Fantasy season preview: Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are once again not expected to do much damage in the Western Conference in 2010-11. The club is short on talent at both ends of the ice and are relying on several rookies to have outstanding years. Although Edmonton are on the right track
it is unlikely they will have any real chance at a play-off spot come December.
In terms of fantasy hockey, Oilers do not provide much more hope. Certainly there is a great deal of potential in the Oiler camp. However, they harbour no early round picks. Up front the Oilers have the most promise with a couple youngsters that could test
the 50 point plateau. Conversely, on the back end they lack any top-end talent and it would be a stretch to include more than two of their defenders in the draft.
Forward
The Oilers do not have a great deal of legitimate front-end talent. Perhaps the only forward with the possibility of being selected in the top three rounds is Dustin Penner. Penner started off the 2009-10 season strong, however finished off the campaign
slow, which may cause him to fall in draft rankings. Nevertheless, Penner still managed 32 goals and 63 points last season while going a rare plus-6, with nine power play goals (PP).
The Oilers Ales Hemsky will be hoping for a bounce back year in 2010-11, as the right winger missed all but 22 games last season. Nevertheless, Hemsky still managed 22 points, a rating of plus-7 and 3 PP. Hemsky is very effective when healthy, but has problems
staying fit, making him a risky early round selection.
Although rookies Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi come into the season highly touted, Taylor Hall is the only Oiler youngster worth selecting in the draft. After being taken first overall in the summer Hall is going to step right into the Edmonton line-up.
Expect the young-gun to start on the club’s second line with the possibility of moving up to the first if there are injuries.
Defence
The Oilers are as thin as it comes at the back end, in terms of fantasy talent, after trading away Lubomir Visnovsky and asking Sheldon Souray not to report to training camp. Nevertheless, the Oilers do provide the fantasy players with one steal in Kurtis
Foster. Foster was finally able to reach his potential last season after battling with a serious knee injury for most of his career. Foster tallied 42 points and 48 penalty minutes (PIMs) last year with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although he is pencilled in
on the second line expect Foster to quickly take over in all major situations for the club. Foster is not well known and is sure to fade into the bottom half of the draft and in a straight points pool his 42 tallies could be very helpful.
Goaltending
With Nikolai Khabibulin back from injury, but currently appealing a 30 day jail sentence for drunk driving in Phoenix, it is unclear how often the veteran will be available next season. Therefore, the Oilers are likely to get goaltending by committee, as
Khabibulin, Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk all share the time. Expect Khabibulin to get as much time as can be allotted to him after both Deslauriers and Dubnyk struggled to keep their heads above water last season.
With a controversy in net and the likelihood of a last place finish high, any selection of an Edmonton goalie must only be done if absolutely necessary. Deslauriers led the club with 16 wins last season, which is less than most back-ups.
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