Sniper at McDavid`s line

odk

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Jan 3, 2015
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McDavid needs a natural finisher. To me that is obvious. Nuge has been playing well with McDavid after the trade deadline and is someone who should be on his line next season. He is not a shoot first kind of player, but he is very responsible and good defensibly. He will never be that sniper McDavid needs though.

Don`t mix Draisatl on his wing and complicate things. Even though he fits naturaly to McDavid he is too good to play on the same line and the Oilers will be less dangerous down the stretch with that solution.

What the Oilers organization needs to do with the salary cap is what it is, they need to be patient and brave.
Patient in the terms that in the upcoming draft they must absolutely not trade the 1st round pick. The Oilers need a defensemen. An offensive defensemen that can run the PP yes, but you can get that by drafting "worse" players than Dahlin and Boqvist. "Worse" in the sense that their ceiling is not as high as those guys but the quality of the defensemen in this draft is someting i havent seen since 2008. Players like Bouchard, Dobson, Smith and Hughes is really top notch, and players that in 1-3 years will be good players in the NHL. Dahlin is fantasic no noubt, but the Oilers don`t have to have that extreme quality to massively improve their team. What they need is a solid defensemen who has a good shot and mobility and there are alot of those in this draft. Boqvist would be a dream of cource but there are several other talents that fits the bill as i have mentioned before.

The Oilers needs to be brave in the sense that they need to get a quality sniper at McDavid`s line. At the cost of a 1st round pick next year or more. I know that entails salary cap circumvention but it needs to happen. Not neceseraly in the off-season. They don`t need to rush it, but something has to be done before the trade deadline 2019 thats for sure. I know it will be difficult with the contracts of Lucic, Sekera and Russel but they have to talk to one them to waive the NMC at the trade deadline or the draft next season, because its hurting the team immensely. It`s been done i in the past by other GMs and it needs to be done next year by either PC or a new GM. That needs to be on the owners mind.

Now to the point of the thread, i`m rambling on.
Who will fit McDavid best at his line?

My suggestion is Jeff Skinner. Skinner is a great shooter, good passer and has that fiery competitiveness that i love. His hockey IQ is very high and that is needed on a line with McDavid. His body language is great and he is a hungry individual (never won a cup). He has that anticipation of where the puck will be that you really can`t teach, and that is exactly what McDavid needs. He is also from Toronto, same as McDavid and i think they will go along great. Maybe a few people will laugh at me by the competitiveness i`m talking about but bear with me. He is playing on a team that is going nowhere. They are in rebuilding mode or something close to it. They will accept a high draft pick and some prospect we don`t need. The city doesn` t care about hockey, the owner is desperately trying to get his players to care about this "storied" franchise. Come on, the guy is from Ontario, Canada and he is playing for a s***ty organization. Get him the f**k out of there and place him with McDavid and poeple will be shocked by his abilities.

He is also at a good age, where Hoffman and Neal is not.
He is in the 5-6 million range, wich is what the most the oilers can afford.

What do you guys think?
 

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THe premise that McDavid needs a natural scorer is bang on, it has to be one that has the wheels to keep up. Skinner is that guy and might be had given how the new owner Tom Dundon is addressing the hands on management of the team.

Dundon stated he wants tougher players, more competitive players. Perhaps a deal can be made.
 

EDMOILERS9729

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Dec 25, 2017
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I love Skinner too, perfect fit on Mcdavids line imo. Id do 2019 1st + 2018 2nd + any prospects not named Puljujarvi
 

Spawn

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I love Skinner too, perfect fit on Mcdavids line imo. Id do 2019 1st + 2018 2nd + any prospects not named Puljujarvi

That's a hell of a lot for a soft one-way winger coming off a terrible year who is 1 season away from free agency. Not to mention that at nearly $6M salary would need to go back.

He's a worse player than Jordan Eberle.

Hey, maybe they'll take Ryan Strome for him.
 

EDMOILERS9729

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Dec 25, 2017
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That's a hell of a lot for a soft one-way winger coming off a terrible year who is 1 season away from free agency. Not to mention that at nearly $6M salary would need to go back.

He's a worse player than Jordan Eberle.

Hey, maybe they'll take Ryan Strome for him.
2019 1st + 2018 3rd. That work for ya?
 

McShogun99

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Aug 30, 2009
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Mcdavid is the sniper on his line. If RNH plays a full season with Mcdavid next year then he'll probably score close to 30 goals and 70 points. I'd like a big body on the RW that can keep up with RNH/Mcdavid and do the dirty work along the boards.
 
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Jet Walters

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May 15, 2013
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Mcdavid is the sniper on his line. If RNH plays a full season with Mcdavid next year then he'll probably score close to 30 goals and 70 points. I'd like a big body on the RW that can keep up with RNH/Mcdavid and do the dirty work along the boards.

Josh Anderson would be a great fit IMO. He's still cheap for another two years which is a bonus.
 
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bobbythebrain

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Jul 30, 2016
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I think it's a big misconception with McD that he needs a sniper. He usually carries the puck way too much and down low, and moves way too fast for a trailor.

With Drai and now RNH who are smart enough to get him the puck in the neutral zone, the most important thing he needs is a solid forechecker who can win those small board battles more times than not, and control the boards for him

The perfect winger for McD would be a player like Benn or Voracek

McD needs a solid offensive dman to step in and hit holes more than he needs a winger imo
 
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McFlash97

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Oct 10, 2017
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I actually think the first line is perfect the way it is now. What we need is a sniper on Leon's line with some speed.
 

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Certainly McDavid certainly drives his own bus. But his effectiveness is multiplied exponentially when playing with talent who can think the game at his level, move the puck quickly and has the legs to keep up.

Imagine a guy who can skate with McDavid who has a one time shot who knows how to get open on McDavids wing.

Skinner may be too expensive, I didn’t realize his cap hit was $6M so that is probably too much to bite off.
Athanasaiu (sp?) in Detroit. He had a contentious off season relationship last year with Detroit and can flat out fly. I believe his deal is up and IIRC is an RFA after holding out last year.
 

odk

Registered User
Jan 3, 2015
46
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Mcdavid is the sniper on his line. If RNH plays a full season with Mcdavid next year then he'll probably score close to 30 goals and 70 points. I'd like a big body on the RW that can keep up with RNH/Mcdavid and do the dirty work along the boards.

Ok, it will work either way.
Oilers make a trade for Skinner and the lineup could look like this:

Nuge-McDavid-Skinner
Yamamoto-Draisatl-Pool Party

Or

Skinner-McDavid-Pool Party
Nuge-Draisatl-Yamamoto

With the second option you get a big body on the RW that can win the board battles, chip and chase type of play(I`m talking 1st line).
With the first option it will be a speedy and very skilled line that will consist of alot of cycle play. It will come down to chemistry and what works, but my point is you can`t go wrong with this trade.

He has had a mediocre year this year. So now is the time to get him, while his value is low. Maybe he will accept an 5 year 5-5,5 million deal or something like that.
 

odk

Registered User
Jan 3, 2015
46
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Certainly McDavid certainly drives his own bus. But his effectiveness is multiplied exponentially when playing with talent who can think the game at his level, move the puck quickly and has the legs to keep up.

Imagine a guy who can skate with McDavid who has a one time shot who knows how to get open on McDavids wing.

Exactly. How many times this year didn`t McDavid give unbelievable passes that were not picked up by the wingers he had. Countless times a great play went into nothing because the speed or awareness of his linemates was to slow that they couldn`t anticipate what was going on.
The fact that McDavid scored 108 points this year is not down to a very functional line. It`s down to an absolutely great player. Just imagine what a line with him and Skinner could do over a season. That line would be so good that you don`t need scoring from the 3rd line. That 3rd line could be shutdown guys. McDavid will have 130 points seasons with Skinner on his line. I`m sure of it. Skinner would have 40 goal seasons because of the fantastic vision that McDavid has. Skinner has high enough hockey IQ to read what McDavid wants him to do and he is a team first kind of guy, so you won`t get a primadonna aka Hall on your hands.
 

Canovin

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What type of winger do you think he needs?
Whoever costs 4M or under. That's all we can afford.

The Oilers needs are:

1. Offensive Dman
2. Winger for Drai
3. Sniper for McDavid

In that order

Edit: personally I'd go after Domi and play him with Drai. Most likely only cost 1.5M to resign. That's really cost effective. Use the remaining of the cap for an offensive Dman.
 
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odk

Registered User
Jan 3, 2015
46
5
Whoever costs 4M or under. That's all we can afford.

The Oilers needs are:

1. Offensive Dman
2. Winger for Drai
3. Sniper for McDavid

In that order

Edit: personally I'd go after Domi and play him with Drai. Most likely only cost 1.5M to resign. That's really cost effective. Use the remaining of the cap for an offensive Dman.

1. Bouchard
2. Puljujarvi
3. Skinner
 
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Throttlehead

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Jan 22, 2014
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I see nothing wrong with the wingers he had at the end of the season.

In 5×5 play, McDavid had his best success with Nugent-Hopkins. They were out 203 minutes together, with 17 goals for and nine goals against, a 65 per cent Goals For Percentage, reports Natural Stat Trick. Compare this to others with McDavid: with Patrick Maroon in 514 minutes, it was 26 goals for, 24 against, a 52 per cent goals for; Milan Lucic, 413 minutes, 23 for, 17 against, 58 per cent; Leon Draisaitl, 489 minutes, 31 for, 23 against, 57 per cent; Jesse Puljujarvi, 252 minutes, 13 for, 8 against, 62 per cent; Ty Rattie, 157 minutes, 13 for, 12 against, 52 per cent; Drake Caggiula, 143 minutes, 10 for, 12 against, 45 per cent.
 

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