Edmonton Oilers 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Edmonton Oilers 2017 Season Preview

The Oilers have the talent to make a Stanley Cup run. They got to game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals last season.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/23/2017.

Edmonton Oilers Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Patrick Maroon	Left Wing	81	6-foot-3-inches	225-pounds	27	15	42
Connor McDavid	Center	82	6-foot-1-inches	190-pounds	30	70	100
Ryan Strome	Right Wing	69	6-foot-1-inches	194-pounds	13	17	30

Edmonton Oilers Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Milan Lucic	Left Wing	82	6-foot-3-inches	236-pounds	23	27	50
Leon Draisaitl	Center	82	6-foot-2-inches	215-pounds	29	48	77
Drake Caggiula	Right Wing	60	5-foot-10-inches	185-pounds	7	11	18

Edmonton Oilers Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Jussi Jokinen	Left Wing	69	6-foot-0-inches	198-pounds	11	17	28
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Center	82	6-foot-1-inches	180-pounds	18	25	43
Jesse Puljujarvi	Right Wing	28	6-foot-4-inches	211-pounds	1	7	8

Edmonton Oilers Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Kailer Yamamoto	Left Wing	65	5-foot-7-inches	153-pounds	42	57	99
Mark Letestu	Center	78	5-foot-10-inches	199-pounds	16	19	35
Zack Kassian	Right Wing	79	6-foot-3-inches	209-pounds	7	17	24

Edmonton Oilers Forwards Review: Edmonton is absolutely loaded up front at forward. Their top line consists of Patrick Maroon at left wing, Connor McDavid at center, and Ryan Strome at right wing. I expect this top line to have a lot of success.

The second line features Milan Lucic at left wing, Leon Draisaitl at center, and Drake Caggiula at right wing. The second line is pretty effective.

Edmonton's third line compliments their second line real well. Jussi Jokinen at left wing, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at center, and Jesse Puljujarvi at right wing. Jokinen is a good third line left winger. Nugent-Hopkins finally thrived in a Jordan Staal type of role on that third line. Puljujarvi is a 2016 first round pick and will build on what he did as a rookie.

Jujhar Khaira only had 1 point last year. Khaira doesn't deserve to be on the roster with the way Kailer Yamamoto has dominated this preseason. I'd try Yamamoto at left wing to begin the year with Mark Letestu and Zack Kassian on the fourth line. If he struggles in the first 9 NHL games, you can send him back to Spokane to develop, but Yamamoto is playing like he belongs on this roster. Edmonton is stacked offensively and is one of the deepest NHL teams as far as offense goes.

In 2016-2017, the Edmonton Oilers 8th out of 30 teams in goals scored and 5th out of 30 teams in scoring on the power play. I think Edmonton can be a top 5 team in both goals scored and power play goals this season in 2017-2018. Edmonton boasts a very lethal offense and this team feels like they are ready to take the next step in 2017-2018.

Edmonton Oilers Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Adam Larsson	Line 1	79	6-foot-3-inches	210-pounds	4	15	19
Oscar Klefbom	Line 1	82	6-foot-3-inches	215-pounds	12	26	38
Matt Benning	Line 2	62	6-foot-1-inches	204-pounds	3	12	15
Kris Russell	Line 2	68	5-foot-10-inches	173-pounds	1	12	13
Eric Gryba	Line 3	40	6-foot-4-inches	225-pounds	2	4	6
Darnell Nurse	Line 3	44	6-foot-4-inches	221-pounds	5	6	11

Edmonton Oilers Defensemen Review: Trading Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson paid off. You also got Oscar Klefbom complimenting Larsson on the top line.

Matt Benning and Kris Russell both compliment each other well on the second line. These two give Edmonton a solid defensive pairing. The third line consists of Eric Gryba and 2013 first round pick Darnell Nurse. Edmonton finally has three deadly lines of defense on the blue line.

Even though the Oilers have this stability, this team still has a ton of concerns on defense. Edmonton ranked 8th out of 30 teams in goals allowed and 17th in penalty killing in 2016-2017. Those numbers should improve with these guys playing with each other once again.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Cam Talbot	Edmonton Oilers	73	42-22-8	7 Shutouts	.919	2.39 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Laurent Brossoit	Edmonton Oilers	4	4-0-1	0 Shutouts	.928	1.99 GAA

Edmonton Oilers Goaltender Review: Cam Talbot and Laurent Brossoit is a great goalie combination. With this goalie combination Edmonton will be tough to beat.

Edmonton Oilers Prospect Pool: Edmonton got third round talents in rounds 4-7 of the 2015 NHL Draft with Ethan Bear, John Marino, and Caleb Jones who is the younger brother of Seth Jones. These guys are finally ready for Bakersfield in 2017 where they will play in the AHL.

Edmonton Oilers 2017-2018 Prediction

Edmonton finally has a roster that will compete for the Western Conference. Edmonton is the undisputed favorite to win the Western Conference in 2017. The Edmonton Oilers are my pick to win the 2017 Stanley Cup as I have them beating the Boston Bruins to win this years Stanley Cup and its easy to see why they are my pick with all of their talent at forward, defense, and goalie. All of the players they drafted over the years are finally ready to rally around Connor McDavid who led the NHL in points to give Edmonton their first Stanley Cup since 1990. Edmonton defeated Boston 30 years ago in 1988 in Wayne Gretzky's final game as an Oiler.