Analyzing the Future of the Edmonton Oilers

[Rubi]

Larsson is a #2 on pretty much every team in the League. …

That's debateable.

Russel was also great last year, he was not the problem.

Russel is an over paid #5 d-man. Way too much cap space tied up in the guy.

 

[Rubi]

Signing UFA's is the worst thing they should be doing. How many times have UFA signings actually worked out for any team? For example Tavares with my Leafs, he will be a bad contract within 5 years for that 11 million guaranteed.

Signing UFA's is the only think that Edmonton can do if they don't want to trade one of their core players or better prospects. Unfortunately this is a moot point because they don't have the available cap space to sign a quality UFA that can make an immediate impact on the team.

 

[RageQuit77]

Rosters generally and past/future prospects flood was/is OK. The Best Hockey player of The world plays for the team. Market OK. Heritage OK...

The Total Decimation of FO required ASAP. Ownership change strongly recommended for the "Easier" clean sweap of FO.

Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Oilers! GTFO!

 

[X66]

Imagine being unable to build a competent team around Connor McDavid

Wouldn't it be awesome if McDavid joins the Leafs as UFA to join Matthews/Marner/Nylander in their prime?

The Tavares contract would be over by then as well.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Hall, McDavid, Eberle, RNH, PoolParty, Drai would have been a pretty stacked top 6.
Nurse and Petry on defense.
Dubnyk in net.
Kept the draft picks on the Reinhardt trade and added some additional young players.
That’s a solid team IMO.
Some poor trades and signings have really set them back.
Looking forward they are not far from getting back to the playoffs but it’s really hard to see how they take that next step imo.

 

[hockeyguy1967]

Like 2 seasons as a PPG player and a top-10 point getter in the league, yeah that's pretty damn good.



So play them on 2 different lines to have 2 elite lines....?

60 point player in Edmonton and the next year in NJ was not elite, he broke out bigtime this year on the PP, great for him.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Imagine being unable to build a competent team around Connor McDavid

Imagine having blown calls completely change the series against a sunbelt team and no one even blinks.

 

[hockeyguy1967]

That's debateable.
Russel is an over paid #5 d-man. Way too much cap space tied up in the guy.

#5 Dmen are not the best shot blockers in the League.
#5 Dmen do not play 19.5 Minutes a game

They also do not put up 19 Even Strength points in the range of Fowler,Green,Theodore,Trouba,Petry,Edler,McDonagh,Myers,Seabrok,Brodin,Ristolainen,Vatanen, Schultz.

Guess those guys are all #5 D as well?

Like I said Russel was not a issue at all last year, he did well.

 

[ManofSteel55]

In 7 years with the Nordiques, Joe Sakic saw 12 playoffs games. In that time he played with a number of great players including Peter Forsberg, Owen Nolan, Mats Sundin, Mike Ricci, Steve Duchesne, Peter Stastny, Michel Goulet, Guy Lafleur... etc.

This isn't the NBA where 1 or 2 elite players will lead you to the Finals.

And in his 8th year he won the cup without changing organizations. Let's not forget that the guys you have listed were either past their prime, or rookies and sophomores while in Quebec, aside from Duchesne.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Come on, Hall was moved because it was Hall's team in the locker room and they wanted it to be McDavid's team.

Hall was moved for a plethora of reasons, including his personality in the locker room - but it was destined to become's McDavid's locker room anyway. They just expedited it by trading Hall.

 

[Volica]

I'd be scared of Edmonton with McDavid if they had competent management. With the current group of muppets they have in place, I don't think they give McDavid the help he needs to push them over the hump.

Can't wait to see the next big Chiarelli trade.

If Chia tries to save his job, he's going to set the Oil back a year or two. That's what I'd be most afraid of as an Oiler fan.

 

[Rubi]

#5 Dmen are not the best shot blockers in the League.
#5 Dmen do not play 19.5 Minutes a game

They also do not put up 19 Even Strength points in the range of Fowler,Green,Theodore,Trouba,Petry,Edler,McDonagh,Myers,Seabrok,Brodin,Ristolainen,Vatanen, Schultz.

Guess those guys are all #5 D as well?

Like I said Russel was not a issue at all last year, he did well.

Being the best shot blocker in the league usually means that you're blocking the most shots in the league. Not something to brag about if you're a d-man. D-man are supposed to prevent shots on net.... not let players shoot away and then try to stand in the way.
If you're playing on the 2nd d pairing you're going to play 19.5 or more minutes per game. Doesn't mean you belong on the 2nd pairing. Russell doesn't. His being on the 2nd pairing is more of a reflection of the quality of the Oiler defense, not Russell's value as a defenseman.
Yes, Russell has always gotten points. Doesn't mean that because he can pick up 20 or so points every year means that he belongs on he 2nd d line. His point getting ability doesn't override the flaws in his game.

I like Russell. I liked him when he played for the Flames, but it doesn't mean that I'm not fully aware of his defensive failings. Treliving made the right move when he declined to re-sign him and Chiarelli made the wrong move when he signed him for an over inflated value of $4m for for 4 years, with a NMC I might add, and at the age of 30. Russell has had a LOT of wear and tear on that small body of his with all the blocked shots over the years.

 

[Pancakes]

Their future looks kinda grim. I don't think Mcdavid can play much better. He was insanely good last year, and they still easily missed.

 

[tony d]

The talent is there and I expect them back in the playoffs again next year but to be a Cup contender anytime soon they need to be more than Mcdavid and Drai.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

Their future looks kinda grim. I don't think Mcdavid can play much better. He was insanely good last year, and they still easily missed.

-The Bigger problem is. Mcdavid has not missed 1 game in the last 2 years. No way that continues year after year. He's going to get injured or sick or something and miss time, its going to happen soon. Expecting a player to play 82 games every year until their career is over is beyond nuts

 

[WetcoastOrca]

They’re my pick to surprise this year. They’re pretty deep at center and have a decent defense and goaltending. Some good young prospects ready to take the next step. I also expect a bit of a bounce back for Lucic and Pulj to take another step.
Playoffs is my prediction. I think McDavid is going to have a huge year.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Just too many bad decisions, too many pissed away high draft picks, nothing coming from the later rounds.

Its left them with a team with cap issues, a stunning lack of talent outside of their top two or three players, and not much sure fire immediate help coming down the line.

They have a coach who complained about not being able to get a honest effort out of their team last year.

While there are some building blocks there, its not enough. I think that in terms of team to team comparisons in the pacific and the West right now they're not a playoff team, they have too many holes and not enough tools to fix them.

I mean, the easy thing for them to do is gut their management staff and toss them all out on the streets and do a proper rebuild, but the assets that would get them the high draft picks and prospects are still young enough and good enough that you want to keep them. The assets that they want to trade aren't all that appealing.

 

[GodPucker]

People are in for a rude awakening this year lol. Just better special teams will have them at minimum an 8th seed.

What management team did they have 2 years ago?

 

[Rubi]

People are in for a rude awakening this year lol. Just better special teams will have them at minimum an 8th seed.

What management team did they have 2 years ago?

Now that's something I couldn't understand. On the PP they went from 22.9% two years ago to 14.8% last year with virtually the same players and coach. Was Todd McLellan right when he complained about not being able to get an honest effort out of the team? Will this change this year with virtually the same players again?

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

If Chia doesn't trade Hall (NJ) and those draft picks (to the Islanders) for a box of cracker jacks...Oilers may have been the team to watch for.

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

It goes without saying that if they ever want to get anywhere they are going to have to ditch Chia. He’s already pissed away so many great assets for lesser returns. Kick him to the curb, graduate one of those puck moving defencemen, fill in the gaps and they will be a consistent contender. A team with that talent can’t suck forever.

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

Oilers management doesn't have the patience for a proper rebuild; they will keep rushing it (because of Lowe & Chia's huge mistakes) and ruin the prime years of McDavid away.

It'll be like the Cleveland Browns landed a prime Brady but don't know what else to do...

 

[Mr Positive]

The Oilers do have a very bright future. The only issue is the short term.

The most valuable pieces on the Oilers are the youngest players. Nurse, Bouchard, and Puljujarvi will fill the remaining holes we have. The exception is in net, but I think Talbot can bounce back. We have some decent goalie prospects in the pipeline. Also in the prospect pool, there is Jones, Bear, Benson, and others that will be ready to make the jump soon-ish.

And the fact is, that with Draisaitl and McDavid down the middle, all we need in order to be a consistent contender is for the rest of the team to be average. Just average. However, the potential for this team minus McDavid and Draisaitl is to be better than average.

I'm hopeful that if we can stay healthy, we will make a strong push for the playoffs again this season. We are a better team on paper than we were in 2016-17 so I like our odds.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I think people are actually being too hard on Chiarelli. I won't defend the particular moves he made, but being forced into a position to augment his team by bringing in talent external to the organization to accelerate an extended rebuild is not on him. The Oilers’ scouting staff under previous regimes did not do a good job on the 2nd day of the draft.

In the 6 drafts under Tambellini and MacTavish (2009-2014), the Oilers selected in the 31-100 range 23 times. The player with the most games played from that crop is Anton Lander. Look beyond that range and the leader is Tobias Rieder, who played those games for Arizona and L.A.

Even just a single 2nd liner or 2nd pairing defenseman generated from all of those picks changes the decision making process of many of these moves.

 

[6ix]

They need to get off to a hot start this year. Last year they were basically out of the playoffs by early December. Hard to play catch up all year.

They didn’t make any moves to get better, but if the team gels this year that’s automatically makes them better. They just didn’t gel last year. No depth scoring, bad special teams/ goaltending etc.