Post-Game Talk: I have no theme for this PGT

[Drivesaitl]

No you're not. It comes up relatively often. Two things I think are different though:
1) there is not much pushback, if posters start pushing back more join the discussion. I am pushing back at times because I've seen him get crapped on even after playing good games, often on those occasions more join in the critisizm.

The consistency is not there though, which is strange seeing as it's been a strenght of his in the past. That is not good enough.
2) Many have way higher expectations on a $8.5M fwd and second best player in the team. Especially when we need scoring. It's much easier to get down on someone where the bar is set so high as it is for Drai.

I've said it before and I think many agree with me: Larsson, even playing up and down as he has been, is not the problem of this team (neither is Drai of course). Even if you think he belongs on the 2nd pair it's still a decent contract.

Personally I also see something is off with him. Cannot tell if it's injuries or in his head. OEL had his worst season ever the season after his mother passed away, now I know many deal with these things so it's not an excuse, but something is obviously wrong. His best play imo was 16/17 playoffs, followed by his last two seasons in NJD (14/15-15/16). 16/17 reg was also not bad, but below his normal imo.

Well, on point 2 Draisaitl is earning his contract more than McD is to be frank, The players are almost equivalent value on the season with McD having a slight edge.

Good commons regarding Larsson. With the exception of not being a problem. he has been. Theres been a last line of defense missing on a lot of nights when any forward makes a mistake. A top pairing should be good enough, and has to be, to provide a level of D that is another impediment to opponent scoring. Our topline hasn't been very good at that this year which is something you have to have in todays NHL where strength goes up against strength. Which also may have something to do with Larssons undoing. In this season the skill/speed of the game has ramped up another notch. he looks overwhelmed. Particularly in situations where opponent team gets a first chance and then create effective chaos leading to other chances. I see Larsson panicking out there. Freezing.

Is the quality of the NHL game played this season impacting Larsson ability to defend it?

 

[CycloneSweep]

You're preaching to the choir my friend. I've been pushing for the RNH-Drai combo for about 3 years now and never understood why it was never tried until now.
McDavid-anybody and RNH-Drai is the best way to create a 2 line scoring threat.

The biggest issue I think is they want to keep McDavid happy and have someone for him to play with. I think that's the biggest need this summer is a new winger for McDavid that can read off him or score.

Skinner, Stone, Dzingel, Hoffman are all guys that come to mind that are available for next year.

 

[McDrai]

You can tell the return to the Oilers has rejuvenated Gagner which makes sense. The guy essentially grew up as an Oiler and his significant other is from here. Gagner is back home. Next up, Taylor Hall.

 

[CycloneSweep]

You can tell the return to the Oilers has rejuvenated Gagner which makes sense. The guy essentially grew up as an Oiler and his significant other is from here. Gagner is back home. Next up, Taylor Hall.

Lines next year?

RNH - McDavid - Gagner
Hall - Draisaitl - Eberle

Let's go

 

[McDrai]

Lines next year?

RNH - McDavid - Gagner
Hall - Draisaitl - Eberle

Let's go

I like it except Eberle
He's a floater

 

[CupofOil]

The biggest issue I think is they want to keep McDavid happy and have someone for him to play with. I think that's the biggest need this summer is a new winger for McDavid that can read off him or score.

Skinner, Stone, Dzingel, Hoffman are all guys that come to mind that are available for next year.

I don't think McDavid is that much of a diva that he needs RNH or Drai on his line to be happy.
It's like those who say that the Oilers can never trade Nurse because it'll make McDavid unhappy. He's a pro, he'll play with the cards he's dealt and carry on.

In any event, Dzingel is the best, most realistic option I can think of that the Oilers can add without breaking the bank as unlikely as even that is.
As we discussed yesterday, I think one skilled top 6 winger is all they need to make this a much more dynamic group. Hell, look at the difference Gagner alone makes. All they need is a mere dash of skill on those top 2 lines and it should make a significant difference.

 

[Drivesaitl]

You're preaching to the choir my friend. I've been pushing for the RNH-Drai combo for about 3 years now and never understood why it was never tried until now.
McDavid-anybody and RNH-Drai is the best way to create a 2 line scoring threat.

Draisaitl quite clearly prefers playing with physically strong imposing players or strong cycle players and it best suits his usage. Nuge is the best of any of McD, Drai, Nuge, of playing on his own.

I would far rather have Gagner up there with Draisaitl (Gagner has worked well with imposing linemates whenever he gets them and makes up for his size with moving the puck adroitly and quickly. I think a Gagner Drai pairing would be interesting.

Nuge is needed more to get something out of our third line and he's the only one that seems to be able to get anything out of Lucic's tank.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I don't think McDavid is that much of a diva that he needs RNH or Drai on his line to be happy.
It's like those who say that the Oilers can never trade Nurse because it'll make McDavid unhappy. He's a pro, he'll deal with the cards he dealt and carry on.

In any event, Dzingel is the best, most realistic option I can think of that the Oilers can add without breaking the bank as unlikely as even that is.
As we discussed yesterday, I think one skilled top 6 winger is all they need to make this a much more dynamic group. Hell, look at the difference Gagner alone makes. All they need is a mere dash of skill on those top 2 lines and it should make a significant difference.

I mean I don't think he will want a trade but you want to give your star player something to work with, ya know?

Dzingel will be the cheapest to sign and if he can be relatively cheap to trade for at the deadline it MIGHT be worth trying to convince him then.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Draisaitl quite clearly prefers playing with physically strong imposing players or strong cycle players and it best suits his usage. Nuge is the best of any of McD, Drai, Nuge, of playing on his own.

I would far rather have Gagner up there with Draisaitl (Gagner has worked well with imposing linemates whenever he gets them and makes up for his size with moving the puck adroitly and quickly. I think a Gagner Drai pairing would be interesting.

Nuge is needed more to get something out of our third line and he's the only one that seems to be able to get anything out of Lucic's tank.

Except we don't have the money to replace RNH in the top 6 and we should be getting a legit 3rd line center, not delegating RNH down there.

Also yeah, Drai likes having a big imposing winger sometimes. Then throw one on the other wing.

 

[LaGu]

Well, on point 2 Draisaitl is earning his contract more than McD is to be frank, The players are almost equivalent value on the season with McD having a slight edge.

Good commons regarding Larsson. With the exception of not being a problem. he has been. Theres been a last line of defense missing on a lot of nights when any forward makes a mistake. A top pairing should be good enough, and has to be, to provide a level of D that is another impediment to opponent scoring. Our topline hasn't been very good at that this year which is something you have to have in todays NHL where strength goes up against strength. Which also may have something to do with Larssons undoing. In this season the skill/speed of the game has ramped up another notch. he looks overwhelmed. Particularly in situations where opponent team gets a first chance and then create effective chaos leading to other chances. I see Larsson panicking out there. Freezing.

Is the quality of the NHL game played this season impacting Larsson ability to defend it?

In terms of being a problem, that was more referring to that if he is you're 2nd pair RD it would be ok considering his contract/ability. Now we cannot really do that because we have no RD to play infront of him so yeah, then it definitely can be a problem.

I don't know what is up with him. I don't think he just lost it though or that it is a natural progression of the game that has caught up with him. He's been able to handle fast teams before and I actually think that before Klefbom went down he did have some pretty good games. Also lately he's had like 1 good game for every 3 not good. That is not acceptable but still that game once in a while show me he still can be effective.


Edit: when it comes to Drai I have nothing to add, he is playing some great hockey right now. Worth every penny and then some.

 

[SaltNPeca]

 

[The Nuge]

I only saw the highlights but the 3 goals were completely unstoppable. I'm guessing he was really poor otherwise based on your comment because those goals were not his fault.

Lee’s goal wasn’t great. His lack of mobility meant that instead of a simple push over where he stops that shot, he flopped, and then couldn’t stop the puck. It’s a move that he often has to resort to, and it’s frustrating to watch.

The PP goals were both good goals. A quicker goalie might have had a chance on Nelson’s (Lehner made a similar save), but that was still a great pass and shot.

He just still looked really shaky in net last night to me. He was good in the game against Arizona (up until the shootout anyways), but last night was one of those games where it looked like anything that wasn’t an easy save was probably going to end up in our net.

With all due respect to @The Nuge who I have a lot of respect for as a poster, he has a severe bias against Koskinen

I know it comes across that way, but I’ve also defended my position on basically every game/goal, and gone much further than “He should have had it”.

My frustration comes from his utter lack of mobility, and us handing him a contract to fill a role that he hasn’t proven capable of doing. When he’s on, he’s ok, because he’s reading the play fast enough to overcome his slowness. But any mediocre to bad game, and we can’t allow any east west passes, wraparounds, etc. Just look at the Arizona shootout. Keller shot, and Koskinen stopped it easily. The 3 guys that deked were able to easily beat Koskinen (Cousins didn’t score though because the puck took a funny hop)

 

[The Hound]

Of course we win and I miss the game. Happy for Gags. Hopefully 97 isn’t suspended. I’ll be surprised if he is, soft play, no need to lose viewership over that.

Supes is the obvious answer to the poll, Batman just has the best villains

 

[McFlash97]

I mean I don't think he will want a trade but you want to give your star player something to work with, ya know?

Dzingel will be the cheapest to sign and if he can be relatively cheap to trade for at the deadline it MIGHT be worth trying to convince him then.

I'm on board with Dzingel, he seems like a perfect fit on our top 6.

 

[McBeastMode]

Also superman is garbage.

 

[McFlash97]

AA- McDavid - Dzingel
Gagner - Draisaitl - RNH

 

[rboomercat90]

Hitchcock go to bed

What the hell is a snorlax anyway?

 

[McYoungGuns]

I can't agree with this because that's a whole other gear. You can't sustain that type of play through 82 game regular season and no player, not even Connor McDavid, can. Plus that theres been several games where Draisaitl has shown this type of play. Really all of 2019 he has been carrying this club on his back.

In this instance "that player" would be the best player in hockey. Those expectations are a little high.

It seems odd that Drai has to be better than everybody to receive no criticism. Where is the similar level of critique regarding other players?

For instance even as you allude Connor McDavid has not been nearly as good this season taking NHL pts increase into account. This season might actually resemble his 3rd best season. But no criticism of that is seen.

Larsson has been questionable for two seasons now. I barely hear criticism of that. I'm one of the few even noting it. Larsson played like a lost child the whole time Klefbom was missing and he still hasn't recovered. Not that he was good before the Klefbom injury.

Anytime something bad is said about him, what he was traded for comes up, this pisses the mods off and that post is removed. It really is that simple

 

[Messrules11]

Anyone else see we had 4 guys on the ice for the OT goal? Haha, Trotz was freaking out, we got away with one there

 

[Del Preston]

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I can't agree with this because that's a whole other gear. You can't sustain that type of play through 82 game regular season and no player, not even Connor McDavid, can. Plus that theres been several games where Draisaitl has shown this type of play. Really all of 2019 he has been carrying this club on his back.

In this instance "that player" would be the best player in hockey. Those expectations are a little high.

It seems odd that Drai has to be better than everybody to receive no criticism. Where is the similar level of critique regarding other players?

For instance even as you allude Connor McDavid has not been nearly as good this season taking NHL pts increase into account. This season might actually resemble his 3rd best season. But no criticism of that is seen.

Larsson has been questionable for two seasons now. I barely hear criticism of that. I'm one of the few even noting it. Larsson played like a lost child the whole time Klefbom was missing and he still hasn't recovered. Not that he was good before the Klefbom injury.

You are reading what you want to see then, there are a ton of us calling out Larssons garbage play for the past couple of years.

Definitely not you being one of the few that is even noticing it, thats a good joke.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Corsi is a bad stat.

What are the HDSCF and HDSCA and xgf stats?

Those are more telling than corsi, cause the oilers get alot of outside shots that arent dangerous at all that pile up the corsi.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Corsi is a bad stat.

What are the HDSCF and HDSCA and xgf stats?

Those are more telling than corsi, cause the oilers get alot of outside shots that arent dangerous at all that pile up the corsi.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Anyone else see we had 4 guys on the ice for the OT goal? Haha, Trotz was freaking out, we got away with one there

They definitely didn't call the blatant Barzal interference on Klef, either

 

[Stoneman89]

I don't know if it's the same, but current Oilers lose it for us all the time. Is that something?

Exact opposite.