Do you still believe in this core?

[Soundwave]

The Nordiques/Avs were lucky enough to have Joe Sakic on top of their three no.1s though.

To be honest if Lindros hadn't been a baby and demanded a trade, they probably still would've won multiple Cups with a Sakic/Lindros/Roy core.

I don't think that Sundin trade was great either. Imagine Sakic/Lindros/Sundin down the middle, lol or even Sakic/Sundin/Forsberg. They probably could've won an additional Cup or two. That's something that I don't think people realize when they say Colorado worked on great ... yes, but they quite possibly also lost a Cup or two by not getting a great return on Sundin.

 

[Bangers]

The Nordiques/Avs were lucky enough to have Joe Sakic on top of their three no.1s though.

To be honest if Lindros hadn't been a baby and demanded a trade, they probably still would've won multiple Cups with a Sakic/Lindros/Roy core.

I don't think that Sundin trade was great either. Imagine Sakic/Lindros/Sundin down the middle, lol or even Sakic/Sundin/Forsberg. They probably could've won an additional Cup or two. That's something that I don't think people realize when they say Colorado worked on great ... yes, but they quite possibly also lost a Cup or two by not getting a great return on Sundin.

Almost no way the Avs ever win the cup without the Lindros trade.

Forsberg alone was arguably a better player than Lindros; the trade also allowed the Avs to shore up their D with Duchesne and add grit to their lineup with Ricci and Simon. Also, the pick they acquired allowed them to select Thibault - who they moved to acquire Roy.

Also, by trading Wendel Clark (who they received for Sundin) they picked up Claude Lemieux, who was a key piece of their cup runs.

So

Forsberg, Ricci, Simon, Duchesne, Lemieux, Roy (plus Hextall and Huffman ) >>>> Lindros, Sundin

 

[MessierII]

The Nordiques/Avs were lucky enough to have Joe Sakic on top of their three no.1s though.

To be honest if Lindros hadn't been a baby and demanded a trade, they probably still would've won multiple Cups with a Sakic/Lindros/Roy core.

I don't think that Sundin trade was great either. Imagine Sakic/Lindros/Sundin down the middle, lol or even Sakic/Sundin/Forsberg. They probably could've won an additional Cup or two. That's something that I don't think people realize when they say Colorado worked on great ... yes, but they quite possibly also lost a Cup or two by not getting a great return on Sundin.

Joe Sakic wasn't a first overall pick. Their three top picks were Owen Nolan, Matt's Sundin and Lindros. Burnaby Joe was there through all the losing years.

 

[Mr Forever]

Joe Sakic wasn't a first overall pick. Their three top picks were Owen Nolan, Matt's Sundin and Lindros. Burnaby Joe was there through all the losing years.

He said they has Sakic on top of their three first overall picks.

 

[MessierII]

He said they has Sakic on top of their three first overall picks.

My bad.

 

[McGreat One]

It's not so much the core I don't believe in, it's more the ability of our management to surround our core with the proper complementary players. I believe we got the #1 center every competitive team needs in RNH, even if he hasn't shown his complete potential yet. I also believe we got a good offensive mix who could out skate and out score just about any team in the league when they start clicking. Hall is an all star and IMO will be a top 10 player in this league for many years. Yakupov can be a consistent 35-40 goal scorer if he reaches the potential I think he can reach. And you got guys like Eberle, Perron and Gagner (if he can go back to last year's form and if he's still in an Oiler uniform in the next few years), who can add that secondary scoring which is very important. Not to mention Justin Schultz who I believe can also score 40-50 points consistently. So when it comes to offense I think we're sought. Unfortunately offense alone don't win championships.

Management still has a lot of work ahead of them before this team becomes a contender and I'm just not convinced Lowe and Co. have the smarts or ability to bring in the right mix of guys to get this team to the next level. Until management succeeds in bringing in some bigger 2-way forwards who can fit in anywhere in the top 9 and can win those puck battles and make this team harder to play against then having all this skill in our lineup is just pointless.

I think the biggest concern for this team is defence. We've got a defensive lineup filled with depth dmen and none of which would crack the top 2 or possibly even top 4 in any of the cup contending teams. If we can draft Ekblad in this year's draft and develop Nurse and Klefbom into reliable NHL dmen then that's a start but these guys are still a few years away from reaching their true potential. We need to acquire that stud, top tier dman that can play in all situations and be a leader for the younger guys on the back end, whether it be trade or free agent signing. But it's something this team desperately needs.

The jury is still out on goaltending for this team and even though neither of the goalies we've decided to move forward with are proven #1's yet, I have faith that at least one of either Fasth or Scrivens will prove their worth and become a true starting goalie in this league for many years to come.

 

[Up the Irons]

Though I'd bump this one because I think it's a relevant question... Again.

I believe in a core of Hall, RNH, Drai, two of Marincin, Kelfbom a Nurse, and Yak. And they will be good in 2 or 3 years IF MacT can trade Eberle and Schultz for the right player(s).

Recent evidence makes sticking with this exact core as is, even more futile then a year ago.

Wake up, Mact. They r not that good.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I think the "core" is fine, even it's flawed.

It's what's above the core that's rotten.

 

[dustrock]

RNH has a worse 5v5 scoring/60 than Patrik Stefan.

I have a lot of time for him, but I think he's 2-3 years away from having a true impact. He should be a 2C or possibly even a 3C with PP1 time until then.

Honestly, anybody but Hall is up for consideration. And depending how you view the rest of the core, Hall may be up for consideration, mostly because he would get by far the biggest return.

 

[Forgot About Drai]

Id keep Hall,Nuge,Yak and Drai. Everyone else I wouldnt mind leaving if it betters the team. Guys like Schultz, Eberle and Ference need to seriously GTFO though.

 

[Insta]

I believe in Hall and Nuge, but other than that it's becoming more and more difficult.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

It's not a player problem so I don't mind the ones we have right now. It's not even a center problem either, which is crazy seeing as how we have scraps down the middle currently.

It's the defensive system #1 and giving heavy playing time to Dmen who seem incapable of playing the D part. It's like Eakins doesn't know how to explain a defensive system at all. Or knows that the one he uses, sucks. He's reallllly slow to get things it seems.

Ference, Schultz are prime examples and Nikitin seems to be making his down to their level in short order.

That is half our D who can't play D very well at all, and that is pretty ridiculous. Our captain is hilariously bad defensively too.

 

[dem]

Nope
Not at all.

 

[Pablo Aimar]

RNH has a worse 5v5 scoring/60 than Patrik Stefan.

This doesn't get mentioned enough. For all the tanking and losing the Oilers have 1 star player - Hall. Yakupov shows some flashes of being another star player but he isn't nearly there yet. Eberle is a soft complimentary scorer. And RNH does sweet **** all 5 v 5 - he is not tracking like an elite #1 centre should be at this point.

 

[frag2]

Schultz and Eberle as being part of the core? Helllll noooooo!!

 

[Mr Positive]

I believe in the core.

Eberle, RNH, Hall, Yakupov, Schultz, Nurse, Draisaitl

That is an enviously deep group of high end talent. We need the Dmen and Drai to get older, and we need our depth and goaltending to get to at least average quality.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

The core is fine. They're young and shouldn't be doing the heavy lifting.

The coaching and everything else is just terrible

 

[Slicknitty]

they're just kids for god's sake

 

[Aerchon]

This line of thinking, that the core is flawed, is well... flawed.

#1. I do not see how we can move out these guys and get back franchise level talents.

#2. We still have not seen any of our young stars at their peak, surrounded by solid NHL level support, and being led by a real NHL calibre coach.

For talent this is the best team the Oilers have had in almost a century.

Nuge and Yak are both smaller players that will take longer to impact the NHL at both ends of the ice.

Eakins sucks.

I am not a big fan of Eberle right now but I know what he can and has done. Give him and the team a good coach and we may all get to remember why he was once called Mr. Clutch.

 

[Auguste McEscoffier]

I enjoy reading negative comments regarding Eberle. Makes me laugh when I think of fans at the draft party booing upon hearing Eberle for Johansen rumours.

 

[Phenomenon13]

For those who don't blame the players, I would think at least 50% of what happens is their fault. The Oilers have tried a multitude of different coaches. All of the coaches have yet to produce any significant results and the core more or less has been the same.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

For those who don't blame the players, I would think at least 50% of what happens is their fault. The Oilers have tried a multitude of different coaches. All of the coaches have yet to produce any significant results and the core more or less has been the same.

But what if all those coaches were mediocre (Kreuger) to bad (Renney) to horawful (Eakins)?

 

[Jumptheshark]

they're just kids for god's sake

at some point in time we can no longer use that excuse

LAK average for this season is 26.90
Oilers average age is 25.69

are we still calling the kings kids?

 

[Phenomenon13]

But what if all those coaches were mediocre (Kreuger) to bad (Renney) to horawful (Eakins)?

You can say the same thing about the players: What if all the players are actually mediocre and overhyped?

ex. Gagner, Cogliano, Schremp, etc...

I'm saying its a shared responsibility.

The majority of team looks like they gave up before the season started. Coaching a team of guys who just have no motivation would be hard.

Obviously Eakins isn't a great coach but at some point the blame has to start shifting to the players as well. Perhaps they aren't as good as we think they are, perhaps we can trade them to gain better assets? The Oilers are at a critical part of player development for many players and it's not looking so good.

 

[TheBusDriver]

Yes. We just need to improve center and D.