (a veteran faceoff specialist/penalty killer, and a 3-4 shutdown defensman). Oh well, Christmas is around the corner....



Oh and before I forget, Sean Avery is a scumbag piece of dog feces: