JustinCider
Registered User
The problem with being patient...Listening to Stauffer the last couple days has been frustrating. He's be saying that he doesn't think the Oilers will be big players in UFA. He keeps saying that there are no top end Dmen available this year in UFA and therefore Edmonton will just go with what we've got. I get that it's a bad idea to throw huge money at less than top end players.
The problem is our D stinks, right now we don't have one single top 4 NHL man on our team. Klefbom has top 4 potential, but he's a 5 at best right now, Ferrence and Nikitan are 6/7 guys right now, Schultz is tire fire and his offence was weak last year, he's a bottom pairing guy right now, Fayne is 5, Gryba is a bottom pairing guy, and Reinhart is an AHL Dman right now, who might be ready to make the jump this year as 6/7 to start. That's gross. There is not one above average Dman on this team, just some young guys with potential and limited experience, and some older guys that are all fairly limited. We don't have a good PP Dman either, and none of them are great puck movers either.
To go into the season with that top 7 is a guaranteed disaster, even with McD and the new coach, we still have the worst Dcore in the league, and it's not even close. Chia needs to either sign a guy or 2, or make a deal of 2. Talbot doesn't have a chance if we don't improve our D. And our young forwards won't put up huge numbers if we don't get some more puck movers to get them the puck, and a Dman with a bomb from the point to help out on the PP. I like that Kelfbom, Reinhart, Nurse, and to a lesser extent Schultz are developing, but we can't just sit back and wait for them, while we burn up McDavid's entry level contract, as well as Hall, Ebs, and Nuge's deals as well. It's time to switch gears, being patient should not even be an option. I hope Stauffer is wrong, and I hope Chia steps up through trades and/or free agency.
The problem is our D stinks, right now we don't have one single top 4 NHL man on our team. Klefbom has top 4 potential, but he's a 5 at best right now, Ferrence and Nikitan are 6/7 guys right now, Schultz is tire fire and his offence was weak last year, he's a bottom pairing guy right now, Fayne is 5, Gryba is a bottom pairing guy, and Reinhart is an AHL Dman right now, who might be ready to make the jump this year as 6/7 to start. That's gross. There is not one above average Dman on this team, just some young guys with potential and limited experience, and some older guys that are all fairly limited. We don't have a good PP Dman either, and none of them are great puck movers either.
To go into the season with that top 7 is a guaranteed disaster, even with McD and the new coach, we still have the worst Dcore in the league, and it's not even close. Chia needs to either sign a guy or 2, or make a deal of 2. Talbot doesn't have a chance if we don't improve our D. And our young forwards won't put up huge numbers if we don't get some more puck movers to get them the puck, and a Dman with a bomb from the point to help out on the PP. I like that Kelfbom, Reinhart, Nurse, and to a lesser extent Schultz are developing, but we can't just sit back and wait for them, while we burn up McDavid's entry level contract, as well as Hall, Ebs, and Nuge's deals as well. It's time to switch gears, being patient should not even be an option. I hope Stauffer is wrong, and I hope Chia steps up through trades and/or free agency.
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