Speculation: So Now What Do We Do?

[K1984]

In no particular order:

- Get rid of Yamo. Buy him out if there's no trade available

- Find a way to replace Ceci with a D man that has better passing ability. Easier said than done, but Nurse needs to play with someone that can actually make a puck play.

- The focus of the team needs to be defense and work ethic first from Day 1 of camp. I've had enough of listening to the platitudes with respect to these issues, it needs to be a non-negotiable. It might not be comfortable for some players, there might be some tough love involved to get there, but we will not win a Cup averaging over 3 GA's per game.

 

[BlackDogg]

I’m far from the most negative Oilers fan, but the bolded certainly doesn’t apply to me and likely many other posters here. Aside from the glaring weaknesses on the right side wing and D (you expect holes on a contender but these are too big of holes to overcome in a 4 series playoffs), Woody went to the Skinner well far too often to expect a win. Unfortunately my feeling is Vegas goaltending gets exposed by a more committed team next round.

Move out Yamamoto, Ceci, walk from a few of the expiring deals and only keep those that want to stay for cheap. Most important moves would be non roster, though. Staios as GM with Holland upstairs (Holland was fine but it’s time) and most importantly upgrading the goalie coach which is long overdue.

The goaltending, and ice cold performances from Kane, Nuge, etc. didn't help. The hot streak they had was just a bit too early.

Not giving Campbell at least one start is clown shoes though. I'm the most pissed about that.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Yamamoto+Ceci+Kulak out.

Wilson and Parayko in.

Move Campbell it you feel you need the cap space even though I thought he played well in the small amount of time he had.

Is this even feasible with Bouchards raise? I’m thinking it’s not

 

[Kanedogg]

He has a full NMC.

Well ask him where he'd like to go and work out a deal.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Well ask him where he'd like to go and work out a deal.

Chicago

 

[McDrailers]

Well ask him where he'd like to go and work out a deal.

Colorado for Newhook would be okay with me.

 

[mkatcherin00]

With some key moves, this team will be back up top, BUT ONLY IF THEY ALL BUY IN AND PLAY A BETTER STRUCTURE AND BETETR TEAM D

Look at how far we have gone without that and some pretty bad goaltending.

They need a full buy in from everybody. Our "system" looks too chaotic to me.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

The cap situation likely requires massaging like the Ekholm deal to complete the roster pieces, 1RD or 2RD and a top six RW. Wingers are easiest to find and cheapest options available. Could see Holland wait for deadline to address after incorporating young, cheap skill Holloway, test driving Lavoire, and re-signing Kostin and McLeod. Insulate bottom six with 2 veterans between Bjugstad, Ryan and Janmark. Moving out Yamamoto and Foegele.

Quality RD options in free agency are likely too expensive without dropping salary, Dumba ($6 mill); Severson ($4.1 mill); Mayfield ($1.45 but American player might not be viable). In a soft free agent market and always short supply of quality RD, I don't see any value contracts from these guys.

Trade seems more realistic with prospective targets like Karlsson, Parayko, maybe a Gord Murphy. While expensive, I still wonder about a 21 minute Parayko and a Blues team wanting to trim and/or re-distribute their cap. His contract term is a killer but if St. Louis ate $500,000, maybe up to $1 million, this is maybe more do-able with the contract length an issue and no trade limits destinations. Oil need a stabilizing partner for Nurse, two-way game, and puck movement.

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Parayko
Kulak - Desharnais

Money Out:
Yamamoto: $3.1 x 1 year
Ceci: $3.25 mill x 2 years
Broberg if Blues retain: $863,000

Parayko's been healthy for two seasons since his back problem. Would slot in middle pair on a top team versus a Blues team that fell into the abyss this season. Need 3-4 quality years and unknown, like all players, how this guy will age. Strong skater, big minute workload capacity, and able to match up against top opposition with size and skating. Nurse and Parayko would be a formidable middle/1B pair.

I think Yamamoto will be hard to move. I know the team has Bouchard, Draisaitl, McDavid on the cap horizon!

Curious what peep think of other prospective RD trade options might be out there.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

 

[Whyme]

The cap situation likely requires massaging like the Ekholm deal to complete the roster pieces, 1RD or 2RD and a top six RW. Wingers are easiest to find and cheapest options available. Could see Holland wait for deadline to address after incorporating young, cheap skill Holloway, test driving Lavoire, and re-signing Kostin and McLeod. Insulate bottom six with 2 veterans between Bjugstad, Ryan and Janmark. Moving out Yamamoto and Foegele.

Quality RD options in free agency are likely too expensive without dropping salary, Dumba ($6 mill); Severson ($4.1 mill); Mayfield ($1.45 but American player might not be viable). In a soft free agent market and always short supply of quality RD, I don't see any value contracts from these guys.

Trade seems more realistic with prospective targets like Karlsson, Parayko, maybe a Gord Murphy. While expensive, I still wonder about a 21 minute Parayko and a Blues team wanting to trim and/or re-distribute their cap. His contract term is a killer but if St. Louis ate $500,000, maybe up to $1 million, this is maybe more do-able with the contract length an issue and no trade limits destinations. Oil need a stabilizing partner for Nurse, two-way game, and puck movement.

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Parayko
Kulak - Desharnais

Money Out:
Yamamoto: $3.1 x 1 year
Ceci: $3.25 mill x 2 years
Broberg if Blues retain: $863,000

Parayko's been healthy for two seasons since his back problem. Would slot in middle pair on a top team versus a Blues team that fell into the abyss this season. Need 3-4 quality years and unknown, like all players, how this guy will age. Strong skater, big minute workload capacity, and able to match up against top opposition with size and skating. Nurse and Parayko would be a formidable middle/1B pair.

I think Yamamoto will be hard to move. I know the team has Bouchard, Draisaitl, McDavid on the cap horizon!

Curious what peep think of other prospective RD trade options might be out there.

They should re-sign Kostin, but it's possible Kostin will look elsewhere due to his low usage in the Oilers. His /60 stats were excellent in the regular season (ES goals/60 even ahead of Drai) and playoffs (ES goals/60 the best of the team).

Kostin is a great example of a cheaper player who can make the team better but I don't know what he did to deserve such a ridiculous usage.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

They should re-sign Kostin, but it's possible Kostin will look elsewhere due to his low usage in the Oilers. His /60 stats were excellent in the regular season (ES goals/60 even ahead of Drai) and playoffs (ES goals/60 the best of the team).

Kostin is a great example of a cheaper player who can make the team better but I don't know what he did to deserve such a ridiculous usage.

Kostin is an RFA.

He was also injured in the playoffs. Shouldn't have played, but he's a warrior.

 

[Whyme]

Kostin is an RFA.

He was also injured in the playoffs. Shouldn't have played, but he's a warrior.

A quick search showed no indication of an injury at the beginning of the playoffs where he was obviously healthy scratched and then had the lowest TOI of the team. A pretty strong game but he played even less in the next game so maybe an injury doesn't explain everything. He didn't play much more in the regular season either.

But the RFA situation helps a bit unless he feels he gets tired of playing some 7-11 minutes per game and seeks another solution. I hope he'll stay in the Oilers but we'll see.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

A quick search showed no indication of an injury at the beginning of the playoffs where he was obviously healthy scratched and then had the lowest TOI of the team. A pretty strong game but he played even less in the next game so maybe an injury doesn't explain everything. He didn't play much more in the regular season either.

But the RFA situation helps a bit unless he feels he gets tired of playing some 7-11 minutes per game and seeks another solution. I hope he'll stay in the Oilers but we'll see.

The guy constantly states how he loves it here and his team mates seem to reciprocate that.

They don't talk about injuries.

I think you are just being a bit over-worried. I'm sure everything will go fine when it's time to re-sign Kostin.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Overhaul the organization. Get rid of as much dead weight as possible. Players, coaches and management.

And f*** all the media who pretend we currently have something special.

 

[Whyme]

The guy constantly states how he loves it here and his team mates seem to reciprocate that.

They don't talk about injuries.

I think you are just being a bit over-worried. I'm sure everything will go fine when it's time to re-sign Kostin.

I hope you're right. As for injuries I sometimes wonder if it's just media and fan speculation when trying to find a reason for low usage or bad performance. Kostin didn't play much during the season so I hope it's not also about Woodcroft not liking what he brings.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

I hope you're right. As for injuries I sometimes wonder if it's just media and fan speculation when trying to find a reason for low usage or bad performance. Kostin didn't play much during the season so I hope it's not also about Woodcroft not liking what he brings.

It was an AHL trade.

By the end of the year he was pretty much a regular NHLer. That's a pretty good progression, no?

 

[Broberg Speed]

Love them or hate them where would Whitecloud and Hague slot in on the Edmonton Oilers?

Where the heck is our Whitecloud and Hague?

Whitecloud is making 2.75M for another 5 years.

Hague is making 2.3M for another 2 years and he's an RFA after that.

WTF

 

[The Nuge]

Love them or hate them where would Whitecloud and Hague slot in on the Edmonton Oilers?

Where the heck is our Whitecloud and Hague?

Whitecloud probably slots in next to Kulak on the bottom pair and Hague as the #7. They’re not that special

Trade nuge while his value can be argued to be high.

We need a good playoff team not a regular season team.

He was one point off of being PPG in the playoffs. We lost because of Skinner, and Woody’s insistence on going back to him, not because Nuge scored 3 less points than his regular season pace

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

They should re-sign Kostin, but it's possible Kostin will look elsewhere due to his low usage in the Oilers. His /60 stats were excellent in the regular season (ES goals/60 even ahead of Drai) and playoffs (ES goals/60 the best of the team).

Kostin is a great example of a cheaper player who can make the team better but I don't know what he did to deserve such a ridiculous usage.

Doubt Kostin moves on and as an RFA his options are limited . He was effusive in his praise for this team, opportunity to play with his Dad's favourite player McDavid, and the second chance. He was banged up shot blocking and minutes cut with dumb penalties the team too. His own zone play was a little bit spotty at times which hurts fringe players in tight playoff games.

Comparing /60 stats to Draisaitl is a fool's errand. No way Kostin sustains that rate of production with the minutes that Draisaitl gets and delivers at. I love Kostin's game and personality, step one to prove he is an every day NHL player is achieved. Now he can work on the totality of his game and consistency to see where he can go on a deep team in Edmonton.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Love them or hate them where would Whitecloud and Hague slot in on the Edmonton Oilers?

Where the heck is our Whitecloud and Hague?

Whitecloud is making 2.75M for another 5 years.

Hague is making 2.3M for another 2 years and he's an RFA after that.

WTF

Yeah those are sweet contracts.

 

[Whyme]

Doubt Kostin moves on and as an RFA his options are limited . He was effusive in his praise for this team, opportunity to play with his Dad's favourite player McDavid, and the second chance. He was banged up shot blocking and minutes cut with dumb penalties the team too. His own zone play was a little bit spotty at times which hurts fringe players in tight playoff games.

Comparing /60 stats to Draisaitl is a fool's errand. No way Kostin sustains that rate of production with the minutes that Draisaitl gets and delivers at. I love Kostin's game and personality, step one to prove he is an every day NHL player is achieved. Now he can work on the totality of his game and consistency to see where he can go on a deep team in Edmonton.

Well I never said or implied he does. Nevertheless that shows Kostin used his minutes very well as being ahead of Drai, one of the best goal scorers there is, while playing with worse players is pretty much the best production rate one can expect. He also wasn't leaking as his +- was among the best in the regular season and the playoffs.

It's not like I'm the only one, it seems the majority of the fan base feels Kostin got far too little usage. Some have been guessing he goes to Europe so we'll see. It's great if he stays but I wouldn't be surprised if Woodcroft doesn't find much use for him.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Well I never said or implied he does. Nevertheless that shows Kostin used his minutes very well as being ahead of Drai, one of the best goal scorers there is, while playing with worse players is pretty much the best production rate one can expect. He also wasn't leaking as his +- was among the best in the regular season and the playoffs.

It's not like I'm the only one, it seems the majority of the fan base feels Kostin got far too little usage. Some have been guessing he goes to Europe so we'll see. It's great if he stays but I wouldn't be surprised if Woodcroft doesn't find much use for him.

He's an excellent reclamation player. Home run. Personally I will be very surprised if Woodcroft doesn't use Kostin more as the player is big, plays hard including supporting teammates, and has solid skills. Edmonton is a perfect situation and by all accounts he is valued as a teammate. Continue to work on his own zone defending which is collectively the achilles heel of this team.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Whitecloud probably slots in next to Kulak on the bottom pair and Hague as the #7. They’re not that special



He was one point off of being PPG in the playoffs. We lost because of Skinner, and Woody’s insistence on going back to him, not because Nuge scored 3 less points than his regular season pace

So you got Whitecloud and Hague basically ranked the same as KulaK and Desharnais?

Guess what, Whitecloud and Hague are way better than KulaK and Desharnais.

This is why we lose. It's big a joke.

 

[Kanedogg]

He was one point off of being PPG in the playoffs. We lost because of Skinner, and Woody’s insistence on going back to him, not because Nuge scored 3 less points than his regular season pace

Um Mr nuge he did nothing even strength. I could get a pp every game with 97 29 and 2.

Funny is we know Hyman and kane were injured. All we saw was nuge being nuge. Floating around the perimeter. No concept of going to the net. We're going to hold on to him because of this 100 pt outlier forever now.

 

[The Nuge]

So you got Whitecloud and Hague basically ranked the same as KulaK and Desharnais?

Guess what, Whitecloud and Hague are way better than KulaK and Desharnais.

This is why we lose. It's big a joke.

Similar to Kulak who’s a very good #5 and above Desharnais who’s a #6/7. They’re definitely not way better than Kulak. We lost because our rookie goalie went cold, and our coach refused to start our goalie who was rocking a .961 SV%. Not because one #5 dman may or may not be slightly better than a different #5 dman.

Um Mr nuge he did nothing even strength. I could get a pp every game with 97 29 and 2.

Funny is we know Hyman and kane were injured. All we saw was nuge being nuge. Floating around the perimeter. No concept of going to the net. We're going to hold on to him because of this 100 pt outlier forever now.

And yet our PP effectiveness drops dramatically without Nuge. He wasn’t the issue. We can’t expect to win every game 6-5. Skinner single handedly lost us the series (well, and Woody who refused to play Campbell)