Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | The Oilers Biggest Roster Need Is?

[McHelpus]

The team isn't perfect but the meltdown around here is insane, even by HFOil standards, for a team that's 7-3 in their last 10. There are clearly some issues that need to be ironed out especially with the goaltending but, holy f***, tranquilo a bit guys. My goodness.

If they win tonight they will be 2 points out of 1st in the division, we gotta relax a bit lol

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I'm sure most people here are fine with the team. They just think Skinner sucks

And many of them think Schwartz won't ruin his eventual replacement. It costs nothing to fire this guy.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

This is how low the standards are here in Edmonton and what we are use to. Vancouver goes out and gets Kevin Lankinen.

This is what one of their long term posters says yesterday. He has played 13 games

Lankinen for the first time this year was outplayed by his opposite number and has to share blame for the loss.

So to this poster, this is the first time in 13 games he was outplayed lmao

Meanwhile Skinner gets outplayed in probably 12/13 games

HE MAKES 875k for the people who say we should not expect much goaltending from Skinner who makes triple

Did lankinen not get vastly outplayed when the oilers scored 8 on him?

 

[Spawn]

Did lankinen not get vastly outplayed when the oilers scored 8 on him?

Lankinen was pretty terrible in the 3rd in the Oilers game. Not sure you can say Skinner “outplayed” him considering he gave up more goals against than the Canucks had chances in that game.

That was more an instance of both goalies being bad and one team just playing far better otherwise.

 

[VeteranPresence]

Sharks have called up Askarov, which maybe hints at Blackwood being on the move. Did Stan finally get the memo that a Stanley Cup contender needs a better goalie than... the literal worst one?

 

[Zerotonine]

Sharks have called up Askarov, which maybe hints at Blackwood being on the move. Did Stan finally get the memo that a Stanley Cup contender needs a better goalie than... the literal worst one?

Unfortunately in don't think Blackwood is much of an upgrade tho

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I don't think the Sharks can retain though, again, you're right Skinner just sucks right now, but they have no space.

Plus I don't know that Stan is even looking at that, I frankly don't know what he's looking at, probably being the general contractor for the house he's probably building.

I see you are still going on about this bowman does nothing thing non sense even though that’s never been the case.

 

[CupofOil]

It doesn’t always “work itself out.” In fact, it’s never worked itself out within the dressing room. The team had always needed a big change whether that’s coaching or player related before they’ve been able to turn their seasons around in recent years.

Last season it was firing Woodcroft, season before that it was acquiring Ekholm, year before that it was firing Tippett and signing Kane.

Each respective season was in jeopardy before those moves were made.

Actually it was the coaching changes mainly. Firing Tippett two years ago then Woodcroft last season are what triggered those changes, player change early in the season rarely delivered the spark. It was always "answer in the room" with Holland outside of the coaching changes and this team is in way better shape than the teams of the last two seasons were at this time.

Around here, the cries were strong for Smith to be replaced, Campbell and then Skinner. Smith turned it around the first two Holland seasons when Koskinen fumbled the bag, Skinner stabilized the goaltending when Campbell went in the shitter two seasons ago then, again, Skinner stabilized last season with, yes, a much improved defensive system under Knoblauch. The answer has usually been in the room. The Ekholm trade was made after the team had already righted the ship although Thank God for that trade and the Kane signing was made after they had already worked their way back into the playoff race although I could be wrong on that one.

Not saying that Skinner is a surefire solution of course and can understand the frustrations with him but I also don't see a solution out there currently although one can argue that anything different for a while should be tried.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

He's $1M on the cap, RS RW with some speed, might be worth a grab considering the situation with the team, send Brown back down to balance.

 

[McDrai]

He's $1M on the cap, RS RW with some speed, might be worth a grab considering the situation with the team, send Brown back down to balance.

It would also send a loud message to St. Louis that what they did won’t go unnoticed. If you’re going to poach other teams’ players then prepare for the same in return.

 

[McShogun99]

If they win tonight they will be 2 points out of 1st in the division, we gotta relax a bit lol

Outside of the first 3 games we've been good minus some poor play from Skinner.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

I see you are still going on about this bowman does nothing thing non sense even though that’s never been the case.

I mean he doesn't right?

The team is current short a forward. They have 6 heathy defenseman and the cap is extremely important.

He recalled Josh Brown who's $1M on the cap to play 7D, seems stupid, like the kind of stupid move you make when you're not really on the ball for your job.


You do not have to give Stan the benefit of the doubt, you do not have to make excuses for him, he has to f***ing do something to help the reality of this team.

They don't get saves right now, so he needs to explore that.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The team isn't perfect but the meltdown around here is insane, even by HFOil standards, for a team that's 7-3 in their last 10. There are clearly some issues that need to be ironed out especially with the goaltending but, holy f***, tranquilo a bit guys. My goodness.

Has little to do with the record its what the roster looks like. 2/3 of this team ain't rowing. Its McDrai pulling the cart just as always. Also almost all are wins are coming in extra time and needing that to beat some pretty ordinary teams. Theres a lot of passengers on the club and somewhat surprising who some of them are. Belief doesn't seem to be there outside a core of players. Still maintain they make playoffs and could come out of division. With this goaltending even that will be immense challenge.

The offseason was a debacle. Some posters like myself having trouble getting over that. How the team looks generally isn't always helping with that. The additions we got are doing jacksquat. Players we lost all doing better and have development upside.

 

[VeteranPresence]

Kapanen could be a sneaky good add for a team suffering from a severe lack of speed in the bottom six. I'd sub him in over Perry on nights when we need a quicker lineup.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Kapanen could be a sneaky good add for a team suffering from a severe lack of speed in the bottom six. I'd sub him in over Perry on nights when we need a quicker lineup.

Or just play him instead of 11-7, which only really works if you have Tyson Barrie as your 3RD and you want Desharnais to take some of his defensive minutes. 11-7 is dumb for this team as it is constructed.

 

[Spawn]

Actually it was the coaching changes mainly. Firing Tippett two years ago then Woodcroft last season are what triggered those changes, player change early in the season rarely delivered the spark. It was always "answer in the room" with Holland outside of the coaching changes and this team is in way better shape than the teams of the last two seasons were at this time.

Around here, the cries were strong for Smith to be replaced, Campbell and then Skinner. Smith turned it around the first two Holland seasons when Koskinen fumbled the bag, Skinner stabilized the goaltending when Campbell went in the shitter two seasons ago then, again, Skinner stabilized last season with, yes, a much improved defensive system under Knoblauch. The answer has usually been in the room. The Ekholm trade was made after the team had already righted the ship although Thank God for that trade and the Kane signing was made after they had already worked their way back into the playoff race although I could be wrong on that one.

Not saying that Skinner is a surefire solution of course and can understand the frustrations with him but I also don't see a solution out there currently although one can argue that anything different for a while should be tried.

The Oilers were sitting tied for 8th place and had lost 7 of 10 games before the Ekholm deal. The season was very much at risk before that trade happened. Then they went like 18-2-1 after that deal to finish the season.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Actually it was the coaching changes mainly. Firing Tippett two years ago then Woodcroft last season are what triggered those changes, player change early in the season rarely delivered the spark. It was always "answer in the room" with Holland outside of the coaching changes and this team is in way better shape than the teams of the last two seasons were at this time.

Around here, the cries were strong for Smith to be replaced, Campbell and then Skinner. Smith turned it around the first two Holland seasons when Koskinen fumbled the bag, Skinner stabilized the goaltending when Campbell went in the shitter two seasons ago then, again, Skinner stabilized last season with, yes, a much improved defensive system under Knoblauch. The answer has usually been in the room. The Ekholm trade was made after the team had already righted the ship although Thank God for that trade and the Kane signing was made after they had already worked their way back into the playoff race although I could be wrong on that one.

Not saying that Skinner is a surefire solution of course and can understand the frustrations with him but I also don't see a solution out there currently although one can argue that anything different for a while should be tried.

Oilers were 5 games over .500 when Tippet was fired. The only difference is how easy it will be to make playoffs out of the Pacific this season where teams are floundering. Any club with a pulse makes playoffs out of the Pacific. A dead and done Kings team without Doughty was in first. Knights keep saying they don't want it, Oilers keep playing OT's. what occured last season isn't so much that Skinner stabilized it was an incredible resolve of all the players to outwork their goaltending problems. I don't see that resilience going on indefinitely.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I mean he doesn't right?

The team is current short a forward. They have 6 heathy defenseman and the cap is extremely important.

He recalled Josh Brown who's $1M on the cap to play 7D, seems stupid, like the kind of stupid move you make when you're not really on the ball for your job.


You do not have to give Stan the benefit of the doubt, you do not have to make excuses for him, he has to f***ing do something to help the reality of this team.

They don't get saves right now, so he needs to explore that.

I’m not giving Stan the benefit of the doubt. He has a long history of not sitting on his hands as a GM for better or for worse and has already made 2 trades since his time here.

I’m not saying he doesn’t need to do anything but to act like he’s not exploring anything based off of nothing is kind of silly.

 

[CupofOil]

The Oilers were sitting tied for 8th place and had lost 7 of 10 games before the Ekholm deal. The season was very much at risk before that trade happened. Then they went like 18-2-1 after that deal to finish the season.

The Ekholm trade definitely pushed them into overdrive, a team that was sort of treading water, and who knows where they'd be without him but I'm just saying that the Oilers pushed themselves into playoff position leading up to deadlines without making major player changes and that the goaltending in particular has tended to stabilize deeper into the season.

Not saying that they shouldn't do anything to address needs in the short term but the biggest transactions early in seasons has been coaching changes not player changes.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

The Ekholm trade definitely pushed into overdrive and who knows where they'd be without him, I'm just saying that the Oilers pushed themselves into playoff position leading up to deadlines without making major player changes and that the goaltending in particular has tended to stabilize deeper into the season.

Not saying that they shouldn't do anything to address needs in the short term but the biggest transactions early in seasons has been coaching changes not player changes.

And there's a particular coach whose firing could change the entire course of the McDavid era.

 

[Slats432]

Kapanen could be a sneaky good add for a team suffering from a severe lack of speed in the bottom six. I'd sub him in over Perry on nights when we need a quicker lineup.

With a 12.5% goal share, might not be that sneaky or that good.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

It would also send a loud message to St. Louis that what they did won’t go unnoticed. If you’re going to poach other teams’ players then prepare for the same in return.

I suspect St. Louis might send us a thank you card, he's on a multi-year decline, I don't think he is NHL caliber at the moment. His last good season was 2021-22, since then he's been kicking around the fringe NHLer or worse line.

 

[VeteranPresence]

I’m not giving Stan the benefit of the doubt. He has a long history of not sitting on his hands as a GM for better or for worse and has already made 2 trades since his time here.

I’m not saying he doesn’t need to do anything but to act like he’s not exploring anything based off of nothing is kind of silly.

The rub is that even ignoring trades and waiver claims (which is a whole f***ing lot to ignore, mind you) there are clearly internal solutions/changes we could be trying- Philp instead of Ryan or Perry, Rodrigue up for a game or two to spell off Skinner, changing goalie coaches to name just three- that Bowman absolutely refuses to explore. Instead he's content to sit on his hands while the team gets subpar results from subpar players (and at least one coach) with subpar histories of performance.

I want to believe Stan Bowman isn't a stupid man, because that means the end of our Cup hopes until the 2030s at least. However, he's wasted 25% of the season watching the same rollercoaster we've all watched and doesn't see fit to find a way off of it. He completely deserves the criticism he's gotten and frankly more. Stan was hired to help the team complete the puzzle but he's allowed the vacuum cleaner to suck up several pieces while trying to fit a corner piece into the center over and over again. It's maddening.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Has little to do with the record its what the roster looks like. 2/3 of this team ain't rowing. Its McDrai pulling the cart just as always. Also almost all are wins are coming in extra time and needing that to beat some pretty ordinary teams. Theres a lot of passengers on the club and somewhat surprising who some of them are. Belief doesn't seem to be there outside a core of players. Still maintain they make playoffs and could come out of division. With this goaltending even that will be immense challenge.

The offseason was a debacle. Some posters like myself having trouble getting over that. How the team looks generally isn't always helping with that. The additions we got are doing jacksquat. Players we lost all doing better and have development upside.

Those 2 make up 20% of the cap, they’re paid to pull the cart

 

[belair]

He's $1M on the cap, RS RW with some speed, might be worth a grab considering the situation with the team, send Brown back down to balance.

We don't need a RW.