2017-18 Around the League | Congratulations Washington Capitals!

[Alowlyoilersfan]

yak is in the best possible situation for him. he is getting all the minutes he can and playing in a quieter hockwy market with low expectations. did we give up on him too quickly? it is too early to tell. I hope he achieves some success.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

This is gonna be one of those "darkest timeline" years, isn't it?

If the Oilers don't pull out of it soon, it might be.

 

[joestevens29]

I like how Galchenyuk and Hemsky are on the 4th line together. No wonder that team has issues.

 

[joestevens29]

Last season he only played more than 18 minutes in a game eight times and never played more than 19:39.

Already this year he played 18:03 in the opener and 22:23 last game, and is up to 14:20 tonight. He fell out of favour with Sutter and Lombardi.

I'd be curious if he changed something in the off-season. Could've been a wake up call for him last season.

Everything under Nelson was fools' gold. A bunch of meaningless games with no pressure whatsoever, I wouldn't put much stock at all in those stat padding games.

They had a chance to earn a spot under Mclellan and failed to grab it, the damage had already been done. They played no semblance of a structured game here, completely lacked any semblance of confidence due to the previous regime.

Schultz was placed into a perfect situation, probably one of the few places in the league where he could have rehabilitated his game. Yak failed in St. Louis under two different coaches and has played 3 nice games this season so I wouldn't say that he is a big success now that he's away from Mclellan. I wish Yak well but Mclellan is far down the list of reasons why he was unable to carve out a successful NHL career for himself up until this point. Mclellan is not without faults but Schultz and Yak's failures here were not due to him.

Ya, even Eberle talked about how it was nice with no pressure on them. I just shook my head and wondered what kind of guy even says something so stupid.

I hate to say it but the Oilers could sure use someone like Tkachuk on their team right now .

I'm not saying he's better than Puljuiarvi it's WAYYY too early but I can't help but notice Tkachuks tenacity.

Of all teams to be drafted by it had to be the Flames

 

[joestevens29]

On Yak, has anyone watched the games? I find it odd that their leading scorer is also 12th for toi/gp.

Didn't realize Duchene was putting up points too. Good for him and the Avs if he keeps that up

 

[BlackDogg]

They better pull their heads out of their assess before its too late.

 

[Weitz]

I hate to say it but the Oilers could sure use someone like Tkachuk on their team right now .

I'm not saying he's better than Puljuiarvi it's WAYYY too early but I can't help but notice Tkachuks tenacity.

Its not too early to say he is better. He is. JP has to do something at the NHL level.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Its not too early to say he is better. He is. JP has to do something at the NHL level.

No, Tkachuk is a better player. Puljujärvi has a higher ceiling but right now? Tkachuk is very much a better player.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

No, Tkachuk is a better player. Puljujärvi has a higher ceiling but right now? Tkachuk is very much a better player.

who said he wasn't the better player?
Tkachuk is in the NHL...of course he's better

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

so the Devils are 3-0, the Avs are 3-1, the Golden Knights are 3-0...pretty nice start for the bottom feeders from last year and an expansion team

the only team I can see sustaining it somewhat is the Devils due to a decent defense and great goaltending

 

[CycloneSweep]

who said he wasn't the better player?
Tkachuk is in the NHL...of course he's better

I misread that post so hard

 

[Da McBomb]

Looks like Mike Smith might be better than many people thought. Over 40 saves again last night. Thats 3 games out of 4 that he's had to make over 40 saves. Thats 2016-17 Cam Talbot good.

Really happy for Yak. Hope he keeps it up.

 

[oilers'72]

Tonight:

Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay @ 5:30 PM SN360, SN1, TVAS, SUN, ATTSN-PT
St. Louis at Florida @ 5:30 PM FS-F, FS-MW
Dallas at Nashville @ 6 PM FS-TN, FS-SW
Minnesota at Chicago @ 6:30 PM NBCSCH, FS-N
Winnipeg at Vancouver @ 8 PM SNV, TSN3 (regional)
Detroit at Arizona @ 8 PM FS-A, FS-D
Buffalo at San Jose @ 8:30 PM NBCSCA, MSG-B

 

[CycloneSweep]

Looks like Mike Smith might be better than many people thought. Over 40 saves again last night. Thats 3 games out of 4 that he's had to make over 40 saves. Thats 2016-17 Cam Talbot good.

Really happy for Yak. Hope he keeps it up.

Thats Mike Smith though. He is either extremely good, or complete shit. He has no inbetween.

 

[North]

Looks like Mike Smith might be better than many people thought. Over 40 saves again last night. Thats 3 games out of 4 that he's had to make over 40 saves. Thats 2016-17 Cam Talbot good.

Really happy for Yak. Hope he keeps it up.

My question is how is that d corps, that's supposed to be so great, giving up 40+ shots a night?

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Thats Mike Smith though. He is either extremely good, or complete ****. He has no inbetween.

And always gets hurt.

 

[CycloneSweep]

And always gets hurt.

Diving is a dangerous sport.

 

[Drivesaitl]

On Yak, has anyone watched the games? I find it odd that their leading scorer is also 12th for toi/gp.

Didn't realize Duchene was putting up points too. Good for him and the Avs if he keeps that up

I've watched all the games. Yak is noticeable, for good reasons, every time he's on the ice. Playing with Duchene has obviously helped and Yak has always needed to be playing with at least one other offensive minded player. Whether its on PP or EV Yak is looking good. Last night no mirage either. In addition to the goal and the assist Yak made two other brilliant passes to Duchene that he didn't finish and Yak wired another shot off the crossbar and on another the puck got to the goal line before the goalie fought it off. Yak fired 6 shots last night that were all kinds of trouble.

He did say he worked on his shot a lot in the offseason. IMO he had a shot when he started here. It rusted from disuse, him being off wing, benched, limited minutes, and playing bottomsix with guys that would rather dump the puck in then feed anybody.

Good for Yak.

 

[Aceboogie]

I feel very dirty, but many betting sites are giving Calgary some juicy odds right now and Ive bet on them the last 3 games. Them winning has made me a nice sum so I actually don't mind them doing so. Ofcourse Ill be using my winning to buy a new Klefbom jersey tho

 

[joestevens29]

I've watched all the games. Yak is noticeable, for good reasons, every time he's on the ice. Playing with Duchene has obviously helped and Yak has always needed to be playing with at least one other offensive minded player. Whether its on PP or EV Yak is looking good. Last night no mirage either. In addition to the goal and the assist Yak made two other brilliant passes to Duchene that he didn't finish and Yak wired another shot off the crossbar and on another the puck got to the goal line before the goalie fought it off. Yak fired 6 shots last night that were all kinds of trouble.

He did say he worked on his shot a lot in the offseason. IMO he had a shot when he started here. It rusted from disuse, him being off wing, benched, limited minutes, and playing bottomsix with guys that would rather dump the puck in then feed anybody.

Good for Yak.

Hmmm, so Duchene and Yak to Montreal.

Drouin-Duchene-Yak

 

[joestevens29]

I feel very dirty, but many betting sites are giving Calgary some juicy odds right now and Ive bet on them the last 3 games. Them winning has made me a nice sum so I actually don't mind them doing so. Ofcourse Ill be using my winning to buy a new Klefbom jersey tho

A true gambler thinks with his head not his heart.

 

[Aerchon]

On Yak, has anyone watched the games? I find it odd that their leading scorer is also 12th for toi/gp.

Didn't realize Duchene was putting up points too. Good for him and the Avs if he keeps that up

Watched most of their last game against Boston and a bit of the game before...

Yak looks good. Almost unrecognizable good. Really looks settled compared to how he used to play. Less erratic and more effective for sure.

He also had a goal taken away from him last game as well. Clear cut goal went in but the goalie covered it as it went over the line enough to be "inconclusive".

 

[GameChanger]

Its not too early to say he is better. He is. JP has to do something at the NHL level.

It's interesting how these things go. When Puljujarvi and Tkatchuk played at the U20 WC Jesse definitely looked better. Last autumn people over here seemed happy to have Jesse over Tkatchuk, but of course the end of the seasons were very different with Tkatchuk having a good season and Jesse finishing his in the AHL. At the moment Tkatchuk seems to be doing better as he's in the NHL, but things can change fast at this stage.

 

[McFlyingV]

The biggest thing in the Tkachuk vs. Pulju debate is speed. Obviously Jesse needs to pan out for the pick to be worth it for us, but at the end of the day the Oilers need more speed. Jesse's a great skater, while Tkachuk is slow, despite being still a very effective player. I don't think the Oilers can afford to add more slow players to this team unless they're replacing guys like Maroon, Lucic, Jokinen, Strome, or Letestu.

 

[Mav3rick07]

No, Tkachuk is a better player. Puljujärvi has a higher ceiling but right now? Tkachuk is very much a better player.

I didn't mean better as in right now , but overall , after we give them a couple more years .