Why does the disconnect between in how Oiler mgmt sees the team going forward, and how fans see the team seem to be growing?
Fans will generally never be completely happy with their team..
How much evidence in that how other 'successful' nhl franchises will supplement, tweak and compliment their prospect pool with complimentary parts until a successful mix is found? Isn't there already enough proof out there that the stand-by and wait for prospects to come around without surrounding them with a good supporting cast, appears to be dooming us to a future like the Islanders or the Panthers?
Say what you want about Mtl; they did what was necessary to jump start the franchise out of underachievement - I think I'd choke on my cheerios if the Oilers mgmt actually showed any moxy to make so-called hockey trades. Gilbert/Shultz isn't a hockey trade. Getting Fistric for almost nothing isn't either. Lets see them do something that will be unpopular and crazy, you know, like trading a top prospect for another top prospect that fits your needs better.
Someone somewhere in a recent post on HFOil made the comment that perhaps the Oil should have taken Larssen or Landeskog instead of RNH. When they showed the 'resulting roster', minus RNH? They forgot to include either of those players. I find it hard to play what-if, because each decision made always leads to a unique path of consequences. The only real constant we could all probably agree upon is that Mgmt would not have done any differently in tweaking or upgrading the supporting cast. To follow that logic? We'd probably be exactly where we are right at this moment, but with a slightly different looking roster.
We talk of trading certain players over and over. I've got what might be unpopular or 'stupid'. Go after some of the bona-fide contenders prospect pool by offering parts that could put them over the top in their push for the cup. For example, Horcoff. Yes Horcoff. He could be that 3rd line centre for a team who needs an experienced centreman, who can play in almost all situations and will understand what it takes to get to the final, but would probably be better suited as a supporting, complimentary part. He'll probably not be around long enough to experience the Oil becoming a contender again, so why not give him that opportunity elsewhere?
Ryan Jones is another such player who could make a valuable contribution to a contender now. Nick Schultz would be a depth offering for a team needing defensive depth for a long playoff run. Whitney? Not so much, or he would have been traded already. Unless, the Oilers are (once again) way over-valuing their players and demanding far too much in return.
Hemsky? He's just not hockey-smart enough, doesn't make players around him that much better, and the Oilers way over-value his worth, imo. If he had a better hockey brain? He'd be damned near as valuable to a contender as Hossa is to the Hawks.
Based on what others say in here, nobody wants the holy ones touched: RNH, Eberle, Hall, Yak, and Schultz. Yet, I'd submit that one of them can't be an Oiler for the long haul if the team is serious about getting to the next level. My guess at this point? Eberle might be the odd man out. Think for a moment what he might fetch us in return. The Oilers will relentlessly stick with RNH because they want their damned Elite centre. RNH might get there, we'll just have to see, cause I really don't think the Oilers will do otherwise.
Year after year for some time now, we are faced with a team that simply can't or won't compete with it's opposition on an equal/level basis. This isn't only coaching or just the players or just the management; This is on the whole organization.
I've been very critical of Daryl Katz in the past and have taken a bit of heat for it. I think his business model for the franchise is the single biggest obstacle to it's success. It's an expensive toy for a very rich boy. It's his to do with as he pleases, and I think he's doing exactly that. None of us should really be surprised or outraged at how things are evolving with the team given how he chooses to have it operated.
The old-boy-club, nepotistic, in-bred nature of the Oilers brain trust is exactly what he wants, because it's his right and his team. Nothing more, nothing less. That means that us fans are left to decide whether or not we want to go along for the ride.
