Who is going to let us down this year?

[GMofOilers]

Yakupov

1st round pick in his fourth year, anything less then 30 goals let down for a player I hear has the best and hardest shot on the team, one of the most skilled and hardest workers on the team. Hes a pure sniper, thats his game. I also hear hes been really held back by Eakins and has played way better with every coach other than Eakins.

 

[OneMoreAstronaut]

We've got the whole rest of the year to (potentially) be negative. No thanks.

 

[Faelko]

Let's balance it out!

Surprise Player: Nilsson
Might struggle: Klefbom

 

[KCC]

Talbot, Lander Sekera

Dont grill me but I dont think Hall and Mcdavid will live up to expectations in year 1

As a line I haven't seen much chemistry at all. But then again it's still far too early. Purcell didn't seem like a good fit, but Drais did. That could work well.

 

[tempest2i]

the you would win that one

Nice. I never win anything.

 

[Replacement*]

Replacement;

Effin old negative codger not getting with the new renewed Oil Change program fast enough.

Showing increasing wear. Not anything close to total buy in currently. Eakins really hurt his development. Posting remains the same count but less and less substance/60mins. Increasing notable errors/60mins. Grievous decline in avatar bets/60mins which used to be automatic.

Thread starts all but disappeared.

Not showing topsix status on board anymore. Settling into lesser role, letting other posters do heavy digging, and suspected to cut corners and not bring enough effort.

Still gets in on the reply forecheck, resilient and persistent and gets others to cough up some rebound replies but has lost a step and not on his game nearly as sharp. Iron man status though and plays every game and can be counted on to be in the lineup.

Looks to be fine vet supporting cast though but definitely not deserving of a letter anymore at this stage..Could be a contractual burden this year or next.

Man I hand deliver this softball pitch for the benefit of board and its post 25 in a page and nobody catches it.

 

[TheBrew]

Replacement;

Effin old negative codger not getting with the new renewed Oil Change program fast enough.

Showing increasing wear. Not anything close to total buy in currently. Eakins really hurt his development. Posting remains the same count but less and less substance/60mins. Increasing notable errors/60mins. Grievous decline in avatar bets/60mins which used to be automatic.

Thread starts all but disappeared.

Not showing topsix status on board anymore. Settling into lesser role, letting other posters do heavy digging, and suspected to cut corners and not bring enough effort.

Still gets in on the reply forecheck, resilient and persistent and gets others to cough up some rebound replies but has lost a step and not on his game nearly as sharp. Iron man status though and plays every game and can be counted on to be in the lineup.

Looks to be fine vet supporting cast though but definitely not deserving of a letter anymore at this stage..Could be a contractual burden this year or next.

 

[CupofOil]

Replacement;

Effin old negative codger not getting with the new renewed Oil Change program fast enough.

Showing increasing wear. Not anything close to total buy in currently. Eakins really hurt his development. Posting remains the same count but less and less substance/60mins. Increasing notable errors/60mins. Grievous decline in avatar bets/60mins which used to be automatic.

Thread starts all but disappeared.

Not showing topsix status on board anymore. Settling into lesser role, letting other posters do heavy digging, and suspected to cut corners and not bring enough effort.

Still gets in on the reply forecheck, resilient and persistent and gets others to cough up some rebound replies but has lost a step and not on his game nearly as sharp. Iron man status though and plays every game and can be counted on to be in the lineup.

Looks to be fine vet supporting cast though but definitely not deserving of a letter anymore at this stage..Could be a contractual burden this year or next.

narcissist or narcist

[nahr-suh-sist]
Spell Syllables
noun

1.
a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish.
2.
Psychoanalysis. a person who suffers from narcissism, deriving erotic gratification from admiration of his or her own physical or mental attributes.

 

[Replacement*]

narcissist or narcist

[nahr-suh-sist]
Spell Syllables
noun

1.
a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish.
2.
Psychoanalysis. a person who suffers from narcissism, deriving erotic gratification from admiration of his or her own physical or mental attributes.

What would be the 3rd category regarding somebody capable of self deprecating humor?

For the peanut gallery that's not defecating just to be clear.

I might be closer to masochist given my longterm addiction to the Oil.

 

[CupofOil]

I might be closer to masochist given my longterm addiction to the Oil.

Join the club

 

[Timo]

The posters of HFboards.

/thread

 

[McGoMcD]

The posters of HFboards.

/thread

 

[nexttothemoon]

Players who may underperform (in some cases... yet again)

Purcell
Korpikoski
Lander

Klefbom
Nikitin
Reinhart
Schultz

Talbot
Scrivens


I put up the most obvious ones (to me).

We are putting a LOT of expectations on Talbot. I think as a fanbase we are expecting him to come in and be a legit starter who can play 50+ games of above average hockey. The potential for him to put in a sub 91% sv pct type season is quite high considering the defense he has to play behind.

Of course even if Talbot doesn't play "stellar", he's still likely to be an improvement over Scrivens/Fasth... but I think he has the potential to disappoint us if he doesn't have a good/great season. If Scrivens/Nilsson can play decent back up it sure would take the pressure off him somewhat though.

Purcell will disappoint no doubt... too soft and passionless... but stapled on a line with Hall/McDavid he'll probably still slurp up enough secondary points that he'll have his share of backers saying that he's "ok".

Lander I would love to see keep up his solid play and become a solid 3rd liner... but I'm still wondering if what we saw late last season will be able to be kept up or whether he'll regress to what he did earlier in the NHL... which was basically nothing.

Koropikoski sucked in Phoenix/Arizona and injury excuses can't last forever. Hopefully he won't continue sucking but I'd say there's a higher than average chance he'll continue the suckage on this defensively mediocre team.

Everyone is expecting Klefbom to keep on progressing and improving as he develops into a solid top 4 dman and really I think a lot are hoping he could be a pseudo top pairing guy soonish. Ya, I don't see that yet and I think expectations are ahead of reality on Klefbom. I think behind Sekera many see Klefbom as the logical and obvious 2nd best dman on the team and he'll likely be playing above his head for too many minutes, especially if Sekera goes down to injury for any stretch at all.

Nikitin... well he's Nikitin so he can't really disappoint at this stage.. probably disappointing that he's on the roster at all more than anything but he really can't disappoint to the downside at this point. He honestly has the potential to surprise to the upside... but will likely do neither and just continue to be mediocre... AKA Ference level.

Reinhart I think could disappoint just because some are expecting him to be on the cusp of being an NHL player at this stage... especially after the Oil gave up a couple decent picks for him... but I doubt he's ready and he may not BE ready for another year or maybe even two.

Schultz... well potential is here for boom or bust. We all want him to show a little more passion and be that 40+ pt dman who doesn't give away more than he contributes. I think many are probably expecting him to fail at this stage so it wouldn't be surprising if he never lives up to the sky high expectations we all had for him... but it would still be awful disappointing if he busts.


Yak is a special case... boom or bust and damn would it be disappointing if he doesn't live up to what he was supposed to become... but at this stage I just want him to succeed even if he's not going to become the star we thought he would be just because he seems to be such a nice guy off the ice and he works his ass off and wants to succeed. Will he disappoint... I hope not but at this stage I've already lowered my lofty expectations of what he'll become.

 

[IAGTTAYM]

I think Korpikoski and Reinhart might suprise a few. I like them both.

As for someone that might end up being underwhelming, I'd raise a flag for Sekera. Some of his underlying numbers are worrying. And with a $5.5M contract, you'd expect a clear cut first pairing d-man.

 

[smokersarejokers]

HAHA I love this board sometimes.

I understand we have this, and I may have partaken in years past, but not this year.

I finally have confidence in coaching and management to make the right personnel decisions.

I'm Randy Quaid at the beginning of Major League 2 right now haha.

 

[Bangers]

Replacement;

Effin old negative codger not getting with the new renewed Oil Change program fast enough.

Showing increasing wear. Not anything close to total buy in currently. Eakins really hurt his development. Posting remains the same count but less and less substance/60mins. Increasing notable errors/60mins. Grievous decline in avatar bets/60mins which used to be automatic.

Thread starts all but disappeared.

Not showing topsix status on board anymore. Settling into lesser role, letting other posters do heavy digging, and suspected to cut corners and not bring enough effort.

Still gets in on the reply forecheck, resilient and persistent and gets others to cough up some rebound replies but has lost a step and not on his game nearly as sharp. Iron man status though and plays every game and can be counted on to be in the lineup.

Looks to be fine vet supporting cast though but definitely not deserving of a letter anymore at this stage..Could be a contractual burden this year or next.

Sounds remarkably close to Ethan Moreau near the end...

 

[DisgruntledGoat*]

Sekera because It appears a lot of fans see him as a major upgrade and a top pairing D.

As a player, I think he's a lot closer to Petry than what some are expecting.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

If it has to be someone I'll say defense. Sekera, Hayne, Klefbom, Schultz, Reinhardt, etc.. Could all disappoint.

We still have no number one guy and only 2-3 top 4 guys IMO

 

[Young Lions*]

Gonna say what everyone fears....







McDavid.

 

[Zaddy]

I could see Lander taking a step back, especially if he is on a line with Drai and Yak.

 

[Crobby]

Replacement;

Effin old negative codger not getting with the new renewed Oil Change program fast enough.

Showing increasing wear. Not anything close to total buy in currently. Eakins really hurt his development. Posting remains the same count but less and less substance/60mins. Increasing notable errors/60mins. Grievous decline in avatar bets/60mins which used to be automatic.

Thread starts all but disappeared.

Not showing topsix status on board anymore. Settling into lesser role, letting other posters do heavy digging, and suspected to cut corners and not bring enough effort.

Still gets in on the reply forecheck, resilient and persistent and gets others to cough up some rebound replies but has lost a step and not on his game nearly as sharp. Iron man status though and plays every game and can be counted on to be in the lineup.

Looks to be fine vet supporting cast though but definitely not deserving of a letter anymore at this stage..Could be a contractual burden this year or next.

I'm not sure how HF contracts work. Can you be bought-out or is it more of an Old Yeller thing..?

 

[Mr Positive]

I hope not Talbot. Please be good.

Although I believe between the three goalies one will be good at least.

 

[nabob]

You just can't help yourself can you ...

I was going to say Paajarvi but if expectations are nil then it's difficult to be disappointed.

 

[nexttothemoon]

I like the "positive spin" thing as well... so I'll put that here as well.... (unless there is another thread for that but I didn't see it. )

Players that could surprise to the upside...

Draisaitl - I think he could have a very good season... either on the wing or at centre on the 3rd line... he may even sneak up into the top 6 by season's end. I think he knows his weaknesses and works his ass off to improve... he just strikes me as someone who will progress quickly and fit in wherever they put him because of his high hockey IQ and talent.

Nilsson - he had fairly mediocre numbers in his short stint with the Isles but showed very well in the KHL. We all know goalies take longer to develop and he's still young for a goalie at 25 plus he's huge in the net... 6'5" and 227.

If he plays as well as he did in the KHL he could be a HUGE surprise and could take some of the pressure off Talbot because as I said in a post above... I think most are expecting/hoping Talbot can be a solid 50+ game starter. If Nilsson comes in and carries over his solid KHL form and shows he can be a solid backup... and hell maybe even push Talbot for the starter job, this team could be SOLID in net instead of terrible.

I'm being optimistic here on the goalies but the last time I thought they had it figured out with Fasth/Scrivens we all saw how that went. I thought at least 1 of those 2 would be solid as well so it could all be just round 2 with 2 more largely unproven goalies.

Law of averages say the Oilers have to strike on a decent goalie somewhere along the line here though... right... right?

 

[0ilerman]

Nurse - by continuing to make poor decisions with and without the puck. Way too much risk