Salary Cap: POLE; Grade the TDL

[ManofSteel55]

I like the trades we made. I really like the Walman trade, and we'll see on Frederic, but I like him too. Jones, meh. He's likely nothing in the grand scheme of things, but we got one good game from him, so that's good.

Overall, I give this trade deadline a B. We made the team better by filling the hole that we have had to fill the longest, by adding another top 4 D. I think that was a great addition. I like the depth we added, although I think one more depth defenseman and a 4th line C upgrade would have been nice.

The only thing holding it back from being an A for me, is that Bowman didn't address the elephant in the room and get us a better goalie. I understand that there wasn't a suitable goalie out there, but it still stings that we didn't make a move for Blackwood when he was available, leaving this weak spot to remain our weakest area moving into the playoffs. I'm not going to write us off as "done", and I'm not going to give a lower grade because we didn't pull off a blockbuster like the Rantanen deal, because I do think that, on paper, we are a better team than we were a year ago. Now the coach needs to figure things out, and the guys in the room need to sort their stuff out as well before the playoffs hit. I still think we can go deep, although Florida really made some key moves to put them into the sole spot as Cup Favorite.

 

[Navx94]

I truly believe we’re a better team this year than last year. Upgraded on positions we needed to upgrade and if skinner can give us average goaltending we’ll be fine. Big IF but let’s see how it turns out!

 

[ManofSteel55]

Let's hope they did enough to make the playoffs.

If this team can't make the playoffs with the guys in the locker room right now, we might as well blow it all up and start over again. This feels like excessive bellyaching to me.

 

[Soundwave]

I truly believe we’re a better team this year than last year. Upgraded on positions we needed to upgrade and if skinner can give us average goaltending we’ll be fine. Big IF but let’s see how it turns out!

Yeah now they just need find a way to play the same playoff bracket from 2024 ... LA, then Vancouver w/o Demko, then Dallas with Oettinger in a bad year.

Good luck ducking Vegas and Colorado forever.

 

[yukoner88]

C-

In theory the team is bigger and tougher to play against,but not finding a better running mate to run with Skinner is playing with fire this year

 

[Mr Positive]

TBH, when one reads about how terrible Skinner is, one would expect his SV% to be somewhere in .600%, especially given how many odd man rushes the Defence gives at time. Yet, his percentage is somewhere in between Saros and Binnington. Selling the farm to get another goalie, would had been more likely to sell the farm for a dud than to hit a homerun.

And yes, I know what advance stats are saying.... The reality about advanced stats is that people are using them a lot without realizing what they mean, and it is soo easy to pick stats which seem to make players look bad.

Note that I am not saying that Skinner is a good goalie, I am saying that had we traded for another started we would had probably been disspoited after the playoffs.

As a side note, I remember how excited our fans were when we signed Khabibulin, and how neutral the reaction was when we traded for Rolo. In fact, from what I recall, there were Oilers fans complaing on the deadline day that we paid a first for Rollie while the Nucks paid only a second on a much better goalie (Mika Noronen).

My view of the trade deadline was that getting a goalie would make sense if the right goalie became available, but there was no reason to pay lots of assets to likely get what we already have.

If we would have got a goalie like Lyon, and if Lyon ended up no better than our guys, I could at least respect that. We had the space to try something like this

I don't believe goalies are voodoo but I do think they can gel on a team and do well, and that this can be unpredictable.

So why not just try? Colorado tried lots of different guys before getting Blackwood. A ton of posters here even wanted Blackwood. It's some kind of bad dream when us plebs in the stands look at stats and advanced stats, look at the quality of our defense as well as advanced stats for that, and our management use vapid arguments like being in a game 7 or some eye test nonsense. Or worse, that goalie skill just doesn't really exist, as if good defense will just create good goalie stats

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Truth be told, I'm happy they dodged that bullet.

He's not a bad player, but he the Oil have enough average sized scorers. This is where Frederic and eventually Kane help out. They can open up the ice for Skinner, RV, Henrique types. Donato doesn't help with that,

I guess he was scoring this year though and pushes those guys down

 

[LTIR]

If this team can't make the playoffs with the guys in the locker room right now, we might as well blow it all up and start over again. This feels like excessive bellyaching to me.

All comes down to goaltending.
We can add 5 more arvidssons, kapanens, Jones, Frederics but we are not winning much with our defense and goaltending.

 

[bone]

Well at this point our only hope is that Skinner can at least provide average goaltending, so might as well move on from bitching about him for the next couple months and cheering him on. If he fails, bring out the lynch mob for management instead of Skinner.

PS. I'm likely going to need help to keep up with that.

 

[Mr Positive]

All comes down to goaltending.
We can add 5 more arvidssons, kapanens, Jones, Frederics but we are not winning much with our defense and goaltending.

Imo the defense will be good. It's one reason I gave us a D instead of F. I like Walman, and I bet Klingberg will come around

But I agree. I hope our goaltending will find the magic on switch that Bowman believes exists, but if they don't get good then it wouldn't matter if we had two McDavids and Draisaitls. Great goals count just as much as soft ones

 

[nturn06]

If we would have got a goalie like Lyon, and if Lyon ended up no better than our guys, I could at least respect that. We had the space to try something like this

I don't believe goalies are voodoo but I do think they can gel in a team and do well, and that this can be unpredictable.

So why not just try? Colorado tried lots of different guys before getting Blackwood. A ton of posters here even wanted Blackwood. It's some kind of bad dream when us plebs in the stands look at stats and advanced stats, look at the quality of our defense as well as advanced stats for that, and our management use vapid arguments like being in a game 7 or some eye test nonsense. Or worse, that goalie skill just doesn't really exist, as if good defense will just create good goalie stats

The issue with trying is that if you give assets for a player, you are forced to play that player and play him again and again. Playoffs series are sometimes lost by not changing the starter until it is too late.

And just for curiosity, what do you think would happen with Lyon's SV% after few months of working with Schwarz? Would it go up?

Also, Lyon and Pickard have somewhat similar numbers, why is Lyon a better choice?

At the end of the day, I also believe that all the above is irrelevant. The only thing which matters is how much would had it cost us to get him. What would you have paid for him? A third? A second? A first?

If the asking price was a 3rd, I would go for it, but I don't see Detroit selling him for that. A second maybe, a first definitely not.... And if Detroit sees him as the 1A goalie until Cossa is ready, they may not trade him even for a second.

How high would you go to get him?

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

D

 

[Dazed and Confused]

So playoff lineup perdictions?

RNH-Drai-Hyman
Fred-McDavid-RV
Kane-Henrique-Podz
Janmark-Kap-Perry

Spares: Skinner, Brown, Jones, and Philp as the next men up.

Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Walman
Kulak-Emberson

Klingerg, Stecher, Ragula(?), Dermott, as the next men up.

Skinner
Pickard


Fun fact: because they still have a decent bit of LTIR space, they can actually run up to a 26 (28? if Ragula and Fred's activation off LTIR doesn't count as a call up) man roster to wrap up the season.


Honestly, the skater depth looks outstanding. Though Goal is still a massive flaming question mark.

I get not going after Lyon or Talbot, whom I don't think are better than Skinner when he's on his game, But the fact that there's no 3rd option is moronic. If injuries hit, they're f'ed.

Again, I would have been happy (well, happier) with Jarry at 50% than just standing pat...

 

[Vagabond]

I give it a C - Minus borderline almost a D. Bowman's arrogance to not address the goaltending is shocking. Not addressing the top 6 is bad. Leaving usable cap-space wasted after spending assets on double retention on Frederic is completely stupid.

Jeff Jackson fumbled away Holloway for sure. Giving NMC to Arvi and J.Skinner was a massive mistake.

Holland is more to blame for Broberg but that being said, Broberg was unhappy anyways.

I do like Frederic, a lot. I wanted him last season. I cant wait to see him play for us.

Jones looked awesome in his 1st game so hopefully he keeps that up. Hopefully Knob doesnt J.Skin his @$$ either!

Walman... he's a real late bloomer that looks good this season but can he match that success here and into next season? He'll most likely play on the opposite side he's used to and new partners. Time will tell.

 

[LeonDraisaitl29]

Felt we could've made a few more trades. We added an injured forward and a fringe NHL player. Walman is a nice pickup but still wish more was done.

 

[Navx94]

Yeah now they just need find a way to play the same playoff bracket from 2024 ... LA, then Vancouver w/o Demko, then Dallas with Oettinger in a bad year.

Good luck ducking Vegas and Colorado forever.

If we got Colorado in the WCF that’s best case scenario. Vegas and LA did not improve this deadline so the way I see it we have a better shot of making the WCF than Dallas/colorado do anyways.

 

[ToeMcDrag83]

I like the players brought in. I like the value on each trade, nothing going the other way hurts us.
But did it move the needle enough as a cup contender? No. Top 6 W, and of course goaltending upgrade would have ben the key pieces. Dallas, Colorado, Florida easily favorites to come out of the conferences. Especially the first 2, you basically have to hope the one takes the other out and it's a grueling slog fest of a series. None of our moves met the caliber of their improvements

B-/C+ : Trades were well valued and brought in good players, but what we didn't do is going to hurt us. Better hope Kane hits the ground running to be an upgrade on Arvidsson or Skinner in a month.

I am excited to see the new players as they all bring something we don't have on this team.
Wahlman is more assertive than every single D we have.
Frederic has a productive pest element that we simply don't have.
Jones appears to have some game, at least seems like an upgrade in the bottom 6.

Also, I really liked Dineen last night. Find a way to keep him around and let Ekholm heal and rest. Has better offensive instincts than all our D but Bouchard.

 

[Mr Positive]

The issue with trying is that if you give assets for a player, you are forced to play that player and play him again and again. Playoffs series are sometimes lost by not changing the starter until it is too late.

And just for curiosity, what do you think would happen with Lyon's SV% after few months of working with Schwarz? Would it go up?

Also, Lyon and Pickard have somewhat similar numbers, why is Lyon a better choice?

At the end of the day, I also believe that all the above is irrelevant. The only thing which matters is how much would had it cost us to get him. What would you have paid for him? A third? A second? A first?

If the asking price was a 3rd, I would go for it, but I don't see Detroit selling him for that. A second maybe, a first definitely not.... And if Detroit sees him as the 1A goalie until Cossa is ready, they may not trade him even for a second.

How high would you go to get him?

I think a 3rd+ would do it. They are about to lose Lyon for nothing in a few months. But sure, maybe they'd like him for a playoff run. But they have 4 NHL goalies and with retention we could have had any of them. I'd even take Mzarek. But, the ideal would be an impending UFA ( hence, to test drive someone). The principle is to find a goalie with decent stats on a bad team. They exist. It's how we got Roloson

Also as much as I'm disappointed with our goalies, I don't get into the whole anti-Schwartz thing. I'm not pro-Schwartz either. I just don't know if that factor matters. It's not like this organization ever really stacked the goalie talent here. Skinner might just not have the talent, and it's not like Pickard was some ringer we poached from somewhere.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I guess he was scoring this year though and pushes those guys down

Imo he comes here and he gets stuck in the same mud as others.

The Oil have a ton of mid tier scorers, but no one to open up ice for them. Imo this is where Fred and Jones likely help them down the stretch.

Suddenly Podz and Perry aren't required to be their top physical forwards and are into more appropriate roles. While Henrique, RV, and Skinner get linemates that can legitimately tie up a defender or two and open up ice for them, getting them out of the said mud.

 

[M Ace]

F - This team won't beat Vegas, Colorado or Dallas as it is.

Skinner needs to stand on his head, but first he needs to get it out off his ass....

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

Prob c or D. Going into our win now mode with these goalies is not a risk I would take personally

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

Yeah now they just need find a way to play the same playoff bracket from 2024 ... LA, then Vancouver w/o Demko, then Dallas with Oettinger in a bad year.

Good luck ducking Vegas and Colorado forever.

This reads like a post a child would write good lord grow up dude

 

[Not Canada Drai]

Loved the trades we made. Hated the ones we didn’t make.

 

[iCanada]

I voted D.

I like the moves we made, but clearly we dropped the ball and didn't execute our plan. We had a vision and made sacrifices to get towards that - to maximize our chances of winning with the biggest adds possible at the deadline.

We lost Broberg/Holloway to accrue cap space. We ran a short roster all year to accrue cap space. We paid extra to retain on Frederic.

And we have 3 million in cap space right now. A disaster class to be honest. We waited too long, missed the boat and ended up with nothing.

All that build up just to waste it.

 

[McFlyingV]

I like the additions because all the players they added can skate so they added a ton of speed. They also added a bunch of physicality which should help this team get emotionally invested come playoff time. McDavid, Drai and Hyman never have an issue getting physical when playoffs hit, but when you add Kane (hopefully), Frederic, Jones, and Pods to that mix in front of a rocking building this team should be capable of getting very physical.

Love Walman's shot from the point, and his skating is exceptional. Very good at evading attackers and skating himself out of trouble which is very important on forecheck heavy teams. And best of all he has the size unlike Hughes to survive a physical forecheck.

Don't love that we didn't add either a top 6 scorer or a goalie, but I can live with this as long as the boys get their game back on track in the last 20 games of the season.