Quote:
Originally Posted by MoneyGuy
I agree. There are a few holes (the biggest are on defense) that can be filled. They have some bottom-six forwards coming up through the system. Defense will be a bigger challenge.
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The Oilers young core is fine although they probably too similar in terms of size and obviously can use some greater size & grit. Someone will most likely be traded, and I agree it might be Eberle. Hall is an outstanding young player kind of reminiscent of Messier, although without the mean streak. I also would echo that it is easy to draft the 1st picks given where they have drafted the past 3 years, it's the 2nd round > that they haven't impressed, at least thus far from what I observed. They may have some potential NHL calibre players in the pipeline, but they are still in the juniors or overseas, not on their AHL team. The surrounding or complementary cast is where the Oilers reflect the greatest weakness. Those players are simply not good enough. I also think the coaching staff need to be upgraded. Never understood the hiring of Buchberger or to a lesser extent Smith as assit. coaches. Time will tell whether MacT will follow thru with his statement of making bold changes. I'm hugely disappointed in the lack of progress or improvement by the team this year. The fans attending games are as well based upon the booing that has been witnessed at Rexall in recent games. Fans expected more. That said, what can one do as a fan, hope for the better results next year .....