Oilers hype: Is HF buying in on a 2024 run?

[The Gr8 Dane]

No , McDavid and Dry Sandle are amazing though

 

[Ugene Magic]

Vegas also missed the Playoffs in 2022 with the exact same blueline

Vegas also was dealing with injuries.

 

[DJJones]

Vegas also was dealing with injuries.

Ya that was a brutal year for Vegas. Everyone was injured.

McDavid, Leon, Nurse, Ekholm. Any of them get injured and Edmonton odds fall off a cliff.

 

[Oleksiak]

Not until they get defencemen who can play defence and a captain without character issues.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Mike Johnson picked Edmonton to win the cup this year.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Vegas also was dealing with injuries.

Yep. Plus Eichel was just coming back from serious neck surgery that saw him miss a full year and limited his effectiveness even when he played.
Alec Martinez missed 57 games, Eichel 39 as a Golden Knight and 49 overall, Stone 46, Pacioretty 44, and Smith 26.

It’s hard to withstand those kind of losses.
Even last year they were playing their third string goalie against the Oilers.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Vegas also was dealing with injuries.

like Mark Stone each year? with significant injuries were they dealing with?

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I feel like folks are ripping on the Oilers for Skinner/Campbell while absolutely signing off on the goaltending on the legit WC contenders.

DAL: Ottinger was .895 in the P/O's last year - but everyone remembers his one phenomal series against CAL from the year before. Could be great, could be marginal.
LA: Talbot & Copley
LV: Hill was awesome in the P/O's last year, but that's not a guarantee of future performance.
COL: Georgiev

I'm not saying I like Skinner/Campbell - but it's not like the other major contenders have Hasek/Broduer, or even Vasilevsky/Shesterkin. It's whoever gets hot at the right time. I give LV the edge because they have proven that they can play with a strong defensive structure to insulate their goalie the most, but IMO it just comes down to who stays healthy and gets hot.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Yep. Plus Eichel was just coming back from serious neck surgery that saw him miss a full year and limited his effectiveness even when he played.
Alec Martinez missed 57 games, Eichel 39 as a Golden Knight and 49 overall, Stone 46, Pacioretty 44, and Smith 26.

Pretty funny how Vegas is allowed to use excuses but the Oilers can't

It’s hard to withstand those kind of losses.
Even last year they were playing their third string goalie against the Oilers.

and against Dallas and Florida...this just proves any goalie can get hot

 

[Ugene Magic]

like Mark Stone each year? with significant injuries were they dealing with?

To start off with, you stated the same exact blueline, the blueline that saw Martinez only play 26 games.

 

[macbowes]

I think they're the best team in the league, and I think they have the best chance to win the Cup.

 

[HockeyWooot]

They can win it for sure, not the heavy favorites but they can do it. Playoff McDrai is tough to beat, Woodcock has them buying in also.

Personnel wise they definitely have some issues with their depth, dcorps and goaltending but if all goes right and a bit of luck they can do it.

If they further addressed some of the weaknesses they'd move into heavy favorites.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

To start off with, you stated the same exact blueline, the blueline that saw Martinez only play 26 games.

You’ll never get any satisfaction with that poster. He will just double down on his mistakes.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

To start off with, you stated the same exact blueline, the blueline that saw Martinez only play 26 games.

fair enough, but if your blueline is as deep as people say, surely you can withstand missing your #4 for 56 games
(who came back for the last month of the season if I recall and they still missed)

 

[RickyLafleur]

This thread again?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

You’ll never get any satisfaction with that poster. He will just double down on his mistakes.

still waiting on those "significant changes" the Golden Knights made from 2022 season to 20223 season
(hint: they didn't)

 

[Lacaar]

As an Oiler fan it's always funny to see threads like this. Some fans are just so insecure you get to see the real dumb responses. And then some make some nice points.

I think the Oilers are as good or better then almost every team in the league on paper.

What the Oilers lack isn't imo so simple as depth.. goaltending etc. Piss off, you can say that about every single team in this league.

What the Oilers lack is maturity and gamesmanship. They haven't shown that ability to rise up, put their heads down.. go to work and get the job done. Instead they show a tendency to go down in series in order to generate the urgency. They can't bring that intensity unless it's manufactured via adversity. It's why you shouldn't really tempt them emotionally. Play a quiet reserved game.. let the pressure build until they pop.

1. They take the worlds dumbest penalties.
2. They have a poor regular season overtime record.
3. They have a poor playoff overtime record.
4. They haven't won the first game of a playoff series in years.
5. They can't deal with those moments in games when the other team gets momentum.. instead of bending they break.

They're very dangerous when chasing a game or a series up until the pressure gets to a certain point. Then they break.

If you're coaching against the Oilers I'd exploit this. . Keep the game close and let the pressure get to them. This team does not deal well with pressure. Play an ultra conservative game and stay out of the box. If you go down to the Oilers be patient, there will be a momentum swing and that's when you win the game.

 

[Ugene Magic]

fair enough, but if your blueline is as deep as people say, surely you can withstand missing your #4 for 56 games
(who came back for the month of the season if I recall and they still missed)

But it didn't stop there, as another poster went into more depth of their injuries.

It's not an excuse, and to be blunt, the Oilers just don't have that depth, and Vegas added onto theirs last season adding Kessel for a petty 1.0.

You can't get blood from a stone. Doesn't mean the Oilers can't add to theirs, though. Which they need.

Heck, my team added Riley Smith/ Karlsson and they lack depth, too. They are running Ruhwedel as the #6 and have a somewhat pedestrian bottom six of question marks themselves.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

But it didn't stop there, as another poster went into more depth of their injuries.

It's not an excuse, and to be blunt, the Oilers just don't have that depth, and Vegas added onto theirs last season adding Kessel for a petty 1.0.

You can't get blood from a stone. Doesn't mean the Oilers can't add to theirs, though. Which they need.

Heck, my team added Riley Smith/ Karlsson and they lack depth, too. They are running Ruhwedel as the #6 and have a somewhat pedestrian bottom six of question marks themselves.

meh, every team has injury issues

Vegas was missing Mark Stone for half the year last year too...Jack Eichel missed 25 games, Shea Theodore missed almost 30 games, Pietrangelo missed 10 games...Roy and Carrier too some time
yet they won the Cup

 

[Joe Hallenback]

If Skinner steps up in the playoffs they will be favs to win it all

They are going to be dominate during the season. They will get PPs and they will score alot and win alot because of it but everything for them hinges on the above statement

 

[Three On Zero]

But it didn't stop there, as another poster went into more depth of their injuries.

It's not an excuse, and to be blunt, the Oilers just don't have that depth, and Vegas added onto theirs last season adding Kessel for a petty 1.0.

You can't get blood from a stone. Doesn't mean the Oilers can't add to theirs, though. Which they need.

Heck, my team added Riley Smith/ Karlsson and they lack depth, too. They are running Ruhwedel as the #6 and have a somewhat pedestrian bottom six of question marks themselves.

Vegas also plays a style that allows a player to miss time and it can be an almost seamless transition, Edmonton relies heavily on the actual on ice team. They lack the depth or prospects to sustain multiple injuries. It’s still a very too heavy team

 

[Ugene Magic]

meh, every team has injury issues

Vegas was missing Mark Stone for half the year last year too...Jack Eichel missed 25 games, Shea Theodore missed almost 30 games, Pietrangelo missed 10 games...Roy and Carrier too some time
yet they won the Cup

Yes. but they were all healthy at the right time. You seem to be missing the point. When healthy Vegas has twice the depth. One which they sat Kessel for the remainder of the playoffs.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Vegas is one of the most balanced teams up and down their lineup. Their 3rd and 4th lines gave them the edge against Edmonton last playoffs. Karlsson was a beast in a pure shutdown role. And unless the Oilers bottom 6 really step up this year, it will be the same story. They got rid of some dead weight in Yamomoto and Shore but either Holloway or McLeod need to have big leaps this year in their player development. Bujstad really fit in their bottom 6, too bad they couldn’t keep him. Who is going to run their third line and be good offensively and defensively?

Craig Button chose Vegas to repeat this year. They’re literally the same team as last year, only lost one player in Reilly Smith (who is replacable by Howden or Amado).

 

[Mach2]

McDavid is an amazing phenom on the ice, but I'm not convinced that he's a leader...and therein lies a major weakness with the Oilers.

 

[Cup or Bust]

No one is a lock to win the Cup. They are a strong contender though. Lots of things need to go right for any team to win the Cup. It depends how the team looks once they enter the playoffs. If any area of their team is struggling and a glaring issue and they do not address the problem before the playoffs they likely will not win, same as any team. They definitely need to learn to avoid the glaring errors at key times in games, that is one of the biggest issues and that is really a discipline issue in their play. Some of that can be corrected simply through experience but they also need to play a structure that they can adhere to throughout a game based on the personnel they have. It sounds like they are trying to tweak that area of their game but they will never be an elite defensive team and they do not have to be to win the Cup. They start the season as one of the top contenders in the league but it really means nothing and I think the Oilers are getting to a maturity level to know that.