My biggest concern today is that the Oilers have moved on from almost ALL the prospects they've had over the last several years.
Not just the two today but moving from Bourgault, McLeod, Oilers misfiring on tons of drafts.
Indeed the Oilers have two players in the lineup since Connor McDavid pick. Thats 10 f***ing years of drafting and two roster players to show for it. That is pathetic.
What other contending teams do so consistently poorly at draft or developing their picks or failing to utilize them and retain then?
As a result this team is among oldest teams in league. Older than last season.
I'm not assuming Podkolzin even makes the lineup. Whens the last time the Oilers even had any success with a Russian prospect?
Bourgault was a whiff and they seemed to get a more NHL ready guy in return so that's fine, getting Savoie for McLeod is fantastic so at least they parlayed those guys into other young players with upside and in Savoie's case, a top prospect.
Losing Holloway and Broberg who they developed in the system for 4-5 years for whatever reason whether it be previous management incompetence putting them in a cap crunch or mismanaging the RFA negotiations for ok picks is something that can really hurt this organization long term and sucks, quite frankly, just when the Oilers were reaping the fruits of their labor with these two. Holloway I can deal with even though I liked him, he's replaceable, but how do they replace Broberg's upside? Akey could be a player but he's years away, I like Wanner but he just doesn't have that level of upside. It's pretty barren beyond those two.
I don't know how you find another player like that unless you find a diamond in the rough miraculously or sucker a team like Buffalo to get a top prospect. It's going to hurt watching Broberg playing top 4 elsewhere for years while the Oilers are looking for someone to ease the pain of Ekholm aging out. It won't hurt much in the short term probably but they put a cap on their longer term potential by not matching this offer sheet.
Maybe Emberson turns into a top 4 Dman but while I'm intrigued by the addition that seems unlikely. Meh, I'm not going to cry over it for too long but it does suck losing these guys when we start to get attached to them and project them as long term solutions. It's a blow IMO.