Oilers show faith in Dubnyk and Petry, Gagner headed for arbitration

With the Edmonton Oilers deciding to sign goaltender Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Petry to two year contract extensions, General Manager Steve Tambellini ensures he'll have far less on his plate to deal with following the 2012-2013 season. Locking up the restricted free agents to multi year pacts, will ensure the organization can put all their attention towards sigining Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall to what will most certainly be lengthy and rather costly deals, come this time next year.

Oilers need to do more, if they plan on winning more games

The mood in Edmonton is pretty darn good these days. Everyone seems to be as happy as can be in Oil Country. The Oilers drafted Nail Yakupov with the first overall selection at the NHL Entry Draft and followed that up by winning the Justin Schultz sweepstakes. Add to that, the hiring of Ralph Krueger as their new head coach and the re-signing of Ryan Smyth and Darcy Hordichuk and it has been a busy week for the Edmonton Oilers organization. The fans seem pretty excited to see what the "Fearsome Foursome" can produce upfront and just how good this Schultz kid is. Amongst all the happy shiny thoughts, there are a couple of issues that have yet to be addressed. One is a continued lack of size in the forward ranks, the other being an unwillingness to change the veteran mix on their current roster.

Oilers take a step backwards in bringing back Smyth

No one could ever question Ryan Smyth's heart. Throughout much of his career, he has been that player that most organizations would kill for. He would do everything for the team and it was all about the crest on his Edmonton Oilers jersey. While that desire is unquestionably still their, unfortunately his game is no longer where it once was and his skill set doesn't fit in with this clubs needs. In my mind, the two year contract extension that Ryan signed on Sunday was the Oilers first mistake of the off season.

Oil Notes: Schultz arrives in Edmonton, Smyth and Hordichuk re-sign with the Oilers

While July 1st wasn't a busy day for the Edmonton Oilers on the free agent market, they still had their fair share of items to deal with on Canada Day. They managed to not only re-sign potential unrestricted free agents Ryan Smyth and Darcy Hordichuk but also had newly signed Justin Schultz, roll into town for his introduction news conference.