WHAT IF Nikitin and Hall....

[AM]

I hope the new lottery method gets nicknamed the Oilers' lottery, or something like that. I want Lowe to wear this forever. He deserves to be regarded in the same way Mike Milbury is.

btw, Hall is easily a top 5 LW in the league. After last year, he was top 2. Not the least bit worried about Hall.

Nikitin? who knows. maybe he can be better, but, i doubt it.

You do realize, when they change the rules to stop teams from doing something, it's because others would do the same. Explain why others would do the same if they don't think it a benefit to them?

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

.. Improve on the same level as Nelson has improved Eberle, Yak, RNH, Shultz, etc....

Say Hall becomes a top 10 RWer in the league again. And Nikitin becomes a RELIABLE number 3 defenceman with offensive potential.

Where does this put the Oilers next year with the same roster?

25th

 

[TheGuyInTheChair]

Bottom 10 at best.

 

[T-Funk]

If he's a top 5 winger, that must mean Gaudreau is top 2.

Multiple great years pulls a little more weight than 1 where an entire team is exceeding expectations.

 

[McArthur]

Most of us who watched Nikitin play before the Oilers got him... knew he was a bottom pairing guy at best... so did Columbus.

I'm not sure what MacT or the Oiler "pro" scouts saw that no one else did.

I guess the same things they saw in Barker, Grebeshkov, Foster, Ference etc. Yes I know some of those were before MacT came along... but basically the same level of success before and since.

i'm going to call it scott howsons contribution. also, I'm not huge on Ference, but this is the closest to inconsistent he's been since he's signed with us. He was never amazing, just consistently professional. The d-core has been a revolving door, and Ference has been left to play babysitter. Ference is not the problem. And if i'm wrong, we still have much bigger problems.

 

[tiger_80]

Has not Nikitin been playing with a lingering back injury? If so, that would explain his poor conditioning. I think he's better than what he has been thus far, but that's not saying much, if he does not return to form.