My Prediction

[McTonyBrar]

My first ever thread guys so don't judge me, I joined this great board last year and I love it so I am going to make a contribution, even if it is dumb.

Okay guys... I will make a prediction right now... If I am wrong, ban me for whatever you guys think is appropriate. I believe that the Edmonton Oilers will make the playoffs next year

Click to read more...

 

[TomP24684]

I think maybe I believe it too. It’s hard to keep a player as good as Connor McDavid down forever. In a league with the relative parity the nhl has there is at least a little movement among the playoff teams year to year and this just may be one of those ones Edmonton pulls it off.

 

[LTIR]

Depends on goaltending.
Tippet can deploy any system and McDavid can score 150pts but we aren't making the playoffs unless Koskinen fixes his glove hand.

 

[Cloned]

Depends on goaltending.
Tippet can deploy any system and McDavid can score 150pts but we aren't making the playoffs unless Koskinen fixes his glove hand.

It’s more about returning his glove hand to pre-Schwartz levels. Every goalie that comes in here gradually has their glove hand coached into oblivion by Schwartz.

Scrivens, Talbot, Koskinen.

It’s like clockwork.

 

[Llamamoto]

My first ever thread guys so don't judge me, I joined this great board last year and I love it so I am going to make a contribution, even if it is dumb.

Okay guys... I will make a prediction right now... If I am wrong, ban me for whatever you guys think is appropriate. I believe that the Edmonton Oilers will make the playoffs next year

For some reason I have a similar feeling.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

Right on. I believe they'll make the cup final next year. Dave Tippett effect, hungry bottom 6 filled with one-year prove yourself contracts and prove yourself rookies, McDavid/Draisaitl coming into their prime, predicting Koskinen is going to be the backbone of the team, and most of all, doubt from the outsiders.

The last time team this team was doubted this hard was in 2016. McDavid's 2nd year, they had zero pressure to make the playoffs. Even Oiler fans weren't expecting what they did that season. One goal away from the 3rd round. Next season (2017-18), they're expected to do great things, even the top favorite to win the cup according to Vegas prior to the season. Bombed. Okay they had one off year, THIS year (2018-19) they will bounce back and prove last season was a blip. Bombed. GM/Coach fired, trade requests, and ridicule. Now, we're back to where we were in 2016, where everyone has the Oilers touted to finish in the bottom 4 of the conference, Vegas odds back to normal (40-1), and McDavid trade request speculation if/when they miss the playoffs again.

They thrive when they are doubted, have low expectations, and surprise everyone. Like Katz said in the Holland presser, "if we can into the playoffs, regardless of where we finish, watch out".

 

[Tyrolean]

Your guess as good as mine. Hope and pray for at least an improved season over the last 2. At least anchor weight Lucic is gone.

 

[Navx94]

Were not that far off from being a fringe playoff team. Someone like Neal bouncing back to his Vegas days and good goaltending can easily push this team into the playoffs.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I just don't see it. I see the teams ahead of us and can't justify why they would finish lower than us despite many of them improving, whilst we didn't really improve hardly at all. Chicago and Arizona finished ahead of us with their backup goalies last year and they weren't even playoff teams.

 

[Aceboogie]

Crazier things can happen. PDO and puck luck can make contenders out of any team.

Personally, I see an even worse year next year. Hopefully it wont be. But I dont see any on ice improvement anywhere

But hey, a young D or Benson could explode on the scene and surprise us all

 

[Porkleaker]

All I know is that with Lucic gone, I'm going to need a new whipping boy, especially if they fail early on and we're out of the playoffs by Dec.

 

[FlameChampion]

I think it really depends on goaltending and how much Tippett can get out of the bottom of the roster. If we get both of those things I could see us pushing for a playoff spot. Every year a couple teams surprise people. Islanders did it last year.

 

[Weitz]

I'd like to be in the playoff mix still by the start of March.

I just don't see it with this lineup though.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

I hope you're right but I don't see it unfortunately.

San Jose, Vegas, and Calgary remain much better than us on paper.

St, Louis, Colorado, Nashville and Dallas should be locks in the other conference.

The last playoff spot should be a toss up between Winnipeg (who I think will be significantly worse and is seeing their window slam shut) Minnesota, Chicago, Arizona, Vancouver, and us. The only "no hope at all" team I see is LA.

Chicago will be really interesting. They've got a nice mix of vets and youth and played some really good hockey down the stretch... but that said, it was only after they were miles out of it and they'll give up a ton more chances than the Isles did. Curious to see how Lehner holds up in a more "trade chances" style defence.

 

[PinSeeker]

Smith and Koskinen worry me greatly.

Rest of lineup could trend up or down, who knows, but without great goaltending we are going nowhere.

 

[bucks_oil]

All I know is that with Lucic gone, I'm going to need a new whipping boy, especially if they fail early on and we're out of the playoffs by Dec.

Lol... you really ARE an HFOiler fan then. At least you've admitted it. lol

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Oilers will need t cut their GA by minimum 50 goals to have a decent chance

 

[bucks_oil]

Great thread, we need one of these every year... it sucks us all in

Here are my reasons for optimism, some of which have been stated, (so I'm agreeing with some of you, not plagiarizing)

1) SMITH --> Smith is a highly competitive, highly outspoken guy. He's a vet in this league and I think he's going to bring some negativity to our defensive self-criticism. You can't have all the bitchign coming from the coach, someone on the back end needs to create the type of "honest shaming" of team-mates that leads to responsibility. I think he'll get away with it for one year before people tune him out... I just hope he plays reasonably well enough that guys actually take his criticism at face-value rather than "herp-derp, our goalie sucks". I mean, don't get me wrong, a Ryan Miller or Luongo vet goalie would be better, but it's been a REALLY long time since we had any vet experience at all back there and I think it will help. They say teams need storming before norming, so I'm hopeful on that basis.

2) Tippett --> a new voice, a new system, and I'm sure plenty of the same lessons... hoping they sink in this time

3) Lucic gone --> Like Smith above, he was a good influence on this team for a year and then his own struggles became a bigger distraction. I speculate that him pulling the team in the dumps is actually testimony that he was a more important leader than he gives himself credit for. His leading by example started out as intensity and then became moping & frustration. You can't have a guy in a leadership position struggling the way that he did for as long as he did.

4) Competition at forward: Holland has quietly put 60% of our forward roster on alert for their livelihood. There are at least 3-4 guys that may be NHL level (now or in the recent past) that will not be in the lineup on a given night. Good job Holland!

5) Space for 1-2 young-ins on the back end: and we have such a stable, it's finally hard to imagine we can't get some decent games out of Persson, Jones, Bear, Laggesson, Bouchard, etc. I'd have preferred to have kept Sekera, but Russell will be a fine tutor. He's going to teach safe and self-sacrifice, which are important for rooks. You can't (and he especially can't) teach talent anyway, but he's going to give them the lessons on how to stay in the lineup and how to get themselves out of situational trouble... which is what they need at this stage.

 

[BudBundy]

We’ll miss by 5 to 10 points. Too many big IFs have to break the Oilers way: goaltending, #3 C, healthy D corps, Neal and gaggle of unproven wingers contributing.....etc etc. Just too much. My guess is 2020 when Bouchard, Benson and Jones are hitting their stride and hopefully a strong two-way 3C emerges.

 

[Stud Muffin]

I think we’re gonna have a tough year again I like what we’ve done to the bottom 6 but I still see 3 top line players on this team and then Neal and Nygard as wild cards for second line duty, and then I see the bottom 6 and there’s a lot of guys who can contribute 10 ish goals but they still look like mostly 4th liners. Not enough middle 6 players to make this team good. Imo the defence is good enough to make the playoffs a top 3 of Klefbom,Nurse and Larsson is good and I believe Jones or Lagesson or Bear or Persson will make a poster impact on the 3rd pair, Benning is also good enough for the 3rd. Kris Russell is still bad so that’s a minus but overall I like what we have and what is coming. Goaltending is iffy but I Believe Koskinen can be a good goalie if his workload is managed properly.

 

[Aerchon]

To each their own.

I love our prospect pool. We have a new coach and anything can happen but...

The team today is one of the worst teams the Oilers have iced in a long time and that is unbelievable to even think about. The coaching and management is very old and outdated for today's NHL.

So while anything can happen, and I hope the Oilers do make the playoffs, it would be extremely surprising if they did.

Would be pretty funny if they do somehow manage.

 

[BlackDogg]

Chia could make Einstein look like Epstein just by surrounding him with crap. So I'm doubting it based on his mess.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I hope you're right but I don't see it unfortunately.

San Jose, Vegas, and Calgary remain much better than us on paper.

St, Louis, Colorado, Nashville and Dallas should be locks in the other conference.

The last playoff spot should be a toss up between Winnipeg (who I think will be significantly worse and is seeing their window slam shut) Minnesota, Chicago, Arizona, Vancouver, and us. The only "no hope at all" team I see is LA.

Chicago will be really interesting. They've got a nice mix of vets and youth and played some really good hockey down the stretch... but that said, it was only after they were miles out of it and they'll give up a ton more chances than the Isles did. Curious to see how Lehner holds up in a more "trade chances" style defence.

This is exactly what I mean. It's one thing to just say 'I think we'll be a playoff team' but I'd love for these posters to explain which teams we're better than and why.
We're nowhere near The top-3 seeds lasts year, so we're competing for 2 spots with
2 of Stars (improved with Pavelski and a year older defensive core), Blues (just won the cup), Avalanche (an emerging division favorite in the Central) and Jets & Preds who are in the same category as CGY/SJ/VGK.

Then you have Chicago and Arizona who finished ahead of us last season with their starting goalies out virtually the entire season, and the Yotes acquired Kessel and Schmaltz I'm the process.

On paper we're arguably worse than last year's roster. I can't see the logic.

 

[Messrules11]

I hope for playoffs every single year but when I look at our goaltending I think it’s the worst tandem in the league. No chance with these two guys.

 

[TheRebuild]

I'm not particularly optimistic, but I'm glad to see other people being optimistic.