Biggest Disappointment This Season
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Shatty, that option would have been too easy.
I'm in the mood for easy today! I'm pretty upset that the Oilers have pissed away the season. I really though this would be our year.Shatty, that option would have been too easy.
The only player that gets somewhat of an exemption is Zach Hyman. He hasn't been great, but I think that is mainly coming from Mcdavid regressing.
Jeff Jacksons summer pretty easily. To be somewhat fair to him, almost all the feedback I saw at the time was how good of acquisitions Skinner and Arvidsson were and how the Oilers uad the best top-9 in the NHL.
Has been an utter disaster to take a step backwards in the most crucial year of this generation's team.
Evan Bouchard is #2. Going from a star defenseman that fans around the league were prematurely putting into the Norris conversation pre-season, he barely looks like a top-pairing dman at times. I've read that the analytics still say he's elite, but it's hard to say he hasn't taken a giant step back from last year, which is a bit of a concern as he enters his prime.
RNH's decline has been expected and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that didn't have their goldenboy-coloured glasses. I've been pointing out this decline for the past couple years and this fanbase has defended him relentlessly.
McDavid is certainly generational. I'm assuming you mean he's not playing at that level specifically this season? This one is an anomaly to me. He doesn't seem injured.
I don't think anyone expected Hyman to be a consistent 50 goal scorer. He's on lace for his 3rd-highest goal total of his career. I don't consider him a disappointment.
Jeff Skinner I suppose was more of a wildcard than has all thought. Part of me think that things could have gone differently of he was given more of a chance from the start. We were a good chunk into the season when he was a top-2 winger in terms of production relative to icetime, and by that point he was already demoted to the 4th line.
Stu I would put #3 on this list. He just had to be average. That was it.
Something I don't like about Knoblauch is his constant line shuffling. We're 60 games into Season 2 and we're still seeing multiple line combinations within each game. At no point has he given any of the forwards a chance to develop chemistry.
Has been an utter disaster to take a step backwards in the most crucial year of this generation's team.
Evan Bouchard is #2. Going from a star defenseman that fans around the league were prematurely putting into the Norris conversation pre-season, he barely looks like a top-pairing dman at times. I've read that the analytics still say he's elite, but it's hard to say he hasn't taken a giant step back from last year, which is a bit of a concern as he enters his prime.
RNH's decline has been expected and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that didn't have their goldenboy-coloured glasses. I've been pointing out this decline for the past couple years and this fanbase has defended him relentlessly.
McDavid is certainly generational. I'm assuming you mean he's not playing at that level specifically this season? This one is an anomaly to me. He doesn't seem injured.
I don't think anyone expected Hyman to be a consistent 50 goal scorer. He's on lace for his 3rd-highest goal total of his career. I don't consider him a disappointment.
Jeff Skinner I suppose was more of a wildcard than has all thought. Part of me think that things could have gone differently of he was given more of a chance from the start. We were a good chunk into the season when he was a top-2 winger in terms of production relative to icetime, and by that point he was already demoted to the 4th line.
Stu I would put #3 on this list. He just had to be average. That was it.
Something I don't like about Knoblauch is his constant line shuffling. We're 60 games into Season 2 and we're still seeing multiple line combinations within each game. At no point has he given any of the forwards a chance to develop chemistry.
I agree with this 100 percent, but what is the answer?? We haven't found lines that work at all. With Kane and Fredric coming back it will only get worse. I feel like we should at least try to get 2 lines set in stone.
We needed a top 6 winger so badly at the deadline....... (even over Walman)
It’s insane that Jackson looked at a roster that was 2 goals away from a cup, with an all-time great PK, and decided he should change out a large chunk of it. And then, to put a cherry on top of the shit sundae, he hires a completely mediocre GM who is mired in controversy. Jackson’s decisions might ultimately seal our fate as the next version of the Thornton/Marleau-era Sharks.
This franchise's window trajectory was blown up with the Summer of Jeff. They were left with an older, smaller, slower and weaker team especially desolate once the inexperienced former super agent overspent and lost this team's only young emergent NHL talent. The roster additions have all failed. The youth they have lost have all blossomed with opportunity and trust in other organizations. They've had to continue burning through future pedigree assets to fix holes in all position areas created by the epic misses with all of the summer decisions.
For a guy who boasted a vision to create a model organization built up information and analytic supported decision making, prioritizing draft and development, and other best of class functions, this team has lost its identity as Oiler team that pushes teams back and into chaos through its speed, tenacious forecheck and puck pressure into a slow, nondescript team that struggles to score; wilts into poor decision making and lost structure in its own zone defending; and can't get stops. Only saving grace will have to be the Oilers organization spending its way out of a prospective retool with the huge cap jumps likely to create tiers within league teams who can live at the cap ceiling revenue wise or fall into market derived life budgets below these big league cap jumps.
The decade of darkness is a case study in what not to do with a scorched earth rebuild. The Summer of Jeff will be a strong lesson on how precarious change can be to a contending team when it prioritizes old veteran players over young developing home grown drafted and developed who demonstrated their growth potential through a long Cup run. The Broberg Holloway offer sheets is the penultimate of a summer of poor decision making with precedent setting bungle by a guy who was hired largely on his work as a super agent fluent in the CBA, relationship management, and maximizing client value through manipulating value points within the system.
Epic failure.
For a guy who boasted a vision to create a model organization built up information and analytic supported decision making, prioritizing draft and development, and other best of class functions, this team has lost its identity as Oiler team that pushes teams back and into chaos through its speed, tenacious forecheck and puck pressure into a slow, nondescript team that struggles to score; wilts into poor decision making and lost structure in its own zone defending; and can't get stops. Only saving grace will have to be the Oilers organization spending its way out of a prospective retool with the huge cap jumps likely to create tiers within league teams who can live at the cap ceiling revenue wise or fall into market derived life budgets below these big league cap jumps.
The decade of darkness is a case study in what not to do with a scorched earth rebuild. The Summer of Jeff will be a strong lesson on how precarious change can be to a contending team when it prioritizes old veteran players over young developing home grown drafted and developed who demonstrated their growth potential through a long Cup run. The Broberg Holloway offer sheets is the penultimate of a summer of poor decision making with precedent setting bungle by a guy who was hired largely on his work as a super agent fluent in the CBA, relationship management, and maximizing client value through manipulating value points within the system.
Epic failure.
It's losing Broberg and Holloway.
I'm not to worried about our team this season. Even with the goaltending, I'll go along with it. I'd even say that Bowman has done an okay job adjusting to the loss of those two young guys, with older players
Just look at our team though. It's so obvious that the supporting cast around McDavid and Draisialt will age out.
And so we lose our youngest and most promising players. We didn't value them enough. We drove them to offer sheets with insulting offers.
I don't think that McDavid would leave the Oilers for the reasons that those eastern pundits say. He's not dying to go out east and I doubt he's profit driven. However, he is a great student of the game. He does care what the future of the team is. Does he want to be here when Hyman, Nuge, and Ekholm aren't?
I'm not to worried about our team this season. Even with the goaltending, I'll go along with it. I'd even say that Bowman has done an okay job adjusting to the loss of those two young guys, with older players
Just look at our team though. It's so obvious that the supporting cast around McDavid and Draisialt will age out.
And so we lose our youngest and most promising players. We didn't value them enough. We drove them to offer sheets with insulting offers.
I don't think that McDavid would leave the Oilers for the reasons that those eastern pundits say. He's not dying to go out east and I doubt he's profit driven. However, he is a great student of the game. He does care what the future of the team is. Does he want to be here when Hyman, Nuge, and Ekholm aren't?
Not getting a better goalie in the offseason.
Skinner’s season stats were shit and his playoff performance was shit too. Game 7 SCF means nothing to me, they got there in spite of him, not because of him. Yeah I’m a broken record, but goaltending is sinking this team. At least we can sort of rely on Pickard. Maybe he becomes our super-late bloomer like Tim Thomas, who spent most of his career being a mediocre backup then one day, he just had it.
Skinner’s season stats were shit and his playoff performance was shit too. Game 7 SCF means nothing to me, they got there in spite of him, not because of him. Yeah I’m a broken record, but goaltending is sinking this team. At least we can sort of rely on Pickard. Maybe he becomes our super-late bloomer like Tim Thomas, who spent most of his career being a mediocre backup then one day, he just had it.
All of the above! Including loosing Broberg and Holloway, laughable how we lost them, guess management in Missouri were very clever and not dumb like ours, include thinking our goaltending tandem was just fine haha, the signings of at least 3 over the hill/underqualified players (panic) etc etc.,
The writing was on the wall, this season was going to be a very difficult one even before that first game in Vancouver.
The writing was on the wall, this season was going to be a very difficult one even before that first game in Vancouver.
It's weird.
Once Knoblauch took over last year, it's as if everything the Oilers tried, just clicked.
This year, almost nothing has clicked. It's uncanny.
Once Knoblauch took over last year, it's as if everything the Oilers tried, just clicked.
This year, almost nothing has clicked. It's uncanny.
The offseason seemed good at the time, but in retrospect... man, what a total disaster.
Can you imagine the Oilers today with Broberg, Holloway? Hell, even Ryan MacLeod in on pace for around 20 goals and 40+ points.
Literally every UFA signing has been a giant dud. Too many key players also took massive steps backwards this year. Frustrating season from a fan perspective.
Every player the oilers signed last off-season is performing below expectations. Also could've upgraded on Skinner last off-season probably.
