Around The League LXXXIV - All Non-Playoff Talk Here

[Taelin]

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[SnapIt]

If the Oilers hire McLellan or Babcock.. mother of god.

 

[Catamarca Livin]

The Oilers will improve a lot and be good very soon. They should really trade Yak. and Eberle for good d men. They have more skilled forwards then needed for a very good team. Now there could likely sign some descent free agents as well. We would be good trading partners as we have a goalie, a couple veteran forwards who could be had for futures. I think the Canucks will rebuild a couple behind the oilers in about 4 years where the Oilers should be good in 2.

 

[Barney Gumble]

If the Oilers hire McLellan or Babcock.. mother of god.

Or if they manage to keep a coach for a bunch of seasons instead of their "revolving door policy".

 

[Bgav]

I expect edm to get McLellan and Babs to stay in detroit

 

[TheWolf*]

Or if they manage to keep a coach for a bunch of seasons instead of their "revolving door policy".

That's all over.

The Boys on the Bus are no longer running the show.

 

[arttk]

Or if they manage to keep a coach for a bunch of seasons instead of their "revolving door policy".

I wished they kept Eakins.

 

[Addison Rae]

why not just keep Nelson? a lot of players had resurgances with him, you're finally getting a coach that seems to gell with the players and then you replace him? shades of Kruger all over again.

 

[VanillaCoke]

It'll take atleast a season just to get edmontons top players to play defense

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

why not just keep Nelson? a lot of players had resurgances with him, you're finally getting a coach that seems to gell with the players and then you replace him? shades of Kruger all over again.

if you somehow get a generational top tier coach like Babcock you fire everyone in the staff imo and let him take over.

I think Edmonton really missed out when they didn't move in on Trotz last year. I think the kids would have been whooped into shape by now.

That said, if you miss out on those kinds of coaches, I generally agree with you on keeping Nelson.

 

[canucks22]

The Oilers are such a joke. They don't deserve a player like McDavid or a coach like Babcock. I really hope Babcock doesn't end up there

 

[me2]

if you somehow get a generational top tier coach like Babcock you fire everyone in the staff imo and let him take over.

I think Edmonton really missed out when they didn't move in on Trotz last year. I think the kids would have been whooped into shape by now.

That said, if you miss out on those kinds of coaches, I generally agree with you on keeping Nelson.

they may have made inquires on the quiet and been rebuffed.

 

[oyvey]

If the Oilers hire McLellan or Babcock.. mother of god.

I am not sold on McLellan.

Babcock would make me nervous only because he comes with recruiting power. If the free-agent barrier with Edmonton gets broken down there is no doubt they're going to become a powerhouse.

 

[tantalum]

The Oilers are such a joke. They don't deserve a player like McDavid or a coach like Babcock. I really hope Babcock doesn't end up there

The problem is they may have stopped becoming a joke. They are actually bringing in serious hockey guys and not just alum that the owner worships.

Their owner finally got tired of being proven wrong and made changes.

I personally fear the canucks-Aqulini combo is going to be like the Oiler-Katz combo. Let's pray ownership wakes up before a decade of futility.

 

[Nucker101]

The problem is they may have stopped becoming a joke. They are actually bringing in serious hockey guys and not just alum that the owner worships.

Their owner finally got tired of being proven wrong and made changes.

I personally fear the canucks-Aqulini combo is going to be like the Oiler-Katz combo. Let's pray ownership wakes up before a decade of futility.

Have similar worries myself.



On an unrelated note:
One team that missed the playoffs in the West this year that I think has a good shot to make it back in next year is the Dallas Stars. They could probably use a couple of solid two-way players to compliment all of that great offensive talent(Benn, Seguin, Spezza, Klingberg, etc.). But that's easier to find than high-end offensive talent. Hell, they could probably trade a pick for a guy like Chris Higgins and he'd be excellent for them in a bottom 6 role.

 

[SnapIt]

The problem is they may have stopped becoming a joke. They are actually bringing in serious hockey guys and not just alum that the owner worships.

Their owner finally got tired of being proven wrong and made changes.

I personally fear the canucks-Aqulini combo is going to be like the Oiler-Katz combo. Let's pray ownership wakes up before a decade of futility.

I fear the same thing. A few here speculated that issue all the way back to 2011, when we suddenly needed to be "stronger and tougher" vs. Skilled.

But lets hope he's not mucking around in decisions as much anymore..

 

[Barney Gumble]

I personally fear the canucks-Aqulini combo is going to be like the Oiler-Katz combo. Let's pray ownership wakes up before a decade of futility.

Are you saying we got Sonny (or Fredo ) instead of Michael?

 

[canucks22]

The problem is they may have stopped becoming a joke. They are actually bringing in serious hockey guys and not just alum that the owner worships.

Their owner finally got tired of being proven wrong and made changes.

I personally fear the canucks-Aqulini combo is going to be like the Oiler-Katz combo. Let's pray ownership wakes up before a decade of futility.

Very true, it's about time they cleaned it up. It just bugs me though, they tanked(and yes I'll say tanked because they didn't even try to become a better team) for like how long? Almost a decade I think? And now they're on the verge of getting some franchise changing pieces all because of they've done is embraced the suck for so long.

Ok I'm done ranting lol

 

[fancouver]

If the Oil get McLellan or Babcock, they're in the playoffs.

I can't imagine either coach screwing up the team or McDavid.

And yes, this likely means they'll surpass the Canucks and Flames.

 

[Trelane]

Either McLellan or Babcock is bad news. Babs is a taskmaster and not especially loved by his players after a while. McLellan's slightly more offense oriented style may actually be a better fit. He's getting a good test run now in Prague.

Still holding out hope the Oil won't quite make playoffs next year. 35 points is lot to close in one season. But after that all bets are off. High likelihood we'll be their b**** for years to come, at least on the scoreboard.

This is why it's imperative to go for underrated, two-way Gods in the making, with size and in the best offensive package possible for our draft position. It won't be close in the pure offensive skills department. Sacrifices have to be made now. Lack, Hamhuis and Kassian have decent value. Bieksa might come the deadline.

One decent prospect (Horvat) won't cut it any more than it did for San Jose a few years back when Couture had his breakthrough and people where looking at the Sharks as an example of a sound on-the-fly rebuild.

 

[VanillaCoke]

If the Oil get McLellan or Babcock, they're in the playoffs.

I can't imagine either coach screwing up the team or McDavid.

And yes, this likely means they'll surpass the Canucks and Flames.

They won't make the playoffs next season, too big a gap to close. No matter whose coaching the defense and goaltending is still brutal.

 

[Jay Cee]

The Oilers need at least 4 dmen and a goalie. That's a tough road to hoe in one year. They have had the same problem for 6 years and tried to fix it.

 

[RandV]

The problem is they may have stopped becoming a joke. They are actually bringing in serious hockey guys and not just alum that the owner worships.

Their owner finally got tired of being proven wrong and made changes.

I personally fear the canucks-Aqulini combo is going to be like the Oiler-Katz combo. Let's pray ownership wakes up before a decade of futility.

I was really feeling it when they started parading out the likes of Kirk McLean and Geoff Courtnall wearing their old skate jerseys to 'lead the cheer' in playoff games.

I was way off on one thing with Edmonton though, I thought if they won the lotto and got McDavid it would extend the era of Lowe and MacT, not end it. While they have a massive gap to close if they were to make the playoffs next season, you could probably shorten it a little if you consider that they probably finished lower than they should have thanks to Eakins.

If they can get a good coach and a good GM though, and have an offseason like the Islanders did last year when they added Boychuk, Leddy, and Halak, it could be a quick turnaround.

 

[vancityluongo]

If they can get a good coach and a good GM though, and have an offseason like the Islanders did last year when they added Boychuk, Leddy, and Halak, it could be a quick turnaround.

Eh. They added the guy who gave away Boychuk. I'm not overly worried until it happens, but for sure they're a couple of Armchair moves away from a quick rise up the standings.

 

[Addison Rae]

yeah he oilers aren't going to magically make the playoffs because they get a good coach, their d-core is hideous and filled with boat anchor contracts that will be hard to move. Their d is even worse now that they moved a solid guy in Petry.