Lavoie looked pretty good last night. He's big and can skate and has an NHL shot. I sure hope he's exempt from waivers. Can anyone confirm?
I feel a lot of this comes from the coaching staff. They want the players to go out there and make the safe play. TMac and MacT were the worst for punishing younger players trying to make plays which turned into mistakes. I think most young players are scared to make the wrong play and just keep it safe. This applies to both teams in preseason and unless the player is head and shoulders above everyone else then they all look kind of vanilla.
Something bigger might be at work. It doesn't matter who we inject into the lineup the team hasn't been scoring and not generating much either. The attention to D first, it arguably magnifies that at times this club has trouble generating EV.
Lavoie is not waiver exempt - risk of losing him without trying him out is great
True we are older but on the flipside vets don't give a shit about preseason so hopefully they turn it on come game 1. This is the year though as we are not getting any younger. Fans and players. Lol
Would really hate to lose him as he really is our only scoring threat in the minors. XBorg seems more of a passer and Petrov is pretty far away from any NHL games. Lavoie looks like an NHL player... almost.
Some are losing their mind, some usual suspects, some unusual suspects.
Yeah. I've liked him a lot this preseason. The fact that they tried him on the right tells me that the coaching chance is seriously considering keeping him up.
Most of our lineup?
It's a good thing our generational superstars have only played 1 rusty game then and guys like RNH will drop back to line 2 when the real games begin. Nevermind Ekholm not even playing yet,
Sure, but seeing if someone can punch above their weight isn't a bad idea. One could argue that Holloway wasn't put in a position to succeed on Friday. But he did. And that tells the coaches a lot about that player.
It's only exhibition season, we'll be fine.
I give WoodShaft the benefit of doubt.
I've listened to a grand total of about 25 mins of this pre season hockey by radio. Can't end soon enough. Oh well. 11 days isn't that much time.
It’s a nothing game. Better they suck now than later.
I can be pretty doom and gloom in my own head all year, but I have a calming feeling this year. For the first time in the McDavid era.
Well, Barrie said Kenny tried and told him that he would trade him only if he could get EK. Grier was being a dick lol.
I said we had most of our starting lineup out there. Nuge, Kane, Brown, Janmark, Holloway(I expect to make the club)Ryan, Bouchard/Nurse. Skinner. Thats nine players already.
This was me the last two season starts. Starting when we got Barrie, then Kane, I felt the team was headed in the direction of adding helpful talent. They still are, but the worry now is how old the club is getting. This is sneaking up, but if people look at it all the players we're adding are older. Very few young players or young energy players on this club. Holloway we badly need, and players like him. Our topsix, like I've said will hit average of near 30yrs old at some point this season. Thats not ideal.
Oilers are among the oldest teams in the league. Depending who we trot out in first game right up there. Unlike other clubs we have virtually no prospects coming up. We don't have a youth movement of any kind coming in to provide energy and jump and on ELC digestible contracts. We have Holloway and thats about it. I would have thought Bourgault but he's disappeared.
