Are the oilers just a poorly built team?

[EdmFlyersfan]

Lets see how they do in their next 8...I doubt they get out of the cellar.

Not that I expect it to turn around but keep in mind they went to Europe so they haven't played many games. They've only played 2 games. I'd rather be 0-2-0 than 1-4-0.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Bad management, coach that never adjusted after his system was figured out in San Jose, and a flawed roster. They're a one-trick pony.

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

Not sure why Oilers fans keep thinking Larsson is a top pairing defender...

they are great down the middle line 1, 2 and 3...but after that, the wingers are the worst in the nhl, the D is in the 20-30 range, and talbot is playing mediocre but the team infront of him also is not good enough

 

[OVO16]

Yes.

They have a team that probably would have succeeded 4-5 years ago when they were soft as butter.

Now they're tough to play against but realized that the NHL went a different direction in speed and skill.

lol

 

[LeafFever]

Not sure why Oilers fans keep thinking Larsson is a top pairing defender...

Because they gave up the reigning MVp for him.

 

[OilCanada92]

Yes, Chia is the worst GM in the league and it isn't even close. At least Benning can sort of draft and Bergevin, even though getting fleeced in the PK trade got back a good player in Weber. Hall for Larsson was just tragic.

How you can be rebuilding for 10 years and only have McDavid, Draisaitl (who is overrated), and RNH is embarrassing.

RNH is embarrassing? How so? Besides McDavid, I'd say he's the only player on the team who actually met expectations last season. He also hit two posts last night so he's off to a promising start to the season.

 

[Peiskos]

I feel the Oilers new a new coach and entirely new management, perhaps going as far as a new owner too. Would be a shame to see McDavid continually miss the playoffs.

 

[hatterson]

The issues start from the top. Katz is in love with the 80s so he keeps Lowe and MacTavish in senior roles. They've both been completely incompetent at every managerial level they've been at and it clearly is hurting the team.

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

Chiarelli was banking the season on Ty Rattie being a top line winger...they got all excited about his pre-season domination where most teams had their "C" lineups on most nights.

Yes, Chia is the worst GM in the league and it isn't even close. At least Benning can sort of draft and Bergevin, even though getting fleeced in the PK trade got back a good player in Weber. Hall for Larsson was just tragic.

How you can be rebuilding for 10 years and only have McDavid, Draisaitl (who is overrated), and RNH is embarrassing.

 

[Soundwave]

Chiarelli is a bad GM and will be fired soon and likely will never work in the NHL in a GM capacity again. Any shine he had from the Bruins Cup win he pretty much destroyed with the tail end of his Bruins career and not being able to build a proper team around McDavid despite multiple good assets and chances to do so. Not much else to discuss there really.

 

[Matty Sundin]

Their built for a team that might success maybe a decade ago

 

[Dr Pepper]

Not sure why Oilers fans keep thinking Larsson is a top pairing defender...

How else can they justify their own GM trading the reigning Hart Trophy winner for him?

I feel for Oilers fans, having to deal with such incompetent management.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Chiarelli was supposed to bring them at the next level instead he brought them back to shit.

Trading Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and replacing them with the likes of Strome and Lucic is beyond terrible.

Also outside their first pick the rest are all failures.

They need a full clean-up in hockey operations. From GM to regional amateur scouts to pro scouts.

 

[983 others]

Yeah, that’s what happens when you get rid of all your talent and get nothing in return.

“but imagine the Oilers defense without Larsson!”
“the Oilers were’t even going to pick Barzal, they were going to pick Erikson Ek!”

Get real!

 

[fsanford]

Oilers saved the Kings from the Milan Lucic contract of devastation, they will always have a place in my heart.

Also aside from McDavid, they missed on some high end picks. The Yakupov draft had some solid D men taken in the top 10. I think during that draft year the general thought was they would be better served grabbing a D man, but they went on the offensive side of the puck.

Though I think the Oilers biggest problem is their inability to hit on some good solid NHL players rounds 2-4. That lots of early 2nd round picks and it seems since the Hall draft they pretty much whiffed on them all.

Maybe its an organization development thing...

 

[Oilslick941611]

The Oilers' are now the only pointless team in the league.

they've only played 2 games..

 

[Eat The Rich]

The Oilers are a poorly run organization. Ever since Katz has taken over, this team has been a complete disaster. The front office is the worst in the game, somehow MacT and Lowe still have jobs despite overseeing the worst stretch of hockey played in NHL history. They're going to have to blow it up and start over, but this time from scratch. Howson, Lowe, MacT, Nicholson, and Chiarelli need to be permanently separated from the organization.

That is exactly the difference between a successful rebuild and the Oilers' attempts. It's the same clueless bunch making all the same decisions that got them to that slot in the first place.

I hate bringing Toronto into this, but I don't think they have nearly the same success if Brian Burke and/or Dave Nonis are anywhere near that team.

 

[RandV]

We are the Cleveland Browns.

I have been a fan (and season ticket holder) for 20+ years. If they miss playoffs and don't fire BOTH Chia and TM, I am switching allegiances. Katz doesn't get another penny from me. Absolutely no accountability in this horse***t franchise.

Hey if Benning still have his job next year too you can probably join a bunch of Canuck fans cheering for a likely Mike Gillis-led Seattle expansion team

 

[Kranix]

Put Puljujarvi with McDavid and stick with it until they develop chemistry.

 

[JPeeper]

RNH is embarrassing? How so? Besides McDavid, I'd say he's the only player on the team who actually met expectations last season. He also hit two posts last night so he's off to a promising start to the season.

I meant the three of them combined is embarrassing, not that RNH is.

 

[belair]

This tweet came out of Edmonton today. What is going on with the oilers?

Is it just a losing culture? Seems like everyone who leaves Edmonton has a nice little career, such as Dubnyk, Petry, Hall and Eberle. Yakupov is the exception

Other than Taylor Hall (and to a lesser extent, Justin Schultz), what have the other guys done to have 'nice little careers'? They left and got paid. Were the Oilers supposed to keep all of these guys? You're aware there's a salary cap, right?

As for the question, the Oilers are seeing the effects of the prospect cabinet they inherited in 2015. Mind you, the Reinhart trade didn't help the cause, but the Oilers have routinely been forced to utilized the trade and free agency market to fill both key and depth roles within their organization over the past few seasons. This is the main reason why they're currently sitting at the cap ceiling with their current roster depth.

It's not great, but the roster as it is would be far more successful if it were being coached by someone in tune with how hockey is being played in 2018.

 

[X66]

A coaching change is badly needed. They need someone that will allow them to play with more creativity. Sort of like what happened in Boston. When Julien was replaced by Cassidy. It's amazing to me McDavid scored 107 pts in that system they employ.

It might help, but the Oilers problem is likely a lot more than just the coach.

It has a lot more to do with them just casting off talent and not replacing it properly.

Hall, Eberle, the pick that became Barzal.

You don't replace that with Larsson, Strome and Reinhart.

 

[Bounces R Way]

The Oilers have impact players. They just happen to be playing in Newark and Brooklyn.

Hall for Larsson was dumb on paper, but it at least had a small amount of logic to it. Trade winger for high potential defenseman, and then use the freed up money to get another winger. the Strome for Eberle deal however, was completely indefensible. Trade a winger (who admittedly came off a pretty blah year) for a crappier, more fragile winger who never even had a career high near Eberle. Good job.

Look at Milbury's worst trades. Now look at Chiarelli's in Edmonton. Chiarelli isn't there yet, but his bottom 3 are definitely competitive.

Chiarelli sucks definitely. No argument from me there. But to put the state of the team all on him and McLellan to me is just lazy. It goes deeper than that. They're incompetent boobs following a long line of incompetent boobs, most of which are somehow still getting paid to sip red wine in the owner's box of an 800 million dollar new arena.

To me it all started with one idea, "Let's lose on purpose."

Not really the most honorable notion, and personally I detest that this attitude is so prevalent in pro sports, but they're not the first or the last to adopt this strategy under the guise of "rebuilding". Just seems like they never had a step 2 and didn't fully appreciate the ramifications of what this idea might mean to an organization, how accepting failure is not a good environment for young players to brought into.
Step 1 - Lose a lot and draft high to acquire talent
Step 2- Throw that talent into the lineup with little to no quality veteran support around them
Step 3- ???????????????
Step 4- Profit anyways because the fans love their team religiously

Entering a rebuild is fine, but at some point you need to have a viable plan on how you're going to get out of it. This idea that a dynasty is just going to appear before your eyes because "Well, but, we've SUFFERED!! WE DESERVE IT!!" is wishful thinking at it's finest. The Penguins did largely the same thing but look at the roster Crosby won his first cup with. Tons of quality vets. Look at the roster McDavid is working with, over half is replacement level filler.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I feel like there's always been a big cancer within that organization that either they can't get rid of or if the Oilers find it and try to get rid of it, they would look terrible and everybody would hate them forever. I can't seem to put my finger on it. But another thing is Katz is a huge problem in terms of how the team is ran, the only thing he's good for is being able to afford to keep the team in Edmonton. But if you ask me one big fault on that team is just the team alone is so uncoordinated and the head office doesn't work as a team one bit, that or they don't necessarily like each other and see things eye to eye on most things which causes major faults within the management.

But there has always... been so much wrong with that organization alone. I feel like they're cursed and trading Wayne Gretzky opened up a black hole for that team that they will never be able to unfix. Looking back, trading Gretzky was a stupid decision.

Otherwise that team never had good management, no Glen Sather doesn't count, he has the track record to be labelled as the best Oilers GM. Some would hate me for saying Steve Tambellini in terms of brains. I think the Oilers would be a much better team to this day if they didn't fire him. After selecting RNH they were on the right track, but after Tambellini was relieved they looked like they were headed downhill from there.

Some could blame Chiarelli, but maybe upper management is making him do these dumb trades.

The way to fix the Oilers is positive communication across the entire organization.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Watching them last night, you have to wonder about the coaching. I mean, I just hope that the Bruins are really good but Edmonton was down 2 goals for 45 minutes and didn't generate a lot of chances.

The Oilers are a better team than many others and they looked worse than Buffalo did against the Bruins.