Rumor: Rumors: The Frenzy pt. 2: "Shut up and take my money"

[RipsADrive]

<snip>

There are two new skaters and a backup goalie and one of the skaters is a downgrade on what we had before. That's not much turnover for any team, let alone the 2nd worst in the league.

It's not about the number of players in/out. It's about which ones.

For the first time in a decade the Oilers management shipped out a core player in order to balance the roster. That move in itself should do a lot to shake out some complacency and re-energize players like RNH and Eberle.

The complexion of the team up front has entirely changed with Puljujarvi and Lucic added to Maroon and Kassian and the combination of a healthy blueline, Larsson, and natural development should result in a significantly improved backend.

Jettisoning another star forward and selling low on him feels shortsighted and panicky to me. We just felt first hand how high a premium you have to pay for quality blueliners. Why take that hit again if you don't have to?

 

[Soundwave]

It's not making excuses. It's recognizing that the defense is not good enough. They have the worst offensive production from the blue line in the league last year and the answer has been to add a 20 d-man? That's not going come remotely close to cutting it.

And maybe the Oilers could develop it if they were any good at drafting outside of the first round. Hell even in the first round. Imagine if they'd taken Ristolainen ahead of Nurse? Probably wouldn't have had to piss away Taylor Hall for a zero offense 2/3 defender.



There are two new skaters and a backup goalie and one of the skaters is a downgrade on what we had before. That's not much turnover for any team, let alone the 2nd worst in the league.

The Devils finished 14 points better than the Oilers without any real big offence from their blue line.

You put Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl on that Devils team last year and they probably make the playoffs.

We have players like Maroon and Kassian that didn't get to play a lot last year, we also have a talent like McDavid who will be better next year.

Adam Larsson is the best defensive d-man this team has had since Chris Pronger. He's also the best outlet pass since Whitney.

This group has shown much better on the PP even without a stud PP QB ... it's time they figured this out.

They are even now one of the biggest teams in the entire league ... the additions of Lucic, Maroon, Kassian, Puljujarvi, and Larsson to go with Nurse who's growing every summer ... this is a monstrous sized group that should not be pushed around by anyone. So that's not an excuse anymore.

Arguably this team may have the best center depth in the NHL right now too. It's time to shut up and get on the ice and DO WORK.

 

[Spawn]

Jettisoning another star forward and selling low on him feels shortsighted and panicky to me. We just felt first hand how high a premium you have to pay for quality blueliners. Why take that hit again if you don't have to?

Because our blue line is still one of the worst in the league and until it's properly fixed it wont matter how many attitude changes the team goes through. And lets not kid ourselves, neither Eberle nor RNH are star players, and acquiring a player of Tyson Barrie's abilities isn't selling low on them. That would be a great value trade for a not yet 25 year old 50 point offensive d-man who plays 23 minutes a night.

 

[Spawn]

The Devils finished 14 points better than the Oilers without any real big offence from their blue line.

You put Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl on that Devils team last year and they probably make the playoffs.

We have players like Maroon and Kassian that didn't get to play a lot last year, we also have a talent like McDavid who will be better next year.

Adam Larsson is the best defensive d-man this team has had since Chris Pronger. He's also the best outlet pass since Whitney.

This group has shown much better on the PP even without a stud PP QB ... it's time they figured this out.

They are even now one of the biggest teams in the entire league ... the additions of Lucic, Maroon, Kassian, Puljujarvi, and Larsson to go with Nurse who's growing every summer ... this is a monstrous sized group that should not be pushed around by anyone. So that's not an excuse anymore.

Arguably this team may have the best center depth in the NHL right now too. It's time to shut up and get on the ice and DO WORK.

You gotta stop bringing up the Devils as if it means something. They've got one of the best goalies in the league and still missed the playoffs by 12 points. They were a bad hockey team.

Maroon... Kassian... who cares? Maroon is a 2nd/3rd line tweener and Kassian is worse than that. Their presence last year didn't lead to any more wins.

I mean seriously... the Oilers today have a worse forward group than they did a week ago. The defense is better at preventing goals we hope (fingers crossed we didn't just pick up Fayne 2.0) but no better at generating offense. It doesn't matter how good our forward core is if no one can get them the puck. Been that way for years.

 

[Oilerglory]

It's kinda funny that last year we signed the top D-Man UFA (Sekera) and this year the top available forward UFA (Lucic). Demers is probably waiting by his phone hoping Chia calls.

Safe to say the days of getting Nylandered are long over. Dat McDavid effect.

I get what your saying but Stamkos was the top UFA forward.

 

[LaGu]

I get what your saying but Stamkos was the top UFA forward.

Stamkos was signed before becoming UFA.

 

[Planisphaerium]

You gotta stop bringing up the Devils as if it means something. They've got one of the best goalies in the league and still missed the playoffs by 12 points. They were a bad hockey team.

Maroon... Kassian... who cares? Maroon is a 2nd/3rd line tweener and Kassian is worse than that. Their presence last year didn't lead to any more wins.

I mean seriously... the Oilers today have a worse forward group than they did a week ago. The defense is better at preventing goals we hope (fingers crossed we didn't just pick up Fayne 2.0) but no better at generating offense. It doesn't matter how good our forward core is if no one can get them the puck. Been that way for years.

Larsson has a beauty first pass. He can really thread the needle.

He helps with that getting the puck up to the forwards you mention.

 

[Jumptheshark]

If klefbom can stay healthy. Our d will look hugEly different

 

[McShogun99]

Larsson has a beauty first pass. He can really thread the needle.

He helps with that getting the puck up to the forwards you mention.

I can just picture it now. Larsson threading the needle and hitting Hall with a beauty pass in full stride.....wait a minute.....

 

[SK13]

Because our blue line is still one of the worst in the league and until it's properly fixed it wont matter how many attitude changes the team goes through. And lets not kid ourselves, neither Eberle nor RNH are star players, and acquiring a player of Tyson Barrie's abilities isn't selling low on them. That would be a great value trade for a not yet 25 year old 50 point offensive d-man who plays 23 minutes a night.

Tyson Barrie plays 23 minutes a night on a defense as bad as our own. Might as well go reacquire Justin Schultz, because he played a ton of minutes on a bad defense as well.

Barrie is a fine add when it comes to addressing the very real issue of offense from the back-end, but he's probably a worse defender than four other guys on what you're calling "one of the worst defenses in the NHL".

I would consider Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Eberle makes me nervous because I don't feel like we have the depth at all to sacrifice 25 guaranteed goals.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

Because our blue line is still one of the worst in the league and until it's properly fixed it wont matter how many attitude changes the team goes through. And lets not kid ourselves, neither Eberle nor RNH are star players, and acquiring a player of Tyson Barrie's abilities isn't selling low on them. That would be a great value trade for a not yet 25 year old 50 point offensive d-man who plays 23 minutes a night.

I think Barrie is basically the perfect player for this team, and if we have to do Nuge or Ebs so be it, but I think we could get him without trading those guys. O'Reilly went for pure futures. Would have to trade Nurse I think.

Touching on your first point - I wouldn't downplay these "attitude" changes. The losing culture has been just as big a plague on this team as the lack of defenceman. There have been a lot of ****** teams in this league with ****** rosters sharing the basement with us over the years. None of them have compared to the Oilers in futility. Buffalo and Phoenix traded their entire team and we still kept up with them, after drafting 1,1,1,7,3.

No matter which players we got, which coach we hired, which GM we brought in, the results were identical. DFL. Even last year with a world class coach and GM (and mcdavid) we **** the bed. Yes, we have had a piss poor defence, horrendous management, bad coaches, but so have other teams and no other team has managed to even come close to matching our futility. The one constant was having the same core of players to lead the team. Trading Hall changes all of that, and that is going to be a greater return to our team than Adam Larsson.

 

[The Safe Play]

Nothing on Twitter bugs me more than people complaining we didn't sign this guy or that guy.

Demers probably didn't want to sign here. Same with a lot of other players.

With that said if Chiarelli doesn't have another RHD PP QB I doubt we make playoffs.

Barrie and I think Dumba could even work.

 

[LTIR]

Still hoping for Vatanen..

Vats > Barrie...
Would be just as good offensively but could kill penalties, make a lot less $ and be a mentor for Puljujarvi.

 

[McFlyingV]

I don't see a Barrie trade happening unless its for picks/prospects tbh. There's no one that can replace Nuge to allow us to have 3 productive lines and I just don't see Eberle dealt. I know people (myself included) like to harp on Eberle for being soft and poor defensively but the guy can flat out score. There's a lot of value in a guy that can get you a goal when you really need it and I'm hoping the Hall trade opens his eyes a bit that he needs to be more engaged and I'm also hoping that a more balanced lineup makes him a more effective fit on the team. Im also hoping for a rebirth of his 11/12 season because he was money that year lol.

 

[Fourier]

I wish we signed Demers for 4.5 x 5. That's honestly a very reasonable deal for him. I don't care if he isn't a PP QB, having Demers at that price would bring us that much closer to playoffs. Although I would absolutely love to get Barrie, I still feel that we can internally replace that PP QB void by having Klef and Lars play on the PP. Klef should have got a long look on the PP IMO but he was also injured for like 50 games so that doesn't help.

Anyways, if PP1 is Lucic-Eberle-Drai-Mcdavid-Klef and PP2 is Maroon-Puju-Yak-Nuge-Larsson or something along those lines, I don't think we should have any excuses. Those are two very capable units with size, skill and ability to shoot. If we're going to have Klef and Lars be our go to guys, might as well roll with them and see what they can do on the PP.

Of course this changes if we get Barrie and obviously makes us a lot better but like soundwave said, this team shouldn't have any excuses anymore. They need to start playing up to their potential. Everyone needs to step it up collectively, especially Klef, Lars and RNH IMO (all 2011 first round draft picks ) need to have big years.

Florida teams are playing the tax card very hard these days. $4.5M in Florida is the same as $5.3M in Edmonton. So the likely ask was in the $5-5.5M range with the latter more likely.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

I don't see a Barrie trade happening unless its for picks/prospects tbh. There's no one that can replace Nuge to allow us to have 3 productive lines and I just don't see Eberle dealt. I know people (myself included) like to harp on Eberle for being soft and poor defensively but the guy can flat out score. There's a lot of value in a guy that can get you a goal when you really need it and I'm hoping the Hall trade opens his eyes a bit that he needs to be more engaged and I'm also hoping that a more balanced lineup makes him a more effective fit on the team. Im also hoping for a rebirth of his 11/12 season because he was money that year lol.

That's what O'Reilly went for, and IMO more likely Barrie gets traded for something like that then a roster player like Nuge or Ebs. Dougie Hamilton is the template I'd look at - 1st 2nd 3rd - so from us I'd see the main piece as being our first next year or Darnell Nurse. Maybe 1st + Reinhart for Barrie + Iginla or Nurse, Nurse and 3rd..something like that. It won't be a cheap price either way, but he's just perfect for our team and who knows when another opportunity to pick up a player like this will come along.

 

[SK13]

Nothing on Twitter bugs me more than people complaining we didn't sign this guy or that guy.

Demers probably didn't want to sign here. Same with a lot of other players.

We can speak with a lot of confidence on this particular player.

Not only did he go out of his way to visit Edmonton, one of the more popular narratives is that he wanted to sign, but the Oilers acquiring Adam Larsson ended their interest in him.

 

[McFlyingV]

That's what O'Reilly went for, and IMO more likely Barrie gets traded for something like that then a roster player like Nuge or Ebs. Dougie Hamilton is the template I'd look at - 1st 2nd 3rd - so from us I'd see the main piece as being our first next year or Darnell Nurse. Maybe 1st + Reinhart for Barrie + Iginla or Nurse, Nurse and 3rd..something like that. It won't be a cheap price either way, but he's just perfect for our team and who knows when another opportunity to pick up a player like this will come along.

Its possible. I don't see any world where Nurse is moved though. Chia loved him enough to not be willing to part with him for Hamilton. He's also expansion exempt which has enormous value to us. I'd love to get a power play guy even if it was someone like Wisniewski, but I'm also not against trying guys like Klef, Larsson and Davidson on the PP. The additions of Lucic and Maroon alone should help the PP with their net front presence and a guy like Pouliot can take Hall's spot down low as the puck retriever.

 

[PaperDesigner]

The guy who posted about an imminent deal between the Avalanche and Flames posted a follow-up tweet:

"Getting lots of messages for an update, all I've heard today is Oilers trying to include Yakupov but Avs want more for third piece #avs"

https://twitter.com/rumps17/status/749456526918623232

Sorry, don't know how to embed a tweet directly.

EDIT: I would speculate, and I'm being hopeful (God only knows why I am still that), there is a deal based on a Nugent-Hopkins and Nurse for Barrie and Duchene in which the Avalanche are asking for a bit more. Yakupov, therefore, is being pushed as the "third piece" throw-in.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Still hoping for Vatanen..

Vats > Barrie...
Would be just as good offensively but could kill penalties, make a lot less $ and be a mentor for Puljujarvi.

Vatanen isn't better then Barrie, he was on a better team

 

[OG Eberle]

The guy who posted about an imminent deal between the Avalanche and Flames posted a follow-up tweet:

"Getting lots of messages for an update, all I've heard today is Oilers trying to include Yakupov but Avs want more for third piece #avs"

https://twitter.com/rumps17/status/749456526918623232

Sorry, don't know how to embed a tweet directly.

EDIT: I would speculate, and I'm being hopeful (God only knows why I am still that), there is a deal based on a Nugent-Hopkins and Nurse for Barrie and Duchene in which the Avalanche are asking for a bit more. Yakupov, therefore, is being pushed as the "third piece" throw-in.

I don't understand. I haven't ever heard of this guy in the NFL (and I am a huge fan) and I don't see any credibility to suggest why he would know anything about hockey...

Maybe its the pessimist in me but I am taking his tweets with a grain of salt. He is a fantasy expert, and not even close to that of a Matthew Berry who actually has sources.

 

[BlowbyBlow]

The guy who posted about an imminent deal between the Avalanche and Flames posted a follow-up tweet:

"Getting lots of messages for an update, all I've heard today is Oilers trying to include Yakupov but Avs want more for third piece #avs"

https://twitter.com/rumps17/status/749456526918623232

Sorry, don't know how to embed a tweet directly.

EDIT: I would speculate, and I'm being hopeful (God only knows why I am still that), there is a deal based on a Nugent-Hopkins and Nurse for Barrie and Duchene in which the Avalanche are asking for a bit more. Yakupov, therefore, is being pushed as the "third piece" throw-in.

i have to say I hate the idea of trading RNH even if it involved getting Duchene back. Nurse is way over payment with RNH. Honestly it's a lateral or step back trade. Even if Nurse only became Matt Greene with a nasty edge, solid defender you have a attribute on your d-pairing that you can't find easily, and your going to trade to a team you play regularly. horrible trade imo

 

[PaperDesigner]

I don't understand. I haven't ever heard of this guy in the NFL (and I am a huge fan) and I don't see any credibility to suggest why he would know anything about hockey...

Maybe its the pessimist in me but I am taking his tweets with a grain of salt. He is a fantasy expert, and not even close to that of a Matthew Berry who actually has sources.

The counter to that is why would he go out of his way to post a rumour in a sport he doesn't even cover? He may, just as he posted, simply have a friend close to the Avalanche organization.

 

[Mr Sakich]

One option to consider is Cody franson. I asked about his value on the Buffalo forum and they thought a mid round pick or b level prospect is fine. They have 2 or 3 rhd ahead of him already.

The only issue is his concussion. He missed the last part of the year with concussion symptoms. If he is fully recovered, he is a low risk option.

 

[s7ark]

New thread is up
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=120378365