Rumor: Rumours and Proposals PART6 for 2016/2017-Complaint window 1 is now open

[Aerrol]

I don't expect playoffs for this team. I think they'll improve since the necessary steps have finally been taken.

We're sitting here in October crying about waiver pickups and PTOs. What happened to crying about UFAs in July?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Different topic, same result on the board, and likely same result in the standings. In my eyes, our entire season rests on our shiny new captain. If he can't carry this sorry team, we're bound for another bottom 5 finish.

We were just lucky enough to get a player that might be able to do that. I can't speak for Spawn, but I know that's the only reason I'm even bothering to stick around.

 

[Spawn]

How was this off-season the same thing? Please do inform us.

Going into the season with players who don't belong and expecting them to succeed? Check
Going into the season with one of the worst d-cores in the league? Check
Zero depth anywhere in the organization in case of the liklihood of injuries? Check

If you can't see it you never will.

The only hope this team has is as Aerrol says right above me. McDavid is going to need to be the best player in the world or this team doesn't have a hope in hell.

 

[IAGTTAYM]

Slepshev is nhl ready.

He had 21 points in 49 games in the AHL last season. Projecting him to be NHL ready is silly.

 

[Mowzie]

So who's listening to Oilers Now that wants to transcribe Chia's interview for the rest of us?

I'll try.

 

[McTedi]

After 10 years of the exact same thing every year what do you expect? Forgive me if I don't buy that this time around will be any different.

I guess but it's been 30+ years since we've had the best player in the NHL playing for us as well. If you can't find any positives about this team then you probably never will.

 

[nabob]

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie · 54s54 seconds ago

CGY signs Nick Grossmann, who was on a PTO, to one-year, one-way deal worth $575K.

Finally some good news for Oilers fans

 

[McTrashBoat]

I'll try.

Sweet

Just any key points would be really appreciated

 

[ohheyhemsky]

He had 21 points in 49 games in the AHL last season. Projecting him to be NHL ready is silly.

Why? If he's starting off in a bottom two line role, that scoring clip is fine. Especially considering he adds a lot more than just points.

 

[lakai17]

Yeah, I agree. I think Pitlick is ready for the full-time gig too.

and unlike Yak, Slepyshev and Pitlick can be an impact on the bottom 6. Even with Pakarinen injured there's reliable depth in the system today who can step in when needed.

 

[dustrock]

Slepshev is nhl ready.

(1) Lander was the leader in points after preseason last year.

(2) Depth is a good thing, because if there's one thing the Oilers are good at, it's getting injured.

Wasting roster spots on guys like Mark Fraser are part of what prevents us from picking up RW depth when it becomes available.

 

[Spawn]

Look at this way, you've set yourself up. You'll either be surprised or you'll get to be right.

Now you've figured it out join me Jimmi. It's fun on the dark side.

 

[Weitz]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Different topic, same result on the board, and likely same result in the standings. In my eyes, our entire season rests on our shiny new captain. If he can't carry this sorry team, we're bound for another bottom 5 finish.

We were just lucky enough to get a player that might be able to do that. I can't speak for Spawn, but I know that's the only reason I'm even bothering to stick around.

This about sums it up for the year.

Its ride or die with McDavid.

 

[McDraekke]

The season starts tomorrow. Players have all hit and cleared waivers. This is the team we've got. Piss poor defensive depth, piss poor forward depth, and piss poor goaltending depth. What a sham this organization is.

But this is still a clear upgrade to previous seasons where we were concerned with actual talent, not just depth. Our current forward lines should be able to handle what they need to for offense, grit and a decent amount of defensive awareness when Hendo gets back from injury. Our defense has improved. Our goal-tending situation hasn't improved from last year, but in actuality we have more depth than before (Talbot, Gustavsson, Brossoit).

I understand that the Oilers still aren't a lock for playoffs now, and even in the next few years, but I will be utterly shocked if the best line up we've been able to manufacture in over a decade isn't fighting for a spot in the next couple, which is a marked improvement on what we've seen recently.

Not everything can get fixed in an off-season or two. You can give Chia some wiggle room for last off-season as he wanted to see what we had, and he made some decent pick ups on the cheap in Kassian and Maroon to address toughness, has improved our defense without too much damage to our offense (I'm a firm believer that Lucic + Larsson will bring a net positive return to the team than Hall, and I don't believe Chia would have signed Lucic if we still had Hall). He has addressed a bit of goalie depth this year (clearly he wants Brossoit to get as much ice time as possible so he signed a backup for the big team, albeit a bad one), he got rid of some baggage in Yakupov without retaining and I'd say there is a 50/50 chance that we get a second out of the deal, has improved our D with a couple of moves. Are there still holes? Hell ya. But is this worth some of the negativity you are bringing? I don't think so.

I'm not saying all of this to tell you what you can or can't believe. Believe we are worse this year until we see hard facts - I'm a very logical, hard facts kind of person myself, so no judgement there. I'm a bit of an optimist when it comes to this team, historically, but I think this year we finally have the right mix to move up in the standings. But saying that nothing has improved, or that we are just as bad as previous years without waiting for some actual facts to back it up is premature. On paper the Oilers are a better team.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

That sounds better to me than "you'll either be (likely) bitterly disappointed or get to be right".

I actually meant pleasantly surprised, Spawn has decided that the season is over, so if the Oilers over achieve by his merger standards for them, he can be surprised.

 

[oobga]

there's no indication that that will be the case. If you recall, Drai getting sent down was tough because it was to the CHL, and we wanted his team to trade his rights to a team like Kelowna. If JP shows to be a liability, he will be sent to the AHL as quickly as Slepyshev was sent down last year.

I'm choosing Stauffer comments as the #1 indication Since he's been on the money lately. Pulju being our 2nd best RW by season end like Stauffer insists should require letting him develop at the NHL level and hoping he can excel.

 

[the pen is mightier]

To quote Bart Simpson
"You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't."

Trade for one of the better, young RHD in the game and sign a legit LHD veteran NHL player, same person hates both moves but then say we didn't address the depth issue on D at all.

And re-signed a decent 6/7 RHD, who may be sent down because of the lack of depth.

 

[DipsyMcDoodles]

[: is ready to feast

 

[Spawn]

But this is still a clear upgrade to previous seasons where we were concerned with actual talent, not just depth. Our current forward lines should be able to handle what they need to for offense, grit and a decent amount of defensive awareness when Hendo gets back from injury. Our defense has improved. Our goal-tending situation hasn't improved from last year, but in actuality we have more depth than before (Talbot, Gustavsson, Brossoit).

I understand that the Oilers still aren't a lock for playoffs now, and even in the next few years, but I will be utterly shocked if the best line up we've been able to manufacture in over a decade isn't fighting for a spot in the next couple, which is a marked improvement on what we've seen recently.

Not everything can get fixed in an off-season or two. You can give Chia some wiggle room for last off-season as he wanted to see what we had, and he made some decent pick ups on the cheap in Kassian and Maroon to address toughness, has improved our defense without too much damage to our offense (I'm a firm believer that Lucic + Larsson will bring a net positive return to the team than Hall, and I don't believe Chia would have signed Lucic if we still had Hall). He has addressed a bit of goalie depth this year (clearly he wants Brossoit to get as much ice time as possible so he signed a backup for the big team, albeit a bad one), he got rid of some baggage in Yakupov without retaining and I'd say there is a 50/50 chance that we get a second out of the deal, has improved our D with a couple of moves. Are there still holes? Hell ya. But is this worth some of the negativity you are bringing? I don't think so.

I'm not saying all of this to tell you what you can or can't believe. Believe we are worse this year until we see hard facts - I'm a very logical, hard facts kind of person myself, so no judgement there. I'm a bit of an optimist when it comes to this team, historically, but I think this year we finally have the right mix to move up in the standings. But saying that nothing has improved, or that we are just as bad as previous years without waiting for some actual facts to back it up is premature. On paper the Oilers are a better team.

I don't actually think the Oilers will be worse this year. I do think they will be better. But I don't think it will be by a meaningful amount. I don't think they will realistically compete for a playoff and to me that's just not exceptable anymore.

 

[AVE MAN]

I wonder if this means that Tkachuk is definitely going down before game 10?

 

[McTrashBoat]

And re-signed a decent 6/7 RHD, who may be sent down because of the lack of depth.

and Russell, a 4/5

 

[Del Preston]

Stauffer is spitting all over the place.

 

[Canovin]

and unlike Yak, Slepyshev and Pitlick can be an impact on the bottom 6. Even with Pakarinen injured there's reliable depth in the system today who can step in when needed.

Weren't you the biggest "Fail for Nail" advocator on HFoil?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Going into the season with players who don't belong and expecting them to succeed? Check
Going into the season with one of the worst d-cores in the league? Check
Zero depth anywhere in the organization in case of the liklihood of injuries? Check

If you can't see it you never will.

The only hope this team has is as Aerrol says right above me. McDavid is going to need to be the best player in the world or this team doesn't have a hope in hell.

The d-core improved quite a bit and if you can't see that then I'm not sure what to tell you. You can't complain about having the worst d-core in the league and then whine when it gets improved when there were no other options available. We all would've loved Subban in Oiler silks but that deal was never even close to happening. There is depth on D too, hence Russell which pushes Nurse down the lineup (and hopefully into the AHL where he belongs). You complain about the D being bad and then complain when players are added to said defense? What do you want? Defensemen are a very prized commodity. The Oilers have little depth on the RW side. ...And? So what? They have good center depth and LW depth. But oh no it's bad on the right side so who's first overall?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Different topic, same result on the board, and likely same result in the standings. In my eyes, our entire season rests on our shiny new captain. If he can't carry this sorry team, we're bound for another bottom 5 finish.

We were just lucky enough to get a player that might be able to do that. I can't speak for Spawn, but I know that's the only reason I'm even bothering to stick around.

Should've kept Hall to ensure the d-core stays the worst in the league then. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

I wonder if this means that Tkachuk is definitely going down before game 10?

Tkachuk will outplay Versteeg, guaranteed.

 

[McTrashBoat]

Stauffer is spitting all over the place.

like what? Bringing in a RW?