Rumor: Rumors and Proposals Thread | Rishaug: Expect Swedish FA Theodor Lennstrom Signing

[McVirginOil]

I would trade Larsson for a 3C+, trade Russell for cap, and trade Benning for Jokiharju (cap and injury reasons, but also Joki is better defensively imo). Also try to get rid of Khaira and maybe Chiasson for teams looking at depth.

With money we sign DeMelo and Hall. We also extend Ennis, Sheahan (maybe, I’d want a better 4th line C) and Arch.

Hall-McD-Kass
Nuge-Drai-Yams
Benson-3C-Ennis
Nygard-4C/Sheahan-Arch
Neal

Klef-Bear
Nurse-Melo
Jones-Joki
Bouchard

 

[The Nuge]

They played about 75:58 mins together in total at 5 on 5, I'd say that's basically 3 games together worth of ice-time, plus late game line loading and staggered line changes leading to a bit of overlap.

Ya it wasn’t that long. But it was also pretty apparent that they weren’t a good fit together.

Both of them want to be the player carrying the puck up the ice. Those dynamics are important. For example, Nuge-Drai-Yamo works so well because Drai carries the puck, Nuge gets open in support, and Yamo drives the corner to retrieve the puck. They all play their role. Hall and McDavid tried to do the exact same thing.

 

[belair]

This. I can't wait for him to sign with Carolina or whatever in the offseason and we can end this pointless discussion.

Let him be the driver wherever he goes. That's not the role we have available here.

I'd be happier to bring him back when he's into his 30s and he's not the go-to guy any more. When the team paying him is desperate to shed his likely inflated salary.

Absolutely no interest in giving him his next contract.

 

[Canovin]

Hoffman would be a better supporting role than Hall. Most likely cheaper to sign as well. Only issue is he probably doesn't want to play in a Canadian market

 

[replacement]

Both of them want to be the player carrying the puck up the ice. Those dynamics are important. For example, Nuge-Drai-Yamo works so well because Drai carries the puck, Nuge gets open in support, and Yamo drives the corner to retrieve the puck. They all play their role. Hall and McDavid tried to do the exact same thing.

It seems to me that Yamamoto transports the puck a fair amount as well. It's nice to have multiple guys who can transport the puck, and mutliple guys who know where to be when the other guy has the puck.

 

[SwedishFire]

I would trade Larsson for a 3C+, trade Russell for cap, and trade Benning for Jokiharju (cap and injury reasons, but also Joki is better defensively imo). Also try to get rid of Khaira and maybe Chiasson for teams looking at depth.

With money we sign DeMelo and Hall. We also extend Ennis, Sheahan (maybe, I’d want a better 4th line C) and Arch.

Hall-McD-Kass
Nuge-Drai-Yams
Benson-3C-Ennis
Nygard-4C/Sheahan-Arch
Neal

Klef-Bear
Nurse-Melo
Jones-Joki
Bouchard

6,5$ on the bench is a huge waste of cap and money.

 

[LTIR]

But does he want to come back ?

Pretty sure Holland has been there personally scouting and talking to his agent. There are a couple other players that he would be interested in (same team and agent as Slepy). Holland might bring all 3 of the together. Grigorenko being one.

 

[Soundwave]

Since Yamamoto will be more mature next year I don't think we really need to do all that much.

RNH McDavid Kassian
Athansiou Draisaitl Yamamoto
Benson 3C Neal
Khaira Sheahan Archibald
Nygard

Is what I'd roll with and then try to find a better right shot 3C.

Think Holland has done most of the heavy lifting already. We needed speed and more skill, that got added already because of AA and Yamamoto. Just have to get AA integrated into the lineup and more comfortable.

 

[Mr Tadakichi]

Bouchard should be in Russell's spot on the third pair next year tbh.

 

[LTIR]

Hall seems to want to win more than make money. Holland should offer 7x7 and see if he wants to be part of a team that has 2 superstars already. Walk away if he wants more.

 

[LTIR]

Bouchard should be in Russell's spot on the third pair next year tbh.

What is Russell's spot?
Klefa, Nurse, Jones on left side
Bear, Larsson, Green on RD

Green might return to be our 6/7 next year.

Benning and Russell really have no spots going forward

 

[CupofOil]

I gotta say it again. It drives me mad to see these line projections with RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto broken up. Please for the sake of my sanity, stop doing that people so I don't have to read it anymore.Thanks in advance.

Anyway, good news on the cap rising but I think too many people are fixated on spending on wingers if they have extra cap space. #3C and/or upgrading the blueline should be the priority. Well, the 2nd priority after the 1st priority which should be dumping the Russell, Chiasson and Neal (if by some miracle) contracts.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Bouchard should be in Russell's spot on the third pair next year tbh.

I was actually wondering if he takes Benning's spot, Green takes "Larsson's" spot assuming he plays well and fits once he returns from injury. Then Bear takes over as #1 RHD.

 

[Soundwave]

I gotta say it again. It drives me mad to see these line projections with RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto broken up. Please for the sake of my sanity, stop doing that people so I don't have to read it anymore.Thanks in advance.

We don't need to run it forever, yes, it's a nice line, but I think Yamamoto is a good player on his own and doesn't neccessarily need to be babysat by two other really good players forever.

RNH with McDavid has worked before, Draisaitl clicks well with speed players.

Honestly in hindsight it was probably a mistake to keep running McDavid + Draisaitl together even though the line was super successful, it came at a cost of a less balanced roster.

The whole point of having two superstar centers should be to maximize their impact on supporting players.

 

[CupofOil]

We don't need to run it forever, yes, it's a nice line, but I think Yamamoto is a good player on his own and doesn't neccessarily need to be babysat by two other really good players forever.

RNH with McDavid has worked before, Draisaitl clicks well with speed players.

Honestly in hindsight it was probably a mistake to keep running McDavid + Draisaitl together even though the line was super successful, it came at a cost of a less balanced roster.

Nice line? It's the best line in hockey the last 2 months. You never ever break it up unless there's injury or they go through a long period of struggles.

They have enough depth now where they can load up that line and spread the wealth elsewhere. They would have to be insane to break that line up.

 

[Soundwave]

Nice line? It's the best line in hockey the last 2 months. You never ever break it up unless there's injury or they go through a long period of struggles.

They have enough depth now where they can load up that line and spread the wealth elsewhere. They would have to be insane to break that line up.

And McDavid + Draisaitl was the best line in hockey for many months before that.

It's also becoming obvious now, overloading one line like that was a mistake that caused the Oilers bottom 3 lines to suffer.

The whole point of having superstar centers like McDavid and Draisaitl is to have them lift the game of other supporting players.

Not running Strome with McDavid for example was a big mistake.

Drai + Yamamoto with AA being the benefactor is a good line, now you are utilizing AA properly as he benefits from Leon's vision (just like other speed players like Hall and McDavid did).

McDavid + RNH with Kassian riding along for fun is a solid line.

That is a better all around top 6 than

Ennis McDavid Archibald
RNH Drai Yamamoto

In the long run for the team overall.

 

[CupofOil]

And McDavid + Draisaitl was the best line in hockey for many months before that.

It's also becoming obvious now, overloading one line like that was a mistake that caused the Oilers bottom 3 lines to suffer.

The whole point of having superstar centers like McDavid and Draisaitl is to have them lift the game of other supporting players.

Not running Strome with McDavid for example was a big mistake.

This line is better than the McDrai line was. The McDrai line bled lots of goals against because they cheated for offense a lot and mainly scored off the rush.

This line can score in a variety of ways and spends tons of time hemming the opposition in which leads to good defense because the opposition rarely has the puck when they're on the ice. Why fix what's not broke?

 

[guymez]

Nice line? It's the best line in hockey the last 2 months. You never ever break it up unless there's injury or they go through a long period of struggles.

They have enough depth now where they can load up that line and spread the wealth elsewhere. They would have to be insane to break that line up.

Completely agree.
Chemistry is difficult to come by and when you have it you dont mess with it if you dont have to....thats especially true if the team is winning.

 

[Soundwave]

This line is better than the McDrai line was. The McDrai line bled lots of goals against because they cheated for offense a lot and mainly scored off the rush.

This line can score in a variety of ways and spends tons of time hemming the opposition in which leads to good defense because the opposition rarely has the puck when they're on the ice. Why fix what's not broke?

"Why fix what's not broke" is the exact logic that was used to not break up Leon and McDavid, and no that line was not always bleeding goals against, that was one month only (December) of a 3 year run they had.

It's not like you're completely breaking up the line, really Draisaitl and Yamamoto make that line go, RNH is a nice complimentary, but he can put up the same points playing with McDavid.

Athansiou on the other hand needs to play with a guy like Leon I think. Leon benefits speed players, he has done it with Hall and McDavid.

This is a more intelligent usage of your roster, the whole *point* of having players like McDavid and Draisaitl is that they can elevate players around them like AA and Kassian. The Oilers missed the point of this for like almost 3 years and compounded the problem by having a GM who then destroyed whatever forward depth the team had to go with and that created two unnecessary years out of the playoffs for no reason.

 

[CupofOil]

"Why fix what's not broke" is the exact logic that was used to not break up Leon and McDavid, and no that line was not always bleeding goals against, that was one month only (December) of a 3 year run they had.

It's not like you're completely breaking up the line, really Draisaitl and Yamamoto make that line go, RNH is a nice complimentary, but he can put up the same points playing with McDavid.

Athansiou on the other hand needs to play with a guy like Leon I think. Leon benefits speed players, he has done it with Hall and McDavid.

This is a more intelligent usage of your roster, the whole *point* of having players like McDavid and Draisaitl is that they can elevate players around them like AA and Kassian. The Oilers missed the point of this for like almost 3 years and compounded the problem by having a GM who then destroyed whatever forward depth the team had to go with and that created two unnecessary years out of the playoffs.

McDavid and Draisaitl were broke. They were horrendous for an entire month in December, were cheating for offense like crazy and missing assignments defensively left and right. They tried to be showtime together instead of committing to the system. Not their fault simply because there was so much pressure on them to create offense but now that the team is more balanced, it's light years better because they are driving separate lines and committing to a more 200 foot game away from each other, although that's still a bit of a work in progress.

I'll repeat it again, this is the best line in hockey right now and has been for a long time and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. There's some chemistry developing between these three which is really hard to find and their skillsets compliment each other perfectly. You can't break that up unless somehow they are hurting the team for a long period of time. This line is their rock, it's something you can rely on regularly to outplay the opposition.

 

[3IR]

And McDavid + Draisaitl was the best line in hockey for many months before that.

It's also becoming obvious now, overloading one line like that was a mistake that caused the Oilers bottom 3 lines to suffer.

The whole point of having superstar centers like McDavid and Draisaitl is to have them lift the game of other supporting players.

Not running Strome with McDavid for example was a big mistake.

Drai + Yamamoto with AA being the benefactor is a good line, now you are utilizing AA properly as he benefits from Leon's vision (just like other speed players like Hall and McDavid did).

McDavid + RNH with Kassian riding along for fun is a solid line.

That is a better all around top 6 than

Ennis McDavid Archibald
RNH Drai Yamamoto

In the long run for the team overall.

I don’t see the logic. It’s not like you’re running your 3 best players together and overloading one line like we did with mcdrai, This is completely different.

You have three guys who are all playing the best hockey of their lives together, while having mcdavid and multiple other top 6 options to fit him with to balance out the scoring. Separating that line would be a huge mistake without a very good reason like a long slump or injuries. Nuge was always good, but not nearly as good as he has been since playing with Drai and Yam. Drai is a beast, but has hit another level playing with Nuge and Yam. Yams is good, but is reaching a level nobody thought possible by playing with Nuge and Drai. That’s 3 guys lifting each other up, 2 of the 3 defying any reasonable expectations for them prior to the new year.

Compare that to Mcdrai on a line, where both guys were clearly capable of 100 points apart and our only offensive line drivers, but were playing together because we didn’t have the ability to support them with talent, which lead to us being a one line team.

It’s totally different imo, and changing that second line in favour of a potential anchor, and moving a key cog to the mcdavid line despite other options seems risky.

At this point the goal needs to be mcdavid building chemistry with at least 1 of the guys on the team, or finding him a winger this offseason.

 

[Soundwave]

McDavid and Draisaitl were broke. They were horrendous for an entire month in December, were cheating for offense like crazy and missing assignments defensively left and right. They tried to be showtime together instead of committing to the system. Not their fault simply because there was so much pressure on them to create offense but now that the team is more balanced, it's light years better because they are driving separate lines and committing to a more 200 foot game away from each other, although that's still a bit of a work in progress.

I'll repeat it again, this is the best line in hockey right now and has been for a long time and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. There's some chemistry developing between these three which is really hard to find and their skillsets compliment each other perfectly. You can't break that up unless somehow they are hurting the team for a long period of time. This line is their rock, it's something you can rely on regularly to outplay the opposition.

When you have Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid you should have 2/4 best lines in hockey no matter what unless your GM is a dumb ass who gives them nothing to work with.

Period.

We need to stop being so precious and behave how real contending teams do like Pittsburgh has. They don't care about switching up line mates for Crosby or Malkin because they know they're gonna dominate the opposition when ever those two are on the ice. You just need to give them both one fairly talented winger, then you can add in one complimentary winger and they dominate.

Keeping AA off Draisaitl's line is stupid because you're keeping a potential 30 goal scorer off the line of the best suited center for him on the roster. We made a big mistake in doing this to Ryan Strome (not playing him with McDavid or Draisaitl for some dumb reason).

 

[Mr Tadakichi]

What is Russell's spot?
Klefa, Nurse, Jones on left side
Bear, Larsson, Green on RD

Green might return to be our 6/7 next year.

Benning and Russell really have no spots going forward

I sent you a map that indicates his spot.

 

[Mr Tadakichi]

I was actually wondering if he takes Benning's spot, Green takes "Larsson's" spot assuming he plays well and fits once he returns from injury. Then Bear takes over as #1 RHD.

I'm not sure we should even keep Green. I want him to do good again, but he is getting too old.

He'd be a good mentor though. Would keep as a 7th.

 

[CupofOil]

When you have Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid you should have 2/4 best lines in hockey no matter what unless your GM is a dumb ass who gives them nothing to work with.

Period.

We need to stop being so precious and behave how real contending teams do like Pittsburgh has. They don't care about switching up line mates for Crosby or Malkin because they know they're gonna dominate the opposition when ever those two are on the ice. You just need to give them both one fairly talented winger, then you can add in one complimentary winger and they dominate.

Keeping AA off Draisaitl's line is stupid because you're keeping a potential 30 goal scorer off the line of the best suited center for him on the roster. We made a big mistake in doing this to Ryan Strome (not playing him with McDavid or Draisaitl for some dumb reason).

You don't break up the best line in hockey to cater to AA, a player who is having a hard time getting out of his own way right now, that's just silly.

IF you're so worried about AA's production, you elevate him to the McDavid IF he earns it based on merit similar to why Archibald got his promotion and why Ennis kept his spot on the McDavid line.
What you don't do is break up the Draisaitl line simply because AA MIGHT be a fit.