Has your faith in Holland been shattered?

[MoontoScott]

we have two players eligible for arbitration which opens up a 2nd buyout window. No need to buy him out if there is a chance someone will take him at 50% retained or too high of a futures (pick or player). Now that the frenzy is over, there are a number of teams who could use him even if it is just a roster spot while they try to tank. That should drive the price down

Thanks very much, I now have a clearer understanding of what triggers the 2nd buyout window.

Isn't it ridiculous that the goal of teams is to "tank"? Even if you do it there's something called a lottery system that is supposed to guard against this type of manipulation. Some of these NHL managers are simply...............

 

[WaitingForUser]

Weirdly enough, I'm a lot more optimistic about his moves today than you are. How the turns have tabled.

What??? LOL

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

I am still not a fan of Holland however i like the mix of the team much more after today's moves.

Hopefully it works and we can make some waves in the playoffs. Regular season results are meaningless now. (Obviously we need to make the playoffs)

 

[Cloned]

What??? LOL

What what?

 

[29292929]

The d is kind of up in the air. But honestly as a fwd group I think it's pretty good. Way better than last year. All top 9 wingers are 200 ft players that can skate and dig. They still need a pure shooter imo(Savoie in cpl years?) but don't have 2 4th lines anymore. When Holloway steps in they are going to be a highly competitive team everywhere on ice.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Is this poll still around!?!

 

[Jumptheshark]

Not happy this morning. Unless he has a goalie trade laying around, I have my concerns about this team is coming together

 

[ujju2]

I think he had a real solid day, if he can find a starting goalie I'll be completely happy with the team for next year. 1G is a big hole right now but I love the moves that have been made.

 

[DegeN9]

Honestly I am pretty happy with Holland after today. I wouldn't say it was a home run (Ceci/Keith are both gambles to me) but there is no denying our forward depth has vastly improved. The D looks a little worse on paper but I think in practice we could be in for a pleasant surprise. If we get our forwards playing a little more responsibly (Especially in the neutral zone) we will see less turnovers putting our D in tough spots/making them look lost. Between the pipes is still a huge gamble for me but the market is still pretty saturated with 1a/1b goalies still, so I could see us making a small splash to help rectify that. If not, Smith from last year could still show up and any progression/consistency from Koskinen could see us easily making the playoffs and possibly going a few rounds deep at least.

With some of the comments/posts around here I feel as though Oilers fans have been extremely shell shocked over the years and do not trust anything our GM does. Edmonton is a tough market to get players into on their own free will. With what was available to him I think he did a decently admirable job. I am a big believer in giving a GM the opportunity to realize his plan before passing judgement. This has been Holland's first really big off season with cap available. He got some important internal signings done and added some key pieces. NHL teams that win the cup are often better than the raw sum of their parts and I am hoping we can begin to see that with this roster. The results of the next two years will either make him out to be a genius or get his ass kicked out the door. I'm excited to watch it develop.

 

[Del Preston]

Forward group looks really good.

I have no opinion Ceci. He gets trashed by some for his time in Ottawa/Toronto but had a good year with Pittsburgh. I don't know what to expect. In a perfect world, Larsson stays, and the Oilers have Barrie/Larsson/Bouchard down the right side for the foreseeable future.

Koskinen still being on the roster is the biggest issue. If he's still there by the start of the season, that will sour me on the offseason. It's too big of a hole not to fix, especially when the other goalie is 39. Holland saying they can't expect Smith to play as much this year at least gives hope that an upgrade on Koskinen might happen.

 

[WaitingForUser]

What what?

Just surprised you liked the moves that’s all. You feeling ok?

 

[Cloned]

Just surprised you liked the moves that’s all. You feeling ok?

I was pro-Holland until the Keith trade. If he gives me reason to trust him again, I’ll be happy to do so.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

Holland is doing well so far, B+ this offseason. Starting goalie is a big need, but UFAs don't typically want to sign in Edmonton and after what Colorado just paid for Kuemper, I don't think trading for a goalie will be possible or worth it.

Probably best to ride the storm out for a bit and wait and see if Kostko wants to play NHL level hockey this year or if Holland can pull a mid-season trade if some 'better' team gets off to a slow start.

 

[thadd]

If people are still pissed off at Holland they should just give up on caring about hockey.

• Totally love the term and $$$ we paid Cici and Barrie.
• If Holland can go out and get us a 3rd line center, this will probably be Edmonton's best off season since we got Pronger.
• The more time I've had to think about it, the more I'm sold on Keith.
• He isn't going to be on the #1 PP, #1 PK and he isn't going to be put against the opposition's best players like Nurse will.
• Nurse's extension is awesome for us. By the time that contract is up we'll be in 2 different situations either Broberg and Bouchard will be so good that we won't be able to afford to resign Nurse or they won't have lived up to their potential and we'll be able to resign Nurse for a long time.
• Hyman contract is probably 1-2 years longer than we'd want. But if he can play 70+ games a season for the first 5 years, damn that's going to be huge for us.

 

[Shanahanigans]

He’s improved the forwards but the defence is downgraded. We’re much faster as a team with these additions and with Barrie, Keith, Nurse and Bouchard, it seems like they’re prioritizing puck movement (which is a positive). I think between the puck moving dmen and our fast forward group (we’ve added 2 speed demons in Hyman and Foegle ) - our best chance of winning is if we can play a style like Colorado. They don’t have many big dmen either but they overwhelm teams with their transition game and team speed. Of course we don’t have a Makar but puck moving looks to finally be a strength. Hopefully Tippett can adjust to the roster changes.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Holland is doing well so far, B+ this offseason. Starting goalie is a big need, but UFAs don't typically want to sign in Edmonton and after what Colorado just paid for Kuemper, I don't think trading for a goalie will be possible or worth it.

Probably best to ride the storm out for a bit and wait and see if Kostko wants to play NHL level hockey this year or if Holland can pull a mid-season trade if some 'better' team gets off to a slow start.

The Oilers were linked to Kuemper for over a year. With Arizona showing willingness to take on salary for picks (2nd round picks!), there seemed to be an avenue to flush Koskinen with a first rounder to land Kuemper. Instead of jumping in early within this dumping window, Holland opted to wait out Arizona on the cost. When the goalie carousel stopped the price went up and Colorado assertively and quickly addressed their issue. Opportunity lost.

 

[McShogun99]

He’s improved the forwards but the defence is downgraded. We’re much faster as a team with these additions and with Barrie, Keith, Nurse and Bouchard, it seems like they’re prioritizing puck movement (which is a positive). I think between the puck moving dmen and our fast forward group (we’ve added 2 speed demons in Hyman and Foegle ) - our best chance of winning is if we can play a style like Colorado. They don’t have many big dmen either but they overwhelm teams with their transition game and team speed. Of course we don’t have a Makar but puck moving looks to finally be a strength. Hopefully Tippett can adjust to the roster changes.

I don’t see how we downgraded the D. Bear was third pairing last year, Bouchard takes his place and will be better. Jones/Lagesson/Kulikov is being replaced by Kieth which is a massive upgrade. Ceci replacing Larsson is a downgrade but not as much as people make it out to be. Russell is decent for third pairing but we might upgrade that spot before the season starts.

We went from;
Nurse-Barrie
LagessonJones-Larsson
4K/Russell-Bear

To this
Nurse-Barrie
Kieth-Ceci
Russell/Lagesson-Bouchard

It’s a solid group and Bouchard could start pushing for top pairing minutes by the end of the season.

 

[SwedishFire]

Thw defence us a big big gamble. Line putting 3/4 of your marks on two bets, Ceci- Kieth. Now Lagesson has to be trusted as one of the 6. There will be injuries, but Im hPpy for him, he seserves some chances, how should hou otherwise show and grow your hockeycraft.

Im surpided there ud no more Ds. I guess Holland tired of the jnexfective forwards as ChiSson and Neal, and thought depth beats tops.

Still thinks there is no RW for McDavid, it will be McDrai party for time to time.

 

[Oil53]

Like that Holland is leaving openings for prospects.Holloway & Samorukov both played against men last year so wouldn’t surprise me if one or both make it.

 

[WaitingForUser]

I was pro-Holland until the Keith trade. If he gives me reason to trust him again, I’ll be happy to do so.

Fair enough I’m probably getting you mixed up with Cyclone on that

 

[Cloned]

Fair enough I’m probably getting you mixed up with Cyclone on that

He’s actually been pretty optimistic the last year or so. Maybe someone else?

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

I think Adam Larsson's loss was huge, but the addition of Keith and Ceci allows for a better overall d-core.

Getting Foegle for Bear was a huge win, as was signing Ryan.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Honestly this seems like a new NHL team....

Like...Brayden McNabb?....are you f***ing kidding me?

 

[McShogun99]

Like that Holland is leaving openings for prospects.Holloway & Samorukov both played against men last year so wouldn’t surprise me if one or both make it.

We need to leave a spot or 2 for the rookies to try and steal. You don’t want 4+ young players trying to break in at the same time. I think they both see spot duty this year.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I think Adam Larsson's loss was huge, but the addition of Keith and Ceci allows for a better overall d-core.

Getting Foegle for Bear was a huge win, as was signing Ryan.

Larsson loss is huge as no one on the roster will replace him. I remember about 5 years ago this board wanted both Ceci and Ryan. When we finally got them--I looked and neither are the same player they were 5 years ago.

I like the Foegle trade--but the fact he is unsigned has me concerned--I can see him taking the Oilers to arbitration and that concerns me