Team Outlook: Edmonton Oilers

Heading into the 2022-23 NHL season, I’m going to look at every team to see how they are looking going into the season.

(Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports) From: thehockeynews.com

2021-22:

The Oilers finished 49-27-6 with 104 points and finished 2nd in the Pacific Division. The Oilers ended up making it all the way to the Conference Finals but ended up getting swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

Draft:

The Oilers only had 4 draft picks in the draft over the summer. For their first-round pick, they selected forward Reid Schaefer from the WHL. Schaefer had 58 points in 66 games in his 1st full WHL season and 3 points in 23 games combined the two seasons prior. Schaefer also had 21 points in 25 games during the playoffs. For their 5th, 6th, and 7th round picks, they didn’t really select too much talent. Maybe they could surprise us and make an NHL roster later on, but I couldn’t see them making an NHL roster quite yet.

Additions:

The Oilers didn’t add many players over the offseason. To be frank, after last season, they didn’t really need to. They signed goaltender Jack Campbell. Campbell had a .914 SV% with the Maple Leafs last season and a .921 SV% the season prior. Finally, they signed Mattias Janmark. Janmark spent last season with the Golden Knights and had 25 points over the course of 67 games. Other than that, the Oilers didn’t really add anybody else.

Losses:

The Oilers traded defenseman Zach Kassian to the Arizona Coyotes for a draft pick. Kassian had 19 points in 58 games last season with the Oilers and has spent the past 7 seasons with Edmonton. The Oilers didn’t lose anybody else that was very influential to the season.

Who to look for:

Goaltender Stuart Skinner played a career high 13 NHL games last season. Skinner had a 6-6-0 record with a .913 SV%. Skinner also had a .920 SV% in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors. Forward Seth Griffith played 1 NHL game last season with the Oilers and didn’t get any points. However, Griffith had a career-high 80 points in 64 games in the AHL last season. He has never played more than 30 games in the NHL in a season, which he had in his first ever season in 2014-15.

Prediction:

The Oilers got better over the offseason. I feel like they could steal the Pacific Division title this season, maybe even making it farther than the conference finals.

Stats from: eliteprospects.com, capfriendly.com