Edmonton is No Good XI: Mud, Sweatpants and Tiers

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I believe it was a 'masterclass' of GMing

Followed by:

• moving out Ceci to make cap room
• then not matching anyway
• then signing Brown, and giving him a 3-yr contract, so they could send him to the AHL with impunity
• then acquiring Emberson and his 30 games of NHL experience, as the solution for Nurse

####ing masterclass!

These two Spector articles 24 hours apart continue to get even more hilarious as time goes on.

August 19: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...h-slick-moves/

And most importantly, on top of being able to hang on to two former first-round draft picks who both popped during the Oilers’ lengthy playoff run last season, they added another 23-year-old with promise in Podkolzin. And if one of Emberson or Brown gets picked up on waivers, they still have the other as defensive depth.

This, folks, is both thinking outside the box and getting things done with a Tuesday morning deadline pointing a gun straight at the heads of the Oilers' brass.

The threat of losing a pair of first-round picks — two players who were drafted and developed by the Oilers, and finally ready to help as full-time regulars in the 2024-25 season — with the return being the Blues' second-round pick (for Broberg) and a third-rounder for Holloway…?

That was insult to the injury of watching two promising youngsters be stolen, on a capped-out team that doesn’t have a ton in the pipeline.

August 20: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...smartest-move/

However, this IS a guarantee: If Bowman blinked and overpaid a couple of youngsters in Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway who have a grand total 170 NHL games played between them — giving them a far bigger piece of the salary-cap pie than they have earned — the entire model of “taking less to win” blows up.

Never mind how that would play out in a room full of veterans such as Adam Henrique, Connor Brown, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mattias Janmark who have taken less money and term to play in Edmonton.

In short, Bowman chose $10 million in cap space over the three players — Ceci, Holloway and Broberg — and grabbed a couple of draft picks that will leave the Oilers with maximum flexibility at this season’s trade deadline.

Bowman made it clear that an Oilers' cap management plan that will be a bit of a high-wire act in the next 12 months could not be adversely altered by a pair of young players you would like to have retained, but who are not core players.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Zach Hymen with no points in 6 games is not a good look.

Which is wild since he's been playing with McLoser and Pissy again since the season started. Dude should be raking in the McPP points. However there's just a little problem in that the Oilers' PP currently ranks 30th in the league, lol.

And speaking of not-so-special teams, their PK is currently ranked dead last.

Edmonton is no good.

[Tkachukwagon]

Or maybe they don’t sort it out?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1848206687271809488

[SuperMatt18]

It's similar to last year in that the underlying metrics for the Oilers remain strong, so eventually they will start to win some games.

The key though is how long does it take and what type of hole are they in when that happens.

[direwolf]

Their PP will likely sort itself out. But fixing their PK will be a lot tougher due to the fact that they're missing most of their defensive specialists from last season. I predict that their PK will continue to suck for the remainder of the year.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by direwolf

Their PP will likely sort itself out. But fixing their PK will be a lot tougher due to the fact that they're missing most of their defensive specialists from last season. I predict that their PK The Oilers will continue to suck for the remainder of the year.

fixed

[looooob]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's similar to last year in that the underlying metrics for the Oilers remain strong, so eventually they will start to win some games.

The key though is how long does it take and what type of hole are they in when that happens.

I think mostly true. it's hard to know how to factor in the historic age of this team in terms of what that means going forward- although their most important players are not that old , almost everyone else is likely to get more no good


the PK last year in the regular season was league average really and then historically good in the playoffs. and they have lost personnel...so even if this regresses to the mean , that is likely to be bottom half at best


goaltending remains a wild card

[Erick Estrada]

I love how Edmonton media and fans have bought into this "taking less to win" model when the examples of players taking less money are depth players that wouldn't command big money on the market anyway. Draisaitl certainly didn't take less to win. Nurse isn't making less to win. RNH's contract is decent enough but on another team he's the $5-6 million player he gets paid to be. Hyman's contract was certainly wasn't a bargain when it was signed. I certainly don't see McDavid and Bouchard taking less.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by direwolf

Their PP will likely sort itself out. But fixing their PK will be a lot tougher due to the fact that they're missing most of their defensive specialists from last season. I predict that their PK will continue to suck for the remainder of the year.

Originally Posted by looooob

I think mostly true. it's hard to know how to factor in the historic age of this team in terms of what that means going forward- although their most important players are not that old , almost everyone else is likely to get more no good


the PK last year in the regular season was league average really and then historically good in the playoffs. and they have lost personnel...so even if this regresses to the mean , that is likely to be bottom half at best


goaltending remains a wild card

That's where my thought goes too.

The PP will improve.

5v5 percentages will even out a bit over time (PDO is abnormally low right now).

But the PK could be a bottom third PK all season due to their goaltending / defensive personnel and the pieces they lost.

[McG]

Originally Posted by looooob

I think mostly true. it's hard to know how to factor in the historic age of this team in terms of what that means going forward- although their most important players are not that old , almost everyone else is likely to get more no good


the PK last year in the regular season was league average really and then historically good in the playoffs. and they have lost personnel...so even if this regresses to the mean , that is likely to be bottom half at best


goaltending remains a wild card

Noted flames fan, and renowned aging and contracts expert internationalvillager, has already advised that the fountain of youth exists in Edmonton and, as a flames fan, that they are looking forward to previously unseen historical highs and transcendent events occurring simultaneously.

I don’t think that historical lows were what was envisioned.

If we use 100 as the pk+pp aggregate, oilers are currently at 61.7. That’s a lot of positive regression required.

Nom, nom, nom.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Zach Hymen with no points in 6 games is not a good look.

Are you sure these numbers are correct?
Because I read somewhere that Hymen is the greatest free agent signing of all time, and it is inconceivable that he has no points

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

That's where my thought goes too.

The PP will improve.

5v5 percentages will even out a bit over time (PDO is abnormally low right now).

But the PK could be a bottom third PK all season due to their goaltending / defensive personnel and the pieces they lost.

PP will definitely improve. The issue though is to what extent.

Its been humming along at a ridiculous clip the last year or two? Maybe, despite all the fire power, its say just good instead of great, i.e. a bit of a regression. Still good, just not so good as years past.

If so, they are in huge trouble, as that has been their get out of jail card for years now.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's similar to last year in that the underlying metrics for the Oilers remain strong, so eventually they will start to win some games.

The key though is how long does it take and what type of hole are they in when that happens.

They are on pace for 54-55 points.
Of course they will improve.
I see them more as a 65-70 point team

[CedarMeter]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I love how Edmonton media and fans have bought into this "taking less to win" model when the examples of players taking less money are depth players that wouldn't command big money on the market anyway. Draisaitl certainly didn't take less to win. Nurse isn't making less to win. RNH's contract is decent enough but on another team he's the $5-6 million player he gets paid to be. Hyman's contract was certainly wasn't a bargain when it was signed. I certainly don't see McDavid and Bouchard taking less.

According to their fans, Leon took a 1.5 to 2 million discount.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

So, is it too early to talk about McDavid asking for a trade?

Probably.


But, it is not too early to start wagering on when he coaching change happens.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Coach

Losing Broberg and Holloway is on management but also IMO on the Wonder Twins. If they took a page from the Crosby playbook of actually winning, they would be taking $10-11M deals instead of pushing for max salary so they could build an actual team around them.

2 guys take up 1/3 the cap and they wonder why everyone around them sucks.

Draisaitl's extension in no way hindered the Oiles from signing both of their RFAs. his new cap hit does not kick in for another year, and Mchobo's is still two-years away.


No. It's all on managment for throwing money at old scoring wingers in July.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I love how Edmonton media and fans have bought into this "taking less to win" model when the examples of players taking less money are depth players that wouldn't command big money on the market anyway. Draisaitl certainly didn't take less to win. Nurse isn't making less to win. RNH's contract is decent enough but on another team he's the $5-6 million player he gets paid to be. Hyman's contract was certainly wasn't a bargain when it was signed. I certainly don't see McDavid and Bouchard taking less.

*AHEM*


"derpth players"

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Probably.


But, it is not too early to start wagering on when he coaching change happens.

In case there's a pool, I pick the second Tuesday in December. No reason, just wanted to beat the rush.

[Redrum]

Don't worry, the addition of superstar Jeff Skinner will easily make up for their PK going from 94% to 55%.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by RedHot25

PP will definitely improve. The issue though is to what extent.

Its been humming along at a ridiculous clip the last year or two? Maybe, despite all the fire power, its say just good instead of great, i.e. a bit of a regression. Still good, just not so good as years past.

If so, they are in huge trouble, as that has been their get out of jail card for years now.

Yeah, I agree with this.


There is no question that the Oilers will improve on their current 0.333 pts%; they will improve on their 2.00 GF/GP, their 6.7% PP, and their 6.2 sh%.


BUT, how much? The team is older and slower than last year by A LOT. They dumped virtually all of their best penalty killers, and two core players who are due for an age-related regression have scored a total of 2 points in their first six games. Beyond Hyman and The Tenderness™, Janmark, Henrique, Brown and Arvidsson are all floundering below the 3-point mark. Will ALL of these players have a turn around? I think the more legitimate concern is actually if ANY of them will.



They will be better, but they will be no where near as good as they were last year, and, last year they were 3.5 games away from missing the playoffs. How confident should anyone be that they can be close to that good this year?