Do the Edmonton Oilers make the playoffs this season?

[Xelebes]

I went with the safe bet: No.

It hasn't failed me in ten years, why should it be any different this year?

 

[BlackDogg]

Take the Yes vote and subtract about 30% and that is likely the actual number. Most of these polls tend to be skewed with undue optimism until the start of the year.

 

[McOilers97]

I won't vote yes until they prove me wrong.

 

[Traxy]

I'm voting yes.

We missed the playoffs by 17 points last season. When you look at our team last year, we had a horrific run of injuries. Our #1 all world center missed 45 games, our #2 center missed 27 games, our #1 RW missed 13 games, the guy tagged to play 20 minutes a night on our top pairing missed 52 games. On top of that, Talbot took a month to find his game, leading to a slow start. Is it a stretch to say if we had 70+ games from McDavid and 70+ games from Klefbom we would have won another 7 or 8? That would have put is right in the playoff conversation.

Our lineup looks more balanced today than it has in a long time. If we can avoid the injury bug, Connor takes a step forward and Talbot hits the ground running, we'll be fighting for a playoff spot in March and April.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

not deep enough to overcome inevitable injuries and counting on too many young players to carry the team

so no

 

[BarDownBobo]

Take the Yes vote and subtract about 30% and that is likely the actual number. Most of these polls tend to be skewed with undue optimism until the start of the year.

I really don't see it as undue optimism personally. Having McDavid and Klefbom healthy would put the team close. Klef missing the second half of the season made a lot of people forget how good he was last year, we were in a playoff spot going into the last game he played iirc(and that was after a month without McDavid). The rest comes down to how much of an impact you think Lucic and Larsson will have, which I personally believe is quite a large one.

 

[Esko]

Hard to quantify the impact of a healthy McDavid and Klefbom for hopefully 82 games. I'll say somewhere around a 10th place finish but with meaningful hockey still being played in the late stages of the season.

 

[Replacement*]

I've said this before though but how far off is this D from the Islanders that got 100 points?

Larsson = Hamonic

Klefbom = Leddy

Sekera = Boychuk

Davidson + Nurse + Fayne = Hickey + de Haan + Pulock

It's not that far off IMO.

Chiarelli will probably add another d-man, but the group we have as is as long Klefbom doesn't miss 2/3 of the season again is the best one the Oilers have iced probably since 2008 or 2009.

As a roster to be honest the only thing missing is a PP QB d-man, but really beyond that ... winger depth is good, stay-at-home D is OK, center depth is great, size/physicality is now good. Intangibles/experience is still a little thin, but took a big step forward with Lucic.

I just don't get this at all. I would have Boychuk instead of Sekera any day of the week. Also not sure how somebody can equate Klef with Leddy when Klef hasn't even played enough to make that assessment.

 

[longtimeoilfan]

All you pessimists... hell yes 'we' make the playoffs this year.

Didn't Chia say that 'we' are going for it this year?

McDavid

New Arena - Lucic - Changes to the Team/Culture

Playoffs​

Its all falling into place, almost as if it were planned this way. Heck, what better way to break in a new arena than to come out of nowhere and win the cup?

 

[nexttothemoon]

Klefbom is actually overrated... and I'll take heat for that I know... but until we see him actually play a full season at a top 4D level... I don't think we really know what we have in him except glimpses of good. The fact that he has developed into somewhat of a bandaid is an issue as well... not quite Pitlick level yet... but still concerning.

This D isn't great... but between Davidson and Oesterle there's a good chance one of them may develop into a solid contributor which is also encouraging.

Sekera is what he is... decent but unspectacular at anything really.

Fayne even less so.

Nurse... needs more work obviously.

Reinhart... same story.

Larsson is a gem and will probably surprise us all with how good he is... especially if he can add some offense to his game

I see this defense living and dying with Larsson being MUCH better than we think he can be to anchor his pairing.

We also need the rest to be "better than average" as a group... and I think that's where it could all fall apart as I see the group being below average collectively with 1 or 2 being pleasant surprises at times during the season... maybe.

You are only as strong as your weakest link... and that's still D for the Oilers and the forwards haven't appreciably been improved defensively either at this point... although you could argue for a slight increase with Lucic in the lineup... but adding Puljujarvi as a green rookie going through the typical trial and error rookie process probably negates any 2-way benefits Lucic adds to the roster.

All in all... the team will live and die on how good Talbot, Larsson and of course McDavid are... any 1 of those key cogs go down to injury (or slump) for even a moderately extended period of time and it's all over rover.... 11 straight years of no playoffs is in the bag.

 

[Nugey McNugeson]

All you pessimists... hell yes 'we' make the playoffs this year.

Didn't Chia say that 'we' are going for it this year?

McDavid

New Arena - Lucic - Changes to the Team/Culture

Playoffs​

Its all falling into place, almost as if it were planned this way. Heck, what better way to break in a new arena than to come out of nowhere and win the cup?

I admire your optimism and get that you're probably joking, but anyone that thinks this team is playoff bound, let alone a contender is setting themselves up for a serious disappointment

 

[Broilers]

I think we are a lot closer than people realize. I believe we need to address the PPQB hole to have a real shot a the playoffs. We're close I think, but we need to round out just a little bit more.

But still just close I think that low end of pts will be 85 upper end ?? We still need to get one or 2 defenše men. Reinhart and Nurse in the line up will cause a disaster

 

[McFlyingV]

But still just close I think that low end of pts will be 85 upper end ?? We still need to get one or 2 defenše men. Reinhart and Nurse in the line up will cause a disaster

I'd love to add another D, but not sure it'll happen. I don't know if there's much of a chance of both of those 2 being in the line up. There should be one of those 2 plus Oesterle battling for the bottom pairing spot and I don't think any of those D would look out of place there. Nurse looked quite good when first called up and playing sheltered minutes, same with Oesterle and Reinhart at the end of the year before playing top pairing minutes some nights started to expose them.

We'll have to wait and see in camp, but I'm confident that at least one of those 3 will come in and impress after an offseason of training and be ready to be a permanent fixture on the bottom pair for the year, and wouldn't be surprised if by midway through the year another of the 3 comes knocking for a spot in the lineup, especially if Fayne struggles.

 

[Tarus]

The offense, which was already in the bottom of the league, is quite a bit worse

It's debatable that the defense is all that improved with the addition of Eric Brewer 2.0, and the issue of the complete lack of any defensemen that can create offense from the backend has still not even remotely been addressed. If all they could manage this offseason is one addition on the defense, they needed a superstar to make this defense somewhat respectable, and they didn't even get close to doing that. The bottom pairing will also be a mess with Fayne will still be sabotaging the team's efforts defensively on a nightly basis, and Reinhart/Nurse are virtual locks to make the team due to the lack of depth, it's not looking good.

The bottom six is also more garbage than not, and likely provides little offense and porous defense yet again.

Before even factoring in the probable injuries(Klefbom/Pouliot) and potential regressions(Davidson, Drai), it's far more likely the Oilers are picking top 4 again than it is they get anywhere within striking distance of the playoffs as the roster currently stands.

 

[lakai17]

Depends on Arizona, they made some decent moves in McGinn, Goligoski. They also found a legit goaltender last season in Domingue.

And I am not sure if Anaheim have found much else scoring other than their #1 line.

 

[lakai17]

The bottom 6 have been pathetic here since 2006 and the late 90's. The late 90's bottom 6 was awesome to witness, they would always give Hitchcock problems or other top teams when our top 6 was mediocre mainly. I still watch some of those youtube vids just for the bottom 6.

Since 2007 there have been marshollows filling in the bottom 6 that can never compete when it comes to grinding, that is why I never liked Yakupov(1 example) in the bottom 6 before as a young gun, it did nothing for his game. I am enjoying how the lines are coming along today though.

 

[GRadio]

I think this year is the year we return to our beloved Stretch Drive. The last ~15 games will be a playoff atmosphere and I bet it'll come down to the last few and be a coin flip if we're in or out.

 

[Replacement*]

Depends on Arizona, they made some decent moves in McGinn, Goligoski. They also found a legit goaltender last season in Domingue.

And I am not sure if Anaheim have found much else scoring other than their #1 line.

Actually it depends on 7 WC clubs somehow being worse than the Edmonton Oilers.

The new and improved Edmonton oilers without Taylor Hall.

 

[Aequitas]

Actually it depends on 7 WC clubs somehow being worse than the Edmonton Oilers.

The new and improved Edmonton oilers without Taylor Hall.

hey adding first overall picks didnt work maybe subtracting them will?

 

[thadd]

Not as we are now.

I'm not expecting a miracle trade.

We're gonna pick up a d-man and sign him to a 1 year deal as a stop gap measure.

If we stay healthy and guys who really impressed last year continue to play as well as last season or even better and if Yakupov learns how to play hockey and if Puljujarvi looking comfortable and well adjusted to the NHL 20 games in then we will be a very competitive team... but I'm not expecting playoffs that soon.

 

[Samus44]

I say yes simply because i'm biased and a fan, i even say they'll win the cup because why the **** not. It doesn't matter what i think so why not go big. haha.

 

[Soundwave]

The offense, which was already in the bottom of the league, is quite a bit worse

It's debatable that the defense is all that improved with the addition of Eric Brewer 2.0, and the issue of the complete lack of any defensemen that can create offense from the backend has still not even remotely been addressed. If all they could manage this offseason is one addition on the defense, they needed a superstar to make this defense somewhat respectable, and they didn't even get close to doing that. The bottom pairing will also be a mess with Fayne will still be sabotaging the team's efforts defensively on a nightly basis, and Reinhart/Nurse are virtual locks to make the team due to the lack of depth, it's not looking good.

The bottom six is also more garbage than not, and likely provides little offense and porous defense yet again.

Before even factoring in the probable injuries(Klefbom/Pouliot) and potential regressions(Davidson, Drai), it's far more likely the Oilers are picking top 4 again than it is they get anywhere within striking distance of the playoffs as the roster currently stands.

The offence is better as long as McDavid doesn't get hurt for 38 games again.

Lucic replaces a good 80% of Hall's production and he's more responsible defensively, so he gives up less, which makes that move a wash.

Our "bottom six" right now has one of Nugent Hopkins or Draisaitl, Kassian, Pouliot, Hendricks, with the potential of Cagiulla to come up, it's probable Puljujarvi starts on that 3rd line too ... I don't think it's nearly that bad.

Have you actually looked at the bottom six iced by a lot of teams?

Pouliot Draisaitl/RNH Puljujarvi
Hendricks Letestu Kassian

I can tell you, a lot of teams would gladly trade their bottom six for that bottom six.

 

[Tarus]

The offence is better as long as McDavid doesn't get hurt for 38 games again.

Lucic replaces a good 80% of Hall's production and he's more responsible defensively, so he gives up less, which makes that move a wash.

Our "bottom six" right now has one of Nugent Hopkins or Draisaitl, Kassian, Pouliot, Hendricks, with the potential of Cagiulla to come up, it's probable Puljujarvi starts on that 3rd line too ... I don't think it's nearly that bad.

Have you actually looked at the bottom six iced by a lot of teams?

Pouliot Draisaitl/RNH Puljujarvi
Hendricks Letestu Kassian

I can tell you, a lot of teams would gladly trade their bottom six for that bottom six.

Mcdavid is effectively a man on an island now with Hall gone. The second line will be manned by inconsistent and unproven players that will do nothing to spread the attention around once the games get going. Not saying Mcdavid can't handle it, but this isn't the OHL; there are going to be growing pains as he adjusts to being target number one every single night with only inconsistent support to take the pressure off.

Lucic clearly doesn't replace Hall's role of driving a line either, considering that it's blatantly obvious that he's being brought in to play with Mcdavid and Eberle. It isn't as simple as "points out, points in" when it looks like the consistently inconsistent Pouliot(not to mention injury prone) looks to be the second line left winger this year next to some major question marks in RNH and Drai(Mclellan has been pushing the Drai to wing stuff again).

As for the bottom six - Yakupov isn't getting into the top 6 and likely will be stapled to Letestu's wing yet again, Drai is probably starting on the 2nd line in a wing spot unless RNH tanks it in training camping(unlikely, he usually saves that for the regular season), Kassian is probably the most inconsistent player on the entire roster, and Hendrick is getting old as hell(non-factor offensively too). If things go poorly as they usually do, ie - Letestu is back anchoring the 3rd line, Yakupov is buried in the bottom six sieving it up, and Hendrick is filling in as 4th line center - it's going to be another ineffective effort from the Oiler's bottom six that puts undue pressure on the top six to perform yet again.

Puljujarvi is a wild card of course, but he's not a lock to make the team after his injury. Even if he does though, it's unreasonable to expect him to be an impact player if he gets dumped on one of the bottom six lines.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I think the point is that Hall vs Lucic is basically a wash defensively/offensively. One is better at offense... the other is better at defense.

Looking at their advanced stats (GF vs GA) over the past 3 seasons 5 on 5... Hall was better than his teammates by 8.6% and Lucic was better than his teammates by 7.9%... and Hall actually faced slightly tougher competition than Lucic... by 1%... so the spread between Hall and Lucic compared to their respective teammates actually favours Hall slightly.

You can argue Hall played with poorer linemates so the bar was slightly lower for Hall to exceed that of his teammates... so that gap may close up a bit... but basically it's a wash between Hall and Lucic and the only difference is "intangibles"... whether that translates to an actually difference in goals for/against and wins remains to be seen.

The real difference is Larsson who is one of the best young, defensively sound dmen in the league and his addition should definitely help move the arrow of improvement in the right direction.. BUT that is adding just a net effect of 1 player (so far) and I don't think it's enough to make the playoffs a reality... unless Charelli has more coming which is a possibility.

 

[RoboNerdOK]

I'm voting no, but I sure hope they prove me wrong. I thought we'd be out of lottery contention last season and look how that played out...