What 3 Players Need To Have The Biggest Years For Us?

[oilexport]

RNH
LD
Gordon

if any of these guys get hurt or have bad years, were done by Nov. again.

 

[McGhostbuster]

^In all honesty an improved Ference would actually be pretty huge

Ference is going the way of a Steven Staois.

Not going to cut it for much longer.

 

[Starbuds]

Scrivens
Whoever the 2C is
RNH

 

[Aerchon]

Ference is going the way of a Steven Staois.

Not going to cut it for much longer.

His play fell off a cliff last year at the mid season mark. He was good before that time tho. I personally think he just got sick of Eakins/losing/Dub and threw in the towel mentally (physically he still was pushing the play a bit).

I think/hope he will bounce back next year with Ramsay and the way Mac T has improved the club.

 

[J4M13M]

As of right now:

1. Arcobello. If he's the 2C, he needs to show he deserves it. If he does, all this off-season talk becomes "The sky is falling" silliness.
2. Yakupov. It would go a long way toward solidifying the PP and the secondary scoring if he can work on faceoff positioning, and use that nasty release more often.
3. Scrivens. As always, the goalie gets all the credit or takes all the blame. If we're here discussing the reasons why the Oilers snuck into the playoff race, it'll be because there's no debate about whether the team needs a true #1 goalie.

If the Oilers get another option at centre, I think Arcobello becomes less important, and the PP QB becomes the 3rd most important IMO.

 

[oilexport]

As of right now:

1. Arcobello. If he's the 2C, he needs to show he deserves it. If he does, all this off-season talk becomes "The sky is falling" silliness.
2. Yakupov. It would go a long way toward solidifying the PP and the secondary scoring if he can work on faceoff positioning, and use that nasty release more often.
3. Scrivens. As always, the goalie gets all the credit or takes all the blame. If we're here discussing the reasons why the Oilers snuck into the playoff race, it'll be because there's no debate about whether the team needs a true #1 goalie.

If the Oilers get another option at centre, I think Arcobello becomes less important, and the PP QB becomes the 3rd most important IMO.

From what I've seen, Arco does not have the hands (at this level, anyway). He missed too many open nets and easy goals. He plays tough for a 170 lb midget but that does not work in our STILL small top six. LD please, or trade for help.

 

[McAsuno]

From what I've seen, Arco does not have the hands (at this level, anyway). He missed too many open nets and easy goals. He plays tough for a 170 lb midget but that does not work in our STILL small top six. LD please, or trade for help.

I also believe that one hit from a guy like Doughty got him injured. No thanks on Arco.

 

[JustinCider]

1 - RNH - 70 plus points minimum.
2 - Schultz/Petry - one of them needs to take a huge step forward.
3 - Scrivens/Fasth - one of them of a combination of the 2 has to give us top 10 goaltending or the season.

 

[Paralyzer008]

Anyone with something to prove.

RNH
Yakupov
Nikitin
Schultz
Scrivens/Fasth

Also, if MacT doesn't do anything, then Arcobello and Draisaitl are going to need to really destroy.

 

[Dorian2]

Boy...everyone is picking RNH first. That's a lot of weight for a 21 year old to carry.

But I understand that due to his rookie season and last years injury giving him a slow start.

I will put 3 guys that I want to break out/have a good year.

Yaks: because he had a crap year last year. I hope he works on his defence and 2 way play, as well as contributing mightily on the PP and on 5 vs 5

RNH: Because he had a crap year last year. His defence/2 way game is pretty much heads and shoulders above the other #1 picks on the team, so I'm expecting big things from him in that regard this year. Pretty sure he'll be good for some points, so I'll take that as an almost given.

Ference: So he can prove to the Oiler fans here that he is a worthy captain. I have no clue what he has to do to turn the perception that he's a crap captain around. Maybe if the team starts ti win that'll change..I don't know. I do not know enough about defence to really put in a good 2 cents worth for what he has to improve. Positioning? Stickwork? Speed? Points? Beating the snot out of a guy that looks at Hall the wrong way?

And by "breaking out and having a good year", I mean in every facet of hockey.

 

[The Perfect Human*]

I agree with OP.

Anytime your #1C, your #1 RW (should be given draft pedigree), and #1D have career-type seasons - you're looking at a sure-fire playoff spot.

If RNH goes 25-55-80, Yak goes 35-30-65, and Petry goes 10-35-45 with 25min TOI a night we're probably looking at a playoff squad.

 

[Spawn]

RNH
Yakupov

Neither of these two have lived up to the billing of a 1st overall pick. RNH needs to have a 70+ point season and Yak needs to hit at least 25 goals. First overall picks are far too important to get such mediocre results like we've gotten.

The third player...

either one of our goalies. One of them needs to be a starter. I have my reservations, but that's what the team needs.

 

[Joey Moss]

I agree with OP.

Anytime your #1C, your #1 RW (should be given draft pedigree), and #1D have career-type seasons - you're looking at a sure-fire playoff spot.

If RNH goes 25-55-80, Yak goes 35-30-65, and Petry goes 10-35-45 with 25min TOI a night we're probably looking at a playoff squad.

I think this might be a little optimistic.. I think RNH and Yak are capable of being those kinds of players soon just not sure if it will happen next year. That would be a major jump for Petry.. Can't see it but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

 

[nabob]

Boy...everyone is picking RNH first. That's a lot of weight for a 21 year old to carry.

But I understand that due to his rookie season and last years injury giving him a slow start.

I will put 3 guys that I want to break out/have a good year.

Yaks: because he had a crap year last year. I hope he works on his defence and 2 way play, as well as contributing mightily on the PP and on 5 vs 5

RNH: Because he had a crap year last year. His defence/2 way game is pretty much heads and shoulders above the other #1 picks on the team, so I'm expecting big things from him in that regard this year. Pretty sure he'll be good for some points, so I'll take that as an almost given.

Ference: So he can prove to the Oiler fans here that he is a worthy captain. I have no clue what he has to do to turn the perception that he's a crap captain around. Maybe if the team starts ti win that'll change..I don't know. I do not know enough about defence to really put in a good 2 cents worth for what he has to improve. Positioning? Stickwork? Speed? Points? Beating the snot out of a guy that looks at Hall the wrong way?

And by "breaking out and having a good year", I mean in every facet of hockey.

RNH had a crap year last year??!

He had 56 points while coming off of major surgery and having to adjust to his surgically repaired shoulder that had been messed up for years, not to mention that he was doing the heavy lifting and having to match up against guys like Kopitar, Thornton, Toews every single night.

My 3

Yak
Schultz
Scrivens/Fasth

 

[The Perfect Human*]

I think this might be a little optimistic.. I think RNH and Yak are capable of being those kinds of players soon just not sure if it will happen next year. That would be a major jump for Petry.. Can't see it but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

If this edition of the Oilers is going to crack a playoff spot, it may well be necessary for all 3 of my predictions to come true.

The way I see it here are your 100% guaranteed teams:

Chicago
Los Angeles
San Jose
St. Louis

Here are your 80% guaranteed teams:
Dallas
Minnesota
Anaheim

This leaves one spot, one we'll have to wrestle away from the 2nd seed from last year - the Colorado Avalanche.

Yeah, we need those kind of seasons from RNH/Yak/Petry

 

[Soundwave]

I'd be quite happy honestly right now with

22-48-70 for RNH

and

24-25-49 with a fairly improved plus/minus for Yakupov

And our combined goaltending have a save percentage above .911. If you offered that to me right now I'd take it.

If we can get our PP going and RNH plays most of the season with Hall + Eberle I think it's possible.

 

[McShogun99]

If the offence scores more goals and the defence lets in less goals then we should see an improvement in the standings...

 

[oXo Cube]

Ference is going the way of a Steven Staois.

Not going to cut it for much longer.

Of course.

But if he did...

 

[J4M13M]

From what I've seen, Arco does not have the hands (at this level, anyway). He missed too many open nets and easy goals. He plays tough for a 170 lb midget but that does not work in our STILL small top six. LD please, or trade for help.

I tend to agree, but the question wasn't to predict who would have the biggest year, but rather who needs to. Given the makeup of the team right now, I'd say that if anty significant forward movement is going to happen, it will be because there's production coming from the 2C spot.

 

[s7ark]

RNH should be shooting for a 20-50-70 year
Yak should be shooting for a 25-35-60 year
Schultz should be shooting for a 15-35-50 year

 

[Dorian2]

RNH had a crap year last year??!

He had 56 points while coming off of major surgery and having to adjust to his surgically repaired shoulder that had been messed up for years, not to mention that he was doing the heavy lifting and having to match up against guys like Kopitar, Thornton, Toews every single night.

My 3

Yak
Schultz
Scrivens/Fasth

That's why I cited his injury in that post. Maybe crap was a strong word.....for you anyways , but I do expect allot from him as a #1 center. I think he'll have a really good year this year with the shoulder issue taken care of. If he has the year I expect from him, it'll make last year look like.....well.....crap.

 

[Joey Moss]

If this edition of the Oilers is going to crack a playoff spot, it may well be necessary for all 3 of my predictions to come true.

The way I see it here are your 100% guaranteed teams:

Chicago
Los Angeles
San Jose
St. Louis

Here are your 80% guaranteed teams:
Dallas
Minnesota
Anaheim

This leaves one spot, one we'll have to wrestle away from the 2nd seed from last year - the Colorado Avalanche.

Yeah, we need those kind of seasons from RNH/Yak/Petry

I believe the Oilers are a better team than people think they are. I'm not saying they are a playoff team, but I don't think they are a bottom 5 team either, which is where the majority of HFBoards posters has them finishing.

There was last seasons Oilers with Dubnyk and Labarbera and then there were last seasons Oilers with Scrivens and Bryzgalov/Fasth. Scrivens came over in mid January. They were a .500 team from that point on. Starting the season with him and Fasth next year is huge.

On top of that, we've made some good additions.. Size, secondary scoring, improved defense. All things we seriously lacked last year.

IN: Fayne, Pouliot, Purcell, Nikitin, Draisaitl, Aulie
OUT: Gagner, Smyth, Belov, Larsen, Fraser, Jones

Major improvement, probably bigger than most realize.

And on top of that, our younger players really have no where to go but up. RNH, Yakupov, Schultz, Petry.. they will all be better than last year. It will take a bunch of players regressing and little improvement for others next season to be as bad as we have been in the past. Let's just hope that won't happen.

I personally don't think Dallas is that much better than we are. This is the best Oilers roster heading into a season since 2008 even without any more moves down the middle IMO.

 

[OttawaOilers]

RNH
The Nuge
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Everyone else whatever they give is --- O.K.

 

[Olive Oil]

1) Scrivens/Fasth - as a unit, I would expect this combo to be an improvement over last year's fiasco, but the pedigree and starting experience of these two goalies has to be a major concern for all involved. Hoping for the best, but we CANNOT have our goalies come out of the gate like they did for us last year.
2) Yakupov - was a complete flop in his second season after showing some of his vast potential in the first. Needs to have a bounce back season as he is now the 3rd line right winger. Without improvement in his overall game, his value as both a contributor on this team and trade asset will diminish. Maybe a stint up front with RNH and Hallsy can get him going????
3)Justin Schultz - contract time coming up and it looks like a 5year 25mil$ contract is what Schultz will be looking for…better start bucking up the production as well. Has the ability to be a top pairing defenseman and he did show some improvement away from the puck last year, but his calling card is offensive production. If 25mil is the asking price to sign long term than I would like to see the production that goes with it. 40-50pts and continued growth in a more complete game should be expected.

 

[syz]

A goaltender
RNH
A defenseman.. or two or three.

I want Yakupov to have a giant year, but I don't think it's as pivotal to the success of the team as the other three given the relative state of the wings compared to every other position on the team.