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Edmonton Oilers 2018-2019

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aqua59

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Gretzky and Coffee will step in with a staff of their own choosing if Edmonton tumbles again this season.

 

Obviously Chiarelli's hands are tied with no significant moves this past off season, they are pretty much going with the same failed roster from last year.

 

 Einstein's, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

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As you said, until Lowe is gone, that team ain't going anywhere.

 

Lowe has been the GM of that team for very long time. It is very probable that many people who are working for the Oilers right now, including those in the scouting department, are the people that he hired and probably have forged strong relationships with. These people are probably very loyal to Lowe and Lowe is probably loyal to them. If any new GM comes in and wants to revamp the scouting department or any other aspect of the team, they ain't going to get it done as long as Lowe is there protecting these people.

 

And what harm could some old "has beens" do to harm the team? Well, they are going to make things more complicated. They are going to make every decision harder to make. More people to convince. More hurdles to jump over because people are not on the same page when it comes to the even the tiniest problems. 

 

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51 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

They prob have to overpay stiffs, cos' no one wants to live in that town. Hard to argue with geography.

our current canuck's showed glimps last year,of what their doing on a more regular basis, if it wasn't for injuries It could have been better,glad it wasn't (2018 draft) , the point being as quick as things improved for the canucks , I for one, wont write the current version  of the oilers off just yet, imo they have  to turn this thing around, and they do have some enviable pieces . they have to keep their golden boy motivated to want to stay in the NHL's ice station zebra or stalag13, at least our albatross contract player is contributing , their's    not so much.

Edited by chon derry
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  People look to drafting, and if you aren't pulling guys from rounds beyond the first, they blame the scouts.  Sometimes that's true, but sometimes that's awfully misleading.  Drafting is just part of the process when you're dealing with prospects, but a big percentage has to go to player development.  You need structure, continuity, and proper support at all levels when you're guiding a bunch of teenagers into one of the toughest leagues in pro sports.  From nutrition, to mental preparation, to the physical grind of living the gym life, to skills coaches to expand and upgrade deficiencies in players games and grow areas that are already strong.

  You look at how much has changed in our organisation who finally under Gillis got an AHL team of our own with our own staff and development crew, and how much they've grown over the past few years.  We are FINALLY starting to see dividends from something that we began almost a decade ago.

  Sometimes its the easy button to get a guy at the top end of the draft.  They are naturally above their peers in all categories and you just plug and play them into the line up and try to support them from there up.  The real tell of how well an organisation is doing, is looking at the ones that produce no matter what.  Detroit used to be the jewel in the crown of the story of player development.  Now I'd have to argue Tampa and San Jose are.  But Vancouver is also on its way up, and due to some savvy moves in the AHL, to some good choices in the draft (which is basically scratch lotto tickets).  By next years draft time, and another class graduating to the AHL, we should be happy with our team for a good long time. 

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  And as for Edmonton, I think Lowe should be gone, if only to remove a voice that is good at deflecting away from the things that need to happen in that organisation.  They need to hire a better player development staff, go with some continuity on coaching, and learn how to sell high on extraneous forwards with skill to address organisational needs.  They get caught up in the game of having too many of this, and not enough of that, but unwilling to divest themselves of players they should really cut bait with.  Nuge or Draisatl should have been sold to upgrade the team, regardless of how well they play at 'one' position.  This is a team that needs a talent on the wing to play with McDavid, needs 2 more high end defensemen, and at this point...should consider an upgrade in goal, but I'd say more importantly, upgrade in goaltending coach.  Ranford would look great back there if they could pry him out of where he is now, or Sean Burke.

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The Canucks success thus far hinges on a number of things. Elias is a big factor. But so is the coaching of Travis Green, the drafting of Jim Benning, the play of Guddy, Hutton and Stech, the continual emergence of Bo Horvat as a top tier #2/possible #1 C, guys like Virtanen and Gaudette continuing to improve and the acquired depth in general. Guys like Motte, Biega, Rousell and even Gaunce have performed admirably. Being less top heavy helps I think. The Oilers have the greatest young offensive talent in the game but he takes up a wack of cap space on his own. We've also gotten serviceable defense thus far even though there's definitely room for improvement and we missed/miss Tanev and Edler. Player development and having autonomy in Utica is huge too.

 

Hell, the Canucks have a much different philosophy when it comes to team building and growth. The Oilers likely would have thrown Hughes and Juolevi to the wolves right after drafting them. We allowed Hughes to decide what he thought was best and allowed Juolevi to marinate in Finland/AHL. Same goes for Elias and he did unbelievable things in the SHL. Demko's had looks but for the most part has and will marinate in Utica til the Canucks deem him ready. Edmonton gets high picks and seems to immediately try and throw em to the wolves. They've also been horrible at drafting outside the first round for years (so were we until recently). Benning was criticized for beefing up our bottom six over the offseason but everyone he's brought in has performed adequately or better. Edmonton is starving for guys like Beagle, Sutter and Rousell. Let alone someone like Guddy.

 

Imma sit back and enjoy watching Edmonton squander McDavid and co as we make our gradual rise from the bottom.

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What I’m more surprised by is that people think Edmonton would magically be fixed just because they got McJesus. It’s the same incompetent dumpster fire of a club that wasted all those other first overall picks. The only difference is McDavid is too good for them to ruin. Beyond that you have all the same issues Edmonton was dealing with before, except with a little Connor McDavid bandaid slapped over a gangrenous, hemorrhagic wound. 

 

If Edmonton really wants to fix what ails them that whole organization needs to be gutted from the tippy top management to the guy who sweeps up popcorn after the game. The whole structure is rotten, and you can’t build a nice house on bad foundation.

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22 minutes ago, chon derry said:

our current canuck's showed glimps last year,of what their doing on a more regular basis, if it wasn't for injuries It could have been better,glad it wasn't (2018 draft) , the point being as quick as things improved for the canucks , I for one, wont write the current version  of the oilers off just yet, imo they have  to turn this thing around, and they do have some enviable pieces . they have to keep their golden boy motivated to want to stay in the NHL's ice station zebra or stalag13, at least our albatross contract player is contributing , their's    not so much.

Drai to Mtl for Drouin & Mtl 2019 1st?!

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1 hour ago, khay said:

As you said, until Lowe is gone, that team ain't going anywhere.

 

Lowe has been the GM of that team for very long time. It is very probable that many people who are working for the Oilers right now, including those in the scouting department, are the people that he hired and probably have forged strong relationships with. These people are probably very loyal to Lowe and Lowe is probably loyal to them. If any new GM comes in and wants to revamp the scouting department or any other aspect of the team, they ain't going to get it done as long as Lowe is there protecting these people.

 

And what harm could some old "has beens" do to harm the team? Well, they are going to make things more complicated. They are going to make every decision harder to make. More people to convince. More hurdles to jump over because people are not on the same page when it comes to the even the tiniest problems. 

 

Kevin Lowe is not the GM of the Oilers and has not had that title for 10 years. Steve Tambellini, Craig MacTavish and Peter Chiarelli have all held the GM title since Kevin Lowe. Lowe was still President of the team with the noted GM's reporting to him until 2015. Bob Nicholson is the current CEO of both Business and Hockey Operations reporting to Daryl Katz. Peter Chiarelli, as President and GM of Hockey Operations, reports directly to Nicholson. Lowe still works for Katz but has nothing to do with the hockey operations.

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1 hour ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

L2,  The poor guys prob already have EP-envy to deal with!

As they should. I've got zero sympathy for that club.

 

They dishonoured the sport with the teams they iced over the better part of a decade. The only thing they were trying to win was last place, over and over and over again.

 

&^@# those clowns. They've got bad juju, and deserve it in full. 

 

But hey, at least their fans can still bring up the 80's to rub our noses in. Double &^@# those clowns. 

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I think the lack of veteran leadership plays a factor in how bad they have sucked. After Ryan Smyth retired they failed to fill the void he left with a quality leader - instead they opted for Andrew Ference. Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent Hopkins were fed to the wolves along with poor picks like Nail Yakupov which to me created a culture of losing which seems to still haunt them today even with McJesus. Having guys like Lucic to try and fill the void left by Hall was a dumb move lbot who they rode like a dead horse with the lack of a quality backup. But what do I know :P

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