can I just say that it is insane that I ranked the oilers defence 32nd and the issue that oil fans are piling onto is that the PP is projected as having duncan keith on it https://t.co/gemc2EZdnW

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 9, 2021

Very balanced team

Hollands really taking the term “glass cannon” a little too literal.

Poor McDavid lmfao….

According to Arpon Basu, the Canadiens will likely add someone at just over $1M to optimize Price and Weber on LTIR. Gambrell would be perfect.

Guy could be a huge waiver steal for multiple teams

you can say poor McDavid, but Holland has to build around his core (McJesus, Drai, Nurse) with way less cap space than a lot of other teams. Take the Bolts. They are loaded with superstars, but 9.5mil is the highest cap they have (Stamkos, Point, Vasi), and Hedman, McDonagh, Sergachev, and a bunch of depth guys are on absolutely amazing deals. They have also managed to keep developing prospects to replace guys who have to leave because of the salary cap (Foote, Barre-Boulet, Verhaeghe, Raddysh, Katchouk, etc.) by being extremely patient with them, and letting them play in Syracuse for upwards of 2 seasons so they can jump into the roster and make a mark.

Basically what I'm saying is:

Steve Yzerman built the best team of the salary cap era, and Brisebois has the tools to maintain it for 2-4 more years, depending on if a few more guys (Palat, Cernak, Cirelli) take team-friendly deals

The Oilers could have been The Bolts, but a few key mismanagement mishaps confirmed that they never will be.

Peter Chiarelli screwed the Oilers big time not by his cap management, because that was actually okay (see incredible Drai deal). He completely screwed them over at the draft. Puljujarvi is one of the biggest bust recently. Yamamoto has been rather underwhelming. Bouchard still has time, I still believe the Oilers rushed him a bit, when they should have done the Syracuse thing the Bolts did with Foote. Broberg was a decent pick but they passed on some big names that would have been better.

The Nurse deal actually really adds about 10 feet to their hole. It's really, really bad. Let's face it, he wouldn't have gotten those points if he wasn't on the Oilers PP.

I do, however, think the Foegele-Bear trade was pretty good for EDM. If Foegele is a player that would fit perfectly on the 3rd or 4th line of the Bolts, so it's clear they are going for that strategy. He's nasty, powerful, and can score. Super hard to play against. Bear was a high price, and they SHOULD NOT HAVE TRADED HIM AT ALL, but they did and proceeded to f up their D core even more.


Honestly I could rant about the Oilers for hours. This is definitely incomplete and I started to ramble sometimes and messed up the flow, but you get my point. Feel free to add to the discussion

This was an extremely valid take until this off-season, when he blew a significant amount of cap space on Nuge (decent deal), Hyman (meh deal, passable because he's good now), Ceci (unforgivable), Keith (doubly terrible because he gave up assets to trade for him), and paid Nurse like a top 5 D in the league. Plus he overpaid Kassian by like 2 million aav and 2 years, and refuses to address the glaring goaltending issue (didn't even draft Wallstedt which was a gimme, and keeps signing Smith). The reason Holland has no cap space is because he wasted it, Chiarelli made a lot of mistakes but Holland has had time to fix most of them, and has done pretty bad so far, and mainly just compounded the issues.

Winnipeg improved their D core by adding Schmidt and Dillon, but they could improve even more by trading Morrissey. He was one of the worst D in the league last season but I’m pretty sure his reputation around the league is still good. The jets should trade him before his NMC kicks in. Heinola has top pair upside and should be in the lineup.

Keefe on Dermott: "I'm still waiting, & I've had this conversation with Travis, for him to take that next step"After "a successful camp," Leafs coach says Liljegren has solidified his spot as the next-man up on D 👇https://t.co/uBpQKVVyZs

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 9, 2021

Vesey number 2?

Has anyone seen Tony Deangelo play in the preseason for the Canes? How does he look? Is he gonna play 1st PP?

Nurse has 1 goal (out of 21) and 12 points (out of 69; nice) on the PP over the last two seasons. He's 3rd in the league in 5v5 points among Dmen over that span. I don't think the contract is good either, but saying his production is reliant on the Oilers' PP is just blatantly incorrect.



Totally agree with this. There's no excuse for the way Holland has managed the Cap to surround his stars. nearly $9m on Keith + Ceci is indefensible.

Morrissey is still a good top pair D, he’ll bounce back, he’s on a great contract

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/519466?post_id=2724006

My Standings prediction.

Morrissey had one good year (with trouba 3 years ago). He hasn’t been anything close to a top pair D in the last few years. Even ignoring analytics, he ranks among the worst in the league in basic stats. Most turnovers among defenseman, he’s not a good passer, and he is very bad at exiting and entering the zone with possession. Not exactly top pair caliber. He’s closer to a 7D than a top pair quality D.

I agree with a fair amount of your points but Alfie summed it up well for me.

Additionally Holland has:

- Continued the trend of bad drafts:
Idc how well Xavier turns out (I think he’s a “fine pick”), they passed on a NEED NEED NEED NEED CAPITAL N E E D for a superstar potential goalie. Wallstedt is not a sure fire pick, he’s not a safe pick, he’s a risk. But Wallstedt has arguably the highest ceiling of any player from the 2021 draft. He was a steal at the Oilers selection spot.

- bad money:
They lost Larsson and choosing Barrie by keeping Barrie over Larsson. Yes I think the Oilers coulda kept Larsson. He hasn’t moved Kassian. He gave a good deal to RNH but then a very scary length to Hyman. He then GIVES CODY CECI 3.25 Million DOLLARS. Oh and Keith is REAAAAAAL bad money.

- Build a actual team not a glass cannon:

Nurse - Larsson
? - Bouchard
Russell - Hakanpaa (offer him a deal or a little more and he’s a oiler I’d bet)

Idk it’s just a quick example but Larsson was really playing damn well and signed a great deal for Seattle and they paid Barrie more, while also giving Ceci an unforgivable amount of money. Then also losing quality assets for Keith who is no help.

I mean their D core just looks brutal. Jani Hakanpaa for like 2.2m maybe a slight overpay (he’s signed at 1.5 but idk if he’d sign the same for EDM) but it’s way better than giving Ceci 3.25 or trading for Keith. Without even looking back at all the available D from the offseason - a dog coulda probably signed/ built a better D core for McDavid.

So is Mikheyev actually going to play with Willy and John?

Larsson apparently let Holland know after Edmonton got swept he wasnt coming back which was why Holland didnt extend him. Wanted a fresh start on a new team which can often be beneficial for certain players. That said Holland should have done a better job replacing him. Ceci in a top 4 role is not good, in Pittsburgh they reduced his minutes and played him in certain low minute roles and surprisingly it worked. I have a feeling in Edmonton were gonna see a repeat of Toronto's 2019-2020 Dcore. Basically top 5 in GF and really bad GA numbers.

Honestly if I was Holland I would have

1. Never made the bear trade
2. Never made the Keith trade
3. Signed Demers and McCabe in FA

And went with

Nurse-Bear
McCabe-Demers
Russel-Bouchard

focusing in on the Bear trade, I would have still traded for Foegele, but with Lagesson and a 5th rounder

Demers is as bad in a top 4 role as Ceci tbh. He's washed. That sad, he shoulf have targeted a more capable top 4 RD.

#GoSensGo Scott Sabourin absolutely pummels #LeafsForever Justin Holl after Holl took a run at Tim Stutzle. 👊 pic.twitter.com/mcccorxLpc

— Hockey Hound (@HockeyHoundShow) October 9, 2021

Well at least he isn’t punching innocent people now.

Man feel bad for Mikheyev.

Probs gonna be out for a while with a hand injury.

Closer look at Mikheyev falling You can see him land on his hand pic.twitter.com/eTSZ0V8XRL

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 10, 2021

But hey dont got to waive brooks no more.

Forgot to mention Holland signs Demers to a 1 year deal. That way unlike Ceci if he sucks they aint stuck with him.

Basically Demers fills in a top 4 role and next year Holland goes after a better RD.

SJS would be intriguing

Arizona is another choice as lets be honest they would probs give him top 6 time lul

I would say Toronto

But we got so many 4c

Still Simmonds-Brown-Spezza would be an intriguing 4th line

There are few players in hockey less worthy of wearing a C than Tom Wilson.

Are you saying that he deserves the c