Edmonton Oilers Talk: “…a trip to the Stanley Cup would not be an absolute shocker.” Says One Long-Time Beat Writer

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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Edmonton Sun

Are the Edmonton Oilers for real this time? Stay tuned

For 14 of the last 15 years, Oilers fans were caught in a vicious cycle of waiting until next year, only to discover it wasn’t much better than last year.
There is a much different look and feel to this year’s team, with general manager Ken Holland bringing in five new veteran forwards and changing 50 per cent of their defence.
This is as loaded as they’ve been, on paper, in a long time.
The Oilers aren’t going to take that long-awaited giant step forward until the supporting cast does. And while everyone in their room believes the off-season additions will finally make that happen, they’re just as curious as everyone else to see how it all comes together.
Head coach Dave Tippett is putting McDavid and Drasiaitl together with Jesse Puljujarvi for a superpower line, confident the middle six can provide the kind of support that wasn’t there last year.
Last year, the Oilers started slowly, losing six of their first nine games, but recovered just fine and found their groove the rest of the way. So, be advised, the first two weeks of the season, good or bad, won’t tell the story.

BLH’s Thoughts: It is kind of funny that for a few years now we’ve heard Ken Holland say that his roster needs to have consistency and you can’t overhaul the team every summer, yet he swapped over half of his defensemen and over 25% of his forwards are new.

Ah well, I’m not complaining. I love the new additions!

What I am intrigued about is how often he’s planning to run this supposed SUPER LINE of Draisaitl, McDavid, and Puljujarvi? Also, do you think he’s feeling inspired by the year he spent playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins (92/93) when their top-six consisted of Mario Lemieux (160pts), Kevin Stevens (111pts), Rick Tocchet (109pts), Ron Francis (100pts), Joe Mullen (70pts), and Jaromir Jagr (94pts)?

It’s going to be a slow month for the Oilers as they only play seven times I think. So, I encourage you to check out the Bakersfield Condors on the days that Edmonton isn’t playing. This weekend you can watch AHL games for free, so you should check it out and get a good look at the Oilers brightest blue chip prospects.

Sportsnet

Oilers Season Preview: It’s all about the playoffs for McDavid and Co.

Has the time finally arrived for the Edmonton Oilers? Are they finally legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, 31 years after the last parade down Jasper Ave.?
This is the first year under the Ken Holland-Dave Tippett regime that a trip to the Stanley Cup would not be an absolute shocker.
The Oilers will contend for first place in the Pacific Division this season, in what should be a two-team race with Vegas.
If Vegas is a legit Cup contender, then so is Edmonton.
Depth and inexperience on the blueline was to blame for their playoff sweep at the hands of Winnipeg last spring. Goaltending had almost nothing to do with it, with three games going into overtime (one at 0-0), but we expect Holland to address that position at the 2022 trade deadline anyhow.
There’s no law that says there can’t be another face plant, but Holland has armed his team with the necessary roster renovations to ensure that they can come at this thing from a different angle this time around.

BLH’s Thoughts: After watching Vegas cough up a 3-0 lead on the NHL’s latest expansion team, it might be a long year for the Golden Knights. With that in mind, is it true that Elliotte Friedman picked the Canucks to place ahead of Edmonton? If so, that’s a brutal take. I guess you gotta stand out somehow…

Getting back to the point at hand, at this point, the only thing standing in Edmonton’s way of a fantastic season and a lengthy playoff run is team health. They brought in some gritty sandpaper types but as we know with these players, their style doesn’t necessarily lend itself to staying off of the IR… So that’ll be something to keep one’s eye on.

Lowetide.ca

RARE EARTH

The roster appears set, although Philip Broberg will get sent to the Bakersfield Condors when Kyle Turris gets activated and someone will be leaving the roster when Colton Sceviour signs.
I think people are less than thrilled with me for mentioning Tyler Benson as a possible waiver casualty, but it’s Benson or Ryan McLeod (who is a center) as likely demotion candidates.
I believe McLeod is likely because there are no waiver issues, but this is a developing story.

BLH’s Thoughts: Would it shock anybody if both Benson and McLeod were sacrificed? I suppose that will depend on the health of Devin Shore as he’s picked up a bit of a knock.