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"Fair To Say" This Is The Training Camp Roster

Dan Tencer quotes the Oilers GM saying it's "fair to say" that the current roster is the one we'll see at training camp. The 64 thousand dollar question is: is it enough to end the worst playoff drought in a million bajillion years?

By Jeff Chapman
If everything holds, Ales Hemsky will be back for one more year.
If everything holds, Ales Hemsky will be back for one more year.
Christian Petersen

That's an interesting tweet from Dan Tencer.

At the conclusion of today's news conference that unveiled Bob Green as Director of Amateur Free Agent Scouting, MacTavish offers a line to Tencer suggesting that the current roster is the one we could see at training camp.

I was holding out hope that MacT might entertain ideas of signing another centre, so I'm a little surprised that he'd offer that tidbit to Tencer.

So enough with the pleasantries. When do we get to cut the playoff cake with our Oilers-coloured light saber?

I’m sure we’ll be able to offset Nuge’s absence in the short term."

-Craig MacTavish (Ryan Dadoun, Prohockeytalk, 03 AUG 2013)

Yeah, I'm not so sure about all of that.

We've beaten it around a hundred times before, the centre depth is thin with a healthy Nugent-Hopkins. Without a healthy 93 in the lineup, there's a giant hole up front that will be plugged by Sam Gagner. Boyd Gordon will almost have to play 2C in that circumstance, leaving a rogue's gallery to fill in the bottom two slots. I've already made reservations at Hotel Outrage if 93 is pushed back into the lineup before he's good and ready. There's time for you to make your reservation as well.

GET GOOD PLAYERS, KEEP THEM

Pat wrote a nice piece yesterday touching on a few things. Among them, he talks about how MacTavish has done a pretty admirable job at general manger this summer, a quality this team has sorely lacked in recent memory. I'm very happy that MacTavish has identified the defence as being a gigantic hole, and I'm excited about the acquisition of David Perron (although I'm not jazzed it cost Magnus Paajarvi in the process). If Ales Hemsky makes it to TC, he'll certainly still be a useful player, even if his numbers are cramped playing with Boyd Gordon.

I'd feel a lot better if the team would sign a bottom six guy to play down the middle.

Has MacTavish done enough to get the Oilers over the playoff hump this April?

More: MacT Comfortable with Lineup MacTavish Goes To Russia Put Up Time for MacT