Post Deadline Outlook

Been awhile since last post, my bad. I feel really sorry for the many readers on here who have become complacent due to the lack of quality reading material. Don't worry though, because deadline day has passed and there is some blogging to be done!! I am sure Smith will have some of his own input on how the day/month has gone, and what the future holds for our beloved Oilers. If today were to signify anything, I think it would be that the Oilers are now about 2-3 years away from being a serious contender. Most likely in the last year of the big three's contracts...



Who Will Miss Penner the Most?

That answer is easy. Joey Moss. Pen's bought him probably the sickest pair of runners and I think they spent some real quality time together. Yes, it wont be the Oilers or their fans. Penner was that awkward misbehaving middle child that some days you just wanted to praise to no end, and other days you wanted to disown him altogether. Truly though, in the end, Penner did justify his contract and all the pain that went into bringing him here. He is a proven 30 goal scorer, quality teammate, and a massive force on the puck. Of course all of this is when he feels like being that way, which is usually, if your lucky, for 60% of the season. The Oilers will miss having the big body and the magic that would happen coming out of the corner, but the future is arrived, and big Pen's was sadly not a part of it. On a side note, Go Kings! Love to see that 3rd turn into a 2nd!



The Sporer Crystal Ball

Let me look into my crystal ball and try to see what the future looks like for the Edmonton Oilers. First off, I do not see them finishing dead last. Bryan Murray has done a good job gearing his team to take that spot. So the Oil will most likely end up picking 2 or 3. Which is fine as the top 3-4 players are all mostly interchangeable, according to scouts. The question will be; what do they do with their second 1st round pick. The second pick for the Oilers all depends on where the LA kings finish or what round they are ousted from the playoffs. So the pick would most likely range anywhere from 18-30. Many sports analysts are saying that the Oilers might look at packaging that pick with a roster player (Brule, Cogliano...etc), and move up some spots. Personally I like the move as long as they can select someone of some pedigree.

On the free agency front, I think that priority number one would be signing our RFA's and any UFA's that need to stick around. Here is a list of the Oilers upcoming UFA's and RFA's:

RFA's
Andrew Cogliano
JF Jacques
Liam Reddox
Ladislav Smid
Theo Peckham
Taylor Chorney
Zach Stortini
Ryan O'Marra

UFA's
Ryan Jones
Steve MacIntyre
Jim Vandermeer
Jason Strudwick
Richard Petiot
Martin Gerber
Jeff Deslauriers
Alex Giroux

As far as the RFA's go, Smid, Peckham, Chorney, and O'Marra are the obvious ones to get qualified. As for Reddox, Jacques, and Stortini, I think the Oilers sign them all on two way deals just to keep the farm competitive, but at the same time maybe some bodies need to move out so some of the Oilers draft picks can start moving in. Andrew Cogliano will be a very interesting story this summer. After giving the kid a 1 year $1 million contract, he did okay, made some progress in the compete level of his game, but still hasn't proven himself as a top tier forward. The reality is, Cogliano is going to be a bottom 6 forward, and he isn't a bad one either. So if Cogliano cannot accept that, and the pay that goes with it, then he and the Oilers may have to part ways.

On the UFA side of things, Ryan Jones is the must sign. with 13 goals so far, he has proven himself to be a great 3rd-4th line banger/scorer. He might not be a part of the long term plan, but keeping him around for another couple years doesn't hurt. One of Jim Vandermeer or Jason Strudwick will be resigned as a 6-7 defenseman. Obviously with Strudwick's most likely retirement, signing Vandermeer should be pretty straight forward. As for Steve MacIntyre, in my personal opinion, the Oilers need to move on and find someone who can actually skate. Petiot and Giroux have been great for the farm, but I don't know how many bodies the Oilers need to move to make room for some of their prospects. Deslauriers will probably go elsewhere for greater opportunity. Marty Gerber would surprise me if he didn't as well.

Concerning the open market of free agents, there has been talk amongst some local sports analysts that the Oilers are gearing up to take a run at signing Shea Weber. If so, the Oilers will be signing their franchise defenseman and probably the cornerstone of where this franchise is going. Other potential UFA targets for the Oilers (as far as needs, and what Ive heard) are; Eric Brewer, Kevin Bieksa, Ville Leino, Cam Janssen, Eric Godard, Vernon Fiddler, Zenon Konopka, Joel Ward, Marty Reasoner, Scottie Upshall, and Curtis Glencross. The Oilers needs going into next season are; grit, size, toughness, face-off specialty, and maybe a decent defender. The fact of the matter is, the Oilers more or less have their top six guys set for the next few years.
So far this is what next years lineup looks like (with holes).

Hall           Horcoff       Hemsky
Paajarvi     Gagner        Eberle
(           )      Brule         (        )          *Cogliano
Omark        Fraser        (        )          *Jones

          Gilbert      Whitney
           Foster      (         )                    *Smid
          Petry         (          )                   *Vandermeer

              Khabiboulin
                 Dubnyk


The Oilers have a few holes to fill, but their future looks set, especially with some other prospects moving ahead in their development as well. Anton Lander, Teemu Hartikainen, and Ryan O'Marra could all make strong pushes to make the team out of camp. The farm team will get stronger as well, as Colten Teubert has joined the fold, Curtis Hamilton will probably make the move to the AHL along with goalies Olivier Roy and Tyler Bunz. Other hopefuls for the farm include; Ryan Martindale, Cameron Abney, Toni Rajala, and Jeremie Blain.

Anyways, that's your Oilers future outlook...

-Sporer