The NHL lockout of 2012 presents the Edmonton Oilers franchise with a unique opportunity to grow, but also a sharp punch to the gut.
The lockout could help the Oilers more than any other NHL team in terms of player development, but it could be the fatal blow when it comes to Oilers owner Daryl Katz’s aspiration to build a downtown arena district.
On the first point, the Oilers have a sweet spot on their roster, a large group of players on entry level contracts who are eligible to play in Oklahoma City and willing to go there during the lockout.
Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Justin Schultz and Taylor Hall are all Oilers who are to see full-time action in Oklahoma City but would otherwise be in the NHL this season.
They will be joined by Magnus Paajarvi, Anton Lander and Teemu Hartikainen, all of them with NHL experience, all with a real shot at making the Oilers when the lockout ends.
Add to that group a third group of strong prospects (Tyler Pitlick, Martin Marincin, Curtis Hamilton, Taylor Fedun) and more veteran players who have had a stint in the NHL (Alex Plante, Colt Teubert, Chris Vande Velde) and the Oklahoma City Barons start to look like the backbone of a roster that will one day become a Stanley Cup contender.
Most other NHL teams are loaded with veterans, who will sit out the strike or play in Europe. Other teams have top young talent, but it’s not so concentrated in the AHL this year.
The other AHL squads that comes closest to the Oilers talented group are:
• New Jersey’s farm team, Albany, with Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson, Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson
• Minnesota’s farm team, Houston: Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin
• Buffalo’s farm team, Rochester: Cody Hodgson, Marcus Foligno, Mark Pysyk, Brayden McNabb and Luke Adam.
• Chicago’s farm team, Rockford: Nick Leddy, Kyle Beach, Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad, Jimmy Hayes and Dylan Olsen.
• Columbus’s farm team, Springfield: Ryan Johansen, Cam Atkinson, David Savard, John Moore and Matt Calvert.
Just how does having this core group of young stars in the AHL help the Oilers? There’s much to be said for a group of young players developing bonds of friendship, learning the game and life lessons together, coming together on and off the ice.
When or if the NHL season does resume, I expect the Oilers will be fast out of the gate, the Oklahoma City group clicking as other teams struggle to be cohesive.
The downside of the lockout when it comes to the Oilers franchise? The anger felt towards NHL owners and players isn’t helping things when it comes to the arena debate.
The deal depends on public acceptance, which is far harder to find when the most hardcore of hockey fans are railing against the greed of NHL owners and players. It hardly puts anyone in the city in the mood to hear from the Katz Group that they’d like the arena deal sweetened, with some kind of annual subsidy for the team.
Of course, many city councillors see the big picture and will continue to support the deal as it now stands because they realize a new arena is needed, the deal is a fair one, downtown Edmonton could use the massive boost of this development, and it’s beneficial to lock the Oilers franchise to Edmonton with a long-term no-movement clause.
Anything sweeter for Katz than the current deal, though, with the current anti-NHL mood prevailing, seems unlikely.
