McDavid hate rewarded by giraffes. lEafs beat Oilers.

[Tarus]

I don't see how trading RNH and Eberle will help unless it's to address a need. Moving everyone else up a line on the roster isn't going to make them more effective. I'd be fine moving then but trading for the sake of trading is dumb. We've already shuffled key players over the past decade with the same results. We need defense, period. Everything else is just secondary bs

I think the point was always to trade them for defense. No one is suggesting the Oilers give them away for draft picks or prospects(well, except fans of opposing teams that is).

The team will never be competitive as long as they have so many soft and ineffective skill players in the top 6 on a team backed by such a disastrous defense.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I think the point was always to trade them for defense. No one is suggesting the Oilers give them away for draft picks or prospects(well, except fans of opposing teams that is).

The team will never be competitive as long as they have so many soft and ineffective skill players in the top 6, backed by a disastrous defense.

Drai aside, they're all soft. That's a tall order.

 

[Replacement*]

Not sure if anybody has mentioned this but its interesting. In last 4GP on this roadtrip Nuge is -8. In those games he has been on ice for 11GA. The team in total allowed 13GA in the 4 games. Nuge has been on for almost all of them. Actually on one of the goals he was slow on the line change and was still on the ice when the Winning GA was scored. Although he didn't get credited with a - on that one.

But in reality he was on ice for 12/13 goals. He had an immediate roll in several of them. He's been pure ***** in every one of these games.

The suck is strong with this one at the moment.

In other news Drai is again a better Center by miles, than Nuge, for about the 20th game in a row. Drai had another outstanding game tonight and again was the best Oiler out there. hardest working too. His work rate is absolutely incredible. Unlike Nuge he's going to traffic areas, going to the boards constantly, being a power forward and being just amazing.

It actually pisses me off how little compete level Nuge brings to games. Time to up his act. Nuge can play so much better and even tonight on around 3 shifts you saw some moxy. But he's so entirely inconsistent in his effort level from one shift to the next.

 

[Tarus]

Drai aside, they're all soft. That's a tall order.

Hall isn't really soft, and he can play against top tier opposition and excel.

RNH, Ebs, and Purcell, absolutely. You can even add in Pouliot when he gets stuck on a line that isn't committed to playing hard as he tends to play up/down to his linemate's levels. That's a lot of money tied up in soft players.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Hall isn't really soft, and he can play against top tier opposition and excel.

RNH, Ebs, and Purcell, absolutely. You can even add in Pouliot when he gets stuck on a line that isn't committed to playing hard as he tends to play up/down to his linemate's levels. That's a lot of money tied up in soft players.

Hall isn't "soft" but he doesn't throw his weight around enough. Would've been nice to see him lay out one of the Leafs.

 

[Tarus]

Hall isn't "soft" but he doesn't throw his weight around enough. Would've been nice to see him lay out one of the Leafs.

I'm not to worried about that, he still engages in physical battles and competes for the puck. It would be nice if he did hit more as he can be absolutely devastating when he does(Brodin's broken collarbone, the Clutterbuck hit, even tonight he sent a guy flying), but he still finds other ways to contribute

RNH/Ebs in contrast, consistently do fly bys and avoid those types of engagements.

 

[Replacement*]

It's to the point of no return I'm afraid. Nuge, Eberle, Schultz, even Hall to an extent. These guys are broken, not as NHL players but as Oilers. It's a shame to see such skill be wasted due to organizational ineptitude.

Maybe this is an overreaction fresh off that debacle but these guys fold every single fn time at the hint of any adversity. Mclellan must be ready to tear his hair out trying to figure out how to change the culture here.

Not to call you out my friend but weren't you taking a much different angle in my thread today asserting that it was presumptuous to be making any such conclusions.

Maybe its an overreaction. Which we are all susceptible to here.

its just a little funny seeing the 10 hour complete about face. I mean well with that, I think we all must have Oiler induced PTSD.

Couldn't agree more with Mclellan. This is the short straw assignment in Edmonton. The players decide what games they will play. Not much has changed. its just brutal to see how bad guys like Nuge, Eberle, can still play after years in the league. Will they ever cut out the **** in their game and be more consistent?

Its time for Chia and McLellan to just let loose on this team with both barrels. At some point the nice guy faces have to come off for a bit.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I'm not to worried about that, he still engages in physical battles and competes for the puck. It would be nice if he did hit more as he can be absolutely devastating when he does(Brodin's broken collarbone, the Clutterbuck hit, even tonight he sent a guy flying), but he still finds other ways to contribute

RNH/Ebs in contrast, consistently do fly bys and avoid those types of engagements.

I feel like he's at his most effective though when he's bowling guys over. A big hit tonight could've turned the tide, which brings me to my next point...

I would like to see Hall take more of a leadership role.

 

[Kepler 186f]

Nuge and Eberle floated around the entire game. Nice.

Nilsson was good again at least.

Crushed by the Leafs and Canes. How sad is that?

Who's up next? Boston and Dallas, oh joy.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Nuge and Eberle floated around the entire game. Nice.

Nilsson was good again at least.

Crushed by the Leafs and Canes. How sad is that?

Who's up next? Boston and Dallas, oh joy.

we usually play up to the good teams...so don't be surprised that we earn 2 moral victories against those clubs

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

Not to call you out my friend but weren't you taking a much different angle in my thread today asserting that it was presumptuous to be making any such conclusions.

Maybe its an overreaction. Which we are all susceptible to here.

its just a little funny seeing the 10 hour complete about face. I mean well with that, I think we all must have Oiler induced PTSD.

Couldn't agree more with Mclellan. This is the short straw assignment in Edmonton. The players decide what games they will play. Not much has changed. its just brutal to see how bad guys like Nuge, Eberle, can still play after years in the league. Will they ever cut out the **** in their game and be more consistent?

Its time for Chia and McLellan to just let loose on this team with both barrels. At some point the nice guy faces have to come off for a bit.

A few games ago made a comment about certain guys not going to grow any bigger and it's about compete and commitment. Tonight he said they are going to have to get bigger, stronger and harder to play against.............To me that means he has come to the realization these clowns aren't going to get it done and some personnel changes are on the way

 

[TheRebuild]

I can get with this statement.

After all these years I can stomach the losses, but not like this. I always wonder how effort can even become an issue at the NHL level, but it is.

When you give a bunch of guys, under 25 years old, 6 million dollars a year for accomplishing jack ****, this is the kind of effort you can expect.

 

[CanadianPantherFan]

Is the hate at an all time high for both Ebs and Nuge right now ? I never have recalled it being this bad around here concerning those two players.

 

[RJJ]

As an outsider that watches the Oilers a fair amount ( Habs fan but a hockey junky in general) I would keep - Hall, he is a top 5 left winger in the entire league, McDavid best talent since Mario, Drai is a beast, and Nurse, he has all the makings of an eventual #1 dman. I would put those 4 on my untouchables list. The core.

That leaves a lot of great assets like RNH, Eberle, and Yak as trade options to fill in the holes. There is a lot of value there. Chia could get a top notch dman and some grit with talent for those pieces. A change of scenery would help some of the current Oilers who are struggling and some incoming new blood would do wonders for the current group. Off the top of my head someone like Simmonds from Philly and Jones or Josi from the Preds would look great in an Oilers uniform.

 

[oobga]

We've turned so many young stars into perennial losers over this last half decade. Been said a million times, but when we started drafting 1st overall, we needed some veterans that had actual leadership skills and weren't over the hill or just generally below average NHlers to show the kids the way. We didn't. Handed the team to kids and they've just been lost in the desert since.

We can't let the loser mentality creep into the heads of guys like McDavid, Drai and Nurse now. This has to end. We need to build a real team with players that know what the hell they're doing and what it takes to win in this league around a handful of the young guys we think are truly the future of this team now.

Get to work Chia.

 

[McDeathbyCheerios*]

Is the hate at an all time high for both Ebs and Nuge right now ? I never have recalled it being this bad around here concerning those two players.

For Nuge when he isn't producing he is good defensively. He has been awful defensively too. He isn't doing anything right. Not even winning faceoffs or anything.

 

[KCC]

It sucks because PC is right. No way does he get anything for most of the players on this team. He's handcuffed big time right now. Just have to hope when McDavid comes back that alot of players find their game so he can get more out of them when he ships them out.

 

[gqmixmaster]

Is the hate at an all time high for both Ebs and Nuge right now ? I never have recalled it being this bad around here concerning those two players.

its because they aren't good enough for their role and we all know its lack of effort moreso than skill at least its what we hope - the alternative is that it's lack of iq.

 

[gqmixmaster]

Don't trade RNH. He's good for 60 points and 200 ft game. Wins don't matter

at worst he's sam gagner with wheels and a slightly lower offensive iq

 

[Sniper99]

Hopefully our stars start demanding trades so we can finally see some meaningful change.

I'm really surprised this hasn't happened yet. I was expecting a Pronger type of thing to happen by now where someone like Hall or RNH for example says "screw it I want out of here trade now!"

 

[KlimasLoveChild]

For Nuge when he isn't producing he is good defensively. He has been awful defensively too. He isn't doing anything right. Not even winning faceoffs or anything.

Actually the last 3 games combined he is around 56% in the dot which is pretty damn good. Probably the best stretch of his career. He must be focusing everything on winning those draws. He can't do more then one thing well at an given time.........

 

[ZJuice]

Is the hate at an all time high for both Ebs and Nuge right now ? I never have recalled it being this bad around here concerning those two players.

Yes. Eberle maybe not but definitely noticing an increase in Nuge hate.

 

[McDNicks17]

A few games ago made a comment about certain guys not going to grow any bigger and it's about compete and commitment. Tonight he said they are going to have to get bigger, stronger and harder to play against.............To me that means he has come to the realization these clowns aren't going to get it done and some personnel changes are on the way

Looking forward to returning.

 

[Sniper99]

Hall sure played like a Dark horse Hart candidate tonight

 

[nabob]

at worst he's sam gagner with wheels and a slightly lower offensive iq

So useless then?