Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | Where's The Beef?

[CycloneSweep]

I like the franchise altering part where Tkachuk requested a trade and the Flames decided to saddle themselves with Huberdeau for 8 years.


They need to put Skinner with Mcdavid for a stretch of games just to start building some chemistry. Knob ended that like 2 games into the season.

If you want NcDavids line to be outscored every game, sure. Skinner can’t even defend against Derek Ryan.

 

[CanadasTeam99]

I can see Vancouver making a quick trade for a Dman.

Hughes is out week to week. That is honestly like is having no McDavid when you look at Hughes impact. They are atrocious when he is on the bench

Nevermind their #2 being out for another few weeks

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I like the franchise altering part where Tkachuk requested a trade and the Flames decided to saddle themselves with Huberdeau for 8 years.


They need to put Skinner with Mcdavid for a stretch of games just to start building some chemistry. Knob ended that like 2 games into the season.

I think there is 1 big issues for Skinner and 2 small ones.

The big one: Neither McDavid or Drai seem to enjoy playing with a winger that likes to fade into the background and find soft spots in coverage (the Ebs/Skinner, type), or someone who likes to control the puck and play the game their way (see the friction at times between Kand and Drai).

For the last half-decade the MOs of the wingers that work well with McDrai are either a) guys that are willing to hound the puck up and down the ice, and quickly get it back to the centre. (RNH, Podz, Hyman, Foegele, McLeod, Pulju, Yams; Or b) Have the size and willingness to go to the net and occupy one or more defenders (Hyman, Kane, Maroon, Kassian, Chiasson. and Neal.


Considering this team has several guys who fit those templates, it's not hard to see how Skinner hasn't gotten a chance. For a winger who's only useful when they're spoonfed offensive usage, Jeff is potentially 6th or 7th in terms guys I'm tossing out there when I need a goal.

McDavid
Drai
Hyman
RNH
Arvidsson
Skinner/Henrique?

2) Thanks to his skating, Kapanen has come in and more or less stolen Skinner's potential spot as the offensive winger who bounces up and down the lineup as needed.

3) Kane will be back by the playoffs, and brings far more to the table.

 

[VeteranPresence]

I can see Vancouver making a quick trade for a Dman.

Hughes is out week to week. That is honestly like is having no McDavid when you look at Hughes impact. They are atrocious when he is on the bench

Nevermind their #2 being out for another few weeks

Vancouver will absolutely pull the trigger on a Pettersson deal now. They also have the assets to out-bid us if he was ever a target. That will mean we'll have to make the best choice out Matheson, Provorov, or Murphy. There might be a wildcard D out there with term like Carlo, but I'm not going to hold my breath and we have even less desirable pieces to pull that kind of deal off.

The question is, do we trust Bowman and Jackson to make the best play here when they couldn't do it on four previous occasions? Given the smoke around Matheson (ew) I don't, but maybe they will surprise and find a right-handed/sided #4 who can help a bit in transition while suppressing scoring chances.

 

[belair]

He selected Nurse and Drai, so he did okay with some high picks. And he was the head coach that took an underdog all the way to game 7 of the finals. There have been a whole lot worse that have been here.

What he did as a head coach has no bearing on what he did as a manager. As a manager he left that team in a state that took years to repair.

 

[MessierII]

He selected Nurse and Drai, so he did okay with some high picks. And he was the head coach that took an underdog all the way to game 7 of the finals. There have been a whole lot worse that have been here.

He nailed two top ten picks. His best late round pick was slepyshev. That 2013 draft was if I’m not mistaken the most picks we’ve had in a draft since they went to 7 rounds permanently. Some of the worst drafting ever.

 

[foshizzle]

I like the franchise altering part where Tkachuk requested a trade and the Flames decided to saddle themselves with Huberdeau for 8 years.


They need to put Skinner with Mcdavid for a stretch of games just to start building some chemistry. Knob ended that like 2 games into the season.

Like Leon said “Nuge is the coach’s favourite player” so good luck with that happening

I think there is 1 big issues for Skinner and 2 small ones.

The big one: Neither McDavid or Drai seem to enjoy playing with a winger that likes to fade into the background and find soft spots in coverage (the Ebs/Skinner, type), or someone who likes to control the puck and play the game their way (see the friction at times between Kand and Drai).

For the last half-decade the MOs of the wingers that work well with McDrai are either a) guys that are willing to hound the puck up and down the ice, and quickly get it back to the centre. (RNH, Podz, Hyman, Foegele, McLeod, Pulju, Yams; Or b) Have the size and willingness to go to the net and occupy one or more defenders (Hyman, Kane, Maroon, Kassian, Chiasson. and Neal.


Considering this team has several guys who fit those templates, it's not hard to see how Skinner hasn't gotten a chance. For a winger who's only useful when they're spoonfed offensive usage, Jeff is potentially 6th or 7th in terms guys I'm tossing out there when I need a goal.

McDavid
Drai
Hyman
RNH
Arvidsson
Skinner/Henrique?

2) Thanks to his skating, Kapanen has come in and more or less stolen Skinner's potential spot as the offensive winger who bounces up and down the lineup as needed.

3) Kane will be back by the playoffs, and brings far more to the table.

Hyman is not that player.

 

[Mr Kot]

I think there is 1 big issues for Skinner and 2 small ones.

The big one: Neither McDavid or Drai seem to enjoy playing with a winger that likes to fade into the background and find soft spots in coverage (the Ebs/Skinner, type), or someone who likes to control the puck and play the game their way (see the friction at times between Kand and Drai).

For the last half-decade the MOs of the wingers that work well with McDrai are either a) guys that are willing to hound the puck up and down the ice, and quickly get it back to the centre. (RNH, Podz, Hyman, Foegele, McLeod, Pulju, Yams; Or b) Have the size and willingness to go to the net and occupy one or more defenders (Hyman, Kane, Maroon, Kassian, Chiasson. and Neal.


Considering this team has several guys who fit those templates, it's not hard to see how Skinner hasn't gotten a chance. For a winger who's only useful when they're spoonfed offensive usage, Jeff is potentially 6th or 7th in terms guys I'm tossing out there when I need a goal.

McDavid
Drai
Hyman
RNH
Arvidsson
Skinner/Henrique?

2) Thanks to his skating, Kapanen has come in and more or less stolen Skinner's potential spot as the offensive winger who bounces up and down the lineup as needed.

3) Kane will be back by the playoffs, and brings far more to the table.

I think people are finally seeing that this isn't a setup like Crosby/Malkin, where they support their wingers; it's probably better if it's the opposite where the wingers do the work in the offensive zone and let McDavid/Drai cook. Hyman works because he's greasy and is willing to go into those areas. I think that's what makes his lackluster goal scoring frustrating; his wingers are getting him the puck and he's still deferring. Wish he could shoot more (unless he's hurt)

 

[Shanahanigans]

Skinner got abused on D anytime he was in the top 6. He could score and create chances but he gave up just as much, which is why Knob moved him down. Knob has been pretty good at keeping all his players engaged but one thing he does not stand for is poor defensive play from his forwards. We saw it at times last year in the playoffs, with guys like Mcleod and Foegele getting benched or even scratched after poor defensive performances. Draisaitl himself got benched for half a period earlier this season after a some giveaways and a lazy penalty. Fastest way to get into Knob's doghouse is to be poor defensively, and Skinner has done just that unfortunately throughout the first 30ish games.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

I think Philp is still a ways away from being an NHL regular and pretty far from being a guy that Knoblauch is comfortable with throwing over the boards in a playoff game.

That's why you call him up now and give him a healthy run of games to assess where he's at versus NHL-caliber players.

If he continues to struggle, you can add a piece at the deadline. If he continues to excel, you can give him tougher and tougher matchups to see what you have.

Either way, you give yourself more information.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I saw something today about Toews saying he's considering coming back?

I'm not saying this should happen - but if it does, I have to think Edmonton is where he looks first with the Keith/Bowman connection - plus a chance to add another cup to the legacy.

Again, I'm not advocating for it - but I wouldn't be surprised if both sides were interested should he try and come back.

Link? He seems like hockey is the last thing on his mind since the last time his name came up

 

[harpoon]

Link? He seems like hockey is the last thing on his mind since the last time his name came up

Jonathan Toews, 36, hopes to work toward NHL return: 'I'm going to give it my best shot' | TSN

Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has not closed the door on continuing his career in the NHL despite last playing during the 2022-23 season. Toews opened up on his future in a feature by GQ's Matthew Roberson, noting he plans to work towards playing in the NHL again.

www.tsn.ca

 

[DavidHasselhoffsFist]

Jonathan Toews, 36, hopes to work toward NHL return: 'I'm going to give it my best shot' | TSN

Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has not closed the door on continuing his career in the NHL despite last playing during the 2022-23 season. Toews opened up on his future in a feature by GQ's Matthew Roberson, noting he plans to work towards playing in the NHL again.

www.tsn.ca

Self induced vomiting!!

 

[TheNumber4]

Jonathan Toews, 36, hopes to work toward NHL return: 'I'm going to give it my best shot' | TSN

Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has not closed the door on continuing his career in the NHL despite last playing during the 2022-23 season. Toews opened up on his future in a feature by GQ's Matthew Roberson, noting he plans to work towards playing in the NHL again.

www.tsn.ca

Toews at 4C. I’d do it.

 

[McDoused]

Skinner got abused on D anytime he was in the top 6. He could score and create chances but he gave up just as much, which is why Knob moved him down. Knob has been pretty good at keeping all his players engaged but one thing he does not stand for is poor defensive play from his forwards. We saw it at times last year in the playoffs, with guys like Mcleod and Foegele getting benched or even scratched after poor defensive performances. Draisaitl himself got benched for half a period earlier this season after a some giveaways and a lazy penalty. Fastest way to get into Knob's doghouse is to be poor defensively, and Skinner has done just that unfortunately throughout the first 30ish games.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Knoblauch is stubborn. He gave some pretty good insight today on his thought process. He wants to get as many guys going as possible. So even in Skinner is relegated to the 4th line, or is a healthy scratch he doesn't really care as long as the other 12 forwards are put in positions where they can succeed. He must believe Nuge and Podkolzin are better fits in the top 6, as he wouldn't stop praising Podkolzin.

The media asked him if he thought Skinner was a top 6 guy and not suited for a bottom 6 role and he basically agreed that Skinner had been miscast. To me that's Indirectly called out JJ and Bowman. Clearly management and coaches aren't on the same page as Jackson signed Skinner to be a top 6 guy and Knoblauch refuses to put him there.

5v5 Podkolzin has played 43 minutes with McDavid and 292 minutes with Draisaitl. Their advanced stats are great but Podkolzin still only has 3 goals and 12 points on the season.

Meanwhile Skinner has 6 goals and 12 points this year to have the same production. Skinner has played 61 minutes 5v5 with Draisaitl and 50 minutes with McDavid. Skinner has the same production as Podkolzin this year depsite playing 1/3 of the top 6 minutes Podkolzin has received.

I get that Skinner hasn't been great defensively but that's never been his game. Let him finish plays and shoot the puck. I get McDavid and Draisaitl might not like him because he doesn't win puck battles and cover for them defensively. He needs his linemates to do the heavy lifting but he can create with time and space. Once they see him shooting the puck and putting up goals, they might actually want to play with him.

I guess what it comes down to is that it's frustrating that we have another "failed experiment" but I don't feel like Knoblauch even tried. Meanwhile Arvidsson and Nuge go right back to their spots and we see no lineup changes after being embarrassed by the ducks.

 

[TheNumber4]

If I was an agent I would be looking at the Oilers fast growing reputation as a team where offensive talent seems to die.

Ryan Strome couldn’t piss a drop here.
Skinner, a life long elite goal scorer can’t find the twine here.
Reider couldn’t score ONE goal.
Browns production dropped(although you can blame injury on this).
Ennis production immediately better before and after his stint in hometown Edmonton.
Foegeles numbers increase as he leaves.
Mcleod’s numbers increase as he leaves.
Holloway’s numbers increase as leaves.

If we can’t find a way to make JSkinner work here, good luck finding offensive wingers moving forward. Especially if we don’t give him any opportunity to succeed. It’s hard enough sell for offensive forwards to come to a team with ZERO PP time offered.

Oh and when will it be okay to talk about the LACK of a Draisaitl effect. If Drai was who we say he is, Kapenen and Podz would be popping off no? Mcleod and Foegele would have continued working on his wing, no? Skinner and Arviddson should have popped off too on his wing, no? How bout sustained success with either Holloway or Kane?

We sure give a lot of credit to Drai for carrying his wingers and I’m guilty of it too. But where are the results?

 

[Jumptheshark]

If I was an agent I would be looking at the Oilers fast growing reputation as a team where offensive talent seems to die.

Ryan Strome couldn’t piss a drop here.
Skinner, a life long elite goal scorer can’t find the twine here.
Reider couldn’t score ONE goal.
Browns production dropped(although you can blame injury on this).
Ennis production immediately better before and after his stint in hometown Edmonton.
Foegeles numbers increase as he leaves.
Mcleod’s numbers increase as he leaves.
Holloway’s numbers increase as leaves.

If we can’t find a way to make JSkinner work here, good luck finding offensive wingers moving forward. Especially if we don’t give him any opportunity to succeed. It’s hard enough sell for offensive forwards to come to a team with ZERO PP time offered.

Oh and when will it be okay to talk about the LACK of a Draisaitl effect. If Drai was who we say he is, Kapenen and Podz would be popping off no? Mcleod and Foegele would have continued working on his wing, no? Skinner and Arviddson should have popped off too on his wing, no? How bout sustained success with either Holloway or Kane?

We sure give a lot of credit to Drai for carrying his wingers and I’m guilty of it too. But where are the results?

Okay let breakdown your list



Strome has the same problem with the NYI--HE was bad in his own zone. 14/15 he has a good season with the NYI but the next year he cratered. When he went to the NYR he was played with better players. Oilers played him down the line up in the 13 games before the trade.

Reider? Something happened in 17/18 and he lost his game. He went on to Buffalo and Calgary before heading to Europe--

Connor Brown? He has not been the same since his injury

Tyler Ennis: Look at Strome--his good years? He was not the driver on any of the lines he was on

Foegele got 20 goals last year and hit career high in pts

McLeod/Holloway had the same problem. Do you play them a head of Kane(Physical), Hyman(scoring) McDavid or Leon? Or Even Nuge? It is the numbers game. They are both playing top 6 minutes they would not get with Edmonton

 

[Hockeylife2018]

If I was an agent I would be looking at the Oilers fast growing reputation as a team where offensive talent seems to die.

Ryan Strome couldn’t piss a drop here.
Skinner, a life long elite goal scorer can’t find the twine here.
Reider couldn’t score ONE goal.
Browns production dropped(although you can blame injury on this).
Ennis production immediately better before and after his stint in hometown Edmonton.
Foegeles numbers increase as he leaves.
Mcleod’s numbers increase as he leaves.
Holloway’s numbers increase as leaves.

If we can’t find a way to make JSkinner work here, good luck finding offensive wingers moving forward. Especially if we don’t give him any opportunity to succeed. It’s hard enough sell for offensive forwards to come to a team with ZERO PP time offered.

Oh and when will it be okay to talk about the LACK of a Draisaitl effect. If Drai was who we say he is, Kapenen and Podz would be popping off no? Mcleod and Foegele would have continued working on his wing, no? Skinner and Arviddson should have popped off too on his wing, no? How bout sustained success with either Holloway or Kane?

We sure give a lot of credit to Drai for carrying his wingers and I’m guilty of it too. But where are the results?

To be fair if your going to list players that production fell it's only fair to list all the players that came and had career years here...there's not a single team that doesn't have a similar list

 

[TheNumber4]

Okay let breakdown your list



Strome has the same problem with the NYI--HE was bad in his own zone. 14/15 he has a good season with the NYI but the next year he cratered. When he went to the NYR he was played with better players. Oilers played him down the line up in the 13 games before the trade.

Reider? Something happened in 17/18 and he lost his game. He went on to Buffalo and Calgary before heading to Europe--

Connor Brown? He has not been the same since his injury

Tyler Ennis: Look at Strome--his good years? He was not the driver on any of the lines he was on

Foegele got 20 goals last year and hit career high in pts

McLeod/Holloway had the same problem. Do you play them a head of Kane(Physical), Hyman(scoring) McDavid or Leon? Or Even Nuge? It is the numbers game. They are both playing top 6 minutes they would not get with Edmonton

I don’t disagree with any of your assessments on the context of those situations. Give or take a couple of irrelevent points imo.

But what it boils down to is the same result. Offensive players can’t find their stride here.

You can blame that on Mistrust by a coach, bad linemates, poor usage, lack of PP oppurtunity, etc etc.

But the end result is the same. We don’t get the production out of players that we should expect from their career numbers. We should aim to solve that. Cause if we don’t we aren’t filling any of the holes we need to on this roster.

Is it time to open up a PP slot for a forward? Is it time to give wingers more than a 3 game trial beside McDrai before calling the experiment dead and over with? Do we need to consider spreading out Center wealth down the lineup, should RNH be a 3C and leave it at that?

Each forward will have different circumstances, so no solution will be the same, but we are literally trying none of these solutions as it is then rolling out th excuses as forwards outproduce their time here before AND after they leave here.

To be fair if your going to list players that production fell it's only fair to list all the players that came and had career years here...there's not a single team that doesn't have a similar list

That’s fair. And I thought about that but then realized that’s more of a list of outliers. And the trend is still more towards forwards failing to meet expectations here than succeeding them. So we got Hyman and who?

 

[Soundwave]

If I was an agent I would be looking at the Oilers fast growing reputation as a team where offensive talent seems to die.

Ryan Strome couldn’t piss a drop here.
Skinner, a life long elite goal scorer can’t find the twine here.
Reider couldn’t score ONE goal.
Browns production dropped(although you can blame injury on this).
Ennis production immediately better before and after his stint in hometown Edmonton.
Foegeles numbers increase as he leaves.
Mcleod’s numbers increase as he leaves.
Holloway’s numbers increase as leaves.

If we can’t find a way to make JSkinner work here, good luck finding offensive wingers moving forward. Especially if we don’t give him any opportunity to succeed. It’s hard enough sell for offensive forwards to come to a team with ZERO PP time offered.

Oh and when will it be okay to talk about the LACK of a Draisaitl effect. If Drai was who we say he is, Kapenen and Podz would be popping off no? Mcleod and Foegele would have continued working on his wing, no? Skinner and Arviddson should have popped off too on his wing, no? How bout sustained success with either Holloway or Kane?

We sure give a lot of credit to Drai for carrying his wingers and I’m guilty of it too. But where are the results?

Absolutely this is becoming a worrying trend here. If I was a player agent I'd tell my clients to steer clear of Edmonton if they think they're going to there to get easy offense. It's becoming a bit of a fraud of a sales pitch. Not unless you are getting time with McDavid and on PP unit 1, don't count on big offense here.

 

[Tarus]

If I was an agent I would be looking at the Oilers fast growing reputation as a team where offensive talent seems to die.

Ryan Strome couldn’t piss a drop here.
Skinner, a life long elite goal scorer can’t find the twine here.
Reider couldn’t score ONE goal.
Browns production dropped(although you can blame injury on this).
Ennis production immediately better before and after his stint in hometown Edmonton.
Foegeles numbers increase as he leaves.
Mcleod’s numbers increase as he leaves.
Holloway’s numbers increase as leaves.

If we can’t find a way to make JSkinner work here, good luck finding offensive wingers moving forward. Especially if we don’t give him any opportunity to succeed. It’s hard enough sell for offensive forwards to come to a team with ZERO PP time offered.

Oh and when will it be okay to talk about the LACK of a Draisaitl effect. If Drai was who we say he is, Kapenen and Podz would be popping off no? Mcleod and Foegele would have continued working on his wing, no? Skinner and Arviddson should have popped off too on his wing, no? How bout sustained success with either Holloway or Kane?

We sure give a lot of credit to Drai for carrying his wingers and I’m guilty of it too. But where are the results?

Most of those guys all have the same problem - buried in the bottom six playing 12'ish minutes a night. Some guys were terribly miscast in that role(Strome comes to mind), some got saddled with dregs even by bottom sixer standards due to Edmonton's at times putrid depth.

The simple reality is that Edmonton is not a traditional team that doesn't run it's lines based on merit, ability, or role suitability; they're built to cater to Mcdavid/Drai in all things. Not only do those two players get all the primo ice time, but they also dictate who they play with(even if said players are frequently non-productive), which in turn determines who gets the ice time scraps if the big boys don't want to be on a line with them. We've heard quite a bit recently about how Drai/Mcdavid really like playing with RNH/Podz/Kapanen(despite how ineffective and non-productive they are), so career top sixers like Henrique and Skinner get to have the worst performances of their careers statistically while their overall league value is crushed(Brown/Foegele/Mcleod/Holloway all faced similar struggles to varying degrees). Edmonton has a consistent problem with setting up players to fail, and the root cause seems to be that Mcdavid/Drai are content to play with plugs as long as they like them and are willing defer to them with the puck at all times.

On a side note - Holloway straight up made the best decision for his career, he was absolutely buried in Edmonton and probably would have continued to be severely unappreciated and non-productive if he had stayed. Players need more than 10 - 12 minutes of ice time a night while being attached to a super short leash to be successful offensively in this league.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Knoblauch is stubborn. He gave some pretty good insight today on his thought process. He wants to get as many guys going as possible. So even in Skinner is relegated to the 4th line, or is a healthy scratch he doesn't really care as long as the other 12 forwards are put in positions where they can succeed. He must believe Nuge and Podkolzin are better fits in the top 6, as he wouldn't stop praising Podkolzin.

The media asked him if he thought Skinner was a top 6 guy and not suited for a bottom 6 role and he basically agreed that Skinner had been miscast. To me that's Indirectly called out JJ and Bowman. Clearly management and coaches aren't on the same page as Jackson signed Skinner to be a top 6 guy and Knoblauch refuses to put him there.

5v5 Podkolzin has played 43 minutes with McDavid and 292 minutes with Draisaitl. Their advanced stats are great but Podkolzin still only has 3 goals and 12 points on the season.

Meanwhile Skinner has 6 goals and 12 points this year to have the same production. Skinner has played 61 minutes 5v5 with Draisaitl and 50 minutes with McDavid. Skinner has the same production as Podkolzin this year depsite playing 1/3 of the top 6 minutes Podkolzin has received.

I get that Skinner hasn't been great defensively but that's never been his game. Let him finish plays and shoot the puck. I get McDavid and Draisaitl might not like him because he doesn't win puck battles and cover for them defensively. He needs his linemates to do the heavy lifting but he can create with time and space. Once they see him shooting the puck and putting up goals, they might actually want to play with him.

I guess what it comes down to is that it's frustrating that we have another "failed experiment" but I don't feel like Knoblauch even tried. Meanwhile Arvidsson and Nuge go right back to their spots and we see no lineup changes after being embarrassed by the ducks.

There's actually a very good reason to play pod over skinner. Everyone else on the ice has better offensive numbers with him. Podkolzin absolutely crushes Skinner in terms of xgf and hdcf per 60, both overall and in terms of numbers with draisaitl. Our overall even strength scoring as a team suffers with Jeff skinner over podkolzin despite skinner being individually more productive. I'm open to trying other players with mcdrai with how much rnh has been struggling this season, but the worst player on the team need not apply.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

If I was an agent I would be looking at the Oilers fast growing reputation as a team where offensive talent seems to die.

Ryan Strome couldn’t piss a drop here.
Skinner, a life long elite goal scorer can’t find the twine here.
Reider couldn’t score ONE goal.
Browns production dropped(although you can blame injury on this).
Ennis production immediately better before and after his stint in hometown Edmonton.
Foegeles numbers increase as he leaves.
Mcleod’s numbers increase as he leaves.
Holloway’s numbers increase as leaves.

If we can’t find a way to make JSkinner work here, good luck finding offensive wingers moving forward. Especially if we don’t give him any opportunity to succeed. It’s hard enough sell for offensive forwards to come to a team with ZERO PP time offered.

Oh and when will it be okay to talk about the LACK of a Draisaitl effect. If Drai was who we say he is, Kapenen and Podz would be popping off no? Mcleod and Foegele would have continued working on his wing, no? Skinner and Arviddson should have popped off too on his wing, no? How bout sustained success with either Holloway or Kane?

We sure give a lot of credit to Drai for carrying his wingers and I’m guilty of it too. But where are the results?

Most of these players simply didn't deserve a shot with mcdrai. This is not the first stretch of Skinner's career where he's been ass. 2019-21 skinner was just as useless and unproductive. He's just simply a liability when he isn't finishing goals. Other players at least contribute positively when not scoring. Reider was done by the time he got to Edmonton and struggled the season before and after leaving too. Foegele and McLeod numbers were perfectly fine in Edmonton, it's just that one was overpaid and the other was overhated by fans. Both got several opportunities with mcdrai, they weren't neglected at all. Holloway was starting to get reps with draisaitl last playoffs too and would've likely continued to get looks this season had Jackson/Bowman not lost their mind and signed useless bums like Skinner/henrique. The only actual player who probably didn't get a fair shpt here is Ryan strome. As for the draisaitl effect. He gave Kailer Yamamoto a 26 point in 27 game season. Nuff said.

 

[Spawn]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Knoblauch is stubborn. He gave some pretty good insight today on his thought process. He wants to get as many guys going as possible. So even in Skinner is relegated to the 4th line, or is a healthy scratch he doesn't really care as long as the other 12 forwards are put in positions where they can succeed. He must believe Nuge and Podkolzin are better fits in the top 6, as he wouldn't stop praising Podkolzin.

The media asked him if he thought Skinner was a top 6 guy and not suited for a bottom 6 role and he basically agreed that Skinner had been miscast. To me that's Indirectly called out JJ and Bowman. Clearly management and coaches aren't on the same page as Jackson signed Skinner to be a top 6 guy and Knoblauch refuses to put him there.

5v5 Podkolzin has played 43 minutes with McDavid and 292 minutes with Draisaitl. Their advanced stats are great but Podkolzin still only has 3 goals and 12 points on the season.

Meanwhile Skinner has 6 goals and 12 points this year to have the same production. Skinner has played 61 minutes 5v5 with Draisaitl and 50 minutes with McDavid. Skinner has the same production as Podkolzin this year depsite playing 1/3 of the top 6 minutes Podkolzin has received.

I get that Skinner hasn't been great defensively but that's never been his game. Let him finish plays and shoot the puck. I get McDavid and Draisaitl might not like him because he doesn't win puck battles and cover for them defensively. He needs his linemates to do the heavy lifting but he can create with time and space. Once they see him shooting the puck and putting up goals, they might actually want to play with him.

I guess what it comes down to is that it's frustrating that we have another "failed experiment" but I don't feel like Knoblauch even tried. Meanwhile Arvidsson and Nuge go right back to their spots and we see no lineup changes after being embarrassed by the ducks.

It's not that Podkolzin's advanced stats are excellent. It's that the actual results with him with either McDavid or Draisaitl are excellent. Maybe not from an individual point perspective, but from an outscoring perspective.

McDavid with Podkolzin in 43 minutes outscored opposition 4-1
McDavid with Skinner in 50 minutes outscored by the opposition 1-7

Draisaitl with Podkolzin in 292 minutes outscored the opposition 14-9
Draisaitl with Skinner in 61 minutes outscored by the opposition 1-3

One guy has 12 points and is +5
The other guy has 12 points and is -11

I'm far from a Podkolzin in the top 6 fan. But Skinner need to stop getting wildly outscored if he wants to play more.

 

[FunkyChicken]

Skinner's either has to get used to pressbox popcorn or open up the NMC for a trade.
At best you are looking at a 4th liner return like a N. Cousins or Pulj.
Most likely looking at a similar problem child and contract return.