Well if Knob wants to get himself fired he can keep on scoring at this rate then.
Todd McLellan doubled down on the same idea with Ryan Strome ... refused to let him play in the top 6 even when the team was dying for goals, got himself fired as head coach thinking he was invincible because of 16-17. Strome got traded and immediately scores at a 20 goal rate in NY.
Yes. Not only was Strome a 20-goal guy, he was nearly a
point-per-game player and a 1st-unit PP player for a very good NY Rangers' team. Yet the Oilers' "brain"-trust (I think it was Dave '
I-love-Mike-Smith' Tippett) couldn't find a way to give him any ice-time on an Oilers' club that lacked quality forwards. Then Chiarellli traded him for Spooner, who didn't play at all. Can't make this stuff up. Seriously, they're just idiots most of the time.
This past summer, they seemingly wanted to impress Draisaitl (pre-contract signing) by getting a winger or two to play with him. So, sure, signing Arvidsson
or J. Skinner makes some sense. But why TWO guys, who have a similar skill-set? The obvious thing would have been to sign
one of those guys (I prefer Arvidsson) rather than signing two and barely playing one.
Then, there's the Perry-Ryan insanity. It was pretty clear last season that Corey Perry was done. He had great hands, yes, but he moves at 10 meters an hour and doesn't backcheck. Derek Ryan has been wonderful for Edmonton, but when his contract expired (I think?) last season, he was done, too. He faded last season and was healthy scratched here and there. Right now, he should at home, watching the games, like us. So, again, I could at least understand maybe signing one of those guys, but BOTH? Nuh-uh.
So, if nothing else, not signing (say) Perry and J. Skinner would have freed up a couple million that could have been used to keep McLeod or Broberg.... You know, players who aren't over 50. I get that Henrique is (was?) a good player and their "win now" mentality made him seem preferable to McLeod, but you can't ice a line-up of all old guys in today's zippy NHL.
Anyway, despite the usual managerial lunacy, the Oilers should still not be losing or being shut-out by Montreal. This is just crazy. They have way too much talent for that. I'm starting to get the impression that Knoblach and Coffey are a little
too nice. This can be a problem with a veteran team, which starts to feel a sense of entitlement. "We're veterans... we play the way we want to... the coach can't tell us what to do, and anyway he's very nice and supportive so we can get away with anything". Kind of getting the impression that this might be a problem.
Previous old-man Ken Holland clubs (2002 Red Wings; 2008 Red Wings) had a bunch of old guys and decorated veterans also,
but they had hard-ass coaches that the players were wary of and scared of. This might be necessary.
