Player Discussion Todd McLellan

[ujju2]

I'd still prefer MacT back behind the bench over Gulutzan on an interim basis should the Oilers choose to move on from Todd. This is the the whole management's final shot IMO. If they miss, the whole brass should fall, which is why I'd prefer a guy who knows what's going on from top to bottom to step in. His coaching record isn't anything to scoff at either and he did it with significantly weaker rosters.

Agreed. MacT was obviously a pretty bad GM (I think he was still a bit underrated though), but that doesn't make him a bad coach. He had his flaws, sure, as any coach does, but he would definitely be better than Gulutzan imo. Let's hope though that if TMac does get fired, it's because we have a long-term coach lined up to take over.

 

[Soundwave]

Agreed. MacT was obviously a pretty bad GM (I think he was still a bit underrated though), but that doesn't make him a bad coach. He had his flaws, sure, as any coach does, but he would definitely be better than Gulutzan imo. Let's hope though that if TMac does get fired, it's because we have a long-term coach lined up to take over.

Mac T last coached like what? A decade ago? Not counting those laughable babysitting games on the bench with Nelson.

 

[belair]

Mac T last coached like what? A decade ago? Not counting those laughable babysitting games on the bench with Nelson.

Chicago Wolves 2012. In his NHL tenure he had one season where his team was under 0.500. He had no business running a hockey team, but as a head coach he's probably the most accomplished in this organization.

 

[Soundwave]

Mac T, Gulutzan, don't think the results would be radically different. The main problems are with the roster build first and foremost not the coaching. McLellan had solid regular seasons with the Sharks, why? Because they had a well built roster from management, the reason he is struggling here is because this roster is poorly built.

If the squeeze enough out of McDavid maybe they can slide into a playoff spot in really piss poor division, but they'll likely be up and down all season long. Good for a stretch, followed by a bad stretch, rinse, wash, repeat.

 

[Spawn]

MacTavish back behind the bench?

Why the hell are some of you so resistant to moving on from such a failed past.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

MacTavish back behind the bench?

Why the hell are some of you so resistant to moving on from such a failed past.

MacTavish should have been shot into the sun the day Chiarelli was hired along with Bob Green, Scott Howson and Kevin Lowe.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

MacTavish should have been shot into the sun the day Chiarelli was hired along with Bob Green, Scott Howson and Kevin Lowe.

Chiarelli should've been shot into the sun the day Chiarelli was hired.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Chiarelli should've been shot into the sun the day Chiarelli was hired.

That day may be coming sooner than you think however we will still be stuck with Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Bob Green and Scott Howson as the Katz Konfidantes. Let that sink in for a while. The architects of the 10 year drought may somehow survive a Chiarelli & Associates purge and probably be back in positions of greater influence than before.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

That day may be coming sooner than you think however we will still be stuck with Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Bob Green and Scott Howson as the Katz Konfidantes. Let that sink in for a while. The architects of the 10 year drought may somehow survive a Chiarelli & Associates purge and probably be back in positions of greater influence than before.

You're not wrong. If I let it sink in any further though, I might drive myself mad. The fact that those names are still with the organization after everything they've done (and said in many cases) is beyond flabbergasting.

 

[rboomercat90]

I'd still prefer MacT back behind the bench over Gulutzan on an interim basis should the Oilers choose to move on from Todd. This is the the whole management's final shot IMO. If they miss, the whole brass should fall, which is why I'd prefer a guy who knows what's going on from top to bottom to step in. His coaching record isn't anything to scoff at either and he did it with significantly weaker rosters.

Been ten years since he’s coached in the NHL. That kind of makes him a dinosaur in today’s game. I don’t think he’s got any interest in doing it either. His names been dragged through the mud since he’s come back here and he’s avoided the public spotlight since he was removed from GM. Didn’t even attend the Rexall closing event. He’s not an option.

 

[Soundwave]

Been ten years since he’s coached in the NHL. That kind of makes him a dinosaur in today’s game. I don’t think he’s got any interest in doing it either. His names been dragged through the mud since he’s come back here and he’s avoided the public spotlight since he was removed from GM. Didn’t even attend the Rexall closing event. He’s not an option.

Yeah honestly I don't think he would want the media backlash to deal with. He may not be the brightest bulb but he has to know looking at this roster that there probably would be some problem stretches and he would absolutely be destroyed by the press and angry fans.

 

[nexttothemoon]

American Thanksgiving is November 22nd.

Oilers play 5 games between now and then...

Colorado
Montreal
Calgary
Vegas
San Jose


I think it's safe to say that if the Oilers shit the bed in those 5 games... and specifically shit the bed in those 3 divisional games vs the Flames/Knights/Sharks... they'll be well out of the playoff picture by that Thanksgiving day and McLellan's head almost certainly will be rolling and there's probably an 80% chance that Chiarelli will be gone as well.

Circle Nov 21st... the day after the Sharks game... as the day changes are likely to be made.

 

[Soundwave]

American Thanksgiving is November 22nd.

Oilers play 5 games between now and then...

Colorado
Montreal
Calgary
Vegas
San Jose


I think it's safe to say that if the Oilers **** the bed in those 5 games... and specifically **** the bed in those 3 divisional games vs the Flames/Knights/Sharks... they'll be well out of the playoff picture by that Thanksgiving day and McLellan's head almost certainly will be rolling and there's probably an 80% chance that Chiarelli will be gone as well.

Circle Nov 21st... the day after the Sharks game... as the day changes are likely to be made.

Nah I think they'll do alright in that stretch, buying Todd some rope. Up/down/up/down team probably for much of the year.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Nah I think they'll do alright in that stretch, buying Todd some rope. Up/down/up/down team probably for much of the year.

I'm not so sure... Oilers are trending down and of those 5 upcoming opponents... only Vegas is worse than the Oilers.

Colorado I expect to come out firing howitzers at the Oilers after 5 losses in a row... they have to be starving for a win.

Montreal has been respectable this season and are slightly above average and will be coming off 2 days rest when they face the Oilers in EDM. That's not an easy win for the Oil especially with half the crowd likely cheering for the opposition as often happens in those Leafs/Habs games.

Calgary is trending up lately and is currently better than the Oilers. McDavid owns the Flames... but if they don't pull out a win in that first divisional game of the year in Calgary... pressure drastically mounts on McLellan and Chiarelli. Calgary will be pretty well rested as well... having only played 1 game in 5 days prior to that Saturday night game (where the Oilers seem to never do well for some reason).

They play Vegas the very next night and while Vegas has been up and down all season... they'll face the Oilers after the Oilers likely have an emotional, tough game vs Calgary so will the Oilers have enough to play hard vs Vegas as well?

They then play the Sharks who are up and down as well so far (same record as the Habs)... but facing SJ who'll be playing game 5 of a 6 game homestand doesn't seem like an easy game either... for the Oilers it will be their 3rd game in 4 nights.

That stretch of games is deceptively tougher than it looks imo.

 

[Soundwave]

I'm not so sure... Oilers are trending down and of those 5 upcoming opponents... only Vegas is worse than the Oilers.

Colorado I expect to come out firing howitzers at the Oilers after 5 losses in a row... they have to be starving for a win.

Montreal has been respectable this season and are slightly above average and will be coming off 2 days rest when they face the Oilers in EDM. That's not an easy win for the Oil especially with half the crowd likely cheering for the opposition as often happens in those Leafs/Habs games.

Calgary is trending up lately and is currently better than the Oilers. McDavid owns the Flames... but if they don't pull out a win in that first divisional game of the year in Calgary... pressure drastically mounts on McLellan and Chiarelli. Calgary will be pretty well rested as well... having only played 1 game in 5 days prior to that Saturday night game (where the Oilers seem to never do well for some reason).

They play Vegas the very next night and while Vegas has been up and down all season... they'll face the Oilers after the Oilers likely have an emotional, tough game vs Calgary so will the Oilers have enough to play hard vs Vegas as well?

They then play the Sharks who are up and down as well so far (same record as the Habs)... but facing SJ who'll be playing game 5 of a 6 game homestand doesn't seem like an easy game either... for the Oilers it will be their 3rd game in 4 nights.

That stretch of games is deceptively tougher than it looks imo.

Every stretch of games is tough. I think we just need to get over that whole "oh that stretch is easy".

There's no "easy" stretch of games unless you are an elite team that can just over power teams with talent. Almost every team in the league is hovering around .500 right now at least, that means every team is basically winning 50% of the time.

They'll be up and down regardless. Some points they will look pretty good, because McDavid is that good and Draisaitl is not too shabby either. And then they'll feel good for a bit and get just enough other players chipping in to win some games.

But on the other hand, you'll have stretches like the last three games too.

I think they're basically somewhere in the middle of the 16-17 team and the 17-18 team. It's kinda funny reading the Avs board too, they have a lot of the same issues we do. One line teams are a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I took the Caps loss in stride... it's the Caps... beating them twice in a row is a lot to ask for.

Next night was a Lightning team that is battling Nashville as the clear 2 best teams in the NHL so far. Another unsurprising road result really... but I would have liked a closer game.

The kick in the nuts though was this Panthers effort. After 2 losses to superior teams, you would have liked to see the team rebound vs a "supposedly" lesser opponent... nope.

1st time they've lost 3 in a row this season... and this is just after winning 5 of 6.

Certainly was a roller coaster turn of events after a lot of us turned into optimists thinking that solid stretch was for real.

I definitely think these next 5 games are massive and will likely tell the tale of the season.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I think they're basically somewhere in the middle of the 16-17 team and the 17-18 team. It's kinda funny reading the Avs board too, they have a lot of the same issues we do. One line teams are a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

Well yes... they are on pace for ~87 pts right now which puts them squarely in between those past 2 seasons... and more importantly at that pace, not good enough of an improvement to make a wild card spot.


They feel like an 85 pt team when you watch them as well. Just enough talent to be 10 pts out of playoff spot when all is said and done... unless there's a relatively major injury in the lineup (*which knock on wood hasn't happened yet)... and then all bets are off that they even hit 78 pts again.

 

[Fourier]

If you want a recycled name from the past that guy should be Todd Nelson rather than MacTavish. His record in Grand Rapids was 133-78-17 with a Calder Cup, to go with 176-111-46 in OKC. All his teams ever did was win and play above their heads. He's back in the NHL as an assistant. The problem is that the way he was treated by MacTavish probably soured him on the organization.

 

[oobga]

Mac T, Gulutzan, don't think the results would be radically different. The main problems are with the roster build first and foremost not the coaching. McLellan had solid regular seasons with the Sharks, why? Because they had a well built roster from management, the reason he is struggling here is because this roster is poorly built.

If the squeeze enough out of McDavid maybe they can slide into a playoff spot in really piss poor division, but they'll likely be up and down all season long. Good for a stretch, followed by a bad stretch, rinse, wash, repeat.

Almost anyone could have coached those stacked sharks teams to good regular seasons. They won the divison before he got there and he got the prime years of a lot of great players. But when playoff time came around when you need contributions from your non-elite guys and you need to make adjustments and adapt, McLellan was outcoached and failed miserably every time.

In the regular season too, all he did was run his elite guys, that would produce if a blind chimp was coach, into the ground so they had nothing left for the playoffs. He is doing the same here, except with 3 or so less elite guys to ride.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I took the Caps loss in stride... it's the Caps... beating them twice in a row is a lot to ask for.

Next night was a Lightning team that is battling Nashville as the clear 2 best teams in the NHL so far. Another unsurprising road result really... but I would have liked a closer game.

The kick in the nuts though was this Panthers effort. After 2 losses to superior teams, you would have liked to see the team rebound vs a "supposedly" lesser opponent... nope.

1st time they've lost 3 in a row this season... and this is just after winning 5 of 6.

Certainly was a roller coaster turn of events after a lot of us turned into optimists thinking that solid stretch was for real.

I definitely think these next 5 games are massive and will likely tell the tale of the season.

In what way are the Panthers a "lesser" opponent. On paper they have depth we can't even imagine here.

 

[iCanada]

Mac T last coached like what? A decade ago? Not counting those laughable babysitting games on the bench with Nelson.

Yeah. Means his systems are slightly fresher than mcclellan's, according to mocking our 06 sharks pp.

 

[nexttothemoon]

In what way are the Panthers a "lesser" opponent. On paper they have depth we can't even imagine here.

Game isn't played on paper... they were doing worse than the Oilers going into the game which is why the Oilers performance against them was disappointing.

 

[Cloned]

I wonder if they would fire McLellan and replace him with Woodcroft...

I’m only half joking.

 

[rboomercat90]

I wonder if they would fire McLellan and replace him with Woodcroft...

I’m only half joking.

He’s already under contract and they’d still be paying almost two more seasons for Mclellan...

I’d hope by now that the organization has more of their thumb on the pulse of the fan base than they did when they named Mactavish GM. I really believe they thought that move would be popular with fans. Lowe looked very surprised at the press conference to find out it wasn’t. They knew enough to know the fans didn’t want Woodcroft around anymore to send him to Bakersfield. They’re probably smart to know not to do it.

 

[Cypress]

He’s already under contract and they’d still be paying almost two more seasons for Mclellan...

I’d hope by now that the organization has more of their thumb on the pulse of the fan base than they did when they named Mactavish GM. I really believe they thought that move would be popular with fans. Lowe looked very surprised at the press conference to find out it wasn’t. They knew enough to know the fans didn’t want Woodcroft around anymore to send him to Bakersfield. They’re probably smart to know not to do it.

They shouldn't be making decisions to pander to the fans. They should be making decisions that give the team the best chance to win both short and long term.