Oilers will need to make room for Ryan Jones

While Ryan Jones is not quite ready to make his 2013 Edmonton Oilers debut, he isn't far off. With his return likely coming sometime over the next 2-3 weeks and Ben Eager getting closer to re-joining the Oilers starting lineup, head coach Ralph Krueger will have some tough decisions moving forward.

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.

Game 73: Edmonton 6 Nashville 3

While the 2011-2012 campaign has easily been the worst statistical year of Ales Hemsky's nine year NHL career, last night's three goal, four point performance clearly demonstrates the talented winger still has plenty of game left in the tank. Riding the coat tails of their veteran winger and a forty-one save performance from goaltender Devan Dubnyk, the Edmonton Oilers beat the Nashville Predators for the third time this year and chased one of the league's best netminders for the second time this season. Pekka Rinne allowed three goals on just seven shots and Edmonton took care of the rest, downing the overachieving Preds by a score of 6-3. The win gives the Oilers a 5-1-1 mark in their last seven road games, after going 6-20-2 in their first twenty-eight games away from Rexall Place.

Oil Notes: Eager Is Close and Foreshadowing Lineup For Saturday

I am sure Ben Eager did not expect his career as an Edmonton Oiler to start out in the fashion it has. After signing a three year deal with the club on July 1st, the rugged forward was looking forward to being a regular and getting a new lease on his hockey life in Edmonton. After an on ice meltdown in last years playoffs cost the San Jose Sharks, Coach Todd McLellan decided he could no longer trust the gritty Eager out on the ice and yanked him from the starting lineup. Edmonton was going to be the spot that Ben Eager would show everyone he could still play the game and not just be a side show. Unfortunately for both the club and player, a concussion, suffered during the Joey Moss Cup, has kept the 27 year old out of the Oilers lineup for the entire pre-season and the season opener. It appears that the time to see what Ben Eager can bring to the table, is just around the corner.

Team Toughness

The phrase "Team Toughness" is one that has been used by the Edmonton Oilers organization for some time now. Ever since the departure of Georges Larques following the 2005-2006 season, the idea of team toughness by committee has been the clubs mantra. The problem being, that not only did they not have a true enforcer most seasons but they compounded the issue by not having players who were willing to punish opponents night in and night out. Have a look at the 2005-2006 roster and you would see the following names:

Georges Laraque, Todd Harvey, Ethan Moreau, Raffi Torres, Brad Winchester, Chris Pronger, Matt Greene, Jason Smith & Steve Staios