Post-Game Talk: Parental guidance advised

[Shanahanigans]

It almost seems that no matter who we add in the bottom 2 lines for support scoring they never seem to be all that productive like J. Skinner, a guy who just 2 seasons ago had a 35 goal and 82 point season. Where the hell did that go?? Same with Arvidsson. Injured again I know, but 2 years ago had 26-33-59 but now just 9 points in 21 games. Henrique looks old now and can't produce like he did last year with 24 goals and 51 points. Pod and Janmark can't score goals and Kap's points are just ok.

And unless the Oilers can learn how to hold a lead, winning a cup may be out of the picture for this year !! My opinion.

Foegele and Mcleod were money on the third line the last 3 years- outscored and outchanced their opponents- except when Mcleod began to struggle in the last 2 rounds against heavier teams. Holloway was great in the playoffs in the bottom 6. Derek Ryan also was in contention for one of the better 4th line Cs in the league until he got too old- hasn’t been the same since last year. We had homegrown depth, management just pissed it away.

In terms of Henrique and Skinner, I don’t put much stock into what players do on bad teams. The responsibility is different on Edmonton than it was in Buffalo or Anaheim.

 

[Drivesaitl]

It is. But that sunk cost is irrelevent at this point. We asked ourselves if we want Brown at $1M this year or not. We said, yes, and that was a good decision.

No we didn't...

 

[Oilhawks]

Anyone going to say this D core is top 10 anymore? LOL

Also, get rid of Pickard and call up Rodrigue.
Trade Jeff Skinner and call up Matt Savoie

Because of one poor game where basically everyone except Draisaitl sucked? I sure hope not.

 

[FlameChampion]

Team is just predictable.

Once they got up 2-0, I was thinking to myself "Are they just going to mail it in for the rest of the game?". Yep. Sure enough.

Once Anaheim scored and it was 3-2, it was like "How long till they tie it up?"

This team is either 1) Not as good as they think they are or 2) They cant help but continuously play to the level of their competition

I think they have been playing poor lately. They just been lucky. They deserved this game today.

Pickard cant let that 2-1 goal in. I would be slagging Skinner for it so its only fair. But judging from the way this one went, it was probably inevitable that the Oilers were going to lay an egg after being a gifted a poor performance from Dostal.

I think the team needs some kind of a shake up. They are too comfortable.

 

[Drivesaitl]

IMO a lot of this 'underperformance' of players is chronic and continual coaching pushing McDrai (and whoever they play with) ice time. It makes sense to a degree, but it makes it tougher for players to get into the game

I remember Derek Ryan commented on this after Tippett was let go for Woodcroft, and here we are again. Maybe it's not up to the coaches?

Gonna disagree here. Minutes are being spread except if your Perry or J Skinner or Ryan and terrible on ice. These players with respect to GA have been basically unusable. They can't skate well enough to cover. When caught in ownzone they just stay caught.

KK has been limiting McD and Drai to around 21mins a night which is very different from what the previous coaches had done. Minutes are being spread more but a lot of forwards not doing anything with those minutes. This disguised a bit as our D have been a considerable part of our scoring.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Foegele and Mcleod were money on the third line the last 3 years- outscored and outchanced their opponents- except when Mcleod began to struggle in the last 2 rounds against heavier teams. Holloway was great in the playoffs in the bottom 6. Derek Ryan also was in contention for one of the better 4th line Cs in the league until he got too old- hasn’t been the same since last year. We had homegrown depth, management just pissed it away.

In terms of Henrique and Skinner, I don’t put much stock into what players do on bad teams. The responsibility is different on Edmonton than it was in Buffalo or Anaheim.

Ya they got rid of their younger guys in Foegele, Holloway, McLeod and Broberg and replaced them with older veterans. Hasn't necessarily hurt us but it certainly will long term !

 

[Drivesaitl]

Ya they got rid of their younger guys in Foegele, Holloway, McLeod and Broberg and replaced them with older veterans. Hasn't necessarily hurt us but it certainly will long term !

This is my concern. Was wondering how this roster was going to do in the backhalf. We're not even there yet. Not panicking but I think we've had guys like Janmark give tons in bottomsix to kind of disguise how old the team is back there. Janmark cannot bring this demon effort for full seasons. Team played till near July last season. Theres going to be tired legs and happens more with players on wrong side of 30. We got a lot of em.

 

[TheNumber4]

No we didn't...

Lol. Well I’m not including Drive in Oilers management k. Not yet anyways.

 

[belair]

I'd have brought back Henrique and Janmark. Brown and Perry deciding to show up for some games in playoffs didn't convince me of a return. Like I said to others you can't just have several players here as bit pieces. given you can only dress so many players for a game. This convo happening in a season in which the vast majority of our forwrds have only 6 goals or less and the vast majority of these being vets that are supposed to be able to score.

No way I would have Brown or Perry period but I wouldn't have had them last year either. My selective view.

The Oilers go nowhere in the postseason if their PK didn't go gangbusters. Brown and Janmark were coming back. Say what you will about the year prior, but this summer, signing both was a no brainer. As for Perry-- he's in the same boat as Skinner for me. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Lol. Well I’m not including Drive in Oilers management k. Not yet anyways.

I took the vernacular as you meaning "we" the fans. I have a hot button to say no on those. lol

Brown probably has been decent. I'm not a fan. He's better than Ryan, Perry, etc but thats no kind of bar at all. The entire Brown play here has been sub what was advertised. I think it was all the hype on this player that set me off.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

This team sucks after any time off.

This team is allergic to:

- Afternoon games
- Amazon Prime
- HNIC
- former Oilers putting up alltime performances
- Minnesota Wild
- extended breaks

 

[Drivesaitl]

The Oilers go nowhere in the postseason if their PK didn't go gangbusters. Brown and Janmark were coming back. Say what you will about the year prior, but this summer, signing both was a no brainer. As for Perry-- he's in the same boat as Skinner for me. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I like Janmark. Like I said I bring him back. Perry and Ryan coming back were just colossal head scratchers. Like why?

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Anyone going to say this D core is top 10 anymore? LOL

Also, get rid of Pickard and call up Rodrigue.
Trade Jeff Skinner and call up Matt Savoie

The team didn’t lose today because of the D core
That overlooked the Ducks and didn’t really try hard

 

[Yuke]

It certainly shouldn't have been a trap game, considering they gassed one the day before. You'd think they would be motivated to not lose 2 in a row.


Pretty sure this is the year that Brown got his 3 million bonus, after qualifying for it last year.

He was paid last year just goes on the cap this year

 

[Oilhawks]

Gonna disagree here. Minutes are being spread except if your Perry or J Skinner or Ryan and terrible on ice. These players with respect to GA have been basically unusable. They can't skate well enough to cover. When caught in ownzone they just stay caught.

KK has been limiting McD and Drai to around 21mins a night which is very different from what the previous coaches had done. Minutes are being spread more but a lot of forwards not doing anything with those minutes. This disguised a bit as our D have been a considerable part of our scoring.

Yes, they have been playing less minutes, true. The problem is more in the bench management including scratches and requesting to call up promising players and waive others. There is no harm in waiving D Ryan for Philp at this point, for example. Knowing Bowman, I'd doubt he's "Hollanding" this and telling the coach he can't call him up as he's "not ready"

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

This is a game an NHL starter should've stolen for us. Edmonton has the highest shot differential in the league, and today was only the 4th time they've been outshot all season. They're going to have stinker games, but its few and far between lately, and its these games that real starters on good teams would step up and steal one for the boys

Pickard is a fine back up, but this team, in the prime of McDrai, deserves a top tier goalie tandem

That said, post break Connor McDavid is the worst version of himself, every time. He needs to be able to summon his A game at will in order to ascend to a champion

 

[VeteranPresence]

Yes, they have been playing less minutes, true. The problem is more in the bench management including scratches and requesting to call up promising players and waive others. There is no harm in waiving D Ryan for Philp at this point, for example. Knowing Bowman, I'd doubt he's "Hollanding" this and telling the coach he can't call him up as he's "not ready"

I can't decide which of Dumb or Dumber is at fault here. On the one hand Knoblauch has a built-in bias for Ryan (and Schwartz) from the Golden Bears days, but on the other hand Bowman could force this on his coach if he really wanted to.

I understand you want your coach to run the bench and make roster decisions, but if the guy can't take a f***ing hint, you eventually need to pull rank and promote the younger, faster, and probably more productive player. Same goes for Rodrigue- where tf is this guy during our soft holiday stretch? Let's get a look at him before we're forced to make a decision on him as an RFA.

 

[Stoneman89]

He was paid last year just goes on the cap this year

Yup, that's what I'm going by.

It is. But that sunk cost is irrelevent at this point. We asked ourselves if we want Brown at $1M this year or not. We said, yes, and that was a good decision.

Actually 4 mill against the cap. And with us not being the ones paying him, that's the number that hurts this year.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Team is just predictable.

Once they got up 2-0, I was thinking to myself "Are they just going to mail it in for the rest of the game?". Yep. Sure enough.

Once Anaheim scored and it was 3-2, it was like "How long till they tie it up?"

And this is my exact complaint, they can't hold leads !!

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yes, they have been playing less minutes, true. The problem is more in the bench management including scratches and requesting to call up promising players and waive others. There is no harm in waiving D Ryan for Philp at this point, for example. Knowing Bowman, I'd doubt he's "Hollanding" this and telling the coach he can't call him up as he's "not ready"

Fair point. KK seems standard issue coach that prefers vets players even when it makes little sense. KK reads though on players like J Skinner and Perry, they match my own. It may not be a Holland dynamic. It could be what McD and Drai want which has been thought about from time to time.

On this team theres been too much talk about who is "good in the room" with McD mostly going on about that stuff. I think with the huge expectations on McD, and Drai, they want the creature comfort of being in a room with players they feel fit in. Even if those are not necessarily the best options.

Sometimes star players are averse to changing up lineup much. With teams that got to a SC there can often be a superstition almost about which players should be continuing members. I think the org got caught up in that, thus all the vets remaining.

 

[McFlash97]

Such a pathetic franchise, even with McDrai for nearly a decade haven't won a division. Finally get our chance to make it a race.. and this is the type of hockey they put forth.

 

[Dan Kelly]

I understand you want your coach to run the bench and make roster decisions, but if the guy can't take a f***ing hint, you eventually need to pull rank and promote the younger, faster, and probably more productive player.

That ship has sailed since they let go of the younger and faster players in the off season like Foegele, McLeod, Holloway and Broberg !

 

[Stoneman89]

Brown doesn't have great hands but he knows where to position himself on the ice.

Ironically, despite his critics (myself included) he has been decent value for his contract.

I agree, but I'm not sure what this has to do with my post. Think you might have responded to the wrong guy.

 

[Drivesaitl]

And this is my exact complaint, they can't hold leads !!

I look at it a bit differently. Sometimes the lead you have in a game is artifice, and to me those first couple goals looked too easy, not much work required even to bag them. Team never really showed up in this one outside of Drai and McD. Ducks figured out eventually that 70% of the Oilers lineup was checked out. The Oilers weren't playing their system at any point in this game.

 

[Oilhawks]

Fair point. KK seems standard issue coach that prefers vets players even when it makes little sense. KK reads though on players like J Skinner and Perry, they match my own. It may not be a Holland dynamic. It could be what McD and Drai want which has been thought about from time to time.

On this team theres been too much talk about who is "good in the room" with McD mostly going on about that stuff. I think with the huge expectations on McD, and Drai, they want the creature comfort of being in a room with players they feel fit in. Even if those are not necessarily the best options.

Sometimes star players are averse to changing up lineup much. With teams that got to a SC there can often be a superstition almost about which players should be continuing members. I think the org got caught up in that, thus all the vets remaining.

100% agree, I was hinting at that with how it seems to transcend coaches, management etc. Obviously not entirely so, but seems to be an influence. I would like them to step back from this and let the coaches and management make these decisions unfettered by their input

Edit: I get a player wanting to play with a player to a degree (ex Leon wanting Pod on his line, apparently), but also need to recognize when to let the coaches changes