Richard Roma: Yup. I’ll jump on this ship.

If there’s one poster here who’s demonstrably superior at predicting the future, it’s Leadfarmer.

However, I do think that the 3 game stint in the PB wasexpensive ad space.

Maybe the coach has a plan like:

Let Jesse watch a ton of video of the McD line at work with the assistant coaches in order to try to see where his go areas are on that line as I guess Jami might sit a couple of games next.

If they can get Jesse to work a bit better on that line he might survive and get back to the Strome line once Rattle is fit.

The plan could be having Jesse and Jamo auditin on the first line and if both fail they go to Bakes together once Rattle is back. Doing it that way they might actually not kill Jesse’s confidence any further as it is pretty “dead” already.

I suppose it’s as good a guess on what’s going on as any. Kind of make sense in my head but that doesn’t mean squat?

Richard Roma,

Maybe the coach has a plan like:

Let Jesse watch a ton of video of the McD line at work with the assistant coaches in order to try to see where his go areas are on that line as I guess Jami might sit a couple of games next.

If they can get Jesse to work a bit better on that line he might survive and get back to the Strome line once Rattle is fit.

The plan could be having Jesse and Jamo auditin on the first line and if both fail they go to Bakes together once Rattle is back. Doing it that way they might actually not kill Jesse’s confidence any further as it is pretty “dead” already.

I suppose it’s as good a guess on what’s going on as any. Kind of make sense in my head but that doesn’t mean squat?

Glovjuice,

I think Glovejuice are pretty much right on when it comes to Pulju but Jesse dosen’t seem to be able to adjust and when your self confidence goes and your “social support” and network is not there it becomes even harder to restore it. I do not think there is a issue with his team mates it mainly with in himself and partly the lack of confidnce the coach shows in him.

On top I do think he put a lot of pressure on himself as he want to play to a high standard.

Looking at his past he has always been “the big guy” and he got a ton of skill on top + he has been playing with top notch guys and have had lots of ice time and success.

He seem to be an induvidual that do best when he get ice time and I do not think he has any experiance in “failing” and therfore he is “totally out to lunch” with what’s happening to him right now and can’t seem to find a way to “please” nor find his game.

The guy is out of self confidence and he “hang with his head” which will not help. I understand the coach as well as he needs to look at the teams best so both are in a kind of bad spot but for diffrent reasons.

I hope t when they decided on sitting him that the already had a plan together with the assitant coachs what to and how to work with him on during this “sitting” time.

If they can’t get him going in the next few days I do think he will end up in AHL and I do not think he will re-sign with Edmonton if that dosen’t work out. Even if he do half decant but have to stay down there for the reminder of the season he should not re-sign here even if they offer him to as that would be suecide for his future, in NHL that is.

At the end of the day is it very much up to Jesse to get that self confidence back and he is the one that have to turn it around (yes, some help is good and neeed) and that might be very hard if you are not at a “good place” and even more so if you are in a environment with high pressure and a coach that clearly do not trust your game or abilities. Finally his language head seems not to be the best and that hampers him further, mostly in the soical life, and that is where your “good place” is.

I do not know Jesse but I have the impression he is a guy that love a joke and in his “right element” he is most probaly a “leader and social guy” in the locker room. If you do not speak the language
it’s hard to be that guiy that you really are. He mentioned this in a inteview in his native language last summer but it seems like he still have issues.

It’s not the coach job to sort that part of Jesse out, he needs to see it yes, but he also need to concentarte on the team and what’s best for them. There should be a a “support” team around for the players when they come in new, and I am sure there is some, but I am sure they could do a better job there. Yes, the main thing is: They are here to play hockey not to get baby sat, hey come on a guy 18-20 years old coming from a small village up north in a totally diffrent country and culture need some support of the ice. That is part of player development, especially for players coming from Europe. maybe that’s soemthing Edmonton is not that good at asd I do not think the coaches should be tasked with sorting that out, once again, they have to recon it and address as such.

It will eventually boil down to money and results to run any kind of sports outfit and the “human element” do not always get looked into:-)

Anyway we can speculate until we are “blue” I just hope the guy get’s it going becuse its impossible not to like the guy and his skill set, he just need to find a way of get it going in a NHL size rink.

He do have hockey IQ but might lack in the one neeed for the faster NHL game and if he can figure that out I think he will be fine.

Have a great day.

Richard Roma,

Haven’t had a free moment all day.

Here’s one.

Nate MacKinnon Relative GF%
Season Team GF% Rel
20132014 COL 6.8
20142015 COL 3.62
20152016 COL 6.31
20162017 COL 13.55
20172018 COL 7.98

MacKinnon’s GF%
Season Team GF%
20132014 COL 57.7
20142015 COL 52.2
20152016 COL 52.3
20162017 COL 45.9
20172018 COL 57.7

COL’s GF% without MacKinnon on the ice:
Season Team GF% MacKinnon Off
20132014 COL 50.9
20142015 COL 48.6
20152016 COL 46.0
20162017 COL 32.3
20172018 COL 49.7

Puhljarvi is useless
Trade him and Lucic tomorrow
No rationalizations

Kinger_Oil.redux,

– how do we do searches for posters comments over different time periods, then reply to them into current comments?

Find the comment (google, check posts around relevant dates etc)
Right click copy the comment
Reply to the poster in the current thread
Paste in the comment

Richard Roma: For me this adds value to gain perspective on how much hall pushed the river.

Ah, got it.

Will put some “good players on bad teams” info in this thread later.

Don’t want to muck up the GDT

SwedishPoster:
Nice “win without a top performance” game yesterday, those are crucial for long term success, the team looks more solid for every game and it looks like they have made some much needed system changes, playing less scared. McLellan is running the bench hard atm, they were clearly desperate for a good start.

A couple of notes on the season so far.

I think there’s a pretty good chance McDavid flirts with 2 ppg this season, can certainly see him beyond 1.5. Not his sharpest the last few games, but man he looks incredible out there, too freaking good. Looks more competent in his own end as well. On a mission.

Klefbom looks great as well. Health certainly is a part but it seems like the attempt to turn him into an offensive rover has ended. He looks more focused on playing D and move the puck well and not gunning for opportunity offensively which had him losing position and poise. Yawney?

Larsson also looks great. Nasty. And finally he’s starting to show the passing game I’ve been talking about since his first year here, I think in my first post after he was aquired in that trade noone ever talks about I mentioned his stretch passes, heshowcased it pre-NHL and in Jersey, now we’ve seen it here as well. It looks like he’s more actively searching for passing lanes, making plays, as opposed to just getting the puck out. Yawney?

Whoever is behind it they both play more like themselves the last few games if that makes sense. Can’t complain about the results.

Drai is also improving every game. It’s impressive to be above ppg while off your game, McDavidboosted(should be a word) numbers or not. While Chiasson showed the hot hand and Rieder has has had a couple of good games I don’t love them with Drai. They are both pretty good in transition and Chiasson can certainly shoot the puck. But once in the offensive zone I don’t think they have the cleverness nor skill to match Drai’s creativity, they never found any good spots during established play. Drai obviously plays well with high end skill and guys who are smart. Playing him with two bottom sixers is not ideal, they do solidify him defensively though. I can buy Rieder as the third guy on the Drai line, as they have chemistry and Rieder works well as Drai’s defensive conscience plus his skating forces Drai to move his feet in transition. But with Chiasson just like an aging Hollywood star desperatly holding on to former beauty with botox and surgery the hotness is quickly fading.

Nurse looks amazing and terrible. He looks stronger, faster and with better puckhandling than ever. He’s strong one on one. His passing is still a weakness but his shot looks improved. On the other hand his positioning is all over the place and he makes really odd decisions. To my eye it looks like he is getting bad advice from somewhere. The talk before season about improving his offense when he still has things to learn defensively and the roving so far on the ice. Imo he hasn’t shown much natural offensive instincts to become an effective offensive D. He’ll put up some numbers due to his insane ability to carry the puck and no guts no glory attitude. But I think he’ll be more effective if he picks his spot better, focus on sharpening his defensive positioning and consistency. And let the offensive opportunities come to him instead of chasing them. To be fair he has reeled it in the last few games but at the same time he lost some intensity. If he finds that balance we’re on to something.

Brodziak had his best game last game but I wonder how much he has left in the tank.
Marody looked great in his two games. Let’s see how he handles when the grind sets in. Bad timing with the injury.

Yamamoto obviously has skill as evident by his highlight reel goal, is a pretty good defensive player, great forechecker, works hella hard. But it’s still a lot of trying without much result. Still think he could use twenty or so games in the AHL to find some efficiency in the offensive end.

On Jesse. He was always going to take some time to arrive, the Oiler management are on record saying they were trying to fasttrack him by bringing him over early.
I’d argue they have actually slowed down his developement by getting him over early. If anyone has memorized my posting history from two years ago, and who wouldn’t really, you might remember that I wanted to give him at least one season in Finland, two if he didn’t rip it up in his draft +1 year. The reasoning behind holding him back was first of all maturity, physical and mental. Physically he’s one of those lanky guys who won’t grow into his body until 23-24, imo the risk with bringing him over straight away is that the org gets impatient and trades him before he’s close to a finished product, I’m not saying hold him out of the NHL until he’s 23 or that he can’t be useful before that age, I think he is ready to contribute now, just that it will be very difficult to know what you truly have in him until that age. Mentally he just wasn’t ready for a new scenery, one that chews players up and spits them out if they aren’t ready at that, it’s pretty obvious how fragile his confidence is when you see him on the ice.
His game also wasn’t of the quality it needed to be to come over at 18, he was a fine player in the FEL, excellent if you consider how young he was but if he was 25 you wouldn’t consider bringing him over to challenge for NHL time. He had one hell of a skillset, still has, but hadn’t put it all together, still hasn’t.
Imo he needed the extra time in Finland to get more comfortable as a top player against pro players, he’s a guy who wants the puck on his stick, hell on a line with Aho and Laine during the WJCs he was the guy who had the puck the most. To be able to play that game in the NHL you have to be fully confident and know who you are as a player. In Finland he was seen as one of the top talents of the decade and a future star, he had the status to play a difficult game and learn what works and what doesn’t without the risk of being benched or losing his coach’s trust, it’s still a pro league so he wasn’t able to coast or be sloppy but he’d have a lot more rope, even in the AHL they quickly cut his ice time when he made mistakes. For a guy constantly looking to make plays, to be creative, that’s not a confidence builder. I personally think for euros, forwards especially, the AHL is best used as a transition league as opposed to a developement league.
His finnish team also knew exactly what type of player he was, his strengths and weaknesses since he’d been in the club for years, and his personality. He was a young player about to pop as a star in the finnish league and they knew it. I’m convinced it would have been the better route.

But this wall of text is obviously arguing a moot point. The Oil chose a different path and here we are.
Question is how you move forward. First of all I think they have to recognize what kind of player he is. Before coming over his game was a very creative, outside the box, playmaking winger, who was at his best when driving a line making a lot of plays, not always connecting but always looking to create. A good puck carrier who was great when flying through the neutral zone with the puck on his stick, but could bobble the puck and look very awkward with it at times. Pretty developed defensive game overall but with mental lapses. Hard shot but not the best accuracy. Big but not physical. Great powerful skating stride but lacking agility. Inconsistent even within shifts. Very bambiesque where he suddenly could look like he’d never played a second of hockey in his life.
The Oil saw a big guy with a hard shot and thought. Power forward! Volume shooter! Ofc I don’t know this but that’s what it looked like from the way he was deployed and sounded like from McLellan’s comments. That’s not his game. At least it wasn’t. At all. I think he could add those elements to his game eventually but please let him find his natural game first, which is creativity and playmaking, he’s a very unique player type but imo the guy he is most similar in style on the current Oilers is a less physical Drai. The whole deployment thing and McLellan’s comments in media on what they want Jesse to do is really weird to me, if this is what they communicate behind the scene as well I understand if there’s a disconnect.

There’s a lot of chatter on him lacking hockey IQ around the interwebs, there always is when a young player struggles, it’s the go to explanation a lot of the time. I strongly disagree, it was considered a strength before coming over, he was always good at finding lanes and good ice offensively, getting in lanes defensively. I mean the guy was seen as a two way fwd playing against men at 16, even before he hit his growth spurt. I’d say confidence and issues with communication leads to hesistation which leads to slow decisionmaking and a lack of conviction in your abilities. And suddenly you look dumb on the ice, which kills confidence and so on.I don’t think he’s tactically very developed, agree that he’s had a hard time time adhering to system play. Part is probably him getting by on natural talent and instinct before, part communication, part being a square plug forced in a round hole.
His ability to play within the system wasn’t questioned in Finland from what I’ve gathered but it’s obviously a lower level and a familiar environment.

So AHL or NHL? How will Jesse get back on track? I think they had a pretty good idea to start the year putting him with Strome, he did play well if not spectacular, he had a couple of strong games, got promoted to the Drai line, struggled but imo wasn’t terrible and now he’s sat for three games. I’d probably put him back with Strome, he isn’t as twitchy with him as with the big dog centers, he has a chance to take charge as a line driver and the pressure to produce is less pronounced. I actually think he should stay up on merit not just for developement reasons, imo he’s a more efficient player than a couple of the other wingers, he looks akward and does weird things on occasion that makes him look worse. The other option is to send him down, play him big ass minutes, give him rope to play his game within the system and let him find some mojo.

It might seem like I’m making excuses for Puljujärvi. I’m not. He’s a pro athlete, he’s the person mainly responsible for his career trajectory, he has to own it as well but I don’t think the Oilers have been doing him any with the path they chose for him. He is a young kid after all. And to be fair I just want the Oilers to win, I think Jesse could really help with that. Just need patience.

Wasn’t meant to go so long on Jesse, went on a bit of a rant. I’ve bored myself now and no time to proofread. I wrote it on Woodguy’s phone so any complaints on spelling, grammar and nonsensical statements should be directed at him. He looks forward to your letters.

Perfect, his IQ is not low. I agree. That narrative is groupthink.

Rattie will skate today with team for the first time.

Won’t play tonight but should be ready at some point on the upcoming road trip.

– how do we do searches for posters comments over different time periods, then reply to them into current comments?

– We’d all rather have Taylor Hall AND a RHD D as effective as Larsson

– Chia brought in Sek, Larsson, Benning, Russel, while Nurse and Klef developed under his tenure (and dumped the rest: he kept the good ones).

– This was his optimal D when he came in (based on most games played, Aulie had 31 games):

Ferrance-Fayne
Klef-Jultz
Marincin-Nikitin
Aulie

Woodguy v2.0:
Richard Roma,

Eichel’s GF% so far:
SeasonTeamGF%
20152016BUF43.8
20162017BUF45.7
20172018BUF45.9

Relative GF%
SeasonTeamGF% Rel
20152016BUF-1.94
20162017BUF0.85
20172018BUF8.87

BUF’s GF% with Eichel not on the ice:
SeasonTeamGF%
20152016BUF45.8
20162017BUF44.8
20172018BUF37.0

For me this adds value to gain perspective on how much hall pushed the river.

Woodguy v2.0: I don’t understand what you’re after.

I think the context of “same team with the player on or off the ice” is pretty clear.

Can you flesh out what you’re after?

Just some context.

Comparing Hall to other star players in similar circumstances (stars on garbage teams) like Eichel in your post below.

Anyone else that would be good to use?

Richard Roma,

Eichel’s GF% so far:
Season Team GF%
20152016 BUF 43.8
20162017 BUF 45.7
20172018 BUF 45.9

Relative GF%
Season Team GF% Rel
20152016 BUF -1.94
20162017 BUF 0.85
20172018 BUF 8.87

BUF’s GF% with Eichel not on the ice:
Season Team GF%
20152016 BUF 45.8
20162017 BUF 44.8
20172018 BUF 37.0

Richard Roma:
Woodguy v2.0,

These numbers would really benefit from some context.

It’s one thing to compare Hall to teams with deep blue lines, solid goaltending, that are 3 lines deep…

But it would be interesting to look at your Jack Eichel in Buffalo etc.

I don’t understand what you’re after.

I think the context of “same team with the player on or off the ice” is pretty clear.

Can you flesh out what you’re after?

OriginalPouzar:
Taylor Hall was one of the best left wingers in the league when he was traded and only 23 (I believe, maybe 24). To see him become one of the top players in the league is not surprising at all.

I don’t agree with any of the verbal that “he needed to go” or that “he wouldn’t become the type of player he has” in Edmonton– he was well on his way.

With that said, Adam Larsson is an integral part of this hockey team and we are better for having him.

There should have been a second piece coming back in the trade but it is what it is.

The current version of the Oilers can regain sole possession of first place in the Pacific tonight with games in hand – I focus on that team.

Truth.

If TMac can get the team winning I don’t care what he does with the lineup. McDavid’s the new Bobby Orr remember where you read it first. McDavid’s going to win a few cups if it kills everyone else. Nothing but nothing is going to be allowed to stand in the way of his vision.

Woodguy v2.0,

These numbers would really benefit from some context.

It’s one thing to compare Hall to teams with deep blue lines, solid goaltending, that are 3 lines deep…

But it would be interesting to look at your Jack Eichel in Buffalo etc.

Taylor Hall was one of the best left wingers in the league when he was traded and only 23 (I believe, maybe 24). To see him become one of the top players in the league is not surprising at all.

I don’t agree with any of the verbal that “he needed to go” or that “he wouldn’t become the type of player he has” in Edmonton – he was well on his way.

With that said, Adam Larsson is an integral part of this hockey team and we are better for having him.

There should have been a second piece coming back in the trade but it is what it is.

The current version of the Oilers can regain sole possession of first place in the Pacific tonight with games in hand – I focus on that team.

Woodguy v2.0,

Anyone but a human gonad could tell Hall was the driver of any Oiler success back in those heady days of “Oil Change”

season not played:
Edmonton was never getting the recent version of Hall.

Nobody has won anything yet.

Hall at 5v5 for NJD was pretty much exactly the guy Edmonton had.

The difference was the team behind him was better and the difference in Hall’s points was Power Play, where he was turned into the QB on the half boards and had an amazing year 5v4.

Here’s Hall’s Relative GF% for his career. This is the difference between the team’s goal share when he’s on the ice and when he’s off the ice:

Season Team GF% Rel
20102011 EDM 1.7
20112012 EDM 9.7
20122013 EDM 10.6
20132014 EDM 8.8
20142015 EDM 15.1
20152016 EDM 12.9
20162017 N.J 10.7
20172018 N.J 13.7

Not a different player in NJD, same guy.

Here’s his team’s 5v5 Goal Share with him off the ice:
Season Team Hall off GF%
20102011 EDM 44.0
20112012 EDM 42.9
20122013 EDM 43.3
20132014 EDM 39.0
20142015 EDM 36.3
20152016 EDM 39.4
20162017 N.J 41.3
20172018 N.J 44.9

Now here’s Hall’s GF%

Season Team GF%
20102011 EDM 45.68
20112012 EDM 52.56
20122013 EDM 53.85
20132014 EDM 47.79
20142015 EDM 51.43
20152016 EDM 52.25
20162017 N.J 52.05
20172018 N.J 58.56

For Hall’s last 3 years in Edmonton the team couldn’t get north of 40%(!!!) goal share when he wasn’t on the ice.

That’s really incredible.

Its even more incredible that he was north of 50% in 2 of those 3 years on those sad sack teams.

That’s what we mean by “driving play”. Crazy good.

He finally plays for a team that reaches 45% GF with him off the ice and they get to the playoffs.

Also,

I mentioned Hall’s PP points:

Here’s his PP pts/60 for his career:

Season Team Pts/60
20102011 EDM 3.69
20112012 EDM 6.75
20122013 EDM 5.74
20132014 EDM 4.28
20142015 EDM 2.71
20152016 EDM 3.12
20162017 N.J 4.55
20172018 N.J 10.05

So for his first year in NJD they didn’t have him running the PP, but last year Geoff Ward (their PP coach, who left after last year) changed it up to have Hall running it and it worked very well.

Summary:
-Hall was the same player here as in NJD 5v5
-The team wasn’t a disaster behind him (still weren’t good, but got to 45% GF without him)
-His career high point totals were due to the PP running through him and having great success

Woodguy v2.0,

Apologies once again WG. I couldn’t resist.

I do appreciate the insight you provide.

My last word, if you will, sir.

w

You could make the Condors a lot better very quickly with some D-man swap outs.

Berglund, Persson or both will be great there.

commonfan29: Am i the only one who really doesn’t like Chaisson wearing 39?

A llittle twinge on that.

I objected a bit more to Rem Murray wearing 17.

Edmonton was never getting the recent version of Hall.

Nobody has won anything yet.

SwedishPoster,

Thanks for taking the time to comment-always look forward to your posts

Agree on Jesse and draft +1 in Europe

I hope the kid finds his way

frjohnk:
I can like Vancouver a bit more than in years past when they had Bieska and Burrows and Kessler. But I still don’t like them.

With that said, they are going to be a team loaded with skill in a couple of years.

Pettersson is going to be a superstar. I remember LTs NHLE had Pettersson somewhere around 65 in his draft year. I argued that NHLE must be off and that there must be something wrong in the calculation.

It’s early. But the calculation might be low.

LT was wrong. Ha ha.

Yeah I had similar doubts during the great Hanifin Werenski debate. He looks to have been right about DeBrincat too.

Maybe when math screams at us we should all start listening.

I can like Vancouver a bit more than in years past when they had Bieska and Burrows and Kessler. But I still don’t like them.

With that said, they are going to be a team loaded with skill in a couple of years.

Pettersson is going to be a superstar. I remember LTs NHLE had Pettersson somewhere around 65 in his draft year. I argued that NHLE must be off and that there must be something wrong in the calculation.

It’s early. But the calculation might be low.

LT was wrong. Ha ha.

who: Outstanding post and bang on with your opinions on Jesse.
Now why can’t the management and coaching staff figure this out?

It is most likely a result of motivated reasoning. In simple terms motivated reasoning is when one thing you want infects your thinking about something else you want. In a general sense the Oilers desire to win now conflicts with their decision making about how to win later.

Scungilli Slushy: Respect to Dougie, who did it well with little consistent help.

Am i the only one who really doesn’t like Chaisson wearing 39?

Yeti: I try not to think what a healthy Sekera could do with the cherry minutes at 2LD that Klefbom could be providing him right about now…

My big worry with Sekera, much like any employee in any field, is that his prolonged absence is really going to be tough to overcome.

I sure hope I’m wrong, but a 32 year old with 36 games played over a two season period is going to have a hard time adjusting when he comes back, especially with the nature of his injuries. Not necessarily easy or minor injuries to recover from.

SwedishPoster: So AHL or NHL? How will Jesse get back on track? I think they had a pretty good idea to start the year putting him with Strome, he did play well if not spectacular, he had a couple of strong games, got promoted to the Drai line, struggled but imo wasn’t terrible and now he’s sat for three games. I’d probably put him back with Strome, he isn’t as twitchy with him as with the big dog centers, he has a chance to take charge as a line driver and the pressure to produce is less pronounced. I actually think he should stay up on merit not just for developement reasons, imo he’s a more efficient player than a couple of the other wingers, he looks akward and does weird things on occasion that makes him look worse. The other option is to send him down, play him big ass minutes, give him rope to play his game within the system and let him find some mojo.

100% agree that the Strome line is the right hole for this peg. Either that or AHL time to prepare that fit. Top 6 is for later.

Woodguy v2.0: Christ, Spector even cops to the fact that it was a terrible trade.

If that’s not the Emperor conceding defeat I don’t know what is.

At least Spector knows when to drop the drum. One day he even discovered that he could stop trying to find a new home for Nuge.

SwedishPoster:
Nice “win without a top performance” game yesterday, those are crucial for long term success, the team looks more solid for every game and it looks like they have made some much needed system changes, playing less scared. McLellan is running the bench hard atm, they were clearly desperate for a good start.

A couple of notes on the season so far.

I think there’s a pretty good chance McDavid flirts with 2 ppg this season, can certainly see him beyond 1.5. Not his sharpest the last few games, but man he looks incredible out there, too freaking good. Looks more competent in his own end as well. On a mission.

Klefbom looks great as well. Health certainly is a part but it seems like the attempt to turn him into an offensive rover has ended. He looks more focused on playing D and move the puck well and not gunning for opportunity offensively which had him losing position and poise. Yawney?

Larsson also looks great. Nasty. And finally he’s starting to show the passing game I’ve been talking about since his first year here, I think in my first post after he was aquired in that trade noone ever talks about I mentioned his stretch passes, heshowcased it pre-NHL and in Jersey, now we’ve seen it here as well. It looks like he’s more actively searching for passing lanes, making plays, as opposed to just getting the puck out. Yawney?

Whoever is behind it they both play more like themselves the last few games if that makes sense. Can’t complain about the results.

Drai is also improving every game. It’s impressive to be above ppg while off your game, McDavidboosted(should be a word) numbers or not. While Chiasson showed the hot hand and Rieder has has had a couple of good games I don’t love them with Drai. They are both pretty good in transition and Chiasson can certainly shoot the puck. But once in the offensive zone I don’t think they have the cleverness nor skill to match Drai’s creativity, they never found any good spots during established play. Drai obviously plays well with high end skill and guys who are smart. Playing him with two bottom sixers is not ideal, they do solidify him defensively though. I can buy Rieder as the third guy on the Drai line, as they have chemistry and Rieder works well as Drai’s defensive conscience plus his skating forces Drai to move his feet in transition. But with Chiasson just like an aging Hollywood star desperatly holding on to former beauty with botox and surgery the hotness is quickly fading.

Nurse looks amazing and terrible. He looks stronger, faster and with better puckhandling than ever. He’s strong one on one. His passing is still a weakness but his shot looks improved. On the other hand his positioning is all over the place and he makes really odd decisions. To my eye it looks like he is getting bad advice from somewhere. The talk before season about improving his offense when he still has things to learn defensively and the roving so far on the ice. Imo he hasn’t shown much natural offensive instincts to become an effective offensive D. He’ll put up some numbers due to his insane ability to carry the puck and no guts no glory attitude. But I think he’ll be more effective if he picks his spot better, focus on sharpening his defensive positioning and consistency. And let the offensive opportunities come to him instead of chasing them. To be fair he has reeled it in the last few games but at the same time he lost some intensity. If he finds that balance we’re on to something.

Brodziak had his best game last game but I wonder how much he has left in the tank.
Marody looked great in his two games. Let’s see how he handles when the grind sets in. Bad timing with the injury.

Yamamoto obviously has skill as evident by his highlight reel goal, is a pretty good defensive player, great forechecker, works hella hard. But it’s still a lot of trying without much result. Still think he could use twenty or so games in the AHL to find some efficiency in the offensive end.

On Jesse. He was always going to take some time to arrive, the Oiler management are on record saying they were trying to fasttrack him by bringing him over early.
I’d argue they have actually slowed down his developement by getting him over early. If anyone has memorized my posting history from two years ago, and who wouldn’t really, you might remember that I wanted to give him at least one season in Finland, two if he didn’t rip it up in his draft +1 year. The reasoning behind holding him back was first of all maturity, physical and mental. Physically he’s one of those lanky guys who won’t grow into his body until 23-24, imo the risk with bringing him over straight away is that the org gets impatient and trades him before he’s close to a finished product, I’m not saying hold him out of the NHL until he’s 23 or that he can’t be useful before that age, I think he is ready to contribute now, just that it will be very difficult to know what you truly have in him until that age. Mentally he just wasn’t ready for a new scenery, one that chews players up and spits them out if they aren’t ready at that, it’s pretty obvious how fragile his confidence is when you see him on the ice.
His game also wasn’t of the quality it needed to be to come over at 18, he was a fine player in the FEL, excellent if you consider how young he was but if he was 25 you wouldn’t consider bringing him over to challenge for NHL time. He had one hell of a skillset, still has, but hadn’t put it all together, still hasn’t.
Imo he needed the extra time in Finland to get more comfortable as a top player against pro players, he’s a guy who wants the puck on his stick, hell on a line with Aho and Laine during the WJCs he was the guy who had the puck the most. To be able to play that game in the NHL you have to be fully confident and know who you are as a player. In Finland he was seen as one of the top talents of the decade and a future star, he had the status to play a difficult game and learn what works and what doesn’t without the risk of being benched or losing his coach’s trust, it’s still a pro league so he wasn’t able to coast or be sloppy but he’d have a lot more rope, even in the AHL they quickly cut his ice time when he made mistakes. For a guy constantly looking to make plays, to be creative, that’s not a confidence builder. I personally think for euros, forwards especially, the AHL is best used as a transition league as opposed to a developement league.
His finnish team also knew exactly what type of player he was, his strengths and weaknesses since he’d been in the club for years, and his personality. He was a young player about to pop as a star in the finnish league and they knew it. I’m convinced it would have been the better route.

But this wall of text is obviously arguing a moot point. The Oil chose a different path and here we are.
Question is how you move forward. First of all I think they have to recognize what kind of player he is. Before coming over his game was a very creative, outside the box, playmaking winger, who was at his best when driving a line making a lot of plays, not always connecting but always looking to create. A good puck carrier who was great when flying through the neutral zone with the puck on his stick, but could bobble the puck and look very awkward with it at times. Pretty developed defensive game overall but with mental lapses. Hard shot but not the best accuracy. Big but not physical. Great powerful skating stride but lacking agility. Inconsistent even within shifts. Very bambiesque where he suddenly could look like he’d never played a second of hockey in his life.
The Oil saw a big guy with a hard shot and thought. Power forward! Volume shooter! Ofc I don’t know this but that’s what it looked like from the way he was deployed and sounded like from McLellan’s comments. That’s not his game. At least it wasn’t. At all. I think he could add those elements to his game eventually but please let him find his natural game first, which is creativity and playmaking, he’s a very unique player type but imo the guy he is most similar in style on the current Oilers is a less physical Drai. The whole deployment thing and McLellan’s comments in media on what they want Jesse to do is really weird to me, if this is what they communicate behind the scene as well I understand if there’s a disconnect.

There’s a lot of chatter on him lacking hockey IQ around the interwebs, there always is when a young player struggles, it’s the go to explanation a lot of the time. I strongly disagree, it was considered a strength before coming over, he was always good at finding lanes and good ice offensively, getting in lanes defensively. I mean the guy was seen as a two way fwd playing against men at 16, even before he hit his growth spurt. I’d say confidence and issues with communication leads to hesistation which leads to slow decisionmaking and a lack of conviction in your abilities. And suddenly you look dumb on the ice, which kills confidence and so on.I don’t think he’s tactically very developed, agree that he’s had a hard time time adhering to system play. Part is probably him getting by on natural talent and instinct before, part communication, part being a square plug forced in a round hole.
His ability to play within the system wasn’t questioned in Finland from what I’ve gathered but it’s obviously a lower level and a familiar environment.

So AHL or NHL? How will Jesse get back on track? I think they had a pretty good idea to start the year putting him with Strome, he did play well if not spectacular, he had a couple of strong games, got promoted to the Drai line, struggled but imo wasn’t terrible and now he’s sat for three games. I’d probably put him back with Strome, he isn’t as twitchy with him as with the big dog centers, he has a chance to take charge as a line driver and the pressure to produce is less pronounced. I actually think he should stay up on merit not just for developement reasons, imo he’s a more efficient player than a couple of the other wingers, he looks akward and does weird things on occasion that makes him look worse. The other option is to send him down, play him big ass minutes, give him rope to play his game within the system and let him find some mojo.

It might seem like I’m making excuses for Puljujärvi. I’m not. He’s a pro athlete, he’s the person mainly responsible for his career trajectory, he has to own it as well but I don’t think the Oilers have been doing him any with the path they chose for him. He is a young kid after all. And to be fair I just want the Oilers to win, I think Jesse could really help with that. Just need patience.

Wasn’t meant to go so long on Jesse, went on a bit of a rant. I’ve bored myself now and no time to proofread. I wrote it on Woodguy’s phone so any complaints on spelling, grammar and nonsensical statements should be directed at him. He looks forward to your letters.

Outstanding post and bang on with your opinions on Jesse.
Now why can’t the management and coaching staff figure this out?

Woodguy v2.0:
selective sam poll,

No, not him but you should remain consistent at least for the whole year to continue the vitriol towards Lucic, Russel and Chia of course.

I’m on record on this blog stating Lucic’s play in the 2nd half of the year wasn’t due to his ability and had him pegged for 1.40pts/60 this year.

Doesn’t make his contract better, but that’s on Pete.

Also on record on my blog, here, twitter and elsewhere that Russell is a good 3LD and serviceable in 2nd pair, but he shouldn’t be there.

Doesn’t make his contract better, but that’s on Pete.

Its hardly vitrol, but you seem to need someone to direct your 5 minute hate at, so have it at.

Pete?Yeah, fucking disaster for this franchise and if they didn’t already have McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Klefbom and Nurse here when he pissed away everything else it would have been worse and its been pretty bad considering the talent that was here.

4th year here and not one core member was brought in by him except Talbot and he’s UFA this year.

I like Larsson a lot and if you want to include him as core I’d buy that.

The root cause is their connection to the Hall trade, so you really should include Puljujarvi in that group since he was to replace some of Hall’s production. .

This makes no sense.

on a departing note, I thought you said Coyotes were going to have a breakout year. oh well. Good thing no second mortgages were taken out for that bet.

It would be a first mortgage, and …*looks at the standings* ARI has 3 wins in a row to go to 5-5-0.EDM is 6-3-1.Are they that far apart that you feel confident doing a victory dance?

Last thing:

Anyway, hard to argue with someone who’s never been wrong, ever

I’ve admitted to many mistakes here over the years and being wrong.

I find it fascinating that the people who accuse me of this are the same ones who can’t admit the Hall trade was bad.

Its like you are all in a group on some remote island in the Pacific refusing to believe the war is over.

Christ, Spector even cops to the fact that it was a terrible trade.

If that’s not the Emperor conceding defeat I don’t know what is.

I think the initial comments were very inappropriate, basically a personal attack. I won’t to tell you what to do, but some comments aren’t worth responding to.

Woodguy v2.0: Its like you are all in a group on some remote island in the Pacific refusing to believe the war is over.

this never gets old

ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIhcM2rB36g

VOR:
As far as I can see you can only do five things with JP if you are Oilers coaches and management.

1. Play him in the NHL.
2. Send him to the AHL.
3. Trade him.
4. Loan him to another team.
5. Leave him in the press box.

What do you all think the odds of each happening?

If thry read Sweedishposters rant he will be on his way to Finland for the next two years.

Willie Lagesson quietly has 4 points in 6 games and is a plus 2 (no PP time for those points I don’t believe).

VOR:
As far as I can see you can only do five things with JP if you are Oilers coaches and management.

1. Play him in the NHL. 40%
2. Send him to the AHL. 30%
3. Trade him. 0%
4. Loan him to another team. 10%
5. Leave him in the press box. 20%

What do you all think the odds of each happening?

OriginalPouzar,

I think the play here is to move Chiasson down to the fourth line for who ever, and JP will get one, two maybe three games to show he has reformed his ways or it is off to the Bake until he can bull his way back to the show.

selective sam poll:
Woodguy v2.0,

Woodguy v2.0,

No, not him but you should remain consistent at least for the whole year to continue the vitriol towards Lucic, Russel and Chia of course.The root cause is their connection to the Hall trade, so you really should include Puljujarvi in that group since he was to replace some of Hall’s production.Anyway, hard to argue with someone who’s never been wrong, ever.

on a departing note, I thought you said Coyotes were going to have a breakout year.oh well. Good thing no second mortgages were taken out for that bet.

Hell, given my disposition, I can’t stand up for anyone…
But this bashing of Woodguy is utterly bizarre.

He’s the loud guy at the bar with 2 drinks in his hand & spouting off all he knows, which is quite a bit given his ties to Wood$$$. He puts in the time for the research & he bets on what he believes in. Is he always right? No but he is quite often the first to admit that. If someone has a bone to pick, here I am…LOL.

BTW… the extra drink is probably for you if you simply engage in a mano-a-mano fashion instead of outrageous accusations and beating your chests.

OriginalPouzar:
I think fans should be prepared for Jesse in the press-box again tomorrow.

I’m sure the coaching staff wants to get him in the lineup and I don’t think the plan was to keep him in the pressbox for longer than 2 games, however, who gets sat tomorrow for him? The fourth line had their best game of the year and was likely the most consistent line yesterday. I’d be OK taking out any of them for Kassian at this point (although I don’t want to lose Khaira or Brodz off the PK) but I can see the argument against it. Chiasson would be the guy to sit for me but will it happen?

In the short term sitting in the PB because others are playing better might be the key.

It allows watching the game in macro, and if the player has the mojo is a supreme motivator to do everything to avoid the ‘hole’ again when the next shot comes along. It allows time with the team and also more coaching.

Too much PB is not a good thing, at that point go down and play,

OriginalPouzar:
I think fans should be prepared for Jesse in the press-box again tomorrow.

I’m sure the coaching staff wants to get him in the lineup and I don’t think the plan was to keep him in the pressbox for longer than 2 games, however, who gets sat tomorrow for him? The fourth line had their best game of the year and was likely the most consistent line yesterday. I’d be OK taking out any of them for Kassian at this point (although I don’t want to lose Khaira or Brodz off the PK) but I can see the argument against it. Chiasson would be the guy to sit for me but will it happen?

I almost hate to say this, but so long as the team wins they get a free pass to do whatever they like. It’s those pesky 7 game losing streaks that grate.

ps: JP should be on a “make it aged 22” strategy. Anyone but a fool can tell he’s got big issues to deal with, language being only one of them.

I think fans should be prepared for Jesse in the press-box again tomorrow.

I’m sure the coaching staff wants to get him in the lineup and I don’t think the plan was to keep him in the pressbox for longer than 2 games, however, who gets sat tomorrow for him? The fourth line had their best game of the year and was likely the most consistent line yesterday. I’d be OK taking out any of them for Kassian at this point (although I don’t want to lose Khaira or Brodz off the PK) but I can see the argument against it. Chiasson would be the guy to sit for me but will it happen?

SwedishPoster,

Wonderful post (and not just the JP part). Thanks.

Scungilli Slushy: Other than the pop gun offense.

Great in the back end if healthy. Nobody elite proven up front, despite some decent players.

Like Nashville and St Louis were.

To go far, a team needs solid D play at least as a team, and dangerous responsible forwards.

The Oilers toiled through the 90’s with strong team play at times, and no Franks sauce up front. Let alone Congo chilies. You get what I mean.

Respect to Dougie, who did it well with little consistent help.

VOR: He is having a very good run with Linkopings HC.

Thanks. It was a reference to Yakupov speaking highly of Roy helping him learn positioning.

John Chambers:
selective sam poll,

Don’t let Biznasty hear you chirp the ‘Yotes. They’re a fuckin wagon, now 5-5 on the year with a +6 GD.

They’re still figuring out how to score, but only surrendering 2 goals / game they’re probably more of a threat in the div than Anaheim, possibly even Calgary.

Other than the pop gun offense.

Great in the back end if healthy. Nobody elite proven up front, despite some decent players.

Like Nashville and St Louis were.

To go far, a team needs solid D play at least as a team, and dangerous responsible forwards.

The Oilers toiled through the 90’s with strong team play at times, and no Franks sauce up front. Let alone Congo chilies. You get what I mean.

EADFARMER says:
April 23, 2015 at 4:00 pm
Dashingsilverfox,

And I hope they enjoy his 50 pt seasons at 7 mil. Unless you really think he will shoot 17% last he did 2008, 2010, 2011.

His coach only played him 16 min per game and 2 of those are on the powerplay. Milan Lucic is not the mythical “Lucic” everyone is looking for.

WOODGUY says:
April 23, 2015 at 4:25 pm
leadfarmer:
Dashingsilverfox,

And I hope they enjoy his 50 pt seasons at 7 mil.Unless you really think he will shoot 17% last he did 2008, 2010, 2011.

His coach only played him 16 min per game and 2 of those are on the powerplay.Milan Lucic is not the mythical “Lucic” everyone is looking for.

This is not the Lucic you’re looking for.

Move along.

Dont always agree with Woodguy.
But we both agreed
Lucic is not the Lucic Player we were looking for

As long as JP gets a string of detentions for reading comic books in math class, hopefully he chooses a better diet. Junk food, meh. The Nuge should be mentoring him about sushi.

And maybe a hockey tutor up there as well pointing out the good and bad parts of those games.

Detention for me always meant doing nothing but wasting time. It was bullshit. I could’ve been working the algebra and geo-trig problems. But noooo – it was about a suit exercising power vested in authority.

Decidedly Skeptical Fan: No wonder your avatar looks so… disappointed.

I loved that nut…so sad.

frjohnk:
I noticed this a few games ago and it happened probably 3 times last night, in which the Oiler D are about to get the puck( not behind the Oiler net, but in front of it), Nuge and McDavid will do a quick switch in where Nuge comes down low to the D and McDavid goes to the left wing boards.Nuge gets the puck from the D and at around the Oiler blue line he makes a pass up to a streaking McDavid up the left wing boards.This has amounted to clean zone entries and a few shots on net, but no dangerous scoring chances, no goals…..yet.But this is a quick transition play by the D which incorporates McDavids speed and has some promise.A nice set play most likely set up by the coaching staff.Also shows how playing together for a bunch of games will lead to chemisty in which set plays flow smoothly.

Keep an eye on this play, they will score by using it.

I noticed something weird going on there as well but couldn’t put my finger on it. Lots of slot area puck handling/hand off going from the defence to certain puck carriers. Couple of stick lifts did occur where the pick pocketer was being the defence but other than that, puck did leave the zone and it a hurry. Great Catch…