A young, hungry and defensive-minded club on the brink of making the playoffs

By Brian Cazeneiuve

Mike Comrie.  Ian Tomlinson/Getty Images SI Fast Fact The Oilers set a team record last year by allowing only 182 goals -- 30 fewer than their previous standard for a full season (1999-2000). SI Insider Rankings Offense: 20 Speedy group should create chances off the rush Defense: 16 Niinimaa, Brewer, Smith solid, but a fourth must emerge Goaltending: 7 Salo most underrated goaltender in league Special Teams: 16 PK strong with Marchant, Grier; PP needs more shots on goal Management: 12 G.M. Lowe has done good job despite lack of resources

The Oilers appear to be stuck in small-market purgatory. They are too well-managed to be terrible, and because they can't afford to keep the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier or Doug Weight, they won't be terrific. But Edmonton always comes up with players who make the club competitive. In 2001-02, a year after captain and leading scorer Weight signed with the Blues as a free agent, the frugal Oilers -- at $26.7 million their payroll ranked 26th in the league -- amassed a respectable 92 points. Despite closing out the season with 10 wins in 14 games, they missed the playoffs by two points.

A far cry from the franchise that won five Stanley Cups between 1984 and '90 with a high-scoring attack and All-Stars at nearly every position, the Oilers rely on defense and goaltending by up-and-comers and cagey vets. Only the Avalanche allowed fewer goals than Edmonton's 182 last year, and netminder Tommy Salo had a sparkling 2.22 goals-against average. The heart of the defense -- Eric Brewer, Janne Niinimaa and Jason Smith (average age: 27) -- is as mobile as any in the league. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman may have made a plea for more freewheeling play this season by saying, "Let's play Oilers hockey," at the general managers' meetings this summer, but he wasn't talking about this edition of the team.

Still, Edmonton does have skilled young forwards. Emerging star Mike Comrie, 22, led the team with 33 goals; Mike York (60 points), Anson Carter (28 goals) and Ryan Smyth (50 points in 61 games) are coming on, but what the Oilers need most is more experience. Edmonton's only major acquisition in the off-season was 33-year-old Czech forward Jiri Dopita, who scored 11 goals with the Flyers last season, his first in the NHL.

The fans -- a strong base, with 15,000 season-ticket holders from a metropolitan area of less than 700,000 -- long for the success of the team's glory days, but they will have to be patient. Dopita and Salo are the only players over 30 years old, and general manager Kevin Lowe has every key player signed through the end of 2003-04. The young talent will enable the Oilers to be competitive again, and perhaps they'll even make the playoffs.

Issue date: October 14, 2002