I believe this is a dangerous time for the Edmonton Oilers organization. Ownership made their play, beginning with Jeff Jackson and later Kris Knoblauch. Beyond more cash for Jaroslav Halak, the Daryl Katz impact on the season is done until the offseason.
Management can’t pull the chute and start offloading, and there’s going to be an internal desire to change the lead story (‘this team is a disaster!’) and firing the coach hasn’t worked out. So, what do you do? Make a trade. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New DNB: Oilers must address goaltending situation before it’s too late
- Lowetide: What’s leading to Connor McDavid’s baffling season?
- Lowetide: Why the Oilers making a productive goalie trade is an expensive proposition
- Lowetide: Oilers’ top prospects impacted by struggles and injuries
- DNB: Who is new Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch? These 3 traits define his approach
- Lowetide: Oilers winger Connor Brown and the question of his optimal usage
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers forward Dylan Holloway’s injury highlights concern over offensive potential
- Lowetide: What Oilers management must reckon with in roster construction
- DNB: Edmonton Oilers’ transition of power happening in real-time and the stakes couldn’t be higher
- Lowetide: What if the Edmonton Oilers end up in the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery?
- Lowetide: Can Connor McDavid come from behind to win another Art Ross Trophy?
LAST NIGHT
The Oilers are just a strange team right now. Philip Broberg got benched because Cody Ceci, who was placed on the pairing as a mentor, played a GA horribly. That’s no big deal, it happens and he is a good veteran. However, benching Broberg is not the play. Anyway, the Oilers are running scared like Roy Orbison at the big high school dance now, they might just sign Robert Nilsson again just so they can buy him out. What a mess. I’m building a mental scenario where Leon Draisaitl lands with the Boston Bruins next summer, at least I can enjoy watching for a team I cheer for. If he goes to the TML or Habs, well I just don’t know what I’ll do. What a supreme mess.
WHAT WOULD SAM POLLOCK DO?
One year (1966-67) Sam Pollock went to the CHL Houston Apollos, where all of the top prospects in the system were stored. He needed some offensive punch. Among the top forwards on that team were Jacques Lemaire and Danny Grant. Defensemen included Serge Savard and Carol Vadnais. Pollock settled on goaltender Rogie Vachon, whose GAA was far superior to backup goalie Gerry Desjardins.
What would that mean for these Oilers? Calvin Pickard’s recall has come during a tough road trip and he hasn’t won a game yet, but his five-on-five save percentage (.919) is rock solid. Miles better than Stuart Skinner (.891) and Jack Campbell (.879). I don’t think this management group has the balls of Sam Pollock (Vachon was just a kid when he got the call) so Olivier Rodrigue (AHL SP: .942 in three games) is highly unlikely to see the NHL until the season is long gone. He would be on my list for recall now.
My top recall would be Raphael Lavoie. One thing old Sam Pollock did was find what a player could do and have the coach tailor the playing time. Yvan Cournoyer, a Hall-of-Famer, was sheltered heavily in his early years for fear he’d ruin the Canadiens. Lavoie has an extremely valuable skill (first-shot scorer) and is worth investing in. Put another way, Lavoie’s potential as an NHL player is higher than several men currently on the roster. The Oilers have stopped investing in their own kids. A miserable unforced error.
Ben Gleason would be my first defensive recall. He is playing a confident game. Although Gleason is not a shutdown type, he has the speed to get the job done. Broberg was clipped for playing time after a poor GA (he did have responsibility and got no help, those things can be true) and one suspects he’ll pay the price. They’re really doing a number on this young man now.
Xavier Bourgault is such a smart player. I try not to get sucked in by the two-way forwards, especially wingers. Their value on draft day is not the same as a pure offensive player. However, this team needs someone to turn over pucks ala Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. Bourgault is very good at it.
None of this matters. Expect a trade. A big, ugly, painful trade sending away more future for right now. The first-round picks, Broberg, Bourgault, hood ornaments, odds and sods, your mom’s pancake recipe and anything not nailed down.
At noon today, we talk Oilers and the trade that could come at any minute. There’s no time to waste now, pick up the goaler on the roadie and come back home with some hope to sell fans. Sports 1440 at noon today. Jen Mueller from Root Sports will talk Seahawks and Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation will help us figure out the Oilers. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
You gotta wonder what’s going through Katz’s head as this unfolds.
It was weird that Coffey led the recruitment drive. It was weird that Coffey acknowledged they chatted ahead of the draft when Jackson would have been negotiating the contracts of Bouchard, Brown and Gagner. Depending on who you believe re: Bouch you have three busts right there. It was odd that a CEO was firing and hiring the scouting staff. A line job solidly under the purview of the GM being taken out one step below the owner. Interesting. But of course he came from the GTA, with cool glasses and when he said “analytics,” the mouths dropped and “take us now,” could be herd muttered throughout the land. Woody, shanked, Knoblauch in and Coffey in control. Lightning fast maneuvering to install his people, their people.
It was always going to be this way. The Boys would never turn control over to an outsider. Once an Oiler, always an Oiler was never meant to apply to Ken Holland or Jay Woodcroft.
The plan of surround Connor with everything Connor has led to the worst hockey Connor has ever played. Oops. Its led to the worst hockey that Leon Draisaitl has ever played. Oops. And they’ve played the worst of the worst under the New Coach. Uh oh.
Glad others are waking up to how dangerous this all is.
More young guys, more young guys, more young guys! But its a what have you done for me lately world.
Bouchard – scoring nice but losing games all on his own, 3rd pair, part of ugly PP
McLeod – No goals in 35 games, 3-7 GF/GA at EV, part of ugly PK
Vinny – Has scored on the Oilers twice, 2-8 GF/GA at EV, part of ugly PK
Skinner – Worst goalie metrics in the NHL. Part of ugly PK
It would be nice if we saw these young fellas take a step forward this season instead of running backwards. Maybe then we could load up another three raw rookies.
I was at my neighbourhood Shopper’s Drug Mart here in Calgary this evening. Two groups of elderly folk were taking in excess of 15 minutes to ring through whatever it was they were attempting to purchase, so I started looking around the store as I stood impatiently waiting.
To my left, about 10 feet away was a rack of calendars and I couldn’t help but notice the hockey-related calendar that was placed above the popular movie genre themed one. I simply had no choice but to snap a picture.
This is now my new profile photo, lol
This may sounds drastic, but I would have fired Knoblauch after seeing him deploy Broberg for 5 mins last night. You can tell by his interviews, he is not up to this task. He is not the guy that can turn this around. He is completely out of his element here. He’s already finished and he doesn’t know it.
Knoblauch will be running this show at the start of next season. He is the CEO’s guy and he has more rope than Woody ever had.
If the Oilers are actually considering trading for Petr Mrazek (referencing Ron Maclean on Oilers Now today), they are even more lost than I thought. Mrazek sucks big time, worse than our current goalies, and there’s no two ways about it. Of course, he is a former Red Wing and a Holland draft pick.
Petr Mrazek: former Detroit Red Wing, come on down!
2 of the last 4 Stanley Cup winners (over 5 season) missed the playoffs the season before they won the Cup.
Not trying to say much here, I still don’t think (or can’t believe) the Oilers will miss the playoffs this year.
But good teams do struggle. Sometimes for long stretches.
Pietrangelo, Theodore, Whitecloud. Makar, Manson, Murray, Toews, Girard, Hedman. Sergachev, MacDounaugh, Vasilevskiy, Cernack, Shattenkirk, Bouwmeester, Pietrangelo, Parayko, Allen, Binnington, Carlson, Holtby, Murray, Fleury, Letang.
Good point. Compounded by some guys playing way too many minutes.
Good to point that out, it would truly suck, but not the end of the world
Makes me wonder if it has something to do with not making the playoffs, having a longer break, and being in better physical and mental shape for a Cup run
The Oilers have had two disastrous playoffs, a deep run and the last one that was deeply disappointing to them. Lots of wear and tear, injuries and mentally tiring. Maybe they are just out of gas this year given a fair few started out with nagging injuries too boot
Sam Pollock, Glen Sather both perfect examples of ruthless management leading teams in the NHL to glory. Vegas is the current example.
I’m still going to try to give the current management their 20 games. Xxxx the players with their millions and pissy worries lol
If they’re morons, as some suggest right here on this most sublime and excellent hockey forum then I’m a Dutchman.
*Hunter Nijmegen*
As part of their carbon divestment strategy, OEG will be changing the NHL franchise name to the Edmonton Otters.
nominate: The Edmonton Owls; because it’s almost as bad as The Elks.
McDavid, Brown, Foegele
all playing on a CHL level team with Jackson and Dave Ganger cheering for Knoblauch to turn them into an NHL club feels like sufficient justification for “Otters” to me.
That would be so disturbing, you might even say its Eerie.
When Dave Ganger becomes GM will he still be able to collect his cut from the Bouchard and Brown contracts?
So Corey Perry and Mrazek is the solution?
oh oh
Well, makes perfect sense as Coffey is part of the same.
Allan – just an incredibly enjoyable article to read, second to none. Your knowledge, and insights are at the highest level, and most appreciated by this reader, every day.
Love the analogy on what Sam Pollock would do. You’ve got my support for your recommendation to bring up AHL players performing at high levels in an attempt to improve the performance of the team, both now, and in the future.
I’ve been reading for 10+ years, and I’m much better informed because of it. If I ran the team, I think the job would be easy; start by learning of Allan’s opinion on major decisions, all the way from draft picks, to AHL and pro-scouting, and building a management and support team.
The Sh*thawks showed up dressed in radioactive green. CMC gets things rollin’. Let’s go.
God I love my Niners. What an opening drive.
To those who pull stats and are irritated by some (or all) of my comments
I say the Oilers break stats. My comments are based on years of reading here, and there, and my thoughts have become stats based. But in the big picture
I’ll explain more. They break stats because stats are aggregated- beware small samples. Aggregate stats apply to one team. The Oilers aren’t one team, they are two. The best version which I love looks like a team that can dominate and beat any team. The other version looks like the Condors are playing
It often is period to period. For stats to be explain much about the team, there would have to be two sets. One for the team we hope emerges every game, the best one that skews stats to make them appear much better than they are really, and one for the other that should have BF/60 added as a line
The big, visible, mistake that sticks with a person.
Gilbert was so bad for that. I used to call him the MVP… for the opposition, because of his penchant for ill-timed giveaways. Poti, Petry, Jultz: all afflicted with the same condition (visible mistakes with the worst timing). Before long, they all got run out of town. Their good traits be damned.
But if you go back and dig up their fancies, they were solid.
Funny how that works.
The thing about Broberg is that he is usually in the right spot or is attempting to do the right thing, but he is still somewhat high event while trying to do the right thing or while he is in the right spot.
What that says, is that all Broberg really needs are reps. Lots of reps. i.e. more reliable execution.
This is not like Bouchard, who often is not in the right spot, or is not attempting to do the right thing.
Also Bro plays a light game that I think costs him, but those reps would allow him to get more accustomed to using his listed size. Some guys are balls out, some aren’t. But he’s not small and may never be Gudas, but might get a little tougher in the corners and come out with the puck, which is all that matters in the end, by whatever means
I would say something similar about Holloway. Holloway is a high event player. He plays bull in a china shop hockey. He has to figue out how to balance his aggressiveness with making fewer mistakes, taking fewer penalties, and not putting himself in a vulnerable position so often. Again that takes reps. Lots of reps.
Any one of the Oilers four centres would arguably be a good fit between Holloway and Lavoie. Lavoie needs two guys who will do most of the transporting. I think he is fine at either end of the ice, and needs players who will do the heavy lifting in transport transition.
“I love Broberg, sure he’s getting beat, but you know at least he’s getting beat the right way.”
According to Stauffer, as one would expect, a big trade is not forthcoming. Stauff stated a couple of times that the Oilers are most likely to try and address their goaltending in the short term by bringing Campbell back up. Cavalry is coming boys.
Macklin Celebrini has 22 points in 12 games so far for Boston University.
If we’re going to go down the “draft talk” avenue, there are a bunch of quality RD near the top of the draft. Specifically, Artyom Levshunov is the one we should all dream about. Star the rebuild/retool/whatever you wanna call it by drafting a stud two-way RD and build out from there.
That’s good news. And it doesn’t exclude the possibility of looking at Halak.
Saw Megan Chaykas chart the other day. The Oilers are smack dab in the middle for rush chances against. in addition, Staples is charting and we’re 31-13 in rush goals against.
I posted this the other day actually! The Oilers aren’t actually giving up a million rush chances the issue us that they can’t defend them AT ALL and here’s the proof.
Take away the pass and let the goalie see the shot.
The goalies have been letting in that shot from game 1 and maybe that is part of the reason the defenders have been trying to take the shot away?
See the rush goal after Vinny got walked – that’s a rush shot that could have been, but wasn’t, saved.
This is true
Here’s what I’ve never understood about the Connor Brown situation. His contract was praised as, if not a good contract per se, then a creative contract for a contending team. By January, when he’s recovered, you get a 4 million dollar player for 800k. You were robbing next year to pay for this year. All in.
Other teams were apparently lined up to give him money and term.
The evaluation of Brown can’t likely have changed much in 15 games. So if that’s the case, there should be 6-10 teams, the true contenders, who would love to have Connor Brown and his 800k cap hit.
What HAS changed is the Oilers situation. They now have zero ability to sacrifice a contending year next year for a non-contending year this year!
So what is the harm in waiving him? If what his agent says is true there’s a lineup of contending teams ready to pick him up. And he gets every nickel owed to him. If not, then his agent lied which is fine, but so play by the rules as written and use the tools at your disposal.
My press release would have been super clear. We’re so glad Connor chose us among his many suitors. His agent let us know close to 10 teams were offering more money and term and that says a lot about our organization. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to keep up our part of the bargain and build a contender for this year, or at least there’s some risk of that. The right thing to do is to let him go and compete for a title!
If they waive him, he gets claimed by MANY teams at his league min cap hit and then the Oilers are calling up an even worse player without upside.
Then he’s a tradable asset. Foegele’s been better.
For sure Connor Brown is a tradeable asset – there will be more value there once his game recovers at least somewhat but, at league min cap….
they should’ve waived him at game nine… Unless he’s somehow the final piece that pushes us over the edge to win the cup, he’s simply not worth the $3.8mil in dead cap next year. (this entire idea was foolish off rip & has gotten worse with every loss we racked up before he’d played his 10th game… Absolutely gord-awful asset mgmt IMO.
He won’t be $3.8MM in dead cap next year.
Commission from that contract and Bonus goes right into future GM Dave Ganger’s pocket. That’s all that matters, really.
A foil to our team’s position. We have gone to the 2nd round, the conference finals two years ago, little AHL depth, missing 3 draft picks, have all of our firsts, no cap space, and a roster with weak spots so draft picks might be going out
Vegas has a Cup, been to the finals, 800k in cap, all draft picks except a 4th, a deep and balanced Cup winning roster, their players love the team, and two goalies at 5M and a bit with high save percentages
If that’s ruthless I’ll take a bit of that please
I am at a point where I’d be ok with dropping Broberg and Desharnais, and bringing up an AHL guy. Also, since this is turning into a deep mess it’s time to rebuild by trading (in the off season) 25 29, and maybe others
Broberg is the best D in Bakersfield, and the Oilers have not given him a legimate shot.
Ditto Lavoie as a forward.
Broberg, even in his limited minutes, which do not constitute a legitimate trial, has been better than several of the D on the roster.
Karma‘s a bitch and this year is cosmic proof and payback writ large.
The Oilers have treated many players poorly over the years. There is the criticism of players during and after their way out (JP, Strome, Bear, Jones, et al), the mishandling of player health (Souray, JP, McDavid), and incessant, obsessive nepotism (Knoblauch, Coffey, Wright, Brown).
Not every prospect makes the NHL and some have fatal flaws. But IMO if you kick the jams out of the AHL you deserve a real shot. That’s a tough league. And there is no plan. Benson, Bouchard, Holloway, Broberg, Lavoie. Not all those guys become stars or even regulars, but you owe it to everyone involved in the players’ career (minor coaches, scouts, dev staff) to at least have a plan. Ie, hey we’re going to play Broberg 15/game, Lavoie 13 in a top 9 role with a passer.
In business and in life, there is a difference between being honest and being a dick. Vegas is ruthless but they are as aggressive with player recruitment as they are impatient with coaches. The Oilers diddle and daddle, make poor roster decisions, and fire the coach and no one in senior management takes accountability.
Jackson is a twit. He may have acumen as a hockey person but as a human being he is a gutless invertebrate. I stand by that. I was criticized for being over the top. I’m not. Good, honest people don’t operate in this way (ie with a shiv). Jackson makes Kendall from Succession look sober and level headed. Running the team through a puppet in Coffey and never taking responsibility is classless but terrifically on brand (for him).
I will end on a positive note. I think Holland is a good man who made some pretty good moves. He may have benefitted from another voice, a Tulsky to his Waddell. Doesn’t matter now.
Dark days with terrible individuals. Dawn will come, but maybe not before more darkness.
The silver lining is we have two superstars who can pull this failed season from the precipice. Although, last night, there may have been a real Atlas Shrugged moment on the bench. I don’t blame them.
And even if it does happen. It won’t cover the rot, which has festered and multiplied for far too long.
That’s one way to look at it. I think you lean a bit hard on the character assassination. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. If you talk about business, you know it can get ugly and rivalrous. I don’t necessarily see that here
The Oilers are hardly the only team with management issues. Even the Bruins got ugly, that’s how we got gifted Chiarelli, he lost a power struggle. Really if it’s been bad over time with different people, there is only one name at the top of the pyramid whom is ultimately responsible
I know nothing about Jackson. Or why he’s there. Except, if your billion dollar business hinged on one person, I think you’d be very keen to preserve that relationship, doing it rightly or not, you would be all over it. Also, with Holland having signaled this season is it, there is a change at the top. It looks like a new direction is wanted, and/or that people that would be around would be making decisions about new management
I don’t see how Holland gets a whitewash here. He is a nice man (when he’s not pissy at being asked questions after poor deals like Keith’s) and has done some good things for the org. His deals are at the weaker end. He has simply gone after the easiest targets, kept well liked guys regardless of the cost or long term risk
Rather than seeking to find the best value for the team, has usually paid too much, and given too much in some way like term, mostly to players ready for the age curve bad side. Kane was as easy as pie and completely obvious as Holland had Connor, and not many teams were in
So being the nice guy, who mostly looks for nice guys, here we are. Capped out all the time with a roster with major weaknesses and not enough depth. And like most lesser management does, after cornering themselves they feel too much pressure to allow youth their chance regardless, and the coach is always the first out as it only cost the owner’s money, no deal to be made except the next guy’s contract
re: Holland surely you jest! his last few yrs in Detroit he shit the bed. his body of work here have been meh, and the cupboard is bare
Every single NHL team hires via “nepotism”.
I took a quick look at the Avs to see who the god-like Joe Sakic has hired, or allowed hired, in to the Avs org.
From Toby Peterson, as a skills coach, due to relationship with Bednar, to old teamates from the 90s as scouts to HIS SON as a video coach.
Mitch Sakic is an assistant video scout, as part of amateur scouting not a coach. I believe he uses video recordings of games and possibly machine vision analytics to evaluate amateurs.
So there’s nepotism. But I‘ve never seen an equivalent position listed with the Oilers. It’s an innovative concept.
Jeff Jackson promised “best in class”. I don’t see it. Probably because he’s not quite certain what that is.
Compare Knoblauch’s resume
to Cassidy’s. It’s pretty clear which one is best in class.
Really? You’ve never seen it to the level of the Oilers?
The Sens just hired Steve Staios, with VERY limited management experience in the NHL, based on old junior relationships, as POHO and he promptly fired the incumbent GM and put himself in the interim GM position.
The league hires based on personal relationships and favoritism.
I didn’t say that the NHL isn’t nepotistic. I just said that Jackson has a funny concept of “best in class”. His hires are just “ok” and aren’t experienced. I don’t see Jackson’s hires as the best that he promised us in his opening presser.
If they’re moving out 29 in the summer they midst well move McDavid out with him. It’s a guarantee at that point he won’t be back and the Oilers are a wrap.
Even if the trade nets a more rounded team that is a serious contender?
The Myths:
The roster isn’t good enough.
This roster was the best team in the NHL after New Year’s and up until the end of the Vegas series. The roster is not the problem. And, yes, Campbell was a part of that success. As was Nurse. As was Bouchard. If the roster was better, wouldn’t the results be better? Sure, but you can say that about every team, and all teams are cap-constrained from solving every single roster problem.
The kids need to play more.
This is simply a corollary of the roster problem. This strategy, like making trades, is not going to fix anything. Changing the fringes of the roster with players who are equally inexperienced and mistake-prone–especially when the veterans can’t cover anyone’s mistakes right now–is more likely a recipe for disaster than a plan for success.
There isn’t enough accountability.
This is nearly an impossible situation with the roster cap-constrained and the team playing poorly and unable to provide any leeway for benching an important player. Nor does it address a more core issue: Has the problem been with individuals or with the team playing like individuals? On any given goal you can point to three or four errors. Do you bench them all? When team defense is the problem picking on individuals could easily be counter-productive.
The system is the problem or the systems change is the problem
Most of these players have played both zone and man in their careers as well as every coach’s indivdual tweaks of those systems. At best, this would be a very short-term problem and I don’t see how the entirety of this debacle can be laid at its feet when both systems are successful at this level. Systems are not the problem. KK’s variations to tactics have mattered not.
What not to do:
Do not start isolating individual mistakes. Let this team know they live and die as a team and hold the whole team accountable for the results on the ice.
If you are Oiler management stop making panic moves. Your team is already in panic mode. When you react with panic, you are simply adding more panic to the fire. Stop it.
If you are the coach, do not think you can scheme or strategize your way out of this losing funk. The team is getting out-played not out-schemed. Keep it simple rather than hoping changes to tactics will work.
What the actual problem is:
This team always seems to have to re-learn team defense. Every single damn year. Now every coach has managed to get them playing team defense but only after the team was shocked by the coaching change that brought them in… except for Woody who actually succeeded in this twice and given more games perhaps a third time.
The team’s leadership also placed enormous pressure on this season. When they came out of the gates looking to go full track meet like they always do, and got burned for it yet again, that pressure quickly turned to panic. That leads to doubt, hesitation, disconnected positioning, playing the game on an island, trying to do too much, shook goalies etc. In other words, a self-fulfilling doom loop.
How to fix it:
The goal should clearly be team defense and reducing goals against. Despite the mediocre power play and panicked play, offense has not been an issue. This is exactly the way past coaches fixed the problem.
So you do what they did. You give the team a team goal. You make that goal public so there’s accountability. The goal should be to hold the other team to one or none on the scoresheet, pre-eminent before scoring any goals themselves. The focus should be completely on keeping pucks out of their net and working together to achieve that. Mistakes and bad bounces won’t be eradicated, but bad decisions will be. In other words, the Oilers need to set out to win games 1-0, 2-1.
And that’s what turned our seasons around in the past. That public commitment to shutting the other team down over and above team scoring.
Once they’ve re-learned how to play smart, shutdown hockey, once they’ve re-established that baseline, then they can open it up. Because then they will know how to manage the game, how to protect leads, how to play close tight games.
It’s the same story ever year. This year though has the added dimension of amped-up pressure and all the bad things that can dogpile onto that situation. Simplify and go back to first principles.
It’s the only way out of the maze.
I don’t know Munny. They were trying to do the defense first under Woody and couldn’t piss a drop and lost games. They should know how to play zone, but they can’t seem to do it and play an integrated game
Their winning streak after Ekholm wasn’t exactly a tutorial in lock down hockey. Some games, many were pretty loose at evens. They certainly had a lot more luck last year. Including health. The PP was masking a lot, as were the multiple strong individual seasons. Once playoffs started, the wheels fell off and they were exposed again. And the coaches
Health was actually a killer last year.
They didn’t start playing defense first under Woody this year till the last five games before he was fired which thus far has been the best stretch of play this year.
After Ekholm’s acquisition last year–and I’m not sure why you picked that event as it came two months after the team turned it around, but okay–Oilers were 18-2-1. They won every game they held the opposition to two or less (11 games or over 50%) and their GA/gm was 2.67 versus 3.86 GA in November and 3.00 in December.
I have thought they were the opposite to this year. They were getting lucky on times they were not tight. The D was healthy overall. I was saying then if they didn’t get 5v5 play better they wouldn’t go deep in the playoffs. They were doing the same things with open looks and cross seam passes in the D zone then
This year they pay every time unfortunately. You could say the playoffs carried straight into this season
You have an excellent post.
However the answer “to play team defense. to limit goals” is too broad. They have said this and do recognize this. The problem is they do not know how. Or lets say, its certainly not a strength
Another thought.
When you have a team of little talent, you go for 1-0 wins. The way out that I have witnessed was team involvement. Every single time. They played the roster, played the lines. Coaches rode the stars from wins into losses into slump’s. Then they rode the whole team to exit the slump.
When you have a team of offensive talent, maybe you don’t go for 1-0 wins, but 4-3 wins. You play in the offensive zone. Quick exits, lots of possession. And you ride the goalies hard when you make mistakes.
It wasn’t enough for the cup but it took them a long ways.
However, that formula has been figured out. Teams are simply forting up around the house, then wait for opportunity, and it is smothering the Oil.
So perhaps the way out is to follow the same strategy (offense) but change up the tactics and predictability.
No you don’t. It is precisely that atttitude that has cost them the last three-four coaches and they prove every single year it does not work. First thing you do is establish a baseline of defensive play that you can rely on in times of need. Woody has talked about this many times. It’s what earned him success when he first took the reins. We saw it work for TMac when he first came in and Tippett too. The problem is they have to re-learn it every single damn year.
They’ve re-learnt it successfuly in the past. There’s no reason to think they can’t do it again.
Think of the most offensively talented team in the history of the game and their first Cup and the failure the year before: the 80s Oilers.
The year they won they set the tone of the series by opening with a 1-0 win. In their four wins they never allowed more than 2 goals. The year before, they allowed nearly four per game, and it cost them.
Track meet hockey—playing to out-score your mistakes–has no dependable record for success. No team with cup aspirations plays that way. You can’t be guaranteed success. because you are incentivizing mistake-making.
Those players have said so many times it was this mental turnaround that led to Cup success that I’m surprised we’re arguing about this.
Defense and goaltending roster isn’t good enough. I don’t think that could be any more clear.
I agree team defense is poor. But it’s poor in part because the Oilers value, select and develop for offensive talent.
What we are seeing here fits perfectly with the Oilers’ culture. When pushed into a state of panic, the Oilers try to force low percentage plays. That’s been
the case since RNH has been on the team. They don’t know how to keep it simple. Players like Hyman add a different flavour to the mix. And the team as whole has a few good defensive and goaltending pieces. But overall, this is not good enough.
I can’t imagine a more “Oilers-y” Oilers than the team we are watching now.
Cup or bust. This is the bust. The Oilers are busted. And better we come to terms with it now, than later.
The future is Bouchard, and McDavid (if he stays) with a supporting cast of “Jeff Jackson best in class”. We’re seeing what that class is, and it speaks for itself.
Get ready for the death march. It’s coming.
We’re seeing Jackson’s team? His months of tenure that impactful? This is Holland’s team
No. We’re not seeing Jackson’s Oilers.
We’re seeing the fruits of an institutional culture that has consistently valued offensive talent and has had difficulty evaluating defensive talent and goaltending for decades.
We’re just seeing the start of Jackson’s affect on the team. Which is why I wrote:
The future is Bouchard, and McDavid (if he stays) with a supporting cast of “Jeff Jackson best in class”.
The historical evidence refutes this stance. This was a top team last year with this defense and goaltending. You’re going to need more than an assertion.
Are you being serious?
Look at 5v5 SV%, HDSV%, GA & GA 60.
Basically EDM has not supplied McDavid and Draisaitl with cup quality defense and goaltending. And let’s be honest, they are not Selke candidates themselves.
I don’t see how that’s an assertion. It’s known. All of the talk in the off season was that there was a need for better team defense.
Ekholm was a badly needed upgrade. They did have some good shot suppression and measured well by xGA60 last season. But the defensive mistakes and poor goaltending show in the other stats that are poor, SV% and GA.
This is the team that has won everything but the Selke (and Calder). And the Norris went to the 4th forward on the ice who stuck Huddy with everything else.
Compare to Boston.
I like today’s practice lines. They can win with those lines.
But as flyfish said below, doubtful they stick with them.
There is no magic bullet at this point. If they make the playoffs, the only way they win a Cup is with outrageous fortune. Not impossible, it happens occasionally
So, they have 3 goalies with NHL experience, and Pickard is good enough at the moment. Maybe Jack gets it together at some point. They have a young guy at 23 who is playing really well on a mediocre team. I think you roll with that unless a cheap in every way deal comes up that seems like a clear upgrade
Change the system closer to, or to, what they were doing last year and get them playing hockey again, as KK has said. Win more games and let regression kick in. A TSN thing said the team is looking internally – play who you have and keep your powder dry. They haven’t tried Kemp, Gleason, there are options
At this point there is nothing to lose, like they played in the third period as KK said – much better. The ideal season is long gone. Might as well roll the dice. Staying rigid and the players playing tight isn’t cutting it, so change it up
There is no White Knight going to save the day. That would probably be worse for them anyway, if the band ends up staying together. For the managers, coaches and players, if they need a helping hand, they need to look down at the end of their arms
JP and I were discussing Wright’s drafting record this past summer. I had suggested that his poor drafting had sunk the Yzerplan. He disagreed with me as he tends to…
Meanwhile, over at the Athletic:
Oilers scouts are fine. You need to give them draft picks. Wright’s issue was that he didn’t aim high enough offensively with Holloway, and we don’t know if he’ll score.
The biggest issue is the lack of picks. Half of the 14 allotted were used in the past two drafts.
a huge matza ball, lack of picks. wasn’t Broberg a Wright pick?
No. Wright arrived after Broberg. Broberg is a good pick if they would just play him.
Why not both?
Wright’s 1st rounders were all adventurous picks. Athletic players shy on counting numbers. They were all reaches to varying degrees.
Trading picks is a big issue too but Wright did not hit any homers in the first round (barring some incredible development over the next few years which is obviously possible but looking less and less probable).
Preferential treatment of a few players tends to end up in results like the Oilers are experiencing!
If people cannot understand why Broberg is not making the cut…they are watching a different game than I am.
Need someone to make the case Broberg will be ‘elite’ at anything.
You can argue he will be decent #4 ( big stretch imo) but make a case for him being
*elite* at something .
Broberg ( like MPS did) needs big Euro ice to wind up and gain speed. No such time and space in the NHL to do that.
Straw man. Nobody has ever claimed that Broberg will be a #1D.
That’s true. Just someone constantly banging the drum for him to play on the 1st pairing with Nurse….
I advocated functional based pairings, not ranked pairings. So again, a straw man.
Nurse Broberg as the shutdown pairing
Ekholm Bouchard as an outscoring pairing
Kulak Ceci as a 3rd pairing that can be reasonably reliable in any situation.
I wanted to balance out the pairings.
The success or failure of Broberg would then determine whether the Oilers had to trade 4 assets for a RD.
at 8 overall the expectation is top 4
Broberg has solid advanced stats as a 3rd pairing D last year. So he has basically covered the worst case reasonable expectation. Reasonable expectations for Broberg at the high end were as a legit #3D and a legit #4D at the low end, with a small probability (say 5%) of upside potential to a #2D. The tails of a #1D or a complete bust were/are extremely small.
I think the comparable most talked about as a high end reasonable expectation was Jay Bouwmeester.
Check his REL stats. His limited deployment was extremely sheltered .
Philip Broberg got benched because Cody Ceci, who was placed on the pairing as a mentor, played a GA horribly
****************************************
Huh?
Broberg was benched because of his patented soft play behind the net. Handed over the
puck, not once, but twice on the play. Without any physical exertion by him on the play.
Canes player asked for the puck and he received it.
Even the local media described the play accurately ( Leavins, Kurt)
As each game passes, getting very awkward for the new Tyler Benson fans.
Fits the GMs player MO
They should have retooled the D. I think Bro has lots of talent but it’s going to take time (which he may not have). And hired Radko to work with Bro. Gudas has enough agro for the two of them
Yes, it takes time, playing time, which he should have been getting nightly from 1/3 of the way in to LAST season.
Go watch the play. It is far more Ceci’s and McLeod’s fault.
Ceci left too much gap. Didn’t force the dump in soon enough. It meant Broberg didn’t have enough space to outskate the chasing Carolina to the puck, so Broberg gets plastered rubbed out into the boards. Broberg was tough. He didn’t try to avoid the hit.
The 2nd Carolina forward beat Ceci to the loose puck. McLeod then lost a puck battle on the boards, and then left his mark. And Ceci never got back into the play at all after being beaten to the loose puck.
I think we need a sports psychology department stat. Anybody know the number for that gal from Ted Lasso????
I think this team needs historians, anthropologists, linguists, political ecologists, and yes, psychologists. People who contend with complexity beyond math: at the level of human social interaction – advanced qualitative data. Enough “business” people. Playing hockey and then going to business or law school isn’t any more helpful than playing hockey and going to get a PhD in English Lit.
Trouble at the Henhouse. This is depressing/frustrating but what you have written here LT very well might be what happens. Bro is getting ruined, goodbye confidence, let the kid play for blank sakes. I tend to agree with most on here, let the kids play!! dammit. Mistakes are happening anyway. This is the saddest season I can remember. Sigh, yet I keep coming back… If they do some desperado trade that includes the 1st rounder from next season, I will be on hiatus for some time. lol
Something tells me they’re gonna bring Gazpacho back up for a last look before making a move for another goalie.
And yes, I only posted this to make the Gazpacho joke.
That’s cold, dude.
I have little doubt we’ll see Campbell back up IF he can put a run together in the Bake.
Now, the org might think that 3 games is a long enough run….
This joke is the straw that broke the Campbell’s back.
Lots of good points about the D system change messing them up
I think we can agree that making the playoffs is better than not, even if they can’t win a cup
If I was coach I’d watch a game tape and change back to what they did better. Try again for zone next camp if he wants to
There isn’t time to do more of this bcs they don’t get it. Better odds making a big change back to what worked for the roster
Are there any other $9 mil defenseman who do not play on PP1? honest question.
Wathcing Avs / Canucks last night and just keep thinking their $9 mil D were dominating the game. Now they are two of the best for sure (Makar, Hughes) – but does any team have a $9 mil D who they don’t play on PP1?
Nurse does play on the powerplay.
When Klingberg was in Dallas, Heiskanen did not play PP#1.
Hampus Lindholm did not play PP#1 in Anaheim. Fowler did.
Pieterangelo didn’t play PP#1 in St. Louis. Shattenkirk did.
Montour is playing PP#1 in Florida, not Ekblad.
I don’t think Chara always played PP#1 in Boston.
Keith didn’t play PP#1 in Chicago. Campbell did.
Stevens didn’t play PP#1 in New Jersey. Niedermayer did.
Langway didn’t play PP#1 in Washington, Murphy did.
During the seventies Montreal dynasty, I think it was as much or more Guy Lapointe than Larry Robinson.
Teppo Numminen did not play #1PP in Buffalo. Campbell did.
so there is lots of examples. thank you.
Chara played PP1 during their high success as BOS inner slot man (Human’s role). Things aren’t as physical in the slot as a decade ago. You could stick Desharnais there. But his puck skills are…
With the way the powerplay is going, Bouchard is trending to be a worse PP quarterback than Barrie, Klefbom, and Nurse after a hot start.
And Klefbom and Nurse had the likes of Chiasson or Neal as the net front guy.
recency bias much? He had the PP running at an all-time historic high just last season.
Ya the PP woes are a collective issue. For starters, the league-wide playbook is completely out on how to play against their structure and we’ve made zero adjustments. McD’s entries by eye look a lot less worse or at least less guaranteed/confident compared to last year. Drai is moving less, getting into prime one-timer positions and adding to that, has been making a lot more lazy passes that are getting picked off. Both scenarios are probably more a case of teams just knowing how to press them harder in tight, knowing exactly what their pass options are going to be.
Do you understand the meaning of trending?
If you had the Packers up by three scores at the half, you’re buying the next round. Clearly you can afford it…
😉
Detroit not taking this lion down. TD and a 2 point cnversion on the all-important opening drive of the 2nd half.
Taint over til the fat lady sings.
Or the little button pops out on the turkey…
I believe I hear the stout soprano clearing her throat.
This is a great result for my Niners who face their own divisional rival tonight.
Lions defence porous last 4 games and this time offence cannot out score.
Agreed, the last two games especially. But many teams go through a mid-season lull, and intra-divisional games are a whole different affair in the first place. I’m not going to stick a fork in the Lions just yet. This loss might just be the wake-up call they need.
Our thoughts are with you today, LT. Thank you for everything you do and all the best to you and yours.
Free Broberg. Free Holloway. Free Lavoie.
Is this the sales pitch Holland is sending out while looking to trade for a goalie? Cause I don’t like it.
You mean, Jackson, no?
Holland’s only a consultant now, playing out the string till retirement.
#free the mall
I like this set-up better (if it even matters) but WTF is going on with Broberg and the refusal to play him. His play on that GA wasn’t even that bad last night, multiple weak plays on that goal – Vinny is the one that just got walked for that rush goal against.
My goodness.
Bob Stauffer
@Bob_Stauffer
The @EdmontonOilers
practice today:
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Kane-Draisaitl-Brown
Foegele-McLeod-Ryan
Erne-Hamblin-Janmark/Gagner
Nurse-Ceci
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Desharnais
Broberg
Skinner
Pickard
Ceci, Bouchard, Kulak, and Desharnais all made far bigger blunders than Broberg last night.
Knobby is doing all the same things Woodcroft did.
Like want was the point of the coaching change.
The definition of insanity….
Kind of like posting the same comments everyday
Yeah but I’m right. Doing the same thing over and over again when the results are good, is fine.
No. I’m right.
100% its frustrating to watch tbo… The team is trapped between 2 systems and its keystone cops out there…
I guess that Woody was at fault that McLeod and Ekbom were injured and missed training camp.Also his fault that McDavid was injured,along with Brown,Yanmark,and Holloway,not to mention Kulak.Probably his fault the goalies cannot stop anything,and the team can’t hit the net.No wonder they fired him!!! At least the new coach has improved them???
Less jam in that lineup than packet in a restaurant.
Seriously is it worth practising with these line combos? You know part way through the 1st or when they get behind they will revert back to McDavid with Draisaitl. LOL
Unlike Lavoie, who I do think can potentially make a real impact if give a real opportunity (i.e Foegele/Nuge/Lavoie – or McLeod for Nuge), I’m not so sure Bourgault is ready for that.
I agree with the description of his game, and think he’ll play in the NHL, but he remains a bit of a work in progress with his ability to impact the game on a consistent basis – I think he still struggles with the strength of battling the pro player and still gets pushed out of games.
I don’t think he’s ready yet and I think he’d be useless on the 4th line in the NHL and there is no indication that he’d play anywhere else.
Your description of Bourgault’s skills and then the word “useless” makes me wonder what you think the fourth line should be doing. Turning over pucks and keeping action miles from the Oilers net is the job of the fourth line.
I don’t see a trio of Erne/Hamblin/Bourgault being able to do that.
OP – your reply about a potential Erne/Hamblin/Bourgault fourth line isn’t relevant to Allan’s comments you quoted in your post. Allan’s comments you quoted shared Allan’s opinion that Xavier Bourgault could help the Oilers turnover pucks. Your reply was a comment on the entirety of a potential fourth line deployment.
Yes, this is all true, because, if you read my full post, you’ll note that I don’t see any indication he would play anywhere else – none.
It has been a while since I have posted, but the season is what it is.
As a fan in a faraway place (Trinidad & Tobago), I have few friends here who are interested in ice hockey, far less the Oilers. My views are my own, having not been able to discuss and shape them with my peers. Here is what I think:
I can’t see how the playoffs can become a reality (Woodcroft, as the incumbent who had proven success with the roster, would have been the stronger play here), but maybe an advantageous trade becomes a reality, and things kick start (again I do not trust it).
We are entering the realm of trading Draisaitl and reconstructing the roster for McDavid 2.0 in 2025-26 if it all falls into place. It’s not my wish, but this is the sense I get when I look at and read about my team from 3 time zones away!
They have never given Nurse a top 4 quality partner on D. Everyone has been mobility challenged, defensively challenged, and/or experience challenged.
Ethan Bear has been the best of the lot. I think Broberg would have been fine there, as he is only inexperienced, but he has all the tools, and is draft plus five, and basically ready to be challenged and pushed.
This why I give holland no leeway. The roster is very flawed, still
I think it just needs to be said bluntly.
As of today, the Knights did to the Oilers what the Oilers did to the fLames the year prior.
And what Carolina did to the OIlers in 2006, which started it all.
Truth
Joke’s on them, my moms pancake recipe is awful.
My top recall would be Raphael Lavoie.
What’s the point? Is there ANY indication that he’ll be deployed any differently if he’s on the NHL roster. Look at the games before he was re-assigned. Look at Broberg’s deployment last night.
The new coach has not shown to be ANY different with respect to the higher talent young players – limited ice, depth minutes/linemates/partners and no rope.
Exactly.
Don’t bring him up to play with Erne
If you were to do a post mortem on this team right now, it all comes back to some bad bets this summer. I wonder if it showed up in the analytics but think about this.
Out: Kostin, Yammamoto, Bjugstad
In: Brown, Gagner, Lavoie (part time)
Brown is a shadow of himself. Everyone said, “we don’t need him for the first half of the season, we have enough”. Well that’s been a really bad bet.
Gagner brings moxie but does not replace any of what went out.
Lavoie has a shot, but is not being given a chance to showcase it..
The team brought in a new defensive system and something that struck me last night in Coach K’s post game was the coach (and also RNH) talking about not playing instinctively. The system is not 2nd nature to how they’ve been playing and they’re getting killed playing it. It’s not getting better and it may take an entire season before it works – unless you change out pieces.
Skinner has regressed, Campbell has not improved.
These things alone can sewer a good team. Then add what’s going on w/McDavid (injured but seems to be skating better the last couple of games) and we’re here.
One more thing. Was watching the Oilers last night while at the NSH vs. CAL game. A chance to contrast the way a zone is played. NSH takes away the middle of the ice. They get bodies in lanes and don’t get outnumbered down low. They are struggling to get clean zone exits, but the goalie bails them out. Oilers don’t get in lanes, don’t block shots, get outnumbered down low. Bad hockey.
Skinner had no chance at all on the first 3 goals. Saros wouldn’t either. If you’re going to stick to this system – which the team is struggling with, I really don’t know that it’s reasonable to expect a different result. In which case, you’re going to be selling off pieces for the future.
JMO.
Not sure how I missed Adam Erne in all this as well, but he’s not the reason the team is bad, just another whipping boy.
Its the EXACT same as it was before the coaching change (and with prior coaches as well).
Just like Woody and Manson, Broberg is not given the opportunity to play a regular shift in a 6D set-up – like NEVER. Has he had this opportunity since last January-Feb where he played 7 weeks with Bouchard on a pairing – 14 minutes nightly – did very well?
Couple that with being benched after any mistake while veterans make mistake after mistake after mistake.
The new coach talked about playing scared – well, of course Broberg is going to play scared when you treat his ice time like you do.
No, that isn’t correct. When Jay Woodcroft arrived, he brought Broberg and Niemelainen with him. He increased Ryan McLeod’s role. In his full year as coach, he played Stuart Skinner as his started and Vincent Desharnais found his NHL career. Broberg and Dylan Holloway played, although not as much as they could/should have.
This season, Woodcroft bit the hand that fed him. He stopped looking for the kids in order to increase the talent pool. Part of it was no doubt the very small roster of talent available. Still, it cost him
With respect, I just don’t agree.
When Woody came up, he brought Niemo and Broberg becuase he had to due to injury and Broberg, Niemo and Lagesson each played all 9 games for the rest of February.
Broberg played 10 minutes per night in a lineup that featured both Niemo and Lagesson – he couldn’t find Broberg more than 10 minutes a night even with those other two in the lineup.
Aside from Jan-Feb last season, Woody’s staff NEVER gave Broberg a regular shift.
I recall Skinner being stapled to the bench while Woody rode Koskinen when Smith was injured – playing 1 games, got a shutout and the was assigned.
I think we can ALL agree that Holloway was not developed properly by the coach last season, right?
We saw what Woody did with Lavoie this year.
I’ll give you McLeod – he got an instant boost on the PK and 5 on 5b but he was the ONLY young player that Woody has put real trust in.
Halak is a super easy an no risk move.
I don’t know if he’d sign in Edmonton but all it would cost would be a league min contract for the rest of the season.
With that said, I don’t see Halak coming in and “saving the season”. He would just replace Pickard as the 1B. Skinner needs a real 1B that can play 40% of the games but, right now, we need a 1A that can play 60% of the games as Skinner is a 1B at best – right now.
I don’t know if that trade is out there.
That dude from Montral (Montem something) – $1MM, UFA at end of the year, solid numbers splitting the crease for a meh team.
Sure, we could acquire him but hot damn they cannot pay anything near a 1st round pick or that type of value. Goalies historically do NOT cost that much on the trade market and this is a “meh” option who is a rental as a pending UFA.
———————–
As far as off-loading goes, I agree, is too early but, shit, that might be on the horizon. Foegele would have real value as a UFA – we’d get an asset back. Connor Brown is on a league min deal – presuming he stops being god-damn awful (he was so bad last night), he should get a decent middling asset. Maybe Janmark gets a depth pick.
Maybe they unload Kulak – not the typical deadline deal as he has some term.
Its not time now – as terrible as it looks, the playoffs are not yet out of the picture but if they are stumbling come the turn of the calendar – dump some contracts, get some assets and lower the cap accumulation to fit in some of Brown’s bonuses and lower that yearly overage.
It’s never too early to unload players.
They did so with the coach.
Halak is 38 and apparently doesn’t want to go on a conditioning stint , I don’t think he was at camp. He also will get hurt, it’s a given
LT,
If a painful trade is in the cards for this team, and I’m not suggesting it’s not, then I would submit that the window to win is officially closed.
Off loading futures like picks and/or prospects at this stage of the season is ludicrous and would make the team’s org the laughing stock of the league. Mind you, they seem to be doing a fine job of that already without making a trade.
I’m convinced this is a dressing room issue through and through. They’re not playing for eachother and are not committed to playing a full, team game. They play scared, soft and most are not willing to get dirty to make a proper play (McLeod, I’m looking at you).
What player would waive his NMC or NTC to come to this mess?
What player would be willing to sign here as a free agent given this situation?
Mcjesus isn’t going to stick around for maybes and ifs. Would you?
Drai won’t stick around. His demeanor to me suggests he’s halfway out the door already.
I’ve been critical of Holland in the past and I think he owns a part of this disaster. But since he’s arrived the team has improved steadily. I believe that hindsight will show Holland did a decent job under the circumstances (Flatcap, COVID, etc…) He didn’t knock it out of the park but he never completely shit the bed like most of his predecessors.
I don’t think he has had his input on this team since the spring. Jeff Jackson’s arrival didn’t just happen overnight, it was planned for awhile so I’m not going to drop the full, flaming shit sandwich on Holland’s porch. No way. When there is no accountability from the players then you could have Scotty Bowman behind the bench and he’d still end up looking like Oscar the Grouch.
Paul Coffey??? Really? What on earth were they thinking with that hire. What quals did he have to be a coach? Nothing.
The season is lost. Send a message to the league and more importantly, to the players on the team that this can’t be accepted.
I would activate the launch sequence on the following:
McLeod – nice speed but that’s about it. Not worth the $$$
Gagner – thx but this team isn’t winning with a guy this long in the tooth on the 1st or 2nd line.
Erne – his play speaks for itself.
Ryan – he might have some small value at the trade deadline.
Bouchard – love the offense and passing ability. Absolutely hate the passive approach to defence and marshmallow aggressiveness. He’s not changing and will want 8+ million in the future. Already have a defenseman who isn’t playing to his contact, do you really need two?
Ceci – a veteran who is making mistakes that a veteran shouldn’t be making.
Brown – Not seeing the fit at all.
Bring some kids up. Live with the mistakes and see what a hungry group of kids could do. Play Lavoie, Hamblin, Bromberg for 15 minutes a night.
Schedule a meeting with Mike Liut and get a hard answer on Drai’s intentions and proceed accordingly. If he wants to stay, then sign and pay him. If not, you could get a King’s ransom.
Last but not least, fire the goalie coach into the sun.
They need a hard answer on Drai’s intentions by the trade deadline. If he wants to stay, bless his heart and sign him July 2. If not, trade him at the deadline. He has more value with two playoff runs at $8 mill than one. The challenge with trading him is that any established young player has a similar cap hit today. If you can get a very good young player like Wyatt Johnston and +++ from Dallas as part of the deal, you might be able to salvage something. I have zero confidence in the team to navigate this tricky scenario.
Drai would have had to have submitted his 10 team trade list this off-season.
I wonder what teams are on it that would be able to fit that contract in mid-season? I presume most teams on it are contending type teams that are capped out, right?
We sure as hell aren’t retaining to keep cap next year, right?
I don’t even know what team I’m watching anymore. From the last couple years to this year is truly unbelievable.
It’s also amazing how little the management whoever it is learns from past mistakes. They’re doing to Broberg exactly what they did to Puljujarvi. Constantly benching the kid or just not dressing him. Of course they will make mistakes.
the year is probably over. So I definitely see a trade tree where they trade Bouchard and in two years buy someone out that finishes that trade alas Eberle.
Well said. They don’t ever learn from their mistakes.
It pains me to admit your scenario around Broberg sounds more and more plausible with every passing day.
Broberg really isn’t even making mistakes. Or he is making mistakes at a much lower rate than the other defensemen.
If he was getting reasonable ice time, and his hand were warm, would he have even made the alleged mistake that he made on the goal against last night. Ceci and McLeod were far more to blame. Ceci let the the 2nd forward beat him back, and then wandered aimlessly about. McLeod lost a board battle and then decided to flee the zone behind the net, leaving his mark. And while fleeing the zone, he kicked the puck in front of the net.
Broberg was comical behind his own net on the goal against.
I don’t agree with the Borberg vs. Puljujarvi comparison.
In his last three years, he was on ice most often with, in order:
McDavid
Nurse
Barrie
Drai
Bouchard
Nuge
He played mainly top 6 minutes with the team’s best players.
What if Jeff Jackson is actually worse than Holland and Chia?
We will know in a week or two if there are any panic trades.
Jackson’s first hire -KK – seems – like he has no solutions.
Worse, he is rolling with the Woody playbook for the most part. And seemingly very unaware of it.
3rd hire:
1) Rick Pracy
2) Michael P.
Season is toast. Only thing we need to do is LTIR enough cap space for that stupid brown contract and any cap bonuses
If they go in to LTIR for the season, the entire bonus will create a penalty next season.
They need to get OUT of LTIR to start accruing cap space which would reduce the bonus overage penalty if they don’t spend it.
Selling Foegele in-season will help.
I liked Coach K’s comments last night. this team needs to let loose and have some fun. pretty sure Captain serious and the intensity and pressure broke these guys coming into the year. Not sure who they can have come in to help fix it, but wonder if you could get Mrazek and Perry from Chicago. Add a 1st and someone to dump Campbell. Bring in Perry to add some certainty to the locker room that they can win.
Mrazek and Perry (50% retained)
for
Broberg, Campbell, 1st and Bourgault
Cap hit is the same. Clears Campbell and it’s 3 first to do it. lots but it happens.
Should have signed Perry in the summer for league min. Shouldn’t waste those assets at this stage of the season just so that he can teach the team some level of confidence building.
I feel like the team needs to have some fun as well. Much easier to say than do with the suffocating pressure on them. It’s not hard to see why players choose a sunny location to live where they won’t be under constant scrutiny. Canada is a great place to play during the playoffs when an entire city and surrounding area are behind you. When things don’t go so well and those fans turn on you the love for the game must be hard to find.
Its easy enough to say that a professional hockey player needs to have a thick skin and needs to earn the massive salary they are paid. A lot of people who grew up in Canada can remember the absolute joy of skating on a sheet of ice and chasing a puck around. I’m no sports psychologist but somehow the Oilers need to close off the outside noise and try to remind themselves of how much they loved the game when they were little. Going to the rink every day should be a pleasure.
100% agree that I wouldn’t pay assets for Perry – he was just healthy scratched but I did want to note that, considering he’s taking in $4MM this season, I don’t think he signing in Edmonton for $3.25MM less……
Given their current record you don’t trade the 1st round pick under any circumstances.
We need out of Campbell’s contract in the worst way. But you don’t do it by digging the hole even deeper.
Their first-round pick will be a valuable commodity. They may very well win the lottery for the #1 pick overall. Best hold on to that. No team will help them with Campbells contract, they will have to buy him out ASAP.
Playing an injured McDavid is nuts.
The Oilers haters are spot on: Oilers management is the achilles heel that keeps on giving(to Oilers haters).
I don’t think McDavid is still injured.
Correct. He should have stayed out another 5 or more games if necessary.