Post-Game Talk: Pulled it out of their Askerov!

[Louis Cypher]

Said it when we got him and I’ll say it again now. He brings Top 6 poise to our bottom 6. Too many are focused on his lack of speed and don’t give him enough credit for his ability to hold onto pucks and find the right play.

Nothing wrong with the Perry signing. His poise and presence is needed. Ardvidson is the issue. I dont even mind Skinner as it was less that Arvd and only 1 year.

 

[Heavy Dee]

Came here to post almost exactly this. Good post.

As awful as Skinner has been in the last few games, I think the coach needs to own his share of the blame.

The Oilers signed a 30+ player knowing full well what he is, yet the coach treats him like some rookie that needs to be taught responsible hockey or something. He is not that player and we don't have that time. You're just neutering him at this point, tanking his confidence.

Like you said, Buffalo put him on the 4th line and it didn't help. Back in the top six he started producing again for them, at least for a time.

If we want value for this player that we couldn't get rid of even if we wanted to, we need to give him more than three shifts on a good line when he has a good stretch. Instead Knoblauch punishes him with 4th-line minutes for several games after those few shifts.

I love Knob but this is Eakins level stuff in my opinion.

I doubt it was the coach's decision to sign this guy. Jackson was trying to appease Draisaitl to re-sign and it may have helped.

As much as Skinner wants to be in the playoffs, I can't believe it's more important than sacrificing the rest of his career if he rots on the 4th line here.

I gotta believe he would accept a trade back to one of the New York teams, who need scoring.

 

[TheNumber4]

Nothing wrong with the Perry signing. His poise and presence is needed. Ardvidson is the issue. I dont even mind Skinner as it was less that Arvd and only 1 year.

Arvid I would say is a potential issue. He does have game. And may still come around. Even last night he had a solid night, held onto pucks, wheeled with it a bit, made a nice pass to Rico for a Grade A.

In his brief stint with Drai they were creating lots of chances out there too.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Not surprisingly, the Nurse-Bouchard experiment didn't last.

I swear Nurse isn't even better this year. He just doesn't do well with poor skaters like Barrie, Ceci and Bouchard. Get Nurse a real top 4 D that can skate and shoots right. Maybe that would take over as top pair.

Pretty sure the D pairings all started like the old pairings

You could tell that from the 25 seconds they were on the ice together?

 

[Faelko]

Double whammy tonight.

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Thinking Ron McLean is an Oilers fan is quite the take…lol

 

[jesusbuiltmyhotrod]

So the sharks dumped Blackwood to the Avs for kovalenko and georgiev....what a steal. Then some unknown askarov comes out of the woodwork.

What if we actually traded ceci, plus a 2nd and Pickard for emberson and askarov in the summer?

The sharks are rebuilding much faster than any other tankathon teams in the league.

Montreal
Buffalo
Chicago
Senators
Columbus
Canucks rebuilding forever since 1970.

A team with Celebrini and a random group of yahoos look like they could make the playoffs within 2 years.


We started in time to get the 2 points the last 2 games.

Yeah but it is going to catch up with them. Two games is a meaningless sample. That crap can cost you a playoff series

 

[Fishy McScales]

I doubt it was the coach's decision to sign this guy. Jackson was trying to appease Draisaitl to re-sign and it may have helped.

As much as Skinner wants to be in the playoffs, I can't believe it's more important than sacrificing the rest of his career if he rots on the 4th line here.

I gotta believe he would accept a trade back to one of the New York teams, who need scoring.

No matter whose decision it was, he's here.

And it's not the coach's job to trade under-performing players, it's to get the most out of them. That's not exactly happening so far.

 

[fuswald]

Mcdavid does t want to shoot so his pass gets picked off by 4 sharks… he has not been great this year imo.

He could have had 6 points if people could finish.
McDavid is still great.

 

[Heavy Dee]

No matter whose decision it was, he's here.

And it's not the coach's job to trade under-performing players, it's to get the most out of them. That's not exactly happening so far.

His job is to win games. Which they are.

 

[guymez]

Practice tomorrow: everybody taking turns shooting pucks into an empty net.

Yup.
I mean Askerov was impressive but how many open nets did they miss?
At least they ultimately pulled it off.

 

[Fishy McScales]

His job is to win games. Which they are.

We are talking about Skinner, and I'm of the opinion that the coach shares blame for his poor play. You don't need to share it.

A coach can win while still doing some things poorly.

 

[Soundwave]

The goalie we should have acquired in the offseason. Would have been great to have him split games with Skinner

Jeff Jackson's off-season is looking Chiarelli-esque at this point, walked Broberg and Holloway to offer sheets and lost them for peanuts, missed out on Askarov, only to sign 30-somethings in Arvidsson, Skinner, Henrique for a lot of money, who are all having bad seasons.

If Arvidsson and Skinner aren't producing by Jan/Feb, I say cut bait and ship them out, bring in other players. We can't have this much of our cap misused, it's not how Cup winning teams are built. What player Evander Kane is when he comes back given his age and injury history now is also a giant question mark. That's another 5 million dollar question mark. Way too many question marks here.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Arvid I would say is a potential issue. He does have game. And may still come around. Even last night he had a solid night, held onto pucks, wheeled with it a bit, made a nice pass to Rico for a Grade A.

In his brief stint with Drai they were creating lots of chances out there too.

I agree he could settle in and contribute but it issue is we didn't need both. We need more size, grit and youth. Skinner and Ardvidson are both small and while Ardvidson has some grit his size and past injuries hold him back from being gritty and hard to play against. We are a pretty soft team right now. We can get away with it in season but when the whistles get put away in the playoffs we will have a hard time matching up in a 7 game series to a big hard playing team.

 

[Duke74]

Double whammy tonight.

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That guy's actually pretty hilarious

 

[VeteranPresence]

Not surprisingly, the Nurse-Bouchard experiment didn't last.

I swear Nurse isn't even better this year. He just doesn't do well with poor skaters like Barrie, Ceci and Bouchard. Get Nurse a real top 4 D that can skate and shoots right. Maybe that would take over as top pair.

NJD- Traded a 4th in 2026 for Kovacevic (10 points, +16, playing 19:51 a night)
CBJ- Claimed Fabbro on waivers (7 points, +11, playing 19:19 a night)
MON- Traded Barron for Carrier (2 GP, 1 A, +2, played 18:45 and 18:50 in his first two games)
SJS- Traded a 3rd and 6th for Liljegren (7 points, only -1 on SJ, averaging 18:47 a night)

There were players out there who could have helped us out in this exact role at minimal cost but Stan decided that sleepwalking towards the deadline was a better option- when he will then have to pay deadline prices for a player who might not even provide what any of the above have so far. This was an area we all could have predicted needing improvement except for I guess Bowman.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Ashkarov just about stole that one, hell of a game from him. San Jose reminds me of the early 2010s Oiler teams, get blitz all game and the goaltender stands on his head but eventually succumbs to the onslaught.

They don't remind me at all of that team because this SJ club can play some games very physical and on the forcheck and are bigger than the 2010 club. They remind me more of say the 1996 club minus the defending. WE had Cujo in net, we had some future star players, and we were starting to mount something. In 2010 we didn't have anything like Askarov in goal.

I doubt it was the coach's decision to sign this guy. Jackson was trying to appease Draisaitl to re-sign and it may have helped.

As much as Skinner wants to be in the playoffs, I can't believe it's more important than sacrificing the rest of his career if he rots on the 4th line here.

I gotta believe he would accept a trade back to one of the New York teams, who need scoring.

I seriously doubt Selke minded Draisaitl who was raised by his hockey coach father would want J Skinner anywhere near him, or on his team. In a different era a similarly raised Mark Messier would be thinking about punching Skinner in the face. This was a JJ decision, and poorly consulted I suspect.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I agree he could settle in and contribute but it issue is we didn't need both. We need more size, grit and youth. Skinner and Ardvidson are both small and while Ardvidson has some grit his size and past injuries hold him back from being gritty and hard to play against. We are a pretty soft team right now. We can get away with it in season but when the whistles get put away in the playoffs we will have a hard time matching up in a 7 game series to a big hard playing team.

Yeah. Arvid alone his presence in a lineup, especially in playoffs, it just makes an opponent topsix easier to play. We saw the same drawbacks with Yamamoto. Whatever Arvid gave in talent the cost was being smaller on ice. The best ever Kings teams were loaded with big boys that could skate and battle and frankly dominate puck battles. Of course you don't get that with Arvid and Skinner, just one of many reasons I wouldn't have them, and the feeling that they would be of negligible contribution in playoffs.

 

[Heavy Dee]

We are talking about Skinner, and I'm of the opinion that the coach shares blame for his poor play. You don't need to share it.

A coach can win while still doing some things poorly.

Yes. And for the past 20 games, around the time Skinner was punted out of the top 6, the Oilers are the best team in the NHL.

Coincidence? Maybe.

He was then put in a line with a responsible centre in Henrique and that line did nothing but bleed chances against.

It's possible, and becoming likeky he just isn't a good fit on this team.

Don't blame the coach.

 

[Drivesaitl]

No matter whose decision it was, he's here.

And it's not the coach's job to trade under-performing players, it's to get the most out of them. That's not exactly happening so far.

So the goal in your mind should be developing J Skinner instead of making the team better? How is that the goal of NHL coaching? Any coach worth his salt that has a lineup like the Oilers would be limiting Skinner minutes because he isn't making postive contributions to the club. Predictably, I'll add.

So in your logic the team that is playing better than any team in the league and basically owning the NHL should somehow be playing -10 Jeff Skinner with the worst GA/60mins on the club more minutes because you think its the coaches job to reward chickenshit performance. J Skinner would rather give up a puck than fight for it.

The team is playing mostly impeccable hockey winning games constantly, and we tune in here to hear people moaning that J Skinner should be playing more..

 

[Heavy Dee]

They don't remind me at all of that team because this SJ club can play some games very physical and on the forcheck and are bigger than the 2010 club. They remind me more of say the 1996 club minus the defending. WE had Cujo in net, we had some future star players, and we were starting to mount something. In 2010 we didn't have anything like Askarov in goal.


I seriously doubt Selke minded Draisaitl who was raised by his hockey coach father would want J Skinner anywhere near him, or on his team. In a different era a similarly raised Mark Messier would be thinking about punching Skinner in the face. This was a JJ decision, and poorly consulted I suspect.

Someone thought it was a good idea. Just like they did with Arvidsson.

Warren Rychel was the pro scout in southern Ontario and would have seen Skinner play the most. Ya the same guy they promoted to director of pro scouting.

 

[Fishy McScales]

Yes. And for the past 20 games, around the time Skinner was punted out of the top 6, the Oilers are the best team in the NHL.

Coincidence? Maybe.

He was then put in a line with a responsible centre in Henrique and that line did nothing but bleed chances against.

It's possible, and becoming likeky he just isn't a good fit on this team.

Don't blame the coach.

I agree he probably isn't a good fit, but he was signed and the coach needs to get the most out of every player.

Basically for Skinner it is one bad thing it's demotion, but if he does something well he needs to repeat it ten times and maybe he'll get a couple of shifts in the top six. No wonder he's not playing well.

Like I said, I'm a big fan of the coach, but I sure as hell hold him just as accountable as JJ and Skinner himself in this fiasco.

 

[Tarus]

They don't remind me at all of that team because this SJ club can play some games very physical and on the forcheck and are bigger than the 2010 club. They remind me more of say the 1996 club minus the defending. WE had Cujo in net, we had some future star players, and we were starting to mount something. In 2010 we didn't have anything like Askarov in goal.

I wasn't comparing them stylistically, more that they were badly overmatched team with a few good young players(Well, just Hall/Eberle) up front that had a good/great goaltending performance and still lost because they didn't have the legs defensively.

The old Oiler teams from 2010 - 13 didn't have Askarov, but they did have Dubnyk before Eakins/Mact ran him out of town, and he was able to put in an occasional game stealing performance. There were also the rare miracle games from a guy like Scrivens.

 

[guymez]

Yes. And for the past 20 games, around the time Skinner was punted out of the top 6, the Oilers are the best team in the NHL.

Coincidence? Maybe.

He was then put in a line with a responsible centre in Henrique and that line did nothing but bleed chances against.

It's possible, and becoming likeky he just isn't a good fit on this team.

Don't blame the coach.

Its a mystery why he was even signed. If he isnt scoring he isnt a very useful player.
A waste of $3M and he also has a no movement as well.
WTF was Jackson thinking?

I mean at least Arvidsson can PK and is good on the forecheck.