The Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs made numerous additions in the summer. But which of the two teams' new acquisitions have had the most success this season?
The Edmonton Oilers are set to clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs in Edmonton on Saturday night, and it’s natural to want to compare and contrast the two teams in a number of areas. But for the purposes of this column, we’re going to look at the Oilers’ and Leafs’ off-season acquisitions and divulge who we think made the better roster decisions.
Edmonton’s Off-Season Additions: Viktor Arvidsson, RW, Ty Emberson, D, Vasily Podkolzin, RW, Jeff Skinner, LW
How They’ve Been Doing: The Oilers as a group have been enjoying a very good year thus far, but you can’t say they’ve been doing it because of their off-season acquisitions. In terms of offense, Podkolzin has been the best of the group of four, but he has only six goals and 19 points. Skinner has been a non-factor, with nine goals and 17 points. Arvidsson has just six goals and 16 points, and Emberson has only nine points. And none of the four are making up for it by shutting down the opposition.
Toronto’s Off-Season Additions: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Steven Lorentz, LW, Max Pacioretty, LW, Anthony Stolarz, G, Chris Tanev, D
How They’ve Been Doing: Each of the new Leafs have delivered just about everything Toronto GM Brad Treliving had hoped for when he brought them into Blue and White. Tanev has arguably been the Maple Leafs' best defenseman and Ekman-Larsson has been excellent as well. Stolarz got injured, but when he was on the ice, he was a top-five goalie in the league. Pacioretty has been a physical force who still has gas left in the tank in terms of contributing on offense. And Lorentz has been a night-in, night-out dependable fourth-liner. All in all, Toronto’s acquisitions have been worth the investment the Buds put into them.
Which Team’s Off-Season Was Better?
From our perspective, the Leafs had the better off-season acquisitions, and it’s not even close. The Oilers swung and missed big-time on Skinner, and the other players listed above don’t move the needle. You can’t say that about Toronto’s acquisitions, as every veteran we mentioned has been as good as or better than the Leafs’ expectations.
Edmonton’s top players have been doing much of the heavy lifting this season, and if they want to keep Oilers stars from being run down, their secondary players need to step up. Toronto’s new players, on the other hand, have been delivering what the Leafs wanted them to deliver, and if they can maintain that level of play in the second half of the season, the Maple Leafs will be a very dangerous squad. So, the nod here goes to Toronto over Edmonton, but as always, things can change.
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