Post-Game Talk: Oilers lose the game, lose a body, nothing has changed

[Originally Posted By*]

This core is not winning anything. The core is crap, for those waiting for the team to magically turn the corner once we get a decent d-man, you're in for a surprise lol

Edit: my favorite is how posters want dman but list 10 untouchable players lol. Brb, trading Letestu for a top pairing D-man!!

Core is not set up to win. After 10 ****ing years, what is our team identity? Were not big, not skilled, and not hard to play against. WTF are we as a team, and what are we building towards? That's the real problem.

 

[K1984]

I agree, a little positivity never hurt.

On that note, these are the current roster players I'd like to be around for next season (I didn't include Nuge and would love if he stayed, but I think he'll have to be the one to go if we want a good Dman back. If you can do it without trading him keep Nuge around. I've said many times that I think he will breakout around 25 or 26, especially if he gets a good support cast around him).

Hall - speaks for itself, no matter what bad things anyone wants to say about him. He's a top 5 LW in the game and he plays with a ton of passion.

Draisaitl - Again speaks for itself. He's got all the makings of an elite playmaking 2-way centre with size and great puck protection that will only improve as he gets stronger.

McDavid - because he is my saviour, the light of my life.

Kassian - assuming he stays clean, he is a perfect big body with skill, puck protection, and physicality who can play up and down your lineup.

Letestu - pretty good in the draw, has some offensive skill which imo is starting to show more and more after a slow snake-bitten start. He's pretty smart defensively and can PK. Perfect 4C who can fill a 3C spot to at least an average level.

Hendricks - heart and soul, great pker, physical, and willing to lay his balls (literally) on the line. Ride this guy till he can't skate anymore.

Pouliot - Inconsistent, but when he's on he's effective. He's expendable if you can bring in someone like Lucic.

Yakupov - his trade values too low to be worth trading, he's still on a cheap contract. When he's engaged he can be physical. If he can find some better consistency with his shot, and grow on the mental side of the game he will be a great cheap option in the middle 6.

Pakarinen - He's fast, has a good shot, is very physical and has decent size. He's also still only 24 so I think he has room to grow. Pretty ideal 4th line winger imo.

Klefbom - He's great and we miss him so much. He's improved every year and just keeps improving. IMO he's going to be a top pairing D.

Nurse - Has found himself overwhelmed a bit of late, but this guy is going to be a beast (maybe not ever offensively) once he puts in a few more offseason's of training and fills the rest of that frame out. You want team toughness that can skate, hit, pass? This is your guy.

Sekera - Only Vet D on the current team I'd keep around. He's still susceptible to some lapses, but overall he is a solid D that would be ideal on our 2nd pair.

Davidson - cheap 6/7 D who still has room to grow and shows some good attributes in a few different areas.

Reinhart - same as Davidson if he can work on his skating and increase his physicality.

Talbot - He's better than any goalie we've had in recent years and still could improve his consistency as he gets more and more accustomed to being a starter (and hopefully some better help in front of him)


Really thats about all of the current roster that I want around next year (Eberle and Nuge I'd love to keep, but I'm just not sure they can improve the blue line without moving at least one of them unless they snag someone in FA or Klef/Nurse really break out and show they can shoulder the load).

You had me until Yakupov. This team badly needs to get out of the habit of hanging on and hoping that a player will work out, when it clearly isn't working out. This team is better if there is a player in Yakupov's hole that can provide a consistent game in literally any type of role and doesn't bleed opportunities against.

$2.5 mil will easily get you a middle 6 player that is better than Yakupov. The longer we sit and wait on guys to "figure it out" is the longer amount of time we are from being a better team. Pull the shoot and get someone in here that we know can do the damn job.

Schultz is in this territory too. A guy that clearly doesn't work here, but we go back to the well on a hope and a prayer that he rectifies a laundry list of issues and becomes good. There are a ton of denesemen that this team could have brought in that would have made more of an impact for less $, and I'm not even talking about players that are considered anything but bottom pair.

My bet is that if Yak is back next year everyone (including the folks that make any and all excuse for his typical useless play) will be saying the same things about him as we are about Schultz now.

 

[harpoon]

well, I would say that is a shrinking group of fanboys

Actually its a group that never existed at all. I have never seen one post saying not to trade RNH or Eberle. I've seen folks have different opinions on which one should go first. I've seen folks say don't trade both. But I've never seen this mythical group of "fanboys" who don't want to trade anyone. Its a total figment of the imagination.

Ditto for the point below about people believing this core can win. Where are these people now? I don't see anyone saying that. Ironically, the guys slinging the accusations are the same guys who thought the Tamby rebuild was a great idea, and RNH would walk on water and Stanleys would flock to Edmonton.

but it is surprising there are still people who believe this core can win it all

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Deal Hall for some defense. It's time.

 

[Young Lions*]

Actually its a group that never existed at all. I have never seen one post saying not to trade RNH or Eberle. I've seen folks have different opinions on which one should go first. I've seen folks say don't trade both. But I've never seen this mythical group of "fanboys" who don't want to trade anyone. Its a total figment of the imagination.

Ditto for the point below about people believing this core can win. Where are these people now? I don't see anyone saying that. Ironically, the guys slinging the accusations are the same guys who thought the Tamby rebuild was a great idea, and RNH would walk on water and Stanleys would flock to Edmonton.

I don't think we know if this core cans win because we've never seen them as part of a balanced roster. How anyone can look at the D and goaltending we've had for the last five years and draw any conclusions about this group (all of whom are under 25 years old) is beyond me. I'd love to know how much Kane and Toews and Hossa win on a team without two HHOFers on the blueline (or without any true #1D at all, which is the situation here.)

is it fair to give the core a free pass, when they are the most important players on the team, and when we lose almost every game by 1 goal. we are not being blown out, we are one goal short.

Serious question: do you watch much hockey outside of Oilers games? If you did, you'd know that one goal games are increasingly common around the league. (There were 730 last year, which was 60% of all games). As a result of parity and the overall decline in scoring, this trend is not going to reverse and I have no idea how you can look around the league and make the statement above with a straight face.

yes, with our D, you can make a case that there isn't sufficient evidence to convict the core, but there is also no evidence that they are an good either.

The jury is indeed out but that hasn't stopped you and others from drawing the conclusion you have.

I'll say till proven otherwise: other than Hall, no one in this core has proven they are elite players. It is a core of one highend player and a bunch of average players (Drai is showing signs of being above average).

Nugent Hopkins is 33rd in scoring among centres this season in a down year. Before that he was consistently in the top 30. Since Jordan Eberle entered the league, only seven players have scored more goals. Average?

 

[blupye*]

Drai and Kassian were fairly good. The rest kind of meh.

Does anyone think Kassian-McJesus-Yak will be a good line? Just throwing it out there

 

[blupye*]

Picked up today in the back yard after my dog did his business....thought it would be the last time today I witnessed hot crap on ice...I clearly was wrong.

This is the best analogy I have heard in a long time. Do u mind if I use it when people ask me the next day about the Oilers games?

Really pissing me off to have to watch this crap here in the Maritimes. We have to stay up to 1030, 1100 PM to watch the Oilers and this is our reward. Not fair

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

RNH and Eberle aren't even the core anymore. It's misleading to say they have to be shipped out because they haven't won in the past with a **** roster.

They should be dangled to balance the team but trading them away to shake up the core is completely pointless and harmful.

 

[Young Lions*]

RNH and Eberle aren't even the core anymore. It's misleading to say they have to be shipped out because they haven't won in the past with a **** roster.

They should be dangled to balance the team but trading them away to shake up the core is completely pointless and harmful.

I can get behind this. If there's a smart deal to be made, fine. But change for the sake of change is idiotic. It also baffles me how people can dump on some of these players and then turn around and expect these "average" players to bring back top quality returns.

 

[CupofOil]

The Oilers played very well tonight, played decent on this whole road trip.

Look, If we're playing weak teams and giving out half ass efforts I'm the first person here to lay into the team for that.

But think of this roadtrip. Florida, Tampa, Dallas. All in 4 nights. Just before this trip the Oil played a game all the way in SJ. They been getting frequent flyer miles.
An East coast team doesn't have this kind of travel ever in a season.

Team is short staffed, tired, and they absolutely refused to go down. They kept coming.

kudos

Yeah, I don't think they've been that bad which makes it all the more frustrating because they should have gotten more points out of these games in this recent 7 game stretch.

I think some people need to curb their expectations a bit. This team is decimated with injuries and they are hanging with playoff teams. It hasn't been pretty but they have been competitive which is all we can really ask for.

Get a couple of good Dmen this summer and I think we might have something next season and not something that smells like steaming dog poo.

On another note, I really like that Kassian-Letestu-Pakarinen line. Finally, a line that can cycle the puck with some consistency. It'll be interesting to see what combos Mclellan comes up with when McDavid returns.

 

[doulos]

Does anyone think Kassian-McJesus-Yak will be a good line? Just throwing it out there

McDavid-Yak and a rock would be a solid line. I don't think it matters who is on the other wing.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Klefbom
RNH
McDavid
Davidson

tough to win when your top 2 centers are out, your top pairing d-man is out and a good young player like Davidson is out

why can't these injuries come to our scrub players? no luck in that department

goal for the last 33 games: get to .500...it's a daunting task but McDavid is back Feb 2nd, hopefully Klef and Davidson are back then too...and maybe RNH by the beginning of March

 

[McPuritania]

Well if people are so sick of it, they should just stop watching, or if they are going to continue to watch it don't come in here and ***** and moan before and after every game.

I bleed copper and blue and have for twenty five years and I hate losing just as much as everyone else and I understand that certain players on this team need to go and changes need to be made but I also understand that climbing out of the hole that Lowe and them dug us over the last decade doesn't happen overnight.

I get that people are frustrated but it's apparent that the team is moving in the right direction and more changes are on the horizon, I'm just sick of being trashed by every other fan base and then to come in here and our own fans go on and on about how it's the same old thing. Good days are on the horizon, I know a lot of people are jaded and some people just like to whine for any reason but we should be rallying around the team and the guys who do show up and are going to be apart of the turn around. It's really easy to trash the team when they suck and be a super fan when they are good but a real fan focuses on the good even when there is so much bad for so long and it seems like a lot of people only pay attention anymore so they can come in here and point out all the bad over and over again.

Edit: And for the record McPuritania I've always found you to be one of the more reasonable, agreeable, knowledgeable posters.

I hear you, but with the level of frustration that we've felt for so long, I have a really, really, hard time criticizing any Oiler fan for being distraught. I get that it's super tiresome to read the negativity all the time, but the only people I blame for that are the people that put this team in the gutter in the first place. I guess I just have a problem with the name calling, rather than the criticism.

 

[Stoneman89]

In a year where his play has been highly suspect and at times poor, Anton Lander unbelievably actually managed to lower those limitations with his performance last night.

 

[Stoneman89]

I'm not so sure we're hanging in there in the playoff hunt anymore. 8 points behind is daunting as it is, in a league where even when other teams lose, they can still pick up points. More of an issue, is the alarming number of makeup games most of those teams have on us, not to mention the amount of teams we have to climb over. By the time we get back from the break, the extra differential could really be staggering. In about a month, I think we're starting to move some pieces, and I don't think it will be to bolster us. It will be to clear the decks for the summer.

 

[oljimmy]

Just checked: last year the Oilers had their first regulation losses by an average of 2.5 goals. This year it's down to 1.9. If we factored in empty net goals, that number would be even lower and the change even more significant. This is with the man-games lost having skyrocketed this year. So the team is definitely heading in the right direction, even if we're tired of saying that.

 

[HotToddy75]

I've posted this before, but we are getting screwed by the economics of the league.

1. The no-trade and no-movement clauses reduce the pool players we can acquire.
2. Edmonton isn't a premier destination for players or their families. "Trade me to EMND please!" said no one ever.
3. There seem to be unwritten rules among GM's about sending valuable dmen to non-play-off teams. The good teams trade with each other almost exclusively.
4. Free agency for dmen is non-existent. They are underpaid as a group, so teams always resign them rather than risking going without. IE, we can't even get decent UFA dmen.
5. We've drafted BPA forever in round 1, foregoing the 1st round defensemen that other teams have slowly accumulated. We are empty on the farm.

IMO, the ONLY way out is to convert the high end forwards into dmen. Or to offer sheet an RFA dman. My plan: offer sheet Seth Jones. Then trade Ebs for another good dman.

 

[I am the Liquor]

Does anyone think Kassian-McJesus-Yak will be a good line? Just throwing it out there

Any line with McDavid is a good line.

 

[Connor McSaviour]

Does anybody notice how many crafty little plays Drai does in the offensive zone that don't even end up for a shot on net? In the last minute he set Purcell up beautifully in the slot and Purcell didn't even get a shot off.

 

[McPuritania]

I'm not so sure we're hanging in there in the playoff hunt anymore. 8 points behind is daunting as it is, in a league where even when other teams lose, they can still pick up points. More of an issue, is the alarming number of makeup games most of those teams have on us, not to mention the amount of teams we have to climb over. By the time we get back from the break, the extra differential could really be staggering. In about a month, I think we're starting to move some pieces, and I don't think it will be to bolster us. It will be to clear the decks for the summer.

We're most definitely out of the playoff picture. Even if we went on a winning streak we'd still be on the outside looking in.

 

[McTrashBoat]

Does anybody notice how many crafty little plays Drai does in the offensive zone that don't even end up for a shot on net? In the last minute he set Purcell up beautifully in the slot and Purcell didn't even get a shot off.

Drai desperately needed a finisher, he was running and gunning that whole "pulled goalie" situation all on his own

 

[K1984]

Yeah, I don't think they've been that bad which makes it all the more frustrating because they should have gotten more points out of these games in this recent 7 game stretch.

I think some people need to curb their expectations a bit. This team is decimated with injuries and they are hanging with playoff teams. It hasn't been pretty but they have been competitive which is all we can really ask for.

Get a couple of good Dmen this summer and I think we might have something next season and not something that smells like steaming dog poo.

On another note, I really like that Kassian-Letestu-Pakarinen line. Finally, a line that can cycle the puck with some consistency. It'll be interesting to see what combos Mclellan comes up with when McDavid returns.

When you take a step back this is a reasonable take.

Losing Klefbom was almost a bigger loss than McDavid. We can weather losing a centre, but our D is way, way too shallow to afford losing a player like Klefbom. The drop off when he went out was immediate. As in within the same game. In that Ranger game we were pretty good through the first two periods, then Klefbom goes down and all of a sudden we are hemmed in our own end all through the 3rd.

We badly need the following:

- Top pair right shot D

- 4/5 tweeter defenseman that can play with some poise

- another physical winger that has a bit of scoring touch (I'm thinking a Daniel Winnik type)

- *if a C gets traded for D - a bigger third line C that plays with some edge

 

[K1984]

Does anybody notice how many crafty little plays Drai does in the offensive zone that don't even end up for a shot on net? In the last minute he set Purcell up beautifully in the slot and Purcell didn't even get a shot off.

That pissed me off. Purcell had a clear shot in the slot, but just had to do the cute little dangle first.

 

[Lacaar]

Deal Hall for some defense. It's time.

You can't trade the 1 player who seems to be somewhat immune to the curse/poison that is Oileritis.

The disease that erodes your skill and passion for the game.

All showed great promise and even played great for their first couple of seasons.
But this disease is like the ring of power.. it slowly erodes at your soul and turns you into one giant piece of crap hockey player.

Taylor Hall is the Frodo Baggins of the NHL!

Victims
- Sam Gagner
- Justin Schultz
- Nail yakupov
- Jordan Eberle
- RNH
- Jeff Petry
- Shawn Horcoff
- Ales Hemsky
- Every defenceman that's ever played for this team.
- Goalies too


Yah I'm absolutely disgusted with the organization and team if you can't tell.
I'm completely jaded. All this team does is piss me off. There is no joy to be had watching them.

 

[ElysiumAB]

Absent mindedly deflects puck in, actually moves his shaft to achieve the deflection. I mean WTF? Every player since peewee is taught not to try to block a shot with your stick in front of the net. You can try that at the point but NEVER around your net. pouliot does it, goal.

I couldn't believe that when I saw it. Like, BEST case scenario is he makes clean contact with the puck... which would result in the puck being between the circles, still the most dangerous scoring area on the ice. There really wasn't any upside to him even trying to touch it.

The most surprising thing for me is that McLellan hasn't fixed this offsides fiasco. It's shocking. I'm also a big Wings fan, they MAYBE go offsides once a game - though I'd bet it's less and its RARELY raarely ever on a 2 on 1 or some super important play (mainly when someone has to swerve at the blue line to avoid contact or something - not due to being over eager on a scoring chance). It seems every game the Oilers play they ruin 3+ scoring chances due to going offside (I want to say 4-6 chances, but not sure if that's an exaggeration.)

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