How will history tell this story?

[HotToddy75]

Please be a typo...

Haha!

 

[DethOfDragnz]

I just want to say I don't think the rebuild started in 2006 it was a few years after 2009 or 2010 I'd say is when it started. It's a minor detail but I wanted to point it out.

How will history look at the era now? It's hard to say it depends on how the story ends. If the Oilers become a Stanley Cup Champion then it'll probably be looked at as a success. I think as stated earlier if they do become Stanley Cup Champions it'll probably be looked at as a change of the guard of the 80s era management to this new group. I think if the Oilers become a consistent playoff team it will be seen as a positive but probably a bit disappointing with all these #1 draft picks not paying off in the long run. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Stoneman89]

As much of an impact as McDavid will have on this franchise, I think they've proven time and again that you can draft all the talented hotshots in the world every year, but if you have crappy management that has no clue how to fill in the rest of the blanks, you will continue to spin your wheels.

 

[Mr Positive]

I just want to say I don't think the rebuild started in 2006 it was a few years after 2009 or 2010 I'd say is when it started. It's a minor detail but I wanted to point it out.

How will history look at the era now? It's hard to say it depends on how the story ends. If the Oilers become a Stanley Cup Champion then it'll probably be looked at as a success. I think as stated earlier if they do become Stanley Cup Champions it'll probably be looked at as a change of the guard of the 80s era management to this new group. I think if the Oilers become a consistent playoff team it will be seen as a positive but probably a bit disappointing with all these #1 draft picks not paying off in the long run. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I used to have a hard line of that, to point out that it was 2010 or 2009 at the earliest, but I do understand that 2007-9 was a rebuild of sorts. The whole concept of picking a date only started with Sutter in Calgary anyway. He made a public spectacle of saying that he had a five year plan, which I'm pretty sure no one did before, and he even said that getting Kiprusoff sped up that deadline. Not surprisingly, he was fired when the team started doing badly in year 5 of his declaration, and imo that Phaneuf trade was done because he was in year 5, and not for hockey reasons.

That deadline aspect of it is dangerous imo. I don't want management to think that a move MUST be made because of an arbitrary deadline. Just because a trade is huge doesn't mean it is the right move for that time and will spark greatness. However it's been year 5 since drafting Hall and maybe that mark was what sparked Katz to get Nicholson and for Nicholson make the changes he did.

In terms of how this will all be remembered, sports are fickle arenas. If we start winning, history will be on our side. There will be a grumpy minority that will be ho-hum about it, but that group will be chiseled down because it's not a fun group to be a part of. Also, as bad as the rebuild has seemed at the time, it has only been 5 years of torture. That is a lot but won't seem that bad in retrospect.

I would argue that what we suffered was better than the torture of what teams like the Isles, Canes, and Panthers have suffered through, hanging around just outside the absolute bottom for many years. The lesson around the league might be that if you suck, you might as well suck as bad as the Oilers did. At least that way you are missing the playoffs but getting top talent. Management can change, and after a quick purge those top players will still be there.

 

[Philly85*]

As much of an impact as McDavid will have on this franchise, I think they've proven time and again that you can draft all the talented hotshots in the world every year, but if you have crappy management that has no clue how to fill in the rest of the blanks, you will continue to spin your wheels.

It's a tricky thing. Typically you have emphasis on those home grown bluechip Dmen and goalies drafted early on/first if possible, so you have some years for them to marinate, then bring in the skilled offensive stars since they tend to adjust quicker and are more NHL ready. Luck plays a huge part too.

The Oilers got a bit unlucky for the 3 years they drafted first OA. Wingers and weaker picks in general. Not to say RNH isn't going to be a very good player, to me he is going to be a bonafide first line centre, but not a dominating, star offensive talent one expects at this draft position... he is a different kind of player.

I love Yak but the jury's still out on how good he will be. Anyways my point is the Oilers got unlucky, had/continue to have mediocre to bad management and did the entire "rebuild" plan in reverse, partly because of the idiots running things and partly because they played the hand they were dealt.

 

[Narnia]

It's a tricky thing. Typically you have emphasis on those home grown bluechip Dmen and goalies drafted early on/first if possible, so you have some years for them to marinate, then bring in the skilled offensive stars since they tend to adjust quicker and are more NHL ready. Luck plays a huge part too.

The Oilers got a bit unlucky for the 3 years they drafted first OA. Wingers and weaker picks in general. Not to say RNH isn't going to be a very good player, to me he is going to be a bonafide first line centre, but not a dominating, star offensive talent one expects at this draft position... he is a different kind of player.

I love Yak but the jury's still out on how good he will be. Anyways my point is the Oilers got unlucky, had/continue to have mediocre to bad management and did the entire "rebuild" plan in reverse, partly because of the idiots running things and partly because they played the hand they were dealt.

So you'd have drafted Fowler, Larsson and Murray instead of the players they drafted?

 

[Dempsey]

So you'd have drafted Fowler, Larsson and Murray instead of the players they drafted?

Where on earth did you get that from? Talk about putting words in a guy's mouth.

 

[Dempsey]

It's a tricky thing. Typically you have emphasis on those home grown bluechip Dmen and goalies drafted early on/first if possible, so you have some years for them to marinate, then bring in the skilled offensive stars since they tend to adjust quicker and are more NHL ready. Luck plays a huge part too.

The Oilers got a bit unlucky for the 3 years they drafted first OA. Wingers and weaker picks in general. Not to say RNH isn't going to be a very good player, to me he is going to be a bonafide first line centre, but not a dominating, star offensive talent one expects at this draft position... he is a different kind of player.

I love Yak but the jury's still out on how good he will be. Anyways my point is the Oilers got unlucky, had/continue to have mediocre to bad management and did the entire "rebuild" plan in reverse, partly because of the idiots running things and partly because they played the hand they were dealt.

Agree with the bolded. I mean, you've gotta pick BPA 100% of the time in this situation, but at the time I think most of us knew that Yakupov wasn't what the team *really* needed. It's only made worse by his slow development compared to what could have been had via trade.

 

[HotToddy75]

Agree with the bolded. I mean, you've gotta pick BPA 100% of the time in this situation, but at the time I think most of us knew that Yakupov wasn't what the team *really* needed. It's only made worse by his slow development compared to what could have been had via trade.

Exactly this. It was killing the rebuild that the BPA kept being a skill forward. Imagine if they had drafted Jonas Brodin in 2011, Hampus Lindholm in 2012, and Seth Jones in 2013 (which deletes Nurse, Yak and Nuge). Add CmcD in front of those dmen and you are in better shape than we are now.

But the real failure has been (and continues to be) the inability to convert the duplicate BPA's into the players needed to balance the roster.

I've begun to feel that BPA only works for teams that have the ability to balance their rosters through UFA's (which EDM hasn't been able to). EDM may have been better off to have drafted based on need, so long as it wasn't too far 'off the board'.

 

[DomBarr]

Exactly this. It was killing the rebuild that the BPA kept being a skill forward. Imagine if they had drafted Jonas Brodin in 2011, Hampus Lindholm in 2012, and Seth Jones in 2013 (which deletes Nurse, Yak and Nuge). Add CmcD in front of those dmen and you are in better shape than we are now.

But the real failure has been (and continues to be) the inability to convert the duplicate BPA's into the players needed to balance the roster.

I've begun to feel that BPA only works for teams that have the ability to balance their rosters through UFA's (which EDM hasn't been able to). EDM may have been better off to have drafted based on need, so long as it wasn't too far 'off the board'.

If Edmonton had drafted Brodin, Lindholm, and Jones and they played as well as they have...There is a good chance Edmonton would not have McDavid....

RNH fit a need as well as being the BPA at 1st overall.
Nurse was again drafted for need and was ranked BPA around there. It would have been crazy to trade up to get Seth Jones.

The Yakupov pick was the unlucky one...Edmonton would have been better off trading down to the 4 through 7 or 8 pick and picking up the other assets that would have come back.