The Oilers Silver Lining: Ryan Potulny

This is Ryan Potulny. He's only played 10 games for the Oilers, but during those 10 games, he's been argueably one of the Oilers top 3 players.

In 10 games, Potulny has 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points, yet still, a lot of fans and media think he'll be heading back to the AHL when some of the Oilers key players come back from illness and injury.

I might suggest not so fast.

Hemsky will be undergoing surgery to repair his shoulder and is done for the season. Comrie is still a lengthy time away from returning, and players like Patrick O'Sullivan, Robert Nilsson, Sam Gagner and others are just not providing a consistent enough effort to warrant removing someone like Ryan Potulny, who is.

Potulny has been brought on to play in all situations. At a strong plus/minus +1, he's done it successfully despite little NHL experience. On the powerplay, he's been one of Edmonton's more consistent threats and short-handed he's ranked in the top seven players for time-on-ice per game.

Potulny is quickly moving up the shot total ladder as well with a total of 24 shots in 10 games and a team leading 20.8% shooting percentage. He's taken 108 faceoffs, which is seventh on the team, but in only 10 games and while his percentages aren't great, they're better than a whole lot of other players on this team at 41.7%.

A rash of injuries got Potulny his shot at the NHL. It's a safe bet, that even when the injuries lessen, Potulny's play is what will keep him there.