Pacific Division may not be as tough on the Oilers as some think

 

When the National Hockey League officially unveiled their realignment plans for the 2013-14 season, the Edmonton Oilers looked as though they would be staring at a fairly daunting task to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not exactly what a team who has failed to reach the post season for seven consecutive years wanted to hear. With the top three teams in the Pacific and Midwest Divisions guaranteed a playoff spot and the next two best records grabbing spots seven and eight, one could argue the Oilers road to earning a playoff spot is no more difficult today, than it was via the now defunct Northwest Division.

Canada would regret not taking Hall to the Sochi Olympics

On Monday afternoon, Hockey Canada unveiled not only their coaching staff for the 2014 Sochi Olympics but also released the list of invitees who will be taking part in Team Canada's orientation camp from August 25th -28th, in Calgary, Alberta. Outside of a couple of omissions, most notably Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza and Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn, and one surprising inclusion, hello Travis Hamonic of the New York Islanders, the forty-seven players listed were no real surprise.

Gagner takes one for the team, signing 3yr/$14.4M extension

Negotiating a long term contract is rarely easy in the world of sport and the Edmonton Oilers attempt to lockup Sam Gagner was no exception. At the end of the day, the two sides decided to forgo the salary arbitration process, agreeing to a 3 year, $14.4 million extension early Monday morning.

Is Perron an upgrade over Hemsky?

Heading into the off-season, Craig MacTavish was hoping to address many of the issues hampering the Edmonton Oilers. While improving the overall talent level on the roster was priority one, he made no secret of wanting to add players who were not only willing to compete on a nightly basis but preferably had some size to them. Despite his best efforts to acquire unrestricted free agent David Clarkson, likely a blessing in disguise, the Oilers remain somewhat on the smallish side of things but have clearly made upgrades in other areas.