In a word, the NHL’s 2011 UFA Day will undoubtedly be about “depth” for the Edmonton Oilers, specifically the potential for locking up a solid third or fourth line special teams’ player with a strong face-off record, as well as a punishing blueliner.

On the heels of selecting Red Deer Rebels’ centre, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the first overall pick at the NHL draft for the second consecutive year, Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini addressed the issue of injecting leadership into a young locker room, by finalizing a trade with the L.A. Kings to bring back fan favourite, Ryan Smyth, to the copper and blue family.

Needless to say, jerseys with the #94 have been flying off the shelves at sports stores across the Heartland of Hockey the past few days. In delivering the 35-year-old Edmonton prodigal son back to Oilers Nation, Tambellini provides the likes of budding stars Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle with an example of the work ethic this franchise was once known for, a player who leaves everything on the ice, including his Chicklet’s, for the logo on his jersey.

In the last year of a deal that will cost the Oil $4.5M and a $6.5M salary cap hit, Edmonton still has close to $18M of room remaining under the 2011-12 cap.

This morning, Tambellini locked up free agent blueliner Ladislav Smid to a two-year deal at $2.25M per, arguably an overpayment for a solid 3-5 D-man, with no offensive upside. That said, Smid is the type of player the Oil want throughout their line-up, a player who bleeds copper and blue, a similar pedigree to Smitty.

Tambellini also took care of some important financial housekeeping this morning with UFA Day less than 24 hours away. The team again placed banished defenceman, Sheldon Souray, on unconditional waivers with the intention of buying out his $5.4M contract. Undoubtedly, a “healthy” Souray will become an attractive risk for another club seeking a veteran presence with a big shot on the backend.

He also passed on resigning “Huggie Bear” Zack Stortini, whose value dropped dramatically after the departure of former head coach Craig MacTavish. Stortini spent much of the 2010-11 season playing on the farm. He was overpaid at $850,000. It remains to be seen whether the club will recommit to tough guy, Steve MacIntyre, or veteran blueliner Jason Strudwick, both UFAs.

With the above-mentioned player moves put to bed, Tambellini will likely focus his attention on plugging a few glaring holes on the team; the Oilers sadly lack strength in the face-off circle and on special teams, and size on the blue line.

A few of the following UFAs could find themselves in Oiler silks by Friday afternoon:

CENTRE
Vern Fiddler, Nashville
John Madden, Minnesota
Jason Arnott, Washington

* Fiddler fits the bill. He is tenacious on the PK and solid in the face-off circle, earned just over $1M last year. Born and raised in Edmonton, Fiddler exemplifies the level of work ethic the Oilers’ front office is attempting to inject into their line-up. At the right price, Arnott’s size and veteran leadership might also be worth pursuing for a year. He’s maintained his pride in being drafted and playing in Edmonton, during the early years of his career.

DEFENCE
Jonathon Ericsson, Detroit
Cam Barker, Minnesota (released)
Tomas Kaberle, Boston
Derek Meech, Detroit
* Barker, who the Wild passed on resigning, may be a risk the Oilers might want to take. A player who two franchises have now given up on (Chicago, Minnesota), and a western Canadian boy (Sicamous, B.C.), Barker may be one of those players looking to re-establish himself as an everyday NHL D-man. Realizing Edmonton may be his final shot, a healthy Cam Barker may bring that intangible toughness and steady D at the second or third pairing, that Edmonton has been missing. Current Oilers’ UFA blueliner, Jim Vandermeer, if healthy, is also a possibility, at the right price. Vandermeer ($2.25M last season) was MIA through the first half of the team’s 2010-11 campaign, but finished off strong.

Tambellini could also be in the market for a starting netminder for the club’s AHL franchise in Oklahoma City, after last year’s standout, Martin Gerber,  signed in Europe.

In the meantime Oiler fans, keep your chins up, sticks down.

First it was Paajarvi, then Omark and now Lander.

The Edmonton Oilers are doing their best to follow in the shadow of the Detroit Red Wings, whose success over the last two decades has much to do with the players they’ve drafted from Sweden.

The Oilers signed another Swedish prospect, Anton Lander, to a three year entry-level contract.

The six-foot, 194-pound centre scored 11 goals and 26 points in 49 games this past season with Timra IK, and previously played alongside Paajarvi in Timra for three seasons.

A second-round draft pick of the Oil in 2009, Lander, 20, is expected to be at the club’s 2011 pre-season training camp and will likely begin his North American professional career with Oklahoma City, the team’s AHL franchise.

In the meantime Oiler fans, chins up…sticks down.

It certainly comes with dubious distinction, and one which the Edmonton Oilers will gladly lay claim to, if they’re granted the NHL Entry Draft’s first overall selection for the second consecutive year.

Oilers’ GM Steve Tambellini will find out soon enough, as the NHL Entry Draft Lottery is being held tonight and broadcast live on TSN. Last year, Edmonton selected Taylor Hall with its first overall selection during draft proceedings held in L.A, a rookie stud who might have had a chance at winning the Calder Trophy (22 goals), were it not for an impromptu ankle injury sustained during his first career fight in the last third of the campaign.

This year, earning bragging rights for the second straight year as the NHL’s “cellar dwellars”, Tambellini has an opportunity to take centre stage once again, this time in Minnesota, who will host the 2011 entry draft on June 24.

The Oil have the best chance of landing the top overall pick with a 48.2 percent odds ratio, followed by the Colorado Avalanche (18.8 percent) and the Florida Panthers at (14.2 percent).

The Islanders (10.7 percent) and Senators (8.1 percent) are also in the running for the first overall selection.

If you buy into the theory that successful NHL franchises are built from the netminder out, then it may be prudent for Edmonton to select Swedish blueliner, Adam Larsson, recently tagged as the top-ranked European skater by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau, in its final rankings this week.

The Oil are in desperate need of a top-two defensive stud, and Larsson, by all accounts, is the next great Swedish D-man to come out of that country since Nicolas Lidstrom.

High praise for the young smooth-skating European prospect.

Edmonton is also lean up the middle, and could very well look to select a large centre with its second first-round choice (L.A.’s pick shipped to E-town in Dustin Penner deal). Sean Couturier, of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, a big centre whose value recently dropped to sixth overall in the CS rankings, might be still be available should the Oil value another centre, or be willing to trade up to get him.

Prince Albert Raiders centre, Mark McNeill,  has also reportedly caught the eye of Steve Tambellini. Currently holding down the CS Bureau’s 14th overall NA ranking, the 6″2″, 210-pound centre had a banner campaign, contributing 81 points (32-49) with a +/- Rating of -4.

Red Deer Rebels’ centre, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, earned the number-one NA ranking. A team in need of some beef up the middle, the Oilers may elect to pass on the 6 foot, 155-pound WHL star.

In the meantime Oiler fans, chins up, sticks down.

Edmonton City Council is currently meeting to determine whether or not to embrace Darryl Katz’s proposed new downtown arena/entertainment plans.

Discussion has plateaued in recent weeks, much of it fueled by leaks to the media about ongoing back-door discussions between Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and Katz, the Edmonton Oilers’ owner. Katz allegedly told Mandel that he had not verbally approved of the city’s possible plans to charge a ticket levy to raise some or all of the outstanding $125M required to build the estimated $450M arena project.

Katz has stepped up and offered $100M to the overall project’s price tag, but is also allegedly asking for a majority, if not all, of revenues generated from the arena, including hockey and entertainment-related moneys.

That position won’t fly with Edmonton council, and thus, the game of high-stakes poker with an NHL franchise’s future in the balance, continue.

Rhetoric, and not clear negotiating positions of both sides, remain the norm, with the public left scratching their collective heads, wondering if they’re tax bill is about to jump exorbitantly, yet again!

Interesting day in the Alberta capital. Stay tuned.

In the meantime Oiler fans, chins up, sticks down.

Raffi Torres is the NHL’s newest poster child for gutless behaviour.

Torres’ blind-side blow to the head of Edmonton Oilers’ rookie, Jordan Eberle, in the third period of tonight’s 2-0 victory by Edmonton over Vancouver in the Alberta capital, will undoubtedly draw the ire of NHL disciplinarian, Colin Campbell.

In pursuit of the puck with his head lowered, Eberle was crushed by a Torres elbow to the head, and propelled through the air. Fortunately, the former Canadian National Junior Team hero scooped himself off the ice, and is seemingly no worse for wear. Eberle will undoubtedly fall under the training staff’s scrutiny Wednesday morning, to ensure a big piece of their future hasn’t suffered a concussion.

Torres, for his stupidity, will surely feel the scrutiny of a league, attempting to resurrect its embattled reputation. Eberle, without question, was in a vulnerable position on the ice. The NHL’s rule book, however, is clear, placing the responsibility for these on-ice train wrecks on the shoulders of the perpetrator.

Torres, who earned five minutes for the elbow, five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct, has a history of playing on “the edge”, as he likes to rationalize this sort of nonsensical play. And make no mistake, it is this sort of dubious history by a player, which the NHL cannot turn a blind eye to.

Torres’ hit was gutless, and the former Oiler should sit for the first round of the playoffs! Given the league’s unpredictable disciplinary habits, however, all bets are off.

In the meantime Oiler fans, chins up, sticks down. z

His voice has been synonymous with everything copper and blue for the past 37 years, and following tonight’s home game against the visiting L.A. Kings, his play calling will be immortalized forever.

Prior to tonight’s Kings/Oilers tilt at Rexall Place, Edmonton players will honour veteran radio play-by-play man, Rod Phillips,  by wearing No. 37 on their jerseys to commemorate his 37 years of Oiler broadcasting, which included games when the team toiled in the World Hockey Association.

For Oilers Nation, Phillips’ voice and on-air colour nurtured the identify of the fledgling WHA franchise when it joined the NHL family, which included unparalleled on-air descriptions of five Stanley Cups, a seventh game loss in 2006, and of course most recently, some pretty years.

Throughout his career, he never shied away from calling it the way he saw it, even where criticism was necessary, knowing full well he’d be walking throughout the doors with the silver Oil Drop and mingling with players the next morning during practice.

It was that candid, honest delivery that garnered the respect of players from The Great One, to Messier to current players including Hemsky, Horcoff and company.

Players past and present paid tribute yesterday to Phillips during a media luncheon, and on radio and TV talk shows, where stories about Phillips, including one with former Oiler coach and GM Glen Sather talking about his former “roomie” are being shared.

Rockin Rod will be missed, but his “gargantuan” voice will live on forever.

Phillips will permanently retire to the desert near Phoenix, where he and his wife currently reside.

A message for Oiler fans holding on to tickets valued at $150-$250 bucks for tonight’s Phoenix/Edmonton tilt – forget about selling them on Kijiji!

Decimated with injuries, fans sitting in the “Club Seats” tonight will actually be watching a lineup jam-packed with AHL players from Oklahoma City. Frankly, for the amount of money some of these fans paid for these NHL tickets, they could purchase a return ticket to OK City to watch the Barons – at least they’d be cheering for a team that’s actually in the play-off hunt!

This morning, the Oil recalled another threee players for tonight’s game at Rexall Place, including centres Chris Vande Velde and Ryan O’Marra and left winger Alexandre Giroux.

The Oiler faithful will be keeping a close eye on Vande Velde, who made a strong bid to make the pro team during Edmonton’s pre-season training camp.

In the meantime Oiler fans, chins up….sticks down.

They’re on crutches, in casts, or simply bed-ridden – they are, your 2011 edition of the Edmonton Oilers!

So desperate for players are the Edmonton Oilers, bench boss Tom Renney has already called up five players from the Oklahoma City Barons, the club’s AHL farm team, the latest being Finnish forward Teemu Hartikainen, who will play in his first NHL game Thursday, when the Oilers welcome the Phoenix Coyotes to Rexall Place.

So, if you’re a minor leaguer with some upside, who continues to hold onto the dream of catching a break and cracking “The Bigs”, you might want to fire off your video CV to Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini pronto!

The situation in Edmonton is indeed dire, to say the least, and is also threatening to compromise the Barons’ play-off hopes. Tambellini is short three players for his team’s Thursday evening tilt, yet none, other than Hartikainen have arrived today. Why? The team’s first-year AHL franchise is in the hunt for a play-off position, and the team was scheduled to play an important game tonight vs. the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Yes, they’re a varitable M.A.S.H. Unit – the fifth consecutive season that the club will finish with more than 200 man games lost due to injury – an alarming trend that has the Oilers in last place for the second consecutive season. Sidelined with a shoulder injury, Edmonton’s poster child for the IR, Alex Hemsky yesterday, admitted he’s been playing with the same shoulder injury that forced him to miss much of the 2009-10 campaign. Surgery will undoubtedly be Hemsky’s fate in the coming weeks, just the latest injury to sideline the talented Czech winger.

Captain Shaun Horcoff sustained a hair-line fracture to his foot, after taking a shot off his skate, during the team’s recent loss in Washington.

Renney’s theme heard throughout the season, “It’s an opportunity for another young player…” has run its course…as has another injury-plagued season.

In the meantime Oiler fans, chins up…sticks down.

Edmonton rookie phenom Taylor Hall’s first season is likely history.

The Oilers’ 2010 first overall draft selection suffered a high ankle sprain when he fell awkwardly on his left leg, following the end of his first career fight with Columbus forward Derek Dorsett, during Thursday’s victory.

The injury will cost Hall any chance at the Calder Trophy for top NHL rookie, and a undisclosed bonus amount if he were selected for the honour.

All guts and no glory for the 19-year-old, who led the Oil with 22 goals and 20 assists.

Although Hall was first to drop his gloves in his altercation with the pesky Dorsett, Edmonton’s teammates are coming under fire for not answering the bell, by sending the Blue Jackets’ gritty forward – and other tough guys around the league, for that matter – that they had better think twice before manhandling their franchise player in the future.

The teen-aged star showed he doesn’t expect his teammates to come to his defence all the time, by dropping the mitts. It’s been a tough week for Edmonton fans, who watched big man Dustin Penner get traded for a prospect and picks, Ales Hemsky sustain a another shoulder injury, and its second overall 2010 draft selection, Tyler Pitlick, break an ankle while playing for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

For a team sitting in the NHL’s cellar for the second consecutive year and that’s missed the playoffs for the last five, Hall’s injury without question will suck the life out of Oilers Nation.

In the meantime Oiler fans, keep your chins up and your sticks down.