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Player Discussion Mattias Ekholm

longtimeoilfan said:
If/when we win a cup with Ekholm, how does that situate him vis-a-vis Pronger and company?

Hoping Ekholm doesn't fool around on his wife and subsequently demand a trade. As good as Pronger was, he was a douche (it's part of what made him good).
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Can't guarantee that. What if he has an affair with one of the local news broadcasters and his wife forces him to demand a trade?
 
So here you go...I posed the following question on the main board. Which player would you choose: Ekholm at $6M or Karlsson at $11.5M from the Oilers perspective. Which if any contenders would pick Karlsson in this choice?
 
Fourier said:
So here you go...I posed the following question on the main board. Which player would you choose: Ekholm at $6M or Karlsson at $11.5M from the Oilers perspective. Which if any contenders would pick Karlsson in this choice?
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Nobody of course, but that's not really the 1 to 1 comparison.

The Karlsson hypotheticals that were being explored had him in a range closer to 7.5M or less.
 
oXo Cube said:
Nobody of course, but that's not really the 1 to 1 comparison.

The Karlsson hypotheticals that were being explored had him in a range closer to 7.5M or less.
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Here they were, but it now seems that Shark fans now feel that without retention he should get more than a 1st plus, a Bourgault level prospect and that from there the price rises with each dollar of retention. I just want to make sure that I am not being guilty of having on homer glasses by seeing this as completely out to lunch.

Personally, I would not trade Ekholm for Karlsson straight up right now even if he was at $7.5.
 
I think Ekholm fits Edmonton's specific needs better than Karlsson does. That said I'm sure Karlsson would be just fine here as well and probably put up some gaudy numbers himself.
 
Part of why I asked the question was to gauge what price might be reasonable if the Oilers or any other team would try to get Karlsson. It would pretty much have to be a contender or possibly Ottawa because of his NMC. I was on board with trying to get Karlsson before the trade but as @ujju2 points out it is not at all clear that I'd trade Ekholm for Karlsson even at the same cap hit. In fact, I would not with hindsight. To me that sets a real ceiling at what this team should be willing to give for Karlsson should they revisit the deal, which I don't think they will. Shark fans seem to be alone in thinking otherwise.
 
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After 4 playoff games Ekholm is really underscoring how much better he is compared to Nurse.
Nurse is bleeding goals in this series.

Ekholm has been a rock.

When you pay a player $9M+ there is an expectation that you are going to be a player the team can rely on...Nurse has not been that player so far.

Thank goodness for Ekholm.
 
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guymez said:
After 4 playoff games Ekholm is really underscoring how much better he is compared to Nurse.
Nurse is bleeding goals in this series.

Ekholm has been a rock.

When you pay a player $9M+ there is an expectation that you are going to be a player the team can rely on...Nurse has not been that player so far.

Thank goodness for Ekholm.
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5 vs 5 both Nurse and Ekholm have been on for 3GA. Nurse has been on for 5GF vs 2GF for Ekholm. On the pk it is 5GA for Nurse vs 2GA for Ekholm. Surprisingly, Ekholm has played a fair bit less on the pk.

I do agree however that Ekholm just looks so calm and solid. Nurse's problem is that when he makes an error it is often a big one at a bad time. He is also playing under a microscope so it always gets noticed.
 
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Fourier said:
5 vs 5 both Nurse and Ekholm have been on for 3GA. Nurse has been on for 5GF vs 2GF for Ekholm. On the pk it is 5GA for Nurse vs 2GA for Ekholm. Surprisingly, Ekholm has played a fair bit less on the pk.

I do agree however that Ekholm just looks so calm and solid. Nurse's problem is that when he makes an error it is often a big one at a bad time. He is also playing under a microscope so it always gets noticed.
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In defence of Ekholm he is playing with a player in Bouchard who still makes poor decisions with the puck and his defensive reads. Nurse is playing with an older more mature player in Ceci who is overall a more reliable defensive player than Bouchard.
For example...in yesterdays game every time the Kings scored a goal Nurse was not only on the ice but he was part of the problem.
Thats just not good enough.
 
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guymez said:
In defence of Ekholm he is playing with a player in Bouchard who still makes poor decisions with the puck and his defensive reads. Nurse is playing with an older more mature player in Ceci who is overall a more reliable defensive player than Bouchard.
For example...in yesterdays game every time the Kings scored a goal Nurse was not only on the ice but he was part of the problem.
Thats just not good enough.
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To be clear. I was not trying to downplay Ekholm's contributions at all. He has been fantastic, and his work with Bouchard has been stellar. My comment was more about how Nurse can play very well for most of the game, make a big mistake, and have it seem like he had a bad game. The post I responded to suggested Nurse was bleeding goals. 5 vs 5 it is not really the case, but he has been in tough on the pk for sure. Of course yesterday he certainly did struggle more than earlier on on the series. And as you say it's not only about whose on the ice when goals are scored but also who does what.

Honestly, if the Oilers are defending a lead with 1 minute left I want Ekholm on the ice. I wish we had a RHD with his defensive prowess to pair with him in such situations. It's a lot to ask of Bouch right now.
 
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Fourier said:
To be clear. I was not trying to downplay Ekholm's contributions at all. He has been fantastic, and his work with Bouchard has been stellar. My comment was more about how Nurse can play very well for most of the game, make a big mistake, and have it seem like he had a bad game. The post I responded to suggested Nurse was bleeding goals. 5 vs 5 it is not really the case, but he has been in tough on the pk for sure. Of course yesterday he certainly did struggle more than earlier on on the series. And as you say it's not only about whose on the ice when goals are scored but also who does what.

Honestly, if the Oilers are defending a lead with 1 minute left I want Ekholm on the ice. I wish we had a RHD with his defensive prowess to pair with him in such situations. It's a lot to ask of Bouch right now.
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Completely agree with the bolded.

Regarding Nurse...the biggest difference IMO between Ekholm and Nurse is that Ekholm's decision making is consistent. Nurses isnt.
That IMO is the biggest reason why Nurse isnt a reliable top defender like Ekholm is.
Elkholm can also handle being paired with an inexperienced player long term...Nurse cant.
 
We don't need Karlsson to join our PP. We have our guy right here, and I think he can do some things that Karlsson cannot do. Bouch is showing me some pretty amazing stuff, and he's only going to get better. I doubt anyone of us could see this coming, at least not to this extent, so kudos to whoever on the Oilers that saw it.
 
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Stoneman89 said:
We don't need Karlsson to join our PP. We have our guy right here, and I think he can do some things that Karlsson cannot do. Bouch is showing me some pretty amazing stuff, and he's only going to get better. I doubt anyone of us could see this coming, at least not to this extent, so kudos to whoever on the Oilers that saw it.
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Aside from elite offensive production what Karlsson does give a team is puck possession and elite passing.
If it were possible I would like to test drive EK with Ekholm for one season just to see how it plays out.
 
guymez said:
Aside from elite offensive production what Karlsson does give a team is puck possession and elite passing.
If it were possible I would like to test drive EK with Ekholm for one season just to see how it plays out.
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IMO, price is too steep, salary is too big, and I'm afraid of him having a big regression from this miracle season. Still think it's an outlier.

Not to mention that the current Ekholm/Bouchard pairing is a match made in heaven. If it ain't broken....
 
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