Player Discussion Prediction thread for the 17-18 Season

[Deplorable Lenny]

When I was a long time creeper I used to look forward to this yearly thread.

I keep waiting for someone to put it up but haven't seen it yet.

Mods if there is one for this season already, please delete.

My crazy predictions are.

-Pulujarvi will score 50 points. Will have instant chemistry with Drai and or McDavid

-Drai and McDavid both improve their all round game but don't get quite as much points as last season.

-Talbot will struggle at times but LB will prove to be a bonafide reliable backup going forward.

-Lucic, Nuge and Strome all improve on last years totals and give the Oilers some real secondary scoring for once.

-Maroon falls off a cliff and gets dealt after he loses his spot in the top 9

-Jokinen is injured for most of the season and isn't brought back.

-The Oilers Defence is much improved. Many people here will be ok with the Russell signing after a very good season from him.

-Sekera comes back from injury earlier than expected but isn't very good for most of the season.

-They get about the same amount of points in the regular season (100-105) while finishing 1st in the pacific and 5th in the league

-They beat the Ducks, Flames and Stars en route the the Finals where Pitts or Wash beat them easily.

Click to read more...

 

[Aceboogie]

-The team as whole does simply just as good as last season. They make the playoffs but dont win the West and have some sketchy stretches during the season

-McDavid hits 110 points with 40 goals

-LD gets 70 points and plays the whole year on McDavids wing. Fans are upset he doesnt get 80+

-Maroon struggles but hits 20 goals. Replaced on top line by Lucic after 40 games

-RNH has a great year and anchors the 2nd line. Becomes untradeable by a large faction of HFOil

-Klefbom emerges as a great #1D, unfortunately after 35 games sustains a lengthy 25 game injury.

-The team sustains 50% more injuries this year and the reason they dont win the west

-Talbot struggles first 20 games, Brossoit has to rescue him during this time. Talbot recovers well after that

-Puljujarvi scores 15 points in his first 15 games, HFOil goes wild. He slows down but still ends up with 50 points (20 goals)

-Nurse and Benning replace Sekera and Russel on the second pairing

 

[Faelko]

Love this thread.

1. Pulujarvi gets cut and goes on to have an average season in Bakersfield and people start throwing out the word "Bust".

2. Lucic has a strong start to the season but suffers an injury Mid-season and struggles a bit until playoffs come along where he goes beast mode.

3. Strome makes everyone forget about Eberle. Many posters fret over how the Oilers will afford him after this season.

4. Nuge starts off on McDavids wing but looks lost. He soon after swaps spots with Strome and people again start talking about him being an overpaid 3C.

5. Nurse starts to solidify his 2LD spot leaving posters to criticize Chiarelli for giving Sekera a NMC.

6. Russell struggles without Sekera and the "Fire Chiarelli" thread gets resurrected.

7. Draisaitl moves permanently to the 2C and fails to hit 70 points but gives the Oilers excellent depth and fantastic play. The board goes crazy anyway and the "Fire Chiarelli" thread quickly moves to thread 2.

8. McDavid goes nuclear and sweeps the awards again. Flames fans cry about the lottery and say the Oilers are nothing without him.

9. Injury bug hits and the Oilers take a small step back and finish with 97 points but make it to the Western Conference finals.

 

[Smartguy]

-The team in total doesn't hit 100 points again but still good enough for second in the division.
- Strome is a staple in the top 6 in the first month, hits 60 points this year
-Maroon has a shaky season but still makes 20 goals
- Talbot hits some serious rough patches early in the season, Brossiot holds the fort down but has his struggles as well, many begin to question goaltending before Talbot picks up the slack again.
- Mcdavid makes 110 points
-Leon is not on Mcdavids line passed the first month but rather anchors the second line, still comes up around 75 points around seasons end
-Klefbom is bonafide number 1 by mid season, finishes around 15 goals 45points.
-Russel shows some offensive flare, hits 35 points
-Nurse shows up huge in Sekera absence, many want to get rid of Sekera before he's back because of it
- Benning regresses, shows us he's better suited as a 6-7 style dman.
-Pulju sticks on the roster, is on Mcdavids line by Christmas, finishes with 50 points
-Nuge struggles nightly playing mostly 3rd line minutes, barely makes 40 points, is traded for picks by June
- Kassian scores 15 goals
-Lucic scorers 20 goals, 45 points, But Kassian, Maroon, Lucic make us one of the most feared top 9 in the NHL allowing our skilled players to shine


Outside prediction
- Slepyshev scores 20 goals 45 points this year

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

-The team in total doesn't hit 100 points again but still good enough for second in the division.
- Strome is a staple in the top 6 in the first month, hits 60 points this year
-Maroon has a shaky season but still makes 20 goals
- Talbot hits some serious rough patches early in the season, Brossiot holds the fort down but has his struggles as well, many begin to question goaltending before Talbot picks up the slack again.
- Mcdavid makes 110 points
-Leon is not on Mcdavids line passed the first month but rather anchors the second line, still comes up around 75 points around seasons end
-Klefbom is bonafide number 1 by mid season, finishes around 15 goals 45points.
-Russel shows some offensive flare, hits 35 points
-Nurse shows up huge in Sekera absence, many want to get rid of Sekera before he's back because of it
- Benning regresses, shows us he's better suited as a 6-7 style dman.
-Pulju sticks on the roster, is on Mcdavids line by Christmas, finishes with 50 points
-Nuge struggles nightly playing mostly 3rd line minutes, barely makes 40 points, is traded for picks by June
- Kassian scores 15 goals
-Lucic scorers 20 goals, 45 points, But Kassian, Maroon, Lucic make us one of the most feared top 9 in the NHL allowing our skilled players to shine


Outside prediction
- Slepyshev scores 20 goals 45 points this year

That would sure make people forget about Eberle really quickly.

 

[Stud Muffin]

-The team as whole does simply just as good as last season. They make the playoffs but dont win the West and have some sketchy stretches during the season

-McDavid hits 110 points with 40 goals

-LD gets 70 points and plays the whole year on McDavids wing. Fans are upset he doesnt get 80+

-Maroon struggles but hits 20 goals. Replaced on top line by Lucic after 40 games

-RNH has a great year and anchors the 2nd line. Becomes untradeable by a large faction of HFOil

-Klefbom emerges as a great #1D, unfortunately after 35 games sustains a lengthy 25 game injury.

-The team sustains 50% more injuries this year and the reason they dont win the west

-Talbot struggles first 20 games, Brossoit has to rescue him during this time. Talbot recovers well after that

-Puljujarvi scores 15 points in his first 15 games, HFOil goes wild. He slows down but still ends up with 50 points (20 goals)

-Nurse and Benning replace Sekera and Russel on the second pairing

50% more?????? We were 6th or 7th in man games lost last year.

 

[Joey Moss]

50% more?????? We were 6th or 7th in man games lost last year.

With Ference out the whole year, yea. Let's not exaggerate it we were very healthy last season.

Nurse and Russell the only regular players who missed significant time.

 

[Aceboogie]

50% more?????? We were 6th or 7th in man games lost last year.

Ference and some injuries to depth guys skews that. Even Nurse was only a bottom pairing D when we lost him. Far from an impactful loss. Im predicting well see more injuries to our top 6/top 4 this year

Sekera will be out first month of the season atleast. Maybe some injuries to Klefbom/Larsson/Lucic/Draisaitl or something. Nothing major but something that would put us around league average for injuries to top 2 line players. Wont sink us but will prevent us from winning division

 

[Stud Muffin]

With Ference out the whole year, yea. Let's not exaggerate it we were very healthy last season.

Nurse and Russell the only regular players who missed significant time.

Nurse,Russell,Caggiula,Pitlick,Pakarinen,Davidson,Benning,Hendricks. They were far from injury free

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

-Strome Becomes a Fan Favourite, Eberle is forgotten.
-Puljujarvi scores around 35 points. Shows flashes of brilliance, struggles at times.
-Nurse makes us wonder how quickly we can move Russell this summer.
-Oilers Don't win division in regular season, but they win the cup.
-Oilers will acquire a star player at the deadline that you never imagined in an Oilers jersey before.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

-Strome Becomes a Fan Favourite, Eberle is forgotten.
-Puljujarvi scores around 35 points. Shows flashes of brilliance, struggles at times.
-Nurse makes us wonder how quickly we can move Russell this summer.
-Oilers Don't win division in regular season, but they win the cup.
-Oilers will acquire a star player at the deadline that you never imagined in an Oilers jersey before.

Good one! I was going to put something similar but forgot.

Honestly, if the Isles are out of the playoffs and Tavares is not re-signing. I would take a serious run at him as a rental.

Imagine needing a goal in an important game and putting out McDavid-Tavares-Draisaitl to give your team a boost.

 

[belair]

-Strome Becomes a Fan Favourite, Eberle is forgotten.
-Puljujarvi scores around 35 points. Shows flashes of brilliance, struggles at times.
-Nurse makes us wonder how quickly we can move Russell this summer.
-Oilers Don't win division in regular season, but they win the cup.
-Oilers will acquire a star player at the deadline that you never imagined in an Oilers jersey before.

Rick Nash, baby!!

 

[shoop]

- Puljujarvi finds some grit and some chemistry with McDavid. Scores 55 points.
- First line come November is Slepy-McDavid-Puljujarvi
- Second line is Lucic-Drai-Nuge to start the season.
- Neither Auvitu nor Gryba are the answer for the 3rd pairing until Sekera comes back.
- Broissoit is not the answer as backup goalie. Traded early in the season with Nuge for an upgrade at 6/7 D two middling picks and a better backup goalie.
- Maroon plays a decent season for a 3rd liner. Re-signs for two years @ $2.5M
- Oilers win the division. Beat the Flames in the first round. Ducks in the second round. Blackhawks in the conference finals only to lose 4-1 to the Capitals with Ovechkin finally gets his ring.

 

[nabob]

Ference and some injuries to depth guys skews that. Even Nurse was only a bottom pairing D when we lost him. Far from an impactful loss. Im predicting well see more injuries to our top 6/top 4 this year

Sekera will be out first month of the season atleast. Maybe some injuries to Klefbom/Larsson/Lucic/Draisaitl or something. Nothing major but something that would put us around league average for injuries to top 2 line players. Wont sink us but will prevent us from winning division

Nurse was our top PK defender, the PK went down hill when he was hurt. He was also the best Dman at moving the puck out of the zone at the time of his injury and struggled to get back to that level after being hurt.

This is the year that people stop slagging Nurse. The rest of the league loves to hate him because he's a goon or dumb. But he's going to have them hating him because he's going to be a force this year.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Nurse, in addition to continuing improvement defensively, puts up 12 goals and 25 assists. Nurse haters still question his IQ. Remains a beast on the PK and entrenches himself firmly as one of the core pieces on this squad.

McDavid over 110 points. 40 goals, 73 assists.

Draisaitl 35-50-85. Leafs fans still continue calling him a winger and wavering on whether he's a beneficiary of McDavid even though he centers the 2nd line all season.

Lucic bounces back in a big way on Drai's line. Puljujarvi lights it up with McDavid.

Talbot plays less than 60 games.

Soliloquy of a Dogge resurrects the ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ OILERS TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ meme.

 

[JarvisFunk]

Strome will outscore Eberle, and we will all laugh that that there was a point in which we thought we were robbed in the deal.

 

[McTrashBoat]

TrashBoat out-Simpsons his last GDT

Kassian scores 15 goals
Brossoit starts 18 games
Strome outscores Eberle


Tkachuk gets taken out and misses 10 games (not necessarily by an Oiler)

 

[McShogun99]

I always go super positive with this thread each year.

Mcdavid will lead the league in points.

JP will score more goals then Laine.

Draisaitl will finish top 5 in points.

RNH will get 60 points.

Klefbom will finish 5th in Norris voting.

Talbot will finish 3rd in Vezina voting.

Oilers win the Cup.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Good one! I was going to put something similar but forgot.

Honestly, if the Isles are out of the playoffs and Tavares is not re-signing. I would take a serious run at him as a rental.

Imagine needing a goal in an important game and putting out McDavid-Tavares-Draisaitl to give your team a boost.

Haha, maybe not that big of a name I'd have to think the price starts with Pulju or Yamamoto

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Second round exit. We're the new Caps.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Second round exit. We're the new Caps.

Fingers crossed? I doubt it, McDavid's good enough to overcome that.

 

[thalegion]

85 points narrowly missing playoffs

Draisaitl and Maroon Regress a fair bit
Nuge and Lucic bounce back a little
Russell sinks considerably without Sekera carrying him.
Ryan Strome becomes the goat by mid season
McDavid makes everyone around him including the Zamboni drivers better.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Fingers crossed? I doubt it, McDavid's good enough to overcome that.

He is.

But is the team good enough to overcome that?

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

He is.

But is the team good enough to overcome that?

Easily, this is a new, different Oilers team, besides injuries, this team looks good enough to achieve whatever McDavid can take them too, look at last year, from bottom-5 to nearly a division title and a playoff round win.

That's in McDavid's first FULL season.


As for predictions for this season? Nurse takes a step forward and becomes an everyday top-4 defenseman.

Edit: Also, Caggiula gets 15 and 35 this year and establishes himself as the Oilers' Versteeg. I also think that the Oilers having success is going to allow them to trade for a significant player because they want out of their situation. And it will be for quite a reasonable price.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Easily, this is a new, different Oilers team, besides injuries, this team looks good enough to achieve whatever McDavid can take them too, look at last year, from bottom-5 to nearly a division title and a playoff round win.

That's in McDavid's first FULL season.


As for predictions for this season? Nurse takes a step forward and becomes an everyday top-4 defenseman.

Edit: Also, Caggiula gets 15 and 35 this year and establishes himself as the Oilers' Versteeg. I also think that the Oilers having success is going to allow them to trade for a significant player because they want out of their situation. And it will be for quite a reasonable price.

Yes but the team also benefitted from a very healthy season and the regression of a lot of teams. Can they win the West? Sure, they can. But it's never that simple. The Ducks (and to a lesser extent the Flames) still stand in their way. I don't feel like the Oilers did enough to push them past Anaheim just yet.