Post-Game Talk: The Oilers like to make things interesting

[SwedishFire]

I think the loss of Larsson hurt this team more. Hard veteran defender and leader. We see the value he has on a veteran d-corp backbone on a young Kraken franchise. This team navigated around the Klefbom LTIR but losing both he and Larsson were killer. This team with a troika of Nurse, Keith and Larsson would have given quality veteran leadership and defending styles that you can build around. Alas, not to be however.

Optimal world I think this team needs a 1D to complement Nurse (an unlikely get) and a veteran quality physical goal suppression type in second pair defense (which is do-able with a price to be paid). There's duplication between Barrie and Bouchard. Likely Barrie but he would have to be moved in a hockey deal, not given away as a quality veteran d lost as a cap dump.

This team needs two quality veteran defenders to be anywhere near adequate for a Cup chasing window, imo.

Cant have all of those super Ds.
I wonder if Ceci wss Larssons replacement, or would been catched anyway.
But yes. I would trade Broberg imideatly for a steady D, to support Bouchard who is a good player, but Batrrie duplication - wich is stupid to the max.
Broberg could be kept as he is a bit diffrent, but not much diffrence.

Larsson, Gavrikov, Edmundsson. Any other D is a MUST. And Ive heard Holland scans the market for a 3C. Okey..??

Well, Ok, it makes great forward depth. But still, where to go with poorly constructed, limited D. He better rip it of. Wich one to keep between Barri3, Bouchard, Broberg. I think one HAS to go. And get another type of D.

 

[Fourier]

Agree, the current generation of player is not content to 'just be there' in the Show but rather to choose their landing spot and increasingly in anonymous big U.S. markets, favourable weather and tax environments. This skews against Canadian clubs especially. Draft and Develop absolutely essential to build successful programs.

As well, I agree about Oiler management. There is little creativity shown beyond opening up the chequebook and at that still having to overpay (at least in term length, if not salary). Their pro scouting haven't unearthed value finds to support their roster composition. While I think Holland has been largely mediocre, the Chiarelli strip mining left him having to walk and chew gum at the same time. Navigate a very thin Cap threshold NHL roster missing quality support in all positions and necessity to build up a weak prospect pool to help onboard cheap entry level talent with critical salary drag as this team aspired to become a competitive playoff team.

I don't buy the goaltending issue. High pedigree goaltenders drafted in the first round are increasingly delivering on the perceived draft risk. Andrei Vasilevskiy was really the first wave of guys like Oettinger (an NHL starter at age 22); Spencer Knight; and bubbling up age 20 year old AHL prospects like Waldstadt, Askarov, Cossa. Not a big surprise to see arguable the best NHL GM Steve Yzerman prioritize goaltending in the current growth phase of their rebuild with signing Husso and investing in its long-term moving up in round 1 to grab Cossa. Failing to do so, the other options are to spend volume draft collateral hoping to find a future NHL goaltender or the Oilers way of having to overspend in the free agent market.

Oilers are at a mature phase of organizational development on the back of two super elites. Unfortunately it has had substantive holes to fill around the talent group. Not aided by pedestrian management with multiple groups steering the ship to a historic level of mediocrity.

Husso is actually a good example of what I am talking about though. He got 3 years @ 4.75M based on 2/3 of a season where he was very good, but then he fell off bigtime and lost his spot to Binnington, another guy who has ridden the rollercoaster. This year he has had a very soft schedule and while he has some shutouts he has also been lit-up by the few offensively talented team she faced.

Ville Husso 2022-23 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com

This might turn out to be a good deal but it may also just as easily go sour.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

I think the loss of Larsson hurt this team more. Hard veteran defender and leader. We see the value he has on a veteran d-corp backbone on a young Kraken franchise. This team navigated around the Klefbom LTIR but losing both he and Larsson were killer. This team with a troika of Nurse, Keith and Larsson would have given quality veteran leadership and defending styles that you can build around. Alas, not to be however.

Optimal world I think this team needs a 1D to complement Nurse (an unlikely get) and a veteran quality physical goal suppression type in second pair defense (which is do-able with a price to be paid). There's duplication between Barrie and Bouchard. Likely Barrie but he would have to be moved in a hockey deal, not given away as a quality veteran d lost as a cap dump.

This team needs two quality veteran defenders to be anywhere near adequate for a Cup chasing window, imo.

I think they’ll be able to bring in the second pair type you’re talking about this year but I can’t see them moving Barrie until the off-season. Either for picks/prospects or like you mentioned in a hockey trade, ideally they could find a team with a more steady defensive defender they’d be willing to move for a guy who can generate more offense from the backend, and help their PP.

Another mid pairing defender will certainly help but realistically improvements this year are mostly going to have to come from improved defensive play from the team as a whole, cleaning up the little costly little mistakes and getting better support from the forward group. Pretty much every time we get score on 5v5 at least one of our players is standing in the neutral zone. It’s harder to win battles, gain possession and get the puck out when you’re down a man in your own end.

 

[Soundwave]

In reality, the Oilers drafting has not been nearly the issue it is made out to be. It is always possible to look back in hindsight but this is true for almost every team.

You here about teams that seem to consistently hit on late picks. But this tends to not really be reality. Or they hit on a 4th rounder but miss bigtime on their first.

Where the Oilers have had issues I think is in their pro scouting.

How is drafting not an issue when you don't have one really impactful player to show for 7 drafts with three picks in the top 10 in that span?

Sorry but that is a big issue.

The pro scouting sucking ass on top of that just compounds it, but it doesn't mean it's one or the other. It's quite possible to have shit pro scouting and shit drafting. The Oilers are proof positive of it.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Husso is actually a good example of what I am talking about though. He got 3 years @ 4.75M based on 2/3 of a season where he was very good, but then he fell off bigtime and lost his spot to Binnington, another guy who has ridden the rollercoaster. This year he has had a very soft schedule and while he has some shutouts he has also been lit-up by the few offensively talented team she faced.

Ville Husso 2022-23 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com

This might turn out to be a good deal but it may also just as easily go sour.

Affordable risk for the Red Wings at their stage of rebuild and cap management. If he doesn't reach some of his prospect potential they have a reasonable platoon situation with a similar aged Nedeljkovic. Meanwhile slow cooking their future goaltender Cossa to onboard when this team is moving out of early-mid rebuild stage in their organizational development.

Detroit under Yzerman seem to have a solid roadmap to move efficiently out of rebuild. That includes potentially solving their #1 tender need with a qualified risk in Husso while keeping cap piggybank money to be flexible as the team's broad internal growth develops (or doesn't). Elite goaltender was part of the winning blueprint in Tampa and appears an area of priority in Detroit too.

EDIT: Boston too looked to be secured with goaltending yet still bet on an entering prime years Ullmark to fully stabilize the position for today and their future.

EDIT 2: Teams like Detroit and Boston even are able to navigate the signing risks of their respective free agent goalies, either being in early rebuild or in Boston's case having a safety net and well balanced veteran roster in place. Edmonton while still plugging lineup holes were painted into a corner and had to bet (and pay) for an established goaltender while hoping Skinner would stick the landing as a rookie.

 

[Soundwave]

I think they’ll be able to bring in the second pair type you’re talking about this year but I can’t see them moving Barrie until the off-season. Either for picks/prospects or like you mentioned in a hockey trade, ideally they could find a team with a more steady defensive defender they’d be willing to move for a guy who can generate more offense from the backend, and help their PP.

Another mid pairing defender will certainly help but realistically improvements this year are mostly going to have to come from improved defensive play from the team as a whole, cleaning up the little costly little mistakes and getting better support from the forward group. Pretty much every time we get score on 5v5 at least one of our players is standing in the neutral zone. It’s harder to win battles, gain possession and get the puck out when you’re down a man in your own end.

 

[Fourier]

I mean of all the picks we've made since McDavid was drafted McLeod is the leading goal scorer over JP, Yamamoto, and Bouchard this year. Skinner is probably the best goalie we've drafted since Fuhr, if only easily the second best and he still seems to have some yips.

Make no mistake, this team still very much struggles at the draft, especially outside the top ten.

None of this comes even close to proving your point.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I think they’ll be able to bring in the second pair type you’re talking about this year but I can’t see them moving Barrie until the off-season. Either for picks/prospects or like you mentioned in a hockey trade, ideally they could find a team with a more steady defensive defender they’d be willing to move for a guy who can generate more offense from the backend, and help their PP.

Another mid pairing defender will certainly help but realistically improvements this year are mostly going to have to come from improved defensive play from the team as a whole, cleaning up the little costly little mistakes and getting better support from the forward group. Pretty much every time we get score on 5v5 at least one of our players is standing in the neutral zone. It’s harder to win battles, gain possession and get the puck out when you’re down a man in your own end.

Yup, agreed. I've never been in the move Barrie camp unless there was a quality hockey deal that helped re-shape and balance this d-corp. I think he's valued by the coaching staff and teammates. Most likely off-season as we're seeing the up and down's of onboarding young defense with Bouchard's season. I answered our fellow poster's hypothetical question with who I thought they might/could deal from the current blue line.

And fully agree, while this is a sub-average defense corp (imo) the goal suppression is a larger team issue with its forwards needing to be more committed, committed to structure and work boot effort to improve goal suppression to levels that compete for deep playoff runs and Cup chasing.

 

[Soundwave]

Yup, agreed. I've never been in the move Barrie camp unless there was a quality hockey deal that helped re-shape and balance this d-corp. I think he's valued by the coaching staff and teammates. Most likely off-season as we're seeing the up and down's of onboarding young defense with Bouchard's season. I answered our fellow poster's hypothetical question with who I thought they might/could deal from the current blue line.

And fully agree, while this is a sub-average defense corp (imo) the goal suppression is a larger team issue with its forwards needing to be more committed, committed to structure and work boot effort to improve goal suppression to levels that compete for deep playoff runs and Cup chasing.

Team can't even hold a Chicago team that was asleep and dead all night and headed to a lottery pick to under 4 goals. The only reason Chicago didn't tie it up 5-5 (Kane played Nurse like a fiddle on that last play) is because Skinner made a huge save to bail them out, but Chicago got the exact look they wanted to tie it.

Manson has no defensive system whatsoever, and that was true of last year too.

The d corps is not just "sub average". They're just bad. No one on the D has a good stick, is hard to play against net front, has good gap control, or has good hockey sense.

The forwards have low defensive I.Q. too, tons of mistakes and they have no trust in the D either, they will bail to try and gun for offence because that's the only way the team can win. They know they can't win 2-1 hockey games so they're well past the point of even trying.

On top of all that the team is constantly always trying to basically slot in two young D who are prone to crapping the bed because they're so young on a team that also simultaneously is saying they're in "win now" mode.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

None of this comes even close to proving your point.

How so? If the Oilers could draft well we wouldn't have had to sign Campbell in the first place. Year after year the Oilers acquire depth forwards for a cost because they can't seem to find those in later rounds in the draft. It's not exactly a coincidence that our best bottom six forward is the one we actually drafted.

The best teams in the league fill out their roster through the draft and use free agency to plug small holes. We've stated for years that the Oilers need good, cheap young players to fill out the lineup instead of the castoffs of other teams. You get those by drafting them. If Broberg was who the scouts thought he was going to be there's a good chance that Kulak isn't here right now. Nothing against the player, he's fine, but that's still cap savings that can be allocated elsewhere. A good Tyler Benson makes Warren Foegele irrelevant. The list goes on and on. For all the flak he gets I'd rather have Bouchard at $860k than Barrie at $4.5M.

 

[Soundwave]

How so? If the Oilers could draft well we wouldn't have had to sign Campbell in the first place. Year after year the Oilers acquire depth forwards for a cost because they can't seem to find those in later rounds in the draft. It's not exactly a coincidence that our best bottom six forward is the one we actually drafted.

The best teams in the league fill out their roster through the draft and use free agency to plug small holes. We've stated for years that the Oilers need good, cheap young players to fill out the lineup instead of the castoffs of other teams. You get those by drafting them. If Broberg was who the scouts thought he was going to be there's a good chance that Kulak isn't here right now. Nothing against the player, he's fine, but that's still cap savings that can be allocated elsewhere. A good Tyler Benson makes Warren Foegele irrelevant. The list goes on and on. For all the flak he gets I'd rather have Bouchard at $860k than Barrie at $4.5M.

Oilers drafting is substantially worse than basically every Canadian team. Even a guy like Lilegren looks better than Broberg even though he wasn't a top 10 pick.

We pick Puljujarvi with a top 5 pick, the Flames get Tkachuk, the Cancuks get Petterson with a no.5 overall. Like not even close. And those teams aren't even that good at drafting, the Oilers are just that much worse.

 

[McSuper]

Lost his coverage a bit on I think the 3rd goal otherwise subdued but solid. Get well soon!

Thanks. If the Oilers beat the Wild tonight it will be a big boost.

 

[Fourier]

Affordable risk for the Red Wings at their stage of rebuild and cap management. If he doesn't reach some of his prospect potential they have a reasonable platoon situation with a similar aged Nedeljkovic. Meanwhile slow cooking their future goaltender Cossa to onboard when this team is moving out of early-mid rebuild stage in their organizational development.

Detroit under Yzerman seem to have a solid roadmap to move efficiently out of rebuild. That includes potentially solving their #1 tender need with a qualified risk in Husso while keeping cap piggybank money to be flexible as the team's broad internal growth develops (or doesn't). Elite goaltender was part of the winning blueprint in Tampa and appears an area of priority in Detroit too.

EDIT: Boston too looked to be secured with goaltending yet still bet on an entering prime years Ullmark to fully stabilize the position for today and their future.

I don't disagree that he is an affordable risk. But that changes fast when cap space gets tight.

Nedeljkovic was in a similar position to Husso the previous year. One season of high-end numbers ended up in a $3M cap hit.

There is no question an elite goalie makes winning easier. Its finding that guy that is the challenge.

How is drafting not an issue when you don't have one really impactful player to show for 7 drafts with three picks in the top 10 in that span?

Sorry but that is a big issue.

The pro scouting sucking ass on top of that just compounds it, but it doesn't mean it's one or the other. It's quite possible to have shit pro scouting and shit drafting. The Oilers are proof positive of it.

JP was an obvious pick. He is certainly a disappointment relative to where he was picked but that is hardly a scouting issue. In that draft they also picked Benson and Niemelainen as well a Vincent Desharnais. You can argue that they should have picked Debrincat (for me it was Debrincat-Benson) in that slot but all three of these guys still have a chance for an NHL. And 6 other teams passed on DeBrincat before Chicago took him.

Yamamoto has probably outperformed his draft slot. He is 11th in points and goals and 13th in games played in his draft. In the 3rd round of that draft they got Skinner and Samorukov.

2018 they got Bouchard who as a rookie had 12 goals and 43 points. They also got McLeod and Kesselring. Even Rodrigue is starting to come around.

From 2019 onward it is still too early to be really judging the draft. Broberg may well end up being a disappointment. But as of right now there are probably only 5-6 guys you can point at and say that they look almost for sure like they will be better over the long haul. In that same draft Turcotte went at #5. Most of us would have been doing cartwheels if he had fallen to the Oilers.

The Oilers have not hit any unexpected home runs. But their drafting has been at least average since the McDavid draft so far. How that plays out is still to be determined.

 

[North Cole]

View attachment 615394

Draisaitl has his own version of the Bieksa meme now...

 

[McShogun99]

How is drafting not an issue when you don't have one really impactful player to show for 7 drafts with three picks in the top 10 in that span?

Sorry but that is a big issue.

The pro scouting sucking ass on top of that just compounds it, but it doesn't mean it's one or the other. It's quite possible to have shit pro scouting and shit drafting. The Oilers are proof positive of it.

I'd consider Bouchard an impactful player. I also can't blame the scouts for taking JP when he fell to us, every scouting service had him as a top 3 pick.. Broberg is still a work in progress but he looks like he'll have a long career in the NHL.

There's been some decent picks from rounds 2-7 since 2016. Niemaleinen, Skinner, Mcleod and few prospects on the rise like Rodrigue, Keeselring, Deshaarnais and Blumel.

The last 3 drafts are really to soon to be judging the players but Holloway, XB and Schaeffer seem to be looking good.

 

[Fourier]

How so? If the Oilers could draft well we wouldn't have had to sign Campbell in the first place. Year after year the Oilers acquire depth forwards for a cost because they can't seem to find those in later rounds in the draft. It's not exactly a coincidence that our best bottom six forward is the one we actually drafted.

The best teams in the league fill out their roster through the draft and use free agency to plug small holes. We've stated for years that the Oilers need good, cheap young players to fill out the lineup instead of the castoffs of other teams. You get those by drafting them. If Broberg was who the scouts thought he was going to be there's a good chance that Kulak isn't here right now. Nothing against the player, he's fine, but that's still cap savings that can be allocated elsewhere. A good Tyler Benson makes Warren Foegele irrelevant. The list goes on and on. For all the flak he gets I'd rather have Bouchard at $860k than Barrie at $4.5M.

How many teams do you think find quality bottom sixers that they develop and that play for them in the later rounds?? The answer is very few.

The vast majority of impact players in the NHL were 1st round picks.

There was a recent comment about Tampa's success in the draft. Here is their draft history.

Tampa Bay Lightning Draft History at hockeydb.com

www.hockeydb.com

They found a few gems in later rounds for sure, but you have to go back to Hedman to find a first pick that had any real impact for them. The closest would be Namestnikov. So were they good at drafting or lucky to find a Point at #79 when they picked Jonathan MacLeod at 57?

 

[belair]

Arguing about the drafting in a post-game win thread. Are you guys bored?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

How many teams do you think find quality bottom sixers that they develop and that play for them in the later rounds?? The answer is very few.

The vast majority of impact players in the NHL were 1st round picks.

There was a recent comment about Tampa's success in the draft. Here is their draft history.

Tampa Bay Lightning Draft History at hockeydb.com

www.hockeydb.com

They found a few gems in later rounds for sure, but you have to go back to Hedman to find a first pick that had any real impact for them. The closest would be Namestnikov. So were they good at drafting or lucky to find a Point at #79 when they picked Jonathan MacLeod at 57?

Tampa Bay also took the now league's best goalie the same year we took Yakupov. They found Palat deep in the 7th round the year we took RNH. They also found Kucherov in the second round that same year. They picked out an undrafted Yanni Gourde. Cirelli in the 3rd round in 2015. Killorn in the third round in 2007. Ross Colton in the 4th round on 2016. And of course Point as you mentioned.

I think it's pretty safe to say that yes, they have good drafting.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I don't disagree that he is an affordable risk. But that changes fast when cap space gets tight.

Nedeljkovic was in a similar position to Husso the previous year. One season of high-end numbers ended up in a $3M cap hit.

There is no question an elite goalie makes winning easier. Its finding that guy that is the challenge.

Detroit was in a very good situation in terms of its development stage and cap to take a qualified risk with Husso. Yzerman's built one Cup winning franchise and aided in sustaining it so gets my confidence he can problem solve if Husso goes sideways. Contrast that with the Oilers situation who've had to live and die as a Cap threshold team with higher risk, high wire decisions on their goaltending.

I've listed a pretty solid of both NHL starting goaltenders and fast tracking young ones who all share first round pedigree. Goaltenders taken in first round the past decade cover their bet within reasonable proximity of positional players. Finding that guy can be betting high draft pick; the volume use of mid-draft collateral hoping to find the needle in draft haystacks; or paying the piper in free agency.

Back to Yzerman, Tampa bet on their Russian tender in the first round and has done so again with the first round move-up to secure Cossa (quite likely before the desert wander Oilers pick).

 

[Soundwave]

I don't disagree that he is an affordable risk. But that changes fast when cap space gets tight.

Nedeljkovic was in a similar position to Husso the previous year. One season of high-end numbers ended up in a $3M cap hit.

There is no question an elite goalie makes winning easier. Its finding that guy that is the challenge.

JP was an obvious pick. He is certainly a disappointment relative to where he was picked but that is hardly a scouting issue. In that draft they also picked Benson and Niemelainen as well a Vincent Desharnais. You can argue that they should have picked Debrincat (for me it was Debrincat-Benson) in that slot but all three of these guys still have a chance for an NHL. And 6 other teams passed on DeBrincat before Chicago took him.

Yamamoto has probably outperformed his draft slot. He is 11th in points and goals and 13th in games played in his draft. In the 3rd round of that draft they got Skinner and Samorukov.

2018 they got Bouchard who as a rookie had 12 goals and 43 points. They also got McLeod and Kesselring. Even Rodrigue is starting to come around.

From 2019 onward it is still too early to be really judging the draft. Broberg may well end up being a disappointment. But as of right now there are probably only 5-6 guys you can point at and say that they look almost for sure like they will be better over the long haul. In that same draft Turcotte went at #5. Most of us would have been doing cartwheels if he had fallen to the Oilers.

The Oilers have not hit any unexpected home runs. But their drafting has been at least average since the McDavid draft so far. How that plays out is still to be determined.

There's no way it has been "average". It's decidedly below average considering the Oilers have three top 10 picks since McDavid was taken.

Benson over DeBrincat was a massive freaking miss, lol, even when handed a lay up the Oilers drafting department f***s it up.

The Oilers have had 48 picks (well 50 I think counting the 2 they traded for Griffin Reinhart) since picking McDavid. From that they've really gotten 0 impact players. Maybe Skinner is one if he pans out to be a no.1 goalie but that remains to be seen. Bouchard is a good offensive D-Man that is mediocre defensively, that's somewhat underwhelming for a top 10 selection.

People shit on the drafting in the Kevin Lowe era, and everyone would rush to say that was "below average" drafting, yet Lowe found several good players with 0 picks in the top 10 unlike the Oilers drafting since McDavid was chosen.

Hemsky taken 13th overall in 2001 -- big hit (top line winger)
Stoll taken in the 2nd round in 2002 draft -- hit (strong defensive no.2 C)
Petry taken in 2nd round of 2006 draft -- hit (no.2 D)
Dubnyk taken 14th overall in 2004 -- hit (no.1 goalie)
Cogliano taken 25th overall 2005 -- OK pick (servicable speedy 3rd line wing)
Eberle taken 22nd overall 2007 -- hit pick (top line winger)

And this is supposed to be "bad drafting" ... the Oilers drafting the last 7 years is so much worse than this. Imagine Puljujarvi was a Hemsky level player and Yamamoto was a Stoll tier player and Broberg was a Petry?

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Yup, agreed. I've never been in the move Barrie camp unless there was a quality hockey deal that helped re-shape and balance this d-corp. I think he's valued by the coaching staff and teammates. Most likely off-season as we're seeing the up and down's of onboarding young defense with Bouchard's season. I answered our fellow poster's hypothetical question with who I thought they might/could deal from the current blue line.

And fully agree, while this is a sub-average defense corp (imo) the goal suppression is a larger team issue with its forwards needing to be more committed, committed to structure and work boot effort to improve goal suppression to levels that compete for deep playoff runs and Cup chasing.

Agreed that our D core is average at best but many teams have done better with lesser rosters because they implement systems that work for what they have and the players adhere to their job within that system. In our case woodcroft seems to prefer a system where we’re pushing to generate odd man rushes but our defenders struggle with being able to escape pressure and get the puck up to breaking forwards. Opposing teams know all they have to do is apply that pressure and there’s a good chance we’re turning the puck over, and even when we do get it up and generate an odd man rush we often don’t generate a good high danger chance let alone second and third chances. Even on the Janmark goal last night, Jesse does a good job of erasing Jones and winning a battle Bouchard comes in to retrieve the puck and RNH breaks to the neutral zone where Janmark is already waiting, but if Bouchard can’t coral that puck or it gets poked past him, a Hawks player was behind him waiting and we would of been caught again in a situation that happens time and time again. It happened to work out for the oilers on that occasion but this isn’t a recipe for success and it’s an easy fix. The forwards need to do a better job of supporting down low and along the boards, helping to ensure gained possession and giving the defenders more options on the breakout but also providing a little more time and cover by doing little things to disrupt the opposing forechecking pressure. Get in the way of the forecheck just a bit, take them off their line and buy your dman that extra half second then make yourself available for an outlet option. Sometimes it might take two or three passes to exit the zone it doesn’t always have to be a stretch 40 footer to the neutral zone.

I also can’t stand how cute and careless Mcdavid and Draisaitl can get at times. They’re insanely talented and can both do unbeliever things but they need to be more accountable with their decision making and cut down these low percentage plays that often result in turnovers. They’re almost too cocky and over confident at times, Leon in particular is bad for making horrible passing decisions sometimes trying to thread passes that clearly don’t have a hope in hell. I know they’re really, really good but at times they need to be more accountable, have a little more respect for their opponents and make the safe play.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Detroit was in a very good situation in terms of its development stage and cap to take a qualified risk with Husso. Yzerman's built one Cup winning franchise and aided in sustaining it so gets my confidence he can problem solve if Husso goes sideways. Contrast that with the Oilers situation who've had to live and die as a Cap threshold team with higher risk, high wire decisions on their goaltending.

I've listed a pretty solid of both NHL starting goaltenders and fast tracking young ones who all share first round pedigree. Goaltenders taken in first round the past decade cover their bet within reasonable proximity of positional players. Finding that guy can be betting high draft pick; the volume use of mid-draft collateral hoping to find the needle in draft haystacks; or paying the piper in free agency.

Back to Yzerman, Tampa bet on their Russian tender in the first round and has done so again with the first round move-up to secure Cossa (quite likely before the desert wander Oilers pick).

Time will tell how Jesper Wallstedt pans out but I really wish the Oilers would've picked him when they had the chance.

 

[Soundwave]

This team just can't play D.

It just is what it is. Manson's defensive system is trash, the D corps personnel isn't actually good at any of the things defencemen need to be good at in the defensive zone, the forwards are way below average defensively.

GM operates in slow motion so you can't really count on him for much.

 

[Stoneman89]

I think we probably should try to trade for Patrick Kane.

If the Oilers win a game by more than 2 goals you’ll know it’s the Apocalypse.

Kane looked beaten down last night. Like he's finally had enough.

You just knew when it was 4-1, the Oilers would collapse. Even at 5-3. I really expected this one to go into OT, where they would just unleash the McDrai and then pat themselves on the back for a great game.

Don't get me wrong, we won, and that is the main thing. The problem is, the same issues we had last night will likely rear their ugly heads when we play much better competition than arguably the worst team in the league. Not to mention, burning out McDrai and Nurse needlessly in a game that should have been in the bag with time to spare.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Braindead post after braindead post

I seen so many in here. People are complaining that we won…