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and I am expecting him to struggle once again this year. It will be interesting to see how Kruger uses
Whitney this season. He’s being paid like a top pairing but if the quality of play isn’t there, how long will
Kruger keep giving him top billing ice time. His playing partner last season was Corey Potter but with the
addition of Justin Schultz this year, I am not sure whom Whitney lines up with on a regular basis. I
expect Whitney to slide down the depth chart to a 5/6 defence at best and paired up with either Potter
or Peckham. Petry and Smid are locks to play together. I can see both Schultz’s sticking together.
A healthy Whitney is a 1/2 defenseman on most NHL teams, but unfortunately he will probably struggle
with this injury the rest of his career so that means he will have to alter his play because of it. I will be
quite surprised if Whitney scores 10 goals this year and hits 30 points. He has never been an aggressive
player; he doesn’t hit, doesn’t take a lot of PIM’s and is a moderate shot blocker at best. He will offer
some PP points but that’s about as good as it gets from Whitney.
Ales Hemsky
The fact I have this name down for a letdown really shouldn’t surprise
anyone. Personally, I am a big Hemmer fan but to own him in fantasy
hockey is tough. Hemsky has been a point per game player most of his
career so to expect 75+ points over 82 games wouldn’t be a reach.
Unfortunately, Hemsky can’t stay healthy. It’s that simple. As if staying
healthy wasn’t a big enough obstacle, a new one has surfaced for
Hemsky and his production and that obstacle is now opportunity. It’s an obstacle Hemsky has never had
to deal with before in Edmonton. Where exactly does Hemsky play this year? The right side in
Edmonton is filling up quickly with Eberle and Yakupov quite possibly taking their places on the top two
lines. As mentioned earlier in this write up, Yakupov could possibly play the left side on the second line
but he’s always played the right side. Could we see Hemsky on the left side on the second line? He’s
too good to be a third line player. Last season, when healthy, he played less PP time then he ever has
(he averaged 2:08 PP time, normally he’s over three minutes of PP time) mainly due to the wonder kids
getting the time. It’s safe to say this is yet another example of the lack of opportunities being presented
to Hemsky.
In my opinion, there are two things Hemsky needs to have a productive season. The first is obvious he
needs to stay healthy. The second would be a trade. I have no doubt the Oilers have tried to deal him
but their demands are simply too high for a player making $5M and unable to stay on the ice. If he was
able to stay healthy, $5M is a bargain for a player of Hemsky’s ability so I don’t think the contract is the
issue. It’s his health and until he can show his ability to stay on the ice, he isn’t going anywhere. If
Hemsky stays in Edmonton for the full season, I expect him to play about 55+ games and score about 15
goals and chip in 30-35 assists.
So there you have it, my top three surprises/letdowns for the Oilers. As a die-hard Oilers fan, I can only
hope my top three surprises come through and that my top three letdowns prove me wrong. I would be
more than happy to eat crow should that happen.
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