Speculation: Predict the Oilers line up when everyone is heathy

[ujju2]

Modern day warrior mean mean stride, today's Matt Hendricks mean mean pride.

Hard to believe he'd be in this lineup anywhere.

Yay, a Rush fan!

 

[Broilers]

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - Nuge - Kassian
Maroon - Draisaitl - Pitlick
Hendricks - Letestu - Lander
Pakarinen

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Davidson
Gryba -Fayne

Puljujärvi will be sent to AHL after 9 games
Lander is PK and FO specialist and remains in the lineup
It was a mistake to trade Yakopov, he should have been in the first line
Caggiula needs some seasoning in AHL

 

[tiger_80]

When everyone's Healthy?

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - Nuge - Cagiula
Maroon - Draisaitl - Puljujarv
Hendricks/Pitlick - Letestu - Kassian
Pitlck

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Davidson
Gryba

(Fayne on waivers to the AHL)

Talbot
Gustafsson


That Draisaitl line is too good together and too much of a hassle for other teams in favourable match ups to split up, imo

I have Cagiula coming back up and playing, but it's complete reasonable that he stays in AHL just because the performances and the depth.

Edit: I think I have a smaller roster then needed, but that's more because I just couldn't figure out exactly who fits where. I love Slepyshev's game, but he could just be the odd man out, maybe Pakarinen comes back and impacts the game, then you can't over look him either.

The Oilers have legit depth, it's ****ing great.

In an ideal world:
Lucic-MacDavid-Eberle (don't fix what isn't broken)
Pouliot-RNH-Draisaitl (skills and size)
Maroon-Cagiula-Kassian
Lander-Letestu-Pitlick (has been a great 4th line)
Hendricks, Slepyshev

Larsson-Klefbom
Russell-Sekera
Nurse-Davidson
Gryba
Fayne to the AHL. He will pass through the waivers due to his contract and the Oilers can use him if injuries hit. Nice to have depth for once.

Pulujarvi to the minors. He'll be good, but not this year.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - RNH - Kassian
Maroon - Draisaitl - Puljujarvi
Hendricks - Letestu - Pitlick
ex. Lander, Pakarinen

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russell
Nurse - Davidson
ex. Gryba

Talbot
Gustavsson

With everyone healthy I'd send Slepyshev, Caggiula, Fayne, Benning, and Brossoit down to the farm.

The only players I slide in when they are healthy are Hendricks due to loyalty unless a young-in clearly outplays him, the spot should default to him, Davidson is just flat-out better than Gryba, and Gustavsson just cause I want Brossoit to get the development time in the minors.

I think Slepy might be better than Pakarinen as a whole, but he isn't as consistent which is what we need from our 4th line and Slepy doesn't PK which really impacts his utility. Lander sticks for much the same reason he's a dependable utility player, helps on the PK, and is a secondary face-off option on really key draws.

Caggiula could very well be a quick round trip, I want to send him down cause he's been inactive for a while and if he makes the NHL I want him to hit the ground running, not plopped in cold after an injury. If we send him down for the weekend in the AHL and gets like 3 points and looks good I'd call him right back-up.

Fayne came into his 2nd camp in a row looking like he wasn't ready to compete at a high level, he can rot down there for a bit.

Benning just want him getting more AHL games for the experience.

Brossoit I'd send down for now, but based on Gustavsson first 4-5 games I might look at swapping who is NHL back-up and who is AHL starter.


Pulju I'm tentatively sticking with, but he's only 2 or 3 bad games in a row from being sent down. I've also decided that I don't really care about keeping under the 10 game max to preserve a year on his contract, he's close enough to ready that I want the only driving force in the decision making to be what is best for his development, everything else can take a backseat.

 

[Soundwave]

Lucic McDavid Eberle
Pouliot RNH Caggiula
Maroon Draisaitl Kassian
Hendricks Letestu Pitlick

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Davidson

 

[Aceboogie]

The Oilers roster will be the same until they go through a 3 game losing skid where they look bad. I doubt TM changes anything while winning and even when they lose hell keep it same to rekindle that fire

 

[Mr Positive]

The Oilers roster will be the same until they go through a 3 game losing skid where they look bad. I doubt TM changes anything while winning and even when they lose hell keep it same to rekindle that fire

Our roster hasn't even been the same during the first part of this season. We've won games without Lander, Slepyshev and Puljujarvi. Drai has been a center and a winger. Within games, the lines have been mixed and blended in just about every combo you could make. If Caggiula, Hendricks, Pakarinen, Davidson, or whoever are good enough, then it can only be a good thing to put them in. Fresh legs might be just the thing to keep the winning ways going. Davidson was even part of a win in the regular season before he went down.

It's not like everything has been perfect during this winning streak as well.

 

[GameChanger]

I've also decided that I don't really care about keeping under the 10 game max to preserve a year on his contract, he's close enough to ready that I want the only driving force in the decision making to be what is best for his development, everything else can take a backseat.

I think these are wise words. I personally wouldn't mind if Pulju was sent to China for the rest of the year, but I'm just worried that anything else but NHL might slow down his developement.

I also find it a bit strange that you have an 18-year-old guy who's been gaining positive comments lately and who's hit the post in the last two games, but still many fans are ready to send him down. I believe that Edmonton is close to the only place where this could happen with these kind of performances. One reason is the wide roster here and another one is McDavid in the team, which means that you don't have a huge hype for an extremely promising youngster like Pulju. I guess a third reason may be Pulju's draft number, which as only #4 may subconsciosly make some people believe he is clearly less of a prospect than Matthews or Laine. At least that would be natural I think. It's the middle of the night here when you have the games so I can only watch an occasional game here and there. In the game against Winnipeg Pulju already looked pretty good to me and if he's been just getting better as the reports here say the direction is right.

I also have to say that I believe you guys have a great chance to achieve something wonderful during the next spring. I know it's hard for me to be completely impartial, but I honestly believe that Puljujarvi can give you a great asset then. That's why I think it may make a difference to you as well whether or not you manage to develop his potential to the fullest. To me it seemed clear that sending Pulju to the local farm league here in Finland (at the age of 16, after a great start in FEL) didn't do much good so I'm just worried that maybe the same would happen with a trip to AHL, especially since he seems to be developing so well in NHL.

 

[McSuper]

How you could have Kass sitting in the PB after last night's game is beyond me. We can't play with all of our shiny toys, Slep and Drake go down for playing time.

I never seen last nights game as i live in Halifax and after working over night and not sleep during the day at all I laid down and was gone until 8.30 this morning . I am also not sure any changes should be made as long as the team is winning . Just nice to speculate as we have depth for a change . I also really don't care who is in the line up as long as W keep coming .

My only thoughts are Benning was keep on the team at the start of the season and Puljujarvi is starting to play well but AHL time won't hurt him or the team

 

[McSuper]

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - Nuge - Kassian
Maroon - Draisaitl - Pitlick
Hendricks - Letestu - Lander
Pakarinen

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Davidson
Gryba -Fayne

Puljujärvi will be sent to AHL after 9 games
Lander is PK and FO specialist and remains in the lineup
It was a mistake to trade Yakopov, he should have been in the first line
Caggiula needs some seasoning in AHL

The better question isn't so much about wether Yakupov should or shouldn't have been trade but if he wasn't traded do Chia still sign Russell ?

 

[MessierII]

Lucic mcD Ebs
Poo Nuge kass
Maroon Drai Pitlick
Hendricks Letestu pak
Lander & slep extras

Klef Larsson
Sekera Russel
Nurse Davidson
Gryba Fayne

Talbot
Monster

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

I think these are wise words. I personally wouldn't mind if Pulju was sent to China for the rest of the year, but I'm just worried that anything else but NHL might slow down his developement.

I also find it a bit strange that you have an 18-year-old guy who's been gaining positive comments lately and who's hit the post in the last two games, but still many fans are ready to send him down. I believe that Edmonton is close to the only place where this could happen with these kind of performances. One reason is the wide roster here and another one is McDavid in the team, which means that you don't have a huge hype for an extremely promising youngster like Pulju. I guess a third reason may be Pulju's draft number, which as only #4 may subconsciosly make some people believe he is clearly less of a prospect than Matthews or Laine. At least that would be natural I think. It's the middle of the night here when you have the games so I can only watch an occasional game here and there. In the game against Winnipeg Pulju already looked pretty good to me and if he's been just getting better as the reports here say the direction is right.

I also have to say that I believe you guys have a great chance to achieve something wonderful during the next spring. I know it's hard for me to be completely impartial, but I honestly believe that Puljujarvi can give you a great asset then. That's why I think it may make a difference to you as well whether or not you manage to develop his potential to the fullest. To me it seemed clear that sending Pulju to the local farm league here in Finland (at the age of 16, after a great start in FEL) didn't do much good so I'm just worried that maybe the same would happen with a trip to AHL, especially since he seems to be developing so well in NHL.

I think those feelings are well founded and I agree with the consensus that Puljujarvi doesn't belong on that same tier as those other two and I've felt this way well before either one had a hot start to their NHL careers. My hopes for Pulju are to be something along the lines of a Thomas Vanek with a better defensive game and more consistency from year to year. Laine on the other hand has the skill package to compete for the Maurice Richard trophy on an annual basis and Matthews looks like he will be a top 5 center in the league.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Don't mess with success:

Lucic McDavid Eberle
Pouliot RNH Kassian
Maroon Draisatl Puljujarvi
Hendricks Letestu Pitlick
Spares - Lander Pakarainen
Minors and 1st injury call up - Cagguila seems to be what may happen.

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Davidson
Spare - Gryba
Minors - Benning, Fayne (I hope Fayne...)

Puljujarvi is getting used to the pace, adjusting better and more confident with his game. Unless it's a question of not wanting to burn a year of his ELC I think TMac keeps him.

 

[nabob]

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - RNH - Kassian
Maroon - Draisaitl - Puljujarvi
Hendricks - Letestu - Pitlick
ex. Lander, Pakarinen

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russell
Nurse - Davidson
ex. Gryba

Talbot
Gustavsson

With everyone healthy I'd send Slepyshev, Caggiula, Fayne, Benning, and Brossoit down to the farm.

The only players I slide in when they are healthy are Hendricks due to loyalty unless a young-in clearly outplays him, the spot should default to him, Davidson is just flat-out better than Gryba, and Gustavsson just cause I want Brossoit to get the development time in the minors.

I think Slepy might be better than Pakarinen as a whole, but he isn't as consistent which is what we need from our 4th line and Slepy doesn't PK which really impacts his utility. Lander sticks for much the same reason he's a dependable utility player, helps on the PK, and is a secondary face-off option on really key draws.

Caggiula could very well be a quick round trip, I want to send him down cause he's been inactive for a while and if he makes the NHL I want him to hit the ground running, not plopped in cold after an injury. If we send him down for the weekend in the AHL and gets like 3 points and looks good I'd call him right back-up.

Fayne came into his 2nd camp in a row looking like he wasn't ready to compete at a high level, he can rot down there for a bit.

Benning just want him getting more AHL games for the experience.

Brossoit I'd send down for now, but based on Gustavsson first 4-5 games I might look at swapping who is NHL back-up and who is AHL starter.


Pulju I'm tentatively sticking with, but he's only 2 or 3 bad games in a row from being sent down. I've also decided that I don't really care about keeping under the 10 game max to preserve a year on his contract, he's close enough to ready that I want the only driving force in the decision making to be what is best for his development, everything else can take a backseat.

I agree with this.

 

[thadd]

If everyone's healthy I think we'll see a minor trade. I imagine we'll be forced to waive someone we will be afraid of losing. Either that or Cagguila stays down for the year.

 

[GameChanger]

I think those feelings are well founded and I agree with the consensus that Puljujarvi doesn't belong on that same tier as those other two and I've felt this way well before either one had a hot start to their NHL careers. My hopes for Pulju are to be something along the lines of a Thomas Vanek with a better defensive game and more consistency from year to year. Laine on the other hand has the skill package to compete for the Maurice Richard trophy on an annual basis and Matthews looks like he will be a top 5 center in the league.

I understand and don't blame anyone for that kind of a feeling. However, I believe that because of the Matthews vs. Laine media hype it's too easy to forget the minimal differences between the three guys' potentials.

As I'm biased here I'll try to stick to the facts and apologize if someone feels this is a personal mission for Puljujarvi. Statistic-wise Puljujarvi is possibly the most promising Finnish forward ever, with possibly tough competition from Alexander Barkov. Compared to Laine, Jesse has always been more or less ahead in numbers with the exception of last fall. However, I naturally understand that Laine was drafted earlier because of him playing in World Champioships and World Cup.

Just about a year ago Puljujarvi was said to be fighting for #1 draft place, although Matthews was still a very likely choice. Then last fall Puljujarvi had a slowish start, while Laine, who had a very difficult previous year, started to shine. Media (which also has a strong base in Tampere, where Laine comes from) loved the story of the "bad boy", who was a very untypical Finn in many ways and had a cannon shot. At the same time Puljujarvi, as a smiling boy from the team that everyone loathed for the two "lucky" championships they'd just had, just wasn't as attractive to the media. Of course in the fall his performances affected as well. After the fall Pulju was clearly behind Laine in numbers, but in the spring time he started to catch him game by game, with the difference being just a few points at the end of the season. Puljujarvi also scored better numbers at the U20 championships so at that time, last spring, it was still unsure which one of the Finns would be ahead in the draft.

However, Laine was selected to the World Championships and since that Laine was ahead in the speculations, understandably. I don't mean to take anything away from Laine, instead I'm trying to use his amazing talent as a reminder to the potential in Puljujarvi as well. When Pulju and Laine have been playing in the same leagues or tournaments there isn't anything in the statistics that would make Pulju any less of a prospect. That is a fact that can be easily checked. Then it's a matter of taste if you appreciate Laine's shot, Pulju's wide arsenal or something else.

Auston Matthews is older than Pulju and Laine, so it makes it harder to compare their potentials. I think last spring Puljujarvi's and Laine's numbers were more convincing that Matthews' and it was the same at U20s. However, Matthews was very good at the World Championships and has been so convincing for years, so he was a natural #1 at the draft.

Like I said I think its psycologically natural to forget some of Puljujarvi's talent. However, it's not a long time since he scored the 2nd best numbers ever (just a point below Jagr I think) at the age of 17 in U20 World Championship and around the draft a lot of people thought that Puljujarvi would've been #1 in many other years. That's why I think comparing him to Vanek, although a fine player, is underestimating Pulju's potential. Of course only time will tell, but Pulju should have the potential to become one of the very best RWs in the league. I hope I didn't annoy anyone with a long message like this.

 

[syz]

I'm expecting Hendricks to play himself off the team when he's healthy, unless somebody else falters. He's consistently a liability, which mercifully the Oilers haven't seen much of thus far. People are passing him/have passed him on the depth chart and he's the one of that bunch that isn't going to get any better at this point.

 

[duul]

Lucic-McDavid-Eberle
Maroon-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi
Pouliot-RNH-Caggiula
Slepyshev-Letestu-Kassian
Pitlick

Trust me, Caggiula is a much better hockey player than people are giving him credit for.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

I'd probably go

Lucic-mcd-ebs
Pou-nuge-dragula
Roon-drai-jubjub
Hendo-Stu-Tpitts
Lander, Kass

Klef-lardeadly
Sekbeuty-Russ
Nurse-McDavidson

Pops
Gusto

 

[snipes]

As much as I love Hendo, he's looking like he might be on the outside looking in. Right now, I think Pitlick brings more for us on the 4th line.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - Nuge - Kassian
Maroon - Draisaitl - Pitlick
Hendricks - Letestu - Lander
Pakarinen

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Davidson
Gryba -Fayne

Puljujärvi will be sent to AHL after 9 games
Lander is PK and FO specialist and remains in the lineup
It was a mistake to trade Yakopov, he should have been in the first line
Caggiula needs some seasoning in AHL

Why is he playing 4th line and no PP then on his 2nd team?

 

[fuswald]

I think Puljujarvi should be on Mcdavids wing because Eberles and Lucics reaction time is too slow and they miss some prime scoring opportunities Mcdavid gives them. I think it is age especially with Lucic. Don't have a replacement for Lucic but Puljujarvi swap in for Eberle should fit perfect.

 

[StoveTopStauffer]

Lucic - McDavid - Eberle
Pouliot - Nuge - Kassian
Maroon - Draisaitl - Pitlick
Hendricks - Letestu - Lander
Pakarinen

Klefbom - Larsson
Sekera - Russel
Nurse - Davidson
Gryba -Fayne

Puljujärvi will be sent to AHL after 9 games
Lander is PK and FO specialist and remains in the lineup
It was a mistake to trade Yakopov, he should have been in the first line
Caggiula needs some seasoning in AHL

Yak was hot garbage, addition by subtraction.

 

[NeverForget06]

I think Puljujarvi should be on Mcdavids wing because Eberles and Lucics reaction time is too slow and they miss some prime scoring opportunities Mcdavid gives them. I think it is age especially with Lucic. Don't have a replacement for Lucic but Puljujarvi swap in for Eberle should fit perfect.

People have been trying to fix this line all season and I have no idea why. It seems they have been producing throughout the season and we are 7-1 and first in the league in GF.

So why are we making changes to our top line? Stop trying to fix what isn't broken.

 

[fuswald]

People have been trying to fix this line all season and I have no idea why. It seems they have been producing throughout the season and we are 7-1 and first in the league in GF.

So why are we making changes to our top line? Stop trying to fix what isn't broken.

Just because something is good doesn't mean it can't be better.

I do agree leave it alone for now Puljujarvi needs more time.