To Frack Or Not To Frack

Spring is almost upon the northern hemisphere, even though winter barely scraped its surface. Some are saying it's "El Nino", other are pointing to historical statistical anomalies like they know what they're talking about. However Oilers know that the true culprit is none other than human-made collamities instilled on our planet via carbon emissions, various pollutants, ocean acidification, and none other than oil drilling and fracking.

This brings them to an all important question - should the team continue to drill this season at the hope of that sweet playoff black gold, or should they sell off old technologies for younger and greener assets? As it stands 56 games in, the team is 31-22-3, in a wildcard spot, with an 8 point cushion on the up-and-down Kings and Canucks who are the only threat to the Oilers playoff hopes. Since the departure of Chandler Stephenson, the team has gone 7-3 with only one embarrassing 6-3 loss to the lowly Flames. The rest of the games have been competitive and often ended in decisive wins - a refreshing change of events.

Currently GM Oily is holding daily meetings at Rexall center to discuss the risk reward strategy heading into the March 10 trade deadline. The team has several key remaining UFAs in Drew Doughty, Mikael Granlund, Brian Dumoulin, Justin Holl, Mark Giordano, and Laurent Brossoit. Of course the biggest name is JT Miller, but the Bricks truck is already reserved for JT's contract negotiation in July. The risks of moving the other names are prospective losses down the stretch and creating new holes in the lineup. The risk of not moving them is missing out on potential youth and draft assets from other playoff teams needing the help.

The Oilers know that RHL is full of savvy GMs that are not easily going to give up value in negotiations. There's been a number of talks, inquiries of interest, and preliminary offers made, but not many have led to done deals. GM Oily understands that in a league of 32 teams, plans and needs are not made equal. The good news is if the team decides to continue the fight for the playoffs, the roster is set as it is. Mikael Granlund has slotted into the Stephenson's previous 2C role seemlessly, and the recent Scott Mayfield addition further reinforces the defense core. Through and through, management believes this is a winning roster dammit.

Checking in on the farm, the Oilers are ever impressed with the progress of their prospects - Olen Zellweger is one of the best defensemen in the AHL as a rookie; Rutger McGroarty had an MVP level world juniors performance for the US; same with Felix Unger-Sorum for Sweden, on top of standout SHL stats; Jagger Firkus is averaging near 2ppg in the toughest junior league in the world; Fedor Svechkov is having an excellent rookie AHL season; 4th round (Oilers 2nd) defenseman Luca Cagnoni has 72 points and +40 in 54 games in the WHL; Yegor Sidorov has 44 goals in the WHL and is looking like an absolute steal. The team would like to see a bit more out of Adam Sykora, Roni Hirvonen, and Drew Commesso over the second half of their seasons, but still strongly believes in all three as they are AHL rookies. Beau Akey had a great start to his OHL season before suffering a season ending separated shoulder, though both RHL and NHL Oilers believe he will be fine. Finally, Adam Ingram and Ethan Haider are having solid College seasons and are developing into potential pro players down the road. 

So, to frack or not to frack? The next few weeks will make the answer to that question clearer but all signs are pointing to another abnormally hot summer in the northern hemisphere, sadly more wildfires, and a potential climate collapse. Sorry.