2018/19 Edmonton Oilers style of play and identity

[Soundwave]

I do agree that the team (management/coaches) don't seem to be able to get this team to play to their strengths consistently. They were good/above average 2 seasons ago... because they were healthy and everyone played up to (or beyond in some cases) expectations.

I think they were obviously a hungry team and after 10 years of losing... they played well and were a hard team to play against... opposing players and coaches noticed that and said so during that 16/17 season.

As others have mentioned... this team got lazy last season and took their previous season's success for granted.. and sure enough letting off the gas and still expecting wins (when the rest of the league likely was taking the Oilers more seriously than ever having seen their success in 16/17) caused a 25 pt decline in the team.

The margin for error in the league is slim and you can go from a playoff team to bottom ten in a flash based on a poor stretch early on where your team isn't equal to the opposition in offense, defense or goaltending... and once you fall behind, the losing feeds on itself, an injury or two hits, confidence falls... and it's all over.

I think that's why the mental part is going to be huge this season. They HAVE to be a determined team to begin the season and get their **** together early so they can build back that confidence (almost swagger) they were starting to have in 16/17. I'm hoping the coaches address that as well as the team quickness.


I don't think they are the most talented team BUT I do think they have a fairly solid lineup IF every player plays up to their fullest abilities. They have to be hungry and work their asses off and outwork their oppoents from the opening faceoff instead of limping into games and falling behind because the opposition wants the game more than they do... which is what we saw too many times last season.

The problem with this it's unlikely "every player" plays up to 100% of their ability.

If that's your baseline for being a good team ... then you're probably not a good team.

Being a good team involves being able to weather down seasons from some players and/or injuries. This is the NHL, things are going to go wrong and inopportune time, people are gonna get hurt, etc. etc. etc. You can't rely on everything going 100% right for you to be a good team.

 

[guymez]

People think the most season is more relevant than the one from two seasons ago? What a shocker...

One season was an example of a team that couldn't execute a 2 car parade and the other season was an example of a team that was executing at a high level.
Which one do you think is a more accurate reflection of the players and the team as a whole?

 

[guymez]

I agree on this point as well. I think it's really interesting that we recruited from our enemies, so to speak. Anyone know how common this is? It seems fairly rare to me, but I pay very little to coaching staffs outside of the Oilers and Penguins.

I am with you being that I dont pay much attention to the supporting coaches that other teams hire.
I dont ever recall the Oilers doing this ever before. I also think I would have noticed if the Canucks or Flames had done this...dont think they have.
Dare I say that it was a 'bold' move?

 

[Soundwave]

I find the whole coaching thing ridiculous and bizarre ... you're getting assistant coaches because really you're saying the head coach doesn't know what he's doing basically.

But you're still letting him be the head coach. Ultimately the players listen to him and he is the one responsible for how the team plays and the final strategy is his call. If he's a problem then no amount of whispering voices in his ear are going to make that problem go away.

That said the management of this team is a far bigger problem (and always has been).

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I find the whole coaching thing ridiculous and bizarre ... you're getting assistant coaches because really you're saying the head coach doesn't know what he's doing basically.

But you're still letting him be the head coach. Ultimately the players listen to him and he is the one responsible for how the team plays and the final strategy is his call. If he's a problem then no amount of whispering voices in his ear are going to make that problem go away.

That said the management of this team is a far bigger problem (and always has been).

well, we now know you have no clue how or what assistant coaches do

thanks for clarifying

 

[Soundwave]

well, we now know you have no clue how or what assistant coaches do

thanks for clarifying

The head coach is the one who be running the team and making the main calls on all major decisions, this is not a "coaching merry go round" where different people take turns coaching the team.

This is still McLellan's team, plain and simple.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

The head coach is the one who be running the team and making the main calls on all major decisions, this is not a "coaching merry go round" where different people take turns coaching the team.

This is still McLellan's team, plain and simple.

the assistants are the ones who do most of the special team's work...ie. run the PP and PK and also the defense

heck, Yawney has been praised by defencemen on both the Ducks and Hawks for developing their stable of young talented defensemen

and the PK only got better once McLellan took it over in January last season..

 

[Soundwave]

the assistants are the ones who do most of the special team's work...ie. run the PP and PK and also the defense

heck, Yawney has been praised by defencemen on both the Ducks and Hawks for developing their stable of young talented defensemen

and the PK only got better once McLellan took it over in January last season..

And why exactly pray tell, did it take him almost 5 months to finally make the call to change things on the PK?

Did we really have to wait until the season was wasted for him to make a change there? What does that say about McLellan?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

And why exactly pray tell, did it take him 5 months to finally make the call to change things on the PK?

Did we really have to wait until the season was wasted for him to make a change there? What does that say about McLellan?

who knows and who cares?
the reason Jim Johnson is no longer a coach here is cause the PK was a mess...because that's what assistant coaches do

work on things like special teams

 

[Soundwave]

who knows and who cares?
the reason Jim Johnson is no longer a coach here is cause the PK was a mess...because that's what assistant coaches do

work on thing like special teams

It shows McLellan is horrendous at making adjustments, that's something he should have addressed by mid-freaking-October yet he let it go on into January when the season was already lost.

He is the head coach, he is the one who ultimately is in charge of how the team is run, what system they play, what final message the players are given, who is the guy the refs look at to talk to at the bench, etc. etc. etc.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

It shows McLellan is horrendous at making adjustments, that's something he should have addressed by mid-freaking-October yet he let it go on into January when the season was already lost.

He is the head coach, he is the one who ultimately is in charge of how the team is run, what system they play, what final message the players are given, who is the guy the refs look at to talk to at the bench, etc. etc. etc.

the reason he left it for so long is cause they also owned the #1 PK on the road...figure that out in a season of anomalies
BLOG: Oilers in

 

[guymez]

A fantastic post about the Penguins' system:



This guy is a writer for The Athletic and breaks down the Pens systems play on his Twitter account too.

I think there's a chance we'll see the Oilers run that type of forecheck.

Very interesting.
Did you interpret his explanation to mean that they go back and forth from a 1-2-2 to a 1-1-3 when it serves them?

 

[Cloned]

Very interesting.
Did you interpret his explanation to mean that they go back and forth from a 1-2-2 to a 1-1-3 when it serves them?

Yes, Sullivan apparently alters the type of forecheck depending on the opposition.

 

[guymez]

Yes, Sullivan apparently alters the type of forecheck depending on the opposition.

I'm intrigued by this.
I wonder if (at times) it left them open to odd man rushes going the other way.

They pretty much have to make sure they create a turnover and come up with the puck.
It would be interesting to see the turnover stats for them.

 

[Cloned]

I'm intrigued by this.
I wonder if (at times) it left them open to odd man rushes going the other way.

Yes, I would imagine it is difficult for a lot of players to adjust back and forth on the fly.

On a side note, this new format upgrade to the board is hell.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Sekera out for the season now. wow, this fast break out quick passing game prognosis just got worse. hope we can even sign Nurse. yikes

 

[T-Funk]

Sekera out for the season now. wow, this fast break out quick passing game prognosis just got worse. hope we can even sign Nurse. yikes

Sekera does nothing fast...

 

[SaltNPeca]

After making such an investment in Lucic it's nice to see someone focused on how to make better use of this asset.

I didn't see much mention of PP, but cot damn it's got to get better. A lot better and right away. Oiler forwards are decent 5on5. I'd put a lot of focus on PP in camp and come out firing.

Besides typical coaching adjustments like "reduce D to D passes" I'd like to see the entire coaching staff help some of the players find their role on this team moving forward. Helping the individuals will build up a team identity. We know many have good individual skill-sets, but the players themselves don't seem to hold a consistent role on the team. Too many examples and shuffling on the 17-18 Oilers to expect a winning team and a cohesive core. Examples: Lucic, Strome, RNH, & Drai. They're all saying "I can play anywhere" which is fine coming from the player, but most teams really only need 1 handyman "I can play anywhere" guy like a Letestu or now Brodziak. Drai and RNH are not utility players, they need a 5on5 and Special Teams role to focus on.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

After making such an investment in Lucic it's nice to see someone focused on how to make better use of this asset.

I didn't see much mention of PP, but cot damn it's got to get better. A lot better and right away. Oiler forwards are decent 5on5. I'd put a lot of focus on PP in camp and come out firing.

Besides typical coaching adjustments like "reduce D to D passes" I'd like to see the entire coaching staff help some of the players find their role on this team moving forward. Helping the individuals will build up a team identity. We know many have good individual skill-sets, but the players themselves don't seem to hold a consistent role on the team. Too many examples and shuffling on the 17-18 Oilers to expect a winning team and a cohesive core. Examples: Lucic, Strome, RNH, & Drai. They're all saying "I can play anywhere" which is fine coming from the player, but most teams really only need 1 handyman "I can play anywhere" guy like a Letestu or now Brodziak. Drai and RNH are not utility players, they need a 5on5 and Special Teams role to focus on.

Im sure the refs will have a swift response to that strategy.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I think our team will end up being a fast team that can be hard to handle on the forecheck but defensively sloppy and have trouble finishing outside of McDavids line.

Our offensively output will increase but I think, imo we allow more goals then last year.

 

[guymez]

I think our team will end up being a fast team that can be hard to handle on the forecheck but defensively sloppy and have trouble finishing outside of McDavids line.

Our offensively output will increase but I think, imo we allow more goals then last year.

Interesting. Why will they be defensively sloppy...what are you basing that on?

 

[CycloneSweep]

Interesting. Why will they be defensively sloppy...what are you basing that on?

The team is going to be playing a fast uptempo style that our defense outside of maybe Klefbom and Nurse don't have the skill set to play. So lots of guys will end up out of position and pinching to try and create offense. Which will be fine for maybe Nurse cause he has the speed to get back the rest though? Not as much. Talbot will have to be elite again for this style to not bite us too hard on the goals against.

I also don't believe we have the goal scorers for the style to really work. It works for Pittsburgh and Tampa because they have great goal tending, very good goal scorers and in Tampa's case, an insanely good defense.

 

[guymez]

The team is going to be playing a fast uptempo style that our defense outside of maybe Klefbom and Nurse don't have the skill set to play. So lots of guys will end up out of position and pinching to try and create offense. Which will be fine for maybe Nurse cause he has the speed to get back the rest though? Not as much. Talbot will have to be elite again for this style to not bite us too hard on the goals against.

I also don't believe we have the goal scorers for the style to really work. It works for Pittsburgh and Tampa because they have great goal tending, very good goal scorers and in Tampa's case, an insanely good defense.

This depends entirely on the formations they employ.
We dont have nearly enough information to draw conclusions on.

I think you are jumping the gun big time here.

 

[CycloneSweep]

This depends entirely on the formations they employ.
We dont have nearly enough information to draw conclusions on.

I think you are jumping the gun big time here.

I'm making comments based on what we know so far.

I look at the makeup of the entire team and the defense does not match the forwards so whatever style we play is going to be wrong for one of the groups.

Our defense heavily lacks puck movement, offensively ability and skating ability. So playing an up tempo attack system as people are saying (like either Pitts or Tampa) wouldn't fit the team due to our defense makeup.

Nurse is a fast defender with lower offensive ability. Klefbom is a decent offensive guy who is an alright skater and is so so defensively. Larsson is a shut down defender. Russell is a shot blocking stay at home defender. Benning is a hard hitting two way guy. Gravel/Lowe are defensive defenders.

And the only guy I trust to make it back on the rush is Nurse.

So if we try and play the Pittsburgh style like people are saying (don't know if we will just talking about the topic) we don't really have the players to do it. Or the Tampa style like some guys are guessing we don't have the mobility in our defense or the finish in our offense to excel at it.

 

[guymez]

I'm making comments based on what we know so far.

I look at the makeup of the entire team and the defense does not match the forwards so whatever style we play is going to be wrong for one of the groups.

Our defense heavily lacks puck movement, offensively ability and skating ability. So playing an up tempo attack system as people are saying (like either Pitts or Tampa) wouldn't fit the team due to our defense makeup.

Nurse is a fast defender with lower offensive ability. Klefbom is a decent offensive guy who is an alright skater and is so so defensively. Larsson is a shut down defender. Russell is a shot blocking stay at home defender. Benning is a hard hitting two way guy. Gravel/Lowe are defensive defenders.

And the only guy I trust to make it back on the rush is Nurse.

So if we try and play the Pittsburgh style like people are saying (don't know if we will just talking about the topic) we don't really have the players to do it. Or the Tampa style like some guys are guessing we don't have the mobility in our defense or the finish in our offense to excel at it.

We have little to no information so far. The only thing we know for sure is that the team is going to play a more up tempo fast puck distribution style.
I have no idea how you can discern from that the team will be sloppy defensively.
Its a huge reach IMO.