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

And yet some posters don’t think this team should upgrade on either of our goalies? Lmao!
I think there is a difference between some posters "wanting" a goalie vs some posters more realistically knowing that we won't trade for one.

Before that last game a goalie was not on the radar at all. Does 1 really bad game by Skinner change the mind of management? We shall see.
 
This is the right way of looking at it. I have said consistently that the Oilers will have to bolster their defense to eliminate Skinner's inconsistent play from the equation as much as possible because there is no upgrade to be had on what we already have considering the cost in terms of assets and cap space.

The Oilers even though some analytics point to some positive outcomes they also struggle mightily against the rush and in front of the net. When Stetcher can't box out Knies, that's a problem. When Lehkonen and Makar get to walk down main street uncontested and get to pick their spot on our goalies, that's a problem.

Chicago won a cup with Antti Niemi who was an average goalie during that era and was quite successful playing behind Keith, Seabrook, Byfuglien and Campbell.

The Oilers need to build their own version of that on the Blueline with Nurse, Ekholm, Bouchard and whatever guy they can get at the deadline that can keep the grade A++ chances to a minimum.
Pretty sure of starting blueline is set. The moment we got Klingberg it kind of pulled us out of the race for a Marcus Petterssonn type.

Ekholm Bouchard
Nurse Klingberg
Kulak Emberson
 
Skinner is closer to a back up than a starter.

If you were to upgrade the tandem, which would you move.

Skinner probably has a higher ceiling than Pickard. His main strength over Pickard is size which is more important.

But Skinner in general lacks consistency and athleticism/mobility. Majority of goaltenders struggle with consistency but I think Skinner is more of a rollercoaster than most.

If you were to move Pickard for someone whos on Skinners level, I worry that the team and the whoever makes the goalie decisions is just going to lean on Skinner anyway. He gets a ton of rope. Even when Pickard plays well I don’t think he ever gets the next game.

Skinner also going to get paid way more on his next deal than I am comfortable with unless he just falls completely apart but I think its difficult because the team is too good.

Curious what Bowman and Jackson do. If their analytics department has any credibility they know what the problems are.
 
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Did anyone listen to Bowman talk?

- We aren't getting a goalie
- Starting Defence is set


We will add 1 forward. He basically said guys on the team are pushing for more mins. It's a valid point. They have a close nit group of guys and adding players takes somebody (one of the boys) out of the line up.
The good news? He used the injury excuse, saying what if we endure injuries? That is the reason we will add a player.

Now... the question is do we get a top 6 player or a bottom 6 guy? What will the Oilers do???? I hope this can shift the discussion around here.
 
Goalies are voodoo cause I've never met anyone on this board or media personality who can properly predict which goalies are going to rise, which are going to fall, which goalies is going to choke in the playoffs, and which one is going to come up clutch.

For example who called Adin HIll being an absolute playoff beast out of nowhere?
Who said we should keep Tim Thomas or for a more recent example Stolarz around cause they have big upside?
Who called Hellebuyck an easily top 3 goalie in the league choking in 2 straight playoffs?
Who called Cam Ward peaking at 21?
A huge chunk of this board wanted Kuemper in the past. Who called him sucking in both COL and WSH, but returning to form in LA?
Who said Logan Thompson is going to take the next step in WSH?
Who said Saros and Swayman and Demko will struggle this year?
Who called Shesterkin and Sorokin just being a little bit above average this season?
Just on Markstrom alone I think the consensus of the board flipped about 5 times.

Sure you can be knowledge about goaltending, make some inferences and knowledgeable guess work, but there is no ones opinion I trust when it comes to goaltending, the best of us is little better than Miss Cleo and the majority are hindsight Andy's pretending like they knew all along.
You can say that about pretty much any player drafted after the first round
 
Did anyone listen to Bowman talk?

- We aren't getting a goalie
- Starting Defence is set


We will add 1 forward. He basically said guys on the team are pushing for more mins. It's a valid point. They have a close nit group of guys and adding players takes somebody (one of the boys) out of the line up.
The good news? He used the injury excuse, saying what if we endure injuries? That is the reason we will add a player.

Now... the question is do we get a top 6 player or a bottom 6 guy? What will the Oilers do???? I hope this can shift the discussion around here.

To be honest, he's not going to tell the media what he's actually going to do. Fans were freaking out before Holland landed Ekholm.
 
Rumours has it Gibson wants to join the Oilers.

Stuart for Gibson 50%. 1 for 1.
Probably cuz Gibson knows he gets a ring of he comes to edmonton lolol

Skinner is closer to a back up than a starter.

If you were to upgrade the tandem, which would you move.

Skinner probably has a higher ceiling than Pickard. His main strength over Pickard is size which is more important.

But Skinner in general lacks consistency and athleticism/mobility. Majority of goaltenders struggle with consistency but I think Skinner is more of a rollercoaster than most.

If you were to move Pickard for someone whos on Skinners level, I worry that the team and the whoever makes the goalie decisions is just going to lean on Skinner anyway. He gets a ton of rope. Even when Pickard plays well I don’t think he ever gets the next game.

Skinner also going to get paid way more on his next deal than I am comfortable with unless he just falls completely apart but I think its difficult because the team is too good.

Curious what Bowman and Jackson do. If their analytics department has any credibility they know what the problems are.
Skinner has a higher ceiling. Has shown he can play like a #1. But with money and him wanting an extension is it affordable esp with Rodriguez in the pipeline. I do wonder how Skinner would do under new goalie coach

I would mind Skinner being traded amd just turning into a true #1 to expose the putz Schwartz lolol
 
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Sounds like Jake Evans will be traded soon.

He would be a great fit here for the #3C in a shutdown role.

Probably cuz Gibson knows he gets a ring of he comes to edmonton lolol


Skinner has a higher ceiling. Has shown he can play like a #1. But with money and him wanting an extension is it affordable esp with Rodriguez in the pipeline. I do wonder how Skinner would do under new goalie coach

I would mind Skinner being traded amd just turning into a true #1 to expose the putz Schwartz lolol

I keep seeing fans saying this, but who cares what Skinner becomes if Gibson or someone else comes in and wins a cup?

Schwartz needs to go at some point. Gibson would probably have a good idea how good/bad Schwartz is.
 
None of these are good examples, to speak to the extreme variance of goaltenders one need go no further than Hellebuyck, pretty much everyone agrees he is a top 3 goalie in the league, it wasn't that long ago you were saying we should trade absolutely anything WPG wants to get him (I think excluding the big 2) and the second we get him it is a guaranteed Cup.

Fast forward:
+2022-23 playoffs Sv%= 0.886
+2023-24 playoffs Sv%= 0.864

That level of performance is the equivalent of one McDavid, Draisaitl, MacKinnon (top 3 fwds in the league) playing at the level of Derek Ryan (and that's being ungenerous to Derek Ryan) and that's not in just one playoff, but 2 consecutive playoffs.

You can make the same comparison for Makar and Hughes playing to the level of Travis Dermott for 2 consecutive playoffs, its absolutely unthinkable.

Forwards and defense are far more predictable than goalies its just a simple reality, there average level of play has nowhere near the same level of variance, like any of the above forwards or D can have a bad playoffs, but their bad is not the equivalent of replacing them with a random ECHL player.

This can happen for forwards too though, Eberle was getting paid 6 million dollars in 16-17 and had 0 goals for us in two playoff rounds, RNH stank it up too, both got outscored by (checks notes) Anton Slepyshev, who actually had more goals than both of them combined and he washed out of the NHL entirely 50 games later.

We've had tons of whiffs on forwards in the McDavid era too, really the only forward we've signed or traded for after Chia's first year that's been a slam dunk has been Hyman.

Lucic bombed here, Strome bombed, Spooner bombed (lol), Athansiou was a waste of 2 2nds, Neal had to be bought out, Connor Brown was a big whiff at 4 million, Arvidsson is not having a good season, J. Skinner can barely get top 6 playing time. I wouldn't label Henrique a slam dunk either.

We have a terrible win/loss rate on forwards being brought in here too.

Did anyone listen to Bowman talk?

- We aren't getting a goalie
- Starting Defence is set


We will add 1 forward. He basically said guys on the team are pushing for more mins. It's a valid point. They have a close nit group of guys and adding players takes somebody (one of the boys) out of the line up.
The good news? He used the injury excuse, saying what if we endure injuries? That is the reason we will add a player.

Now... the question is do we get a top 6 player or a bottom 6 guy? What will the Oilers do???? I hope this can shift the discussion around here.

I wouldn't expect a GM to telegraph what they are going to do in a pre-deadline interview to any media source. You're better off looking at Bob Stauffer's comments for getting a read on where the management's head is at.
 
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I mean if he can't beat out Skinner because Gibson comes in and plays like shit then that's a problem. If he comes in and magically Skinner becomes a top 10 goalie in the league because he's finally pushed by another goalie that wouldn't be a bad thing (I don't see it happening). Let your play do the talking. Beating out Stu is not a high bar. That said, maybe Gibson's issue is Schwartz and how he give Stu unlimited chances?
 
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Probably cuz Gibson knows he gets a ring of he comes to edmonton lolol


Skinner has a higher ceiling. Has shown he can play like a #1. But with money and him wanting an extension is it affordable esp with Rodriguez in the pipeline. I do wonder how Skinner would do under new goalie coach

I would mind Skinner being traded amd just turning into a true #1 to expose the putz Schwartz lolol

Who knows honestly with goaltending.

His mental game may improve on a team without as much pressure. It’s hard to see his mobility improving especially as he gets older.
 
I think Oilers management was thinking this year would go like last year where Skinner started poorly but then largely rode the high tide of that monster win streak especially to OK numbers for the rest of the year.

That isn't happening in the same way this year, he started bad and rebounded for a bit sure, but he's had bad stretches again since then and has consistently been poor against good teams this year all year long.
 
If they truly believe that the skaters currently on the roster + Kane is enough to get the job done in the playoffs, then I think you have to get Gibson. Not spending to the cap would be an insane decision.

My preference would be a top six centre, but a high upside goalie is the absolute minimum I would accept.
 

Imagine this shit stain management group prevented/prevents this from happening so the State Puff Marshmallow man can take us to sub 900 glory

In what fking world is gibson battling for the #1 job with skinner 🤣🤣
In some bizarro land. I have a headache just reading this.

I mean if he can't beat out Skinner because Gibson comes in and plays like shit then that's a problem. If he comes in and magically Skinner becomes a top 10 goalie in the league because he's finally pushed by another goalie that wouldn't be a bad thing (I don't see it happening). Let your play do the talking. Beating out Stu is not a high bar. That said, maybe Gibson's issue is Schwartz and how he give Stu unlimited chances?
That's like saying "Can Elon Musk come in and beat the special needs kid in a math test"
 
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