News and Blog Report: Training camp & Preseason News & Notes

[nexttothemoon]

The Oilers knew they weren't bring back McLeod (12 goals) and Foegele (20 goals) and they likely had a pretty good idea Kane (24 goals) would be gone for much of the season. That's 56 goals gone right there and then there was the extra kick in the teeth of losing Holloway for essentially nothing and he played at ~12 goal pace last season.

So essentially 60+ goals was ripped out of the lineup... that's not an insignificant amount of offense gone.

The Oilers pretty much HAD to bring in another decent scoring winger to replace at least some of that offense so Skinner who had 24 goals last season will hopefully provide some of that. I don't think he was quite the "nice to have but not necessary" addition as some people think.

The only other significant adds up front were bringing Henrique back which will help as he had 6 goals in 22 games with the team... he could/should hit 20+ in a full season and Arvidsson who if he can stay healthy might pot 25+ as well IF he can stay healthy.. but he hasn't been able to stay healthy consistently in recent years.

Brown in for Desharnais might be a slight downgrade but Desharnais was limited in his role as well especially in the playoffs where he was arguably a negative overall beyond the PK.

Stecher in for Ceci I think is more sideways IF Stecher can stay healthy... I think he makes a decent defense-1st dman who is smart and can move the puck well... exactly what Nurse/Kulak need for a partner.

Emberson is a question mark but imo no bigger of a question mark than Broberg was... so a sideways move there at worst as well.

On paper I think the team got a little worse offensively than they did defensively. Of course we'll wait and see on that as the season plays out... but it's quite possible adding a top 4 RD at the deadline is a strong possibility and the team overall could end up being better defensively this season going into the playoffs and possibly regressing a bit offensively... especially if Hyman can't repeat his 50+ goal season again.

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

I can pretty much guarantee those same people would be whining about #2LW if they didn't sign someone like Skinner to address #2RD instead.

Somehow the concept of there only being so much money to go around is lost on some people.

I was very adamant that #2RD should be the priority and was entirely comfortable sacrificing some offense particularly on wing to get that done so I most certainly wouldn't of complained about that, however the rumor was Drai wasn't happy about his linemate quality and wanted us to address that prior to signing.

If as a result of improving our D we lacked the resources to improve Drai's wingers and he didn't sign an extension then I would of bitched about that, which highlights the difficulties of being a GM it isn't as simple as make the best decisions for the team, sometimes you have superstar players who you need to accommodate, for example C. Perry likely isn't earning the contract we signed him to, but McDrai wanted him back, so he's back.

 

[Frank the Tank]

I was very adamant that #2RD should be the priority and was entirely comfortable sacrificing some offense particularly on wing to get that done so I most certainly wouldn't of complained about that, however the rumor was Drai wasn't happy about his linemate quality and wanted us to address that prior to signing.

If as a result of improving our D we lacked the resources to improve Drai's wingers and he didn't sign an extension then I would of bitched about that, which highlights the difficulties of being a GM it isn't as simple as make the best decisions for the team, sometimes you have superstar players who you need to accommodate, for example C. Perry likely isn't earning the contract we signed him to, but McDrai wanted him back, so he's back.

Yep, it's always easier to argue the field of options that exist outside the path that was taken. This message board wouldn't have 90% of its posts if we all decided to not be Monday morning QBs. Lol

 

[McTedi]

The Oilers knew they weren't bring back McLeod (12 goals) and Foegele (20 goals) and they likely had a pretty good idea Kane (24 goals) would be gone for much of the season. That's 56 goals gone right there and then there was the extra kick in the teeth of losing Holloway for essentially nothing and he played at ~12 goal pace last season.

So essentially 60+ goals was ripped out of the lineup... that's not an insignificant amount of offense gone.

The Oilers pretty much HAD to bring in another decent scoring winger to replace at least some of that offense so Skinner who had 24 goals last season will hopefully provide some of that. I don't think he was quite the "nice to have but not necessary" addition as some people think.

The only other significant adds up front were bringing Henrique back which will help as he had 6 goals in 22 games with the team... he could/should hit 20+ in a full season and Arvidsson who if he can stay healthy might pot 25+ as well IF he can stay healthy.. but he hasn't been able to stay healthy consistently in recent years.

Brown in for Desharnais might be a slight downgrade but Desharnais was limited in his role as well especially in the playoffs where he was arguably a negative overall beyond the PK.

Stecher in for Ceci I think is more sideways IF Stecher can stay healthy... I think he makes a decent defense-1st dman who is smart and can move the puck well... exactly what Nurse/Kulak need for a partner.

Emberson is a question mark but imo no bigger of a question mark than Broberg was... so a sideways move there at worst as well.

On paper I think the team got a little worse offensively than they did defensively. Of course we'll wait and see on that as the season plays out... but it's quite possible adding a top 4 RD at the deadline is a strong possibility and the team overall could end up being better defensively this season going into the playoffs and possibly regressing a bit offensively... especially if Hyman can't repeat his 50+ goal season again.

How on earth did the Oilers get worse offensively, good grief.