Eberle and RNH have peaked, IMO. Larsson is what he is, same with the rest of the D. The rest are role players. Some will improve, some will not, some will go backwards.
Guys like Klefbom, Nurse, and Benning still have potential for growth.
That's half the D-core.
The odds can and will change based on bets, but these would be the opening odds.
How the fan base traditionally bets and media hype certainly plays into it...The Sens came within a hair of taking out the Pens this season and look at their odds.
Anyone just making hockey odds would certainly choose the Hawks over the Oilers. Vegas odds are just them hedging their bets, they make money no matter what happens
Oilers fans are dumb...they see these odds as a good thing and put money down, its not a good value bet at all
When they were the "cup favorites" in round two I know a ton of morons who gave Vegas their money...Pens and Caps were the obvious favorites in reality
I love it. Really there's nowhere to go for the Oilers but down as the expectations are now unrealistically high. They already will be starting the season with a more significant injury than they had to deal with all last season. They still can't win games consistently unless Talbot stands on his head which is never a recipe for long term success. Now they have the added burden of extremely high expectations which means any slump or stretch of bad games will result in panic amongst the local media and fans and players will be thrown under the bus left and right. Things are always fun when you are playing above expectations but when the expectations are so high that even playing decent doesn't suffice, smiles in the locker room are displaced by frowns and sulking. They will be in the mix for the playoffs as the division stinks as I feel the Sharks are nearing steep decline and the Kings are mediocre so really the Oilers only have to keep pace with the Ducks and Flames.
Your right. The Oilers will have to keep pace with the flames. Great hockey analysis.
Guys like Klefbom, Nurse, and Benning still have potential for growth.
That's half the D-core.
Nurse has shown no sign of improving his game IMO. If you think Kelfbom has upward room, I disagree. He scored 38 points. I don't see much more than that out of him. Benning - who knows but this is like when Sutter figured every single player on his team would add a few points from the previous one.
I will say this, if the improvement is not next year, it's not for the forseeable future.
Nurse has shown no sign of improving his game IMO. If you think Kelfbom has upward room, I disagree. He scored 38 points. I don't see much more than that out of him. Benning - who knows but this is like when Sutter figured every single player on his team would add a few points from the previous one.
I will say this, if the improvement is not next year, it's not for the forseeable future.
Its not really even about adding points or scoring. The Oilers are already there in goals for and against.
Its about improving team play, and consistency. You've got a lot of guys who haven't even played 200 NHL games yet. Their peak play is still ahead of them even if they have already gotten close to their peal point potential.
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Your right. The Oilers will have to keep pace with the flames. Great hockey analysis.
Do you not agree that the division is crap? Would you consider it great analysis if I said the division is the Oilers to lose? I feel if the Flames get league average goaltending or better they should be in the mix for the division title with the Ducks and maybe the Oilers providing their regression isn't too steep.
Do you not agree that the division is crap? Would you consider it great analysis if I said the division is the Oilers to lose? I feel if the Flames get league average goaltending or better they should be in the mix for the division title with the Ducks and maybe the Oilers providing their regression isn't too steep.
I think the top 4/5 teams in the division are pretty good. Just as good as the Central Division anyway. Right there with the Atlantic as well. No one touches the Metro obviously.
I don't see why you think the Oilers are due to regress.
They weren't like the 2014/15 Flames that made the playoffs while getting outshot and outfancied while winning all of their extra point games, and leading the league in improbable 3rd period comebacks.
The Oilers were 9th in the league in shots for/against at ES. 9th in Fenwick, and 18th in corsi.
They were a solid team last year. Yeah, they had a good season for injuries, but so did the Flames.
Oilers fans in here defending the odds are all the proof you need...there is more to it than who they think has the best team. No decent hockey person thinks the Oilers are better than the Hawks
I think the top 4/5 teams in the division are pretty good. Just as good as the Central Division anyway. Right there with the Atlantic as well. No one touches the Metro obviously.
I don't see why you think the Oilers are due to regress.
They weren't like the 2014/15 Flames that made the playoffs while getting outshot and outfancied while winning all of their extra point games, and leading the league in improbable 3rd period comebacks.
The Oilers were 9th in the league in shots for/against at ES. 9th in Fenwick, and 18th in corsi.
They were a solid team last year. Yeah, they had a good season for injuries, but so did the Flames.
Flames really didn't have a great season but they still finished with only two wins less than the Oilers. I think the Flames can easily improve on last season while the Oilers probably won't have as many things go their way and I believe like Montreal with Price they depend on Talbot far too much. I wouldn't go as far to say the Oilers will miss the playoffs but I also wouldn't be shocked if they did. Flames could also miss the playoffs as we saw with the Stars the NHL can be a year to year thing with teams as some seasons a lot of things go your way and other seasons not so much.
Do you not agree that the division is crap? Would you consider it great analysis if I said the division is the Oilers to lose? I feel if the Flames get league average goaltending or better they should be in the mix for the division title with the Ducks and maybe the Oilers providing their regression isn't too steep.
The problem with your opinion is you assume for some reason the Oilers regress and the the flames progress. With nothing to back up the opinion.
If the Jets sign a good goalie they could be a fantastic pick at 45/1.
Schiefele, Laine, Little, Wheeler, Ehlers, Byfuglien, Myers, Trouba, Enstrom.
Yeah they under-performed last year for sure. They are definitely a way better team than those odds. They need to fire Maurice though. Maybe get Darryl Sutter. I think his style would mix well with the players they have on that team.
The problem with your opinion is you assume for some reason the Oilers regress and the the flames progress. With nothing to back up the opinion.
Lets see. In this thread I have mentioned that they already face a bigger injury loss in Sekera before the season started and chances are they won't be as fortunate on the injury front. They going to overpay for Russell? If not their defense group looks like it's taking a major step back. I mentioned they won't get the same cupcake schedule as last season. I mentioned that high expectations are a burden (many teams coming off unexpected seasons regress the following season under higher expectations) and that teams will not take the Oilers lightly. I also mentioned the Oilers rely on Talbot far too much as a team that wins most nights based on a goaltender stealing games typically gets shown up as a fraud (see Montreal Canadiens).
In regards to the Flames even if they don't make progress and end up with 95 points that's probably going to be good enough to be neck and neck or ahead of the Oilers. That said they will be coming into training camp knowing the system unlike last season where it took three months to get Hartley hockey out of their system and play a more responsible style. Also the Flames received below average goaltending last season and still finished only two wins behind the Oilers. Also Monahan and Gaudreau struggled offensively for the first half of the season switching to a new system. Chances are that they start the season much better. It's pretty reasonable to expect if the Flames receive just average NHL goaltending they should be as good or better than last season.
You happy? It's my opinion. You don't have to agree just as if you said you think the Oilers are a lock for another 100 point season I would disagree.
Yeah they under-performed last year for sure. They are definitely a way better team than those odds. They need to fire Maurice though. Maybe get Darryl Sutter. I think his style would mix well with the players they have on that team.
It's a shame for Jets fans that the team didn't fire Maurice and get a better head coach. I imagine if they receive better goaltending they will be instantly better but it's hard to overlook just how mediocre a head coach Maurice is. He's coaches 1365 games which is a hell of a long career for a head coach and has a .510 winning percentage so there's ample time and evidence to support that he's the very definition of mediocrity in the coaching fraternity. It's pretty clear that when he's your head coach you are going to hover around .500 so the best a Jets fan could feel is cautious optimism that they may be a little better.
