EDMONTON – After six seasons in the NHL without even a taste of the playoffs, Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall can’t see getting there without significant changes to the roster.
“The stink is still there,” Hall said Sunday as the Oilers cleaned out their stalls after yet another losing season.
“I’m very disappointed. Right now it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m not going to lie.”
Watch below: Hall weighs in on another disappointing season for the Oilers
The stink has permeated Rexall Place since 2006 when the Oilers last made the playoffs, thanks largely to the performance of defenceman Chris Pronger who left the team after getting them to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.
Their NHL record 10th straight season out of the playoffs ended Saturday evening as it began back in October, with a loss. They finished the season 31-43-8 for 70 points and 29th place in the 30-team league.
General manager Peter Chiarelli said he wasn’t completely surprised by the team’s lack of winning in its first season under himself and coach Todd McLellan.
“I went into this with open eyes,” he said.
“I knew there would be heavy lifting, but frankly I thought we would be at 82 points, that was my goal.”
Watch below: Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli addresses the media as the team’s season comes to an end
Like all the players who spoke Sunday, Chiarelli said he was obviously disappointed with the results of the season and admitted that when it comes to the team roster “what we have now isn’t good enough.”
“No one is untouchable except maybe a couple of guys. It’s unacceptable to be where we’re at. We did have improvement in some areas but the bar was pretty low.”
Watch below: Will Nail Yakupov be back with the Oilers next season? Hear the answer straight from Yakupov
Without mentioning names, Chiarelli said trades, including their core roster players and possibly their draft pick this year — they will be picking somewhere between first and fifth overall — will be necessary to make the improvements needed to become a playoff team.
He said the two areas that need improvement are on defence and team size. The one problem area the team appears to have solved this season is in goal, where off-season acquisition Cam Talbot established himself. He finished with a 21-17 record, a 2.55 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.
READ MORE: Oilers Cam Talbot named NHL’s top star after fabulous week
The Oilers had a relatively good start to the season and were within sight of a playoff position in November.
“In late November we were still right there,” said Hall. “If we would have rung together three or four (wins) we would have been right there. Then (defenceman Oscar) Klefbom went down, we had some injuries.”
One of those was to No. 1 draft pick Connor McDavid who was hurt Nov. 3 and missed 37 games.
“Every team goes through that, but unfortunately for us it was our two biggest guys,” added Hall. “The best teams have a lot of depth and that wasn’t the case for us.”
READ MORE: ‘On the ice he was everything and more’: Edmonton Oilers already see Connor McDavid as leader
Chiarelli said the team was better in its structure, its level of compete, its power play, penalty killing, goals against and time of possession, “areas that we can build on for next year.”
But in the end, said Hall, “I mean we’re in 29th and there’s going to (be) change.”
His name, along with Nail Yakupov, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are most often mentioned in talks about trades. All four said they would like to remain with the team but Chiarelli’s comments made it appear that isn’t likely to happen.
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