EHM The Blue Line

Finally a new version of EHM!! Here is my first Dynasty back, I hope you will enjoy. I will try to be limiting myself to certain restriction. I will not be trading for the obvious glitch availabilities such as St Louis. I will not tank on purpose to acquire the top prospect like McDavid. I will also not trade come draft time for the first overall pick, unless I can make an absolutely justifiable trade. Other limitations may come.

**Breaking news**

September 2014

After a several year hiatus, GM Phoenix Roberts returns. It was announced September 7th. His first order of business was to clean house and get the front office and the bench in check. Head coach Todd Nelson and two assistant coaches were dismissed. Guy Boucher took over as head coach while Joel Otto, John MacLean, and Sam St. Laurent join holdovers Craig Ramsey and Dustin Schwartz as assistant coaches. Mark Messier was moved from scout to assistant GM.

A few roster moves were pulled off during the first month of activity for returning GM Roberts. First a trade sent Curtis Hamilton to Washington for Jason Chimera, adding depth to the lower lines. Bryan Bickell and Derek Dorsett were claimed from waivers. A second trade was made to dump salary as Benoit Pouliot was sent to Winnipeg for Keaton Ellerby.

The Oilers played four exhibition games, winning three and dropping one. Viktor Fasth picked up the wins while Ben Scrivens only got a loss.

October 2014

Lines:

T. Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Bickell - Roy - Purcell
Chimera - Lander - Yakupov
Hendricks - Gordon - Dorsett

Ferrence - Schultz
Ellerby - Fayne
Nikitin - Aulie

Scrivens
Fasth


October was a tough month overall. After going undefeated in their three first games, the Edmonton Oilers hit a downwards spiral, losing the next seven games of the month. Goaltending proved erratic, defense was porous, and offence lacking. No one really stood out as a savior. With fans starting to get restless, attacking Keaton Ellerby in the process, and called for change.

The month ended with a pair of game changing trades. The first was to swap was a somewhat major trade with the New York Islanders. The Oilers sent Rob Klinkhammer, Viktor Fasth, and Derek Roy for Mikhail Grabovski and Michal Neuvirth. This allows to bolster secondary scoring and also hopes to boost the struggling goaltending. Not sitting back on the improvements of that trade, GM Roberts decided to also improve the left wing with trading partner Boston. Jason Chimera, Steve Pinizotto, and the rights to Roman Horak were swapped for Milan Lucic. This added size, grit, and scoring, if of course Coach Boucher can tame him.

Minor changes were also made as Keith Aulie was shipped away for a pick and Ellerby was benched. Maricinin and Klefbom were called up to replace them. Hope is that this breaks the losing streak before the losses start falling onto the front office or behind the bench. November begins.

November 2014

Lines:

Hall (34pts) - Nugent-Hopkins (31pts) - Eberle (31pts)
Lucic (15pts) - Grabovski (18pts) - Purcell (16pts)
Bickell (13pts) - Lander (8pts) - Yakupov (16pts)
Hendricks (7pts) - Gordon (2pts) - Dorsett (5pts)

Nikitin (13pts) - Schultz (13pts)
Klefbom (4pts) - Ference (16pts)
Fayne (3pts) - Maricinin (4pts)

Scrivens (11wins)
Neuvirth (2wins)


November was an odd month. It was a similar up and down ride, although the wins and losses came in waves. The team did win more than it lost going ten wins versus eight loses, one of which was in overtime. There was also an unheard of eight games in eight nights where Neuvirth was asked to play a few games to keep Scrivens fresh. The team is slowly rounding itself out. Goaltending was better, especially as Scrivens stepped up. Defence has been better with Nikitin taking on a bigger role and Klefbom being solid. Mostly on the D it was addition by subtraction. On offence it has been a similar uplifting story with the first line getting into another gear and the secondary scoring depth added in October really created opportunities.

The West appears very weak this year as the Oilers sit in 8th place with a negative record of 13-14-1 in 28 games for 27 points. Compared to their record in October this is looking positive. Can December be merry for more than just Christmas?

December 2014

Lines:

Hall (46pts) - Nugent-Hopkins (37pts) - Eberle (43pts)
Lucic (24pts) - Grabovski (25pts) - Yakupov (24pts)
Bickell (16pts) - Lander (14pts) - Purcell (20pts)
Hendricks (12pts) - Gazdic (3pts) - Dorsett (8pts)

Nikitin (18pts) - Schultz (22pts)
Klefbom (8pts) - Ference (20pts)
Ellerby (2pts) - Fayne (5pts)

Scrivens (16wins)
Neuvirth (2wins)


December was spent on the playoff bubble as the Oilers remained a .500 team. The bulk of the games were handled by Scrivens as Neuvirth continues to struggle. Offensively it has been a sequence where secondary and back end scoring increased. Decisions slowly need to take place as the Oilers will need to decide which side of the playoff line they want to on.

A brief interview with GM Roberts:

Edmonton Star: Thank you for accepting this interview. Since coming into office you have completed three trades and picked up two players of the waivers. Overall that is not a lot of tinkering given that you have taken on a non-playoff team that does not seem playoff bound again. What is your plan?

Phoenix Roberts: It's my pleasure to be here. I felt the need to evaluate my team before I made major changes. We have a great core here and changing the dynamic too quickly can have an adverse effect to game play. We made plays so far to improve areas that we knew going in that were problematic. Currently we are beginning to get a better picture of what we need to improve and where we want to go.

ES: And where is it you want to go? Where do you feel you need to improve?

PR: We know we still need to find ourselves a general on the blueline at some point. You look at teams like LA that have Doughty, Boston with Chara, and Montreal with Markov and Subban, and you can see what an impact that can make. Scrivens is a very good goaltender and needs better support. We could also benefit from improving ourselves down the middle on our bottom lines. This will not be done at the expense of the future though.

ES: If you don't intend on giving away assets, how do you intend to add this "general" to your blueline?

PR: Good solid drafting and free agency. If a trade is right and it is long term there is no reason not to consider it. There is just no reason for a short term improvement at the cost of the future at this point in time. I mean if we were a top 5 team and looking at the cup that would be different. We are working our way up to being that team. Our drafting will need to change it's focus if we are to become that team though. We have fantastic offence because that is what we drafted. No we'll need the defence to match.

ES: Lastly, what are your expectations over the few months?

PR: We want to be in the playoff picture. We are working on improving stability. If that fails, then we will move some pieces to get the assets we need for next year. The plan this year was to improve. We have. By next year we will be in the playoffs and causing headaches.

ES: Thank you again.

PR: My pleasure. See you for my post season scrum.

January 2015

Lines:

Hall (61pts) - Nugent-Hopkins (48pts) - Eberle (58pts)
Lucic (30pts) - Grabovski (32pts) - Yakupov (31pts)
Bickell (17pts) - Lander (14pts) - Purcell (24pts)
Hendricks (14pts) - Gazdic (4pts) - Dorsett (10pts)

Nikitin (26pts) - Schultz (27pts)
Emelin (10pts) - Ference (23pts)
Klefbom (12pts) - Fayne (8pts)

Scrivens (21wins)
Neuvirth (3wins)


January was a month of small victories. Early in the month Emelin was added through waivers. The team came back to being a .500 team and are 2 points out of the playoff picture with one game more played than 8th place. The hope is there that they can squeeze into the playoffs but they could at most hope to not get swept in the first round. The team seems to be rounding out but many pieces are still missing to be consistently winning.

Article from The Hockey News:

The Edmonton Oilers are coming into the month of February a .500 team, just barely as they achieved this during the last game of the month. They have a great offensive core but lack in every other department. Scrivens is an decent starter but cannot stand on his head or steal a game, especially with the porous defence in front of him. The blueline is pretty inconsistent and on some nights border on AHL level play. While the team has interesting depth offensively, down the middle is a weakness that will need to be addressed at the deadline or before next season. GM Roberts' best bet would be to gauge quickly in the next few weeks if he wants to add to his roster to be competitive, risk making it to the playoffs as an early exit team or sell the many assets that don't factor into this team long run. Interesting players to move would be Grabovski, Neuvirth, Purcell, and Emelin.

February 2015

Lines (after deadline):

Hall (73pts) - Nugent-Hopkins (56pts) - Eberle (70pts)
Lucic (31pts) - Miller (1pt) - Yakupov (31pts)
Bickell (17pts) - Lain (0pts) - Pitlick (0pts)
Hendricks (15pts) - Gaustad (0pts) - Dorsett (10pts)

Nikitin (34pts) - Schultz (33pts)
Emelin (14pts) - Maricinin (7pts)
Klefbom (14pts) - Fayne (9pts)

Scrivens (23wins)
Bachman (0wins)

February saw the Oilers struggle entirely. Scrivens was injured and players could not make up for it. By the time the trade deadline came to, the team was 8 points out of the race with a game more played than 8th place. This is when GM Roberts decided to sell off several assets that did not seem to be in the long term plans of the team. In exchange for picks the Oilers sent out Grabovski, Ference, Purcell, Lander, and Neuvirth. With the playoffs out of the picture, GM Roberts has brought up Andrew Miller, Richard Bachman, and Keven Lain and well as reactivating Pitlick from IR.

March - April 2015

Lines:

Hall (93pts) - Nugent-Hopkins (76pts) - Eberle (93pts)
Lucic (38pts) - Miller (7pt) - Yakupov (40pts)
Bickell (24pts) - Lain (1pt) - Pitlick (2pts)
Hendricks (16pts) - Gaustad (15pts) - Dorsett (11pts)

Nikitin (48pts) - Schultz (39pts)
Emelin (18pts) - Maricinin (13pts)
Klefbom (16pts) - Fayne (14pts)

Scrivens (28wins)
Bachman (0wins)


The Oilers continued to play rollercoaster hockey, winning and losing in random sequences, losing more than not. Hall and Eberle were the true stars of the team, dominating in points, eclipsing their line mate Nugent-Hopkins. Yakupov broke out and had a decent season while building chemistry with Lucic but a quality center is lacking to take them one step further. The lower lines are basically Bickell and interchangeable parts. On defence are found Nikitin and Schultz playing first pairing minutes on second pairing talent. Aside from Kelfbom the rest of the defence was a write-off for this season. In goal Scrivens tried his best with what he had. The team ended 32-44-6 on the season with 250 goals for and 319 goals against.

An interview will follow the draft and an evaluation of the team will be made by GM Roberts.

Post Draft 2015

The Stanley Cup was won by the LA Kings versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. Detroit had mustered the Presidents Trophy.

The Edmonton Oilers draft went well although since they were not in the top five picks they were not in the sweepstake for Connor McDavid. The player they wish they could have had was Noah Hanifin but he was drafted 4th overall. Mostly the amount of defensive and center prospects were increased. Only one trade was made at the draft to go from 21st overall to 12th overall.

7th overall - Zach Warenski - LD - 6'2" / 213Lbs - 1-2 Defensive Dman potential - Considered to be ambitious, determined, and have a strong character.
12th overall - Jeremy Roy - RD - 6' / 183Lbs - 1-2 Offensive Dman potential - Considered to be determined.
37th overall - Phil Baltisberger - LD - 6'2" / 209Lbs - 5-6 Defensive Dman potential - Considered to be aggressive.
47th overall - Ivan Nikolishin - C - 5'9" / 176Lbs - 3rd line Playmaking Forward potential - Considered to be ordinary.
56th overall - Anthony Richard - C - 5'11" / 194Lbs - 2nd line Flashy Offensive Forward potential - Considered loyal and relaxed.
72nd overall - Matthew Mancina - G - 6'4" / 198Lbs - Backup Hybrid Goaltender potential - Considered to be professional, determined, modest, and resilient.
84th overall - Andrew Mangiapane - C - 5'10" / 169Lbs - 4th line Offensive Forward potential - Considered to be ambitious.
85th overall - Carl Neill - RD - 5'9" / 187Lbs - 5-6 Mobile Dman potential - Considered to be a model professional, ambitious, independent, and strong character.
97th overall - Michael Joly - RW - 6' / 191Lbs - 3rd line Offensive Utility forward potential - Considered to be a realist, have low determination, and be loyal.
104th overall - Steven Owre - C - 5'11" / 171Lbs - 4th line Offensive Playmaking forward potential - Considered honest, determined, and extremely loyal.
109th overall - Cody Donaghey - RD - 6'1" / 167Lbs - 5-6 Offensive Dman potential - Considered to be very ambitious, have low determination, and be loyal.
116th overall - Joey Ratelle - LW - 6' / 200Lbs - 3rd line Skilled Offensive Forward potential - Considered to be honest and a mercenary.
127th overall - Keoni Texeira - LD - 6' / 200Lbs - 7 Offensive Dman potential - Considered to be a model professional, ambitious, independent, and have a strong character.
136th overall - Phillippe Sanche - C - 6' / 205Lbs - 4th line Offensive Playmaking Forward potential - Considered to be determined and have a strong character.
187th overall - Kevin Laliberte - RD - 6'1" / 196Lbs - Limited Stay-at-Home Dman - Considered to be ambitious, a realist, independent, and have a strong character.

End of Year Evaluations:

T. Hall - (A+) - The most consistent player all year, he has shown that the team can be built around him.
R. Nugent Hopkins - (B) - Given the wingers he had this year, it was expected he could do better. He was far from awful but may be better suited for a 2nd line role.
J. Eberle - (A) - Also extremely gifted he progressed as the season went on and often scored in bunches.

M. Lucic - (B-) - A strong presence on the second line and delivered the grit that was needed but like most of the team was a negative player in plus/minus.
Pitlick - (D-) - Was very outclassed in his very limited time on the second line. Should not even be making the team on the lower lines.
M. Grabovski - (C) - Wildly inconsistent and limited production led to him being shipped out.
N. Yakupov - (B+) - Made his way from the 3rd line and made Purcell expendable. He contributed a solid effort but would benefit from a better center.

B. Bickell - (B-) - Was the only player to be on the 3rd line most of the season. While not spectacular he was decent and solid.
A. Lander - (D-) - Terrible play caused him to be traded away as he caused more goals against during his time on the ice than he helped generate.
T. Purcell - (B-) - Was a decent, solid player but the great play of Yakupov sealed his fate.

Hendricks - (C) - Pretty much what you would expect from an average 4th liner.
Gaustad - (D) - Not particularly good but still better than Gordon and Gazdic who he replaced.
Gazdic - (F) - One of the worst players to be on the team during the season.
Dorsett - (D) - A rather abysmal player who can easily be replaced.

Nikitin - (B+) - Playing above his potential as there are no real first pairing blueliners on the team. Was very solid.
Schultz - (B) - A good player but would be more consistent with less ice time.

Emelin - (C) - Did not bring much to the team except for size, a waiver pick up that merely filled a spot.
Ference - (C) - Was not able to live up to his reputation and was eventually moved for a pick.
Marincin - (C-) - Potential to play 3rd pairing minutes but was never able to stick permanently.

Klefbom (B) - Was solid on the 3rd pairing, sometimes playing on the powerplay, he was never forced into a role he could not fill.
M. Fayne (D) - Medicore at best but he did what he could.

B. Scrivens - (B) - A decent goaltender who could be very good on a very good team but was not elevate himself above the play of his defense.
M. Neuvirth - (D) - Acquired in exchange for a goaltender that turned better, he never stepped up his play.
R. Bachman - (F) - Third string goalie that is barely an AHL player.

Summer 2015

Hall won the Lester B Pearson Trophy and the Fan Player of the Year Award.

Lines:

Lucic - Backes - Eberle
Kreider - Nugent-Hopkins - Yakupov
Bordeleau - Stoll - Pakarinen
Hendricks - Gaustad - Janssen

Martin - Stralman
Nikitin - Schultz
Klefbom - Johnson

Scrivens
Fasth

IR: Hall - Ryder


Many changes occurred in the off-season as GM Roberts started to build the team he wants. Through trading he brought in Stralman, Backes, Stoll, Kreider, and picks with Roy, Maricinin, Bickell, Fayne, Gazdic, Lain, Emelin, Spylo-Nittel, prospects, and picks going the other way. Martin and Fasth signed through free agency. From the waivers Ryder, Janssen and Bordeleau were picked up. This remodeled team looks more promising and ready for the grind of the season.