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

Oilers Biggest Roster Need?

  • 2nd Pairing RD

    Votes: 87 39.9%
  • Starting Goalie

    Votes: 122 56.0%
  • Top 6 LW (RNH, Podkolzin and Jeff Skinner Aren't Getting it Done)

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • Top 6 RW (Arvidsson and Hyman Aren't Getting it Done)

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • 3C

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Physical Bottom 6 Wingers

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Other (Post Your Opinion)

    Votes: 4 1.8%

  • Total voters
    218

jukon

NHL Point Leader
Mar 17, 2011
3,572
2,235
For what reason do they even need Jiricek? Their defence is pretty damn good. With Faber and Spurgeon, Jiricek will be bottom pair which is where he already is with CBJ lmao

No actually he's in the A right now. Can't even make CBJ bottom pair.
 

CantHaveTkachev

Cap Space > NHL players
Nov 30, 2004
52,415
34,472
St. OILbert, AB
by the way

The analytics say that Bouchard has arguably been the best defenceman in the NHL so far this year

Random goober on HFBoards says he's shit

I don't think either statement is accurate...but I'm leaning towards the one that has actual evidence.


And this is where the analytics don't match the eye test

re-watch that Leaf game for example and tell me "the best defenseman in the NHL" would make those mistakes at critical times
 

VeteranPresence

Registered User
Aug 13, 2024
517
873
A 20 year old RHD doesn't help us today, in fact if we owned Jiricek I'd be pushing to move him for a vet at the same position who fits more with the current core. I also don't think we have anyone realistically available that would interest them.

Let's just get a #4 D and a goalie done and see what happens. Stan has five days to figure it out, that's more than enough time when you consider how many teams are talking about doing something.
 

CupofOil

Knob Flavored Coffey
Aug 20, 2009
48,696
45,665
NYC
Don't think the Oilers have any available roster players that would interest the Blue Jackets.
Maybe Emberson and Podkolzin but we can't afford to lose their grit.
Probably looking at straight prospect trade for Jiricek.
Savoie + 3rd rounder?
Beau, O'Reilly + 3rd rounder?
The Oilers don't have the assets to get Jiricek, Just about any other team in the league has better assets to offer the Jackets. The Oilers have one of the weakest asset bases (prospects/picks/expendable roster players) in the league tbh thanks to Holland/Jackson.
 

CantHaveTkachev

Cap Space > NHL players
Nov 30, 2004
52,415
34,472
St. OILbert, AB
"I watched one game where Bouchard was bad for five minutes, that means he sucks always and is terrible"
ya, it's only "1 game" :laugh:

that's why many people have been ripping on him all year about his uneven play FFS

thing with with analytics is they don't account for critical errors at key times...Bouchard is prone to them more often than actual Norris trophy winners
that requires you to watch hockey games instead of spreadsheets
 

Mr Positive

Cap Crunch Incoming
Nov 20, 2013
38,130
19,049
A 20 year old RHD doesn't help us today, in fact if we owned Jiricek I'd be pushing to move him for a vet at the same position who fits more with the current core. I also don't think we have anyone realistically available that would interest them.

Let's just get a #4 D and a goalie done and see what happens. Stan has five days to figure it out, that's more than enough time when you consider how many teams are talking about doing something.
I don't think we seriously address issues with the team until closer to the deadline so there are more sellers and fewer buyers

Jiricek is an opportunity because he is (apparently) available. We could get him and get someone else later. If he ends up on our bottom pairing in the playoffs that would be okay. Heck, if he gels with Nurse maybe we won't need a RD and can focus on getting a goalie

The Oilers don't have the assets to get Jiricek, Just about any other team in the league has better assets to offer the Jackets. The Oilers have one of the weakest asset bases (prospects/picks/expendable roster players) in the league tbh thanks to Holland/Jackson.
Idk about this. Other teams have much better assets but do they want to spend those great assets for Jiricek?
 

OilerTitanFan

Registered User
Feb 26, 2019
4,807
1,558
Instead of looking for a goalie, how about we roll the dice with Oliver Rodrigue? Trade Skinner for some draft picks. If the flames can roll in Dustin Wolf at age 23, we can do the same with Rodrigue.

Don't think anybody here thought Wolf would be the best goalie in the league and vezina candidate before the season started. Blues rolled in an unheard of Binnington in the middle of a losing season and won the cup. Canucks had 3rd string Silovs taking us to 7 games. You don't always need to trade for a true #1 as history proves. Matt Murray won the cup as a rookie. List goes on.

Problem in Edmonton is everyone wants that sexy goalie. Imagine if we signed Ullmark, look at the Sens now.
 
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foshizzle

Registered User
Feb 1, 2007
5,690
5,128
Stats like this like do lack some context though. The Oilers might be not allowing a lot of high danger shots, but they are definitely leading the league in colossal breakdown freebie goals.

They are in a different class than the rest of the league in "what the hell just happened" and Bouchard, who plays the most minutes on D, is elite class in head scratching decisions

Some of these breakdowns don't even count as high danger chances but they are the most dangerous chances because it's unexpected.
lol- this happens to all teams- not just the oilers. Your take on Bouchard is also false. He is putting up better defensive metrics than Makar and Hughes.

Your last sentence doesn’t even make sense.

Did you feel the same about Campbell when he was here- when the Oilers were, in fact, giving up a ton of high danger chances (and his numbers were still better than Stuart’s are today).

No actually he's in the A right now. Can't even make CBJ bottom pair.
I read he’s on the A’s third pair too
 

K1984

Registered User
Feb 7, 2008
15,628
17,451
I trust the analytics far more than the overemotional fan pounding the armrest of their chair and throwing beer cans because he thinks an NHL player that's playing 26 minutes a night should be pumping their legs at all times.

You want to know why Bouchard is getting shots blocked? Because other teams coaches are recognizing the weapon for what it is and game planning around it. That takes adjustment for a young player, which is what Bouchard still is. Still, hilariously, despite mouth breathers thinking that he's been terrible and not getting shots through, he's pacing for a career high in goals.

He's still playing well, still producing, still has great underlying numbers. That's more than I can say for some members of this team, but there are members of this fanbase that hate every defenceman with an iota of creativity and offense in their game. That type of fan deserved the Kris Russell years.

I'm glad you found an opportunity to feel better about yourself now that you've put yourself on a pedestal because you like analytics and choose to take the tact of insulting anyone that points out the pure fact that major parts of his game haven't been there this year the same way they have been in the past.

Some would say the folks that adhere to an ideology (in your case, analytics) such that they ignore obvious things that impact their belief system are the dumb ones, but to each their own.

You can try to project me as "hating" Bouchard all you want, but it's bullshit, and you're projecting so you can seize the opportunity to call people that disagree with you dumb.
 

foshizzle

Registered User
Feb 1, 2007
5,690
5,128
And this is where the analytics don't match the eye test

re-watch that Leaf game for example and tell me "the best defenseman in the NHL" would make those mistakes at critical times
So you think that there is a different standard measuring Bouchard than there are measuring the other defencemen? Or do you think the metric doesn’t apply to Bouchard? Yes- every d man in the league makes big mistakes. The analytics just measure what’s happening on the ice. Your eyes have bias and only sees confirmations to the bias.

Instead of looking for a goalie, how about we roll the dice with Oliver Rodrigue? Trade Skinner for some draft picks. If the flames can roll in Dustin Wolf at age 23, we can do the same with Rodrigue.

Don't think anybody here thought Wolf would be the best goalie in the league and vezina candidate before the season started. Blues rolled in an unheard of Binnington in the middle of a losing season and won the cup. Canucks had 3rd string Silovs taking us to 7 games. You don't always need to trade for a true #1 as history proves. Matt Murray won the cup as a rookie. List goes on.

Problem in Edmonton is everyone wants that sexy goalie. Imagine if we signed Ullmark, look at the Sens now.
Everyone doesn’t want a sexy goalie. Everyone wants just an average goalie- which they don’t have right now
 

iCanada

Registered User
Feb 6, 2010
20,500
21,631
Edmonton
his on-ice save % is so low cause he gives up massive Grade AAA chances like he did against Toronto

I love Bouch, but he needs to cut that shit out

Is that why Ekholm has nearly league worst all situation on ice save percentage at .8396?

Screenshot_20241126-123243.png
 
Last edited:

BarDownBobo

Registered User
Oct 19, 2012
6,577
3,403
City of Champions
by the way

The analytics say that Bouchard has arguably been the best defenceman in the NHL so far this year

Random goober on HFBoards says he's shit

I don't think either statement is accurate...but I'm leaning towards the one that has actual evidence.


Do you not look at the rest of that list and think maybe there’s a massive flaw in the process? Kulak, Sandin, Kulikov and Gavrikov in the 3-6 slots, Dylan Samberg top 15 ahead of Adam Fox and Heiskanen? Might not be a chart you wanna be touting when saying he’s the best defensman in the league this year.
 

K1984

Registered User
Feb 7, 2008
15,628
17,451
Instead of looking for a goalie, how about we roll the dice with Oliver Rodrigue? Trade Skinner for some draft picks. If the flames can roll in Dustin Wolf at age 23, we can do the same with Rodrigue.

Don't think anybody here thought Wolf would be the best goalie in the league and vezina candidate before the season started. Blues rolled in an unheard of Binnington in the middle of a losing season and won the cup. Canucks had 3rd string Silovs taking us to 7 games. You don't always need to trade for a true #1 as history proves. Matt Murray won the cup as a rookie. List goes on.

Problem in Edmonton is everyone wants that sexy goalie. Imagine if we signed Ullmark, look at the Sens now.

I wonder how much things would be different if at all had Rodrigue not totally soiled the sheets in pre-season in Seattle.

I don't have any expectation that he would come in and perform at a top tier level, but I would definitely be interested to see if he could outperform Pickard. Only challenge is how to move the roster around to make it happen.

Do you not look at the rest of that list and think maybe there’s a massive flaw in the process? Kulak, Sandin, Kulikov and Gavrikov in the 3-6 slots, Dylan Samberg top 15 ahead of Adam Fox and Heiskanen? Might not be a chart you wanna be touting when saying he’s the best defensman in the league this year.

No, no, that list is law. Anyone that says otherwise or considers context is a "goober."

Only smart people blindly look at an analytics chart and treat it as law, apparently.
 

McDoused

Registered User
Feb 5, 2007
17,281
15,998
Katy <3
He's on pace for ~60 points and is top ten league wide analytically by virtually every category. He's not playing like shit. He's not playing at the level he was last year yet, but ECHL goaltending behind him certainly isn't helping anything.

I don't get some Oiler fans. I see the same people complaining about Bouchard, also complain about how the Oilers are lacking in analytics.

The ekholm Bouchard pair is literally the 2nd best defensive pair in the entire NHL for CF% with 63.11%. They are 5th in SF%, 10th in xGF%, 6th in SCF% and 11th in HDCF%.

The truth is the on ice save percentage while on the ice is 88.57 which is in the bottom quarter for defensive pairings and a PDO of .966 which is also terrible.

Is that why Ekholm has nearly league worst all situation on ice save percentage at .8396?

View attachment 936049

This guy gets it. One mistake by Bouchard and it's in the back of the net even though that pair doesn't give up anymore high danger chances than other top pairings.
 

TopShelfGloveSide

Registered User
Dec 10, 2018
20,231
29,379
We should send Hyman to Ottawa so we can get something useful in return and he can be in a comfortable city to be Jewish in. Edmonton has too many of these protests on Jasper Ave and Im sure thats effecting his legacy (that he destroys everytime he touches the ice now so I think its connected lol)
Edmonton doesn’t have a big jewish community but I know it’s a really tight one.
 

ChaoticOrange

Registered User
Jun 29, 2008
51,610
31,511
Edmonton
ya, it's only "1 game" :laugh:

that's why many people have been ripping on him all year about his uneven play FFS

thing with with analytics is they don't account for critical errors at key times...Bouchard is prone to them more often than actual Norris trophy winners
that requires you to watch hockey games instead of spreadsheets
Yes. “I done seen’t it with my eyes” is a compelling argument.

You’d be over the moon if Edmonton got Marcus Pettersson, right? Know how many goals he’s been on for? Double that of Bouchard. In fewer minutes.
 

ChaoticOrange

Registered User
Jun 29, 2008
51,610
31,511
Edmonton
I'm glad you found an opportunity to feel better about yourself now that you've put yourself on a pedestal because you like analytics and choose to take the tact of insulting anyone that points out the pure fact that major parts of his game haven't been there this year the same way they have been in the past.

Some would say the folks that adhere to an ideology (in your case, analytics) such that they ignore obvious things that impact their belief system are the dumb ones, but to each their own.

You can try to project me as "hating" Bouchard all you want, but it's bullshit, and you're projecting so you can seize the opportunity to call people that disagree with you dumb.
yeah, the guy whinging about how “shit” a 25 year old player is definitely is the guy to complain about how unfair and mean everyone else is being.

The numbers are in direct disagreement with your eye test. Which either means you’re not seeing what’s actually happening out there, or you are seeing it and you just don’t care because you can’t feel anything unless you’re shitting on someone. Curious to which one it is.

Bouchard discussions on this board make me feel like I'm living in the twilight zone.

Dude has spent the better part of the last 2 seasons tilting the ice like prime Chris Pronger with the goal differential to match and half the board STILL be like 'yeah but here's an anecdote where he wasn't super great tho.'
Half of this fanbase has hated offensive defencemen all the way back to Coffey. For similar stupid-ass reasons. Who, incidentally, Bouchard is breaking the records of.

He’s shit though, f*** that guy.
 

ChaoticOrange

Registered User
Jun 29, 2008
51,610
31,511
Edmonton
Do you not look at the rest of that list and think maybe there’s a massive flaw in the process? Kulak, Sandin, Kulikov and Gavrikov in the 3-6 slots, Dylan Samberg top 15 ahead of Adam Fox and Heiskanen? Might not be a chart you wanna be touting when saying he’s the best defensman in the league this year.
Did you not see the “I don’t think either statement is accurate” part or were you just in such a rush to make your point you didn’t really care what I said?
 

K1984

Registered User
Feb 7, 2008
15,628
17,451
yeah, the guy whinging about how “shit” a 25 year old player is definitely is the guy to complain about how unfair and mean everyone else is being.

The numbers are in direct disagreement with your eye test. Which either means you’re not seeing what’s actually happening out there, or you are seeing it and you just don’t care because you can’t feel anything unless you’re shitting on someone. Curious to which one it is.

This is hilarious coming from the clown that farts out a chart in an attempt to prove that Bouchard is the best D man in the NHL, while the likes of Kulak, Kulikov and Sandin are right there with him in the top 5.

And you call other people stupid.
 
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Behind Enemy Lines

Registered User
Feb 19, 2003
17,013
18,826
Vancouver
by the way

The analytics say that Bouchard has arguably been the best defenceman in the NHL so far this year

Random goober on HFBoards says he's shit

I don't think either statement is accurate...but I'm leaning towards the one that has actual evidence.


This is interesting. But can you post the actual GAR and goal production results list to give a fulsome outline to discuss wins above replacement. A critical component is usage and Bouchard is a vital part of a Stack Five deployment led by a historic great McDavid who tilts offensive zone time in NHL 99 percentile (50.5%).

I like Bouchard a lot and give younger D lots of rope in terms of development time and some wobbles in his game. He hasn't been as consistent this year reflected in PP results and his own challenges getting pucks through (he has significant # of blocks as well as missing the net). The top D pairing has been prone defending at times as well.

Would like to see x- GAR against actual GAR to have a clearer picture of d-man performance.
 
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