Salary Cap: POLE; Grade the TDL

[FlameChampion]

I have a different complaint.

The TDL showed what a mockery the salary cap is. Claim an injury to a top player and load up. It’s not about putting the best team together it’s about who gets lucky with the right injury to the right players at the right time.

Vegas Tampa and Chicago showed us how it’s done.

Devils lost the injury lottery with Hughes getting whacked for the season.

Panthers won the injury lottery with Tkachuk who will be back for Game 1 book it.

Dallas has Seguin out until Round 2 they say but won the injury lottery with Heiskanen who we will no doubt see Game 1.

Oilers tried to play the injury lotto with Kane but couldn’t figure out the rules until it was too late.

The NHL is an abject joke with the cap rules.

I think its also kinda sh*tty someone like Marchand goes to Florida for a second. This on a day some guys cost a fortune. Boston obviously let him pick a team and Florida gave a return that is probably a third of what it would be for any other team. How is that fair?

 

[Drivesaitl]

I think its also kinda sh*tty someone like Marchand goes to Florida for a second. This on a day some guys cost a fortune. Boston obviously let him pick a team and Florida gave a return that is probably a third of what it would be for any other team. How is that fair?

Think you're overestimating how little Marchand is in 2025. Especially an injured Marchand. Did you see him at 4Nations other than the cup winning? He got nothing done. All busy but no results. He hasn't been the player people think he is for awhile. He was invisible in games against us as well. Bout the only highlight you see of marchand lately is getting his stupid beak hammered into the boards. I have it on repeats.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I want to downgrade to F after reading a lot more about Walman. f***. Another individual that has had trouble learning how to be a team player. Can see why coaches and GM's have moved on from this guy.

 

[FlameChampion]

Think you're overestimating how little Marchand is in 2025. Especially an injured Marchand. Did you see him at 4Nations other than the cup winning? He got nothing done. All busy but no results. He hasn't been the player people think he is for awhile. He was invisible in games against us as well. Bout the only highlight you see of marchand lately is getting his stupid beak hammered into the boards. I have it on repeats.

Eh I disagree. He has 21g this year and is a big name. Whether you think is overrated is one thing but he would of been expensive for anyone else. He would of cost the Oilers a first plus a top prospect based on what we have seen this week. I’m not saying we should of acquired him or anything. Just saying Florida got a freebie that no one else got in comparison. They got Tarasenko as a freebie last year too.

 

[FlameChampion]

I want to downgrade to F after reading a lot more about Walman. f***. Another individual that has had trouble learning how to be a team player. Can see why coaches and GM's have moved on from this guy.

I’ll wait and see. Yzerman is the main one who moved on but it was a poor decision by him. I think hes a bit of late bloomer.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Some of the negativity in here is wild.

I understand there's been a slump. I too would have loved a Pickard upgrade and a winger for Drai.

That said... before the slump, the team was playing like the best in the league for 2 solid months, despite several key players under-performing.

We addressed the grit issue with Frederick, Jones and hopefully a strong return from Kane. We added a top 4 dman.

There are some players having a down year that I'm not sure they find themselves at all this season. Like Bouchard (still young), RNH (his prime years are never coming back) and Brown (well... down from where he was in the playoffs last year).

That said, I think McDavid, Hyman, Henrique, Ekholm and Arvidsson all bring it to another level come playoff time. I think this team is still just as much of a contender as Vegas, or the big 3 in the Central.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Eh I disagree. He has 21g this year and is a big name. Whether you think is overrated is one thing but he would of been expensive for anyone else. He would of cost the Oilers a first plus a top prospect based on what we have seen this week. I’m not saying we should of acquired him or anything. Just saying Florida got a freebie that no one else got in comparison. They got Tarasenko as a freebie last year too.

I sure wouldn't want him. I think personalities need be considered somewhat as well. Marchand is basically an ahole. A player teams love to hate and drill. Panthers have weasels already. Sometimes it just makes an opponent want to beat you even more.

Tarasenko wasn't really worth much either. Don't recall him getting a lot done lately. I guess I've grown more into younger players. I like the Caps chances this season.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I’ll wait and see. Yzerman is the main one who moved on but it was a Pejorative Slured decision by him. I think hes a bit of late bloomer.

Spent the last hour or two reading up on backhistory. I probably shouldn't haha. I stand by Yzerman and Grier on this one.

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Spent the last hour or two reading up on backhistory. I probably shouldn't haha. I stand by Yzerman and Grier on this one.

By all accounts he was well liked in San Jose but Grier couldn't pass on a 1st for a player that might age out before they're competitive?

 

[Drivesaitl]

Some of the negativity in here is wild.

I understand there's been a slump. I too would have loved a Pickard upgrade and a winger for Drai.

That said... before the slump, the team was playing like the best in the league for 2 solid months, despite several key players under-performing.

We addressed the grit issue with Frederick, Jones and hopefully a strong return from Kane. We added a top 4 dman.

There are some players having a down year that I'm not sure they find themselves at all this season. Like Bouchard (still young), RNH (his prime years are never coming back) and Brown (well... down from where he was in the playoffs last year).

That said, I think McDavid, Hyman, Henrique, Ekholm and Arvidsson all bring it to another level come playoff time. I think this team is still just as much of a contender as Vegas, or the big 3 in the Central.

Is it really wild? if anything the Oilers record has been better than its overall performance (including goaltending)

Winning 10G in extra time vastly distorts where we are at. The team owns at 3 on 3 river hockey and riding that. Last time we did that was the Covid years where we got blown up once playoffs hit.

Oilers have only 26 regulation wins putting them almost middle of the pack in that regard. For a team with McDrai thats striking.

In 2025 so far we hardly win any games in regulation. Just keep walking OT games. Playoff 5 on 5 OT of course being much different.

We have a #1 goalie who is basically .50 and who has been awful against playoff clubs all season.

Keep waiting for Arvid to find a level. You have more faith than me.

 

[Drivesaitl]

By all accounts he was well liked in San Jose but Grier couldn't pass on a 1st for a player that might age out before they're competitive?

I've read about the player. Dustin Penner was well liked by the players...

Walman is another player that questions and talks about coaching decisions as it pertains to him. That never goes well for long. No comment runs a lot better. Walman has a mouth on him. Take a look at KK and wonder how much he likes that. This is a coach serially scratching J Skinner who is similarly predisposed.

Coaches get different reads than fans do. We'll see.

 

[K1984]

Eh I disagree. He has 21g this year and is a big name. Whether you think is overrated is one thing but he would of been expensive for anyone else. He would of cost the Oilers a first plus a top prospect based on what we have seen this week. I’m not saying we should of acquired him or anything. Just saying Florida got a freebie that no one else got in comparison. They got Tarasenko as a freebie last year too.

I wish we could temporarily be relocated to a warm weather no tax market so we could start getting freebies.

The NMC that can be selectively waived to certain teams is the biggest cancer to competitive balance in hockey. Every single year Vegas, Florida and Tampa get to benefit from this nonsense while the rest of the league gets to wonder why they keep getting all these players for cheap.

Want an NMC? Fine, but if you want to waive it then you’re going wherever you get sent. Badly needs to be changed to this, but sadly the NHL and the PA both have a vested interest in keeping it the same for different reasons.

 

[FlameChampion]

I wish we could temporarily be relocated to a warm weather no tax market so we could start getting freebies.

The NMC that can be selectively waived to certain teams is the biggest cancer to competitive balance in hockey. Every single year Vegas, Florida and Tampa get to benefit from this nonsense while the rest of the league gets to wonder why they keep getting all these players for cheap.

Want an NMC? Fine, but if you want to waive it then you’re going wherever you get sent. Badly needs to be changed to this, but sadly the NHL and the PA both have a vested interest in keeping it the same for different reasons.

Well he didn’t even have a nmc. Limited ntc. But I am assuming that Sweeney let him pick. I can’t imagine a second was the best offer.

 

[K1984]

I sure wouldn't want him. I think personalities need be considered somewhat as well. Marchand is basically an ahole. A player teams love to hate and drill. Panthers have weasels already. Sometimes it just makes an opponent want to beat you even more.

Tarasenko wasn't really worth much either. Don't recall him getting a lot done lately. I guess I've grown more into younger players. I like the Caps chances this season.

I think a lot of the reason the Oilers do what they do every year is the organization either intentionally or by coincidence always lands the soft spoken, low energy, “nice” player.

If we had a few more Marchand personalities here I don’t think you would see the annual dissolve into the worst team in the league for ~20-30 days each season.

 

[K1984]

Well he didn’t even have a nmc. Limited ntc. But I am assuming that Sweeney let him pick. I can’t imagine a second was the best offer.

He had 8 teams he could pick. I could probably even guess 6-7 of the 8 of them if I had to.

Vegas
Florida
Tampa
Dallas
Carolina
San Jose
Chicago
Nashville

The last three only because they wouldn’t spend assets to deal for him. Even with limited NMCs, it isn’t hard to curate the outcome you want by strategically setting up the list.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I think a lot of the reason the Oilers do what they do every year is the organization either intentionally or by coincidence always lands the soft spoken, low energy, “nice” player.

If we had a few more Marchand personalities here I don’t think you would see the annual dissolve into the worst team in the league for ~20-30 days each season.

meh. Bruins were the most consistent team in regular season last year where shit doesn't matter and completely dissolved once playoffs started and maybe because they were always gunning all season and had little left for playoffs.

The only time it matters is playoffs. Boston seldom good in that. Boston strong has its drawbacks because NHL hockey season/playoffs is endurance, not a race.

Oilers might have the right approach. Who knows yet.

Plus McD and Drai aren't always nice. Can be candid on occasion. Its not a room full of Nuges.

 

[FlameChampion]

He had 8 teams he could pick. I could probably even guess 6-7 of the 8 of them if I had to.

Vegas
Florida
Tampa
Dallas
Carolina
San Jose
Chicago
Nashville

The last three only because they wouldn’t spend assets to deal for him. Even with limited NMCs, it isn’t hard to curate the outcome you want by strategically setting up the list.

So you think a second in 2027 was the best offer they received?

 

[Drivesaitl]

@FlameChampion

Marchand has 4 ENG this year making his goal total less impressive. When you figure in how much Ozone looks he gets and premium looks and toi even less impressive. He's about half of what Holloway is in 2025, who the Oilers just let walk. Marchand pretty much done and Boston moving on when they should. Did nothing at 4Nations either but sure got talked up a lot... All I remember is him getting knocked off pucks, misfiring and not getting anything. The way I look at it is a player like Marchand will demand minutes and that just takes away from younger turks that are better now, and more deserving now. Its the trouble with sometimes getting over ripened stars. Nashville figured they had gold in the old players they got in offseason and they're the worst team in the league, and at least partly because of it.

Leafs used to have this thing too where they'd load up on old name farts and get bounced in first round everytime. Names, especially old names don't always make a club better. Hope the Panthers choke on it.

 

[K1984]

So you think a second in 2027 was the best offer they received?

Not sure why they wouldn’t deal him to another team on his list that gave a better offer.

I think the 50% of playoff games condition is telling. The only reason I could think of to put that conditions on a deal is if there are injury issues. A conditional first is probably the only version of a 1st they were gonna get.

 

[MoontoScott]

These LTIR rules are bush league. Not to mention nebulous (but I did anyway).

If you are "unlucky" enough that your major stars (ie--big contracts) are not injured then you have no serious LTIR dollars to spend at the deadline.

Conversely, "lucky teams" have serious injury to star players and get to load up before the TDL. Then, since there are no salary cap restrictions after the regular season your star players can simply return for game 1.

So, in effect, "lucky" teams have serious injuries to stars and "unlucky" teams see their premiere players play most of the season without serious injury?? This seems counterintuitive to me.

 

[BlackDogg]

The Oilers filling the voids in their lineup with the alacrity of a lateral Skinner slide.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Well it was a better deadline than adding Jerred Smithson... so there's that.

Basically a very underwhelming deadline though when many/most have been expecting a pile of juicy cap space to be spent on a huge asset (like a mythical RD version of Ekholm) to try and put this team over the top and send them into the playoffs as the true #1 top contender.

I can't say they did that... and this team right now wasn't likely a Max Jones and a Jake Walman away from being that #1 contender.

I think they can help with depth in the team... but overall the team has issues that need fixing and a couple depth NHL players probably aren't the fixes to push them all the way.

When Jeff Skinner (who is pressboxed and in the doghouse half the time).. and Corey "going on 40" Perry are 2 of your top 3 leading goalscorers at evens since January 17th... your team has ISSUES.

In that time...

McDavid 1 ev goal
Podkolzin 0 ev goals
Arvidsson 1 ev goal
Janmark 1 ev goal
Brown 1 ev goal
Kapanen 1 ev goal
Henrique 1 ev goal.

I mean cmon... it's pathetic that those 7 players have combined for 6 EV goals in the past 16 games for this team.

Corey Perry has 6 ev goals over that stretch alone. How the hell is he as good at EV goal scoring recently as those above 7 players combined? I think his level of give a shit is obviously higher which is his main attribute and it leads to goals. Some of those players above do give effort... but not consistently enough obviously,

Hyman has 4 EV goals and RNH has 3 EV goals over that stretch... decent but not spectacular either.

Jeff Skinner somehow has 4 EV goals over that stretch... while missing 4 games of the past 16 and while playing 12 minutes a game in random spots in the lineup.

How the hell did McDavid/Podz/Arvy/Janmark/Brown/Kap/Henrique manage to only score 2 more EV goals combined over that stretch than Jeff "popcorn eater" Skinner?


Team has no finish and no consistent work ethic. They are squeezing out 1 goal wins vs middling clubs as their best results and they haven't played a clearly dominating game in ages.


I sure hope the new additions do give the team a kick in the butt and this funk disappears over the next 20 games... because it's certainly not looking promising right now.

Goaltending isn't very inspiring... the team has been outshot more often than not recently and they still have trouble burying their chances (overpassing doesn't help).

It looks like their destiny is another 1st round matchup with LA yet again and I don't know if they get past them with the way the Oilers are meandering through this season right now.

Overall trade deadline grade would be about a C imo but the team right now is playing at about a C- level overall... so I can see the improvements to the team as being very slightly minimal at best... especially if the other nothing burgers on the team continue to underwhelm like they have been.

 

[WhiskeyEE]

Closer to a C+ than a B-.

 

[WhiskeyEE]

These LTIR rules are bush league. Not to mention nebulous (but I did anyway).

If you are "unlucky" enough that your major stars (ie--big contracts) are not injured then you have no serious LTIR dollars to spend at the deadline.

Conversely, "lucky teams" have serious injury to star players and get to load up before the TDL. Then, since there are no salary cap restrictions after the regular season your star players can simply return for game 1.

So, in effect, "lucky" teams have serious injuries to stars and "unlucky" teams see their premiere players play most of the season without serious injury?? This seems counterintuitive to me.

Yeah. It's dumb. I'm really surprised this loophole exists. They could achieve some compromise by limiting the cap you can exceed to some fraction of the LTIR'd player. Or just put a cap on it so you can only exceed up to some amount (much less than 10M) regardless of the injured player's contract. There could be an option to comply and if you don't adhere to these then the LTIR'd player just isn't eligible to come back for the playoffs.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

I definitely like our path. LA hardly did anything. If we win the division we probably play Minny, who also did nothing

I'm not sold on Vegas. They also didn't upgrade. So, the 3rd and 4th rounds will be the only truly tough test where we will be underdogs

Part of that is something I agreed with Bowman on. If our team plays to its potential then it is probably the best out there. We didn't truly need any upgrade other than in net. With the goalies, if we can get a similar performance as last year then we have a good chance. It's not about having the best goalies. It's about shrinking the importance of our deficit. If the whole team is rolling then we could win the cup

So I agree with most of your post. except the bolded. Look at our point leaders after Bouchard, Mcdavid and Leon.

We need a top 6 winger, the team knows we need a top 6 winger and we DID NOT get a top 6 winger...

We talked about adding a fast winger to replace Holloway and didn't. The deadline can't be scored above a "C"