Interesting take... I hadn't remembered that Burke story, thanks for that. That said:
1) I do agree most of the places are in place. We aren't, on paper, all that different than the team that took ANA to the 7th game in round 2 last year. If anything we should have improved based on age/maturity alone, but: Sekera was out, Talbot was human and we had no backup, Klefbom was human, Strome wasn't Eberle (until H2).... and despite playing the first 20 games with >700 shots on goal vs ~500 against,... were losing and losing confidence.
2) That said, the 2017 team was STILL an offensive RD who can run a PP short of contending, needed a backup to take the load off Talbot and relied to heavily on internal improvement.
3) So we are in summer 2018, pretty much where we were last year. We need to NET OUT: an RD, a decent winger, a decent backup... so that means our best chips are picks/prospects. If we trade a decent roster piece we'll still create a hole to be filled. (i.e. I am NOT confident with RNH traded unless we have a proven higher end scoring winger available by UFA).
4) That Vancouver team never became a real contender... they were always a piece short, goaltending if I recall... and once Lou came around, the WCE was fading... Similarly, the Oilers are at that difficult junction where you have to spend futures (or UFA $$$) to consolidate talent IN the lineup. Chia showed last summer he wasn't ready to spend the assets/money and thus by the time the trade deadline came around, in what should have been an improving year, it was too late. He thought we were a couple of TDL assets away from a cup, and he was wrong about where our team is. It is also true that the real asset we need(ed), an RD, wasn't available last summer.... this summer is different.
You are correct about the Canucks team, we didn't have the goaltending, but the team WAS a massive success, for several years there was no hotter ticket in the NHL and better money well spend, in a way that was the LAST great entertaining NHL team,
It was run and gun, fight, fight fight! Then you had the Sedins starting to develop, they would come onto the ice and just WOW the crowd with hockey that had never been seen before,
I wouldn't trade those years for a cup, if the alternative was a Devils type team......good god anyone who was around knew we had a BLAST!
But this isn't about the Canucks, it about the peculiar phenomenon known as the Oilers, who are actually VERY much like that old Canucks team except that their strength is in an even BETTER place, The Canucks were built from the wings (So its no surprise they never won anything, teams who aren't built from the top two center positions don't win cups)
The Oilers are stacked at center if the Penguins proved something last year its that if you have center ice on lockdown, everything else, EVEN DEFENSE is gravy
I'm sorry, I just don't buy that a power play with Mc David and Drai lives or dies by whether one of two D is right or left handed.....it really shouldn't matter, they should be able to run a top power play with you and me maning the points, ti think that those two talents can't make a powerplay work with Kleffbom and Sekera, or Nurse or even Larsson or Russtle or...take your pick
Its much like the problem in Buffalo, where people want to do ANYTHING but be honest about what the issue is, a Jerk-off owner can be a team killer, but the owner isn't in the dressing room and he's not on the ice.....whoever is on the ice the most and in the most important situations THAT'S who needs to pick it up.
That's Conor McDavid....nobody wants to point the finger at the Golden boy, but much like Eichel in Buffalo, the team's fortunes flow from him,
Eichel has been known to be selfish and a toxic presence since before he was drafted, his getting the GM and coach fired bore that out, he's not a player other players really like thus there's no team formation, just a bunch of individuals, mark my words Buffalo will go nowhere, Eichel needed to start with a situation like Sid did, Lemuiex surrounded him with no B.S respect commanding vets who told him what to do and what not to do, when he needed to hit or not hit, who and when he needed to fight,
Sid gained respect from his team-mates right away, he worked hardest, sacrificed more, was willing to fight for them and was able to pull the people around him into a team.
Conor needs to take a lot of blame for what happened this year, why is Lucic so disengaged? Why is he lobbying to play with Drai when while it may be "Fun" for him, its NOT right for the team,
Why, was he able to "turn on the jets" once the playoffs were out of sight and up his game to win a solo award but was NOT able to up his game enough to get his team into the playoffs, I was a little surprised to hear him say "Yeah, I'm going for the art ross" well, he sure got over that "Missing ther playoffs" pretty quickly,
The Oilers play like a leaderless team, they are disorganized mercurial and inconsistent, and that falls on Connor, we don't really know much about the guy, he's been protected by the media since he was a young teenager when he was already declared a superstar,
I just don't think Connor McDavid is a Sydney Crosby, I'm getting the impression he may be far too self centered, Sid wanted cups, he needed the TEAM to do that, Conor wants Art Ross trophies...he can do that by himself, maybe more easily with Drai on his line
I thought getting rid of Hall, would fix this problem for the Oilers, but what we've seen this year is NOT a lack of talent or incorrect player personnel moves
Its lack of LEADERSHIP, Conor Ain't getting it done, and he needs to be called out for it
As I don't want ever Oilers game maybe someone who does can answer a question for me: How is Conor without the puck, how is he at covering the defensive responsibilities of a center? Is he a Matt Duchene type who plays like a winger from center ice?, or is he a Crosby/Kopitar real deal 200 ft. center iceman,
We all know what he can do with the puck on his stick, but NOBODY in the media has EVER pointed out McDavid's weak points yet, who is he as a player? Highlight reels aside
Just because the Oilers' ownership problems are being a tad outdone by the epic clownshow that has been Eugene Melnyk's ownership of the Sens doesn't mean that those problems don't exist.
