Edmonton Oilers Assemble Staff

Edmonton Oilers News (July 2nd 2010) "Oilers assemble staff"

The Oilers have released a statement announcing that they have signed former Avalanche and Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley as their new Assistant GM. The statement reflected on Hartley's history as a Stanley Cup winner with Colorado, his managerial qualities and ability to both assess talent and coach players.

The remainder of the staff is made up of the personell that served under Steve Tambellini. "We see no need to part with the services of excellently qualified coaches" is stated in the Oilers announcement. This means Pat Quinn remains as Head Coach, with Wayne Fleming, Tom Renney, Kelly Buchberger and Steve Serdachny all staying on as assistants to Quinn. Frederic Chabot, the Oilers goaltending coach has, however, left following the expiration of his contract this summer. The Oilers stated they were looking for a replacement already.

"Edmonton Oilers General Manager Morgan Kowalski addresses situation"

"Clearly we have holes in our roster, there is no need to deny the obvious" said GM Kowalski upon being asked about the state of his current roster. He emphasised that he was expecting to build for the long run, opposed to making a bid for swift improvement. "We have elements in our system that can contribute significantly in the future, but right now I don't see us competing for the President's Trophy, to be honest". The Oilers are short of a marquee defenseman and a top line center - and while prospects like Cam Fowler and Sam Gagner look solid, they are longshots to fill those holes this year.

From what I have seen in early practices, and from my observation of the team last season, I feel players like Lashoff and Smid can step up even further this year - and I look to youngsters like Brule, Skille, Gagner, Cogliano and Axelsson to make a serious bid for roster spots at camp.

When asked about the seemingly vacant backup goaltending position, Kowalski replied that he "was looking for options both internally and externally to fill that position". It is assumed that veteran Nikolai Khabibulin will remain the Oilers starting netminder.

It is expected that GM Kowalski will invite most of the newly drafted prospects as well as earlier draftees such as Jordan Eberle, Magnus Pääjarvi Svensson and Anton Lander.

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Projected lineup before camp:

Dustin Penner - Patrick O'Sullivan - Ales Hemsky

Andrew Cogliano - Brooks Laich - Jack Skille/Sam Gagner/Gilbert Brule

Ethan Moreau - Ryan Stone - Greg Moore

Anton Axelsson - Lee Falardeau - Ryan O'Marra/Aleksandr Bumagin/Zach Stortini

Denis Grebeshkov - Tom Gilbert

Anton Babchuk - Lubomir Visnovsky

Ladislav Smid - Nolan Yonkman

(Alex Plante/Jeff Petry/Taylor Chorney)

Nikolai Khabibulin

Jeff Deslauriers