This is the Connor McDavid “cluster” 2018-19. Young men 18-22 who appeared to have a dynamite future with the Edmonton Oilers. Turns out, just four men (57 percent) made it through the rain.
Today, I’d like to turn back the clock to 1983. The Oilers just lost the Stanley to the New York Islanders. Playing well in each of the four game sweep, it felt like the Oilers were (in the words of the great philospher Frankie Valli) so close, co close and yet so far.
The Oilers lost 4 straight to the Islanders in the spring of 1983, but they were already an outstanding team. For Oilers fans it was only a matter of time, and yet until your team wins Stanley it isn’t official (ask Canucks fans today. Or yesterday. Or 1975). The 82-83 Oilers scored at will, but the 70-71 Bruins had done the same and also fallen short.
For this Oiler fan, an article in The Hockey News struck a nerve and is an item I have had in my possession since then. In an article called ‘On the Contrary’ Fischler compared the Islanders victory over Edmonton in 1983 to the Battle of Britian and the Battle of Midway, with the Islanders representing Churchill and America, respectively.
Fischler: There are those who believe that someday the Oilers will win the Stanley Cup. Do not believe it. As long as Glen Sather runs the Oilers, they can be stopped. Wayne Gretzky is Ted Williams–a winner but not a champion. That’s an important distinction. Williams has no World Series ring and Gretzky–with all of his style and grace–may never have a Stanley Cup ring. It (a SC) may never come if Gretzky persists in taking the dives and then bawling at the officials. Nor will it come if the Oilers play the same guttersnipe hockey–Gretzky, Kurri and a few other clean ones excluded–played by their glory-less leader when he was tramping around the NHL.
Sather entered the summer in need of a strong, gritty C (they had traded Laurie Boschman for Willy Lindstrom at the deadline. A good trade, but it left them weakened up the middle) and more toughness and experience on the wing.
Among the major stories that summer? Paul Coffey was apparently off to Montreal for Doug Wickenheiser and Gilbert Delorme, and Kevin Lowe was also ticketed elsewhere. As it turned out. the Oilers would sign Lowe to a 4-year deal in early September of that year, at what was reported to be in excess of $150,000 per season. The lineup the 1983 playoffs didn’t need a lot of tinkering. Games played in playoffs are the brackets:
Goal: Moog (16); Fuhr (1)
Defense: Coffey, Lowe, Gregg, Fogolin, Jackson (all 16); Huddy (15); Gary Lariviere (1)
Center: Gretzky, Linseman, Tom Roulston (all 16); Ray Cote (14); Don Nachbaur (2); Garry Unger (1)
Left Wing: Hunter (16); Lindstrom (16); Messier (15); Semenko (15); Jaroslav Pouzar (1)
Right Wing: Kurri, Anderson, Pat Hughes, Dave Lumley (all 16)
My memory of that era had some of the wingers playing C (Messier, Hughes) and Roulston and Cote may or may not have played center. I do know the C’s were 99, Linseman, Boschman and Roulston before Sather traded Boschman.
The Oilers had several hopefuls, the skilled men (Habschied, Summanen) and some toughness in the system but nothing immediate to help fix the holes where the rain comes in. They entered the summer with two well regarded goalies, 6 pretty good to stellar defenders and the heart of the offense that would bring Stanley to town 5 times. The Oilers made a move at the deadline (Lindstrom) to add some help on the wings but looked in-house for other solutions.
The team would move Mark Messier to center during the 1983-84 campaign, and make a fantastic trade for center Kevin McClelland in December 1983.
Who is the internal piece that moves around and makes a difference on this year’s team? Philip Broberg is my choice. Is he yours?
Who is the Kevin McClelland key addition? I will choose Artem Zub, a player who does well in his own end and can slide up the depth chart. He might not be the ideal partner for Darnell Nurse, but I think Broberg may well be the piece there. A top six of Ekholm-Bouchard, Kulak-Zub, Nurse-Broberg might be just what the doctor ordered.
New for The Athletic: Will Oilers management tweak mean stronger European UFA presence?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5662532/2024/07/28/oilers-management-european-ufas/
This story tees up a Broberg shift and I’m not down for it. Imagine for a moment that our left side D was so week that we were projecting Broberg top 4 minutes. Wise men that tell us that young d don’t develop in straight lines would express caution…. So instead of that we are projecting top 4 mins on his off-side. I think this is foolish. Move Ceci and Kulak for TBD-2RD.
This is a quick interesting read on left vs right shot in NHL defenders.
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl-defencemen-talk-benefits-drawbacks-of-playing-their-off-side-1.2082234?tsn-amp
I did some quick numbers on left versus right shot and nationality in the NHL and found there to be quite a variance between countries:
Percent of skaters from 2023-24 season who shoot right, by nationality:
-USA 45%
-CAN 40%
-SWE 30%
-RUS 20%
There are definite statistical national trends in handedness, with asian countries having a much lower percentage of declared left-handed dominant citizens.
Also of interest is if shooting preference correlates to handedness by nation. Apparently right shooting sticks sell in greater proportions in the US than Canada, with many claiming the preference is learned from baseball. The lowest proportion of left handed sticks sold by province in Candidates is apparently in Saskatchewan.
Stauffer often says: “you can’t go wrong with a player from a place that starts with an ‘S’” meaning Saskatchewan & Sweden. Players from those two areas also appear to be less likely to shoot right.
Why does this matter? If there are fewer right-shooting defenders from certain countries, left-shooting defenders will have a greater frequency of playing on the right side.
In the linked article, Dahlin claims to like playing the right side as a left shooter, perhaps this extends to Broberg as well. Perhaps as younger players in Sweden they played the right side as left shooters more often at higher levels (like international competitions).
Just a thought.
Interesting. I wonder if the size of the rink affects play in such a way that a defenceman’s handedness is more or less effective on his off side. For example, in Europe a LH defenceman may be just as or more effective then a RH defenceman playing RD because the tendency of the LW or LH Centre on the larger ice might be to make a play (pass or turn) into the centre of the ice rather then to the near post like we do here in North America.
Interesting too to know how in NA our RD who face LW’s and (likely) LHC’s an inordinate amount of time are affected statistically. Likewise with LD who face RW’s and RHC’s (presumably) more often. For example: Bouchard (RHD) will see Mathews (LHC) more, and Ekholm (LHD) will see McKinnon (RHC) more.
Only 74 of the top 200 scorers were RH last year.
It was quite common practice for NHL defensemen to play on their off wing up until somewhere between 2010-4.
I can’t remember who wrote the article, but it was a fancy stats article that showed the negative possession impact of a defenseman playing their off wing?
Can anyone find a link? This is the oldest article I can find, but it definitely isn’t the one I am thinking of. (here).
Here’s Dellow’s opinion.
Around that time, it was also pretty common for goalies to play back-to-back starts until a fancy stats article showed how poorly they do in this situations.
From Dellow:
So maybe the fallback plan if Broberg can’t play 2RD is to look for a veteran lefty who can (Since they’re easier to find).
Who’s out there that’s a mobile left-handed d who’s top-4 caliber, who can make good outlet passes… plays for a team unlikely to make the playoffs and has a manageable cap hit or expiring contract?
Here’s a Hockey Graphs article that’s useful.
https://hockey-graphs.com/2016/03/04/quantifying-the-importance-of-handedness/
The Russian Romanov plays RH side iirc.
I wanted Nate Schmidt but FLA scooped him up early in free agency for $800k/1 year
I’ve mentioned Olivier Kyllington previously- he’s UFA and appears to have fallen off Calgary’s radar-similar skillset to Broberg. His retail price is high, but it’s getting late early, perhaps a value deal late in the summer and a chance to play with McDrai and a bunch of Swedes might be attractive to him
Look, I want a right handed D as much as the next guy, but we’ve been looking now for more than a year, and the solution to the problem just isn’t out there.
Waiting until the deadline is no guarantee either, we saw how that turned out last season
It doesn’t sound like the Oilers broke Stan Fischler’s heart but, it seems he holds an HH level grudge.
“That’s a long time to hold a grudge”.
“I was never one to hold grudges. My father held grudges. I’ll always hate him for that.” – Pierce Hawthorne
Wow the Woman’s soccer team digs deep and beats France in the last minutes of extra time. If Canada can beat Columbia they advance after being docked 6 points this is remarkable and unbelievable.
They still need higher goal differential than other teams with 3 points (assuming we win the next game).
They would be at least second in their group if they win against Colombia. Colombia is +1 now so would be their 0 or less vs. Canada’s +3 (currently +2) or better. Goal differential won’t matter.
I’m just here for the subtle Sgt. Pepper’s references.
1984 was the first season Coffey cracked 100 points. His peak season was as a 25 year old, with 138 points.
Bouchard more than doubled his point production last season with a full season on the best power play in history, and a full season with Coffey as his coach.
This is Bouchard’s season as a 25 year old. His point production during the playoffs was at a 105 point pace, 32 points in 25 games. Will Bouchard surpass 100 points in his contract year? If he does, and becomes the first Oiler since Coffey to win the Norris, does the AAV in his new contract start with a 10? Or an 11?
If Stan Fischler would have been running the NHL in 1979 there is no way that the four WHA teams would have been allowed to merge with the older league. He is a New Yorker, greatest city in the world and an Easterner to the core. The less said about him on this blog the better for Edmonton.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Stick tap to McCurdy’s Stan article at Cult, which I feel covers most issues and concerns.
Unrelated: I always forget Slats wasn’t GM yet when Rags broke the curse. For half of the 90s kinda felt like he was GM for Rangers and Oilers both.
He was GM for half of that 94 NYR team breaking into the league and developing into solid-star players, so that sort of counts!
— Just came back from amazing Alaska cruise : highly recommend : small villages like Sitka hoonah: Hubbard and mildenhall glaciers. Just stunning geography and history.
— was fascinating to read and learn about how US and Canada split up the geography post Alaska purchase. Canada was lucky that it was done pre gold rush : as well as the natural resources out of BC
— Missed the new GM news, US news etc.
— Jays remind of of circa Steve Austin Core : just not good enough. Sad to see the sell off of what turned out to be not good enough draft and develops
— Turns out JJ just an old school guy hiring remotely an old boy who is at least 10 years from being relevant and out of touch last few years.
— Dissapointing hire on so many levels. He wasn’t even a good get and not worth the ruinous negative equity he comes with. Like all the GMs post Sather : this will be his last job of consequence in the NHL and just like that last many GMs wasn’t the best option available full stop.
We just docked at pier 66 as well. We took the married kids and that trip was good for all ages.
— Amazing ! we got back yesterday to Toronto. Took our 11 and 14 year old left the 5 and 7 year old with grannies.
— Don’t have other cruises to compare it to but Alaska seems ideal for a cruise : as the stops difficult access elsewise . It’s not like you could just drive for 7 or 8 days and see everything
— Heli was cool and the kids had never been on a pontoon plane before. Kayaking. We did a lot and saw amazing things. Getting off the phone internet for the better part of a week was also so therapeutic
— I grew up in YK and this was the kids first experience in the “wild” albeit somewhat version. The locals on stops very kind and generous and the fresh seafood in the village’s special.
Did you do the white pass train tour out of Skagway?
On our cruise, we had excellent First Nation interpreters as well.
We did the White Pass train, excellent views and stories.
Bowman inherited a very good team that he helped Dale Talon built.
That team won the cup and, sure, an argument can be made that was Tallon’s team – of course, Bowman was in Hawk’s management for the decade that team was being built.
There were salary cap issues right away and after a couple re-tooling seasons, Bowman built the team back up to win the cup in 2013 and 2015 and even had the team 1st in the West and 3rd in the league in 2017.
Bowman had many years of success as GM.
We’ll see how it goes teamed up with Jackson in Edmonton.
— Do you think Bowman was a good hire? Was he the best and could grow with team and does forward thinking stuff, attuned to modern hockey.
— I don’t. Arguements haven’t been strong that I’ve read in support of him or that’s he’s the best hire. Notwithstanding his other issues.
— Like Holland he won his cups in the decade preceding his hire. Since 2015 his teams hot garbage.
— He was a nepo hire there. Not very current his team sucked for years. He didn’t adapt. Not employed in a few years
— I guess hope like when he was GM a decade ago when they won hope he stays the course. But his tenure will end badly here. Just hope they won shortly
— Basically any competent GM would win a Cup for the team is my opinion. He’s for sure competent. If they go on a run like the Blackhawks did : my bad. I highly doubt it.
I don’t love the hire, nope, but I’m speaking to the portion that simply disregard his tenure in Chicago and the success he did have.
He was a part of management assisting the team that Tallon built but he was the man that re-tooled a middling team to win a cup in 2013 (3 years after Tallon was gone) and 2015 (5 years after Tallon was gone) and in 2017 a top 5 team in the standings (7 years after Tallon left).
He gets zero credit, even for having a top team 7 years after being named GM.
I laugh whenever I hear the term “nepo hire”.
Holy hell, 3/4 of positions in the NHL or nepo hires. The business world runs on nepotism.
Kris Knoblauch was a nepo hire. Paul Coffey was a nepo hire.
People wanted Keith Gretzky to get the job – nepo hire when he first started. Brad Holland, nepo hire when he first started.
20 years later, I don’t think Jeff Jackson was hired because of Scotty.
How come so many people are against running Broberg as 2nd pair right d? He came in and did it against arguably 2 of the 3 best teams in the nhl, while playing in the highest pressure situation he will ever face. Yes his fancy stats looked rough, but was that him or the fact nurse was banged up and the second line was struggling. Maybe his fancy stats will catch up with his goal share with a better second line and a healthy partner.
I’m all for it; maybe others feel he lacks track record (should have had a chance during the regular season to prove himself), maybe others fear a kind of sophomore slump. Not sure.
Only way to know for sure is to try it out!
It’s not so much anti-Broberg as it is anti-Ceci. The Oilers would be a better team with someone better than Broberg on the second pair regardless of how good Broberg is. I do believe we’ll see a 2RHD added at the deadline but we may still have Broberg and Ceci on the team then too.
Fischler’s animus towards the Oilers was longstanding & frankly not very professional. One of the great aspects of finally winning the Cup in’84 was seeing dudes like him & Dick Beddoes shut up if not actively eat their words.
he has softened somewhat in his later years.
He could never stand the idea that some ranked the Oilers over the Habs as greatest ever.
Change a couple names in Fischler’s write up and I’d swear I was reading quotes from Lansky on Lowetide’s show.
I think both Holloway and Broberg could be difference makers next season. With McLeod and Foegele out of the picture, the 3LW or even 4C spot are his to take. I think Holloway will take that next step this season. I can also see him challenge for 2LW, with Skinner on Henrique’s line.
I know Akey missed the majority of last season, but he could surprise, as could Wanner. Not as 2RD, but as 3RD.
I would presume Akey is in the future plans but I don’t imagine he’s even a thought for this year’s team – he’ll be back in the OHL before camp is done.
Especially after missing a season
I think highly of the player, he could surprise and get NHL games, I wouldn’t put it past him, regardless of his circumstances. We haven’t seen an non-first rounder do this in the organization ever I believe. We are overdue to see such a thing, and he has my vote to do it 😀
You didn’t include him in your off-limits list for Miromanov……
Once the move Akey off the roster, he’s not eligible to come back until his OHL season is over – he’s a junior aged player, not eligible for the AHL.
They already need to assign one of Stecher and Brown (in addition to Carrick and Kemp and Wanner and Gleason and Dineen).
Its hard to imagine Akey doing anything in camp that would have on the roster at the beginning of the season.
I presume that Knoblauck and Jackson and Bowman know just as well as we do how little exhibition performance means as far as NHL readiness.
Bo = Beau
Broberg, definitely, but also Holloway. I feel like he’s dipped his toes into the waters enough to go full send this season.
His development path has mirrored that of Stuart Skinner, looking much like a staircase. New level of competition, flat lines for a while as he acclimatizes, then growth and repeat.
I would trade either of them or both of them if they could bring back a cost controlled top 4 right handed dman but I think we all know that is wishful thinking. Throw in a 1st round pick and most GM’s who have such a player probably still hang up on Bowman.
I wouldn’t send them out (either or both) for Rasmus Anderson… who do you have in mind as suitable and likely?
Cost controlled as in RFA age. Sorry, I should have been clearer. And I like both of them. The Oilers just have pretty much nothing of value to use to fetch a young top four RHD.
The prospect pool certainly wouldn’t get it done. Our #1 prospect just fetched a so so 3C for Buffalo so we all know there is a reason why the team is ranked in the bottom third of the league for prospects by those who do that.
So, yes, I like Broberg and Holloway but realistically both have injury histories early in their career. Both have taken longer than anticipated to make the team. They are exciting to us because there is nothing else but I wouldn’t think other GM’s share quite the same level of enthusiasm.
I would move Holloway for Andersson but it doesn’t really matter because Conroy wouldn’t make that deal with a good friend let alone a despised foe imo.
You couldn’t get Seider or Dobson for both and a 1st even though draft pedigree says that would be an overpay on the Oilers part.
I don’t know much of anything about Barron in Montreal so maybe you could load up the assets and Montreal would move him. I don’t know.
The choices are few but imo it comes down to an older guy making too much money for our few value contracts or a guy 21-22 years of age buried somewhere whose name hasn’t come up so far or, – and this is probably the answer – Broberg playing on his wrong side.
Kane is the wild card. Is he a LTIR to start the season? If he is the Oilers can go shopping in a different part of the store.
Yeah, that’s a fair assessment on your part. I was baiting you a bit to flesh out more of what you’re thinking. Thanks for playing ball.
As much as I’d love to add a Carlo or Seider or Theodore tier of player, do we really need that much to be competitive? To put it another way, what’s the effective gap between a guy like Ceci and Carlo? Is that the tier where guys like Zub/Mayfield/Gudas/Pionk/Cernak/Carrier/Borgen can step in and contribute with Nurse?
Or, as you say, are we looking for buried/undervalued assets on other rosters? Guys like Barron/Nemec/Jiricek etc and hope they can hit the ice at full stride?
Absent a home run in that capacity, I’d tend to prefer to see what Broberg can do before sending out assets. I think there’s a better than even chance he can thrive, but I’m also a fan of the home team so don’t claim any objectivity in my assessments.
I see nobody likes my original assessment 😇 so my question is what proven top 4 cost controlled (RFA) RD do any of you think could be traded for if we offered Broberg, Holloway and a 1st.
What team is willing to give one up?
I’ll wait.
Before Bowman I admit I was excited about the possibility of some kind of robbery.
The likes of Jiricek, Nemec or Schneider (prior to extension) had me salivating at the potential of a VGK style coup, a la Shea Theodore.
These days I’m less enthused, which is probably more realistic anyways.
Who else is there, buried or not, that’s a young up and comer for RHD? That’s a target base I’m mostly unfamiliar with, to be honest. Haven’t been following the draft as closely as I used to…
How is Jacob Bernard-Docker trending? I remember Bob calling him a sleeper steal in his draft year for a second round pick, then I was surprised to see OTT take him in the first round. 24 years old, 1 year to RFA status, $805k AAV.
Would Holloway entice Steady Steve to make a deal? (Not specifically endorsing the deal, rather putting it out there for discussion based on this line of discourse.)
Staios just had to give up Chychrun to get a 33 year old Jensen to play RD. I doubt he is unaware of how much a RD is worth these days.
Disagree.
That’s the cost to dump Chychrun.
He’s gordawful; a lower paid, left-handed Seth Jones.
Bowman will not sit back and go with the Ceci and Nurse top 4. I say bowman calls in a marker and gets that top 4 RD in his 1st trade. Going out Ceci-? coming in will be a cost controlled or early Christmas present cap space moolah when ( just a prediction) Kane hits LTIR after his operation in Aug.
For Holloway two things:
1) stay healthy and in the lineup; and
2) find some consistency.
As far as #2, I find he often comes out like he’s shot out of a cannon for a few games in any new opportunity but then fades. He did seem to find a way to impact the game consistently in the playoffs but I don’t think that style of play is sustainable for him (hitting everything and blocking every shot from the point) – he’ll get hurt.
Jeff Skinner needs to be in the top 6 but Arvidsson is a player that can help a 3rd line and be impactful from that spot.
I think both Holloway and Skinner will play 2nd line and 3rd line wing this season.
Holloway should get reps early on the PK as well.
They’ve lost McLeod and Foegele and I don’t think Derek Ryan plays nightly – he might not even be on the opening 21-player roster.
You could very well be right.
Seeing how Holloway responds to this off-season of training and how well he’s prepared for the upcoming season is one of the greatest current thrills of closely following the team.
McLeod and Foegele weren’t the types of players to play a their A-game on a night to night basis. So the bar to clear isn’t precisely high. Here’s hoping Holloway (and, similarly, Broberg) can do so more frequently (if not nightly, few can).
I do think he is going to absolutely pop this season if he can stay healthy. He’s been on the verge for 18 months. He would have done so a year ago when he was finally playing nightly on a 6D set up and excelling. Circumstances led to Ekholm and Vinny being added and the 7D setup.
signed at 2 years for $1.2MM or 1 year at $1MM (tops), he’s going to be a massive value deal.
I know Broberg’s playoff stats. The fancy ones and the real ones. And I know they were posted exclusively in the Conference and Cup finals.
Totally independent of any good or bad numbers, I really thought Broberg was a different player in those last 10 playoff games than before.
To me he seemed stronger, more assertive, more confident. It looked like the over-ripening may actually have worked. And it looked to me like was NOT going back to the AHL.
And I agree he played well in those 15 or so games 18 months ago, but to my eye his play in this past playoffs was different.
Ah yes, Stan Fischler.
The original Cathal Kelly.
Question to LT or the guys who can recall: did Fischler ever get confronted about his anti-Oilers bias after they’d won multiple Cups? If so, how did he respond?
To be clear, I know how he said they’d never win a cup in ’83, then they wouldn’t win again in ’84, then later he said EDM wasn’t a dynasty because they didn’t win three in a row.
What I mean is, did he ever recant his string of awful takes about the team years after or did he maintain frame all down the line?
No idea, but I suspect his Oiler extends beyond the 1980’s. This is an article he penned in December 2022:
https://thehockeynews.com/news/fischler-report-mcdavid-is-the-most-spectacular-but-isnt-the-best
Well, at least he’s consistent!
Mistaking the soon-to-be NHL Yankees for the Red Sox alone should have been a firing offence.
Fischler was a tradionalist and a Easterner he looked down on the combo European-WHA Jets style of play the Oilers took to new levels. Fischler despised Sather and when the Oilers smoked the Habs 3 love it only got worse.
Artem Zub has been my 2RD target since we played in the North division during the Covid year.
Average skater, but he is a nasty bit of business who doesn’t chop the puck square.
Couldn’t find the exact post where Bruce McCurdy shot me down calling for Zub as an upgrade, but I did find this recollection I made in 2022. (Sorry, Bruce, I think you were wrong then and I’m still a little salty about it, lol.)
Source: https://lowetide.ca/2022/06/25/a-gallon-of-gas/#comment-1136469
Zub has also been a player of interest for me for 3 years running, but why would Ottawa move him? He is easily their #1 RHD with no one to replace him right now.
Some of the more plausible options, IMO are:
1.Trading Ceci & Kulak+ for a retained Seth Jones.
2.Trading Nurse for Karlsson and moving Broberg to 2 LD.
3.Trading for Jeff Petry.
4.Trading for Cale Fleury as a 3 RD option and let him win a job. He seems buried in Seattle and he help his team win the Calder Cup on a team with a deep RD Group (including Carrick, who signed with the Oil).
5.Trade for Miromanov, he killed it Calgary, is he seen as part of the future there in a top 4 role?
Oh, I’m under no impression that he’s getting traded — as I often pointed out, the best time to trade for Zub was BEFORE his contract extension. With Zub firmly established in their plans, there’s not much reason for Staios to send him out and prolong the timeline for their return to contention.
Miromanov is the player that I think of all the attainable and affordable (FWIW I don’t consider any on the list other than Fleury to be attainable or affordable (or even desirable), just trying to hit on a trade that is plausible, because there isn’t much out there) targets could become a substantial top 4 dman.
I have no idea how he could be acquired, probably at TDL. Probably never, Conroy likely won’t make any trades with Edmonton.
Interesting that he only started playing as a defenseman when he was 18 or 19 years old. He just turned 27, has great size at 6’4” 207 and is a great skater. I think he’s figured out the position and is one of those hidden gems who develop their abilities much later.
I’d trade him for any RHD in the organization other than Bouch, Bo or Maximus.
You would trade Akey for him?
You rate Wanner higher than Akey?
When I wrote “Bo”, I meant “Beau”.
Carlson, perhaps he is a TDL Target, he would cost too much, IMO, maybe he comes aboard next July as an affordable UFA. He still puts up very good numbers across the board.
Can’t see Burns shaking loose, but he would look very good on this blueline.
Nice shot at the Canuckleheads!
But you would have to bring up Fischler. I always despised him for “insight” like that.
Fischler always hated the Oilers. I see he is still kicking at 92; too mean to die?
Any mention whether he lives under a bridge on VanIsle?
Devil doesn’t want the aggravation…
Two things are likely to be true.
1) If healthy the forward upgrades this offseason will take care of people’s worries re: Nurse and his partner. The myopia that focuses squarely on defense without acknowledging how poor those forwards were at maintaining o zone possession or generating offense is one of the blind spots on this blog.
2) Playing a Dman on his offside given the forward Comp at the upper edges of the Western Conference is going to burn you. It isn’t a recipe for long term success. Those guys are too good and they close off and pinch too well. I recommend watching replays of the playoffs and focusing on his play. Being backwards to your outlets 80% of the time is not a good way to use Broberg’s skill set. Being backwards to forecheckers blitzing you from the wall is not easy. When the pressure is off yes sure he looks perfectly good if not great, when the squeeze is on or they’re trying to cycle break it’s a very tall order.
Theodore plays the offside for Vegas. Heiskanen plays the off side for Dallas. And now that Tanev is gone, one expects that Dallas may be forced to play Harley on his offside too.
Dallas has the same “problem” as Edmonton.
It is more important to play good defensemen than to obsess about the handedness of defensemen.
Broberg has the mobility of Heiskanen, of Niedermayer, of Bouwmeester, of Sergachev all of whom played long periods of their career on the right hand side.
The Oilers need Broberg to play one, maybe two years on the right side.
Dallas signed two RD, Ilya Lybushkin and Matt Dumba as UFA’s as well as extending Nils Lundqvist who are all right shot D so it’s very unlikely Harley will be playing his off side.
And, much like Carolina, the Stars have been using the draft to stock up on right shot defensemen.
They drafted 3 RD in the 2022 draft and another in 2023.
It’s both things. The D (one now gone) below top pair aren’t great at holding the line, and two of the weak on the wall forwards also gone
I think JJ has it surrounded. There were too many guys comfortable with losing their battles. Or not capable of winning them at the hardest times. ‘Nice’ and playoff hockey aren’t close friends. The last really good Oilers teams of decades past had a collection of foaming at the mouth competitive fellas