Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | With Klingberg in the Mix Who Are Our 7D After the Deadline?

[powerserge]

That may be true a few months ago, but they’ve been more than fine lately.

Arvidsson is tied for third on the team(and 1 point behind McDavid for 2nd) in 5v5 points over the last 20 games.

Skinner is scoring at almost a 50 point pace over those 20 games. Leading the team in 5v5 points/60.

Henrique is scoring at a 26 point pace in the last 20 games and has been giving solid tough competition/zone start play.

Just a really weird time to be complaining about those three.

Fair enough, looking at the season as a whole though. Not a 20 game span. Let's see what they finish the year with. Arv and Skinner should have 20 goals, Rico 15. This would be decent production, we will be fortunate to have 1 of the 3 to achieve this. Hey, if they save it for the playoffs like Rico/Brown/Janitor did last year, no complaints. To have another run, going to need depth scoring.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

No reason except to create clickbait for Edmontons rabid and emotional fan base.

Even if Kane is pushing hard to come back early, given his age, the extensive repairs he’s had and the extended time off, it’s assured the team doctors are going to be very thorough and careful about ensuring he is 100% ready to return to late season NHL hockey without risk of re-injuring himself.

While I agree with your assessment of Kane’s personality traits, I’d say as a guy who’s career is winding down and who hasn’t won that winning is likely pretty important for him, he likely won’t have an opportunity this good to win ever again so it stands to reason he’s committed to the cause even if it means milking his recovery a few weeks longer to give the team a sizeable competitive advantage.

But even if he wants to be difficult and not go along with the ltir plan the Oilers can be like that too. Just because the doctor clears him, doesn’t mean the team has to play him. They can easily say even though the medical staff might clear him they don’t feel he’s up to speed yet so while he gets there he’s going to be practicing with the team but watching games from the press box or hell, his nmc converts to a ntc at the end of this month so if they really wanted to they could send him down to Bako for the last month of the season to get his game legs back. I doubt it would come to that though as I don’t think Kane is at risk of getting cleared to play with a month or more left in the season and if they’re aiming for a return with 2-3 weeks left in the year he’d be fine with stretching that.

Another point I’d like to make is that Kane has had his fair share of run ins with the league so if he has the opportunity to thumb his nose at the league by coming back game 1 of the playoffs and being the vehicle for ltir shenanigans, while also doing a big solid for management, his teammates and the fans, I think he takes it.

I think we view Saravalli differently. He's widely exposed in the Edmonton market via every channel imagined so I think the click-bait thing is overstated. He's actually pretty thorough in his reportage and separates his source based information from his own speculation.

We have no idea about Kane's recovery process. He defied the odds on a fine motor injury that could have been prospectively fatal. There's simply no information outside the Kane bubble to have a read on this. I doubt the Oilers would attempt anything punitive like demoting him to Bako to skirt around his contract trade conditions changing. That slips into grievance territory.

I view Kane as a warrior. And think his sole motivation and belief is he can help with team and will run through walls to do so. That quite likely is his viewpoint going through another major injury(ies) to get back on the ice to help his teammates and to drive team success.

We'll see how it shakes out. Oilers management are in a sticky situation and Bowman has wisely stepped above what is a player's realm of decision making and actions with one's health and well being at the centre of everything.

EDIT: Sorry I meant to add this is only his informed speculation and may not come to anything. However he is suggesting based upon cited sources that this situation is not a slam dunk certainty. Worth noting for me with earned credibility I hold for the guy and his approach to qualifying this lucrative pastime.

 

[guymez]

And @guymez

I honestly think you guys are saying nearly the same thing.

You would both agree that when McDrai didn't score, we didn't win.

Was that because of a lack of depth scoring? From the box scores it looks like the answer was "depends on the night". The fact of the matter is that we got more offense from our depth than we expected, because any reasonable person would not have been expecting much. And maybe that's what's causing the argument...

@CupofOil is happy with that contribution, it was certainly much improved vs regular season... but @guymez recognizes it still wasn't enough. Both can be true.

From where I stand, these things are true:

• Our top end offensive talent did not dominate and win that series
• Our ~sophomore starting goaltender was narrowly out-dueled by a playoff experienced Vezina winner
• Our team defense was narrowly out-dueled by one of the NHL's best defensive teams

To me,

• One of those things is surprisingly disappointing given the investment & prioritization of our team structure
• One of those things is completely predictable given the investment & prioritization of our team structure
• And the last of those things is also entirely predictable even if it was closer than expected

In the end, Florida's top-end talent sawed off our top end talent. Florida's depth on offense narrowly edged ours. And Florida's goaltending and defense narrowly edged ours. It really could have gone either way.

Look at you...showing off your arbitration skills and fostering agreement.

I appreciate the post and I think that you are right on point.

In terms of the goaltending its very appropriate to look at it from the perspective of what each team invested in the position. When you do that then the fact that it was as close as it was between the 2 teams is really quite remarkable.

On your point about the top end talent...absolutely agree. Especially if you look at it through the same lens as the goaltending.
Their top end talent out performed this teams top end talent but what skews that a little (in favour of the Oilers) are games 4 and 6.
Game 4 was essentially over at the start of the 2nd period and if you are the Panthers (being up 3-0 in the series) there is aboslutely no point in wasting energy to recover that game. The Oilers on the other hand can pad some stats with that game which is exactly what they did.
Same can be said for game 6 which had 2 empty net goals.

That is another reason why I was much more interested in the losses and how they played out.
What went wrong in all of those games? Was it only the Oilers goaltending?
The answer is obviously no.
Scoring 0.67 goals per game in those losses was clearly a major factor in terms of why they lost the series.
Especially when you take into account that they (Skinner and the team defence) only gave up 1.67 goals per game in those losses. This high powered offence only needed to avergae 2 goals per game to overcome what they gave up.
The Oilers cap heavy top end offensive players (essentially the identity of this team) generated almost no offence and the secondary scoring was no where to be found.

So that speaks to the "depends on the night" phrasing in your post. I think that the losses are more relevant than the games where the oilers had an opportunity to run up the score.

I think what makes this stand out in my mind more than anything else was that offence was a primary element in the identity of this team.
Offense was this teams advantage going into the series...or so we thought.

So to see Florida out perform the Oilers in terms of clutch offense was completely unexpected IMO.
So for that reason I tend to lean more heavily on that playing a bigger role in why this team lost the SC.

So I appreciate your phrasing...."Surprisingly disappointing" is a very good way to frame that.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

At the end of the day Kane has to realize how much teams like Tampa and Vegas have benefitted from Kucherov and Stone playing the LTIR game. I'm sure that his injuries and surgeries likely trumps theirs for the most part. If he returns before the playoffs that would come across as selfish IMO.

I doubt it's lost on Kane. The whole hockey world have talked about it and though the NHL hasn't inserted itself into this CBA loophole it certainly is on notice. We don't have the medical reports to back up any comparisons. Kane though has beat the timelines on a fine motor injury that was prospectively a fatal one if not treated immediately.

I wouldn't jump without actual first hand insight to call Kane selfish. Flip side is a player prospectively doing everything to get back asap to help his teammates win. Take away the layer of LTIR loophole and that would be crystal clear.

We'll have to wait and see. Bowman's got work to do.

 

[Soundwave]

I keep coming back to doing a big deal with Anaheim.

I know people are iffy on the Zegras concept, but if we could make a large deal with him, Gibson, and Dumoulin coming back, I think it would address a lot of our needs.

Zegras has been working on the defensive/200 foot side of his game more, probably to the detriment of his scoring

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/trevor-zegras-elevated-attention-to-detail-despite-lack-of-production

His value may well be close to rock bottom right now. It's a risk, but if you can get him without giving up Savoie suddenly you have Zegras + Savoie to sell to McDavid as young players that will be here as RNH + Hyman decline and the skill level of the group rises. Might have to ship Akey out though.

Maybe he can be a bit like what Kuznetsov was for Washington in their Cup window (not quite that good), but a solid injection of high skill. We would still own his RFA rights in 2 years too, so if there is concern about signing him you could likely have a valuable trade chip and keep refreshing the pool of young talent here.

One of the concerns I have is the forward core becoming too old in the coming years, going to have to give McDavid some younger skill to play with other than just Leon I think, RNH and Hyman can't be the go to forever.

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

Pfft..

Skinner went to game 7 of the finals.

The OILERS got to Game 7 of the finals, in SPITE of him.

 

[Fourier]

At the end of the day Kane has to realize how much teams like Tampa and Vegas have benefitted from Kucherov and Stone playing the LTIR game. I'm sure that his injuries and surgeries likely trumps theirs for the most part. If he returns before the playoffs that would come across as selfish IMO.

Kane has pretty much had the Frankenstein treatment. If he is ok not playing there is no way the league could force him to.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

He'd be a good get but I wouldn't include Savoie in the deal.

Sam o Reilly, 1st, Akey for McCann

If Seattle wants to move him this may not be enough though.

At the end of the day Kane has to realize how much teams like Tampa and Vegas have benefitted from Kucherov and Stone playing the LTIR game. I'm sure that his injuries and surgeries likely trumps theirs for the most part. If he returns before the playoffs that would come across as selfish IMO.

I agree. I can't see him coming back early.

Regardless of if he does or doesn't come back we really need a decent forward traded to this team.

 

[Liberated]

I just remembered that the season we signed campbell and he shit the bed so bad that we forced skinner to be our starter....that campbell actually outplayed skinner that year in the playoffs. iN 4 GAMES CAMPS HAD A .961S% AND 1.01 G.A.A Skinner was pulled 4 times in 12 games. that's a LOT! And Skins sported a .883s% 3.68g.a.a

 

[Louis Cypher]

I just remembered that the season we signed campbell and he shit the bed so bad that we forced skinner to be our starter....that campbell actually outplayed skinner that year in the playoffs. iN 4 GAMES CAMPS HAD A .961S% AND 1.01 G.A.A Skinner was pulled 4 times in 12 games. that's a LOT! And Skins sported a .883s% 3.68g.a.a

Coaches were terrified to play him down the stretch which was a mistake. Might have been able to salvage Soup if handled better.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Coaches were terrified to play him down the stretch which was a mistake. Might have been able to salvage Soup if handled better.

Absolutely not, Not at all. They should have bought him out a year earlier or traded him with a retention. Jack Campbell was always going to fail, there's no salvaging. Not getting rid of him sooner was the attempt and it failed

 

[foshizzle]

Pfft..

Skinner went to game 7 of the finals.

Not went- TOOK them to the finals

 

[Biltmore]

My guess is Stauffer is hangry and isn't getting enough Mediterranean Chicken Pizza lately

Every time I see Bob I think it's some hobo wearing a sloppy suit he found in a Value Village dumpster.

 

[foshizzle]

At the end of the day Kane has to realize how much teams like Tampa and Vegas have benefitted from Kucherov and Stone playing the LTIR game. I'm sure that his injuries and surgeries likely trumps theirs for the most part. If he returns before the playoffs that would come across as selfish IMO.

I don’t think Kane cares. He was pissed off playing the third line when the oilers were on their winning streak last year

 

[Liberated]

Coaches were terrified to play him down the stretch which was a mistake. Might have been able to salvage Soup if handled better.

Yup I see both Woody and Skinner as big mistakes made by Holland

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Does Kane care more about being back 10 games early or having a better team around him so he has a better shot at winning his first Stanley Cup?

Only he has the answer to that

 

[foshizzle]

Absolutely not, Not at all. They should have bought him out a year earlier or traded him with a retention. Jack Campbell was always going to fail, there's no salvaging. Not getting rid of him sooner was the attempted, and it failed

Campbell had a .888 save % on a much worse defensive team. Skinner is .900 this year.

 

[K1984]

Coaches were terrified to play him down the stretch which was a mistake. Might have been able to salvage Soup if handled better.

He's a total head case, positive results one week were zero indication of what was to come the next.

Last year in the pre-season he won the opening night starter's role by being pretty solid in pre-season. It's pre-season, but still. The issues he had before appeared to be addressed. He was quiet in his crease, was tracking the puck well, and was strong in his positioning. Then fast forward a week and he's swimming around everywhere again and allowing goals by the bushel.

Jack Campbell could be anywhere from a total stud to the worst goalie on the planet and there was zero indication which one you're getting on a given night.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Campbell had a .888 save % on a much worse defensive team. Skinner is .900 this year.

So why the f*** to do I care? Skinner has flaws, I've said this. It has nothing to do with Campbell with being utterly unplayable.

You guys don't need to re-invent to past to be mad at Stu, just be mad at Stu. Like what the f***. Jack Campbell was trash his entire time in Edmonton save for like a several minutes against the Kings. It's why he's not here and we should stop pretending he was anything other than a failure.

 

[Captain Controversy]

If yall go visit the River Cree Resort and Casino, you will find Kane gambling in the high limit private rooms. He's been going there the last couple weeks.

 

[K1984]

If yall go visit the River Cree Resort and Casino, you will find Kane gambling in the high limit private rooms. He's been going there the last couple weeks.

That you've seen personally, or is this just hearsay/slander?

 

[McDNicks17]

That you've seen personally, or is this just hearsay/slander?

Sounds like another "Duncan Keith is getting fat at Popeyes".

 

[Captain Controversy]

That you've seen personally, or is this just hearsay/slander?

I cannot comment on that. You will just have to take my word for it.

 

[bellagiobob]

Does Kane care more about being back 10 games early or having a better team around him so he has a better shot at winning his first Stanley Cup?

Only he has the answer to that

If he feels he needs 10 games to get up to speed to get into the form he needs to be playoff ready, and if he's physically ready at that time, I'm not going to give the guy any grief. Pretty difficult to just switch the button from being out an entire year and be 100% up to speed in game 1. I know it's been done, but all players are different. A return of Kane to his former self is the best deadline addition we can make, so I trust that he knows what path is needed to get there better than anybody else.

 

[Tarus]

If yall go visit the River Cree Resort and Casino, you will find Kane gambling in the high limit private rooms. He's been going there the last couple weeks.

That would be unfortunate for a guy that has already bankrupted himself once due to his gambling addiction.