Great win though I hope they don't win too much. If you are not going to make the playoffs finish as low as you can but play well (if that is possible). They are within 4 points of 3 Eastern teams I believe.
Great win though I hope they don't win too much. If you are not going to make the playoffs finish as low as you can but play well (if that is possible). They are within 4 points of 3 Eastern teams I believe.
Or, you know, we can finish the season strong and prove to the fans that there is some actual progress being made in this rebuild.
I'd rather move up a few spots and draft Reinhart than stay in second last and draft Grigorenko
The Oil looked good tonight. Well, maybe not in the third, but yeah, they are looking steady for once. Back2back wins after laying eggs against Col and Van.
Or, you know, we can finish the season strong and prove to the fans that there is some actual progress being made in this rebuild.
I'd rather move up a few spots and draft Reinhart than stay in second last and draft Grigorenko
why? so we can delay the rebuild even longer?
finishing second last is fine for another year if it means we can be successful for the next decade. Whereas if we focus an immediately better team well be below average for the decade.
Good thing the boys managed to overcome that crap and get the W. My blood pressure was rising fast, and re-reading the game thread, a lot of others were the same.
finishing second last is fine for another year if it means we can be successful for the next decade. Whereas if we focus an immediately better team well be below average for the decade.
Also, great game by the oilers.
The re-build will be delayed indefinitely if they don't start showing some significant strides and soon. 30+ wins and 70 points would be a nice starting point.
And I'm sure that we'll finish 29th barring a furious charge over the final 20 games but 2nd overall pick be damned. It's time to start winning.
Whatever will happen at this point I'm not stressed out about it.
Though personally I look at late-season progress/runs as fools gold (see: spring 2008). It's easier to get on a hot streak when you're playing loose and everyone else is playing tight, tired, or is looking past you on the schedule.
We need more talent to compete in this league plain and simple. Whether that's a Grigorenko or Dumba or Murray, I don't know. You're not going to "learn" how to win anything if you're plain as day not as good as the team on the other end of the ice for too long. You're going to "learn" something else ... the hard way. That's just my feeling on that.
How do the Oilers ever plan on having a shot in the playoffs if they play a Detroit, or Chicago in a playoff match up and they are the only thing standing in the way of a Detroit or Chicago semi final showdown?
The refs looked the other way in a regular season game, it would not be pretty. Small market teams=garbage in the league's eye. Its not only playing against your opposition on the ice, its also trying to beat the suits upstairs the ones that prefer their favorite match ups.
finishing second last is fine for another year if it means we can be successful for the next decade. Whereas if we focus an immediately better team well be below average for the decade.
Also, great game by the oilers.
Reinhart is going to be a stud and the team showing improvement and winning a few doesnt set us back. This team needs D, I am hoping we finish 2 spots higher so we can draft D rather than another BPA scenario.
Reinhart is going to be a stud and the team showing improvement and winning a few doesnt set us back. This team needs D, I am hoping we finish 2 spots higher so we can draft D rather than another BPA scenario.
Ya having to pick Nugent Hopkins turned out so terrible for us.
Honestly as good as Eberle and Hall are ... I think RNH may have a different gear in his game from both of them. What we're seeing now is the tip of the iceberg.
Ya having to pick Nugent Hopkins turned out so terrible for us.
Honestly as good as Eberle and Hall are ... I think RNH may have a different gear in his game from both of them. What we're seeing now is the tip of the iceberg.
Because I said that, right. The one pressing need we have is defense. Having a franchise Dman would sure go nice with the young talent up front. Im OK with Sammy being our 2nd line center so Grigorenko is not an immediate need. Our D has to be improved, I really like some of D in the draft...just one option.
Because I said that, right. The one pressing need we have is defense. Having a franchise Dman would sure go nice with the young talent up front. Im OK with Sammy being our 2nd line center so Grigorenko is not an immediate need. Our D has to be improved, I really like some of D in the draft...just one option.
It depends. Just throwing some D back there doesn't a great team make.
I want to be great someday, not just in some mad rush to be "good" like about 10 or 12 other teams that never end up winning anything.
We have some nice high end talent, particularly in RNH. Hall is a good player, but not Ovy/Crosby/Malkin level, maybe not even Toews/Kovalchuk/Tavares level.
Eberle is a pleasant surprise.
But I'm not sure if that's honestly enough firepower all around and we are limited in how we can acquire talent just because I don't think Edmonton will ever be a destination not only for UFAs but even high profile players wanting to be traded (ie: I don't know if Jeff Carter would've come here willingly even if we were a good team ... but LA ... all aboard). We're always going to be at a disadvantage.
We need now, like a harvest period, to grab the highest possible elite talent IMO. That's the only real "need", because that's something you can't really upgrade on in 2-3 years.
Like you mentioned Sam Gagner. I like Sam Gagner. But do I like Sam Gagner in a hyopthetical Finals match up vs. Pittsburgh. Or a WCF vs. Vancouver? Or even a 1st round match up vs. LA? No ... I don't.
It depends. Just throwing some D back there doesn't a great team make.
I want to be great someday, not just in some mad rush to be "good" like about 10 or 12 other teams that never end up winning anything.
We have some nice high end talent, particularly in RNH. Hall is a good player, but not Ovy/Crosby/Malkin level, maybe not even Toews/Kovalchuk/Tavares level.
Eberle is a pleasant surprise.
But I'm not sure if that's honestly enough firepower all around and we are limited in how we can acquire talent just because I don't think Edmonton will ever be a destination not only for UFAs but even high profile players wanting to be traded (ie: I don't know if Jeff Carter would've come here willingly even if we were a good team ... but LA ... all aboard). We're always going to be at a disadvantage.
We need now, like a harvest period, to grab the highest possible elite talent IMO. That's the only real "need", because that's something you can't really upgrade on in 2-3 years.
Like you mentioned Sam Gagner. I like Sam Gagner. But do I like Sam Gagner in a hyopthetical Finals match up vs. Pittsburgh. Or a WCF vs. Vancouver? Or even a 1st round match up vs. LA? No ... I don't.
Exactly. Load up on elite offence. Our defensive prospects look really good Klefbom, Gernat, Marincin and Petry. Give them 3-4 years and they will be the backbone to one of the best offences in the league. Add the fact that dubnyk is getting better and better and in 3-4 years we will be the front runners for a cup.
Its naive think that this offence stands a chance against anyone in the playoffs we'll end up looking like the leafs.
Exactly. Load up on elite offence. Our defensive prospects look really good Klefbom, Gernat, Marincin and Petry. Give them 3-4 years and they will be the backbone to one of the best offences in the league. Add the fact that dubnyk is getting better and better and in 3-4 years we will be the front runners for a cup.
Its naive think that this offence stands a chance against anyone in the playoffs we'll end up looking like the leafs.
We have higher picks as far as D prospects go, some will definitely play but we need elite Dmen as well. One or two of Murray, Dumba, Reinhart or even Ceci would do wonders to a very pressing need. Look at what our statistical weakness is, we score enough goals but let too many in.
We have higher picks as far as D prospects go, some will definitely play but we need elite Dmen as well. One or two of Murray, Dumba, Reinhart or even Ceci would do wonders to a very pressing need. Look at what our statistical weakness is, we score enough goals but let too many in.
Exactly.
We can draft Grigerenko and score as many goals as we want, if our D sucks, we'll still be losing.
A high, elite potential D prospect is the way to go.
Ya having to pick Nugent Hopkins turned out so terrible for us.
Honestly as good as Eberle and Hall are ... I think RNH may have a different gear in his game from both of them. What we're seeing now is the tip of the iceberg.
Landeskog and Larsson are pretty good too. There are lots of good players to choose from near the top. No need to get fixated on one guy.
How do the Oilers ever plan on having a shot in the playoffs if they play a Detroit, or Chicago in a playoff match up and they are the only thing standing in the way of a Detroit or Chicago semi final showdown?
The refs looked the other way in a regular season game, it would not be pretty. Small market teams=garbage in the league's eye. Its not only playing against your opposition on the ice, its also trying to beat the suits upstairs the ones that prefer their favorite match ups.
lol Chicago? we OWN chicago, the refs cant call back 9 goals
It's time to stop trotting Horcoff out there shift after shift after shift for no damn reason.
I like that. I have been following the faceoff-stats for Lander and although I have not studied in depth the quality of the opposite players I think there is a strong case for Lander in the faceoff circle as well (even though other factors would keep him off the 1st/2nd anyway of course). At least it's good news on his development.
Here's the faceoff stats for Lander (the games included are only the ones he has taken faceoffs, in 2 games he has 0 faceoffs taken):
Game 1-15: 35.3%
Game 16-30: 46.7%
Game 31-45: 48.6%
Game 45-54: 49.0%
In the last period he'd be at 53.7% instead of 49% if it wasn't for the bad FO% he had against Toronto, 2(8) - 25%.
Landeskog and Larsson are pretty good too. There are lots of good players to choose from near the top. No need to get fixated on one guy.
Good point. At this stage I'd obviously rank RNH > Larsson & Landeskog, but all of them are doing really well imo. I wouldn't overly upset if we had ended up with either of those two guys even though I am happy we didn't.
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