Petrell Back for One More Year, Odds & Ends

Lennert Petrell was reupped today to a one year deal, money undisclosed. While Petrell had a decent year, leading the Oilers forwards in hits, Petrell is pretty generic in terms of offensive ability. I had labeled Petrell in a previous post as at best a 14th forward on the team next season. Hopefully with this signing, it will mean they can find a new home for Eric Belanger this off season and then Petrell can slip into that 13th, forward, jack of all trades type. I get the feeling that once July 2nd rolls around, the team will have a different look to it, for better or for worse.

Other tidbits:
- Talk of Sam Gagner potentially being on the move between now and UFA day. It will be interesting to see what kind of offers they get for him and what kind of player will fill that hole on 2nd line C. With another top prosepect likely to break camp with the club by the beginning of next season, the Oilers could use some veterans, ones that will buy in and know their role.
- I'm starting to prepare myself for the notion that Nail Yakupov will be the choice on Friday, at the draft. While I understand that Yakupov is a sublime talent with excellent sniping ability, leaving holes all over the defense with no actual #1 Dman anywhere in the fold will be something the Oilers may live to regret. I still maintain that Yakupov may be an A, Ryan Murray would an A-, and the gap between the two in terms impact and helping their team win, is pretty negligible. I maintain Murray is a better fit, short term and long term.
- The Justin Schultz situation continues to become more murky. Everything from the Oilers being one of the final three teams involved in the auction, to not even being considered. The best thing to do here is hope he comes here, but keep building the team like he isn't coming here. Can't put all the eggs in one basket here. If the Oilers do nothing to fix the defense or the centers, I would consider the offseason an epic loss, regardless of Yakupov.

The draft should be a good time. Sorry folks, but the Oilers need to address their strength and size in this draft in the later rounds. Having neglecting this long has been a terrible oversight.