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The best news about the new Edmonton Oilers? That thing that bores you so much.
The off-season — which has in so many recent years been a time off massive change and turnover — was a dud this year, at least if you were looking for excitement and a bunch of new players.
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For all those pushing and yearning for massive buy-outs and brilliant acquisitions, it was a major disappointment and a bore.
The core of the Edmonton roster (the Core 12 of the seven forwards on the top two lines and third-line centre, top four d-men and starting goalie), will see only one change between 2022-23 and 2023-24, with Connor Brown slotting in where Kailer Yamamoto used to be.
That is remarkable.
It’s been 35 years since the Edmonton Oilers saw so little change in its Core 12, with just one player moving in and one player moving out, though that one single summer of 1988 player change was a whopper, as many of you will recall, Wayne Gretzky for Jimmy Carson.
The glory years of the Oilers were a time of massive Core 12 stability, which usually just one or two players moved in or out:
- Kevin McLelland took over from Dave Hunter in 1983-84
- Mike Krushelnyski and Mark Napier took over from Willy Lindstrom and Ken Linseman in 1984-85
- Craig MacTavish took over McLelland in 1985-86
- Esa Tikkanen, Kent Nilsson and Craig Muni took over from Krushelnyski, Napier and Randy Gregg in 1986-87
- Craig Simpson and Steve Smith took over from Nilsson and Paul Coffey in 1987-88
- Carson stood in for Gretzky in 1988-89
- Mark Lamb, Reijo Ruotsalainen and Bill Ranford took over from Carson, Muni and Grant Fuhr in 1989-90.
Some measure of stability returned to the Oilers after the Pocklington era ended in chaos. Players like Ryan Smyth, Doug Weight, Todd Marchant, Janne Niinimaa, Mike Grier, Rem Murray, Jason Smith, Steve Staios, Tommy Salo and Ethan Moreau were in the Core 12 numerous seasons.
It’s worth noting that massive line-up change doesn’t always mean disaster. The 2005-06 Oilers that made the Stanley Cup finals had seven new players, the most turnover of any Oilers team in the NHL era, with newcomers to the Core 12 including three internal candidates who had worked their way up in Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll and Fernando Pisani, as well as four outsiders coming in, Chris Pronger, Mike Peca, Jaroslav Spacek and Dwayne Roloson. That was some sharp work by then GM Kevin Lowe.
But there was regular roster upheaval during the Decade of Darkness, especially as it went on and GMs started to get shuffled, with Craig MacTavish replacing Steve Tambellini, then MacT getting replaced by Peter Chiarelli.
Chiarelli’s first season saw the most massive change, with Teddy Purcell, Nail Yakupov, Derek Roy, Justin Schultz, Andrew Ference, Mark Fayne and Ben Scrivens out of the Core 12. At the same time, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mark Letestu, Andrej Sekera, Brandon Davidson, Darnell Nurse and Cam Talbot in.
In 2022-23, there were only two changes to the Core 12, with Mattias Ekholm in for Keith and Stuart Skinner in for Mike Smith.
And this year — unless there is some major trade during the season that disrupts things — the Core 12 has only the one change, Brown in for Yamamoto.
Again, in general, a stable Core 12 is a signal of good times for the team. It’s safe to suggest that’s the case just now, as few Oilers fans would be keen to see any of the Core 12 players moved out, save perhaps a better d-man stepping in for Cody Cedi and a star goalie taking over from Stuart Skinner.
Me? I’m more than good with Ceci and Skinner for now, I think the Brown-for-Yamamoto swap was a huge win, and, given salary cap considerations, I’m content to wait until the trade deadline to see what the Oilers need and who Holland can acquire.
