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What grade do you give the Oilers after two days of free agent signings?

What grade do you give the Oilers after two days of free agent signings?

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shoop

shoop

Registered User
Jul 6, 2008
8,333
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Edmonton
NoSavesFromKosko said:
How the hell is Turris a C and Barrie not an A? LOL
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I don't even think Smith is a D ... yet.

He gives Holland leverage for $425K which is the cost to bury him.

An upgrade on a top 6 LW and a goalie are Holland's two tasks for the rest of the off-season. Needs to be accomplished via a trade of some kind for salary purposes.

With no further moves Holland gets a B+. A- for addressing one of his two remaining tasks. A for addressing both.
 
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Cloned

Cloned

Begging for Bega
Aug 25, 2003
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Aerchon said:
Much like the draft is rate this a B. Breaking it down further I'd put the FA at a B+ and the draft at B-.

Good points primarily because he did very well with very little.

I don't like Barrie but at that price you can't complain. Ditto Turris and Smith. We got good/ok players, cheap, that want to be here.
Click to expand...

Some faith I sense? ;)
 

DropTheGloves

Registered User
Sep 18, 2020
2,808
4,635
Ennis- A+
Barrie- A
Turris- A
Puljujarvi (he counts here)- A
Smith- F

I don't think it's fair to do an overall grade since Smith and his role is more important to the team than Ennis for example. I think Holland did very well on most of the players he did get, but McDavid still doesn't have a winger and the left side of the defense is still atrocious with Klef out.

Add in goal- which was a weakness last year- is exactly the same (if not worse depending on how many games an older Smith plays) and I would give him a C or C- for this offseason so far as a whole. Still has time to improve that, however.
 
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Zenos

Registered User
Oct 4, 2009
2,190
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- Ennis and Turris were good, cheap signings to shore up scoring depth.
- Barrie is a pleasantly rare signing for the Oilers - low cost and no term! The player has warts, but at that price, you really can't complain.
- Puljujarvi might actually be the Oilers best signing this offseason. I still think we've got a player there.

failing to upgrade the goaltending is disappointing. But outside of Markstrom, there weren't any slam-dunks out there (and even he hasn't been a top tender consistently). I mean, considering what Murray got, I'm actually kind of ok with standing pat with Smith and Koski.

The defense still looks thin (assuming Klefa is shut down), but what were the realistic options? Brodie? Tanev?
 
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FlameChampion

FlameChampion

Registered User
Jul 13, 2011
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I would probably still give him an A, despite the Smith signing.

He got Barrie and Turris on great deals. Low risk. Potential high reward.

I think you have to give him a lot of credit for how he handled the JP situation.

I like the Ennis signing, i dont know how much credit he should get, but I still like it.

I think you have to actually give him some credit for the AA situation too. It clearly didnt work out. In hindsight, we wouldnt of been able to sign Turris/Barrie probably if we had signed AA. I think you have to give him some credit for not doubling down on his mistake. Instead of overthinking and succumbing to pressure whether or not he should sign him, he instead worked on fixing the roster.

I think the bad thing here though is that goaltending is so important. If it fails, all the good work he done, can be erased easily. That being said, I think pretty much all the goalies this offseason are overpaid. They got way more money than I thought they would. He didnt upgrade the goaltending on this team. But he also didnt overpay or overcommit to a bunch of platoon goalies. Its honestly a tough situation, I dont know.
 
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Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
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One thing I will give Holland credit for is he doesn't panic. Even the goaltending thing I think he is looking at it knowing in a few months something else may open up, instead of now you're probably negotiating from a weak point with what's left.
 
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Aerchon

Aerchon

Registered User
Jul 20, 2011
10,517
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Cloned said:
Some faith I sense? ;)
Click to expand...

It's interesting that's for sure. He has done very well for how little he had to work with, but the proof will be in the pudding.

AA was nothing short of a disaster. Many of his moves look bad to me still and our team is waaaaaaaaaaaaay different. Potentially better but only if used properly. We were a top 6 bottom 6 team with one stacked PP.

Now we are a 3 line skill team which can backfire if the coach does not adjust. Ditto PP time. That's needs to be better divided this year. Got to keep our lower skilled guys well oiled with more PP time for the second unit.

Our team is at least as good as last year but hopefully much better.

It's been 30+ years since the Oilers had a legit 3 line scoring threat?

It's the kind of team that will need to keep offensive pressure through 60 minutes or like Toronto last year we will be giving up a lot of late goals against. Potentially losing by come from behind shenanigans.

But can't complain. On paper the moves are decent and I don't know how anyone can worry about the term or cost of our UFA acquisitions.
 
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Smartguy

Smartguy

Registered User
May 3, 2010
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B for me

I like the Turris signing, bringing Puljuarvi back for 2 years is genius, if he does bounce back this year that’s a cheap year after you gained.


Barrie is a good fit even though we need a LD, probably the best puck moving D we’ve had in years, should fit in great with our group.

I’m in the minority but didn’t really like the Ennis signing, I would have went with Sheary for similar money, I’m assuming you could have being that he’s still out there. Wasn’t a big Ennis fan in his stint here but we will see what next season brings, and it’s a cheap deal.

Loathed the Smith signing. I don’t put this entirely on Holland, his hands were tied as he did try to go out and get Markstrom and Holtby with no luck. I still would have rather he went after Dell. Smith played like 2 months of good hockey last season, and when he’s bad he’s absolutely horrible. I think come mid year next year people are cursing Holland for bringing him back. I can virtually guarantee that Smith would probably barely got a million anywhere else, if he got a deal at all.
 
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KeithIsActuallyBad

KeithIsActuallyBad

You thrust your pelvis, huh!
Apr 12, 2010
72,461
31,395
Calgary
B-. All the signings prior to Smith were good, but that guy absolutely shouldn't be in an Oilers jersey next year. I get familiarity and all that but he really wasn't great as the season went on, punctuated by a horrific playoff game that put the Oilers into a hole they couldn't recover from.

What's frustrating to me is that other teams were able to clear salary with relative ease but we can't find anyone to take on our anchors? Kris Russell has no reason to still be here.
 
PositiveCashFlow

PositiveCashFlow

Snowmen fall to earth unassembled
Jul 10, 2007
5,776
2,613
A considering we’re not a high profile destination. Same result on a California team would be a B-/C
 
GretzkytoKurri9917

GretzkytoKurri9917

"LIVE LONG AND PROSPER"
Oct 6, 2008
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GreatKeith said:
B-. All the signings prior to Smith were good, but that guy absolutely shouldn't be in an Oilers jersey next year. I get familiarity and all that but he really wasn't great as the season went on, punctuated by a horrific playoff game that put the Oilers into a hole they couldn't recover from.

What's frustrating to me is that other teams were able to clear salary with relative ease but we can't find anyone to take on our anchors? Kris Russell has no reason to still be here.
Click to expand...


It's like we're a parts store and nobody wants what we're selling.


Says a lot.
 
Satire

Satire

Registered User
Nov 20, 2016
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I thought he did well with what was on the table. I gave him a B, but in fairness I'm not sure an A was an option on the table with the cards we had to play.

I am satisfied with what Holland did, and I think he played the hand he was dealt very well.
 
BlackDogg

BlackDogg

perpetuum defectum
Oct 3, 2015
41,125
41,355
GreatKeith said:
B-. All the signings prior to Smith were good, but that guy absolutely shouldn't be in an Oilers jersey next year. I get familiarity and all that but he really wasn't great as the season went on, punctuated by a horrific playoff game that put the Oilers into a hole they couldn't recover from.

What's frustrating to me is that other teams were able to clear salary with relative ease but we can't find anyone to take on our anchors? Kris Russell has no reason to still be here.
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Familiar but still a massive overpay considering he's technically the backup. And Kosk, site unseen, salary is just assanine. They seem to love overpaying in goal
 
MuzzaFuzza

MuzzaFuzza

MVP(s)
Apr 20, 2012
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Red Deer
The JP, Turris and Barrie signings were slam dunks, A's for those for sure.

Really didn't want Smith back but I don't know which goalie i would have rather paid in FA. Seemed to me like the goalies got PAID this year. Would have liked Greiss but we wouldn't have been able to fit him in under the cap.

And Ennis. I like him, but more as a bottom 6 forward and we have so many bottom 6 wingers we don't know what to do with them all, would have liked that money to go someone that is more likely to fit in the top 6 (Kahun or Duclair). I guess its possible Holland circles back around on the forwards still looking for contracts in a couple weeks, but would need to move out another player to do so.
 
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FlameChampion

FlameChampion

Registered User
Jul 13, 2011
13,649
15,265
PositiveCashFlow said:
Smith at 1.5+ is by far the worst overpay. That’s saying something
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Uh, I dunno. Smith is one of the worst goalie signed over the last 2 days. I dont think its really all that debatable.

But when you compare 1yr 1.5+ mil to someone like Greiss 2yr 3.6mil. I dunno man, that quite the pay difference especially with the flat cap. Thats another pretty good player. I think 1.5mil + is an overpay for Smith personally, but I think some of these other goalies got overpayed more.
 
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