Del Preston
Registered User
- Mar 8, 2013
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Easy to forget the Oilers were a top-10 team before the break and a lock for the playoffs. They don't need to blow it up but there's some important areas that need to be addressed.
Post-Game Talk: Tipped Off | Oilers lose series 3-1
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Samus44
Enjoy the ride.
- Aug 5, 2010
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The wingers collapsed when they shouldn't and didn't when they should. There were a lot of scrambly plays and that can create chaos, chaos that the Hawks were very opportunistic in exploiting. The D also didn't tie up enough sticks in front, too often covering nobody. I'm guessing the Oilers overcompensated in protecting the slot and felt that their goalies would make the first save and they'd be able to collect the rebounds due to having a strong slot presence. The issue with that strategy is it's imperative the D box out the forwards and tie up sticks and they didn't do that well enough. Broken plays makes that harder and I felt the Hawks scored on a ton of those. Almost as if they came off a 4 month break and weren't in mid season form. Almost as if the more veteran core was able to get into midseason form faster. Almost as if one team simply got more breaks.
McJadeddog
Registered User
I can't believe that I'm the optimistic voice all of a sudden, lol, but I don't think 85% of the team sucks. I think our D are all playing 1 position too high in the lineup, and that we need another top-6 winger, or to have Yams become a very good player. Those are problems yes, but they are problems that make everybody look worse than they really are. Kassian is a fine enough player for your 3rd line, same for a guy like Sheahan as the 4th line C. But because we are lacking a guy to push them down the lineup, they *look* like the suck as they are being asked to play higher than they should be playing.
If we get lucky and landed Lafreniere on Monday, and he comes in and grabs a top-6 winger spot like most scouts say he will. I think you'd be surprised how "well placed" a lot of the other forwards would immediately look. Now the problem is that getting a legit top-6 winger is hard, and getting a top-pairing Dman is REALLY HARD, lol. But sweeping changes are not need IMO, a couple impact changes are.
NorCalhockey
Registered User
- Jan 6, 2017
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But that’s why upsets happen more often in hockey and IMO, upsets = excitement.
frag2
Registered User
- Mar 8, 2006
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But you also have to have the cap space for that player which means one of them will have to come out.
Klef is 4M
Bear is ??
Nurse is 5.5 and who knows what he'll ask for in 2 years.
You knock Nurse, Klefbom, Larsson down a rung then we probably have a great backend
I thought we leaned too heavily on a clearly fatigued Klefbom when Jones was playing very hard and Benning was playing well. both could have taken up some minutes, especially Benning on the PP. His shot isn’t great but I’ve always found Benning point shots to be weird which helps him get the puck on net.
Broberg was on fire during the warm up games but I understand why we didn’t keep him on the roster before the Larsson injury.
Nurse did his damn best to make up for Larsson’s absence and Klefbom worked hard for us too. Oh well.. hindsight is 20/20 and this is hockey, anything can happen.
Let’s just please work on some sort of cult-like passionate feeling in the locker room that the coaches are not excluded from. I would like to see a team that is passionate on the bench and accountable on and off the ice.
I say it so much but these guys are really living the dream.
I don’t know about you guys but my dream growing up was to be a part of a team and go to war with them. Hockey for me from ages 10-16 was my outlet through all sorts of angst and teenage bullshit. Winning with my teammates was life or death at the time and holy shit if i didn’t win you probably didn’t want to be my parent for a bit.
So when I see lack of effort and passion it just really hurts me on the inside.
This really shows how entitled I am mostly, having my emotions dictated by a sport..
I’m going to go outside and enjoy the weather. Anyone is welcome to come and hold me though
I thought we leaned too heavily on a clearly fatigued Klefbom when Jones was playing very hard and Benning was playing well. both could have taken up some minutes, especially Benning on the PP. His shot isn’t great but I’ve always found Benning point shots to be weird which helps him get the puck on net.
Broberg was on fire during the warm up games but I understand why we didn’t keep him on the roster before the Larsson injury.
Nurse did his damn best to make up for Larsson’s absence and Klefbom worked hard for us too. Oh well.. hindsight is 20/20 and this is hockey, anything can happen.
Let’s just please work on some sort of cult-like passionate feeling in the locker room that the coaches are not excluded from. I would like to see a team that is passionate on the bench and accountable on and off the ice.
I say it so much but these guys are really living the dream.
I don’t know about you guys but my dream growing up was to be a part of a team and go to war with them. Hockey for me from ages 10-16 was my outlet through all sorts of angst and teenage bullshit. Winning with my teammates was life or death at the time and holy shit if i didn’t win you probably didn’t want to be my parent for a bit.
So when I see lack of effort and passion it just really hurts me on the inside.
This really shows how entitled I am mostly, having my emotions dictated by a sport..
I’m going to go outside and enjoy the weather. Anyone is welcome to come and hold me though
Samus44
Enjoy the ride.
- Aug 5, 2010
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Doughty is crazy underrated. I saw someone suggest Burns was better the other day. Burns is awful defensively and is sheltered by Vlasic. Great player but he doesn't do it all like Doughty.
Shaquille Oatmeal
Tier 2 Fan
- Jun 30, 2015
- 7,055
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Goot tweet. We need to be better defensively. We need a new system. Putting different players in the same system might not fix it. A true 1D would be awesome but is it possible right now? I doubt it. Unless you consider Pk Subban a #1 lol
While Klef and Nurse did play poorly, I highly agree that the fwds were absolutely to blame as well as far as the porous defensive play.
Connor picked up his overall play a bit after the first game but yes still not good enough. His overall play (not talkign about points), responsibility, controlling the game, consistent battle level and urgency etc has deteriorated in the last 3 years. While he's still a highlight reel machine and definitely the most talented player out there, he's just not consistently the same dominating player that controls the game in the o zone and d zone when he's on the ice.
To be completely honest i wasn't even all that excited about this playoff/playin run. I knew this team, judging by the reg season, overachieved and simply did not have the proper leadership and proper high standard of play and preparedness to piss a drop in these playoffs. Having the two best point getters in the league still did not leave me with much confidence because of their questionable 200ft game and urgency/battle consistency. We all know the playoffs are a different beast compared to the reg season where you can get away with loose play and going at 90% effort.
We really need to improve our leadership on this team which will improve our standard of play, professionalism and culture of this team. I would like to add some strong veteran leadership in the off season. I understand the talent depth could be better but what is so disappointing is the consistency in effort/battle level/sharpness and urgency by this group. To me it the bigger issue.
frag2
Registered User
- Mar 8, 2006
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I dunno. If Hockey-Reference stats are any accurate, reg season TOI 25:25; play-ins - 24:13
He played less. Just quality of play sucked as a whole.
Ritchie Valens
Registered User
- Sep 24, 2007
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And I mean I didn't say you are.
There has to be some changes to the roster though, with at least one big change on defense.
I also can't see Smith being re-signed whether that's Holland's choice, Smith's or mutually so he's goalie shopping. Hopefully Lehner, but the way he's moved around lately from Ottawa to Buffalo to LI to Chicago to LV, he'll be looking for some stability/term.
McJadeddog
Registered User
Hockey is roughly 30-35% luck. Hockey people don't like hearing this, but it's the truth.
McJadeddog
Registered User
Yeah, Doughty is crazy under-rated. But he also has an absolute albatross of a contract. He is 30, and he has 6 more years at $11 million cap hit! Yikes. I know Piets is gonna get paid this off season, but with the current cap situation, he isn't going to get anywhere near $11 million. Hell, he'll be very lucky to get $10, and my guess is the number starts with a 9. Sure, he'll get 2 extra years, at the same age as Doughty, but you can also sign him for "free", as you just need to make cap space.
Anyway, the Blues aren't going to let their captain sign elsewhere, and even if that happens, he isn't signing in Edmonton, so it's all a pipe dream.
Samus44
Enjoy the ride.
- Aug 5, 2010
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I'd take Doughty at 11 million all day. A player like him plays till he's 40. I do agree it's a little too high to be ideal but it's a lot better than not having that player.
I like Tippet but he was out coached. Not putting the NHL’s best line together until 8 minutes left in the third period of the last game? And Starting Smith in game one put us behind from the beginning.
The other factor is that as good as our top players are, we won’t win until they are + players (mcdavid and draisaitl).
We need another mobile dman or two who can find a pass outlet, maybe Bouchard next year... if I’m holland I cut my loses from both AA and Kassian (horrible and unnecessary extension given- good luck getting rid of that) and prioritize defensive upgrades.
The other factor is that as good as our top players are, we won’t win until they are + players (mcdavid and draisaitl).
We need another mobile dman or two who can find a pass outlet, maybe Bouchard next year... if I’m holland I cut my loses from both AA and Kassian (horrible and unnecessary extension given- good luck getting rid of that) and prioritize defensive upgrades.
Drivesaitl
Finding Hemingway
While this is true there are ways to smooth out and mitigate that luck factor. One is to physically dominate a smaller opponent team all over the ice, utilize close checking, cover points, and don't allow people to be wide open constantly while staring at plays. The Oilers didnt even use their sticks effectively, defensively, in this series.
Limiting point shots particularly is a number 1 way to nullify a lot of the bad puck luck and bounces. The nature of point shots is creating bounces, deflections, rebounds. Its the production of chaos, and increasing good bounce probabilities. Do it enough, and get shots through, and be in position to deflect them and the pay off is there.
Usually, the team winning the from the points battles wins the series. Because that team is usually more dialed in and looking at all approaches to score. The team allowing more point shots is playing with fire. Point shots and deflection is a huge facet of playoff goals. Its like the Oilers don't even realize this. They are artistes that expect and want only to score hilite goals.
Mangosteen
Ground hog day no more
- Apr 9, 2018
- 1,520
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Yotes fan that comes in peace (yes we do exist) Tippett was great when he first came to the Yotes but the I felt like the last couple of years that he couldn't adapt to the speed of the NHL and was horrible at line matchups. Liked and overplayed certain vets (be happy Dave Moss is not on your roster).
What is your view on Tippett now? Pros / Cons.
Thank you
What is your view on Tippett now? Pros / Cons.
Thank you
Drivesaitl
Finding Hemingway
I'm the biggest Doughty fan on this board, I once termed him the best player in hockey at one time, and I wouldn't take this version of Doughty. Not that he would be too interested in taking the Oilers. He's currently a drastic overpay, and he's not close to being what he was.
If we win we have to count the blessings we have a winger for McDavid. Taking RNH off of Draisaitl’s line hurt. Plus if we suddenly have McDavid’s winger we can focus assets on a trade solely for a real number #1 D. Offer Klefbom + 2021 1st and Broberg and get a legit guy
He seems to be a good systems coach but is missing the psychological abilities of a playoff coach. I'm not in the locker room though so it could be the players fault, not him!
Edit: I took a swipe at Yotes fans yesterday. It's all in good fun I don't mean to be completely sinister
McJesusSaves97
I see the light
I don't think I would even be upset if we went D with our first rounder after watching this garbage
Remember in 2017, McDavid-Drai-Maroon would cycle the puck for what seemed like an eternity in the ozone. They took it up another level against Sam Jose and just wore their D down. Where the hell did that go?
As some others have said, we don’t need to “blow it up” (and frankly, we can’t, given the contracts already in place), but a few large pieces are missing - #1D (not sure we can get this in the short-term, really just have to hope that Broberg can be something close to that), another top 6 winger, a 3C (for f***s sake, we haven’t had a good one since...Jarret Stoll?), and probably a goalie that can challenge Koskinen.
It is kind of alarming that defensively, most of this team’s players seem fairly inept. Klefbom and Nurse, both of whom I think are reasonably decent players, kind of seem to me like their physical talent is about 90% of the package, and their ability to make reads and decisions is seriously lagging behind that. Like, they strike me as raw physical talents that play pro hockey mostly because they’re strong/fast/fit enough to.
It is kind of alarming that defensively, most of this team’s players seem fairly inept. Klefbom and Nurse, both of whom I think are reasonably decent players, kind of seem to me like their physical talent is about 90% of the package, and their ability to make reads and decisions is seriously lagging behind that. Like, they strike me as raw physical talents that play pro hockey mostly because they’re strong/fast/fit enough to.
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Drivesaitl
Finding Hemingway
I've defended him lots, but even my take is that his best before date was about 5yrs ago. People also forgetting a lot that he had pretty much retired before agreeing to come here. He's done a solid job even making this roster a winning club. Few here thought they would be. The Oilers had excellent special teams this season, which are absolutely coaching facets.
Also on this board the fans give Tippett zero credit for putting Drai, Nuge, Yama together, frankly hardly anybody here figured that would work, and it worked immensely. But the same people while completely ignoring that was the coaches vision blame the coach for not resurrecting. My own take is that the Yamamoto of the reg season (short stint) was not same Yamamoto we saw in the playoffs. I think the line would be good, but not as good as it was.
The main problem here is still Chiarelli, and the Oilers having a lineup where any legitmate coach has trouble making two lines out of much of the chicken feed we have left here.
Holland deserves a huge amount of the blame for making the Oilers clearly a worse team at TDL. ANY help at that point and maybe this club is advancing. I mean we picked up Green, he didn't even play. We picked up AA, zero boxcars, We picked up Ennis, kind of a nothing player, and we gave up Gagner, a veteran with skill that can play topsix, even PP.
All that said Tippett isn't as good as he was, and the game is probably passing him in some ways. But its quite clearly an arduous and difficult task coaching the Oilers. Who really exceeds at that...
