yave1964 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 In a game last night against the Panthers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins blocked a shot by defenseman Dmitri Kuliklov and the puck caught him in the hand and according to Coach Todd McLellan in is not good. "It is going to be a long term injury." he said. Heartbreaking for the Oilers. According to more than one report before the Predators acquired Ryan Johanessen from the Jackets for Seth Jones, the Oilers offered RNH for the young Defenseman Jones only to be rebuffed. Now they have lost him for a long term, nobody is saying the word broken as of yet, more to come today surely but after attempting to deal him and being rebuffed the best thing for the Oil would have likely been to make a move with him and be done but now...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Ouch. At least McDavid is back in a few weeks. They are going to lean a bit heavy on Dr Drai in the interim. In fact, they need to call someone up or trade something small for a reasonable NHL caliber 3rd line C to get them over the hump. Right now their C's are Dr Drai, Letestu and Lander with no 4th C. Hendricks can take some faceoffs I guess, but not a guy to lean on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPuk Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Jeeeeze! The Oilers can't win the lottery this year can they?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 If it's not one thing then it's another, and the Oilers have not had anything resembling a healthy roster all year. At every point, they have been missing key players like Jordan Eberle, Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom, Nail Yakupov, Benoit Pouliot, and Justin Schultz... And now Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Strangely enough, Taylor Hall is now the only key ingredient who hasn't been hurt this year. The Oilers lead the NHL in both man-games lost due to injury, but also impact of players lost: Credit to https://www.mangameslost.com/nhl-man-games-lost-january-13-2016/# for the data here. It's one thing for an established team to suffer injuries of that quality and duration, but it's an entirely different matter for a rebuilding team to use bailing wire and duct tape to hold a roster together, and the Oilers are the runaway leaders in the Injury Impact metric, with almost 1/3 more than 2nd place. The encouraging thing is that despite the injuries, they've improved. Last year, they were 12 wins in 47 games and this year they have 19. They have cut their goal differential in half from this point last year, from -49 down to -24. Mind you, all that you'll hear from the media and fans is how they haven't gotten better, or "blah blah lottery, blah blah Matthews, lolololololololol..." Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 3 hours ago, JR Ewing said: Taylor Hall is now the only key ingredient who hasn't been hurt this year. It's just a matter of time. I didn't know Klefbom was hurt. 3 hours ago, JR Ewing said: all that you'll hear from the media and fans is how they haven't gotten better, or "blah blah lottery, blah blah Matthews, That's pretty sad when the culture of defeat, the expectation of losing, spreads from the locker room to the fans. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, the Oilers need to start building a different culture there under the new head coach. That should be the priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 8 minutes ago, Podein25 said: It's just a matter of time. I didn't know Klefbom was hurt. Yeah, Klefbom broke his knuckle when he was kicked in the hand early in December against the Rangers. Then, that healed and he's been recovering from a staph infection in his leg. This is the second time he's had that happen since he was 19. The last time this happened to him, a teammate accidentally dropped a skate on his leg while in the dressing room, giving him a serious laceration, which ultimately became infected, costing him the entire season. 8 minutes ago, Podein25 said: That's pretty sad when the culture of defeat, the expectation of losing, spreads from the locker room to the fans. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, the Oilers need to start building a different culture there under the new head coach. That should be the priority. I was meaning more that fans outside of the market will have this reaction when the Oilers don't appear to have improved, despite the fact that the record is better despite suffering through a series of absolutely freak injuries. The worst part is that Nugent-Hopkins provides a lot of cover for Draisaitl and McDavid, playing the toughest minutes of all the centres on the team. Tough to replace with a teenager and a 20-year old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Well, there we go: as announced this morning by Todd McLellan, Nugent-Hopkins will miss 6-8 weeks. Sigh... http://www.tsn.ca/oilers-nugent-hopkins-out-6-8-weeks-with-hand-injury-1.425163 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 21 minutes ago, JR Ewing said: I was meaning more that fans outside of the market will have this reaction when the Oilers don't appear to have improved, despite the fact that the record is better despite suffering through a series of absolutely freak injuries. The worst part is that Nugent-Hopkins provides a lot of cover for Draisaitl and McDavid, playing the toughest minutes of all the centres on the team. Tough to replace with a teenager and a 20-year old. Yeah understood. Maybe the Oil need to make a trade for a centre, lol? Or a D-man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 6 hours ago, JR Ewing said: Yeah, Klefbom broke his knuckle when he was kicked in the hand early in December against the Rangers. Then, that healed and he's been recovering from a staph infection in his leg. This is the second time he's had that happen since he was 19. The last time this happened to him, a teammate accidentally dropped a skate on his leg while in the dressing room, giving him a serious laceration, which ultimately became infected, costing him the entire season. I was meaning more that fans outside of the market will have this reaction when the Oilers don't appear to have improved, despite the fact that the record is better despite suffering through a series of absolutely freak injuries. The worst part is that Nugent-Hopkins provides a lot of cover for Draisaitl and McDavid, playing the toughest minutes of all the centres on the team. Tough to replace with a teenager and a 20-year old. What do you see as options going forward? I have entertained the notion that they may trade for a C. But what kind of C? Nothing more than a 2nd line C for certain. But it is possible Draisaitl could handle #1 C duties for a bit. Particularly since he has been doing so well with Hall. In fact, some nights, he does play #1 C. At least, in away games when the opposing coach has last change, he does get some tough matchup's and fares decent. Perhaps in the interim, grab a decent 2nd or 3rd line C. Hate to say it, but possibly Bozak since Kadri will cost too much and Bozak could likely be had for a 2nd. In all honesty, I expected RNH might have been involved in some trade for a Dman in the near future, so it was possible this could happen. The wild being the most likely candidate since the Preds finally have their man at C. If the Wild would part with Charlie Coyle + a Dman for RNH.....Coyle is respectable defensively, plays best in a 2nd and 3rd line role, but could take some of the pressure off the kids long enough for them to blossom AND RNH is worth much more so the Wild would need to part with one of their Dmen in the process. I was surprised as heck they resigned Spurgeon considering they are in need of new contracts for Dumba and Zucker and still Granlund has not turned into the #1 C they want. Koivu is getting old. Might end up being a good trading partner if the right deal can be made. RNH at 6 million long term is a bargain and everyone knows it. The wild with Dumba, Scandella, Suter, Brodin and Spurgeon have space to move at this position to fill that #1 C role they crave. The other possibility of course is the Isles. With Nielsen and Okposo as UFA's, on their budget..........and Hamonic looking to move to Western Canada. Nielsen + Hamonic for RNH? Problem is of course, with RNH injured, he is off the trade block till he returns. Hamonic is currently injured too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 35 minutes ago, J0e Th0rnton said: What do you see as options going forward? I have entertained the notion that they may trade for a C. But what kind of C? Nothing more than a 2nd line C for certain. But it is possible Draisaitl could handle #1 C duties for a bit. Particularly since he has been doing so well with Hall. In fact, some nights, he does play #1 C. At least, in away games when the opposing coach has last change, he does get some tough matchup's and fares decent. Perhaps in the interim, grab a decent 2nd or 3rd line C. Hate to say it, but possibly Bozak since Kadri will cost too much and Bozak could likely be had for a 2nd. In all honesty, I expected RNH might have been involved in some trade for a Dman in the near future, so it was possible this could happen. The wild being the most likely candidate since the Preds finally have their man at C. If the Wild would part with Charlie Coyle + a Dman for RNH.....Coyle is respectable defensively, plays best in a 2nd and 3rd line role, but could take some of the pressure off the kids long enough for them to blossom AND RNH is worth much more so the Wild would need to part with one of their Dmen in the process. I was surprised as heck they resigned Spurgeon considering they are in need of new contracts for Dumba and Zucker and still Granlund has not turned into the #1 C they want. Koivu is getting old. Might end up being a good trading partner if the right deal can be made. RNH at 6 million long term is a bargain and everyone knows it. The wild with Dumba, Scandella, Suter, Brodin and Spurgeon have space to move at this position to fill that #1 C role they crave. The other possibility of course is the Isles. With Nielsen and Okposo as UFA's, on their budget..........and Hamonic looking to move to Western Canada. Nielsen + Hamonic for RNH? Problem is of course, with RNH injured, he is off the trade block till he returns. Hamonic is currently injured too. If they're to make a trade (and I doubt it would happen), I'd much prefer if it were for a defenseman. Either way, there should only be a trade for a centre if it continues to fit in the long term plans, and isn't some sort of an attempt to finish in the last playoff spot. It's just not happening, IMO. Besides, this year was clearly about burning off Nikitin's contract, as well as another year from Ference before they try to do more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Speaking of injury....YIKES!!! Somewhere Patrick Thoresen is cringing!!! DAYUM!!! Check out his cup dear God that would of went through him without that!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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