Evander kane money stack12/28/2023 These two players should help the Oilers PK immensely and vastly improve it from last season. Not to mention the Oilers will also have another great PKer, Vincent Desharnais, for a full season as well barring injury. The leftovers of Bouchard alone should be worth another 5-10 points for Ekholm here. Although not known as a scorer, he certainly does bring some scoring chops to the table, having put up multiple 30-point seasons and one 40+ point season as a Nashville Predator. I’d also love to see what Ekholm can do offensively in a full season as an Oiler. Ekholm was already on the second unit PK last season, and with Nurse manning the point on the first unit PK, the Oilers will have a great 1-2 punch from the point on the PK for an entire season, which will only bolster the PK in the future. The Oilers last season had the #1 ranked PP in the league, which was a historic 32.4%, but a fairly benign PK which finished 20th in the league at 77%. Not to mention his effect on special teams too. He will help to not only stabilize the second pairing with Evan Bouchard but also take some of the defensive heat off of Darnell Nurse, which should help both players as it will cut Nurse’s ice time and hopefully keep him more rested and maybe even increase his boxcars because of it. Trade deadline acquisition Mattias Ekholm – who the Oilers paid quite a bit of trade pieces for in futures – will be with the Oilers for a full season this year. There are also some roster realities that will set in this season that will make the Oilers a stronger team than last season. The fact is the Oilers were a measly two points out of first place when the regular season ended earlier this calendar year, so it only stands to reason that with Vegas suffering some setbacks this offseason (more on that later) that the Oilers will usurp them for the division lead this season. Here’s how I see the Pacific division shaping up – agree with me or not, either way, is fine, just don’t be a dick to me on X (Twitter) if you disagree is all I ask. The frenzy that is day one of free agency is long gone, as is the penchant for big moves. Minor changes may be made here and there but for the most part rosters across the NHL are more or less set. Rosters are more or less set save for a handful of prospects and PTOs that teams are pushing through training camp. It’s that time of year again Edmonton Oilers fans – we’re about a month away from the start of the season so the offseason is almost over.
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