Evolution of the Oilers Powerplay

That's Craig Simpson, former "PP coach" of the Oilers from before the lockout up until the last season. He made some questionable decisions when it came to organizing an effective man-advantage, and is now a broadcaster with CBC.

Since the end of the lockout, the Oilers have found themselves amongst the league leaders in terms of amount of changes on their PP. Here's a short history of the team's PP lineups since the lockout:

2005-2006
Hemsky Dvorak Smyth
Pronger Bergeron (Stoll on 5-on-3's)

Torres Horcoff Pisani
Staios Stoll

We saw a lot of shifting in the year as the PP was at best mediocore all season long. But towards the end, thanks to trades, it had improved to:

Hemsky Samsonov Smyth
Pronger Spacek

Torres Horcoff Pisani (or Peca)
Bergeron Stoll (or Tarnstrom)

We saw the likes of Pisani and Torres thrive in their 2nd unit role, as well as have Stoll put up 31 points in a career year points-wise for him. The key to the team's success late in the season and in the playoffs was the ability for the second-unit to perform at an optimal level.

2006-2007
With the departure of Tarnstrom, Samsonov, Pronger, and Spacek, and the arrival of Lupul and Sykora, the Oilers saw tremendous changes to their PP, mostly negative ones at that.

Lupul Smyth Hemsky
Sykora Stoll

Torres Stoll Horcoff
Bergeron Tjarnqvist

With no Pronger to help out on the point, the Oilers PP suffered horribly. the infamous 5-forward unit was dismantled within a month, and the 2nd unit struggled to put up anything. Stoll once again put up respectable numbers, as well as Hemsky and Sykora, but the PP was a major weakness all season long.

2007-2008
Lowe re-tooled the Oilers in the off-season, bringing big-time offensive defensemen Sheldon Souray and Joni Pitkanen, as well as re-acquiring Dick Tarnstrom. Heading into the season, the powerplay looked like this:

Hemsky Horcoff Penner
Souray Stoll

Cogliano Gagner Torres
Pitkanen Tarnstrom

With an early injury to Souray, the PP was the league's worst for almost half a season. However with injuries came the emergence of the "kids", and the Oilers PP took off in the second half, looking something like this:

Hemsky Gagner Penner
Gilbert Pitkanen

Nilsson Cogliano Pisani
Grebeshkov Staios

Gilbert and Grebeshkov really stepped it up late in the season as viable powerplay options on the back-end, and the kids were able to prove themselves efficient given time on with the man-advantage. The most amazing part of this late-season surge was the fact that traditional power play performers like Horcoff and Souray were injured.

2008-2009?
With the departure of Pitkanen, Stoll, and Torres came injection of new blood with Visnovsky and Cole. Both proven PP-performers, one can't help but be optimistic heading into the upcoming season. Here are my predictions:

Hemsky Gagner Penner
Visnovsky Souray

Cole Horcoff Nilsson (Cogliano can be inserted for Horcoff in some cases)
Grebeshkov Gilbert

Why do I feel these lineups will work?

The first forward unit proved itself late last season to be a lethal combination, with Hemsky and Gagner working magic with the puck, while Penner proving to be an immovable force near the crease. With the addition of PP wizards Visnovsky and Souray, we should see a serious upgrade in PP-output from the first unit.

With the addition of Cole, the Oilers are given a real goal-scoring option and crease presence with Cole. Nilsson adds a play-making option to the unit, operating on the right side. Horcoff will thrive in a 2ndary scoring role, especially because Nilsson's setup on the right side will give him many a chance to let out quick one-timers from the slot. Grebeshkov takes on a Visnovsky-esque role on the backend, doing a lot of puck-handling, while Gilbert will be expected to use his point shot as often as possible. The only potential problem I see here is Gilbert and Grebs both being RH defensemen, and it'll be interesting to see how Grebs would operate from the left side.

With a scary 1st unit in place, the addition of a solid 2nd unit will do wonders for the Oilers PP numbers this coming season. And in the new NHL, there's no doubting that a top-10 powerplay is a major factor into making the playoffs.