The first overall pick in 2011, 20-year-old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has struggled with injuries. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A disappointing season is coming to an early end for Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will fly to Cleveland today to have his shoulder examined. Surgery is likely, will miss remainder of season.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 21, 2013

He could undergo the procedure as soon as Tuesday.

“We discussed it a little bit during the year,” Nugent-Hopkins said of the surgery. “It’s something that doesn’t fix itself. It has to be taken care of. The plan was to get it done before the season ends so I’m recovered and good to go before next season.”

The first overall pick in 2011 has dealt with shoulder problems in the past, going back to his junior days with the Red Deer Rebels. Although this injury has been bothering him for some time, it doesn’t appear to be related to the shoulder issue that hampered him towards the end of his rookie season.

Here’s audio of Nugent-Hopkins meeting with Edmonton media today to discuss his situation.

Even with the surgery, there’s reason to be concerned about how well Nugent-Hopkins will function next season. Teammate Taylor Hall underwent similar surgery and has said that while he could play in six months, it took a full year before he was feeling 100 percent.

New GM Craig MacTavish (right) — with senior VP Scott Howson — has some big decisions ahead. (Jason Franson/AP)

By Allan Muir

Four years ago to the day, GM Steve Tambellini fired coach Craig MacTavish after eight seasons behind the bench.

“This is the right thing for Craig, and the right thing for the Edmonton Oilers,” Tambellini said at the time.

Today, Tambellini was relieved of his duties as the team’s GM.

His replacement? Craig MacTavish.

Funny how things work out sometimes.

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Despite hitting the draft jackpot with three can’t-miss top picks, the Oilers’ progress under Steve Tambellini was slow. (Abelimages / Getty Images for NHL)

By Allan Muir

Minutes after the Edmonton Oilers announced a 12:30 EDT press conference, TSN is reporting that the team has fired general manager Steve Tambellini. His replacement will be Craig MacTavish, who currently serves as Edmonton’s vice-president of hockey operations.

The club added a treasure trove of young talent over Tambellinin’s four-plus years with the organization, including three consecutive first-overall picks — Taylor Hall (2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011) and Nail Yakupov (2012).

But the team’s failure to make the playoffs druing his run, and more importantly, Tambellini’s inability to acquire complementary pieces to help get the youngsters over the hump this season, led to his downfall.

We’ll have more after the press conference.

Craig Anderson, along with backup Robin Lehner, is putting together a spectacular season in Ottawa. (Jay Kopinski/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner are on the verge of crafting the best season of goaltending in modern history.

• Roberto Luongo and Ilya Bryzgalov top the list of likely compliance buyout candidates this summer.

• They talked Olympics, Carl Soderberg, Filip Forsberg and the NHL setting up shop in Las Vegas on The Hot Stove.

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Carl Soderberg was a second-round draft pick by St. Louis in 2004. (Anders Wiklund/SCANPIX/AFP/Getty Images

By Allan Muir

You could forgive Boston’s fans for their jaded response to word that Swedish scoring sensation Carl Soderberg is interested in joining the Bruins for the stretch run. After all, they’ve heard this song before.

Soderberg was acquired by the B’s in a 2007 swap that sent former first-rounder Hannu Toivonen to St. Louis. It was a nothing deal at the time, one team sending a devalued asset to another, both hoping that a change of scenery would revive flagging careers.

Toivonen played 23 games with the Blues as a backup in 2007-08 before being relegated to the minors. And Soderberg? He played games of a different kind, hinting on multiple occasions that he’d come to Boston for training camp, only to change his mind and stay overseas.

It was hard to figure him out. There were suggestions from scouts that he lacked confidence in his ability to compete at the NHL level. Others thought he was a kid who simply wasn’t convinced that he’d be any happier here than he was in Sweden.

It was a long-running exercise in frustration for the Bruins, but through it all, the team’s management remained committed to bringing him over.

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Where would you rank a power play that could unleash Hall of Famers Jari Kurri, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier? (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Yesterday, as part of SI.com’s Power Week, I ranked my top 10 NHL power forwards of all time. Today, it’s on to the power play.

I’ve always thought that the effectiveness of a power play is directly proportional to the fear it inspires.

The best  don’t simply score goals every third chance or so. They’re a looming specter that buys time and space during 40-odd minutes of even strength play — a constant, overhanging threat that forces defenders to hesitate, to keep sticks and elbows to themselves in order to not take the trip to the box that their coach specifically warned them to avoid.
It’s been a few years since the NHL has seen a truly frightening power play, but there have been some holy terrors in the past.

Click here for my 10 greatest in league history:

Magnus Paajarvi, a top 10 pick in 2009, hasn’t been a good fit in Edmonton. (Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

The deal that saw the Oilers acquire Mike Brown from Toronto this morning isn’t particularly interesting in and of itself…well, other than the fact that Dave Nonis fleeced Steve Tambellini out of a conditional fourth-round pick for a player who would have been available on waivers the minute Matt Frattin was ready to return for the Leafs.

That’s not a knock on Brown. He won’t do anything to address Edmonton’s glaring need for five-on-five scoring or solidify their blueline, but he proved himself to be a useful fourth liner who can ramp up the energy when called upon. He’ll find a way to help.

But here’s where ears are perking up. Brown’s arrival means someone has to go in Edmonton. Odds are it’ll be third-year forward Magnus Paajarvi. And that’s a decision that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

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By Allan Muir

I was watching the Edmonton broadcast of the Oilers vs. Blackhawks game the other night when I saw Chicago’s Daniel Carcillo steaming toward Edmonton’s Nail Yakupov.

It looked like CarBomb was going to unload on the rookie, but Yakupov sensed the threat at the last second and ducked, leaving the hard-charging Carcillo to slam face-first into the boards.

“Dodged a bullet there, didn’t he?” I thought.

And that was it.

It wasn’t until the next morning that I heard that Chicago broadcaster Ed Olczyk had taken issue with Yakupov’s decision to avoid a date with the glass.

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By Allan Muir

Sheriff Shanny laid down the law Friday afternoon, suspending Edmonton’s Taylor Hall two games for a kneeing incident in last night’s game against Minnesota.

Hall was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for his late-third period hit on Cal Clutterbuck, but NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan determined that supplementary discipline was called for.

Shanahan made note that the play happened quickly but added that Hall was in control of himself and the hit, and that Clutterbuck did not act evasively in a way that contributed to the collision.

He also noted Clutterbuck was not in possession of the puck at any time during the sequence, so he had no reason to think that a hit was coming.

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Winger Ryan Smyth has not been playing like a sage, 16-year NHL veteran. (Steve Alkok/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

If there ever was any doubt about the ability of Edmonton’s coach Ralph Krueger to handle the challenges posed by the NHL, he answered them today with the decision to bench franchise legend Ryan Smyth for tonight’s home game against Dallas.

That call carries even more weight in a young, impressionable room than his decision to plant struggling defender Ryan Whitney in the press box on Sunday. And that’s why it was absolutely the right move to make.

Smyth signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal over the summer. Expectations were realistic for the 36-year-old, but considerably higher than the one goal and two points he’s delivered through 12 games.

But this isn’t about his meek offensive contributions.Truth is, Smyth has played miserably more nights than not. Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal called Smyth “the worst player on the ice” after Sunday’s win over Columbus, and he wasn’t wrong. Smyth is playing stupid, lazy hockey of late, the complete antithesis of what the industrious winger has typically brought to the copper-and-blue.

His on-ice value is diminishing, but it was his sudden propensity for picking up brain-dead penalties that brought the issue to a head. Though Willis took greater issue with a pair of slashing penalties that Smyth committed against the Jackets, I’d say the 10-minute misconduct he earned against Detroit was the real sin. Smyth was binned after yapping at the officials in the wake of a perfectly fine call.

I get it. He’s a frustrated player, but he’s not some high-strung kid. He’s a veteran with a very specific role: teach the young, promising future of the team not just how to win, but how to play the game the right way. In that light, his pointless, selfish outburst was a dereliction of duty.

“We had an open, honest conversation with everything on the table,” Krueger said after the benching was announced. “We expect a gritty reaction from him.”

Krueger might get it. He might not. But in benching Smyth, the coach is sending a very loud message to the rest of the team. It’s about accountability. About a higher standard for an organization that has accepted mediocrity, or less, for too long.

And everyone, even a legend, needs to step up and meet it.