What's our real problem?

Mr Forever

The Oilers :(
Nov 18, 2010
13,283
1
COLLEGE
Honestly to me of that group, Gagner sticks out as the one who's most expendable but they just re-upped him.

Yakupov's game will come around, it's already starting to turn for the better IMO.

My top two are Perron and RNH because of the overall games the play. By bottom two are Hemsky and Gagner. Yak, Hall and Eberle are in the middle.
 

whlscowt

Guest
Lack of synergy and consistency both on and off the ice. Too many people are on different pages.

The most glaring of these synergistic problem for me is Eakins. He's a good coach, he proved that at the AHL level. However, I don't think the Oilers main core is built for his style of game and I don't know if they'd ever excel at it the way he needs them to for his system to work. Don't get me wrong, the players need to play better, but I think the current issues start with coaching.

edit: And I wanted to add I think a coach like Peter Laviolette, who's won with some very stacked offensive teams, with marginal defense, would be a great option. He might not be the long term answer but I think he'd be a solid improvement.
 
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KlimasLoveChild

Registered User
Feb 25, 2012
2,922
570
My top two are Perron and RNH because of the overall games the play. By bottom two are Hemsky and Gagner. Yak, Hall and Eberle are in the middle.

Two of Gagner, Hemsky,Yak,Ebs need to be sent on their way and replaced by solid gritty veteran players.
 

Horseradish

Registered User
Dec 9, 2005
4,342
0
London, ON
I agree. But I don't think it comes down to adding a Big 4C or some other 3LW. We need to decide who of Gagner, Hemsky, RNH, Perron, Eberle, Yak and Hall are staying and who aren't. I think a Nash type trade for a Dubinsky, Anisimov and Erixon would pay dividends for this team. And no, we can't keep all of them no matter how precious we think they are.

Stupid to trade them when their value is so low and Edmonton's bargaining position is pure, hot garbage.

Then again, nobody will want to trade any of our stars when they're putting up PPG numbers either.

Damned it you do and don't.

The fact that MacT's trade for Perron wasn't heavily scrutinized with people coming out of the woodwork calling for his head is a testament to how brilliant that trade really was.
 

Draiskull

Registered User
Oct 26, 2005
23,320
2,160
Stupid to trade them when their value is so low and Edmonton's bargaining position is pure, hot garbage.

Then again, nobody will want to trade any of our stars when they're putting up PPG numbers either.

Damned it you do and don't.

The fact that MacT's trade for Perron wasn't heavily scrutinized with people coming out of the woodwork calling for his head is a testament to how brilliant that trade really was.

Hemsky's current value might actually be as high as it will ever be. He has been healthy, strong 2way game, created some offense..

Might be a good time to flip him for something... Plenty of teams that can use a jolt of offense..
 

Parch

Registered User
Jul 31, 2005
440
0
The defensive lapses are the reason why I'm willing to cut the goaltending some slack. Yeah, at times they haven't looked good, but they're also facing the rubber storm with odd man rushes and a lot of quality shots. I really don't think getting someone else like Hiller or Miller is going to make a damn bit of difference other than to create another forward hole.

It would be nice to see the top two lines healthy, and there is a lot of growing up to do (this means you Yak). I also concur that Eager should be in this lineup and matching top lines isn't working. Defensive awareness is seriously lacking, and I'm really starting to have doubts about Eakin's system. Another lottery shot means management and coaching have failed miserably.
 

Shanahanigans

Registered User
Jun 16, 2011
2,265
1,653
A lot of people are saying things like our young guys aren't good enough, we're missing top pairing defense, a solid goaltender, etc. Look at Calgary. Their roster is 1000X worse than ours. They look like cup champs compared to us.
 

oilexport

Registered User
Aug 29, 2010
2,019
624
Team Defence-our system gives up too much 2 on 1's. We can't knock anybody off the puck in our zone. D is built for mobility but they all end up caught up ice. A couple of lumberjacks back there would do wonders, a better mix...

Goaltending- could be better

Rookie gm

Rookie coach

Nepotism - Acton (don't care if he is good or not, appearance alone causes moral problems), Bucky, Steve Smith, someone mentioned our head scout Dave Samenko...

All comes down to leadership and new hires by this guy, Kevin Lowe. Lowe was a real good coach, he got pressed into service with the G.M. job...

This team will be good even with the personel we have once they gel but it looks to be too late for this year. I'm still not giving up hope, I still love my Oilers, they are my team since 1978.
 

KeithIsActuallyBad

You thrust your pelvis, huh!
Apr 12, 2010
71,824
30,735
Calgary
A lot of people are saying things like our young guys aren't good enough, we're missing top pairing defense, a solid goaltender, etc. Look at Calgary. Their roster is 1000X worse than ours. They look like cup champs compared to us.

The thing also to consider here is that Feaster didn't touch the roster much in the off-season. He made one even trade and a couple tweaks here and there.

Sound familiar?
 

MISC*

Guest
Canucks fan:


I agree with Mr.Forever 100000%.

The Oilers drafted amazing young talent and have ZERO quality vets to teach them how to transition in and be successful in the NHL.

This is the number one reason. Horcoff and Smyth are teaching them? Horrible.

Should have threw some money at some quality vets. Thornton. Trade for Zetterberg. Alffie. Hell, even the Sedins if they make it to UFA.
 

Groucho

Tier 1 Fan
Aug 17, 2010
6,624
0
Displaced
A lot of people are saying things like our young guys aren't good enough, we're missing top pairing defense, a solid goaltender, etc. Look at Calgary. Their roster is 1000X worse than ours. They look like cup champs compared to us.

This is because Calgary is playing as a team.

Whoever said on this page that too many players are on their own page was right. This team isn't playing as a team right now. They don't have each others back, they aren't doing what their coach is asking them to. At least, they don't for 60 minutes anyway. I've definitely seen worse Oilers teams than this the last few years, somethings got to give.
 

McShogun99

Registered User
Aug 30, 2009
17,790
13,182
Edmonton
Canucks fan:


I agree with Mr.Forever 100000%.

The Oilers drafted amazing young talent and have ZERO quality vets to teach them how to transition in and be successful in the NHL.

This is the number one reason. Horcoff and Smyth are teaching them? Horrible.

Should have threw some money at some quality vets. Thornton. Trade for Zetterberg. Alffie. Hell, even the Sedins if they make it to UFA.

That's why we need a veteran top pairing defenceman to teach all the young D prospects coming up. Hall/Ebs/Yak/RNH and Gagner never had that. We should have made an effort this past off season to bring in Morrow and Jagr, they have a lot of knowledge that could be passed down to our forwards.
 

Parch

Registered User
Jul 31, 2005
440
0
Calgary had a hot start but they've come back to reality. They've got squat and won't be a factor.
 

Toydarian

Registered User
Jun 2, 2009
2,732
2
Something to consider in regards to the Oilers drafted players, one of the primary reasons for drafting BPA is that player should be a valuable trade piece if the organization needs to make changes.
 

freedomisamyth

Registered User
Nov 10, 2010
64
0
Well the immediate issue for them being as bad as they have been come down to two things:

1) goaltending
2) injuries

If they have average goaltending and don't lose gagner and hall, this is at least a .500 team.

They still have other issues that they would have to fix before they'd be a playoff team, but people wouldn't be panicking about the state of the team and making hilarious posts about how it's all KLowe's fault.

Other issues that stop this from being a playoff team unless they are fixed:
1) learning a new system - we definitely lost a few games because of breakdowns in the early season, but other than a few people (read: yakupov, who gives up a goal a game at least with brainfarts) they seem to be getting it now so I don't see it as a problem long terms. Eakins system seems to be working better than Krueger's when they actually run it properly.

2) too many players who thrive in the same role, and not enough who thrive in other needed roles. We were kinda thrown into it by the BPA in our drafts, but it also doesn't help having players like hemsky still around. I've always hoped that the young guns can balance out their game and become more hard on the puck, and I still think they will - but probably not in time. I think it'll be once they are in their mid twenties before that happens. None of them can go to the net effectively. We get lots of chances but a lot are foiled by our players not being strong enough to get at rebounds, and no one (except perron and for a few games joenseuu) is driving the net and distracting the defensemen so that the little quick guys can jump on pucks and score - instead every chance is a battle for them and they aren't winning. Just watch, every game we get a ton of chances in the crease but just can't get a way a good shot in time.

3) Special teams. Lots of fans seem to be blaming this on Eakins, but I think that is sorely misguided. I think it goes back to #2 again when it comes to the PK - not enough good penalty killers. Gordon is literally the only one the Oilers have had this year. Acton could be, but he's a rookie, and has moments where he has struggled. Hall and Hemsky were disasterous, but I don't blame Eakins for trying: who else did he have? RNH/Eberle/Perron are all okay and getting better, but are average at best at it at this point. People blame Eakins, but the entire personnel on the PK has been different. No horcoff, no petrell, no belanger, no gagner (the one kid who is actually pretty good at it). Those were the top PK'ers last year, and other than Boyd, they are better than anyone on this years team.

The PP hasn't been scoring at the rate you'd like, but I don't see any issues with their 'system'. I see a few games where they were brain dead and couldn't make it into the zone (no coaches system would ever look like that). I see games missing 3 top line PP players in RNH/Gagner/Hall). I see Yak whiffing on every single one timer he's been set up for, or best case scenario shooting it right into the crest. I see a reluctance so far to go to the front of the net, and shoot.

4) not enough players that do the little things right. People point to Pittsburgh and Chicago's rebuilds, but they didn't have anywhere near this many young players in key positions. They had a couple stars, and the rest were good veterans. Too many young kids playing means too many mistakes and not enough little things being done. Only way to get through that is to trade some of them for veterans, or wait it out for however long it takes for them to figure it out. And for some kids, it takes awhile.
 

oilersrule14

Registered User
May 13, 2003
1,546
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3) Special teams. Lots of fans seem to be blaming this on Eakins, but I think that is sorely misguided. I think it goes back to #2 again when it comes to the PK - not enough good penalty killers. Gordon is literally the only one the Oilers have had this year. Acton could be, but he's a rookie, and has moments where he has struggled. Hall and Hemsky were disasterous, but I don't blame Eakins for trying: who else did he have? RNH/Eberle/Perron are all okay and getting better, but are average at best at it at this point. People blame Eakins, but the entire personnel on the PK has been different. No horcoff, no petrell, no belanger, no gagner (the one kid who is actually pretty good at it). Those were the top PK'ers last year, and other than Boyd, they are better than anyone on this years team.

Sorry, the change in personnel is on Eakins, he's the guy that wants to play the skill players on the PK. Ya, we don't have Horcoff or Belanger, but we've replaced them with Gordon and Acton. Gordon is a very similar player to Horcoff, if not better, and Acton, well, that's Eakins' guy. If he's not as good as Belanger, whose fault is it other than Eakins.

On the wing, the go to guys last two years were Jones, Smyth, and Petrell. Jones and Smyth are still on the team but are not used on the PK this year, Petrell is easily replacable.

Even if you somehow convince me that Belanger and Petrell are world beaters that can't be replaced, if it's a personnel problem as you say it is, then he is only compounding that problem by not playing the wingers that had success the previous years.
 

Up the Irons

Registered User
Mar 9, 2008
7,681
389
Canada
Klowe always going outside the box, thinking he knows something no one else does, and hires the unproven rookie manager or coach. He never should have hired Tambellini and they never should have fired Renney. these are two most fundamental mistakes.

Hire a proven manager, hire a proven coach and stick with him.
 

Nic

Registered User
Apr 30, 2004
354
0
The more I think about it, the more I think that the Oilers should have built this team from the defence out, St. Louis style.

Don't get me wrong, it's kind of hard to strongly question picks like Hall, RNH, Yakupov since they were all either the best player available or very close, but maybe the Oilers should have used a pick to land an elite defencemen. You can talk about best player available all you want, but even if they were this has not made Edmonton a good team, the results speak for themselves.

We've been stuck with people like Pitkanen, Gilbert, Brewer and Whitney as our best defencemen, while so many teams have way more to work with

Honestly all of our defencemen are bottom 4 d-men on many teams in the league. We need elite talent back there way more than at forward. Bold moves are called for
 

La Bamba

Tier 2 Fan
Aug 23, 2009
9,414
5,771
I got a long list...

1. Bad goaltending and nothing looking promising in the pipeline
2. Horrible defence. Jeff Petry is our #1 but would be a #3/4 on a good team.
3. Lack of confidence. Many years of losing have had their toll on our guys.
4. Lack of grit in the lineup. The Oilers get pushed around and can't do anything about it.
5. Bad scouting. You'd think with 30th, 30th, 29th and 23th finishes, we'd have an amazing prospect cupboard right now but almost every guy outside the 1st overall picks(actually Yakupov isn't looking good so far) isn't looking like a future NHL regular

The Oilers were build from the offence and out and that has screwed them.

If we want to see a contending them, one of Hall, Eberle or Yakupov have to go for a true stud d-man, weather we like it or not. Signing/acquiring a true #1 goalie is the main priority right now IMO
 

PaPaDee

5-14-6-1
Sep 21, 2005
13,335
2,093
Saskazoo
The problem is that we've put together the Harlem Globetrotters of the NHL, yes they're skilled and fun to watch, but they won't win games.
 

Zguy370

Registered User
Dec 25, 2007
6,399
1,922
Goaltending: Haven't found a replacement for Tommy Salo yet
Defence; Haven't found a replacement for Janne NIINIMAA yet
Center; Haven't found a replacement for Doug Weight yet (maybe RHN but I doubt it)

Still employed by this organization instead of bring in new blood; Lowe, MacT, Smith, Bucky., etc and possibly the best one of all Huddy was let go, lol
 

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