Simply put: You don't get the first overall draft pick by being really, really good.
So Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Magnus Pjaarvi have a fair bit of work ahead of them.
The year wasn't a total loss though. The Oilers had the 18th overall powerplay last year, and their 17.8% success rate was the second best out of the past five last-place finishers (2007-08 Tampa converted at a top-five 19.3%). They also had the 26th ranked penalty kill, which was better than one playoff team (Nashville) and, to really stretch for a bright spot, wasn't last.
They also scored more goals-per-game than Boston (playoff team), Calgary (near-playoff team), and Florida (um...).
After that though, it's kind of bleak. So maybe some bold (or not so bold) predictions could give a bit of hope for the future.
1) Ales Hemsky is the surprise of the season
With all of the commotion regarding the three big rookies in town, it seems that everyone around the league has forgotten about Ales Hemsky. With seven goals and 15 assists (22 points) in his first 22 games last year, Hemskey was eying up a career year. Unfortunately i ...
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Article written by Bryan Thiel
BT’s 10 Bold 2010-11 NHL Predictions: The Edmonton Oilers
September 15th, 2010 by Bryan Thiel Leave a reply »
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