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Speculation: What do the Oilers need to do to take the next step?

How I feel, hope for healthy players, patience and see where the team stands after the moves thats have been done.
 
I think taking the next step will be in large part on how McLellen decides on who plays with who and in what situations i.e. PP, PK etc. From now on much of the success will fall on the coach.
 
Seems as though they feel they did what was necessary to take the next step. See how things play out this year and if need be, make further adjustments afterward.
Constant significant change is often no better than standing still.
 
Ainsy01 said:
to go from good to great, they first have to become good !



Heard this before, about .. Hall... Yakupov... Nugent-hopkins.... etc....

Go flames.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't trade Hall, Yakupov and RNH right now for McDavid. He's going to be 19 this year and he's likely going to be playing with an 18 year old Puljujarvi and the ogre Lucic on his left.

Whether or not they do well next year will depend on Talbot and their defense and that's been the same thing for years now. Recently every year is the year that they're finally going to make the playoffs... this year is no different. I'll believe it when I see it.
 
Improve the bottom 6 with good young drafted talent which the oikers don't currently have... I think they will continue to struggle to score goals
 
Depending on Puljujarvi, this season Oilers team may be weaker than last season.
Missing 5 more players to become contenders.
 
a 3 c like hudler
a prospect like werenski
a depth fwd like pirri
a true shooter to play with mc d
and a stop gap top 4 man till next year
a better back up option then gust


so

lucic mc d ????
pouliot rnh ebs
maroon hudler drai either those guys can with places
hendricks letestu kassian

klef lars
sek ???
davidson ???

talbot
???
 
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Vet precense, good D, and a true #1 goalie.

We have phrase in Finland which is basically: Going ass first into the tree. That's what Edmonton's being doing last years.
 
Have their younger players develop. They could make the playoffs this season, but I'm not sure. Give it a few more seasons, and they could be contending for the Cup.
 
awegrzyn said:
Depending on Puljujarvi, this season Oilers team may be weaker than last season.
Missing 5 more players to become contenders.
Click to expand...

Really?

If we start this season with everyone healthy for opening night this will be the comparable rosters from last years opening night.

Last Year
Pouliot-Nuge-Purcell
Hall-McDavid-Slepyshev
Korpikoski-Lander-Yakupov
Hendricks-Letestu-Klinkhammer

Sekera-Fayne
Klefbom-Schultz
Reinhart-Gryba

Talbot
Nilsson


This Year
Lucic-McDavid-Eberle
Pouliot-Nuge-Puljujarvi
Maroon-Draisaitl-Yakupov
Hendricks-Letestu-Kassian

Klefbom-Larsson
Davidson-Sekera
Some combination of Nurse/Reinhart/Oesterle/Fayne

Talbot
Gustavsson
 
I honestly can't believe nobody said goaltending yet. Ya the defense too but cmon...Talbot?

Oilers don't make the playoffs this next season
 
NobodysHero said:
I honestly can't believe nobody said goaltending yet. Ya the defense too but cmon...Talbot?

Oilers don't make the playoffs this next season
Click to expand...

This cracks me up, everyone was screaming Talbot was a legit number 1 in NY he gets traded to edmonton, has a excellent second half behind a brutal d core and now all of a sudden Talbot is barley a nhl goalie. Anyone who watched him last year knows goaltending is not a problem, well starting goalie anyways I'm not sold on the monster as a back up.
 
Honestly, just a bit of patience. I know it's weird hearing that considering how long things have taken but the team is finally starting to build a young, solid D with a capable #1 goalie and a competent coaching/management team.

They took a lot of steps backwards before last year and have only begun to take the right steps forward. Things will fall into place soon, let's see how they look by the midway point of the upcoming season.
 
If everything goes right they could be #1 seed (hey, the Avs did that a few years ago).

Too many questions need answered for EDM. Can Lucic play with McDavid, is Talbot a #1G, any sophomore slumps/regressions, how bad are the growing pains for this young team, how do they react to the pressure of a Playoff push, ect?

Stars, Hawks, Blues, Preds from the Central, and 2 of the Kings, Ducks, Sharks from the Pacific are pretty much locks for the Playoffs.

So EDM probably has another miss the playoffs year, but be in the mix with the Wild/Avs for the 2nd WC/3rd in the Pacific. The kids get a(nother) full season under belts. The GM sees what the team needs and makes changes for the next year.

Worst thing would be for the GM to make a stupid TDL deal (Dris/Puljujarvi/RNH) for a Rick Nash type. Stranger things have happened.

17-18 I think is the year where EDM starts to make a strong push in the Playoffs.
 
Stay healthy.

Coaching, youth development, and chemistry.

Really that should be it for them to make the playoffs.

Our biggest hole has been filled. Our group of forwards is still very talented with more veteran presence, grit, and size. The division is tough but not insurmountable. The west in general has taken a small step back.
 
Just experience really. They have the pieces and some decent complimentary pieces. Maybe a consistent starting goaltender, but that's about it. Nurse/Klefbom/Larsson are some good D pieces for a young squad, McDavid/Drai/Pulju are arguably the best 3 young forwards among all the rebuilding teams. Other than more experience i don't see any massive holes that need to be filled.
 
Oilers need to stay healthy to know what they actually got, with the biggest questions being:

Klefbom - Played like a top pairing defenceman last year, but such a small sample size. Can he be a decent top pair guy or is he more likely to be a excellent middle pair guy?

Larsson - Was great defensively on the top pair last year in Jersey. How does his game transition to a weaker defensive team like the oilers? Moving from East to West conference isn't always easy for defenseman, due to a much heavier game. Can he improve on his poor offensive numbers?

Davidson - I thought he was easily our best D after Klefbom went down. Can he consistently play like that? How will his leg injury impact his game?

Nuge - Exactly what kind of player is he really? Can he find his offensive game from his early years, especially now that he will be asked to shoulder more of the scoring burden with Hall gone. Or is he more of a conservative two way center. It's time for Nuge to step up and show what he can do.

I think these are the 4 biggest question marks that this franchise needs to answer, before they make any more significant deals. The whole pp qb is a bit over blown here. I have more of an issue with playing guys like Letestu on the pp. I also hope they give Yak a real chance to contribute. As frustrating as his career has been so far, he's still one of the most offensively talented players on the team. People tend to forget that he played pretty good with Derik Roy, so he isn't necessarily dependent on McDavid to succeed. Everyone paired with Letestu struggles to score.

Looking forward to the first 15-20 games. With management now sorted out, the roster changes made which should help both on the ice and in the room, and with the opening of the new rink, it feels like we're getting a brand new start to this. Haven't been this optimistic in quite some time.
 
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