Playoffs or Chia fired?

[CupofOil]

Sure, they could do it again if they fluke into another season with perfect injury luck (0 injuries to key players all season is ridiculous), practically every player having a career year, and Talbot putting up Vezina-calibre stats. Literally everything went right that season. Everything. To sit back and expect that to be repeated instead of fixing the glaring holes in the roster is ridiculous, and leads to what we saw last season.

.

They had amazing injury luck for sure but you're completely wrong that everybody had a career season. Outside of Talbot, Maroon and Letestu on the PP, who had a career season? The 2nd line was trash at even strength most of the season, the 3rd line gave us nothing most of the season and Kassian finally woke up later in the season. Outside of injury luck and perhaps Talbot being overworked, there was nothing that indicated that the Oilers would be in for a hard crash the next season. Some regression was expected but nobody outside of an eternal curmudgeon could have predicted what happened last season.

Anyway, Chia's biggest error was the Reinhart trade. That set our pipeline back a few years. Even Eriksson Ek and Carlo would haveade a sizeable difference. The NMCs were also killer. I'm still ok with the Hall trade because it served a purpose. The other moves were crippling.

 

[Soundwave]

MAF really wasn't even that great for Pittsburgh early on. In his first 5 seasons for the Penguins, he only had one season with a save percentage over .915 and in that season he only played 37 games.

His playoff numbers are worse, 6/7 seasons were sub .910 in the playoffs, 5/7 a horrific .899 or lower.

The Oilers had a reasonably comparable core given to them, it's Chiarelli's fault they have mismanaged it.

McDavid = Crosby
Draisaitl + Hall = Malkin + scrub
RNH + Nurse + Klefbom = Staal, Whitney (traded for Kunitz), Fleury

They got lucky with Letang, but they were already making the SCF without Letang being a big factor and the Oilers had the 2015 1st (15th overall) and another top 4 selection in 2016.

I would probably take RNH/Nurse/Klefbom over Staal/Kunitz/MAF

There is no excuse for the Oilers being this bad, it's bad managament plain and simple. If the Oilers had nothing but a "Robot GM" that wasn't allowed to make any big trades and simply chose the consensus player at a draft spot, they'd be better off.

 

[rboomercat90]

Ok so... hear me out, here's a crazy idea... we cheer for the Oilers to win?

Impossible to like this post enough.

 

[rboomercat90]

Weren't we contenders in 2016-17?
we we one of the Cup favorites last year at this time?

people who'd rather watch the Oiler lose than win is plain sad.

It’s sad really, how many Oilers “fans” on this board are only happy when the team is losing. I’m not thrilled with what happened last year either. I think it’s a no-brainer that Mclellan should have been fired after last season and I’m one more bad year away from feeling the same way about Chiarelli. That said, I’ll be cheering the team on this season hoping for success for everyone including the coach and GM. I know some don’t agree with this but I, for one, find winning a lot more fun than losing.

 

[Soundwave]

It’s sad really, how many Oilers “fans” on this board are only happy when the team is losing. I’m not thrilled with what happened last year either. I think it’s a no-brainer that Mclellan should have been fired after last season and I’m one more bad year away from feeling the same way about Chiarelli. That said, I’ll be cheering the team on this season hoping for success for everyone including the coach and GM. I know some don’t agree with this but I, for one, find winning a lot more fun than losing.

The fans are not the problem and never been. If cheering hard got you in the playoffs, the Oilers would be in every year. Idiotic management is and always has been the central problem.

The Oilers put fans who aren't willing to drink their annual Kool-Aid in a miserable position. If they do by some miracle scrape into the playoffs, the management is still sub par and likely will continue to dither away McDavid's future.

In hindsight the Islanders would have been better off missing the playoffs in the years they did make it to get Snow fired earlier. Tavares might have stayed if they got competent management before it was too late.

The only thing sad here is what this management is forcing their fans into. You can't even properly cheer for the team because it means long term the result might be total disaster.

 

[jukon]

Success is a long playoff run. Anything less and Chia should be gone.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

It’s sad really, how many Oilers “fans” on this board are only happy when the team is losing. I’m not thrilled with what happened last year either. I think it’s a no-brainer that Mclellan should have been fired after last season and I’m one more bad year away from feeling the same way about Chiarelli. That said, I’ll be cheering the team on this season hoping for success for everyone including the coach and GM. I know some don’t agree with this but I, for one, find winning a lot more fun than losing.

Nobody is happy with the team losing. Not a single damn soul. 2016-17 was tons of fun and I started to believe that would become the norm. Last year left me so depressed, so disillusioned with the team that I actively tuned games out, something I hadn't done even in the darkest of years.

It's incredibly disingenuous to assume anyone is happy with the team losing. Who on this board watched the Oilers last year with a massive shit-eating grin as they watched the Oilers completely botch McDavid's final ELC year? I guarantee nobody did. It was frustrating as all hell. I want this team to contend. I want to re-live 2006 on a regular basis. I want to see McDavid smash records both in the regular season and playoffs. I want the Oilers to be a team I can be proud of cheering for instead of ashamed.

I've watched this team every year since 2006 and last year was quite honestly the worst. Not in terms of the team itself but how hopeless it felt. The team was done by Halloween despite having a wealth of talent and cap space (the latter of which we don't have anymore). Again we were forced to sell off assets for pennies that likely won't amount to anything anytime soon, if ever.

The best thing you could say about this offseason was that Chiarelli didn't f*** it up. Our expectations for this team are so in the tank that we have to applaud the GM for not screwing up and praying we can maybe be a wild card team.

We have Connor Mcf***ing McDavid, the best player this team has seen since Gretzky was traded. I was three years old at that time and couldn't possibly appreciate what having the best player on the planet felt like.

With McDavid there's always hope but as last season showed even he can't lift this team when there's so much garbage on it, both on and off the ice.

As much as I want to see Tobias fired into the sun, I'd rather see the Oilers win the Cup this year. No, sorry, being first round fodder when you have a talent like McDavid isn't good enough. If the Oilers don't at least reach the second round this year, Chiarelli should never, ever work in hockey ever again.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Nobody is happy with the team losing. Not a single damn soul.

40.4% would rather the team lose than win according to the poll

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

40.4% would rather the team lose than win according to the poll

That doesn't equate to happy with losing.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

That doesn't equate to happy with losing.

missing the playoffs is basically saying they want the Oilers to not be very good
thats embarrassing

 

[shoop]

It’s sad really, how many Oilers “fans” on this board are only happy when the team is losing. I’m not thrilled with what happened last year either. I think it’s a no-brainer that Mclellan should have been fired after last season and I’m one more bad year away from feeling the same way about Chiarelli.

Excellent post.

The Oilers making the playoffs for only the second time in the most recent 12 seasons is far from a bad season.

I can't believe 40% of Oilers "fans" really think Chiarelli should be fired if the Oilers only make the playoffs this year.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

missing the playoffs is basically saying they want the Oilers to not be very good
thats embarrassing

This from the guy who would be happy with being first round fodder?

Newsflash, the Oilers AREN'T very good.

 

[Soundwave]

40.4% would rather the team lose than win according to the poll

It's not embarrassing. It shows people want a real contender and not end up in a situation like the Islanders were in because Garth Snow made the playoffs just enough to keep getting more rope to hang himself with.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

This from the guy who would be happy with being first round fodder?

Newsflash, the Oilers AREN'T very good.

yeah, it's really embarrassing watching a playoff team

Leafs must hate their team for constantly being 1st round fodder

 

[KCC]

Going to take a miracle to get into the playoffs this year. Don't expect them to and with how bad Chiarelli has messed up everything I'm in casual mode now until he's gone. lol

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

yeah, it's really embarrassing watching a playoff team

Leafs must hate their team for constantly being 1st round fodder

Considering they haven't won a playoff series in 14 years? I doubt they hate it but I'm sure they'd get tired of it real quick when their team should be aiming higher than that. Jets fans were sure getting tired of not winning any playoff series until they finally did. The list goes on and on...

This isn't the 90s anymore. We have good pieces in place that are wasted on the likes of Lucic and Sekera's corpse.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Considering they haven't won a playoff series in 14 years? I doubt they hate it but I'm sure they'd get tired of it real quick when their team should be aiming higher than that. Jets fans were sure getting tired of not winning any playoff series until they finally did. The list goes on and on...

This isn't the 90s anymore. We have good pieces in place that are wasted on the likes of Lucic and Sekera's corpse.

playoffs > no playoffs...always and forever

but I guess people are so used to being out of the playoffs, they'd rather still with the "loser mentality"

 

[Soundwave]

playoffs > no playoffs...always and forever

but I guess people are so used to being out of the playoffs, they'd rather still with the "loser mentality"

Yeah some of us have a bigger plan than just grovelling like beggars for a playoff berth every few years (ie: being the Tavares-era Islanders 2.0) and thinking that type of existence as a franchise is meaningful. Like to actually have a team that can actually win something important one day, something this management group will never put together.

They can't even build a playoff team with what they had to work with from summer 2015, this management team will never take this team from where it is today to one that has Connor McDavid where he deserves to be, his rightful place in the pantheon of great NHL players.

The sooner this management group is gone, the sooner the REAL work of building a REAL contender around no.97 can begin.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Yeah some of us have a bigger plan than just grovelling like beggars for a playoff berth every few years (ie: being the Tavares-era Islanders 2.0) and thinking that type of existence as a franchise is meaningful. Like to actually have a team that can actually win something important one day, something this management group will never put together.

They can't even build a playoff team with what they had to work with from summer 2015, this management team will never take this team from where it is today to one that has Connor McDavid where he deserves to be, his rightful place in the pantheon of great NHL players.

The sooner this management group is gone, the sooner the REAL work of building a REAL contender around no.97 can begin.

Tell you what if and when they make the playoffs, feel free to still cry about the past
The rest of us will enjoy the Oilers in the playoffs

 

[Soundwave]

Tell you what if and when they make the playoffs, feel free to still cry about the past
The rest of us will enjoy the Oilers in the playoffs

How'd that work out in 2/3 years thus far? Objectively there's a good chance you won't be watching the Oilers in the playoffs next year either.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

How'd that work out in 2/3 years thus far? Objectively there's a good chance you won't be watching the Oilers in the playoffs next year either.

But if the Oilers squeak into the playoffs, you’ll actually be angry about right?

 

[Soundwave]

But if the Oilers squeak into the playoffs, you’ll actually be angry about right?

No, but satisfied or falling over myself to declare victory like we've climbed Mount Everest for a first round exit ... no.

This management is never taking this team where it needs to go, if they were capable we wouldn't be in this spot to begin with.

 

[Little Fury]

It will never not be funny to me that we went from "we're sick of just scraping into the playoffs! We need to tank for elite players so we can dominate!" to "well, we have the best player in the world now, so hopefully we can just scrape into the playoffs."

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Playoffs. Let K. Gretzky continue to build the prospect cupboard and give Chia assets to move from a position of strength. Chia's worst trades have come from a position of weakness. We needed defense in a big, big way when he came on board.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

It will never not be funny to me that we went from "we're sick of just scraping into the playoffs! We need to tank for elite players so we can dominate!" to "well, we have the best player in the world now, so hopefully we can just scrape into the playoffs."

When you have the best player in the world you always have a punchers chance. Even if we scrape in as an 8th seed do you think that anyone wants to match up against Connor?