Post-Game Talk: Can we leave Stu in a California Closet?

[CupofOil]

Bouchard is useless without Ekholm baby sitting him. A 10 million dollar D shouldn’t need that.

It's become blatantly clear that giving this player anything near that on a long term is GM career suicide.
Unfortunately his pure numbers are that of a player that will get huge money on the open market so it's either bridge at a slightly lesser number, trade him or pay him that ridiculous money long term. I'm honestly coming around to trading him with Ekholm likely to never be the same again.

I honestly have no idea what they should do with him, every decision has huge risk even the bridge option which won't save that much in the short term and would cause much more pain long term assuming that his offensive numbers stay high.
The trade option you run the risk of him blowing up elsewhere making the Oilers look bad then spend the next however many years finding an offensive talent of that caliber.
Then the obvious $10m+/yr long term risk

 

[1981 Oilers]

I have a wild theory that Bouchard was upset because we traded away/didn't resign his friends. McLeod Foegele and Bouch were pretty tight. He is playing like ass because he doesn't give a damn.

Bouch might be playing with McLeod next year

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Bouch might be playing with McLeod next year

Can't wait to trade for more Sabres pet projects then get gaslit into thinking we robbed them blind.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I have a wild theory that Bouchard was upset because we traded away/didn't resign his friends. McLeod Foegele and Bouch were pretty tight. He is playing like ass because he doesn't give a damn.

I don’t think so. This is going to cost him literally millions of dollars.

 

[brentashton]

I'll just say this - Ryan Rishaug can get off his pedestal lecturing "Oiler fan."

f***ing idiot goes "ya well Oiler fan, you shouldn't expect a lot better out of Pickard."

No. f***ing. Shit. You don't need to lecture "Oiler fan" about that, it's what we knew for most of the year as those idiots licked those goalie's boots and basically propagandized for them. Both suck, we know that. Why we've been screaming for a goalie for years.

Even Rishaug’s Pod co-hosts think he’s a simp. People need to remember that whenever he opens his mouth and pontificates. Chances are what he says will be horseshit.

He’s not Jason Gregor level bad, but they share space on the couch.

 

[1981 Oilers]

someone mentioned it earlier (having hard time finding post). We could go after Dobson and Swayman. Im actually up for that. Dobson might not be getting resigned in New York and Bruins must rebuild. I'm just scared trading with Bruins right now. They bent us over and didnt use KY jelly.
I rather have Dobson at 6-8 then Bouch at 10-11

 

[1981 Oilers]

Can't wait to trade for more Sabres pet projects then get gaslit into thinking we robbed them blind.

they should re-do those Oceans 11 and Oceans 12 movies . The script will be NHL GM's robbing the Oilers

 

[K1984]

someone mentioned it earlier (having hard time finding post). We could go after Dobson and Swayman. Im actually up for that. Dobson might not be getting resigned in New York and Bruins must rebuild. I'm just scared trading with Bruins right now. They bent us over and didnt use KY jelly.
I rather have Dobson at 6-8 then Bouch at 10-11

Assuming there isn't a deal for another top pair guy coming the other way - I'd also look at trading Bouch for 2 ~$5Mish level players that are sub-27 years old that play with a bit of jam. Re-build some younger depth.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

they should re-do those Oceans 11 and Oceans 12 movies . The script will be NHL GM's robbing the Oilers

I think of the old saying "Walk into a room and if you can't find the mark, you're it."

We're the mark. Always have been, always will be.

 

[BlackDogg]

Yet as badly as the team as played they did score five in game 1, and the series could easily be 1-1 if Skinner could make just one save. I didn’t watch the game yesterday because I can’t subject myself to this shit, so I can’t comment on the goals that went in. But I know for sure that there were three eminently saveable shots that went in the Oilers net in game 1. Skinner is responsible for his own game and to my eye he was without excuse in game 1. It beggars belief that he was given the net for game 2. I tip my hat to those fans with stomachs strong enough to watch last night. I couldn’t do it.

Yup I watched in case of a miracle for the first two or three goals. All I could do. You know the ending without reading the book.
BTW, I suspect we won't see him in any new California Closet commercials.

 

[1981 Oilers]

well I got lots of drugs for tomorrow night. Great sales on the weed at the reserves now and u get a free gram of hash every saturday. I'm all stocked up now. I havent been drinking but I might tomorrow night. It numbs the pain. Maybe Ill try some heroine. That will really numb the pain.

HELLO DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND

 

[1981 Oilers]

I think of the old saying "Walk into a room and if you can't find the mark, you're it."

We're the mark. Always have been, always will be.

WHEN IS LAST TIME WE ACTUALLY WON A TRADE?
EKHOLM I WOULD SAY

 

[1981 Oilers]

Assuming there isn't a deal for another top pair guy coming the other way - I'd also look at trading Bouch for 2 ~$5Mish level players that are sub-27 years old that play with a bit of jam. Re-build some younger depth.

Agreed
There is just no way we can pay Bouch and Nurse over 20 mil

 

[BlackDogg]

Let's not forget that in Game 7 of the finals last year, the first shot on goal went in for Florida.

 

[bucks_oil]

That's the point I'm making. Holland had five years to invest in goaltending and all he did was bring in stop gaps with no future. I couldn't really care less what kind of SV% he got from them. He left the organization completely barren.

He forced the next guy to do in one offseason what he refused to do over five. He screwed them.

It's a fair perspective, but I'm just making the point that the organization has a longer lifespan than Holland's tenure. It matters the position he inherited the franchise and where he left it.

He was a net positive. To your point, it hasn't been enough, but he had things moving in the right direction. He improved the D, he improved the forwards tremendously, he didn't do enough in goal and he was no better than Chia in managing the cap. That's his legacy IMO.

but the guy he inherited it from actively destroyed value. Chia was worse at forward than what he inherited, no better at D, worse in goal and horrific with the cap. Holland spent 5 years digging out... Bowman is still feeling the effects of that mismanagement under Chia.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

WHEN IS LAST TIME WE ACTUALLY WON A TRADE?
EKHOLM I WOULD SAY

That's really the only trade we decisively won in the last....

...Jeez I don't even know. Ceci for Emberson seemed to be a slam dunk but now I'm not so sure. Same with McLeod for Savioe.

 

[McHelpus]

WHEN IS LAST TIME WE ACTUALLY WON A TRADE?
EKHOLM I WOULD SAY

Literally the only 2 that come to mind is the Kostin and Ekholm trade.

 

[Da McBomb]

What happened to the 'good' Darnell Nurse earlier in the season? Now back to the inconsistent dman we always saw at the most important time of the year.

Even Hyman who is supposed to be workhorse is struggling.. injured still?

I'm so done with Arvidsson

 

[BlackDogg]

So now they also likely need to change coaches as well. Silent knob isn't doing it.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

What happened to the 'good' Darnell Nurse earlier in the season? Now back to the inconsistent dman we always saw at the most important time of the year.

Even Hyman who is supposed to be workhorse is struggling.. injured still?

I'm so done with Arvidsson

This is who Nurse has always been. We keep expecting him to be some Norris calibre defenseman (lol at anyone who said he would win one during his contract), but he's just an average d-man that you can find on any team. Next to no offense, brain cramps at bad times, and just too passive when it comes to a mean streak.

He got paid, and Holland was a fool for paying him so much.

 

[K1984]

What happened to the 'good' Darnell Nurse earlier in the season? Now back to the inconsistent dman we always saw at the most important time of the year.

Even Hyman who is supposed to be workhorse is struggling.. injured still?

I'm so done with Arvidsson

Nurse needs a partner that he's comfortable with to be good. There is almost no way to predict which type of player this is. For this year, he's been fine or even really good with Kulak or Stecher. He reverts to being a joke with anyone else.

D men making that kind of cash can't need a babysitter. He needs one and so does Bouch. We made this mistake last time, can't afford to do it again.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

The got yer back guys don’t see a problem with Stu smiling and laughing

The podcast name checks out. What’s it going to take for them not to have his back.

 

[popo]

Nurse has reverted back to Playoff Nurse. The same horrible antics he had last year in our Cup run. At that time we overcame he horrible play, this year we don't have Ekholm and it gets magnified.
Nurse is consistently allowing opponents uncontested shots from in close. Instead of playing defense and taking away the shooter in front, he is laying down on the ice playing goalie. Last year he did this as well; backing into his own goalie to block a shot instead of taking away shots. He is a good skater with long reach and is physical, but is playing against his strengths with his goaltending fetish.

Klingberg looked like our best defenseman out there. Maybe paid him with Nurse to spare us a Bouchard -Nurse pairing.

 

[mcdingdong]

Nurse was awful - just stupid, stupid reads all game long. Henrique doesn't even look like an NHLer, he is horrendous. Once again we had about 9 forwards who didn't do sweet f all. I thought Klingberg showed well but holy hell do we ever miss Ekholm.

Welp, we are in must-win territory a few days into playoffs BUT: I still believe!

EDIT: Stu Skinner doing the windmill on that muffin shot and then laughing as the Kings fans jeered him was infuriating. You've been ventilated for 11 goals in 5.5 periods, how tone-deaf are you. I thought we might've had a goalie there as recently as early this season but I've done a complete 180 on this player, what a clown. Wonder what his teammates thought of that sequence? Somebody better have chewed his ass out in the room after the game.

 

[oobga]

Nurse was awful - just stupid, stupid reads all game long. Henrique doesn't even look like an NHLer, he is horrendous. Once again we had about 9 forwards who didn't do sweet f all. I thought Klingberg showed well but holy hell do we ever miss Ekholm.

Welp, we are in must-win territory a few days into playoffs BUT: I still believe!

EDIT: Stu Skinner doing the windmill on that muffin shot and then laughing as the Kings fans jeered him was infuriating. You've been ventilated for 11 goals in 5.5 periods, how tone-deaf are you. I thought we might've had a goalie there as recently as early this season but I've done a complete 180 on this player, what a clown. Wonder what his teammates thought of that sequence? Somebody better have chewed his ass out in the room after the game.

Yeah watched Henrique pretty close last night. Dude looks like he's in retirement mode. Looks like what an old version of Nuge will be when the passion, speed and energy reach all time lows.

3M x 2 year deal with NMC. JJ needs a slap.