Series Talk: [P2] Los Angeles Kings Vs [P3] Edmonton Oilers

[Video Nasty]

Going to be crazy seeing McDavid drop 12 points in an Oilers sweep.

 

[Zerotonine]

After new GM McDavid shifted from a solid, speedier and younger depth to a older veteran group, the Oilers are less dynamic compared to last year. Their season was inconsistent, they never were dominant at any point. They did not meet expectations of a Cup contender. You can sense the frustration of the fans.
Why did Team McDavid dismantle their depth? Yeah, you’re kidding yourself if you believe McDavid wasn’t aware of everything. And you bet St. Louis wouldn’t have targeted Holloway and Broberg if Ken Holland was GM. Oiler’s depth never hurt the team. After last year’s experience - learning how to win - they were going to be better.

And how about the disaster that is Rob Blake? Trading away Brock Faber for a winger. Everyone saw how Brock Faber’s trajectory was going sky high. Top pair. Kings new, and much-needed, #1 d-man. The heir apparent. A guy to shut down McDrai.
Blake trades him for a one-dimensional winger in Fiala. This guy’s not even on the first line. Can’t be trusted. And speaking of first liners, the Kings traded a not-even-in-his-prime Gabriel Vilardi(and solid depth with draft picks) for… what ended up being Darcy Kuemper. Now, Kuemper had a solid season, but man, get rid of Blake already.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are the best one-dimensional players in the league. And it’s also why they will never be champions. I’ve seen Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Eichel, and Aleksander Barkov all lead by example. Damn, those guys play some great hockey, it’s truly a pleasure to watch. And they all beat the Oilers boys.

Every time I tune into an Oilers game, I just see an ugly brand of hockey all over the ice. No chemistry, no checking ability, bad defense, easy to play against. They say the Oilers’ biggest weakness is Stu Skinner, but the reality is when the team is lead by one-dimensional players, that puts a lot of stress on the D and goalie. Skinner is good enough on a team that can competently play both ends of the ice.

I’m a Kings fan, I’d love to see them beat the Oilers. But I think neither team deserves to advance. Ideal scenario: Oilers finally put an end to BLuc’s Kings. Then Jack Eichel outplays both McDavid and Draisaitl again.

Long read for a whole lot of nothing

 

[bobholly39]

Oilers in 6.

McDavid and Draisaitl about to go supernova again. And Bouchard will join them too

 

[HockeyVirus]

Rooting for you Kings fans. Time to slay the dragon and get the chance to return the shit talk from the last 3 years

 

[seafoam]

Foegele hatty game 1.

Snipe on that thang!

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Now or never for LAK

 

[NoVaCapsFan]

Kuemper - Dubois trade working out for both teams. I picked LAK in 5 but wouldn’t mind if EDM advances.

 

[MCR74]

I voted Kings in 7 because why not?

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

View attachment 1012797

Damn. I was going to use this when the Panthers/Lightning series was set.

 

[Miro4Norris]

People voting for Kings? Cute. We will see this for 4th time and it is not going to change. Kuemper still stinks despite strong stats this season

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

"The fans love the playoff format" - Gary Bettman, probably

“The only thing they love more is gambling ads!”

 

[barry halls]

The Kings will take it this time, no doubt in my mind.

This season has been a disastrous one for the Oilers overall - they’ve struggled to beat good teams all year, the big guns haven’t been fully healthy, the PP has been average to poor (by their standards), no depth scoring, Ekholm is out, Stu Skinner has been awful, every decision management has made has been a bad one. I’ll be shocked if the Oil win more than 1 or 2 games in this series and will be placing a large consolation bet on the Kings winning. Just go ahead and put us out of our misery LA.

 

[57special]

Kuemper - Dubois trade working out for both teams. I picked LAK in 5 but wouldn’t mind if EDM advances.

Kind of bizarre, because it was thought to be a lose/lose trade initially.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

View attachment 1012797

I feel like this exact same meme was posted in 2024 in the LA Edmonton series thread lol

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

This will be a fascinating matchup, and I think it’ll go the distance. It’s probably the best chance the Kings have - and their best roster - to beat the Oilers, who are certainly banged up and have major deficiencies in net and on the blueline.

But I can’t bet against Draisaitl and McDavid.

Coin flip in 7 games, but I picked the Oilers in the poll.

 

[Fatass]

Kings’ year to finally get past McDavid.

 

[snipes]

Hello old friend.

Donairs remain a superior food to burritos.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

After new GM McDavid shifted from a solid, speedier and younger depth to a older veteran group, the Oilers are less dynamic compared to last year. Their season was inconsistent, they never were dominant at any point. They did not meet expectations of a Cup contender. You can sense the frustration of the fans.
Why did Team McDavid dismantle their depth? Yeah, you’re kidding yourself if you believe McDavid wasn’t aware of everything. And you bet St. Louis wouldn’t have targeted Holloway and Broberg if Ken Holland was GM. Oiler’s depth never hurt the team. After last year’s experience - learning how to win - they were going to be better.

And how about the disaster that is Rob Blake? Trading away Brock Faber for a winger. Everyone saw how Brock Faber’s trajectory was going sky high. Top pair. Kings new, and much-needed, #1 d-man. The heir apparent. A guy to shut down McDrai.
Blake trades him for a one-dimensional winger in Fiala. This guy’s not even on the first line. Can’t be trusted. And speaking of first liners, the Kings traded a not-even-in-his-prime Gabriel Vilardi(and solid depth with draft picks) for… what ended up being Darcy Kuemper. Now, Kuemper had a solid season, but man, get rid of Blake already.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are the best one-dimensional players in the league. And it’s also why they will never be champions. I’ve seen Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Eichel, and Aleksander Barkov all lead by example. Damn, those guys play some great hockey, it’s truly a pleasure to watch. And they all beat the Oilers boys.

Every time I tune into an Oilers game, I just see an ugly brand of hockey all over the ice. No chemistry, no checking ability, bad defense, easy to play against. They say the Oilers’ biggest weakness is Stu Skinner, but the reality is when the team is lead by one-dimensional players, that puts a lot of stress on the D and goalie. Skinner is good enough on a team that can competently play both ends of the ice.

I’m a Kings fan, I’d love to see them beat the Oilers. But I think neither team deserves to advance. Ideal scenario: Oilers finally put an end to BLuc’s Kings. Then Jack Eichel outplays both McDavid and Draisaitl again.

You seriously underestimate how poorly the Oilers are run from the top down. MacKinnon, Eichel, and Barkov all belong to organizations serious about winning. None of them would've gone anywhere near the likes of Chiarelli, Holland, and Bowman. What NHL fan looks at the front office and says "Wow I sure wish my team hired that guy"? Not a one. From drafting, to development, to trades, to signings... The Oilers don't do any of those things well.

I look at a team like the Knights that will do anything to win. They'll bend the rules, they'll tell former heroes to go pound sand, they'll shank other GMs in the back if it means they'll win. Everything I ever wanted to know about how the Oilers were run can be summed up in three simple words "Can't squeeze GMs", a legendary quote by Ken Holland, emphasizing how he's more worried about offending other bad GMs than helping his team win. This is the hand we're dealt. Without McDavid this is a lottery team, and even that might be generous.

A team like the Avalanche saw needs in the lineup and addressed them. The Oilers scoured the waiver wire for other team's castoffs because they're too afraid to send anyone away. Then in their infinite wisdom they rushed players back from injury (including their Hart candidate and best defenseman) and lost Ekholm for the season, all but guaranteeing a lengthy playoff run isn't in the cards.

Whenever this season ends, team management will identify a scapegoat for their sheer incompetence. It'll likely be Skinner or the coach, but it won't be one of the good old boys, that's for sure. Their shitty goalie coach will get a pass, Bowman will be excused because it's first year, Jackson wouldn't fire himself, and Katz will continue to collect billions of dollars because he knows he has a golden goose in #97.

The turning point of the McDavid era will always be when they were looking at Bill Zito and then pivoted to Ken Holland when he became available. It was that exact moment that sealed our fate. Because why hire someone you don't know when you can hire a friend instead? That's been the theme for the team for the past 2 decades, always trying to take the easy way out.

 

[Lt Dan]

Hello old friend.

Donairs remain a superior food to burritos.

No way Wesley Snipes

Burritos>>>>>>>Donairs

For example is their a breakfast donair?
There is not.. checkmate

 

[Mr Positive]

Oilers are without Ekholm but will be otherwise healthy. Our defense was upgraded compared to last year so I think they will do okay. Walman-Bouchard was looking almost as good as Ekholm- Bouchard. Stecher is better for Nurse than Ceci.

Oilers in 6

 

[nucks88]

GO KINGS !

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

@Raccoon Jesus If the Kings can't past a depleted Oilers, should Rob Blake be hanged in Minecraft?

In Minecraft?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Even beat up, I've got Oilers in 7.

And it's not even about the Kings, who are clearly vastly improved all over this year.

I've said elsewhere there are two teams (maybe three, TBL) that the Kings have no answer for and it's those with superstar pairings--Makar/MacKinnon and McDavid/Draisaitl. Even when those guys were out in recent meetings, those teams gave the Kings absolute fits--it's easy to see how adding a McDavid even by himself puts them over the edge for more games than he doesn't.

The Kings D and PK holds most teams down so they can score 'enough' to get by. They can't do that to Edmonton or Colorado. They can just turn it into a track meet and the Kings fall apart. But they don't even need to do that because the Kings can dominate most of the game at 5v5/ES and blow it all in seconds on special teams. Sadly, I don't expect that to change this year.

The Oilers also simply push the Kings around and with no Jeannot and a neutered Edmundson there's zero pushback in these choke artists. Hell Frederic by himself embarrassed the Kings a week ago, he cleared their entire crease and just stood there like

Oilers are without Ekholm but will be otherwise healthy. Our defense was upgraded compared to last year so I think they will do okay. Walman-Bouchard was looking almost as good as Ekholm- Bouchard. Stecher is better for Nurse than Ceci.

Oilers in 6

I feel like everyone is sleeping on Walman

He's no Ekholm but he's a beast in his own right.

 

[Kaner9]

kings bc tides gotta turn sometime..... maybe lol

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I hope McDavid keeps losing the remote when he tries to relax.

I hope McDavid's heated driveway melts the tires on his Range Rover

I hope his personal chef makes simply a single Michelin star meal

I hope he finds a loose thread in his Zegna suit