Pre-Game Talk: The more things change the more they stay the same

[Chabot84]

We didn't have Gagner in topsix except for rare shifts or occasionally overlapping shifts. Better, more productive player than Turris.

Almost everybody here figured Gagner was a scrub. Now we have a player with lower production we want to forcefeed in topsix. Gee lets put him on the first PP like Toby Letestu..

Gagner better then Turris? I’ll just disagree.

 

[Chabot84]

Hence why I hated the signing. There is no room for him in our top 6, he was signed to be our 3C.

Yeah but considering we aren’t winning and our top lines aren’t scoring 5 on 5.. just from my experience as a Sens fan with Turris.. play him with skill and be rewarded.

 

[Chabot84]

Ennis is not a center, why would we play him there?

Tyler Ennis Stats and News

He is listed as one.. I thought he played C.. just the Oilers like to do everything backwards like play Turris in the bottom 6?

I’m honestly not sure if he plays C though I remember him on Ottawa he looked decent.

 

[McTonyBrar]

#FireTippett

It could be McDavid asking for a skilled player to be on his line and it might not be Tippetts fault at all..

 

[Chabot84]

There is definitely room....id even swap him and Nugent or him and Kahun.

Its okay don’t forget lots of Oilers fans are used to losing and always want more of the same because that’s what Oilers do. Repeat same shit over and over and expect different results.

I can scream at the top of my lungs that Turris would produce in the top 6 but after 9 games everyone is convinced he’s garbage.. then he will go and light it up for another team who uses him in their top 6 after we dump him.. oh well. Sound familiar??

 

[Chabot84]

It could be McDavid asking for a skilled player to be on his line and it might not be Tippetts fault at all..

I think Mcdavid might like stunting / handicapping draisaitl so he can ensure he gets more points then him.. and the art Ross.

Anyone else have an explanation on why the coach won’t reunite the golden line?

just a theory lol

 

[Spawn]

Did something happen to Turris where if he was on your team you wouldn’t put him in the top 6?

like did break his back or something? Is there something I need to know? Because that guy has a top 6 skill set... he’s not a grinder meant to play with grinders like that’s not what he does. He’s being misused...

He's not being misused. He's just sucked so far. James Neal and Zack Kassian should be more than adequate for a 3rd line that can put up some offense. Hell, James Neal is a much more accomplished "skill" player than Turris has ever been. It's not like Turris is out there with 2 guys with no skill.

It's not like Turris is being asked to shut down other teams best players. He's just being asked to go out there, chip in a bit of offense and not get scored against every. single. game.

If Kyle Turris signed here with the expectation of being in the top 6 than he was clueless. There wasn't a soul in the world, Turris included, who thought he was brought in as anything other than a 3C.

 

[Chabot84]

You know what? A smart coach / team would put Turris with Mcdavid just to get him going and give him some confidence.. then put him back as 3C

the guy is struggling and lacking confidence.

this team is extremely frustrating to cheer for right now.

 

[Chabot84]

He's not being misused. He's just sucked so far. James Neal and Zack Kassian should be more than adequate for a 3rd line that can put up some offense. Hell, James Neal is a much more accomplished "skill" player than Turris has ever been. It's not like Turris is out there with 2 guys with no skill.

It's not like Turris is being asked to shut down other teams best players. He's just being asked to go out there, chip in a bit of offense and not get scored against every. single. game.

If Kyle Turris signed here with the expectation of being in the top 6 than he was clueless. There wasn't a soul in the world, Turris included, who thought he was brought in as anything other than a 3C.

Okay.. we will come back to this topic later. Turris struggled before he came to Ottawa and was groomed and blew up into a 60 point two way centre. He was then traded to Nashville who buried him down in the bottom 6 and destroyed him.

and now we are doing the same. He needs to play with high skill players like Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson.

sound familiar?

mcdavid
Draisaitl
RNH

Not

Neal
Kassian

give me a break.

 

[Chabot84]

He's not being misused. He's just sucked so far. James Neal and Zack Kassian should be more than adequate for a 3rd line that can put up some offense. Hell, James Neal is a much more accomplished "skill" player than Turris has ever been. It's not like Turris is out there with 2 guys with no skill.

It's not like Turris is being asked to shut down other teams best players. He's just being asked to go out there, chip in a bit of offense and not get scored against every. single. game.

If Kyle Turris signed here with the expectation of being in the top 6 than he was clueless. There wasn't a soul in the world, Turris included, who thought he was brought in as anything other than a 3C.

James Neal and Kassian lmaoooooo

Lucic lol was traded for Neal.. what a stud!

 

[Drivesaitl]

Gagner better then Turris? I’ll just disagree.

Despite Gagner being talented enough to hit the league before Turris, despite Gagner having more career pts already than Turris will ever obtain. Gagner was one of the most underrated Oilers through time and played with heart. he never got much help, he often had to play 2nd or 3rd line assignments, never complained, and was inclined to be invisible.

"Oh but Turris is better defensively" lol, yeah we're seeing that. has some of the worst numbers in the league

 

[BlackDogg]

Luckily my avatar is still fitting this year, so I don't have to look for another.

Next edition brought to you by Kraft.

 

[Missing smitty]

He's not being misused. He's just sucked so far. James Neal and Zack Kassian should be more than adequate for a 3rd line that can put up some offense. Hell, James Neal is a much more accomplished "skill" player than Turris has ever been. It's not like Turris is out there with 2 guys with no skill.

It's not like Turris is being asked to shut down other teams best players. He's just being asked to go out there, chip in a bit of offense and not get scored against every. single. game.

If Kyle Turris signed here with the expectation of being in the top 6 than he was clueless. There wasn't a soul in the world, Turris included, who thought he was brought in as anything other than a 3C.

76% d-zone starts. Dudes being asked to be a shutdown C.

Nothing wrong with him being the 3C, but Tippett isn't putting him in a situation to succeed. He's being used in situations that he's never been good at and predictably failing.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

The more I see this, The more I think that it's McDavid that doesn't want to be dragging two plugs on his line. He's a skill guy who wants to play with another skill guy.

Rob Brown mentioned this repeatedly last night in his post game analysis.

 

[Spawn]

Despite Gagner being talented enough to hit the league before Turris, despite Gagner having more career pts already than Turris will ever obtain. Gagner was one of the most underrated Oilers through time and played with heart. he never got much help, he often had to play 2nd or 3rd line assignments, never complained, and was inclined to be invisible.

"Oh but Turris is better defensively" lol, yeah we're seeing that. has some of the worst numbers in the league

What a stupid argument. Sam Gagner hasn't outscored Turris in a single season in the past 7 years. Yes. Sam Gagner was a better player early in their careers. That has no bearing on them now.

 

[Drivesaitl]

What a stupid argument. Sam Gagner hasn't outscored Turris in a single season in the past 7 years. Yes. Sam Gagner was a better player early in their careers. That has no bearing on them now.

Turris has seen better usage. Sam has rarely had that preferential kind of linemates. Even in the hope days Nuge got Hall and Eberle, Sam had to content with scraps like useless Paajarvi and Omark. Sam broke into the league playing with two other raw raw players and knocked it out of the ballpark. At 18. Had Gagner not been mugged by Kassian and had his entire jaw rearranged in what was a brutal attack he'd still be better than Turris today. For Gagner he never really recovered from that.

In anycase whenever Gagner did get talents to work with he would knock it out of the park. 8pt game, being a leading scorer on the team with Dustin Penner, etc. 50pt season in Columbus just in limited minutes spot use. Gagner did that on 12mins/night. He was one of the most productive pts/min players in the league that season.

 

[LTIR]

It could be McDavid asking for a skilled player to be on his line and it might not be Tippetts fault at all..

A coach letting a player call the shots re lineups doesnt deserve to be the coach especially if they are not working

 

[Spawn]

76% d-zone starts. Dudes being asked to be a shutdown C.

Nothing wrong with him being the 3C, but Tippett isn't putting him in a situation to succeed. He's being used in situations that he's never been good at and predictably failing.

He is absolutely not being used in a shutdown role. A shutdown role would mean he's getting matched up against other teams top lines. Turris largely plays against other teams middle 6. Tippett almost always goes power vs power with one of McDavid or Drai matched up against the other teams best.

Turris is starting a greater percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone compared to the offensive zone because we have the two best offensive centers in the league playing ahead of him. He has fewer defensive zone starts than Draisaitl and only 2 more than McDavid.

 

[Spawn]

Turris has seen better usage. Sam has rarely had that preferential kind of linemates. Even in the hope days Nuge got Hall and Eberle, Sam had to content with scraps like useless Paajarvi and Omark. Sam broke into the league playing with two other raw raw players and knocked it out of the ballpark. At 18. Had Gagner not been mugged by Kassian and had his entire jaw rearranged in what was a brutal attack he'd still be better than Turris today. For Gagner he never really recovered from that.

In anycase whenever Gagner did get talents to work with he would knock it out of the park. 8pt game, being a leading scorer on the team with Dustin Penner, etc. 50pt season in Columbus just in limited minutes spot use. Gagner did that on 12mins/night. He was one of the most productive pts/min players in the league that season.

Turris saw better usage because he was a far better player. Sam Gagner hasn't been a full time NHLer in 1/2 a decade and that is across multiple teams.

Don't get me wrong. Turris sucks. But what an irrelevant argument to try and bring up. Sam Gagner used to be my favourite player in the league. But he hasn't been an effective NHLer in almost a decade. Arguably has never been an effective NHLer.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Turris saw better usage because he was a far better player. Sam Gagner hasn't been a full time NHLer in 1/2 a decade and that is across multiple teams.

Don't get me wrong. Turris sucks. But what an irrelevant argument to try and bring up. Sam Gagner used to be my favourite player in the league. But he hasn't been an effective NHLer in almost a decade. Arguably has never been an effective NHLer.

i gave the potential reason why. We don't disagree much. Turris moment was a bit more recent than Gagners. Sam will still finish with more career pts and can still be considered as the better potential player. Sam Gagner was one of the best players in a rookie campaign, when he was 18, playing with not appreciable help in Nillson and Cogliano. I mean its so rare when a rookie player gets two other raw players and makes such a go of it. Sam too, started to see live as more important than hockey, I think, and after the assault his dedication was muted.

btw Sams 50 pt season in Columbus was 4 seasons ago, not a decade, and he did everything Columbus asked of him and more. He was their top pts/60mins player.

 

[BlackDogg]

Team just needs some confidence I hear.

 

[oobga]

Team just needs some confidence I hear.

I blame the fans. Not cheering loud enough to give these guys energy.

They also aren't telling the players when to shoot anymore. Players depended on that help from the fans.

 

[Paralyzer008]

I get how many people are hoping for the DRY line to come back, I get it, but there are many other issues than the top six that hurt us more.

Kyle Turris still looks super old, the D is still spotty, Barrie hasn't found his offensive mojo, Dave Tippett coaching decisions, goalies being tired and not good enough, bottom six as a whole still a work in progress etc.

 

[29292929]

Toronto target a certain type of player to add to their team, . Brought
Spezza back former captain has never won a cup
Signed Jumbo captain of a team never won a cup
Signed Bogosian just won a cup as a character guy
Signed Simmonds former A of a strong Philly team never won a cup

They brought in leadership and guys that are still hungry to win.

I think that's all the difference for Toronto this year and it was planned. They start at the drop of the puck. If anything has plagued the Oilers it's bad starts and people always day that falls on the players . Well nothing has changed other than our goalie might not let the first shot in (Talbot). Toronto recognized the young guys can't get it done alone , they aren't ready so the insulated them , on the ice and even in the media .

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

I blame the fans. Not cheering loud enough to give these guys energy.

They also aren't telling the players when to shoot anymore. Players depended on that help from the fans.

This is a massively underrated post. I know its sarcastic, but given how they've been playing since the stoppage last season it might actually be 100% true for the Oilers.

 

[harpoon]

Oh good. Dustin Schwartz. There’s a man whose opinion we need. Ffs ...