Analyzing the Future of the Edmonton Oilers

[Mr Positive]

That's not good for the Oilers. The future is looking a little bit dimmer.

Immediate future, yes, but Sekera was always meant to be more of a stop gap mentor.

 

[McFlash97]

Bob Nicholson is the conduit between Katz and the management. It'll be up to Bob who the next GM is if Chiarelli gets canned.

But you are right about the alumni being around still, though their say in decisions is less than it was and they apparently lost a power struggle this offseason when Chiarelli wasn't removed and Coffey didn't get a job on the coaching staff. Lowe, MacTavish, and Howson have no business being part of a professional sports organization and if they had any dignity remaining they would have stepped away when they drove the team into the sewer.

If there is a GM change next year I would hope Keith Gretzky is considered. People will roll their eyes because of his last name but he's actually qualified and has done some good work as a scout/assistant GM with three NHL teams.

This year's coaching staff is the first in the entire NHL history of the franchise that doesn't include at least one former Oilers player on it. Manny Viveiros was drafted by the team but never played a game.

Chiarelli much like McTavish has driven this team further into the sewer by trading Guys like Hall, and impact picks for Griffin Reinbust. So the damage is already done. If Chiarelli gets canned I hope they embarrass the living sh*** out of him before letting him go. McTavish has no shame so embarrassing him is a moot point.

 

[Rubi]

Dont know what is worse. CP having a thread about the oilers or oilers fans constantly bringing up a thread on CPs forum. CP gets brought up on the daily around here, you mentioning it feeds them what they need.

And yet, you yourself brings up CP just now, which again brings CP to the fore front. Ironic, eh? If you truly believe what you say, you should have just let it be.
Please do not reply to this post. Let it be. I agree, there's too much discussion on here about what CP does or doesn't do.

 

[Wish You Were Here]

In keeping with the OP's title for this thread, I will dispense with how the Oilers got to where they are now, and who's fault it was/is.

My take on this seasons team is:

Center = McDavid (C), Draisaitl (C/RW), Strome (C/RW), & Brodziak (C). This is not the best center group in the league, but with McDavid, it is far from the worst. IMO, this is the Oiler's strength this season.

Left Wing = RNH (LW/C), Lucic (LW), Rieder (LW/RW), Kharia (LW/C), and Aberg (LW). Lucic and Rieder have recently only played well enough for a 3rd line, so the hope has to be that one of them dramatically recovers/ups their game.

Right Wing = Rattie (RW), Puljujarvi (RW), Caggiula (LW/C/RW), & Kassian (RW). None of them currently appear to be good enough for the Top 2 lines, so there will need to be a least two substantial surprises/improvements. IMO, Yamamato (LW/C/RW) needs a full season in the AHL before he'll be ready for the show.

On Defense, with Sekera (LD/RD) expected to be injured for a substantial part of the season, what's left is:

Left Defense = Klefbom (LD), Nurse (LD), Gravel (LD). All of them will need to play one pairing higher than they are currently reliably capable of. If Klefbom can rebound, he is the closest that the Oilers have to a true Top Pairing Defense-man. Prospect options are Jones (LD) and Lowe (LD), I doubt that either are ready for the step up to the NHL.

Right Defense = Larsson (RD), Benning (RD), Russell (LD/RD). Same as above, though Russell can play on a 2nd pairing in a pinch (I watched him do it in Calgary). Prospect options are Bear (RD) and Bouchard (RD). Again, I don't think that either are ready for the NHL yet. I'd really like to see Edmonton stop rushing players into the NHL before they are ready.

The other option on D would be to sign a UFA on the cheap to play at the 6/7 spot, though they probably can't even do that until Sekera can be placed on LTIR at the very start of the season.
Which defense-men might still be left looking for a job at that time?

Goalies = Talbot, Koskinen, & Montoya. Talbot needs a big rebound, Koskinen needs a rapid acclimatization to the NHL, and/or Montoya needs to improve to NHL backup level.

There will be next to no available Cap Space after re-signing Nurse to a bridge contract, so quality help will not be available through UFA.
The Oilers are probably better off keeping their draft picks, as their depth is shallow in Edmonton and Bakersfield.
Best case scenario, if 3 players can return to form, and another 6 make strong improvements, they could make the play-offs.
Once there, anything could happen.

The following season (2019/2020) will come with it's own set of problems:
5 RFAs, 4 with arbitration rights, Puljujarvi being the only one without.
4 UFAs which include all 3 goalies.

It would be a tough situation for any GM.

 

[Soundwave]

Long term future is good, short term, Chiarelli hasn't done enough and made too many errors, and that will likely cost him him his job.

But for a fresh GM coming into this, there's plenty to work with.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

The Oilers really were sitting on the cusp of greatness before trading Hall. 16-17 also gave a glimpse of some of the potential that could be there, but Chiarelli has really bungled it up.

I tend to think that having top flight centres is slightly more important than D and having McDavid and Draisaitl beats everyone else in the league outside of Pittsburgh.

But they've really screwed themselves otherwise. It must be so frustrating for their fans.

 

[Rubi]

The Oilers really were sitting on the cusp of greatness before trading Hall. 16-17 also gave a glimpse of some of the potential that could be there, but Chiarelli has really bungled it up.

I tend to think that having top flight centres is slightly more important than D and having McDavid and Draisaitl beats everyone else in the league outside of Pittsburgh.

But they've really screwed themselves otherwise. It must be so frustrating for their fans.

The good news is that they have both McDavid and Draisaitl under contract for the next 7 years so they have plenty of time to get the train back on the track.

 

[winnipegger]

Could have built a dynasty thanks Pete

 

[MessierII]

The Oilers really were sitting on the cusp of greatness before trading Hall. 16-17 also gave a glimpse of some of the potential that could be there, but Chiarelli has really bungled it up.

The cusp of greatness after finishing 2nd last the nhl eh. And then 2016-17 was the potential of what could have been and bringing back 90% of the same team last year was chiarelli’s mistake. Hell of an opinion.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

The cusp of greatness after finishing 2nd last the nhl eh. And then 2016-17 was the potential of what could have been and bringing back 90% of the same team last year was chiarelli’s mistake. Hell of an opinion.

2nd last in the Nhl but that was before McDavid had played a full year. Also, Draisaitl had shown some flashes playing with Hall, but wasn't the player he would become yet.

But the Hall trade, the Reinhart fiasco, trading Eberle for cap space and then doing nothing with the cap space (I know it is needed for McDavid's contract this year, but last year they didn't do anything with it).

Do you think they're being managed well? Honest question.

The good news is that they have both McDavid and Draisaitl under contract for the next 7 years so they have plenty of time to get the train back on the track.

Agreed, but I'm just not sure I trust the ownership.

As a Canucks fan I'm familiar with meddlesome dipshit owners. But I think Katz is probably worse than the Aquillinis.

 

[These Are The Days]

The Oilers are probably the biggest question mark in the league. Their whole season is going to hinge on Lucic coming back to form and JP taking the next step. I just cannot believe how bad Chia messed up when I think of how they could have gone with any variation of this lineup.

Hall-McDavid-Puljujarvi (should've just kept Yak and drafted Sergachev)
(warm body)-Draisaitl-Eberle

It would've cost RNH as a cap casualty at the cost of Eberle and there would not have been necessitated Lucic as a replacement at the expense of Hall. I think just about any Oiler fan would give their arm if it meant having #4 back and that's not to diss Larsson either. They would've still needed help on defense but it's not like someone even like the reliable Toby Enstrom would not have been an option even today. It's just too bad

The only certainty I have is that Mac ain't gonna make it past Christmas with a sub .500 record and Puljujarvi stuck in neutral

 

[Legionnaire]

The Oilers will be just fine. I'm not worried about them at all. I can still see them winning a Cup in the next five years.

 

[Battle Lin]

lacking some offensive depth i think, too many teams deep with offensive talent are ahead atm

 

[North Cole]

2nd last in the Nhl but that was before McDavid had played a full year. Also, Draisaitl had shown some flashes playing with Hall, but wasn't the player he would become yet.

But the Hall trade, the Reinhart fiasco, trading Eberle for cap space and then doing nothing with the cap space (I know it is needed for McDavid's contract this year, but last year they didn't do anything with it).

Do you think they're being managed well? Honest question.



Agreed, but I'm just not sure I trust the ownership.

As a Canucks fan I'm familiar with meddlesome dip**** owners. But I think Katz is probably worse than the Aquillinis.

The Reinhart nonsense was the worst of it. I know HF has an obsession with Hall for Larsson and it looks much worse now that he won a Hart, even though he wasnt all that great the year before. One positive to be had about the trade was that we got a serviceable player our of it. Like... at least Larsson can play.

They aren't being managed well, but they also aren't in a place they cant come back from yet. McDavid could be paid max and the team would still be able to come back from it. What we need is for our draft to start paying dividends. This is the year where Pulj needs to wake up... Eberle's production is replaceable, it's not as though he was some superstar dynamo on offense. He always seemed to be regressing each year from his rookie season. Most likely confidence.

This team is at the point where assets need to start giving us a return. Development has never been our strong suit, but Nurse, JP, yam have chances to make a difference. People don't need to worry about Lucic and if he puts up 45 it's fine since he is our new eberle. Time for the young guys to make an impact.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

They are destined to never make the playoffs again because they really suck and everyone associated with the franchise is incredibly dumb.

Did I do that right?

 

[mouz135]

The good news is that they have both McDavid and Draisaitl under contract for the next 7 years so they have plenty of time to get the train back on the track.

That train derailed over a canyon and exploded on impact 200 feet down. I don't think there's any salvaging it to be honest.

 

[Coffey]

They are destined to never make the playoffs again because they really suck and everyone associated with the franchise is incredibly dumb.

Did I do that right?

I am... ENLIGHTENED.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

The Reinhart nonsense was the worst of it. I know HF has an obsession with Hall for Larsson and it looks much worse now that he won a Hart, even though he wasnt all that great the year before. One positive to be had about the trade was that we got a serviceable player our of it. Like... at least Larsson can play.

They aren't being managed well, but they also aren't in a place they cant come back from yet. McDavid could be paid max and the team would still be able to come back from it. What we need is for our draft to start paying dividends. This is the year where Pulj needs to wake up... Eberle's production is replaceable, it's not as though he was some superstar dynamo on offense. He always seemed to be regressing each year from his rookie season. Most likely confidence.

This team is at the point where assets need to start giving us a return. Development has never been our strong suit, but Nurse, JP, yam have chances to make a difference. People don't need to worry about Lucic and if he puts up 45 it's fine since he is our new eberle. Time for the young guys to make an impact.

I don't disagree that they CAN still be good IF their development improves. I just have my doubts regarding the timeline of that happening.

With McDavid and Draisaitl on the team, the Oilers SHOULD be good and threatening just about every year. Any year that they aren't, is a failure by management.

 

[Menzinger]

Big problem is, capspace is getting tighter, the roster is still mediocre and so is the prospect pool.

Theor current management group isn’t capable of fixing the problem. Best case scenario, Chia is forced by seasons end, they actually hire somebody competent who finds a way to dump Lucic to another dumb GM, and is able to retool the team.

 

[53or8]

Its not if the oilers win a cup its how many they wil win

 

[Slicknitty]

Even though RNH is playing wing to McDavid right now (they are telepathic), his main position is centreman. He would be our 3rd line centreman if we had half decent wingers. That would put our centre depth at the top of the league currently, over the aging penguins duo imho if their powerplay rebounds from last year.

Centre is our greatest strength and an average defense core and good goaltending will take us to the playoffs.

 

[Wewillrise]

Like any team, if the goaltending has a good season all will be forgotten. The goaltending was the biggest problem in Edm last season but hardly anyone talks about it.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Like any team, if the goaltending has a good season all will be forgotten. The goaltending was the biggest problem in Edm last season but hardly anyone talks about it.

Yeah the goaltending wasn't good enough for sure. But then again neither was the forward depth. Or their top 6 winger production. Or the top defensive pairing. Along with also poor depth on the blueline.

Usually don't see good teams with that many holes.

 

[bionic]

 

[MessierII]

Like any team, if the goaltending has a good season all will be forgotten. The goaltending was the biggest problem in Edm last season but hardly anyone talks about it.

Goaltending and special teams. The PK made the goaltending look really bad but the goaltending wasn’t good enough in any situation. Gave up a goal on the first shot 13 times.....