Parture Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Reward players for better +/- and separate Pouliot and RNH because they generated no points together the first two games. Milan Lucic - Connor McDavid - Jordan Eberle Benoit Pouliot - Leon Draisaitl - Jesse Puljujärvi Patrick Maroon - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Zack Kassian Tyler Benson - Drake Caggiula - ??? I'm ok with all these lines except Tyler and Drake are not ready yet so 3 spots need to be filled on the 4th line, and Pitlick, Letestu and Lander are not the answer. I saw Pitlick's mistake last night where he failed to take his man, the puck went off his stick and there was no way for Talbot to stop it. Kris Russell(L) - Adam Larsson(R) Oscar Klefbom(L) - Eric Gryba(R) Andrej Sekera(L) - Mark Fayne(R) Oilers have scored 12 points in 2 games and Nurse already has a negative +/-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 @Parture Welcome to hockeyforums! -I think that 2 games without a point might be a bit early to start stripping experienced players of ice time. -I really don't like the idea of feeding those minutes to Puljujarvi until he's ready. He has an NHL shot, but it's a huge jump in responsibility to go from playing 10 minutes per night to 15-17. He hasn't shown himself to be ready for that, imo. -I like Draisaitl on that 3rd line: opponents throw their best defensive units at McDavid, and Nugent-Hopkins plays the toughs. That gives Leon a chance to crush it against the weakest comp. -Along a similar vein, if you want to watch Kris Russell's +/- go down, give him the minutes that Oscar Kelfbom plays. -Lander IS a problem. Has always had a good head on his shoulders for the defensive side of the game, but aside from getting favorable minutes (which he will never see again) from Todd Nelson, he's never scored at all in the NHL. Depth players have to be able to score even just a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 @Parture Welcome, it's great to have another Oilers fan here. I haven't had a chance to watch the Oilers play yet this season. It's always great when the complaints of one's team are the 4th line, which is possibly the easiest to fix. Who else would you call up to replace Lander? Or would you look to add a FA not signed to an NHL contract this season? I don't think I'd be so tough on Nurse, +/- is a stat that reflects the entire line on the ice. The kid has solid talent, he'll be a stud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The Oilers understand that their number one need is defense and solidly overpaid for Larsson (something that totally screwed up the landscape of expectations for teams like the Ducks with Fowler and the Jets with Trouba. As a Wings fan all that I can say is thanks a lot sarcastically, lol). Not to continuously rehash but their offseason was: OUT: Hall and Yakupov. IN: Larsson and Russell of defense and Lucic and Puljujarvi BIGGEST INTANGIBLES: Hope that McDavid stays healthy and becomes at the least Crosby if not better, that Klefbom and Nurse finally show signs of being the players they have hopes for. That RNH and Draisaitl stay healthy. A total change in philosophy, instead of adding talented pieces and hoping to get them to play as a team, they are building with roles for certain players, Sekera a middle pair defender who runs the point on a PP is a nice luxury they can now afford with Larsson and Russell hanging back and defending their own zone. To me, the biggest worries on this club are depth among defense and expectation of the two kids, I personally am not as high on either Nurse or Klefbom as some, both can play and will be around the game for a long time but I don't see much more than middle pair guys out of them, not the 25 minute a night all situation players that some seem to think they are. They could still play for me anytime, they are damn good young players but I do not now and in my opinion will never see either as a stud. Just solid minute eating guys with a little offensive acumen, not bad but certainly not studs. The other big worry in is net, Talbot is an aging career minor leaguer who caught a break at the right time with the Rangers a few years ago and parlayed it into a long term deal but frankly he is not one of the top twenty goalies in the game. Allowing him to man the net is like letting your eighty year old granddad drive your new Ferrari. If the intangibles occur, if McDavid scores 120 points and they are three deep down the middle and remain healthy all year and the two kid d-men are 20 percent better and Larsson and Russell protect the net, none of the negatives will matter, this will be a potential playoff team which would be a Hell of a nice step for this club to reach in year two of McFranchise. @Parture welcome to the board, good luck to your boys this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parture Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 8 hours ago, hf101 said: @Parture I don't think I'd be so tough on Nurse, +/- is a stat that reflects the entire line on the ice. The kid has solid talent, he'll be a stud. I agree I shouldn't be tough of Nurse. The first few seasons are tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parture Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 I am not a big fan of Klef either, nor Ebs -51, but he should work with Lucic and McD. Klef has a -31. Nurse -19. Lander -43. Sekera -15. If Klef finishes the season say -10 or worse then I think that should be it for Klef (but as long as he is next to Larsson he should be fine). Nurse gets this season and the next to prove himself. Letestu was -21 last season. We traded Shultz who was -22, so why wouldn't we trade Letestu? I don't want to cling onto hopes Pouliot and RNH will work out together. I would rather end that matchup NOW! Draisaitl is -1 right now but so is RNH. Whosoever +/- is better should be on the 2nd line. At least Draisaitl generated some points. RNH has none. RNH needs big players on his line. Lucic-McD-Ebs Poul-Drais-Kass Maro-RNH-Pulju Cagg-Letestu(for now)-Anyone but Lander Klef-Larss Russ-Sek Nurse-Gryba Imagine how awesome it would be if we had Jason Demers Klef-Larss Russ-Demers Nurse/Davidson-Gryba Not a fan of Sekera and Fayne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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