That's a weird way to look at things. Fire Holland cause bottom pairing is Kulak-Ceci?
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McDNicks17
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If that ends up being the pairings then yeah. That's a waste of about $4M that could be spent at the top of the roster.
Jimmi McJenkins
Sometimes miracles
I guess, if the young player's performance puts him there, the team is likely better overall.
Hahaha, good for them, they can prepare to be VERY disappointed.
Behind Enemy Lines
Registered User
Technically it is a deployment choice which is the head coach's domain. But moving Broberg off-shooting side into middle pair competition would require a really big brained thought process. Ekholm can mentor the kid without being stapled to him. Stabilizing Bouchard's two hundred foot game and critical role on this team is fundamental to big picture success.
EDIT: Woodcroft has a very big job ahead to get this team's buy-in and execution to much better, consistent own zone defending. This will need system tweaks, greater cohesion and connected execution as five man units on the ice. He's trying to extract the final, hardest piece of this team's game to become true Cup contenders. It won't be about development with young players out of their depth. That was Oilers Rebuild(s) 1.0 mentality which we know how that ended.
Magnum23
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LeonDraisaitl29
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So I wonder what some comparables there are that the Oilers could use.
McLeod 11G 23P in 57 games
Barrett Hayton last summer signed a 2 year deal at 1.775M per after 10G 24P in 60 games. Same age/draft year as McLeod
Jake Evans signed at 1.7Mx3 after 13G 29P in 72 games. He was 25 at the time and arbitration eligible.
Not sure about RFAs who have signed this year.
McDrai
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That d corps is not good enough and you’re relying on Broberg and Desharnais to step up once again (they’re both liabilities at this point)
It'll be big time retention or he doesn't get traded and becomes a distraction. SJS's choice really.
Everyone is getting squeezed with the current flat cap.
They're doing the same thing they did last year, where they went into the season with a gaping hole on the left side after Keith's retirement while giving Murray/Kulak a chance to step up, then getting Ekholm when they couldn't.
Broberg is going to get his sink or swim moment on the right side by the looks of it, and a 1st round pick will likely get sent out for a rental if/when he sinks.
Oilception
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The way I look at it is it’s definitely good enough to make the playoffs (we were in an alright spot pre trade deadline with Ekholm last year), so we Are already better.
They’re banking on some good growth from Broberg or Desharnais. If we don’t get it then that’s the area we are targeting at the deadline, if we do then awesome can use assets to improve somewhere else.
With our cap space I think it’s a good bet to make that we will see some internal growth from our young D. Can always improve it later if it doesn’t work.
McJadeddog
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This is pretty obviously the way the organization is leaning right now. Good enough for playoffs as is (barring massive injury problems), let the D grow a bit and see what you got, and then very likely add to the backend at the TDL. Preferably a top-4 option, and this time I could see Holland paying for a pure rental, although the 2024 UFA D market isn't that great to be honest. At least there aren't that many that stand out as being likely available due to playing a currently crappy team.
Oilhawks
Like Some Snow-White Marble Eyes
- Nov 24, 2011
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If they’re going to keep the D roster the same why don’t they just go with
Nurse - Bouchard
Ekholm - Ceci
Kulak - Broberg
Desharnais
And give Broberg some shifts with Ekholm
It's plenty good enough in the regular season simply because the Oilers are going to score more than enough goals to compensate.
I don't mind them experimenting with Bouchard and Broberg up the lineup to see how they handle tougher minutes. Ekholm is as good a player as any to stabilize Broberg's game. The fact of the matter is that they need to start seeing what they have in Broberg and they have a strong enough vet presence now with Ekholm to shelter him.
What those projected pairings illustrate though is that one of Kulak or Ceci needs to go. $2.75m for a pure bottom pairing guy and $3.25m for a guy who can't handle tough minutes. It's fine to have both if you're not in cap hell but when you're penny pinched and have a need at top 4 RHD, it's not feasible to keep both if they want to upgrade elsewhere.
russ99
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Ekholm - Bouchard should be first pair, and distribute minutes better among the top 4 D.
Woodcroft's default over-leaning on a small group of players with too many minutes was part of our undoing. Hope he learns from it.
Woodcroft's default over-leaning on a small group of players with too many minutes was part of our undoing. Hope he learns from it.
Ceci can handle tough minutes, just not all the time, for 20+ minutes a night. He did two years ago on a lower pairing.
What a weird thing to get fired over. Oiler fans are going bananas right now. Lou signed friggin Engvall to a 7 year Contract LOL yet Holland should be fired for having a 6 mill pairing of Dmen Lmao
nexttothemoon
and again...
I'll revise my original guess (which was 4.0 for Bouchard and 1.6 for McLeod)... to:
Bouchard 2 years at 3.5 million
McLeod 2 years at 2.1 million
Bouchard 2 years at 3.5 million
McLeod 2 years at 2.1 million
Frank the Tank
The Godfather
Wonder if Holland circles back to Zadina, a former draft pick by Wright. It would have to be at league minimum.
And if Broberg breaks out we won't need one at all. Give the kid a chance. Look at who his partner would be
Bryanbryoil
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I think that's not worth a shit for a multitude of reasons.
#1-Nurse/Bouchard have not shown near the chemistry that Ekholm-Bouchard have and risking crashing Bouchard's confidence is not worth it just to polish the turd that is Nurse's contract.
#2-We're trusting a guy with a top 4 role out of camp that we trusted would be a 3rd pairing guy right out of camp last season. Fool me once...
#3-Who is the puck mover between Kulak and Ceci? Broberg or Desharnais based on pay and experience should be in one of these spots. If we are good with a 3rd pairing of Kulak-Ceci that should only be because we have 4 defenseman that are superior to them and quite frankly I don't see Broberg as being superior to either guy yet, not even close actually.
#4-Expecting anything outside of a 3rd pairing/#7D spot out of both of Broberg-Desharnais is a fail. Desharnais is at an age that I don't see a ton of improvement from him going forward so he's a good candidate as a #6/#7 guy because he's cheap and brings bite to the back end.
#5-We saw the impact that Ekholm made on the team, why not move mountains to try and add an actual top 4 RHD? Allow Bouchard to pair with Ekholm and find someone that can compliment Nurse to round out the other top 4 pairing?
#6-If we only give Bouch a 1 year deal and plan to tank his upcoming contract value by playing him with Nurse instead of Ekholm it likely hurts our team short term and maybe long term if Bouch loses confidence.
#7-Standing pat is what losers do. We should always be looking to improve the team. I would hope that our players reach out to Bouch and McLeod and help to get these contracts done soon so that Holland can get to work without 1 arm tied behind his back.
Exactly. Some fans need to be more rational like you
Yet its the furthest they've gone since 2006...
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
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Straight up I'd rather deal McLeod and sign a couple of decent vets to round out the roster.
If the bottom pairing has two dmen like that, then its a win. It means Broberg breaks out as our RD. Imagine how good our D would be.
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