Player Discussion Jujhar Khaira

[Bryanbryoil]

I'm super impressed with the thoroughness of this post, just saying.

I haven't watched nearly as much this year as the state of the team has been too much for me, so I'll withhold saying more until I watch him closer. I'd be happy to be wrong. Maybe I'm remembering his earlier play too much.

Yeah, take in a game and key in on guys like Khaira and Bear since they could be part of the solution going forward in supporting roles.

 

[TheNumber4]

It wasn't the dollar amount but the years as many have stated. We also saw how he could get injured for 6 straight years.

Freak accidents and freak injuries and through all that he still became a real deal NHLer before our eyes last season. That could be read 2 ways, the Chia way or the Dallas way. And now Dallas is reaping the benefits of our patience, draft pick, and development.

 

[nabob]

Freak accidents and freak injuries and through all that he still became a real deal NHLer before our eyes last season. That could be read 2 ways, the Chia way or the Dallas way. And now Dallas is reaping the benefits of our patience, draft pick, and development.

Most injury prone player in the last decade of the Oilers and your whining that we didn't give him a 3 year contract when he had never proven to be able to stay healthy since draft day?

 

[iCanada]

Cheaper, better skater, just as tough, every bit as talented and with a better shot, cheaper and younger.



He has been a beast along the boards and down low. He is far more than a high shooting %.



There would be nothing wrong with him on our 3rd line.



Maroon was a ****ing snail and Looch's acceleration is absolute crap. Looch might be faster at the top end but Khaira is a better skater than both. His hands IMO are comparable to Maroon's and better than Lucic's. He hasn't been give the chance to prove you right or wrong because he isn't making $6 million and he can play center and has stepped into Letestu's old spot.



That could very well be the case if we have proper coaching and Puljujarvi as well as Yamamoto step in.



Poorer top speed than Maroon? You really need to key in on him for a game and then give us your take.



His shot has surprised me this season.



Well to be fair Jujhar doesn't make $6 million so I would tend to agree.

I mean... we needed more wingers, not less.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I mean... we needed more wingers, not less.

Well that will hopefully be taken care of in the offseason.

 

[JayE]

Khaira has more offensive talent than Lucic. Lucic might have the worst hands in the league.

Going forward this might be the case, but Lucic has scored 30 goals and gotten around 60 points several times in this league. Khaira isn't bereft of offensive talent, but I'd imagine 20 goals and 40ish points will be the high end of his ceiling (which is great if he can be also competent defensive player, a physical presence, and a player capable of playing both center and the wing).

 

[JayE]

Okay, I'm going to have to watch Khaira more closely, because you're not the first person I've heard praise Khaira's skating. From what I've seen I'd say he has less top speed than Lucic and is weaker on his skates, but better edge work and slightly better acceleration. And I'd say he has worse acceleration, is weaker on his skates, has similar edgework, and poorer top speed than Maroon. At best, he's similar to them as a skater, and IMO he's still poorer than both overall, albeit slightly.

I think it's pretty clear that he's a better all-around skater than both of them. Both Lucic and Maroon are genuinely poor overall skaters who make up for this (well, ideally, anyway) with their other qualities. Khaira has clearly better acceleration and edge-work than both of them. His top end speed is clearly better than Maroon's. Lucic might be close to him in terms of top-end speed, but Khaira is clearly his superior in all other areas with regards to skating. Khaira can competently play center, whereas both Lucic and Maroon would be absolutely lost in that position, largely because of their skating ability.

I'm not saying that he is a better player than either of them (although, he probably will be more valuable relative to his salary), but he's definitely the better skater and more competent defensive player (I thought Maroon's defensive effort over the last few months has been rather shameful, and Lucic's giveaways are a constant frustration).

 

[MessierII]

Honestly never saw much in him when he was up even early in the year I was down on the guy but he is solid. Happy to be wrong about. Juj-Strome should be 2/3rds of a good 3rd line next season.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Khaira is definitely a better skater than Maroon and Looch. His shot is improving and he's always had pretty good passing skills. I want to see what he is capable of when he gains even more strength

 

[TheNumber4]

Most injury prone player in the last decade of the Oilers and your whining that we didn't give him a 3 year contract when he had never proven to be able to stay healthy since draft day?

His injuries weren't of the reoccurring kind. They were weird illnesses and random spots on the body. Injuries can happen to any player anytime. Pitlick had a run of bad luck with them, and yet still bounced back to show he was not only a bottom 6er, but one of the better ones for the Oilers. If Oilers management were smart they would have made the right call on the situation like Dlass management did, and now we've lost a 2nd end pick for nothing and a productive bottom 6er who will continue to produce for many years to come.

You can say blah blah he's injuries all the time, but the mere fact that he's succeeding this season injury free shows your wrong.

 

[Tyrolean]

Most injury prone player in the last decade of the Oilers and your whining that we didn't give him a 3 year contract when he had never proven to be able to stay healthy since draft day?

Should have signed Pitlick. After 6 years it was really the player that wanted a change of scenery so nothing can been done about it, unless you give him a ton of money. He won't stay that injured in the future so it would have been a good gamble.

 

[hallhopkinseberle]

Pitlick would be nice but he wont be the reason why we had such a poor season.

Pulujarvi-Strome-Slepyshev
Pitlick-Khaira-Kassian

Would be a good bottom six but we still have bigger holes in Net,D and W

 

[Soundwave]

I'd rather have Pitlick than Pontus Aberg to be honest, and certainly over Pakarinen or Slepyshev.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I'd rather have Pitlick than Pontus Aberg to be honest, and certainly over Pakarinen or Slepyshev.

Too bad he wanted to move on. I guess we could've held him hostage or paid him $4 million AAV though.

 

[Zenos]

Well to be fair Jujhar doesn't make $6 million so I would tend to agree.

And to be fair to my comment, that wasn't what I was implying either. It was meant neither as praise for Lucic or devaluation of Khaira. Just a reply to a fairly outlandish comment.

 

[nabob]

His injuries weren't of the reoccurring kind. They were weird illnesses and random spots on the body. Injuries can happen to any player anytime. Pitlick had a run of bad luck with them, and yet still bounced back to show he was not only a bottom 6er, but one of the better ones for the Oilers. If Oilers management were smart they would have made the right call on the situation like Dlass management did, and now we've lost a 2nd end pick for nothing and a productive bottom 6er who will continue to produce for many years to come.

You can say blah blah he's injuries all the time, but the mere fact that he's succeeding this season injury free shows your wrong.

It doesn't show I'm wrong at all. Reoccurring injuries or an injury that isn't treated properly, like Benson for example, aren't of a big concern because they can be treated and dealt with. A player like Pitlick that got hurt every time he touched the ice for six straight seasons is a concern. He's played part of a season without getting hurt for the first time in 6 years and is putting up decent bottom six numbers. I guess you can call that succeeding and attach your wagon to it if it makes you feel better.

 

[nabob]

And to be fair to my comment, that wasn't what I was implying either. It was meant neither as praise for Lucic or devaluation of Khaira. Just a reply to a fairly outlandish comment.

What skill area is Lucic better at?

Is he a better skater - hell no
Is he a better passer - hell no
Does he have a better shot - better clapper probably. How many clappers do you see skilled players take?

It's not an outlandish statement at all to say that Khaira has a better set of skills than Lucic. Have you watched any of the last 30 games?

When was the last time Lucic did anything close to either of these?

 

[Canovin]

I'd rather have Pitlick than Pontus Aberg to be honest, and certainly over Pakarinen or Slepyshev.

You're only saying this now cause Aberg is still new to the Oilers system.

 

[nabob]

Too bad he wanted to move on. I guess we could've held him hostage or paid him $4 million AAV though.

It's like some people seriously don't understand what UFA rights are.

 

[TheNumber4]

It doesn't show I'm wrong at all. Reoccurring injuries or an injury that isn't treated properly, like Benson for example, aren't of a big concern because they can be treated and dealt with. A player like Pitlick that got hurt every time he touched the ice for six straight seasons is a concern. He's played part of a season without getting hurt for the first time in 6 years and is putting up decent bottom six numbers. I guess you can call that succeeding and attach your wagon to it if it makes you feel better.

Like I said before you can view the Pitlick situation 2 ways. 1. He's been injured before therefore he will always be injured. 2. He's been injured before and still came back every time to be an effective NHLer. Oilers chose 1, Dallas chose 2. Dallas made the right choice, Oilers made the wrong choice. Pitlick can play and is playing. And most likely will play next year and the year after that,

 

[Spawn]

Like I said before you can view the Pitlick situation 2 ways. 1. He's been injured before therefore he will always be injured. 2. He's been injured before and still came back every time to be an effective NHLer. Oilers chose 1, Dallas chose 2. Dallas made the right choice, Oilers made the wrong choice. Pitlick can play and is playing. And most likely will play next year and the year after that,

He was a UFA. He was free to go wherever he wanted.

 

[Drivesaitl]

And to be fair to my comment, that wasn't what I was implying either. It was meant neither as praise for Lucic or devaluation of Khaira. Just a reply to a fairly outlandish comment.

I don't think its outlandish. Something serious is going on with Lucic beyond a scoring drought. I wouldn't be making these comments if it wasn't so obvious throughout his game. he ha immense difficulty with hand eye coordination and reaction time. He's not even close timing a one timer. He's often making passes that are 10feet from where the linemate is, he's lost nearly all puck control ability. He has no hands around the net anymore.

This is what I've been thinking about the player for a longtime and even before we got him. That he's already experiencing impact of CTE or some other such fighting/hitting induced trauma.

Four junior hockey players diagnosed with CTE, researcher says - Article - TSN

As the article notes this is significantly impacting players as young as junior. It would be unlikely for Lucic to NOT be suffering symptoms with his hockey history.

In anycase when you see a severe decline in an aging player, and that player happens to be a pugilist that has neglected answering the bell (when opponents are running around) several times this year, you wonder whats going on. He hasn't fought since November. He has 3 fights all season.

Lastly the way that Lucic fights greatly increases his chances of CTE. He's not a pick his spots fighter. he pretty willingly goes toe to toe putting his jaw on the line in a lot of fights. He'll take shots if he figures he has a better one lined up. Lucic has eaten a ton of bare knuckle fists in his lifetime. Again it would be next to impossible for that not to have impacted his brain.

 

[nabob]

Like I said before you can view the Pitlick situation 2 ways. 1. He's been injured before therefore he will always be injured. 2. He's been injured before and still came back every time to be an effective NHLer. Oilers chose 1, Dallas chose 2. Dallas made the right choice, Oilers made the wrong choice. Pitlick can play and is playing. And most likely will play next year and the year after that,

3 ways

Pitlick chose 3, to sign wherever the F he wanted to as a UFA.

Do you get this upset about every UFA that doesn't sign with the Oilers that puts up 3/4th line numbers?

Like I said, glad he's managed to not have a season ending injury for the first time since being drafted. Still 20 games left for him to prove that he can stay healthy for a whole season for the first time in his career. Too bad he couldn't have done that once before or else he wouldn't have been a UFA and would still be a Oiler. Should be a clause in there that includes games missed while on IR, because if he could have ever stayed healthy he would have easily played enough games.

 

[TheNumber4]

3 ways

Pitlick chose 3, to sign wherever the F he wanted to as a UFA.

Do you get this upset about every UFA that doesn't sign with the Oilers that puts up 3/4th line numbers?

Like I said, glad he's managed to not have a season ending injury for the first time since being drafted. Still 20 games left for him to prove that he can stay healthy for a whole season for the first time in his career. Too bad he couldn't have done that once before or else he wouldn't have been a UFA and would still be a Oiler. Should be a clause in there that includes games missed while on IR, because if he could have ever stayed healthy he would have easily played enough games.

If the Oilers wanted to keep him they could have 1.1M for 3 years it's a done deal for a player that's been through a lot with the organization. Your 3rd scenario only makes sense if the Oilers offered. I don't think the Oilers even offered.

And who said I'm upset. Just noting one of the many Chia blunders that's happened in this offseason. Am I not allowed to discuss the mistakes of management on a hockey forum without being called out for being emotional about it?

 

[FlameChampion]

Been really impressed with Khaira this year. Last year I saw some potential. Big guy who skates well but seemed like he had pretty poor hands. Started the year off slow but hes really improved as the year went on. Looks like a solid NHL player now. One thing I really like about him is that hes one of the few bottom 6 players who actually holds onto the puck. He will hold onto the puck instead of blindly throwing/giving it away like so many others. Seems like a faster, more versatile, Maroon-lite who is constantly improving.