06/30/12 Schultz and the Transforming Oilers

With Justin Schultz deciding to join the Oilers on Saturday, a message has been sent to the league. The team has been completely transformed in a few short seasons. Here's what it could all look like.

06/28/12 Free Agent Field Thinning

Scratch Dennis Wideman off the list of free agent defensemen, but the Oilers may not need him. The list is reportedly down to two teams for Justin Schultz.

06/27/12 Ralph Krueger and the Kids

Ralph Krueger is expected to be named the next head coach of the Oilers on Wednesday. Krueger stepped in for Renney in five games this past season. How did he use his players?

06/26/12 Dominos

On Wednesday the Justin Schultz camp will begin to consider offers from NHL teams. Schultz is the first of a series of dominos to fall, and once he has made his decision it will set off a series of events that could affect the entire league.

06/25/12 Odds & Ends: Draft Edition

Now that the dust has had a chance to settle on the 2012 NHL Draft, we can take a look back at what it could mean for the future of the Oilers. Here's that, and some other thoughts.

06/21/12 Could It Be Yandle?

File this one under the heading "not to sure," but these two tweets appeared in my Twitter feed just a few minutes apart. The first, from SportsNet's Darren Millard should be considered credible. Not so sure about the second.

06/21/12 Oilers Storylines Before the Draft

Twas the night before the draft and all through the house, hockey fans are shaking with anticipation and just want it to get started already. It doesn't rhyme, but it's true. Here are some storylines that Oilers fans will keep an eye on.

06/19/12 The Oilers Won't Trade Down

Some believe that the Oilers could trade down at the draft in the hope of adding two or more pieces that better fit their immediate needs. The problem with that scenario is that the draft order and player rankings work against it.

06/18/12 The Edmonton/Nashville Link

On the Monday edition of Inside Hockey on The Team 1260, Darren Dreger discussed the link between Edmonton and Nashville, and possible ways that the two organizations could fill each other's needs. It's a long shot, but could it happen?

06/17/12 The Best Oilers Draft Ever

Wayne Gretzky helped, but the Oilers had an extremely strong start to their existence thanks to their first entry draft. They hit the big time with each of their first three choices, avoiding the land mines that would plague them in later years. The year was 1979.

06/16/12 Revisiting the 1994 Draft

The Edmonton Oilers selected Jason Bonsignore fourth overall in 1994. It wasn't the strongest of drafts, with Ryan Smyth having played the most games of any first rounder, but the Bonsignore pick hurt. Here are a few other hits and misses.

06/15/12 All Signs Point To Trade

Those people hoping for the simple and obvious course at the upcoming NHL Entry Draft may be disappointed by the Oilers. Over the last several days there's been smoke billowing on the horizon, and maybe things aren't as simple as walking up to the podium and selecting Yakupov.

06/14/12 Making Sense of the Defense

The story is well known. The Oilers need to add one or more defensemen in order to compete. But the team already has five NHL defenders under contract and some more who belong in the NHL. There isn't room for them all.

06/13/12 No Really, What Is MacTavish Going To Do?

Is it out of line to think that there's more going on than what we're being told when it comes to the MacTavish hire? There's no doubt that he's a smart hockey mind, but we still don't know exactly what he's going to do. What vital role necessitated the creation of a new position?

06/12/12 Thoughts On A Royal Victory

Congratulations Los Angeles. Your Kings have won the ultimate hockey prize. Here are a load of thoughts about this, that and some other things.

06/11/12 Kevin Lowe and Building Defense

As managers go, Kevin Lowe is not perfect. Some of the seeds of the disaster of 2009-10 and beyond were sewn by the former Oilers GM. However, he has shown an aptitude for building defense. Even though he's not at the helm any more, it won't hurt to have his insights. A quick look at his recent track record shows us why.

06/07/12 Paajarvi and the Trade Block

Where does Magnus Paajarvi fit into the Oilers equation going forward? He has the tools to be a very good NHL player, but the team's other needs might see him bumped out of town.

06/07/12 Simple Questions with Complicated Answers

On Wednesday those sneaky Oilers managed to finally make the move that everyone was expecting. Tambellini is back for "multiple years." What about this organization necessitates taking an eon to make a simple decision? This isn't the first time.

06/06/12 Expect A Bounce Back From Belanger

On December 16th of this year Eric Belanger will turn 35 years old. In NHL years, that's not an age at which you'd expect a player to be on the rise. On the other hand, when you start as low as Belanger's 2011-12 season, there's nowhere else to go.

06/04/12 The Salary Cap Spending Trap

The NHL salary cap has been raised to roughly $70.3 million, which is the number that general managers will work with in the off season. However, that number is only temporary and could trap a team or two in salary cap hell.

06/03/12 Jets Have Defensive Depth to Spare

The organizational strength of the Winnipeg Jets is on defense, and the Winnipeg Sun wondered aloud if a player like Tobias Enstrom could be a trade chip for a top-six forward. Could the Oilers mine their Manitoba neighbors for help on the back end?

06/02/12 Andrew Cogliano One Year Later

On July 12th of last year, Andrew Cogliano was traded to Anaheim for a second round pick in 2013. Fans seemed to understand that the Oilers couldn't have too many small players, and there wasn't much complaining. How did the Ducks do with Cogliano? How did the Oilers do in the trade?