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Reid Schaefer Highlights
If you want to skip reading about Reid and go to the highlights just scroll to the bottom of the article. There is a bit of controversy around the Oilers picking Reid Schaefer with the 32nd overall pick, he’s an older prospect so one could fairly expect more offense and some draft rankings had him well below where the Oilers picked him.
Scott Wheeler from the Athletic ranked Schaefer 83rd and had this to say about him in his pre-draft rankings:
He was nearly eligible for last year’s draft, his data starts to soften you when you consider his age though, and I’d bet he tops out as a role player, which would probably mean I’d steer clear in the range where he’ll now be picked. He’s a decent prospect but there’s a little bit of shiny new toy syndrome happening, I think.
He had some nice things to say about Schaefer as well so I recommend reading his full rankings.
Corey Pronman was quite a bit higher on Schaefer and in his final draft rankings had Schaefer at 16th overall.
He’s never historically been a big scorer, but his puck game and playmaking kept impressing me as the season went along and his role elevated. He looks like a future middle-six power winger with the potential to play high in a lineup if he really hits.
Pronman projects Schaefer to be a middle of the lineup player and lists his comparable as Alex Killorn.
What We Know
He’s 6’3″, weights 213lbs and uses his size well. He kills penalties and while a bit shy offensively he may be a late bloomer and did enough throughout the season to impress Pronman and the Oilers.
Highlights

Oilers Clinch!!
On April 13th, 2006 the Edmonton Oilers beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 at home to clinch a playoff spot. It was their 81st game of the season and it was a great day.
This is a great day too.
The Edmonton Oilers beat the LA Kings 2-1 at home to clinch a playoff spot!!!!
Anybody remember what they did back in the that 2006 season?
Oilers trade Nail Yakupov for Cap Space and a Pick
The Oilers have traded Nail! Sad days.
Nail Yakupov to the Blues for Zach Pochiro and a conditional pick.
There has been all kinds of speculation that Yakupov had asked for a trade and that the Oilers were close to trading him last season but honestly we’ll never know for certain how much truth there is to this stuff. What we do know is that Peter Chiarelli has now traded two of the wonder kids from the previous administration and in both cases cap space was a large part of the decision.
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Should the Oilers Trade For Hamonic or Shattenkirk?
There has been so much talk this season of the Oilers making a trade in the off-season to bring in a true top pairing D-man. Much of the talk has Jordan Eberle or Ryan Nugent Hopkins being sent out to acquire Travis Hamonic or Kevin Shattenkirk, both of whom would likely improve this team a great deal. I don’t want to get into the pros and cons of dealing Ebs or the Nuge but we all know that you need to trade value to get value and for the first time in a while I trust the GM to make the right deal.
So the question remain: Should the Oilers trade for Hamonic or Shattenkirk? I’ll admit that before doing research for this article I would have picked Shattenkirk, I’m just more familiar with the player so I have less doubt that he can come in and help the team win. I put together a player usage chart over at hockeyabstract.com to compare both of these guys to defensemen already on the Oilers and I’m actually a bit surpised:
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Zack Kassian Is An Edmonton Oiler!
Not long ago Zack Kassian was likely the most hated NHL’r by Edmonton Oiler fans and now he’s an Edmonton Oiler. I look forward to seeing the crowds reaction to Zacks first game at Rexall place.
Oilers take on the project that is Zack Kassian, send Ben Scrivens to MTL. Habs move on, EDM with nothing to lose.
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) December 28, 2015
Meaningful Games
Meaningful games in December. Yes it’s true. The Oilers who are now winners of 5 in a row find themselves just one point short of a playoff spot. Yes, that’s true too.
The Oilers really haven’t played a game that matters after the month of November in, well I can’t remember when to be honest with you. The Pacific division is terrible, but that’s fine when it comes to where our team sits in the standings. If the old rule for making the playoffs still applied only 2 teams from the Pacific would currently be in a playoff spot. Los Angeles and Vancouver. Thanks to NHL for these rule changes, the Oilers have a chance.
All of this while the team is missing 3 of their top 6 forwards, Benoit Pouliot, Nail Yakupov and young phenom Connor McDavid haven’t played in ages and it appears only Pouliot is getting close to returning.
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Oilers Predictions Part 2 – The Defense
I talked about the forward group for 2015 here.
The Oilers have 10 Defencemen who I believe will be in contention to make the team out of training camp and there will be some upset fans when the team decides to send players to the minors even though they may have outplayed veterans in training camp. The candidates are: Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Mark Fayne, Justin Shultz, Eric Gryba, Nikita Nikitin, Andrew Ferrence, Griffin Reinhart, Darnell Nurse and Brandon Davidson. It will not surprise me in the least if any of Nurse, Reinhart or Davidson outplay Ferrence or Nikitin in training camp but unless there are men going on the injury reserved list I will be shocked if any of the three make the team. Ferrence is currently the team captain and while his on ice performance leaves alot to be desired over the last couple of seasons he is by all accounts a good captain and a needed presence in the dressing room. This combined with a veteran coach who is more likely to trust veteran D-men will most likely result in the following lineup on D:
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Oilers Predictions Part 1 – The Forwards
So much has happened with the Oilers this off-season, they finally have a competent management group and coaching staff, they’ve drafted the best prospect in the past 30 years in Connor McDavid, and brought in Cam Talbot, Griffin Reinhart, Andrej Sekera, Lauri Korpikoski, Mark Letestu and Eric Gryba. Think about that. Crazy.
As I see things this is the Oilers forward depth chart:
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The Cost of Todd McLellan
The Oilers announced today the hiring of Todd McLellan who most recently coached team Canada to the gold metal at the Mens World Hockey Championships and prior to that coached the San Jose Sharks for 7 seasons. The hiring does come at a price however as San Jose has the right and apparently is going to exercise that right to receive a 3rd draft pick from the Oilers as compensation. Even though San Jose fired McLellan at the end of the regular season he has one year left on his contract which gives the team the right to compensation. As far as I understand it the Oilers have the ability to wait up to 3 years to give up the pick.
Honestly this rule makes little sense to me, if San Jose fired the coach they shouldn’t have any right to claim compensation if the coach signs with another team.
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Will Peter Chiarelli Make Bold Moves?
The Edmonton Oilers have given full control of the Oilers to Peter Chiarelli, naming him President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. Chiarelli is going to take a few weeks to assess the team and players to see exactly where his positions of strength and weakness are before making any moves, but he will make moves. Given his track record of making big trades in Boston I think we can expect a big trade or two this summer.
The Weaknesses
The weaknesses on the Oilers are pretty obvious, they need a starting goalie and they need a couple of top pairing defensemen if they want a shot at making the playoffs next season. They may have an opportunity to get a piece or two via free agency but typically that requires an overpayment and I’m not sure thats a good idea in Edmonton so I expect Chiarelli to make a couple of trades to fill these areas.
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