GDT: Training Camp 2022

[McTonyBrar]

Oilers released Virtanen

 

[duul]

See ya Virt.

 

[KlefDown]

HEY HEY HEY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODBYEEEEEE

 

[Oilhawks]

Meh.

Who is playing on the 4th line? Or is the plan to not play them this year?

They can’t afford to play their best bottom 6 players with the cap this tight, so who is the solution? I don’t trust Shore (who they also can’t afford), Malone, Hamboin et al

 

[McAsuno]

Holloway deserves it.


JK

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Meh.

Who is playing on the 4th line? Or is the plan to not play them this year?

They can’t afford to play their best bottom 6 players with the cap this tight, so who is the solution? I don’t trust Shore (who they also can’t afford), Malone, Hamboin et al

Foegele and Ryan, IMO. Janmark and Shore get waived.

I think the Oilers go 11-7 quite a bit this year.

Kane-McDavid-Yamamoto
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman
McLeod-RNH-Puljujarvi
Foegele/Ryan

I honestly don't know how anyone could sit there with a straight face and tell me they liked what they saw out of Virtanen. Disregarding all the off ice stuff, he looked completely disinterested 99% of the time. No hustle or urgency whatsoever.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Virtanen did squat to earn a job on the Oilers this comes as no surprise

good luck in the future

 

[Oilhawks]

Foegele and Ryan, IMO. Janmark and Shore get waived.

I think the Oilers go 11-7 quite a bit this year.

Kane-McDavid-Yamamoto
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman
McLeod-RNH-Puljujarvi
Foegele/Ryan

I honestly don't know how anyone could sit there with a straight face and tell me they liked what they saw out of Virtanen. Disregarding all the off ice stuff, he looked completely disinterested 99% of the time. No hustle or urgency whatsoever.

Janmark is probably going to be a better player than Ryan, even if Janmark looked so so in the preseason. Ryan could fall off a cliff as early as game 1 this season. Big fan of the player but if he loses another step I don’t see him being NHL calibre. If Janmark makes it over Ryan then they don’t have enough right shots

 

[Biltmore]

Meh. I do think its kind of weird to keep him around. He had one ok season in the NHL, and the other yearsm including the AHL and KHL have been below average.

Its not like hes some sort of reclamation project and they are trying to get him back to this former great player. They are digging up a buried turd, with the very small chance of it turning into gold. The problem being this turd has some baggage and not a very well regarded teammate

The problem is that the Oilers did well with the Kane situation and now trying to replicate it. The big difference being Kane was always good in the NHL, even in his troubled years.

Id rather give a guy like Benson/Hamblin etc etc a chance. Its not like JV is better

Except there are now injury problems to mess things up

 

[xoczar99ox]

Oilers released Virtanen

I do feel a tad bit bad for him though. Proven innocent in the court of law and is having his pro career crumble in front of him as a result of the distraction.

 

[Macblender]

No other cuts?

Seems weird to roll into the last game with such a big roster and make some cuts but not all but specific ones like 6/7D.

 

[McAsuno]

I do feel a tad bit bad for him though. Proven innocent in the court of law and is having his pro career crumble in front of him as a result of the distraction.

Maybe he can go work for Hockey Canada. They seem to love employing assclowns like him anyways.

 

[McAsuno]

 

[xoczar99ox]

Draiasatl??? Is he not healed up 100%? Not gonna lie he’s looked sluggish so far this preseason to me.

 

[Oilhawks]

So they cut Virtanen but can’t ice the full forward roster? Oof

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Today was, in fact, a good day to announce this.

 

[duul]

Seems silly to release him when we seemingly have a ton of injuries & absences.

 

[DarksideGhost]

Shocked I tell you

4K as well

which is interesting.

So Lias Andersson is a Bust Draft: 2017 NYR, 1st rd, 7th pk (7th overall).... is it because of the fall?

 

[Aerchon]

I hope Draisaitl is ok.

Foegele somehow getting "injured" right as the season starts would be "wonderful" in terms of cap implications. In a perfect world we pull a TB Lightning and dont bring him back until the post season.

I hate cheaters. There should be a big ol asterixis on cups with TB name on it IMO.

But cap circumvention through LTIR has been officially accepted by the NHL in their GM meetings. The message is loud and clear that "putting" players on LTIR is a sound and acceptable strategy... Until the Oilers do it that is.

I truly hope the Oilers are able to use LTIR in a way to improve the team like TB has. It will be double interesting because I am almost certain if the Oilers do this it will be instantly recognized as an unacceptable situation and no long be able to be used in the NHL.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I do feel a tad bit bad for him though. Proven innocent in the court of law and is having his pro career crumble in front of him as a result of the distraction.

It's a hard reality that bad decision making and immaturity placed Virtanen in this situation. He's had poor work habits and despite an immense raw toolkit has largely squandered these abilities. Been a precipitous fall but personal responsibility and accountability factor in for us all including talented athletes.

Now, personally I believe in redemption and second chances. Virtanen was held to account in a court of law and the legal system ruled in the matter. I'm glad the Oilers cut through the noise to explore a path for this person to get his game and life back on track. Unfortunately, Virtanen did not show enough threw a deep camp to separate himself from others either better suited for end of roster work or having come up within the Oilers system which reinforces that hard work in the minors can be rewarded within the organization.

Virtanen has some soul searching to do. Unfortunately the noise will follow him as he continues to be chased by his own bad decisions as a 20 year old young man and his poor work habits as a pro. It's a privilege to earn your livelihood playing hockey. Jake's got work to do on and off the ice. Outsiders can view this person with contempt and disdain others might hope for redemption and lessons learned from bad decisions which we all make in our life's journeys.

 

[The Safe Play]

Foegele and Ryan, IMO. Janmark and Shore get waived.

I think the Oilers go 11-7 quite a bit this year.

Kane-McDavid-Yamamoto
Holloway-Draisaitl-Hyman
McLeod-RNH-Puljujarvi
Foegele/Ryan

I honestly don't know how anyone could sit there with a straight face and tell me they liked what they saw out of Virtanen. Disregarding all the off ice stuff, he looked completely disinterested 99% of the time. No hustle or urgency whatsoever.

Exactly how I see it.

 

[Frank the Tank]

I do feel a tad bit bad for him though. Proven innocent in the court of law and is having his pro career crumble in front of him as a result of the distraction.

Not to wade into the Virtanen trial quagmire, but a defendant can only be found 'not guilty'; it's a slight and yet significant distinction from innocent.

 

[KlefDown]

Drai not being on the ice this late in the pre-season is concerning

 

[Frank the Tank]

Drai not being on the ice this late in the pre-season is concerning

Didn't someone mention in the GDT thread on Monday that he left a shift early?

 

[nexttothemoon]

Drai didn't play the last game so yeah a bit concerning that he's not even practicing today... hopefully it's something minor and this is all just precautionary. Still basically a week to go until the season starts for the Oilers on the 12th... so hopefully the issue is healed up by then.

This all does accentuate though just how tricky it's going to be to run a 21 player roster all season (or even for part of it).

Imagine if these injuries had come to Benson/Yamo/Drai in games 1 or 2 of the season... you'd be running a roster with possibly 2 or even 3 less skaters and how is that sustainable when you then have to overplay your top lines even more. McDavid would likely regularly be playing 25 minutes a night... opening up even higher chances of burnout and injury as well.


Holland likely has to bite the bullet and make moves to be able to utilize a full 23 man roster (or get creative with LTIR with a Doctor Nick Riviera type. ).