Rumor: Rumors and Proposals Thread | Reseason Training Camp Opens July 13th?

[McTonyBrar]

The following lineup leaves us with 10 mill in cap space

Blank - McDavid - Kassian
RNH - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Chiasson - Blank - Neal
Khaira - Haas - Archibald
Nygard

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Blank
Russell - Blank
Jones

Koskinen

So we have 10 mill to resign AA, find a 3c, resign bear, sign or replace Benning and a backup goalie. That's enough to maintain the status quo with no improvments. Moving Russell is critical to make a single roster improvement.

So... you shot AA to the moon after 9 games with a new team he was adjusting to?

 

[CycloneSweep]

I disagree with some of your assessments, it’s a dangerous proposition writing off a guy like Marody after a down year. He’s still young and could easily put it together, we’re also not expecting him to go from AHL’er to top 6 player, it’s very possible he takes a spot in the bottom 6 next season and is competent. Benson definitely needs work on his skating but luckily improving skating is something our organization has actually been good at the last few years as evidenced by guys like Draisaitl and Bear. McLeod I think could be an adequate 4C next season if needed but I’d rather see him spend another year in the AHL but it’s impossible to know.

We’re not asking these guys to take huge leaps from AHL to productive top 6 NHL’ers, for guys like Benson and Marody were asking them to take the next step in their development, maybe they do maybe they don’t but it’s becoming the time for them to show something and the cap crunch is just helping to create that opportunity. It’ll be the same for many other teams needing to push guys into spots and hoping they can hang on so in many cases our guys will be competing against lesser competition because other teams are in the same position as us or worse.

Marody was barely half the player he was last year that's not a down year, that's a incredible failure of a year. Forwards develop faster and he is the same age as Jones and Bear, bad sign.

Our team has been good at improving skating. Benson ain't young anymore. His skating ain't improving if it hasn't yet

 

[CycloneSweep]

So... you shot AA to the moon after 9 games with a new team he was adjusting to?

You didn't actually read the post do you. That lineup is of signed players. The first sentence said we have to resign him.

 

[CupofOil]

I can't see us moving Russell. His modified NTC and a stale cap means we stuck with him. Also penciling Bouchard anywhere close to our top 4 is a terrible idea. He would need a Bear level off season to do that and even then. That said I do see him in the lineup, history shows that if he isn't, it's a bad side for a guy of his status.

That said that lineup at best performs as well as this team did. Unfortunate we don't have the room or prospects to take another step but that's life I guess.

Completely disagree with this.
Next years' team has quite a bit more room for growth if it's kept largely intact. A full season of Yamamoto (the Oilers were a different team with him), AA has a lot more to give than what he showed in his time here, Bear and Jones with more experience (and assumably playoff experience). I think it has potential to compete for the division next season even with minimal changes. Goaltending is the big question but it's not like they were great this season either, just good enough most nights.
This isn't like '16-'17 when lots of players played at peak level and beyond their career norm.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Completely disagree with this.
Next years' team has quite a bit more room for growth if it's kept largely intact. A full season of Yamamoto (the Oilers were a different team with him), AA has a lot more to give than what he showed in his time here, Bear and Jones with more experience (and assumably playoff experience). I think it has potential to compete for the division next season even with minimal changes. Goaltending is the big question but it's not like they were great this season either, just good enough most nights.
This isn't like '16-'17 when lots of players played at peak level and beyond their career norm.

True a whole year of Yamamoto will be an improvement. That said I think Neal will regress offensively so that will be an improvement overall but not as much as you may be thinking.
AA potentially has a lot more to give. He is definitely damaged goods, we still have no idea if he will get back to what he should be. I think Archibald also over achieved offensively a bit.

I also don't think Draisaitl is going to have a Hart caliber season again.

I mean yeah we should be at least a bit better next year but there is no big improvements at any position coming like we had with Bear and Yamamoto this year

 

[LTIR]

Why would anyone trade anything for Russell without value coming back?
If Yamamoto keeps his pace up from this year next year his bridge will be 4.5 mill. His pace is ridiculous.

I see Maksimov as a top 6 option? He hasn't even been an AHL top 6 option. The only guy that has any potential to be a top 6 NHL player in the next 2 years is Benson but that's not likely. Any top 6 forward help needs to come externally as we have nothing in the pipelines with that potential

 

[ChaoticOrange]

I can't see us moving Russell. His modified NTC and a stale cap means we stuck with him. Also penciling Bouchard anywhere close to our top 4 is a terrible idea. He would need a Bear level off season to do that and even then. That said I do see him in the lineup, history shows that if he isn't, it's a bad side for a guy of his status.

That said that lineup at best performs as well as this team did. Unfortunate we don't have the room or prospects to take another step but that's life I guess.

Klefbom's used to babysitting. It's less about having Bouchard in the top 4 and more about giving him a partner that can help cover for him

 

[CycloneSweep]

Klefbom's used to babysitting. It's less about having Bouchard in the top 4 and more about giving him a partner that can help cover for him

The issue with that is Klefbom doesn't see easy minutes ever so that would be throwing Bouchard to the wolves. Especially cause Bouchards weakness is the defensive zone. It's not setting the kid up for any success

 

[CupofOil]

True a whole year of Yamamoto will be an improvement. That said I think Neal will regress offensively so that will be an improvement overall but not as much as you may be thinking.
AA potentially has a lot more to give. He is definitely damaged goods, we still have no idea if he will get back to what he should be. I think Archibald also over achieved offensively a bit.

I also don't think Draisaitl is going to have a Hart caliber season again.

I mean yeah we should be at least a bit better next year but there is no big improvements at any position coming like we had with Bear and Yamamoto this year

Neal's PP production can be replaced by Chiasson if need be, they both play the same role. Not worried about Neal regression affecting team success.
Draisaitl had 50 goals and 100+ points last year too. It seems like this is what he is at this point, a guy who will always be among the elite in the league so I don't see big regression there.
AA had 30 goals and 54 points just last year so I don't see why he's damaged goods just because he had one down season on a historically bad team. Lets be honest, he can't be worse than he was in his short time here and has the potential to be a lot better even if he tops out as a 20 goal guy.

My general point is that this team has room for improvement even if they don't add free agents.
The Special Teams will probably regress somewhat, almost certainly, but I expect much better 5 on 5 play with a full season of Yamamoto, AA and Ennis.
Did you or anybody see a big jump of improvement this season with few offseason adds of consequence?

 

[CycloneSweep]

Neal's PP production can be replaced by Chiasson if need be, they both play the same role. Not worried about Neal regression affecting team success.
Draisaitl had 50 goals and 100+ points last year too. It seems like this is what he is at this point, a guy who will always be among the elite in the league so I don't see big regression there.
AA had 30 goals and 54 points just last year so I don't see why he's damaged goods just because he had one down season on a historically bad team. Lets be honest, he can't be worse than he was in his short time here and has the potential to be a lot better even if he tops out as a 20 goal guy.

My general point is that this team has room for improvement even if they don't add free agents.
The Special Teams will probably regress somewhat, almost certainly, but I expect much better 5 on 5 play with a full season of Yamamoto, AA and Ennis.

I mean yeah we will be a better team in theory. We still only have one good NHL line the rest is throwing shit at the wall and McDavid and hoping something works. We need to give McDavid at least one real top 6 player at some point and desperately need a 3c

 

[ChaoticOrange]

The issue with that is Klefbom doesn't see easy minutes ever so that would be throwing Bouchard to the wolves. Especially cause Bouchards weakness is the defensive zone. It's not setting the kid up for any success

I don't see much other option. Nurse isn't good enough to babysit him and Jones-Bouchard has Wild West written all over it.

 

[Senor Catface]

Next year is the deciding year on Marody.

It's not a huge leap to connect the severe concussion he suffered in the playoffs with the season that followed. Sometimes that kills a guy's career, sometimes they recover.

Anyone who watched the games could see his play was off, the motions seemed off, I don't know it's hard to describe but he just seemed off.

I don't think it's a fair assessment to call a injury rebound year as a failure.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I don't see much other option. Nurse isn't good enough to babysit him and Jones-Bouchard has Wild West written all over it.

Jones and Bouchard wouldn't be playing against tough competition or tough minutes. Putting Bouchard with Klefbom leaves you with one good pairing and 2 pairings that can't play heavy minutes.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Next year is the deciding year on Marody.

It's not a huge leap to connect the severe concussion he suffered in the playoffs with the season that followed. Sometimes that kills a guy's career, sometimes they recover.

Anyone who watched the games could see his play was off, the motions seemed off, I don't know it's hard to describe but he just seemed off.

I don't think it's a fair assessment to call a injury rebound year as a failure.

Fair but going from above a ppg to just over 0.5 ppg is a massive massive drop. And watching him play he didn't look like even close to the same player. Hao concussion definitely hurt him but that massive of a drop in ability isn't something a guy just gets over. Especially with him not being young

 

[CupofOil]

I mean yeah we will be a better team in theory. We still only have one good NHL line the rest is throwing shit at the wall and McDavid and hoping something works. We need to give McDavid at least one real top 6 player at some point and desperately need a 3c

Any line with McDavid will do well. Ennis and Kassian showed well enough to be solid compliments, AA has the potential to work his way up. No ideal top line options but there's a lot more options than there was to start last season.

Agreed on the #3C. That's the biggest sore spot in the forward group and was a need that I thought should have been addressed at the deadline instead of two top 9 wingers. If you put Haula or Soderberg in that spot, that's quite a good forward group we have.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Jones and Bouchard wouldn't be playing against tough competition or tough minutes. Putting Bouchard with Klefbom leaves you with one good pairing and 2 pairings that can't play heavy minutes.

Nurse/Bear were more of Tippet's tough minutes pairing at evens than Klefbom/whatever's left was. Can't just trot out a guy against fourth lines 11 minutes a night and expect him to develop properly. If Edmonton isn't going to play him proper minutes he'd be better served in the AHL again, but that becomes an endless cycle of "Gotta ease him in" vs "he's barely playing, get him big AHL minutes!"

Edmonton needs him to be a top 4 defenceman. They're banking hard on him being a top 4 defenceman. Playing him with our best defenceman would be better for his development than severely limited minutes against scrubs, IMO.

 

[McBooya42]

If Hall signs here, he'll play with McDavid for awhile but will end up playing with Drai.

Ok, and we stick Yams with Connor? Ok.

 

[McDoused]

I thought the Nurse/Bear and Jones/Larsson pairings looked really good this season. I imagine that would leave Klefbom/Green as a pairing. I think that pairing works as well because Klefbom can go out and do his thing without having to babysit someone.

Klefbom-Green (Klefbom is used to being a #1, Green's a veteran who is used to playing a lot of minutes)
Nurse-Bear (They had lots of chemistry in the past. Both guys like to play physical and push the pace of the game)
Jones-Larsson (allows Jones to play his game while Larsson guards the net)

 

[duul]

I thought the Nurse/Bear and Jones/Larsson pairings looked really good this season. I imagine that would leave Klefbom/Green as a pairing. I think that pairing works as well because Klefbom can go out and do his thing without having to babysit someone.

Klefbom-Green (Klefbom is used to being a #1, Green's a veteran who is used to playing a lot of minutes)
Nurse-Bear (They had lots of chemistry in the past. Both guys like to play physical and push the pace of the game)
Jones-Larsson (allows Jones to play his game while Larsson guards the net)

Yes, Jones-Larsson looked very good.

Only issue being that when Klefbom/Larsson aren't paired together, they both suffer significantly. Maybe that is due to not being used to playing with others very often and needs a 'breaking-in' period. Hopefully, because Klefbom-Larsson has not been a good pairing, and they're even worse apart. That is something that needs to be addressed heading into next season. I imagine we'll see them paired together for the playoffs here due to comfortability.

 

[McTonyBrar]

You didn't actually read the post do you. That lineup is of signed players. The first sentence said we have to resign him.

I am pretty sure we will re sign him for 2 years

 

[McTonyBrar]

Ok, and we stick Yams with Connor? Ok.

Hall Drai Yam

....

 

[CycloneSweep]

Hall Drai Yam

....

We literally do not have the cap space for Hall.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Nurse/Bear were more of Tippet's tough minutes pairing at evens than Klefbom/whatever's left was. Can't just trot out a guy against fourth lines 11 minutes a night and expect him to develop properly. If Edmonton isn't going to play him proper minutes he'd be better served in the AHL again, but that becomes an endless cycle of "Gotta ease him in" vs "he's barely playing, get him big AHL minutes!"

Edmonton needs him to be a top 4 defenceman. They're banking hard on him being a top 4 defenceman. Playing him with our best defenceman would be better for his development than severely limited minutes against scrubs, IMO.

If he shows he can handle it. Klefbom doesn't get easy minutes, if we throw him to the wolves we need to make sure we have a backup plan when he fails. Bouchard was good offensively this year in the AHL but his defensive game was still really rough. Klefboms not good enough to handle middle pairing minutes and drag a struggling rookie around

 

[LTIR]

If he shows he can handle it. Klefbom doesn't get easy minutes, if we throw him to the wolves we need to make sure we have a backup plan when he fails. Bouchard was good offensively this year in the AHL but his defensive game was still really rough. Klefboms not good enough to handle middle pairing minutes and drag a struggling rookie around

I am sure it wouldn't be the first time a team breaking in 2 young ones. Tippett will figure it out. Nothing stops him from moving Larsson up or down in-game! If protecting a lead or defensive draws you put Larsson with Klefa.

As long as Bear doesn't take a step back we should be fine on D for the next 5 yrs.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Marody was barely half the player he was last year that's not a down year, that's a incredible failure of a year. Forwards develop faster and he is the same age as Jones and Bear, bad sign.

Our team has been good at improving skating. Benson ain't young anymore. His skating ain't improving if it hasn't yet

Marody had a bad year but he could just as easily turn it around next season, many times guys are all over the map developmentally and some cases it’s the darkest before the dawn so to speak. Sometimes having a bad year, especially when you’re a younger guy running out of time to prove yourself, forces you over that hump.

Both Benson and Marody need work in areas of their skating, the catch 22 is they need to be with the Oilers to get the regular skating instruction from Pelletier that will improve their skating, but to make the team they need to show more then they have. Benson just turned 22 he’s still young, not to mention had a few years derailed by injuries, as well he’s an incredibly smart, adaptable player. His skating doesn’t need to improve by leaps and bounds. Even small improvements will go a long way for a player like him who has other abilities to counteract average skating.

I wouldn’t talk in certainties like “Benson ain’t young anymore, his skating ain’t improving” it’s simply not a fact and many times those type of statements come back to make us look foolish, but I’m sure you know that already.