Player Discussion T-Mac "We had some very high end players..." (Ebs/Hopkins)

[nexttothemoon]

The one that was traded to the Devils was one of the best contracts in the league. Hilarious how you think that it's good that the contract was moved

The Devil's in the details.


The evil 666 line was decent tonight... helped to win a close battle... so they get a reprieve from the pitchforks and hellfire until at least the next game.

 

[oobga]

I'd call that a decent response by the players in question. Following that up with more is just as important of course.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Unlike Eakins who blamed bad luck and thought everyone played ok, except Yakupov. Mclellan actually calls out his team for a **** performance.

Its not bad luck, the schedule, fatigue, the refs, an afternoon game that throws off your morning fog walk. Its just play better losers!

 

[CupofOil]

The Nuge line had a good game tonight, played hard and cycled well plus the goal obviously. Need more of this, not just once every 5 games.

 

[rboomercat90]

The Nuge line had a good game tonight, played hard and cycled well plus the goal obviously. Need more of this, not just once every 5 games.

Not the first good game they've played this year it's just that their issue has been consistency. I need to see these guys put a string of these types of games together before I'll feel better about them. That said, it was still a good response from them.

 

[AM]

I can see why hes out of San Jose.

That said, making the players accountable is a good idea, as long as they have the opportunity to do as asked.

 

[McPuritania]

I'd call that a decent response by the players in question. Following that up with more is just as important of course.

Really? I thought Nuge, and Eberle, were pretty mediocre. The goal of course was welcome, but I wanted more from them.

 

[Asiaoil]

The Nuge line had a good game tonight, played hard and cycled well plus the goal obviously. Need more of this, not just once every 5 games.

Yeah all three were fine tonight and played a hard game plus got a greasy goal from in close. Repeat 5 times in a row and we may have something going. There's $18 million in cap on that line so they damn well better make some noise.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I was happy with RNH and Lucic, still thought Eberle was junk.
He plays like someone who thinks he's better than he is. I've been noticing a lot this season that Eberle tries way too often to make the soft, fancy pass, only for the defender to get his stick on it or intercept it completely. Ebs is still playing the perimeter, circling away from the net with every zone entry.

As bad of a season as RNH is having, he's still showing me that he 'gets it'. I'm not seeing much improvement in Eberle. I keep hearing his defensive game has improved tenfold, but I don't really care if he's a black hole offensively in our top 6.

 

[AM]

They arent having a bad year. They are learning to play the system and ways their new coach asked them to play.

I dont understand why fans need to attack their own players, especially when youre winning...

boggles the mind.

Hes finally put a second line together so we can see how they can play.

 

[shoop]

They arent having a bad year. They are learning to play the system and ways their new coach asked them to play.

I dont understand why fans need to attack their own players, especially when youre winning...

This is the second year with McLellan as coach. That excuse doesn't hold water.

Criticism =/= attack.

 

[BudBundy]

RNH is a 3rd liner. His goal is to bring energy and not to get scored on. -12 is by far the worse on the team while not seeing top competition.

I can't even think of one game this season where RNH is the reason we won a game

Wasn't there a stat on Lowetide the other day that RNH was getting by far the most brutal amount of minutes against elite competition? I think Lowetide actually referred to it as "Horcoff" territory? I don't see how Nuge doesnt see a steady diet of top competition.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Wasn't there a stat on Lowetide the other day that RNH was getting by far the most brutal amount of minutes against elite competition? I think Lowetide actually referred to it as "Horcoff" territory? I don't see how Nuge doesnt see a steady diet of top competition.

As far as I know the McDavid line gets the top competition. And when Draisaitl centers the 2nd line, his gets the 2nd highest quality of comp

 

[kurtcobang]

I thought the entire team played a good game last night. Some were better than others but everyone played hard.
RNH needs to put a string of good games together to get some confidence going. He was hard on the forecheck last nigh and was rewarded with a goal.
Ebs had a decent game and I thought he was good in TB so string a few more together going into the playoffs.
WAS will be a tough game but if they can snag 1 more win on this trip and go .500 the rest of the schedule is smooth sailing.
It would not surprise me at all if both whipping boys turned it on in the playoffs and made a difference.
Its crazy to think where we would be if 93 and 14 played like they have in previous seasons.
Getting Nurse back soon and a healthy Larsson/Sek will be a great and free addition for the final stretch run

 

[Spawn]

Wasn't there a stat on Lowetide the other day that RNH was getting by far the most brutal amount of minutes against elite competition? I think Lowetide actually referred to it as "Horcoff" territory? I don't see how Nuge doesnt see a steady diet of top competition.

https://public.tableau.com/shared/HGJXPTKPK?:display_count=no

Playing against second line competition playing middle of the road zone starts. Now of course there are different ways of measuring quality of competition, and any measurement is going to be flawed. There is plenty of evidence that Nuge isn't being tasked with a heavy shutdown load though.

But, lets say that he he was actually getting the toughest defensive minutes on the team (which is certainly up in the air).

So what? He's getting obliterated in those minutes. Anyone can go out there and play against top competition and just get murdered. That's not hard to do. If Nuge was playing that top competition even, or limiting goals against while his offense struggled... okay. Maybe he'd bring something of value. But not only his offense basically nonexistent, he's getting brutalized defensively.

 

[SaltNPeca]

Beat Florida 4-3, playoff odds up 0.2 to 99.8%, Captain leads the league in G & A, and 21 games remaining.

ITT: We wanna trade both Alternate Captains.
ITT: We forget about depth (injuries) and team chemistry.

 

[flashy]

And I can't even think of one game in his career where Lander is the reason we won a game.

If you want to downgrade be my guest.

what about that preseason hat trick

 

[BudBundy]

https://public.tableau.com/shared/HGJXPTKPK?:display_count=no

Playing against second line competition playing middle of the road zone starts. Now of course there are different ways of measuring quality of competition, and any measurement is going to be flawed. There is plenty of evidence that Nuge isn't being tasked with a heavy shutdown load though.

But, lets say that he he was actually getting the toughest defensive minutes on the team (which is certainly up in the air).

So what? He's getting obliterated in those minutes. Anyone can go out there and play against top competition and just get murdered. That's not hard to do. If Nuge was playing that top competition even, or limiting goals against while his offense struggled... okay. Maybe he'd bring something of value. But not only his offense basically nonexistent, he's getting brutalized defensively.

Mostly fair comments. I only had issue with previous poster who implied Nuge wasn't getting tough minutes when I remembered stats to the contrary, and he was facing the elites. Double Letestu iirc and that surprised me.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

what about that preseason hat trick

Truly an indicator of all things.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

For me RNH gets a pass on this season because while no one can argue he's been absolutely awful this year, almost every player will have a down year in the course of their career. He's been pretty steadily in the 30-40 range of C's in this league and the numbers back that up. This in addition to the fact he's had a carousel of coaches including Eakins for two years and he's never really had clear directive from the team. He came in as a rookie and they threw him to the wolves 1C duties, top PP duties then they said well hey we want you to focus more on your two way game and really taking care of your own end but also keep handling top line and top PP duties. Then McDavid comes along and it's well you're gonna be sheltering this kid and you aren't going to get those top PP minutes anymore. He's been asked to wear a lot of different hats over the years without any continuity in coaching and message and without much veteran help along the way.

If there is a deal out there this summer where we really get good value and it improves the team overall they should consider otherwise I think the team owes him a chance to redeem himself on a bad season. It's not like the team can't afford him.

 

[AM]

This is the second year with McLellan as coach. That excuse doesn't hold water.

Criticism =/= attack.

The issue is that it is unfounded. I dont think RNH is happy with some of the results he has had, but at 23 he isnt a finished product as a player. There is still alot of upside there and his results arnt all that bad compared with the majority of the players in the NHL.

Dissing on RNH has got to be the most ridiculous rant I have heard from Oiler fans ever.

 

[ujju2]

I was happy with RNH and Lucic, still thought Eberle was junk.
He plays like someone who thinks he's better than he is. I've been noticing a lot this season that Eberle tries way too often to make the soft, fancy pass, only for the defender to get his stick on it or intercept it completely. Ebs is still playing the perimeter, circling away from the net with every zone entry.

As bad of a season as RNH is having, he's still showing me that he 'gets it'. I'm not seeing much improvement in Eberle. I keep hearing his defensive game has improved tenfold, but I don't really care if he's a black hole offensively in our top 6.

While I agree partially, I think Eberle's actually better that he thinks he is. Confidence seems to be an issue. We all remember the Ebs of 3 years ago who could cut to the net and go short-side top shelf like nobody's business. Same with RNH, but I think his work ethic and effort are there, and he was always more of an effort-based player than Ebs, so he's faring better (slightly).

 

[ujju2]

The issue is that it is unfounded. I dont think RNH is happy with some of the results he has had, but at 23 he isnt a finished product as a player. There is still alot of upside there and his results arnt all that bad compared with the majority of the players in the NHL.

Dissing on RNH has got to be the most ridiculous rant I have heard from Oiler fans ever.

Agree. Remember that Panarin won the Calder as a rookie at 24 years of age. That should put things in perspective.

 

[Spawn]

The issue is that it is unfounded. I dont think RNH is happy with some of the results he has had, but at 23 he isnt a finished product as a player. There is still alot of upside there and his results arnt all that bad compared with the majority of the players in the NHL.

Dissing on RNH has got to be the most ridiculous rant I have heard from Oiler fans ever.

Unfounded? Are you kidding. Nuge is regressing as a player in every way. This isn't a scenario where a player got limited opportunity early in their career and then once given more offensive opportunities flourished. This is a player who from day one had every offensive opportunity gifted to him playing with the best offensive players on the team. Now, there are two centermen who are much better at every aspect of hockey who are getting those offensive opportunities and Nuge is predictably crumbling.

 

[Oil Dude]

Unfounded? Are you kidding. Nuge is regressing as a player in every way. This isn't a scenario where a player got limited opportunity early in their career and then once given more offensive opportunities flourished. This is a player who from day one had every offensive opportunity gifted to him playing with the best offensive players on the team. Now, there are two centermen who are much better at every aspect of hockey who are getting those offensive opportunities and Nuge is predictably crumbling.

Wow you sound almost cheerful about this. That is interesting.