Proposal: Rumors and Proposals Thread: Throw Connor a Frickin Bone Ken!

[Bryanbryoil]

Anyone know why Ristolainen's +/- is actually respectable this season for a change?

 

[duul]

2 games of Bouchard before the TDL is not enough to make any sort of decision on moving a RHD no matter the quality of his play those two games. I will admit though I don't think it makes sense swapping Larsson out on this dcore for somebody with more term unless they are elite, which i don't see happening.

I dont see the harm in keeping Larsson even if he falls to the third pairing due to Bouch's play, we would still be paying our entire right defense side only 6 mil at that point

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, no. However, he is sort of the main piece that could return us a great winger to improve our depth up front which I believe to be far more valuable given our current roster makeup. For example, I think adding Kapanen at the cost of Larsson makes us a much better hockey team, if Bouchard can fit in half decently with Klef. I believe Klef struggles in being forced to sort of be the 'offensive' guy on his pairing, knowing Larsson is not going to get the puck out. Most pairings work like this, at least mentally for the players. The old stay at home defenceman and the other guy who they'll always defer to behind the net setting up a breakout. I don't think Klefbom is necessarily THAT GUY by default. I believe having Bouchard on his pairing who has in absolutely beautiful breakout pass and calmness, would really help both of them. let Klef focus on defending a bit more.

edit: It's not even like we are relying on Klef-Lars THAT MUCH. Nurse-Bear is taking most of the hardest matchups every game. Klef's ice time is insane due to PP time.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

Simple question.
Would Yamamoto be having the same success strapped on the third line or with Lucic and some other center? Yamamoto was put in a great situation with the best chance to succeed and Im glad he was.

The idea that an 18,19, or 20 year old declines is ridiculous. Its as much about opportunity and circumstance as anything.

And yes, McLellan is not a good young player's coach, especially when he decides he doesn't like that player, young or not. Justin Schultz and Eberle are good examples how a player loses confidence and the coach pours gas on them and lights them up.

Yamo's first 2 seasons with the Oil he played 80.2% of his time with atleast one of McDavid, Drai, or RNH and from having watched the games it always seemed like he got the early push and then since he wasn't having success in those roles he got pushed down, given an opportunity to take a lower role only after he failed in a scoring role. Heck you can go peruse Drivesaitl's old posts for a game by game breakdown on how trash Yamamoto is and how he should never grace the same line as Draisaitl the Great.

If you viewed his HockeyDB page and compared it to let's say 30 other coaches of similar experience you'd realize that McLellan has a fairly strong track record relative to most coaches for developing young players and don't make the mistake of just looking at his NHL history, his AHL & WHL history is worth perusing as well. The Oilers have had 16 head coaches and every single one of them other than Slats, Nelson, and Krueger I've heard are bad for development and the only reason the last 2 weren't hated on was cause they didn't stick around long enough to get hated. People can never seem to accept that there favorite prospect just wasn't good enough, didn't work hard enough, or didn't want it bad enough, or had a limiting flaw they couldn't overcome it's always the coaches fault & in Yamo's case he didn't even flame out he just fell on his face learned some lessons and came back stronger.

As for Schultz his confidence was completely shot if you want to blame McLellan for not getting him back on the right track that's fair, but there are more than a few instances where a player was playing for a good coach, but just needed that change of scenery & fresh start to turn their game around. Like Quenneville is pretty universally heralded as a good coach, but players like Andrew Ladd, Nick Leddy, Teuvo Teravainen, & Dustin Byfuglien certainly busted out after making fresh starts elsewhere.

Eberle's "fall" was just shooting percentage related, sometimes goalscorers are hot and sometimes they go cold, shooting percentage tends to gravitate to the mean do you want to blame Tippett for Chiasson not running as hot as he did under McLellan?

 

[Fourier]

I think Holland is trying to keep as much on IR and stay under the cap so he can save space for Smith's bonuses. Capfriendly has everyone on IR still and not LTIR.

IR or LTIR is basically the same thing as far as the bonuses are concerned. Klefbom may not be eligible for IR at all and Russell has to be out a few more days to make eligibility requirements. But unless the Oilers are going to add salary there is no need to put him on LTIR.

 

[Fourier]

No, but him playing more than 9 games this year gives us 1 less year of control long term. It would be incredibly short sighted to have him hit that threshold this year just so he could make a minimal difference compared to what we have.

I think he makes the team out of camp next year, so it’s not like I’m saying he needs to be down there forever, but burning a year off his elc right now makes no sense unless he’s massively outplaying the other options.

It does not cost a year of control. That would require 40 games. It means that his ELC would not slide. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Oil Dood]

It does not cost a year of control. That would require 40 games. It means that his ELC would not slide. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

If he is being a regular contributor to the line up and is excelling to a degree I could not care if his contract slides.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I said earlier in this thread that I'd go against the grain and look at adding an offensive bomb from the blueline instead of focusing just on another top 6 forward option... maybe that's what Oilers management is thinking as well.

I was suggesting PK Subban with 50% retention... but it's quite possible the Devils wouldn't do that and/or that's still too pricey for the Oilers to take on... but the gist is still that I think the Oilers would like to add a bomb from the blueline as that helps take the focus off of McDrai... especially if things cool off with that RNH-Drai-Yamo combination, which could certainly happen if teams focus on that (as opposing teams and coaches are apt to do).


If not Subban (it was just a thought if Jersey was burning it all down)... then another dman with offense in their repertoire would also be a good option... even when they have warts (which offensive dmen almost always have).

 

[Connor McConnor]

Trocheck for Larsson straight up.

Almost identical cap numbers, fills a hole for both teams. Definitely bad timing for us with the Klef injury but we still have Lagesson to call up (lol just call us the Edmonton Condors).

He's having a down year but the kid looked like a potential star last year with very minimal help. I know his natural position is centre but he has played right wing in the past, allows us to move Kass down to his more natural position on the 3rd line and should form a nice one with Sheahan (for time being) + Archibald.

His cap hit is low enough that you could even consider playing him on the 3rd line with benson/chiasson + archibald.

Thoughts?

 

[Jesus Take the Wheel]

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, no. However, he is sort of the main piece that could return us a great winger to improve our depth up front which I believe to be far more valuable given our current roster makeup. For example, I think adding Kapanen at the cost of Larsson makes us a much better hockey team, if Bouchard can fit in half decently with Klef. I believe Klef struggles in being forced to sort of be the 'offensive' guy on his pairing, knowing Larsson is not going to get the puck out. Most pairings work like this, at least mentally for the players. The old stay at home defenceman and the other guy who they'll always defer to behind the net setting up a breakout. I don't think Klefbom is necessarily THAT GUY by default. I believe having Bouchard on his pairing who has in absolutely beautiful breakout pass and calmness, would really help both of them. let Klef focus on defending a bit more.

edit: It's not even like we are relying on Klef-Lars THAT MUCH. Nurse-Bear is taking most of the hardest matchups every game. Klef's ice time is insane due to PP time.

Which is what I think will eventually happen. I don't think you are wrong in your assessment of what is going to happen to our defensive core, I just think you are just jumping the gun on when this will happen based on being overly negative towards Larsson while being overly optimistic on Bouchard who hasn't played in the NHL since the beginning of last year and has never played a meaningful NHL game in his career

 

[duul]

So @5 Mins 4 Ftg , how's our avatar bet coming along?

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Anyone know why Ristolainen's +/- is actually respectable this season for a change?

I suspect they've had better goaltending this year, or atleast that's part of it.

 

[Jesus Take the Wheel]

Trocheck for Larsson straight up.

Almost identical cap numbers, fills a hole for both teams. Definitely bad timing for us with the Klef injury but we still have Lagesson to call up (lol just call us the Edmonton Condors).

He's having a down year but the kid looked like a potential star last year with very minimal help. I know his natural position is centre but he has played right wing in the past, allows us to move Kass down to his more natural position on the 3rd line and should form a nice one with Sheahan (for time being) + Archibald.

His cap hit is low enough that you could even consider playing him on the 3rd line with benson/chiasson + archibald.

Thoughts?

By minimal help you mean having three 70 point wingers in Huberdeau, Hoffman, and Dadanov.

 

[Samus44]

Yamo's first 2 seasons with the Oil he played 80.2% of his time with atleast one of McDavid, Drai, or RNH and from having watched the games it always seemed like he got the early push and then since he wasn't having success in those roles he got pushed down, given an opportunity to take a lower role only after he failed in a scoring role. Heck you can go peruse Drivesaitl's old posts for a game by game breakdown on how trash Yamamoto is and how he should never grace the same line as Draisaitl the Great.

If you viewed his HockeyDB page and compared it to let's say 30 other coaches of similar experience you'd realize that McLellan has a fairly strong track record relative to most coaches for developing young players and don't make the mistake of just looking at his NHL history, his AHL & WHL history is worth perusing as well. The Oilers have had 16 head coaches and every single one of them other than Slats, Nelson, and Krueger I've heard are bad for development and the only reason the last 2 weren't hated on was cause they didn't stick around long enough to get hated. People can never seem to accept that there favorite prospect just wasn't good enough, didn't work hard enough, or didn't want it bad enough, or had a limiting flaw they couldn't overcome it's always the coaches fault & in Yamo's case he didn't even flame out he just fell on his face learned some lessons and came back stronger.

As for Schultz his confidence was completely shot if you want to blame McLellan for not getting him back on the right track that's fair, but there are more than a few instances where a player was playing for a good coach, but just needed that change of scenery & fresh start to turn their game around. Like Quenneville is pretty universally heralded as a good coach, but players like Andrew Ladd, Nick Leddy, Teuvo Teravainen, & Dustin Byfuglien certainly busted out after making fresh starts elsewhere.

Eberle's "fall" was just shooting percentage related, sometimes goalscorers are hot and sometimes they go cold, shooting percentage tends to gravitate to the mean do you want to blame Tippett for Chiasson not running as hot as he did under McLellan?

I think McLellans teams have always been short on role players and he only develops the top talent he has. McLellan has always leaned far too heavily on too few players with 3-5 guys feeling without a role or direction and stagnating. Kassian, Slepyshev, Kharia, Puljujarvi, and even Strome at first, all of these guys were left without a purpose playing limited minutes and being less effective than their previous stops would indicate they should have been. McLellan was a good coach but he didn't get the most out of his depth guys here or in San Jose and IMO that's part of why he's no longer in both towns.

McLellan was certainly dealt a raw hand and despite his flaws was a guy who could coach a winner and many worse coaches have won Stanley Cups IMO. He wasn't the problem here but he had his flaws like all people do. I'm sure you don't think he was perfect, so what would you say his flaws were? Tippett for example i've always thought was an elite coach but even he has flaws. I'd say he's probably a bit too loyal to guys and can be too patient with players because of it.

 

[Connor McConnor]

By minimal help you mean having three 70 point wingers in Huberdeau, Hoffman, and Dadanov.

My mistake that was 2 years ago when he had 75 points playing with relative weak help. Last year he played with Huby and Hoffman but got hurt.

 

[duul]

So, anyone able to track down where all our scouts are tonight?

 

[replacement]

I said earlier in this thread that I'd go against the grain and look at adding an offensive bomb from the blueline instead of focusing just on another top 6 forward option... maybe that's what Oilers management is thinking as well.

I was suggesting PK Subban with 50% retention... but it's quite possible the Devils wouldn't do that and/or that's still too pricey for the Oilers to take on... but the gist is still that I think the Oilers would like to add a bomb from the blueline as that helps take the focus off of McDrai... especially if things cool off with that RNH-Drai-Yamo combination, which could certainly happen if teams focus on that (as opposing teams and coaches are apt to do).

If not Subban (it was just a thought if Jersey was burning it all down)... then another dman with offense in their repertoire would also be a good option... even when they have warts (which offensive dmen almost always have).

The reasoning is sound, but it's hard to argue with results. The Oilers powerplay conversion rate is in the top 5 of all time. Not this season. Not in this era (in which they'd be 1st). Ever. And it hasn't gotten worse since McDavid has been gone. It's actually been better.

So, not having a massive shot from the point (or from anywhere really) hasn't hurt the Oilers much.

I do agree with you a veteran d-man could be in the cards. The pressure of a playoff race, and playoff games... Going in with as many young d-men as the Oilers have is risky.

 

[Jesus Take the Wheel]

My mistake that was 2 years ago when he had 75 points playing with relative weak help. Last year he played with Huby and Hoffman but got hurt.

Even the year prior he was on a dominant first line PP with the same players and saw a lot of time even strength with at least one of Dadanov/Huby

To answer your question though for that trade I'd say yes but I doubt Fla would

 

[ChaoticOrange]

It would be extremely Oilers to need forward help for an entire season but pull the trigger on a Del Zotto trade the minute Lagesson is actually getting playing time

 

[Titsuple]

So, anyone able to track down where all our scouts are tonight?

ECHL?

 

[McDNicks17]

I think McLellans teams have always been short on role players and he only develops the top talent he has. McLellan has always leaned far too heavily on too few players with 3-5 guys feeling without a role or direction and stagnating. Kassian, Slepyshev, Kharia, Puljujarvi, and even Strome at first, all of these guys were left without a purpose playing limited minutes and being less effective than their previous stops would indicate they should have been. McLellan was a good coach but he didn't get the most out of his depth guys here or in San Jose and IMO that's part of why he's no longer in both towns.

McLellan was certainly dealt a raw hand and despite his flaws was a guy who could coach a winner and many worse coaches have won Stanley Cups IMO. He wasn't the problem here but he had his flaws like all people do. I'm sure you don't think he was perfect, so what would you say his flaws were? Tippett for example i've always thought was an elite coach but even he has flaws. I'd say he's probably a bit too loyal to guys and can be too patient with players because of it.

That was my biggest criticism of McLellan.

He'd try to shoehorn as many of his best players onto the top two lines, coach every line to play the same way and then seemingly not care when his bottom six was getting caved in because they clearly couldn't play the skill/skating game the top six was trying to play.

 

[Jet Walters]

Sounds like Holland is out there trying at least. The Devils and Sens were reported to have interest in Puljujarvi, and the Devil's are willing to take back a bad contract.

To Ottawa: Benning and Khaira

To EDM: Brown

To NJ: Puljujarvi, 2020 2nd, rights to Berglund, and Gagner

To Edm: Severson

NJ and Edmonton also agree under the table for the Devils to trade our 2nd + another pick at the draft for Larsson. So basically it would be Larsson and Pulju for Severson and a mid round pick, but we keep Larsson for the playoff run. Brown plays with McDavid and Kassian, and our right side is stacked with Bear, Larsson, and Severson. It's basically money in for money out too.

 

[48g90a138pts]

IR or LTIR is basically the same thing as far as the bonuses are concerned. Klefbom may not be eligible for IR at all and Russell has to be out a few more days to make eligibility requirements. But unless the Oilers are going to add salary there is no need to put him on LTIR.

Yes sir, putting controversy aside, if Holland brought up Manning instead, then maybe this would have put them over the cap then Brodziak would have to be put on LTIR to make the room.

So Holland I think has deliberately stayed under the cap to make the penalties next year from Smith's bonuses less.

 

[Paralyzer]

Here's an interesting scoop. And if Big Buff would agree to play, do you think he would be a welcomed addition to the team? I mean, if we acquired him for VERY cheap, and we gave them Russell, would you do it?



Edited as I thought he had more years on his contract, but he's on his last year.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Here's an interesting scoop. And if Big Buff would agree to play, do you think he would be a welcomed addition to the team? I mean, if we acquired him for VERY cheap, and we gave them Russell, would you do it?



Edited as I thought he had more years on his contract, but he's on his last year.

I mean maybe, but it only works if he's in any condition, mental or physical, to play NHL hockey, and it's completely possible he is not.

 

[780il]

Sounds like Holland is out there trying at least. The Devils and Sens were reported to have interest in Puljujarvi, and the Devil's are willing to take back a bad contract.

To Ottawa: Benning and Khaira

To EDM: Brown

To NJ: Puljujarvi, 2020 2nd, rights to Berglund, and Gagner

To Edm: Severson

NJ and Edmonton also agree under the table for the Devils to trade our 2nd + another pick at the draft for Larsson. So basically it would be Larsson and Pulju for Severson and a mid round pick, but we keep Larsson for the playoff run. Brown plays with McDavid and Kassian, and our right side is stacked with Bear, Larsson, and Severson. It's basically money in for money out too.

If we were getting Severson it would surely mean that Larsson is on his way out.