The Schedule will absolutely bury McDavid and the Oilers in 2018-19

[Coffey]

Sorry but when you are as inconsistent and badly put together as the Oilers these last few years just about every team on the schedule looks like a challenge. It's just amazing how bad Chia ****ed up here. For their sake I hope they pull it together. Larsson be damned, they should've traded RNH instead of Hall

Heard this a billion times. To which I say, for who?

 

[StevenB]

We want league parity!

Okay here’s a salary cap

That’s not good enough we want schedule parity too!

 

[trick9]

Call me crazy but i would much rather face teams like Penguins and Capitals early rather than late...

 

[Caroline Says ll]

PIMS is not a good way to look at it. Power play opportunities is what I look at. You can rack up pims in fighting, coincidental, misconducts etc.

Oh I'll happily do it by your criteria. So Edmonton in two of the last three seasons has been bottom ten in power play opportunities. While the the Rangers and Carolina in the past three seasons have been bottom ten. Both of those teams in your theories should be propped up by the refs.

Also your Winnipeg idea is terrible. In the past three seasons they have been top 5 twice and once fifteenth. But yes the NHL and refs hates Canada.

 

[me2]

So with the upcomming season I took a look at the Schedule to see who would benefit and who would get screwed over. And I must say I was absolutely shocked when I looked at the Oilers Schedule. I thought maybe they would give McDavid and the Oilers a bit of a boost with the Schedule to give them a better shot at making the playoff. Well that's not happening. The first 15 games for the Oilers are absolutely brutal:
Game 1: Devils
Game 2: Bruins
Game 3: Rangers
Game 4: Jets
Game 5: Bruins
Game 6: Predators
Game 7: Penguins
Game 8: Capitals
Game 9: Predators
Game 10: Blackhawks
Game 11: Wild
Game12: Blackhawks
Game 13: Red Wings
Game 14: Capitals
Game 15: Lightning

That's 6 games against the top 4 teams from last year and 2 more games against the Stanley Cup Champions in the first 15 games. The only really weak team in the first 15 games is the Red Wings. Worst case scenario the Oilers go 1-12-2 in their first 15 games and then it's pretty much game over once they're in a hole like that.

On top of that Oilers also play the bottom 6 from last year (Sabres, Senators, Coyotes, Canadiens, Red Wings and Canucks) only 2 times in their first 33 games. And then 14 times in their last 49 games. Everybody who knows math and statistics know that that deviates too much from the mean to be just a coincidence.

Seems like the Oilers are going to have an uphill battle if they want to make the playoffs and McDavid as wel,l if he wants to win the Art Ross, Hart and Lindsay.

So what do you guys think, will McDavid and the Oilers overcome the odds against them? And is there a case for any other team to have a worse Schedule to start the season than the Oilers?

If the oilers can only go .100 against playoffs teams they aren't even close to making the playoffs anyway.

 

[CycloneSweep]

If they can't play against playoff or good teams they don't deserve to be a playoff team anyways.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I think if they can weather that storm and keep it around .500 then that is a decent start to the season. They can beat teams like the Wild, Hawks and Bruins for sure but they just need to play smart and guys can't have off years (Talbot).

 

[BM14]

Stop crying about the schedule.
It's not like the NFL where there are different strengths of schedule.

 

[Deficient Mode]

Has this been posted yet?

Oilers have a tough start but the easiest schedule in the league by the luck of back-to-backs. Pretty sure the odds of winning a game go up by like 10-15% if your opponent is on a back-to-back. Being +10 in rested games alone is likely to get them a couple extra points. Could be the difference between playoffs or not.

 

[These Are The Days]

Heard this a billion times. To which I say, for who?

Ideally you trade RNH for additional help on the defense and you still take Sergachev 4th overall. I don't have a name. I don't have a package. I'd have to be a GM fielding offers in a market set years ago to answer that question. I can simply tell you it was never not the right move because the Oilers had McDavid and Draisaitl to fall back on and because of that it's a decision I would have made without hesitation. Sacrificing one winger after another was the stupidest thing Chia could have done. Eberle and Yakupov drove you nuts but Hall was elite. At least Yakupov could well enough with McDavid to get by and staying with it instead of gambling on Puljujarvi would have been the right choice. He had many faults but not being able play with McDavid was not one of them and to his credit he had something like 20 points in his last 27ish games under Nelson. As for Eberle the whole world knows RNH fetches a better return.

Top 6 going into 2016-2017

Maroon-McDavid-Yakupov
Hall-Draisaitl-Eberle

It's not a perfect offense but it could get the job done if properly coached. And you add the best defensive prospect in the game to Nurse, Klefbom and Sekera along with whoever you got with RNH. It would not have been a perfect defense but it would not have been the worst thing ever put on the ice. And Talbot in net? You're fine. This is a team that can win 40 games at least.

 

[SaltNPeca]

That game against the Devils is in Sweden, right?

Yep NJD vs. EDM - Gothenburg, Sweden, on Oct. 6

Devils play a friendly in Bern vs. SC Bern Oct. 1
Oilers play a friendly in Cologne vs. KEC Haie Oct. 3

As to this thread... in hindsight maybe we'll say "oh they had such a hot start and lucky we played the Devils and Pens early before they got going". If anything travelling from Europe could be an issue, but imo road trips and playing good teams early is typically quite advantageous.

 

[JianYang]

Logging mileage over the season is a concern, but there's not really much you can do about that.

If I recall correctly, the oilers logged more mileage than any other team in one of the recent seasons, which probably means they are one of the most traveled teams in the league year in year out.

Ask the players who play in new york or something, and then move to a team out west. The mileage adds to the grind.

That's the most legitimate gripe for organizations out west. I remember Vancouver hired a sleep doctor or something to that extent during the gillis regime to try and make the best out of a bad situation. I don't know if they still do.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Ideally you trade RNH for additional help on the defense and you still take Sergachev 4th overall. I don't have a name. I don't have a package. I'd have to be a GM fielding offers in a market set years ago to answer that question. I can simply tell you it was never not the right move because the Oilers had McDavid and Draisaitl to fall back on and because of that it's a decision I would have made without hesitation. Sacrificing one winger after another was the stupidest thing Chia could have done. Eberle and Yakupov drove you nuts but Hall was elite. At least Yakupov could well enough with McDavid to get by and staying with it instead of gambling on Puljujarvi would have been the right choice. He had many faults but not being able play with McDavid was not one of them and to his credit he had something like 20 points in his last 27ish games under Nelson. As for Eberle the whole world knows RNH fetches a better return.

Top 6 going into 2016-2017

Maroon-McDavid-Yakupov
Hall-Draisaitl-Eberle

It's not a perfect offense but it could get the job done if properly coached. And you add the best defensive prospect in the game to Nurse, Klefbom and Sekera along with whoever you got with RNH. It would not have been a perfect defense but it would not have been the worst thing ever put on the ice. And Talbot in net? You're fine. This is a team that can win 40 games at least.

Holy f*** this posts reeks of hindsight.

The fact that you’re clinging on Yakupov as a top six player speaks volumes here.

And gambling on Puljujarvi? Seriously? He was ranked in the top three for basically the entire year.

Whole world knows RNH fetches a better return, based on what exactly? You keep mentioning how Chia f***s up royally on trades but then when it comes to RNH, he was somehow going to make out like bandits?

 

[These Are The Days]

Holy **** this posts reeks of hindsight.

The fact that you’re clinging on Yakupov as a top six player speaks volumes here.

And gambling on Puljujarvi? Seriously? He was ranked in the top three for basically the entire year.

Whole world knows RNH fetches a better return, based on what exactly? You keep mentioning how Chia ****s up royally on trades but then when it comes to RNH, he was somehow going to make out like bandits?

I never said they'd make out like bandits, I said they could've kept a winger who played well enough with McDavid to get by and put up career numbers after Eakins was fired and that they should have added Sergachev. The only expense accrued would have been Chia not thinking he's smarter than everyone else by trading Hall for Larsson as if drafting Puljujarvi and/or signing Lucic made suddenly everything okay. He basically passed up Sergachev and gave up Yakupov for nothing because of it. You'd think the Oilers would know better than any team that the draft is a gamble given their inability to find anything beyond the first round. Drafting Sergachev was always the right move because he was the right player for them.

As for RNH he's a two way center who draws the hard assignments and damn near fetched Seth Jones. Eberle was a mind numbingly inconsistent winger that scores 20 goals a year. You tell me who fetches a better price for help on the blue line to go on top of Sergachev.

This isn't hindsight. Everyone knew as it was happening that these moves were bad. All Chia had to do was leave it alone.

 

[Gordian Knot]

Well, it’s NHL, best professional hockey league in the world. Wake me when any team faces soft competition.

And if we are 1-12-2 after 15 games, haters are gonna say Oilers started tanking early.

 

[winnipegger]

Just for the love of god don't win the draft lottery again. McDavid will score 120 points but I still don't see a legit offensive defenseman on that team which is a problem.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

I never said they'd make out like bandits, I said they could've kept a winger who played well enough with McDavid to get by and put up career numbers after Eakins was fired and that they should have added Sergachev. The only expense accrued would have been Chia not thinking he's smarter than everyone else by trading Hall for Larsson as if drafting Puljujarvi and/or signing Lucic made suddenly everything okay. He basically passed up Sergachev and gave up Yakupov for nothing because of it. You'd think the Oilers would know better than any team that the draft is a gamble given their inability to find anything beyond the first round. Drafting Sergachev was always the right move because he was the right player for them.

As for RNH he's a two way center who draws the hard assignments and damn near fetched Seth Jones. Eberle was a mind numbingly inconsistent winger that scores 20 goals a year. You tell me who fetches a better price for help on the blue line to go on top of Sergachev.

This isn't hindsight. Everyone knew as it was happening that these moves were bad. All Chia had to do was leave it alone.

Saying taking Sergachev, over Puljujarvi, is hindsight.

If Yakupov was worth more, don't you think he would have been a producer in the NHL, instead of bouncing from 3 teams in two years before jolting to the KHL?

Your posts are nothing more than what if scenarios with the benefit of hindsight.

 

[Coffey]

Top 6 going into 2016-2017

Maroon-McDavid-Yakupov

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Complaining about the schedule. Yup only on HF Boards is this an issue.

Guess Oilers fans can join the Wings fans in the street about conspiracy theories

 

[These Are The Days]

Maroon didn't totally suck out loud with McDavid. Sometimes.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

RNH has 34 points in 2015-16

he was never going to fetch a decent defenseman lol

 

[These Are The Days]

Saying taking Sergachev, over Puljujarvi, is hindsight.

If Yakupov was worth more, don't you think he would have been a producer in the NHL, instead of bouncing from 3 teams in two years before jolting to the KHL?

Your posts are nothing more than what if scenarios with the benefit of hindsight.

Hindsight? What the actual eff? Let's put it in a timeline as it happened.

1. 2015-2016 season ends. Oilers have at this time: McDavid, RNH, Draisaitl, Eberle, Hall, Maroon, Yakupov and Pouliot. You have 3 centers taken within the top 3 of the draft and 5 winger options to fill the rest of the top 6.

2. April 30th 2016 the Oilers discover they will draft 4th overall.

They sit on this information for almost 2 months

3. June 24th 2016 is draft day. There's already Lucic whispers but whatever right?

So by now Chia is convinced he's just gonna trade for help on defense. So when the rumored trades (especially with the CBJ) don't happen, what logic compels them to take yet ANOTHER winger when Sergachev is sitting right there? Did the need on defense just suddenly go away or what? Because now you're gonna up the ante and trade Hall? The one guy other than McDavid that should've been considered untouchable? WTF? Newsflash: if a GM needs to be told that a team with a need on defense should not pass on Sergachev and cannot figure out that world caliber players like Hall seldom return their value then they don't need to be a GM.

Knowing Taylor Hall is the shit and Sergachev being the most NHL ready prospect at the time is not hindsight. It's called looking at what you have right in front of you.

If you want hindsight let's remind the world when HF Oil assembled and gathered as much visceral hatred as they could muster and collectively took a shit on almost every single proposal that could've been had for RNH -Dumba in particular. How they sat on pins and needles when Chia was at the CBJ draft table and lost your minds when PLD when 3rd and a few people started dropping names like Shattenkirk and Hamonic because the gluttony of offense was somehow supposed to yield a 1D.

Take my perspective however you please but remember it comes from someone who watches Sergachev every time the Lightning play and was scared shitless that the Oilers were going to become the Patriots of the NHL if they somehow figured out the defense

 

[Aerchon]

I think last year they had an easier schedule and dropped the soap.

If they can battle through against so many tough teams it could steamroll into an incredible season for the Oilers.