1. Can they improve their defense without Oscar Klefbom?
Klefbom is expected to be out for the season with a chronic shoulder injury. The defenseman led Edmonton in ice time per game (25:25) and scoring at the position (34 points; five goals, 29 assists) in 62 games.
Free agent Tyson Barrie agreed to a one-year contract Oct. 10, leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Oilers hope he'll help in Klefbom's absence, but much of the responsibility will fall to Darnell Nurse and Ethan Bear to match up against the opposition's best attackers. Nurse is entering his sixth full NHL season and was second on the Oilers in average ice time (23:27) last season. Bear was a 22-year-old rookie who exceeded most expectations by scoring 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 71 games averaging 21:58 per game.
The Oilers allowed 3.03 goals per game last season, 15th in the NHL and a modest improvement from 3.30 (tied with the New Jersey Devils for 25th) in 2018-19. Edmonton gave up 16 goals in a four-game loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
2. Who will play behind centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl?
To start this season, it appears McDavid will have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on his left wing and Zack Kassian on his right wing, with Draisaitl the center between Kailer Yamamoto and Dominik Kahun, but expect the Oilers to tinker to find the most effective combinations. Jesse Puljujarvi, back in the NHL after playing two seasons for Karpat in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland, could get a look in the top six.
"There will be times where Connor and I will be put back together and we're going to get shifts together and those times will happen, I'm sure," said Draisaitl, the Hart Trophy winner voted as most valuable player in the NHL and Art Ross Trophy winner as scoring champion with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games last season. "But in the long run, [being] apart makes our team deeper and makes our team more dangerous."
3. Will the goaltending hold up?
Mike Smith agreed to a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent to return on Oct. 10. Smith and Mikko Koskinen played well last season in a rotation of 2-4 games for each goalie.
Smith, who turns 39 on March 22, was 19-12-6 with a 2.95 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and one shutout in 39 games (37 starts). Koskinen was 18-13-3 with a 2.75 GAA, .917 save percentage and one shutout in 38 games (34 starts) and may take on more of the workload as the younger goalie at 32.
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