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[LTIR]

They cannot bring Brown back. He brings nothing to the team except pk. If this team cannot do better than Brown next year then they are in a world of hurt

Let's just see what Brown brings in playoffs before claiming anything.
Brown was 10x worse at this point last season but earned himself a new deal due to playoffs

 

[Sanderson]

So upgrade Skinner. There are only 4 backups that have a better save % than Pickard, so he's in the top 5 of the league. Not sure how that's a problem.

That's not really true.
Gibson, Reimer, whoever you want to consider the backup to be in Carolina, Wedgewood, DeSmith, Knight (in Florida), Fleury, Annunen, Allen, Hogberg, Forsberg, Hofer, one of Stolarz / Woll, Comrie, all have a better save percentage while being the backup, while Lindgren has an identical one. Pickard is very much middle of the pack among the backups, though often with less games played.


Pickard has been a fine backup, and could probably handle that role behind a very good starter. But - and I think that was the point that was being made - he is not a 1B to a 1A. So unless the Oilers get a very good starter for next season - which is unlikely, because there aren't many on the market - having Pickard as backup likely means a 1A / Backup scenario at best, not 1A/1B. When you don't have a very good starter, it is very much worthwile to have a number 2 who is more than a backup, so it makes sense to look for someone better than Pickard.

On the other hand, a case can be made that trying to find a 1A and a 1B at the same time might be quite tricky, so keeping him around is better than being left with an even worse situation in the end.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

He wasn't just great on the PK. Everyone wanted to bring back that third line because they were killing it 5 on 5, in every playoff round

Some posters don’t seem to be aware that he’s tied for 5th in scoring among forwards.

Not sure what they expect from a 3rd/4th liner.

 

[aspin3]

Let's just see what Brown brings in playoffs before claiming anything.
Brown was 10x worse at this point last season but earned himself a new deal due to playoffs

We are not going to pay him for doing nothing all season with the hopes he helps in the playoffs while another year older. We need to do better. We have too many of the same type of player already (Henrique, Janmark, Brown)

 

[belair]

There’s no room in the NHL for a guy who’s only use is as a PKer. It’s not that hard to find players to kill penalties who can also contribute elsewhere. Especially when you consider our PK has been ass this season.

Connor Brown has 23 even strength points this season and two shorthanded. He has a cap hit of $1m.

If he put up the production that many expected it if him, he'd be asking for $3-4m on a long term deal.

This is a roster that's had a revolving door of zero production depth players since McDavid was drafted.

At $1m, Brown is a staple in your bottom six. Money well spent.

 

[Soundwave]

Connor Brown has 23 even strength points this season and two shorthanded. He has a cap hit of $1m.

If he put up the production that many expected it if him, he'd be asking for $3-4m on a long term deal.

This is a roster that's had a revolving door of zero production depth players since McDavid was drafted.

At $1m, Brown is a staple in your bottom six. Money well spent.

Hard to feel great about this signing when looking at the big picture though, that 3 million bonus he has come no where close to living up to and it's a big part of the reason why we lost Holloway and Broberg for peanuts.

This is textbook stupid cap management and it bit the Oilers in the ass hard. He's an OK player, other teams get this type of player (20 some odd ES points from the bottom six at low salary) without having to staple a $3+ million freaking bonus to it all the time.

 

[Stoneman89]

That's not really true.
Gibson, Reimer, whoever you want to consider the backup to be in Carolina, Wedgewood, DeSmith, Knight (in Florida), Fleury, Annunen, Allen, Hogberg, Forsberg, Hofer, one of Stolarz / Woll, Comrie, all have a better save percentage while being the backup, while Lindgren has an identical one. Pickard is very much middle of the pack among the backups, though often with less games played.


Pickard has been a fine backup, and could probably handle that role behind a very good starter. But - and I think that was the point that was being made - he is not a 1B to a 1A. So unless the Oilers get a very good starter for next season - which is unlikely, because there aren't many on the market - having Pickard as backup likely means a 1A / Backup scenario at best, not 1A/1B. When you don't have a very good starter, it is very much worthwile to have a number 2 who is more than a backup, so it makes sense to look for someone better than Pickard.

On the other hand, a case can be made that trying to find a 1A and a 1B at the same time might be quite tricky, so keeping him around is better than being left with an even worse situation in the end.

This is incorrect/incomplete info. As per NHL 25 games + played

NHL Stats

Knight is now a starter in Chicago
Take one of Stolarz and Woll out. I used Stolarz as the starter, he's been hurt this year, but when healthy, they usually defer to him.
Annunen has an .891 %
Gibson is the starter when healthy, there is no debate on that.

And again, if your starter is the issue, get a better starter. As for starters, who says they have to available on the market right now? You can trade for one. Point is, that is on management to get one, not magically assume one will drop into their lap, or just throw their hands in the air and get a different backup to solve their problem.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

There’s no room in the NHL for a guy who’s only use is as a PKer. It’s not that hard to find players to kill penalties who can also contribute elsewhere. Especially when you consider our PK has been ass this season.

He is a PKer and he has 25 points so far. What more to expect from a 1 million dollar player?

Our PK has been bad. That doesn’t mean you trade one of the better Pkers.

 

[Spawn]

Connor Brown has 23 even strength points this season and two shorthanded. He has a cap hit of $1m.

If he put up the production that many expected it if him, he'd be asking for $3-4m on a long term deal.

This is a roster that's had a revolving door of zero production depth players since McDavid was drafted.

At $1m, Brown is a staple in your bottom six. Money well spent.

He had a nice little unsustainable stretch where he put up 10 points in 9 games earlier in the year. He has 7 points in his last 37 games since Jan 1. A lack of production in our bottom six is one of the reasons why this team is having its worst season in years. He’s also gotten ample opportunity in the top 6 this year and has almost never been utilized on our 4th line. Oh and he’s also getting outscored when he played in our bottom 6.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

He had a nice little unsustainable stretch where he put up 10 points in 9 games earlier in the year. He has 7 points in his last 37 games since Jan 1. A lack of production in our bottom six is one of the reasons why this team is having its worst season in years. He’s also gotten ample opportunity in the top 6 this year and has almost never been utilized on our 4th line. Oh and he’s also getting outscored when he played in our bottom 6.

What does a good stretch have to do with anything? Those points still count.

Blaming the lack of bottom six production on him is ridiculous. He has the most points out of our entire bottom 6.

 

[Spawn]

What does a good stretch have to do with anything? Those points still count.

Blaming the lack of bottom six production on him is ridiculous. He has the most points out of our entire bottom 6.

Our entire bottom 6 sucks outside of Perry. I’d replace them all if I could. Brown just happens to be one who is a UFA

And sure they count. But they aren’t a good indication of the level of player you’ll be getting if you re-sign him.

 

[Oilhawks]

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Our entire bottom 6 sucks outside of Perry. I’d replace them all if I could. Brown just happens to be one who is a UFA

And sure they count. But they aren’t a good indication of the level of player you’ll be getting if you re-sign him.

Almost like it’s hard produce in the bottom 6.
We can find an upgrade on Brown but it won’t be for a million.

If he wants more then I agree we let him walk but I resign him for a million any day of the week.

 

[LTIR]

We are not going to pay him for doing nothing all season with the hopes he helps in the playoffs while another year older. We need to do better. We have too many of the same type of player already (Henrique, Janmark, Brown)

If he elevates his game in playoffs again then I would gladly sign him again to do nothing in regular season.
Gladly keep whichever of Janmark, Kapanen, Brown , Perry, J.Skinner will sign with us for 1M or less. I think Janmark isn't a UFA.

 

[LTIR]

Our entire bottom 6 sucks outside of Perry. I’d replace them all if I could. Brown just happens to be one who is a UFA

And sure they count. But they aren’t a good indication of the level of player you’ll be getting if you re-sign him.

I don't think they suck, they just don't get the offensive opportunity.
With McDrai out a lot of them stepped up with greater icetime.

We also don't know what our bottom 6 is with a healthy lineup. Adding Kane, Frederic and possibly Nuge to it gives it a very different look.

 

[Spawn]

I don't think they suck, they just don't get the offensive opportunity.
With McDrai out a lot of them stepped up with greater icetime.

We also don't know what our bottom 6 is with a healthy lineup. Adding Kane, Frederic and possibly Nuge to it gives it a very different look.

A lack of offensive opportunity doesn’t explain getting outscored by other teams bottom 6s. And in relation to Connor Brown he has gotten ample time with all of McDavid, Draisaitl and RNH.

 

[alphahelix]

Under Knob oilers top guns have been sub 80% of pp time and i think the wingers have all gotten their chance ES cycled through the roster... nobody has really grabbed the opportunity and run with it. With the center talent we have you would assume at least 1 winger would emerge.

Hopefully that'll be Frederic or Kane or both but who knows.

 

[Draiskull]

They also won a supposed bidding war for Klingberg and we all know what a waste of money that was. This guy will probably end up on waivers before Christmas.

The ability of our management group to gauge talent is pretty low, as we can see with Holloway and McLeod having breakout seasons while Henrique and Arvidsson are officially washed up. Not to mention having arguably the worst goaltending in the league when you factor in how vastly superior we are defensively than the only two teams with worse goaltending metrics.

I think we need to let things play out a bit to make some of these conclusions. I would likely keep Henrique+Arvidsson for our playoffs over McLeod+Foegele.

No defending the Holloway screwup but even he could be one slash to the wrist away from sitting out the postseason.

Klingberg might surprise in playoffs but like you said no one should bank on him to be an upgrade over Stecher or even Emberson.

 

[Draiskull]

A lack of offensive opportunity doesn’t explain getting outscored by other teams bottom 6s. And in relation to Connor Brown he has gotten ample time with all of McDavid, Draisaitl and RNH.

some of it can be blamed on our defense and Pickard. Skinner is perfect.

Also, getting time with McD and Nuge isnt really good for +/-. McD has been on for ~50 ES goals against

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

Under Knob oilers top guns have been sub 80% of pp time and i think the wingers have all gotten their chance ES cycled through the roster... nobody has really grabbed the opportunity and run with it. With the center talent we have you would assume at least 1 winger would emerge.

Hopefully that'll be Frederic or Kane or both but who knows.

Unfortunately, the team is littered entirely with brodziaks outside of our two superstars at even strength. We aren't going anywhere unless Kane and Fred come back at near full strength.

This team needs to go back to outscoring its problems instead of being outskilled every game when mcdrai are not on the ice. We just need to accept that we're not going to have a goalie steal us a game this year. Our puck possession is straight up perimeter with barely and chances generated.

If we aren't able to withstand teams' strength and wear them down ourselves, we are screwed. We're getting into injury issues already; last year we got extremely lucky. This year we are not getting out of LA unscathed if we dont meet them head on with physicality and crash n bang.

 

[Spawn]

some of it can be blamed on our defense and Pickard. Skinner is perfect.

Also, getting time with McD and Nuge isnt really good for +/-. McD has been on for ~50 ES goals against

IIRC he’s -6 away from those three this year at 5v5.

 

[LTIR]

Unfortunately, the team is littered entirely with brodziaks outside of our two superstars at even strength. We aren't going anywhere unless Kane and Fred come back at near full strength.

This team needs to go back to outscoring its problems instead of being outskilled every game when mcdrai are not on the ice. We just need to accept that we're not going to have a goalie steal us a game this year. Our puck possession is straight up perimeter with barely and chances generated.

If we aren't able to withstand teams' strength and wear them down ourselves, we are screwed. We're getting into injury issues already; last year we got extremely lucky. This year we are not getting out of LA unscathed if we dont meet them head on with physicality and crash n bang.

The Brodziaks almost came back against Dallas and beat Seattle.
I think you are selling them short.
Nuge, Hyman, Arvidsson, Henrique, Perry are nice compliments to the big 2. Kane and Frederic would help.
Skinner, Kapanen and Podz aren't useless either

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

whether the oilers win the cup or not ( I don’t have high expectations this year) the team needs to get younger and faster again.
At age 28/29 Mcdavid and Drai should have a couple of impact players younger than them on forward. IMO of course. This is where not matching Holloway was idiotic

 

[CrazyJoeDavola]

The Brodziaks almost came back against Dallas and beat Seattle.
I think you are selling them short.
Nuge, Hyman, Arvidsson, Henrique, Perry are nice compliments to the big 2. Kane and Frederic would help.
Skinner, Kapanen and Podz aren't useless either

Fair. A lot of garbage time goals but I have definitely been happy with their play as of late with their backs against the wall. The problem is age and consistency. They don't have what it takes to play like that every game in the playoffs as well as actually produce. Hyman is definitel capable, and nuge to a lesser extent, but the rest of the roster leaves me wanting.

 

[Arpeggio]

Connor Brown's season is passable at 1 million. I think you'd rather get that sort of offensive production from an ELC, considering the PK has sucked for most of the season. But if he wanted to come back at 1 million as a fourth line guy I'd be okay with it, especially if he performs well in the playoffs.

I think short term playoff success is so overrated, in most cases it's completely random. The Oilers messed up when they overvalued Janmark, Henrique, and Brown after a decent series or two. If the Oil lose to the Canucks, do they keep any of them? To me Janmark's performance this year is completely inexcusable, 2 goals is just awful for a player with his skillset.

Guys like Bouchard, McDavid, Hyman, Draisaitl, I think you have a large enough sample size to believe that maybe they really do raise their game to another level in the playoffs. Connor Brown has 3 playoff goals in 39 games, let's be serious here.