Now that we have some postseason news, we can begin to set the stage for the summer to come. I’ve chosen “imagination” as the theme this summer, because it’s a positive word. Mostly. Please read this.
The Oilers have shown a lack of imagination in addressing immediate roster needs since Stan Bowman took over. That’s why getting a coach like Bruce Cassidy could be a game-changer for the Oilers. The organization needs clarity. I don’t think there was much of it last season. The firing of Kris Knoblauch gives Bowman a chance to hire his own coach, and to team with that individual to find a path to Stanley.
Knoblauch’s peak in Edmonton saw him MacGyver solutions time and again, and it resulted in two trips to the final. Come to find out that Glen Gulutzan and Paul Coffey appear to have been key drivers of results. Making the situation even more dire last season was the team sticking with provably poor plays (that stretch pass wrinkle can f.o. and d.) and not fading struggling veterans.
Many things seemed to be off last season. The team’s best goaltender (Connor Ingram) was reportedly due for a recall before the Jarry trade, which makes sense since you should explore all internal options before going outside. However, that was delayed and the Jarry trade was made December 12, Ingram making his Oilers debut December 21.
Another thing I’m going to watch closely is the verbal surrounding the idea of playing McDavid and Draisaitl together. It’s ridiculous. The Oilers don’t have a second-line center who can deliver, but if they run Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as a third-line center he gets a real chance to outscore. Here’s what the lines could look like in the fall:
- Savoie-McDavid-Hyman
- Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
- Howard-Nuge-Kyrou
- Dach-Samanski-Frederic
- Lazar. Hamblin
- Walman-Bouchard
- Ekholm-Murphy
- Stastney/Carfagna-Emberson
- Ingram, Jarry
The two scoring lines are McDavid and Nuge, the hard-match line is Draisaitl. The foolishness about playing McDavid-Draisiatl together can be solved by hiring a veteran coach who is keenly aware of getting an edge via line matching. Noses may be out of joint for a time, but this team needs to ice a rock hard line-matching team from the beginning of the season.
I’m extremely encouraged by the idea of Cassidy as Oilers coach. It will be the last time anyone in Edmonton suggests played 97-29 together so the rest of the roster can play more. Jesus, Mary and Joseph what are we doing here????
On the Lowdown today, our feature guest is MLB pitch Mike Siroka at 12:40, with Steve Lansky at 1pm. We’ll talk about the Kris Knoblauch firing, about Cassidy and about the Montreal Canadiens (I am going to be ill). Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
What the Edmonton Oilers’ next head coach must absolutely get right
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7279173/2026/05/15/edmonton-oilers-head-coach-bruce-cassidy-kris-knoblauch/
Great piece! A very interesting thing I didn’t know is that Burke was the goalie coach for Cassidy’s Cup win…that could be a huge addition if Cassidy is hired and gets Burke to come
But will Vegas let him? 😅
I think the Oilers actually interviewed (or were rumoured to) Sean Burke for GM (Florida did too). Maybe Cassidy brings Burke and he takes over as GM?
Thanks. I asked yesterday why you are all over the new shiny toy, a toy that hasn’t made it to the WCF in recent years, that was bested by the now old and dull toy and his team handily in round two last year. (Thanks to commentators who gave their reasons.) This piece doesn’t convince me of anything —except that you have a clear view of what the next coach should do, all of which rings true for me.
But you’ve had long experience of watching this team. You’ve prognosticated and offered hypotheses and watched them be confirmed or denied over decades. It seems no coach in Oilerville is going to be allowed even a handful of years to figure things out.
The truest thing you wrote, to my mind, in an article I liked, was this. I think it points to the twisted problem and potential of the team, and the fan base:
”The Oilers winning the McDavid lottery has been both a blessing and a curse. The watershed moment was followed immediately by enormous urgency to win the Stanley Cup. A series of veteran general managers have mortgaged the future at each draft and deadline as if time was running out on the McDavid era.
Ironically, as McDavid is about to begin what could be his final contract with the team, the play is to build a team designed to contend annually.”
Here I agree wholeheartedly (and it’s my bias, growing up in the 70s as a Habs fan, but also as someone who is seeing what longer term commitments can bring to life, and hockey teams -Colorado, Carolina, Cup-winning Chicago come to mind): regardless of where you find yourself viz “star players” and contracts, build to contend annually.
I don’t see evidence of goalie/coach churn as the way to do that (and I’ve never heard you advocate for either). Here’s hoping the next hire has a decade to at least emulate the considerable success the old, dull toy was beginning to fashion.
“new shiny toy, a toy that hasn’t made it to the WCF in recent years, that was bested by the now old and dull toy and his team handily in round two last year”
From where I’m standing, coach K and his support staff in 2024 and 2025 playoffs were *fine*. Not amazing, not dog poop. Not good enough to help get the team to Lord Stanley’s Cup, but not bad enough to single-handedly cost the team a series. There were some major deficiencies (no line matching, or overplaying McDrai together when things got tough) and some really good things (excellent special teams between the two playoffs). This past season, we saw coach K with new assistants he selected and it wasn’t pretty. Overplaying McDrai until both of them were run ragged by playoffs, and having no answers at all to the Duck’s 4th line in the playoffs (not to mention the annual “drag out pre-season for an extra month”). I think that’s a bad look, and unforgivable if you’re not making the most of peak McDrai years.
Is Cassidy the answer? I don’t know. I never watched Vegas unless they were playing us so I don’t know if Cassidy was a dud in round 2 of the 2025 playoffs, or if his coaching was *fine* but his players were underperforming due to injuries, etc. (like the Oilers in this year’s playoffs).
When the Oilers traded Skinner, you were against the move. I wasn’t against moving Skinner per say, but I didn’t want to move him unless we ended up with a better goalie, which I don’t believe happened (and good lord, the cap implications are brutal).
Now that the Oilers have fired coach K, are they going to get someone better? I sure hope so, but I don’t trust Bowman to get this right. If they bring in a better coach, will the coach have suitable assistant coaches? There’s a lot at play here and for all the grief Holland took as GM, he made the team relevant and did the heavy lifting of surrounding McDavid with enough support players to finally have a deep playoff run.
For the sake of the team, I hope we’re both wrong and the new coaching staff does amazing things. For the sake of the team, I hope Bowman can somehow fix the terrible goalie situation he helped create. etc. 🙂
Go Oilers!
The fabled separation of powers
-May 15: LT, quoting Scotty Bowman ““Success comes from ownership (never interfering)…”
-May 15: We learn, via Friedman, that the owner was “pushing” for the coach firing.
It appears that most of Oilerville is making peace with the owner getting his hands all over what is not his business. Because, there is no alternative. As a relatively new fan, “Ugh.”
Actually is his business
I suspect Batman has been pulling many strings over the years. We blame the GMs, but some of these moves defy data, financial planning, and traditional OBC hockey thought. As I’ve noted with KK no coach would plan to play like this. Same could be said for the GMs – No experienced executive would build a team like this.
These guys are all paid well though regardless of the outcome.
Does a good job of keeping his name out of the press though
Here’s some more negativity. I absolutely HATE that they lost Holloway.
Also, Connor Brown for that matter.
For Brown, they couldn’t afford 3 million a season for him, just like Perry at 4 million. The smart move was letting them go. Did they do the smart move of using younger players to replace them when they had the opportunity? Not really. They screwed that part up.
As much as I enjoyed beating Vegas last year I give kudos to the organization for not being afraid to make moves. We fire our coach after getting bounced by a team that had iffy goaltending and there’s enough tears in these parts to fill a bucket. This is now Bowman’s team he needs to find an affordable backup for Jarry. I don’t think the Oilers should sign Ingram unless he’s willing to sign 2×2.
Sportsnet Stats
@SNstats
Barring injury, for the 46th consecutive season, a former teammate of Jaromir Jagr will appear in the Stanley Cup Final
Brett Kulak (Avalanche) or Rasmus Andersson (Golden Knights)
I smell a Vegas-Habs rematch as Vegas and Torts will neutralize MacKinnon by doing whatever it takes to win. As for Carolina they always choke when the play becomes physical.
Where have the stats gone? Lots of super negative hot takes. Back up your ‘smoker’ people with numbers. Most of it is opinion stated as fact
lol you need to get off your high horse and come back down to solid ground.
Look at Frederic’s stats and his contract.
Ok thanks!
Walman-Bouchsrd would be a tire-fire, whike Ekholm-Murphy won’t have enough puck-moving ability. Honestly I’d rather trade Walman than Nurse; Darnell has shown chemistry with Bouchard and his term is much shorter.
I don’t have an issue with bringing in Kyrou, but wonder if trading Walman for a more well-rounded RHD might be a better use of the asset. Would Hronek be available? Or even someone like Montour? I could see an Ekholm-Carlson pairing working too.
You’re too smart to join this train. Ekholm is an excellent puck mover and healthy the best overall D on the team. He’s older now, but all true. Man this is going to be a false narrative negative summer
The verbal on Ekholm’s demise is over-stated. This past season he:
played 82 games
had 41 points
was 12th among d-men 5 on 5 points
played 36% TOI vs. elites
had a 56% goal share (and 56% expected goal share)
Ya, he’s not moving as good as he once did and is more error-prone but those are legit top pairing minutes even as he declines. I know Bouchard floats all boats but still.
With that said, I will say, even when Ekholm is healthy, Bouchard is the clear best overall d-man on this team, and its not close for me.
There has been some chatter about Hronek being moved but there are new Sheriffs in town s who knows?
I Imagine Vancouver would want a first round pick+ to move him.
https://x.com/TheHersheyBears/status/1923002411334894040?s=20
The man, the myth, the legend… Happy birthday, Nelly!
I see Bowman dealing Howard-plus at the draft for either a C or an affordable back-up for Jarry.
That’s silly when both are available to sign right now with no assets out (Dickinson, Ingram).
I see Bowman excited to have a properly developed and NHL ready skilled player with 2-years of ELC on his roster to give his new coach
I bet the NHL will give VGK back their 2nd when they let Cassidy go.
Gary can’t force them to let Cassidy go, but yanking a 2nd (which is worth ~$2MM if we use salary retention trades as a gauge of value) will get their attention.
Lol. I was just about to post the exact same thing. Vegas is used to doing whatever they want and getting away with it. They finally get called out for their insolent behavior, but will likely appeal and receive Edmonton’s 2nd round draft pick in return so it’s a win win for the league and only a loss for the Oilers- status quo for the league. It truly would not surprise me in the least!
That joke has been made as well sir.
Great minds and all….
https://x.com/i/status/2055404745704280568
Oilers victimhood culture alive and well!
Glad to see I’m not the only one who immediately speculated these are tied.
I think Vegas will appeal to Bettman and the penalty will be downgraded from a 2nd to a 3rd. The message will be sent and Vegas doesn’t lose as badly.
If this is true, we should give Gary a little credit.
(Still weighed, of course, against his ruining the league for 30 years.)
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Wow.
The #NHL has docked the Vegas Golden Knights
a second round pick for a “flagrant” violation of the league’s media policy.
Coach John Tortorella has also been fined $100,000.
The sanctions were levied after Tortorella declined to meet with the media and the team kept the locker room closed to reporters following a postgame win.
The strict penalty came as a result of the team being previously warned by the league regarding compliance with media regulations
Just read that – I’m surprised they hit Bill Foley’s team that hard.
With that said, they are offering the ability to appeal and I presume that 2nd round pick becomes a 5th or 6th (or something like that).
Vegas doesn’t care much about draft picks especially one near the end of the second round.
The Knights are pissed about the suspension to McNabb.
Right, and if this was the Oilers, you would be citing a very different story about ‘caring about draft picks”.
I’m quite sure McCrimmon cares about a 2nd round pick in this year’s draft
The thing to remember here is that the NHL receives $1.2 Billion per year from their TV rights. Anything that happens on the ice, the NHL handles with slaps on the wrist. Deny media empires their content, feel the wrath. This is gonna be like the Breakfast Club, “You just bought one more. You want another one? Just say the word. Say it. Instead of going to prison, you’ll come here… That’s another one right now!”
I often refer to later picks as pocket lint.
As for McCrimmon…the last player drafted in the second round by Vegas to make their roster is Kaedan Korzak….SEVEN years ago and has all of 115 NHL games played as their 7th defenseman.
I suppose they would view the pick as a throw in to enable a trade but hardly a hill to die on.
Their team is built almost entirely on free agent signings and trades.
There is no way you think the Kelly McCrimmon has no issues with his coach costing him a 2nd round pick because he was in a mood and didn’t want to answer questions or 8 minutes – you are just being you.
Has Torts been fired yet?
Tortorella skipped the post-game press conference and the locker room was not opened to reporters following the team’s series-clinching victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Reports indicated this decision was heavily influenced by the strict, early-evening noise curfews at John Wayne Airport, forcing the team to rush directly to the bus.
McCrimmon and the front office chose to move on from the incident rather than appeal the decision
You know what I like about all this Cassidy chatter? That allegedly (I think it was Friedman who said) Cassidy wants to win now and he feels his best opportunity is with the Oilers.
In McDavid’s year end presser he mentioned (in reference to accountability from the depth players) “it can’t just be a job to you”. Sounds to me like this isn’t just a job to Cassidy. I think it’s a really positive sign if the captain and coach are aligned attitude-wise. He has his pick of the litter and he wants to come to Oilerville to accomplish something.
That, combined with the fact that he’s done it before is all I need to be all aboard the Cassidy train. I don’t need him to be a tactical genius as long as he’s tactically competent (or he hires assistants who are). We need the right coach for the right moment. I’m well aware that we’ll be running him out of town in 3-4 years. Hopefully it’s because he wasn’t able to four-peat.
This is not ‘exactly’ right. Friedman said Cassidy wants to win now and Friedman thinks the best opportunity for him to win now is in Edmonton. Cassidy didn’t say this, as far as I know. This is speculation on Friedman’s behalf.
Cassidy was positively effusive on the idea of winning in Canada. That’s either Edmonton or he’s learning French.
Cassidy knows what the Oilers are. He beat them once and lost once, and I’m sure he thinks they weren’t being coached well enough. “If I had those players “. I think he’s probably right
Compare and Contrast:
— Vegas made a significant goalie upgrade that worked then punted their head coach in season because they thought he wasn’t getting the results.
— Oil delayed goalie move and it wasn’t an upgrade and they didn’t punt their coach who wasn’t getting results
— Now everyone horned up to get the guy that the team who’s done all the right moves, their management got rid of. Hope it works out. Can’t contemplate the gong show if they don’t get him.
— could this team have gone deep with a the “Vegas reset”? The right goalie and a late change for a better coach.
They should have hired Cassidy right after Vegas fired him haha! That would have been some high drama in the playoffs!
Wouldn’t Vegas have done the same thing and not grant the Oilers permission?
Personally, I think it all comes down to the assistants. Fix the PK, fix the goalie, play defence, win.
I’d say that the performance of Bowman’s UFA signings under Knoblauch didn’t do much to increase his approval level with Stan.
Per Eric Friesen:
#Oilers prospect Samuel Jonsson (158th overall, 2022) made 33 saves in a 4-2 win for the Fort Wayne Komets last night!
Jonsson now has a 5-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals against average, a .968 save percentage and two shutouts in five ECHL playoff games as a rookie this year!
Two assist for Nurse as Canada beats Sweden 5-3 to open the tournament (goal for Ekholm).
Nothin for Samanski as Germany loses to Puljujarvis and the Fins 3-1.
It’s cool seeing nurse playing internationally again. It has been a while and I’m sure hes having fun!
Looks like Bouchard led the team in TOI, finished +1.
and they were protecting a lead for the entire third period…..
I would expect him to lead them in TOI nightly, he’s their top d-man by far.
Barkov plays his first game of the year.
https://www.nhl.com/news/aleksander-barkov-plays-in-world-championship-1st-game-since-2025-cup-final
As others have been saying Stan isn’t all bad/good.
His blunders look very Kenly and Chia-esque – questionable to terrible FA contracts, over-valuing this and that, bidding against himself – but his best moves are of a kind we haven’t seen much of this millenium.
The only comparables I can see for the Kap Ingram Podz and Samanski pickups are Chia’s acquisition of Maroon and the reclamation of Kass, who initially was an affordable role player (and who forever has my gratitude for turtling Turtle). Oil need that kind of GMing now more than ever, and Ken was clearly incapable.
I agree. This is the aisle where bowman shines. Hopefully he can turn up more unpolished stones. And avoid the mangipaine type moves…….. Dickinson signing a contract to be a third line center is likely to end up poorly even at discount
Henrique signed a contract to be third line center on the downhill side of his career That turned out bad even though it was an extreme discount at the time. It was predictable.
They should have kept Carrick who’s a good penalty killer and face-off man.
Yes. Absolutely.
I’d completely forgotten about Carrick. Why they’d move on from him I can’t guess.
From everything I’ve read and heard in the last few days, including from those that player for years under Cassidy, his attributes are exactly what it seems this team needs.
Firstly, he holds all players, including star players accountable. He will be hard on them when they deviate from what is expected.
He puts high value on neutral zone and defensive zone structure and will not stand for poor puck management.
His Xs and Os are high end and he uses real analytics to incorporate structural details and in-game adjustments. I’m not taking about things like Knov citing “expected goals” but more details of the game relating to zone exits/entires, how to defend the same, etc.
He can run tiring after a couple of years and that fits the timeline perfectly.
If true, exactly what the top end of the roster needs – accountability
Most off ice hires, likely pushed down by Batman, have been made to create a comfort nest for 97 so he doesn’t fly the coip.
I’ll believe it when I see it
The Oilers are about to hire a veteran head coach and likely one that is known for accountability and ensuring players do what he wants.
It’s impossible to think such a coach is going to accept the job when there is a mandate to deploy in any particular manner.
Bob citing his opinion on this is a complete non-factor in my opinion.
As I wrote below the hyperbole is taking over at the moment. The gnashing of teeth over another coach gone. Wasn’t KK one of the longer tenured coaches other than 3 or 4? Looks like many teams are looking for the right fit, and what was going on was not good enough with the Oilers
In my opinion, the roster underperformed their abilities, as a group and for many individuals.
This is on the players that underperformed, sure, and part of it was the “mind-set” of the veteran core that didn’t care about the regular season but, at the end of the day, the coach was not able to get his team, or many of his players, to play up to expectations lets alone exceed expectations.
The coach didn’t perform to expected levels.
As I posted elsewhere, everything that Bruce Cassidy is known for lines up with what I think this team, the incumbent roster, needs to have a MUCH better on-ice performance.
I am not a Knob hater and tried to defend him and his decisions in-season but he didn’t get the job done and there is a pedigreed coach with the skill-set in areas where the prior coach failed.
Lets go!
I completely agree with this assessment. I would add that the continual experimenting with lines and D combinations most likely reinforces the idea with the veteran core that the regular season is some sort of warm up and not to be taken too seriously.
I like Cassidy’s strategy and see it as a good fit as well because he’s not anti offense. Laviolette might be more motivational, but from what I’ve read he might be too pro offense and use D activation too much. At least with the Preds
Totalmente de acuerdo Lowetide!
This article is spot on
The last while, probably even before the ‘rumour’, the narratives have been getting pretty hot, and mostly completely unsupported. From Spector yesterday:
“Four: Management has panicked in its fevered search for goaltending, undermining the confidence of players, coaches, fans and media. Can Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson – who have presided over an ever-diminishing asset for two seasons now – finish the job here?”
This is hyperbolic opinion, not a fact to be seen. I highly doubt Jackson has much to do with the GM role now, but he sure keeps getting lumped in. Why wasn’t Burgers always lumped in with Holland? Stan Bowman sure seems like a panicky guy rushing around blindly begging to be taken to the woodshed for anything. Or is it that a GM actually making changes to make the team better as he sees it is too scary? What else is he supposed to be doing? Was it good enough before? Obviously not
Stu being traded undermined all those people? I recall that it was the goaltending being so unpredictable that was causing the problem. Even Spec agreed with Gregor that nobody is getting one of the top 5 or 6 goalies – because they are never available. Hellebuyck isn’t on the market and Bob is too old and probably expensive for the Oilers. They may find a rookie or a guy that isn’t necessarily going to be better from the Wild
Ever diminishing asset? No, that was what Bowman walked into, a bled out org he quickly stocked up. If they retain the 2 Hawks there are no roster holes anymore. Ones that had been there for years that Holland never filled well enough. The 3C they traded? Flaming out yet again in the playoffs, so not the droid
Everyone recognizes that we never saw the roster that was built actually play together. Did they even make one game? So now it’s armageddon? The sky is not falling, the hyperbole is getting to be a bit much
I love your unbridled support for Bowman.
I don’t think he is terrible, and the rhetoric regarding his tenure is hyperbolic.
But he is far from good. We will obviously never agree but the Frederic and Jarry trades were vintage Holland/Chia moves.
Frederic was a player no one was bidding on. Third line players do not get 8 year deals. Especially third liners with injury issues. The Jarry trade was a classic trade assets at their lowest for an asset at peak value. The result was predictable. We will obviously never agree because you view these moves as Bowman taking action (Chia also took many game actions).
— Best take on Fred “7 points, 8 years…”
“And now my friend, the first-a-rule of Italian driving: What’s-a-behind me is not important!”
Franco, Gumball Rally, 1976
I’m still at the point with Bowman that I’m not seeing what many of you do, but if it doesn’t start turning out better I’ll be on him. It’s more that I don’t think either trade is fully decided. I don’t think anything he’s done was not supported by facts and stats, at least a reasonable chance at working. The previous guys did many things we knew here were bad bets off the hop
In Montreal they are now changing their tune on the Dach and Newhook deals. Things change, the Oiler environment was not great
The criticisms also have rarely have support or unknown ones like no one was bidding on Frederic. That’s not what outside media was saying. We don’t actually know. I’ve repeatedly gone over that contract here and the term is irrelevant, the AAV not out of line with his player type and history in the environment at the time. His injury history is one injury, same that Leon had. It will get better
It may not work out but players like that are valued. Frederic is singled out, while many players had poor seasons. That’s why the coach is gone
Jordan Staal got a 10 year deal and he was a 3rd line player.
Jordan Staal was a second overall pick and has been an elite defensive player throughout his career and has often played up the lineup
Trent Frederic spent most of 2 seasons after his draft in the AHL.
One of these is not like the other.
Jordan Stall was a third liner (a career third liner) that signed a 10-year contract – end stop.
Lots of third liners played up the lineup but he was third liner that signed a 10 year contract and I was responding to a post that states third liners do not sign 8 year contracts.
More importantly, Staal can score at the NHL level.
If you think Frederic and Staal are comparable I don’t know what to tell you. Look at Staal’s career toi. He is not a true 3rd line player.
Who is comparing Frederic and Staal?
I’m responding to a comment that “3rd liners don’t get 8-year contracts” with an example of that exact thing.
Stall is a 3rd line player.
Holland left a Stanley Cup contending roster. With a young core in place, set to contend every year.
In two years, the roster is in shambles compared to two years ago.
McDavid and Draisaitl said as much in their exit pressers. Draisaitl paraphrased: “Where have all the players gone?” McDavid: “This was an average team.”
I don’t attribute their success to the GM or coach. For me it’s an inspite of, not because of. When you have 3 of the world’s best playoff performers breaking all time records you start with a massive advantage
Gregor spoke with one of those former players who said that it wasn’t that they were better, but that they had the chance to help
Didnt Holland leave the team capped ouT with its 2 youngest players unsigned?
Nope. Had plenty of cap
space which unfortunately went to Skinner Rico and Arvidsson
No. There was plenty of money to sign Broberg and Holloway.
Well over $10 million in cap space heading into July 1.
They could have kept Holloway, Bro was gone
They could’ve kept Broberg too; matching the offer sheet would have contractually obliged Broberg to remain with the team for at least another year.
Jackson screwed up … plain and simple. His short tenure was one of the most disastrous stretches for an Oilers GM. Bowman walked into a crisis, but he didn’t manage it well either.
Broberg and Holloway were not “his” prospects. So he walked away from them, and took 25 cents on the dollar. He thought he could use those assets to get better players … see the later season acquisitions of Frederic and Walman.
Bowman could’ve matched the offer sheets; teams are allowed to be 10% over the cap in the summer. He had time to find a new home for Evander Kane or LTIR him, and then trade him later in the season when he was healthy enough to play again.
But he chose to take the easy way out and not match the offer sheets … he owns this too.
He could have. I think though he would have had to clear more than Kane. Bro also didn’t want to play RD. Kulak didn’t either. Possible, very difficult
Agreed, Broberg signed a offer that he knew wasn’t being match while Holloway signed one that he believed was going to be matched.
At the time there was all sorts of commentary that the Oilers didn’t have cap room for Broberg and Holloway beyond one year.
Holland had Bouchard on an expiring $4MM contract and Drai on an expiring $8.5MM contract – the $10.5MM increase to keep those players (both value) is important context.
Drai mentioned the loss of Foegele, Ceci and Deharnais – I’m not going to take his comments about the lost players too seriously and, for me, I see it more as the roster played average (as a group and individuals) but believe the roster underperformed their established levels, as a group, and for many individuals – coaching is a big part of that.
You slammed that roster, a lot! Remember your comments about Ceci? Bouchard? Foegele? Henrique? Now you’re celebrating that roster to sew a narrative.
And the young core wasn’t in place because they weren’t signed, by Holland. Holland alienated Broberg to the point he wanted out. Holland didn’t sign Holloway, he didn’t even offer an offer.
I’m not crapping on Holland, but rather pointing out your hypocrisy.
Well FFS, Drai and Bouch’s extensions took up all the cap room. We were so cap-strapped that we didn’t match on Broberg and Holloway. What else were we supposed to do?
That roster, which GMSB told us might not arrive until Feb or March, almost came together in the fabled “final 11 games,” albeit sans Draisaitl.
My “unperturbed Oilers fan” commented at the time, “I’m a little afraid of Drai coming back. The team is playing so well.”
Hyperbole and falling skies, indeed.
Honest question… why do you refer to the final 11 games of the season as being “fabled”?
They outscored opponents 37 to 25, and had a record of 7 wins, 2 losses, 2 OTL. This extrapolates to 119 points over the regular season, which would have been good enough for 2nd in the league behind Colorado with 121 points (and up several from Carolina with 113).
It was real and spectacular. If you’re just making a joke and I’m not getting it, apologies.
Look at the teams that they beat, versus the teams that they lost to … they mostly racked those wins up against bottom feeders.
They reverted to form in the playoffs.
I mentioned the other day that Colby Cohen was saying that he’s heard the owner is very upset with how they played this year and a driving force behind a coaching change.
Well, Friedman was all over this today. The owner is not happy and a driving force behind a move that will cost him apx $2,5MM per year until Knob gets another job.
Good to know the owner is still involved in hockey ops!
Business owners aren’t allowed to be unhappy with results and ask the leaders what will change moving forward?
In sports when owners are too involved it never turns out well.
Batman influencing decisions would explain alot of recent head scratchers
Good to know the owner is still paying attention, and sees the same things as the die hard fans of this team do.
David Staples wrote about that today.
Losing $2.5MM per year will be nothing compared to the loss in revenues and merchandise if McDavid pulls the pin.
Are you sure?
How many McDavid jerseys would be mothballed if he leaves and how much revenue would be spent on new ones?
Hah, do you actually think the Oilers would make more money without McDavid then with him?!
Of course he doesn’t … he’s just here to troll.
Turn on TrollHunter and stop paying attention to him.
If the plan is to play Drai and McD together, then Stan better parlay Howard into a centre and probably sign Dickinson (ugh) because a centre depth chart of Drai, RNH, Frederic, some other plug, is going to get slaughtered.
Hey now. Samanski is not some other plug….. I doubt the new coach will play the duo together.
I agree with your view of signing Dickinson(ugh)
Oops. Forgot about Samanski.
— it’s a good point re: Ingram. The right sequence of events from a risk management and asset evaluation was to give Ingram a whirl before making the trade.
— Assume Ingram was doing his thing they might not have had to make that panic trade from weakness. Maybe they could have dumpster dived and bring in a waiver G or something instead
— Jarry did look good before he got got injured so maybe there is hope I suppose that the tandem is better next year.
That’s assuming there weren’t things we don’t know contributing to why the trade was made. I think there were from what Bowman said when he did it – ‘it was time’. Stu was done in Edmonton. Despite the Pick love, he is a pretty marginal NHL regular even as back up by his numbers
Kulak was a cap move. I’m glad for him he ended up in Colorado, with another shot at it. But lets not forget that he was playing really poorly when he was moved, I think Bowman wanted the cap space for the deadline as well, which he used. I have said before that I think Jarry had a far better rep in the league than Stu, and so the cost was what it was, Stu a struggling 3rd pair D and 2nd. That’s the context at that time
Stu and Pick in 2 SCF had awful numbers. That McLennan had such a low view on Stu, and better with Jarry, supports this all to me
If they knew it was time, and Jarry was the guy they locked on to, then they should’ve also known the salary cap implications, and left enough cap space in the summer to absorb his contract.
Instead they signed Mangiapane.
They also had the opportunity to pick up a young guy off waivers, like Diepietro, and see if they could solve the problem in a more cap efficient manner, before resorting to a Jarry trade. Instead, they prioritized Pickard’s good vibes in the dressing room.
Even if there was some legitimate reason why Ingram couldn’t have been vetted in the NHL before pulling the trigger on the Jarry trade, the overall lack of vision still leaves the impression that Bowman and Jackson are just stumbling and bumbling their way from one thing to the next.
Bowman is walking the line with the dressing room, who seem to be loyal beyond reason. It’s pro sports, not a social club. They had gone to 2 finals so he was careful to give everyone a chance to start last season. That is why he didn’t do that, and once the decision was made that it wasn’t working he did what he did. All bets are off at this point
This is the battle beyond just the play of the player or team.
If you could turn a ekholm or Hyman or Nuge into a mctavish and Nurse into zellweger or kesslering that could very likely turn out positive. However you may risk losing the dressing room.
Picard was loved but the tough decision to add a potential goalie on the cheap in the summer should have been made.
In hindsight.
With the poor playoff result, bowman probably has more room to be cutthroat
Yes I think that he gave everyone respect and rope, and now no one can argue that change isn’t necessary
Smart GM’s do not trade veterans at when they are playing bad. They trade them when they are playing good. Sell high. Buy low.
Kap/ Ros/ Podz / Samanski/ stashney/ regula/ Ingram. Were all buy low.
I know you’re talking more about certain trades but bowman has the ability to buy low.
Hopefully he can avoid the mangipaine type moves in the future.
In a perfect scenario for sure. Brisebois the legend traded the house and barn for Tanner Jeannot
It’s not as black and white as you make it out to be.
What’s your recommendation? Keep playing the poorly playing vet indefinitely?
They should’ve called up Ingram and see if he would form a more effective tandem with Skinner.
Bowman hemmed and hawed about the goaltending until he was put into a corner, and then he panicked and traded for the only “name” goalie available. Honestly, I think his whole “this is a guy we thought would play well in our system” was completely disingenuous.
Honestly, there should be rules put in place for the next GM that prevents them from trading for former Oil Kings.
He should have replaced Skinner last Summer but I think Bowman got suckered in on the Skinner weight loss and his focusing in on his side to side movement. Very very rarely does a in season trade for a number 1 ever work out.
… but in reality,
She doesn’t even know me!
I mean I hope the team has a good summer and gets back to where we want to see them, but it’s hard to be optimistic when they’re making the same mistakes we’ve been seeing since Hall was drafted.
With the assumption Cassidy is hired (Friedman said today on 32 thoughts that basically we are each other’s top choices), I really do think he will be able to get more out of certain players with his reported mantra of forcing players to play a certain way.
The biggest improvements I can see are in order:
Good points. A former player under Cassidy said there are no problems if guys follow the ask, he’s not a tyrant. But he doesn’t allow people to go off script. However I don’t think any top coach does – that’s why their teams perform. Connor said he’s up for it, wants it
They should keep Dickinson, but as LT has been saying, he might be too expensive unless a contract is moved out, not many UFA centres
— if Cassidy is hired and the Oil do win the Cup I wonder how that changes the view of ownership/management?
I mean, even if we don’t win the cup, and as LT suggests that Cassidy would be the best coaching hire this century by the Oilers, shouldn’t this management get some credit for having the courage of firing a 2 time cup finalist coach to hire this guy?
We have Nurse for at least 1 more season. We just need to accept it. Last dance style this season.
I like your forward group, except I expect they swap Kapanen and Kyrou. Give Draisatl his most skilled winger in years, and you have 2 1st lines. Kapanen with Nuge can work, and Howard can step up. But I expect you have to deal Howard in package for Kyrou, so I expect to see a UFA like Mikheyev (two way 20 goal scoring PKer) or our Russian import sliding into that spot.
Kapanen is not a reliable NHL player unless he is playing with Draisaitl.
I don’t disagree. i would wonder if Kryou ends up with McDavid then ,and Savoie down with Nuge and Mikheyev. It would give you some options they have lacked, but i sincerely doubt if they make a move for Kyrou, that they put him on the 3rd line.
Agreed. I certainly like having him around, but only as a bubble player who will be healthy scratched for phases to motivate him. I don’t think he’s ever had a good stretch longer than 10-20 games. I would not give him a multi-year contract.
Podzy-Leon-Kap should be one of the only things management can write in actual pen for the start of next season. But I’m sure they will find a way to overthink it.
What exactly are we trading to St. Louis to get Kyrou?
Nurse.
STL just extended Cam Fowler on a 3 year $6.1 million deal to play 2LD begins Broberg.
What would they do with Nurse?
3rd line left wing of course.
Pretty sure Jake Neighbours at $3.75 million has that spot locked down.
Neighbors for nurse would also work. Neighbors has a good chance to move up to at least a good second line winger.
I guess stranger things have happened.
It probably will require a three way deal. The Oilers do not have anything St. Louis needs, apart from Draisaitl.
Says the biggest Blues fan in the world.
“The Oilers have shown a lack of imagination in addressing immediate roster needs since Stan Bowman took over.”
LT, I agree with everything you said today but definitely not this. The absolute biggest plus Bowman/Jackson have is that they are innovative and do use their imagination to get better especially relative to our prior GMs! It’s the main reason of optimism to keep them around when you need to improve the team with scarce resources. CAVEAT: How effective they have been is an argument for another day(s). Here are the moves I’d count as imaginative:
Ingram Starting G – acquired for future considerations
Jarry Back up G – mid-season trade
Kapanen (2nd RW) – waivers
Podz (2nd LW) – acquired for a 4th for a 2nd opinion
Dickinson/Murphy (3C/2RD) – deadline moves were recognized as a different way forward targeting specific players accepting of their defined role
Roslovic (middle 6 W) – signed on opening night of season for bargain contract after getting squeezed out of free agency
Dach (4LW) – a young guy acquired at the deadline isn’t usually the traditional win-now move
Samanski (4C) – signed out of Germany
Howard – did not address an immediate need but had the potential to. Swap of top prospects isn’t a move the Oilers have seen often
If Cassidy is the coach, he could have used Sam O’Reilly a lot more than Ike Howard.
I can’t say I’m a guru on prospects to know who is better but Howard is a player who fits a specific role on the roster whereas O’Reilly is someone who you could shoehorn anywhere and that is valuable on a star-led team
Of course, Sam O’Reily will likely need legit AHL time – he’s never played a game against men.
Issac Howard has played many games against men, he’s developed a TON and is ready for the NHL.
I also find Bowman has been far more active and creative than we have seen in years. His trades haven’t worked out, but I don’t see the apocalypse so many seem to. I think they still have a great chance of working out
To me Bowman can have more than one ball in the air. He seems to me to think short and long term, and will take some risks. This is much better than the ‘win now’ thing Holland started, and he gutted the org, halfway through Connor’s career, which is really what lead us to where that situation is
It sucks they couldn’t win SCF 2, Frederic didn’t help, but if healthier they still might have. It is possible under a better coach we see Jarry and Frederic fill their roles as intended. Especially if it’s Cassidy, whose system is goalie friendly. What a change that would be
And despite what some are saying, Cassidy is not a ‘defensive’ coach from what I am reading, he just has strong D systems and focuses on reducing chance quality. He also has a focus on offensive systems and PP systems. He likes the type of offensive play the Duo likes and has been lost
Agreed! I totally understand why Bowman is hard to like with his Chicago history, the offer sheet fiasco off the start, and honestly just the way he speaks doesn’t give off gravitas (word of the week). But I still think he gets the Bouchard treatment here. If we want to judge all his missteps (as we should) we should give credit where it’s due.
The most recent example is a series where McDavid, albeit injured, went -8, Kapanen was a $1.3M waiver pick up and resign who went +7 with 4G and 2A in 6 game and Podz was a $1M 4th round pick acquisition who went 3G 3A and +5 in 6 games. That is insane value creation that should be given kudos when we are rightfully slagging Bowman for Jarry/Kulak/Fred.
And if we think like LT that Cassidy would be the best Oilers coaching hire of this century, shouldn’t that be a credit to Bowman too if it happens?
Again, not saying Bowman is a top tier GM but Briesbois traded for Jeannot, Nill traded for Ceci and signed Dumba, and McCrimmon signed Hill/Lehner. Very few GMs don’t have major blemishes – McFarland, Hughes, and Zito off the top of my head.
“This is much better than the ‘win now’ thing Holland started, and he gutted the org, halfway through Connor’s career, which is really what lead us to where that situation is”
Yes. Sounds right to me.
”…Cassidy, whose system is goalie friendly.”
This doesn’t rhyme for me. Vegans had some of the worst goalie/defensive stats past season, worse than Oilers 5v5.
I scratch my head at the fascination (fantastical thinking?) about Cassidy in Oilerville. He seems to have achieved mythical status, even though his successes in recent years are a shadow of the coach who just got fired, the coach whose team ousted the Cassidy Vegans in 5 games last year. What am I missing here?
Those are the surface facts, the coach can only do what he can with the roster. They are getting old, Stone always hurt etc
This season they lost Pietrangelo, Stone was messed up again, and they traded the wrong goalie. Marner took a while. The Oilers beat them, they were playing well and when they choose to they are better than any team except the panthers it seems
I am generally not a fan of firing the coach just to change things up, but the shine had definitely come off of Knoblauch, and whatever his methods were this past season, they certainly weren’t working. He might not have been the whole problem, but he wasn’t going to be the solution either.
Bowman needs to own his fair share of blame for this past season, and while he paid lip service, I don’t think he actually has.
A team with Stanley Cup aspirations simply cannot have Kasperi Kapanen as a top 6 winger. I don’t mind the player, and I like his contract, but he’s playing way too far up the line up.
Podkolzin put in 20 goals working alongside Draisaitl and does a lot of little things well. He belongs where he’s slotted. If, as LT wants, that line is going to be hard matched, the team needs a different 2RW.
The Oilers are going to have to use less than ideal players in certain roles because they are top heavy – that’s the trade off. And the coach’s job to get everyone to play as well as they can
In the Tulsky clip below he talks about what makes the Stankoven line work. I think Bowman has been moving the roster in that direction. More assertive players, faster players. To compete against the top teams now, the players have to have non stop motors and a high compete level. Holland likes vanilla players, and that was a problem in the toughest moments
For me Kapanen playing well is a good enough top 6 winger. He has top 6 talent and skill, inconsistency has been his issue. For me having 2 great lines and a 3rd that can stay on the ice with anyone is what will open things up. I think Connor will have a more typical Connor season. Everyone playing well it’s a match up nightmare
“…but the shine had definitely come off of Knoblauch”
Eureka! You have it in a nutshell. No shine, no value.
An upgrade for a 2RW would make a big difference for this team.
And no Nurse? Sneaky devil LT
Honestly, the Oilers have been an organization with a lack of imagination since we won the McDavid lottery. All the G.M. hires have been the famous men with spotty records who proceeded to hire vanilla head coaches with the same lack of imagination.
LT are you suggesting we match Drai against other teams top lines?
related, I found a great clip of Tulsky talking about how they handle their line matchups. They run the Staal line in the Dickinson role.
https://x.com/joeovies/status/2054615823201800678?s=46
im looking forward to Cassidy telling management the types of players he needs. Feels like that was always missing in the knob/bowman era. Seemed like knob and Bowman were not on the same page with a lot of the acquisitions and the plan for them.
Great clip. These things have been talked about, just it never happened. I think that is why KK is gone. Bowman is honest and careful in what he says and to me addressed it, the inability to create stability and implement systems was a big problem. Injuries shouldn’t derail a team, just make it weaker, I’m thinking more of the season than playoffs
I also think KK’s plan wasn’t the right one, which is at the heart of it. I am trying to read about Laviolette and Cassidy, and it’s leaning me strongly toward the latter. One piece talked to a ‘league source’ and they said Lav tried to run the offense through the D, and it took the forwards out of things too much – backwards
That is not good. It’s kind of what the Oilers have ended up doing
Jason Dickinson is not remotely Jordan Staal. He is also not remotely William Karlsson. And Nick Ehlers is playing with Staal. And Marshessault was playing with Karlsson when Vegas won the Cup.
The return of William Karlsson after missing nearly the entire season with VGK was a key element in their defeat of the Ducks.
Dickinson had very good results with the Hawks. But he needs to be with the right wingers to play that role. KK was not great at setting lines up, or he didn’t want to or whatever
Tulsky goes into the importance of this in Lenny’s clip
Dickenson is not Staal, nor Karlsson, and the Oilers do not have Ehlers or Marshessault to play with him, nor the generic big fast solid two way forward to play the other wing.
Dickenson is a 4th line centre. On the Oilers that is Samanski’s spot.
I don’t see the managers coaches and players being as useless as you do, and everyone else’s being so good. For most players the system and team play drive their results
Don’t they? Frederic? Samanski? Dach?
Frederic is not fast. Dach is not two-way. Samanski is a centre and not particularly fast.
A beautiful avoidance.
“What are we doing here?” — an evergreen question for Oilers’ fans.
Followed quickly by, “Oh! Look! A new shiny toy to solve all the problems!”
Ugh