[Signing] Lucic to Oilers 7yrs ($6mil AAV)

[killer_carlson]

He will be behind McDavid but very few rushes have all three forwards abreast through the neutral zone. Most of the time it's 2.

As long as he gets there for the second pass in the offensive zone he'll be fine. And that shouldn't be a problem. And for any cycle game in the offensive zone he'll be the most effective player at getting McDavid the puck. If McDavid or Eberle get in trouble all they need to do is dump it behind the net or into Lucic's corner and let Lucic recover while the skill guys get into position.

[CaptainCrunch]

As the days pass, the availability of what the Oilers are still desperate for which is a top pairing blueliner that can run the power play is fading. The Avs have said that Barrie isn't available which loosely translates into prepare to take it in the shorts if you want it, and he's after a big payday, which makes him unaffordable for the Oilers. They really can't sign anymore big money long term contracts.

Dumba is probably the guy that they want but he's going to take away from the top forwards.

To me Lucic is very good, but he's a step down from Hall in terms of top 6 impact, and Lucic like Hall isn't a great guy without the puck because his lack of footspeed prevents him from being effective on the back check.

At this point, they're going to be forced to make JP a top 6 guy ready or not, because without him that top 6 is a step back from last years 26th ranked offense.

I will give credit Larsson is a good step forward on the blueline, but his lack of offensive ability means that they just picked up another one dimensional guy on the back end. Their blueline is better but at the end of the day, its still bottom 3rd in the league as far as blueline goes.

They have a lot of questions as well.

We've heard that Klefbom is this stud and a future top pairing guy, but to me he was good in a 30 day snapshot last year, the year before he wasn't good. Davidson is what he is, a bottom pairing at best guy on a team like the Oilers.

If Klefbom coming off of a major similar injury situation like Seiloff has a set back they're f'd. If he's not that first pairing guy they're f'd because they're only other option is Sekeras who is a over paid middle pairing guy.

If they are forced to trade a guy like RNH, or Eberle to get another blueliner they're not going to bring back a top pairing guy. If they want that, its likely that you can subract Draisaitl and Nurse from the Oilers.

When you look at the results last year, absolutely the Oilers improved by something like 40 goals against, but the math translates to the arrival of Talbot and not some miraculous commitment to defense by the Oilers who still looked defensively lost and were bailed out by Talbot who was freaking heroic. He was the anti-Flames goalie in that while the Flames goaltending killed their season. The Oilers goaltending provided an illusion of improvement. If he slides even a bit, the Oilers are going to be dead in the water.

Are the Oilers improved? Sure in their current form they are, but I think it moves them from the 26-30 finish, to the 20-25 finish which is horrible when you consider how long they're been drafting high.

On top of that the whine of the Oiler fans that it was injuries that derailed them, that's going to continue to kill them as they have no prospect depth that can do injury fill ins, and injuries happen in the NHL. If they suffer an injury to their blueline or their top 6 forward group, right now, today, their season will derail.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

He will be behind McDavid but very few rushes have all three forwards abreast through the neutral zone. Most of the time it's 2.

As long as he gets there for the second pass in the offensive zone he'll be fine. And that shouldn't be a problem. And for any cycle game in the offensive zone he'll be the most effective player at getting McDavid the puck. If McDavid or Eberle get in trouble all they need to do is dump it behind the net or into Lucic's corner and let Lucic recover while the skill guys get into position.

That's why I really like the matchup of Calgary's top 3 blueline against the Oilers top line. The Flames should be able to win the race to the puck against Lucic and move it up quickly. On top of that, it goes back to Button's comments about the Oilers blueline is that they're going to spend a lot of time trapped in their own end because of how one dimensional their defensemen are.

[killer_carlson]

Agreed.

I think we'll be ok in the matchup because our blueline will be able to move the puck faster than most other teams as long as it isn't a 3rd pairing.

That said, this will be one of the dominant lines in hockey this season (really anyone playing with McDavid will be a threat) and they will steamroll a lot of teams this year.

[Textcritic]

Hall and Draisaitl both played very little on the McDavid line, and both found all of their success from last year playing together. I can see an improved first line on the Oilers, but a real problem in this is on the second and third lines. Is Nugent Hopkins even capable of carrying a line? Can Draisaitl even match his production from last year, to say nothing of improving upon it? Draisaitl went on a scoring tear when McDavid was injured while playing with Hall on the top line, and finished the season with 19 goals and 51 points. When McDavid was back from injury he scored only 7 goals and 14 points in his last 32-games.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

The fact that this contract can't be bought out makes me happy

So how does that work, is it because it's signing bonus laden?
Keep seeing this but don't know why.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

So how does that work, is it because it's signing bonus laden?
Keep seeing this but don't know why.

Over 50% is signing bonus though I haven't seen how much exactly. Clarkson contract is similar. You cannot buyout the signing bonus, only contract money. Eriksson's Vancouver contract is a good example. Only about $1M is contract the rest signing bonus so they are still on the cap and have to pay $5M each season plus the buyout penalty of 2/3 of the $1M per year over double the years. Buying out a $6M contract then only saves you at most around $0.5M per year

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Hall and Draisaitl both played very little on the McDavid line, and both found all of their success from last year playing together. I can see an improved first line on the Oilers, but a real problem in this is on the second and third lines. Is Nugent Hopkins even capable of carrying a line? Can Draisaitl even match his production from last year, to say nothing of improving upon it? Draisaitl went on a scoring tear when McDavid was injured while playing with Hall on the top line, and finished the season with 19 goals and 51 points. When McDavid was back from injury he scored only 7 goals and 14 points in his last 32-games.

Draisaitl really crashed in the last half of last year. He wasn't terrible but he wasn't good either, he was better then his rookie year when he was dreadful. I think that teams figured out how to take advantage of his less then blazing speed.

He still has a lot to prove.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

The day and age of heavy intimidating teams is pretty well leaving. If you're playing a team with a power play or with speed, they're going to intimidate your players with their ability to make you pay for your stupidity.

Yup. You know who intimidates players and especially defencemen when they see him coming in with the puck through their blue line?

All 5'7 and 160 lbs of Johnny Gaudreau. You see it in how they back off and you see it in how they look unsure of how to play him.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Iggy Snipe

Lucic is on a steady decline. Boston got rid of him at a good time, and LA wasn't about to re sign him for a crazy term. Buuuuuuut, Edmonton did. Good for them, they will be happy with him until the season starts and they realize he is slow AF, and has no grit left. He doesn't play anywhere close to the same game he did when he was 25. Congrats Edmonton, you just paid 6 million per year for 20 goals and 100 PIMS

Actually LA offered Lucic a longer term (8 years) though at much less AAV (just under 5 I believe).

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Hall and Draisaitl both played very little on the McDavid line, and both found all of their success from last year playing together. I can see an improved first line on the Oilers, but a real problem in this is on the second and third lines. Is Nugent Hopkins even capable of carrying a line? Can Draisaitl even match his production from last year, to say nothing of improving upon it? Draisaitl went on a scoring tear when McDavid was injured while playing with Hall on the top line, and finished the season with 19 goals and 51 points. When McDavid was back from injury he scored only 7 goals and 14 points in his last 32-games.

I guess anything can happen but I think it's more reasonable to expect a young, high skill player like Draisatl to improve as he gains experience as opposed to plateau or get worse at 21 or however old he is. Kids go through growing pains and I wouldn't be so quick to identify Draisatl as a failed prospect.

[Jay Random]

I'd say Draisaitl is far from a failed prospect, but he needs to improve his foot speed if he's going to become an everyday 2nd-line centre. Until that happens, it's possible his hot start last year will remain the outlier rather than the norm.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I'd say Draisaitl is far from a failed prospect, but he needs to improve his foot speed if he's going to become an everyday 2nd-line centre. Until that happens, it's possible his hot start last year will remain the outlier rather than the norm.

19 goals, 51 assists in his rookie year. far from a failed prospect? who even said that? who even mentioned that?



He's probably the best player on that team after McDavid over the next few years

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

19 goals, 51 assists in his rookie year. far from a failed prospect? who even said that? who even mentioned that?

activeStick was accusing someone (Textcritic, I think) of saying that:

Originally Posted by activeStick

Kids go through growing pains and I wouldn't be so quick to identify Draisatl as a failed prospect.

Anyway, he did not have 19 goals and 51 assists in his rookie year. He had 19 goals and 51 points in his sophomore year. In his rookie year, he went 2-7-9 in 37 games.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think Draisaitl will be fine next season, but I see him as a much slower-progressing prospect. I find it really humorous, actually, because the Oilers drafted Draisaitl at least partly because he was viewed as more NHL-ready.

I think Bennett was actually more NHL-ready. Bennett had NHL speed, and just needed to put on a bit more size (which he did in his injury year) to reach the threshold.

Draisaitl's footspeed kept him really low, and though he was heavier and considered to be more built than Bennett, he didn't have nearly enough strength.

I think there is a certain 'threshold' in the NHL.
Size/strength
Skill
Speed

I think as a prospect, you need at least 2 out of 3. Bennett had the speed and the skill, Draisaitl had the size and the skill. However, Draisaitl's was incomplete, as though he had good size, he was severely over-matched in strength and lost a lot of puck battles. Still does, though not as many as his rookie season.

I will be interested to see where Draisaitl's speed and strength are this upcoming season - if he really put in the work, I can see him having a tremendous year for those losers. However, I still put money on Bennett being able to flatten Draisaitl, and not the other way around.

Bennett is very much like that quick, small pitbull that just doesn't stop. Draisaitl is like that big, thick English bulldog that looks a lot more impressive, but is just slower and doesn't have that drive. I know where I put my money on every time (and no, that is just an analogy - people who actually fight dogs should be tossed into a ring with their hands tied behind their backs, and be forced to wear a bullet-ant balaclava for 5 straight days at least, and then covered in honey and locked in a room full of giant asian hornets - yeah, I think of the most messed up stuff).

[CaptainCrunch]

totally misread the post, my bad.

[CaptainCrunch]

Draisaitl isn't a failed prospect. But he's getting a lot of hype.

But the fact remains, he was horrible in his first year, had a strong first half of last year, and then seriously tailed off in the second half. Part because I think teams figured him out, and part because he picked up Hall fever and just gave up on last year.

[jayswin]

I personally really like Draisaitl, he will likely turn into a very good player in the next couple seasons.

I think the Calgary bias is to look for bust signs way too quick. He didn't finish off strong last season, but it's his second year. If he can get a little faster he'll really take off, I bet.

[calgaryblood]

Yeah, personally I think Draisatl has looked better than Bennett so far in their careers.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

19 goals, 51 assists in his rookie year. far from a failed prospect? who even said that? who even mentioned that?



He's probably the best player on that team after McDavid over the next few years

Yeah...what the hell are you talking about? Those numbers arent even real.