[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

• Expectations “got away from us” after 2017 success. Good pieces on the team and in the organisation, just need to surround them him with good players.

That's more accurate. Oilers have McDavid. That is pretty well it. Draisaitl does nothing without McDavid, and he proves it every time they split the dynamic solo up. McDavid generates points with anyone. Draisaitl generates points with only McDavid. Period.

The rest of the team is pure garbage. There is another guy I will single out.
I'm so tired of the Klefbom hype. They guy is buttery soft and wears an orange helmet on most nights. Doesn't generate much offense, and is coddled like an emerging superstar. The guy is a less version of TJ Brodie, and when I say lesser version, I mean 1/10th the player Brodie is, and Brodie ain't no scream in hell. The Oilers blueline is a joke because this is the guy that supposedly stirs their drink. Now we know why every team drinks the Oilers' milkshake with such regularity. Their blueline is weak, and Klefbom is their 98 pound weakling on the beach.

• Bakersfield has won 15 in a row. Good assets are coming, but they want to keep them in the AHL to develop for now.

No, they have to keep them in the AHL because that is the caliber of player they are. Who do they have?

Tyler Benson? Can't skate at the NHL level and his game of hanging around the perimeter is not going to translate to the NHL. Future is an AHL star, or a PP specialist for the Oilers second unit. Other than that, he would be a detriment when he's on the ice.

Kailer Yamamoto? The next Johnny Hockey, amiright? Small and fast, but the ig difference is he doesn't do things at speed. This has been the weakness in his game all along. He can fly without the puck, but get him the puck and he has to slow down to make anything happen. This works at the AHL level, but in the NHL, not so much. Yamamoto will have to turn into a sniper and learn to finish off the one timer, otherwise he won't have much a career in the show. Don't see a player here.

Cooper Marody? We've seen this show before. Guy has a big year in college and comes out early, only to never repeat that glorious year in the college ranks. I see a repeat here. Doesn't have the skills to play and finish at the NHL level with any consistency. If the Oilers are lucky he'll develop into Drake Caggulia, which means they will tire of him and trade him for the next shiny thing a year after he arrives.

That's the best of their forward prospects on the farm. Other than that its a collection of AHL farm hands and never-will-bes. On the blueline, they are just as weak.

Caleb Jones? We've seen what he has to offer. They drafted him because he was the brother of Seth, and the apple must fall far from the tree, right? Well, this apple fell from the tree, got picked up by a eagle, and dropped into a raveen several miles from his family tree. Caleb might turn into a bottom pairing defenseman, but that is if he continues to develop. What we've seen in his call ups, he's got a very long way to go.

Ethan Bear? Remember when Ethan was better than Rasmus Andersson? Remember how his junior exploits made him a guaranteed first team PP QB? It would be nice if he was able to establish that level of play in the minors. Seems his game doesn't quite translate. Big hope is for him to become a bottom pair defenseman who can step up to be a PP specialist. That seems like a fading dream as well.

The Oilers got nothing, NOTHING, in the minors that can support McDavid. Edmonton is a team that can't draft and can't develop. Bakersfield is an armpit just like Edmonton is. That is what their minor league team has to offer. The Condors=No Good!

• GM search has been ongoing for three weeks. This time they will interview a lot of people. Going back to Glen Sather only one person has ever been interviewed for GM. In next two weeks will start approaching teams for permission to speak to candidates.

And in the next two weeks they will be politely turned down by 90% of the candidates. The only thing working in their favor is there are only 32 GM jobs in the NHL, so guys with aspirations of that job may have to swallow their pride (and a bottle of cyanide) and take the interview.

• This team is not that far off. “Mikko” is a key piece; Bakersfield goalies have been very good, but they want to keep them in the AHL to develop.

Let's be honest here. The Condors are riding a red hot 24 year old Shane Starrett. This is a platooning of a couple young guys, this is riding an older goaltender who knows his change at the show is ebbing away.

• Are the Oilers wasting the career of McDavid? He is a great leader; only getting better. Important that he stays positive—he is unbelievably positive. Need to surround him with good players.

Yes, the Oilers are wasting his career.

• So many exciting things in the city! But need to get the team better on ice.

Yes, we know. The river valley. The big mall. The fringefest. Yada yada yada. Has nothing to do with the crap team and the crappier organization.

• Why sign Koskinen? Decided between Talbot and Koskinen, looked at available goalies and decided Koskinen was the best of the whole group.

Big mistake. I suspect the issue was they knew Talbot wanted out of Shelbyville and was unlikely to sign without a big bump. This is the one way the Oilers brass thought they could save face.

• Can turn it around next year—even this year is not impossible. With some “little adjustments” the Oilers could still make the playoffs starting with a good home stand this week.

Did Katz invest in a weed dispensary up in Edmonton, and the front office is his biggest customer? Could still make the playoffs? They are eight points out of the playoffs. Eight, not seven to tie, because the Oilers are five games back in ROW, so they have to get in outright. They are one LA win from being in last place in the western conference. What ever #### they are smoking in the Oilers' front office, they need to share with the public.