ESPN: Edmonton Oilers 5th in West

Scott Burnside, at ESPN.com, posted his summer NHL power rankings, which has the Oilers slotted in at 5th in the West based on the Oilers stong finish to the end of the season and the off-season additions of Visnovsky and Cole.

While it is nice to see the Oilers get some respect from the media (THN – I am looking at you) the power rankings of an ESPN columist are just that – the power rankings of an ESPN columnist. But it does beg the question of the worthiness of that ranking.

Are we truly the 5th best team in the west?

The last true point of reference we have for the Oilers place among the western teams is the final regular season standings. The Oilers finished three points out of the playoffs in 9th place.

This leads us to the question of whether or not we have done enough in the off-season to now be worthy of jumping pass four other teams in the west – all who finished ahead of us in real terms last season.

My West Top 4

#1 – Detriot - won the cup, added Hossa, and lost no one of significance in the off-season. It makes it difficult, if not impossible, to bump them from the top spot in the west.

#2 – San Jose – the Sharks continue their reputation as playoff-duds but in the regular season remain a powerhouse. With a revamped blue-line, thanks to the additions of Boyle, Blake and Lukowich, and no major changes up front the team looks even better than last – but they are starting to get older and the window is closing.

#3 – Dallas – while some expected Dallas to falter last year, the Stars did nothing of sort thanks to the strong performances by Ribeiro and Morrow. With the addition of super-pest Sean Avery and a full year of Brad Richards this team should be even better than last year and only points to them moving higher up in the west.

#4 – Anaheim - feelings aside, as a die-hard Oilers fan, the Ducks are likely to remain a significant presence in the West. While they didn’t have an inspiring off-season – Morrison and Montador – they are still a big strong team with solid goaltending, two world class defencemen (if Niedermayer would make up his mind) and two dynamic forwards in Getzlaf and Perry. But a lack of offensive depth remains and points to them slipping out of the top three.

Bottom – Up

#15 – St. Louis – the Blues finished the season tied for second last in the west, which would lead one to expect John Davidson and company to make some big moves in the off-season to turn things around. If Matt Foy and Brad Winchester are the “answer” – the Blues are in great shape to win the lottery pick. A look at their roster does little to inspire one to suggest that St. Louis will do anything but get worse this year.

#14 – L.A. Kings – the Kings finished tied for last in the NHL last season. A look to the offseason sees the team lose significant defensive depth with Visnovsky and Blake moving on and being “replaced” with Matt Greene and Denis Gauthier – yikes! They also lost some scoring depth in Cammalleri. The youth movement in LA remains we may see them move out of the bottom in the west on the backs of Kopitar, Frolov and Brown. However, it remains likely that L.A. will have a shot at Tavares in the 2009 draft.

#13 – Phoenix Coyotes – the Coyotes made a big move early on in the off-season picking up Olli Jokinen in exchange for defencemen Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard. The addition of Jokinen, a high-end talent, will help the Coyotes improve offensively but it comes at a cost to their defensive corps. While hopes are likely high for the Coyotes – their defence is highly suspect. Also, the Coyotes also got tougher with the additions of McGratten and Fedoruk, which makes the Pacific the meanest division in the NHL.

#12 – Columbus Blue Jackets -the lowest scoring team in the west last year has made a few moves in the off-season to provide a supporting cast for Rick Nash – Huselius, Torres, Peca and Umberger. This is much needed with the loss of Zherdev (61 pts – 2nd on the team). Even with the loss of Zherdev, It would be shocking not to see the Jackets boost their 193 goal total. In return for Zherdev, the teams D was improved with the additions of Tyutin and Backman. Expect these moves to play well into the hands of Hitchcock and lead the team to a better 08/09 campaign.

#11 – Vancouver Canucks – the off-season saw the end of the Naslund and Morrison-eras, however, these are two players whose better days are well behind them. The most notable addition of the off-season was Pavol Dimitra who will help to add offense to the low-scoring Canucks. While Dimitra is a positive step, there is little to get excited about when looking at the current roster, which leads one to believe they will remain stagnent (but they still got Luongo). The Sundin offer remains a cloud over the team and their prospects for the year ahead.

#10 – Colorado Avalanche – a team that could see a fall this upcoming season is the Avs with the exit of Andrew Brunette and Sakic (still up in the air) the team has lost top-six depth. While the addition of Darcy Tucker adds grit and lessens the blow of the previously mentioned offensive losses, the Avs are likely to see a drop in offensive output. Also, the goaltending situation continues to be suspect with the tandem of Budaj and Raycroft, two goalies who can’t hold the number one slot, unlikely to be an area of strength.

#9 – Nashville Predators – a team taking a step back in the off-season is the Predators with the teams third leading scorerer,  Alexander Radulov, jumping ship to Russia. The team still has its two top scorers in Arnott and Dumont as well as its stable of stud D (Weber/Suter/Hamhuis), which should minimize the loss of Radulov. However, there is little to suggest seeing Nashville improve on its 91 pt campaign last year.

#8 – Edmonton Oilers – again there is a lot of hype surrounding the Oilers as Kevin Lowe makes significant moves again to his roster. On the way out – Torres, Stoll, Pitkanen, Greene, Reasoner, Glencross. Coming In: Visnovsky, Cole, Brule, Strudwick. The Oilers add a top-six forward in Cole and an elite-offensive defenceman in Visnovsky while giving up some some depth and grit in players like Torres, Stoll and Greene. Lowe also added some additional toughness in Strudwick who can fight and will help to hold the other team accountable. With the strong finish to last season on the backs of our youth movement and the addition of high-end talent the Oilers have a solid chance at the playoffs. Also, if the Oilers remain healthy and stop suffering from 300+ man game losses the odds improve drastically. However, there are still concerns that make a #5 difficult to justify – the Oilers bled goals last year (251 – 2nd highest in the west) and relied heavily on shoot-out wins. But they are a better team today than they were at the end of the season so the Oilers should make the playoffs.

#7 – Calgary Flames – this off-season the Flames lost some skill in the likes of Tanguay and Huselius, which were two of the top five scorers on the team. Replacing them are Todd Bertuzzi and Mike Cammalleri, which are difficult to suggest as true improvements, as the search for some top-six depth to play with Iginla continues. The Flames continue to look weak from a scondary scoring standpoint and with Kiprusoff getting worse each year, we could see the Flames post a negative goal differential this year but they remain a tough team to play against and still have superstar Iginla.

#6 – Chicago Blackhawks – the Hawks are franchise on the rise on the backs of young players producing like NHL vets (Kane, Toews, Seabrook) helped by a strong supporting cast including Patrick Sharp and Robert Lang. With a solid base in place, the Hawks, added two more pieces to the puzzle in Brian Campbell and Huet. Campbell will only help the team with offense from the back while Huet adds to the goalie depth – and will fight for the number one spot with Khabibulin. The Hawks could surprise many with how well they do this upcoming season.

#5 – Minnesota Wild – while the Wild aren’t known for their offensive prowess the loss of Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra do little to change this impression. To help stop the bleeding from the loss of two of their top four scorers the Wild signed forward Andrew Brunette (similar numbers to Rolston) and offensive defenceman Marek Zidlicky. While the fate of the Wild rests heavily on the health of Gaborik the Wild will continue to remain a strong system team and aren’t likely to falter greatly.

While I am excited about the upcoming season and the Oilers prospects – Burnside is falling for too much of the hype around the Oilers. They are headed in the right direction but it is far too early to annoint them as a powerhouse in the west.

~ by Auger on July 29, 2008.