News Article: Edmonton Oilers: Wait and See at 2C

[RipsADrive]

Tambellini was given a mandate to "tank", lets not kid ourselves otherwise.

Though he probably is a mediocre GM anyway (Vancouver passed on him multiple times, but he's good enough to get hired here I guess).

I don't see anything that leads me to believe Mac T is anything too special either though. Jim Nill would've been a better hire.

Honestly, Tambellini probably accomplished exactly what ownership wanted.

He added big players in the draft by drafting high, didn't sign any albatross contracts and didn't trade any youth for short term upgrades.

Unfortunately he also stuck out on every trade and free agent signing and didn't manage a single positive long term addition to the roster except through the draft. This is something I have a lot more faith in MacT to accomplish.

 

[Senor Catface]

Well, at least one of our centers looks a little bulked up.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Dubnyk, Gagner, Horcoff, Schultz, MPV...gone. Perron, Pouliot, Nikitin, Purcell, Fayne, Scrivens, Fasth...in. Not sure how even with your blinders you don't see that MacT has done more in one year than Tambo did in his career with the Oilers.

Not saying this team is a playoff dynamo, but at least it is starting to look like it might be competitive down the line.

Maybe hold off on any Mac T praise till this team does something other than finishing 28th overall.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Paul Bissonnette did a pretty impressive icebucketchallenge if you have a chance to take a look at it on Youtube.

Oilers should sign Biznasty.. just for the hell of it... his character and personality alone makes him worth having as a #14 forward.

 

[Replacement*]

Maybe hold off on any Mac T praise till this team does something other than finishing 28th overall.

This applies to both MacT and Eakins does it not?

Except one of these looked like a complete and utter fool when last seen in incumbent capacity.

 

[rboomercat90]

Maybe hold off on any Mac T praise till this team does something other than finishing 28th overall.

Actually, I think if you want to praise Mac T it's better to do it now and not wait for the season to start.

 

[KCC]

Maybe hold off on any Mac T praise till this team does something other than finishing 28th overall.

The goaltending was so bad for the first 20 games of the year. Ridiculously bad. That has been corrected. Plus they have some size and the same coach as last year, so many players know the system and what to expect.

Chemistry will be the biggie and with Arco, he's played with some of the top players on the team before. I don't think he was treated well last year. He played great when he first stepped in, but then was cast aside. I really do believe he was given the opportunity and more than deserved to stay on the team in a consistent role last year.

Do I think he can handle it as a second line player. I do.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

This applies to both MacT and Eakins does it not?

Except one of these looked like a complete and utter fool when last seen in incumbent capacity.

Shh people don't like when you ***** about clown coaching.

 

[Supermassive]

Shh people don't like when you ***** about clown coaching.

Danny says it best:

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Essentially here was the roster that ended the 2012/2013 season that MacT started with, removing injuries.

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
Smyth - Horcoff - Hemsky
Lander - Smithson - Jones
Brown

Smid - Petry
Schultz - Schultz
Fistric - Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

Let's look at the most common predicted line up and see the differences

Hall RNH Eberle
Hall RNH Eberle
Well nothing changed here, they were and still are a great line

Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
Perron - Arcobello - Yakupov
Well I look at it this way Arcobello > Paajarvi, Perron >>> Gagner so this line is improved even with the scoring downgrade at c, however Arco is defensively superior so it's a win.

Smyth - Horcoff - Hemsky
Pouliot - Draisaitl - Purcell
Hemsky didn't fit on the third line and only succeeds with skilled linemates which neither of them were. Draisaitl will bring more points then Horcoff but will start defensively weaker perhaps. Smyth retired and was barely a 4th liner then and Pouliot is a good player. Third line is also improved

Lander - Smithson - Jones
Hendricks - Gordon - Gazdic/Prospect
Well this line is night and day different. We went from a line that just was there hoping they weren't scored on to a line that can play hard minutes and cause some physical pain and bring the energy. Very good line now especially in comparison

Smid - Petry
Nikitin - Fayne
Smid is now a third pairing d on a worse team and Petry will most likely be on our third pairing as well. Much improvement

Schultz Schultz
Marincin - Schultz
Junior is older and hopefully more skilled and Marincin is becoming a very very good player

Fistric Potter
Ferrence Petry
Honestly there is no comparison at all. One can play in the Nhl and log minutes the other has a face puncher and a guy that belongs in the AHL forever.

Dubnyk/Khabibulin
Scrivens/Fasth
Old washed up guy and a guy who let in more soft goals then a toddler, to a duo that both have legit starter potential.

Looking at the change over this way shows how much was done and how the only spot that MIGHT be a downgrade is 2c but I still believe that Arcobello is a better player then Gagner.

Last year we had a bunch of problems leading us to failure. From the God awful goalies to a rookie coach running a team that was in the process of still finding decent players it was a recipe for disaster.

Now Eakins apparently has a roster that will work for him, upgrades almost everywhere and only one player left from the start of the rebuild.

Not saying that next year we win everything, not even close but if you can't see improvements then you are drinking some of that "Oilers worst team in world" koolaid

 

[DregerFan]

Actually, I think if you want to praise Mac T it's better to do it now and not wait for the season to start.

hahahha

 

[MCDAVIDISH]

Essentially here was the roster that ended the 2012/2013 season that MacT started with, removing injuries.

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
Smyth - Horcoff - Hemsky
Lander - Smithson - Jones
Brown

Smid - Petry
Schultz - Schultz
Fistric - Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

Let's look at the most common predicted line up and see the differences

Hall RNH Eberle
Hall RNH Eberle
Well nothing changed here, they were and still are a great line

Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
Perron - Arcobello - Yakupov
Well I look at it this way Arcobello > Paajarvi, Perron >>> Gagner so this line is improved even with the scoring downgrade at c, however Arco is defensively superior so it's a win.

Smyth - Horcoff - Hemsky
Pouliot - Draisaitl - Purcell
Hemsky didn't fit on the third line and only succeeds with skilled linemates which neither of them were. Draisaitl will bring more points then Horcoff but will start defensively weaker perhaps. Smyth retired and was barely a 4th liner then and Pouliot is a good player. Third line is also improved

Lander - Smithson - Jones
Hendricks - Gordon - Gazdic/Prospect
Well this line is night and day different. We went from a line that just was there hoping they weren't scored on to a line that can play hard minutes and cause some physical pain and bring the energy. Very good line now especially in comparison

Smid - Petry
Nikitin - Fayne
Smid is now a third pairing d on a worse team and Petry will most likely be on our third pairing as well. Much improvement

Schultz Schultz
Marincin - Schultz
Junior is older and hopefully more skilled and Marincin is becoming a very very good player

Fistric Potter
Ferrence Petry
Honestly there is no comparison at all. One can play in the Nhl and log minutes the other has a face puncher and a guy that belongs in the AHL forever.

Dubnyk/Khabibulin
Scrivens/Fasth
Old washed up guy and a guy who let in more soft goals then a toddler, to a duo that both have legit starter potential.

Looking at the change over this way shows how much was done and how the only spot that MIGHT be a downgrade is 2c but I still believe that Arcobello is a better player then Gagner.

Last year we had a bunch of problems leading us to failure. From the God awful goalies to a rookie coach running a team that was in the process of still finding decent players it was a recipe for disaster.

Now Eakins apparently has a roster that will work for him, upgrades almost everywhere and only one player left from the start of the rebuild.

Not saying that next year we win everything, not even close but if you can't see improvements then you are drinking some of that "Oilers worst team in world" koolaid

Great post

 

[Dorian2]

Maybe hold off on any Mac T praise till this team does something other than finishing 28th overall.

You are right in a way. But the way I think, and perhaps a few others as well, is that we can sorta see where MacT is taking this team. The results sucked balls last year for sure, due to a number of mitigating factors. I think with Eakins settled in with the organizational staff, a couple of good additions, a change in the DD fluffy goal contraption, and the same core of the hockey team intact, there may be a few surprises this year.

Maybe I'm being too positive again though.

I'd be more surprised if it blows up like last year than not.

Oh yeah, and to Deathby cheerios...I agree totally with Petrydish....just to add a part of another arguement around here lately due to the Dellow hire.....you sure as hell's don't need advanced stats to see how much better this team actually is. Just have to watch a few games of hockey, over the course of 35 years.....heck, not even that long. Maybe a couple of seasons worth.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

You are right in a way. But the way I think, and perhaps a few others as well, is that we can sorta see where MacT is taking this team. The results sucked balls last year for sure, due to a number of mitigating factors. I think with Eakins settled in with the organizational staff, a couple of good additions, a change in the DD fluffy goal contraption, and the same core of the hockey team intact, there may be a few surprises this year.

Maybe I'm being too positive again though.

I'd be more surprised if it blows up like last year than not.

Oh yeah, and to Deathby cheerios...I agree totally with Petrydish....just to add a part of another arguement around here lately due to the Dellow hire.....you sure as hell's don't need advanced stats to see how much better this team actually is. Just have to watch a few games of hockey, over the course of 35 years.....heck, not even that long. Maybe a couple of seasons worth.

I don't mind Mac T he is trying and being active , but before I praise him I want to see results. But for all the good he did Eakins hiring is a big blemish so far.

 

[oilinblood]

Paul Bissonnette did a pretty impressive icebucketchallenge if you have a chance to take a look at it on Youtube.

Oilers should sign Biznasty.. just for the hell of it... his character and personality alone makes him worth having as a #14 forward.

I could have done without the bikin briefs rear end extreme close up as he shakes like miley cyrus.

 

[oilinblood]

I don't mind Mac T he is trying and being active , but before I praise him I want to see results. But for all the good he did Eakins hiring is a big blemish so far.

Ok. Eakins sucked last year but he made a tonne of rookie mistakes and most have been corrected. He didnt want to fire or change the support staff and rock the boat. Ok. Everyone is gone now...and the bickering which is now common knowledge should be gone. What did bucky or smith even fn do? Jeez. Eakins gave up on his swarm defense...a system that had parallels to the Bruins system. With the Bruins being my second favorite team and the ability to catch more bruins games than get out to oilers games...i have to say it was a stretch to think you could get such a young team to pick up that system effectively in the small amount of time it takes to get your butt kicked. Having only one healthy nhl centre the opening six weeks didnt help. Having no goalie to give your team an honest chance and deflate you with bad goals...again didnt help. Having support coaches that havent provento actually add anything, and infact were knowingly NOT supporting and causing mixed messages ALSO DOES NOT HELP. being out of the playoffs and trying to give cushy minutes to a centre who is no longer in the plans to market him better...and see him fail miserably...ALSO DOES NOT HELP (akin to AVs marketing of Hodgesin difference though is hodgesin looked good in his sheltered minutes while Ggner looked like the usual wimp who cant win draws and looks too slow yet cant make the puck work to make up for his horrible leg speed).

MacT has actually given us a solid bottom six to go with an elite top five of six. Our defense is rediculously improved as is the goaltending. we have better box defending defensemen. We have more athletic and consistent goalies that dont kill moral. We have a young core in Hall, Eberle, RNH, and Justin Schultz...and Yak and Marincin...and down the line Drai, Nurse, Klef who are now a year older and most already visibly stronger from the long off season.

As a Bruins fan i think Clode is a rediculously talented coach but he is stubborn to the point of stupidity. Part of it is the strict system the team relies on where if one person isnt acting in like mindedness the entire team is going to go off the rails. He took chances with off the wall systems that didnt work in the early stages of all his team. Eventually he had to adapt to. I will say right now that the talent afforded clode in all his nhl gigs has been uncomparably better than what Eakins was handed.

That being said if Eakins cant get this roster on the rails and competing nightly and things resemble the last five years...i have no doubt that MacT fires him and goes to the bench himself by game 15-20.

MACT, to me has done his job and has been involved in everything i want his nose in. Eakins hiring doesnt really effect my judgement of him. If it did...i have to make my opinion upon the hiring not with 20/20 hindsight. The smart move was, with the horrific roster of last year, to focus on building the roster and seeing the huge task ahead...which mact had lready talked about when he called our bottom six invisible at best our top six no guts and our defense lost (during his first solo presser as GM). This is a roster a coach can be graded on and fired on.

I have faith that MacT will beable to assess the coach this season without worrying about the 10 of 19 skates that need to be replaced.

 

[McOvechking]

Essentially here was the roster that ended the 2012/2013 season that MacT started with, removing injuries.

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
Smyth - Horcoff - Hemsky
Lander - Smithson - Jones
Brown

Smid - Petry
Schultz - Schultz
Fistric - Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

Let's look at the most common predicted line up and see the differences

Hall RNH Eberle
Hall RNH Eberle
Well nothing changed here, they were and still are a great line

Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
Perron - Arcobello - Yakupov
Well I look at it this way Arcobello > Paajarvi, Perron >>> Gagner so this line is improved even with the scoring downgrade at c, however Arco is defensively superior so it's a win.

Smyth - Horcoff - Hemsky
Pouliot - Draisaitl - Purcell
Hemsky didn't fit on the third line and only succeeds with skilled linemates which neither of them were. Draisaitl will bring more points then Horcoff but will start defensively weaker perhaps. Smyth retired and was barely a 4th liner then and Pouliot is a good player. Third line is also improved

Lander - Smithson - Jones
Hendricks - Gordon - Gazdic/Prospect
Well this line is night and day different. We went from a line that just was there hoping they weren't scored on to a line that can play hard minutes and cause some physical pain and bring the energy. Very good line now especially in comparison

Smid - Petry
Nikitin - Fayne
Smid is now a third pairing d on a worse team and Petry will most likely be on our third pairing as well. Much improvement

Schultz Schultz
Marincin - Schultz
Junior is older and hopefully more skilled and Marincin is becoming a very very good player

Fistric Potter
Ferrence Petry
Honestly there is no comparison at all. One can play in the Nhl and log minutes the other has a face puncher and a guy that belongs in the AHL forever.

Dubnyk/Khabibulin
Scrivens/Fasth
Old washed up guy and a guy who let in more soft goals then a toddler, to a duo that both have legit starter potential.

Looking at the change over this way shows how much was done and how the only spot that MIGHT be a downgrade is 2c but I still believe that Arcobello is a better player then Gagner.

Last year we had a bunch of problems leading us to failure. From the God awful goalies to a rookie coach running a team that was in the process of still finding decent players it was a recipe for disaster.

Now Eakins apparently has a roster that will work for him, upgrades almost everywhere and only one player left from the start of the rebuild.

Not saying that next year we win everything, not even close but if you can't see improvements then you are drinking some of that "Oilers worst team in world" koolaid

This. In such little time, MacT has made marked improvements. Quit complaining that we're not a contender yet. Give him another year and we will be.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Ok. Eakins sucked last year but he made a tonne of rookie mistakes and most have been corrected. He didnt want to fire or change the support staff and rock the boat. Ok. Everyone is gone now...and the bickering which is now common knowledge should be gone. What did bucky or smith even fn do? Jeez. Eakins gave up on his swarm defense...a system that had parallels to the Bruins system. With the Bruins being my second favorite team and the ability to catch more bruins games than get out to oilers games...i have to say it was a stretch to think you could get such a young team to pick up that system effectively in the small amount of time it takes to get your butt kicked. Having only one healthy nhl centre the opening six weeks didnt help. Having no goalie to give your team an honest chance and deflate you with bad goals...again didnt help. Having support coaches that havent provento actually add anything, and infact were knowingly NOT supporting and causing mixed messages ALSO DOES NOT HELP. being out of the playoffs and trying to give cushy minutes to a centre who is no longer in the plans to market him better...and see him fail miserably...ALSO DOES NOT HELP (akin to AVs marketing of Hodgesin difference though is hodgesin looked good in his sheltered minutes while Ggner looked like the usual wimp who cant win draws and looks too slow yet cant make the puck work to make up for his horrible leg speed).

MacT has actually given us a solid bottom six to go with an elite top five of six. Our defense is rediculously improved as is the goaltending. we have better box defending defensemen. We have more athletic and consistent goalies that dont kill moral. We have a young core in Hall, Eberle, RNH, and Justin Schultz...and Yak and Marincin...and down the line Drai, Nurse, Klef who are now a year older and most already visibly stronger from the long off season.

As a Bruins fan i think Clode is a rediculously talented coach but he is stubborn to the point of stupidity. Part of it is the strict system the team relies on where if one person isnt acting in like mindedness the entire team is going to go off the rails. He took chances with off the wall systems that didnt work in the early stages of all his team. Eventually he had to adapt to. I will say right now that the talent afforded clode in all his nhl gigs has been uncomparably better than what Eakins was handed.

That being said if Eakins cant get this roster on the rails and competing nightly and things resemble the last five years...i have no doubt that MacT fires him and goes to the bench himself by game 15-20.

tl:dr

 

[McBooya42]

tl:dr

Too bad, it's spot on and you could maybe learn from it.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Too bad, it's spot on and you could maybe learn from it.

I don't need to learn from posters on hockey ,or coaches but thx for the concern. I am on many different sites reading many different things. If a post is to long winded I skip over them, no offence to original poster. But I am glad you learned something.

 

[40oz]

Don't mind me plebs, I'm just hear to spread my wisdom and grammatical errors.

 

[Soundwave]

Well, at least one of our centers looks a little bulked up.

He does look a little heavier.

Another year or so and weight shouldn't be a big issue.

 

[Moose Coleman]

Am I the only one who thinks Nuge still looks tiny? He's 21 now, there are no more excuses for having a childish frame. As a professional athlete it's his job to be in shape for the sport he's getting paid millions to play. He's simply not up to par.

You got all that from a grainy YouTube video didja?

 

[s7ark]

He does look a little heavier.

Another year or so and weight shouldn't be a big issue.

I just hope his explosiveness and elusiveness return. Strength is important, but Nuge's game is more about quick start/stops and pinpoint passes.

 

[Redwood Original]

I just hope his explosiveness and elusiveness return. Strength is important, but Nuge's game is more about quick start/stops and pinpoint passes.

This. A million times.

Those quick stops and starts, pivots, direction changes made a huge impact on his game in his first year.