We’re almost at the halfway point of The Hockey News’ NHL summer splash series, and we’re turning the spotlight on the Edmonton Oilers in 18th place.
In these summer splash rankings, we judged NHL teams that got better, worse or essentially remained the same.
We’ve focused on each team’s roster departures, roster additions and coaching and management hirings and firings. Right now, we’re in the thick of examining teams that stayed the same this summer. You’ll find the teams that finished lower than Edmonton at the bottom of this column, but first, we’re breaking down the state of the Oilers.
Additions
Andrew Mangiapane (LW), David Tomasek (RW), Isaac Howard (LW), Curtis Lazar (C)
The Breakdown: The Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup final for the second straight season, but the Florida Panthers grinded them down methodically. Now, Edmonton GM Stan Bowman has done his best to slightly alter the big picture for the team as they try to go on another deep playoff run.
The biggest addition of a proven talent is the free-agent signing of veteran left winger Mangiapane, who produced 14 goals and 28 points in 81 games with the Washington Capitals this past season. But Mangiapane’s individual numbers are likely to improve if he gets slotted in as the Oilers’ second-line winger. He brings two-way ability and recorded a career-high 35 goals and 55 points with the rival Calgary Flames in 2021-22.
That said, the biggest addition based on long-term potential is the trade acquisition of former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Howard, who won the Hobey Baker Award last year as the NCAA’s best men’s hockey player. The 21-year-old must earn his keep next year by proving he can hang with the big boys in the NHL, but the Oilers are betting that Howard quickly acclimates to hockey’s top league.
Finally, the Oilers added some veteran experience down the middle with the signing of former New Jersey Devils center Lazar. The 30-year-old had only two goals and five points in 48 games last season, but he’s just two years removed from a seven-goal, 25-point year with New Jersey.
Bowman needs as much veteran depth as the salary cap will allow, and with just $225,834 in cap space remaining, his work is pretty much done.
Departures
Corey Perry (RW), Connor Brown (RW), Jeff Skinner (LW), Viktor Arvidsson (RW), Derek Ryan (C), John Klingberg (D), Drake Caggiula (LW), Olivier Rodrigue (G)
The Breakdown: The Oilers’ cap constraints forced them to move on from a good number of veterans, most notably crafty winger Perry, solid two-way wingers Brown and Arvidsson, and offense-minded defenseman Klingberg.
Edmonton isn’t going to lose playoff games next season because they don’t have those players in the lineup, but you’d be kidding yourself if you think Bowman isn’t going to make some deals by or before the next trade deadline to add talent to his roster. And who knows – perhaps Perry, who left for the Oilers’ Pacific Division rival L.A. Kings, may eventually find his way back to Edmonton. Stranger things have happened.
If there’s one player Edmonton probably should’ve held onto, it was Brown, who departed to join the Devils on a four-year contract that pays him $3 million per season. That was too rich a deal for the Oilers to accommodate for a bottom-six forward, but Brown did a lot of little things right. In the playoffs, he had five goals and nine points in 20 games. That’s an excellent depth performance, and Brown is going to be missed in Edmonton.
The Bottom Line
In a couple of regards – in terms of their overall experience and grit – the Oilers have taken a hit. Perry, Brown and Arvidsson all bring a solid skill set to the table, and they leave holes in the lineup that Bowman tried to fill.
However, with the additions of Howard and Mangiapane in particular, Edmonton may not ultimately be missing those aforementioned departed players for very long. Considering they may also call up Matthew Savoie, the Oilers might even become a faster, younger and more skilled team in the bottom six.
In the end, the Oilers are likely only going to go as far as superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – and goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard – take them.
Of course, the goaltending picture in Edmonton will be a focal point all season long. Many were expecting Bowman to trade for a goalie, but that hasn’t materialized. One of the reasons the Oilers landed near the middle of the pack in our summer splash ratings is that the additions Bowman made were more or less evened out by the departures.
Edmonton is still going to be a top team in the Pacific. But many Oilers fans were hopeful Bowman would change up the netminding tandem, and Skinner and Pickard remain the duo between the pipes for Edmonton. So for the purposes of the NHL summer splash rankings, the Oilers deserve to be not too high and not too low. But we still expect they’ll eventually make more moves to fortify their attack and give them a better chance to win their first Cup in 36 years.
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Summer Splash Rankings
18. Edmonton Oilers
19. Minnesota Wild
20. Seattle Kraken
27. Dallas Stars
28. Calgary Flames
30. Winnipeg Jets
32. Buffalo Sabres
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
