Get Draisaitl and McDavid some help

[daver]

If he were healthy he’d be centering our second line but believe what you’d like dude.

There hasn't been a playoffs since 2020 that Draisaitl hasn't been McDavid's most common linemate but believe what you'd like.

 

[daver]

You want to know what none of those teams had? Massive holes at key positions and GMs who struck out multiple times in drafting, free agent signings, and trades or lack thereof in some cases. You keep clutching to this make believe leadership quality that you think wins championships. Good teams with complete rosters, quality management and quality drafting win cups. Which of these qualities do you believe the McDavid era Oilers have had?

There's a reason why Bergeron didn't win again despite all the excellent "leadership" you're talking about. And that reason has a name, Peter Chiarelli.

HF is jumping in to defend McDavid more than his teammates.

 

[Satoru Gojo]

They have zero scoring depth. Otherwise why does McDavid, Drai, Hyman and RNH play half the game with the other lines under 12 minutes? Depth?

Well respectfully I disagree with your take

McDrai needs to be split up and RNH, Mcleod and Foegle need to better

 

[daver]

Well respectfully I disagree with your take

McDrai needs to be split up and RNH, Mcleod and Foegle need to better

McDavid has 38 ES points in the last three playoffs, Draisaitl has been on 22 of them (56%)

In 08 and 09, Crosby had 34 ES points, Malkin was in on 4 of them (12%).

It would be huge if both McDavid and Draisaitl could each carry their own line.

 

[CN8]

McDavid has 38 ES points in the last three playoffs, Draisaitl has been on 22 of them (56%)

In 08 and 09, Crosby had 34 ES points, Malkin was in on 4 of them (12%).

It would be huge if both McDavid and Draisaitl could each carry their own line.

Nice find , interesting.
I do wonder if it’s more cause Drai needs McD than the other way around

 

[featherhawk]

Every other shift they are on the ice creating chances and have bums around them.

they already have the 4 zebras and the NHL creating chances for the club, what more do you want?

 

[mdobbs]

Nice find , interesting.
I do wonder if it’s more cause Drai needs McD than the other way around

Maybe

Prime Malkin, on his game, was also as good as anyone in the league and could single handedly take over games

I don’t see that from Drai

 

[daver]

Nice find , interesting.
I do wonder if it’s more cause Drai needs McD than the other way around

It's a strange thing. They are so good together that you would think that they could play apart produce as much overall offense for the team without having to be so reliant on one line/getting PP opportunities. It really relegates the rest of the team to bystanders.

It's been the same story for years now.

 

[JAK]

It's a strange thing. They are so good together that you would think that they could play apart produce as much overall offense for the team without having to be so reliant on one line/getting PP opportunities. It really relegates the rest of the team to bystanders.

It's been the same story for years now.

Oilers teammates : Well, they get paid the big bucks.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

It's a strange thing. They are so good together that you would think that they could play apart produce as much overall offense for the team without having to be so reliant on one line/getting PP opportunities. It really relegates the rest of the team to bystanders.

It's been the same story for years now.

Agreed. And I don’t buy the injury excuse as to why they are playing together now. Drai looks fine and played over 29 minutes. Every year they resort to playing them together and playing them half the game

It’s so much easier for other teams to game plan around one line than two. Each of them should be more than capable of running their own line and creating matchup nightmares for opposing coaches.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Agreed. And I don’t buy the injury excuse as to why they are playing together now. Drai looks fine and played over 29 minutes. Every year they resort to playing them together and playing them half the game

It’s so much easier for other teams to game plan around one line than two. Each of them should be more than capable of running their own line and creating matchup nightmares for opposing coaches.

Pretty much agree.

I think what happened was the Henrique injury really f***ed with the extremely fickle chemistry on the team, so they just went back to the combo they know that actually works.

 

[WestCoast CyberG]

Well respectfully I disagree with your take

McDrai needs to be split up and RNH, Mcleod and Foegle need to better

How are any players supposed to produce when one line uses up half the game minutes? Does Knoblach not know how to balance lines or is it the fact the Oilers have no depth? See goaltending for a better example.

The Canucks are letting the Oilers beat themselves at times.

 

[Moridin]

Marner for Hyman + Kulak ?

 

[Hockeyholic]

I like how posters keep comparing the 2009 Pens to this year's Oilers.

Scuderi-Gill were not direct liabilities to their team like Ceci-Nurse. Gonchar was better than any D Edmonton has. The 2009 version of MAF would definitely be enough for this Oilers team.

If you put the 2009 version of Crosby/Malkin on this year's Oilers, it would not make a difference.

Marner for Hyman + Kulak ?

I wouldn't do this if I were Edmonton. Marner will need a new contract. And the Oilers shouldn't use up valuable cap to a guy like Marner. Not to mention Hyman is a better postseason player at half the cost.

 

[WestCoast CyberG]

You want to know what none of those teams had? Massive holes at key positions and GMs who struck out multiple times in drafting, free agent signings, and trades or lack thereof in some cases. You keep clutching to this make believe leadership quality that you think wins championships. Good teams with complete rosters, quality management and quality drafting win cups. Which of these qualities do you believe the McDavid era Oilers have had?

There's a reason why Bergeron didn't win again despite all the excellent "leadership" you're talking about. And that reason has a name, Peter Chiarelli.

“Good teams with complete rosters, quality management and quality drafting win cups”

A rather obvious point which is the shared philosophy amongst most organizations, if not all.

Every team has holes or bad trades or signings that didn’t work out.

 

[syz]

If you want to know why the Oilers depth forwards have such a difficult time scoring, pay close attention to what happens every time Nurse or Ceci have the puck the next time you watch the team play.

 

[daver]

I like how posters keep comparing the 2009 Pens to this year's Oilers.

Scuderi-Gill were not direct liabilities to their team like Ceci-Nurse. Gonchar was better than any D Edmonton has. The 2009 version of MAF would definitely be enough for this Oilers team.

If you put the 2009 version of Crosby/Malkin on this year's Oilers, it would not make a difference.

The Oilers supporting forward corps would be a clear upgrade from the 2009 Pens' supporting forwards.

 

[NVious]

Edmonton should've 100% been going all in every year of McDrai, they half assed it, they should've razed the ground dealing draft picks for D+goaltending+scoring depth, especially considering how hard it has been for them to sign people.

You have two historically great players and a guy who is easily top 10 all time and they're just letting them go to waste. Kane and Hyman were more other teams bungling assets than them even "acquiring" them.

 

[Cup or Bust]

The Oilers need to split them up and I think they would have last game if not for being down by a few goals early in the game. It was probably more a strategy of trying to get back into the game. I would be surprised if they are not split up this game. They also need some of their depth to gets a few goals, you can't expect one line to do all the scoring.

 

[RooBicks]

Agreed. And I don’t buy the injury excuse as to why they are playing together now. Drai looks fine and played over 29 minutes. Every year they resort to playing them together and playing them half the game

It’s so much easier for other teams to game plan around one line than two. Each of them should be more than capable of running their own line and creating matchup nightmares for opposing coaches.

Vancouver dominated game 1 5v5 and did a better job than just about anyone has this year shutting down McDavid when they were apart, with or without Draisatl on the ice. Splitting them up won't work, especially with Draisatl laggin a bit - they don't have the depth for it. They have to stack and overplay a line and hope their dominance will allow them to win before exhaustion kicks in. Might work this round, who knows, they're amazing together. Won't get them through next round because, great as these guys are, they are mortal and have limited energy.

It's an interesting dynamic: Vancouver is the better all around team, with better depth, defensive personnel, structure, goaltending, the whole thing. but they face an overwhelmingly dominant pair of players who are playing an unsustainable 30 minutes/night. I honestly believe that Vancouver will have the better chance next round because what Edmonton is trying to do, despite having an impressive effect up 'til now, is unsustainable for more than a few more games. Whether they can hold them off for now is still in question though. Very interesting series, that's for sure.

 

[daver]

The Oilers need to split them up and I think they would have last game if not for being down by a few goals early in the game. It was probably more a strategy of trying to get back into the game. I would be surprised if they are not split up this game. They also need some of their depth to gets a few goals, you can't expect one line to do all the scoring.

They have been together since Game 1.

 

[Romang67]

Results matter genius. It’s absolutely telling how this so-called “greatest player” can’t even his team to even a lousy division title. Then he takes league max which further cripples his team’s ability to add value players to get over the hump. There’s absolutely no leadership being displayed by this overpriced & overrated baby.

You really don't want to go throwing genius labels around at the same time you repeatedly show that you don't understand how the salary cap works.

Again, Crosby's cap hit was a higher percentage of the salary cap in 2009 than McDavid's was when he signed in 2019. Still is so. I'm not sure how I can put it plainer than that. If McDavid's cap hit is and was prohibitive to putting together a good team, then it would be safe to assume that Crosby's also was so in 2009.

If you don't understand how these things work, you can just ask.

 

[Romang67]

Leadership is a big reason for Vancouver’s turnaround but I guess if the metrics say Edmonton are cup faves it must be true, lmao.

Crosby has multiple cups.
So does Toews.
Messier. Roy. Yzerman. Bergeron. TBays core for their cups.

The list is endless.
All leaders not just captains.

When is McDavid going to guarantee a win?

Yes, leadership matters.

It’s been long enough these two should have a cup by now.

Was Ray Bourque a bad leader? Arguably the 2nd best D-man in history, and he didn't win a cup until he joined the Avs. Was it his shit leadership, or were his teams not good enough?

 

[JAK]

Was Ray Bourque a bad leader? Arguably the 2nd best D-man in history, and he didn't win a cup until he joined the Avs. Was it his shit leadership, or were his teams not good enough?

Gregory Campbell wasn't draft eligie yet.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

I like how posters keep comparing the 2009 Pens to this year's Oilers.

Scuderi-Gill were not direct liabilities to their team like Ceci-Nurse. Gonchar was better than any D Edmonton has. The 2009 version of MAF would definitely be enough for this Oilers team.

If you put the 2009 version of Crosby/Malkin on this year's Oilers, it would not make a difference.

2009 MAF sported a sparkling .878 save percentage in the 2nd round in an era where it was harder to score in the playoffs. Adjusted for era that's even worse than what Skinner is doing right now, but the Pens were able to win the series, with Malkin in particular playing with a rotating cast of nobodies.

According to EDM fans, Bouchard is the second coming, so they need to make up their minds then.