Was Edmonton last year a fluke ala 2013-14 Colorado?

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Every time I read this kind of statement I absolutely cringe.

People are gonna say this is a diss but honest to God I cannot think of a franchise more undeserving of McDavid than them. The Good Old Boys basically held a press conference writing the season off before it even started, Katz basically bent Edmonton over a barrel for their new arena, the team stunk to high hell and was a proper reflection of the wallowing misery that created it. The poor HF Oiler fans were on the net equivalent of suicide watch. I felt SO bad for them that it was not even fair. Their team was run by perhaps the most incompetent NHL group (at the time) and there was nothing they could do about it than to not show up. Then luck itself intervened and so with it came the coming of the best prospect since Crosby. And suddenly the team of gangsters was let off the hook. T Mac (who I believe never would have coached there) is one of the finest head coaches in the game, Chia (who I believe never would have come there) gets too much of a bad rap but that's okay and without McDavid a player like Lucic would have never set foot in the Oiler locker room.

I've got a question... WHERE WAS THIS CHANGE YEARS BEFORE?? Why did it have to take a prospect who you could tell was mortified that he was going to Edmonton in order for you to clean your **** up? You should've done it anyway!

The Oiler fans should be addressed as arguably the most passionate and loyal fans in the NHL for putting up with what the likes of Katz created. THE FANS deserved what they got with McDavid. I am truly, deeply happy for the city of Edmonton that they've been fortunate enough to land such a transcendent talent. But it was the people who ran the Oilers into the ground and made such a miserable team for the fans night after night after night who did not deserve him. Katz, Tambellini, Lowe, etc. I rue the day their ineptitude produced such a shiny prize.

/rant

Do you feel better after getting that off of your chest?

 

[Cup or Bust]

Pulju hasn't shown much, but sure Yama might be something. Pulju could very easily be a Bennett/Yak... but once again they're both first rounders and depth after round 1 is how good teams are built.

Fyi, I don't think Calgary has a core that can get it done either.

Actually Puljujarvi has played pretty good so far this season, not sure what games you have been watching.

 

[syz]

Bad special teams sounds like a coaching issue to me

Their special teams systems are abysmal but there's a personnel issue there as well. Lack of a point presence on the power play is hurting them bad, and they got rid of a few penalty killers over the summer without really replacing them.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Pulju hasn't shown much, but sure Yama might be something. Pulju could very easily be a Bennett/Yak... but once again they're both first rounders and depth after round 1 is how good teams are built.

Fyi, I don't think Calgary has a core that can get it done either.

he's got 4 goals in 10 games and is a +6...that's showing quite a bit

 

[lwvs84]

I think both seasons are flukes for Talbot. I think he had his career year last year but is playing below his ability this year. In reality, he's probably more of an average #1 than a top 5/10 he was last year. Edmonton was my pick to win the division, I expected McDavid to put up lead leading (or close) numbers again and Drai to take a step and for them to be a lesser version of Crosby/Malkin (where Pens duo leads them to a Cup while Edmonton's leads them to a division title). I still think they'll turn it around and make playoffs, possibly win a round.

 

[LightningStorm]

Short answer: No because of McDavid.

The Avs 2014 season really came out of nowhere. Nobody expected them to be that good, and they did get upset by the Wild in the first round. Last season, the 2 playoff teams the Oilers faced were better than that Wild team. They beat the defending conference champion Sharks, then went the distance against a really good Ducks team.

I did think people were jumping the gun declaring the Oilers cup contenders (and many picking them to win it) this season. I still thought they were one year away from that, and I still believe it. Unlike the 2014 Avs, they do have the personnel for it. Even if they can't turn this season around, they'll bounce back at least sometime in the next few seasons.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Advanced stats say no. Success last year was due healthy roster, consistent goaltending, elite PP (not elite this year), middling PK (not historically bad), secondary scoring from bottom-6. Not outshot and outchanced like the Avs. Oilers were able to shutdown opponents with a lead in the 3rd last season. This season they are NEVER in the lead (always down by 2 due to shoddy goaltending or PK).

Probably a Stars + Kings like rebound next season because this season's hole is too deep.

Same with the Ducks. I expect them to roar back next season.

Huh? lol well roar back after Christmas.... honestly this season isn't much different from our last few seasons... cept this time we actually have a logical excuse to our early season sucking. Were 2 points out of wild card, and 4 points out of 3rd seed in pacific... considering we have most man games missed by I think last I checked 40 games, were in a perfectly acceptable position.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

As for the actual question... I don't think they need to full rebuild like the aves should have done... I just think they need to trim some fat, and build the team correctly. They still have good assets and some of the fat they can trim can be useful to other teams, I fully expect them to make a run this year(not sure they'll get in but I think they'll be fighting for a spot by end of season)... and I think they'll be a playoff team next season if they fix their glaring issues.


The teams at the top of the pacific are not teams that are going to run away with the division.... the canucks/knights will slow down a bit as the season goes on, kings sharks and flames are decent teams but have issues and wont run away with the division. From a ducks and oilers standpoint the division is still very much up for grabs.

 

[Cleatus]

Don't think this season or last season was a fluke. They're not as good as last season or as bad as this season. They likely make the playoffs next year, but are still a couple of major pieces away from being legit contenders.

 

[McCombo]

We're still in the regular season, in case you're wondering. None of their post-season numbers matter in the regular season.
BTW, how are you liking this years Eberle?
Things that are also worth mentioning, the Oilers team defense sucks this year (no thanks to the fact that they don't have Andrej Sekera long-term). These guys you've mentioned didn't score a lot, but they were key pieces (and if you don't think so, take it up with guys like Kevin Weekes, Chris Johnston, and Mike Johnson, who also said they're key pieces).
Oh, and as a Stars fan, thanks for giving us Tyler Pitlick. He's helped a lot.

Oilers played great hockey last year without Eberle and Pouliot contributing. They should have been key pieces the way they were/are paid. But they were not. Both received a lot of criticism over regular and post-season. And rightly so. If Eberle doesn't score there isn't many other ways he can help a team win. He isn't defensively that good, he isn't good on the forecheck, doesn't win puck battles.

This year he is playing like he can. But it doesn't matter. He had prime opportunity in Edmonton as McDavid's RW, but he choose not to compete and digged his own grave.

Their values were shown last summer league-wide. Eberle was viewed as too expensive one-dimensional winger and no team was willing to give much value for him.
Pouliot signed for 1 year ~1mil deal with Buffalo.

Doesn't seem to me that any GM viewed these players highly. The reason is because they played like crap and were not key pieces in Edmonton's success. And I don't care what "experts" say, I have seen pretty much every game Oilers have played last 5 years or so. I trust my own eye.

Pitlick was free agent, Oilers didn't give him to Stars. He is nice sparkplug, but hasn't been able to stay healthy. Completely understand why he choose Dallas and the three year deal.

 

[Machinehead]

The analytics said Colorado had one of the luckiest seasons ever.

They're saying the opposite about the Oilers.

So no, the Oilers have some issues, but I wouldn't make that comparison.

I don't think the Oilers are too far off from getting back in contention. The Avs were hell in a handbasket from the get-go.

 

[THall4]

AWFUL awful awful special teams have cost this team far too many games.

Jay Woodcroft should be losing his job (likely in the summer at this point)...wtf is with the "L" shaped PK....

 

[THall4]

Gritty bottom 6 forwards and D is well covered - Oilers have plenty of that on the farm with Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear, Ryan Mantha and then the OHL/NCAA.

Gamebreaking forwards to replace any future losses... that's a bigger problem. Other than the two you've listed the entire farm and pipeline is devoid on any forward that can be a top-6er except maybe oft-injured Benson.

Chia has to draft high skilled forwards in 2018. We need ELC players who can make an impact in the next few years with $20M to McDavid and Draisaitl.

Agreed. we need skill in all 3 forward positions...they drafted skill this past summer..but Id like to see them do it once again this summer

 

[BlackDogg]

Unsustainable percentages? Specifically, which ones?

Let me know when you find out eh.

 

[SniperHF]

I have a hard time making sense of calling 7 months of last season a fluke based on 2 months of this one.

 

[Brobust]

Did both teams get massively overrated by Vezina caliber goaltending? Yes.

Are the oilers as bad as that avs team? No.

 

[Snakepit]

No, not really. I think last year lots of things just went right for them and this year lots are going wrong. Truth is probably somewhere in the middle

 

[THall4]

Every time I read this kind of statement I absolutely cringe.

People are gonna say this is a diss but honest to God I cannot think of a franchise more undeserving of McDavid than them. The Good Old Boys basically held a press conference writing the season off before it even started, Katz basically bent Edmonton over a barrel for their new arena, the team stunk to high hell and was a proper reflection of the wallowing misery that created it. The poor HF Oiler fans were on the net equivalent of suicide watch. I felt SO bad for them that it was not even fair. Their team was run by perhaps the most incompetent NHL group (at the time) and there was nothing they could do about it than to not show up. Then luck itself intervened and so with it came the coming of the best prospect since Crosby. And suddenly the team of gangsters was let off the hook. T Mac (who I believe never would have coached there) is one of the finest head coaches in the game, Chia (who I believe never would have come there) gets too much of a bad rap but that's okay and without McDavid a player like Lucic would have never set foot in the Oiler locker room.

I've got a question... WHERE WAS THIS CHANGE YEARS BEFORE?? Why did it have to take a prospect who you could tell was mortified that he was going to Edmonton in order for you to clean your **** up? You should've done it anyway!

The Oiler fans should be addressed as arguably the most passionate and loyal fans in the NHL for putting up with what the likes of Katz created. THE FANS deserved what they got with McDavid. I am truly, deeply happy for the city of Edmonton that they've been fortunate enough to land such a transcendent talent. But it was the people who ran the Oilers into the ground and made such a miserable team for the fans night after night after night who did not deserve him. Katz, Tambellini, Lowe, etc. I rue the day their ineptitude produced such a shiny prize.

/rant

Hard to disagree with you..except on the Kat bending over the city. Which is actually a brilliant move for him as a business man..and the Oilers. You think what the city's paid portion of the rink has an effect on the Oilers? That was a deal between the city and Katz..who just happened to be the owner of the Oilers. Again, the city showed its hand and got wrecked by a brilliant business man...Edmonton never wanted the rink solely for the Oilers...they viewed it as a perfect downtown revitalization project.

 

[These Are The Days]

Hard to disagree with you..except on the Kat bending over the city. Which is actually a brilliant move for him as a business man..and the Oilers. You think what the city's paid portion of the rink has an effect on the Oilers? That was a deal between the city and Katz..who just happened to be the owner of the Oilers. Again, the city showed its hand and got wrecked by a brilliant business man...Edmonton never wanted the rink solely for the Oilers...they viewed it as a perfect downtown revitalization project.

I suppose I could have and should have worded it better. But business between city and owner shouldn't be done with a gun on the table. I mean what does the Canadian taxpayer say? "Thank you for not putting it against my head"? I mean you're absolutely right that Katz did it the right way from HIS perspective but when he went back and said "I need more money" I saw the whole thing as rubbing salt in the wound. I understand his reasons why but that's also why I'm not in business like he is.

Building the arena is one thing but his management of the team is another....

 

[Mr Positive]

I suppose I could have and should have worded it better. But business between city and owner shouldn't be done with a gun on the table. I mean what does the Canadian taxpayer say? "Thank you for not putting it against my head"? I mean you're absolutely right that Katz did it the right way from HIS perspective but when he went back and said "I need more money" I saw the whole thing as rubbing salt in the wound. I understand his reasons why but that's also why I'm not in business like he is.

Building the arena is one thing but his management of the team is another....

Katz hired Nicholson, who wasn't associated with the Oilers before then, and he basically swept away the Old Boys Club. This even happened before we won the McDavid lottery. Chiarelli was a high profile hire, and again nothing to do with the Oilers.

With the arena, I'm no expert but it seems like our arena deal was typical for a city our size, and with our issues. We aren't Toronto or Vancouver with huge population centers to draw from. I know that Calgary is standing up to Flames on this issue, but that situation is different than ours was. The Edm deal was done during a blazing hot economy, while the Calgary deal was proposed while the economy was bad. They also don't have to revitalize their downtown at all. I don't think that the deal was made with a gun to Edm's head. It was something both sides wanted, but just disagreed on the exact numbers.

 

[Menzinger]

The Oilers weren’t “lucky” last season like the Ava were during their fluke year. But their management for some strange reason decided that making the Oilers roster worse over the summer was somehow a smart thing to do. Usually teams in the Oilers position will look to build off their success, not tread water/regress.

 

[karnige]

I think the Oilers will be fine, they do have 4 wins in 6 I believe. I think it's just a slow start and that they can still make the playoffs.

doesn't help they deserved at least a point against the leafs... they have played better. in reality they could have won 5 of 6.

 

[THall4]

doesn't help they deserved at least a point against the leafs... they have played better. in reality they could have won 5 of 6.

They need to fix their PK and PP though..otherwise they are not going anywhere...doesn't help the referee's go full ret*** when ref'ing Oiler games.

For example last night...Leon Draisaitl gets an Interference call on a nothing play...yet late in the game Letestu gets crosschecked in the face with the ref standing there watching..no call. The Oilers have been out-PP'd by their opposition 17 games in a row... cant right that ship if they are never on the PP

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I can't take the Oilers seriously anymore, I'm going to doubt them until they make the playoffs three straight seasons. Sad thing is they did have me convinced that they were indeed making the playoffs this year and potentially winning the cup.

 

[KCC]

It’s pitiful how little they care. Getting paid millions to bring no effort or work ethic. I firmly believe that if they show up and try they really aren’t that bad. Just haven’t all year and it’s perplexing.