Remember the days when Connor McDavid could deke good to great NHL skaters out of their shoes? He’ll do that again, but the captain can’t be a hero every night. It’s time for the Oilers to find a real fix.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: What if the Edmonton Oilers end up in the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery?
- Lowetide: 6 ways the Edmonton Oilers can improve in November
- Lowetide: Oilers already leaning on a push from the AHL. Who could be next?
- Lowetide: Can Connor McDavid come from behind to win another Art Ross Trophy?
- Lowetide: Will Edmonton Oilers redeem themselves after baffling October?
- Lowetide: Can the Edmonton Oilers make room for Raphael Lavoie?
- DNB: Oilers rewarded for their season’s most complete game in Heritage Classic win
- Lowetide: Oilers top prospect Xavier Bourgault is spiking in an important area
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers’ injuries already a major story in 2023-24
- Lowetide: Can the Oilers count on any short-term help from AHL Bakersfield?
- Lowetide: Can defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer help the Oilers?
- DNB: Connor McDavid’s injury only adds to gloom for Oilers
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers’ third line showing promise but not scoring yet
- DNB: Oilers, in early-season disarray, left searching for answers: ‘It’s just unacceptable’
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: DAL, NAS (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
- On the road to: VAN, SJS, SEA (Expected 1-1-1) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to: NYI, SEA (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: TBY, FLA, CAR, WAS (Expected 1-3-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: ANA, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
- Actual November results: 0-3-0, 0 points in 3 games
- Oilers in 2023-24: 2-8-1, 5 points in 11 games
Surely to GOD ALMIGHTY the Oilers can beat the San Jose Sharks. The modern Oakland Seals posted the first win of the season last night, over the Simon Nolet led Philadelphia Flyers. The last time this team gave me this kind of feeling was Pat Quinn’s club in 2009-10.
I think waiving Jack Campbell is the first real sign Jeff Jackson and Paul Coffey are taking authority away from Ken Holland.
FORWARDS TOI IN ALL SITUATIONS
- Leon Draisaitl 21:54 (No. 1 in NHL)
- Connor McDavid 21:52 (No. 4 in NHL)
- RNH 20:14 (No. 25 in NHL)
- Zach Hyman 19:01 (No. 59 in NHL)
- Evander Kane 18:48 (No. 66 in NHL)
- Ryan McLeod 14:49
- Connor Brown 14:34
- Sam Gagner 13:20
- Mattias Janmark 13:04
- Warren Foegele 12:34
- Dylan Holloway 11:26
- James Hamblin 10:34
- Derek Ryan 9:54
- Raphael Lavoie 9:35
- Adam Erne 8:18
I think Connor McDavid’s workload is enormous, and he’s not 100 percent. I think the Oilers have a first line, a second line, and two AHL lines plus Warren Foegele and Dylan Holloway. It isn’t enough. That’s on the general manager.
When I was a young person, the Montreal Canadiens would beat teams like the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks because they were deeper. In 1971, the Habs won it all with a team that was elderly at one end (Jean Beliveau, John Ferguson, Henri Richard, Frank Mahovlich) and too young to win at the other (Rejean Houle, Marc Tardif, Guy Lapointe). The Boston Bruins were historic goal-scorers that season, but a rookie (Ken Dryden) who was originally Boston propperty stoned them.
I’m telling you this because the Oilers only have eight forwards. They need 12. I don’t know how you get to the Stanley from here, but watched Sam Pollock build teams long enough to know you have to play Dylan Holloway. And Raphael Lavoie for that matter.
If you’re losing with Sam Gagner and Mattias Janmark playing, why not play the kids? I shake my head.
At noon today, Sports 1440, we hit the ground running with more talk about the Oilers. Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal will bring much needed wisdom to the conversation. Rob Vanstone, legendary sports writer who owns Regina, has a new book out called Brave Face. It’s about hockey goalies in the era before masks. We’ll chat about it. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Ok Holloway belongs in the AHL. He mishandled the puck 3 times on that shift before he abandoned the front of the net there.
Kings beat the Knights 4-1.
Kopitar with his 400th goal.
Cam Talbot .978
Did you know that Quinn Hughes is only a career +6.
And before his heater to start this season he was actually a career -9. Talk about a flawed defenseman…
Bouchard too is a career positive player. He was +16 coming into this season. Rough patch to start. But he’s never had to dig out of the hole Hughes was in.
Hughes is not fundamentally bad at defending like Bouchard is. Hughes was just a big minutes defenseman on a poor to mediocre teams. Bouchard’s poor defending is visible to the eye.
Bouchard just as to become adequate defensely, and then he will be a big asset.
Well I’d suggest there its a bit of eye test foolery hitting you.
Hughes plays a lot but he’s somewhat sheltered away from top comp. The WoodMoney’s suggest he’s 2/3 of his time away from Top Comp and that matchups with the TOI comparison with Van’s top line of Petterson and company. They get about double the TOI away from Hughes as with him on average. And the 2nd line to clearly gets a push away from Hughes at different game states. So coaches have been sheltering him somewhat for the last few seasons.
There’s some evidence he’s been stealing offense from the likes of Petterson, Horvat (Boeser this year) and Kuzmenko over that time when he does get the TOI. There Rels are better away from him across the fancies at EV, while 2L and 3L have better metrics with. Miller is the cutoff man, he plays pretty much as well with as away from Hughes so that makes sense. He’s got a flat PDO with Petterson but is riding >1.03 with Kuzmenko, Horvat, Mikheyev. So he’s stealing offense and/or his impact is a lot higher in the O-Zone vs D-Zone.
I’m seeing a drag of a player when he jumps up to Top Pairing duties against Top Comp, but who gets the outscoring, somewhat luckily based on his Rels and overall results, with those teammates. That lines up with an eye test of a player who’s effective offensively, but struggles on providing the defense against the best players.
Now who does that line up with on the Oilers?
Ole FlatTop is running PLD 20 seconds more per game in EV situations than McLeod in a 3C role… First time in his career he was tasked with mentoring a young player (Laferriere), instead of riding shotgun with National Team players and it’s going horribly. So bad that Fiala is looking barely NHL in process fancies.
He’s getting 4:52 a night on the PP. No assists, worst Rels on the team.
First skid LA hits he’ll lose is PP spot and then the pouting is really going to kick in.
Blake signed him to be a 1C and he’s dragging down everyone he plays with aside from Lafferiere.
#Hubby2.0
Summarizing!
This was not Nathan’s Day as he allowed five goals on 14 shots in the first period, then got pulled before the second began.
He will fit right in as a future Oiler.
BREAKING: Jordan Eberle injured by skate blade cut to his leg in practice; Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton up from AHL team. seattletimes.com/sports/kraken/… #SEAKraken #NHL
https://x.com/geoffbakertimes/status/1722431935908372601?s=61
I’ve not had a chance to read the post today, not the comments…but I’m listening to the podcast…Al, you and Declan have something…the banter was fantastic at the top of the show…so freaking great and funny. Chemistry is real…love it. Well done young Declan, carrying out beleaguref host through the darkness. 😉
Had to sign just to give a thumbs out.
Loving the show.
Grinding them down in October / November…
**************************************************************
And one of them is clearly injured no less.
I don’t care what the coaches name is. You can’t do this.
You have to have a better plan with balanced lines.
McDavid
Drai
RNH
Yes, you can build 3 lines around those C’s . It is possible.
Example:
Sam Lafferty TOI- 131:48
Elias Peterson TOI- 140;25
If Woody played Lavoie in the top 6 tonight he would be effective opening ice up for his linemates. with his big body. The last 3 games the opposing coach has been using the rope-a-dope strategy which is
lay back shadow Connor& Leon while Woody double shifts them until have way through the game then the opposition turns it up a notch and the Oilers have no answer. Woody is coaching like a Dead Man Walking you can see it in his eyes and body language.
Unsure what Woody thinks Lavoie is going to do on the 4th line….
San Jose would have been a nice game to test drive him with a real NHL C.
Woody is coaching like a scared rabbit. You always pump a call-up look at Gagner adrenaline is a thing especially being NHL ready at 23 like Lavoie is. If Lavoie recieved a push tonight I know he would score.
Minnesota making moves.
Calen Addison traded to the Sharks for a prospect.
Acquired Zach Bogosian from Tampa for a 7th.
Got rid of the HH D man
No even close to a HH defenseman.
2nd round pick with mediocre scoring numbers in junior, the AHL & NHL.
Cannon fodder
Harpers Hair
Reply to leadfarmer
January 16, 2023 5:12 pm
No need for a bridge…Dumba at $6 million coming off the cap and Calen Addison has already won that job.
you may want to have a word with this guy
And?
Did we not have a prospect to trade for Calen Addison? Or a 7th round pick to trade for Zach Bogosian?
(Maybe salary cap was an issue, but less so with Campbell in Bakersfield.)
The Oilers lost a ton of cap space on the goalie swap as, with the space they initially gained, it was enough to fit Hamblin under the cap so the emergency recall transitioned to regular recall.
Oilers currently have $21K of cap space.
McDavid and Hyman as a pair – that is good – long history of success.
Holloway with Foegele to reward, and build on, last game – that is good.
Kane and Nuge have shown some chemistry and the two with Nuge have has some success.
The fourth line remains one that Woody won’t play.
Im not loving McLeod deployment here. The reason being is his biggest strength is carrying the puck through neutral zone with speed. He isnt needed for this on Connors wing. Connor needs a puck retriever and a shooter, Hyman is half of that McLeod is not the other. But okay, give it another whirl.
If Lavoie is playing strong, he might have a shot on the top left wing. Yes, its a jump, but he could have a run at being the shooter. Kane is still best there but I can see how Woody is trying to spread the roster over 3 lines at least.
Again, imagine having a functioning Connor Brown, Kilm Kostin and Bjugstad back there to boost depth, that would look good.
I do think Brown will be back, Janmark of course, and Lavoie to secure a spot, that will get us closer.
given it’s SJ and some of the lines they ran against Van, I’d be happy with:
Lavoie-McDavid-Hyman
Holloway-Drai-Foegele
Kane-Nuge-Gagner
Hamblin-McLeod-Ryan
McLeod hasn’t pissed a drop and with the team’s record, hurting feelings is of zero concern. Kane-Nuge-Gagner have good chem so keep it rolling. McDavid gets size, a digger and a shooter, Drai has wingers that can cycle and will keep his feet moving. The 4th line should be fine. Can always flip Kane and Lavoie if you prefer, but how about running our 4 best centres at, you know, centre.
Bob Stauffer:
Oilers practice today:
McLeod-McDavid-Hyman
Holloway-Draisaitl-Foegele
Kane-RNH-Gagner
Lavoie-Hamblin-Ryan
Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Desharnais
Skinner
Luding (EBUG from UBC)
About damn time for a proper lineup with McLeod, Holloway and Hopkins where they should be.
Test driving that lineup against the Sharks is a great opportunity.
These were the lines last game guys…
Vancouver game day:
Per Tony B.:
Oilers Morning Skate in Vancouver:
Draisaitl – McDavid – Hyman
Kane – Nugent-Hopkins – Gagner
Foegele – McLeod – Ryan
Holloway – Hamblin – Lavoie
Those were the cited lines going in to last game but they didn’t even start that way – as Woody likes to play his games.
Yes he changed the lines but they were the same lines seen above.
Lol, apparently Woody’s schadenfreude is working, keep it up Woody, no one will ever suspect McDrai on the same line…🤣🤣🤣
1 line LW is where McLeod should be? I don’t think so, and especially not with a “about damn time” emphasis.
Can someone check on Woody’s health status?
McDavid
Draisaitl
RNH
All playing……C?
First envisioned by many, many, many people around the NHL in 2015…..be nice to see it for 20 games.
Literally did this last game
Just scroll down and click on Oilers – Forward Lines
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20232024&game=20179
And before it even comes up remember the Oilers took seven minor penalties and Draisaitl had to sit for 10 in the 3rd.
And since we’re on the topic of fancies anyone who’s upset that Broberg is in the Ahl should go take a look at his Rels and then go re-watch a few games. It’s deserved, he’s been bad.
Vinny giving him a run for his money the last three though… Starting to get a bit worried for Vinny actually.
Pickard called up as expected.
https://x.com/jimmathesonnhl/status/1722341391823729103?s=61
Jack Campbell doesn’t have to fly anywhere to catch up with the AHL Condors after clearing waivers. The farm squad plays in Abbotsford Thursday night and Saturday while Oilers practised Wednesday in Vancouver at UBC before flying to San Jose.
It’s April, 2024.
Thumbs up: “Remember 2-8-1, lol, when Campbell was sent down? Holy smokes this team would have been in a much better position now but at least they got their act together. I’m pretty confident heading into the playoffs.”
Thumbs down: “Campbell getting sent down was the first sign that we should have known this team wasn’t going to pull out of their death spiral. I said as much. Look at my posts from back then. But here we are and at least GM Jackson got a decent haul for Leon. So what do you think down the stretch: Can 97 run out the season at 2ppg and avoid the worst single season drop off since Huberdeau of last year? Anyway thank goodness the weather is returning and birds are singing.”
Something in the middle will necessitate a comment explaining yourself. This is the Oilers after all its all or nothing.
I think we’ll know the answer after Saturday night against the Kraken. Two commanding wins and I’m feeling good about the team. Even one loss and I think we’re either looking for a blockbuster or the season’s done.
I’m not especially enamoured with Holloway. McLeod isrunning on empty as well
Campbell clears.
Astonishing!
Boo
GODOT10 has me laughing today …. 🙂
Firstly, its wild hearing/reading some think there is even a remote chance Campbell gets claimed – the chance is like 0.0000001%.
Next, while I totally respect Reid Wilkins, and I listen to O/T Openline at the gym the morning after every game, I’m not putting any stock in to any of these “rumors” – in the last 24 hours the Oilers have been connected to Saros, Binnington, Allen and some others.
With respect to Binnington himself, he’s probably an upgrade but he’s far from consistent and has long stretches of putridness, just like Jack and his contract is for more per year and for just as long.
Also, imporantly, while Mike Smith was a fiery guy and could call out his d-man, etc. he was also very well liked and a leader on the team, Binnington, from what I read/hear, is just a pure dick.
Binnington is a tire fire of a person. While he may improve the goalering he’s probably the straw that would break this team
We see an Oilers team playing like they want to win… When what we need to see is an Oilers team playing like they hate to lose.
Was it Jordan who said he hated losing more than he liked winning? Maybe it was Messier?
Billy Beane or maybe it was Brad Pitt.
Jackson hired Pracey as amateur scout to prepare for next years draft, so Holland is likely already out of any decision about whether to trade the pick or who the pick will be if they keep it.
Jeff Marek just discussing a goaltender trade for the Oilers.
Suggested Evan Bouchard straight up for Carter Hart.
Would you do it?
Idiotic
Hart is currently 4W 3L .913 2.52 GAA on a poor team.
You don’t pay 100 point RHD who just turned 24 for a middling goaltender whose reputation precedes his play. Same kinda thinking that leaves you paying 3 firsts and $8.5 million for PLD.
Bouchard is a minus 50 defensemen with 100 points McDraivid assisted.
Career stats tell me +2, larger sample sizes and all that. When the PP starts clicking Draisaitl will probably be gobble up apples on his goals and he’ll be A1 on McDavid/Nuge and Hyman goals. He’ll spread out the love a bit.
How’d Broberg do in his AHL debut?
Evan Bouchard’s career high is 43 points…Quinn Hughes might surpass that by next week.
I have no idea what Quinn Hughes has to do with anything but I’d suggest you not trade him for Hart straight up either. Forgot that Hart is owed at least $3.975 as a QO too. Expensive for a middling goalie with confidence issues.
Well they were both picked in the 2018 draft.
In any event…much more relevant than PLD.
Quinn Hughes is a fine player. Got nothing against him. Now if you wanna talk about how Myers, Soucy, Miller and Suter are drags on a team that is shooting the lights out I’ve got all the time in the world.
For PLD I gave an example of overpaying for a middling asset as what you suggested and that move by Blake came to mind.
Seriously?
Hronek 10P +12
Myers 2G 5P +10
Soucy 2G 5P +7
Miller 8th in league scoring 18 points in 12 games +9
Suter 3G +3 has outscore the entire Oikers bottom 6.
Yeah…real drags😀
A goalies hot streak can mask an awful lot of issues. Just watch.
Enjoy! The meat is already looking for the Dys. They have a tab to settle
Shaq scale dunk n stare, lol
This is the only way to think about Bouch. There are exactly 2 or 3 offensive D that have a proper 2 way game. Most are like Bouch and usually smaller by a fair bit
Bouch’s offensive game is elite and he’s cheap
Holland would pay the best prospect and two firsts if he was buying Bouch
Bouch should straight up get any top young player. As in top already not at times of potentially
Just not true.
Hughes
Hughes
Makar
Heiskanen
Theodore
Fox
Dahlen
Marino
Seider
Power
I could go on adding to the list of exceptional young two way D and I dare say not one of those players would be offered in a trade for Bouchard.
Bouchard may get his tires pumped on the PP but he is a liability at evens as witnessed by his 4 points and -7 in that discipline.
41 NHL D have more points at evens and only one has a -7.
The kid we all want benched because he cant play d?
3 1sts for that 5/6 d man!!!!!
I remember this one guy that was crap and got traded for zippo ding ding and then hindered his team to a Cup win
I wish Bouch was Hedman 2.0, and I know that somebody in the D group needs to be able to pass at an elite level to the elite forwards, and create more space in the O zone because they are actually a real threat to score
Warts and all. If Ekholm was 26 and not 33 different story. Some time maybe but right now Bouch isn’t the biggest problem. High end skill is the hard part to get. For most GMs
I would think about it, although that is probably an overpay. I’d probably do Bouchard plus a 2nd for Hart plus Frost.
The problem with Bouchard is that because he is an offensive defenseman, his next contract is guaranteed to be an overpay. We can’t afford those.
It would probably be best to have him put up gaudy numbers on our PP for the next two years, and then trade him.
But we need a goaltender now.
I’d prefer to make Bouchard the centerpiece of a deal for Saros (a sure thing) rather than Hart (not a sure thing).
Bouchard, a 1st, Holloway/Lavoie and Campbell might get their attention.
Leaves a big hole in the top 4 d….
If they trade Bouchard to Nashville for Saros, maybe they could get Barrie back as part of the return! Joking-not-joking.
Evan Bouchard has has a solid postive goal differential at 5 on 5 in both of his full NHL seasons.
To cite him being negative in a 11 game sample as determinative of anything is, well, narratives.
And facts
Facts THIS season are exactly as I laid out.
Bouchard is a very flawed defenseman.
Think a younger John Klingberg.
yes
If Edmonton plays the same way they did against Van on Monday; they will absolutely scorch San Jose tomorrow night.
8 – 3 Oilers sounds about right. 🙂
I’d go with 8-6
I’d be happy with 1-0.
Some people never learn :’)
4-2 sharks. Oil will spot them a 3 nothing lead on the first 7 shots, drai has a huge game lifting them to 3-2, but SJ scores in the empty net.
I read Both Drouin and Tatar scratched by Avalanche tonight. Coach holding them accountable. I don’t know if these are targets but there is always out of favor players.
Im also worried right now that Oilers are considering trading a “core” player. Nobody can trust this team to win a core trade.
Huberdeau also was sat during period 3 last game in Calgary.
Edit: not suggesting Oilers target him, just evidence that benching stars is a thing that is possible.
Get Calgary to retain 50% on Huberdeau and trade Campbell for him.
Lots of LTers thought the Hubby sign and trade was a helluva play by Treliving.
Didn’t understand Hubby was basically Cheechoo. Right place, right system, right time. Barely NHL out of that bubble.
not in Edmonton
Please gord, let someone out there be interested in swapping nurse for a goaler!
Including Nurse one presumes.
They both played last night.
Drouin with a 2nd HS this year…
Colorado is dangerously top heavy now. Yikes!
He wasn’t a healthy scratch.
He played 11:01 and recorded 1 SOG.
Morgan Frost in Philly.
Scratching underachieving players is thing.
Bouchard – as many said a while ago- deserved to be scratched…for at least 1 game
Drouin is running out of chances. If he can’t make it work with MacKinnon, can he make it work with anyone?
He has the skill but not the mental framework. Unfortunate for him but not an uncommon story
At the time Campbell was signed the option was him or Kuemper (in theory, DK may have had no interest) or one of the young guys from the Georgiev, Samsonov, Vanecek tree. The best option was Ullmark the year before, or a trade which likely would have had to be an overpay. Not exactly an A-list of goalies, other than Ullmark who was still somewhat of a gamble coming out of Buffalo. Given all the deadline draft capital leakage, overpaying for a sure thing sure looks like it would have been the best option. What was known at the time was 5x$5m on Jack was a huge risk and here we are.
If I’m Jeff Jackson I’d like to know beyond KH who scouted/thought Campbell was the right guy.
I believe it was posted here yesterday or earlier that it was Dustin Schwartz that reviewed the video and endorsed him.
https://theathletic.com/3669811/2022/10/08/edmonton-oilers-chychrun-trade-mailbag/
Well, here it is. In asking around, the Oilers like Campbell better than Kuemper. They feel like Campbell’s a more consistent netminder, his highs in performance are higher and his rebound control is better. Goaltending coach Dustin Schwartz studied hours and hours worth of video and was a key factor in the recommendation of Campbell over Kuemper.
Per DNB.
The problem was again the depth to which they went. Studying hours of tape to them is ‘whoa we went all out’ and to any good team it’s a start for such a major decision
Technically Campbell may be better. But ignoring why Campell couldn’t win a net permanently vs Keumper’s track record is a Marx Brothers level of folly. Jack is great and doesn’t have the mental aspect for the NHL
Most don’t, no harm in that
I heard yesterday that in a podcast Zack Kassian stated he got thumped and concussed and worried about his child and his future, that’s what slowed him down and regression. Understandable, and of course his last season in Edmonton was enough to drive certain posters crazy.
But I liked peak Kassian. Loved him. And when the opposing team came into Edmonton they said yeah, “McDavid tonight, …. and Kassian” I think it was Duncan Kieth who said this. That raw craziness of Kassian was effective. Watching McDavid take on the physical role last game was not great. He does everything he can to win, but hes just not good at mixing it up. If Kassian was in that game, yes, we are taking a penalty or two, but those McDavid scrums would stop. Just my opinion, but I want that player type in bottom six.
Peak Kassian was one game. The rest was bad Kassian.
Kassian just texted me “Why does Godot hate me so much?”
Kane is a better Kassian, but our bottom 6 is way too easy to play against. Foegele has speed and size, and he’s probably playing his best hockey this season, but doesn’t play with an edge. McLeod, Holloway (he’ll bang) have size and speed, but no fear factor. DR, Brown and Janmark need no explanation. Gagner is old man solid and gritty, but again he’s not making anyone shoulder check going into the corner.
Funny how right place, right time makes a difference. Klim Kostin’s element is missing this year and he just got his first goal – and point – last night. I’d jump to double my wages too, but KK in Oiler silks was a good fit for both player and team. We also lost JP who at the very least was a big body who could move well around the ice. All of which makes the reluctance to bring up a 6’5″ sniper even more baffling.
You have to be misguided especially in today’s game to want a player like Connor to lead the team by example in hitting and blocking shots. Surprise surprise he’s already banged up and below his level. And the team is losing, not winning
If the guys paid to put the body on the line won’t or can’t do it there are better solutions like get some
Even in the early 80’s coming out of the barbaric 70’s Slats the ruffian winger didn’t ask Gretz to do that or even play defense much. Gretz focused on destroying opponents and avoiding their attempted abuse. Slats found guys to do the dirty work so Gretz could do what he did best, which was way better than anyone else had
Woody has a full dose of Flattop in him and Gully probably isn’t far off, given the direction they are trying to take the team
Even Don Cherry had a French fellow (name eludes me) who was slight and high skill, and Grapes asked some ruffian he had to take care of him so nobody broke him, which they tried to in those days. Think about that – Cherry in the 70’s knew that. Or had common sense about the physical aspects of the NHL and who should be doing what
I agree that presently Oilers have 8 ‘good’ forwards. How to get the last 4 NHL caliber forwards is the question.
1.Ryan McLeod – one of the fastest in the league. Can he be remodeled into a more useful, engaged player? Sit him down, sit him out, performance is needed or trade is coming.
2.Derrick Ryan and M Janmark – both have some great qualities, I suggest Holland signed the bottom of the roster too soon…again. He likes rewarding players and thats a lovely thing. bah. While they hold their own, they are not dangerous and don’t bring any real intangibles. Targeted for upgrades. Right now sit as penalty killers and placeholders on 4th line that isn’t a line.
3.Connor Brown – he recovers, bumps Gagner down. Its a hope. Gagner is a bottom 6 player with heart, he will regress but god luv him
4.R. Lavoie – can earn a position on the team. This is also just a maybe until he gets ice time to prove it.
That’s 4 maybe players with what, maybe 50/50 chances of being more than fillers? (short term)
How do we get these last 4 players?
I will suggest looking at recent opponent Vancouver that all of Hoglander, Mikheyev, and Lafferty were recently out of favor and available. Klim was a good find, you can see now why he made such an impact on this particular roster. I wonder who our new analytic department might be able to turn up?
Vancouver also found Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger, Phil DiGuiseppi and Dakota Joshua, all who are contributing with the exception of Blueger who hasn’t played due to a training camp injury but is close.
I would suggest pro scouting is the difference,
With these players its not always scouting. Its about opportunity and coach believing in them that drive results. Im not impressed with some of these players but coach has caught lightning in a bottle. The formula is working though I think it will run its course.
However, with similar support in Edmonton, Lavoie, Broberg, McLeod can also excel.
Don’t you have like a doctors appointment, or anything else to stop you from being here?
Also whether you desire size more than ability. I prefer normal NHL size guys but not before ability and fitting a need. All of the Canucks guys are undersized somehow except Lafferty, but have strong certain attributes
I don’t think Kenny likes that, and can’t decide how to turn a bigger 2.75 guy into 2 players just as good essentially for the actual depth he says he wants and get around his cap challenges
I’m going to suggest that between Gagner & Lavoie they have two replacements for Connor Brown.
Maybe George Laraque will make a comeback and replace Klimmie. I’m sure George would be willing to relive his old playing days.
Haha, Yes, big George and then lets go find big Dustin Byfuglien from his ice fishing tent! MacLeod can push them around the ice!
I think they should drop brown before his bonus vests… fk paying 4mil for a guy who can’t do anything.
he’s gonna get his money
Personally, I don’t think any of those players would be described as AHL players, with the possible exception of Lavoie (who will hopefully prove them wrong soon).
To use a Lowetideism, I think we have at least 12 “actual NHL players” at forward. That was not even close to being the case during the Chiarelli era, let alone the MacT/Tambo/Lowe era. (Have we all forgotten the Belanger Triangle, where offense disappeared?)
The Oilers bottom 6 has scored 3 goals…all by Foegele who got some top 6 minutes.
Vancouver’s bottom 6 has scored 13.
Shouldn’t an actual NHL player be expected to score occasionally?
Yeah shooting percentages on both teams have nothing to do with this. If all players in both bottom 6s scored at their historical shooting percentage do you think the gap would be 10 goals? Nope.
Pretty sure Samwise scored?
Shouldn’t an actual NHL player be expected to score occasionally?
Of course. But you only expect 20-30 points from an average bottom-sixer, which is 2-3 points per 10-game segment. Considering variation, Actual NHL bottom-sixers are going to have 10-game stretches without a point.
2-3 points per 8-game segment.
Yup but players are at the mercy of the coach’s asks, deployment and the roster the GM built
The Canucks upgraded their D which was a hole last season. The Oilers didn’t and their best D is hurtin who drove the bus when last healthy. None of the healthy guys are puck movers, one is a man crush AHL tweener the org has a crush on
The coach could get a skating forward to carry the puck up but he doesn’t. There are a few. PDO as well, it’s never one thing
I still wouldn’t trade teams
As Bruce somewhat eluded to below. Add Bjugstad and Kostin in here and not only do they cover for, and make McLeod better, the whole roster rounds out.
We’re complaining about our 3rd and 4th lines. Last year, we were praising our forward depth. But the personnel is largely the same, minus a Kostin who has 1 point in 10 games with Detroit this year. So I think our depth is just fine. Frankly, I don’t think personnel (other than goaltending) is the issue.
I think the problem is a combination of things that all exacerbate each other:
1.Playing a zone D that (we now know) they can’t seem to play
2.Potentially weak goaltending
3.Lacking the leadership/drive/fire to persevere through the tough times.
None of these alone are enough to sink the team. But all together, they do.
Woody took a justified risk that switching to a Zone D would get us over the hump in the playoffs. Instead it turned us into swarm-era Dallas Eakins Oilers – another team that also had excellent underlying numbers combined with horrible actual numbers.
Not sure it’s the zone defence that can be blamed for a 6-21 differential on rush goals. Pathetic figures at both ends of the sheet.
I agree, there are issues beside roster. But depth i would not describe as fine as I cannot see a functional 4th line.
Did you notice more of a transition last game to man on man coverage in the D zone? Several occasions I seen the dmaen back to following the opposition around, even up high.
Missing Kostin, Bjugstad, Yamomoto. That’s a lot of grit and energy gone from the bottom 6!
I dunno. Yamo tried hard but was small. Bjugstad wasn’t there for most of the season, and didn’t contribute that much when he was. Kostin wasn’t there for 1/3 of the season.
if they are still in win now mode, then Holland/Jackson owes Woody a trade before he is fired. And while I know the 1st could be valuable, there is still a lot of time to climb out of the hole so it should be on the table.
Get a better 2/3 RD. Get a better goalie. Not easy. but one team can make it happen. And they can also eat Campbell’s contract. Arizona.
Deal for Vejmelka and longtime rumored Oiler Matt Dumba (50% retained, meaning $1.95 mill cap)
for
Campbell, Broberg, a 1st and another prospect not named Lavoie or Bourgault from the AHL
still saves us $340K on the cap. you can either deal or keep as 7th dman Desharnais. Kulak and Ceci are still signed for a few more years, so Broberg still has no spot. Vejmelka has one more year, so Rodrigue is expendable. And you go all in for this year and next. If it doesn’t work, then this summer gets very interesting, especially if Leon hesitates on re signing.
I like that deal
Matt Dumba is -6 with 1 assist … what’s so appealing about that guy?
Vejmelka has a .904 Sv% and appears to be the 1B in Zona behind Ingram, and has Sv% of .898 and .899 the past two seasons … what’s so special about that guy?
if you’re going to move the first round pick this season, then it better be for a no doubt legit starting goalie.
if there is a coach out there that you think will do a better job … well, then you owe Woody absolutely nothing. He got an opportunity to coach in the NHL and earn an NHL contract … the debt has already been paid.
This idea … that we owe the coach one trade before sending him packing … that Friedman was shovelling on his podcast, is the kind of old school thinking that we accuse Holland of being guilty of.
You guys want to beat Vegas, then you got to starting acting like Vegas … they would’ve fired Woody and found his replacement several games ago.
You neglect to include the value of the other asset the Oilers would get – out of Jack Campbell’s contract which is $5M per year for almost 4 years.
That is worth probably two first round picks, maybe more.
Ryan Mcleod is an AHL player now? he scored 11 goals and 12 assists last season, was +4, 50% on the dot and a good penalty killer. His drop off in play is Holland’s fault? Derek Ryan similar stats. These aren’t AHL players and to say they are is a poor assessment
I think what LT is saying is that they’re playing like AHL players.
He’s producing like an AHL player right now, a very poor one who plays timidly in fact. He needs to set his GPS to one destination – front of the net.
He can be better, yes. But let’s go already.
Yes, but I’d bet my dog someone has said that to him more than once. He and Bouchard are difficult choices. Neither really seems to ever want to play a hard physical game. Not sure McLeod will ever be more than a fast, non-gritty 3C, who get 10-15 goals and 30ish points. Is that good enough? What would he fetch?
For all his O ability, Bouch plays with zero edge to his game and continues to appear surprised that defence is part of his job. Apart from his shot, is his ceiling really any higher than Barrie’s? Were last year’s playoffs a one-off? Is that good enough? What would he fetch?
Exacerbating the issue is that Oilers let Kostin & Bjugstad go so they could afford to re-up Bouchard & McLeod.
Not saying it was the wrong decision, but one consequence is that the team is a lot softer than it was.
This is a great point. McLeod can exist if the team is full of others who muck it up, but hes exposed on his own.
Bouchard could grow a better beard that Barrie.
Barrie played with far more of an edge on the defensive side of the puck than Bouchard has ever demonstrated.
I really don’t care about Bouchard’s ability to grow a 5 o’clock shadow by 10 AM. He’s the softest player on the Oilers.
I don’t care if every player has edge. If the player has skill or a unique skill set you make that work by finding the right support for them. Holland has not balanced the team even if slowly brought better than non NHL players that weren’t there
To me a good coach would not try to make the highly skilled Bouch into something he’s not. They would find a role model and get them to work toward that. For Bouch it’s Pietrangelo
Very similar tool kits and demeanour. Pietro had his issues before landing on a balanced Vegas team with top coaching. Berube put him second pairing their Cup run year as he was not doing well top pair and he emerged crushing it
Bouch did last year but his partner is hurt. He’s coming around and hopefully Ek is, but he’s never going to be a D first guy or a banger. Neither was Pietro. People like Barrie but Bouch is much better overall
Pietrangelo was an all star cup winning elite #1D in STL at a very early age.
+18 in his first full NHL season.
He had no issues other than competing with Shattenkirk for most points by a defenseman,
Not many agreed with me when I had said that we should buy him out this past summer. While it would have helped to fix the goaltending issue, it might not have mattered with all of the other roster issues.
I think some of us suggested it wouldn’t happen, not that it was a bad idea.
I was right there with you, Ryan. Even if Campbell played like a capable backup level, it was still risky to go into the season depending on Skinner to be a #1. And $5M for a backup is grossly inefficient.
It might have been a reasonable bet that either Skinner would continue to develop positively or that Campbell would rebound, or some combination of the two. It wasn’t a sure thing, but it wasn’t entirely reckless either.
Maybe the real problem is the cavalier country club attitude the team has adopted.
Time to drop a bomb.
Who’s going to open the bomb bay doors?
Sheldon Souray
Good one
Not Kenny, maybe his boss.
I keep hearing Jeff Jackson & Paul Coffee are running the show, but I don’t know.
It is a real problem, any work environment with no accountability eventually becomes non-competitive.
The country club attitude suggests no work environment. They must sit around drinking drinks with umbrellas talking about how great they used to be.
We will never know…but would have been fascinating to see Torts or maybe Tocchet handle the situation with our ‘team defense’
In particular, how a player like Evan Bouchard would be handled…one example
Did McDrai inflate Pulji and Yamo’s stats which rendered them unaffordable. Perhaps if we had both of them at a combined 3 million we’d be in a better place now.
Our goalie was a Calder finalist. I get sophomore slumps, but this drop off in Skinners play is something no one could have guessed. His regular season years showed a steady if unspectacular goalie.
I’m not sure how this gets fixed. The fact that no one saw it coming makes me think Holland isn’t as culpable as we are making it out. Everyone – from the players, fans and analysts thought this was a SC roster. How much of our current opinions are heavily dependant on hindsight? Either everyone’s opinion is crap and luck matters more than we’re willing to admit or something else is going on with this team.
I’m hoping it’s the latter and the fault is the coach, injuries or team culture. Those can be more easily fixed
What I specifically blame Holland for is showing an unreasonable amount of patience, being too “nice” (especially when negotiating with players, making trades), refusing to leave comfort zones (re-signing Ryan, Janmark, Nurse, etc.) and most importantly, relying on too many gambles (i.e. goaltending for every year Holland has been here) to either work through its problems or “get up to speed”.
The team went to the 3rd Round in 2022. 2nd Round in 2023.
Then Woodcroft decides he is going to change the system???
Going into the season “Hoping” Campbell would bounce back, left the Oilers in a position where they would be relying on Skinner to carry the mail – After Skinner had a very poor playoffs. ENORMOUS RISK and it back fired.
McDavid hurt – Nobody could predict that and considering he is the Best Player in the League; the negative impact of him being hurt is Massive for the team.
McDrai – Most people are against playing McDrai together b/c we have seen it for 7 years. It’s a bandaid solution that doesn’t work well against GOOD Teams. None of us could have predicted that Woody would go for the McDrai move 3 games into the season.
Depth – Nobody could predict that the GM would pin his hopes on Brandon Sutter, then switch to Erne then to Gagner. The team “lost” Yamamoto, Kostin, Bjugstad. Say what you want but those players delivered some Depth Offense. They weren’t replaced effectively and now there is ZERO secondary scoring.
lots of moving parts – but the team is still “Good”. I am not sure the Coach is good with the current roster. He seems to have no plan.
Oilers won 3 playoff series with 97-29 as linemates.
do you believe the road to Stanley is with McDrai on the same line? honest question.
They beat L.A. twice and scorched CGY – neither team considered a Cup Quality team.
Once the play deeper teams that are true Cup Contenders (Avs, Vgs, etc) the McDrai doesn’t seem to work and it also exposes the rest of the roster more …
just my opinion
Paul Maurice cited this lineup ( playing McDrai together all game ) as Winnipeg swept Edmonton. Nearly all pundits picked the Oilers in that series.
Edmonton did not win one game.
Lets alone 25 minutes in to the season, which is what happend.
good points. Maybe we’re under-appreciating current injury status’ of various players. They have talent no question, but are playing without cohesion. Point to coaching sure, but then given it’s mostly the same team what’s more probable – last year was a fluke and this year is the norm or this start is the fluke?
Ripping off 4 wins in a row will solve a lot. Doesn’t feel like they can do it
Some people were not drinking the Kool-Aid during the summer.
The other night Lavoie had a tremendous shift on his 2nd of the game. After that he didn’t get a shift for a bit. Played lots when game got out of hand in 3rd. Don’t get it.
If Oil lose tom night this city will burn them down
Woodcroft probably will get fired.
If that happens, I would assume it won’t be Hollands call as to who will be the next coach. It will be as you say probably Jackson and Coffee making that decision. ( As they probably pushed Holland on Campbell)
Lets hope they win and get on a run.
Does Woodcroft have the balls to start Picard tom night? Not sure he does. Not sure he should. Skinner has to be a LOT better and maybe you just Chuck him back in?
Hopefully this D plays a lot tighter game. The bad pinching has killed is all year especially by Bouchard and Ceci. Please make them stop this.
I’d be playing Pickard tmrw full stop. You need some accountability with Skinner now that Campbell has been sent down. Play Pickard until he loses and give Skinner a break to hopefully get him back up and running.
Is Paul Coffee the next GM?
It’s funny how many here want to go back to the Old Boys’ Club. Because that has always worked so well for the Oilers.
Coffey, not Coffee.
Youngsters nowadays missed out on one of the greatest.
THANK YOU111 Turn those spell checkers off, folks. Paul Coffey was one of the greatest Oilers of all time.
As was Kurri17 for that matter.
Not going to lie, it really grinds my gears when people spell it Conner.
Good grief.
I knew that. I guess I’ve had too many cups of coffey this morning.
The sky is falling, the sky is falling, and somebody is worried about spelling.
It’s like we’re in bizarro world with people disregarding the analytics, small samples and other mitigating factors leading to this start.
There are no mitigating factors leading to this start. None.
The mitigating factor is apparently everyone forgot how to play hockey like you hate losing…
Going back to the 80s, play the kids.
Vinnie getting beat
McLeod has not emerged with skills translating into points, in which is trajectory suggested he had.
the other teams coaches love it when the oilers play nurse against their top lines. This myth that somehow Nurse is a deterrent or ‘shut down’ guy at 9mil, they are happy to keep this narrative going so they can keep scoring.
Nuge, is not beyond scrutiny here.
Back then they had Glen Sather to deal with. He ran a tight ship and pushed the right buttons with his players. Just ask Paul Coffee.
Sather always had a 3rd line Centre that could chip in offensively and defensively eat up minutes. Our 3rd line Centre should change his name to Barbara Ann Scott who now even has his linemate (Holloway) playing like a sissy.
Nurse has been 56%, 55%, 52%, 58% goals share vs. elites over the last four seasons.
The scouting reports sure nailed both Bouchard and McLeod….can definitely see why McLeod slid to the 2nd round ( elite first round skating) …
Very disappointing….
Woody never has played kids over vets as a professional head coach – give or take Ryan McLeod.
Woody is a mediocre coach whose winning % was propped up by:
Mike Smith coming back from injury, burning like a supernova for two months, until he turned into a black hole against the Avs in the 3rd round.
The next season, the team was in danger of missing the playoffs until Holland traded for Ekholm and Bjugstad, and then the team went on an epic and totally unsustainable heater; but the team’s issues, and the coaches biases quickly undid them in the playoffs.
Jay is like a pee wee coach who only knows the star players names, and has no idea who the other kids are that are riding the pine. He is unable to adjust the depth chart during a game … we saw this last year in the playoffs when he kept throwing a physically over-matched Yamamoto out there, while the rest of us and even the Hockey Night commentators were clamouring for Kostin to play more.
Nailed it
Remember the days when Connor McDavid could deke good to great NHL skaters out of their shoes? He’ll do that again, but the captain can’t be a hero every night. It’s time for the Oilers to find a real fix.
It will happen again but it hasn’t happened at all this season – there have been some tight turns/great edges in the offensive zone but the rush through the neutral zone, backing off the d-man, making some moves one one one and scoring, well, he haven’t seen that.
I miss it.
I think the other coaches have figured mc and drei out, but the lack of additional threats allows them to do this.
So you’re saying these two players dominated the league for the past 6 years and all of a sudden opponent coaches have figured them out. Connor is clearly ailing. But the biggest issue is their new DZ system has them standing still in the defensive zone and unable to create odd man rushes, which has been their bread and butter. The Oilers have consistently had (and converted on) some of the highest rates of odd man rushes in the league the past number of years and all of a sudden it just vanishes. This year they are right at the bottom of the league. That’s not opposing coaches changing strategy to contain them (coaches don’t tinker much with systems from game to game in the regular season). It is clearly the system changes that Woody made. Hope he figures this out soon.
If possible, go back and watch how JT Miller played against McDavid in the last game.
He was tasked with shutting him down and was on his back throughout.
It got to the point in the 3rd period that an annoyed McDavid’s temper erupted.
While whatever is ailing McDavid was no doubt a factor, other teams will have been watching.
He’s always played him like that, as have a lot of other players. Connor has always been able to play through that crap (which of course the refs consistently disregard). That is not what is driving the change in rush chances for the Oilers.
Im saying they’ve watched a lot of film and crunched alot of analytics. Patterns emerge. I agree that coach.. needs to do some coaching and recognize the chess match in game.
And a lack of a fresh plan from our coaches
Also as injuries accumulate on the Duo managing ice time is core to them having that jump that Connor can use to blow by
But he won’t if his body if feeling the wear and tear and playing league top TOI is t helping
I think a bit of this is true. But McDavid is nowhere near 100%. The other night Vancouver was whacking , hacking and interfering with him and he got very frustrated. It really showed.
One more reason why it was a bad idea to have rushed McDavid back. Everyone wanted him to play in the Heritage Classic, and that may have been the kiss of death.
Since his return McDavid has 2 points in 4 games, both secondary assists. What I’m seeing is decent starts to those games, then he fades out of them to a large degree.
Hard to tell exactly what ails him, but it is real & it is deeply concerning.
he does seem hurt/off but my observation is that a) double teamed b) space taken away early. Normally connor somehow makes a play anyways, but that threat of an oncoming high danger guy taking pass and/or in position and with skills to handle/convert, is not there so they are at liberty to DT. Having said that.. Connor has set up Kane a number of times when harrassed, and K almost converted. I’d actually like to see Lavoie get some time with Mcd. Randomly, the ice was more open, almost shinny-like, when he was out there.
I’m not so sure that, all of a sudden, the entire league has figured them out (the remained dominant offensively, high end at 5 on 5) through last playoffs as well.
Yes, but , that also means they watched the oilers a lot, and had all summer to figure it out.
First step is to fire Woody this team needs a fresh start. Coffey and Jackson can either go intern are someone like Gallant who’ll get us to the Playoffs if he starts immediately.
Can we still “book it” that Campbell will be the season’s saviour?
I wish he would of I still think he has a good run in him. When’s the last time you made a call on anything besides what flavour of Latte at Starbucks.
Last call I made is when I took someone’s Mother out for a nice seafood dinner and never called her again.
Keep searching there has to be a match for you somewhere out there have you tried A-I
Yeah another ex Oiler will fix things lol
Better than a burnt out Red Wing.
What the hell has Kenny been doing the past 5 years?
The Oilers used to only have 3 top 9 forwards, now they have 7
Ekholm healthy would give them 1 top 2 dmen, when maybe, if you squint, they kinda had 1 before..
That Campbell contract is impossible to defend, tho
Quite a damning statement by LT: I think the Oilers have a first line, a second line, and two AHL lines plus Warren Foegele and Dylan Holloway.
I would also add that the Oilers have 0 starting goalies, and one “developing” backup goaltender.
This is year NINE of having one Connor McDavid; year TEN of Draisaitl. They are long time veterans now. This year’s team should be the Oilers “Final Form” without a doubt, where they are contending every year. Yet, the management currently has them in the state described above sitting in 31st place overall. Total f’ing failure. Why is there no accountability?
Now imagine you’ve been paying thousands per year for season tickets and taking the time, money and effort to attend games in person on a regular basis. It’s time to ask for a refund.
Now they are taking backward steps and using Chiarelli sayings.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts”. It’s that bad.
Need a few more unsexy players.
When it comes to a tough goalie situation, I’m inclined to try many unpedigreed goalies and see what sticks. It sure worked for Vegas last year.
That said, Calvin Pickard has an eye-popping .866 in his past 1400 minutes (~24 full games) over the past five seasons.
.866 over five years!! That’s twenty points worse than Jack Campbell with the Oilers.
By contrast, Jaro Halak has a career 76 goals saved above average. That’s higher than JS Giguere, Mike Liut, Cory Schneider, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Bobrobsky, Miikka Kiprusoff, as well as a host of older goalies who were always overrated (e.g. Mike Vernon). And Halak’s last three years he’s put up a consistent .905, which is a hell of a lot better than our goalies right now.
The year is 2007. Who thinks that fifteen years from now, Thrashers GM Don Waddell will be outdoing Red Wings GM Ken Holland?
I’m with you on this, barring a legit top 5 guy like Saros shaking loose for an asset cost that is palatable. That possibility is very, very slim though.
What worked for Vegas is that they play a system, play everybody, and execute it day in and day out. For the regular season, any average goaltender is good enough.
I want them to come out and smoke SJ tomorrow night.
But then I want them to also beat Seattle.
This team lets its foot off the pedal at every temporal scale: Shift to shift / game over game / season to season.
4 in a row, let’s go.
how do they let their foot off the gas season to season? they just came off B2B excellent seasons?
Now, 2018. Maybe I should have said “mini-era” to “mini-era”.
I’m not so sure. The Sharkie’s defeated the Flyers last night, that was something the Oilers didn’t do. This team needs to hit rock bottom before it sinks in that they really aren’t very good and that gee maybe they should listen to the coach.
If they lose to the Sharks, they may have a different coach to listen to.
Battle for the bottom. If the Oil lose tonight they are tied with the Sharks for last in the league.
Break out the booze and have a ball.
I am ready to guarantee the Oilers won’t lose tonight!
Morgan Frost sat again last night. Clearly Torts is not a fan. He finished the year strong last year and has the pedigree. We should be offering McLeod ++, or dare I say Holloway, to try and get him before he becomes unavailable again.
He scored 20 goals last year…we need something other than vanilla and zero goals in the bottom six
I would like Frost. McLeod straight up, but in saying that as soon as Torts watches a video of McLeod in games this year there is no way he wants him. Guy is buttery soft, doesn’t go to the inside or net. Not a Torts type of player. He isn’t even as good as he has been the last few years on the PK
This is a good place to start looking
Good Morning LT,
I really hope you are right and Jackson is getting his hands on the wheel. Hopefully he is able to get control, pull over at the curb and let Kenny out, As you perfectly describe, after 5 years we have McDrai/RNH (who were already here) and a few new shiny pieces and absolutely nothing else.
My god, how is that even possible?! What has he been doing?
He needs to leave the seat now, while it seems impossible, he can actually inflict more damage if you let him sit out the year. There was a quote from son Brad (Athletic?) last season where he said he had a bunch of creative ideas to improve the team but “dad” was uninterested in acting. Well, his inaction has now killed the team. I don’t care if it’s Brad or someone else who takes over temporarily, someone with a different vision needs to take over.
Brad said he got burnt once and was risk averse since
But he also has no modern pro scouting so can’t fix anything anyway. He can only see established players and often they are on the way out
On the way out is ok if you pay the minimum and there is something left
He overpays on almost every deal and contract except grinding kids
So there is little left
Tipping point. The next guy has to be well on the winning side of the ledger, or the change will not work in time. Have no idea what hot under the radar GM is out there, but I am sure it’s no BoB fella that could possibly have a mouth experience. Opinions aren’t enough
A Steve Y type is the model. Active constantly, team improving constantly. Obviously out in front of all available resources. A track record of doing this. His successor not nearly as good which shows no had the brains
Not an out of control river boat gambler, but knows his stuff and when something’s there or a kid is under the radar in the draft or on a team he’s on it. With assets and cap room to spend properly
Chaulk said yesterday that, they will take direction from management but the plan is for Campbell to play 2-3 on the up coming trip – which is four games.
Its clear that they are looking for him to work on his game down in the AHL and this isn’t planned to be a “forever thing”.
Rodrigue needs to play – he hasn’t been playing enough, the clear 1B to Pickard and he’ll be the clear 1B to Jack.
Campbell supposedly found his game in the preseason and the local media were raving about that . He came in and got stomped by Vancouver. His confidence went out the window like it always has ever since he has been here and completely left him. He has very bad mental issues and it d OW’s not seem they are ever going away. He even said he worked on it over the summer ( I am sure he obviously has a Shrink working with him) .
Just do not see Campbell getting over this at his age and where he is at in his career. Sad and I feel for the guy as he is a very nice man. Being sent down is another big blow you would think to his already fragile mental state.
Not sure we ever see him back in Edmonton again .
Guess we see and Indo wish him all the best
LT is so flummoxed by the dreadful play of our dear team, he moved his clock ahead by a day instead of moving it back by 1 hour 😉
Hmm, I’d actually prefer if the game was tonight. I’m otherwise occupied this evening, but not tomorrow. I’ll have no excuse not to watch…
I fully expect him to take more days off as this season ticks along..
It’s been almost 20 years of completely loyalty to ‘the build’, from the highs and lows of Pisani scoring short handed in overtime to Ward shutting the door on the Cinderella run, Prongers and Lowes proclivaties that crashed and burned the team for a decade.. And now the Oilers are the embodiment of Tesla’s promise of Self Driving Cars, the promise is intoxicating, realization is just around the corner, but inevitably another career is killed unexpectedly and the brakes lock up in the in an intersection when the light is green..
Is there a glitch in the matrix today?
Go Oilers Go! I think the goaltending depth in the organization is a telling sign that the team needs a new direction. When a team like Vegas can go through 4 goalies and not skip a beat it shows what real depth is. The Oilers like any other team need 4 guys that are capable of playing an NHL game in a pinch. I guess we are about to find out a bit more about the Oilers goalies. I would start Pickard tonight and hope he can be a calming influence. Especially handling the puck. Honestly I think the Oilers should go into a 4 goalie rotation and see if anyone can grab the net. I have no reservations about trying anyone else in net besides Skinner and Campbell. In fact its shocking that the Oilers haven’t tried a 3rd goalie up until now.
Was the Vegas experience an example of the depth of their goaltending or the depth/strength of the team in front of them?
I tend to think it’s the latter but either way, Holland has failed at both tasks.
Vegas has a big, tough and good skating defence. We don’t
What’s that UofA goalie up to nowadays?
Asking for a friend.
Rocking an .888 in four games with the Bears!
Vegas play a system that they go out and execute day in and day out during the regular season. Any decent goaltender is sufficient during the regular season.
Colorado lost their starter to injury during their Cup run….amazing what a great team and team defense will do.
Lives opened and trashed “Look ma, watch me crash”
No time to question why’d nothing last
Grasp and hold on, we’re dyin’ fast
Soon be over and I will relent
Not sure why, so please don’t ask. When I saw that photo (which should be framed) and read the opening paragraph my mind went immediately to a scene in a movie containing the phrase “You Rebel Scum”. Surely McDavid shows up tonight with a newly crafted saber tonight and gives all A New Hope to this season. He is our captain, he is our hero, he is our only hope!
Go Oilers!
He’s hurt, overplayed, and exasperated..
Play like God is Dead. Don’t expect Deux ex machina from McDavid. Play as a team. Work hard. Play the damn system. And play everybody.
A contender makes it to the playoffs on system play, which they can go out an execute day in and day out. The heroics from stars are to be difference makers in the playoffs, which they cannot do if they are overplayed and expected to be heroes during the regular season.