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This in from The Athletic, their rankings of NHL front-offices based on votes from 40 NHL executives, with the Edmonton Oilers ranking 15th out of 32 teams, tied there with two other teams, Utah and Pittsburgh,
The Oilers got one third place vote and two fifth place votes, giving them seven points overall under The Athletic’s system.
Top-place Dallas had 251 points, with Tampa at 187 points.
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The top Canadian team was Montreal, ranked 11th, with 13 points. The Winnipeg Jets ranked 18th with six points. Vancouver was 22nd with three points. Toronto was 23rd with one fifth place vote for one point.
My take
1. I have a strong suspicioun that if the Oilers had signed Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to new contracts at the (low) going rate for Restricted Free Agents that the Oilers would rank in the Top 10 right now, if not the Top 5.
But that one major misstep was costly to the franchise, and that’s reflected in this voting.
Edmonton left itself wide open to the St. Louis raid, first by failing to lock up Broberg and Holloway before the end of the season, then by over-spending in early July 1, leaving little wiggle room to retain Holloway or Broberg.
2. A typical shot at the Oilers after the Broberg/Holloway debacle came from executive producer Drew Livingstone of the Steven Dangle Podcast Network in Toronto, who had a chuckle at Edmonton’s expense: “This marks the end of the Oilers championship window 📝”
3. Oilers hockey boss Jeff Jackson had been riding high in July, having retained players like Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown on bargain contracts, while bringing in free agents Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, and getting top prospect Matt Savoie in a trade for Ryan McLeod.
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Said NHL podcaster Peter Blackburn of the What Chaos show: “The Oilers are having an outrageous offseason.”
And former AHL and pro scout Shawn Simpson: “Jeff Jackson is looking like the modern day Pierre Lacroix, as he transitions from the agent side. The only difference is Jax spent time in the Leafs front office. I worked with him and he’s such a sharp and level headed guy. It’s been a great off season for the Oilers.”
And the Daily Hive’s Preston Hodgkinson: “The Oilers could hire a new GM tomorrow and win the Stanley Cup and I still think Jeff Jackson would win the GM of the Year Award.”
Calgary Sportsnet commentator Eric Francis said, “I’m just going to tell you right now that that team on paper is the most terrifying team in the West and I think in all of hockey. Kudos to the Oilers. When they added Skinner, I just rolled my eyes and said, ‘Wow.’ Good for them. Creative way to add even more depth to your roster.”
Most importantly, Connor McDavid was impressed: “I thought the whole management staff has done a great job. They’ve had a great offseason so far. It’s been short, it’s been hurried. But I think in the small time they’ve been at it they’ve done great things. Keeping as many guys together is a good thing in the salary cap era. It’s tough to do that and [Jackson has] done a great job of finding a way to do that…”
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4. The Oil have made a number of management hirings to shore up their pro development system. Will this pay off? It certainly can’t hurt, and it will bring the Oilers more in line with what other major teams are doing.
5. Of course, the only ranking that matters comes in late June, when one team beats all the others and takes home the Stanley Cup. Before the season began, Edmonton was seen as the favourite to do so by a majority of NHL experts. So we shall see. I’ll still like Edmonton’s chances. You?
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