GDT: Bob Nicholson Press Conference 12:30

[Senor Catface]

At least Spec wrote a scathing article of this clown show.

The first I heard about how Coffey acted on the job as well.

Any other sources on that? Hadn't followed it closely.

 

[MaxR11]

If by year three they've demonstrated they can't get the job done, then sure, criticism is warranted.

"Patience" doesn't solve anything if the GM is showing clear signs of being an idiot. We did that already with Tambellini and even Lowe we had warning signs by the time he was doing dumb crap like offer sheeting Penner, but instead of realizing there was a problem we just defended it.

Same thing is happening all over again. "More time will fix it, it's a genius plan, you just can't see it right now but it'll reveal itself!". Yeah, whatever.

o i know he deserves critcism. heck i've criticized him. i also am unsure whether he's the right guy. i'd be fine if he was fired. but for me it's not a terrible thing to give him one more year.

imo chia's bad moves were the reinhart trade and not adding over the 2017 summer and being a bit too complacent with the roster after the playoff run. I think Todd Mcclellan knew the roster wasn't up to par thus he warned the players they needed to get their s*** together and not bask in the past glory. it didn't get through to the players, they overrated themselves and when things turned a bit sour early on they did not have the mental fortitude and veteran presence to get out of the downward spiral. led to a terrible year. intangibles like that matter.

 

[Little Fury]

Well, uh, they did have the best regular season since 1986 last year. And this season our offense wasn't a far cry off of what they did that year despite a PP that scored 30 goals all year.

I think you're missing the point of my post. The draft/development side you're lauding is still an unknown. Most of the Chiapicks aren't even in the AHL yet. We can't say one way or another, but it's reasonable to expect more misses than hits.

Answering your last post, I think the horses we have right now will continue to improve. McDavid and Draisaitl will get better in their own end and many other teams can't match them. I believe an average special teams paired with a stable Cam Talbot has this roster back in the mix.

I've been pretty clear that I think this team is a bubble team when things break right. The roster weak spots are the appalling forward depth, inconsistency in goal and the utter lack of scoring from the back end. Their strong points are Connor McDavid and, uh, who ever plays wing with Connor McDavid.

I'm trying my hardest to put a pessimistic spin on what we have here and see why you think such a significant turnover is required for improvement.

I don't think significant turnover is required for *improvement*. I think significant turnover is required for the team to be a Cup contender. I expect that process to take, at minimum, two seasons. And my fear is the GM who fails to learn from his mistakes, whose job is potentially on the line, trying to jump start the process again by bleeding out more value instead of marshalling his assets.

Your expectations of this roster this season must've been astronomical.

I expected them to miss the playoffs, actually.

The team--though reliant on Connor McDavid, which will never change--played fairly well down the stretch.

11 wins and 11 losses in their last 22 games, scoring 59 goals with McDavid going 14-23-37 and producing 62% of the offense The man needs help.

 

[dem]

Taylor Hall and Matthew Barzal.
Starting to believe he blew the Puljujarvi pick..
The Paul Coffey thing... Is he still employed?


Chia should just quit himself..

 

[McGoMcD]

At least Spec wrote a scathing article of this clown show.

The more I think about it the worse it gets. This team has been run by a small boys club forever. They run it so badly that only pretend to make changes when things get so bad. The one guy who should right the ship is Katz, who has been a fan boy of the old oilers and is too busy getting a tan in LA to worry about it.

I feel for McD. I really do.

 

[Patch101]

Outside of replacing an assistant coach, I'm good with keeping everything as-is, but if this teams falls on its face in the first 10 games ... then I'll start changing my mind quick.

That said, that interview was pretty weak. "We are keeping Peter, and looking at everything else" That wraps it up.

 

[McFlash97]

Nah, there’s always Buffalo. No matter how much we **** things up, Buffalo’s there to remind us it could be worse.

queue Ristolainen, Dahlin and Eichel taking off and Buffalo doesnt look back back next year. Meanwhile we are out in the wilderness with Larsson and Klefbum

 

[PatrikOverAuston]

If it hasn't become evident to you by now, I could give two ****s to what the masses are saying.

Yes, and it's really sad. You are beholden to what the organization tells you and refuse to think for yourself. I have to ask again, why? They don't care about you, they don't know who you are. They will tell you whatever is needed to save face and their jobs. That's it.

But you made this bed. I don't want to see you reporting every post that reminds you of who you threw your support behind when Year 4 goes just as well as Year 3.

The majority of them don't even bother to assess it fully.

I think the problem actually is that they made up their own minds. You can't stand that though. It's sacrilege.

If I truly felt the result this season lied solely on the heads of the guy in charge, I'd be more inclined to see that perspective.

Right, but that isn't what you were told to think, so here we are.

But as I've outlined over a number of threads, there's more to the story than just what the GM does.

Sure, but his mistakes are clear and inexcusable.

The Oilers have always been in a position organizationally since the McDavid lottery where significant change was going to be very real and more than likely painful considering their situation at the time. I've explained that countless times.

And Chiarelli has only exacerbated those problems. But again, you can't accept reality because it isn't what Katz has deemed reality.

If we're going to see those moves pay dividends it would take time. If we were going to pull the plug on that plan, Chiarelli simply would've been the guy they got to pull the band-aid off the gangrenous wound the previous management left for him.

Wait, so he gets credit for not fixing the team because it would have been "painful"? Oh please do explain.

 

[McGoMcD]

queue Ristolainen, Dahlin and Eichel taking off and Buffalo doesnt look back back next year. Meanwhile we are out in the wilderness with Larsson and Klefbum

Buff is terrible, but they also didn't get McD, Eichel is dam good, but not as good as McD. So they are bad, but arguably not much worse.

 

[frag2]

so is Bobby Nicks and Chia gonna roll out their "plan" at a press conference?
that'd be fun to watch

Maybe during some celebrate the 80s event so everyone is on an 80s high

 

[rboomercat90]

I assumed they had a plan when Nicholson spoke on HNIC weeks back and told us when we saw their plan we’d get behind it. Was he talking about a new plan today or the same one as back then? Bobby is pretty good at talking out of both sides of his mouth.

The one thing I found interesting was when he was asked point blank about whether Mclellan and his assistants were a package deal or not. He wanted no part of answering that question. Makes me wonder if that indeed is why we don’t have the same definitive answer on Mclellan’s future that we do on Chiarelli’s.

 

[belair]

I think you're missing the point of my post. The draft/development side you're lauding is still an unknown. Most of the Chiapicks aren't even in the AHL yet. We can't say one way or another, but it's reasonable to expect more misses than hits.

I've been pretty clear that I think this team is a bubble team when things break right. The roster weak spots are the appalling forward depth, inconsistency in goal and the utter lack of scoring from the back end. Their strong points are Connor McDavid and, uh, who ever plays wing with Connor McDavid.

I don't think significant turnover is required for *improvement*. I think significant turnover is required for the team to be a Cup contender. I expect that process to take, at minimum, two seasons. And my fear is the GM who fails to learn from his mistakes, whose job is potentially on the line, trying to jump start the process again by bleeding out more value instead of marshalling his assets.

I expected them to miss the playoffs, actually.

11 wins and 11 losses in their last 22 games, scoring 59 goals with McDavid going 14-23-37 and producing 62% of the offense The man needs help.

If the point of your post was to mock the length of time it takes to develop prospects, well I've got news for you--it takes time in every organization. Considering you're one of the more considerate posters, I'm not sure why you'd bother antagonizing me on that point, honestly. But regardless of what happens with the staff beyond this year, it's going to take another few years before any of these young players pay dividends. Of course players like Drake Caggiula and Matthew Benning shouldn't go unmentioned as they are examples of filling depth that wasn't available internally when he took the post.

The idea of the Oilers becoming that consistent contender, is again, going to take at least a couple seasons as the Oilers take their lumps and find out what it takes to win in the playoffs. I am fine with your idea of a bubble team if it means we're playing into May because becoming a contender is a process--its not about slapping together a roster loaded top to bottom with your idea of 'good' players. The Oilers as they sit are a good hockey team when they are fully healthy and not cursed with a league worst special teams.

 

[MaxR11]

I assumed they had a plan when Nicholson spoke on HNIC weeks back and told us when we saw their plan we’d get behind it. Was he talking about a new plan today or the same one as back then? Bobby is pretty good at talking out of both sides of his mouth.

The one thing I found interesting was when he was asked point blank about whether Mclellan and his assistants were a package deal or not. He wanted no part of answering that question. Makes me wonder if that indeed is why we don’t have the same definitive answer on Mclellan’s future that we do on Chiarelli’s.

i think there is turmoil at the very top of this organization. i believe there is a divide in philosophies and direction. katz and or bob needs to figure out who to go with and maybe purge the other side. i think this turmoil and conflict at the top may continue to stifle this organization. i think it's a bit of a gong show and it makes it harder for chia and todd to do their job. bob and katz needs to pick one side, one direction and go with it. no more di***** around. seems like bob and katz want to have the best of both worlds but it's blowing up in their faces.

 

[XXIV97]

I hope he doesn't make any big trades this summer. He's probably going to trade Klefbom + 2018 1st round pick for Ceci + Hoffman

 

[belair]

Wait, so he gets credit for not fixing the team because it would have been "painful"? Oh please do explain.

You have an odd way of interpreting things and then you top it off by speaking in annoying superlatives. You also respond to single sentences that get taken out of context when you quote them from full paragraphs, which is why you're probably on a number of people's ignore lists. I'm not going to attack you personally for it, but maybe you can change the way you communicate with other people and it may make the process more enjoyable.

As for the idea of him getting 'credit'. I see it as him being 'cursed' with having to be the guy who put the kibosh on the OBC rebuild. It was a number of trades we weren't going to 'win' regardless of the manager. If they continued to follow that path the OBC was on, there was no growth to look forward to. That was a roster who was always going to get cycled to death every year by bigger, stronger opponents. There was a change in how they played that was necessary for them to improve, which they did instantaneously.

When its all said and done, I'm confident the roster we see today is a lot closer to the one that got into the playoffs a year ago than it is to the one who managed just 30 PP goals all year and saw wholesale regression defensively. Add to that a group of prospects who look poised to turn pro over the next several years--and yes--I'm confident in the direction this team is moving.

 

[McDrai]

Chiarelli has good relationships with other GMs because he gifts them high value assets for pennies on the dollar. He would be my bff as well if I was the GM of another organization.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Taylor Hall and Matthew Barzal.
Starting to believe he blew the Puljujarvi pick..
The Paul Coffey thing... Is he still employed?


Chia should just quit himself..

Paul Coffey apparently thought coaching his sons team in Toronto was more important than his NHL gig.

 

[Little Fury]

If the point of your post was to mock the length of time it takes to develop prospects, well I've got news for you--it takes time in every organization. Considering you're one of the more considerate posters, I'm not sure why you'd bother antagonizing me on that point, honestly.

Honestly there's no antagonism or mockery intended; just showing that we're behind where we could have been thanks to that disastrous Reinhart trade which would be producing NHL-ready players at this point. That's a franchise-altering blunder. (The picks lost just to hire Chia and TMac should be mentioned here as well).

But regardless of what happens with the staff beyond this year, it's going to take another few years before any of these young players pay dividends. Of course players like Drake Caggiula and Matthew Benning shouldn't go unmentioned as they are examples of filling depth that wasn't available internally when he took the post.

Sure. I think we agree on where things are going more than we don't. My point is the moves they've made so far make the job harder unnecessarily and push the window further out than it needed to be.

I don't think much of players like Caggiula who is a dime a dozen player with little upside, but someone needs to take a shift while McDavid takes a breather.

The idea of the Oilers becoming that consistent contender, is again, going to take at least a couple seasons as the Oilers take their lumps and find out what it takes to win in the playoffs. I am fine with your idea of a bubble team if it means we're playing into May because becoming a contender is a process--its not about slapping together a roster loaded top to bottom with your idea of 'good' players. The Oilers as they sit are a good hockey team when they are fully healthy and not cursed with a league worst special teams.

This is where we part company. You need either high-end franchise talent in spades (Pittsburgh, Chicago before they got old) or elite talent by the bushel (Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, Nashville, Boston, Toronto). A couple of good to great players and a band of happy misfits along for the ride just doesn't work in this league. Basically we need an phenomenal success rate from the draft over the next little while before we can even hope of challenging for anything but a second round speedbump. Oh and we need to fire the GMs security blanket into the sun somehow.

 

[Mr Positive]

Honestly there's no antagonism or mockery intended; just showing that we're behind where we could have been thanks to that disastrous Reinhart trade which would be producing NHL-ready players at this point. That's a franchise-altering blunder. (The picks lost just to hire Chia and TMac should be mentioned here as well).



Sure. I think we agree on where things are going more than we don't. My point is the moves they've made so far make the job harder unnecessarily and push the window further out than it needed to be.

I don't think much of players like Caggiula who is a dime a dozen player with little upside, but someone needs to take a shift while McDavid takes a breather.



This is where we part company. You need either high-end franchise talent in spades (Pittsburgh, Chicago before they got old) or elite talent by the bushel (Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, Nashville, Boston, Toronto). A couple of good to great players and a band of happy misfits along for the ride just doesn't work in this league. Basically we need an phenomenal success rate from the draft over the next little while before we can even hope of challenging for anything but a second round speedbump. Oh and we need to fire the GMs security blanket into the sun somehow.

well, Nicholson did say that Chiarelli's scouting and drafting apparatus was extremely good so hopefully that starts paying off for us, and the sooner the better.

 

[Soundwave]

Honestly there's no antagonism or mockery intended; just showing that we're behind where we could have been thanks to that disastrous Reinhart trade which would be producing NHL-ready players at this point. That's a franchise-altering blunder. (The picks lost just to hire Chia and TMac should be mentioned here as well).



Sure. I think we agree on where things are going more than we don't. My point is the moves they've made so far make the job harder unnecessarily and push the window further out than it needed to be.

I don't think much of players like Caggiula who is a dime a dozen player with little upside, but someone needs to take a shift while McDavid takes a breather.



This is where we part company. You need either high-end franchise talent in spades (Pittsburgh, Chicago before they got old) or elite talent by the bushel (Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, Nashville, Boston, Toronto). A couple of good to great players and a band of happy misfits along for the ride just doesn't work in this league. Basically we need an phenomenal success rate from the draft over the next little while before we can even hope of challenging for anything but a second round speedbump. Oh and we need to fire the GMs security blanket into the sun somehow.

Spot on with your last point especially.

The Oilers went for "balance" before they were even good at anything. Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA, Nashville all had rock solid strengths in terms of being either headed towards an elite offensive team or elite defensive squad.

The Oilers just thought they could skip that step and go right to "balance role players" around McDavid and that would be enough. It's not enough. Now you have a core/team that isn't great offensively OR defensively, they're not good really at anything. The Flames have the same problem.

Once you are actually good at something then you can go look for balance to augment that step, the Oilers just tried to skip that step and now are paying for it. McDavid + Draisaitl + maximum performance from role players is not a good enough core.

 

[frag2]

Rewatched the presser

Did Bobby Nicks imply the empty cap was left the way it was by design? It almost sounds like they “let” the team fail to “reassess” things once McDavid extension was signed. If they made the playoffs, great; if not, then so be it

 

[Spawn]

Rewatched the presser

Did Bobby Nicks imply the empty cap was left the way it was by design? It almost sounds like they “let” the team fail to “reassess” things once McDavid extension was signed. If they made the playoffs, great; if not, then so be it

That would be the dumbest design ever. With no logical reasoning.

It's just Nicholson bumbling his way through trying to defend this mess of an organization.

 

[belair]

Spot on with your last point especially.

The Oilers went for "balance" before they were even good at anything. Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA, Nashville all had rock solid strengths in terms of being either headed towards an elite offensive team or elite defensive squad.

The Oilers just thought they could skip that step and go right to "balance role players" around McDavid and that would be enough. It's not enough. Now you have a core/team that isn't great offensively OR defensively, they're not good really at anything. The Flames have the same problem.

Once you are actually good at something then you can go look for balance to augment that step, the Oilers just tried to skip that step and now are paying for it. McDavid + Draisaitl + maximum performance from role players is not a good enough core.

Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA and Nashville drafted and developed elite defensemen capable of playing up to 30 minutes a night when the going got tough. I'm sorry but if you're modelling a rebuild after any of those teams with the pieces we'd been given to start with, you were going to fail spectacularly. I know the list of champions doesn't follow my theory, but the Stanley Cup winner isn't always 'the best team' on paper. The NHL playoffs are a tournament and anything can happen when you get in them--last season was a prime example IMO when you see the defense the Penguins brought to the battle. The Oilers have two players on their roster that most other teams can't match--and they're going to get better. Having them in a seven game playoff series is an advantage. We don't necessarily need expensive, high-end talent to compliment them. We just need a defensively responsible roster who can provide a some offensive support and preferably score more goals than they give up.

The NHL slowly but surely is leaning towards parity. When you see the turnover from teams like ours last year, the Avs this year and a complete shit show like Vegas this year, it's no longer just about 'elite' talent. It's about a balanced roster. It's about finding compete and depth scoring from the rest of your roster. Those teams won't win Championships right out of the gate. But they learn early on what it takes to win in the post-season, which is instrumental in progressing further the next time they get there.

 

[guymez]

Is anybody feeling more hopeful and full of confidence after the Nicholson press conference?

He really doent inspire me at all. This really looks like an optics hire by Katz more than anything.

 

[belair]

I assumed they had a plan when Nicholson spoke on HNIC weeks back and told us when we saw their plan we’d get behind it. Was he talking about a new plan today or the same one as back then? Bobby is pretty good at talking out of both sides of his mouth.

The one thing I found interesting was when he was asked point blank about whether Mclellan and his assistants were a package deal or not. He wanted no part of answering that question. Makes me wonder if that indeed is why we don’t have the same definitive answer on Mclellan’s future that we do on Chiarelli’s.

I don't even know why they mention this shit. All GMs have 'plans'. I don't think this press conference was a standard Oilers press conference to be quite honest. He was up there to announce the Humboldt services and the press would've likely wanted more considering they hadn't made any decisions on the coaching staff. What is he going to say? 'We're assessing...'