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

[TheOrangeDesk]

Still drinking away your sorrows from when the avs stomped the oilers?

Nah, i had a blast this playoffs run. Super proud of the team

That's right. Just invent stuff when you don't know what else to say. It's rather on point.

Lol what?

 

[Bleedred]

I could easily see Edmonton and Colorado being the WCF again in 2023.

Edmonton will have to play much better this time around than they did in the 2022 WCF. They weren't even really outplayed a whole lot in goal and still got swept, even with Francouz (and Kuemper in game 1) playing so poorly, but they were losing because Smith was facing 15 more shots in some of those games than Francouz was.

That said, I'm not exactly high on Georgiev (or Francouz and his two duct taped hips) and I'm sure it will cost Colorado a few points in the standings from last year, which doesn't mean they can't repeat (they went 16-4 with considerably below average goaltending in the playoffs), but just that it might make their road to the SCF even harder with different matchups and maybe facing a little bit better teams (like no Nashville in the first round to easily sweep) on the way.

All bets are off with Draisaitl and especially McDavid. These are the kinds of players that can take an otherwise mostly mediocre or average team to the SCF or even to a cup win out of nowhere. And the same goes for a Presidents Trophy or top of the conference finish.

One other thing the Oilers got going for them is that the Pacific is pretty weak. They can easily rack up wins against the San Jose's, Seattle's and Anaheim's of the division, who they'll get to play a lot of. LA could also regress and the odds of Vegas having another non-playoff season are much higher right now than they were coming into last season.

So yeah, I could see the Oilers a top-5 team in the league. They may or may not. I still think they're the favorite in the Pacific and clearly the strongest team in it. Calgary got worse, but not as much as you'd think. I'd say in that division it's Edmonton with Calgary a bit below. Then the next tier is LA, Vegas and Vancouver, with the very bottom tier being San Jose, Seattle and Anaheim. This isn't an official prediction of the order of that division, just that it's a bit of a crap shoot and wide open after Edmonton and especially after Edmonton and Calgary. One of those bottom 3 teams I listed can somehow squeak into a playoff spot, even if unlikely, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Nah, i had a blast this playoffs run. Super proud of the team


Lol what?

Glad one of us can be lol

 

[GOilers88]

Oil are one Dman away from being a powerhouse IMO. That's the achilles, the D is good but not great. Campbell is a nice stablizing force which should help. The forwards are deep and good. Upgrade the D (top 4 not bottom pair) and we got something!

Definitely a Cup contender this season though barring bad luck and injuries.

Don't see you around HFOil much anymore. Glad to see you're still around.

 

[CanHeDoIt99]

Campbell is like any of the non top 5 goalies in the league. He runs hot and cold. If he runs hot at the right time - great. If he runs cold? Bad.

I think hes fine for EDM. I also think hes interchangeable with a lot of goalies in the league and wouldn't have given him a 5 year term because of that - but I also don't think hes going to hurt them.

They need to upgrade the D for sure though.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

no because Jack isn't consistent enough you might get November Jack at times but then you get December-May Jack

If they get December-May Jack that's not going to fly a 5 million per year.

The Oilers will get through it because they have the offense to do it but if they get December-May Jack they aren't winning shit

 

[Mr Positive]

I have high hopes for Skinner and he's shown well in all the games he's played so far (except for that one against Ottawa 2 seasons ago), to me he's a big wildcard in the team's fortunes this season. Smith was outstanding down the stretch last season and won us some huge games, but he single-handedly lost a few earlier in the season too (and game 1 against LA).

I think you're right that Campbell's high points don't need to be as high as long as the lows aren't as low as they were with Smith. But according to some Leafs fans he went off the rails and did cost them games down the stretch this year, so I just wish there was a longer track record of consistently good play. That's why we need Skinner to come in and be better than Koskinen was, or the team could easily find themselves with a messy goaltending situation all over again.

Imo goalies are the one position in hockey that you are allowed to judge them on surface stats, such as GAA and save percentage. Yes, team factors matter, but we've seen goalies put up at least respectable stats on bad teams. The swing isn't much. And, Campbell has had some years in a row where he's had really good stats, even last year. I do agree there is risk there as we'd prefer is dip in stats was earlier rather than later. But, if it were like that then he'd probably still be a Leaf now.

 

[hirawl]

If they play McDrai as they've done before I feel sorry for Campbell. It's going to be brutal for him.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Top 5 pretender lol just joking
this 100% depends on which Campbell Edmonton gets here. 2 years ago Campbell and they are golden imo. last years Campbell and it's down to can EDM out score their problems which in most games I think will be a yes

 

[Sempiternal]

This will be a good thread to bump in the spring! All the Oilers hate.

 

[General Disarray]

The Oilers are NOT a true contender, they fall into pretender category. However, it's funny seeing people put Calgary and Florida into that category. Calgary had the luckiest season ever and still barely beat Dallas and lost to the same Edmonton they are ragging on. And they did not improve during the offseason, they just stayed afloat. Florida got embarrassed against Tampa and got significantly worst. Where is the logic?

 

[Voodoo Child]

The West is Colorado and then everyone else, Edmonton is at or around the top of the everyone else pile.

 

[AvroArrow]

lol

It's time to let it go. You can be happy for players that excel after they leave the Leafs.

I mean I guess we have different definitions of excel so sure. All I can do is lol at the people who think the Oilers are a top 5 team with that D core, that is all.

 

[John Mandalorian]

This will be a good thread to bump in the spring! All the Oilers hate.

WCF: Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche ( Avs lead 3-0 )

At this point, the Oilers are just playing with house money, so if they lose the series- its not going to be devasting Realistically, the Avs have too much fire power and depth. And their D core is better able to handle a run and gun style of the Oilers offense The best chance for the Oilers...

forums.hfboards.com

Are you sure you want to do that?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

WCF: Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche ( Avs lead 3-0 )

At this point, the Oilers are just playing with house money, so if they lose the series- its not going to be devasting Realistically, the Avs have too much fire power and depth. And their D core is better able to handle a run and gun style of the Oilers offense The best chance for the Oilers...

forums.hfboards.com

Are you sure you want to do that?

Now do the Flames vs Oilers thread..

 

[Czechboy]

Don't see you around HFOil much anymore. Glad to see you're still around.

I'm guessing HFOil will be a very happy place this season! Nice offseason and should be a strong team assuming things go close to as planned

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

The West is not far worse. The east had eight good teams and eight horrible teams last year. You just had to be better then the Islanders to make the playoffs. The best team in the east was Florida, and they've likely taken a big step back this year.

Pittsburgh, Boston, and Washington are all relying on aging stars, and are likely to be worse. Toronto also looks worse, with their current goalie and bottom six taking a step back from previous years.

The best contenders in the east are Carolina and Tampa, and Colorado spanked Tampa just a few months ago.

Exactly. This guy is confusing "worse" with more competive. The east has been a cakewalk to playoffs for years. Many of the top teams are propped up by beating up on Buffalo, Ottawa, Habs, Detroit and Philly. There is a reason only Boston, pens, or Tampa are the only ones that make finals from east, because the rest of east is meh

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Wasn't Campbell one of the worst goalies in the league post-Christmas?

 

[AvroArrow]

Wasn't Campbell one of the worst goalies in the league post-Christmas?

Yes, between him and Mrazek we had the worst svp in the entire league despite being a top 5-10 team that entire time.

 

[JianYang]

Oil are one Dman away from being a powerhouse IMO. That's the achilles, the D is good but not great. Campbell is a nice stablizing force which should help. The forwards are deep and good. Upgrade the D (top 4 not bottom pair) and we got something!

Definitely a Cup contender this season though barring bad luck and injuries.

I'm with you for the most part, but I would narrow it down and say they actually need a premier top pairing dman to really push the team into the top tier. Top 4 will help to a certain extent, but it won't lead to a cup.

From what I've seen of Campbell in the playoffs in the last couple years, it seems you can at least count on him not to lose a game on his own. That is good enough to seriously compete for the cup if they have that blue chip dman.

In that sense, I think there is a similarity between leafs and oilers. While I would take Toronto's defense in a heartbeat over Edmonton, they too are missing that premier top end Dman to really move that needle

 

[Mobiandi]

Wasn't Campbell one of the worst goalies in the league post-Christmas?

Amazing post-game apologies though

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Saying Ceci and Barrie couldn’t crack 31 other teams is one of the stupidest takes on this site.

 

[Three On Zero]

Probably in the 7-12 range of the league

Did extraordinary against Calgary and then got embarrassed against Colorado, not quite a contender yet with very little change in the off season

 

[Three On Zero]

Saying Ceci and Barrie couldn’t crack 31 other teams is one of the stupidest takes on this site.

Both above average 3rd pairing guys

 

[Mikeshane]

Oilers and Campbell are inconsistent but if they can get on a run at the same time they are absolutely contenders. If they could pick up a solid defensive defenseman along the way that would help.