When we last checked in on our intrepid heroes, I surmised that the Oilers needed to add seven players to the existing roster. Since then, they swapped tit for tat, added another expensive toy without insurance, and signed yet another puzzling deal.
A look at the new roster shows that King Théoden and Gríma Wormtongue still have five open slots to fill.
| Goaltenders | 2 | On Roster: | Viktor Fasth, Ben Scrivens |
| Possibilities: | None | ||
| Defensemen: | 5 | On Roster: | Andrew Ference, Martin Marincin, Nikita Nikitin, Jeff Petry, Justin Schultz |
| Possibilities: | Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse | ||
| Forwards: | 11 | On Roster: | Mark Arcobello, Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle, Luke Gazdic, Boyd Gordon, Taylor Hall, Matt Hendricks, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, David Perron, Teddy Purcell, Nail Yakupov |
| Possibilities: | Jesse Joensuu, Anton Lander |
Note that there is a significant problem with the roster makeup as is, mainly, even with the impending Jeff Petry and things for Johnny Boychuk trade, the Oilers (and his is not a re-run) still lack heavy hitters. C&B regular gcw_rocks sums it up nicely:
One of the things I don’t get about the trade is what line is going to play tough competition?
Assuming the second line has Perron and Purcell, you have a line that likely can only generate positive possession against weaker competition based on their history.
Then MacT says Yakupov is on the third line, so I don’t think that line gets tough competition.
That leaves the fourth and the first lines. That pretty much killed RNH last season.
The Oilers need to add five players, including a defenseman that can play top minutes and at least two forwards who can do so, but it seems as if the only place for those two forwards is on the 4th line.
I'm sure Dick Dastardly and Muttley's plan will come together this time.