It was a potentially major disruption
for the upstart team and, ironically, it might just help the
Oilers.
"That's part of the business. You lose
players every year," Oilers center Shawn Horcoff told the
Toronto Globe and Mail. "But we're happy with the
way our team is.
"If you compare the lines from this
year to last year, there's really no comparison at all."
That's why the Oilers might actually be
better now than they were during their stunning playoff run.
Edmonton will certainly miss the presence of Pronger on the
blue line, but the Oilers did quite well in trading him to
Anaheim. More important, the organization still has one of
the league's top young talent pipelines to tap into and will
feature several products this year.
The newcomers will be among a group of
forwards that is second to none in the NHL, from one through
12, in terms of speed and scoring ability. Throw in a
top-shelf goalie like Dwayne Roloson from the beginning of
the season instead of at the trade deadline and you get a
picture of a team that will likely be fighting for a
division title instead of trying to sneak into the playoffs
on the final weekend like last year.
Then again, the race for the crown and
a top playoff seed could go down to the wire in a Northwest
Division that was a five-horse race for much of last season.
"I think things will be just as tight
if not more so this year," said Minnesota GM Doug
Riseborough. "A lot of good players have come into our
division."
Everywhere, it seems.
The Calgary Flames, who finished first
with only a narrow eight-point margin, addressed their
embarrassing offense by adding high-end scorer Alex Tanguay.
The Vancouver Canucks repaired their long-standing
goaltending woes by trading for superstar Roberto Luongo.
The Wild, well, they opened their wallets for a change and
dramatically overhauled their team by bringing in some
expensive players with the likes of Pavol Demitra, Kim
Johnsson, Mark Parrish and Keith Carney.
Even the Colorado Avalanche could be a
factor again, although no one will mistake them for the
near-dynasty of the last decade. The Avs have lost Peter
Forsberg, Adam Foote and Rob Blake over the last two
seasons, but the venerable Joe Sakic remains and goaltender
Jose Theodore could theoretically recapture his 2002 Vezina
form now that he's out of Montreal.
"He looks like a different person,"
Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "His attitude seems
refreshed, he seems energized and we're expecting big things
from him."
They'll need big things.
