The Oilers have no doubt the best forward group in the league

[Skolman]

100% coaching made a difference. My point was it is highly unlikely to sustain at that level and I would argue any of those 3 Central will be better next season. Im not saying theyre going to miss the playoffs, but will be shocked if they have the same playoff success. My prediction is losing in the conference finals to the Central.

Meh, Oiler fans heard predictions all year from opposing fans... The heavy majority ended up being incorrect

 

[benfranklin]

Yikes, clearly you have no f***ing clue about anything oilers, for Christ sakes your trying to spin that Nashville is better then Edmonton? Bahahahahaba

Did you even read what I wrote? I listed the Predators acquisitions saying their O is extremely improved and as a complete team on par with the Stars and Avalanche IMO.

The Oilers O is dramatically better, while the Preds D/G is dramatically better. You can argue all day which is a better team overall on paper given all three positions and I may even agree that the high end talent of 97 and 29 tips in their favor.

 

[westc2]

They appear to be 2.5 million over the cap, and they still need to resign Broberg and Holloway....Drai trade incoming?

 

[Rorschach]

This is exactly the logic Chiarelli used in the 2017-18 season. You can't add at the TDL if you don't make it there.

So you think they are not a playoff team without Arvidsson and Skinner? Say "yes" or your argument falls apart.

And even if you mean by being in the playoff hunt by the TDL, I remember 2012 for LA in unloading Jack Johnson, acquiring Jeff Carter and bringing Slava Voynov up from the AHL. Now if Chiarelli was your GM, you should worry about what you said but since it's a different guy, it makes no sense to assume anything.

 

[TheNumber4]

100% coaching made a difference. My point was it is highly unlikely to sustain at that level and I would argue any of those 3 Central will be better next season. Im not saying theyre going to miss the playoffs, but will be shocked if they have the same playoff success. My prediction is losing in the conference finals to the Central.

Now tell us your prediction for the Oil last year so we can ignore this years prediction based only on a bad PK theory.

 

[Pass the Saitl Sauce]

Basically they added $7 mil in cap space on forward and:
1) Didn't get a $7 mil player back or a core player
2) Didn't get a player/s that play whole seasons
3) Didn't fill any holes they needed on 1D, 2D, or 1G

So this is a headscratcher and not sure what the bigger question is...why did the Oilers do this and why do Oiler fans think this is good. Personally if I were them, I think they should have held off, maybe brought up AHL'ers, and kept the cap space for the TDL and gotten who they needed then.

What a head scratcher poster this is. The oilers only real hole in the line up now is a 3/4 D upgrade on ceci. As much hate and as over paid as nurse is he’s still a #4 and if he was a UFA probably would have just got a 5m contract open market. (Nurse isn’t perfect but we’re stuck with him)

Size up front is a slight concern but if Kane goes LTIR and is back for playoffs healthy I won’t complain too much.

Stuart skinner got to game 7 of the finals while being paid less than 4m sure he’s not elite but he’s a starter in this league

 

[Skolman]

Did you even read what I wrote? I listed the Predators acquisitions saying their O is extremely improved and as a complete team on par with the Stars and Avalanche IMO.

The Oilers O is dramatically better, while the Preds D/G is dramatically better. You can argue all day which is a better team overall on paper given all three positions and I may even agree that the high end talent of 97 and 29 tips in their favor.

The Preds defense is "dramatically" better than Edmonton's?

Uh, what?

 

[Rorschach]

Yikes, clearly you have no f***ing clue about anything oilers, for Christ sakes your trying to spin that Nashville is better then Edmonton? Bahahahahaba

I can't blame you. You haven't seen a Cup winner in Edmonton since Mark Messier was in town. Losing two Finals with 0 wins in the last 30 years means you've watched and rooted for bad hockey teams and maybe haven't followed a real Cup team since before the salary cap.

 

[benfranklin]

Meh, Oiler fans heard predictions all year from opposing fans... The heavy majority ended up being incorrect

The Preds defense is "dramatically" better than Edmonton's?

Uh, what?

Hell yes it is! Josi actually plays defense and Skjei is amazing back there. If were going to judge "defense" based on point total (cough cough Bouchards secondary assists on the PP), then nothing will make sense.

Why not bring up Saros vs Skinner/Campbell/Pickard/A trash can?

 

[Skolman]

Hell yes it is! Josi actually plays defense and Skjei is amazing back there. If were going to judge "defense" based on point total (cough cough Bouchards secondary assists on the PP), then nothing will make sense.

Why not bring up Saros vs Skinner/Campbell/Pickard/A trash can?

Maybe because I don't believe Skinner is better than Saros?

The Oilers gave up less goals than the Pred's last season, not to mention the gap was a lot more significant once Knoblauch took over.

You're trying way too hard today, man. Poor attempts

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Not going to bother. If you think either of these guys are top pairing on a Cup contender team, what's the point of debating? At best, Bouchard is a Shattenkirk-type #3D with an over-inflated point total. And Ekholm is a decent defenseman but will be 35 by the end of next year and was he even top pair in his prime? It's just a matter of if your D corps is shallow, the best player on that corps will look better despite not being that good simply due to bias and getting to play a role and minutes a better player normally would have.

Did the Oilers just... not contend for the Cup a week ago?

 

[Rorschach]

What a head scratcher poster this is. The oilers only real hole in the line up now is a 3/4 D upgrade on ceci. As much hate and as over paid as nurse is he’s still a #4 and if he was a UFA probably would have just got a 5m contract open market. (Nurse isn’t perfect but we’re stuck with him)

Size up front is a slight concern but if Kane goes LTIR and is back for playoffs healthy I won’t complain too much.

Stuart skinner got to game 7 of the finals while being paid less than 4m sure he’s not elite but he’s a starter in this league

I can see your issue. You think 2nd pair at-best defensemen are first pair defensemen because your team has a history of bad defensemen since the time Pronger left town. Bouchard is not an all situations defenseman.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

So you think they are not a playoff team without Arvidsson and Skinner? Say "yes" or your argument falls apart.

And even if you mean by being in the playoff hunt by the TDL, I remember 2012 for LA in unloading Jack Johnson, acquiring Jeff Carter and bringing Slava Voynov up from the AHL. Now if Chiarelli was your GM, you should worry about what you said but since it's a different guy, it makes no sense to assume anything.

My point is you improve now before the season starts, get all these guys into training camp and worry about fine tuning the roster later on. The team needs a strong start to keep competitors in the rearview mirror.

 

[benfranklin]

Maybe because I don't believe Skinner is better than Saros?

The Oilers gave up less goals than the Pred's last season, not to mention the gap was a lot more significant once Knoblauch took over.

You're trying way too hard today, man. Poor attempts

My point was you cherry picked D and gave no context and my assumption was indicating towards Bouchards point totals.

Josi/Skjei > Bouchard/Ekholm and ofcourse when you add in Nurse as a negative impact player defensively and thengoaltending, its not even close. Does the Edm offense make up for it? Obviously yes.

Were talking about the future and the Predators acquisitions. The Preds were pretty meh for most of the year and were near sellers at the deadline.

I dont even like the Predators. Im giving them props for improving pretty heavily.

 

[Rorschach]

Did the Oilers just... not contend for the Cup a week ago?

If you look at playoff history, there usually is one weaker conference and one stronger conference. There is usually one team that wins and is built the right way and another that just made it there. The one difference between the Oilers and those other teams that lost in the Final is Connor "Conn Smythe but no Cup" McDavid.

The rest of the team is not built to contend for a Cup year after year. Florida is but probably isn't on par with the Kings, Pens, Hawks, Lightning, etc. but still made the FInal last year and won this year. Back to back Final appearances really makes it look like they have a Cup contending team. They don't have a prototypical 1D so they got blown out by the Oilers a few times in that series.

My point is you improve now before the season starts, get all these guys into training camp and worry about fine tuning the roster later on. The team needs a strong start to keep competitors in the rearview mirror.

I agree. So why get Skinner and Arvidsson? Skinner is a 1 year player so even Edmonton knows he's high risk and old. They gave Arvidsson a lot, way more than LA would pay and TBH is made of glass.

 

[Rydgar]

My point was you cherry picked D and gave no context and my assumption was indicating towards Bouchards point totals.

Josi/Skjei > Bouchard/Ekholm and ofcourse when you add in Nurse as a negative impact player defensively and thengoaltending, its not even close. Does the Edm offense make up for it? Obviously yes.

Were talking about the future and the Predators acquisitions. The Preds were pretty meh for most of the year and were near sellers at the deadline.

I dont even like the Predators. Im giving them props for improving pretty heavily.

As a Canucks fan who just watched his team play both the Preds and Oilers in the playoffs, Bouchard > Josi. I also believe Ekholm > Skjei.

 

[thefutures]

I can't blame you. You haven't seen a Cup winner in Edmonton since Mark Messier was in town. Losing two Finals with 0 wins in the last 30 years means you've watched and rooted for bad hockey teams and maybe haven't followed a real Cup team since before the salary cap.

Lots of casual fans in Canada. Has not done canadians any favors not having championship teams, now fans are less knowledgeable about good hockey.

 

[benfranklin]

As a Canucks fan who just watched his team play both the Preds and Oilers in the playoffs, Bouchard > Josi. I also believe Ekholm > Skjei.

Bouchard > Josi is certainly a take, especially defensively.

 

[TheNumber4]

Bouchard > Josi is certainly a take, especially defensively.

Only if you’re uninformed and talking out of your ass.

 

[onetweasy]

well Im not talking about replacing Floridas players with anyone either. McDavid makes that team, u take him away are they even a top 10 team? so how are they the best if they likely dont even make playoffs without him? now if u took McDavid away and they STILL are likely a fav then sure

After yesterday, assuming we got to spend the $12.5M Cap hit of 97 than yeah the Oilers would be a top 10 team quite easily without him.

 

[onetweasy]

This team will always have problems if they can't stop the other team from scoring, and shockingly, that's not just on the defense and goalie.

As long as Edmonton has mediocre team defense and no shut down forwards, they're not going to see the success they had this season. The fact they signed Skinner and Arvidsson shows they aren't even aware to fix the issue. They'll continue to spin on their tires for wins, especially since they don't even have a goalie to compensate. Leafs in the same situation. Bruins are an example of a team that keeps winning because of this.

Go and take a peak at the Oilers defensive stats since Knob took over......

This "oilers no good at D" is such a dated narrative.

But I get it, it is the last place a non-fan of the team can try and hang their hat on. Good luck keeping the narrative alive this year!

 

[TKB21]

I can't blame you. You haven't seen a Cup winner in Edmonton since Mark Messier was in town. Losing two Finals with 0 wins in the last 30 years means you've watched and rooted for bad hockey teams and maybe haven't followed a real Cup team since before the salary cap.

Your takes are complete rubbish, acting like you know anything about the NHL when it’s clear as day you couldn’t give solid advice to a peewee player is comical.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Hell yes it is! Josi actually plays defense and Skjei is amazing back there. If were going to judge "defense" based on point total (cough cough Bouchards secondary assists on the PP), then nothing will make sense.

Why not bring up Saros vs Skinner/Campbell/Pickard/A trash can?

Bouchard just had his breakout season. He's not just an offensive defenseman.

 

[Skolman]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808244005152669730

 

[ZDH]

Best 2 forwards yea. Best forward group? No.