C Connor McDavid (2015, 1st, EDM) VII

[CupofOil]

Eventually (not to start the season), I think it will boil down to this:

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Yakupov - McDavid - Draisaitl
Pouliot - Lander - Purcell
Hendricks - Letestu - Korpikoski

Last night's game confirmed the chemistry concerns I have with Hall and McDavid. There isn't enough puck to go around for the two of them.

Yakupov is more of a trigger man than Hall which fits better with both McDavid and Draisaitl (who had very good chemistry together).

If Hall-RNH-Eberle is put back together, I give up on life.
Pouliot-RNH-Eberle is their best line by far as of late, no reason whatsoever to break it up.

I'm sure that McLellan will give the Hall-McDavid a lot of leash as he should. Switching out Purcell for Yak is likely the only change we'll see.

 

[Worraps]

If Hall-RNH-Eberle is put back together, I give up on life.
Pouliot-RNH-Eberle is their best line by far as of late, no reason whatsoever to break it up.

I'm sure that McLellan will give the Hall-McDavid a lot of leash as he should. Switching out Purcell for Yak is likely the only change we'll see.

Times change.

Hall-RNH-Eberle have great offensive chemistry. They've never been, as a group, good on the back check.

How much of that had to do with their age and the extreme low quality of the defensemen they were playing with and how much of that is intrinsic with the group?

I don't know. You don't either.

I fully expect that, at some point this season, Todd McLellan is going to want to find out for himself.

Hall-McDavid-Eberle will be a line at some point too.

 

[CupofOil]

Times change.

Hall-RNH-Eberle have great offensive chemistry. They've never been, as a group, good on the back check.

How much of that had to do with their age and the extreme low quality of the defensemen they were playing with and how much of that is intrinsic with the group?

I don't know. You don't either.

I fully expect that, at some point this season, Todd McLellan is going to want to find out for himself.

Hall-McDavid-Eberle will be a line at some point too.

I just don't like the line, at all. They cycle the puck endlessly on the perimeter and wind up getting a low percentage shot on net. They get shut down easily by the better teams because they're too predictable. All skill, not much jam. RNH and Eberle works, Hall and Eberle works fine, RNH and Hall is a bad combo.

RNH and Eberle work best with a player who can win puck battles and attack the net. They need a complimentary player on their line, not another lead guy. This is why Pouliot is an ideal fit, RNH and Eberle played their best hockey in years alongside him late last season. They looked fantastic last night again, that line shouldn't be tinkered with under any circumstance even if they slump for a short time. It's the only combination from last season that has proven to work, there are enough issues piecing together the rest of the lineup as is.

 

[BOUNCE]

Mcdavids defensive awareness = offensive awareness. Truly unbelievable that hes better then 90% of the leagues players as an 18year old teenager.

 

[Reign Nateo]

It's almost too bad, the Oilers fans I know are too embarrassed by their team's track record for the last decade that they're having trouble enjoying the McDavid show. Like getting him was even too much as an Oiler fan. Kind of like receiving a second or third inheritance you didn't deserve in the first place. That will probably fade away though!

 

[K1984]

It's almost too bad, the Oilers fans I know are too embarrassed by their team's track record for the last decade that they're having trouble enjoying the McDavid show. Like getting him was even too much as an Oiler fan. Kind of like receiving a second or third inheritance you didn't deserve in the first place. That will probably fade away though!

Hmmm, I don't sense any Flame spin here at all.

 

[Frank the Tank]

It's almost too bad, the Oilers fans I know are too embarrassed by their team's track record for the last decade that they're having trouble enjoying the McDavid show. Like getting him was even too much as an Oiler fan. Kind of like receiving a second or third inheritance you didn't deserve in the first place. That will probably fade away though!

We are also a bit gun shy on openly enjoying a player like McDavid around here (outside HFOil). For the past few years the inevitable comparisons with Seguin, Landeskog, Galchenyuk, etc... have occurred frequently and every time the other guy has a good game, month, season we are told that we made the wrong pick(s) at #1. Now with the inevitable McDavid/Eichel comparisons it has been ratcheted up to the maximum degree so it has become difficult to make positive statements about McDavid without certain posters dragging Eichel into the conversation.

 

[Getzlafoutloud]

Eventually (not to start the season), I think it will boil down to this:

Hall - RNH - Eberle
Yakupov - McDavid - Draisaitl
Pouliot - Lander - Purcell
Hendricks - Letestu - Korpikoski

Last night's game confirmed the chemistry concerns I have with Hall and McDavid. There isn't enough puck to go around for the two of them.

Yakupov is more of a trigger man than Hall which fits better with both McDavid and Draisaitl (who had very good chemistry together).

That second line is incredibly inexperienced which makes me nervous but they have to get yak top 6 minutes some how. How do you guys see the pp units, they should have to pretty solid groups.
Hall-mcd-lander (net presence)
Drais-schultz

Ebs-rnh-pouliot (net front)
Sekera-yak

 

[duul]

That second line is incredibly inexperienced which makes me nervous but they have to get yak top 6 minutes some how. How do you guys see the pp units, they should have to pretty solid groups.
Hall-mcd-lander (net presence)
Drais-schultz

Ebs-rnh-pouliot (net front)
Sekera-yak

We lack a RH bomb.

All our playermakers are LH and love to set up on the right side of the ice. We have no threat except Eberle at the left circle. I wish Yak was right handed.

 

[Reign Nateo]

Hmmm, I don't sense any Flame spin here at all.

Actually not a Flames fan at all. I'm actually happy for the Oilers and their fans. Just thought it was interesting to note the way the Oilers fans I know have been dealing with this. There's a younger and more bravado group of fans on here, a lot of the fans I've met in real life seem to feel the way I described earlier. Like I said, it won't last long.

 

[Aceboogie]

It's almost too bad, the Oilers fans I know are too embarrassed by their team's track record for the last decade that they're having trouble enjoying the McDavid show. Like getting him was even too much as an Oiler fan. Kind of like receiving a second or third inheritance you didn't deserve in the first place. That will probably fade away though!

I posted similar sentiments at the draft lottery. Oilers didnt deserve this win at all and it hard to have pride in supporting a team which boasts so many 1sts and who was so overly futile for such a long time

What made it worse was that Oilers were so bad and got the NHL to change lottery to avoid them getting another pick. Then only for them to win that upgraded lottery the year it was implemented. It was ironic but said and screwed over Arizona

I feel bad for the kid sometimes too. Hes already starting to get a ton of hate because of the teams hes on

 

[Getzlafoutloud]

I posted similar sentiments at the draft lottery. Oilers didnt deserve this win at all and it hard to have pride in supporting a team which boasts so many 1sts and who was so overly futile for such a long time

What made it worse was that Oilers were so bad and got the NHL to change lottery to avoid them getting another pick. Then only for them to win that upgraded lottery the year it was implemented. It was ironic but said and screwed over Arizona

I feel bad for the kid sometimes too. Hes already starting to get a ton of hate because of the teams hes on

We are fans plain and simple, the way some fans talk it's like they had a say in anything their team has done. Oilers fans have always taken pride in our loyalty to our team, and our knowledge of the game even through one of the toughest stretches any team has endured but I can guarantee that your team has gone through hard times before and will again. So don't pretend to be above another teams fans because of decisions you or they had no part in.

 

[McRpro]

I posted similar sentiments at the draft lottery. Oilers didnt deserve this win at all and it hard to have pride in supporting a team which boasts so many 1sts and who was so overly futile for such a long time

What made it worse was that Oilers were so bad and got the NHL to change lottery to avoid them getting another pick. Then only for them to win that upgraded lottery the year it was implemented. It was ironic but said and screwed over Arizona

I feel bad for the kid sometimes too. Hes already starting to get a ton of hate because of the teams hes on

That stuff really bothers you? Doesn't bother me at all! 'Deserve' has got nothing to do with a lottery.

Bring on the haters. We've suffered long enough and when the Oilers get good again, and people cry even more then it'll be just the more reason to laugh.

 

[Halfy]

Mcdavids defensive awareness = offensive awareness. Truly unbelievable that hes better then 90% of the leagues players as an 18year old teenager.

only 90%?

 

[Worraps]

That second line is incredibly inexperienced which makes me nervous but they have to get yak top 6 minutes some how. How do you guys see the pp units, they should have to pretty solid groups.
Hall-mcd-lander (net presence)
Drais-schultz

Ebs-rnh-pouliot (net front)
Sekera-yak

The inexperience of the second line is why I prefaced it with "not to start the season."

It's something that is going to be tried at some point and I think it will prove most successful in the long run. Every effort is going to be made to make Hall and McDavid a pairing but I have a strong suspicion that a pure trigger man like Yakupov is the best fit with Connor.

As for the power play? They can go almost anywhere. Given the way McLellan and Woodcroft ran a very good powerplay in San Jose there is likely to be an emphasis on generating shots from the point. Given the limited options for decent point shots I think we'll be looking at:

Draisaitl(net front)-McDavid-Hall
Schultz-Yakupov (big point shot)

Eberle-RNH-Pouliot (net front)
Sekera-Nikitin (big point shot)

 

[Vujtek]

Rogers:

Poor McDavid, couldn't even get a single line

Looking forward seeing what the kid can do in his first season. With the wingers Oilers can provide to him, he should have an excellent rookie year.

 

[WpgBuffan]

We are also a bit gun shy on openly enjoying a player like McDavid around here (outside HFOil). For the past few years the inevitable comparisons with Seguin, Landeskog, Galchenyuk, etc... have occurred frequently and every time the other guy has a good game, month, season we are told that we made the wrong pick(s) at #1. Now with the inevitable McDavid/Eichel comparisons it has been ratcheted up to the maximum degree so it has become difficult to make positive statements about McDavid without certain posters dragging Eichel into the conversation.

Compare the Eichel and McDavid threads and see which one is brought up more in the other guys thread. The Eichel thread at times is almost like a 2nd McDavid thread.

 

[Aceboogie]

McDavid looked a bit timid in first NHL game, but now he is rolling. Tonight he looked incredible and there was shifts where he was unstoppable

Him and Drasaitl have formed quite the duo and in the O zone can control the puck for long stretches

It was a treat to watch him tonight

 

[Soundwave]

Yeah he looked more comfortable tonight, needs to shoot a bit more but his speed is sublime. His line with Draisaitl completely outplayed the Nugent Hopkins-Eberle line.

 

[duul]

Uh yeah. He looks leagues ahead of RNH and Eberle. Pretty terrifying to see where he might be in two years.

 

[Aceboogie]

Yeah he looked more comfortable tonight, needs to shoot a bit more but his speed is sublime. His line with Draisaitl completely outplayed the Nugent Hopkins-Eberle line.

Yeah thats his only fault, needs to be a bit more selfish and shoot. Other than that, he has it all. He already looks insane offensively out there and is great defensively as well

Ill be the first to admit I thought RNH would be the better player for first 40 games. But now I think McDavid is best Oiler from game 1

 

[McFlyingV]

Really should have had at least a goal tonight himself, and probably 2. His finish just hasn't been there on point blank chances, but it will come.

 

[Psychoil]

Mcdavid was by and far the best player on the ice. Man he looks nearly unstoppable with his speed. The thing is he can be a very sound defensive player because his speed is so ridiculous

 

[t0nedeff]

cant wait till the vancouver games where we can actually watch the guy on the television with HD for christ sakes.

 

[Soundwave]

Uh yeah. He looks leagues ahead of RNH and Eberle. Pretty terrifying to see where he might be in two years.

Yeah I don't want to get too carried away, it's a luxury that the Oilers have in being able to shelter him, but he looked head and shoulders above Nugent Hopkins and Eberle tonight and the scary thing is it doesn't really even look like he's going 80%. He looked like he was pushing it at about 75% of his ability.