Farewell, Robbie

As Oilers fans have surely heard by now, Robbie Schremp was claimed off waivers by the New York Islanders today.

For a team sorely lacking in front-end offensive talent, Schremp will almost certainly play on one of the top two lines -- perhaps even on the top line with Doug Weight and Jonathon Tavares.

For some Oilers fans, the loss of Schremp will seem like no big deal. After five years of trying and failing to make the big club, something eventually had to give for a player of Schremp's talents. For Oilers fans who remember Schremp's spectacular skill level, the loss is a bitter one indeed.

If Schremp is successful playing for the Islanders, many Oilers fans will justifiably be left wondering what could have been.

Now that Schremp has packed his bags for Long Island, the Oilers would do well at this point to rid them of another player who has failed to earn himself a spot in the lineup this year. In all the preliminary line combinations being tested in practice at this point, Robert Nilsson isn't in any of them.

It's time for the Oilers to cut their losses with the player and trade him. Garth Snow not only has a roster spot for the Islanders draft pick, but may even remember the potent combination Nilsson and Schremp made when they played together for the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins in 2006/07.

Oilers fans should wish each player the best, but the time for each player to move on from the Oilers has clearly come.

Lubo's Back

As the Oilers get set to take on Jonathon Tavares and the New York Islanders for the second time this pre-season -- this time in Saskatoon -- Oilers fans are finally hearing the big news they've waited for since February:

Lumbomir Visnovsky is back.

Visnovsky is expected to play against Tavares and the Islanders tonight. He may even be playing alongside Taylor Chorney once again -- Chorney, as some may recall, played on a pairing with Lubo during the 2008-09 pre-season.

Jordan Eberle returns to Saskatchewan once again, to play up the highway from his hometown of Regina -- where he also played the last three seasons for the Pats.

The Credit Union Centre, home to the Saskatoon Blades, should prove to be a more familiar setting for Eberle. This may have come at just the right time for Eberle. Although Eberle has played strongly during this pre-season, he's clearly running out of chances to show head coach Pat Quinn that he belongs on this team.

By the time the Oilers play their final pre-season game against the Vancouver Canucks on September 27th they'll be icing close to their full lineup.

And while Eberle can count on being among the final players deliberated on by Quinn and Associate Coach Tom Renney -- Chorney and Robbie Schremp will likely be among them as well -- there's no time like the present for Eberle to solidify his place on this team.

Also returning to familiar territory is Brock, Saskatchewan's Steve MacIntyre. One can expect the admittedly-unlikely NHLer to receive a resounding welcome, perhaps even with a significant contingent from his hometown.

But there's little question that the big story for Oilers fans tonight is the return of Lubomir Visnovsky.

Oilers Pull It Out in Third Period

The first 48 minutes of tonight's game didn't look especially good for the Edmonton Oilers.

Certainly, there were some good things about it: for one thing, Jordan Eberle's play. He didn't score any goals or rack up any assists, but he did create several quality scoring opportunities -- including an early shot that rang off the goalpost.

The first 6:39 of the game were especially bad, as the Oilers were severely out-played by the Islanders. Perhaps the Isles were energized by the long-awaited presence of Jonathon Tavares in their lineup (playing alongside Doug Weight), or perhaps the Oilers -- icing many more veterans and stars than their opponents -- simply came to the rink with a false sense of security.

The play of Islanders goaltender Nathan Lawson was certainly a factor, as he turned away a golden opportunity by Ales Hemsky, and stoned the Oilers power play on four separate occasions throughout the first two periods.

When the Oilers finally tied the game it game on a goal by Dustin Penner. A few minutes later Sam Gagner smuggled a backhand shot behind Lawson to pull ahead.

The Islanders would tie the game again on a wrist shot, only to have Sheldon Souray chug into the slot and score the game winning goal on a backhander.

Gagner and Souray both also notched assists to have a two-point night, and Andrew Cogliano, Robbie Nilsson and Hemsky also put up assists.

This Oilers squad -- the only two players to compete in last night's game were Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers -- at least doesn't seem to have the penalty troubles that the road squad seems to have.

Souray dominated the puck, firing several heavy bombs off the point (including one almost directly into the Islanders' Richard Park). If he maintains his pace tonight throughout the season, Souray may eclipse the 26 goals he scored for the Montreal Canadiens in 2006-07.

But, again, the competition tonight was far from NHL-calibre. Jordan Eberle managed to outshine Jonathon Tavares as the best player on the ice -- better even than Hemsky -- but one shouldn't necessarily expect that to continue as the Oilers face tougher and tougher competition as the pre-season progresses.

One should remember also that the Oilers will face the Islanders again, in Saskatoon, later in the preseason. That will be a big game for Eberle, as it's just up the highway from his hometown of Regina.

Welcome to the NHL, Jonathon Tavares -- Hope You Survive the Experience!

The Edmonton Oilers will welcome 1st overall draft pick Jonathon Tavares to Rexall Place tonight, as he plays in his first ever NHL game.

Alongside Tavares will be Doug Weight, the highest-scoring active former Oiler in the league today, as well as the last Oiler to amass more than 100 points in a season.

Absent from the lineup will be Dwayne Roloson, who signed with the Islanders in the off-season, and will be duking it out with Martin Biron to decide who will play more games behind Rick DiPietro -- and who replace him if (more likely when) he gets hurt.

Richard Park, Andy Sutton and Jon Sim are the other Islanders of note in the lineup. This may allow an Oilers lineup stacked with Ales Hemsky, Sheldon Souray, Sam Gagner, Robbie Nilsson, Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner, Ladislav Smid and Fernando Pisani to drum up some illusions of dominant grandeur before facing more serious competition later in the pre-season.

Also dressing for the New York Islanders will be Robin Figren. Some may remember Figren as the Edmonton Oil King who dazzled for Sweden at the 2008 World Junior Championships.

But unquestionably all eyes will be on Jonathon Tavares tonight. Big, big things are expected of Tavares in Long Island, as they look to rebuild their franchise around him and try to recapture the heady glories once enjoyed there by Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin (among others).

It will be a long and arduous rebuilding process for the Islanders, who seem to abandon the "Oilers 2.0" theme of the past couple of seasons when they employed Weight, Bill Guerin, Miroslav Satan, Marc-Andre Bergeron and current Oiler Mike Comrie with their team.

Tavares may be the first realistic shot the Islanders have had for a while of developing a superstar all their own, and launching an "Islanders 2.0" program that is sorely long overdue.