We should not blow it up and stay the course

[Sniper99]

My gut feeling is Eberle and Yak are gone for sure. Then it will be one of Hall or Nuge. It could very well be that Chia and Mclellan see value in keeping one or the other and have decided to trade the one that brings the better return on D.

Is it weird that I would love to see new jerseys next year too? I wouldnt mind going back to the darker blue. Those jerseys remind me of the blue collar hard working gritty teams that used to play in Edmonton. I honestly think darker jerseys are more intimidating in general.

New team, new arena, new jerseys, fresh start.

To cap it all off, I would love if the 2017 pick could be part of our changes this year. No reward for failure. No reason to cheer for losses this time of year.

Couldn't agree more.

I was extremely happy when they got rid of the ugly Reebok jerseys with the Copper stripes going down the sides I think it was around 08-09 and then they switched back to these traditional ones. Its actually one of the reasons why I cant watch a game on tv anymore. Its an embarrassment to watch these guys play this poorly in the same jersey design that Gretz and Mess used to wear.

My suggestion kinda like yours is something dark. I dont know about the old 96-97 to 2006ish jerseys but something like a Black home jersey. and get rid of the Copper. Go with some different secondary colors.

 

[Oilrider]

My gut feeling is Eberle and Yak are gone for sure. Then it will be one of Hall or Nuge. It could very well be that Chia and Mclellan see value in keeping one or the other and have decided to trade the one that brings the better return on D.

Is it weird that I would love to see new jerseys next year too? I wouldnt mind going back to the darker blue. Those jerseys remind me of the blue collar hard working gritty teams that used to play in Edmonton. I honestly think darker jerseys are more intimidating in general.

New team, new arena, new jerseys, fresh start.

To cap it all off, I would love if the 2017 pick could be part of our changes this year. No reward for failure. No reason to cheer for losses this time of year.

I would love a new jersey, but I imagine with McDavid on the team we will be seeing so many changes, and 3rd jerseys, like the Penguins have done. I wonder if they could do some sort of mix between old and new eras. The current jersey, but in the darker colours maybe? This is really getting off topic, but I would also be open to a slight alteration in the logo. Perhaps just changing the Letters to make it look more modern, but keeping the logo almost identical.

Back on topic: I would absolutely love to trade next years 1st. It would be a great signal that tanking is not an option, and I think we could get something decent for it.

 

[joestevens29]

Here is the big issue with previous management groups and us as fans.

We don't want to sell for 60 cents on the dollar which is the proper sentiment to have, however when the players are playing at 100 cents on on the dollar they become untouchable and people feel they have turned the corner so don't trade them.

Let's look at a few of our oilers. Yakupov early in the year when with McDavid suddenly became a ppg player and looked good. Trade him now? For gods sakes no!

Hall and Drai just tearing it up the 1st half of the season, one of the best two player combos in the league, trade them now when they are at 100 cents on the dollar? for gods sakes no!

You can add all the rest of our top end guys, Nurse, Eberle, RNH etc etc. When they are playing well no one wants to trade them, when they are playing poorly we are not getting value.

Our Gm needs to have the balls to make his decisions on what he wants the team to look like a few years down the road and move some players when they are playing well, even if it is unpopular.

Well when a guy was worth 60cents then goes to 70cents then to 80cents, people dont' want him dealt either as the sky becomes the limit for the guy.

 

[Oilrider]

Does any combination of Yandle, Demers, Goligoski, and Hamhuis mostly fix our D? One of those plus Hamonic? Yes we would still be missing a true #1, but we could at least ice 6 #2-4 guys.

And after 10 years no playoffs, 6 years at or near the bottom, nobody other than McDavid is untouchable for me, but that doesn't mean I'm jettisoning good players for scraps. The return needs to be there.

That being said - given McLellan's rant, I would be incredibly surprised if we start the season with all of Yakupov, Eberle, RNH, and Hall still in the lineup. Almost sure one of them gets dealt. I just hope the return doesn't delay the mythical upswing even more.

1) Yes, that would be such a massive improvement of our D. It's just tough to get the FA to come here, especially without paying way too much. We pretty much have to figure out how to get Hamonic. He isn't Seabrook or anything, but he is good, and his salary is outstanding.

2) Exactly. McDavid is untouchable and that's it. I'd be all for trading ANYone else if we are getting the right pieces back. My preference is to keep Hall though. But if we have McD, Hall, Drai with some size/two way vets on Offense, and an actual NHL D, Players like Nuge, Eberle, and Yak won't be missed. It's not that they are terrible players, it's just that we will have a much more balanced team that will actually win games.

3) Yak is surely gone. I expect one of Hall, Eberle, and Nuge to be traded as well, and probably even one of Klefbom, Nurse, Sekera, and Davidson just because they are all on the left.

 

[King1s]

Wait what? Hfoil has had enough of those 6m golden boys? Omg, progress!

 

[McOvechking]

I sort of agree with OP. Trade Eberle, keep the rest. Draft our player this year, and trade the 2017 1st.

Hall - Draisaitl - Kassian
Maroon - McDavid - Yakupov
Pouliot - Nuge - Laine
Hendricks - Letestu - FA

Klefbom - Hamonic
Sekera - ???
Davidson - Oesterle

Move Reinhart for a similarly capable RHD. Move the 1st + Eberle for Hamonic.

Edit: Not sure how this fits into the cap, fwiw.

 

[joestevens29]

I sort of agree with OP. Trade Eberle, keep the rest. Draft our player this year, and trade the 2017 1st.

Hall - Draisaitl - Kassian
Maroon - McDavid - Yakupov
Pouliot - Nuge - Laine
Hendricks - Letestu - FA

Klefbom - Hamonic
Sekera - ???
Davidson - Oesterle

Move Reinhart for a similarly capable RHD. Move the 1st + Eberle for Hamonic.

Edit: Not sure how this fits into the cap, fwiw.

I don't see Yak here and if they have Oesterle pencilled into the NHL roster it's a huge fail. Nothing against the kid, but they can't afford that weak of depth in the backend. Especially given the rest of the team.

Give him his shot to make the club, but by no means should Reinhart, Nurse or Oesterle be penciled into the lineup going into training camp.

 

[Gabe Kupari]

Jets are my favorite team but when they left, i followed the Oilers closely. I'm a Jets fan first but would be happy if the Oilers were good also. But they aren't. Something is seriously wrong there, I watched a few of the recent Oiler games and what i saw was guys basically giving up, I watch the Jets last night for example and they are a roster that is absolutely decimated with injury and i see a team trying their hardest to win, they did win 2-1. They beat Minny the game prior 5-1, they are trying hard and that's without Little, Perreault, Enstrom,Myers... that's 2 top 6 guys and 2 top 4 d men. The younger guys are stepping up, the vet leaders like Wheeler and Buff are showing the kids like Scheifele, Ehlers, Armia even, Petan,Dano, etc etc the way... I don't see that with Edmonton. I see 1 player (McDavid) trying hard but i see a bunch of other guys who just don't give a crap if they win or lose, Losing has become acceptable for some of these players, they are used to it, they refuse to change their games or adapt to play a 2 way game. I see a team who has a ton of talent but perhaps what they lack is players that actually want to win? I dunno. The culture of losing is strong, you need to rid yourselves of several of the "older" core players, Eberle, Yakupov (not sure i consider him a core player tho), Hall even, You need to Build around McDavid.. he's a good player but if you keep the guys who have created this culture of losing around, and that includes the guys at the top of the totem pole like Lowe,MacT etc, then nothing changes.

Build around McDavid, he's a great player. You got a goalie now in Talbot.

You put Talbot on the Jets and the Jets are fighting for a playoff spot as the Jets main issues this year have been goaltending, the PP and the PK.

Oilers main issues seems to be what it's been for the last 5 6 years now, a team with a ton of skill but really no work ethic and a team that honestly, doesn't seem to care that they are losing. That's a problem. Once losing becomes acceptable, that's a problem and i think that's the biggest problem the Oilers have, 75 percent of that team is used to losing, it's acceptable, that needs to change and that changes only 1 way, you move some of these players out, Yeah you might not get what you think some of these guys are worth but... sometimes addition by subtraction works also.

As for trading for Hamonic.. Travis Hamonic is a good player but trading a top 5 pick for Hamonic is ridiculous, he's good but he's not that good. He has injury concerns and is not worth a top 5 pick. Travis Hamonic won't make you go from last to the playoffs, he might make you go from last to 5th last tho, there are bigger problems on this team, I'm not sure why some of the more hardcore oiler fans can't see it when the casuals like myself can. Perhaps i'm not bias and because the oilers are my 2nd favorite team, perhaps that is why I can see it and some can't? I dunno but 5 6 years of losing, it can't be cured, these guys aren't just gonna find the ON switch all of a sudden, how many different coaches now? Eventually you need to realize coaches coach and players play... The oilers have been bad for 5 6 years now... that's on the players cuz the coaches have changed many times now. Time to change up some of the players.

 

[Spawn]

Jets are my favorite team but when they left, i followed the Oilers closely. I'm a Jets fan first but would be happy if the Oilers were good also. But they aren't. Something is seriously wrong there, I watched a few of the recent Oiler games and what i saw was guys basically giving up, I watch the Jets last night for example and they are a roster that is absolutely decimated with injury and i see a team trying their hardest to win, they did win 2-1. They beat Minny the game prior 5-1, they are trying hard and that's without Little, Perreault, Enstrom,Myers... that's 2 top 6 guys and 2 top 4 d men. The younger guys are stepping up, the vet leaders like Wheeler and Buff are showing the kids like Scheifele, Ehlers, Armia even, Petan,Dano, etc etc the way... I don't see that with Edmonton. I see 1 player (McDavid) trying hard but i see a bunch of other guys who just don't give a crap if they win or lose, Losing has become acceptable for some of these players, they are used to it, they refuse to change their games or adapt to play a 2 way game. I see a team who has a ton of talent but perhaps what they lack is players that actually want to win? I dunno. The culture of losing is strong, you need to rid yourselves of several of the "older" core players, Eberle, Yakupov (not sure i consider him a core player tho), Hall even, You need to Build around McDavid.. he's a good player but if you keep the guys who have created this culture of losing around, and that includes the guys at the top of the totem pole like Lowe,MacT etc, then nothing changes.

Build around McDavid, he's a great player. You got a goalie now in Talbot.

You put Talbot on the Jets and the Jets are fighting for a playoff spot as the Jets main issues this year have been goaltending, the PP and the PK.

Oilers main issues seems to be what it's been for the last 5 6 years now, a team with a ton of skill but really no work ethic and a team that honestly, doesn't seem to care that they are losing. That's a problem. Once losing becomes acceptable, that's a problem and i think that's the biggest problem the Oilers have, 75 percent of that team is used to losing, it's acceptable, that needs to change and that changes only 1 way, you move some of these players out, Yeah you might not get what you think some of these guys are worth but... sometimes addition by subtraction works also.

As for trading for Hamonic.. Travis Hamonic is a good player but trading a top 5 pick for Hamonic is ridiculous, he's good but he's not that good. He has injury concerns and is not worth a top 5 pick. Travis Hamonic won't make you go from last to the playoffs, he might make you go from last to 5th last tho, there are bigger problems on this team, I'm not sure why some of the more hardcore oiler fans can't see it when the casuals like myself can. Perhaps i'm not bias and because the oilers are my 2nd favorite team, perhaps that is why I can see it and some can't? I dunno but 5 6 years of losing, it can't be cured, these guys aren't just gonna find the ON switch all of a sudden, how many different coaches now? Eventually you need to realize coaches coach and players play... The oilers have been bad for 5 6 years now... that's on the players cuz the coaches have changed many times now. Time to change up some of the players.

Change up some of the players? I'd be stunned if there is a team that has seen more turnover than the Oilers over the past 5 or 6 years. There's only Hall and Eberle left from 5 or 6 years ago. You really think two or three players cause an entire team to be "okay with losing"

What are they, witches who curse all the other players with some sort of spell of malaise?

You say 75% of the team is used to losing. Yet 75% of the team hasn't been here longer than a year or two. Uh oh. Your Jets are used to losing! Better sell off your good pieces for garbage.

Wanna know why your Jets team (which is still ****ing awful lol, get off your high horse) is marginally better than the Oilers? You have a real group of NHL defensemen. The Oilers have a group that for the better part of the season has been filled with waiver fodder and rookies with only Sekera being a legitimate top 4 d-man. It has nothing to do with being used to losing. It's entirely to do with 10 years of incompetent management unable to identify and dress a legitimate group of defensemen.

 

[Young Lions*]

Jets are my favorite team but when they left, i followed the Oilers closely. I'm a Jets fan first but would be happy if the Oilers were good also. But they aren't. Something is seriously wrong there, I watched a few of the recent Oiler games and what i saw was guys basically giving up, I watch the Jets last night for example and they are a roster that is absolutely decimated with injury and i see a team trying their hardest to win, they did win 2-1. They beat Minny the game prior 5-1, they are trying hard and that's without Little, Perreault, Enstrom,Myers... that's 2 top 6 guys and 2 top 4 d men. The younger guys are stepping up, the vet leaders like Wheeler and Buff are showing the kids like Scheifele, Ehlers, Armia even, Petan,Dano, etc etc the way... I don't see that with Edmonton.

We don't have any vet leaders of that calibre over the years. You've had Wheeler, Ladd, Buff, Enstrom etc. All the vets we've brought in over the years have been scrubs or past their prime. The longest serving members of the team are 24 and 25 years old. They've spent their entire careers without vet support, without good goaltending (until this season) and without an NHL defense. If they were beaten down, I wouldn't blame them. But I don't think they are. I think the team as a whole needs to be better, especially the blueline.

I see 1 player (McDavid) trying hard but i see a bunch of other guys who just don't give a crap if they win or lose, Losing has become acceptable for some of these players, they are used to it, they refuse to change their games or adapt to play a 2 way game. I see a team who has a ton of talent but perhaps what they lack is players that actually want to win? I dunno.

I don't understand this culture of losing stuff at all. If you look at the Oilers on paper, even when they are healthy, do you see a team that should be good or one with some pretty massive holes? Until you can do that, the rest doesn't matter.

The culture of losing is strong, you need to rid yourselves of several of the "older" core players, Eberle, Yakupov (not sure i consider him a core player tho), Hall even, You need to Build around McDavid.. he's a good player but if you keep the guys who have created this culture of losing around, and that includes the guys at the top of the totem pole like Lowe,MacT etc, then nothing changes.

So: do to McDavid exactly what we did to Hall and the rest? Because culture?

Oilers main issues seems to be what it's been for the last 5 6 years now, a team with a ton of skill but really no work ethic and a team that honestly, doesn't seem to care that they are losing. That's a problem. Once losing becomes acceptable, that's a problem and i think that's the biggest problem the Oilers have, 75 percent of that team is used to losing, it's acceptable, that needs to change and that changes only 1 way, you move some of these players out, Yeah you might not get what you think some of these guys are worth but... sometimes addition by subtraction works also.

Or you could tray and patch some of the holes and put a team on the ice with actual NHLers in all key postions for a change and see if that works. It's a crazy notion, I know, but I think it's worth a shot.

 

[Weitz]

Or you could tray and patch some of the holes and put a team on the ice with actual NHLers in all key postions for a change and see if that works. It's a crazy notion, I know, but I think it's worth a shot.

Worked the last 6 years eh? Bringing in NHL players but keeping the same top talent.

 

[Oilrider]

Worked the last 6 years eh? Bringing in NHL players but keeping the same top talent.

I dont think thats what he is saying. He said ALL key positions, didn't he? He is just saying that it isn't a "culture" problem, it is a problem of being extremely one-dimensional. Fill the holes, and bring balance to this roster and it will be a good team.

 

[Soundwave]

Worked the last 6 years eh? Bringing in NHL players but keeping the same top talent.

They actually were improving points-wise every year of the rebuild ... then Eakins happened.

That said we should trade someone, but not out of some misguided "trade anyone!" panic .... we can afford to trade an Eberle or Nugent Hopkins this summer simply because we've acquired enough depth now that trading a Nugent Hopkins for example doesn't mean playing Sam Gagner as your no.1 centre.

IMO too this year many d-men will be available. Cap crunch plus impending expansion draft effectively punishes teams that have too many good D ... we can benefit from that.

You don't even need a superstar ... even a Jay Bouweemester added to this group plus Klefbom not getting bit by a zombie virus would improve the D-corps reasonably though you still probably want to upgrade on Fayne too.

 

[McTedi]

Jets are my favorite team but when they left, i followed the Oilers closely. I'm a Jets fan first but would be happy if the Oilers were good also. But they aren't. Something is seriously wrong there, I watched a few of the recent Oiler games and what i saw was guys basically giving up, I watch the Jets last night for example and they are a roster that is absolutely decimated with injury and i see a team trying their hardest to win, they did win 2-1. They beat Minny the game prior 5-1, they are trying hard and that's without Little, Perreault, Enstrom,Myers... that's 2 top 6 guys and 2 top 4 d men. The younger guys are stepping up, the vet leaders like Wheeler and Buff are showing the kids like Scheifele, Ehlers, Armia even, Petan,Dano, etc etc the way... I don't see that with Edmonton. I see 1 player (McDavid) trying hard but i see a bunch of other guys who just don't give a crap if they win or lose, Losing has become acceptable for some of these players, they are used to it, they refuse to change their games or adapt to play a 2 way game. I see a team who has a ton of talent but perhaps what they lack is players that actually want to win? I dunno. The culture of losing is strong, you need to rid yourselves of several of the "older" core players, Eberle, Yakupov (not sure i consider him a core player tho), Hall even, You need to Build around McDavid.. he's a good player but if you keep the guys who have created this culture of losing around, and that includes the guys at the top of the totem pole like Lowe,MacT etc, then nothing changes.

Build around McDavid, he's a great player. You got a goalie now in Talbot.

You put Talbot on the Jets and the Jets are fighting for a playoff spot as the Jets main issues this year have been goaltending, the PP and the PK.

Oilers main issues seems to be what it's been for the last 5 6 years now, a team with a ton of skill but really no work ethic and a team that honestly, doesn't seem to care that they are losing. That's a problem. Once losing becomes acceptable, that's a problem and i think that's the biggest problem the Oilers have, 75 percent of that team is used to losing, it's acceptable, that needs to change and that changes only 1 way, you move some of these players out, Yeah you might not get what you think some of these guys are worth but... sometimes addition by subtraction works also.

As for trading for Hamonic.. Travis Hamonic is a good player but trading a top 5 pick for Hamonic is ridiculous, he's good but he's not that good. He has injury concerns and is not worth a top 5 pick. Travis Hamonic won't make you go from last to the playoffs, he might make you go from last to 5th last tho, there are bigger problems on this team, I'm not sure why some of the more hardcore oiler fans can't see it when the casuals like myself can. Perhaps i'm not bias and because the oilers are my 2nd favorite team, perhaps that is why I can see it and some can't? I dunno but 5 6 years of losing, it can't be cured, these guys aren't just gonna find the ON switch all of a sudden, how many different coaches now? Eventually you need to realize coaches coach and players play... The oilers have been bad for 5 6 years now... that's on the players cuz the coaches have changed many times now. Time to change up some of the players.

The Oilers do need useful vets like Ladd. We have really young inexperienced D and have been plagued by injury. The Oilers do not need a massive overhaul. They need at least 1 top line D (dream scenario OEL, more realistic Hamonic or your boy Trouba), a veteran or PP specialist top 4 dman (Demers, Vatenan) , a veteran forward (Backes would be nice) and maybe a more reliable backup tendy. For that you may have to lose some skill (RNH or Eberle) plus one or two prospects and/or picks. I have some faith in Chia and co. so I am more optimistic for this coming offseason than previous years. The Oilers finally have good assets and picks to trade to upgrade areas of weakness. I expect most of the change to be on the back end and have a feeling RNH or Ebs or both could be gone.

 

[Oilrider]

The Oilers do need useful vets like Ladd. We have really young inexperienced D and have been plagued by injury. The Oilers do not need a massive overhaul. They need at least 1 top line D (dream scenario OEL, more realistic Hamonic or your boy Trouba), a veteran or PP specialist top 4 dman (Demers, Vatenan) , a veteran forward (Backes would be nice) and maybe a more reliable backup tendy. For that you may have to lose some skill (RNH or Eberle) plus one or two prospects and/or picks. I have some faith in Chia and co. so I am more optimistic for this coming offseason than previous years. The Oilers finally have good assets and picks to trade to upgrade areas of weakness. I expect most of the change to be on the back end and have a feeling RNH or Ebs or both could be gone.

 

[Young Lions*]

Worked the last 6 years eh? Bringing in NHL players but keeping the same top talent.

Uh. What team were you watching that was bringing in all these great vets? I'm not talking about Belanger, Ference, Nikitin here.

The only quality NHL players that were added outside the draft during the Tambo/MacT era were Boyd Gordon and....uh...um....

 

[McTedi]

Uh. What team were you watching that was bringing in all these great vets? I'm not talking about Belanger, Ference, Nikitin here.

The only quality NHL players that were added outside the draft during the Tambo/MacT era were Boyd Gordon and....uh...um....

Exactly Pittsburgh didn't surround Crosby with a bunch of plugs. The Belanger triangle would have sucked the life out of even McvD's offence.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

I was just going to post about a new jersey as well. But not anything really like the Copper and Blue or another throwback style, but rather a completely new and revamped design. I think it would be a good metaphor that would suit the idea that a new team is being built, in a new arena - a new era.

 

[McOvechking]

I don't see Yak here and if they have Oesterle pencilled into the NHL roster it's a huge fail. Nothing against the kid, but they can't afford that weak of depth in the backend. Especially given the rest of the team.

Give him his shot to make the club, but by no means should Reinhart, Nurse or Oesterle be penciled into the lineup going into training camp.

Nope, you're right. Oesterle is not an NHL calibre defenseman just yet. Wouldn't mind bringing Pardy back in a 10-min per night kind of role.

Just because Yak requested a trade doesn't mean he will be traded. I love the player. One of our best forwards despite everything imo.

 

[McGoMcD]

Clearly just one game, just like the Calgary game. But tonight has to be a vote to stay the course a little more. This team is finding chemistry. Its taking time but it is growing. Clearly we need to add some D, but, after tonight I don't see how taking a big step forward next year wouldn't be highly possible.

 

[DustinPenner]

imo we should'nt blow the whole core up, but i would be open to trade ebs/nuge for help on defense and fill the missing offense with our draftpick. i hope that they will not trade the pick, with a look at the exp draft

btw im new on the forum hello everyone

 

[Rorschach]

Neutral fan here coming in peace.

A full blow up is not needed. Several major old core players need to be dealt but not all of them.

What I would do is:
1) Hope my 1st rounder is in the top 3 or 4, draft Chychrun...if pick is 1OA, trade down
2) Trade any forward that is below average in size
3) Trade for 1st rounders - draft any defenseman primarly you can in the 1st round, pile them up; if no defenseman is available, get a big forward.
4) In those trades, try to get the other team to throw in big role players and try to sign a couple as UFA. More Patrick Maroons.
5) In the later rounds, get some more goalies, defensemen and centers.

No one will give you core defensemen in trade, no one has any extra and wingers are complimentary; RNH might get you an everyday defenseman but you already have plenty of middle-pair guys.

I think Chiarelli is already into big players, which is why he acquired Maroon. More of these guys will make room for your skill guys on the ice and should help the whole team defensively.

 

[Zaddy]

Clearly just one game, just like the Calgary game. But tonight has to be a vote to stay the course a little more. This team is finding chemistry. Its taking time but it is growing. Clearly we need to add some D, but, after tonight I don't see how taking a big step forward next year wouldn't be highly possible.

I don't see how you can take anything from last nights game. Canucks have checked out and it's not like the Oilers looked particularly good, at least not in the 2 periods I watched of the game. The 1st period in particular was awful and a real snoozefest that made you wonder where all those shiny 1st overalls were hiding.

Staying the course is the absolute worst thing to do. I just don't understand how people can STILL preach that after all these years. This team has fundamental issues that are not going away. Staying the course does nothing to change that.

 

[Young Lions*]

I don't see how you can take anything from last nights game. Canucks have checked out and it's not like the Oilers looked particularly good, at least not in the 2 periods I watched of the game. The 1st period in particular was awful and a real snoozefest that made you wonder where all those shiny 1st overalls were hiding.

Staying the course is the absolute worst thing to do. I just don't understand how people can STILL preach that after all these years. This team has fundamental issues that are not going away. Staying the course does nothing to change that.

Literally no one is saying the team should stand pat. Some are just finding the sensible middle ground between that and "ZOMG BLOWS IT UP !!!1!"

 

[joestevens29]

Nope, you're right. Oesterle is not an NHL calibre defenseman just yet. Wouldn't mind bringing Pardy back in a 10-min per night kind of role.

Just because Yak requested a trade doesn't mean he will be traded. I love the player. One of our best forwards despite everything imo.

I think it's either Pardy or Gryba for a spot. To me I liked Gryba better.

As for Yak, I'd be okay with keeping him. I just don't know.