Growing Pains

"Is Best tape job. Good focus good tape)))))" -Nail Yakupov

Last night a banged up Oilers fought through another tough game only to come out on the short end of the win stick. With 3 out of our 4 starting centers out, the Oilers won only 42% of the faceoffs against Dallas, 12% better than the Canucks game two nights earlier. Is it time to make a signing or a trade?

We need more Depth

"Any day now..." -Ryan Smyth, right here.

At the Center position, the biggest body we have is Shawn Horcoff and he is going to be out for a while after suffering a broken knuckle Monday night against the Canucks. We called up two year OKC Baron Mark Arcobello to face the Starts last night, but he was sent back down to the minors today. With Lander going down with what's being called a deep bone bruise, the Oilers are going to be forced into making a trade for a Center OR signing a free agent center. Jason Arnott and Dominic Moore are the most realistic options as they are both currently free agents and looking for a place to play. Arnott 6'5, 220 pound frame would be a huge addition to this team as we would finally have some size up the middle however it is currently unknown as why the Rangers doctors didn't clear him, but the speculation is that Arnott is either out of shape or still hasn't recovered from an offseason knee injury. Dominic Moore is another name that has been thrown around but at 6'0, 192 pounds he isn't a very intimidating player and another "small" center isn't what we need. 

What about Whitney?

"Oops..."
Credit to @OilOnWhyte for capturing this picture last night.

Oh Ryan what will we do with you... This season I have been fairly lax about the play of some of our players as most players have had to jump into the season with little to no gameplay due to the lockout. Since we are 10 games into the season and everyone has had ample opportunity to play thus far, it is time to start pointing out major flaws in the team. I don't think Whitney has been AS awful as most people say he has been this season however after seeing Jagr skate around Whitney like he was a 6'4 209 pound pylon, something has got to give. With Whitney only having 3 assists and being tied for team worst -6, he needs to either step up his game real quick, or he needs to see himself out.

Follow me on twitter if you haven't already: @Loweded