The Edmonton Oilers have not made it to the playoffs since they lost in the Stanley Cup Final to Carolina in 2006.
This regular season futility was finally capped last year by being the worst team in hockey. They finished 12 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The attempt to plug in over-priced, past their prime veterans, has run its course. Fans noticed a couple years ago it was time to do a complete rebuild in Edmonton. Management seems to have finally realized the Cup run was a Pronger-led blip and new young talent is needed. The policy of trading high draft picks that lead to Zach Parise going to the Devils in 2003 and Tyler Myers being picked by the Buffalo Sabres in 2008 seems to have been canceled.
Steve Tambellini has taken the slogan "Time for an Oil-Change" to heart. The Oilers are in pure rebuild mode. He has given no indication he's ready to return any of his new bright young stars to junior or the AHL. It is debatable that there is much left to learn for a Taylor Hall or a Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in junior.
This is a quick look at how the youngsters have done so far in this NHL season.
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Scott Weldon
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October 27th, 2010 by Scott Weldon Leave a reply »
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