EDMONTON OILERS
LAST SEASON: 29-44-7, 67 points, finished 14th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.
COACH: Dallas Eakins, second season with the Oilers, 29-44-7.
ADDED: D Mark Fayne, D Nikita Nikitin, F Benoit Pouliot, F Teddy Purcell.
LOST: D Anton Belov, C Sam Gagner, LW Ryan Smyth.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Justin Schultz: The Oilers signed the defenseman to a one-year, $3,675,000 deal on Aug. 29. Why one year? "Justin is going to be a great player and a great Oiler. What we wanted to do as an organization is buy ourselves a little bit of time to negotiate a long-term deal," general manager Craig MacTavish said. "We as an organization wanted a little more information, fully aware information can be expensive."
OUTLOOK: Six straight years of drafting in the top 10 and stockpiling high-end young talent without showing tangible on-ice improvement tends to create skepticism.