Vegas Golden Knights defeat Edmonton Oilers 4-2 - Advance to WCF

[Garbageyuk]

just admit you can't explain it...take the L

On what? I’m not even sure what you’re even trying to argue anymore, and I don’t think you know either. That the Avs won the Cup last year and teams with much better D and G than the Oilers are still playing? And somehow in your mind that results in you winning the argument? Ohh but they were 6th overall in goals against in the last 1/4 of the regular season, of course! That changes everything! You’re too clever for me man

 

[North Cole]

oh ok, now the goalposts have moved LMAO

"last year's playoffs matter too!"

what about the Bruins then? they've been bounced in the 1st round the past 2 seasons despite "elite D and goaltending" while the Oilers have won 3 rounds

if playoffs are the only thing that matter like you said, then the Oilers defense must be better than the Bruins

They regressed but im sure he's not going to sit here and tell us their window is closed now. Despite having a significantly down graded second line, captain might never play again, best player get 2x as much cap, etc. Oilers are in cap hell and can't get better tho.

I wouldn't even bother. Any narrative they want can be spun anyway it needs to. Goaltending matters and skinners career is over, nevemrind that Adin Hill is about to win a cup, or the Avs won last year with the worst sv% in the last 30 years.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

With the combination of the train wrecks that are the Oilers G and D situations, and no realistic way to fix it, the Oilers are going nowhere in the playoffs any time soon.

hilarious stuff

the Oilers literally got a signed Ekholm at the deadline, with ZERO cap space... which vastly improved their team.... but according to you..."no realistic way to fix it"
you have some insider knowledge the rest of us don't have?

 

[Garbageyuk]

oh ok, now the goalposts have moved LMAO

"last year's playoffs matter too!"

what about the Bruins then? they've been bounced in the 1st round the past 2 seasons despite "elite D and goaltending" while the Oilers have won 3 rounds

if playoffs are the only thing that matter like you said, then the Oilers defense must be better than the Bruins

Well yeah, if the Oilers had won the Cup in one of the last few years, nobody would be on their case right now, and there’d be reason to believe they could win the Cup going forward other than just delusional fanboy dreams. We wouldn’t even be having this discussion, I guarantee you that.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Well yeah, if the Oilers had won the Cup in one of the last few years, nobody would be on their case right now, and there’d be reason to believe they could win the Cup going forward other than just delusional fanboy dreams. We wouldn’t even be having this discussion, I guarantee you that.

so the only way they're Cup contenders going forward is if they won the Cup before? solid analysis right here lol

 

[Garbageyuk]

They regressed but im sure he's not going to sit here and tell us their window is closed now. Despite having a significantly down graded second line, captain might never play again, best player get 2x as much cap, etc. Oilers are in cap hell and can't get better tho.

I wouldn't even bother. Any narrative they want can be spun anyway it needs to. Goaltending matters and skinners career is over, nevemrind that Adin Hill is about to win a cup, or the Avs won last year with the worst sv% in the last 30 years.

Adin Hill has posted a .930 save % this post season. Let me know when an Oilers goalie does that. If they got that, sure they could win.

And yeah, Avs won with the worst save % in the last 30 years - Kuemper posted a .902 save % in the post season last year.

Skinner put up an .883 save % in this years playoffs. Do I really have to tell you how massive a difference that is? He was that much worse than “the worst save % in the last 30 years”.

Even if he improves, the Oilers don’t have the D to make it work. They’re screwed and anyone who knows hockey and isn’t a blind Oilers fanboy knows it.

 

[Soundwave]

Adin Hill has posted a .930 save % this post season. Let me know when an Oilers goalie does that. If they got that, sure they could win.

And yeah, Avs won with the worst save % in the last 30 years - Kuemper posted a .902 save % in the post season last year.

Skinner put up an .883 save % in this years playoffs. Do I really have to tell you how massive a difference that is? He was that much worse than “the worst save % in the last 30 years”.

Even if he improves, the Oilers don’t have the D to make it work. They’re screwed and anyone who knows hockey and isn’t a blind Oilers fanboy knows it.

Talbot put up .924 for the Oilers in 16-17 so it is possible.

They probably need Campbell to get back to being at least half decent which I think he can be in the regular season to juice his trade value, and then they will have to trade 1st round picks to get an impact goalie and/or D, but frankly what's the point of 1st round picks at this point.

Trade the next 5 years worth and get the players necessary. Goaltending isn't 6 different players, get one good one and you're set.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Talbot put up .924 for the Oilers in 16-17 so it is possible.

They probably need Campbell to get back to being at least half decent which I think he can be in the regular season to juice his trade value, and then they will have to trade 1st round picks to get an impact goalie and/or D, but frankly what's the point of 1st round picks at this point.

Trade the next 5 years worth and get the players necessary. Goaltending isn't 6 different players, get one good one and you're set.

The cap situation is going to make any deals extremely difficult to pull off, even if there’s anything they need available. They need at least a #1D and a good starting goalie. The picks they have at their disposal aren’t enough for those. Or they can pray that Skinner, Broberg, and Bouchard become those pieces pretty much overnight before McDavid and Draisaitl’s contracts are up. I really don’t see it happening.

 

[Three On Zero]

This thread is so last week.

Technically it’s so two weeks ago

 

[Soundwave]

The cap situation is going to make any deals extremely difficult to pull off, even if there’s anything they need available. They need at least a #1D and a good starting goalie. The picks they have at their disposal aren’t enough for those. Or they can pray that Skinner, Broberg, and Bouchard become those pieces pretty much overnight before McDavid and Draisaitl’s contracts are up. I really don’t see it happening.

I don't think they neccessarily need a superstar no.1 D. They need a better shut down D option on the RD to replace Ceci, someone akin to a Tanev or Carlo or someone like that.

A 1st + Ceci should be able to get you someone like that.

Frankly honestly even as is I think they would have beat Vegas if both Kane and Hyman weren't hurt.

Hyman had 8 goals last year through two rounds, only 3 this year.

Kane had a whopping 12 goals through rounds 1 & 2, only 3 this year.

Even if Hyman + Kane gave them 10-12 goals combined (down from 20) in round 1 + 2, I think Vegas loses that series. 2-2 series with the Oilers up 2-1 in both games 5 and 6, a goal here to push it to 3-1 would've put Vegas in a tough spot.

 

[Garbageyuk]

I don't think they neccessarily need a superstar no.1 D. They need a better shut down D option on the RD to replace Ceci, someone akin to a Tanev or Carlo or someone like that.

A 1st + Ceci should be able to get you someone like that.

Frankly honestly even as is I think they would have beat Vegas if both Kane and Hyman weren't hurt.

Hyman had 8 goals last year through two rounds, only 3 this year.

Kane had a whopping 12 goals through rounds 1 & 2, only 3 this year.

Even if Hyman + Kane gave them 10-12 goals combined (down from 20) in round 1 + 2, I think Vegas loses that series. 2-2 series with the Oilers up 2-1 in both games 5 and 6, a goal here to push it to 3-1 would've put Vegas in a tough spot.

They need 1D, not a superstar, just a 1D. They don’t have one. Ekholm is a guy you’d want on your 2nd pairing, if we’re talking Cup contenders. Nurse shouldn’t be playing top minutes on a contender, but he is on the Oilers. As I said before, Nurse should be a #4, again, if we’re talking about teams that are going to compete for a Cup. The rest are plugs and guys who won’t hit their prime until after McDrai’s contracts are up. And then a capable starting goalie. Easier said than done. The team is pretty much handcuffed in both areas due to the cap, lack of quality expendable assets, and Campbell’s anchor of a contract that is unmovable at this point. My guess is they continue to run with what they have and hope for the best. They don’t really have much of a choice.

 

[Soundwave]

They need 1D, not a superstar, just a 1D. They don’t have one. Ekholm is a guy you’d want on your 2nd pairing, if we’re talking Cup contenders. Nurse shouldn’t be playing top minutes on a contender, but he is on the Oilers. As I said before, Nurse should be a #4, again, if we’re talking about teams that are going to compete for a Cup. The rest are plugs and guys who won’t hit their prime until after McDrai’s contracts are up. And then a capable starting goalie. Easier said than done. The team is pretty much handcuffed in both areas due to the cap, lack of quality expendable assets, and Campbell’s anchor of a contract that is unmovable at this point. My guess is they continue to run with what they have and hope for the best. They don’t really have much of a choice.

If they had a 1D star they'd have a couple of Cups already. Ekholm is a good no.2 D IMO, I would say he's comparable to an Oscar Klefbom.

The Penguins had a mediocre D group the year they won without Letang, I think they can build a d-corps equal or better than that.

Honestly if they can build a back on par with the 16-17 Oilers (which had a top 10 goals against in the league that year)

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Benning

Talbot

They probably can win a Cup given how much more dominant McDavid/Draisaitl are today and better overall forward depth than that 16-17 team had where Patrick Maroon (lol) was the best winger. Cody Ceci needs to go.

They will need a goalie but I think Campbell becomes much easier to move when he has a bounce back stretch, he showed some signs of that in the playoffs as is (saved the team's ass in the LA series).

 

[Garbageyuk]

If they had a 1D star they'd have a couple of Cups already. Ekholm is a good no.2 D IMO, I would say he's comparable to an Oscar Klefbom.

The Penguins had a mediocre D group the year they won without Letang, I think they can build a d-corps equal or better than that.

Honestly if they can build a back on par with the 16-17 Oilers (which had a top 10 goals against in the league that year)

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Benning

Talbot

They probably can win a Cup given how much more dominant McDavid/Draisaitl are today and better overall forward depth than that 16-17 team had where Patrick Maroon (lol) was the best winger. Cody Ceci needs to go.

They will need a goalie but I think Campbell becomes much easier to move when he has a bounce back stretch, he showed some signs of that in the playoffs as is (saved the team's ass in the LA series).

The Penguins D that year was still better than what the Oilers had this year. Schultz that year was better than any D on the Oilers this year (he got Norris votes that year, and he was integral to the Cup run). After him the Pens D wasn’t spectacular, but they had seasoned, solid veterans all the way down the depth chart.

In addition, the Pens team defense and bottom-six was much, much better than this year’s Oilers’.

I don’t think there’s really a comparison to be made. That team had just as much firepower as this year’s Oilers, but much superior top to bottom depth. And that’s not even mentioning the goaltending that Pens team got in the playoffs:

Matt Murray: 11 games played, .937 save%
M-A Fleury: 15 games played, .924 save%

It’s easy to gloss over that team after so many years, but that was a ridiculously tough, well rounded team. The current Oilers don’t compare at all.

 

[Soundwave]

The Penguins D that year was still better than what the Oilers had this year. Schultz that year was better than any D on the Oilers this year (he got Norris votes that year, and he was integral to the Cup run). After him the Pens D wasn’t spectacular, but they had seasoned, solid veterans all the way down the depth chart.

In addition, the Pens team defense and bottom-six was much, much better than this year’s Oilers’.

I don’t think there’s really a comparison to be made. That team had just as much firepower as this year’s Oilers, but much superior top to bottom depth. And that’s not even mentioning the goaltending that Pens team got in the playoffs:

Matt Murray: 11 games played, .937 save%
M-A Fleury: 15 games played, .924 save%

It’s easy to gloss over that team after so many years, but that was a ridiculously tough, well rounded team. The current Oilers don’t compare at all.

Justin Schultz, lol ... I mean ok. Ekholm is better than Justin Schultz, frankly he's better than anyone on that Penguins team if he was on that Penguins team he would've done great. I think Bouchard is basically going to become a better version of Justin Schultz in time.

Ceci has to go to bring in a no-nonsense defensive D.

Then they will need to get .920 goaltending. If they get that, they probably win a Cup. If they had .920 in the playoffs this year they'd be going to a Cup Final, I have no doubt about that.

I mean yeah that's some work involved, but it's supposed to be hard. If it was easy everyone and their grandma would do it (and I mean that relatively, for several million dollars a year, this is a fairly easy job compared to what real people do for work). Being a single parent and working two jobs is hard, brain surgery is hard, curing cancer is hard, finding a reliable d-man and a good goalie with several 1st round picks and probably Broberg/Holloway also as potential trade bait is not that hard. Lets have some perspective.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Justin Schultz, lol ... I mean ok. Ekholm is better than Justin Schultz, frankly he's better than anyone on that Penguins team if he was on that Penguins team he would've done great.

They will need to get .920 goaltending. If they get that, they probably win a Cup. If they had .920 in the playoffs this year they'd be going to a Cup Final, I have no doubt about that.

Hey man, it’s not my fault Schultz got Norris votes that year. You can laugh, but it is what it is. I don’t see anyone on the Oilers getting Norris votes. It’s actually more impressive because Schultz had to outperform the narrative about him at the time - he had the reputation of being a disappointment, which is probably the reason for your reaction here. He was great that year though.

 

[Soundwave]

Hey man, it’s not my fault Schultz got Norris votes that year. You can laugh, but it is what it is. I don’t see anyone on the Oilers getting Norris votes. It’s actually more impressive because Schultz had to outperform the narrative - he had the reputation of being a disappointment, which is probably the reason for your reaction here. He was great that year though.

Hey Mac T called it, lol. I don't really see anything in Schultz game that Bouchard can't do better in time, Schultz is still a bit of a defensive liability, Ekholm is a better player than Schultz.

Either Campbell/Skinner step up or they will have to pay 1sts to get help, but so what. Pittsburgh traded their 1st every second year in the Crosby era, last trade deadline was the 1st year the Oilers did it. Of course it takes forever if you're not ever willing to deal any of your draft picks or prospects.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Hey Mac T called it, lol. I don't really see anything in Schultz game that Bouchard can't do better in time, Schultz is still a bit of a defensive liability, Ekholm is a better player than Schultz.

Either Campbell/Skinner step up or they will have to pay 1sts to get help, but so what. Pittsburgh traded their 1st every second year in the Crosby era, last trade deadline was the 1st year the Oilers did it. Of course it takes forever if you're not ever willing to deal any of your draft picks or prospects.

In time maybe, but in the next two years? Idk about that. The defensive side of the game takes time and experience to develop, and some guys just don’t have it in them anyway. There’s nothing at the moment to indicate Bouchard will suddenly become some defensive stalwart. He has quite a long ways to go to even become average/neutral.

And you keep saying if this happens, if that happens with no realistic path for these things to materialize. There sure is a boatload of ifs that need to go right when the Oilers realistically only have this year and next year before the cap absolutely cripples them for years and puts to rest any hope of depth in the absolute best case scenario that is incredibly unlikely (both McDavid and Draisaitl re-signing). Worst case scenario, they lose both for nothing and that’s the end of any discussion like this anyway.

 

[Divine]

Bobrovsky

3-1 against Boston (only lost his first game)
4-1 against Toronto
4-0 against Carolina

Safe to say he's on a heater

 

[Adrianopolous]

Bruh end this thread this series is finished

 

[Zirakzigil]

There is no discussion here that needs to continue in this thread. Move along.