Edmonton Oilers still look to rookies to solve their woes

[HF Article]

Photo: Edmonton Oilers prospect Darnell Nurse has competed hard despite the obvious struggles that come with on-the-job training in the NHL (courtesy of Philippe Bouchard/Icon Sportswire)


</p>Year after year in the Kevin Lowe era, the Edmonton Oilers have relied upon rookies to play at the top level of hockey. Players like Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, Ladislav Smid, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, and Justin Schultz have been asked to come in and play veteran roles in minutes they weren’t yet ready to handle. The results have been predictably poor for this once-proud franchise. The newest General Manager, Peter Chiarelli, has not done much to change the prevailing philosophy of feeding young men to the front lines.… read more

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[plikestechno]

Well, duh. Top 6 forward, top 4 D that actually contribute and lead are very hard to acquire unless they are at the end of their career. Teams don't get rid of them easily. You have to draft and develop them.

This is part of the reason why bad teams stay bad forever. The Oilers management and fans also turn on GMs and coaches and players way too quickly. They should have never fired Kruger, they trade the wrong guys and then get crappier guys in return or sign crappier guys. Like Toronto and Vancouver, sometimes I think there is too much pressure on these teams to perform quickly to the point that they are perpetually rushing and half arsing everything and accomplishing nothing.

Hopefully Chia and MacLellan get enough time here to actually see a plan through and to develop guys properly. They didn't want Darnell Nurse up here either but there's no one else and the blueline has a had a ton of injuries and inconsitency this year.

This team is a s***show and has been forever because they are rushing/trying to hard to turn it around instantly which never works.

 

[Hemsky4PM]

I'm getting a sense that we might see a huge deal at the deadline. Hall dealt for D and solid vet winger.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

I hope it's not Hall that gets dealt. He's a franchise winger. I'd only be happy if we got a true #1 (not settling for a #2 for Hall)

 

[0ilerman]

I hope it's not Hall that gets dealt. He's a franchise winger. I'd only be happy if we got a true #1 (not settling for a #2 for Hall)

I'm not convinced that the "franchise" tag ever belongs to a winger. If it did, it certainly doesn't belong beside Hall's name.
McDavid is the franchise player on this team. Simple

 

[rosemount289]

If it was up .....................???

I'm not convinced that the "franchise" tag ever belongs to a winger. If it did, it certainly doesn't belong beside Hall's name.
McDavid is the franchise player on this team. Simple

If it was up to me.........I would make both Hall and McDavid as "franchise" type players...........and the last two players to be traded.

 

[Captain Catatomic]

I'm not convinced that the "franchise" tag ever belongs to a winger. If it did, it certainly doesn't belong beside Hall's name.
McDavid is the franchise player on this team. Simple

The Ryan Whitney ordeal taught me a little something about counting my chickens so as of now its Hall, a player whos already earned something of the sort which you are describing.

 

[PBandJ]

And the fanbase is already ready to anoint the next teenager in 2016 as the new godking of the NHL.

 

[guymez]

And the fanbase is already ready to anoint the next teenager in 2016 as the new godking of the NHL.

No...just HF boards.