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

Oilers Biggest Roster Need?

  • 2nd Pairing RD

    Votes: 86 39.8%
  • Starting Goalie

    Votes: 121 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 1.9%

  • Total voters
    216

Drivesaitl

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Yeh we really just need to ride or die with this guy. 3M isn’t just 3M. 3M is the loss of decent players like Holloway. This is the experiment we chose and we have to see it through and make it work.

I HOPING that Knobs demotion of him is just a small message that he needs to play a different style here, and that once the message is delivered his oppurtunity comes back.
Skinner is getting paid 13M this season. Look at him on the bench. He looks bored half the time. The guy looks country club checked out. At best he's OK letting others do the hard work and not even being a significant piece. I think he could show more in playoffs (who know's he's never been there) but he isn't looking too engaged. You'll notice him in some shifts and periods but mostly at a segment of games are over when he starts looking to hunt some goals.

Really the Oilers ought to have done considerable legwork in talking to the player and really trying to assess what he's interested in, not just taking him at word. He hasn't looked a part of things here since TC. He had a weak preseason and people said wait for season before saying anything.

Is his performance here the look of a player on a new team trying to impress? It isn't.

The other thing is WC play is a bit stronger/harder and teams heavier on stamping out play around the net. Skinner has more difficulty getting into and staying in scoring areas here. He's getting bounced out, and off the puck regularly.
 

VeteranPresence

Registered User
Aug 13, 2024
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Yeh we really just need to ride or die with this guy. 3M isn’t just 3M. 3M is the loss of decent players like Holloway. This is the experiment we chose and we have to see it through and make it work.

I HOPING that Knobs demotion of him is just a small message that he needs to play a different style here, and that once the message is delivered his oppurtunity comes back.

Knob has been totally unwilling to hold any of the core five to account for their lazy play this year, which is not only infuriating for us fans but has to be a piss-off to guys like Skinner who made it a whole 20 games as an Oiler before being stuck on the fourth line. After all, I have not seen him make a lazy, braindead pass right onto the opposition's stick in the last five minutes of a game to cost the team at least one point, nor have I seen him stay glued to the wall in 5+ minutes of PP a night and refuse to do anything but funnel the puck to McDrai. The difference in treatment is jarring.

That standard has to change if we're going to win anything. Good players can have bad stretches, sure, but when they're repeating the same mistakes over and over again you need to treat them the same way you would anyone else. I feel for Skinner here, I really do, because you just know he turned down longer-term deals with a bit more security to try and win a Cup, and the best we can do for him in return is play him with the corpse of Derek Ryan while RNH and Bouch get to make the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons without any consequences. It's bullshit.
 

CanadasTeam99

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Jul 22, 2024
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Your telling me the NHL gave the Oilers a 24th on average hardest schedule this year?
Yeah. It's based on where teams were when we played them.

Not sure how the current version of these hardest schedule metrics is devised. Would prefer a simpler games against playoff vs non playoff teams. For instance we played Nashville 3X I had them pegged to miss playoffs even though most figured they could be a contender. I'd wonder how they are being considered in the metric of hard vs easy. For the Oilers certainly its easy.

The other day I was looking through results and we have losses against Jets, Knights, Stars, Canes, Wild, The first W that came against a team in a solid spot in standings was against Rangers. We've played far more non playoff clubs than playoff clubs thus far. I s harder games coming up in coming months. I don't know how they tabulate "25th hardest schedule left" Our schedule upcoming is on a glance harder than the games we've had.
Looks solid to me. We have had a soft schedule so far

By who we play for the remaining of the season and where they are in the standings, our schedule gets "easier"
 

Drivesaitl

Finding Hemingway
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Yeah. It's based on where teams were when we played them.


Looks solid to me. We have had a soft schedule so far

By who we play for the remaining of the season and where they are in the standings, our schedule gets "easier"
Can you post a link where you are getting the numbers. Just curious about how its tabulated. Seems flawed. I agree we have had a soft schedule. I don't agree the shedule gets even softer. Not sure how it could.

In anycase the team needs to start beating good clubs. To this point we're something like 1-6 against good clubs.
 

TheNumber4

Registered User
Nov 11, 2011
44,737
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Knob has been totally unwilling to hold any of the core five to account for their lazy play this year, which is not only infuriating for us fans but has to be a piss-off to guys like Skinner who made it a whole 20 games as an Oiler before being stuck on the fourth line. After all, I have not seen him make a lazy, braindead pass right onto the opposition's stick in the last five minutes of a game to cost the team at least one point, nor have I seen him stay glued to the wall in 5+ minutes of PP a night and refuse to do anything but funnel the puck to McDrai. The difference in treatment is jarring.

That standard has to change if we're going to win anything. Good players can have bad stretches, sure, but when they're repeating the same mistakes over and over again you need to treat them the same way you would anyone else. I feel for Skinner here, I really do, because you just know he turned down longer-term deals with a bit more security to try and win a Cup, and the best we can do for him in return is play him with the corpse of Derek Ryan while RNH and Bouch get to make the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons without any consequences. It's bullshit.
I’m not so sure Knobs deployment is based on laziness. Probably more so an ability to keep up with the system. He has trust in guys like Nuge and Hyman cause they’ve played that system well and has shown that ability.

I can remember a couple specific demotions during Knobs tenure that stuck out in my mind. With Gagner, there was a game where he literally made like a once in a 100 whiff on a routine stick handle. He was demoted the next game. If I had to guess what Knobs issue with Skinner is, it would be foot speed. Which doesn’t bode well for his chances. So hopefully Knob can see past that or Skinner can play positionally well enough that the foot speed doesn’t become an issue.

Yeah. It's based on where teams were when we played them.


Looks solid to me. We have had a soft schedule so far

By who we play for the remaining of the season and where they are in the standings, our schedule gets "easier"
If it’s based on where they were when we played them, then how could they predict future standings right now…
 

Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
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Skinner is getting paid 13M this season. Look at him on the bench. He looks bored half the time. The guy looks country club checked out. At best he's OK letting others do the hard work and not even being a significant piece. I think he could show more in playoffs (who know's he's never been there) but he isn't looking too engaged. You'll notice him in some shifts and periods but mostly at a segment of games are over when he starts looking to hunt some goals.

Really the Oilers ought to have done considerable legwork in talking to the player and really trying to assess what he's interested in, not just taking him at word. He hasn't looked a part of things here since TC. He had a weak preseason and people said wait for season before saying anything.

Is his performance here the look of a player on a new team trying to impress? It isn't.

The other thing is WC play is a bit stronger/harder and teams heavier on stamping out play around the net. Skinner has more difficulty getting into and staying in scoring areas here. He's getting bounced out, and off the puck regularly.

In fairness to him he was producing to start the year and the coach is doing nothing for him.

Puts him with McDavid for like half a game but because no one on the team is scoring, McDrai have to be reunited and then he's back in the bottom 6.

Can't even try him on the PP once even though the PP is killing itself out there.

The Oilers don't do themselves many favors by not putting players in positions to succeed. They'll be patient with like 1/4 players and then not bother trying anything with anyone else.

Nugent Hopkins has done f*** all this year and he gets non-stop gravy time with McDavid and constant 1st unit PP time. Try something else for crying out loud.

Even with no PP unit 1 time, barely any time with McDavid, not much time with Draisaitl, he still is the 3rd highest goal scoring forward on the team after McDavid and Draisaitl, has double the goals of RNH and more than Hyman.
 
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stewy04

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
404
602
You are talking about a cinderella crazy shooting % team. That is not the norm lol. Look at them now.

Up until today, Canucks have had the 3rd easiest schedule in the NHL. Lets see the rest

Edmonton - 23rd hardest
Vegas - 14th hardest
Canucks - 30th hardest

Strength of schedule remaining

Edmonton - 25th hardest schedule left
Vegas - 27th hardest
Canucks - 12th hardest

Looks like Vegas will be tough to catch honestly.
How do we have the hardest schedule all year lol!
 

TheNumber4

Registered User
Nov 11, 2011
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Skinner is getting paid 13M this season. Look at him on the bench. He looks bored half the time. The guy looks country club checked out. At best he's OK letting others do the hard work and not even being a significant piece. I think he could show more in playoffs (who know's he's never been there) but he isn't looking too engaged. You'll notice him in some shifts and periods but mostly at a segment of games are over when he starts looking to hunt some goals.

Really the Oilers ought to have done considerable legwork in talking to the player and really trying to assess what he's interested in, not just taking him at word. He hasn't looked a part of things here since TC. He had a weak preseason and people said wait for season before saying anything.

Is his performance here the look of a player on a new team trying to impress? It isn't.

The other thing is WC play is a bit stronger/harder and teams heavier on stamping out play around the net. Skinner has more difficulty getting into and staying in scoring areas here. He's getting bounced out, and off the puck regularly.
My impression of Skinner off the ice is that he’s a bit of a fun loving goof ball. Based on some mic’d up stuff I’ve seen. But I don’t put too much emphasis on the off ice personality stuff. Like Drai is sarcastic and aloof, doesn’t translate to the ice where he takes the game seriously.

Let’s talk about Skinner on the ice so far. I think foot speed is an issue that is apparent. But I don’t think compete or effort is. He tries to play hard, but he isn’t finding any space out there. I agree that he’s probably not used to the WC, which is a harder hitting conference. Maybe more impactful though is the difference between playing on the Oilers versus Sabres. Teams get up to play the Oilers, and teams probably lazy into Buffalo expecting an easy night. And when games get away from Buffalo and teams take their foot off the gas, that’s going to lead to easier ice for Skinner as well. Skinner is seeing competitive fight-for-every-inch hockey every game, something he will need to adjust to, if he can.

One adjustment Skinner needs to make is that he's holding onto pucks too long. He gets closed in on too fast and defenceman are reaching around his small stature and smothering him. I think a mindset change of using your teammates more and making quicker puck touches/decisions should help him.

That said, there are flashes of skill he’s shown that outside of McDrai we don’t really see on this team. That one stick handle tuck-in goal he had was a thing of beauty. He's had a reputation of being a goal scorer since Junior and has always lived up to it. I think there is a version of Skinner we haven't seen yet, he needs to adjust to find that game again otherwise were f***ed outta 3M.

In terms of the Oilers assessment of him. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when speed wasn’t brought up as a team concept during the Drop episode of Free Agency Day. “Size up front” was brought up, but not speed. Do they not know what our team identity was in the playoffs? Speed baby speed. McDavid said it best we’re at our best when we play fast.
 
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ChaoticOrange

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My impression of Skinner off the ice is that he’s a bit of a fun loving goof ball. Based on some mic’d up stuff I’ve seen. But I don’t put too much emphasis on the off ice personality stuff. Like Drai is sarcastic and aloof, doesn’t translate to the ice where he takes the game seriously.

Let’s talk about Skinner on the ice so far. I think foot speed is an issue that is apparent. But I don’t think compete or effort is. He tries to play hard, but he isn’t finding any space out there. I agree that he’s probably not used to the WC, which is a harder hitting conference. Maybe more impactful though is the difference between playing on the Oilers versus Sabres. Teams get up to play the Oilers, and teams probably lazy into Buffalo expecting an easy night. And when games get away from Buffalo and teams take their foot off the gas, that’s going to lead to easier ice for Skinner as well. Skinner is seeing competitive fight-for-every-inch hockey every game, something he will need to adjust to, if he can.

One adjustment Skinner needs to make is that he's holding onto pucks too long. He gets closed in on too fast and defenceman are reaching around his small stature and smothering him. I think a mindset change of using your teammates more and making quicker puck touches/decisions should help him.

That said, there are flashes of skill he’s shown that outside of McDrai we don’t really see on this team. That one stick handle tuck-in goal he had was a thing of beauty. He's had a reputation of being a goal scorer since Junior and has always lived up to it. I think there is a version of Skinner we haven't seen yet, he needs to adjust to find that game again otherwise were f***ed outta 3M.

In terms of the Oilers assessment of him. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when speed wasn’t brought up as a team concept during the Drop episode of Free Agency Day. “Size up front” was brought up, but not speed. Do they not know what our team identity was in the playoffs? Speed baby speed. McDavid said it best we’re at our best when we play fast.
That was Chris Cichocki, and I can't for the life of me figure out why he's still employed. Dude has more lives than a cat.
 
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Drivesaitl

Finding Hemingway
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My impression of Skinner off the ice is that he’s a bit of a fun loving goof ball. Based on some mic’d up stuff I’ve seen. But I don’t put too much emphasis on the off ice personality stuff. Like Drai is sarcastic and aloof, doesn’t translate to the ice where he takes the game seriously.

Let’s talk about Skinner on the ice so far. I think foot speed is an issue that is apparent. But I don’t think compete or effort is. He tries to play hard, but he isn’t finding any space out there. I agree that he’s probably not used to the WC, which is a harder hitting conference. Maybe more impactful though is the difference between playing on the Oilers versus Sabres. Teams get up to play the Oilers, and teams probably lazy into Buffalo expecting an easy night. And when games get away from Buffalo and teams take their foot off the gas, that’s going to lead to easier ice for Skinner as well. Skinner is seeing competitive fight-for-every-inch hockey every game, something he will need to adjust to, if he can.

One adjustment Skinner needs to make is that he's holding onto pucks too long. He gets closed in on too fast and defenceman are reaching around his small stature and smothering him. I think a mindset change of using your teammates more and making quicker puck touches/decisions should help him.

That said, there are flashes of skill he’s shown that outside of McDrai we don’t really see on this team. That one stick handle tuck-in goal he had was a thing of beauty. He's had a reputation of being a goal scorer since Junior and has always lived up to it. I think there is a version of Skinner we haven't seen yet, he needs to adjust to find that game again otherwise were f***ed outta 3M.

In terms of the Oilers assessment of him. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when speed wasn’t brought up as a team concept during the Drop episode of Free Agency Day. “Size up front” was brought up, but not speed. Do they not know what our team identity was in the playoffs? Speed baby speed. McDavid said it best we’re at our best when we play fast.
Yep to all really. This is one of the things I questioned about Skinner in July. How would he look on a good team playing against opponents playing you hard. He hasn't survived the contact all that well. Gets pushed off pucks and out of areas than should be the case. You never really know with a scorer that hasn't gone up against tough opposition while on a good team. Similar thing with AA here as even though he had a 30 goal season it was on a bad club and essentially he was a specialist in breakaway goals while his team lost. Not comparing the two, just the dynamic. Sometimes it can be easier to be one dimensional and pad a goal in a5-2 loss where the opponent is playing you lightly. Albeit the distortion in Buffalo was a lot of high scoring games and very little defending. So everbodies numbers up.

Its sad as well to see an Oilers org NOT making speed a priority. Its their heritage.
 

TheNumber4

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Nov 11, 2011
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That was Chris Cichocki, and I can't for the life of me figure out why he's still employed. Dude has more lives than a cat.
"Are we worried about size up front?"

"Are you?"

.... *5 minute pause* .....

"No..."

I'm pretty sure he wanted to say Yes lol.


But yeh what's up with this "best-in-class" makeover of the Oilers? It's the same exact guys we had before except JJ/Bowman are asking the questions instead of Holland.
 

belair

Win it for Ben!
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"Are we worried about size up front?"

"Are you?"

.... *5 minute pause* .....

"No..."

I'm pretty sure he wanted to say Yes lol.


But yeh what's up with this "best-in-class" makeover of the Oilers? It's the same exact guys we had before except JJ/Bowman are asking the questions instead of Holland.
Just from that clip I get the sense that his opinions don't get taken very seriously in that room. Got a big sense of "oof" from the response to that question based on the reaction at that table.

It really is amazing that guys in the front office always seem to have nine lives in this organization.
 

Heavy Dee

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May 29, 2005
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Lol how you really think if McLeod was retained played nothing but third line minutes with third liners like janmark and brown he'd be putting up the production he is currently putting up in buffalo? His stat line would look exactly like henriques.
At least you acknowledge Henrique has been shlt
 

TheNumber4

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Nov 11, 2011
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Yep to all really. This is one of the things I questioned about Skinner in July. How would he look on a good team playing against opponents playing you hard. He hasn't survived the contact all that well. Gets pushed off pucks and out of areas than should be the case. You never really know with a scorer that hasn't gone up against tough opposition while on a good team. Similar thing with AA here as even though he had a 30 goal season it was on a bad club and essentially he was a specialist in breakaway goals while his team lost. Not comparing the two, just the dynamic. Sometimes it can be easier to be one dimensional and pad a goal in a5-2 loss where the opponent is playing you lightly. Albeit the distortion in Buffalo was a lot of high scoring games and very little defending. So everbodies numbers up.

Its sad as well to see an Oilers org NOT making speed a priority. Its their heritage.
Yeh things can change real fast when you are expected to play 200 ft hockey and not just pad the stats. There's legit risk with these types of players. They either respond or they become the next AA. The story out of Buffalo with Skinner is that he didn't take care of the 200 ft game and his foot speed was reduced. Should have been known to the Oilers when we acquired him. But the Oilers chose his skill and finishing ability over the warts and made this gamble. At this point, I think the Oilers need to see it through and give that skill it's best chance to shine. Hopefully, Skinner responds, odds are against him if we look at it logically, but if he ever clicks and runs hot, the reward would be immense.

And yeh Speed has always been what we were built on. Even the darkest days our brand has always been speed.
 
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ChaoticOrange

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Just from that clip I get the sense that his opinions don't get taken very seriously in that room. Got a big sense of "oof" from the response to that question based on the reaction at that table.

It really is amazing that guys in the front office always seem to have nine lives in this organization.
I also distinctly remember JJ saying that the Josh Brown signing was "throwing a scout a bone" and I'll eat my shoe if that scout wasn't Cichocki.
 

Drivesaitl

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Just from that clip I get the sense that his opinions don't get taken very seriously in that room. Got a big sense of "oof" from the response to that question based on the reaction at that table.

It really is amazing that guys in the front office always seem to have nine lives in this organization.
Its the Canadian org dynamic. You don't have to be a good org to sell tickets here. Its like being a Skidoo outlet in the Arctic. You just have to open doors and sales occur. Makes all Canadian orgs far less accountable. In general. The oilers as we know can always tap the past glories when they feel enthusiasm is waning. They sure tap that button a lot. Makes me wonder what the org does 10yrs from now if we go through McDrai without a cup win. Will they still be reliving that glory. I suspect they will in anycase.
 

TheNumber4

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Just from that clip I get the sense that his opinions don't get taken very seriously in that room. Got a big sense of "oof" from the response to that question based on the reaction at that table.

It really is amazing that guys in the front office always seem to have nine lives in this organization.
I was hoping for Pracey to put more of his own personal stamp on Draft Day. Not that I trust Pracey, it remains to be seen, but atleast it shows a vision and commitment to SOMETHING. That may or may not work out, but atleast they tried. But he seemed to rely on the same scouts we've always had so how much can really change?

It's early days and it will take some time to see how the draft picks pan out. But I think with Wright his philosophy was apparent, he drafted for athleticism: size and speed for the most part. Skill and IQ as hopefuls that can come later. It's early, but if I had to pin what Pracey drafts for, it would be Hockey IQ with the Sam O Reilly pick. Same kind of philosophy that might have pushed us towards a Wyatt Johnston pick in the past.

I also distinctly remember JJ saying that the Josh Brown signing was "throwing a scout a bone" and I'll eat my shoe if that scout wasn't Cichocki.
JJ needs to stop throwing bones if that's the case. I'm hoping it was a bone though, atleast that indicates it wasn't Bowman/JJ that made that call. Early days, but if Brown ever suits up in the playoffs for us, we know he's gonna get burned.
 
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Soundwave

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Yeh things can change real fast when you are expected to play 200 ft hockey and not just pad the stats. There's legit risk with these types of players. They either respond or they become the next AA. The story out of Buffalo with Skinner is that he didn't take care of the 200 ft game and his foot speed was reduced. Should have been known to the Oilers when we acquired him. But the Oilers chose his skill and finishing ability over the warts and made this gamble. At this point, I think the Oilers need to see it through and give that skill it's best chance to shine. Hopefully, Skinner responds, odds are against him if we look at it logically, but if he ever clicks and runs hot, the reward would be immense.

And yeh Speed has always been what we were built on. Even the darkest days our brand has always been speed.

I dunno it looks to me like he can score fine here, the coaching staff is not utilizing him correctly



Also we don't need to be a freaking track meet with every team, learn to win games in different ways. You're not going to be able to win games off rush offense all the time in the playoffs, you have to be able to score in other ways.

Put this guy on PP1 already Knoblaugh, stop being an idiot. Does the coaching staff here even do any work looking at where incoming players might work best? It just seems like they treat every player like a complete blank slate that they've never seen before. Has the coaching staff even watched the above video? Because I doubt it based on usage.
 
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TheNumber4

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Nov 11, 2011
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I dunno it looks to me like he can score fine here, the coaching staff is not utilizing him correctly



Also we don't need to be a freaking track meet with every team, learn to win games in different ways. You're not going to be able to win games off rush offense all the time in the playoffs, you have to be able to score in other ways.

Put this guy on PP1 already Knoblaugh, stop being an idiot.

Watching some of these snipes and one timer rips. You'd think that should be able to translate here. Not much of Skinner's offence was generated with his foot speed or puck handles.

Makes me think maybe we need to just TRUST Skinner more and get him the puck when he's open. He has that same shoot hard and fast mentality that Draisaitl has, a finishing ability based on intuition.

I've NEVER considered changing up the PP as its been the best in the business for a long time.
But talking to Guymez last night, I would consider changing up a good thing now. There's a theory that offensive players need PP Time and Puck Touches to really gain confidence. I've heard it talked about by many analysts and ex-forwards.

Think back to all the Failed Wingers we've had here and all the successful ones. The successful ones were the Core 5 guys that always got PP1 time. Whereas the guys that didn't, never took off offensively or their offense eventually stalled. I'm not saying a new PP1 can ever reach the heights of the Core 5 PP. But maybe it's time to sacrifice that luxury to get other Forwards going on this team. Maybe even do an even distribution between PP1 and PP2 and spread out the Core 5 into two seperate units just to get more guys involved. It might be ugly at the start, but our overall roster would benefit from it. Right now with our PP1 struggling and our pretty good 5v5 play where we don't need to rely on PP to win, might be the best time to try it out.
 

Soundwave

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Mar 1, 2007
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Watching some of these snipes and one timer rips. You'd think that should be able to translate here. Not much of Skinner's offence was generated with his foot speed or puck handles.

Makes me think maybe we need to just TRUST Skinner more and get him the puck when he's open. He has that same shoot hard and fast mentality that Draisaitl has, a finishing ability based on intuition.

I've NEVER considered changing up the PP as its been the best in the business for a long time.
But talking to Guymez last night, I would consider changing up a good thing now. There's a theory that offensive players need PP Time and Puck Touches to really gain confidence. I've heard it talked about by many analysts and ex-forwards.

Think back to all the Failed Wingers we've had here and all the successful ones. The successful ones were the Core 5 guys that always got PP1 time. Whereas the guys that didn't, never took off offensively or their offense eventually stalled. I'm not saying a new PP1 can ever reach the heights of the Core 5 PP. But maybe it's time to sacrifice that luxury to get other Forwards going on this team. Maybe even do an even distribution between PP1 and PP2 and spread out the Core 5 into two seperate units just to get more guys involved. It might be ugly at the start, but our overall roster would benefit from it. Right now with our PP1 struggling, might be the best time to try it out.

Hyman and RNH have *1 goal* combined in like almost 50 PPs with McDavid and Draisaitl. Change. The. Freaking. PP. Knoblaugh.

Stop being a moron.

Like I honestly wonder if anyone on our coaching staff has taken even 5 minutes to watch the above video.

You're only going to have a few all-world, play-in-any-situation players, you need to work with the other guys that you do have and put them in situations to best utilize their talent.
 
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TheNumber4

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Nov 11, 2011
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Hyman and RNH have *1 goal* in like almost 50 PPs with McDavid and Draisaitl. Change. The. Freaking. PP. Knoblaugh.

Stop being a moron.

Like I honestly wonder if anyone on our coaching staff has taken even 5 minutes to watch the above video.
There's alot of history plus Gulatzan that makes that a hard change to consider. Best PP of all time we were saying not too long ago. It hasn't been the same this year, McDrai not being themselves to start the year also contributed to this along side Nuge, Hyman, and Bouch's reduced play to start this year.

But this epidemic of failed offensive wingers needs to be addressed. And PP time might be the medicine that gets everyone going. So I would consider the change. It's time to spread out the wealth.
 
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TheNumber4

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Nov 11, 2011
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If Matt Savoie ever makes the club. Are we going to starve him of PP time and play him on Line 3? It's almost like setting him up for failure. If we want development and players to be at their best, it makes sense to open up some PP opportunity for others.
 

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