Kotalik

KOTALIK  SIGNS WITH NEW YORK RANGERS July 9, 2009 Former Oilers forward Ales Kotalik has signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the New York Rangers.  Kotalik, an unrestricted free agent, scored 7-4-11 with 6 PIM in 19 games after joining the Oilers at the trade deadline last year.

ROLOSON SIGNS WITH NEW YORK ISLANDERS July 1, 2009 Former Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson has signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the New York Islanders.  Roloson, who was an unrestricted free agent, had a record of 28-24-9 with a 2.77 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 63 games with the Oilers last year.

Roloson

Oilers announce that Rob Daum will be returning as Head Coach of the Springfield Falcons, the Oilers' AHL affiliate.  Daum replaced Jeff Truitt as the Falcons Head Coach on February 10, 2009 and had a record of 8-17-5 during the final 30 games of the 2008-09 season. 

Moreau

MOREAU WINS KING CLANCY AWARD June 18, 2009 Oilers captain Ethan Moreau has been named the 2009 recipient of the NHL King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is.  presented annually to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.

The NHL Draft Lottery was held on April 14, and the Edmonton Oilers draft position did not change.  The Oilers will select 10th overall in the NHL Entry Draft, which will be held June 26 and 27 in Montreal.

Seven members of the Edmonton Oilers have been named to their respective country's teams for the IIHF World Championships, which will be held in Switzerland from April 24 to May 10.

Canada
Shawn Horcoff, Dwayne Roloson

United States
Tom Gilbert, Patrick O'Sullivan

Czech Republic
Ales Hemsky, Ales Kotalik

Russia
Denis Grebeshkov

A 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, combined with a St. Louis win in Phoenix, officially eliminated the Oilers from post-season contention for the third-straight season.  Despite having one of the highest payrolls in the NHL, the Oilers were inconsistent all season long and will finish the season with the fourth worst home record in the entire NHL.  Their poor special teams play (penalty killing: 27th overall, power play: 23rd overall) was another area of concern. 

This marks the fifth time in the past seven seasons under the Kevin Lowe / Craig MacTavish regime that the team has failed to make the playoffs, and there is wide speculation that this will be MacTavish's final season as head coach.  Kevin Lowe, the architect of this franchise, was promoted to Director of Hockey operations last summer but he should not be held blameless.  Lowe and new GM Steve Tambellini failed to address glaring deficiencies in this team that were obvious since training camp, including the lack of a scoring winger to play with Ales Hemsky, the absence of a faceoff winning centre to take the load of Shawn Horcoff and the need for a tough, shutdown defenceman to compliment the offensive-minded defencemen the team has. 

This should clearly be an off-season of much-needed change for the entire Oilers organization.