26th, 21st, 21st, 30th, 30th. It can't get any worse. We hope.
The Oilers managed themselves into a six-year rebuild, but that doesn't have to mean 30th-place each year, does it? Bob Stauffer has floated 22nd place as the high end of expectations for 2011-12, but there is a possibility that 22nd place is the organization's way of making sure expectations don't rise too quickly.
Our lineup this time includes Pat, from Black Dog Hates Skunks, the blogosphere's version of David Mamet, Jeff Chapman, the big brain behind Oil On Whyte, Shepso and BCB, the philosopher kings from Bringing Back The Glory, Jerconjake, the insightful man behind Oil Acumen, Smokin' Ray, the only man covering the Oilers, Barons and Thunder and he does it all at Oilers Jambalaya, dawgbone98, 'sphere regular and resident lacrosse and hockey tactics expert, and sumoil, Copper & Blue's resident CHL tracker, the only man breaking down the top CHL prospects through detailed statistical tracking.
Today's Roundtable Question: Where do you think the Oilers will finish this season?
BDHS Pat: Because I’m an optimist I will say 13th in the conference, 25th overall. Just don’t ask me which five teams will be worse.
Jeff Chapman: Healthy Oilers? Tenth in the division. Oh God, Taylor Chorney is on the first D pairing Oilers? Lottery pick.
Jerconjake: 13th in the West, and 26th overall in the NHL. The Oilers have a shot at being better than Colorado and Phoenix in the West, as well as Winnipeg and Ottawa in the East.
Smokin' Ray: I'm hoping the Oilers finish at least 10th in the West. Is it possible? For sure it is. Depends largely on healthy players and if Khabibulin can be a top goalie once again. If either of those who waver, then this team is in big trouble.
Dubnyk and Danis as your 1-2 is kind of scary. They won't be able to "steal" many games for the team. But it would gain more experience for Dubnyk. The defence isn't a great top 7 to begin with compared to other NHL teams, so if injuries happen here, there goes the season much like the last 2 years.
Injuries can and will kill this team. If not that many happen this year, expect a better team on the ice.
BCB: I am guessing around 29th the entire league . . . by that I mean that it is impossible to for a team to have as much bad luck, injuries, and incompetence to finish dead last for three seasons in a row. I am going to assume that the Oilers have enough incompetence to finish second last even with exceptional luck and a healthy roster.
Shepso: I was thinking maybe 24th overall? Just good enough to be a terrible hockey team, not bad enough to win the lottery.
Interloculor: In the Freaken’ Playoffs!
BCB: How did he get here? Shepso, is this your fault? I don’t care if it is or not, I am still blaming you.
Shepso: I don’t know where the hell he keeps coming from, but at least somebody reads our blog!
Dawgbone: 14th in the West, 28th overall. They'll have a 76 point season thanks to some untimely injuries to some good players (watch out for this limb I'm standing on).
SumOil: I expect us to finish 13th or 14th in the West. Some teams are bound to have a worse luck than us and I think this might be the season for that. Overall we should be about 25th in the standings.
Follow our roundtable on Twitter: @blackdogpat, @dawgbone98, @oilersjambalaya, @oilonwhyte, @sumoil,