Confirmed Signing with Link: [EDM] Oilers sign Josh Archibald (1 year, 1M)

[DingDongCharlie]

It’s amazing how some clubs see an area of need and get their top center, scoring winger, top pairing defender and here’s Edmonton with 3 top 6 forwards and a horrible collection of bottom 6 players.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Always liked him when he was with the Pens. A little ball of energy that plays bigger than he is. Great wheels.

 

[snipes]

Always liked him when he was with the Pens. A little ball of energy that plays bigger than he is. Great wheels.

Good on the forecheck?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Good on the forecheck?

Very effective in the limited games I saw. His speed and tenacity allow him to get in on the defense quickly. He gives the opposition defense very little time to make a play. Also hits pretty hard for a guy that's more of a lightweight.

Don't think he'll ever be a guy you can pencil in the top six. Limited offensive creativity/awareness/ability with the puck. But as a bottom six energy guy who can be a buzzsaw and maybe chip in a bunch of goals as well? He should do well.

 

[wej20]

It’s amazing how some clubs see an area of need and get their top center, scoring winger, top pairing defender and here’s Edmonton with 3 top 6 forwards and a horrible collection of bottom 6 players.

Given that they're shopping in the bargain bin then it is hard to fill the slots they need.

Good on the forecheck?

Yep.

 

[snipes]

Very effective in the limited games I saw. His speed and tenacity allow him to get in on the defense quickly. He gives the opposition defense very little time to make a play. Also hits pretty hard for a guy that's more of a lightweight.

Don't think he'll ever be a guy you can pencil in the top six. Limited offensive creativity/awareness/ability with the puck. But as a bottom six energy guy who can be a buzzsaw and maybe chip in a bunch of goals as well? He should do well.

I like it.

Tenacious, and physically fearless players do well in Western Canada and will always be loved.

Frankly, we have too many guys trying to play like McDavid and Drai with skill who lack the skill to play like that and the awareness to accept that they need to be a nasty, team player.

We need more no ego, fearless nastiness, and humble competitors in the locker room.

Given the responses, I’m liking what I hear. Fair expectations for him to be a 4th liner, possibly 3rd liner in some situations and PKer? Sounds like a guy who brings it every shift.

Always have time for a guy like that if it’s the case.

 

[Jumptheshark]

another player who can play the wing--we need it

 

[Jumptheshark]

also it looks like it could be a two way

 

[snipes]

also it looks like it could be a two way

That’s the intel I’m gathering.

Pens fans seem to really speak glowingly of this guy.

We may have a bottom 6 gem finally. I like the 12 goals.

 

[wej20]

Would be surprised if he took a 2-way deal but kudos to Edmonton if he did. I'd expect him to be up most of the year though, if he doesn't crack the lineup then he's a good 13th forward you can use to add some energy into the lineup.

 

[InfinityIggy]

This is actually a pretty solid signing.

 

[General Disarray]

Is he automatically like their 5th highest scorer?

 

[780il]

Is he automatically like their 5th highest scorer?

6th. Kassian shot up to 15 after playing with Draisaitl IIRC.

 

[Mr Tadakichi]

Archibald, I like that name.

 

[Ementy]

Okayyy..is today backwards day or something. HF did not shit on the oilers. Decent signing. if all these plugs put up 10-20 goals Oilers could make the playoffs. its all we needed out of our bottom 6 last year but it never came. Granlund and Archibald should make a good PK pairing which should also help a lot.

 

[McVespa99]

It’s amazing how some clubs see an area of need and get their top center, scoring winger, top pairing defender and here’s Edmonton with 3 top 6 forwards and a horrible collection of bottom 6 players.

Its also amazing how some clubs don't.
Am I doing the redundant post thing right?

 

[Tyrolean]

The Oilers being a good team is good for the NHL.

Western Canada is the heartland of hockey, we need good hockey returning to Western Canada. The prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have produced the toughest hockey players without question and given our frozen tundra climate the outdoor rinks are a central part of our culture.

The passion and love for this sport runs very deep in Western Canada and it goes far beyond just the NHL.

Global warming may change that.

 

[Tyrolean]

We have our own rich history, what about the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons? Dominant Olympic Champions.

We get taught in Western Canada tough, team first hockey. Bobby Clarke changed the 1972 Summit Series when he took out Kharlamov.

We believe out here that we won the Cold War for NA in 1972 by defeating the Soviets and our children learn about this as soon as they are the age of understanding around 4/5 years old.

As usual, the East ignores how important the Western Canadian prairie Provinces are to our Confederation and sport.

The East has the Big 6 and best players of all time sans Gordie, but hockey means something a lot more to us in Western Canada in terms of cultural identity and “who we are” in a way that probably isn’t fully understood.

Maybe it’s the climate we get on the Prairies in Western Canada? Outdoor rinks and that quintessential toughness you find in Western Canadian hockey and our players is something unique.

Bobby Clarke was a dirty player. Don't like him much.

 

[McFlyingV]

They have the contract spots so why not. Given his past two seasons if he's healthy he's likely to score double digit goals. People are complaining that Edmonton hasn't found their top 6 winger, but I think people need to realize that filling the bottom 6 with guys who can chip in some offence was a huge priority. After McDavid, Drai, Nuge, Chiasson, and Kassian the Oilers got a total of 43 goals from their forwards. If you can fill in those seven players scoring an average of 10 goals each then you're looking at almost 30 more goals scored which would be a drastic increase for the team.

I'd still like them to add a top 6 winger or 3C, but at this point I'm glad they're adding new bottom 6ers who could provide more offence than the previous group. Also from what I've heard Archibald brings speed, effort, and can help the PK which are all things this club needs. Good signing.

 

[torniojaws]

Guess he'll be the "replacement" for Puljujärvi, whose QO expired yesterday.

 

[CartographerNo611]

Agreed.

I thought Kassian was excellent at the end of the year. Apparently him and McDavid are really close off the ice as well. Him, Nurse, and Drai are well known to be the guys McDavid is closest with.

I like Kassian on the top line with McDavid and the way he played, he deserves the opportunity. He was objectively one of the best power forwards the last 15-20 games of the year in the NHL.

We need to get him off the PK though if we’re giving him first line minutes. I want him fresh with 97 at ES.

Kassian is frustrating because he has all the tools to be a premier power forward but rarely puts it all together. Very good skater too.

 

[Flameshomer]

The Oilers being a good team is good for the NHL.

Western Canada is the heartland of hockey, we need good hockey returning to Western Canada. The prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have produced the toughest hockey players without question and given our frozen tundra climate the outdoor rinks are a central part of our culture.

The passion and love for this sport runs very deep in Western Canada and it goes far beyond just the NHL.

Good thing most people know that good hockey already exists in Western Canada, about 300 kms south of deadmonton and again about 1,300 kms east.

Edmonton has been so terrible for so long that no one in the last three generations of youth has witnessed a victorious squad come out of Edmonton.

 

[c3z4r]

Anybody know why the Coyotes didn’t sign him?

The few games I saw of them he always stood out and surely he’s worth the 1M contract.

 

[rt]

Anybody know why the Coyotes didn’t sign him?

The few games I saw of them he always stood out and surely he’s worth the 1M contract.

They also chose not to re-sign cousins who was probably even better. They’re both very solid 4th line players. The Coyotes lack top end talent and have decided to throw some decent depth at the problem. They’d prefer to have the likes of Brad Richardson and Michal Grabner on the 4th line. Along with younger players with more upside like Conor Garland and Christian Fischer.

The Coyotes haven’t been able to make their best players better (except Kessel) so I think they’re trying to make their worst players better. Cousins and Archibald were great. But they were probably the 11th, 12th or 13th forwards (they played more due to extreme injury issues-thus the bump in production). The Coyotes hope that adding middling depth (Soderberg) and staying healthy (Schmaltz and Dvorak) will push guys like Richardson and Grabner down sufficiently so that their 11th 12th and 13th forwards are a little better than Cousins and Archibald.

 

[McFlyingV]

Good thing most people know that good hockey already exists in Western Canada, about 300 kms south of deadmonton and again about 1,300 kms east.

Edmonton has been so terrible for so long that no one in the last three generations of youth has witnessed a victorious squad come out of Edmonton.

The same could be said for any Western Canadian team. I mean the Flames have also only won 1 playoff series in the past 14 years, and Winnipeg has won 2 rounds in the 8 years since returning. Similarly the Canucks haven't won a series since 2010-11 when they went to the cup finals. We've all been awful, Edmonton has just been at the bottom of the awful Western Canadian teams.