By Mike Smith
When the Oilers told people that it was a new year, all they could do was hope that their season would go slightly better than the 2009-2010 campaign.
The Oilers faithful did have something to cheer about in the offseason, as they selected Taylor Hall with the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL entry draft. Hall was the biggest and most important of the three prospects expected to make the team. Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paarjarvi all impressed in camp and, as a result, earned themselves opening night roster spots.
After absolutely dominating the Flames in the season opener, the future looked very bright for the young Oilers squad.
However, after a glorified three game win streak to open the season, the Oilers reverted back to last season’s losing ways and dropped six games, two in shoot outs.
Still, another tough year for fans and players alike might help the Oilers in the long run. Another high first round draft pick will add to the already lethal arsenal of firepower or could be used to add a highly talented defensive prospect to round out their young talent.
Next season Hall, Eberle and Paarjarvi will have the experience needed to be successful in the NHL. With some big trades, general manager Steve Tambellini can create a winning machine.
The Oilers are in rebuild mode, which means Oiler fans can expect a similar season to last years, but with some very bright spots along the way from the big three. Eberle has already got people talking and could possibly be the rookie of the year.
On the entertainment side of things, the battle of Alberta is now once again actually a battle. Flames and Oilers fans alike will be sitting on the edge of their seats biting their nails until the final buzzer when their teams face off against each other.
The Oilers are like the Chicago Blackhawks. They blew it up and took a couple lowly years to rebuild, but look at the success they had last year after developing their young talent. This is great news for Oiler fans, as their team does have a very good chance at the Cup in a few years. The key to success for them will be to keep doing what they are doing, and do it fast, as just like the Hawks, the Oilers will have only a short amount of time to keep all the young guns together before they run out of cap space for all of them. Although teams do not see the Oilers as a threat right now, they will be in deep against them in the future.