The idea that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should play together five-on-five next season is fun to talk about, but doomed as a real plan. Why? The Oilers don’t have a second-line center who can outscore opponents and the team does have tremendous center depth if the coach just runs Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaiitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Josh Samanski up the middle on lines 1-4. The idea of placing the Glimmer Twins together is fantasy, and will/would last like a snowflake in a hot place.
Summer in Edmonton is the time for the damndest ideas to find their way to the collective thought bubble of the city. Remember in 2023 when we all wasted time talking about zone defense versus man to man? The idea being a group of six defensemen weren’t smart enough to hold both ideas in their brain parts. What a waste of time. It took away from more pressing concerns, too.
When we get bogged down in the silly, it successfully takes away time that should be spent on the real problems. Here are some important things to talk about:
- WHEN is Stan Bowman going to win another trade? The Podkolzin deal was some time ago. Is he creative enough to find solutions to Edmonton’s problems this summer?
- Does this organization fully understand why Kris Knoblauch was fired, and are they looking to replace him with a better coach? Or is this just window dressing?
- If Bowman is creative enough, why is Craig Berube the loudest noise for the coaching gig?
- What in h-e-double-hockey-sticks good does it do to bring Mike Babcock’s name up, aside from deflecting attention away from management inertia?
- Why is everyone talking about Connor Ingram as if he’s already gone?
- Why does it appear Kris Knoblauch and Mark Stuart are the only men who are going to be out of jobs this summer?
- Why does this organization always squander opportunity? The college and European signing season is complete (probably) and the team only added Owen Michaels (a substantial player) and Thomas Cibulka (an interesting player but likely to spend at least a year in Bakersfield),
- Why isn’t anyone talking about the ‘Rocket to Russia’ exit Maxim Berezkin will probably take when he spends two months in Bakersfield? Why do Russians dislike Bakersfield?
- Shouldn’t ownership and management be talking about ‘life after 97’ about now?
There are also positives to discuss. This roster didn’t fly against Anaheim, but there are things to like. When we get distracted by McDavid-Draisaitl or Mike Babcock, we miss an opportunity to focus on the important things. Top of the list: Is the current management group equipped for the challenge? Scotty Bowman was an all-time great coach, but he wasn’t a good general manager.
Is Stan a better GM than Scotty? That’s a good question to ponder.
I hate the talk of this year being the last chance texaco. The cap jump is ridiculous and McDavid’s discount will be even more impactful next year.
If things aren’t dire, I’d say keep McD for the full term of his contract. In all honesty, it might take two off seasons to right this ship, no sense sending him out early if the chalice is in reach.
There needs more brothers playing together in the NHL…
Huston and a 2nd for rights to Kirby Dach?
Is the habs PDO in the playoffs 150?
NST says
COL 1.007
CAR 1.013
Habs at 1.037
Vegans 1.052
The 5.5 million for a bull like Josh Anderson who’s in year 6 of 7 doesn’t seem so bad now does it?
Bobby McMann might sign in Edmonton for less.
The UFA class this offseason is abysmal and McMann will be looking to hit a home run after a career year.
$5 million is likely the floor.
McMann scored 10 goals in 18 games with Seattle. Say again, the Seattle Kraken.
Let’s say the contract year “push” and limit that to 8 goals in 18 games, that over 35 goals for an 82 game season, more next year.
Playing with Oil? Probably hits 40, but even 30 should get him 6×6 and I don’t mind if the Oil give that to him. The effort and style of play is also complementary to what this team needs.
Marchment would be nice, but I expect him to get more money and he’s not as good of a goal scorer.
Amthony mantha would be the guy i’d try to sign.
Still has plus skating and succeeded this year with penguins bu goimg hard to net like he was early in career. Kind of guy that looks like if put with real top 6 players he plays up to their level. 4 seasons of 20 or more HDGF. 32 HDGF 2022-2023 seasons between WSH and VGK which is nuts. Like he had 8 of them in 18 games after desdline for vegas.
How penguins got him on a 1 year deal for onmy 2.85 million seemed crazy especially given what we signed frederic for with justc1 20 Goal season.
6’5 240 lbs and like 70th percentile 20-22 MPH speed bursts. I’ve thought for quire awhile he seemed like a good target and he keeps gettinf signed and dealt for peanuts.
Like it would have taken the same assets as edmomton traded for frederic when WSH dealt him to VGK.
It was the trade i kimd of compared that deal to scratchinh my head why we paid so much for an injured bottom 6 player
Like compare the 2 however mamy years. It’s stupid ugly the difference and he’s cheaper.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playercompare.php?fromseason=20252026&thruseason=20252026&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=y&p1=8477511&p2=8479365&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single
Like we paid magniapane a millon more dollars with an extra year last offseason. It makes no sense. I would love to know if they even attempted to sign him. If they didn’t that’s an ugly ugly inditement of pro scouting and management.
Like roslovic and magniapane uneeded perimeter scoring and he’s way faster than magniapane.
I’d offer him 2-4 seasons at likely less than mcmann will get for surely longer term.
I can’t speak for everyone but my objections to Anderson were always about the contract
With the majority of it burned off now he’d look great in our top 9 next year with an expiring contract– wishful thinking of course for an Oilers team that is capped out
Wishful thinking as Habs are just getting started. Oilers, we shall see…
Sweden has an extremely low chance of qualifying for the QFs, now, with Norway having to fail badly against the Danes to not lock up 4th
Germany just helped USA out immensely by beating Austria – USA now has a clear path to advance, if it beats Hungary in regulation and Austria in any fashion.
This presumes that Austria is likely losing against Finland, so any loss against USA will put it behind USA on tie-breaker (OTL) or actual points (L), while Germany came on too little, too late, and will finish with 10 pts.
If Austria earns a single point against Finland (e.g. makes it to OT), then USA would have to beat Austria in regulation to advance.
Meanwhile, Latvia well poised to finish 3rd in Group A with 12 pts
Norway just beat Sweden. Makes me feel a bit better for us needing OT to beat the Norwegians.
I think Murphy is the only one that comes back out of Dickerson-Rosolovic. It’s time for the new coach to inject some life into the bursting at the seams players up front like Samanski-Howard-Hutson-Berezkin-Poulin-Dach-Clattenburg. It’s too bad Jarventie split the scene before the coaching change as he rightly came to the conclusion that he was always going to be blocked. Time to use and abuse our youth cutback on the vets icetime. We were not fresh it’s as simple as Connor-Leon not being over 80% against the Ducks whose goalie was leaking all over the place.
Depends on the new coach for Javentie. Perhaps it was Curlock who said that he doesn’t have the best first steps, which is a big problem at the NHL level – can’t separate, can’t get to plays on time
Sound familiar? I was reading up on Cassidy and came across stuff about Frederic. Fred did better under Montgomery. Cassidy thought that Frederic needed to get more jump in his first steps, could be interesting. Frederic’s seasons under Jim were more productive
Fred seems like the type of guy who will improve in that area….. just get him on the Podkolzin program.
I do not think Cassidy is signing up to coach a bunch of rookies, unless the Oilers owner offers a really large long deal.
Cassidy has not coached a bunch of rookies and young players in a long time.
If Bowman was in the States he could have brought in Quenneville without much flack from the weekend SJW. Joel
would of been a perfect coach he’s done a wonderful job in Anaheim.
Bowman was hired by the Oilers July/24 and Quenneville was hired by the Ducks in May/25. It would have been a weird and unwarranted move in that timeframe to fire Kris between 2 trips to the SCF’s.
I know but it just seemed like K.K and Stan were never on the same page in many areas. The ruthless move by Vegas is looking mighty sweet especially once they bounce crybaby MacKinnon. Torts is playing the refs like a fiddle so far as he’s dictating the flow which is very much Vegas hockey at the moment. Never underestimate the head coach firing bounce in the NHL.
He became available to coach when Knob had been to back to back Stanley Cup finals.
I agree that Murphy is likely prioritized and re-signed.
I can’t imagine Roslovic being back and I agree its unlikely on Dickinson but I wouldn’t close the door on it.
I imagine Samanski is pencilled in as 4C to start the season.
Howard is a lock to make the team, at the very least to take on Roslovic’s role, and likely more.
Dach is a lock to be re-signed as on RFA and on the roster.
Hutson is highly unlikely to make the roster – tweener and Howard eats his lunch as a hockey player.
Poulin is a Group VI UFA – I’d like to bring him back but he likely moves on to another org. Even if brought back, despite a strong stretch drive, he is a distant bell to make the team.
Clattenbrug – if he commits to playing hockey and developing, he could be an option in the 2nd half – big If given recent showings.
I’d bring both Murphy and Dickinson back in the order.
Is tomorrow a big night for Bednar and even McFarland/Sakic?
I mean, the cup happened and that is on that resume, but a 3rd round loss this year would be yet another year falling below expectations – essentially the entire Bednar/MacKinnon era except the one cup year……
I can’t see Colorado firing anyone in the wake of this season unless MacKinnon/Makar/Landeskog throw someone under the bus. They’re getting goalie pretty good and Makar is hurt so the internal narrative probably won’t come for coaching and management regardless of where fault may lie.
Bednar to the Oilers confirmed
If the Avalanche do not follow Vegas’s lead.
Why in the world would the org talk about this in public?
They wouldn’t but they also didn’t talk about Cassidy or Berube in public and yet we found out.
As an Oilers fan, as opposed to a McD-Oilers fan, I would hope they’ve planning for “life after 97” for some time. Apparently, Holland wasn’t. It looks like Bowman may be.
Life after 97 is inevitable. In the medium term, there will be life after peak 97. If he stays with the team, this is —contra our host— an excellent time for him to become a 200-ft player. It might be what helps the team become a Cup winner.
I would say it almost happened last fall as it seemed to me that McDavid was close to moving on from Edmonton last fall.
I wouldn’t mind if the draft transpired like this for the Oilers, though I find it hard to believe they’d select only forwards.
Certainly like those top 2 picks, unfamiliar with the last two.
My pie in the sky ideal draft would be something like:
2) Chase Harrington – already spoken of plenty, think a trade up may be required to get him
3) Mans Gudmansson – big Swede RD, late bday, can skate and outlet well, also very physical with a bit of chaos in that regard.
6) annual goalie of choice, for now will go with 6’5 Czech Martin Psohlavec – ridiculous Jr league numbers (8 shutouts!) and excellent as the U18 national team starter recently.
7) Jonas Woo – younger brother of Jett, total wildcard overager. Small RD but dynamic skater and scorer. Near 30 goals with Med Hat this year. Even if just topping out at Joey Laleggia 2.0 I still want him haha.
HM go to:
Casper Karlsson (exciting Swedish waterbug fwd played on the wjc and shl teams in his draft year despite size)
Darian Rolsing (6’6 German mobile RD playing in Wenatchee, taking a second crack at developing a Max Wanner type)
LT, I don’t know if some of your discussion questions are purposely a little satirical but there’s a few that go directly against your argument of being bogged down by the silly. A sampling:
WHEN is Stan Bowman going to win another trade? The Podkolzin deal was some time ago. Is he creative enough to find solutions to Edmonton’s problems this summer?
Walman was a huge contributor to getting to the SCF, I think it’s silly not to call this trade a win. Murphy and Ingram also should be counted as wins. While not trades, Kapanen and Klingberg for free were also value adds.
Does this organization fully understand why Kris Knoblauch was fired, and are they looking to replace him with a better coach? Or is this just window dressing?
If Bowman is creative enough, why is Craig Berube the loudest noise for the coaching gig?
All the verbiage around Cassidy being our #1 target runs counter to your suggestions.
Why does this organization always squander opportunity? The college and European signing season is complete (probably) and the team only added Owen Michaels (a substantial player) and Thomas Cibulka (an interesting player but likely to spend at least a year in Bakersfield).
Last year we added Regula, Carfagna, Samanski, Leppanen, and Marjala. We also pounced on an opportunity to get a disgruntled Hobey Baker winner. This year we added a top 10 College FA in a 32 team league. At some point adding more is a negative because we anger the guys who have shown well by blocking their opportunities a la Holloway and Broberg. There’s only 23 NHL spots and so many impact AHL spots to go around.
The Walman acquisition was helpful, but Bowman must also own the injry issue and the long-term contract. I can’t say the Walman acquisition and signing was a clear win. There’s real danger there.
Cassidy would be an ideal choice. If Bowman lands him, I will give all the flowers in the shop.
The Oilers need to stay aggressive in procurement of college and European free agents. They might offend some players who get pushed out, but the team has no choice. This is an era where throwing a bunch of prospects against a wall to see who sticks is the only real way to do it. I do like what Bowman is doing here, but need more of it.
All very fair points that make for good discussion. But also a bit tangential to the initial questions in your blog which I just wanted to state was ironically pushing us to getting bogged down by silly hyperbole around the team instead of focusing on the real problems 😉
I think Mike Babcock as a talking point is miles from the discussion points I made in the original piece. That said, we all see these issues from our own lens.
The broberg non match led to having to pay a first round pick which led to the Walman overpay. While I like Walman more than most his contract is quite risky.
That first round pick and especially that stupid Dickinson first round pick could come quite handy right about now as desperately need some forward help
Letting Broberg and Holloway go, essentially for free, was the worst decision the Oilers ever made–worse than trading Taylor Hall by far. That egregious decision epitomizes exactly what has been wrong with the way the Oilers are managed: they refuse to recognize the talent and potential in up and coming players, and over-estimate the value of players who are well past their prime.
The trade for Griffin Reihnart was worse. But there are so many bad decisions, it is hard to remember them all.
The refusal you cite is, I think, born of impatience to “win now.” That seems to be the curse of the McD draft: everything is running on “McD time,” as @Godot10 calls it.
It seems that’s the clock that’s been ticking here, for mgt and fans, in Oilerville since 2015.
One of my questions: Did Chiarelli set that clock ticking, or was he simply acting on behalf of the owner’s impatience?
Next season is the reason they didn’t match on Bro. 8M, you can’t have that Nurse and Bouch. They could have matched and traded him later, but was 3LD going to work for him, because that would have been the spot. Who knows
Broberg is only $1 million more than Walman and a much better D.
Dach could be the key to the deal and if Murphy knowing Bowman signs a team friendly deal and covers the bet this may turn into a sweet deal.
You consistently cite it as a first round pick for Dickinson which dishonestly misrepresents the transaction.
The Walman trade is not a win considering the loss of Broberg. Walman cost a 1st round pick, and now is signed to a ridiculous contract. Walman was also the wrong shot.
If you dig a hole, the hole has to be filled completely and more before one can consider it a win.
An only Samanski has a chance of competing in McDavid Time.
Those who pay closer attention to posters know I’m not currently on the Bowman is terrible bus. Currently being the key word, if every single person in the org isn’t pushing forward they will never get where they want to go
Every deal SB has made so far has solid reasoning behind it. The results based on outcomes so far haven’t panned out, they might still. The targets are the right types. Stats, input from players asked, pointed to the moves. Look up Kevin Woodley on Tristan Jarry, you might be surprised. Given who was available at what cost, which we don’t know, I would have made that bet if a move had to be made for whatever reasons
So why haven’t things worked out? This is where SB needs to be looking. Every GM has to rely on their staff, there are too many factors for one person to keep a handle on. Are the pro scouts able to go past what the stats people say and get into what the players as people are like? What is going on with health, and what type of systems and coaches they can perform under – is the fit right?
My take is no it’s not been good enough. So that needs to be fixed. If it’s not we can expect more stumbling. The amateur side and Euro sides seem great, they are finding players
This.
The digging beyond even any posession metric or advanced stats type appeal and question fit.
One of holland’s worst deals IMO was AA one. For reason’s i’ve never really heard express. Like knowing the player as well as he woukd have where was he supposed to fit?
AA’s offensive benefit and real scoring abilities were clearly puck posession speed kills rushing style.
Him lining up eith mcdavid drai was truly gruesome to watch. Like it made absolutely zero sense.all tgis guy brings seems redundant.in a way and he honestly wasn’t overly much of a threat without puck on his stick.
Like for the life of me it just seemed obvious very early.
And i truly think magniapane wpuld also have clearly made very little sense as well if anyome really thoroughly looked at tape of him the previous couple seasons.
Like reactive “need to get something here what is left?” Reactive feeling type decisions.
Same as this coaching fiasco and many other versions of it…like thinking long game well ahead truly seems lacking in grand scheme.
And that might be okay if thimgs pop up unexpected….but like not always this hard target painted in corner type
Desperation.
Even deadline additions this year. Don’t hate them but was opportunity cost of assets even weighed against what they might be used for at a later junction? Like did anyome sit down draw up lists if offer sheet potential candidates in offseason.or potential ptodpects thst might be in rsnge if picks kept type deep value assessments. It really has never felt here like any iteration of management is playing chess thinkimg moves ahead. Just a checker player hoping luck holds up in a game odds are againat them without luck really factoring for quite awhile.
And this makes sense in a fire them all mentality every off season.
And that’s why this knoblauch move is most frustrating it doesn’t really feel like decidion based on true deep dive forensic type methodology it feels like owner or people in room who shouldn’t be directly influencing things knee jerking once again.
Bowman wanted more assertive players, has a tight cap, lots of no moves, and had no farm system to speak of. Mangi fit the bill, I wonder if the agent said his shoulder was fine, because it is after surgery his game dropped. It’s been a couple of years, but that is the kind of thing that pro scouts need to assess properly
I think we will see less or no UFA forwards soon enough, because the system should have enough in it to use young cheaper players. D is still a problem in system depth, and goalies aren’t quite there, but they have some promising ones
As for the deadline, there is no way SB could sit back and not do everything he could to improve the team. The only way they could do nothing is if they were out of the playoffs. Draft picks take years to develop, and later ones are low odds to being more than replacement level non impact types. Which you need, but are the easiest players to get
With the emergence of Podkolzin-Savoie playing on skill lines makes Howard expendable and our best trading chip. Bowman has done some deals that didn’t go to plan but he has replenished the forward group with big skilled forwards. Frederic was on his own early last year until Clattenburg aided with some heavy lifting. Frederic on a island by himself will not happen again the scratching of him in the playoffs by K.K when he was playing well was costly for K.K. Will see how the new coach handles a passive Frederic who can be effective playing to his strengths which do not include him getting fed to a bull like Olivier.
I posit that Howard’s value to the Oilers on his ELC over the next two season far outweighs his trade value.
The Oilers have one locked and loaded established top 6 winger, Zack Hyman who may be passed being healthy for 82 games.
Issac Howard has all the runway he needs.
Clattenburg was (a) very effective in the AHL, (b) effective in his limited role in the NHL and (c) a complete ineffective tire fire and regressed material upon re-assignent in the AHL.
Here is hoping Clatt had his “come to Jesus moment” and will work on playing hockey to develop in to an NHL player.
I agree Clattenburg not going to last long taking on heavyweights. He needs to be a forechecking pest instead of sticking up for his teammates over every little incident. Is Poulin going to get an opportunity? What’s holding him back is it his first step-edges he definitely is skilled for big man. Sometimes it takes years for a big fella to grow into his skin and then poof you have a Patty Maroon.
Its not even about not taking on heavyweights and I’m 100% fine if Clatt sticks up for his teammates but that hasn’t been a primary part of his game – he’s the one creating the mayhem, hunting for big (and often dirty) hits and fights. There was no time to forecheck as he spent more time on the box than on the ice (and then, ultimately, IR.
He needs to commit to playing hockey, staying out of the box (to a degree), touching the puck, making players, playing at pace, etc., etc.
Poulin is a poor mans’ Ralph Lavoie.
There is no way taking on Jarry’s contract made any sense.
No way?
I was not a fan of the trade because I didn’t think Skinner was “the problem.” But I have listened to goalie people since who’ve suggested Jarry, when healthy, is a better fit, stylistically, for the way the Oilers play. I’m hoping he comes to camp healthy, with confidence.
His cost is not excessive for a starting goalie (the current over-valuation of goalies across the NHL is another topic). If he’s healthy and confident, he should be that guy for the Oilers.
Pronger was on Oilers Now yesterday advocating for Laviolette as head coach for Edmonton based on his time playing under him with Philly. Laviolette uses man-to-man. Stauffer seemed less than thrilled about the man-based proposal. For all the noise about zone from Stauffer, three of the four semi-finalists this season use man-to-man. Montreal in particular has been very successful playing very simple hockey. They are just battling hard and getting goaltending. If St Louis can get an Adams nomination and get to the conference finals with simple tactics, it causes me to question just how crucial the tactics are. One thing is for certain: St.Louis, Brind’Amour, Bednar and Tortorella are all more engaged with their players on the bench than Knoblauch or Laviolette. I don’t recall Knoblauch ever being caught on camera engaging an individual player whereas the four finalists this year do it all the time.
I think tactics are very important, but that can go too far. Complicating things slows players and makes it harder for new and young players. To play fast you can’t be thinking too much
To me the two finals were a tactical fail, and Connor sure thinks that. Cassidy is said to quickly adjust to opponents and counter them in game. I hope they get him. He also does accountability top down, which has been lacking
I remember the first final being an injury issue, not a tactical one.
Connor and some others might be better suited to play man-to-man. If players are not able to execute a system at a high level, the tactical advantage offered by the system disappears. There seems to be consensus that Cassidy has a better system. Can Connor execute it? He was not able to fully execute Knoblauch’s system this year.
I’m watching the Habs play man-to-man. It’s hard, hard work. But, I agree that McD may be better suited to this work. He likes to skate hard. It may make responsible play tangible to him as physical work. It may be why PK was a fit for him.
As for the “consensus that Cassidy has a better system [than Knoblauch, I presume],” so far I’ve only heard opinions and hearsay. This Oilers team, playing Knoblauch’s system, beat the Vegans, playing Cassidy’s system, in five games last spring. The Vegans, playing Cassidy’s system, had worse 5v5 defensive metrics than Knoblauch’s Oilers, this past season. I’m still confused about where the “Cassidy is the saviour of the Oilers” came from.
As I recall, McD complained about “banging his head against the wall,” or something like that. I assumed he was recognizing his bad habit of trying to do it all (offensively) by himself, and only half-heartedly attending to the defensive game. That tactic certainly is a failing tactic. It will be increasingly so as he ages.
Staples article on Pronger appearance:
https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/edmonton-oilers-peter-laviolette-bob-stauffer-new-coach
We need some perspective.
Jim Nill has won the GM year a lot and has never won a Stanley Cup in Dallas. His core group has not won and he continues to provide a very good team every year. Nobody is calling his neck.
Nurse – The minute you trade him you will need to replace him. Edmonton hates over paid athletes and the vocal ones are unified until these expensive athletes are driven out of town. Long live the folklore of Huddy, Fogilin and Gator working for the love of playing in Edmonton.
The Oilers will be playing hockey long after Connor retires. The “win now” is one of the most misplaced strategies Edmonton’s media can clamor and they all endorse it.
Kris and Mark are gone because they couldn’t make last years roster better. If you operate a piece of equipment for any company and underperform, your job is at risk, it is not complicated.
If the next 25 year old Russian can’t make the opening roster on this team’s third or fourth line, six months in the AHL is not going to make him an significant NHL player.
I’m glad you’ve shared this view.
Edmonton may only have McDavid for a couple more years, but the Oilers will survive for a lifetime. It’s all well and good to chase a cup, but the team needs to be managed for sustained success.
Dallas has not won a cup, but they will be competitive for another 10 years given the relative youth of their stars.
A few days ago I posted that NHL teams should avoid trading 1st round picks unless they’re getting core pieces in return. For that reason I believe trades for Henrique and Dickinson were perhaps poor ideas.
I’d love for the McDavid Oilers to win the Cup, but I’d also like them to make the playoffs 80+% of the time between now and 2040. It’s possible … but management needs to have a mindset of perpetual competitiveness.
And the joke of course is that slow and steady from 2015 on probably results in a cup winning juggernaut. Oh well!
This is tragically accurate
It’s never too late to start doing it right. Much better that, than continuing to chase the tail of “win now.”
I agree. The team’s decisions should be “team-focused”, not “Connor-focused”; there is a real difference.
The questions being posed to management here remind me of “is our children learnin’?”
I hesitate to guess what the answer is….
Edit: replied to wrong post.
Speaking of Cibulka, he has 2 pts so far for the Czechs this tourney. I enjoy his style of play and am excited to see what impact he has in Bako this season.
Only able to see the 3rd period vs the Slovaks today but he has looked quite comfortable in regular mins., more often on the right side.
He is a beautiful skater, as advertised, and confident in holding/walking the line in the o zone.
It is a Saturday morning in May and Oilers have been on the outside looking in (but mostly golfing, probably) for a few weeks now. There are several questions remaining about this club.
In my opinion, the last 2 offseason has pushed the organization backwards. Despite all their warts in 2024-25, this team made it to the Finals for a second year in a row. It was highly improbable with more subtractions than additions to the roster.
This season, aside from the substantial growth in the games of all of Podkolzin, Emberson and Savoie, and the emergence of Samanski, there were mostly negatives.
This offseason is crucial.
This will be the season that Nurse is mostly sent out of town. The question is, will it have a net positive or net negative impact?
Does Bednar survive in Colorado if the Avs lose?
Depends on the conversation when Joe takes David to lunch.
Bednar is 6/9 in the 1st round and 2/6 in the 2nd round. I can’t see them firing him after his second most successful season if they didn’t fire him after last year’s first round loss.
How many times does his team have to fall far short of expectations though? Its been every season but one (the cup).
What’s a “realistic” expectation in a very competitive 32-team league? As a young Habs fan I expected the Cup every year during the 70s. Oilers fans, I imagine, expected a Cup every year during the late 80s. Maybe Colorado fans expect a Cup every decade? They have a very successful, very entertaining hockey team. Maybe they’re excited to have a coach and GM and team that gets into the playoffs every year? Maybe that’s enough?
I don’t see that a regular purging of coaches and GMs is getting any club consistent Cup wins. I may be missing something though.
I am all for running McDavid, Drai, Nuge and Samanski at center. I only think about a Dickinson re-sign if it’s $3MM or under and short term.
Hyman, Savoie, Podz, Howard, and add, Kap, Frederic, maybe Berezkin, etc. They can fill out a top 9 no problem.
Depth for injuries would be an issue but what about Savoie getting center reps – he has the pedigree.
It worked with Taylor Hall, it can work with Savoie!
Taylor Hall was never a center at the junior (or later) level.
Savoie was a center his entire amateur career (I believe).
Savoie actually played centre, Hall was always a winger I believe.
I suspect the reason that the Oilers are talking about McD/Drai on the same line is that they are targeting a 2C and a 3C. McD/Drai/RNH/Samanski is great but if Samanski is 4, who is 5? Can Savoie play 2C? i’m willing to say yes but I think the Oilers want 6 or 7 options at centre and particularly a RHC (Savoie would fit!).
Every Oilers coach so far has loaded up the 1-Line repeatedly. I don’t see a way for them to not want at least 2 more centres in this group.
Fair enough but I would suggest:
1) its Stauffer talking about it, not the org (and he does spitball personal opinions all the time – not everything is a float from the org). How does Stauff say they want/need a “veteran coach with gravitas” but also mandate that coach deploy a certain way?
2) its tough to see them afford an external 3C add (a legit one) let alone a 2C and 3C, right
3) Every coach has played them together, and they should, here and there but structuring the team around that and starting that way – only Knob has done that, and it couldn’t have failed any harder early this past season, right?
Read a good read on Trading Nurse this AM on X . The author ( Matthewjdp) had a very insightful write up and a good point was that Nurse would be wise and probably has or will move his trade clause this Summer or before the draft because he still has control of where he goes. Next summer if not moved he has the modified list. It sounds like Detroit, San Jose and Toronto would or could be teams he would waive for. The article also says a lot of GM’s feel Nurse is an effective 2nd pairing D man. His contract has already had most of the Big cash paid out and actual pay is 7.5ish mill per season for the team that takes him( would still be the full 9.25 against the cap) .
So maybe it is possible that Nurse is a bit more attractive and maybe the Oilers actually won’t have to add and retain and would get a return. Freeing up 9.25 would be massive for the upcoming season.
He had a couple mock trades that were very interesting if that is what the return would be
To Detroit. Darnell Nurse
To Edmonton. Cossa and a 1st
To SAN Jose. Darnell Nurse and Emberson
To Edmonton. Eklund 53 points (starts 5.6 next season. Definitely top 6 offensive talent) and Cagnoni ( 43 points). Now not sure on this one and them giving up that much. But both are speedy , young ( smallish 5.9 and 5.10) .
But the article was a very good read and definitely makes you feel there is an actual market for Nurse where we gain and are not giving up anything ( maybe we have to eat a mill?)
If I’m Nurse, I don’t waive. Winning a Stanley Cup is the goal, and a team looking to win is unlikely to deal for Nurse due to the size of the contract. Stay put. Oilers still have a chance at Stanley.
Devils advocate – players and teams aren’t always the most objective.
What if Nurse thinks he can be the next Jones or Dobson to help put his new team into the Stanley Cup tier? Lindholm, Chychrun, and Trouba as lesser examples of this.
SJ, Detroit, LA, NJ, and Philly are examples of time that may think they’re ready for this type of jump too and can (re)prioritize cap space here
If I’m Bowman, I let Nurse know that he’s gone the following summer, and that he won’t have any control over that process.
The Oilers will never win a Stanley with Nurse in their lineup. He fades playoffs, instead of rising to the moment. There is half a decade worth of advanced stats that supports that.
Except he DOES have control over the process next season. Nurse has (I believe) a 10-team no trade list.
And in this cap environment a 10 team is as good as a no trade. I mean Vegas could move him but Edmonton doesn’t have the capacity
Great – so he can’t be traded to Winnipeg.
Last time I looked, there are 21 other teams in the league.
Lots of teams to trade him to … with the cap jumping significantly again next summer, most if not all of them will have the cap space … and if the Oilers retain 1-2 million, he’s going to have positive value in a market where there are very few quality D-men available.
Think about it … there’s a good chance that Darren Raddysh is going to have a similar or higher AAV than Nurse when he signs this summer … at age 30, probably for 7 years contract term.
Absolutely, there is a market for Nurse this summer after his bonus is paid out. NTC clauses have not stopped other teams from getting rid of players that needed to move on.
True but at the same point being blamed as the reason the team hasn’t won a cup is gonna be pretty hard on him and his kids.
This smacks too much of looking in the rearview mirror, which results in colliding with what lies ahead. Better to plan for the future and make “team-focused” rather than “Connor-focused” decisions. What is in the best interests of the team is more important than fixating on any one player or goal.
He’s drunk. Very drunk.
while the GMs will look at this crop of free agents and very quickly go meh, not worth it and start sorting through the trash heap. A first and Cossa is not a reasonable expectation. I mean that’s an oilers homer pipe dream proposal.
The Jacob Trouba trade to Anaheim might be instructive here.
Trouba’s contract with the Rangers had a 15 team no trade clause.
New York attempted to trade him to open up salary cap space. Because Trouba had trade protection, the deal fell through. The Rangers reportedly gave him an ultimatum to either accept a trade or face being placed on waivers, which he refused.
Trouba said his breaking point was when the Rangers told him to accept a trade or end up on waivers, from which his no-trade clause would not protect him.
The standoff eventually resulted in the Rangers trading their former captain to the Anaheim Ducks.
Given the difficulty of trading Trouba and his full $8 million cap hit, the Rangers received only a conditional 4th round pick and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen in return.
Vaakanainen was originally a 2017 1st round pick of the Bruins and has played a total of only 80 games over two seasons with the Rangers and of course NY got full cap relief from the Trouba contract while the Ducks got 134 games from Trouba before he hit UFA status this offseason.
Nurse continues to have a NMC for the duration of his contract when the 10 team NTC kicks in for the 27/28 season. He can’t be waived.
Correct, Trouba wasn’t agreed to waive his clause except when being put on waivers became a real option.
Nurse has $6m in signing bonuses scheduled to be paid in each of July 1/26, /27, /28, /29. Those signing bonuses are guaranteed and buy-out proof. He’s still owed $29.6m ($24m bonuses, $5.6m salary) over the next 4 years (45.7%). It’s a pretty steep price for a trading partner so they would likely look to the Oilers for retention, and I don’t think anyone will want to trade for him before the draft because they’d have to pay his first $6m signing bonus on July 1/26. The conversation is different after July 1/27 when he will only be owed $15.6m over the next 3 years, and his control is more limited to a 10 team NTC.
From the player’s perspective, he and his wife are settled in Edmonton with 3 young children including a 3-month old, he is considered part of the leadership core by his teammates, and has complete control to stay put for the next season. During this contract the team has made the finals 2 of the 3 years. McDavid is signed for the next 2 seasons and Drai & Bouchard are signed long term. Why would he want to leave? I can’t see him waiving to be moved this upcoming season. He’s going to want to play with this group while they can still contend for a Cup.
He’s not going anywhere Nurse can skate like the wind. The key is to find a stay at home physical rock that allows Nurse to do what he does best which was the reason he was drafted so high. Nurse is the Nickleback of Hockey lots of hate for no reason. How can you blame the player for signing the deal that could of easily been had by the G.M years earlier for a lot less.
I read that the other day and still don’t agree with his premise of positive value at the $9.25MM cap hit.
I think he is a legit top 4 d-man and any team would want him but not at $9.25MM.
Retain, say $1.5MM and maybe it takes away most negative value.
Retain $3MM and he’s a $6.25MM d-man with some positive value.
Retain $4MM and you’ve got a value contract and real trade value.
An issue is, if Nurse is willing to waive, I presume we are talking about a small handful of team – I’m not sure Detroit is the place he wants to raise his young family even if its close in proximity to his hometown.
Nurse is on Team Canada. He wouldn’t be there if they had a negative view of him you would think
Ummm, with respect, read the post again.
I acknowledge that all teams would value him and want him but not at $9.25M and, of course, his cap hit doesn’t matter a single iota to Team Canada.
Honestly I don’t even want to talk about the Oilers at this point. The Stanley cup playoffs takes center stage and it certainly has been an interesting show. I’m not surprised VGK is up staging the Avs but I’m a little surprised with the Habs, hope they can win again tonight.
As much as I hate to say it the Golden Knights might be going all the way. I’d be OK with a Canadiens vs Golden Knights SCF.
GO HABS!!!
Gross.
Run along to the Habs forum, you’re in the wrong place.
Pretty slim pickings as an Oiler fan who to cheer for.
Vegas gross
Colorado they already won the cup per DSF so why cheer for them
Carolina. Yuck. They stole our cup
Montreal. Meh, they have one of my central Wisconsin neighbors on their team so I guess
“Colorado they already won the cup per DSF so why cheer for them”
Is that how he has been coping? What happened to “it’s just a matter of how many cups they win” now
I DO NOT want to see the Vegans in the Final, and am very surprised at how fragile the Avalanche are (Makar is said to be one of the best, but Oilers had fight with two of the best playing hurt…)
I became a Habs fan during the Dryden miracle of ‘71, but only started enjoying hockey again after 40+ years away as I watched the Oilers be beautiful and up for anything under Knoblauch’s flag in late ‘23. I started to watch Habs again late ‘24 as I saw a club playing sometimes beautiful, almost always up for anything under St. Louis. Then I started to wonder about how they went from last to Florida-beaters (both teams)? What can Oilers learn?
Lansky occasionally says interesting things on Lowetide. Yesterday he said (I’m paraphrasing), In Oilerville there’s too much listening to outside voices; in Montreal, they don’t care what outside voices are saying. Looking at the curious decisions made by mgt in Oilerville in the McD Era, and recalling what several in mgt and coaching have said about life in Montreal, I am drawing the conclusion that the difference is owners and their willingness to let the people they hire do their job, without interference.
Which brings me to Lansky’s other interesting opinion from yesterday’s show: this group of players is uncoachable, so it doesn’t matter who is brought in to replace Knoblauch. This follows from the first: when players know they have the ear of the owner, why listen to the coach?
@Spartacus – you think it’s “gross” that some of us are rooting for and talking about the Habs. I submit that’s part of the problem with every highly charged partisan situation: resistance to learning what others can teach us. Given how the Habs have gone from SCF to zero to Conference finalists in five years —and without a saviour—, given that Oilers mgt MUST be planning for life after the McD Era, there’s a couple of excellent reasons to be taking and sharing notes here.
I have just recently started look at the Habs roster. There will be plenty of narratives about why this team is good, but oh boy they have done some nice things with roster construction.
The age cluster is just outstanding. They have an inordinate number of good players all under 26.
Their 4rth line centre playing 8 minutes per game these playoffs, Oliver Kapanen, had 22 goals in the regular season. He’s 22.
One amazing thing about the Habs roster is that they have 12 former first round picks playing for them.
Danault was a great pick up, it stabilized things I think. Someone to play hard D and able to take match ups. Which is why Dickinson at the right price has more impact for the Oilers than many think. Danault had dried up as well, and Dickinson showed in playoffs he has some game – on a broken foot
Danault also brings “gravitas” (that Bob Stauffer word again!) to that young, largely untested roster. Dick might have that too…
What impresses me about Montreal is how tenaciously they ALL play, and how well they play as a team. They move the puck ably in all directions, adopting a small group approach to moving the puck up the ice with small, smart passes in all directions. They skate like the wind. Reminds me a bit of a Todd Nelson coached team that the Oilers jettisoned for a depressing Dallas Eakins’ approach. When one juxtaposes the Oilers with this Montreal team, the weaknesses and imbalances of the Oiler roster are obvious.
A hot Goalie can make a G.M-Coach look like a genus. St.Louis has the plumbers buying in as everyone is doing what they’re asked to and not more as in do your own job.
Agreed. But this hot goalie was part of an unsettled goalie situation reminiscent of the Oilers, going back at least a full season in Montreal. In January the goalie talk in Habsville was very much like the goalie talk in Oilerville. Even then, MSL had the team working hard, having fun, overachieving.
Theyre not all plumbers who are working hard, either. @Fib mentioned the high number of former high draft picks in the lineup. Players who’ve found new life with the Habs and MSL. I think that is beginning to show up in GMSB’s Oilers, players who’ve found new were drafted high but didn’t turn out elsewhere. Podz, Kapanen, Dach. We were beginning to see something. I wonder what comes next… (I think this may be how a team transitions from being a superstar vehicle, to being a team of talented, passionate teammates)
Why are you not surprised by Vegas?
They’re built for the playoffs and now they have goaltending. It’s been easy for Torts because Cassidy coached them well and the players know how to play winning hockey.
Per Vic Lombardi:
Bednar on Makar:
“It’s gonna be Cale’s decision on if he’s coming back. He’s doing all the work. I don’t make that decision for him.”
—————
Not sure I love that by the coach – basically saying he’s cleared and it’s about if Makar is willing to play though pain, right?
Listening to the post-game interview with Bednar, that’s not the complete quote. He said, “It’s gonna be Cale’s decision on when he’s coming back. He’s doing all the work he can possibly do to come back as fast as he can, and when we get word he can come back, that’s great, but I don’t make that decision for him. At 3:10 here: Jared Bednar on Cale Makar, Avs Top Line Being OUTPLAYED & More After Going Down 0-2 vs Vegas
I don’t think Makar’s willingness to play through pain is an issue because if it’s a shoulder injury like people are saying, you can have the highest pain threshold out there and your shoulder still won’t work the way it needs to, to be effective and help the team. The medical team can clear him when the injury is healed enough to return, but the player knows his body and has a say in how strong he feels to deal with the physical part of the game because the Knights will be hitting him every chance they can get.
I thought the medical staff made the decision? Bednar certainly makes it sound like it’s Makar’s decision.
Bednar was referring to the medical staff when he said, “when we get word”, i.e. from the medical staff. But then when that happens, Makar still has to feel ready. He and the medical team are working together on this.
I read it differently. I don’t read anything about Makar bring “cleared.” I read that he’s “doing all the work.” That sounds like rehab, to me.
Perhaps but he said “its Cale’s decision” which, to me, implies he can play if he wants.
I imagine what that means is that medically Makar is not cleared to play. As in, you can leave the hospital but the doctor thinks you should stay. You won’t die but that doesn’t mean there aren’t risks.
Makar is likely in that situation. He “can” play, he can’t be forced to play. Cleared/not cleared doesn’t exist as a binary so I think Bednar is saying that Makar’s injury is in the grey area of he can skate but he might not be able to make a pass or take a shot at a reasonable level.
With my respect, I don’t agree with the analogy.
I mean, they can’t keep you in the hospital against doctor’s advise, the patient has a choice. If the doctors don’t clear a player, he can’t play, the players has no choice.
When Bednar says it’s Makar’s choice, it infers (or at least I imply) that if he chooses to play, he’s in which presumes medical clearance.
Could it be a Kelfbom type of scenario.
The idea of McDavid and Drai playing together continues to be put forth by Stauffer and, from what k can tell, only Stauffer.
We know Stauff is as insider as there is with the Oilers but he also provides simple opinion all the time. Lots and lots of what he puts out does not come to fruition.
The Oilers don’t even have a coach, how can high end deployment mandates be out there? I don’t think they can. I don’t think they hire their coach based on an express agreement to play them together, right?
The new coach whoever he may be might have something to say about that.
Exactly my point, the new coach will make this determination unless a “must-have” during the interview process is the coach agreeing to play them together and I don’t imagine for a single second management (nor management on behalf of 29/97) will require that.
Of note, Leon has been better and more effective away from Connor recently.
One would hope. But maybe Stauffer has higher connections?
Do you think that Stan Bowman (or Jackson or the owner) will mandate the new coach to play them together (and that would be part of the interview process)?
I don’t.
OP, I have no idea what the owner or PoHo or GM will or will not do. I do find our fascination with the words of Bob Stauffer curious, because there seems to sometimes be an inference that he has conversations with the hockey gods of Oilerville, who ever they may be. It’s all very mysterious (and that mystery is much more interesting to me than the 10-year debate about whether McDrai should play together). Why does BS pronounce with such authority? Why do the fans and pundits of Oilerville pour over his utterances with earnest concern?
Agreed. I’m perplexed by the reverence accorded to Stauffer’s opinions.
Totally. I appreciate Stauffers insights as an insider, but I don’t know why I would put much stock into his opinions on how the team should be run.
If you’re looking to acquire a 2C in trade or free agency, you probably want to advertise as much as possible to centres that they aren’t coming here to be third liners.
OK, I guess – I suspect that has zero to do with Stauff’s agenda.
I also don’t think they are acquire a 2C.
Yaroslavl is a much nicer city than Bakersfield. The more interesting question might be: how does it benefit the Oilers to have farm teams in far away places?
I’d like them closer but will note that Bakersfield is a successful organization, from a business standpoint.
And it’s in California. Take a drive, beauty is only moments away.
Bakersfield has been the host of the Oilers AHL affiliate for the past 10 years. They have been consistently a bottom 12 AHL team in terms of attendance over that time.
For those advocating for a locally-based team, all of the AHL teams in Calgary, Abbotsford and Manitoba have consistently averaged less than Bakersfield over this time (Calgary and Abbotsford also have less than 10 years in the league).
FWIW, WHL Red Deer’s attendance has been closer to Calgary’s AHL attendance numbers than Bakersfield’s (roughly around 800 to 1,000 less per game).
Over the last 5 years or so, Calgary’s WHL team draws about 3,000 less per game than Edmonton’s, roughly similar to the Wranglers. About 10 years ago, the Hitmen had the top attendance numbers in the league, now the Oil Kings hold that position.
Breathless in Bakersfield
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/14/bakersfield-california-bad-air-pollution-us
Bakersfield has the most polluted air in the U.S.
To this point, community ice rinks have been shown to have amongst the worst air quality in their cities.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0160412094901368
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-air-quality-and-ice-arenas#icearenas
I still say build high speed rail b/w EDM and Toontown and award them the farm team.
That may be, but when you drive 20 minutes out of Yaroslavl you’re still in one of the biggest shitholes in the world.
Ever been to Russia?
Yes, I have. I worked in Moscow and in Yakutsk. I’ve been across the entire country. It’s horrible.
The nice parts of Moscow are fine, but the entire country is super dangerous.
Not much reason to go to Russia and the best part of it is getting out.
I have no personal experience. But have had several close friends that would counter this narrative strongly…. (Russia being dangerous and shit)
I would suggest everyones perception differs. Do those that grow up in Edmonton view it is a ‘shit hole’? Do those who move there from California? I suspect you can find both views from both backgrounds…
I grew up northern BC. I would suggest it is beautiful. But many of my buddies from the cities claim it is hell…
All I’m saying is I would argue a young Russian may not see things through your lense?
I lived in Russia for six years. You are mistaken about everything.
I remember years ago a CBC music show (radio) was doing a blind song test with some music critic. Might have been 90 minutes with a bullet. Anyway, the host played “Gimme Your Money Please” by BTO, and one of the critics said something I’ll never forget.
He said people who spend enough time in New York City would never write a song like that, because it is a spectacular city with so much to offer. Hewas absolutely piercing in his criticism of the lyrics and said he doubted the person who wrote it spent much time in NYC.
I think there’s truth in that. I love Saskatchewan, lots of people hate it. I think Turtle Lake might be the second best place I’ve been (Lake Louise) in my life. I am happy there. I feel home. Always best to keep that in mind when someone calls a place a dump.
I loved when Gretzky-Vikki visited Tretiak at his condo in I believe Moscow. This was during the Cold War everyone I knew hated communism as they had 1st-2nd had experience of it. When it came to hockey it didn’t matter where you were from. I was always mesmerized how the USSR-Red Army etc team played in 5 man units. Tretiak-Karlomov were my favourites growing up especially playing shinny and road hockey. I always wanted to take a train through old USSR all the way through Siberia.
I would love to visit Russia – one day.
I’d mention the next planned trips but that causes some people on here feelings it seems.
Close is far better for many reasons. Players get used to the climate, see it’s a great place. The youth get to be closer to the team and I think that helps them a lot with motivation, learning etc. Can go to some games
The biggest piece is veterans. Holland several times made decisions that weren’t the best for the team, but were better for vet players. They most often have kids, and when they get assigned it’s disruptive. If it’s within driving distance they just change the arena they are playing in, home is not affected, if it’s Christmas etc (which was a part of one of the decisions I mentioned) doesn’t matter
If other cities can float an AHL team and not kill the CHL team which they also own, hockey mad Edmonton surely can. Own the AHL team, and done well it might attract more fans, as in tier the pricing between the teams maybe making the Oil Kings more affordable. Stauffer thinks the WHL has taken a big hit talent wise with the college deal, maybe there’s a business case there
Love it!