Post-Game Talk: Holland should have grabbed a Walker

[BertMcDrai]

I didn't see the game, only watched the score and then read all of 20 ish pages of bashing on Drai...I thought he was standing in the neutral zone watching his opponent score...then I watched the goal...he was only one dick length short on the play...I get it that these are the little things come playoff time, but he is in the last second of a OT game and the puck is heading in the corner...it's only human to feel a little bit comfortable in this situation...in 99 of 100 nothing happens...these little mistakes are happening over a hundred per game for each club...get over it.

 

[Oilers in NS]

Me and @Oilers in NS will fly out during the playoffs and fight any ten of you over whether or not you’re allowed to put lettuce on a donair. And guaranteed we don’t break any fingers because we are east coast tough.

Pizza Delight puts lettuce on donairs .
I'll check in with Roberts in Dartmouth. Their donairs are the size of a loaf of bread. Its a 3 day meal, 1.5 if your really drunk and no one home. If we eat those, no one will fight us because of the possible methane explosion

I thought McDavid did a pretty good job of containing Makar at the end.


No monkeys were harmed in this video. Well, maybe slightly pissed off, but that's about it.

of course
The monkeys are on the Space Mission X to Mars

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

We are going to need Kane scoring if we are hoping for playoff success, and that’s looking like it’s not going to happen in the bottom 6. Need to bite the bullet and get him back in top 6 mix before long to regain the chemistry.

He's cooked.

He wouldn’t score like Toffoli does even then. They are bad comparisons.
For Henrique to be successful in his role here he needs to have positive analytics and produce at a high end third line rate. He is not even close to doing either at the moment.
It’s insane that we have spent a 1st to improve our third line and it’s objectively not even a good 4th line right now. Not all Henrique fault.

PLAN C lol

Sucks when ya strike out. I believe this isn't Hollands fault, more so Jeff Jackson not wanting too spend futures

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

You guys have to calm down. The Oilers actually played a great game. Sure the Avs are slightly better, but this is the closest it's been. This was a positive game

1. How about we talk about some positives? Draisaitl actually looked good for once this year. This is a HUGE positive. It shows he can flick the switch come playoff time

 

[russ99]

He wouldn’t score like Toffoli does even then. They are bad comparisons.
For Henrique to be successful in his role here he needs to have positive analytics and produce at a high end third line rate. He is not even close to doing either at the moment.
It’s insane that we have spent a 1st to improve our third line and it’s objectively not even a good 4th line right now. Not all Henrique fault.

This move was done for postseason play, not to saw off analytics or produce on the scoreboard.

Maybe our fans can take a cue from Knoblauch line matching and putting in players into spots for specific situations in this game as a playoff test run and end the dumb assumption that all 4 lines need to be scoring lines and be above 50% CF. Woodcroft is long gone, thank goodness.

Also the whining about the deadline is silly, nobody was giving us a Walker and taking Ceci (for his play) and his extra year of contract. Assuming otherwise ignores the market, nobody was taking 2025 cap back, and no amount of reasonable added assets makes opposing GMs want to do that.

 

[CycloneSweep]

This move was done for postseason play, not to saw off analytics or produce on the scoreboard.

Maybe our fans can take a cue from Knoblauch line matching and putting in players into spots for specific situations in this game as a playoff test run and end the dumb assumption that all 4 lines need to be scoring lines and be above 50% CF. Woodcroft is long gone, thank goodness.

Also the whining about the deadline is silly, nobody was giving us a Walker and taking Ceci (for his play) and his extra year of contract. Assuming otherwise ignores the market, nobody was taking 2025 cap back, and no amount of reasonable added assets makes opposing GMs want to do that.

The move was done for post season play? We grabbed a 34 year old who has next to no playoff experience for this career?
Sure it wasn't done for analytics but the way Henrique is playing is a DETRIMENT to our team. How is that a benefit?
And Walker/Ceci could have been different trades. One to move Ceci, one to add Walker.

 

[McShogun99]

Maybe it's just me but for 3 on 3 OT Nurse is a better fit for McDrai over Bouchard. It seems like we get scored on a lot more in OT with Bouchard on the ice.

 

[Lacaar]

Was a pretty good game to watch. Man did it feel playoff'ish out there.

Quick shout out to Mcleod who I thought was terrific tonight. If he was like this for even half his games, oh dare to dream.

Got to hand it to Colorado. They know how to play McDaivid. He was all flash and fizzle tonight and not from lack of effort. Nice windups but layer after layer there to snuff him out. Even worse forcing giveaways and a big fat -2. Their 4th line absolutely Buried McDavid's line for the tying goal. Absolutely own zone shit kicking there.

A rare night where I thought our depth was up to the task. Our two big guns brought it and failed. As evidenced by the big -2 for McDavid and -3 for Draisitl. Tough one to accept.

 

[K1984]

The bolded is very true and also the Oilers top players need to have more of a killer instinct in the offensive zone.
Stop with this overpassing...shoot and then drive to the net.
Pressure that team and see how they react.

A theme this season, especially when we start games well, is that we never actually score much when we have the better run of play against a team. It's a lot of over passing, "oh darn snakebit!" and just general lack of killer instinct.

It doesn't really matter who you are, if you don't score when you should be scoring teams like the Avalanche will push back on you. Difference is they won't waste the opportunities.

If we found a way to cash one or two goals in the first half (and first period especially) of the game we are probably talking about a different outcome, maybe even positively about staving off an Avalanche attack to come back. We aren't though for no other reason than once again finding a way to not score goals in opportune moments.

 

[Soundwave]

Was a pretty good game to watch. Man did it feel playoff'ish out there.

Quit shout out to Mcleod who I thought was terrific tonight. If he was like this for even half his games, oh dare to dream.

Got to hand it to Colorado. They know how to play McDaivid. He was all flash and fizzle tonight and not from lack of effort. Nice windups but layer after layer there to snuff him out. Even worse forcing giveaways and a big fat -2. Their 4th line absolutely Buried McDavid's line for the tying goal. Absolutely own zone shit kicking there.

A rare night where I thought our depth was up to the task. Our two big guns brought it and failed. As evidenced by the big -2 for McDavid and -3 for Draisitl. Tough one to accept.

He needs to shoot the damn puck, he took that Avs defender to school on that spin play and had a clear break to the net and tries to pass instead of shoot.

He could have easily had 2-3 points, need to be smarter offensively and take what's there. Colorado is not really stopping him from getting to high danger areas or getting high danger looks. He needs to stop overthinking it.

 

[Duke74]

I didn't see the game, only watched the score and then read all of 20 ish pages of bashing on Drai...I thought he was standing in the neutral zone watching his opponent score...then I watched the goal...he was only one dick length short on the play...I get it that these are the little things come playoff time, but he is in the last second of a OT game and the puck is heading in the corner...it's only human to feel a little bit comfortable in this situation...in 99 of 100 nothing happens...these little mistakes are happening over a hundred per game for each club...get over it.

Our fanbase just loves to shit on Draisaitl at every turn and some posters can't help themselves. Some people put every single play that he makes under a microscope so that any botched pass, any giveaway, any late backcheck results in a 10-page shitstorm about laziness, bad body language, poor defensive play, etc.

Now the late backcheck in OT, due to its importance, was an egregious error on his part, but my guess is at that point of the game, and with him and Connor playing half of OT, he was simply exhausted. Not excusing him because in a playoff game, that can cost you dearly. But some of our "fans" made it seem like he just cost the Oilers the cup on that play.

Many of you will be happy when he leaves for greener pastures in the next year. Or maybe not, because you'll have to scramble to find yourselves a new scapegoat. This time, might I suggest a player that's actually a worthless scrub instead of a perennial 50-goal, 100-point player.

 

[Lacaar]

He needs to shoot the damn puck, he took that Avs defender to school on that spin play and had a clear break to the net and tries to pass instead of shoot.

He could have easily had 2-3 points, need to be smarter offensively and take what's there. Colorado is not really stopping him from getting to high danger areas or getting high danger looks. He needs to stop overthinking it.

I think that's why it's proving so effective against him for the teams that can pull it off.
He has always been able to look and find that high danger play most of the time, but it's just not there with the layers. I do think there's a way to break it and it's like you say. Sometimes you have to shoot and charge the net for the greasy ones. That's what they're banking on in my mind. They'll give you the opportunity knowing we'll force it.. then feast on the turnover.

It's the weakness of Draisitl and McDavid.. they don't tend to charge the net and rely purely on Hyman for that. So layers can work against them. Hey it's not always going to work but its leaps and bounds more effective than any other strategy.

The low percentage shot is imo always better to take then the low percentage pass. And from what I saw Saturday night. The Avalanche ate that line's poor percentage passes up over and over.

 

[bucks_oil]

Our fanbase just loves to shit on Draisaitl at every turn and some posters can't help themselves. Some people put every single play that he makes under a microscope so that any botched pass, any giveaway, any late backcheck results in a 10-page shitstorm about laziness, bad body language, poor defensive play, etc.

Now the late backcheck in OT, due to its importance, was an egregious error on his part, but my guess is at that point of the game, and with him and Connor playing half of OT, he was simply exhausted. Not excusing him because in a playoff game, that can cost you dearly. But some of our "fans" made it seem like he just cost the Oilers the cup on that play.

Many of you will be happy when he leaves for greener pastures in the next year. Or maybe not, because you'll have to scramble to find yourselves a new scapegoat. This time, might I suggest a player that's actually a worthless scrub instead of a perennial 50-goal, 100-point player.

Draisaitl is probably my favorite player, or a close 2nd. He's so damn intelligent and a force no matter what type of game the opposition forces on you... when he's on and rivals only McDavid or McKinnon in the league (my opinion... Kuch and Matthews are a step down from prime-Drai).

But C'mon... everybody knows he has a lazy streak in him and can see that he gets down and frustrated. These posts come because people KNOW this player and see the imperfect tragic humanity of Drai. It can be frustrating to see him being his own worst enemy sometimes.

Playoff Drai can be a different story he becomes the true leader of the team, but let's also not pretend that Draisaitl brings his A-game nightly. Everybody (especially, I'd argue, his biggest fans) knows that's not true and it can be frustrating at times.

The Oilers should resign him obviously as a first priority. But if they can't we have to deal him this summer. He's still one of the best players in the league, and the return would be huge.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[Drivesaitl]

I didn't see the game, only watched the score and then read all of 20 ish pages of bashing on Drai...I thought he was standing in the neutral zone watching his opponent score...then I watched the goal...he was only one dick length short on the play...I get it that these are the little things come playoff time, but he is in the last second of a OT game and the puck is heading in the corner...it's only human to feel a little bit comfortable in this situation...in 99 of 100 nothing happens...these little mistakes are happening over a hundred per game for each club...get over it.

What you raise is commonplace in fans perception of errors or bad play. I would take the guy that got back into position to even have a chance at being on play vs a guy like OV or several other superstars that don't even hustle back.

It interesting that people focus so much on highlight reel replays and freeze frames when the game is going on at full speed and wherein the players in the focus, near a goal, near a shooter, receive all the blame despite being right where they should.

Bobby Orr had a notably bad amount of goal against frames in the playoffs against the Habs in 71. The best player in the game was made to look bad on 5 Habs comeback goals in one game, Was made to look bad all series because he was in the plays. He was closest to the plays. I would take that guy everytime to the Derek Sandersons that weren't even in the right orbit.

Its a common distortion of fans to blame the player closest to the play. This is why David Staples "error" stat was such a distortion. You WANT the players that are around the puck, around the plays, that are flies on rice. But those players will have a lot more plays where they win and lose because they are active to puck players. This is what you want. Other than perfection.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Draisaitl is probably my favorite player, or a close 2nd. He's so damn intelligent and a force no matter what type of game the opposition forces on you... when he's on and rivals only McDavid or McKinnon in the league (my opinion... Kuch and Matthews are a step down from prime-Drai).
But C'mon... everybody knows he has a lazy streak in him and can see that he gets down and frustrated. These posts come because people KNOW this player and see the imperfect tragic humanity of Drai. It can be frustrating to see him being his own worst enemy sometimes.

Playoff Drai can be a different story he becomes the true leader of the team, but let's also not pretend that Draisaitl brings his A-game nightly. Everybody (especially, I'd argue, his biggest fans) knows that's not true and it can be frustrating at times.

The Oilers should resign him obviously as a first priority. But if they can't we have to deal him this summer. He's still one of the best players in the league, and the return would be huge.

But neither did Glenn Anderson. This is actually what fans should want. The player that saves some for playoffs and has the extra gear. Its why I absolve him of regular season doldrums. Because only playoffs matter. Nothing Else matters. If I get frustrated I just remember its regular season. People approach regular seasons kind of the wrong way. The purpose of regular season is to punch ticket to playoffs and do enough that you know you have it for playoffs. There should be no issue with Drai performance once the real competition starts. Yes, playoffs is the starting line. Drais biggest fault is fully realizing that.

Its not a lazy streak as much a pacing tendency. Drai is not lazy. he would kill anybody here in his workouts or drills or offseason training. More the case he's Mark Messier type conserving energy because he picks his spots and knows and reads openings and non openings. When Drai spots open ice he's as much a shark tasting blood as anybody.

Present management would NEVER get commensurate value for Drai. Particularly an unsigned Drai.

Would be a very dark spot in team history to see if Drai ends up getting traded. Worse still if we somehow can't sign him.

 

[guymez]

A theme this season, especially when we start games well, is that we never actually score much when we have the better run of play against a team. It's a lot of over passing, "oh darn snakebit!" and just general lack of killer instinct.

It doesn't really matter who you are, if you don't score when you should be scoring teams like the Avalanche will push back on you. Difference is they won't waste the opportunities.

If we found a way to cash one or two goals in the first half (and first period especially) of the game we are probably talking about a different outcome, maybe even positively about staving off an Avalanche attack to come back. We aren't though for no other reason than once again finding a way to not score goals in opportune moments.

I couldnt agree more.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

I see Cpt. Hindsight Cloned with the hot takes.

Imagine saying something this stupid in complete earnestness.

Just because you log in once a month doesn't mean that Cloned - one of the best posters on this board - didn't have these opinions the entire time.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

You clearly have a lot of confidence in Broberg. I havent seen a single Condors game but the last time I watched Broberg play with the Oilers he didnt look ready.
Has his game evolved that much in the last few months?

Here's a post I made in the Bakersfield thread from a month ago, but it's still relevant.

He has 23 points in 36 games (top ppg on the defence) and owns the best +/- on the team despite only playing 2/3's of their games. Bakersfield gave him the job of #1 everything (EVs/PP/PK) when he arrived, and has by all reports absolutely ran with it. They've used both as the solo-play driver playing with Kemp, or as the 2021 Nurse to Gleason's Barrie.


He's not a guy that's going to stand out playing a conservative game, and imo that's a big reason why he looked so bland under Woody and Manson. But give him the green light to control the play (offensively and defensively) and you start to see the tools that got him drafted 10th. In that sense, he's a lot like Nurse.

I don't like putting him into a situation where he's looked to drive the play by himself (RE: if he was paired with Ceci or Vinny), but teaming him up with Stecher seems like a perfect icebreaker for him as the #6.

 

[Mav3rick07]

He's cooked.

Kane has 21 goals this season. I know he's been struggling lately, but I don't think he's cooked.

 

[McDrai]

Yup. Blind little lob there

Also, yes it is early and he said he misses his kids and wife, but man is Henrique a nothing burger. Looks like a AA type of move right now. He was even lost on that backcheck until it was too late.

These guys should know that Ceci isn't going to make that outlet lol. Stay deep in the zone

I’m still baffled by the Henrique addition. I feel like we really needed a top 4 D such as a Walker or a top 6 winger such as a Toffoli. Henrique is 34 and slowing down. Holland should have also done his due diligence and known that Henrique’s head probably wouldn’t be in the game with a newborn. Not Henrique’s fault but I think Holland should have done his homework before dishing out a 1st like it was candy.

 

[guymez]

Here's a post I made in the Bakersfield thread from a month ago, but it's still relevant.

He has 23 points in 36 games (top ppg on the defence) and owns the best +/- on the team despite only playing 2/3's of their games. Bakersfield gave him the job of #1 everything (EVs/PP/PK) when he arrived, and has by all reports absolutely ran with it. They've used both as the solo-play driver playing with Kemp, or as the 2021 Nurse to Gleason's Barrie.


He's not a guy that's going to stand out playing a conservative game, and imo that's a big reason why he looked so bland under Woody and Manson. But give him the green light to control the play (offensively and defensively) and you start to see the tools that got him drafted 10th. In that sense, he's a lot like Nurse.

I don't like putting him into a situation where he's looked to drive the play by himself (RE: if he was paired with Ceci or Vinny), but teaming him up with Stecher seems like a perfect icebreaker for him as the #6.

I appreciate the update. Some high praise.

So assuming that Broberg does get into the lineup and they pair him with Stecher then who comes out?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I appreciate the update. Some high praise.

So assuming that Broberg does get into the lineup and they pair him with Stecher then who comes out?

Well it'll either be due to injury or Knob and Coffee getting tired of watching Ceci and/or Vinny get beat like rented mules by a speedy forecheck.

Personally I think Stecher gets into the lineup next game and just runs with it; And then the discourse around the team for the next few weeks will be: "Ah! Nurse is so much better when he's paired with speed and someone that can actually handle the puck and not treat it like a grenade. Who would have guessed?"


So how do you get to Broberg-Stecher? My guess: If Broberg gets in, I can see the team being hesitant to have one of their lesser defencemen playing their offside without proper insolation. Thus Stecher drops to the 3rd pairing, so both guys can play their natural side, and then Nurse is tasked to play his offside or look after someone doing so.

Basically, it goes through this line of questioning...

Do I like Kulak looking after Broberg playing his offside? Ehhh.
Do I like Broberg looking after Kulak on his offside? Ehhh, but worse.

Do I like Nurse looking after Kulak playing his offside? Better.
Do I like Kulak looking after Nurse on his offside? I can actually see this one working.

 

[Senor Catface]

He's cooked.


PLAN C lol

Sucks when ya strike out. I believe this isn't Hollands fault, more so Jeff Jackson not wanting too spend futures

Thank you Mister Red Wings fan, very cool.

 

[mkatcherin00]

I’m still baffled by the Henrique addition. I feel like we really needed a top 4 D such as a Walker or a top 6 winger such as a Toffoli. Henrique is 34 and slowing down. Holland should have also done his due diligence and known that Henrique’s head probably wouldn’t be in the game with a newborn. Not Henrique’s fault but I think Holland should have done his homework before dishing out a 1st like it was candy.

Ryan looked good for his age, but you could see he was slowing down and they signed him 2 years

They said they are interested in signing Henrique as well.