Rumor: Rumors & Proposals Thread | Y'all Got Any Good Goalies?

[TopShelfGloveSide]

And the year before?

Or are you saying we should purposely fall into a wild card spot and try to go through the Central instead?

Did you hit your head? Jesus Christ.

 

[CanadasTeam99]

On the most recent GYB Strudwick said it's probably time for the team and player to have a conversation about how to move on from each other. Even if Skinner was playing well by his standards, his style just doesn't fit anywhere here. He recently had some decent games on the third line, then got badly exposed to the point of being benched the first time he faced a playoff level forecheck against the Panthers.

I know "only here for the playoffs!" blah blah blah, but if we opened the playoffs tomorrow with a fully healthy roster that includes Kane and Arvidsson does anyone here even have him in their opening lineup?

If Skinner wants to play in the playoffs his agent and the Oilers should probably start working on finding a playoff team to move him to. They are definitely out there.

I do not have him in my opening playoff roster if it started tomorrow and Kane/Arvidsson are 100%

Trading him after a convo should be a priority for what he makes.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Did you hit your head? Jesus Christ.

Did you? Unless you're expecting one of the WC teams (which are Calgary and Vancouver currently) to upset Vegas there's a strong chance we're going to have to play them in the playoffs. What part of this is so difficult to comprehend?

 

[AddyTheWrath]

How do K’Andre Miller’s fancies look?

 

[North]

Go back 20 pages, there is healthy conversation on this lol.

A group of people (including me) that think more speed and breakout ability is what we need, another group certain that his defensive metrics while playing over his head on a shitty team means he'll be bad here in a lesser role, another group that thinks we need more of a shutdown player.

I’m not super high on Matheson but I do think his skill set fits with what Coffey wants from the defense and I also think he’d pair well with Nurse.

 

[FlameChampion]

Just finished catching up on all the posts in this thread today and wow we're their some weird takes.

For starters why are all upset that we didn't trade for Kakko? Who is going out the other way? With Arvidsson and Kane coming back into the lineup at some point we already have too many wingers and that doesn't even factor in how well Kapanen has been playing. Keep in mind Kakko is making 2.4M and has arbitration rights.

Also, why do fans want Borgen? He's not good. He has some of the worst analytics among all dmen and the rangers took on his full 2.7M contract.

I’d probably prefer Kaako over Arviddson or JSkinner at this point. But we aren’t trading either so its a waste of effort and time to be mad. While I don’t mind either player, Arviddson is hurt too much and I don’t think he can be relied upon. I think JSkinner is coming around but I don’t think KK likes him much and the coach can’t really seem to put him a position to succeed.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Did you? Unless you're expecting one of the WC teams to upset Vegas there's a strong chance we're going to have to play them in the playoffs. What part of this is so difficult to comprehend?


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You said Vegas stands in our path to the cup because they are in our division. I said not necessarily… look at last season.

Then you started blabbing about lose on purpose and the usual non sense you go on about.

Sick standings picture. Where was Vegas sitting last season at this time? 21-6 I believe?

Figure it out.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

I’d probably prefer Kaako over Arviddson or JSkinner at this point. But we aren’t trading either so its a waste of effort and time to be mad. While I don’t mind either player, Arviddson is hurt too much and I don’t think he can be relied upon. I think JSkinner is coming around but I don’t think KK likes him much and the coach can’t really seem to put him a position to succeed.

I wouldn't be shocked if Skinner is traded tbh

 

[McDNicks17]

So after watching some highlights of Matheson yesterday it looks like he can flat out fly and at times can lay down the boom on opposing forwards. What are his strengths and weaknesses beyond that? I think that adding more speed to the left side is a good thing because Ekholm isn't getting any faster out there.

That's kind of the book on him. He's super athletic and has plenty of highlights, but also a ton of lowlights.

He has a tendency to look like a hybrid of bad Nurse and bad Bouchard on the defensive side of things. Lots of bad decisions, bad reads and lackadaisical play in the defensive zone.

I think he's a poor fit for a few reasons.

1) The bulk of his points come on the PP where he plays 3 minutes per game. He won't be playing on the PP here, so you're paying a premium for something you won't even use.

2) Nurse does well with reliable partners. Matheson is pure chaos. If you make Nurse read and react to boneheaded mistakes like Ceci did to him, you get bad Nurse pretty quick.

3) Matheson can skate pucks out in transition, but he isn't a great passer. Knob's system is almost entirely pass-outs. Nurse is similar and he struggled a ton getting used to looking for a pass instead of just skating pucks out.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

You said Vegas stands in our path to the cup because they are in our division. I said not necessarily… look at last season.

Then you started blabbing about lose on purpose and the usual non sense you go on about.

Sick standings picture. Where was Vegas sitting last season at this time? 21-6 I believe?

Figure it out.

Right, Vegas fell to the second WC spot which meant they had to go through the Central division since the Central division champion had the most points in the conference. Following me so far? In order for that to happen again as the standings are right now and probably will be before the end of the season, 4 teams will need to pass Vegas in the standings. It's pretty safe to assume that Vegas will likely be in the top 3 in the division by season's end Maybe they fall to the first wild card if Vancouver goes on a run. Ergo, we would likely face them in either round 1 or 2 because of how the playoffs work.

You see in the playoffs the 2/3 seeds in each division play each other. The winner of that series will face the winner between the division champion and the appropriate wild card team. That's why we played Vegas in the second round in 2023 instead of the Dallas Stars. Do you understand now?

In fact, going back the past 3 years we've faced the Pacific division champion in the second round every single time. If Vegas wins the division.... well, you can probably figure out the rest.

 

[VeteranPresence]

That's kind of the book on him. He's super athletic and has plenty of highlights, but also a ton of lowlights.

He has a tendency to look like a hybrid of bad Nurse and bad Bouchard on the defensive side of things. Lots of bad decisions, bad reads and lackadaisical play in the defensive zone.

I think he's a poor fit for a few reasons.

1) The bulk of his points come on the PP where he plays 3 minutes per game. He won't be playing on the PP here, so you're paying a premium for something you won't even use.

2) Nurse does well with reliable partners. Matheson is pure chaos. If you make Nurse read and react to boneheaded mistakes like Ceci did to him, you get bad Nurse pretty quick.

3) Matheson can skate pucks out in transition, but he isn't a great passer. Knob's system is almost entirely pass-outs. Nurse is similar and he struggled a ton getting used to looking for a pass instead of just skating pucks out.

This is all my read on him too. I just don't see a fit for this player in our system. All we need is a sound transitional defenseman who can suppress chances, they don't need to go end-to-end or anything like that. But unfortunately "we" are trying to be the smartest guys in the room again by thinking we can make an octagonal shape fit into a square hole. It also throws more cold water on analytics being core to our decision making, there are none that make this look like a good idea.

 

[CanadasTeam99]

I wonder how many deals we see today. Roster freeze is at 11:59 PM EST

 

[TB12]

“Maybe top 5”… we are without a doubt a top 5 team.

we are definitely better than Dallas and Carolina imo.

Absolutely Edmonton is top 5 with a bullet. Top 2 most likely. Imagine if they had goaltending?!

 

[McTonyBrar]

I gotta ask an honest question:

You're pretty busy on Twitter posting, you post here a fair bit, you listen to a lot of the oilers radio shows, I hear your name on the Rishaug podcast as you're sending in questions...so my question is: when do you sleep?!? haha. You must be a great multitasker!

lol I don’t sleep.

Jk ahaha in all honesty, how is it not easy with all the technology we have? Phones, apps etc.

In the last little while it’s gotten tiring

 

[Cloned]

And that's a good thing.

All these other GMs rumoured to be in on everything, but never actually getting the players is embarrassing.

Not every GM is like Ross Atkins???!!!

 

[ChaoticOrange]

How much of that is being played in a role above his pay grade or being in such a role on a shit team?

The problems with Matheson are fivefold to me.

He's not good at defending. He really never has been. His underlying numbers aren't good, and they weren't good in Florida either. They were okay in Pittsburgh. He had one good defensive season in Pittsburgh and that's about it. Pairing a guy that can't defend with Nurse, who ALSO spends long stretches of every season looking like he doesn't know how to play his position, is a recipe for disaster IMO. If you're not pairing him with Nurse, then why spend so much in cap and assets for a #5?

He needs ample PP time to be productive. His point totals look gaudy, but when you take into account that he plays literally half the game because Montreal's defense is abysmal, it paints a bit of a different picture.

He's got a relatively beefy cap hit. We have room to add one, and only one, 5 ish million dollar player without significant cap gymnastics that I don't know that we're capable of.

His acquisition cost. We don't have a lot of picks, and we don't have a lot of prospects worth a goddamn. Do we want to blow our single opportunity going all-in on the pocket 5's that is Mike Matheson? I doubt it.

Finally, Matheson hasn't played hockey that means anything in a long time. Intensity isn't something that you can just flip on and off. It's hard to go "okay I care now" and suddenly flip into playoff hockey. He's never been out of the first round.

 

[oXo Cube]

This is all my read on him too. I just don't see a fit for this player in our system. All we need is a sound transitional defenseman who can suppress chances, they don't need to go end-to-end or anything like that. But unfortunately "we" are trying to be the smartest guys in the room again by thinking we can make an octagonal shape fit into a square hole. It also throws more cold water on analytics being core to our decision making, there are none that make this look like a good idea.

Not sure I understand this. I have no access to private models of course but what publicly available data there is out there suggest pretty clearly that Matheson is at worst the 1B defender in Montreal.

He's a high event player and leans heavily on his legs to breakout so I'm open to the argument that Matheson is a bad stylistic fit for what we're looking for but all of the numbers indicate that he pretty consistently drives play in the right direction.

 

[Cloned]

Canucks close to acquiring Bowen Byram. There is no way we can go into the playoffs with our hideous defense. Man letting go of Broberg is officially a massive headache. He was basically Byrams answer for the Oilers. I don't like us going for another 30 plus year old defensive sieve if guys like Byram was available. This Managment better ask Skinner to accept a trade asap. Can't be sitting around getting scraps in March. Make the fn trades and free up cap.

It might cost them Pettersson though.

 

[oXo Cube]

This take is probably hot in here but if there really is an untenable locker room divide between Pettersson and Miller, the Canucks are about to get rid of the wrong guy.

Not that I'm complaining.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Right, Vegas fell to the second WC spot which meant they had to go through the Central division since the Central division champion had the most points in the conference. Following me so far? In order for that to happen again as the standings are right now and probably will be before the end of the season, 4 teams will need to pass Vegas in the standings. It's pretty safe to assume that Vegas will likely be in the top 3 in the division by season's end Maybe they fall to the first wild card if Vancouver goes on a run. Ergo, we would likely face them in either round 1 or 2 because of how the playoffs work.

You see in the playoffs the 2/3 seeds in each division play each other. The winner of that series will face the winner between the division champion and the appropriate wild card team. That's why we played Vegas in the second round in 2023 instead of the Dallas Stars. Do you understand now?

In fact, going back the past 3 years we've faced the Pacific division champion in the second round every single time. If Vegas wins the division.... well, you can probably figure out the rest.

A lot of gibberish and what ifs to still be wrong. Classic Keith.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

A lot of gibberish and what ifs to still be wrong. Classic Keith.

So who's going to finish top 3 in the division then? Please enlighten me.

 

[Reasonable Oil Fan]

So who's going to finish top 3 in the division then? Please enlighten me.

We are going to have home ice against a wild card team in the first round

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

So who's going to finish top 3 in the division then? Please enlighten me.

Who knows is the point. Like I just said Vegas was like 25-6 at this point last season and they finished in a wild card spot. Jets the year before plummeted. Avs gotten taken out by Seattle.

Worrying about going through Vegas is waste of time at this point in the season.

 

[Soundwave]

Said it in the other thread but

Arvidsson - 4 million
Kane - 5.125 million
Henrique - 3 million
Skinner - 3 million

Is way too much money locked in to over-30 guys who aren't providing a ton of value for their contracts at this point.

I think at minimum 1/4 has to go in-season and one more next summer.

They are all probably past their prime, two of them have serious health issues in Arvy and Kane which generally don't age well.

The other problem is none of these guys at this stage of their careers is a reliable bet to stay with McDavid or Draisaitl. Now McDavid/Drai may have some fault in that the may not be as easy to play with as advertised, but at the end of the day those two are going nowhere so if none of those 4 guys can be popped onto a McDavid or Draisaitl line and instantly give you good offense, then why are these guys even here?

Move one out in a trade for John Gibson or Cam Talbot. At least then we have a goalie that can push and/or take over for Skinner if he shits the bed.

 

[oXo Cube]

Said it in the other thread but

Arvidsson - 4 million
Kane - 5.125 million
Henrique - 3 million
Skinner - 3 million

Is way too much money locked in to over-30 guys who aren't providing a ton of value for their contracts at this point.

I think at minimum 1/4 has to go in-season and one more next summer.

They are all probably past their prime, two of them have serious health issues in Arvy and Kane which generally don't age well.

Move one out in a trade for John Gibson or Cam Talbot.

Skinner and Kane are both gone this Summer for sure. Quite confident that was always the plan.

In fact given the rumored pushback of Kane's timeline into March I'm not entirely sure he hasn't played his last game as an Oiler already.