Injury Report: Sekera Recalled!!

[Fmrnuckfan95]

Cool. We still suck.

 

[nturn06]

Playoffs here we come ...

 

[Tyrolean]

I think it probably has more to do with playing hockey at the highest level than busses, meals or winning.

I don't think I've ever seen an athlete compete against lower level competition just because he/she is winning there, even if they'd lose competing against the best.

Guyle Fielder.

 

[LaGu]

Guyle Fielder.

I've added in the modern era

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

So the best thing for them to do is waive Manning then activate Sekera

 

[Oilers in NS]

I have watched 4 of the 5 games Sekera has played. He is skating nothing like he did last season.
He will still need to get up to NHL speed though but I have no doubt he will help this team starting in his first NHL game.

Good to hear. As usual in the past, players were rushed. Back in the better days (last playoff appearance), Sekera always played in the 3 on 3 in OT. Very smart player. If he could come back to that player, very helpful to the Oilers. I like Gravel this year and we have some fellas looking good on the farm.

Klefbom
Larsson
Nurse
Sekera
Russell
Gravel

From reports I have read, Day and Lagesson looking really good on the farm. Jones is very close as well. Hopefully they don't get foolish with Bouchard. Do I dare say our defence could be looking good?

 

[Oilers in NS]

Who do you suppose gets sent to Bakersfield or traded - Petrovic Manning or Gravel? On paper Gravel to Bakersfield makes the most sense as he doesn’t require waivers but he’s maybe the best of the 3 {thanks Chia}.

I actually have liked Gravel. Plays a smart simple game. I think he will be a fine 3rd pairing

 

[Oilers in NS]

I have watched 4 of the 5 games Sekera has played. He is skating nothing like he did last season.
He will still need to get up to NHL speed though but I have no doubt he will help this team starting in his first NHL game.

Just curious, how are the other D looking, especially Bear?

 

[guymez]

Good to hear. As usual in the past, players were rushed. Back in the better days (last playoff appearance), Sekera always played in the 3 on 3 in OT. Very smart player. If he could come back to that player, very helpful to the Oilers. I like Gravel this year and we have some fellas looking good on the farm.

Klefbom
Larsson
Nurse
Sekera
Russell
Gravel

From reports I have read, Day and Lagesson looking really good on the farm. Jones is very close as well. Hopefully they don't get foolish with Bouchard. Do I dare say our defence could be looking good?

I agree.
The only disappointing thing is that Sekeras return (assuming he can get up to NHL speed quickly) is likely too late to make a difference this season.

Regarding Bakersfield....I would say that Jones is head and shoulders the best dman there. Next would probably be Lagesson but IMO he needs to work on his skating.

 

[guymez]

Just curious, how are the other D looking, especially Bear?

Only saw Bear play one game so its tough to properly evaluate his play. As I mentioned in my previous post I think Jones is NHl ready right now. Lagesson still needs to improve his skating IMO but he is a good player.

No one else really stood out for me.

 

[tabs]

Only saw Bear play one game so its tough to properly evaluate his play. As I mentioned in my previous post I think Jones is NHl ready right now. Lagesson still needs to improve his skating IMO but he is a good player.

No one else really stood out for me.

Do you think Jones would be ready for second pairing minutes next year? Or would that be pushing it? I thought he was our best bottom pairing option this year and only struggled once he had to take on too many minutes with the injuries that happened in December. If he’s able to take on Russell’s minutes and our bottom pairing becomes Sekera - Russell, I’d say our defence doesn’t look too bad for next year. Puck mover and stay at home guy on each line.

 

[SaltNPeca]

Playoffs here we come ...

Simple: Boys go on a 3 game streak, KGretz fleeces a few chumps, and we're right back in the mix.

 

[guymez]

Do you think Jones would be ready for second pairing minutes next year? Or would that be pushing it? I thought he was our best bottom pairing option this year and only struggled once he had to take on too many minutes with the injuries that happened in December. If he’s able to take on Russell’s minutes and our bottom pairing becomes Sekera - Russell, I’d say our defence doesn’t look too bad for next year. Puck mover and stay at home guy on each line.

I think it would be a mistake to push Jones into the top 4 too soon.
I would like to see a bottom pairing of Jones and Sekera next season.

 

[GOilers88]

Do you think Jones would be ready for second pairing minutes next year? Or would that be pushing it? I thought he was our best bottom pairing option this year and only struggled once he had to take on too many minutes with the injuries that happened in December. If he’s able to take on Russell’s minutes and our bottom pairing becomes Sekera - Russell, I’d say our defence doesn’t look too bad for next year. Puck mover and stay at home guy on each line.

I think the best strategy Edmonton can adopt going forward is to put all the prospects looking to establish themselves into roles that are lesser than the expectations. Let them work their way up. As good as Jones looks, you start him on the third pairing and go from there. Let him overplay his role on the third pairing to warrant bumping him onto the second pairing. The same goes for forwards. Of course this requires your team to actually have a somewhat properly constructed roster to even be able to insulate your young kids, but that's obviously a whole other story. I think expecting Jones to step in and be as important to the team as Russell has been is more of the same. Let him outplay his role below Russell to warrant the promotion. it's long past time to start doing things the right way.

 

[tabs]

I think it would be a mistake to push Jones into the top 4 too soon.
I would like to see a bottom pairing of Jones and Sekera next season.

Yeah, agreed. Ideally it starts that way and Jones plays well enough throughout the year to earn Russell’s spot.

 

[tabs]

I think the best strategy Edmonton can adopt going forward is to put all the prospects looking to establish themselves into roles that are lesser than the expectations. Let them work their way up. As good as Jones looks, you start him on the third pairing and go from there. Let him overplay his role on the third pairing to warrant bumping him onto the second pairing. The same goes for forwards. Of course this requires your team to actually have a somewhat properly constructed roster to even be able to insulate your young kids, but that's obviously a whole other story. But it's long past time to start doing things the right way.

Agreed. I said the same in my latest reply.

 

[guymez]

Yeah, agreed. Ideally it starts that way and Jones plays well enough throughout the year to earn Russell’s spot.

I think the soonest I would slot Jones into the top 4 (assuming he excels in a bottom pairing role) would be in the 2020/21 season.
Why the rush to get rid of Russell? He is fine when he plays on the left side (his proper side).

 

[tabs]

I think the soonest I would slot Jones into the top 4 (assuming he excels in a bottom pairing role) would be in the 2020/21 season.
Why the rush to get rid of Russell? He is fine when he plays on the left side (his proper side).

I’m in no rush. I’m saying your defence looks better is Jones is ready for that role. And how is Russell going to play the left side with Klef, Nurse, and Sekera on the team?

 

[McJadeddog]

I agree.
The only disappointing thing is that Sekeras return (assuming he can get up to NHL speed quickly) is likely too late to make a difference this season.

Regarding Bakersfield....I would say that Jones is head and shoulders the best dman there. Next would probably be Lagesson but IMO he needs to work on his skating.

Yeah, we are WELL into "next year country" with this team. With only 24 games left, and us being in 3rd last in the entire league, it's likely best to start cheering for losses actually. It sucks, but it is what it is. We have ZERO offensive prospects in the system, our best guy Benson project as a 3rd line guy. The top-5 in this years draft are all forwards, and getting one of them could help.

 

[guymez]

I’m in no rush. I’m saying your defence looks better is Jones is ready for that role. And how is Russell going to play the left side with Klef, Nurse, and Sekera on the team?

I am just suggesting that its not Russells fault the team uses him on his off wing. Its much harder to advance the puck in the D-zone when you are constantly on the backhand.

 

[guymez]

Yeah, we are WELL into "next year country" with this team. With only 24 games left, and us being in 3rd last in the entire league, it's likely best to start cheering for losses actually. It sucks, but it is what it is. We have ZERO offensive prospects in the system, our best guy Benson project as a 3rd line guy. The top-5 in this years draft are all forwards, and getting one of them could help.

With my limited viewings of Bensen I would say that he will be a solid middle 6 player. He sees the ice at a very high level and he is smart...he could very well top out as a top 6 player.

Also...if this team was to put together another 9-2 run like they have a couple of times already this season they will be right in the mix.
Is it likely to happen...no. Is it impossible...no.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

Sekbeauty the ot god

 

[Drivesaitl]

He’s got 52 points in 55 games and is, at worst, a pretty solid 2nd line center on any team in the league. Nobody calls him a world beater so, no, he is not over-rated and is more than a complimentary player.

Its now 53pts in 58GP.

But the concerns people have with the player is theres been major segments in his career where he's been more, or less effective. The Nuge we are seeing now looks more like the rookie season Nuge, and what was really his best production/game year until now.

Needs to be understood as well that pts is up in the NHL, quite a lot, and accordingly one expects more offense from premium players. Nuge gets setup countless times and especially on the PP. Should definitely have more goals. At one point this season he was taking the most shots on the entire team, but no particularly good ones.

One stat that really sticks out for me is McD + Nuge w/o Draisaitl sport negative numbers. They get outscored EV when together. Frankly that is abysmal. Sure Nuge gets pts when playing with McD, but the team doesn't benefit from his toi there. Nuge is more effective trying to carry his own line, it seems he plays a simpler game then and more responsible. I think Nuge gets enticed to too much down low play, and getting caught, when playing with McD. Just the last game on a few shifts he had with McD there's one instance where all 3 Oiler forwards were either behind the opposition net or around goal line. The puck went the other way with all 3 forwards getting caught That can't happen. Expecially when two natural Centers were out on the ice.

All that said I'm pleased with Nuge's play this year but the reality is he's been dragged to this level playing with 2 superstars. he wasn't a player that was going to get here himself to this kind of peak.

It is possible to still like Nuges contribution, and to feel that in his career we should have got more out of him.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Sek has been missing so long from the lineup, and the last time he was here he was awful.

I can't get excited about this. My impression is the player is done. With the type of injuries he's had it would take 20 games just to recover. Not sure how many he has played in the AHL so far.

The really disappointing thing is Sekera was playing with a no contact jersey in practice as early as November. Theres been so many setbacks since he's basically missed yet another season. Theres not even any point now. It took 4 months since he's been back skating with the team for him to get in the lineup. That is just awful recovery.

Maybe the season could have been a bit different with Sekera in it for any more time but we never even got that chance.

 

[Fourier]

Yeah, we are WELL into "next year country" with this team. With only 24 games left, and us being in 3rd last in the entire league, it's likely best to start cheering for losses actually. It sucks, but it is what it is. We have ZERO offensive prospects in the system, our best guy Benson project as a 3rd line guy. The top-5 in this years draft are all forwards, and getting one of them could help.

I am not sure what it takes for you to project a guy as a top 6 player. You didn't even think McDavid was ready for the NHL so I am not sure if this is just an Oiler thing or if your bar is so high that no one would make it. Benson is having a great year as a rookie in the AHL and is right now tide for second overall in assists one behind the league leader. Benson has always been highly skilled and it was only injuries that resulted in him going in the second round. It also seems strange to argue that Yamamoto is not an offensive prospect. Maksimov has been one of the top goal scores in the OHL over the last two years.

The Oilers don't have an absolute sure fire top end offensive guy in the system but they have a lot of guys who could easily be solid complementary scores. They just have to develop well and hope they get lucky.