Proposal: Trade Rumors and Proposals Thread: Are we looking at adding a winger?

[Paralyzer]

True for sure. I grew up an Oilers fan, went to school in Edmonton, but I may guilty of this but the way I see it is I have to actively look for Oilers news but passivly get constant Flames news here.

Anyways, I am not one to look to internal growth as a way to succeed, unless you have a long line of consistant success. We had one season where if McDavid wasn't on the ice and Talbot wasn't playing lights out we were very mediocre. I want to improve on that. And since McL insists on not having his second best C center his own line (his downfall in SJ IMO) then we need D. One of our top 4 went down and likely won't play to his ability until late in the season. Chia added nothing to this and it makes me concerned.

Even the top Vezina winning goalies in the NHL rarely put together back to back superb seasons. So I don't like to bank on Talbot bailing us out again and was hoping Chia would add some D. He did not and that concerns me.

But see, you, just like guymez, assume Chia's plan is to sit on his hands and do shit all. You already painted the narrative for him and seem convinced he doesn't give a shit. That's more concerning than what he hasn't done yet. We have been in 10 years of hell with incompetent GMs and PoHOs that a lot of us are used to GMs failing. But for once we have a GM who knows what he is doing, has a plan to keep us moving up and knows what it takes to win and here you guys are already making the call that "He doesn't give 2 shits about the team and just wants us to fail". If we are 2-10 to begin the season, you are totally welcome to say "I told you so", until then, give him some faith and see how the team performs.

 

[Paralyzer]

Chia is a mixed bag. Some of his trades/signings were good and some of his trades/signings were awful. I think the management we had before was god awful so pretty much anything after that would seem like a massive upgrade. I would give him a B- or C+ so far

But I see a GM that has turned this team around and has finally made us competitive. Every GM can be graded like this as everyone has made good moves and bad moves. It's just how you keep moving forward from them and Chia has done this very well. It's not like this team fell 5 years back because of the Reinhart trade. He was able to admit his mistake and move on and it didn't hurt the team that badly.

 

[Weitz]

But see, you, just like guymez, assume Chia's plan is to sit on his hands and do **** all. You already painted the narrative for him and seem convinced he doesn't give a ****. That's more concerning than what he hasn't done yet. We have been in 10 years of hell with incompetent GMs and PoHOs that a lot of us are used to GMs failing. But for once we have a GM who knows what he is doing, has a plan to keep us moving up and knows what it takes to win and here you guys are already making the call that "He doesn't give 2 ****s about the team and just wants us to fail". If we are 2-10 to begin the season, you are totally welcome to say "I told you so", until then, give him some faith and see how the team performs.

We assume thats his plan... Because thats what he has done? Hasn't added to the D and depleted the forwards slightly going into this year.

If you look at the stats from last year we were bottom 5 in High danger chances and top 5 in high danger save %. You might be ok with that, but going into this year with an even worse D core, I would have hoped the GM would bring in someone to steady things. Then, when Sekera is back we will be even better for the year. Instead he is sitting there hoping and praying Talbot is lights out all year again.

I want a proactive management team. Not a "Oh shit we are 2-10 and this was supposed to be the year we can go all in and now I have to sell the farm for a D man to stop the bleeding" GM. Which as it appears is how we are going.

Maybe we start the year much better (I still don't think we will be 2-10, that is silly) but I wouldn't want to take the chance in tanking the year.

ALSO: I think a lot of you take some questioning of the team a little further then some of us that do it mean.

I might say a lot but I want a Stanley Cup team not a playoff team. Currently I think we have a playoff team but not a stanley cup team.

 

[Paralyzer]

We assume thats his plan... Because thats what he has done? Hasn't added to the D and depleted the forwards slightly going into this year.

If you look at the stats from last year we were bottom 5 in High danger chances and top 5 in high danger save %. You might be ok with that, but going into this year with an even worse D core, I would have hoped the GM would bring in someone to steady things. Then, when Sekera is back we will be even better for the year. Instead he is sitting there hoping and praying Talbot is lights out all year again.

I want a proactive management team. Not a "Oh **** we are 2-10 and this was supposed to be the year we can go all in and now I have to sell the farm for a D man to stop the bleeding" GM. Which as it appears is how we are going.

Maybe we start the year much better (I still don't think we will be 2-10, that is silly) but I wouldn't want to take the chance in tanking the year.

ALSO: I think a lot of you take some questioning of the team a little further then some of us that do it mean.

I might say a lot but I want a Stanley Cup team not a playoff team. Currently I think we have a playoff team but not a stanley cup team.

But again, your assuming he has no plan. If you listened to him on TSN 1260, he said he'd make a move or 2 if needed but he wants to challenge the young guys to step up. He wants to see if they can do that before putting in a bandaid solution. And no, only a handful of people think that's his plan. I firmly believe he has stuff worked out in the background and will move on it if necessary.

 

[Weitz]

But again, your assuming he has no plan. If you listened to him on TSN 1260, he said he'd make a move or 2 if needed but he wants to challenge the young guys to step up. He wants to see if they can do that before putting in a bandaid solution. And no, only a handful of people think that's his plan. I firmly believe he has stuff worked out in the background and will move on it if necessary.

You don't think that's a terrible way to manage this team? We're past the let's see happens stage.

 

[nexttothemoon]

If any of the 3 guys you mentioned in your first line there are regularly playing NHL games we are in for a world of hurt.

Not because they might not be able to handle 3rd pairing duties but its who is playing above them in the lineup.

As I said, I have more "faith" in the team D than most do as I think those depth dmen are better than most think they are.

Pairing evaluations...

Klefbom-Larsson

Klefbom I actually view as weak defensively but his offense balances that out plus the fact that Larsson is an absolute stud defensively AND is underrated offensively (due to limited PP time and basically playing the role of a shutdown safety net dman for his partner ) makes this pairing solid. Still prone to some ups and downs as well because they are both still relatively young and improving but this pair is solid together.

Russell-Benning

Russell plays a solid defensive role and although somewhat offensively inferior he gets the job done in limiting goals against and that's the key factor in a being a stabilizing 2nd pairing dman. Benning is better than given credit for... at 23 he's got several years development and experience under his belt... just not a lot at the NHL level obviously. Even if he doesn't improve over last year and basically plateaus... that's still a solid 2nd pairing dman. I think he definitely has further upside though and especially I think he has some untapped offensive potential.

Nurse-Gryba

Honestly I'll admit this pairing isn't great. It's the bottom pairing though and if any pairing has question marks it should be the bottom one. Nurse is still prone to errors and for every good game he has one where mistakes are made and he wears the goat horns. I honestly think he's not a solid top 6 dman yet but saying that, the bottom pairing is where you learn to play at the NHL level and where mistakes aren't quite as costly. He is developing and I see him as improving over time.. albeit slower than some would like but dmen aren't always directly straight up in their development trajectory either.

Gryba is what he is... a physical, offensively weak dman who is often questionable defensively. He's admittedly not a player you want in the top 6 as a regular... but against big physical, divisional teams he is a valid option. I wouldn't want him in the lineup more than 30-40 games per season though and agree the team should have a better option for that bottom pairing for the other 40-50 games against faster, less physical teams... which leads to...

Stanton-Auvitu

These two are underrated acquisitions imo. I personally think these two are much better than people think they are. Most would view them as having very limited experience and gambles at best. I think they are both solid dmen... Auvitu with untapped offensive skills and Stanton with a solid all-around game. I am betting at least one of these two find their way into the lineup as regulars and will be regarded as steals for Chia by the end of the season. They just need the opportunity to play in the top 6 and they will show that they are more than adequate performers. This pair is one of the biggest reasons I'm not that worried about the D. I feel they can adequately cover while Sekera is out.

Quite honestly I feel a bottom pairing of Stanton-Auvitu would be better than Nurse-Gryba but the roster hierarchy (at least initially) will likely have the returnees in that role rather than the new additions. Given time though... (and if and when that bottom pair struggles)... I think we will see Stanton/Auvitu step in and do a solid job in relief and as I said I think at least one of those new players will show they are overall better than Gryba/Nurse.

Others...

Simpson/Jones/Fayne

These 3 are underrated for their spots on the depth chart.

Simpson looked to my eye like a very adequate #7 dman... at least as good of an overall dman as Gryba imo. Not as physical obviously, but a better all around game. Add the fact that Simpson is still developing and improving and I think he has a very solid shot at becoming a good bottom pairing dman as early as this season.

Jones... sky is really the limit here and I think top 6 is his minimum upside and top 4 seems well within reach in seasons to come. Yes it's very early and he needs to play his 1st pro season, but it's not impossible to see him play some games at the NHL level this year as well. Every season recently the Oilers have used 10+ dmen on their roster over the course of the season due to injuries and I expect to see Jones getting a few games this season as well to orient him at the NHL level.

Fayne is better than the average #10 type dman. Years of NHL experience and is good enough (though generally mediocre) to be "ok" in a #6/#7 situation. He's not going to be good but he's not going to be godawful either... and it's not the worst thing to have a dman like that when several injuries may hit at once (especially when he's likely stuck here anyway with that likely impossible to move contract).


Long post.... so...

TL;DR...

D is fine. D depth is fine. Unless a pile of injuries hit at once (which sinks pretty much every team) this team D will be no worse than average at the NHL level... with the potential to be above average, especially when Sekera comes back.

 

[RebuildTheRebuild]

For Edmonton I think the problem is that there are more questions than was expected.

Who will step up and fill Eberle's production? Will it be Strome or any of the young guys or a combination of them be able to fill that gap? Chia has not done anything to really answer this question except for challenging the young guns to step up. Right now it is up in the air whether they can step up or not. He is hoping that his young guns could step up which isn't the worst but is risky. Right now as it stands we have somewhat more depleted forward with hopes of the young guns to improve.

Who will step up for Sekera's absence? It seems as if Benning will be elevated into the right side but the question is can he handle the 2nd pairing minutes for a period of time? Chia again seems to have put the answer forward that he would like to see our young guys step up. This time in the case of Benning and maybe Nurse. Again we are relying on young guys hoping to improve.

The message that Chia has conveyed is that he is challenging the young guys to step it up. Now it is not the best strategy because development is not linear. We don't know if these guys are able to step it up to cover these gaps. This doesn't help breed confidence either at least to me because I truly got no clue how much the young guns will improve or even if they do. I thought this was a year to go all in with it being McDavid's last year of his ELC and maximizing our cap space. Obviously Chia has thought differently about the situation and I hope that he is correct in trusting our young guys improving and covering these shortcomings of our roster.

EDIT: I would like to say that I do believe we are playoff team I just wonder how improved we are over last year though if we improved at all.

 

[Kagomeboy]

Just stop with the doom and gloom .we be fine.the young guy will get it done.

 

[Kagomeboy]

You don't think that's a terrible way to manage this team? We're past the let's see happens stage.

No becasue the team has their vets now.it time for the young guys to step up . you never win championships in free agency.

 

[NeverForget06]

Just stop with the doom and gloom .we be fine.the young guy will get it done.

I understand why people are more nervous this year than usual about the roster... It actually seems like we have something to lose now. A real opportunity to win that we could screw up. It hasn't been like that in a long time, usually it was just meh yah we'll probably suck but we're used to it.

Of course there are things that go wrong this year, there always are. Every fanbase is going to find holes in their roster that need to be fixed.

I think we'll be fine personally. I think we are better in goal than last year, probably better at the forward, because I don't think Ebs was gonna change here, and a little worse at defence because of Sekera's injury. But nobody in our division got much better, and a few are also affected by some serious injuries.

 

[Staghorn]

Here's how I see it - Chia knows how to take this team from a flaming dumpster to one of the most exciting in hockey, playoffs bound and quite a run last year. As such, I trust he knows what he's doing better than those griping on here about DMen or Jagr or who will replace Eberle. OMG Eberle potted 4 goals in the super meaningless last game of the year - 16 in the other 81 games - I'm sure his flimsy production can be replaced by Slepy or Caggulia or pretty much anyone.

 

[Kagomeboy]

Here's how I see it - Chia knows how to take this team from a flaming dumpster to one of the most exciting in hockey, playoffs bound and quite a run last year. As such, I trust he knows what he's doing better than those griping on here about DMen or Jagr or who will replace Eberle. OMG Eberle potted 4 goals in the super meaningless last game of the year - 16 in the other 81 games - I'm sure his flimsy production can be replaced by Slepy or Caggulia or pretty much anyone.

Eberle was bad in his last few years in Edmonton.we are going to be a better team soon rather then letter.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

If your wanted to add an offensive winger, I see Purcell just got released from his PTO with the Bruins.

He's not anything close to a good NHL'er, but he can be an adequate 3rd wheel to a secondary scoring line if the need arises. Plus unlike most other options he'd likely be willing to play in the AHL, and this team doesn't really have any quality offensive vet forwards to call up if injuries hit the top 6 (think like an Arcobello, Andrew Miller, ect).

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

If your wanted to add an offensive winger, I see Purcell just got released from his PTO with the Bruins.

He's not anything close to a good NHL'er, but he can be an adequate 3rd wheel to a secondary scoring line if the need arises. Plus unlike most other options he'd likely be willing to play in the AHL, and this team doesn't really have any quality offensive vet forwards to call up if injuries hit the top 6 (think like an Arcobello, Andrew Miller, ect).

that would be a complete waste of a contract IMO

Purcell is done

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

You don't think that's a terrible way to manage this team? We're past the let's see happens stage.

no cause any good managers assess his teams needs when the real games start and addresses them accordingly

no waste contracts on overpriced "Vets" who may or may not help

 

[Dazed and Confused]

that would be a complete waste of a contract IMO

Purcell is done

Most likely, but I wouldn't mind someone to fill that role nonetheless... AHL depth forward with some offensive upside, especially if they're a RH shot.

I'm happy with the LH depth of McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge, and Jokinen. It's Letestu, Strome, Slepyshev and Puljujarvi I'm a little more concerned about.

 

[Paralyzer]

no cause any good managers assess his teams needs when the real games start and addresses them accordingly

no waste contracts on overpriced "Vets" who may or may not help

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

 

[Kagomeboy]

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

YES WE DO YES WE DO

 

[Belieber]

Every time I worry about anything to do with the team I remember we have Mcdavid, Leon, and a whole bunch of size and toughness to wear teams down with. I'm sure we'll have a RW step up and produce and the defence can tread water until Sekera is back. Gryba is alright for regular season hockey, playoffs I'd like him 9th on the depth chart.

 

[Spawn]

no cause any good managers assess his teams needs when the real games start and addresses them accordingly

no waste contracts on overpriced "Vets" who may or may not help

The "we need to save contract spots" rings pretty hollow. If the Oilers were worried about "wasting contracts" maybe they should have been a bit more careful about signing the likes of Keegan Lowe and Brian Ferlin in the summer. A guy like Jagr may or may not have helped. But at least there was a decent chance he'd be able to contribute. We signed 1/2 a dozen guys on July 1 who we can be certain will not help at any point.

 

[Kagomeboy]

The "we need to save contract spots" rings pretty hollow. If the Oilers were worried about "wasting contracts" maybe they should have been a bit more careful about signing the likes of Keegan Lowe and Brian Ferlin in the summer. A guy like Jagr may or may not have helped. But at least there was a decent chance he'd be able to contribute. We signed 1/2 a dozen guys on July 1 who we can be certain will not help at any point.

oh bohoo we signed couple of ahl guys and not old man jagr.Spawny the violator he laughing right now.

 

[belair]

Here's how I see it - Chia knows how to take this team from a flaming dumpster to one of the most exciting in hockey, playoffs bound and quite a run last year. As such, I trust he knows what he's doing better than those griping on here about DMen or Jagr or who will replace Eberle. OMG Eberle potted 4 goals in the super meaningless last game of the year - 16 in the other 81 games - I'm sure his flimsy production can be replaced by Slepy or Caggulia or pretty much anyone.

Eberle's faults are all somewhat valid, but I feel pretty confident saying neither one of those players will ever produce at Eberle's rate. Eberle was a valuable forward because he's capable of producing individually and that usually resulted in 20+ goals, 50+ points each and every season. He is a high end NHL scoring threat. Caggiula and Slepyshev will have long NHL careers if they find themselves a role as a checking forward or depth scorer because neither of these players have the natural talent Eberle possesses.

That being said, we don't need to replace Eberle's production completely. The development of our young players and the improved depth of the roster should help us replace some of that production. But it's fair to say we shouldn't expect either of those two to cover that gap in such an important role. We likely need another RW before the the deadline. But I agree that Rw wasn't Jagr.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

The "we need to save contract spots" rings pretty hollow. If the Oilers were worried about "wasting contracts" maybe they should have been a bit more careful about signing the likes of Keegan Lowe and Brian Ferlin in the summer. A guy like Jagr may or may not have helped. But at least there was a decent chance he'd be able to contribute. We signed 1/2 a dozen guys on July 1 who we can be certain will not help at any point.

they'll help young guys like Bear and Jones immensely down in the AHL...not a "Wasted contract" at all

Jagr? he's old and slow...very risky contract that he can even contribute with the Flames..especially given no training camp time and the travel on the Western Conference is much worst than the East on a 45 year old's body

 

[soothsayer]

The Flames are going to get eaten alive by the Oilers. Somehow our friends down south got older and slower. Everyone knows that the Flames' main goal for the past decade has been to stick it to the Oilers, both in the standings and in the popularity contest (their arena fallout must stick in their craw something fierce; Edmonton has the parliament, university, new arena, every concert, etc., while Calgary's youth are losing their teeth because a majority of their population thinks that fluoride in their drinking water causes the gay, or something. Anyways.). Unfortunately for them the Oilers is a young team full of burners. How the Flames think getting slower is the answer is just shocking. Stauffer thinks the season series is going to be closer this year. I think it'll be another convincing clean sweep.

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Just stop with the doom and gloom .we be fine.the young guy will get it done.

Its a discussion board. Let people discuss, whether you agree or not.

I love Chia so far would give him a very good grade overall. I was hoping too see him address the RW or D but if he wants too see if the youngster can step up in the first 20ish games then so be it. Im going to put my money on that the lack of addressing these needs are going to hurt us, and we will have to address it (for a premium) later in the season. But Chia has been right more then he has been wrong in his tenure with us, so I wouldnt surprised if im eating crow 20 games in.