Stan Bowman Worst GM of the Year?

[CycloneSweep]

It was just extremely short sighted.

You saw Henrique perform decent for a short sample size and decided to toss away your solid, young 3C with speed for a spec that isnt even helping them.

Broberg and Holloway, its like they though ahh we didnt really need them to get to this point, so we can let them go. Just like completely ignoring how they might continue to develop and help them in the future...

Same thing with Skinner, oh he got us to the finals, surely we can get there again with him...

When everything first came out there was a few things.
Henrique, Janmark and Brown were looking like a great third line at the end of the playoffs. Henrique has consistently put up good numbers, so keeping him made sense.
Adding Skinner at that amount made some sense too, as a guy that should be able to play second line (we were missing 3 top 6 wingers) and be a guy that can help challenge Holloway to push for more time, and improve our depth. Arvidsson was a bit of the same but even a ton of Oilers fans worried about that one due to his injuries.

What literally no one knew until almost the deadline that he gave Janmark, Henrique and Arvidsson god damn full NMc for both years. To us it felt like cool we got these guys at decent contracts and if a young guy pushes them out, no problem. We also thought okay LTIR Kane and then you can trade one of them later in the season if he comes back early to keep Holloway and or Broberg. But…those secret NMC are what held that back.

The problem was Jackson refusing to prioritize good youth signings and made them feel like they simply had to take garbage money, but I don’t get how an agent forgets about offer sheets.

Trading away McLeod seemed fine in a bubble cause we all expected Holloway to still be here and we did get really good value for McLeod

 

[branch]

It’s absolutely astounding that this dumbass nepo baby found himself in another GM role and even more astounding that he was content to ride Skinner into the playoffs again

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Maybe big trade deadline acquisition Max Jones makes the difference next game

 

[Fatass]

It’s absolutely astounding that this dumbass nepo baby found himself in another GM role and even more astounding that he was content to ride Skinner into the playoffs again

How much of the cap did Bowman allocate to his goalie tandem? 4 mil? Add that their defending is not so good and we see them allow a lot of goals.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

The only thing Bowman did was decline to match offer sheets that were, in fairness deliberately priced to maximize the chances of going unmatched.

Injuries are hurting the Oilers more than anything he did or did not do. Frankly, I'd argue keeping the powder dry in a year where the team is skidding is better long term planning than spending assets on trying to prop up a weak ship.

Goaltending isn't even remotely close to adequate for an NHL goalie.

Analytics show the Oilers are giving up an "average" number of high-danger scoring chances. Skinner can't save any of them. Every breakaway, 2-on-1, tip in front is going in.

We're giving up the same numbers as Colorado and Montreal.
In Game 1 they really should ahve only scored 2 goals. Data shows: If Skinner were an NHL-average goalie he would have stopped 5 extra goals those first 3 games.

The stats are damning. But when you watch him play you see a slow lumbering goalie with horrible fundamentals who can't move laterally or track point shots through traffic.

 

[57special]

When everything first came out there was a few things.
Henrique, Janmark and Brown were looking like a great third line at the end of the playoffs. Henrique has consistently put up good numbers, so keeping him made sense.
Adding Skinner at that amount made some sense too, as a guy that should be able to play second line (we were missing 3 top 6 wingers) and be a guy that can help challenge Holloway to push for more time, and improve our depth. Arvidsson was a bit of the same but even a ton of Oilers fans worried about that one due to his injuries.

What literally no one knew until almost the deadline that he gave Janmark, Henrique and Arvidsson god damn full NMc for both years. To us it felt like cool we got these guys at decent contracts and if a young guy pushes them out, no problem. We also thought okay LTIR Kane and then you can trade one of them later in the season if he comes back early to keep Holloway and or Broberg. But…those secret NMC are what held that back.

The problem was Jackson refusing to prioritize good youth signings and made them feel like they simply had to take garbage money, but I don’t get how an agent forgets about offer sheets.

Trading away McLeod seemed fine in a bubble cause we all expected Holloway to still be here and we did get really good value for McLeod

I do. When was the last time there was one prior to this? Weber?

 

[Iwishihadaspacebar]

Two years ago Draisaitl ended the playoffs as joint top goal scorer in the post-season whilst playing only 12 games.

Last year McDavid dragged them to game 7 of the finals and had 10 points more than the next highest player.

If you have either of those guys on a team that has even average goaltending and D, that team would be a cup contender. With both of them the conference finals should be the miminum. It is incredible how the same issues are still there when they should have been fixed at any stage of the last 3-4 seasons.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I do. When was the last time there was one prior to this? Weber?

Offer sheets happen every year and players don’t sign them. Aho, Kotkaniemi were recent ones. Players can often use them as negotiation tactics too. “Hey this team gave me an offer sheet, I haven’t signed it yet but you need to bring your offer up”

 

[CycloneSweep]

Two years ago Draisaitl ended the playoffs as joint top goal scorer in the post-season whilst playing only 12 games.

Last year McDavid dragged them to game 7 of the finals and had 10 points more than the next highest player.

If you have either of those guys on a team that has even average goaltending and D, that team would be a cup contender. With both of them the conference finals should be the miminum. It is incredible how the same issues are still there when they should have been fixed at any stage of the last 3-4 seasons.

This year the Oilers have some absolutely insane record of 32-6 when our goalies manage a 0.900s%. We literally just need an AVERAGE goalie and we would win a ton.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

All the Oilers had to do in the offseason was nothing and they figured out a way to screw it up.

 

[FiveTacos]

They can't justify not acquiring a goalie because of cap reasons, after spending stupid money on old farts and rentals they could have let walk. And of course, the team D does still suck.

In the end a lot of it comes down to the fact that outside of their two stars, they really didn't draft all that well over the years. That puts you in positions where you make bad decisions out of necessity, because you don't have high probability young talent coming up to enable you to let other guys go if they get too expensive for what they are.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Gonna wait until the 2025 Oilers are dead and buried before making any proclamations like that.

I remember the thread when they were down 3-0 vs Florida, “Are the Oilers the worst Stanley Cup finalists of all time?”

Exactly. Granted, being down 0-2 heading to LA is not a good situation for the Oilers - but until the digit in the loss column hits 4 - let's hold off on the autopsy.

There may be some scar tissue on the OP of this thread dating back to when Bowman was GM of the Hawks where one of many "questionable" predicaments Bowman found himself in was when SJ presented a "Sofie's choice" to Bowman by presenting offer sheets to both Cup winning goalie Niemi and Cup winning #3 d-man Hjalmarsson. History shows he made the right choice when Crawford replaced Niemi and led the Hawks to 2 more Cups - BUT - the point is that Bowman didn't do enough to prevent the Hawks from being in that situation. Giving Bowman all the blame for that is a bit unfair because their Cap situation was in dire straits in the attempt to win the Cup in almost 50 years - but the offer sheet debacle was only one of quite a few numbskull moves by Bowman over the years that still have many Hawks fans scarred for life.

 

[Draiskull]

They can't justify not acquiring a goalie because of cap reasons, after spending stupid money on old farts and rentals they could have let walk. And of course, the team D does still suck.

In the end a lot of it comes down to the fact that outside of their two stars, they really didn't draft all that well over the years. That puts you in positions where you make bad decisions out of necessity, because you don't have high probability young talent coming up to enable you to let other guys go if they get too expensive for what they are.

Bowman even had options at trade deadline and was getting grilled by media re upgrading in net.
He literally claimed this duo is ideal for playoffs and he isnt even considering upgrading on either.

 

[syz]

The injuries and goaltending are bad, but so are a lot of the guys they brought in during the offseason and TDL. Watching Arvidsson play hockey at this stage is like watching Yakupov. Skinner's "okay" at best and the coach hates him anyways so it doesn't matter. Frederic can barely move. Max Jones and Josh Brown aren't NHL'ers on any team. Podkolzin is the only new guy who I think most people would be glad to see on their team... if it was on the 4th line.

 

[Macheteops]

He was hired near the end of July, so didn’t have much time tbf.

He could have easily matched Holloway's offer-sheet. He had a full season to get a competent goalie. He traded for a guy at the deadline that was injured and still looks injured

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Never thought I would be guy to defend Bowman (I was not fan)

But

He didn't screw up their cap and make those awful signings in July (That was Jackson). He inherited the awful Kane and Nurse contracts

And this "He needed to upgrade Skinner" ignores the reality that there was nothing really out there for them to acquire that they could afford that were viable upgrade at this point over Skinner

Previous GM giving Skinner his extension (Was that Holland?) set stage for this reality because at $2.6M+ Stuart is too costly to move given his level of play but also burying him doesn't open enough room to improve situation either

Only thing you can really attack him for was decision of offer sheets but again Jackson left them vulnerable to that possibility, and he was in tough situation once they came after he had just taken job

 

[Voight]

Wasn't Jeff Jackson the GM on July 1 when they signed Arvidsson, Skinner, and Henrique?

Yup... and he neglected to sign Holloway and Broberg when he had ample time to do so.

Worth noting he gave all three of them NMC's.... yeesh.

 

[tfwnogf]

Yes. He makes Dubas look like a genius in comparison.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Why was an Interim GM given so much power? I guess July 1st actions have to be taken, but given front office shuffle, you'd think he's probably just a caretaker more than independent actor outside of perfunctory functions. Was he acting on someone else (Holland?)'s directive?

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

All I can imagine is if Chevy had McDavid and Drai what kind of team would he have built around them? Even without the gift of finding Helly in the 5th round, I bet a few cup wins for a Chevy built team

What Chevy is able to do with a small market team is amazing definitely one of the best GMs in the league

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

he's neck and neck with Drury

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

Anyone want to guess who influenced the Jeff Jackson hiring?

That player is the real cause of the mess, as he wants to play GM also.

Also influenced the Nurse and Brown signings.

 

[glenngineer]

I think you can throw Barry Trotz’s name into the ring.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Wasn't Jeff Jackson the GM on July 1 when they signed Arvidsson, Skinner, and Henrique?

He was. And I can understand all of those signings. The only issue is with the Skinner signing. He should have spoken with the coach about how he envisioned Skinner fitting on the team, because its been apparent all season that Knoblauch didn't really want Skinner. Arvidsson has underperformed, but it was seen as a good contract at the time. Hindsight is a huge thing with these deals.

The goalie situation was a fail all around for both Jackson and Bowman. Especially with Mackenzie Blackwood being available for most of the season. You can't tell me that the Oilers couldn't have made an offer and gotten Blackwood.

 

[Diogenes92]

Problem #1 is that they need a reliable starting goalie. Skinner should be a backup goalie that can step up if needed. He doesn't seem to be able to handle the pressure that comes with being a starter.

Canucks signed Lankinen to a 875k contract at the start of the season. There are solid options out there and no legitimate excuses for not seeking them out.

Problem #2 is Oilers mgmt believing that Nurse is a top pairing D. He isn't anywhere close to that other than being vastly overpaid.

If they were able to find a solid defensively responsible option to play alongside Bouchard, it would do wonders for them. Having Nurse and Bouchard play together should be a fireable offence.