Pat Quinn brings a wealth of experience and a likely successor in Tom Renney as assistant behind the bench. What’s a coach worth? Can Quinn succeed in unleashing the offense, or does the team have, as critics suggest, a smallish set of forwards who can’t muscle through opponents? Was it MacTavish’s scheme? Will the well-traveled Quinn tap serious Oiler potential?

Nikolai Khabibulin, 36, arrives to replace Dwayne Roloson, who turns 40 in October. Khabibulin (2.33GAA; .919SV%) takes a pay cut of roughly $3M bucks. He’ll play in Oil Country for a “cut-rate” of just 3.75M per for four years. Khabibulin enjoyed a strong 08-09, going to the conference final with Chicago, his deepest playoff run since winning the Cup with Tampa (2003-04). He’s got miles left on his tank, and the club will look toward Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, who joined the Oilers briefly last season (4-3; 3.33GAA; .901SV%).

A deal for Dany Heatley went south after the former Ottawa star nixed the notion of going to Edmonton, so the team’s left side remains in need of a jolt unless underachieving nice guy Dustin Penner (17 goals) ramps up his production. Patrick O’Sullivan disappointed after coming over from LA, with two goals in 19 games. Neither Penner, Shawn Horcoff, Andrew Cogliano, Ethan Moreau, Sam Gagner nor Kyle Brodziak could come up with 20 goals. Fernando Pisani returns after injury limited him to 38 games (7 goals).

After an injury-plagued 07-08, Sheldon Souray delivered with a 23-goal performance, second only to Mike Green amongst defensemen (Shea Weber also scored 23). Lubomir Visnovsky signed a huge deal prior to last season only to see 31 games slip away to injury, but he managed eight goals and 31 points. If he’s healthy, the 22nd-ranked power play should be able to elevate its game. The remainder of the defense is solid, with Tom Gilbert and Steve Staios providing steady, physical play. Ladislav Smid is still just 23 years old and has a good upside. Denis Grebeshkov, like Visnovsky a former LA King, led the team with a +12.