Do the Oilers make the Playoffs in the 2018-19 season? MOD-Please Re-Vote, Poll is Now Public!

Do they make the playoffs in 2018-19?


  • Total voters
    372

ohheyhemsky

Regehr DooDoo
Nov 1, 2010
27,663
10,931
DT Cowtown
Dog days of summer, but just want to see where the board is at this point and with the moves likely done for the start of the season roster.

Do we make the play-offs this season?

EDIT: Changed votes to private, so no one is accused of not being "true blue".
 

Little Fury

Registered User
Jun 21, 2006
17,831
6,800
I'm actually voting yes because despite how poor the roster is, I think there's a decent chance the goaltending and special teams bounce back and with McDavid being McDavid, that could be enough to squeak in. But they could also be out of the race by Halloween so who the hell knows.
 

shoop

Registered User
Jul 6, 2008
8,333
1,911
Edmonton
I think the Oilers make the playoffs.

Believe that Puljujarvi proves that he belongs on McDavid's RW. Looch gets better and is passable on the second line.

Upshall-Brodziak-Rattie proves to be an effective fourth line.

A reasonable third pairing can be found out of Benning/Jerabek/Gravel/Bouchard

Koskinen can play 20ish games at a reasonable level which means that Talbot can bounce back.
 

KeithIsActuallyBad

You thrust your pelvis, huh!
Apr 12, 2010
71,822
30,733
Calgary
I don't think so. Too many question marks on this roster. Wings, defense, and goaltending are all unstable. Combined with a brutal start to the season... A lot of players are going to have to play really well and if the Oilers fall behind early again the chances of them catching up aren't very good. And at the top of that list is Talbot. If he falters again the season is toast.

Add to the fact that there's a lot of tough competition in the West with maybe 1 or 2 patsies.
 

CornKicker

Holland is wrong..except all of the good things
Feb 18, 2005
11,780
2,966
2 years ago everything went right and they over achieved, last year nothing went right and they under achieved. This year will set the tone for the new norm. Steady goaltending, solid but unspectacular defence and an improved special teams play (dont forget the oilers had a historically bad PK last year).

oilers make the playoffs for the next decade starting this season
 

Section337

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Jul 7, 2007
5,347
707
Edmonton, AB
If you can't delude yourself about unimportant things in life, where would be the fun. Therefore, I say they are totally making the playoffs.
 

ohheyhemsky

Regehr DooDoo
Nov 1, 2010
27,663
10,931
DT Cowtown
I really think the start of the season (10ish or so games) will dictate how the season goes for us. It's a rough start, but if we get off to a .75% win rate over those games, I bet we make the play-offs. At this point, I think there's just too much that has to go right for this team to push through. I see us failing to make the playoffs this season, but we'll be back in the following year.
 
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Wewillrise

Registered User
Jul 25, 2015
1,223
486
All depends what kind of Goaltending they get, that being said I think last season was the outlier. They make it to the conference final.
 

Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,960
34,082
I think that we'll make it because I think that this is the year where some of our next wave of reinforcements hit their strides, most notably Puljujarvi.
 

Gord

Registered User
Oct 9, 2005
9,830
481
Edmonton
I'd like to think so, but Edmonton hasn't really addressed their weaknesses, and other teams in the west have gotten better.
and too many question marks for the players we do have.

I vote no, and hope to be surprised.
I get the feeling a lot of players will need to have a career year for the Oilers to make the playoffs.

I'm going to estimate the Oilers end up with 84 points this year.
 

ohheyhemsky

Regehr DooDoo
Nov 1, 2010
27,663
10,931
DT Cowtown
You may as well make it public or else voters from other teams can make the poll inaccurate. There will be no bashing of fandom on this thread or he posters will be removed from the thread.
Hm, it seems as though that option is gone now. Weird!

This is what's available:

Options:
  • Allow voters to change their votes
  • Allow the results to be viewed without voting
  • Close this poll after:
 

Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,960
34,082
Hm, it seems as though that option is gone now. Weird!

This is what's available:

Options:
  • Allow voters to change their votes
  • Allow the results to be viewed without voting
  • Close this poll after:

Exactly what I see. Let me ask around and see if anyone can help.
 

nexttothemoon

and again...
Jan 30, 2010
29,303
16,475
Northern AB
It's essentially a coin flip mathematically when 16 out of 31 teams make the playoffs.

It will come down to injuries (as in having few of them to key players) plus generally having most players playing up to their full abilities.

Goaltending needs to be better... closer to 92% instead of sub 91%.

Dmen need to be solid... Klefbom much better, Larsson a solid rock like he always is, Benning and Nurse have to keep improving, Russell hopefully holding his own and not declining now that he's in his 30's and one of Jerabek/Gravel to hopefully be solid in the #6 spot. Bonus if Bouchard/Bear or another dman can surprise with solid spot duty on the roster as well.

Forwards have to obviously find some chemistry on all the lines and hopefully wingers for both McDavid and Drai can perform well. PP needs to be AT LEAST average.

Bottom 6 forwards needs to be better defensively and on the PK as well.

So many players need to have better years than last season... which seems like a tall order, but it's certainly not impossible.

I don't think the special teams will be worst overall again so that should be good for at least a few pts better in the standings.

Several players should be pretty damn hungry because there are 9 players with expiring contracts (RFA and UFA)... and that's not counting Garrison or Upshall.

Team pride should be a factor. Going from 103 pts to not even 80 pts should have been a pretty swift kick in the egos of the team in general... and I doubt they take anything for granted like they did last season.

Doesn't mean they will be better because obviously there are 30 other teams that are thinking the same way and they all want to win and improve as well but I think the arrows are at least pointing in the right direction in terms of the players collectively not likely to be complacent seeing where they finished last season.

The coaching staff looks like they are already working to find ways to turn around the team and increase team speed and breakouts.. again that's all fine in theory and is easier said than done... but at least they are identifying the issues and already working on how to change that in July instead of waiting until late September to start.


If I had to actually put money on it... I'd say they are a low 90's type of team... probably right in that 90-95 pt range where they'll be in contention for a wildcard spot but likely miss out by a few pts. (Saying that... if they are really close... McDavid is fully capable of dragging the team over the finish line and into a wildcard spot).
 
Last edited:

Beerfish

Registered User
Apr 14, 2007
19,513
5,665
I think they do the special teams and tending which were so bad last year cannot possibly be so bad. The only codicil is if mcdavid got hurt then they would be picking top 3.

If by any chance they do miss and mcdavid has a full year of great play again then they have to raze it all to the ground once again.
 

ohheyhemsky

Regehr DooDoo
Nov 1, 2010
27,663
10,931
DT Cowtown
I think they do the special teams and tending which were so bad last year cannot possibly be so bad. The only codicil is if mcdavid got hurt then they would be picking top 3.

If by any chance they do miss and mcdavid has a full year of great play again then they have to raze it all to the ground once again.
*googles codicil definition*

Agreed.
 

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