Season Record
29-44-9
Did they Make The Playoffs?
No
What Went Right?
It’s tough to vouch for a team that is consistently at the bottom of the NHL standings year after year. However, if you want to search for some positive things from the Edmonton Oilers coming out of the 2013/2014 season, there are some.
Firstly, the true emergence of Taylor Hall as an elite goal scoring forward is something for Oilers fans to really look forward too. He played in 75 games and produced 80 points. A career year for Hall. More importantly then just the points, he played in more games this season then in either of his previous two full campaigns (Not counting the lockout shortened season). The biggest worry for Hall is that his aggressive style of play often leads to time missed. Hopefully he can stay healthy and continue to produce. I also believe that goalie Ben Scrivens is the goalie of the future for this franchise, and they can finally stop looking for their #1 goaltender. His 59 save shutout performance was one of the biggest highlights around the league this season, and just one reason for people to be excited about this guy.
Finally, you can’t talk about success for this franchise without mentioning Ryan Smyth. Retiring after 19 seasons in the NHL, Smyth is one of the most iconic players to ever wear an Oilers jersey. He played a total of 15 seasons with the club and is ranked 7th on the team’s all-time list for total points, amassing 549 in 770 games played. Something tells me that he still has a part to play in the Oilers franchise, just as Trevor Linden now does with the Vancouver Canucks.
What Went Wrong?
Continuing to not address the obvious needs of this team.
All of the feel good stories aside, the Edmonton Oilers sucked this season. It’s frustrating to watch them because they have so much talent (especially on offense) that you would think they would be able to win more games. I guess the saying “defense wins championships” is especially true in oil country. Finishing dead last in the Western Conference, and with the 3rd worst + / – goal differential in the league at -67 (behind only Florida and Buffalo) it just goes to show you that unless you can keep the puck out of your own net, you won’t be winning many hockey games.
Speaking of continued non-success, the Oilers have not reached the playoffs since the 2005-2006 season, when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the SCF. That is eight years without post-season play for a team that by all means really should be competing for the 7th or 8th seed in a stacked Western Conference. You can blame the drought on a lot of things, but I believe that the lack of a top defensive pairing and (up until this year) a starting goalie are to blame.
This losing season was a by-product of how this team has drafted over the past 3-4 years. No matter how much offensive firepower they have, unless they can get 1-2 top tier defensemen to log the heavy minutes, I have a feeling this team will again be near the bottom of the standings at the end of next season as well.
How To Improve This Offseason?
I’ve heard rumblings that the Oilers want to trade up in this years draft to be able to (hopefully) land defenseman Aaron Ekblad. I was a huge fan of Seth Jones in last years draft and feel that drafting a potential future franchise defensemen for this team is far more valuable than a forward. If the Oilers are able to land Ekblad, as well as trade off one of their many talented forwards for another high minutes defenseman, the future starts to look a little brighter for Edmonton.
Apart from beefing up their blue line, the continued progression of their young core of forwards as well as banking on goalie Ben Scrivens to be their #1 goalie is all that they can really do until puck drops next season. Like I said, there is just so much offensive talent on this team that it boggles my mind how they have not been more successful. Hopefully next year sees them competing for a playoff spot come April, instead of counting the days until golf season once March hits.
Make sure to check out all of our other “Post Mortem” articles for every team in the NHL, and be sure to follow James on Twitter: @hashtagswag604
