Yeah, I feel the same. He had a HUGE mess to clean up from the last guy, who really did suck horribly.
That said, like in Toronto, he only gets so much leeway. And we just have to admit his tenure in Toronto was ultimately a failure.
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Yeah, I feel the same. He had a HUGE mess to clean up from the last guy, who really did suck horribly.
That said, like in Toronto, he only gets so much leeway. And we just have to admit his tenure in Toronto was ultimately a failure.
It's 6 games in. They're too good not to make the playoffs. McDrai can carry them through two rounds. If they get goaltending and D help they're a real threat.
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I agree, it's way too early to be making judgments on teams. In our Cup season, we started 2-4-0 and there was an active "Fire Bednar" thread.
To be clear, I'm not saying that the Oilers are going to win the Cup this year or that Woodcroft is anything but a big squirrel posing as a human and NHL coach, I'm just saying it's much too early to be making sweeping conclusions.
I agree that missing the playoffs entirely is highly unlikely, but I'd be shocked if they even made a deep run as presently constructed. And the chances of them getting help on defense are quite slim--their cap situation is a MESS, and because they can't put McDavid on LTIR, they basically can't ice a full lineup at present I believe.
And that's before we even get to the very bad and not-at-all-cheap goaltending.
Bender
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He did not. He CANNOT analyze a roster to save his life... it's his biggest downfall and that's TWICE now he's made the wrong moves for franchises that are trying to win.
I'm not saying that the Penguins ownership group didn't tell him that they wanted to win with the core they got - I'm quite sure that's the mandate he's under but the way he went about building that team is ridiculous.
Trading for Karlsson after having watched him forego any semblance of playing DEFENSE last season AND considering he's got 4 years left @ a $10M cap hit is completely insane. It's especially stupid when you consider that Tyson Barrie is on the last year of his contract that is paying him $4.5M and is probably available for a hell of a lot less than what they paid to acquire EK and the commitment is only this year. Now TBoobs isn't as good as EK offensively and probably not even defensively but at $4.5M for 1 year VS EK at $10M for 4 years, the choice is a no-brainer.
The Graves contract is too much for too long and risky when you consider that he was mostly used as #4/#5 D-Man last season with the Devils. (their fans were certainly not unhappy to see him move on)
Signing Lars Eller to a 2 year - $2.45M contract is a clear indication that he did NOT watch ANY Avalanche games from the Trade Deadline to the end of the Avs playoffs because if he had, he probably wouldn't have given him that contract. (he probably wouldn't have signed Nieto either, to be perfectly honest) That was a handout based on reputation. I like Eller but based on his play with the Avs last year, I believe that the days where he's a good, two-way #3C that can put up 30 or so points are behind him.
He's a crappy GM... there's just no two-ways about it.
UncleRisto
Not Great, Bob!
LOFIN
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Who really gives a flying f*** about the length of those deals you mentioned? Their "window" is the next two years, and after that who cares. Might as well have all the bad contracts in the league, because they are going to tank long and hard.
It really doesn't matter at all what kind of awful contracts he gave out in terms of length. They are not going to be an issue when the team is trying to rise from the ashes, and that's what's important about contracts.
I think EK, Graves, Smith and Eller were fine additions on paper. And I still think they will pan out and make the playoffs.
I wouldn't be shocked to see the Oilers make a deep run without any changes. I picture it happening like this:
The Oilers learn to play defense to win without McDavid.
McDavid misses the entire season until round 3 against the big bad Kings and then the Oilers win in a sweep.
McDavid and the Oilers use the power of teamwork and actually playing defense for the first time in decades to defeat the villain Maple Leafs, who are for some reason coached and owned by a Russian dude with scars on his face, in a tough seven game series.
As Bettman hands the cup to McDavid, Bettman says "you earned this" to McDavid. But McDavid looks back to his teammates and says "no, we earned this!". And the credits roll.
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Their window has been closed for 3 years.
The right thing to do is to trade your aging (but not worthless) core for new blood instead of starting from scratch when your team is entirely made of senior citizens on bad contracts.
They are just extending the suffering.
LOFIN
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I don't disagree, but that's not what the ownership thinks and they made their bed with the previous management. Under the current direction, I think Dubas did a fine job. It might not pan out, but that's life. It wasn't a high probability anyway.
Dubas was brought in to try and squeeze out one last competitive roster for Crosby, Malkin and Letang. And after that, do a complete rebuild on the team.
LOFIN
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I'm not totally opposed to their idea of easing an 18 year old into the league. But if I were to do that, I would avoid back-to-backs, maybe big bruising teams etc. Not playing against Columbus and Fantilli seems stupid.
Bender
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I guess that's one way to look at it.
But personally, I look at the overall situation. Just because he inherited 'a mess' doesn't mean he has to keep contributing to it. Anyone can come in and trade draft picks and prospects to get rid of bad contracts to try and make the team better and kick the can down the road - it's not like that's really a hard thing to do.
Personally, I question the addition of EK when they already have Letang on the roster who paced for 50+ points last season. Is the lack of offense from the backend really an issue? If so, I think he should have looked at Barrie (as mentioned) and instead of Graves maybe a guy like Dumba for this season and see what's on the market at the TDL and next summer.
I don't see THAT much of a downgrade from the additions of Barrie + Dumba on 1 year deals instead of EK + Graves when you consider the flexibility cap-wise that they would have gotten. (about +$6M)
Some people really think EK is going to make a big difference for them - I don't happen to be one of those people. I think he's a great offensive D-Man who is sub-par defensively and when he's playing 25+ minutes per night that part comes back to bite you in the ass, often unless you have someone really good mopping up after him. You disagree, that's fine. We'll see how their season plays out.
LOFIN
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Like I said, Dubas was brought in with a clear directive: give the Crosby, Malkin and Letang trio as good of a chance to win a cup in their last years, then tank hard. You might not think that's a good idea, but this is what the ownership and more importantly Crosby wants.
I think he did a good job trying to achieve the first one. EK was the biggest impact player on the market, and he got him for basically nothing. Sure, it comes with a boat anchor contract, but that doesn't really matter in the situation they are in. Graves, Smith, Eller, I think all are decent additions to the roster. Even though the Graves contract is wayyyy too long, with the cap going up it won't be a problem and it probably wouldn't be a problem anyway with them tanking.
Do they maybe need a Jamie McGinn or something to vary their attack a bit?
Bill Peckerskull
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Bender
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Rod is a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor...
To be fair, I heard he had a puckremovaloscopy and those can be tricky.
Metallo
NWOBHM forever \m/
Metallo
NWOBHM forever \m/
That team needs to start a rebuild with or without Crosby on the roster. It's way too depleted.
Not that I have any interest in defending Dubas, but it was pretty clear there were, and are too many cooks in the kitchen in Toronto.
Their stars may not like it, but a couple picks at the top of the draft if the right players could give them another chance at really competing while still playing.
Remember that one poster who insisted Kakko would be better than Hughes by a large margin? Bleedwell or something like that?
LOL
LOL
I'm pretty sure Bleedwell either was Kakko himself or a family member. That guy was out to lunch with everything related to him.
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