Season 2009/10 Review

June 1st 2010: Edmonton Oilers 2009/10 Review

Wolfgang Goethe once said: "When ideas fail, words come in very handy." Yet there were no words to accurately describe the Edmonton Oilers season in 2009/10. The optimism following the sacking of Craig MacTavish prior to the 2009/10 season proved to be completely unwarranted as the Oilers fell further and harder to the bottom of the NHL than most Edmontonians had imagined possible. Even though General Manager Steve Tambellini made numerous deals throughout the season their plummet was seemingly unavoidable. The Oilers finished the season 29th, with a dismal 27 wins, 42 losses and 13 overtime losses for a meagre 67 points.

Immediately following the completion of the 82nd and last game of the season the Oilers held a press conference announcing that GM Steve Tambellini was relieved of his duties and that the Oilers would be looking for a new General Manager.

NHL Regular Season 2009/10

Transactions of 2009/10

Prior to the season the Oilers made a number of deals:

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* (D) MATT LASHOFF (TBL) for rights to Johan Motin, Troy Hesketh
* (W) JACK SKILLE (CHI) for rights to Riley Nash

* (C) BROOKS LAICH (WSH) for Robert Nilsson

* (D) NOLAN YONKMAN (NSH) for Jason Strudwick

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The most significant deal was obviously bringing in Brooks Laich, who ended the season with a decent 62 points in 77 games, although a -21 in the process. Matt Lashoff, Jack Skille were apparently intended to be long-term deals, yet Lashoff and Skille played 62 and 32 NHL games respectively, Lashoff doing a quite commendable job too.

The last deal, bringing in Nolan Yonkman, was believed to be a wash, but the Oilers will be fairly pleased with Yonkman's performance, despite his horrid -18 over the year.

Between October and the March trade deadline the Oilers again brought about an array of deals, most of which were moves to shed salary.

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* 3rd ROUND DRAFT PICK (COL) for Steve Staios

* (W) GREG MOORE, (G) DWAYNE ROLOSON for (NYI) for Fernando Pisani

* 4th ROUND DRAFT PICK (PHI) for Dwayne Roloson

* 1st ROUND DRAFT PICK (ANA) for Sheldon Souray

* Rights to (W) ANTON AXELSSON for Rights to Philippe Cornet

* Rights to (D) ANTON BABCHUCK for Mike Comrie

* 2nd ROUND DRAFT PICK (OTT) for Shawn Horcoff
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The Oilers aggressively sought to move some of their veterans and succeeded in dealing Sheldon Souray, Steve Staios, Fernando Pisani and Shawn Horcoff - yet brought back only minimal salaries in return. The Oilers' performances in the league, however, continued fail them.

What's in the Future?

* The search for a new General Manager is on.

* The Oilers have an array of draft picks in the 2010 Entry Draft, including a lottery pick.

- In addition to their own picks, 1st through 7th, they have Anaheim's 1st, Ottawa's 2nd, Colorado's 3rd, Philadelphia's 4th and Ottawa's 6th rounder.

* Negotiating contract renewals with pending free agents, notably players such as (D) Denis Grebeshkov, (W) JF Jacques, (C) Marc Pouliot, (G) Devan Dubnyk and others.