Speculation: Contenders Or Pretenders, Which?

[Canovin]

I'm sure I don't need to point out that Mike Smith is no Carey Price.


Vegas can roll four lines easily. I'm not so sure we can.

Our forwards can keep up with Vegas forwards. We can also run 4 lines. Smith got hot and cool down into the playoffs. Price got hot at the right time.
It's our defense that doesn't compare to Vegas. I don't see Holland being finished with our roster tho.

 

[CornKicker]

vegas odds just came out for odds to make the playoffs.

Only 6 teams with worse odds than the oilers.
Tampa
Florida
Toronto
Colorado
Boston
Vegas

If the bookies are banking on oilers to make the playoffs id get those bets in before the odds drop further

 

[Lacaar]

I'm sure I don't need to point out that Mike Smith is no Carey Price.


Vegas can roll four lines easily. I'm not so sure we can.

That they can I'm not debating it. But I think in the regular season at least our lines on a line by line matchup will be better than all of theirs or at least match. Maybe their 4th line is better but our first would be much better imo. McDavid and Draisitl unleashed tips the balance. Once they're both leashed in the playoffs then yah it's likely even.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Improved. But not an elite Cup Contender.

Forward depth is strongly improved. With it the Oilers level of compete and intensity should also improve along with ideally a growing ability and willingness to defend. There will be some solid versatility for this coach to move people around the lineup to leverage in-game tactical advantages including the McDavid/Draisaitl stack with better, bigger wing support for Nugent-Hopkins to move into 2C. Key will be Yamamoto. I'd prefer him to move into a 3W energy role to spark his development.

Bottom six key forward is McLeod. Can he drive offence at the NHL level or will he split time with Ryan as 3/4C. Can Foegele net 15+ goals?

Defense is at best a push to last years corp, imo. We saw the importance of long, physical d-corp during the marathon of NHL playoffs. This d should move the puck better but will it defend as well in the battle areas of the ice? There are more question marks here that'll take 30-40 games to see how this re-tooled d-corp stand up. Will Ceci stabilize second pairing d including shutdown responsibilities in absence of a hard, physical and mean meateater Larsson? Bouchard should be solid in third pairing minutes but how will quickly will his ability to defend develop? What will the third pairing LD look like/perform like with Russell/4K, Lagesson all in the mix. Keith in reduced minutes and new team is a question mark but one I feel most confident in to meet expectation. Nurse's baseline is now the breakthrough season he had last year.

Goaltending is not good enough to drive a Cup run until the Oilers find a backstopper who can steal games and win playoff series. Smith was a revelation last year and can be a great mentor to the 'next one' who will need to be acquired to drive this team's next step into an elite contender. Koskinen stat line appears okay but he has shown to shrink in big game situations with prone to bad goalies and inconsistency that betrays decent stat lines. Elite goaltending is the backbone to deep playoff runs, whether cinderella one-offs or consistent excellence we see on legitimate Cup contenders.

Holland is shaping his team. Moving in the right direction with another step forward required this year. But not yet among the 'big boys' until some of the question marks are answered.

 

[nexttothemoon]

It might be fair to say that to make the playoffs it's forwards>dmen>goalies but in the playoffs it's likely reversed... goalies>dmen>forwards.

Of course that's not completely accurate as you need all 3 performing reasonably well to a large degree in the regular season AND the playoffs... but it feels like you can more easily get by with strong D and a solid goalie in the playoffs as forwards are somewhat neutered in the playoffs anyway (whistle swallowing by the refs makes sure of that).

So those teams that can squeeze into the playoffs with mediocre offense but with good team D and a good goalie... can make it payoff when the playoff hockey comes around which is basically almost an entirely different style of play than the regular season.

That could very well be why teams like the Oilers/Leafs/Avs just can't take it to the next level... they are too reliant on superior forwards and not enough on team D and goaltending.

Of course it's a meta game... and as soon as a team like the Avs win it... people will say you gotta have great forwards to go deep in the playoffs... swings and roundabouts.

 

[GOilers88]

Sorta feel like Koskinen should honestly be thinking no pressure.

Nobody from anywhere has any faith at all so there's virtually no expectations and the season hasn't even started. 9 mill in the bank with another 4.5 on the way with no expectations?At this point what the f*** do you have to lose, lol. Might as well try and have some fun.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Sorta feel like Koskinen should honestly be thinking no pressure.

Nobody from anywhere has any faith at all so there's virtually no expectations and the season hasn't even started. 9 mill in the bank with another 4.5 on the way with no expectations?At this point what the f*** do you have to lose, lol. Might as well try and have some fun.

That's how we'd think as it would be like winning the lottery with $13.5 million in the bank so we'd just whistle and do our best... and if we are crap so what. Fortunately though these athletes are driven and competitive which is why they've made it to the NHL level and I'm sure they have some pride and want to do their best to fulfill that contract commitment from the team.

I think he has a good shot at having a bounce-back season. Hopefully the fact that he's in the last year of a contract and he knows he underperformed last year will be extra motivation to come out and prove the doubters wrong and he'll put up a better season to help the Oilers and to possibly secure another NHL contract with another team somewhere (probably as a backup).