Add One Past Oiler To The Current Roster

[Soundwave]

Just for fun, you can add any one past Oiler to the current roster. But just one. They have to have played at least 80 games as an Oiler. Also the version you would be getting would the peak version during their Oiler tenure only.

Cap hit doesn't matter, so don't worry about that

Probably the obvious choice:

But maybe a power forward type LW/C would be better fit?

Is D the bigger need though?

How about a goalie?

Click to read more...

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Either Gretzky or Pronger.

 

[MikeGrier99]

Pronger fits the bigger need, but you can't go wrong with Gretzky.

Ennis - Gretzky - Yamamoto
RNH - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Archibald
Neal - Turris - Kassian

 

[Fourier]

Any choice other than peak Gretzky would be hard to imagine. But even if you wanted a defenseman. How is Coffey not the choice? As good as Pronger was, Coffey was simply better.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Pronger fits the bigger need, but you can't go wrong with Gretzky.

Ennis - Gretzky - Yamamoto
RNH - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Archibald
Neal - Turris - Kassian

You'd certainly see our best goal scorer paired with either two of the best playmakers we'll ever have in this teams history instead of wasting on the 3rd line with plugs

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Any choice other than peak Gretzky would be hard to imagine. But even if you wanted a defenseman. How is Coffey not the choice? As good as Pronger was, Coffey was simply better.

I guess it's hard for posters like me that aren't old enough to have watched the 80s.

I was there when Pronger took a mediocre team on his shoulders to game 7 of the Finals in his one season with us. I only read about Coffey having success with the greatest teams ever assembled. Could he have pulled a cup with the Oilers if Gretzky, Messier and Kurri were replaced with Horcoff, Stoll and Hemsky? Maybe, I dunno. I guess in all the stories of the good old days I never heard about him taking over games.

 

[PaPaDee]

Gretzky is the fun, sexy choice. But our current roster needs an impact Dman.

 

[oljimmy]

Hey, Fuhr's only weakness was his five hole and the ridiculous modern pads would close it right up. Send him in.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Any choice other than peak Gretzky would be hard to imagine. But even if you wanted a defenseman. How is Coffey not the choice? As good as Pronger was, Coffey was simply better.

I'm not sure Coffey was better at his peak than Pronger.
Pronger added a completely different dimension and I think his peak was higher than Lidstrom and Bourque.

Pronger is literally the ONLY Dman to win the Hart Trophy after Orr.
He carried a team centered by Horcoff and Stoll to a game within the cup.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Pronger is the biggest need for this roster
this defense makes me nervous

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm not sure Coffey was better at his peak than Pronger.
Pronger added a completely different dimension and I think his peak was higher than Lidstrom and Bourque.

Pronger is literally the ONLY Dman to win the Hart Trophy after Orr.
He carried a team centered by Horcoff and Stoll to a game within the cup.

Yep. Not saying Barrie replaces Coffee, but he does cover that role (pure OFD), they don’t have anyone that could fill the role Pronger could.

Pronger-Larsson
Nurse-Barrie
Jones-Bear

Add that to this teams forwards, and they’re an automatic cup contender.

My #2 choice would be Fuhr, Ranford, or Cuju. The forwards are the sexy picks, but this team already features 2 Art Ross winners.

 

[McJadeddog]

This is almost crazy to say, but I think I might take Pronger over Gretzky, lol. I'm not sure about that, and I would have to think about it a lot longer, but I think that he might cause our win total to go up more than adding Gretzky would. The reason is that the difference between Gretzky and McDavid isn't that high. Yes, I'm saying that for real. If you took Gretzky and put him in the league right now, with proper training/eating/etc, he very likely still scores 150-160 points. Yes, that is 30-40 more than McDavid will score. But the difference between Pronger and, jesus, who is even our #1 Dman now, Nurse maybe? The difference between Nurse and Pronger is almost hard to comprehend. There is a 20 point scoring gap, but there is also a 5 mins TOI/GP difference as well, as well as a *significant* difference in play during those 28-29 mins a game for Pronger. Basically McDavid is a generational talent (duh) and is easily one of the top-10 most gifted offensive players in NHL history, if not top-5. Whereas, newsflash, we don't have a top-10 all-time dman on the roster. Pronger is easily a top-20/30 Dman of all time (26th for scoring, but he brought so much more than just scoring), and probably a lot higher on some people's lists. Nurse is maybe a top-500? I checked, he is 549th all time in scoring, but I will admit that he also brings more than just scoring, and his career is young, so I'll even give him top-300 of all time. Regardless, the gap between Pronger and Nurse is significantly greater than the gap between Gretzky and McDavid.

 

[bucks_oil]

I guess it's hard for posters like me that aren't old enough to have watched the 80s.

I was there when Pronger took a mediocre team on his shoulders to game 7 of the Finals in his one season with us. I only read about Coffey having success with the greatest teams ever assembled. Could he have pulled a cup with the Oilers if Gretzky, Messier and Kurri were replaced with Horcoff, Stoll and Hemsky? Maybe, I dunno. I guess in all the stories of the good old days I never heard about him taking over games.

You know it's an interesting question.

In my mind Coffey is the 2nd best offensive defenseman of all time. And for you youngins... Karlsson and whoever else you remember weren't close. Coffey's end-to-end rushes were McDavid-like. There is a reason he played well into his forties and it is his skating.

If I were picking a D-man to complement Stoll, Horc and Hemsky, it arguably would be Coffey over Pronger. That said... would Stoll, Horcoff and company have been as confident defensively (which was the strength of that TEAM) without Pronger to emulate? Not sure. Pronger was the best defensive d-man to play for this team and he led by example. I'd argue, he helped that team play within their limits and realize, that if you keep your head up and make the easy pass 9/10 times, it's enough, in fact it's incredibly effective. Coffey couldn't lead by example, since players could not match his skill level. But he was a game breaker and that 2006 team (arguably) needed another one of those after Hemsky.

but if you are picking a D-man for this team, it's Pronger 100 times out of 100 IMO. We need that steady presence back there and there is nobody better than Pronger for that. (not to mention the outlet passes to McDrai, the booming point shot, the calm puck distribution, the punishing physical presence, etc, etc, etc.

 

[bucks_oil]

Hey, Fuhr's only weakness was his five hole and the ridiculous modern pads would close it right up. Send him in.

Yep... easily would take Fuhr or Ranford over Roli (and I loved Roli). I recall seeing Fuhr in more modern pads in his last years in StLouis and marveling at some of his playoff performances. The guy was money.

Roloson himself is a testament to how the new equipment could completely change your game and improve your skill. He started out as a Hybrid flopper, never really caught on, but adopted the modern profly-style butterfly (that 90% now play) when the equipment allowed him to do so... he became a top 10 goalie in his 30's and stayed that way well past his physical peak. He's a great story in dedication to the position and the craft, but nowhere near as talented as Fuhr.

 

[GMofOilers]

You add Gretz 99 out of 100 times.

You can now trade Mcdavid or Drai for for a Weber/Price combo. You win the cup for the next 5 years easily. Even if you dont like that combo you could pick and choose a combo of D and Goalie from any team in the league.

 

[Canovin]

Peak Gretzky. Outscore all our problems.

 

[Draiskull]

Voted Pronger
In net I would take Cujo over Rolo or Fuhr

 

[Ritchie Valens]

I'm a net-out guy.

Billy Ranford for me. I'm a hard sell on Koskinen being the guy despite showing times he could be. Smith is pushing 40. Put an in-prime Ranford on this team and we're set in the pipes.

 

[joestevens29]

Any choice other than peak Gretzky would be hard to imagine. But even if you wanted a defenseman. How is Coffey not the choice? As good as Pronger was, Coffey was simply better.

Something about Pronger just laying out Gaudreau or Tkachuk really gets me excited.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Something about Pronger just laying out Gaudreau or Tkachuk really gets me excited.

 

[Fourier]

This is almost crazy to say, but I think I might take Pronger over Gretzky, lol. I'm not sure about that, and I would have to think about it a lot longer, but I think that he might cause our win total to go up more than adding Gretzky would. The reason is that the difference between Gretzky and McDavid isn't that high. Yes, I'm saying that for real. If you took Gretzky and put him in the league right now, with proper training/eating/etc, he very likely still scores 150-160 points. Yes, that is 30-40 more than McDavid will score. But the difference between Pronger and, jesus, who is even our #1 Dman now, Nurse maybe? The difference between Nurse and Pronger is almost hard to comprehend. There is a 20 point scoring gap, but there is also a 5 mins TOI/GP difference as well, as well as a *significant* difference in play during those 28-29 mins a game for Pronger. Basically McDavid is a generational talent (duh) and is easily one of the top-10 most gifted offensive players in NHL history, if not top-5. Whereas, newsflash, we don't have a top-10 all-time dman on the roster. Pronger is easily a top-20/30 Dman of all time (26th for scoring, but he brought so much more than just scoring), and probably a lot higher on some people's lists. Nurse is maybe a top-500? I checked, he is 549th all time in scoring, but I will admit that he also brings more than just scoring, and his career is young, so I'll even give him top-300 of all time. Regardless, the gap between Pronger and Nurse is significantly greater than the gap between Gretzky and McDavid.

If you add a prime Gretzky to the Oilers they have better top 6 forwards than what was perhaps the best forward group to ever play in the NHL. It's not really about the gap between Gretzky and McDavid vs Pronger and Nurse, its about the gap between Gretzky and Pronger.

 

[Smartguy]

Prime Gretzky rotating with Mcdavid would mean the Oilers control about 75% of the game. I can’t imagine the tilt in the ice when they both brought their A game, not to mention the internal competition that would drive.

I have been watching the 2006 playoff run again and Pronger literally seemed to play an entire game an absolutely control the game when he was on. Arguably the reason that team made it to a almost cup. He would be huge on our backend.

Roloson was also insane that playoff run, but the team helped him a tonne too, but also a solid add to our group right now.


Pronger would fit the best and be a game changer. But anyone saying they wouldn’t take a prime greatest player of all time would be ludicrous.

 

[McJadeddog]

If you add a prime Gretzky to the Oilers they have better top 6 forwards than what was perhaps the best forward group to ever play in the NHL. It's not really about the gap between Gretzky and McDavid vs Pronger and Nurse, its about the gap between Gretzky and Pronger.

Yeah, you might be right. As I said, I'd have to think about it longer than I can give to it this morning, lol. A top-6 that has Gretzky, McDavid, Drai, and RNH really would be something to see. Is that better than Gretzky, Kurri, Messier and Anderson? Hmmm, I don't know about that. Gretzky = Gretzky, McDavid >= Messier, Drai >= Kurri? (I'm not sure about that one), Anderson > RNH.

 

[Fourier]

You know it's an interesting question.

In my mind Coffey is the 2nd best offensive defenseman of all time. And for you youngins... Karlsson and whoever else you remember weren't close. Coffey's end-to-end rushes were McDavid-like. There is a reason he played well into his forties and it is his skating.

If I were picking a D-man to complement Stoll, Horc and Hemsky, it arguably would be Coffey over Pronger. That said... would Stoll, Horcoff and company have been as confident defensively (which was the strength of that TEAM) without Pronger to emulate? Not sure. Pronger was the best defensive d-man to play for this team and he led by example. I'd argue, he helped that team play within their limits and realize, that if you keep your head up and make the easy pass 9/10 times, it's enough, in fact it's incredibly effective. Coffey couldn't lead by example, since players could not match his skill level. But he was a game breaker and that 2006 team (arguably) needed another one of those after Hemsky.

but if you are picking a D-man for this team, it's Pronger 100 times out of 100 IMO. We need that steady presence back there and there is nobody better than Pronger for that. (not to mention the outlet passes to McDrai, the booming point shot, the calm puck distribution, the punishing physical presence, etc, etc, etc.

I think Coffey is being underrated by many. He fits tremendously in today's game. Look at the impact that kids like Makar, Hughes and Dahlin. Compared to a prime Coffey there is a huge gap. Coffey was also under rated in his own end. He was as good as anyone in other than possibly Orr at getting the puck out of the zone. And you can't get scored if the puck is in the other teams end (unless of course you have Salo back in goal).

 

[Fourier]

I'm not sure Coffey was better at his peak than Pronger.
Pronger added a completely different dimension and I think his peak was higher than Lidstrom and Bourque.

Pronger is literally the ONLY Dman to win the Hart Trophy after Orr.
He carried a team centered by Horcoff and Stoll to a game within the cup.

Ottawa had way more success than they should have because Karlsson was such a weapon. In the 2016-2017 playoffs he palyed on one leg and almost took Ottawa to the finals losing game 7 to a Pen's team that went on win it all. That team's #1 c was Kyle Turris. Coffey at his peak was Karlsson on steriods. Coffey scored 48 goals and had 138 points. That season was the best I have ever watched from a defenseman. And while it would be easy to dismiss because of the Oilers fire power, he also had 40 goals and 126 points to go with a +52 on the 83-84 team at the ripe old age of 22. Coffey and Orr shared the top ten highest point totals for defensemen all time with five each.