Player Discussion Jujhar Khaira

McTonyBrar

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3G -12, again playing against the easiest opposition its possible for the Oilers to give Khaira. This happening to a 25 yr old player. The reality is he'll never be good enough, another pipe dream prospect of this team.

I'm not meaning to start anything with this, its just what it is, that the Oilers get a lot of positive PR from a community of new viewers, and the NHL, for having Khaira as a player in the lineup. But the player needs to be more than just a pr ploy to get more viewers.

An Edmonton Oiler Nudges Diversity Forward in the N.H.L.

And I'm sorry but this is just stupid. So you're saying that we're playing him for PR? What on earth does that have to do with his play? He had a good year the season before so he definitely deserved a chance to play this year. If you think we played him this year because of his ethnicity you are just making yourself look stupid
 

Spawn

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Any line in the NHL is too high up for Khaira. Just the Oilers having little depth keeps him in a lineup. Jujhar's big problem now is age is no longer a calling card. There is no longer any notion of a player getting better, or potentially getting better. He's just a fill player who will very seldom get physical, and is only effective or helpful when he is bringing it. This player has been healthy scratched lots, and by multiple coaches and for multiple games each time to send a message. He just doesn't get it. People can say injuries as well but if that's the case then he's not much different than Pitlick here. Except Pitlick had more upside.

Although to be fair to Khaira in a Pitlick comparison, Pitlick didn't look like anything close to an NHL player either until his 25 YO season, which is the season that Khaira will be in next season.

He's a 4th line player with 3rd line potential. Tell me how many players other than Nuge, McDavid, Leon, Nurse and Kassian that had good years... He deserves another year. Before this year he was decent

He's a bad 4th liner is the issue right now.
 
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Drivesaitl

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And I'm sorry but this is just stupid. So you're saying that we're playing him for PR? What on earth does that have to do with his play? He had a good year the season before so he definitely deserved a chance to play this year. If you think we played him this year because of his ethnicity you are just making yourself look stupid

I never stated what you accuse me of. Read more carefully next time. I am saying the Oilers get major PR accolades from Khaira's community and around the NHL due to having the only player of his ethnicity in the entire league.

I NEVER stated the bolded in the quoted post so theres no need for the caustic reply. I know you said "if" but I don't care for the nature of reply.
 
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Drivesaitl

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Although to be fair to Khaira in a Pitlick comparison, Pitlick didn't look like anything close to an NHL player either until his 25 YO season, which is the season that Khaira will be in next season.



He's a bad 4th liner is the issue right now.

To be fair to Pitlick the only thing that stopped him from progressing further, much faster, was multiple freakish injuries that were serious enough to keep him out of the game for extended periods of time.
 

McTonyBrar

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Although to be fair to Khaira in a Pitlick comparison, Pitlick didn't look like anything close to an NHL player either until his 25 YO season, which is the season that Khaira will be in next season.



He's a bad 4th liner is the issue right now.

We had a lot of bad 4th line players last year no?
 

McTonyBrar

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I never stated what you accuse me of. Read more carefully next time. I am saying the Oilers get major PR accolades from Khaira's community and around the NHL due to having the only player of his ethnicity in the entire league.

I NEVER stated the bolded in the quoted post so theres no need for the caustic reply. I know you said "if" but I don't care for the nature of reply.

From the way you worded your reply it seemed like you thought we're just playing him because of his ethnicity
 
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Drivesaitl

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Uhhh Khaira is a 4th line winger who had a bad year like 90% of this team. He's not supposed to be a top 6 forward. He's supposed to be a shift disturber, a crash the net type of player. You're saying he'll never be good enough when he's played 2 seasons. The first season he had 11 goals 10 assists and this year he had a bad year like majority of the team and your ready to turf him? You're bias is just gross

He is a shift disturber. He's a player that you keep moving through the lineup to see if theres anywhere he fits. We have a lot of those. He brings nothing to the table. Nothing. There is no aspect of play that he's good enough at to stick.

Last season was a fluke. Won't be replicated and I said so at the time. Sometimes players get the bounces. Pulju had some of that luck last year too early on. That said I still have time to wait on Pulju because he's a top prospect. The Oilers could just go out and get a banger that probably does more than Khaira, who is no longer a young player with upside.

Its disingenuous to say he's had 2 years here. He's had 4 pro years thus far and ample tastes in his first two seasons of what to expect and prepare for. The Oilers have done everything right by this player, he just hasn't responded as expected thus repeatedly getting scratched.

Its not even just the 3 goals, or the -12. Its that the player very seldom brings the banging brand of play that can make him a bit effective and help the team. This is a physically strong player with 120hits in a whole season. Given what Khaira is here to do that's an indictment.

Like I said nobody has to tap Carrier on the shoulder ANYTIME to tell him what his game is and that guy helps his team by basically pulverizing the opposition along with Reaves. One never has to question if those players are bringing it.
 

Drivesaitl

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From the way you worded your reply it seemed like you thought we're just playing him because of his ethnicity

No, I word things carefully, on purpose, so people will read what I stated. Read it again if unclear and see if I stated what you inferred. Nope.

Thanks for the reply.
 

Drivesaitl

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We had a lot of bad 4th line players last year no?

So how does this absolve Khaira of being a poor 4th liner? One of the players that was bad this year was Kassian. But he will land somewhere if not here. Another was Rieder and some team would take a chance. Brodz, likely finished, pull the plug.

But for a bubble player, a clear bubble player like Khaira to come in with chronic indifference after multiple pro years is disappointing. You expect the bubble players to fight for their lives to stay in the league. Khaira hasn't done that. He has the most reason of any player to do so. All the rest of our floaters here can land somewhere else and know it. Thats the thing, if you've developed an NHL clearly defined niche, and bring at least one attribute you are good at you can get some other looks. Khaira hasn't defined what that one thing is. He hasn't developed that niche multiple years in.

I think we always like to think our players are better than they are because we're Oilers fans. But Khaira doesn't bring much to the NHL table.
 

McTonyBrar

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So how does this absolve Khaira of being a poor 4th liner? One of the players that was bad this year was Kassian. But he will land somewhere if not here. Another was Rieder and some team would take a chance. Brodz, likely finished, pull the plug.

But for a bubble player, a clear bubble player like Khaira to come in with chronic indifference after multiple pro years is disappointing. You expect the bubble players to fight for their lives to stay in the league. Khaira hasn't done that. He has the most reason of any player to do so. All the rest of our floaters here can land somewhere else and know it. Thats the thing, if you've developed an NHL clearly defined niche, and bring at least one attribute you are good at you can get some other looks. Khaira hasn't defined what that one thing is. He hasn't developed that niche multiple years in.

I think we always like to think our players are better than they are because we're Oilers fans. But Khaira doesn't bring much to the NHL table.
I think some of the players on the team deserve another chance like Larsson, Khaira (not Reider), Kassian. It's not like the team had that much to work with
 

Spawn

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We had a lot of bad 4th line players last year no?
Yes, we had an almost uniformly terrible bottom 6. Outside of a ~10 game stretch Khaira was amonst the worst of them.

What's your point?

I said earlier in the thread I'd be willing to give him another shot. But he's not a legit everyday NHLer based on what he's demonstrated so far in his career. The contract he gets this summer needs to be at an amount that we can dump him in the minors if he flames out for another 30 game stretch to start the year.
 
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JayE

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3G -12, again playing against the easiest opposition its possible for the Oilers to give Khaira. This happening to a 25 yr old player. The reality is he'll never be good enough, another pipe dream prospect of this team.

I'm not meaning to start anything with this, its just what it is, that the Oilers get a lot of positive PR from a community of new viewers, and the NHL, for having Khaira as a player in the lineup. But the player needs to be more than just a pr ploy to get more viewers.

An Edmonton Oiler Nudges Diversity Forward in the N.H.L.

What a load of shit. On a team with no forward depth like this one he's easily good enough to be in the lineup every night. One of the dumbest takes I've ever seen on here.
 
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Drivesaitl

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What a load of ****. On a team with no forward depth like this one he's easily good enough to be in the lineup every night. One of the dumbest takes I've ever seen on here.

Welcome to ignore. If you can't converse more reasonably than that I don't care. Knock yourself out.
 

Drivesaitl

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Again, EVERY coach Khaira has had at the pro level has benched him for extended periods for non performance. It isn't just me spotting the complete lack of effort on most nights.

If we're ever going to get into the playoffs the point is you need better players, and theres 4 forwards easily that should be walking. Needs to be a busy offseason.
 

Tobias Kahun

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So how does this absolve Khaira of being a poor 4th liner? One of the players that was bad this year was Kassian. But he will land somewhere if not here. Another was Rieder and some team would take a chance. Brodz, likely finished, pull the plug.

But for a bubble player, a clear bubble player like Khaira to come in with chronic indifference after multiple pro years is disappointing. You expect the bubble players to fight for their lives to stay in the league. Khaira hasn't done that. He has the most reason of any player to do so. All the rest of our floaters here can land somewhere else and know it. Thats the thing, if you've developed an NHL clearly defined niche, and bring at least one attribute you are good at you can get some other looks. Khaira hasn't defined what that one thing is. He hasn't developed that niche multiple years in.

I think we always like to think our players are better than they are because we're Oilers fans. But Khaira doesn't bring much to the NHL table.
Did you just say Kassian had a bad year?
 
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Drivesaitl

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Did you just say Kassian had a bad year?

Much of his season was bad. This player had only 3pts by January. That's almost half the season. he was so bad that the team, and pundits had assumed he wanted to be untraded and was unhappy.

What he accomplished in a brief period while on the top line does not, imo, make up for 3mths of horribly indifferent play at the critical time of the season.

By the Time Kassian contributed ANYTHING this season, it was already over as far as playoffs were concerned.

That said I think Kass has talent, can play throughout the lineup, and we have to keep him. He's far better than most of what we have. But I do think Kass has never shown for a season what he is completely capable of. If this guy showed up to work every day he could score 20 20 40pts.

I have all kinds of time for Kassian, but I want a bit more consistency out of him.
 
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harpoon

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What a load of ****. On a team with no forward depth like this one he's easily good enough to be in the lineup every night. One of the dumbest takes I've ever seen on here.
You’re welcome to your take of course, but Khaira was awful. I think @Drivesaitl nailed it when he says that Khaira played indifferent hockey on way too many nights. Can’t do that when you’re a bubble player in the league. That said, I don’t see the harm in bringing him back at a dollar value that can be buried in the minors if he repeats his feeble effort.

Disagree completely with the take on Kassian however. He did not have a poor season imo.
 

Drivesaitl

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You’re welcome to your take of course, but Khaira was awful. I think @Drivesaitl nailed it when he says that Khaira played indifferent hockey on way too many nights. Can’t do that when you’re a bubble player in the league. That said, I don’t see the harm in bringing him back at a dollar value that can be buried in the minors if he repeats his feeble effort.

Disagree completely with the take on Kassian however. He did not have a poor season imo.

Thanks.

I don't think I said Kassian had a poor season. I just feel he was a poor player in the critical stretch of this season, which invariably for NHL teams, post cap, occurs between October-December inclusive. Bend and break during that stretch and teams seasons, one after another, pass away. This is the result of parity.

Its undeniable Kassian was awful, this season, when it mattered. That he resurrected his season statistically is another argument. On the surface it would appear he met expectations, but in temporal play he did not.

Just speaking out loud on this one but I'll use this example to cite recency and primacy bias effects. Because Kassian played very well recently that can skew views to how he generally was in the season. I'm less concerned with Recency effects because those are more important as it relates to NHL hockey.

Now if the Oilers were realistically in a playoff race then Kassian contributions could be considered differently, if they occurred down a stretch run. But that isn't really the case, and the oilers weren't realistically in a playoff race. So that Kass padded his stats while playing with McDrai towards the end of the season. At least he's capable of that, and I've always seen him as a semi-skilled player. He can certainly play up. Less effective than Patrick Maroon was here but Kass can do it when he's into it.
 
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TopShelfGloveSide

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Like most people Drivesaitl, I completely agree with your Khaira assessment but I think you are off the mark with Kassian. Best winger for the last three months by a mile.
 

Drivesaitl

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Like most people Drivesaitl, I completely agree with your Khaira assessment but I think you are off the mark with Kassian. Best winger for the last three months by a mile.
I don't feel differently, at all. I think my posts are being misinterpreted. Kass was very good down the stretch, it just didn't matter.

In the NHL you need guys ready to go in first couple months because as we know most playoff positions are settled very early. Teams either get into a groove, or they don't. To me its up to the established and incumbent players on a team to get that mojo running. Lets hope for a quicker start next season, we'll need some help in the lineup though.
 

TopShelfGloveSide

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I don't feel differently, at all. I think my posts are being misinterpreted. Kass was very good down the stretch, it just didn't matter.

In the NHL you need guys ready to go in first couple months because as we know most playoff positions are settled very early. Teams either get into a groove, or they don't. To me its up to the established and incumbent players on a team to get that mojo running. Lets hope for a quicker start next season, we'll need some help in the lineup though.
Agreed. I also think he may have just needed to find his Niche. I mean it was a little late but we know he can handle playing on the top lines. Yep quicker start next season and we might have a bargain on our hands.
 

Stoneman89

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I don't feel differently, at all. I think my posts are being misinterpreted. Kass was very good down the stretch, it just didn't matter.

In the NHL you need guys ready to go in first couple months because as we know most playoff positions are settled very early. Teams either get into a groove, or they don't. To me its up to the established and incumbent players on a team to get that mojo running. Lets hope for a quicker start next season, we'll need some help in the lineup though.
Totally agree. Kass has a history of being wildly inconsistent. By Christmas time, I'm sure a lot of people would have hd no issue moving him. Last year, he struggled for long stretches. Turning it on for the last 2-3 months of the season simply isn't good enough, especially on a team as shallow as ours. While he obviously isn't the main reason we stumbled our way out of the gate the first few months, he certainly was a contributor to the fail.
 
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MettleMcOiler

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We know he can shoot. Not sure where the shot went this season.
Probably one of the better puck protectors from my viewing.
He throws down the gloves when needed.

The last 2 seasons he is putting up 15-20 points. Being a 4th liner, you can't really expect more than that. And what he put up this season, I would think he hit the 4th line quota.

Heavy player but can skate.

He has some skill and still room to grow.

Had some injury issues this season.

Not sure what more people expect out him.

He was on a cheap contract and did what he could with the minutes he was given.

He probably won't be expensive to resign either and is only 24.

I think a 2 year contract to see if he can solidify a role would be good risk and perfect place holder while we wait for prospects to develop and waiting for cap relief from expiring contracts.
 
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bucks_oil

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I never stated what you accuse me of. Read more carefully next time. I am saying the Oilers get major PR accolades from Khaira's community and around the NHL due to having the only player of his ethnicity in the entire league.

I NEVER stated the bolded in the quoted post so theres no need for the caustic reply. I know you said "if" but I don't care for the nature of reply.

I read it again.. I’m a careful poster as well.

And your post “is what it is”... a little offside.

You clearly wrote in two sentences:
1) “it is what it is”... that the oilers get a benefit “from a community of viewers” for playing this player. It is very clear what is more than implied here.
2) the player needs to be more than a PR “ploy”. A devised or contrived plan... according to Webster’s dictionary.

Any reasonable reader would surmise that either the Oilers or Khaira himself (you could argue that based purely on the semantics of the language) were playing him to appeal to a community of viewers. Given Khaira has no direct agency in the decision to play himself, then the “ploy” must be enacted by the Oilers (broadly speaking).

So yeah... don’t be indignant with KYams and we all accept your apology.

Otherwise on the actual content of Khaira: you make a good point this fringe, of maturing age, NHLer needs to bring it more than he has this past year. To me he’s a complementary, defensively responsible player that could hit 30 points in a fully engaged season on a strong 3rd line, or 25 from the fourth line. But he’s struggling with consistency... a player like him can’t wait for the play to come to him or conserve his energy... he needs to skate miles and disrupt order. That’s why energy guys can only play 12mins a night... it serves no purpose to have them thinking out there. Just initiate and react. Thankfully, Khaira’s reactions are pretty “safe” in most situations, which is where his benefit lies.
 
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Drivesaitl

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I read it again.. I’m a careful poster as well.

And your post “is what it is”... a little offside.

You clearly wrote in two sentences:
1) “it is what it is”... that the oilers get a benefit “from a community of viewers” for playing this player. It is very clear what is more than implied here.
2) the player needs to be more than a PR “ploy”. A devised or contrived plan... according to Webster’s dictionary.

Any reasonable reader would surmise that either the Oilers or Khaira himself (you could argue that based purely on the semantics of the language) were playing him to appeal to a community of viewers. Given Khaira has no direct agency in the decision to play himself, then the “ploy” must be enacted by the Oilers (broadly speaking).

So yeah... don’t be indignant with KYams and we all accept your apology.

Otherwise on the actual content of Khaira: you make a good point this fringe, of maturing age, NHLer needs to bring it more than he has this past year. To me he’s a complementary, defensively responsible player that could hit 30 points in a fully engaged season on a strong 3rd line, or 25 from the fourth line. But he’s struggling with consistency... a player like him can’t wait for the play to come to him or conserve his energy... he needs to skate miles and disrupt order. That’s why energy guys can only play 12mins a night... it serves no purpose to have them thinking out there. Just initiate and react. Thankfully, Khaira’s reactions are pretty “safe” in most situations, which is where his benefit lies.

This is what I stated;

"I'm not meaning to start anything with this, its just what it is, that the Oilers get a lot of positive PR from a community of new viewers, and the NHL, for having Khaira as a player in the lineup. But the player needs to be more than just a pr ploy to get more viewers."

Pay attention first to the bolded preamble. Do you think I state that preamble for no reason?

Next, its amply clear that "Its just what it is" (the actual quotation) modifies "the Oilers get a lot of positive PR from a community of new viewers, and the NHL, for having Khaira as a player in the lineup" That is fact, I linked an article as illustration.

The second sentence is supposition, merely suggesting that the player needs to be more than window dressing. I don't actually think its a plot, I don't even give the Oilers enough credit for that.

Its plausible however Khaira elevates his perception of worth based on the ethnic support he duly receives. Its possible he may think he is better than he is, due to the kudos he gets from his community, and that he does not need to get better. Again the latter is supposition but Khaira, being the only current player of his ethnicity, in the NHL, is treated like a star in some circles. I'd hope he doesn't pay that much attention.

Of course he gets selective and inordinate attention and praise;

Extra special for Hockey Night In Canada Punjabi to call Jujhar Khaira goal - Sportsnet.ca

This article encapsulates some of the pressure and focus on Khaira;

Oilers' Jujhar Khaira carries pride of South Asian community

He're a now inactive link calling Khaira a "hockey star"


Hockey Star Jujhar Khaira Becomes the Third Punjabi-Canadian ...


newcanadianmedia.ca/.../32041-hockey-star-jujhar-khaira-becomes-the-third-punjabi-ca...

Dec 4, 2015 - Surrey native Jujhar Khaira is in the history books as the third Punjabi player to ever suit up in the NHL. Khaira follows in the footsteps of Robin ...

This is perhaps another copy of the "Khaira a "hockey star" byline article;

Hockey Star Jujhar Khaira Becomes The Third Punjabi-Canadian Player In The NHL | Link Newspaper

The Oilers org itself even uses Khaira as their "hockey ambassador" to "grow the game"

"Khaira, the face of hockey for a billion people, hero status;"

Khaira opening doors for a billion Indians - National Teams of Ice Hockey

I do hope this is not too much of a distraction for Khaira to elevate his game but I wonder if it is. Its interesting in anycase he is referred to as a star, and a hero, at all.
 
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