"Future should be bright for Edmonton" How often did you hear that sentence in the last six years ?
In the same time-span Oilers have had six different coaches, all of them unable to have success with the group of players provided by team management. They fired Steve Tambellini in April of 2013, just to name Craig MacTavish new GM, a guy who's been part of the failing Franchise for 13 years.
One of Edmonton's biggest problems has been the fact of rushing young guys to play big minutes in the NHL. Most recent example, 19-year old Leon Draisaitl (3rd overall 2014) who was sent back to the Juniors in January. The German appeared in 37 games to start the season, finishing with only 9 points as 3rd line Center.
Want another example of "wasted talent" ? Nail Yakupov, 1st overall in 2012, has already played three full seasons with the Oilers. His highest point total stands at 33 in 81 games, not to mention he's been mentioned in trade rumors for at least the last 12 months.
A little stat just to show the insanity with which Edmonton is playing their "young guns". Starting with the 2007 draft, players drafted by the Oilers have played 2671 games. 2199 by their first round picks. (@CrzyCanucklehed)
Which brings us to another key problem of the Edmonton Oilers: The inability to draft or add a defensive structure to the team. After winning the lottery last night, GM MacTavish said: "Offense wins hockey games and we’re going to be loaded with it." Yeah because that's the mindset that brought you zero playoffs appearances in the last nine years !
We don't need to argue about the '10 and '11 draft but after picking back-to-back first overall forwards, one could have thought about what's best for your team and not who's the best one available. Defenseman Ryan Murray went 2nd overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he already experienced playoff hockey. Beside the fact going in the top 2, CBJ let him play another season in the Juniors before bringing him to Ohio. Take note Oilers.
The one year Edmonton could have drafted a guaranteed franchise defenseman in Aaron Ekblad, they ended up picking 3rd overall in 2014. Did they try to trade up ? Who knows, but they definitely missed out on a great player. Bringing up this year, I don't think we need to talk about trading down or picking Noah Hanifin. You can't miss out on a player like MacDavid, even if your team desperately needs something else than goal scoring.
In January of last year, Oilers traded away goalie Devan Dubnyk for a 3rd/4th line Center in Matt Hendricks. A year later, Dubnyk puts up a 1.78 GAA and .936 SV% as starter of the Minnesota Wild. The 2004 1st round pick had five difficult years in Edmonton, not getting much help either from the men defending in front of him. Since Dubnyk left, eight different goalies have started at least a game for Edmonton.
The numbers of current starter Ben Scrivens dramatically dropped after leaving L.A., poor comparison ? Probably, but the Oilers acquired him for a 3rd round pick, when he was putting up career numbers. Current back-up Viktor Fasth just finished his worst season since making the trip over from Europe in 2012.
Five Stanley Cups, the city where Wayne Gretzky became a legend, no doubt that the Edmonton Oilers are a proud franchise that deserve better. What makes me think Edmonton don't deserve a MacDavid is the fact that, besides not having any success, they keep the same guys in executive position and refuse to make a serious cut. Hell, even the Toronto Maple Leafs have done a better job by hiring Shanahan and cleaning out this off season.
Pressure and Canadian Media go along quite well, what usually doesn't is young players being rattled by both media and their own fan base. Whether it is jerseys thrown on the ice, or the players taking the walk of shame into the locker room, certainly no things that booster your confidence if you're a young hockey player.
I can understand the disappointment, even though I have and will never boo my own team no matter what. Any team in the league has made the postseason, since the Oilers lost the SCF in 2006 and never returned to playoff hockey.
Connor MacDavid is a special player and there would definitely be better places to grow into a top end NHL superstar than Edmonton. On the other side, this is a big opportunity for both MacDavid and the Oilers franchise. To use this opportunity, changes have to be made throughout the whole organization.
On behalf of every NHL fan, don't ruin this Edmonton !
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