Closer look at the Battle of Alberta

With big Free agent signings and the rising of promising prospects hockey fans all over the nation are greatly anticipating the return of the battle of Alberta. Lets compare depth charts to see how this could play out next season.

Legend:
Green - advantage
Red - disadvantage
Blue - similar

OILERS:

Hall - Nuge - Eberle

Pouliot - McDavid - Yakupov

Korpikoski - Letestu - Purcell

Hendricks - Lander - Klinkhammer

Pitlick - Draisaitl Gazdic

Klefbom - Sekera

Shultz - Fayne

Reinhart - Gryba

Ference - Nurse

Nikitin - Davidson

Talbot

Scrivens

Nilsson

FLAMES:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Hudler

Raymond - Backlund - Frolik

Bouma - Stajan - Jones

Bennet - Granlund - Colborne

Jooris - Shore - Byron

Bollig - Grant - Ferland

Hamilton - Giordano

Widemen - Brodie 

Russel - Smid

Engelland - Potter

Hiller

Ramo

Forwards: Advantage- Oilers, Calgary has a deeper forward core than Edmonton, however their top 6 doesn't come close to the talent of Edmonton's. The Oilers have the advantage in this category

Defence: Advantage- Flames, boy this was easy. Calgary's second pairing is arguably better than Edmonton's 1st pairing. They also have one of the best defensive cores in the NHL. Edmonton doesn't even compare, So the Flames have a big advantage in this category

Goalie: Advantage- Flames, Calgary will again ride this season with the 1A 1B option of  Hiller and Ramo. While Edmonton is hoping Talbot can bring similar numbers over from New York. Calgary's goalies will be playing in front of a stronger D-core and have much more stability with having confidence in throwing in Ramo if Hiller is struggling, So the Flames get the advantage here too.

Oilers
 Forwards Strengths: Top six skill, Bottom six size
 Forwards Weaknesses: Top six size, Bottom six scoring

Defence Strengths: Depth,
Defence Weaknesses: Not enough top pairing dmen

Goalie Strengths: Potential
Goalie Weaknesses: Stability, Not proven

Flames 
Forwards Strengths: Depth, Scoring throughout the lineup
Forwards Weaknesses: Top Six (shouldn't be considered a weakness, but is their weakest part)

Defence Strengths: Top six, depth
Weakness: Not much at all, maybe size

Goalies Strengths: Depth
Goalies Weakness: Could use a stronger number 1, but still have a strong goalie tandem.

Final Verdict: Flames ultimately have the better roster, However it will be a much closer battle of Alberta. The Oilers could be as close as a top 2 defencemen and a 1A 1B goalie tandem from being the stronger team. Nonetheless these two teams are on the rise and Alberta may not be far away from having two of the best teams in the NHL.


Adam Girard
Writer/Co-founder - OILERS INSIDERS

Oilers Free Agent Targets

Here's a potential Oilers depth chart:

Hall - Nuge - Eberle

Pouliout - McDavid - Yakupov

(Free Agent B) - Lander - Purcell

Klinkhamer - Gordan - Hendricks

Draisaitl

Fayne - (Free Agent A)

Klefbom - Shultz

Ference - Gryba

Nurse - Reinhart

Talbot

(Free Agent C) or Scrivens

Candidates for Free Agent A:

1. Cody Franson

2. Mike Green

3. Andrej Sekera

4. Paul Martin

Candidates for Free Agent B:

1. Jiri Tlusty

2. Blake Comeau

3. Daniel Winnik

4. Sean Bergenheim

5. Curtis Glencross

6. Patrick Eaves

Candidates for Free Agent C:

1. Karri Ramo

2. Thomas Greiss

Summary:

Please note that these players are in order based on potential price, type of player Oilers are looking for, and age. They are not in order of skill. For Free Agent A spot I was looking at anyone who could play top 4 minutes. For Free agent B I was looking for big wingers who can chip in on the score sheet every now and then. And For Free Agent C I was looking for backup goalies that have starter potential, and will challenge Talbot for the crease at times. Karri Ramo would give us a good 1B option. However I still would not rule out keeping Scrivens.

2015 Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player  Name  and Position	Notes/Wildcards
1	EDM	Connor McDavid                                         F	HELL YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!
2	BUF	Jack Eichel                                         F
3	ARZ	Dylan Strome                                    F
4	TOR	Mitch Marner                                   F
5	CAR	Noah Hanifan                                   D	Hanifan may drop like Fowler
6	NJD	Mathew Barzal                                 F	Lawson Crouse, Mikko Rantanen
7	PHI	Ivan Provorov                                   D
8	CBJ	Lawson Crouse                                 F	Zach Werenski
9	SJ	Pavel  Zacha                                      F
10	COL	Zach Werenski                                  D
11	FLA	Mikko Rantanen                               F
12	DAL	Kyle Connor                                       F
13	LAK	Timo Meir                                          F
14	BOS	Evgeni  Svechnikov                           F
15	CGY	Nick Merkley                                     F	Travis Konecny
16	EDM	Thomas Chabot                                 F	Oilers likely to move this pick
17	WIN	Colin White                                        F	Travis Konecny
18	OTT	Jakub Zboril                                       D
19	DET	Travis Konecny                                  F	Oliver Kylington
20	MIN	Paul Bittner                                       F	Ilya Samsonov, Joel Eriksson EK
21	BUF	Daniel Sprong                                    F	(Potentionally traded) WC: Oliver Kylington
22	WSH	Brock Boeser                                     F
23	VAN	Jansen Harkins                                  F
24	TOR	Brandon Carlo                                  D	Oliver Kylington
25	WIN	Joel Eriksson EK                                F	Jake Debrusk
26	MTL	Denis Guryanov                                F
27	ANA	Jake Debrusk                                     F
28	TB	Jeremy Roy                                       D	Gabriel  Carlsson
29	PHI	Jack Roslovic                                     F	Filip Chlapik
30	ARZ	Oliver Kylington                               D

Summary:

    Some bold moves include Provorov going to Philly and New Jersey taking Barzal. I understand that the Flyers have a ton of defensive prospects but I believe that Provorov will be too good for Philly to pass up, and will elect to use their pick at 29 to stock the forward shelf. I know right away that Barzal rising to 6th overall is controversial, I could easily see the Devils going with Crouse, Rantanen, or Zacha as well. However my gut feeling is that they go with Barzal, the best draft eligible forward in the WHL. I think Columbus will ultimately not be able to pass up Crouse, even though they would like a defencemen. If they decide to pick based on their needs rather than than picking the best available player, they'll take Werenski. But I don't think they'll pass up Crouse. Oliver Kylington is a player to watch in this draft, I can see him going anywhere from the top 20 to the top 40. I feel that Arizona will be the team to snag him at 30.

   I would like to see the Oilers trade their 16th overall pick and one or two more of their picks in the top 3 rounds. If they lose out on the Talbot sweepstakes, and the 33rd pick alone isn't enough for Lack, the Oilers could trade 16 and 33 to Vancouver for Eddie Lack and 23. A solid defencemen like Chabot or Jeremy Roy would still be available at 23. Either that or trade the 16th overall pick for a defencemen, and then trade 33 and a 3rd rounder for either Talbot (I don't think this would be the highest bid on him, I think whoever gets Talbot is going to have to overpay bigtime) or Lack.