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In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on which Pacific Division team has had the worst off-season to date.
Todd Cordell
Edmonton and it's not even close.
Last season having the best player in the league, and a 50+ goal, 100+ point sidekick, wasn't enough to get the Oilers remotely close to a playoff spot. Why? No scoring depth – particularly on the wings – and questionable goaltending.
Beyond the big three, Alex Chiasson was the only forward with more than 26 points. Meanwhile, Mikko Koskinen, Cam Talbot, and Anthony Stolarz gave the team .901 goaltending. Not great!
Unfortunately for those of us who wish to see the NHL's most talented player in the playoffs, new GM Ken Holland didn't do much, if anything, to erase those concerns.
Markus Granlund, who has averaged 26 points per 82 games for his career, is the big NHL addition up front.
In goal, Mike Smith replaced Cam Talbot. The former, now 37, somehow posted a worse 5v5 save percentage than Talbot despite playing behind a very stable defensive team in the Flames. That doesn't instil much confidence he can solidify things in Edmonton.
I know they didn't/don't have much money to spend but there were some useful players signed for pennies. They could have done more. At the very least, they should be looking into cheap depth options like Jason Pominville (1.71 points/60 over last two years, miles ahead of Zack Kassian, Sam Gagner, Milan Lucic, Granlund, etc.) to give Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and co. *something* remotely competent to work with.
James Tanner
When you look at the Pacific Division, the biggest loser of the summer is easily the Edmonton Oilers. What they are thinking is impossible to tell. They have basically done nothing to improve their team, and they are spending 6.5 million in cap space to have zero good starting options. Mike Smith was a terrible pick up, and a poor use of 1/3 of their remaining cap space.
They are getting my vote here mostly for waiting the co-primes of McDavid and Draisaitl. When you see a team like the Leafs trade their way out of cap problems and stack their roster depth with solid NHL contributers like Jason Spezza, Nick Shore, and Kenny Agostino for next to nothing, the Oilers look even worse by comparison.
The Oilers haven't made any terrible blunders I guess, but when your biggest acquisition is Granlund and you have two of the best players in the entire world on your roster and still look nothing like a playoff team, it's troublesome.
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