Edmonton Oilers (via Getty Images) As the Edmonton Oilers’ NHL season is off to an unimpressive start, the team is coming under heavy fire, with even a respected insider such as Frank Seravalli fairly dismissing the Edmonton Oilers as a team that is failing to achieve their aspirations of a coveted Stanley Cup, as he explained to Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer.With only 28 wins thus far in 58 games, presently sitting out of the league’s elite club, the Oilers are likely on pace to finish the season with 91 points, a figure that may or may not guarantee a postseason spot. As Frank Seravalli wrote, the very indecision to which he drew attention is, in itself, reason enough to be pressing on, rather than to latch on to it reassuringly, as some have. He warned that being in a dangerous frame of mind is particularly dangerous in the NHL.
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Apparently, there’s a growing level of complacency that has trickled down from the dressing room to the coaching staff and even into the fan base, and that’s according to Frank Seravalli, as the Oilers have become accustomed to winning Stanley Cup Final appearances over recent years.The insider surmised that the team seems to be holding on to the idea of an external solution, whether in terms of a trade deadline deal or an impetus from beyond the bench. However, he also wants to stress that “the status quo is not an option when you are 19th in the overall standings and a claimant to a championship.”In terms of defensive strategies, Seravalli did not hold back. He pointed to Darnell Nurse as a problem. Seravalli explained that for a defender to be making $9.25 million yearly, he should be a major factor, not a hindrance. Rather, he said that many times the Oilers are forced to go out and win games in spite of Nurse’s play, rather than because of his play.
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Seravalli identified the fractured nature of the forward contingent and the chasm that exists between the top six and bottom six forwards in the NHL. Players in the bottom six are fighting for ice time, while those in the top six feel they are being asked to do it all alone.Ultimately, however, in the view of Seravalli, what is likely to be the Oilers’ biggest problem is simply that they do not have that critical sense of urgency. Until they do, their hopes of capturing another Stanley Cup trophy seem much weaker than anyone might imagine.