Are the Oilers a top 5 contender next season with Jack Campbell?

[SeanMoneyHands]

No #1 goalie, no #1D. Gonna take a guess and say absolutely not.

Oilers have both a #1 goalie and a #1 D. Just low end. Nurse could be a #1 D on about 12 teams. On a contender he should be your #4 D at best.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Oh man, this has got to be nominated for one of the biggest homer posts of all time

You do understand "3.8 Goals Per Game" isn't even the best in the league right? 1 team was well ahead of that level last year, multiple others were at that same level.

It's amazing what those Oilers homer glasses can do to a person. Its more likely Edmonton misses the playoffs entirely then it is they are a Top 5 cup contender next year. An awful team outside of two individuals.

You (and other haters) STILL actually believe the Oilers are a 2 player team?

You've never heard of Evander Kane who plays for the Oilers and scored 13 goals in the playoffs?

You've never heard of Zach Hyman who plays for the Oilers and scored 8 goals in the playoffs?

You've never heard of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was close to a point per game in the playoffs?

I get you hate the Oilers more than cancer but my goodness. That's a f***ing brutal take.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

threads like these make me miss the shitflinging chaos of the all-Canadian division

7 fanbases collectively so eager to drop their pants for a dick-measuring contest they could never win in the first place

 

[The Panther]

Sweet analysis. Now to push my finger through your wet paper bag of an argument.

December: .909 is below average for a starter to begin with.

January, funny how you don’t have his save percentage recorded. Wonder if it’s because it’s trash and the leafs won in spite of him? (It is why you omitted it)

February- no stats. Huh? Wonder why

March- also no stats. Starting not to wonder why.

April. Played pretty well.

Playoffs- .897

Basically he had 2 good months. A decent month and 3 months of bad play. Pretending he’s some sort of strength is completely inaccurate.

"Pretending he's some sort of strength is completely inaccurate."

Thanks. Nowhere did I pretend he's some sort of strength. I was responding to the poster who said Campbell had 1 good month (November) and was subpar / awful the rest of the season -- which is a complete fiction.

We have no idea how Campbell will do for Edmonton (what? we don't have a crystal ball?). So, we'll all have to, you know, watch the games and see.

But this perspective, continually put forward by certain Leafs' fans (and nobody else) that Jack Campbell was a poor goalie who directly or indirectly was part of the team's problem, is just embarrassingly dumb.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Oilers have both a #1 goalie and a #1 D. Just low end. Nurse could be a #1 D on about 12 teams. On a contender he should be your #4 D at best.

Playoff teams?

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

threads like these make me miss the shitflinging chaos of the all-Canadian division

7 fanbases collectively so eager to drop their pants for a dick-measuring contest they could never win in the first place

...we're the people who keep the NHL going...we can shytefling as much as we want...

 

[MessierII]

or suffers an injury

That literally happened in the playoffs and they still won 2 rounds.

Oilers have zero depth, which is what it takes to make it in the playoffs.

Oilers forward group is the best in the nhl. McD, Leon, Kane, Nuge, Hyman is the best 1-5 forwards in the nhl by a lot. Then they have Yamamoto, Jesse P, McLeod all young guys coming off solid years. Foegele, Ryan, Janmark are solid bottom 6 players too.

 

[NotCommitted]

Talking about Oilers defense - Nurse might not be a great #1 D-man, but when healthy he's a lot better than the husk we saw last year in the playoffs.

As for the offense, I wouldn't hold my breath on McDavid & Draisaitl doing a repeat performance. They could, but they also could have very good playoffs and still not produce near to the pace they did last season. Also I have no idea what Draisaitl's injury was about, but the guy just put up 32 points in 16 games while averaging over 21 minutes of ice time, so I'm not sure how much better than that he can be while "healthy". Even though they are great players both of them, I don't think relying on two of your top forwards to average 2 points a game is the road to success.

They certainly could be a contender, but I'm not sure I see Jack Campbell as the guy that puts them there. Their goaltending was ok last year, not sure Campbell can be much, if any better. If anything, I'd see a healthy Nurse being the biggest difference. If they manage to play better defense as a team they could very well get that "improved goaltending", but if they play like they did last year, they'd probably make Vasilevsky look quite ordinary. I think their saving grace was they managed to force other teams to play their style of high event hockey and both McDavid and Draisaitl were scorching.

 

[VainGretzky]

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

That literally happened in the playoffs and they still won 2 rounds.

Oilers forward group is the best in the nhl. McD, Leon, Kane, Nuge, Hyman is the best 1-5 forwards in the nhl by a lot. Then they have Yamamoto, Jesse P, McLeod all young guys coming off solid years. Foegele, Ryan, Janmark are solid bottom 6 players too.

Oilers bottom 6 is also one of the best and deepest in the NHL even though they lost their best bottom 6 forward in Kassian.

McLeod, Foegole, Ryan, Shore, Holloway Benson are unstoppable playoff beasts. You’d be hard pressed to find a better more proven bottom 6 than the Oilers.

 

[centipede2233]

That literally happened in the playoffs and they still won 2 rounds.

Oilers forward group is the best in the nhl. McD, Leon, Kane, Nuge, Hyman is the best 1-5 forwards in the nhl by a lot. Then they have Yamamoto, Jesse P, McLeod all young guys coming off solid years. Foegele, Ryan, Janmark are solid bottom 6 players too.

Oilers have the best top 6 for sure, but their bottom 6 is definitely questionable. But where the oilers fail is defensive depth and campbell. Campbell has proven every single year to get injured and for long durations. Did you know campbell reinsured his rib injury in game 6 vs Tampa, and likely was out in rd 2 had Toronto won. There is no way campbell ever stays healthy for the year AND stays healthy to win 16 playoff games. Oilers fans will gather in droves with pitchforks in hand when the season is over wanting to get rid of campbell.

 

[DearDiary]

Oilers bottom 6 is also one of the best and deepest in the NHL even though they lost their best bottom 6 forward in Kassian.

McLeod, Foegole, Ryan, Shore, Holloway Benson are unstoppable playoff beasts. You’d be hard pressed to find a better more proven bottom 6 than the Oilers.

I would never bet against the 6 horsemen of the playoffs.

Oilers have every team beat here, it's in everyone's best interest to gracefully retreat from arguing against this to prevent further embarrassment.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

I would never bet against the 6 horsemen of the playoffs.

Oilers have every team beat here, it's in everyone's best interest to gracefully retreat from arguing against this to prevent further embarrassment.

When a team has the best player in the world and arguably the second best player (though I put Draisatl 3rd best after MacKinnon). All you need on your bottom two lines is minions to act as second munchers to buy time, while resting your two superstars.

 

[DFF]

No

 

[Maplebeasts]

"Pretending he's some sort of strength is completely inaccurate."

Thanks. Nowhere did I pretend he's some sort of strength. I was responding to the poster who said Campbell had 1 good month (November) and was subpar / awful the rest of the season -- which is a complete fiction.

We have no idea how Campbell will do for Edmonton (what? we don't have a crystal ball?). So, we'll all have to, you know, watch the games and see.

But this perspective, continually put forward by certain Leafs' fans (and nobody else) that Jack Campbell was a poor goalie who directly or indirectly was part of the team's problem, is just embarrassingly dumb.

I mean statistically he was terrible the moment the calendar flipped to December onwards. He WAS a bad goalie for the majority of the season and the only dumb thing here is trying to pretend he wasn't when the stats make it really clear.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Oilers have both a #1 goalie and a #1 D. Just low end. Nurse could be a #1 D on about 12 teams. On a contender he should be your #4 D at best.

And the thread is asking if the Oilers are a top 5 contender. In that context, no #1D. Campbell has also never shown to be a positive difference maker in the post-season. If anything, he’ll be a liability.

 

[Joe n]

"Pretending he's some sort of strength is completely inaccurate."

Thanks. Nowhere did I pretend he's some sort of strength. I was responding to the poster who said Campbell had 1 good month (November) and was subpar / awful the rest of the season -- which is a complete fiction.

We have no idea how Campbell will do for Edmonton (what? we don't have a crystal ball?). So, we'll all have to, you know, watch the games and see.

But this perspective, continually put forward by certain Leafs' fans (and nobody else) that Jack Campbell was a poor goalie who directly or indirectly was part of the team's problem, is just embarrassingly dumb.

you didn't watch any Leaf games after December. And you know Campbell will work out but somehow both Leaf goalies won't. Good thing you have some insider info.

 

[The Panther]

I mean statistically he was terrible the moment the calendar flipped to December onwards. He WAS a bad goalie for the majority of the season and the only dumb thing here is trying to pretend he wasn't when the stats make it really clear.

He was not terrible, no. He was probably about average statistically, while posting a strong winning record.

From January through April, Campbell went 16-4-4. I'm pretty sure that's good.

you didn't watch any Leaf games after December. And you know Campbell will work out but somehow both Leaf goalies won't. Good thing you have some insider info.

- I did watch Leaf games after December
- I did not say Campbell will work out
- I did not say anything about any Leaf goalies

The sarcasm of your last sentence might be clever if you had actually responded to anything I actually said (you didn't).

 

[jackjohnson]

Oilers have both a #1 goalie and a #1 D. Just low end. Nurse could be a #1 D on about 12 teams. On a contender he should be your #4 D at best.

Am sorry but Oilers dont have a legit #1 goalie. Campbell is not that proven yet to carry the load like a Demko, or Markstrom or Gibson etc. Nurse maybe a #1D on Oilers but he is not what I would call the prototypical #1 D that can be a difference maker on the ice. Now he might the best D on a handful of NHL teams but certainly not 12. I will say that if Nurse is your #1D, then you are in trouble and speaks volume of how weak the team D is.

 

[jackjohnson]

And the thread is asking if the Oilers are a top 5 contender. In that context, no #1D. Campbell has also never shown to be a positive difference maker in the post-season. If anything, he’ll be a liability.

I agree, the OP should compare Oilers D and goalie to the best 5 teams in NHL and see it they are even comparable before claiming that they are a top 5 contender..

So would anyone take Campbell over Markstrom? Vasilevsky? Shesterkin? Bennington? etc.


Would anyone take Nurse over Tanev/Weegar? Hedman? Fox? Makar? etc.

Are the players the Oilers have in the #1D and #1G even remotely comparable? If not then why would Oilers be catapaulted to top 5 contending status? Its almost as laughable as claiming the Coyotes are a top 5 contending team with so many holes in the lineup.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

You (and other haters) STILL actually believe the Oilers are a 2 player team?
View attachment 583755
You've never heard of Evander Kane who plays for the Oilers and scored 13 goals in the playoffs?

You've never heard of Zach Hyman who plays for the Oilers and scored 8 goals in the playoffs?

You've never heard of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was close to a point per game in the playoffs?

I get you hate the Oilers more than cancer but my goodness. That's a f***ing brutal take.

And if any of those players outside of Kane played on any other team... They're bottom 6 forwards.

Nuge and Hyman are awful.


But hey keep drinking thay Kool-Aid. It makes it that much sweeter every time the Oilers get embarrassed. Whether it's failing to make playoffs at all or getting swept once they do make playoffs... We'll all enjoy it once again this season just like the last 15 years.

 

[NylanderBros]

Bring back the North division, let’s get this settled once again. Gonna be another awesome season boys, best of luck to Campbell in his new home.

 

[Three On Zero]

That literally happened in the playoffs and they still won 2 rounds.

Oilers forward group is the best in the nhl. McD, Leon, Kane, Nuge, Hyman is the best 1-5 forwards in the nhl by a lot. Then they have Yamamoto, Jesse P, McLeod all young guys coming off solid years. Foegele, Ryan, Janmark are solid bottom 6 players too.

That’s a pretty average to subpar bottom 9.

Remove the top line (Both McDavid and Leon because they still just end up playing together) and the next 3 lines are not that good compared to other teams

 

[Debrincat93]

nope. dont think so.
i do think skinner ends up playing a lot more than edm thinks and he flourishes.

 

[The90]

"Pretending he's some sort of strength is completely inaccurate."

Thanks. Nowhere did I pretend he's some sort of strength. I was responding to the poster who said Campbell had 1 good month (November) and was subpar / awful the rest of the season -- which is a complete fiction.

We have no idea how Campbell will do for Edmonton (what? we don't have a crystal ball?). So, we'll all have to, you know, watch the games and see.

But this perspective, continually put forward by certain Leafs' fans (and nobody else) that Jack Campbell was a poor goalie who directly or indirectly was part of the team's problem, is just embarrassingly dumb.

Lol. 1 month is a stretch but 2-2.5 months is correct. He spent the majority of the season fighting the puck and losing