Line Combos: 19-20 lineup

[Numz]

Something I tried to throw together quickly. Not sure the numbers are 100% correct.

Total Cap Spent = 77.825
Free Cap = 5.175

Note: If Chiasson and Khaira aren’t signed, free cap space = 8.675 to bring in star Free Agent. Slot Brodziac 4th line C, Cave (675k) also available.

Panarin @ 8 x 8.5m? Yea, not happening!

Duchene? Hows 6 @ 7m?

Skinner? 8 @ 6m?

The contract lengths above expire when players are 35 yrs old.

Draisaitl (8.5) - McDavid (12.5) – Kasian (1.95)
Gambardela (2@700k) - RNH (6) – Chiasson (2@2)
Nygard (925k) - Marody (925k) – Puljujarvi ([email protected])
Lucic (6) – Khaira (1.5) - Gagner (3.1)

-Brodziak (1.150) – Depth
-Cave (675k) - Depth

-Benson AHL with some NHL games
-Yamamoto AHL, possible call up

Klef (4.1) – Sekera (5.5)
Nurse (3.2) – Benning (1.9)
Jones/Bear (720k) – Larson (4.1) (Shelter the kids) but moves back up if he shows improvement from last years poor play.

-Persson (1.0)
-Manning (2.25)

-Koskinen (4.5)
-Stolarz (Max 2 @1.5 or leave)

Sign Khaira (@ 2x1.5) Depth
Sign Poolparty (@2x1.5)

Cap Hits:
Pouliot - 1.33
Gryba - 300k

Trade:
Russel (4.0) – 2019 3rd - 5th Rnd Pick (We’re missing a 5th in 2019)

Edit: Good catch by McHockeyFan91 on the Gambardella comment. Edited to his confirmed new contract, 2 @ 700k.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Something I tried to throw together quickly. Not sure the numbers are 100% correct.

Total Cap Spent = 78.625
Free Cap = 4.375

Note: If Chiasson and Khaira aren’t signed, free cap space = 7.875 to bring in star Free Agent. Slot Brodziac 4th line C, Cave (675k) also available.

Panarin @ 8 x 7.5m? Yea, not happening!

Duchene? Hows 7 @ 7m?

Skinner? 8 @ 6m?

The contract lengths above expire when players are 35 yrs old.

Draisaitl (8.5) - McDavid (12.5) – Kasian (1.95)
Gambradela ([email protected]) - RNH (6) – Chiasson (2@2)
Nygard (925k) - Marody (925k) – Puljujarvi ([email protected])
Lucic (6) – Khaira (1.5) - Gagner (3.1)

-Brodziak (1.150) – Depth
-Cave (675k) - Depth

-Benson AHL with some NHL games
-Yamamoto AHL, possible call up

Klef (4.1) – Sekera (5.5)
Nurse (3.2) – Benning (1.9)
Jones/Bear (720k) – Larson (4.1) (Shelter the kids) but moves back up if he shows improvement from last years poor play.

-Persson (1.0)
-Manning (2.25)

-Koskinen (4.5)
-Stolarz (Max 2 @1.5 or leave)

Sign Khaira (@ 2x1.5) Depth
Sign Poolparty (@2x1.5)

Cap Hits:
Pouliot - 1.33
Gryba - 300k

Trade:
Russel (4.0) – 2019 3rd - 5th Rnd Pick (We’re missing a 5th in 2019)

Gambardella has done nothing to show he deserves a 2x1.5m contract.

 

[Michal]

Hi, I'm a rangers fan. I suppose you would like to get rid of Lucic, right?

Lucic, 8AO 2019, 1rd 2020
for

Shattenkirk (50% retention), Namiestnikov (50% retention), 2 rd 2019, 2 rd 2020.

What do you think?

 

[Aerchon]

XXX McDavid Draisaitl
YYY RNH Puljujarvi
Kharia ZZZ Kassian
Nygard Brodziach Gagner
Lucic

XXX and YYY will be a call up or cheap signing and a decent UFA/Chiasson.

ZZZ will be where the bulk of our cap space will go. We desperately need a 3rd line center. I think we can spend around 4 mill on this.

Lucic needs to be benched/used as our 13th forward to increase competition and reward good play.

Cave needs to be AHL bound. I don't see an nhl players there.

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Sekera Bear
Lagesson Persson

It's absolutely paramount that we move Russell. I like the player but we have the depth to move on and we need the cap space for a 3rd line center. Bury or move Manning as well.

Koskinen
Backup

The rest of our cap space goes to a proven backup. I believe we will have around 2.5 for this signing.

It's a roster that absolutely requires bounce back performances and significant growth from within to make the playoffs.

I'm higher on our goaltending than most. With a proven backup that can give Koskinen normal/regular rest and play 30 games I think we can get at least league average goaltending.

In short this group on paper is the worst it has been for years and is a long shot to make the playoffs. It will be a development/transition year for some very promising pieces moving forward tho. A year that even without a playoff berth "should" have some serious positives. The AHL team should be stacked and cups of coffee and internal competition "should" yield a couple impact players.

The following year we "should" be able to move Sekera. Gagner bloated contract will be gone. Gryba off the books. Cap increase. Influx of some serious talent from the ahl... One year after that no Pouliot on the books.

The last thing we need is for Holland to push for a big change that does not prioritize cap flexibility moving forward. A big trade or contract for another older/slower player could kill what little optimism for the future there is. Trying to force something to happen to significantly improve the roster for next year would most likely be a collosal mistake.

 

[Stoneman89]

IMO way too early to be asking - I know you say barring free agent signings, but if there aren't some more signings and/or trades, I think I'll be pretty disappointed in Holland's work. We can't afford to go into next year with our only upgrades being promoting prospects too early again.

I don’t think Holland has a lot of choices given the cap hell he’s inherited.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Why are people putting Benson in the lineup let alone in the top 6 ? guy can barely move as fast as Sam Gagner .Keep him in the minors until you see a consistent improvement in his game and skating. Let him dominate the AHL before bringing him up.

Nice to know you have never seen him play.

People are putting him in the top 6 cause he is currently the best option.

 

[CycloneSweep]

XXX McDavid Draisaitl
YYY RNH Puljujarvi
Kharia ZZZ Kassian
Nygard Brodziach Gagner
Lucic

Penciling in Puljujarvi anywhere outside the bottom 6 is a horrible idea. If Puljujarvi is starting on the second line, that second line is doing nothing.

XXXX - McDavid - Draisaitl
YYYY - RNH - YYYY
Gagner - ZZZZ - Puljujarvi
Nygard, Brodziak, Kassian, Khaira, Cave make up the 4th line.

Puljujarvi struggled to even be a bottom 6 player last year, he shouldn't sniff the top 6 unless he shows he can handle even 3rd line minutes.

 

[Aerchon]

Penciling in Puljujarvi anywhere outside the bottom 6 is a horrible idea. If Puljujarvi is starting on the second line, that second line is doing nothing.

XXXX - McDavid - Draisaitl
YYYY - RNH - YYYY
Gagner - ZZZZ - Puljujarvi
Nygard, Brodziak, Kassian, Khaira, Cave make up the 4th line.

Puljujarvi struggled to even be a bottom 6 player last year, he shouldn't sniff the top 6 unless he shows he can handle even 3rd line minutes.

Puljujarvi was injured and before that played much better.

If Draisaitl didn't put up 50 with McDavid I'd have him on the top line.

I would absolutely have him on the first PP next year.

Enough ducking around with Puljujarvi. Give the guy every opportunity to succeed. To date he has fewer opportunities than players like Yamamoto, Rattie, and Chaison with only Chiasson "earning" the spot.

This team only goes as far as players like Puljujarvi develop. Only an idiot would say Puljujarvi has been given a real opportunity in an offensive role yet. Imo.

Not to be too pessimistic but the Oilers do not have a playoff team on paper. Next year they need to be focused, play hard, and try to make the playoffs. I don't expect a bottom 5 finish but I'd be shocked at a playoff appearance. May as well make developing Puljujarvi a top priority as he is our most talented youngest forward in the organization. Based off his skillset, prenhl history, and draft pedigree.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Puljujarvi was injured and before that played much better.

If Draisaitl didn't put up 50 with McDavid I'd have him on the top line.

I would absolutely have him on the first PP next year.

Enough ducking around with Puljujarvi. Give the guy every opportunity to succeed. To date he has fewer opportunities than players like Yamamoto, Rattie, and Chaison with only Chiasson "earning" the spot.

This team only goes as far as players like Puljujarvi develop. Only an idiot would say Puljujarvi has been given a real opportunity in an offensive role yet. Imo.

Not to be too pessimistic but the Oilers do not have a playoff team on paper. Next year they need to be focused, play hard, and try to make the playoffs. I don't expect a bottom 5 finish but I'd be shocked at a playoff appearance. May as well make developing Puljujarvi a top priority as he is our most talented youngest forward in the organization. Based off his skillset, prenhl history, and draft pedigree.

Before his injury Puljujarvi was an average 2nd liner at best. Tippett or Holland aren't going to gift Him top 6 minutes because he is supposed to be good. He will be in a spot in the lineup his play dictates. His career up to date isn't close to a top 6 player.

He hasn't gotten an opportunity in offensive roles cause he can't even generate anything against freaking 4th liners. If he was any good screw who his line mates are, he would look like the best player on the ice against other 4th liners, instead he looked slightly better than Brodziak.

This isn't some poor elite player that just needs a chance, this is a bad hockey player who needs to put some effort in and show ability before he gets gifted top 6 minutes.

He can be good but throwing him into the top 6 against top competition for him to be a liability and get wrecked won't help the kid.

Pp time won't help him either as he probably has one of the least accurate shots on the team. Gagner has a better one timer.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Puljujarvi was injured and before that played much better.

If Draisaitl didn't put up 50 with McDavid I'd have him on the top line.

I would absolutely have him on the first PP next year.

Enough ducking around with Puljujarvi. Give the guy every opportunity to succeed. To date he has fewer opportunities than players like Yamamoto, Rattie, and Chaison with only Chiasson "earning" the spot.

This team only goes as far as players like Puljujarvi develop. Only an idiot would say Puljujarvi has been given a real opportunity in an offensive role yet. Imo.

Not to be too pessimistic but the Oilers do not have a playoff team on paper. Next year they need to be focused, play hard, and try to make the playoffs. I don't expect a bottom 5 finish but I'd be shocked at a playoff appearance. May as well make developing Puljujarvi a top priority as he is our most talented youngest forward in the organization. Based off his skillset, prenhl history, and draft pedigree.

Lol JP doesn’t know where to go on a regular shift. Never mind the PP.

 

[guymez]

Lol JP doesn’t know where to go on a regular shift. Never mind the PP.

No kidding.
JP doesnt belong in the top 6 unless we are talking about Bakersfield.

 

[McFlash97]

Nice to know you have never seen him play.

People are putting him in the top 6 cause he is currently the best option.

Throwing out blanket opinions because you dont agree with my assessment doesnt lead to good banter. In what world would you say Benson skates better then Gagner right now? Yes I have seen him play. His skating is the "only " thing holding him back. He is not a good skater. He is less then average currently from my viewings. If he gets to above average we have a solid player in the NHL.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Throwing out blanket opinions because you dont agree with my assessment doesnt lead to good banter. In what world would you say Benson skates better then Gagner right now? Yes I have seen him play. His skating is the "only " thing holding him back. He is not a good skater. He is less then average currently from my viewings. If he gets to above average we have a solid player in the NHL.

Hes alot stronger on his skates than Gagner.

Theres alot more to skating than speed.

 

[McShogun99]

I think Bouchard makes the opening night lineup, maybe Benson but that will be it for the rookies.

 

[McFlash97]

Hes alot stronger on his skates than Gagner.

Theres alot more to skating than speed.

He is not stronger then Gagner on his skates and is not as fast yet either. That's not to say he can be better then Sam in both. I'm from the show me boat now. None of our prospects need to by hyped until they prove themselves to us at the NHL level. Too many misses and player development failures for me to jump on anyone's bandwagon.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I don’t think Holland has a lot of choices given the cap hell he’s inherited.

The Oilers cap isn't as bleak as many make it out to be. No ones due for big raises (Pulju and Kharia both likely come it under 1.5 mil each); and say you sign a cheap vet in net like Elliot for 2 mil, plus a couple cheap contracts for guys like Gambardella and P. Russell to round off the bottom of the roster, and you'd still have enough space to sign someone for ~4 mil.

While it's tough for the Oilers to outright add, they're still not in a postion where they need to subtract in order to get under the cap. Truth be told they're actually in a decent spot to swap bad contract for bad contract.

Personally I think you'll see Sekera+ dealt for another overpaid defenceman with question marks, but one that fits the team's needs better (so a RH OFD, think Green or Shattenkirk), or for this team to deal him on the cheap to a team looking for a LHD like Montreal, and then use that cap space to chase Stralman or Myers on the UFA market. Benning goes for a bottom 6'er to solve the log jam on defence (say Connor Brown), and the team also targets a "buy low" LH top 6 forward (my choice would be Brassard).

My guess for next year:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Brassard-RNH-Puljujarvi
Lucic-Gagner-Brown
Khaira-Brodziak-Russell/Gambardella/Nygard
Cave

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Green/Shattenkirk/Myers/Stralman
Russell-Jones
Gravel/other cheap #7 (à la Davidson)

Koskinen
Elliot

 

[lakai17]

I'd like to see Chiasson back in the lineup.

 

[thadd]

We're only on the 2nd page of this thread and I can count way too many people penciling in Marody, Benson, Jones, Bouchard and Bear.

Unless our new GM is throwing everything he's practiced in the past and preached to us recently out of the window, those guys aren't playing with us next year.

I honestly think it's way to soon to pencil a whole lot in. We don't know what Holland is going to do. It's very unlikely, but there's a chance that we trade a d-man for cap space or forward.

I could see Chaison getting resigned for 2 years to play on the 3rd line. But TBH I honestly don't know how we keep him out of the top 6. There are a ton of holes to fill up front unless we're going to rush our prospects. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a bunch of names in the off-season that aren't 40 goal scores that will be signing with Edmonton that will have us thinking "WTH?" and I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing. Going to take some serious thinking outside of the box to make this work.

 

[Magnum23]

Nuge-McDavid-Kassian
Benson-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi
Nygard-Marody-Gagner
Lucic-Cave-Khaira

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Sekera
Russell/Jones/Persson/Lagesson

Koskinen
Starrett

Cave shouldn't be back.

 

[Magnum23]

A guy can Dream...

Draisaitl - McDavid - Kassian
Dzingel – Marcus Johanson- Zuccarello
Benson – Khaira – Oskar Sundqvist
Marody - McLeod- Nygard

Nurse - Myers
Klefbom - Larsson
Russell - Bouchard

Yes I like this lineup I think Myers would be game-changer.

 

[Messrules11]

XXX McDavid Draisaitl
YYY RNH Puljujarvi
Kharia ZZZ Kassian
Nygard Brodziach Gagner
Lucic

XXX and YYY will be a call up or cheap signing and a decent UFA/Chiasson.

ZZZ will be where the bulk of our cap space will go. We desperately need a 3rd line center. I think we can spend around 4 mill on this.

Lucic needs to be benched/used as our 13th forward to increase competition and reward good play.

Cave needs to be AHL bound. I don't see an nhl players there.

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Sekera Bear
Lagesson Persson

It's absolutely paramount that we move Russell. I like the player but we have the depth to move on and we need the cap space for a 3rd line center. Bury or move Manning as well.

Koskinen
Backup

The rest of our cap space goes to a proven backup. I believe we will have around 2.5 for this signing.

It's a roster that absolutely requires bounce back performances and significant growth from within to make the playoffs.

I'm higher on our goaltending than most. With a proven backup that can give Koskinen normal/regular rest and play 30 games I think we can get at least league average goaltending.

In short this group on paper is the worst it has been for years and is a long shot to make the playoffs. It will be a development/transition year for some very promising pieces moving forward tho. A year that even without a playoff berth "should" have some serious positives. The AHL team should be stacked and cups of coffee and internal competition "should" yield a couple impact players.

The following year we "should" be able to move Sekera. Gagner bloated contract will be gone. Gryba off the books. Cap increase. Influx of some serious talent from the ahl... One year after that no Pouliot on the books.

The last thing we need is for Holland to push for a big change that does not prioritize cap flexibility moving forward. A big trade or contract for another older/slower player could kill what little optimism for the future there is. Trying to force something to happen to significantly improve the roster for next year would most likely be a collosal mistake.

Nice to finally see someone that hasn’t penciled in Kassian on the first line. I like Kass but if he’s a first line player we’re in trouble again.
I would also jettison Khaira, he’s had his chances and failed, contract is up and it’s time to move on.
I’m not sold on Cave either, no offence and just a warm body.
Puli is a wildcard, can’t play him bottom 6 and struggles in the top 6. I guess try him on the 2nd line and see if he can progress with Nuge.
Lucic should be 4th line playing limited minutes, he’s still a deterrent to having our stars get run.
I have no faith in Koskinen, everyone knows where to shoot on him and I don’t expect him to improve up high. Holland really needs to do his homework here, if we don’t get better goaltending next year we have no chance anyway.
The D needs to stay healthy next year, if we get key injuries again then everyone plays over their head and we’re screwed. I still think Benning needs to go, he won’t be missed and we could get a winger in return.

 

[bobbythebrain]

I'd like to see Chiasson back in the lineup.

Why? The odds he repeats is a longshot...and his salary will likely reflect last years #s.

He is the classic case of a player you don't give an inflated contract to.

I'd rather use that $ towards an upgrade

 

[bobbythebrain]

Yes I like this lineup I think Myers would be game-changer.

Myers stats are terrible. If not for a good run of pp points....he is a liability outhere. Russel is better than him atm

He belongs nowhere near a top pair.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Why? The odds he repeats is a longshot...and his salary will likely reflect last years #s.

He is the classic case of a player you don't give an inflated contract to.

I'd rather use that $ towards an upgrade

Chiasson said it felt like home here and he wanted to stay. If he is in the 2mill or less mark for 1-2 years you take a flyer on him. Worst case you bury him or move him pretty easy.

 

[lakai17]

Why? The odds he repeats is a longshot...and his salary will likely reflect last years #s.

He is the classic case of a player you don't give an inflated contract to.

I'd rather use that $ towards an upgrade

Of course not, half the time he played with mcdavid, he's not a first liner. The depth was pathetic last season where he had the opportunity to get first line minutes.

Quality depth players are needed as well for success. He's no marshmallow and he's in his prime today.