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

[WetcoastOrca]

Oilers are a top 6 team in the NHL. They got Connor Brown on a sweetheart deal.

Kane is underpaid. Nuge is underpaid.

This roster has 2 top 30 Dmen. This roster is good.

You had me up to the 2 top 30 D. I can’t find any list by any publication that supports that and neither guy is a number one guy. Both are number twos.
I’d say both probably slot in somewhere in the top 50.
And while I agree that they have some very good contracts they also have some poor ones in Nurse and Campbell.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Not with Campbell in net

 

[SUX2BU]

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Their D and G suck and I do mean SUCK. Looking at their division. They will be fighting for a wildcard position. They may have the two best players on the planet--but it is their D and G that will let them down

I think they're a lottery team.

McDavid and Draisaitl don't contribute to wins. They only cherry pick points off of teams chosing not to defend them on the PP.

As usual they will miss the playoffs by a significant margin.

 

[KCC]

I think they are close. They took Vegas to 6 games all while Skinner had the worst numbers of any starter. He was flat out awful. But he was also overplayed having played down the stretch because Campbell was so bad and clearly got burnt out. And Woodcroft for whatever reason continued to stick with him in the playoffs. Campbell should have started Games 5 and 6 IMO as he was good the few times he did play. Not saying it would have resulted in a different outcome as there were other factors as to why EDM lost but still. I think if they can get even average goaltending in the playoffs they can at least reach the finals this year. JMO.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Trade Campbell for Saros. Both have a cap hit of $5M. Presumably Nashville wants this and that to sweeten the deal as Saros is solidly a top5 goalie while Campbell is towards the other end of the spectrum. On the other hand, having a top goalie kinda hurts the Preds right now as they are a middling team that's going nowhere, they'd be better off rebuilding. I've never done these kind of hypothetical deals but I guess something like Campbell + Mcleod + 2nd rnd pick for Saros?

Yeah I'm sure Trotz in Nashville would just be jumping on that deal, Saros for Campbell.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Definitely not buying in... Like the Dallas Cowboys of the NHL... They look really great on paper and perform well in the regular season, but when it comes down to it they just haven't delivered in ages.

This man gets it.

 

[MessierII]

Definitely not buying in... Like the Dallas Cowboys of the NHL... They look really great on paper and perform well in the regular season, but when it comes down to it they just haven't delivered in ages.

You just described the Toronto maple leafs. Oilers lost in round 3 to the cup champs two years ago and round 2 to the cup champs last year.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Definitely not buying in... Like the Dallas Cowboys of the NHL... They look really great on paper and perform well in the regular season, but when it comes down to it they just haven't delivered in ages.

Honestly I think last year was the best shot that the Oilers have had in probably a decade to win the cup. Had it not been for their coachs mistakes of constantly throwing in a rookie goalie who was clearly struggling big time and got pulled game after game. He must be Skinner's biggest fan.

But no team was beating Vegas last year anyways. Cassidy killed all the momentum for the Oilers once Brossait got injured and Hill came in. I don't even think Vegas beats Edmonton had Brossait not got injured because his play was declining fast in the first two games.

 

[ToDavid]

If one of their goalies can stabilize the net, the sky’s the limit. As much as the Oiler’s disfunction was fun, McDavid is too good. With enough kicks he’s going to get through.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

You just described the Toronto maple leafs. Oilers lost in round 3 to the cup champs two years ago and round 2 to the cup champs last year.

Yep, definitely applies to the Leafs as well. I see them as pretty similar.

I'm thinking all the way back to even when the Oilers were picking RNH, Yakupov, Hall, etc.

Just been tons of hype every year, but no cups. Or even a finals appearance.

 

[McVespa99]

Ok let's start with this.

Does the Oilers roster have any flaws in your opinion? Or are they complete top to bottom with no significant worries?

There is no team in the league you can say this about.
Every year there are 6 or 8 teams that are pretty even and could win it all. Oilers are one of those teams. It comes down to some luck and avoiding injuries every year.

 

[HockeyVirus]

There is no team in the league you can say this about.
Every year there are 6 or 8 teams that are pretty even and could win it all. Oilers are one of those teams. It comes down to some luck and avoiding injuries every year.

My point of that comment wasn't to claim other teams have no flaws, it was to say that even the Oilers have flaws and those flaws can be talked about when the thread topic is about buying into them being the cup favorite.

Of course if things go perfect they can win and if things go terrible they can miss the playoffs. Which is more likely is up for debate, but there is a debate.

 

[UHHHH SON]

On early Saturday morning, travelling on a highway less than an hour north of Edmonton, I saw a Lynx cross the highway in the distance. It stopped on the shoulder and walked back across to the ditch. It wanted to be seen as I got within 25M when it was in the ditch.

I take it as a sign that we are ready to hunt for the cup.

 

[MessierII]

Yep, definitely applies to the Leafs as well. I see them as pretty similar.

I'm thinking all the way back to even when the Oilers were picking RNH, Yakupov, Hall, etc.

Just been tons of hype every year, but no cups. Or even a finals appearance.

I mean 1 team wins every year and a crap ton has to go right for that to happen. Mcdavid is 26 you’d think he’s 33 or something. If they aren’t a cup contender who is? They are clearly right there.

 

[McVespa99]

Can they get past Vegas? Thats the real million dollar question for the Oilers. They can handle almost anyone else, but Vegas just completely destroyed them and shut down McDavid. If you want me to be as brutally honest as possible, I just wish that the Oilers stopped depending on Nurse so much defensively, and got themselves someone who was defensively responsible. Mario Ferraro should be on their radars. Get someone to make defense easier on the Oilers.

This is comical. McDavid had 5 goals and 5 assists against Vegas. Vegas had a lot of breaks in that series or they would not have moved on. It takes some good fortune to win a cup. Vegas had it. They didnt even come close to "completely destroying: the Oilers.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

The Oilers winning the Cup would require:

- McDavid AND Draisaitl to put up 2PPG performances again
- Big contributions from Nuge, Kane, and Hyman
- Ekholm to do his best Hedman impression so Nurse can do whatever-the-f***
- A goalie that's at least Osgood-tier
- The rest of the depth to just not blow it

 

[KrisLetAngry]

You had me up to the 2 top 30 D. I can’t find any list by any publication that supports that and neither guy is a number one guy. Both are number twos.
I’d say both probably slot in somewhere in the top 50.
And while I agree that they have some very good contracts they also have some poor ones in Nurse and Campbell.

Nurse is slightly overpaid and has been tasked with holding a weak d corps together for years. I believe he was injured during the playoffs as well. So with a fresh start and less minutes a game I expect him to come back to be worth closer to his pay.

Ekholm I believe the last couple years got voted by hfboards into the top 25. (Maybe not this past year)

I do feel Edmonton plays an offensive brand of hockey that does not help out the goalies. My two cents and why they let a lot of goals in.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Ive heard "this is the year" from Oiler fans since the Hall days. Still dont believe it.

 

[Three On Zero]

I didn’t even realize there was any “hype” until this thread was started

 

[ElysiumAB]

Mostly talking to my Edmontonian friends.

Ah. I don't think anyone on the Edmonton board has ever been like over the moon about the team's defense or anything... was odd to see someone say that Edmonton's defense is over-hyped.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Nope. No chance.

 

[Three On Zero]

Ive heard "this is the year" from Oiler fans since the Hall days. Still dont believe it.

Cyclical comment from 90% of the teams, and more often than not it’s the 10% that wins

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Their second (or third line if McDrai are split) has been a big weakness the past two seasons. Secondary guys like Yamamoto and RNH getting caved in by random pluggers like JT Compher and Teddy Bluger has to stop.

 

[Matty Sundin]

They are stuck with Nurse. There is no way out of that, but they could still work on the D core to maybe get the pressure off him and drop his minutes. I’ll see what they do at the deadline. I think they still need to replace Ceci with someone who’s a similar role like him but just better…

Their goaltending just needs to be stable. They don’t need them to be 2021 Vasi if they fix their D a bit and their offence is still good enough to mask some mistakes, but it’s still an issue if those guys can’t just be stable.

Their division isn’t exactly the strongest which works in their favor. Vegas is of course there but they might be at risk of a cup hangover and recent years have showed them to kinda flip flop the next year. LA is there and maybe gotten better but Oilers have been their dad’s last few years. They probably won’t have to deal with a Colorado or Dallas until 3rd round, which is more ideal than dealing with them early in playoffs. Their record against central playoff teams isn't great though..

If you even wanna look further ahead and assume they make it out of the west finally, they are teams out East I think that pose even bigger issues. Another team with hype this year that’s trying to get over the hump as well is Carolina. That team would be an awful match up for the oilers.

All in all I do think they have potential to make it their year, but it’s not a given. I think they still have issues that they gotta figure out throughout the season. I think some things out of their control has to go their way as well.

Usually too many questions and issues going into a season I would so no they won’t but this year feels different. There’s no clear favorite going into this year. Every team seems to have some kinda issues or questions about them. It’s another reason why I think this might be their best opportunity as well. But it’s just not a given.