Mark Arcobello

[Dorian2]

I think its going to take more time than this to answer that question.

Preface

As you know, I've been an ardent Gagner supporter for many years.

My Viewpoint

From what I've seen of Arco so far, he is far and away a better 2 way center than Gags ever was, and probably ever will be. I do not think our PK would be nearly as good at this point without Arco there. He's been very solid in that situation.

His offense on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. He has good hands but they turn to stone when in a scoring position. He cannot seem to put the lotion in the basket.



Conclusion

I don't even know the friggin point I was trying to make anymore. I guess that Arco is a good temporary replacement........Replacement.

MacT better fix this. I'm really starting to lose my patience with this team.

And I'm a really patient guy.

EDIT: If the mods want me to put up a link instead of the video I will. I understand that the scene contains a swear word that many have never heard before and may break site rules.

 

[oilz89*]

You mean like the sweet short-handed pass Arco made to Joensuu against Vancouver that made the game 4-3 with 8 minutes left, or the goal 3 minutes into the third that cut the deficit to 4-3 against Phoenix where he busted in past the d-man, and roofed a one-timer over Mike Smith?

LOL.... are you actually saying Arcobellos better then RNH?

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Arco with another good game his stat line thru his 1`st 56 nhl games 8g 16 a 24pts and a lot of that spent on 4th line. I think he will get stronger and produce even better as season goes on. Still a plus player on this team which says a lot 5/5

 

[sportsdynasty]

He's better on faceoffs and defense than Gagner. They are about the same on offence. Advantage Arcobello.

 

[Aerchon]

Our centers have been our best players. With Leon being the only questionable one.

Arco looks like he is starting to hit his stride. I still think he can translate more of what he has shown in the ahl to the NHL as he gets more experience. People forget he has not even played a full season yet.

 

[Replacement*]

Our centers have been our best players. With Leon being the only questionable one.

Arco looks like he is starting to hit his stride. I still think he can translate more of what he has shown in the ahl to the NHL as he gets more experience. People forget he has not even played a full season yet.

He's played well, and I'll give him that credit, but he played well last year as well and then fell off.

We'll see how he sustains. Guy has heart though and that's more than enough to like on a club like this.

I think he's susceptible to getting demoralized. I want to see what he's looking like at 20 game mark. He did already have a pretty quiet spell where not much good was happening.

He sure is getting some puck bounces this year but he's feeling it too.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

He's played well, and I'll give him that credit, but he played well last year as well and then fell off.

We'll see how he sustains. Guy has heart though and that's more than enough to like on a club like this.

I think he's susceptible to getting demoralized. I want to see what he's looking like at 20 game mark. He did already have a pretty quiet spell where not much good was happening.

He sure is getting some puck bounces this year but he's feeling it too.

Imagine if he was failing and we started to force feed Draisaitl 15-16 minutes a game

Luckily he's doing about as well as I was expecting of him to this point and with RNH and Gordon doing their jobs, Leon doesn't have much pressure on him.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

He's played well, and I'll give him that credit, but he played well last year as well and then fell off.

We'll see how he sustains. Guy has heart though and that's more than enough to like on a club like this.

I think he's susceptible to getting demoralized. I want to see what he's looking like at 20 game mark. He did already have a pretty quiet spell where not much good was happening.

He sure is getting some puck bounces this year but he's feeling it too.

I'll give him the benefit of playing thru all levels of hockey and having to work hard to get to where he wants, as long as he doesn't let up he will be good. He has worked his ass off to get this far I have a strong feel he won't be demoralized.

Gotta say though, as bad as the team as been, it's great finally having 4 centers that can win a faceoff.

 

[Dorian2]

Another thing about Arco, among all the call ups in the last few years, Arco seems to be quite a bit better than the others.

 

[FunkyChicken]

I like Arco but hate having Arco and Draisalt as two of the four centers.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I'll give him the benefit of playing thru all levels of hockey and having to work hard to get to where he wants, as long as he doesn't let up he will be good. He has worked his ass off to get this far I have a strong feel he won't be demoralized.

Gotta say though, as bad as the team as been, it's great finally having 4 centers that can win a faceoff.

Faceoffs are one of the very few areas on this team that have actually improved from the last few seasons.

They are up to 50.2% currently.. 14th in the NHL.. wow something the Oilers are at least average at and not pathetically bad or mediocre.

Of course faceoffs don't seem to have a very high correlation to putting points up on the board when the team is so bad in so many other areas but I agree at least it's "something" positive in a sea of gloom.

 

[Spawn]

Glad he's potted a couple goals the last two games, but this bump has some pretty convenient timing. Prior to these past two games he was MIA for 8 with the exception of one nice pass to Pouliot for a goal against Montreal.

He needs to be much more consistent than he's been so far.

 

[Mr Positive]

Glad he's potted a couple goals the last two games, but this bump has some pretty convenient timing. Prior to these past two games he was MIA for 8 with the exception of one nice pass to Pouliot for a goal against Montreal.

He needs to be much more consistent than he's been so far.

You're exaggerating how invisible he's been. He's a defensive center who has contributed in games where he hasn't scored. Besides, what you said about Arco applies to all of our forwards except for maybe Hall (edit: and I suppose the fourth line). Maybe it's a team problem, not Arco's.

 

[DarksideGhost]

the most important question is can Arco break gags 8pt record for one night?

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

the most important question is can Arco break gags 8pt record for one night?

He can be entirely invisible for a whole season as long as he gets 11 pts in two games equating to almost 25% of his yearly production, only then will he be a worthy center for the Oilers.

 

[Spawn]

You're exaggerating how invisible he's been. He's a defensive center who has contributed in games where he hasn't scored. Besides, what you said about Arco applies to all of our forwards except for maybe Hall (edit: and I suppose the fourth line). Maybe it's a team problem, not Arco's.

When has he ever been a defensive center? He's been in an offensive position all season long, playing with offensive players and has been an offensive player his entire hockey career. He's been as sheltered this year as Leon Draisaitl has. If Ryan Nugent-Hopkins isn't being matched up against other teams top players, than it's Boyd Gordon. It's been that way all season. Easy zone starts, easy competition...

Maybe the reason we are having our middle wingers underperforming is because our legit NHL wingers are playing with Arcobello and Draisaitl... guys who wouldn't be in the NHL on the vast majority of teams in the league.

As I said. It's a convenient bump when a player is coming off 2 goals in 2 games. Where was this bump talking about how good he is when he had 1 assist in 8 games. It's only a matter of time before he goes in another 8-10 game slump. It's just the player he is.

 

[Mr Positive]

When has he ever been a defensive center? He's been in an offensive position all season long, playing with offensive players and has been an offensive player his entire hockey career. He's been as sheltered this year as Leon Draisaitl has. If Ryan Nugent-Hopkins isn't being matched up against other teams top players, than it's Boyd Gordon. It's been that way all season. Easy zone starts, easy competition...

Maybe the reason we are having our middle wingers underperforming is because our legit NHL wingers are playing with Arcobello and Draisaitl... guys who wouldn't be in the NHL on the vast majority of teams in the league.

As I said. It's a convenient bump when a player is coming off 2 goals in 2 games. Where was this bump talking about how good he is when he had 1 assist in 8 games. It's only a matter of time before he goes in another 8-10 game slump. It's just the player he is.

I checked some player usage charts for this season, and it shows Arco and Draisaitl don't have the same kind of assignment. The three scoring lines all have a big offensive zone start percentage because of the heroics of the 4th line. In terms of quality of competition Arcobello is a touch below Hall, RNH and Eberle. Arco and Purcell are the only middle six forwards with a positive QoC, significantly above Drai, Yak, and Pouliot.

So no, the stats don't show that Arco is sheltered at all. He's got a slightly lesser assignment than the big names, which is all we could expect from our 2nd line center

 

[Replacement*]

I checked some player usage charts for this season, and it shows Arco and Draisaitl don't have the same kind of assignment. The three scoring lines all have a big offensive zone start percentage because of the heroics of the 4th line. In terms of quality of competition Arcobello is a touch below Hall, RNH and Eberle. Arco and Purcell are the only middle six forwards with a positive QoC, significantly above Drai, Yak, and Pouliot.

So no, the stats don't show that Arco is sheltered at all. He's got a slightly lesser assignment than the big names, which is all we could expect from our 2nd line center

QoC sites used to come with a disclaimer that statistically speaking not enough sample is in in first 20GP for the coefficients to really be reliable.

I wouldn't read too much into it this early. Arco is getting 2nd and 3rd line type minutes and accordingly the commensurate quality of completion. Arco would be facing midlines so neither seeing much of teams toplines or checking lines.

Its that nice comfortable spot where you can have some room to be creative. Oilers have somewhat better 2nd and 3rd line wingers then they used to.

 

[Mr Positive]

QoC sites used to come with a disclaimer that statistically speaking not enough sample is in in first 20GP for the coefficients to really be reliable.

I wouldn't read too much into it this early. Arco is getting 2nd and 3rd line type minutes and accordingly the commensurate quality of completion. Arco would be facing midlines so neither seeing much of teams toplines or checking lines.

Its that nice comfortable spot where you can have some room to be creative. Oilers have somewhat better 2nd and 3rd line wingers then they used to.

This is fair, and it does seem like different sites calculate QoC differently. However, I can tell just from watching the games though that Arco has a tougher assignment.

There's also ice time. Arco plays 15:52 minutes a game, averaging 1:13 on the PP and 0:58 on the PK. Drai plays 12:57 minutes a game, averaging 2:26 on the PP, and hasn't played one shift on the PK yet.

This is always an ongoing thing, but the distinctions on the team are clear already. At the very least if you are breaking down why we are currently having struggles winning, I don't see how anyone could say it is because Arco isn't pulling his weight.

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Another stat that really impresses me about Arco is that he has 11 takeaway's compared to only 3 giveaway's . He is pretty solid defensively. when he is invisible on offence he is not hurting the team defensively.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

If they keep the Pouliot-RNH-Eberle line together when Hall returns, Arco could be the beneficiary of playing with Hall and another high end winger.

One thing that I really like about him is that he uses his body very well to separate guys from the puck. His timing for this is impeccable. Hardly a long term option at this point IMO, but this is not an AHL bum.

 

[Broilers]

He is +2, on the pace to score 30 pts, wins more FOs than loses them. I believe he still developed and becomes 45 pts player for 2-4 years.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

He is +2, on the pace to score 30 pts, wins more FOs than loses them. I believe he still developed and becomes 45 pts player for 2-4 years.

He's also started to shoot more and his shot isn't as bad as we'd like to believe. It would be great for him to have Hall and Yak on his line.

 

[longtimeoilfan]

I like Arco, but I don't like that he is one of the top four centers... I would be thrilled with him if he were bigger, but as it stands he is just too small. I know the argument about "fight in the dog" and all that, but I just don't buy it... not as a center, not in the West, and not on the Oilers, and certainly not as a center on the Oilers in the West.

 

[Aceboogie]

Hes turning out to be an adequate fill in for the 2c spot and has shown chemistry with Yak. I am short of praising him, but he should be given some acknowledgment for how hes looks recently.

I would keep him around in the organization as either a 3c (until Yakimov is ready) or depth winger.

Solid defensively and passable offensively