So.. Edmonton has to be the favorites coming out of the west, right?

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Don't even close, not in aa world where St. Louis Dallas and Vegas exist not even close

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Good post as usual. All teams deal with injuries, it’s part of being an NHL team. We’re going through a bad case of the injury bug right now, sounds like Yamo might be back who I know you’re a fan of. Yamo going down has completely neutralized that Nuge-Drai-Yamo.

Outside of perhaps Vegas, all the Pacific playoff teams or bubble teams have some issues, I agree.

Honestly, the Oilers losing Klefbom is even worse than losing McDavid as crazy as that sounds. Last time I looked I believe he was top 5 in minutes per game in the NHL. He is no doubt our #1 D man.

Klefbom does so much heavy lifting for us in all situations. When he goes down, our record substantially gets worse every time.

Well said. Every team has a few players they just can’t afford to lose. Klefblom is one of those guys as it has a ripple effect down the whole lineup.
The West is going to be fun this year. I think there’s an opportunity for one of the three Canadian western teams to go on a bit of a run. It may well depend on who gets hot at the right time, has good health and hot goaltending. Been a while since all three of Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary have been relevant at the same time. I’m just going to enjoy playoff hockey (fingers and toes still crossed) and renewing old rivalries. It’s been way too long!

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

Gotta sell tickets in Vegas

 

[snipes]

Well said. Every team has a few players they just can’t afford to lose. Klefblom is one of those guys as it has a ripple effect down the whole lineup.
The West is going to be fun this year. I think there’s an opportunity for one of the three Canadian western teams to go on a bit of a run. It may well depend on who gets hot at the right time, has good health and hot goaltending. Been a while since all three of Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary have been relevant at the same time. I’m just going to enjoy playoff hockey (fingers and toes still crossed) and renewing old rivalries. It’s been way too long!

For sure, there’s entire generations of fans in the Western Canada which is the heartland of hockey who haven’t seen the bitter nastiness that occurs when the Western Canadian teams are good. Sans the Nucks v Flames playoff series a few years back.

A Battle of Alberta in the playoffs or a Canucks v Oilers or Flames would reignite the rivalries even further.

I think the Canucks top to bottom are probably deepest of the teams, but we’ll see how the Oilers look when fully healthy. We absolutely need Klefbom back immediately, he is such an impact player on our roster.

 

[Love]

Gotta sell tickets in Vegas

What is it with Oilers fans and constantly bitching about the refs and the league being against them?

Seriously you would think a fan base that had 4 first overall picks in 6 years would be the last team to bitch about the league being against them but apparently not.

 

[Love]

Vegas is the best team in not only the Pacific but possibly the entire NHL at the moment. They’re winning and doing it in a sustainable way. That’s the one team I really hope we don’t have to play in the first round if we make it.

 

[blankall]

For sure, there’s entire generations of fans in the Western Canada which is the heartland of hockey who haven’t seen the bitter nastiness that occurs when the Western Canadian teams are good. Sans the Nucks v Flames playoff series a few years back.

A Battle of Alberta in the playoffs or a Canucks v Oilers or Flames would reignite the rivalries even further.

I think the Canucks top to bottom are probably deepest of the teams, but we’ll see how the Oilers look when fully healthy. We absolutely need Klefbom back immediately, he is such an impact player on our roster.

The Canucks are most certainly not deeper than the Flames. Defence is not contest when it comes to depth. The Flames are potentially the deepest defence in the NHL, especially after adding Forbert and Gus. The Canucks bottom six falls off a cliff, while the Flames still have bright spots in it like Ryan and Dube. I'd also take role players like Lucic and Bennett over many of the non-contributors in the Canucks bottom six.

The Cancucks top end has definitely been more consistent than the Flames offensively. That's not the same as depth though.

 

[FreeMcdavid]

Edmonton will be unstoppable when they get healthy and get everyone back like Klefbom, Kassian, Yamo, AA.

They are going to ease through the pacific in the playoffs. Who is going to stop Mcdavid and Drai?

easy win

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

The Canucks bottom six falls off a cliff, while the Flames still have bright spots in it like Ryan and Dube. .

Umm... you do realize Virtanen and Gaudette have combined for over 20 pts more than Ryan and Dube ?

 

[snipes]

The Canucks are most certainly not deeper than the Flames. Defence is not contest when it comes to depth. The Flames are potentially the deepest defence in the NHL, especially after adding Forbert and Gus. The Canucks bottom six falls off a cliff, while the Flames still have bright spots in it like Ryan and Dube. I'd also take role players like Lucic and Bennett over many of the non-contributors in the Canucks bottom six.

The Cancucks top end has definitely been more consistent than the Flames offensively. That's not the same as depth though.

Lol the Flames are nowhere close to deepest D core in the NHL.

St. Louis, Carolina, Tampa, etc. are deeper and better D cores.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

For the Flames the comparison would be Hamonic, Lucic and Dube. If those 3 players were out I sure hope it wouldn't affect our chance to win games, they are all secondary players.

That's a poor comparision.

Klefbom is more of a Hanifin. Puckmover who doesn't do anything especially well.

Neal is more of a Rinaldo. Black hole with an inflated SH%. Though rinaldo draws more penalties and is healthy scratched more appropriately when he's a liability.

Yamamoto is more of a Matthew Phillips. They're basically the same player though Phillips is more productive. Though Yamamoto certainly has had quite the hot streak on a hot line. Reminds me of those days Eberle - Hopkins - Pouliot were "the best line in the league" lol

 

[blankall]

Umm... you do realize Virtanen and Gaudette have combined for over 20 pts more than Ryan and Dube ?

And they have 16 more Power Play points. I generally, do not see players who are getting substantial power play time on effective units as bottom 6. The Canucks are shuffling players in and out of their 2nd line and their lineup generally. That's usually a sign that you lack depth.

The Flames system is also less offensively orientated. They've purposely put players in the lineup who bring physical play, while sacrificing offensive output. To compare just points isn't correct.

 

[blankall]

Lol the Flames are nowhere close to deepest D core in the NHL.

St. Louis, Carolina, Tampa, etc. are deeper and better D cores.

I didn't say the best d-core. But in terms of depth, the Flames are right up there.

Edit: to clarify, all of those teams kill Calgary in the top 4, but Calgary's depth is arguably superior.

 

[snipes]

That's a poor comparision.

Klefbom is more of a Hanifin. Puckmover who doesn't do anything especially well.

Neal is more of a Rinaldo. Black hole with an inflated SH%. Though rinaldo draws more penalties and is healthy scratched more appropriately when he's a liability.

Yamamoto is more of a Matthew Phillips. They're basically the same player though Phillips is more productive. Though Yamamoto certainly has had quite the hot streak on a hot line. Reminds me of those days Eberle - Hopkins - Pouliot were "the best line in the league" lol

Was going to respond in detail, then I noted that Matthew Phillips has never even played an NHL game.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Lol the Flames are nowhere close to deepest D core in the NHL.

St. Louis, Carolina, Tampa, etc. are deeper and better D cores.

To be fair, when healthy Giordano/Brodie/Hanifin/Andersson/Hamonic/Gustafsson is a damn good dcore.

Blues lost JayBo and Tampa's D is a bit top heavy in my opinion, Bolts may have better horses but i think in terms of depth the Flames can match.

It's up there i would say and the reason (if) they have success.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Was going to respond in detail, then I noted that Matthew Phillips has never even played an NHL game.

Therein lies the difference between the two teams' depth.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

The Canucks are most certainly not deeper than the Flames. Defence is not contest when it comes to depth. The Flames are potentially the deepest defence in the NHL, especially after adding Forbert and Gus. The Canucks bottom six falls off a cliff, while the Flames still have bright spots in it like Ryan and Dube. I'd also take role players like Lucic and Bennett over many of the non-contributors in the Canucks bottom six.

The Cancucks top end has definitely been more consistent than the Flames offensively. That's not the same as depth though.

Ryan and Dube are better than Virtanen and Gaudette? I don’t think you watch many Canuck games. Those two have 20 more points than the Calgary duo. Depth at forward I see as being the Canucks pretty easily with the addition of Toffoli and a healthy Boeser. That’s J.T. Miller, EP, Toffoli, Pearson, Horvat, and Boeser as a top six. Then Roussell, Gaudette and Virtanen is better than the Flames third line.
I do agree that the Canucks fourth line is no world beater but Motte, Beagle, Sutter, Eriksson is not a huge drop off from the Flames group. But the edge goes to Calgary on the fourth line.

Defense I will give you. I like Calgary’s D better overall although obviously Hughes closes the gap.

All three of the Western Canadian teams have their strengths and weaknesses and the closeness in the standings reflects that. Bu you can’t just ignore the goal differential stats for Calgary. Last I checked they were a minus 11 while Vancouver was a plus 17. While it’s not the be all and end all there is generally a pretty high correlation between playoff position and goal differential. St. Louis for example is a plus 29. That speaks to some weaknesses with Calgary imo that you aren’t accounting for.

 

[McShogun99]

We've been through this many many times. Neal had an incredible start, but for the last 4 months, his contributions have actually been less than Lucic. You can't assume that if he was back in the lineup he'd be playing like anything but the way he has for the last 4 months. Especially since Edmonton just acquired a piece to replace him on the 1st PP unit.

LOL. Compaing Klefbom, Neal, and Yamamoto to all star level players, one of which won the Norris trophy. Oh and by the way that Norris winner is injured, and has missed far more games than Klefbom so far this season.

Backlund has 15 points in his last 10 games. Would losing him be the same as losing McDavid or Draisaitl. Do you see the flaws in your logic. Some players are just objectively better than others, despite short term contributions.

Edit: Also, please put Neal back in. We need him to score 2 more goals, to get the Flames that 3rd, and he's running out of time.

Im comparing them to this season, in which all 3 players have been better. Klefbom is a huge loss for the Oilers considering how weak the team is on defense. If Gio, Gaudreau and Monahan were playing like they were last season then the Flames would easily be a favorite in the West.

 

[blankall]

Ryan and Dube are better than Virtanen and Gaudette? I don’t think you watch many Canuck games. Those two have 20 more points than the Calgary duo. Depth at forward I see as being the Canucks pretty easily with the addition of Toffoli and a healthy Boeser. That’s J.T. Miller, EP, Toffoli, Pearson, Horvat, and Boeser as a top six. Then Roussell, Gaudette and Virtanen is better than the Flames third line.
I do agree that the Canucks fourth line is no world beater but Motte, Beagle, Sutter, Eriksson is not a huge drop off from the Flames group. But the edge goes to Calgary on the fourth line.

Defense I will give you. I like Calgary’s D better overall although obviously Hughes closes the gap.

So basically what you are saying is that you can argue about who has more depth offensively, but defence is clearly in Calgary's favor. So Calgary has more depth overall.

 

[North Cole]

What is it with Oilers fans and constantly bitching about the refs and the league being against them?

Seriously you would think a fan base that had 4 first overall picks in 6 years would be the last team to bitch about the league being against them but apparently not.

I havent really complained about the refs, but you'd think you'd know the difference between human error/game management and a randomized lottery.

Could just as easily point out that your complaining about our first overall picks isnt any better than my fanbase complaining about refs.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

So basically what you are saying is that you can argue about who has more depth offensively, but defence is clearly in Calgary's favor. So Calgary has more depth overall.

No. I said:
‘Depth at forward I see as being the Canucks pretty easily with the addition of Toffoli and a healthy Boeser.’

Vancouver has better forward depth by a significant margin and Calgary better D depth.

As I amended my earlier post, there is usually a high correlation between goal differential and playoff ranking. The Flames are minus by a good margin while the Canucks are plus 17. Clearly you are not seeing some of the deficiencies with the Flames.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

And they have 16 more Power Play points. I generally, do not see players who are getting substantial power play time on effective units as bottom 6. The Canucks are shuffling players in and out of their 2nd line and their lineup generally. That's usually a sign that you lack depth.

The Flames system is also less offensively orientated. They've purposely put players in the lineup who bring physical play, while sacrificing offensive output. To compare just points isn't correct.

It's also a sign of injuries. It's not Virtanen's and Gaudette's fault that the Flames haven't had anyone hurt in the top 6 all season.

We are talking best lineup vs best lineup for the playoffs aren't we ? In that case, Gaudette and Virtanen will play on the 3rd line full-time and the way these guys have played this year, i don't know how anyone would say Ryan and Dube are somehow brighter spots and way better. In fact, i like the Roussel-Gaudette-Virtanen line. Brings energy, play with pace, can agitate as well as chip in every now and then offensively.

Also i'd rather have Jay Beagle than Mark Jankowski. Beagle was once upon a time one of the best 4th line centers in the league and that experience hasn't gone away. He's literally the best FO man in the entire league amongst bottom 6 centers, winning them at a staggering ~60%.

Sutter, Motte and old man Eriksson are meh, but they certainly work hard and know their role when they're on the 4th line. Not like the Flames have some luxury players there either.

I have to respectfully disagree - i don't think the Flames bottom 6 is better.

 

[Three On Zero]

Gotta sell tickets in Vegas

pretty good academy award dive attempt

 

[IceNeophyte]

Gotta sell tickets in Vegas

That was a legit body on the puck "carrier" followed by cringeworthy embellishment. Hits on puck carriers are, by definition, not interference.

 

[bucks_oil]

Even if Klefbom is your #1 d-man, it's not the same.

For example, let's use an NHL video game analogy. If you rate Klefbom a 78, and he gets injured, and you replace him with a player who is rated a 74, then it's not nearly as big of a blow as taking a player rated 90 and replacing him with a player rated 74. Do you get what I'm saying?

And you are the one with the "me" complex. Only a person infatuated with themselves would compare Yamamoto, Neal, and Klefbom to Gaudreau, Monahan, and Giordano. You've lost all ability to look beyond yourself and see things objectively.

I have a ME complex??? You haven’t even worked out I wasn’t the guy who made the comparison... that was a flames fan with a different Oilers fan making the rebuttal.

Moreover, my point is the relevance of these lost players in the context of the Oilers depth and their roles to the Oilers team. There are zero flames mentioned in my post, deliberately. How did that escape you?