Quote:
Originally Posted by macrov
I agree that they have a very good top 6 or top 9 or even top 12. The forwards are above avg and the goaltending is average.
But...the defense is awful. They have 3 defensemen who would slot into a 5-6 spot. And 3 AHL caliber defensemen. On top of that the forwards don't play a good 2 way game.
Aka bad coaching and bad management
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I agree about the forwards, I think it's a pretty good group for the most part. I also think they're getting better at the defensive side.
Goaltending is below average, well below average, probably the worst in the NHL. Last season, the team goals-against for the Oilers was 2.71. This year it's 3.45. The second worst team in the NHL is the Islanders at 3.19 and Calgary is third worst at 3.10. That's how bad it is.
If the Oilers even matched their GAA from last year, they would have allowed 50 less goals. That's one less goal against per game almost.
The defence is also worst in the NHL. They have a 4-5 in Justin Schultz, a 4-5 in Jeff Petry and a 5-6 in Andrew Ference. Everyone else should be playing in the AHL.
The other problem for the Oilers is that they have zero prospects. Absolutely everyone on their farm team will be lucky to be a fourth line forward or third pairing defenceman. Plus, all their draft picks except maybe Darnell Nurse is projecting the same way. So the only way they can get better is if they move some of their top forwards for defence help.
Unfortunately for them, all that's going to do is shift their issues from defence to forward.
You look at the forwards they have: Eberle, Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Perron, Yakupov, Gagner, Hemsky. Hemsky will be gone at the deadline for a 2nd or 3rd rounder (probably a 3rd), Gagner will be gone at the draft for not a whole lot, maybe in exchange for a bad contract like Clarkson or maybe for an okay defenceman like Hjalmarsson.
Suddenly, there's not a whole lot of scoring firepower. You have the three kids and Perron having to carry the load for the entire team (Yakupov is a wild card).
Oilers are in a world of hurt. And no, they're not trying to lose.