ROLL WITH IT

As a long time hockey fan and one time wanna be player, I have my opinions and ideas of how things should be and what is needed to fix my lowly Oilers. Well thanks to the internet and sites like our beloved Hockeybuzz I can now share my beautiful brain for the word to scorn and ridicule. rnrnSo....lets get to it.rnrnThe past is the past and while we can learn from it I find that with social media and forums that the now and the future take a back seat to what has been and no longer is. Every year a team is new in my opinion. A roster is never the same as the previous and the smallest of changes is change regardless of the outcome. With that philosophy in mind every year is a new page and should be treated as such.rnrnLast year and the year before ( and before and before, etc, etc. ) has seen the Oilers not only fail to meet expectations but miss the playoffs as well. While it should be every teams goal to reach the playoffs and win the cup we are kidding ourselves if every team thinks the can do both let alone one.rnrnThat's just reality.rnrnWhat every team does do and should, is evaluate and identify areas to improve and place reasonable goals on the organization and team. That said we must concede that what we are told and what may be the entire truth can be very different things. rnrnThis seasons failings come with yet another mulligan as we have seen another coaching change and a massive retool in the head office areas of the organization. rnrnThis is their last one. rnrnNo more of well they are young. They have a new coach. They are blah blah blah.....rnrnWe have a committed owner with deep pockets. Chiarelli and Nicholson are now the brain trust of the Oilers and the on ice performers are guided by McLellan. Done. Not changing.rnrnSo a look to the ice and the forwards today. To start with I won't cap crunch but will tie it all up in the end of these thoughts.rnrnTeams that want to win in todays NHL need a top 9 they can roll and a 4th line that can be trusted to give the others a break and contribute in a few points and intangibles. Better yet four lines but lets not be greedy.rnEdmonton is beautifully situated to ( at least for the short term ) roll three quality scoring lines and a more than capable 4th.rnrnPlaying pairs of forwards that have chemistry with the right complimentary forward is the way to go. Think way ( ish) back to Arvedsson Bonk and Hossa in Ottawa. This line was far better than the sum of it's parts. rnThe problem is we don't have three pairs to work with, but arguably have two.rnrnHall and Draisaitl work. Eberle and McDavid seem to work and even have the potential complimentary guy in Maroon, who will be given a look to start the year.rnNuge needs his chemistry guy but I think it safe to say that Pouliot can easily be that complimentary player. rnrnSo we need a top 9 scorer and a top 9 complimentary player who can skate with Hall and Draisaitl.rnrnMy hopes are for Jannik Hanson and Milan Lucic.rnrnHanson has the wheels to skate with anyone and brings sandpaper with hockey smarts to any roster. Placing him with Hall and Draisaitl would create all kinds of mayhem to be exploited. He could even slot in with Nuge and Pouliot if need be. rnrnThat said I'd like to see what happens with Nuge playing with a shift disturber of Lucic's calibre. The thinh with Nuge is he is really a high end complimentary player more than he is a prime. Pouliot can play a 3 forward postions so those 3 as a mix to roll as a 3rd option will create match up nightmares for most. rnrnThe 4th line can be filled out as an energy line with Hendricks and Kassian ( newly signed ) with Letestu in the middle. rnrnAvailable assets to move out ?? Well we have the 4th pick and any other pick really, Korpikoski and Yak up front. Yak has undetermined but dwindling value and Korpi will likely move only if we retain half his salary.rnrnThe Defense I will look at in another post but I think it's fair to say anyone not Sekera, Klefbolm or Nurse is expendable.rnrnThoughts ??rnThanks for reading

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