Evaluating the Post-Deadline "Reset"

[shoop]

i would like to think chiarelli is smart enough to realize that one decent streak of hockey at the end of the year doesn't mean that the team is "fixed". im pretty sure no matter how the oilers finish the year he is very well aware of what needs to be addressed come the offseason. well i would hope anyway.

There is absolutely zero chance the Oilers start next season with the current roster.

Agreement on what needs to be fixed is a little different. That's why you hire the best GM possible and trust him to fix the team. I trust his judgment much more than MacT's or Tambo's. Hopefully, he rewards that trust with a team that is still in the chase for a playoff spot next March.

 

[Aerchon]

After 10 years of being not only put of the playoffs but dead last or near dead last the one and only metric that means a thing is wins, losses and points in relation to the rest of the league.

One year the oilers have a good pp and pk but are a disaster 5 on 5

The next year they are good 5 on 5 but are terrible in specials.

The next year they are unlucky becasue they generate chances but have a poor shooting %

The next year their shooting % is fine but they can't generate chances.

There is no meaningful reset when shuffling around bottom pair Dmen and 3rd and 4th line forwards. The Oilers have lived of this change for years.

The only true 'reset' will come after the draft and FA if the oilers have made a few MAJOR changes to the team dynamic.

This.

It will be interesting what a major change consists of.

Personally even just adding Harmonic and moving out one of Hall, Eberle, or Nuge + Yak on top would change the complexion of this team significantly.

We legitimately have some solid bottom 6 types coming down the pipeline. We legitimately have a slew of solid defensive prospects developing very nicely. We have one more year of stellar draft positioning to work with.

Hopefully Chiarelli can work some of his magic and make the adjustments to turn this team into a playoff contender. His moves to date show a lot of promise.

 

[6God*]

The most glaring weakness on this team remains the defense. Apart from Sekera and Oesterle+Clendening (with inconsistency), no one can really move the puck from the back-end or offer any semblance of a threat in the offensive zone.

I don't see an NHL blueliner in Clendening and if this team is ever going to become competitive he can't be playing beyond a #6 role.

With Klefbom coming back that's another useful piece, while it's hard to have anything more than hopeful optimism that Davidson will show the same growth next season.

We need guys who know how to handle the puck. This doesn't necessarily mean powerplay quarterbacks - but people who can get the puck in any zone and not look like it's a hot potato.

A guy like Dan Hamhuis for example is an established shutdown defenseman - yet in the offensive zone he still knows how to make a smart pass, or position himself to get a shot on net.

Players like Nurse, Reinhart, Fayne don't possess this talent at all.

 

[Cawz]

its really shocking how much better our defence has been without schultz gifting the other team *at least* one goal every single freaking game... even i, likely the biggest critic of schultz on these boards, was surprised how much better we looked as soon as he was gone

if we actually had a healthy defence, with klefbom and davidson, we'd look even better.... schultz was a boat-anchor for the entire freaking team... simply ridiculous, almost to level of being unbelievable, how much schultz hurt his team game in and game out

Yup. I usually hate the term "addition by subtraction", but in this case, it seems to be appropriate.

Who cares? Schultz is still what he's always been. A good skating, decent passing, poor decision making Dman who is allergic to hard work and physical play. Him fitting into a 3rd pairing role on a playoff team doesn't change that, there are plenty of garbage D who play bottom pair on playoff teams because of the salary cap and fit in fine because they have top pairings eating up almost half the game vs top competition for them.

Yeah, but he was brought in to be Neidermeyer-type Norris-trophy-potential dman. At least that was the hype coming in. Just goes to show - don't believe the hype. I think management and Schultz both fell for it, with management trying to build the d around him and Schultz thinking he could get by on skill alone. His hot start in the AHL and NHL probably was the worst thing for his development.

Seems to be doing just fine playing 15 minutes a night on a bottom pairing like he should be in pittsburgh. +5 in 9 games, hasn't been a minus player in any of those games.

I read through the trade thread on their board and opinions seem to be mixed. I haven't watched any of their games though.

The thing is, he came in as a UFA, which over-prices his services. The expectations for him were a lot more than a bottom pairing player and he knew that. If for some reason his skills weren't up to where they were expected, you would hope to see him trying to make up for it everywhere else in his game. Instead, it seemed like he was biding his time waiting to be traded, hence why the fans were booing him. How often do we see a specific player get singled out like that? There have been lots of **** players on this team over the years, but I don't recall the fans singling out a player like that since Poti.

 

[Gord]

Can we stop with this kind of stuff in every thread?

This thread is about their play since the "reset".

why? the "reset" means nothing. a team playing out the string when the pressure is off as they're losers again. reset stats mean nothing.

 

[Bangers]

This team just flat out looks better, even when they lose.

As Jadeddog pointed out, Schultz is no longer gifting the other team 1-2 goals per game, and Maroon and Kassian have added a lot of what this team needed.

The team is better than it was at the start of the year, and way better than it was last year.

 

[oljimmy]

Just to be clear, according to Todd it was a *statistical* reset. It's not that the past is being forgotten or anything. It's that they want to see what the team can do in those games, statistically, without the deadline looking over everyone's head. No-one's saying that it's a different team or that they've turned a corner, it's just a statistical evaluation period.

 

[Beerfish]

We look better visually, got it.

 

[Beerfish]

This team just flat out looks better, even when they lose.

As Jadeddog pointed out, Schultz is no longer gifting the other team 1-2 goals per game, and Maroon and Kassian have added a lot of what this team needed.

The team is better than it was at the start of the year, and way better than it was last year.

Schultz goes to pitt, is something like plus 5 and i don't think he's had a minus game since he got there and pit has been the hottest team in the league.

Yeah this teams ****astic play was all due to Schultz, just as we all expected.

 

[NewBoysClub97*]

Anybody know our GAA numbers in games that just Talbot started since the "reset"

LB really screws them up

 

[Bangers]

Schultz goes to pitt, is something like plus 5 and i don't think he's had a minus game since he got there and pit has been the hottest team in the league.

Yeah this teams ****astic play was all due to Schultz, just as we all expected.

So are you arguing that Schultz wasn't making boneheaded decisions and giving up cherry offensive chances to the opposing team on a repeated basis?

It was a divorce that needed to happen, both for Schultz and the Oilers.

 

[oljimmy]

Anybody know our GAA numbers in games that just Talbot started since the "reset"

LB really screws them up

GAA/60 is 2.7 in the 15 post-reset games, 19th overall in March.
GAA/60 without Broissoit is 1.98, good for 2nd overall in March.

Looks like you're, uh... right.

 

[garyturner3]

I'm not sure why there's so much debate about how to fix the Oilers. Clearly you're going to win the lottery again this season so you can pencil in Matthews. Defense can be fixed by moving McDavid and Matthews back there permanently. Then you can solve your goaltending issues by moving Yakupov in net. That'll give him more ice time so he'll be happier as well. Two birds with one stone. All your problems solved. You're welcome.

 

[voxel]

I'm not sure why there's so much debate about how to fix the Oilers. Clearly you're going to win the lottery again this season so you can pencil in Matthews. Defense can be fixed by moving McDavid and Matthews back there permanently. Then you can solve your goaltending issues by moving Yakupov in net. That'll give him more ice time so he'll be happier as well. Two birds with one stone. All your problems solved. You're welcome.

Nah, we'll sign Stamkos, trade RNH for a D-man, win the lottery and draft Matthews, and then sign Lucic too.

Meanwhile the Leafs don't sniff the Cup for another 40 years

 

[garyturner3]

Nah, we'll sign Stamkos, trade RNH for a D-man, win the lottery and draft Matthews, and then sign Lucic too.

Meanwhile the Leafs don't sniff the Cup for another 40 years

So you're saying in 40 years I'll finally get to see them win the cup? I'll take it!!!

 

[AM]

I dont know if I'm looking forward to next year or not.

 

[duul]

Talbot has been playing like one of if not the best goalies in the league the past couple months. We have the worst D in the NHL and he's putting up incredible numbers.

Too early to be making any claims, but he looks damn legit.

 

[BlackDogg]

Is there any way to view this season as any kind of success if they finish dead last again, even with the injuries? I don't think so. Dead last is still dead last. Injuries are a partial excuse I suppose, but they also drafted the best player in the world, got a better coach, and GM. If the rest of the teams also got better, its all relative and will be as well next year, including the injury situation.

 

[Cawz]

Schultz goes to pitt, is something like plus 5 and i don't think he's had a minus game since he got there and pit has been the hottest team in the league.

Yeah this teams ****astic play was all due to Schultz, just as we all expected.

Ha ha, using +/-...

He has 3 points. Pens fans say he is a decent but overpaid 5D. How much of them being the "hottest team in the league" would you say is due to Schultz being a depth dman on that team. Youre really stretching here.

No-one is saying this was "all" due to Schultz. Trading him away just solved the problem of the defence being built around him, which wasnt working out. Thats on management for falling for the hype, and on Schultz for positioning himself to receive the big bucks, but not putting in the effort to earn it.

 

[Cawz]

Is there any way to view this season as any kind of success if they finish dead last again, even with the injuries? I don't think so. Dead last is still dead last. Injuries are a partial excuse I suppose, but they also drafted the best player in the world, got a better coach, and GM. If the rest of the teams also got better, its all relative and will be as well next year, including the injury situation.

Well, they had 62 points last year and have 67 right now.

They had a goal differential of -85 last year and its -40 right now.

Is it a success? No.
Is it improvement? Yes.
Is it enough? No.
Did they get screwed by luck with respect to the injuries and refs? Yes.
Will they get blessed by luck again at the lottery? Maybe.

 

[BlackDogg]

Well, they had 62 points last year and have 67 right now.

They had a goal differential of -85 last year and its -40 right now.

Is it a success? No.
Is it improvement? Yes.
Is it enough? No.
Did they get screwed by luck with respect to the injuries and refs? Yes.
Will they get blessed by luck again at the lottery? Maybe.

Nope, not a success. But you are correct, there is some improvement - not as many embarrasing games this year either.

I'm a little disappointed though, and one has to be, that they are where they are in the standings despite the improvement in points. I"m sure management is not happy about this either. They've got some huge problems yet and unfortunately changing the lines will result in some mesh time until things start to click again next year and lines are determined.

Not sure what to say about the officiating - this is a huge problem and I believe they'd have a few more points with that. I don't think it is evenly bad across the league either - its screwing the Oilers more than anyone. Something needs to be addressed here before next season, and if Chia doesn't do it, he's not doing his job.