Oilers Rebuilding Process Going as Planned

 While watching most of the Oilers-Habs game last night, I noticed a few things. I noticed that the Canadiens have one of the least potent offences in the NHL; I noticed that Brendan Nash isn’t ready for the NHL, and I noticed that David Desharnais definitely is. But the most important thing that came to mind wasn’t about the Habs or even about this specific game; it was about the Edmonton Oilers’ future.

While the Oilers may be bottom feeders right now, unlike some teams (Toronto Maple Leafs I’m looking at you), at least they know what they want, and are sticking to it. The Oilers know they are in rebuilding mode. They know they are not set to win right now, and they’re ok with this. They’ve got a solid core group of young guys and are continuing to build through the draft.

The most important aspect to a proper rebuilding project is patience. General Managers need to swallow their pride for a few years, take their licks, and build through the draft. When your team is bad, you can’t be signing old veterans to try to plug the holes. When a cut is deep enough, you don’t just stick a band-aid on it; you stitch it up and give it time to heal.

It’s the same thing with a hockey team. When trying to rebuild, there’s really no quick fix. Brian Burke learned that the hard way. The Toronto GM traded his 2010 and 2011 first round picks for Phil Kessel, in hopes of speeding up the Leafs’ rebuilding process. However, as one might expect, Kessel has been underwhelming, and the Leafs haven’t really improved.

Kessel’s lack of production isn’t even the worst part of this deal though; not by a long shot. Burke traded away his last two first round picks; the first one (2010) became a lottery pick, and was used to select Tyler Seguin. The Leafs missed out on picking a potential franchise player with the number two overall pick in the draft, at a time where they badly need to rebuild.

Things haven’t gotten much better in Year 2 of the Kessel experiment. The Leafs are once again out of a playoff spot and at the bottom of the standings. Normally, for a rebuilding team, this wouldn’t be such a big deal. The Leafs could tank the rest of the season, and hope for a lottery pick in the draft. There’s one problem though; they don’t have that pick anymore. Burke traded this year’s first round pick to Boston also, further stunting the Leafs’ rebuilding process.

Now compare this to the Oilers situation. Just like the Leafs, the Oilers are at the bottom of the standings and out of a playoff spot. Unlike the Leafs, however, they still have all their picks. The Oilers are set on building through the draft and their farm team, and are loaded with young, potential stars. It’s not just Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle either. The Oilers are also loaded with talented young players like Linus Omark, Magnus Pjaarvi, Theo Peckham, Sam Gagner, and Andrew Cogliano, who are all under 23 years old. They also have a strong farm system with tons of depth.

The Oilers understand that the path back to greatness isn’t a short one. They know it will take some time, and they know that in the salary cap NHL, it is the only way to do things.

The Chicago Blackhawks were awful for a number of years, and were rewarded with high draft picks and prospects. Chicago stayed with this approach, and once their prospects and young guns grew up (Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, etc), they were ready to compete. The Blackhawks won the Cup last year, led by an incredibly young, strong nucleus of players.

The Lightning were also bad for a few years, and used their ineptitude to pick Steven Stamkos with the first overall pick in the 08’ entry draft. The Lightning are now building around Stamkos, and look poised to become a force in the NHL for years to come.

There are many other stories just like these, of teams being patient and taking the time to rebuild. You’d think with all these past experiences, teams would be crazy not to rebuild slowly. The Oilers are using this approach, and their prospects are definitely looking up. The Leafs, on the other hand, took the opposite approach. They tried to skip the whole rebuilding project, and are now learning that in the NHL, the quick fix is really no fix at all.