{"id":55043,"date":"2019-08-30T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=55043"},"modified":"2019-11-08T11:11:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T16:11:00","slug":"puck-drop-preview-2019-20-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/08\/30\/puck-drop-preview-2019-20-edmonton-oilers\/","title":{"rendered":"Puck Drop Preview: 2019-20 Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Puck Drop Preview 2019-20, where\u00a0Last Word on Hockey<\/a>\u00a0gives you a detailed look at each team from around the NHL leading to the start of this hockey season and offers our insight and analysis. Make sure to stick around until the end of the series, where we\u2019ll offer our full predictions for the standings in each division, and eventually our 2019-20 Stanley Cup pick. You can check out all our articles on our\u00a0Puck Drop Page<\/a>. Our series continues with the 2019-20 Edmonton Oilers<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

2019-20 Edmonton Oilers Preview<\/h2>\n

2018-19 Season<\/h3>\n

The 2018-19 edition of the Edmonton Oilers was a huge disappointment, to say the least. They finished second to last in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs for the 12th time in\u00a013 seasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They got off to a very slow start, which eventually lead to the firing of head coach Todd McLellan<\/a> in late November. Things got a little better after Ken Hitchcock<\/strong> took over as head coach but injuries held the team back and hurt their chances for staying in the playoff race. <\/span>The team went through a long stretch without two of their top-four defencemen in Oscar Klefbom<\/a> and Kris Russell<\/a>. On top of that, they were without Andrej Sekera<\/a> for most of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Offensively, the Oilers simply weren’t good enough. Aside from Connor McDavid<\/a> (116 points), Leon <\/span>Draisaitl<\/span> (105 points), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins<\/a> (69 points), no other forward scored more than 38 points<\/a> last season.\u00a0<\/span>As a result, the Edmonton Oilers finished 20th in goals for (229) with McDavid, <\/span>Draisaitl<\/span>, and Nugent Hopkins accounting for more than 50% (119) of the team\u2019s total goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively the team struggled as well. They had the second-worst penalty kill in the NHL at 74.8% and allowed the fifth-most goals against<\/a> at 271.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In a few desperate attempts in trying to save the season, former Oilers\u2019 general manager Peter Chiarelli<\/strong> traded useful role players in Ryan Strome<\/a> and Drake Caggiula<\/a> for pieces (Ryan Spooner<\/a>, Brandon Manning<\/a>) that didn\u2019t pan out.\u00a0<\/span>To the relief of many Oiler fans, Edmonton officially announced the firing of Peter Chiarelli January 22, 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All in all, the 2018-19 campaign was one Edmonton would like to forget. In many ways, it was a wasted season for their young superstars McDavid and <\/span>Draisaitl<\/span> who each respectively had All-Star caliber seasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2019 Offseason<\/h3>\n

The Edmonton Oilers made several moves this off-season. First and foremost, they named Ken Holland<\/a> general manager and president of hockey operations. Shortly after that, they named Dave Tippett<\/a> as the team\u2019s new head coach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Holland and his staff got busy right away and were able to ink highly-touted Swedish forward Joakim Nygard<\/strong> to a one-year-deal.\u00a0 <\/span>At the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Oilers surprised a few people by taking Sweedish defenseman Philip Broberg<\/a> eighth overall. Then right before free agency, they bought out veteran defenceman <\/span>Andrej Sekera<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n