Rumor: Rumors and Proposals Thread | Defense Set, or Another Addition In the Works?

[Little Fury]

Can you blame him for starting Smith in Game 1?

Yes.

The Oilers made their playoff push with Smith backstopping them most games. Before that little speed bump the team hit before the pause when the entire team was garbage for about 5 games, Smith had 1 loss in 2 months and over a .920 save percentage in January and February.

Smith's SV% in his last 5 starts was .869 so it's not like he went into the break with a hot hand. And over the course of the season, Koskinen was the better goalie, there was no reason to not start him,.

Smith clearly stunk in Game 1 (the team did him no favors though) but it's not like Tippett started him just because of loyalty. Not to mention also that he's always been a good playoff performer.

I like Tippet but between starting Smith and breaking up the DRY line, he clearly outcoached himself in the play-in. I don't think you can dick around like that in a playoff series, especially in a best of five where the margins are so slim. Play your best players, the rest is just noise.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Maybe, I'm just not sure the coach believes in Kosko.

Agree, I think the GM and coaching staff believe they need a 1 or 1A goalie to move this team into next level competitiveness. Seems pretty clear with the hard run at Markstrom with money and term on the table and multiple areas needing to be addressed.

The Oil got a solid platoon system out of Koskinen/Smith during the regular season but come the play-in the coach bet on NHL playoff experience and battler which played out ... badly. Koskinen was so so behind a firedrill, horribad own zone team play in front of him but also didn't bail out the mess with any big saves. Hard to quantify a five game series that went pair shape but the aggressive run at Markstrom at start of free agency is telling where this organization feels it needs to improve.

Cheaper Smith gives a safe, known fallback. Would not be surprised if Holland keeps one eye of Arizona's tire fire with an eye on Kuemper.

 

[CupofOil]

Smith's SV% in his last 5 starts was .869 so it's not like he went into the break with a hot hand. And over the course of the season, Koskinen was the better goalie, there was no reason to not start him,.

Here's the thing, Koskinen was on fire headed into the pause but it was a 5 month break so momentum didn't mean much.

At that point, it's a gut feeling. Smith carried the heavier workload when they made their playoff push (same with Calgary the year before down the stretch and in the playoffs btw, and excelled), the team played better in front of him for the most part and he's a known playoff performer, one of the best actually. I just don't see why it was so egregious to start Smith. Smith had always been a big game performer while Koskinen had a limited track record in big games.

Starting Smith isn't why they lost that series. The Oilers were horribly prepared for Game 1 which set the tone for the rest of the series to be a toss up and come down to bounces really.
The team was beyond horrendous in front of Smith. Just look at the goals, no coverage. Koskinen wasn't very good either when the team in front of him played better than it did in front of Smith.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Amazing what a top-6 winger can do with our two Art-Ross centers. Go figure.

Imagine a day where we had 4 of them.

Imagine a day where the cap doesnt exist.

A team with McDavid making as much as he is, wont have 4 solid top 6 wingers on it.

 

[Little Fury]

Here's the thing, Koskinen was on fire headed into the pause but it was a 5 month break so momentum didn't mean much.

I agree, which is why they should have looked at who had performed better over the course of the year.

At that point, it's a gut feeling. Smith carried the heavier workload when they made their playoff push (same with Calgary the year before down the stretch and in the playoffs btw, and excelled), the team played better in front of him for the most part and he's a known playoff performer, one of the best actually. I just don't see why it was so egregious to start Smith. Smith had always been a big game performer while Koskinen had a limited track record in big games.

Because he was clearly the inferior goalie. As for the big game stuff, I don't think what a guy does a year ago or more matters a jot.

Starting Smith isn't why they lost that series. The Oilers were horribly prepared for Game 1 which set the tone for the rest of the series to be a toss up and come down to bounces really.
The team was beyond horrendous in front of Smith. Just look at the goals, no coverage. Koskinen wasn't very good either when the team in front of him played better than it did in front of Smith

Smith is the main reason they lost game 1, he was horrible. And once you're in a hole like that in a shortened series, your margin of error goes bye-bye.

 

[tabs]

I will admit I'm no capologist...I keep forgetting Klefbom can't be put on LTIR until game #1 of the season so if Holland can dance around it this way, that's a pretty smart way to "launder" money around.

I’m no capologist either, but this is how it works from what I understand. They don’t have to wait until day 1, but it’s most beneficial if they do, assuming they can be cap compliant with a 20-23 man roster.

 

[tabs]

Imagine a day where the cap doesnt exist.

A team with McDavid making as much as he is, wont have 4 solid top 6 wingers on it.

I’m not sure I fully agree with this. Our issue has been too much money spent on our 10-14 forwards and 5-7 dmen, not too much allocated to McDavid and Drai.

Take next year for example. Neal is slotted in as our 4LW. Chiasson, in most mock lineups, is an extra forward. Russell, if we were fully healthy, is our #7 dman. Along with our buyouts and retained salary of 4.5 million, that’s about 15.5 million on players that should take up about 3 million combined. Having 12.5 million to supplement the top 6 would allow for at least two more high end wingers, or three very solid wingers, in addition to Nuge.

I’d rather have cheaper depth forwards and bottom pairing dmen than I would cheaper top 6 wingers. Holland has done a great job of getting cheap depth to help our forward group out. In the next couple years as those three contracts and dead cap space lighten up, we’ll hopefully see a more proper allocation of cap space throughout the team.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I will admit I'm no capologist...I keep forgetting Klefbom can't be put on LTIR until game #1 of the season so if Holland can dance around it this way, that's a pretty smart way to "launder" money around.

He can be put on LTIR in the offseason and sometimes it’s more beneficial to do so from what I’ve read mouser post. He has a post somewhere on HFOil about the klefbom LTIR situation I’ll try and pull up when I’m at my computer.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I’m not sure I fully agree with this. Our issue has been too much money spent on our 10-14 forwards and 5-7 dmen, not too much allocated to McDavid and Drai.

Take next year for example. Neal is slotted in as our 4LW. Chiasson, in most mock lineups, is an extra forward. Russell, if we were fully healthy, is our #7 dman. Along with our buyouts and retained salary of 4.5 million, that’s about 15.5 million on players that should take up about 3 million combined. Having 12.5 million to supplement the top 6 would allow for at least two more high end wingers, or three very solid wingers, in addition to Nuge.

I’d rather have cheaper depth forwards and bottom pairing dmen than I would cheaper top 6 wingers. Holland has done a great job of getting cheap depth to help our forward group out. In the next couple years as those three contracts and dead cap space lighten up, we’ll hopefully see a more proper allocation of cap space throughout the team.

Putting that much potential cap in top 6 forwards wouldn’t be wise when we have other players up for raises too.

constant balancing act, Yamamoto will be due a raise if he keeps this up, as will players like bear and such.

 

[tabs]

Putting that much potential cap in top 6 forwards wouldn’t be wise when we have other players up for raises too.

constant balancing act, Yamamoto will be due a raise if he keeps this up, as will players like bear and such.

Agreed. Yamamoto is one of the top 6 we’d be allocating those dollars to though. Bear will eventually take Larson’s cap while we have Bouchard on his ELC. Stuff like that. I agree though that you need to strike a balance for sure. But that’s also why it’s so important to draft and develop properly so that you have a constant stream of effective players on cheap ELCs to round out the roster.

 

[Smartguy]

I agree, which is why they should have looked at who had performed better over the course of the year.



Because he was clearly the inferior goalie. As for the big game stuff, I don't think what a guy does a year ago or more matters a jot.



Smith is the main reason they lost game 1, he was horrible. And once you're in a hole like that in a shortened series, your margin of error goes bye-bye.

Even disregard the break, Koskinen was the better of the 2 goalies in the “pre play-in”. Tippett 100% was the reason they signed Smith last year, 100% wanted his guy to start the playoffs because of “experience”.

I like Tippett also and did a fine job, but criticism was rightly deserved in the decision of starting Smith and the DRY line breaking up.

Holland going down every avenue to try to replace Smith shows how much he doesn’t want him. Also would think Tippett had learned from the above 2 mistakes and I would be shocked if Koskinen isn’t given the 1A job to start the year and would be shocked to see the DRY line at the very least not get a shot, barring some unexpected performances during the pre season.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Even disregard the break, Koskinen was the better of the 2 goalies in the “pre play-in”. Tippett 100% was the reason they signed Smith last year, 100% wanted his guy to start the playoffs because of “experience”.

I like Tippett also and did a fine job, but criticism was rightly deserved in the decision of starting Smith and the DRY line breaking up.

Holland going down every avenue to try to replace Smith shows how much he doesn’t want him. Also would think Tippett had learned from the above 2 mistakes and I would be shocked if Koskinen isn’t given the 1A job to start the year and would be shocked to see the DRY line at the very least not get a shot, barring some unexpected performances during the pre season.

Instead of a 50/50 split this year I hope we see closer to a 65/35. Depends on how condensed the schedule is.

 

[CupofOil]

I agree, which is why they should have looked at who had performed better over the course of the year.

It's not that simple though. You can merely look at save percentage without any context and assume that Koskinen was far superior but when you look at segments, Smith was the guy carrying the load when the team made their playoff push. Personally, I think Tippett put value in a goalie who performs on the big stage.

Because he was clearly the inferior goalie. As for the big game stuff, I don't think what a guy does a year ago or more matters a jot.

Of course it matters. It's not like Smith lost all his skills in one season. What he did in big games in the recent past counts for something. Having the ability to perform in big games is an important thing.

Smith is the main reason they lost game 1, he was horrible. And once you're in a hole like that in a shortened series, your margin of error goes bye-bye.

Smith certainly didn't make the big saves but I don't know how anybody who watched that game when the Oilers were getting destroyed all over the ice can come out of it thinking that the goalie was the main reason they lost.
Furthermore, the team played far better in the last 3 games and still lost with Koskinen in net so he didn't perform well either behind a team that played far better than the one that played in front of Smith.

 

[CupofOil]

Even disregard the break, Koskinen was the better of the 2 goalies in the “pre play-in”. Tippett 100% was the reason they signed Smith last year, 100% wanted his guy to start the playoffs because of “experience”.

I like Tippett also and did a fine job, but criticism was rightly deserved in the decision of starting Smith and the DRY line breaking up.

Holland going down every avenue to try to replace Smith shows how much he doesn’t want him. Also would think Tippett had learned from the above 2 mistakes and I would be shocked if Koskinen isn’t given the 1A job to start the year and would be shocked to see the DRY line at the very least not get a shot, barring some unexpected performances during the pre season.

Yeah for several games. What about the 2 months before that when the Oilers made their playoff push and Smith was 11-1-4 or something like that? You guys somehow forget that for some reason.
I'm not saying that Smith was the better goalie over the entire season but it wasn't so egregious for Tippett to start him in Game 1.

 

[Little Fury]

It's not that simple though. You can merely look at save percentage without any context and assume that Koskinen was far superior but when you look at segments, Smith was the guy carrying the load when the team made their playoff push. Personally, I think Tippett put value in a goalie who performs on the big stage.

What do you mean playoff push? The team was in a playoff position for pretty much the entire season. And regardless, why would that matter given that there was giant break between Smith's best segment and the play-in?

Of course it matters. It's not like Smith lost all his skills in one season. What he did in big games in the recent past counts for something. Having the ability to perform in big games is an important thing.

It shouldn't since it's not a reliable indicator of future performance at all. You can be a big game player right up until you're not.

Smith certainly didn't make the big saves but I don't know how anybody who watched that game when the Oilers were getting destroyed all over the ice can come out of it thinking that the goalie was the main reason they lost.

They had the lead and then Smith gave up four goals in the span of seven minutes, at least two of which were absolutely his fault.

Furthermore, the team played far better in the last 3 games and still lost with Koskinen in net so he didn't perform well either behind a team that played far better than the one that played in front of Smith.

Yeah stuff happens. my point is they have a better chance of winning the series if they take game one and they had a better chance of taking game 1 with Koskinen in net based on his overall performance in the season.

Anyway, what's done is done, I'm disappointed they couldn't find an upgrade in that position, especially one who was at least more technically sound than either guy they have right now. I also know it's a short term situation sop hopefully it doesn't cost us too many points whenever the season starts.

 

[K1984]

Regarding Smith starting Game 1 - he was abysmal in the training camp scrimmages. You can't fully judge by that, but he was waiving at a lot of pucks and got flat out smoked in two of the scrimmages if memory serves.

Koskinen was sharp in the game against Calgary and should have started. He wasn't any good in games 2-4 either though, so probably wouldn't have made much of a difference.

 

[McDNicks17]

Koskinen had a .929 SV% and 2.51 GAA after January 1st, but Tipp stuck with Smith because the team out scored his below average numbers(.911 SV%, 2.78 GAA).

Hopefully Tipp figures out wins are a team stat and just plays the better goalie.

 

[Broberg Speed]

A few things about Mike Smith. Mike Smith's save percentage will always suffer because of how aggressively he plays the puck. Mike Smith will lead to increased offence because of how aggressively he plays the puck. Mike Smith will always be both appreciated and hated by the defense because of how aggressively he plays the puck. It could change on any given night.

Dave Tippett gave Mike Smith the opportunity to play game one of the play-ins and Mike Smith laid a enormous egg, probably the most regrettable game of his professional career, because of how aggressively he played the puck.

The veteran Chicago Blackhawks team knew this goaltender and exactly what his tendencies were. Dave Tippett was out coached, Mike Smith beat often, and the Edmonton Oiler's squad embarrassed.

The entire hockey media currently crucifies Mike Smith for one game of hockey, and to a lesser extent, the month of Dec, 2019. The same goalie, even with a bad month finished the year playing 39 games and compiled a 19/12/6 record for the regular season.

Like Mike Smith as a goalie or not, your own personal opinions of his actual play aside, I find repulsive the conversations on this online hockey discussion board that ape the opinions of the Eastern biased media that are going to intensely hate the Oilers and whatever they do regardless of who plays for the team at any position.

 

[McShogun99]

What do you mean playoff push? The team was in a playoff position for pretty much the entire season. And regardless, why would that matter given that there was giant break between Smith's best segment and the play-in?

We were far from a lock for the playoffs. At the start of January we were like 2 points up on 9th place. It was the play of Smith and the DRY line in January and February that put us at a 92% chance to make the playoffs before the season ended.


It shouldn't since it's not a reliable indicator of future performance at all. You can be a big game player right up until you're not.



They had the lead and then Smith gave up four goals in the span of seven minutes, at least two of which were absolutely his fault.



Yeah stuff happens. my point is they have a better chance of winning the series if they take game one and they had a better chance of taking game 1 with Koskinen in net based on his overall performance in the season.

Anyway, what's done is done, I'm disappointed they couldn't find an upgrade in that position, especially one who was at least more technically sound than either guy they have right now. I also know it's a short term situation sop hopefully it doesn't cost us too many points whenever the season starts.

 

[McShogun99]

Koskinen had a .929 SV% and 2.51 GAA after January 1st, but Tipp stuck with Smith because the team out scored his below average numbers(.911 SV%, 2.78 GAA).

Hopefully Tipp figures out wins are a team stat and just plays the better goalie.

I think in most scenarios a coach would have started the veteran goalie with great playoff numbers but Smith looked bad and out of shape during the covid training camp. My girlfriend asked me if Smith got fat when she saw him at the start of game 1.

 

[KahunWOW]

Posted it in another thread already. But fits better here:

Kahun on loan to EHC Red Bull München (Munich) to play there in Nov-Dec

Dominik Kahun läuft beim Magentasport Cup für den EHC Red Bull München auf

 

[McTonyBrar]

Kahun will wear #21 for Oilers. I still can't believe we got him for less than 1 million

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Kahun will wear #21 for Oilers. I still can't believe we got him for less than 1 million

interesting......21

2+1....=3....which is coincidentally the same as the number of times the leafs have won zero cups in the past 70 years.

 

[Mr Positive]

I'm wondering if our team will re-sign RNH. His new contract will have him being 29-30 years old, and it will take 7+million AAV to keep him.

It might depend on how this upcoming season goes. What if Barrie, Kahun, Turris or someone else plays really well and we just do not have the cash to keep them? What if expansion makes a true starting goaltending available? There's also extensions for Yamamoto, as well as more on the horizon like Nurse, Puljujarvi and Jones. Of course not all of these guys will get raises but there's a lot of potential here for a few to catch fire here and seem like must-keeps.