How are you feeling about the Oilers right now?

[McIce Whole]

I still hope we acquire another top 6 forward or someone like Benson steps up and knocks Chiasson out of the top 6. He simply does not belong there.

Only time I can see him moving up is if he’s glued to Mcdavid and Drai but other than that, he should be in the bottom 6.

 

[The Panther]

I also still believe in Kosko. And I think a year where he's the man after an offseason of training (post realizing what it takes in the NHL), could really see him take off.

I think so, too. People are too down on Koskinen... because why?

The guy just had a winning record, as a 'rookie' (technically) goaltender... on the Oilers. He had a save-percentage and GAA that were both better than the NHL average... to repeat, he was ROOKIE playing behind an AHL-level defence.

I'm just saying let's give the guy a chance.

 

[CupofOil]

The D is worse? We lost no one that started the year besides the #7 and #8 D.

Yes, the defense is worse than the one that ended last season.
I remember when so many people were saying that the defense will be much better when Sekera returns. Well...

Also, I wouldn't say that the forward group is significantly improved. The bottom 6 is likely to score more but Draisaitl, Nuge and Chiasson will almost certainly score less so it'll likely balance out. Neal should score more than Lucic but he could also be done as an effective NHLer for all we know.
It's only been a shuffling of deck chairs to be honest.

The biggest improvement (if there will be improvement) will come from keeping the goals against down due to players buying into the system, better PK and better goaltending but these are all question marks as well.
Either way, I wouldn't expect much improvement in the goal scoring department. There isn't much growth potential there outside of Neal finding a fountain of youth.
It's a bad team folks, there will likely be more pain before we see much gain.

 

[Aceboogie]

I think so, too. People are too down on Koskinen... because why?

The guy just had a winning record, as a 'rookie' (technically) goaltender... on the Oilers. He had a save-percentage and GAA that were both better than the NHL average... to repeat, he was ROOKIE playing behind an AHL-level defence.

I'm just saying let's give the guy a chance.

Koskinen would be a great back up option. But yet again, we put a player in a position they aren't ready for and are now banking on said player having a breakout/career year. And if not, means we likely dont have a shot at playoffs

 

[Weitz]

I think so, too. People are too down on Koskinen... because why?

The guy just had a winning record, as a 'rookie' (technically) goaltender... on the Oilers. He had a save-percentage and GAA that were both better than the NHL average... to repeat, he was ROOKIE playing behind an AHL-level defence.

I'm just saying let's give the guy a chance.

Umm his Save % and GAA were both below average. 38th and 20th amongst goalies who played 25 games or more last year.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Goaltending is easily the biggest factor (and largely unknown at this stage).

I think anything close to 91% from the combo of Koskinen/Smith gets the team into the playoffs because there's likely "enough" offense there on the roster to get around average GF in the league.

Of course that's optimistic because both Koskinen and Smith were well below 91% last season... but with Tippett coming in and hopefully a marginally better bottom 6 (still not great though)... the team should be slightly better defensively overall.


As a comparison... last season Montreal scored 17 more goals than the Oilers and let in 35 fewer.. and they still missed the playoffs with 96 points.


Can the Oilers get ~17 more goals this season and let in ~35 less? I think that's possible (although not a simple task obviously)... but if they did that they'd very likely be in the running for a wild card spot at least because 96 pts in most years should get you in.

 

[fireantz]

Reider and Lucic played way too many games last season as we had little alternative. Now we have signed several viable alternatives and have multiple depth options in Bakersfield. Hopefully younger D will push Russell and/or Benning out and Smith puts heat on Koskinen. New management owes nobody Let the competition begin

 

[Goonitup44]

If Holland can work out Gusev i'd be pretty hyped about this year

 

[McHaNugYakEbNurDra]

I am pumped for the season. I predict the Oilers make the playoffs this year.



I have also predicted the Oilers make the playoffs every year....one year I was even right!

 

[Oilhawks]

I am pumped for the season. I predict the Oilers make the playoffs this year.



I have also predicted the Oilers make the playoffs every year....one year I was even right!

Law of averages, right?

 

[Beerfish]

I think so, too. People are too down on Koskinen... because why?

The guy just had a winning record, as a 'rookie' (technically) goaltender... on the Oilers. He had a save-percentage and GAA that were both better than the NHL average... to repeat, he was ROOKIE playing behind an AHL-level defence.

I'm just saying let's give the guy a chance.

Becasue his stats were good early and then awful for most of the rest of the time. Also if you watched him play he was terribe. He is not a 20 year old rookie.

Our defense though not great is not to blame for the one awful goal and two stoppable goals per game.

Our tending is the biggest worry of this team going into next year.

 

[The Panther]

Goaltending is not the Oilers' biggest worry. In order, I would rank my worries as:

1) Wingers (i.e., lack of)
2) Defence who are tough to play against for opposing forwards
3) Defence that can actually shoot the puck on net and score, esp. on the PP
4) Goaltending

The fact that Koskinen, in his first season, behind AHL defence, put up League-average numbers (and a Bettman "winning" record) on this poor team should be a cause for relief, not worry.

 

[GumbyCan2]

Alright so it's me.... AGAIN. Holla @TB12 and thank you guys for always being so nice.

A few observations.

Okay so getting Neal just changed everything.... EVERYTHING. I mean holy **** a guy who can actually score 20 goals! You were basically praying Chiasson would do it again and he'd be the 4th guy outside of McDavid, RNH and Drai to do it. Your entire lineup just got flexed effectively. Maybe perhaps I don't need to explain the virtues of scoring depth to you guys but if Neal actually gets his **** together then Tippet's got options.

Example... they do the unthinkable and split McDavid Draisaitl

Neal-McDavid-Kassian
Draisaitl-RNH-Chiasson

Bear with me boys. It's gonna make sense in like 20 seconds.


McDavid's gonna get his 100 points. We know how well he played with Maroon. Neal is no worse than him. Everyone knows full and damn well Nuge can score 70 points but his quality of linemates has been such crap for so long it hasn't happened yet. He and Drai will combine for a healthy margin. And above all

*drumroll please*

When not on the PP the Oilers can have Draisaitl and McDavid on the ice for a good 35-40ish minutes of the game at even strength as opposed to the 26ish they used to get glued to the hip. I'm sure you realize that but I don't know if you really realize what that MEANS. Maybe you do and I'm patronizing. My bad. But anyway once again..... this ASSUMES that Neal is back to par. Kassian can do his "Me dog. Dog get bone. Dog get bone from other dog if need be. ARF!" job no differently than Palat used to do for Kucherov and Johnson and God knows Chiasson will benefit from defenses keeping RNH and Draisaitl honest.

Your top 4 D are fine as long as Klefbom stays healthy. Him with Larsson and Russel and Nurse are fine. Tippet can manage them accordingly and the bottom pairing can play only when really needed to. The only way Kenny's really screwed up is that the Sekera buyout really hurts the depth but from an outsider's perspective I see the virtue in it. Adding Granlund and Jurco is going to be a godsend for Jujhar. Your bottom lines have needed help for a while now and they've at least got it. This will allow Tippett to better manage Brodziak because I don't think the fella has much longer left in his career.

The only real concern I have is Smith... we all know why


TL;DR -Sunny **** version: Smitty scares me and he's your wild card. If he's decent you're probably packing your **** and going back to the playoffs because a team with Drai/McDavid for 40 minutes a night and competent goaltending is a no bueno matchup.


I was very, VERY worried at how this team was gonna manage to survive putting all its eggs in one basket with Drai/McDavid being glued to the hip again and the other 35ish minutes of the game would be the Oilers running fire drills because they can't sustain offense but now with a hopefully renewed Neal it's gonna change.

Yes, the real-deal Neal to the rescue!! All is righted and here comes Lord Stanley for a visit, eh.He is exactly what poor bottom 3 lines and 3 D pairings and lousy goaltending needed to fix.

 

[GumbyCan2]

Let's look at it from a VERY basic POV... keeping every "advanced stat" out of the picture for now...

If we use last year's goals stats as a projection of this year's stats...

Draisaitl 50
McDavid 41
RNH 28
Chiasson 22
Kassian 15
Granlund 12
Archibald 12
Neal 7
Gagner 6
Brodziak 6
Puljujarvi 4
Khaira 3
Cave 3
Currie 2
Yamamoto 1
Marody 0
Gambardella 0
Malone 0
P Russell 0
Nygard ?
Haas ?
Jurco ?
Benson?

I included every conceivable forward currently in the org that could have an impact on the roster this season.

That's 212 goals from the forwards.

Now the D...

Nurse 10
Klefbom 5
Benning 5
Larsson 3
Russell 3
Manning 2
Bouchard 1
Bear 1
Jones 1
Persson ?
Lagesson ?

That's 31 goals from the dmen.


So that's a team total of 243 goals scored in the NHL from last season "in the org" right now.


The Oilers scored 229 goals last season... so theoretically (again this is obviously a very simplistic POV) right now... they've added ~14 goals to the roster.


Obviously some players will get more goals... some less and some of the question marks will have an impact as well (potentially affecting some of the numbers up or down from others in the list).

It's a somewhat positive sign though that there's theoretically a little bit more "potential offensive energy" in the roster now than there was last season.

How does this bring improvement if Goals Against reaches 250+?

 

[GumbyCan2]

I think so, too. People are too down on Koskinen... because why?

The guy just had a winning record, as a 'rookie' (technically) goaltender... on the Oilers. He had a save-percentage and GAA that were both better than the NHL average... to repeat, he was ROOKIE playing behind an AHL-level defence.

I'm just saying let's give the guy a chance.

The key is 'AHL-level-D'. Koskinen has to be lights out even more so than last year.

 

[nexttothemoon]

How does this bring improvement if Goals Against reaches 250+?

It doesn't BUT... it means at least that there's some reason to believe the offense can be somewhat improved over last season.

The ingredients are at least there in the lineup to put up in theory maybe another 15 goals.

I think if the bottom 6 is improved (I know that's a big IF)... but if it's improved this year... that means the ice won't be quite so slanted in favour of the opposition when lines 3 and 4 (and to a large degree even line 2) are out there... so in theory that should somewhat help GA at least minimally as well.

The rest of the GA improvement will have to come from better defensive systems teamwide, a better PK, better goaltending and even some luck thrown in for good measure

 

[Oilhawks]

The key is 'AHL-level-D'. Koskinen has to be lights out even more so than last year.

 

[Llamamoto]

The key is 'AHL-level-D'. Koskinen has to be lights out even more so than last year.

AHL level D? Are you serious?

Klefbom is a top pairing defensemen.
Nurse and Larsson are both top-4 D.
Russell is a solid #5 who can step in as a #4.
Jones and Bennning are both more than capable bottom pairing defensemen.

Honestly, I quite prefer our D-corps over yours.

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Jones - Benning

Morrisey - Pionk
Kulikov - Byfuglien
Niku - Poolman