Edmonton Oilers (NHL 11, Be A GM)

[Psyblast]

March 2011 Recap

Oilers drag themselves through March
The finish line is in sight as Edmonton threatens to finish last overall again

EDMONTON, AB - For the second straight year, the Oilers and their fans can't wait for the relief of the offseason.

GM Brian Kudron hopes this is the last time in a long time that that feeling exists in Edmonton.

The Oilers sputtered along in March, stumbling to a 4-8-2 record for the month, with more lopsided losses and struggling offense permeating the schedule as Daniel Larsson had a rough month as the #1 goaltender.

With the season essentially over and only five games remaining, the Oilers announced a slew of callups and adjustments to the lineup to give their most promising young stars a taste of the NHL game.

The callups:

LW Teemu Hartikainen
RW Magnus Pääjärvi
LW Linus Omark
C Anton Gustafsson
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson
D Colten Teubert
G Jacob Markström

Some of the moves made to make room for all the youngsters included clearing Steve MacIntyre through waivers and sending him to Oklahoma City, sending Daniel Larsson back down to OKC after a poor showing in March, and ending Jordan Eberle's rookie season by sending him back to juniors.

Nicklas Bäckström found instant chemistry with Taylor Hall and Ales Hemsky on the Oilers' top line in March, registering 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in 13 games. One of the brightest notes in the organization though has been the play of Ekman-Larsson with the Barons. After a sketchy first month or two, the young defenseman took off after that and has 35 points in 75 games with OKC and an impressive +13 rating. Anton Gustafsson also saw immediate success with the Barons after coming over in the trade with Washington. The 21 year old Swedish center has 15 points (2 G, 13 A) in 15 games with the Oilers' affiliate.

The insurgence of talent on the OKC roster has seen the Barons take off, currently 4th in the Western Conference of the AHL. While Daniel Larsson spent the last month with the Oilers, Jacob Markström and Anders Lindbäck both excelled between the pipes for Oklahoma City, with Markström now sporting a 13-10 record with a 2.46 GAA and .916 SV% in 24 appearences. Lindbäck's numbers are even better: 21-15 with a 2.30 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 37 games. He will remain with the Barons trying to hold down the fort until the Oilers' season ends and all the youngsters can return and lead OKC into the AHL playoffs.

Edmonton Oilers March Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Mar 1	vs Nashville Predators	Won, 4-3
Mar 3	vs Columbus Blue Jackets	Lost, 6-1
Mar 5	at Colorado Avalanche	Lost, 5-1
Mar 8	at Philadelphia Flyers	Lost, 4-1
Mar 9	at Washington Capitals	Lost, 4-2
Mar 11	at Detroit Red Wings	Won, 5-4 (OT)
Mar 13	at Pittsburgh Penguins	Lost, 2-0
Mar 17	vs Phoenix Coyotes	Won, 4-1
Mar 19	vs Colorado Avalanche	Won, 4-2
Mar 22	at Nashville Predators	Lost, 5-4 (OT)
Mar 24	at St. Louis Blues	Lost, 4-2
Mar 26	vs Calgary Flames	Lost, 2-1 (OT)
Mar 29	vs Los Angeles Kings	Lost, 6-2
Mar 31	at Minnesota Wild	Lost, 4-2

Month Record: 4-8-2
Overall Record: 29-42-6

	GP	G	A	P	PIMS	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	S%	FO%	Hits
A. Hemsky	77	24	32	56	13	+8	6	0	4	12.8	50.0	134
T. Hall	77	24	32	56	13	+7	8	0	1	11.5	51.4	133
S. Gagner	77	13	33	46	21	+10	3	0	2	8.0	45.4	143
R. Whitney	77	10	35	45	56	-4	4	0	0	6.1	0.0	171
J. Eberle	64	11	21	32	12	-6	1	0	1	7.9	50.0	90
A. Cogliano	77	16	12	27	15	-13	1	0	3	11.6	47.8	96
T. Gilbert	77	9	19	28	68	-17	5	0	2	6.0	0.0	135
T. Hartikainen	40	8	16	24	15	+13	4	0	2	7.8	53.1	55
K. Foster	77	5	19	24	20	-3	2	0	0	3.4	0.0	167
J. Strudwick	77	3	19	22	139	-7	0	0	0	7.0	0.0	105
L. Omark	28	8	10	18	23	-11	6	0	2	20.5	33.3	27
J. Vandermeer	77	4	13	17	164	-18	0	0	1	3.8	0.0	221
R. Jones	77	6	11	17	31	-20	0	0	3	4.7	44.0	94
Z. Stortini	77	6	10	16	174	-6	0	0	0	5.6	51.6	146
T. Chorney	77	8	7	15	26	-7	0	0	2	11.0	0.0	68
N. Bäckström (EDM)	13	5	7	12		0
C. Fraser	77	8	3	11	65	-19	0	1	0	9.2	52.8	82
M. Pääjärvi	21	4	5	9	12	+4	0	0	0	8.3	50.0	37
J. Jacques	22	3	0	3	25	-13	0	0	2	9.7	57.1	31
C. McDonald	13	0	0	0	0	-7	0	0	0	0.0	25.0	8
S. MacIntyre	56	0	0	0	135	-21	0	0	0	0.0	30.4	91

	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SV%	SHO
N. Khabibulin	51	21	29	133	2.64	.915	4
J. Deslauriers	10	2	6	25	2.97	.903	0
D. Larsson	19	6	13	62	3.30	.894	0

[Psyblast]

April 2011 Recap

Oilers anxious for the offseason
Rocky ride in 2010/2011 comes to an end with only modest improvements from 09/10

EDMONTON, AB - Even in the face of a trying first season that gradually swirled the drain as it progressed, Edmonton GM Brian Kudron remained upbeat in his season-ending address to the media.

"These are certainly not the results we want, nor are they the results we expect moving forward," Kudron said. "Believe me, it's a dull pain in my stomach sitting at home watching the playoffs on TV. I've spent the last few years in Detroit, we didn't know the agony of missing the postseason. And I'm going to make sure this feeling becomes foreign to the Edmonton Oilers, too. We came undone as the season progressed, but we're the youngest team in the National Hockey League, and the experience that our young players accumulated through this campaign will prove invaluable as we move toward the future."

Edmonton Oilers April Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Apr 2	at Vancouver Canucks	Won, 4-3
Apr 5	vs Vancouver Canucks	Lost, 3-2 (SO)
Apr 6	at Calgary Flames	Won, 3-1
Apr 8	vs Minnesota Wild	Lost, 5-3
Apr 10	at Colorado Avalanche	Lost, 3-1

Month Record: 2-2-1
Final Overall Record: 31-44-7, 69 points

Home Record: 22-15-1
Road Record: 9-29-1
Goals For: 205 (29th)
Goals Against: 252 (19th)
Power Play: 18.7% (27th)
Penalty Kill: 83.8% (1st)

Final Edmonton Stats

	GP	G	A	P	PIMS	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	S%	FO%	Hits
A. Hemsky	82	24	35	59	15	+7	6	0	4	12.0	51.3	141
T. Hall	82	25	33	58	17	+6	8	0	1	11.3	52.6	139
S. Gagner	82	14	35	49	21	+8	3	0	2	8.1	45.5	154
R. Whitney	82	10	38	48	56	-5	4	0	0	5.6	0.0	180
J. Eberle	64	11	21	32	12	-6	1	0	1	7.9	50.0	90
A. Cogliano	82	18	13	31	15	-10	1	0	3	12.1	47.7	100
T. Gilbert	82	9	20	29	70	-17	5	0	2	5.9	0.0	137
T. Hartikainen	45	9	18	27	19	+11	5	0	2	7.9	55.6	64
K. Foster	82	6	20	26	22	-4	2	0	1	3.8	0.0	179
J. Strudwick	77	3	19	22	139	-7	0	0	0	7.0	0.0	105
L. Omark	33	10	11	21	25	-8	6	0	3	21.7	38.1	31
R. Jones	82	6	14	20	33	-17	0	0	3	4.3	46.4	101
J. Vandermeer	82	5	13	18	168	-18	0	0	1	4.4	0.0	238
Z. Stortini	82	7	10	17	185	-7	0	0	0	6.1	53.1	153
N. Bäckström (EDM)	18	6	10	16		-1
T. Chorney	77	8	7	15	26	-7	0	0	2	11.0	0.0	68
M. Pääjärvi	26	5	6	11	144	+2	0	0	0	8.8	54.5	46
C. Fraser	77	8	3	11	65	-19	0	1	0	9.2	52.8	82
J. Jacques	27	3	1	4	31	-14	0	0	2	8.3	62.5	38
O. Ekman-Larsson	5	1	2	3	2	0	1	0	0	14.3	0.0	10
C. Teubert	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	7
C. McDonald	13	0	0	0	0	-7	0	0	0	0.0	25.0	8
A. Gustafsson	5	0	0	0	7	-1	0	0	0	0.0	53.8	4
S. MacIntyre	56	0	0	0	135	-21	0	0	0	0.0	30.4	91

	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SV%	SHO
N. Khabibulin	51	21	29	133	2.64	.915	4
J. Deslauriers	11	2	7	25	2.75	.910	0
D. Larsson	19	6	13	62	3.30	.894	0
J. Markström	5	2	2	11	2.49	.911	0

Notable Oklahoma City Stats

	GP	G	A	P	PIMS	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	S%	FO%	Hits
M. Pääjärvi	58	24	24	48	11	+27	5	0	4	15.1	52.5	113
A. Plante	80	7	32	39	48	+8	4	0	2	3.8	0.0	194
J. Petry	80	5	30	35	42	+7	3	0	0	6.4	0.0	95
O. Ekman-Larsson	75	5	30	35	37	+13	2	0	0	4.0	0.0	138
T. Hartikainen	37	21	10	31	16	+24	3	0	6	17.5	54.1	76
R. O'Marra	80	19	6	25	43	+5	0	2	4	17.6	52.5	97
C. Teubert	60	2	22	24	77	0	2	0	1	1.6	0.0	178
L. Omark	50	9	14	23	19	0	3	0	1	11.5	56.3	68
A. Gustafsson (OKC)	15	2	13	15
J. Åkerlund	48	0	6	6	123	+4	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	53

	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SV%	SHO
D. Larsson	15	7	8	32	2.17	.927	2
A. Lindbäck	42	23	18	100	2.35	.916	3
J. Markström	24	13	10	58	2.46	.916	0

[BlueNGold]

Ouch. That offense was pretty bad. No one above 60 points or 30 goals. The good news is most of the young guys look to be coming along and guys like Omark and Hartikainen produced on the PP.

Looking forward to what happens in the offseason.

[Acid]

You're missing Doughty.

[Psyblast]

Destiny beckons the Oilers at the NHL Draft
Luck of the draw gives Edmonton what they believe to be the final pieces of the foundation

June 24, 2011

ST. PAUL, MN - A dozen years ago, the Vancouver Canucks wheeled and dealed their way into the 2nd and 3rd overall picks of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. Three weeks ago, those efforts finally paid off, as Henrik and Daniel Sedin scratched and clawed and pulled the Canucks to the finish line on their shoulders in a thrilling Game 7 victory in Vancouver against the Washington Capitals. The twins outlasted the onslaught of Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin to bring Vancouver its first ever Stanley Cup.

Now, the Edmonton Oilers want to follow the model of the Canucks.

With the luck of the draw in the NHL Lottery, the Oilers, possessing their own pick and the pick of the New York Islanders they acquired last year, have happened upon the top two picks overall in the 2011 Draft.

Already with an embarrassment of young talent in their system, the Oilers and GM Brian Kudron are poised to land not one but two franchise-defining players to only enhance their status as the NHL team with the most potential.

"It's almost not fair," one NHL executive said. "They already have so much talent all over, so many players not even close to their primes yet, and they're about to add two more world class players? It's mind boggling. Their days in the cellar in the West are numbered."

[Psyblast]

The Foundation
Nugent-Hopkins and Larsson go 1-2 as the Oilers' plan comes to pass

ST. PAUL, MN - It was predictable, and yet unbelievable at the same time.

Edmonton GM Brian Kudron was all smiles Friday, as the Oilers stole the show at the NHL Draft with their selections of franchise prospects Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Larsson with the top two picks. Larsson, the 6'3 defenseman from Sweden, was openly coveted by the Oilers from the second Kudron took the job as GM, but Nugent-Hopkins, the playmaking center for Red Deer in the WHL, was rated as the #1 overall prospect in the entire draft since the beginning of last season, and now gives the Oilers the franchise center who excels at setting his teammates up - the perfect compliment to Taylor Hall's goal-scoring ability.

"I hope we made our fans happy today," Kudron said. "Both Ryan and Adam are the type of players you build a franchise around, and we got both of them. What happened here today is truly special, and what will happen as a result of the events today will be even better. You look at all the talent we have now, essentially all of it younger than 25, at every position on the ice...there's no way you can say our future isn't bright. We have greatness lying ahead of us, and the bleak seasons that have plagued this franchise for the past few years are done. We have the foundation of a Stanley Cup Champion in our system now."

2011 Edmonton Oilers Draft Class

Rd.	Ovr.	Player	Pos.	Country	Player Type	Age	Ht.	Wt.	Ovr.	Pot.
1	1	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	C		Playmaker	18	6'0	160	76	A
1	2	Adam Larsson	D		Offensive Defenseman	18	6'3	200	69	A
2	31	Murray Harrison	LW		Power Forward	20	6'5	239	63	B-
2	36	Valeri Grebeshkov	LW		Sniper	18	6'1	195	63	B-
2	53	Tyler Hansen	D		Defensive Defenseman	18	6'3	187	62	B-
3	61	Mika Kultanen	C		Power Forward	20	6'5	242	64	B-
4	91	Graeme Craig	D		Defensive Defenseman	18	6'4	215	58	B-
5	121	Juraj Roznik	RW		Two-Way Forward	18	6'3	176	57	B-
6	151	Jean-Laurence Beauchemin	D		Defensive Defenseman	20	6'4	183	58	B-
7	181	Patrik Parkkonen	D		Offensive Defenseman	18	5'9	162	59	B-

[Psyblast]

Oilers announce signings, prepare for July 1st
Edmonton has plenty of cap room to explore the open market

June 30, 2011

EDMONTON, AB - The second the re-signing period started, Brian Kudron went to work.

And he worked very efficiently, as the Edmonton GM's no-nonsense way of business continued to shine. The Oilers signed all 10 of their draft picks to 2-way contracts, making sure their rights remain in Edmonton's possession for the foreseeable future.

The two most prominent of those picks, of course, are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Larsson. Being from Europe, Larsson - along with later round picks Murray Harrison, Valeri Grebeshkov, Mika Kultanen, Juraj Roznik and Patrik Parkkonen - is eligible immediately to play in the minor leagues in Oklahoma City, and the Oilers are free to bring them back and forth as they please. Their other picks, however - Nugent-Hopkins, Tyler Hansen, Graeme Craig and Jean-Laurence Beauchemin - are still in junior hockey in Canada, so the Oilers will not be able to shuttle them to OKC; they'll have to either call them up to the Edmonton roster and keep them there during the season, or leave them in juniors and not have them available until 2012/2013.

Kudron addressed this very simply, however.

"Ryan will be up with us immediately," the Oilers GM said. "He's like Taylor (Hall) last year, he has the talent to contribute at the NHL level right away, and we anticipate he'll be able to hold his own from the start. The others, I expect we'll keep them in juniors for the upcoming season, barring any surprises."

In addition to their rookie draft picks, the Oilers also re-signed a couple other young players still in their system, and also tendered qualifying offers to six of their unrestricted free agents: Zack Stortini, Theo Peckham, Andrew Cogliano, Ryan O'Marra, Matt Marquardt, and Taylor Chorney. Others they decided to let go, and they also did not offer new deals to unrestricted free agents Jim Vandermeer or Jason Strudwick.

All in all, this leaves the Oilers with a little over 15 million dollars of open cap room to use on the open market in free agency (slightly less with the offers tendered to their RFAs). And Kudron intends to spend.

"We've got the budget for it," the GM said. "If there's a player or players out there that fit what we're trying to build, we'll absolutely jump into the race. Too often this franchise has been hamstrung by the small market, unable to offer top dollar to the big names on the free agent market. That's not going to be the case anymore."

[Psyblast]

Oilers aim high
Edmonton is on the prowl for a Predator

July 1, 2011

EDMONTON, AB - Brian Kudron wasn't kidding when he said the Oilers were prepared to offer top dollar on the open market in free agency.

But are they also willing to pay the price in draft picks?

That's what it will take for Edmonton to land their #1 free agent target: Nashville Predators captain and restricted free agent defenseman Shea Weber.

The towering brute of a a player - 6'4, 234 pounds - Weber chose not to immediately re-sign with the Predators and is on the market as a restricted free agent. The Oilers have a spot at the top of their defense that would seem to suit the Canadian Weber perfectly - but it will cost them, if they want him. As a restricted free agent, if Weber were to sign an offer sheet with another team, the Predators could either match it and keep him, or take draft picks from the offering team as compensation. Given Weber's price tag and value, the Oilers would likely have to surrender three draft picks minimum to obtain Weber's services.

So the question becomes, is it worth it? Weber is still young (25), is entering his prime, is elite at both ends of the ice, and has the physicality that makes him an all-around elite defenseman. The Oilers would have no problems paying Weber; they have more than enough room. It just boils down to if they're willing to pay the compensation to the Predators.

There are cheaper options - Christian Ehrhoff and Ian White are both cheaper and unrestricted, but are clearly a step down in caliber from Weber.

When asked about Edmonton's interest in Weber, Kudron evaded.

"We have interest in numerous players on the market," the Oilers GM said slyly. "We've spoken to many different players since free agency started. We're definitely interested in adding to our roster through free agency, but specifics? I couldn't tell ya."