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

[gordonhught]

If mcdavid wants to play with a skill guy then do this

Drai mcdavid/kahun
RNH yam JP

Or switch turris kassian kahun and JP depending on what is working

this way mcdavid has no excuses and that line has to carry the team - pointless nights would be significant failures

 

[t0nedeff]

So how did that not having " balance" thing work out for you guys, last season..

I'd rather lose my way than be proven wrong and win the way we won last year. How many more signs should we ignore before more people realize Tippett is an idiot?

 

[rboomercat90]

Because both lines are productive right now and the loss on RNH on Draisaitls line hasn't really slowed down his offense, but has given McDavid a decent linemate to work with.

If we stack everyone on Draisaitl's line who does McDavid play with?

Don’t we pay McDavid the money we do because he’s so good he should be able to play with almost anyone? If he’s not, why is he getting paid as much as he is?

 

[gordonhught]

Don’t we pay McDavid the money we do because he’s so good he should be able to play with almost anyone? If he’s not, why is he getting paid as much as he is?

he is fast and can deke other players

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I'd rather lose my way than be proven wrong and win the way we won last year. How many more signs should we ignore before more people realize Tippett is an idiot?

you really think the DRY line is the solution to all our problems?

 

[McShogun99]

Don’t we pay McDavid the money we do because he’s so good he should be able to play with almost anyone? If he’s not, why is he getting paid as much as he is?

It he was serious about wanting skilled wingers he should have signed for Draisaitl money. That extra 4 million is a top 6 winger. You can’t have 2 players making 25% of the cap and then whine when there’s not enough skill to go around.

 

[WaitingForUser]

you really think the DRY line is the solution to all our problems?

No but that line is beastly at 5v5 so it keeps our ga down.

 

[MaxR11]

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

It's likely a Connor request or Connor's camp's request to have Nuge. I think also Nuge is the defensive conscience of the line which allows Connor to play more on the O-side of the puck (ie. cheat a bit for offence) and lean towards early D-zone exits to get sprung. I believe Gage said the same thing on 1260.

When you're as generational a talent as Connor is there is more than just winning to think about. There's also individual trophies. Sucks, but I think there might be something to that. These are things coaches have to deal with which is why I'm not too hard on Tip even though it does piss me off. You can see Connor's frustration last year even when we were winning and the DRY line was together and he had to play with Kass and Neal or someone else and not doing as well as that DRY line.

 

[Cloned]

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

I was the one that brought that up a week ago. I know all about the theories lol.

 

[Not Canada Drai]

I was the one that brought that up a week ago. I know all about the theories lol.

Mr. Clonedspiracy.

 

[Mez]

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 .

There is no difference in Toronto this year until they get passed the first round. They have been a good regular season team for a years now.

 

[Cloned]

Mr. Clonedspiracy.

The Truth Is Out There

 

[harpoon]

Just because Nashville decided to misuse Turris doesn’t mean we should copy them.. Turris was number 1C on a Sens playoff team producing at 60 points before being traded to Nashville where he went to die.

Turris produced 60 points once. And that was six years ago. He’ll be lucky to put up half that at this point in his career. This was a bad signing by Holland.

 

[Captain Controversy]

At this point, I would play McDavid and draisaitl together for half the game. The other half, just have them apart.

 

[harpoon]

Arguably has never been an effective NHLer.

Pffft ...

 

[Tyrolean]

Don't even care at this point.

 

[longtimeoilfan]

What about trading Nuge for a quality winger for McDavid. I see a quality power forward working in that role.

????? McDavid Puljarvi
Kahun Drai Yamamoto

Get someone with size, speed, and some edge to his game. Someone with a better skillset than Kassian. Truth be told, I have never been a big fan of Nuge ... I do however recognize that he likely carries value around the league, so I think it could be done.

I don't recall seeing Kassian played with Drai and Yams. It might be a line worth trying - maybe Yams tenacity will inspire Kassian, and Kassian and Drai could be a hard duo to contain.

????? McDavid Puljarvi
Kassian Drai Yamamoto

That, or as I have suggested in the past, reunite McDrai and keep Nuge.

McDavid Drai Kassian
Puljarvi Nuge Yamamoto

I have McDavid on the wing because I trust Drai to play center. I have Kassisn there because, well ... I like him, and McDrai could play with a bookend and find success. Perhaps its time to reunite our superpowered duo.

Watching the old fight videos is making me nostalgic for violence.
The Oilers could buck the trend and ice a 4th line that just scares other teams. It worked for Philly once ... I know the argument for the 'new NHL,' but innovation is never imitation, and we have an entire league imitating one another in getting softer. Perhaps we should be the team to inject some truculence back into the game. Take a few instigator penalties to have the other teams play scared. Ha ha ha ... I am kidding, kind of.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

Isn't Bouchard injured with a back injury?

Benson really should be playing the NHL now imo, he turns 23 in less than 2 months. He's earned his damn stripes, 5 years of development (2 Junior, 3 Pro, and 15 games in Swiss League last year).
He now should begin his NHL development, and with our continued problem with secondary scoring, he'd fit in nicely. Look at Dallas, they're using their entire 4th line for prospects/AHL'ers (mostly due to injury), but it's worked out in their favor. 20 year old Ty Dellandrea is the 2nd best forward on the team (with Seguin/Benn injured) according to Star fans, and contributed to their undefeated 4-0 record. They only realized his level of play by giving him opportunity.
Balanced scoring. We need that s**t.

I'd take Benson-McLeod-Marody over Neal/Shore/Archibald any day of the week.

 

[Chabot84]

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

You guys are being extremely harsh on Turris after 9 games on watching him play with scrubs. Don't forget this team has been a tire fire for 15 years. I did however realize that I'm about as polished up on Sam Gagner as you are on Turris. Looking at some stats, Gagner, definitely had a much better start out of the gate to his carreer. There is no denying that Turris struggled, Ottawa took a chance on him. Turris was peaking when we sent him to Nashville, he had 9 points in 11 games at the time of the trade. He was good for 50-60 points a year playing as the first line center for the Sens and that's with max opportunities, he was on the powerplay etc.,

I do not remember Turris being a defensive liability on the Sens, he was mostly a plus player in his time there.

He went to Nashville to die. As I say.. he was peaking with the Sens the moment we sent him to Nashville and his production dropped off a cliff from there.. something in the water? Not sure.. similar situation I think where Nashville didn't need him in the top 6. Like I say, some players need to play with skill to produce offensively.. I can somewhat agree to that playing hockey as a kid, I could carry a couple scrubs around but if you gave me a skilled guy on my line who could read the ice and know where to be etc etc... I would produce at much higher levels. That is what Turris needs, he excelled with Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson. High skill players.

Stone and Karlsson (in his prime) can be compared to playing with a poor man's Mcdavid and Draisaitl. Stone and Karlsson will put that puck on your stick from anywhere on the ice even when you are not expecting it.. they are not easy and predictable players to play with. Just like Mcdavid and Draisaitl.

I think Turris would excel extremely well in the current Oilers top 6. That is all I'm really saying, surely we can figure out the third and fourth lines, its the easiest thing to accomplish.

Turris - Mcdavid - ???
??? - Draisaitl - Yam
Kahun - RNH - ???

That's as balanced as we could get it right now?

For me? I would stack the top two lines and figure out the bottom 6.. if we don't have it internally then we best be looking externally and fix this problem.

Turris - Mcdavid - Pulj
RNH - Draisaitl - Yam
Kahun - ??? - ???

Of course we could always leave Turris at 3C and try Kahun with Mcdavid? Have we already seen a lot of that? Well they have only played 9 games so no we haven't seen anything..

 

[Whyme]

I see some McDrai suggestions here. Supposing I used Natural Stat Trick correctly they weren't a strong net positive on the ice together. During the last two years McDavid's average GF% is just a couple of percent lower than what he had with Drai.

McDavid even had less high scoring chances with Drai than his average (50.42% vs 51.03%). They gave almost as many scoring chances as they created (SFC% 50.99).

It's the same from Drai's side. His GF% with Yamamoto, Nuge, Maroon and Strome (even Chiasson and Åberg) was much better than he had with McDavid.

Of course that's just history and could be different now, but based on that it may be better for the team to keep them in different lines so you don't waste two of the very best players in this league for a line that is possibly just barely a net positive. Of course PP, end of games and OT are a different thing as that's when some gambling is justified. And this is not against the two incredible players, just worth some thoughts IMO.

 

[Chabot84]

Turris produced 60 points once. And that was six years ago. He’ll be lucky to put up half that at this point in his career. This was a bad signing by Holland.

Sorry Wasn't trying to ignore you.... I'm only going to go from where he broke out

TURRIS (The Scrub)

2014 - 58 points
2015 - 64 points
2016 - 43 point pace
2017 - 58 point pace (Went to conference finals game 7 double overtime against the pens as the number 1C)
2018 - 67 point pace (in 11 games with Ottawa)

TRADE TO NASHVILLE WHICH RESULTED IN THE START OF THE MISUSE OF TURRIS WHO WAS ON FIRE LEAVING THE SENS IN THE DUCHENE TRADE:

2018 - 52 point pace
2019 - 34 point pace

TURRIS BECOMES CAPTAIN OF CANADA AND PLAYS TOP 6 ONCE AGAIN AND IS RELIED UPON FOR OFFENCE. WINS SILVER MEDAL WITH CANADA AND LEADS TEAM IN SCORING:

2019 - 14 points in 10 games (team canada)
2020 - 41 point pace (Nashville completely destroys Turris after bringing in Duchene, ultimately scratching him)

2021- So far Edmonton Oilers have given Turris zero opportunity to succeed.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Tyler Toffoli has the same number of goals as Draisaitl and was imminently available this off season. He or Hoffman would have been on my list. We pick up a player like Turris. sigh.

We didn't even attempt to improve our topsix with additions. We didn't improve our bottomsix either. How is it possible that Holland has the team being worse this season?

 

[Chabot84]

Tyler Toffoli has the same number of goals as Draisaitl and was imminently available this off season. He or Hoffman would have been on my list. We pick up a player like Turris. sigh.

We didn't even attempt to improve our topsix with additions. We didn't improve our bottomsix either. How is it possible that Holland has the team being worse this season?

Edmonton is a graveyard

 

[Chabot84]

There is something in the water in Edmonton that's why players like Strome cant succeed here.. they receive close to zero real opportunity and then are discarded like trash. But don't worry Mcdavid and Draisaitl will be number 1 and number 2 in scoring!

I'm salty right now lol but its kinda true.

There is zero excuse to not be a playoff team at this point in time, its no longer the players fault its 100 percent management and management type decisions from top to bottom that is wrong with this hockey team.

 

[Oilers in NS]

The Lingerie Football League always got my attention

Is that going again? I’m all in
I got a great idea for the Dragons Den. After the girls finish their games, they could sell their lingerie for masks to be worn for Covid purposes. I’ll take 365. ( different mask for each day)