Have JJ and Bowman had the worst 9 months in Oilers history?

[HockeyGuy1964]

I could think of a few 9 month periods worse than the last 9 month period so, no.

 

[OfCorsiDid]

Simple title. In the past nine months, Jeff Jackson and Stan Bowman:

-Lost Holloway and Broberg to offer sheets
-Traded McLeod (45 point pace) for Savoie
-Signed Jeff Skinner to a highly inflated contract that included an NMC after a buyout
-Signed Henrique and Arvidsson to deals they are also underperforming which also included NMCs
-Signed John Klingberg to a questionable deal coming off a major surgery, eating up all our cap space for accrual
-Are now locked in a public disagreement with Evander Kane about LTIR when other teams are able to navigate it seamlessly every year
-Have refused to upgrade in net with predictable results

The result is a team on the downslide as they have played more playoff teams with no relief in sight and few options to fix it. I can’t think of a “better” set of moves if you were intentionally trying to sewer the team, never mind attempting to improve it. Thoughts?

Genuine question: How old are you?

Because if you're older than 7, then you need to go see a doctor because you can't even remember the Chiarelli tenure. That 18-19 Season might be the worst managed season in NHL history, maybe even the worst in the history of professional sport.

 

[brentashton]

I could think of a few 9 month periods worse than the last 9 month period so, no.

And that is what makes this latest period sad.

 

[Senor Catface]

What exactly did chia do that was equivalent to bringing in henrique Skinner arvidsson giving them all nmcs losing broberg and Holloway all after a game away from lifting the cup? What exactly did he do in a 9 month period that equates? The only one thinking like a 2 year old is you currently.

lol, you're serious? Oh man.

Total historical revisionism on how bad Chia was for this franchise.

He made trades so bad his last year it looked like he was intentionally tanking the team.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I have no problem with the deadline moves.

We added grit and toughness. Something we were missing

 

[FunkyChicken]

You can't compare this group to Chia. At the end, it felt like Chia was actively trying to sabotage the team.

I think this group is incapable of growth and learning.
You see what a good coach in Coffee does to improve the D. Do you try to improve the G coach? Nope.
You see what adding a good goalie does to a similar team in Colorado. Do you try to improve your G? Nope.
Anyone who's opinion is contradictory is ignored or blackballed.
The team frequently goes against conventional wisdom, usually to their detriment.
And if you don't like it, FU.

 

[Sethual]

Yes/No.
Drai extension is amazing!
Some of the moves are questionable and maybe they were done for the captain group of the Oilers but bringing in who they brought was always questionable and the Klingberg thing as well. Like its okay to try for the best and if it doesnt work out then you can move them (Rantanen) but holy crap its dumb to throw out half a dozen half baked lines and expecting to catch gold with all of them and then make it impossible to move on from them after. Trade deadline moves were okay lets see if Walman can be +3 every night and especially in the playoffs then we really won that trade for sure and if it gets Nurse sheltered minutes in the playoffs I am super for that!

So yeah they did dumb but keeping Drai is amazing. Not sure about keeping Bouchard though.

 

[The Panther]

-Lost Holloway and Broberg to offer sheets

I don't think it's fair to put this on Bowman. This was the fault of Holland mainly, and then Jackson for not cleaning it up shortly thereafter. Leaving this mess to Bowman, 15 minutes after he was hired, was the managerial equivalent of a hockey 'suicide pass'. It was setting him up for failure. (I also think Broberg was already out the door before this, and I don't think there was any chance they were keeping him. However, I really miss Holloway and I'm sure they could have kept him if one of the managers had been on top of things. Why Holland didn't sign him up before he departed the job is beyond me.)

-Traded McLeod (45 point pace) for Savoie

I didn't like losing McLeod either, but it's too early to judge this transaction. The way I see it, they basically decided to short-term commit to Henrique instead of long-term to McLeod, which might make sense in the next year or two in the playoffs. While Henrique hasn't done much this season (to put it nicely), does it really matter...? His entire value will come down to what he does in the playoffs. And we don't know yet what Savoie will bring, so...

-Signed Jeff Skinner to a highly inflated contract that included an NMC after a buyout

I think Skinner's contract is reasonable, if he was actually playing. The problem here, as another poster pointed out, seemed to be that Jackson didn't confer with coach Knoblach (or something). It's pretty clear that Knob desperately doesn't want to give any ice-time to J. Skinner, no matter how effective he is in limited minutes and on the third line. I don't know why, frankly. If the management was going to sign a six-time 30 goal scorer, you'd think they'd have been in discussion with the coach about it, but evidently not. (Again, this move has nothing whatsoever to do with Bowman.)

-Signed Henrique and Arvidsson to deals they are also underperforming which also included NMCs

As noted, I think the thinking was to lock down the veteran, Henrique, rather than commit to the younger McLeod (who doesn't have great hands, normally). So we'll see how that plays out in the playoffs. When McDavid and Drai are being checked into the ground or have to miss games (God help us) during playoff series, somebody like Henrique may be able to step up and deliver the mail. We will see.

Arvidsson has progressively looked worse as the season has gone on (despite yesterday's goal). What I have never been able to figure out is why they signed both J. Skinner and Arvidsson -- the two players bring vaguely similar things (one a lefty, one a righty). The coach obviously prefers Arvidsson, for some reason, and they don't play Skinner, who actually scores with some consistency. So, yes, I don't really understand this. If they'd signed only Arvidsson, I could at least understand the move (though risky, given the player's injury history, which has bit them already this season), but signing both was weird to me.

-Signed John Klingberg to a questionable deal coming off a major surgery, eating up all our cap space for accrual

He's looked bad so far, but it's too early to say. This was a depth signing, in case somebody goes down in the playoffs. Not necessarily a bad move.

-Are now locked in a public disagreement with Evander Kane about LTIR when other teams are able to navigate it seamlessly every year

Seems to me this is speculation.

-Have refused to upgrade in net with predictable results

Well, the results so far are 2 wins, 0 losses, so....?

It would be ideal for Stu Skinner to be the back-up. I think we all know this. It would be ideal for a better goalie to be the top guy. But it's a tough call for management -- if they'd gone all-out for a top level goalie (and there were -- what? -- one or two available?), they'd have had to give up a lot. What would they give up? You can't move Nurse or Nuge, with their contracts. Teams probably don't really want J. Skinner, who's past his prime and healthy scratched. Kane has been injured a lot, and has a lot of baggage. If you move Bouchard, it kills the PP, which is their biggest strength.

S. Skinner -- with a little hiccup against Van for two games -- won them the Western Conference last year. He was as good or better than Oettinger and Bobrovsky last spring. So, we gotta go with him and hope for the best...

The result is a team on the downslide as they have played more playoff teams with no relief in sight and few options to fix it. I can’t think of a “better” set of moves if you were intentionally trying to sewer the team, never mind attempting to improve it. Thoughts?

No, I disagree. The value of guys like Arvidsson, J. Skinner (if they ever play him), Henrique, and the depth D-guys is in the playoffs, if they need them. How they do this regular season is kind of a nothing-burger to me. The club made a clear commitment to a "win now" mentality (now I sound like Louie Debrusk), so just making the playoffs in the regular season is the only thing that matters now. And they're in 2nd place, so fine.

Remember game 7 last spring, when the Oilers lost the Cup by one goal? Drai was injured and largely ineffective in the Finals, while McDavid was checked into oblivion in games six and seven. If that happens again this spring, IN THEORY they have some more scoring support now from some of the new wingers. (That is, if they ever play Skinner.)

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

I don't think it's fair to put this on Bowman. This was the fault of Holland mainly,

Agreed but you can't put it on Holland. There was plenty of space to sign the RFA's. Jackson offered Holloway 1 million and the fourth line.

Bowman has actually done pretty well imo. Every player he brought in has fit well.

 

[brentashton]

I don't think it's fair to put this on Bowman. This was the fault of Holland mainly, and then Jackson for not cleaning it up shortly thereafter. Leaving this mess to Bowman, 15 minutes after he was hired, was the managerial equivalent of a hockey 'suicide pass'. It was setting him up for failure. (I also think Broberg was already out the door before this, and I don't think there was any chance they were keeping him. However, I really miss Holloway and I'm sure they could have kept him if one of the managers had been on top of things. Why Holland didn't sign him up before he departed the job is beyond me.)

I didn't like losing McLeod either, but it's too early to judge this transaction. The way I see it, they basically decided to short-term commit to Henrique instead of long-term to McLeod, which might make sense in the next year or two in the playoffs. While Henrique hasn't done much this season (to put it nicely), does it really matter...? His entire value will come down to what he does in the playoffs. And we don't know yet what Savoie will bring, so...

I think Skinner's contract is reasonable, if he was actually playing. The problem here, as another poster pointed out, seemed to be that Jackson didn't confer with coach Knoblach (or something). It's pretty clear that Knob desperately doesn't want to give any ice-time to J. Skinner, no matter how effective he is in limited minutes and on the third line. I don't know why, frankly. If the management was going to sign a six-time 30 goal scorer, you'd think they'd have been in discussion with the coach about it, but evidently not. (Again, this move has nothing whatsoever to do with Bowman.)

As noted, I think the thinking was to lock down the veteran, Henrique, rather than commit to the younger McLeod (who doesn't have great hands, normally). So we'll see how that plays out in the playoffs. When McDavid and Drai are being checked into the ground or have to miss games (God help us) during playoff series, somebody like Henrique may be able to step up and deliver the mail. We will see.

Arvidsson has progressively looked worse as the season has gone on (despite yesterday's goal). What I have never been able to figure out is why they signed both J. Skinner and Arvidsson -- the two players bring vaguely similar things (one a lefty, one a righty). The coach obviously prefers Arvidsson, for some reason, and they don't play Skinner, who actually scores with some consistency. So, yes, I don't really understand this. If they'd signed only Arvidsson, I could at least understand the move (though risky, given the player's injury history, which has bit them already this season), but signing both was weird to me.

He's looked bad so far, but it's too early to say. This was a depth signing, in case somebody goes down in the playoffs. Not necessarily a bad move.

Seems to me this is speculation.

Well, the results so far are 2 wins, 0 losses, so....?

It would be ideal for Stu Skinner to be the back-up. I think we all know this. It would be ideal for a better goalie to be the top guy. But it's a tough call for management -- if they'd gone all-out for a top level goalie (and there were -- what? -- one or two available?), they'd have had to give up a lot. What would they give up? You can't move Nurse or Nuge, with their contracts. Teams probably don't really want J. Skinner, who's past his prime and healthy scratched. Kane has been injured a lot, and has a lot of baggage. If you move Bouchard, it kills the PP, which is their biggest strength.

S. Skinner -- with a little hiccup against Van for two games -- won them the Western Conference last year. He was as good or better than Oettinger and Bobrovsky last spring. So, we gotta go with him and hope for the best...

No, I disagree. The value of guys like Arvidsson, J. Skinner (if they ever play him), Henrique, and the depth D-guys is in the playoffs, if they need them. How they do this regular season is kind of a nothing-burger to me. The club made a clear commitment to a "win now" mentality (now I sound like Louie Debrusk), so just making the playoffs in the regular season is the only thing that matters now. And they're in 2nd place, so fine.

Remember game 7 last spring, when the Oilers lost the Cup by one goal? Drai was injured and largely ineffective in the Finals, while McDavid was checked into oblivion in games six and seven. If that happens again this spring, IN THEORY they have some more scoring support now from some of the new wingers. (That is, if they ever play Skinner.)

It’s contagious @Drivesaitl

Must have been a sale on bricks at Home Depot tonight.

 

[Drivesaitl]

It’s contagious @Drivesaitl

Must have been a sale on bricks at Home Depot tonight.

Maybe they could get a room together and annihilate each other with 25page posts...I'm sure the server is wondering why these threads are so heavy with brick posts...

Oilersbear used to do solid text. no indentation. Try looking at 128lines of that. Reminds me of my Brother typewriter from 30yrs ago that had text memory but needed code to indent. So you just didn't do it...

Reminds me of Lester Bangs who used to take tabs of speed and just write all night, about anything.

Anyway Bowman something so that this post is on topic...

 

[nturn06]

Simple title. In the past nine months, Jeff Jackson and Stan Bowman:

-Lost Holloway and Broberg to offer sheets
-Traded McLeod (45 point pace) for Savoie
-Signed Jeff Skinner to a highly inflated contract that included an NMC after a buyout
-Signed Henrique and Arvidsson to deals they are also underperforming which also included NMCs
-Signed John Klingberg to a questionable deal coming off a major surgery, eating up all our cap space for accrual
-Are now locked in a public disagreement with Evander Kane about LTIR when other teams are able to navigate it seamlessly every year
-Have refused to upgrade in net with predictable results

The result is a team on the downslide as they have played more playoff teams with no relief in sight and few options to fix it. I can’t think of a “better” set of moves if you were intentionally trying to sewer the team, never mind attempting to improve it. Thoughts?

I don't understand the bolded one. McLeod is on pace for 45 points getting top 6 ice time. Any Oilers player doing that is a dissapoitment, yet loosing McLeod is a disaster, right?

 

[Mr Positive]

Broberg, Holloway and McLeod are not elite players. We've done worse than losing them.

But it's pretty bad. Oddly enough, I'm feeling really good about the talent mix on the team. The deadline deals seem like very subtle awesome choices.

That's what makes it unfair to Bowman. I don't blame him for the offer sheets. Even the decision not to match is unfair to pin on him. He was dropped into that mess.

But I don't get why we would stack the depth like crazy with the skaters but not add a single goalie. There were subtle-awesome moves to be made there too. It wasn't Gibson or bust

Still, again, we really could win the cup.

 

[The Panther]

Maybe they could get a room together and annihilate each other with 25page posts...I'm sure the server is wondering why these threads are so heavy with brick posts...

Oilersbear used to do solid text. no indentation. Try looking at 128lines of that. Reminds me of my Brother typewriter from 30yrs ago that had text memory but needed code to indent. So you just didn't do it...

Reminds me of Lester Bangs who used to take tabs of speed and just write all night, about anything.

Anyway Bowman something so that this post is on topic...

Yes, I'm sure most people are upset that I post a rational thought or two here twice a month, while they're utterly thrilled by your 487 posts on every thread.

 

[The Panther]

Broberg, Holloway and McLeod are not elite players. We've done worse than losing them.

Agree, although I do think they should have kept Holloway. About four years from now, when every forward is old and the team in in last place, that one is going to sting.

That's what makes it unfair to Bowman. I don't blame him for the offer sheets. Even the decision not to match is unfair to pin on him. He was dropped into that mess.

That's how I feel too. Holland and Jackson kind of set him up for a fail. But his own acquisitions are solid, so far.

But I don't get why we would stack the depth like crazy with the skaters but not add a single goalie. There were subtle-awesome moves to be made there too.

The org seems to feel (not saying they're right) that the need to have two good lines, one centered by you-know-who and you-know-who, is a greater priority than another goalie.

I don't necessarily agree, but I could at least understand their thinking if they were playing Jeff Skinner and giving him a chance to contribute.

If they'd decided to go out and get a proven goalie, it would have meant losing some key pieces. I guess they rolled the dice and went one way. So, we'll see how it shakes down...