One positive thing to be said about the Oilers is that they were fairly consistent this season. No long losing streaks, no meltdowns. No laughable idiocy this year. They were a team that consistently put up points this year.
With that being said, there was a tonne of stuff that went right for them. No real adversity (and no, the Davidson injury and the Nurse injury is not adversity - I would actually call those a bit of luck since those two are vastly overrated and kind of suck -- with Davidson being traded for kind of a sucky player himself for proof).
Maybe the Oilers repeat, but they have a lot of work to do. They are really a one line team with Talbot using all 10 fingers to plug the holes. They were the beneficiaries of some luck - having to play the Flames when the Flames were complete garbage and still trying to figure out Gulutzan's system, the easier scheduling, the best possible match-up vs a crippled San Jose roster... the list goes on somewhat.
Will be interesting to see how they do next season as compared to this one, and what moves Chiarelli makes (like how to make Eberle disappear). Cam Talbot is definitely the MVP of the Oilers and deserves 100% of any Hart consideration for the team. That was a pickup that I didn't think would make such an impact.
However, one thing must be said. Edmonton is still a garbage team of lottery picks and the biggest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. I am betting that Chia-Pet continues to make some of the poor moves he is known to make since his days in Boston (sorry, he did not build that cup winner, but he sure did a good job of dismantling it).
Edmonton was consistent this year, but my money is that they aren't next season. With Talbot and McDavid, they will definitely see some highs, but that roster has a ways to go before it gets the label of annual contender in my books. I see them still a team that is very much a playoff bubble team, and what I saw this playoffs doesn't change my opinion.
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