Proposal: Rumors and Proposals Thread: Another Day, Another Disappointment

[Skolman]

Russel is the 3rd best d-man on this team.

Uh....

 

[nabob]

Likewise, won't happen.

I could see him flipping some picks + prospects for Risto though.

We’d have to send some cap their way.

May Raab gets his biggest wish ever and it’s a Nurse for Risto trade.

 

[Spawn]

Uh....

1. Klefbom
2. Nurse
3. Russel
4. Larsson
5. Benning
6. tbd since we bought out our 6th NHL d-man.


Larsson would be ahead if they are both at their best. But Larsson hasn't been that for 2 years now and was the worst full time d-man on the team last season.

 

[Cloned]

Disagree, Russell is a drag on the team and currently imo isn’t one of the 6 best Dman in the organization.

He's no worse than Benning and probably more consistent than Jones will be next year. At worst he's the fourth best d-man on the team right now.

4-7 on D looks ugly with him in there, but it looks downright disgusting without him.

Jones-Benning would be an unmitigated disaster and a great way to shatter both players' confidence.

Persson-Benning would be worse than that, if that's even possible.

 

[guymez]

He's no worse than Benning and probably more consistent than Jones will be next year. At worst he's the fourth best d-man on the team right now.

4-7 on D looks ugly with him in there, but it looks downright disgusting without him.

Jones-Benning would be an unmitigated disaster and a great way to shatter both players' confidence.

Persson-Benning would be worse than that, if that's even possible.

I dont mind Russell (especially when he is playing his natural side) but the problem with him is his salary. He is a very expensive 4/5 dman.

 

[Cloned]

I dont mind Russell (especially when he is playing his natural side) but the problem with him is his salary. He is a very expensive 4/5 dman.

I wouldn't be opposed to moving him out but we better be getting another non-rookie NHL-level defender back - even if it is a cheap bottom pairing guy.

Pairing any of the rookies with Benning is a disaster waiting to happen and exactly the recipe for destroying a young defenseman's development.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I have to come into the threads here on HFOil and defend all of Nurse/Benning/Russell... I think I'm probably the only guy (or nearly anyway) that likes all 3 of those dmen and think they are all net positives.

I agree... if you trade Russell... the D as a whole... takes a step back, right when you have already created a hole on D with the exit of Sekera... who I believe was trending downwards and was already a slight net negative BUT wasn't a huge net negative... not as much as a rookie likely would be initially.

To make 2 holes in the D and expect rookies to step in and "survive" is asking a lot.


To those saying.. well get some vet D on PTO's and sign the best one to fill the gap... MUCH easier said than done... vet D's that can even tread water are tough to find even at the best of times... never mind when all that's left are the dregs of the UFA market that's been picked over for 2 months and all that remains are the "last resorts" before those players head off to Europe to join the Swiss League.


If you think the forward UFA market is getting thin... just look at what will be left in 2 months time amongst the un-signed dmen.

 

[Rafters]

If RNH gets traded for Ristolainen , hoping Holland manages expand the deal to get some others back as well .. Thompson, Mittelstadt, sure BUFFALO could use a bet LH dman like Russell as well

 

[snipes]

Russell is without question, until proven otherwise (by at least one or more of Jones, Persson, Lagesson, Bear, etc.) one of our top 4 D men. He was better than Larsson last season easily.

He might have a poor corsi number, but his gf/ga against ratios have never been that bad. Indeed, for the number of shot attempts he gives up his gf/ga ratio is excellent. Finished the season +5 and has been a net positive player for us in his 3 years.

People laugh about blocked shots but he’s one of the best at it and his ability to get in shooting lanes is very good. Hence why there’s a discrepancy between his corsi number and shot attempts against compared to the number of goals he actually gives up.

He had the second highest defensive points share on our team after Nurse and his defensive point shares are actually in the top 70 in the NHL. He’s more than good in a bottom pairing role if we ever have the other horses in the top 4 going.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

If RNH gets traded for Ristolainen , hoping Holland manages expand the deal to get some others back as well .. Thompson, Mittelstadt, sure BUFFALO could use a bet LH dman like Russell as well

haha.....RNH can for sure fetch more. Ristolainen is bordering on negative value. Not sure if we should take him in. His defending is not really solid and you'll need to saddle him with a defensive D man. If the Canucks were rumored to offer something like Baertchi and some junk, I'm sure the oilers can do the same without giving up RNH to get Risto. Maybe Benning and a 4th is enough.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

If Holland trades RNH for Ristolainen I will be very unhappy

Where did this idea come from? It would be a piss poor trade to say the least.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Klefbom-Ristolainen would be an "interesting" pairing.

Probably both would end up with 40 pts and yet be -20.

 

[lakai17]

Random thought:

Do you think Holland and Stevie Y will ever do a trade with each other?

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Random thought:

Do you think Holland and Stevie Y will ever do a trade?

Odds are no, holland does do trades

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Klefbom-Ristolainen would be an "interesting" pairing.

Probably both would end up with 40 pts and yet be -20.

I actually think they would be decent.

Hot take - Klefbom is better than Larsson defensively.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Russell is without question, until proven otherwise (by at least one or more of Jones, Persson, Lagesson, Bear, etc.) one of our top 4 D men. He was better than Larsson last season easily.

He might have a poor corsi number, but his gf/ga against ratios have never been that bad. Indeed, for the number of shot attempts he gives up his gf/ga ratio is excellent. Finished the season +5 and has been a net positive player for us in his 3 years.

People laugh about blocked shots but he’s one of the best at it and his ability to get in shooting lanes is very good. Hence why there’s a discrepancy between his corsi number and shot attempts against compared to the number of goals he actually gives up.

He had the second highest defensive points share on our team after Nurse and his defensive point shares are actually in the top 70 in the NHL. He’s more than good in a bottom pairing role if we ever have the other horses in the top 4 going.

He’s also a tank, I am a huge detractor of him but this guy eats pucks for breakfast and doesn’t get hurt.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

Russel is the 3rd best d-man on this team.

100% agree. I f***** love Kris Russell. Reigning, defending champion of shot blocking. Every year, he's top 3. Every year. He's probably the best dman on the team when the opponent has a 2 on 1.
Sure, his breakout passes and offensive abilities are average at best, but a d-man, that does everything to defend his net, is valuable and something we wish we had in the past decade prior to his arrival

I really don't get all the flack he gets from Oiler fans. I understand from rival fans, and analytic geeks, but we should really appreciate him while he's here. Buying him out is the most ridiculous thing I've heard this summer. Holland gets it

 

[snipes]

He’s also a tank, I am a huge detractor of him but this guy eats pucks for breakfast and doesn’t get hurt.

Tough Alberta boy.

Russell is a perfectly capable 3rd pairing guy that can play top 4 if necessary for short stretches.

It’s when he plays first pairing duties on his off side no less (with Nurse whom he played most of his minutes with) that he runs into trouble.

First pairing duties for a poor puck handler like Russell playing on his off side is asking for trouble, yet despite the amount he’s hemmed in our zone he doesn’t give up a lot of goals.

He’s got good positioning, fearless in shot blocking, and he’s super competitive. We have a lot of problems with this team, Russell isn’t one of them in the proper role.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

Kind of hilarious, for all the love Russell is getting, Sekera is better than him.

I agree with the list above by @Spawn though with our current D group.
Larsson has been atrocious for 2 years now and Russell was better than him last year.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Tough Alberta boy.

Russell is a perfectly capable 3rd pairing guy that can play top 4 if necessary for short stretches.

It’s when he plays first pairing duties on his off side no less (with Nurse whom he played most of his minutes with) that he runs into trouble.

First pairing duties for a poor puck handler like Russell playing on his off side is asking for trouble, yet despite the amount he’s hemmed in our zone he doesn’t give up a lot of goals.

He’s got good positioning, fearless in shot blocking, and he’s super competitive. We have a lot of problems with this team, Russell isn’t one of them in the proper role.

The one thing I dislike of him is how easy he gives up the zone, but he has very good positioning to limit goals once inside the zone

 

[snipes]

The one thing I dislike of him is how easy he gives up the zone, but he has very good positioning to limit goals once inside the zone

How often does he give up breakaways pinching or get beat wide on an odd man rush? Very rarely.

Don’t get me wrong he’s got his issues and is abysmal on the breakout or making crisp up ice passes in transition. His shot is a muffin as well.

But right now, he’s a guy we need in the lineup for the next year or two until our wave of D prospects are ready.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Kind of hilarious, for all the love Russell is getting, Sekera is better than him.

I agree with the list above by @Spawn though with our current D group.
Larsson has been atrocious for 2 years now and Russell was better than him last year.

I didn't dislike Sekera... but you have to admit he was trending down... 33 + major injuries usually don't mean a player is going to get better or even plateau.

He basically had lost his offense and his D was adequate at best. As a #5/6 he was fine... but expecting him to be an anchor in the top 4 (which his salary basically dictated) was a lot to ask and expect of him.

Russell and Sekera essentially have similar offense but I have more confidence that Russell can sustain his defensive abilities going forward (and stay together for a full season without more major injuries as well).

 

[Tobias Kahun]

How often does he give up breakaways pinching or get beat wide on an odd man rush? Very rarely.

Don’t get me wrong he’s got his issues and is abysmal on the breakout or making crisp up ice passes in transition. His shot is a muffin as well.

But right now, he’s a guy we need in the lineup for the next year or two until our wave of D prospects are ready.

I agree with you.

You know what you’re getting every night too. He’s very consistent, very rarely do you leave a game expecting more.

Plus his teammates love him. He has his flaws, but which oilers defender doesn’t

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I didn't dislike Sekera... but you have to admit he was trending down... 33 + major injuries usually don't mean a player is going to get better or even plateau.

He basically had lost his offense and his D was adequate at best. As a #5/6 he was fine... but expecting him to be an anchor in the top 4 (which his salary basically dictated) was a lot to ask and expect of him.

Russell and Sekera essentially have similar offense but I have more confidence that Russell can sustain his defensive abilities going forward (and stay together for a full season without more major injuries as well).

I like Sekera as a player, I don’t like Sekera as someone getting paid 5.5m

I wish him the best in his recovery and future, he did nothing but play his heart out for the oilers and was a huge reason for our second round run in the playoffs. Before he got hurt he was easily a 2/3 for us.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

I didn't dislike Sekera... but you have to admit he was trending down... 33 + major injuries usually don't mean a player is going to get better or even plateau.

He basically had lost his offense and his D was adequate at best. As a #5/6 he was fine... but expecting him to be an anchor in the top 4 (which his salary basically dictated) was a lot to ask and expect of him.

Russell and Sekera essentially have similar offense but I have more confidence that Russell can sustain his defensive abilities going forward (and stay together for a full season without more major injuries as well).

Trending down sure. But respectfully disagree with the back half of your post.

Sekera's offensive instincts are still well ahead of Russell. And what Russell has in sustaining his defensive abilities, Sekera has with moving the puck out. More pucks would get to McDavid with Sekera on the ice than Russell, and that in my eyes is better defense, the kind where we stay out of our zone. Neither would be anchors in the top 4 anymore, but if I had to choose a veteran for the #5 spot, it'd be Sekera hands down.

I don't dislike Russell in the #5 spot. Just think Sekera is better.
And the way it sits currently, Russell will probably be playing above that spot minutes wise unless we plan on throwing some kids to the wolves.