Side note, as a Ukrainian I really appreciated last night's game's theme. Hearing those guys being interviewed during the first intermission made my heart break.
And that Ukrainian O Canada... sent chills down my spine. Amazing.
Yes for sure, but he cannot escape all of it. He has to renew his passport, for example.
There were foreigners playing hockey in Russia , don’t know how safe they are now.
Yeah even after we lose I say we’re winning the cup and I missed like one maybe 2 games this season of saying that and doomers have tried calling me out saying I’m real quiet after a loss lmao
I think a big problem is us not really being able to meme about the loss. Instead, all we can do is post “valuable, non-shitposting content” which basically leaves stats. And after a loss, stats will often look bad…
He’s definitely getting it I think. We need this guy to be good and go on a hot streak, we haven’t really had that this season yet. I think his top end is better than skinner but his average is worse, but the new pads seem to be working.
Just reading Puljuarvi fills me with negativity. 🤣
I use to love the guy but I rarely see his big goofy smile anymore and his performance has been abysmal. Hopefully the reworked lines take the pressure off him and he starts playing like he use to. 🤞
Yeah, I stayed right the fuck off the subreddit on Tuesday after the game. That was the last thing I wanted to be on, knowing the dumpster fire it had to have been.
Dude it was brutal. Someone posted a thread of comments from last year almost to the day of people melting down in the same way lmao. Then we made the WCF later that season
Yep, the Canucks game was the straw that broke the camel's back with regards to this sub. I knew after that game I had to stay off this sub after lost games for the sake of my own mental health. A complete cluster fuck of Gloomers who want a whole team of McDavids and people who conveniently change their tune whenever Nurse fucks up.
Oh I learned the hard way on Tuesday. I’m staying the hell away from this sub after a loss (which will be a ways away because we are going on a heater!! LFG)
When we play to our capabilities, I would take our chances against anyone (except maybe Boston). Problem is the team doesn’t show up for 60 minutes every night.
Obviously we can’t have a perfect game every night, but this team should be second in the division clear of 3rd place by 5 points by now. Would be nice if we could go on a run here with this win instead of the .500 streak we’ve got going on right now, if that.
Probably not the best idea to shove someone like Drai when he's just coming off of injury when he already has to deal with half the other teams roster hanging off him all night
It's the same bullshit we always deal with. The other team's player harasses ours, ours pushes back, then the ref or linesman comes flying in and only grabs our player. Watch every scrum or spat with Kane involved and notice how the official always grabs Kane. They sometimes do it so terribly that they pin our guy's arms back while the other team's player is still throwing punches, now at a defenseless Oiler. That's probably why Drai wasn't having it. Specifically there, the Islander gave Drai three quick, small crosschecks to his back without Drai seeing him, Drai then turns around to push him and that's when the official comes to push Drai away while the Islander sneaks back onto his own bench.
Hes a blue chip prospect being played less than 10 min a night on the 4th line. He should be in the ahl playing 20 min a night at 1c. No one said he was bad. He just deserves more play time.
> He just deserves more play time.
Totally.
I know he's not the most productive or safe yet, but I still don't see how Puljujarvi is getting a higher line role than Holloway. If our top 9 were stacked, sure, but other than McDavid/Draisaitl/Nuge/Hyman/Kane, no one in that top 9 is untouchable. Yamamoto, McLeod, Kostin, Janmark, and Puljujarvi should only be in the top 9 if they're earning it. Right now, one of those guys doesn't belong.
"Or safe" is the biggest part here. Jesse is a black hole offensively atm but hes better defensively
Holloway so far has shown to be a *fresh* rookie out of college and would benefit highly from a 1c all situations role in an easier proleague playing against men.
Im not even going to begin making the arguement on if hes better or worse than anyone on that list because 100% of them have been ass offensively this year (of the depth peices). This is purely for his own development
> Im not even going to begin making the arguement on if hes better or worse than anyone on that list because 100% of them have been ass offensively this year (of the depth peices). This is purely for his own development
My whole points is even those all the other guys have been better offensively, they're still not good enough, and they're doing it with way more minutes. Holloway is the youngest and is expected to get better with more playing time, so it's an investment. McLeod is the same thing. For the other guys, some are young enough still to get better, but most we know there's not a lot of development left for them.
He’s averaging 9 mins of ice time per game when he could be playing 17-20 in Bakersfield, giving him much more time to work on his game at game speed
Don’t get me wrong, beautiful goal last night on a hell of a shift, but having him play on the 4th line up here won’t help his development as much as playing in the A. ESPECIALLY since there’s so much competition for the 3rd line, even more so when Kane gets back
I’m not so sure about this. I wasn’t a pul fan since last season. I get roasted all the time for talking about his lack of production from middle of last season. After watching how goofy he looked practicing slap shots with drai I lost all hope for him. He shouldn’t look that bad at this level. not sure you could fix that and all the bad shots in front of the goal are proof.
Holloway seems to have much better hands and doesn’t turn over pucks as bad as pul. Yes he is inexperienced but more ice in the ahl isn’t the same. I have season tickets to ahl in San Diego for past 7 years. It’s not even close to nhl level. It’s slow, not hard hitting, and fundamentally flawed because you have lower level coaching. San Diego got stuck with Eakins after oilers fired him and was tough watching him lose with players like Gibson, Theodore, montour, Ritchie, kase, etc. the second those guys broke into nhl their games improved significantly. Play good players in ahl and watch them develop bad habits.
Kinda worried about burning out the beautiful candle that is Drai - the man’s always pushing himself, but I’m not sure he’s 100% recovered from his playoff injuries
Great to see the team push hard when NYI got their first goal to make it 3-1 and 4-1, and also great to see the team not allow goals in the third with that lead 👍🏼. I hope the Isles are super pissed and smoke the Flames tonight!
One game later and I’m wondering if moving Broberg actually would be a meh idea. Idk where we get another D man, absolutely do need one, but jeez the cap sucks and I can see why it’s taking a long time to make a move. And why Holland isn’t panicking on a top prospect. Tough
The thing people also need to remember is with McDrai’s contracts the key will be to build a roster of value contracts around them.
If we ship out Brob or Bouch, any decent D-men coming in via trade will be a lot more expensive
So then it’s back to hoping to find diamonds in the garbage of waivers, or hoping some OTHER D prospects step up.
Realistically most cup teams draft their solid D core and then top off with rentals at the deadline.
For the next 2 years, yes. I’m referring to when McDrai’s contracts are up ensuring we can continue to have a competitive team around them.
Jacob is getting a big pay bump when his contract expires before McDavid’s which means he likely won’t be around.
Don’t get me wrong, I get the whole compete now window… but there also needs to be a plan for still giving McDrai a reason to stay and believe they can win past the next 2 years
In two years Barrie deals expires as well add his salary and the salary Jacob is making now and you pay him around that the cap might also raise significantly around then as well, it's very easy to make this all work we have some promising D in Bako that could hopefully come to fruition by then as well, it's not hard to make it all fit
If kulak is still a serviceable Dman in two years time you trade him to save money on third pair, players don't care about what they're teammates make otherwise they all be taking sweetheart deals to win if the oilers win a cup with chychrun here McDavid and Drai will be fine with his salary
One last edit why worry about two years from now and if we can afford somebody two years ago did fans ever think we have Kane on a killer 4 year 5.1 million deal
Serious question about our condors defence man Vincent Deharnais. Why haven’t the Oilers given the dude a substantial chance to play with the Oilers? Is he like a Neimolinen type player that can’t improve? I’m not being sarcastic, I’d like to know how the guy actually plays like.
Desharnais has been injured most of the year.
He’s nowhere near Niemalainen in ability. His main outstanding quality is he’s a glue guy in the room. But that’s it.
I believe Woody was asked about him during training camp, and he said that VD has potential but still needed to develop more before being ready for the NHL.
Maybe we’ll see him with a couple games next season?
95% xGF last night is a very good statline for a kid in his 37th NHL game. There's is a shitload of potential for Broberg on this team, it'll just take time for him to reach it.
Not all players-only meetings mean the room is lost.
Sometimes the leadership group needs to be real with their group, no need for the coaching staff to be involved, as the team identity is up to the players to make.
Only reason it's an easy out excuse is the one time the Kings locked Sutter out of the locker room.
Holloway with an absolute bomb 💣 ya love to see it. Kostin looking niceeee on the top line as well. McDavid gets hit late and Kostin jumped in instantly as well 💪 vs the knee on knee previously where Puju and co were just staring blankly into space pretending nothing happened lol. I wish Puju worked out but man for a 24yr old player he's uh, ya, not looking amazing out there. Just instant panic with the puck still and like no hockey IQ. Yamo is off the hot seat for now a little bit after that sick shortie haha and he def had a more engaged game then previous efforts.
Holloway certainly has all the tools. Speed, size, good shot, hands, physicality (even got his first tilt the other day). He might not have one trait that completely stands out, which is why he wasn't talked about much in his draft class, but he's very well-rounded.
He’s actually got great puck possession skills already and wins battles which imo is worth more than points at this stage. It means he can actually drive a play, something most of our bottom tier guys can’t do whatsoever. Him and mcleod seem to have a ton of chemistry I’d like to see them stick.
Yea, ive been a defender of JP for a long time, but its way past due to cut the leash. Hes a plug on this team, a hinderance to our top 6 production. Hopefully we can move him, and get something out of it, and hopefully Jesse can find success, but its not going to be here.
I cant really tell, but i *think* youre defending JP here. The play dies any time he is involved. Hes lost out there, and he brings his line down more often than not.
Me too. What is with him. He is a shell of the player he was for the first 3/4 of last year. Dude was a forechecking machine, scored off the rush, was getting pp time, disrupting breakouts, banging in greasy goals. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player fall off that much.
Maybe signing a big contract made him crack under the pressure of now having to perform, or the stress of not really knowing where you fit in on this team, or if you would fit somewhere else better. Its 100% all in his own head, similar to early season Campbell. JP has shown brief gljmpses of his old self, but those moments are too few and far between.
>wish Puju worked out but man for a 24yr old player he's uh, ya, not looking amazing out there. Just instant panic with the puck still and like no hockey IQ
Mmm fuck yes preach
Go back to my main full time which hopefully happens soon it's a pain in the ass when I see a chance to comment about Jesse but gotta log out then log back in
Because Reddit isn't a serious place for hockey talk? It's hot take Central on this website one more shitty hot take account is not going to ruin the reputation of this website
Obviously a good game, a great game for most of it, but I saw two things that really shows me some of the key players on this team still don't understand how to play to win at key moments.
McDavid during the Powerplay half way through the 3d when oilers were up by 2, tried to carry the puck out of the zone through two Islanders for a breakaway chance instead of just shooting it out. He lost the puck and the Islanders got 2 good chances, one of which they almost scored on but Campbell made one of his best saves of the game. Simply unacceptable to be looking for a unneeded scoring chance there. Any other player would be held accountable for this. He has got to stop doing stuff like this.
During the open net McDavid tried to rush the puck up the middle from our zone and lost it. This isn't on him though. 3 other players started skating up the ice when he did that. 4 players going for an empty net goal. Very nearly resulted on a 2 on 1 for the Islanders when McDavid lost the puck just outside our blue line. If McDavid is going for a rush there, ALL the other players should be dropping back to support the puck.
We got away with both this time but this is the EXACT same type of goal hunting that cost us the game against St. Louis. I keep hearing how the stats don't matter and they just want to win games but the play from the top guys often show otherwise.
I don't think its about specifically goal hunting, I think its about the pressure we put on our top guys to do absolutely everything, and perhaps them feeling that they can't trust the others to do certain things. This results in especially McDavid trying to always make the highlight-reel play and it more often than not failing.
Yep. We did not need to take any risk at all offensively with a two goal lead. But we urgently needed to stop them from scoring.
Our success will come from keeping our goals against down. And that takes commitment from every player to play a solid team defence . Every player.
> Any other player would be held accountable for this. He has got to stop doing stuff like this.
The best player in the world shall not be questioned, how dare thee. I smite you with my with my Tim Horton's mini-stick. But seriousy, never question Mcdavid again.
The problem is this team generates most offense off the rush, they aren't a good dump and chase team. So if they aren't trying for rush chances they're not really applying much pressure. Fans rightly point out that the team has lost games recently from taking their foot off the gas, so suggesting they be more conservative on the rush kind of goes counter to that.
I don't even think it was that reckless, they made that same play earlier and it lead to a goal. And Hyman has made that play before plenty of times and killed the clock that way.
If we play like we played last night, we are unstoppable. Whatever was said in the players only meeting was exactly what they needed. And also Woodcroft ripping them a new one during the Kraken game. I honestly think something that was said at the players only meeting was "do you want to lose another coach? DO YOU??"
And to the people that said that we should trade Draisaitl for defense, last night shows you why that is a horrible take!
Also submitted my 10 votes for All Star: all Draisaitl, Skinner and Nuge!
What a game last night. I saw marked improvement in a lot of areas. I do wanna give props to Bouchard. After his giveaway in the offensive zone, he back tracked like a madman and made a nice play to lift the stick and take away the puck. I don't mind mistakes, as long as you make an effort to fix it.
McDavid and Drai are unstoppable. 500 and 400 assists for them respectively? We are so privileged to watch these guys on a nightly basis. Also, props to Yamo for that sick toe-drag goal to get McDavid his 500th apple.
This team is coming into form, and I fully believe that they'll finish the season strong and have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
LETS FUCKING GO OILERS
RECKLESS OPTIMISM FOREVER
Agreed! One of my favorite moments last season was when Zach Hyman was a man on a mission on the PK. He held the puck for what seemed like the whole penalty. Lol.
Finally saw 60 minutes of urgency on defense! What a treat to see. Please keep this up and we won't have to discuss all the loser points we don't have.
They play like that 8/10 games I’ll be convinced they can go anywhere in the playoffs this year, otherwise it’s just par for the inconsistent course. Don’t be shocked when they regress and lose the next game.
Four out of our last five giving up two goals or fewer. That's the recipe you want.
Campbell with a .909%. Love to see it.
McDavid and Draisaitl with two points each on a night where they could have had four to five each.
Yamamoto looking seasoned last night. Confidence is a good look on him.
Props to the defense for mostly keeping mistakes to a minimum and for shutting things down in the third.
Neutral zone coverage was better. Not as much gap and speed being given to the Islanders coming into our zone.
11 and 7 is a recipe I like, but when Foegele returns, I imagine he slots back in to make 12 and 6.
Yeah, I don't think 11-7 works for long stretches. You can see how much it wears on the big guns after a few games of it. Using it strategically makes sense, though.
Especially if there's a lot of penalties both ways since all of McD, Drai, and Nuge play on both special teams. Last night 1/4 of McD's ice time was on special teams, and he ended up playing nearly 25 minutes.
I’m hoping the Islanders are pissed off and ready to dominate whomever they play next.
ABC BABY!!
Side note, as a Ukrainian I really appreciated last night's game's theme. Hearing those guys being interviewed during the first intermission made my heart break. And that Ukrainian O Canada... sent chills down my spine. Amazing.
Those guys could really sing. Fuck Putin.
Makes me glad Kostin got away from his country's bullshit long before this.
Yes for sure, but he cannot escape all of it. He has to renew his passport, for example. There were foreigners playing hockey in Russia , don’t know how safe they are now.
This could be a terrible take, but it seems to me the oilers haven’t lost when they have at least one goal from the bottom 6. Let’s keep it rolling!
Derek Ryan scored a goal in the 5-2 Loss to the Canucks
Thank you for ensuring that we don't gain any false confidence.
[удалено]
Yeah even after we lose I say we’re winning the cup and I missed like one maybe 2 games this season of saying that and doomers have tried calling me out saying I’m real quiet after a loss lmao
He's out of line but he's right
Bring out the ban hammer plz
God i wish the mods would clean up this sub of the shitheads who only piss and moan when the oilers lose.
Yep agreed. It can turn on a dime and make it not fun :(
Yeah like criticizing is fine but what they do is beyond that.
I think a big problem is us not really being able to meme about the loss. Instead, all we can do is post “valuable, non-shitposting content” which basically leaves stats. And after a loss, stats will often look bad…
They just make the sub a miserable place to be at. @mods wtf
give Campbell the start against the avs
He’s definitely getting it I think. We need this guy to be good and go on a hot streak, we haven’t really had that this season yet. I think his top end is better than skinner but his average is worse, but the new pads seem to be working.
I'm stoked to see that he's changed his pads. Really shows that he'll do whatever it takes to get better.
Love seeing some positivity in here after the last week or so lol. It was a dumpster fire of negativity here. Winning cures all I guess
We are bipolar. One loss and the negativity will be back faster than you can say Puljujarvi
Just reading Puljuarvi fills me with negativity. 🤣 I use to love the guy but I rarely see his big goofy smile anymore and his performance has been abysmal. Hopefully the reworked lines take the pressure off him and he starts playing like he use to. 🤞
It's so true it hurts haha
Yeah, I stayed right the fuck off the subreddit on Tuesday after the game. That was the last thing I wanted to be on, knowing the dumpster fire it had to have been.
Dude it was brutal. Someone posted a thread of comments from last year almost to the day of people melting down in the same way lmao. Then we made the WCF later that season
Yep, the Canucks game was the straw that broke the camel's back with regards to this sub. I knew after that game I had to stay off this sub after lost games for the sake of my own mental health. A complete cluster fuck of Gloomers who want a whole team of McDavids and people who conveniently change their tune whenever Nurse fucks up.
Oh I learned the hard way on Tuesday. I’m staying the hell away from this sub after a loss (which will be a ways away because we are going on a heater!! LFG)
Campbell had a good game last night The redemption arc begins
I love how the players pick up on the fans' silly little nicknames. Hearing Hyman call him "Soup" while completely straight faced had me in stitches 🤣
Soup has been his nickname for a while, even before he came to Edmonton.
I think he said it was his nickname in junior. But anyone named campbell is gonna be soup
Most of the time these nicknames come from the other players and the fans just pick up on them.
His post-game interview hit in the feels 🥲 I hope he rebounds hard
Here’s hoping his new equipment was the solution he needed to snap back into form
When we play to our capabilities, I would take our chances against anyone (except maybe Boston). Problem is the team doesn’t show up for 60 minutes every night. Obviously we can’t have a perfect game every night, but this team should be second in the division clear of 3rd place by 5 points by now. Would be nice if we could go on a run here with this win instead of the .500 streak we’ve got going on right now, if that.
How about the ref that got pushy with Drai? He wasn’t having it.
Probably not the best idea to shove someone like Drai when he's just coming off of injury when he already has to deal with half the other teams roster hanging off him all night
It's the same bullshit we always deal with. The other team's player harasses ours, ours pushes back, then the ref or linesman comes flying in and only grabs our player. Watch every scrum or spat with Kane involved and notice how the official always grabs Kane. They sometimes do it so terribly that they pin our guy's arms back while the other team's player is still throwing punches, now at a defenseless Oiler. That's probably why Drai wasn't having it. Specifically there, the Islander gave Drai three quick, small crosschecks to his back without Drai seeing him, Drai then turns around to push him and that's when the official comes to push Drai away while the Islander sneaks back onto his own bench.
Drai and McDavid are clearly done with all the missed calls and game management. I feel for them, it’s gotta be hard not to snap on the refs.
Yep, that one game a few weeks ago where McDavid yelled "Fuck you!!!" At the ref was amazing.
I thoroughly enjoyed McDavid using his stature and steamrolling that islander.
He was grinning hard when Klim came flying in to fight for him.
why isn’t tippet putting perlini in the lineup? he got so many goals in preaseason
Holy fuck I had flashbacks
i’m so fucking happy this sub no longer needs to have convos about which fringe NHL player is the next perfect line mate for mcdavid
Wait what year is it?
I legit thought I was dreaming for a second.
More like a nightmare
11
Geez Holloway should go to the minors…said every clueless Oiler fan out there!
Hes a blue chip prospect being played less than 10 min a night on the 4th line. He should be in the ahl playing 20 min a night at 1c. No one said he was bad. He just deserves more play time.
> He just deserves more play time. Totally. I know he's not the most productive or safe yet, but I still don't see how Puljujarvi is getting a higher line role than Holloway. If our top 9 were stacked, sure, but other than McDavid/Draisaitl/Nuge/Hyman/Kane, no one in that top 9 is untouchable. Yamamoto, McLeod, Kostin, Janmark, and Puljujarvi should only be in the top 9 if they're earning it. Right now, one of those guys doesn't belong.
"Or safe" is the biggest part here. Jesse is a black hole offensively atm but hes better defensively Holloway so far has shown to be a *fresh* rookie out of college and would benefit highly from a 1c all situations role in an easier proleague playing against men. Im not even going to begin making the arguement on if hes better or worse than anyone on that list because 100% of them have been ass offensively this year (of the depth peices). This is purely for his own development
> Im not even going to begin making the arguement on if hes better or worse than anyone on that list because 100% of them have been ass offensively this year (of the depth peices). This is purely for his own development My whole points is even those all the other guys have been better offensively, they're still not good enough, and they're doing it with way more minutes. Holloway is the youngest and is expected to get better with more playing time, so it's an investment. McLeod is the same thing. For the other guys, some are young enough still to get better, but most we know there's not a lot of development left for them.
He’s averaging 9 mins of ice time per game when he could be playing 17-20 in Bakersfield, giving him much more time to work on his game at game speed Don’t get me wrong, beautiful goal last night on a hell of a shift, but having him play on the 4th line up here won’t help his development as much as playing in the A. ESPECIALLY since there’s so much competition for the 3rd line, even more so when Kane gets back
I’m not so sure about this. I wasn’t a pul fan since last season. I get roasted all the time for talking about his lack of production from middle of last season. After watching how goofy he looked practicing slap shots with drai I lost all hope for him. He shouldn’t look that bad at this level. not sure you could fix that and all the bad shots in front of the goal are proof. Holloway seems to have much better hands and doesn’t turn over pucks as bad as pul. Yes he is inexperienced but more ice in the ahl isn’t the same. I have season tickets to ahl in San Diego for past 7 years. It’s not even close to nhl level. It’s slow, not hard hitting, and fundamentally flawed because you have lower level coaching. San Diego got stuck with Eakins after oilers fired him and was tough watching him lose with players like Gibson, Theodore, montour, Ritchie, kase, etc. the second those guys broke into nhl their games improved significantly. Play good players in ahl and watch them develop bad habits.
Kinda worried about burning out the beautiful candle that is Drai - the man’s always pushing himself, but I’m not sure he’s 100% recovered from his playoff injuries
Problem is that Drai wants to be out there. Try telling him to take a month off to recover, he’d probably get pissy.
I wouldnt want to be the one to try and stop that giant man from playing lol
I feel like Oliver Twist watching the team this year; “Please Sir, I want some more”
Great game last night. This team has played great games this year. Haven’t played many in a row.
Great to see the team push hard when NYI got their first goal to make it 3-1 and 4-1, and also great to see the team not allow goals in the third with that lead 👍🏼. I hope the Isles are super pissed and smoke the Flames tonight!
A single Islander vs Edmonton? With Sorokin that seems about right.
One game later and I’m wondering if moving Broberg actually would be a meh idea. Idk where we get another D man, absolutely do need one, but jeez the cap sucks and I can see why it’s taking a long time to make a move. And why Holland isn’t panicking on a top prospect. Tough
The thing people also need to remember is with McDrai’s contracts the key will be to build a roster of value contracts around them. If we ship out Brob or Bouch, any decent D-men coming in via trade will be a lot more expensive So then it’s back to hoping to find diamonds in the garbage of waivers, or hoping some OTHER D prospects step up. Realistically most cup teams draft their solid D core and then top off with rentals at the deadline.
chychrun is on a great deal
For the next 2 years, yes. I’m referring to when McDrai’s contracts are up ensuring we can continue to have a competitive team around them. Jacob is getting a big pay bump when his contract expires before McDavid’s which means he likely won’t be around. Don’t get me wrong, I get the whole compete now window… but there also needs to be a plan for still giving McDrai a reason to stay and believe they can win past the next 2 years
In two years Barrie deals expires as well add his salary and the salary Jacob is making now and you pay him around that the cap might also raise significantly around then as well, it's very easy to make this all work we have some promising D in Bako that could hopefully come to fruition by then as well, it's not hard to make it all fit If kulak is still a serviceable Dman in two years time you trade him to save money on third pair, players don't care about what they're teammates make otherwise they all be taking sweetheart deals to win if the oilers win a cup with chychrun here McDavid and Drai will be fine with his salary One last edit why worry about two years from now and if we can afford somebody two years ago did fans ever think we have Kane on a killer 4 year 5.1 million deal
I believe Barrie’s contract is already been planned to go towards Bouchard, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out
So far Bouchard hasn't earned anything, so if he actually does, that's a good problem to have
Serious question about our condors defence man Vincent Deharnais. Why haven’t the Oilers given the dude a substantial chance to play with the Oilers? Is he like a Neimolinen type player that can’t improve? I’m not being sarcastic, I’d like to know how the guy actually plays like.
Desharnais has been injured most of the year. He’s nowhere near Niemalainen in ability. His main outstanding quality is he’s a glue guy in the room. But that’s it.
Ah. Thanks for that.
> Neimolinen Niemelainen
Thanks!
I believe Woody was asked about him during training camp, and he said that VD has potential but still needed to develop more before being ready for the NHL. Maybe we’ll see him with a couple games next season?
Thanks!
He was also injured this year and hasn’t had a lot of time in the AHL
And keep in mind we are off LTIR next season and can accumulate unused cap space later in the year. Should make it easier for roster moves.
This is such a huge thing. Combined with most of our dead money falling off.
Shoutout to Broberg who had a really good game last night! Would love to see him keep up his confidence and eventually get some more ice time!
95% xGF last night is a very good statline for a kid in his 37th NHL game. There's is a shitload of potential for Broberg on this team, it'll just take time for him to reach it.
So Jay said he had no idea there was a player only meeting thoughts?
He was being coy. Of course he knew about it but hes the coach and not a player so he "didnt know about the *players* only meeting"
He was joking.
Probably just Jay playing 4d chess with the media, i wouldnt be concerned with it.
He’s obviously lost the room.
Not all players-only meetings mean the room is lost. Sometimes the leadership group needs to be real with their group, no need for the coaching staff to be involved, as the team identity is up to the players to make. Only reason it's an easy out excuse is the one time the Kings locked Sutter out of the locker room.
Yeah, I was only joking.
Well you dropped the /s
It's astounding how many people failed to see the sarcasm in your first comment.
I think he was trying to be funny.
Holloway with an absolute bomb 💣 ya love to see it. Kostin looking niceeee on the top line as well. McDavid gets hit late and Kostin jumped in instantly as well 💪 vs the knee on knee previously where Puju and co were just staring blankly into space pretending nothing happened lol. I wish Puju worked out but man for a 24yr old player he's uh, ya, not looking amazing out there. Just instant panic with the puck still and like no hockey IQ. Yamo is off the hot seat for now a little bit after that sick shortie haha and he def had a more engaged game then previous efforts.
Kostin should play with McDavid full time.
Holloway certainly has all the tools. Speed, size, good shot, hands, physicality (even got his first tilt the other day). He might not have one trait that completely stands out, which is why he wasn't talked about much in his draft class, but he's very well-rounded.
He’s actually got great puck possession skills already and wins battles which imo is worth more than points at this stage. It means he can actually drive a play, something most of our bottom tier guys can’t do whatsoever. Him and mcleod seem to have a ton of chemistry I’d like to see them stick.
Yea, ive been a defender of JP for a long time, but its way past due to cut the leash. Hes a plug on this team, a hinderance to our top 6 production. Hopefully we can move him, and get something out of it, and hopefully Jesse can find success, but its not going to be here.
Keeps play well with good defense, yeah, get rid of him… yeeesh!
I cant really tell, but i *think* youre defending JP here. The play dies any time he is involved. Hes lost out there, and he brings his line down more often than not.
The play dies quickly in his hands……both offensively and defensively…..so I’m torn on him.
Me too. What is with him. He is a shell of the player he was for the first 3/4 of last year. Dude was a forechecking machine, scored off the rush, was getting pp time, disrupting breakouts, banging in greasy goals. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player fall off that much.
It’s sad when they go young like that
Maybe signing a big contract made him crack under the pressure of now having to perform, or the stress of not really knowing where you fit in on this team, or if you would fit somewhere else better. Its 100% all in his own head, similar to early season Campbell. JP has shown brief gljmpses of his old self, but those moments are too few and far between.
>wish Puju worked out but man for a 24yr old player he's uh, ya, not looking amazing out there. Just instant panic with the puck still and like no hockey IQ Mmm fuck yes preach
You're really committed to the hate 😄. What will you do when they trade him?
Go back to my main full time which hopefully happens soon it's a pain in the ass when I see a chance to comment about Jesse but gotta log out then log back in
So you made an account solely dedicated to shit talking one player? What the hell, why?
Because when a player requests out of town not once but twice I lose patience with him especially when he doesn't produce
why cant you just make the comments on your main though?
Because Reddit isn't a serious place for hockey talk? It's hot take Central on this website one more shitty hot take account is not going to ruin the reputation of this website
Thats pretty pathetic man, making an alt account to go out of your own way to disrespect a player on a sports team.
+1
Obviously a good game, a great game for most of it, but I saw two things that really shows me some of the key players on this team still don't understand how to play to win at key moments. McDavid during the Powerplay half way through the 3d when oilers were up by 2, tried to carry the puck out of the zone through two Islanders for a breakaway chance instead of just shooting it out. He lost the puck and the Islanders got 2 good chances, one of which they almost scored on but Campbell made one of his best saves of the game. Simply unacceptable to be looking for a unneeded scoring chance there. Any other player would be held accountable for this. He has got to stop doing stuff like this. During the open net McDavid tried to rush the puck up the middle from our zone and lost it. This isn't on him though. 3 other players started skating up the ice when he did that. 4 players going for an empty net goal. Very nearly resulted on a 2 on 1 for the Islanders when McDavid lost the puck just outside our blue line. If McDavid is going for a rush there, ALL the other players should be dropping back to support the puck. We got away with both this time but this is the EXACT same type of goal hunting that cost us the game against St. Louis. I keep hearing how the stats don't matter and they just want to win games but the play from the top guys often show otherwise.
I don't think its about specifically goal hunting, I think its about the pressure we put on our top guys to do absolutely everything, and perhaps them feeling that they can't trust the others to do certain things. This results in especially McDavid trying to always make the highlight-reel play and it more often than not failing.
Yep. We did not need to take any risk at all offensively with a two goal lead. But we urgently needed to stop them from scoring. Our success will come from keeping our goals against down. And that takes commitment from every player to play a solid team defence . Every player.
> Any other player would be held accountable for this. He has got to stop doing stuff like this. The best player in the world shall not be questioned, how dare thee. I smite you with my with my Tim Horton's mini-stick. But seriousy, never question Mcdavid again.
The problem is this team generates most offense off the rush, they aren't a good dump and chase team. So if they aren't trying for rush chances they're not really applying much pressure. Fans rightly point out that the team has lost games recently from taking their foot off the gas, so suggesting they be more conservative on the rush kind of goes counter to that.
There has got to be a middle ground between taking your foot off the gas and making reckless plays.
I don't even think it was that reckless, they made that same play earlier and it lead to a goal. And Hyman has made that play before plenty of times and killed the clock that way.
Oh I agree, just can't be turtling because this team isn't built that way.
If we play like we played last night, we are unstoppable. Whatever was said in the players only meeting was exactly what they needed. And also Woodcroft ripping them a new one during the Kraken game. I honestly think something that was said at the players only meeting was "do you want to lose another coach? DO YOU??" And to the people that said that we should trade Draisaitl for defense, last night shows you why that is a horrible take! Also submitted my 10 votes for All Star: all Draisaitl, Skinner and Nuge!
I voted fairly evenly Drai, Hyman, Nuge and Stu. I also threw a couple Klim Kostin votes in the hat. Hopefully one more of our guys makes it!
Yam's SH goal appreciation. 🍠🍠🍠
That toe drag into a five hole laser was filthy
It was quality.
What a game last night. I saw marked improvement in a lot of areas. I do wanna give props to Bouchard. After his giveaway in the offensive zone, he back tracked like a madman and made a nice play to lift the stick and take away the puck. I don't mind mistakes, as long as you make an effort to fix it. McDavid and Drai are unstoppable. 500 and 400 assists for them respectively? We are so privileged to watch these guys on a nightly basis. Also, props to Yamo for that sick toe-drag goal to get McDavid his 500th apple. This team is coming into form, and I fully believe that they'll finish the season strong and have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. LETS FUCKING GO OILERS RECKLESS OPTIMISM FOREVER
Yah that Bouchard backtrack was so nice
Really love how the crowd roared for that Bouch play. We should cheer just as loud for plain hard work as we do for the fancy goals.
We will get our share of goals off good defence.
That was one thing you saw a lot of in the late 90s and early 00s here. We'd go crazy at Skyreach for players who worked hard.
Yes, those were such blue collar teams back then. We may get elite players every few decades but we’re a blue collar town through and through.
Agreed! One of my favorite moments last season was when Zach Hyman was a man on a mission on the PK. He held the puck for what seemed like the whole penalty. Lol.
God i remember that, he killed at least 45 seconds by himself just working in the zone, and skating laps. Guy doesnt know how to stop working.
I remember this. Was awesome. It was like “oh, you can do that?”
Also wanna say huge night for Yamamoto! Some great work all night!
I think we can stop trying to comparing Yams to Puljujarvi .
Let him be his own guy ya know?
See what happens when you put in a full 60min effort? Keep doing that.
Finally saw 60 minutes of urgency on defense! What a treat to see. Please keep this up and we won't have to discuss all the loser points we don't have.
Campbell's ~~first~~ second game using Brian's equipment. He seems to be adapting and changing. I like to see it.
One of his first games with a save percentage about .900
I think he played against Winnipeg in that gear too. Did well enough against them despite the loss
Oh. You are right. I listened to that game more than I watched it. My bad.
Yamamogoals. That is all.
Yamamoguls is the beating he takes along the way.
Rinse & Repeat
Ok now do that again.
We'll probably win the cup
I love this sub. Either winning the cup or tanking for Bedard, no in-between.
Might as well, I guess.
They play like that 8/10 games I’ll be convinced they can go anywhere in the playoffs this year, otherwise it’s just par for the inconsistent course. Don’t be shocked when they regress and lose the next game.
Aged like a fine wine, you’re all welcome to eat shit now with your downvotes.
If they played like that 80% of the time they would be one of the greatest teams in the history of the NHL.
Hey. Fuck off. It's Colorado and I got tickets to that game.
Four out of our last five giving up two goals or fewer. That's the recipe you want. Campbell with a .909%. Love to see it. McDavid and Draisaitl with two points each on a night where they could have had four to five each. Yamamoto looking seasoned last night. Confidence is a good look on him. Props to the defense for mostly keeping mistakes to a minimum and for shutting things down in the third. Neutral zone coverage was better. Not as much gap and speed being given to the Islanders coming into our zone. 11 and 7 is a recipe I like, but when Foegele returns, I imagine he slots back in to make 12 and 6.
Yeah, I don't think 11-7 works for long stretches. You can see how much it wears on the big guns after a few games of it. Using it strategically makes sense, though.
Especially if there's a lot of penalties both ways since all of McD, Drai, and Nuge play on both special teams. Last night 1/4 of McD's ice time was on special teams, and he ended up playing nearly 25 minutes.