Oilers

[travel_dude]

2 minutes ago, jjgallow said:

 

 

Honestly I don't see how they Can't be good this year....and yet.....yeah.

 

Two words.

 

Because, Oilers.

Cheers, enjoy the game.

[CheersMan]

2 games in, Connor McDavid 6pts, Calgary Flames 2 loses and 0pts.  If McDavid is not presently the best player in the NHL, then he soon will be.  Gretzky set the bar at a seemingly unreachable height, McDavid is going to raise it.

[jjgallow]

13 hours ago, CheersMan said:

2 games in, Connor McDavid 6pts, Calgary Flames 2 loses and 0pts.  If McDavid is not presently the best player in the NHL, then he soon will be.  Gretzky set the bar at a seemingly unreachable height, McDavid is going to raise it.

 

Well if that's the case, then they should probably start a TV show and call it "Oil Change".

 

p.s... In three sentences, you went from observationally redundant, to getting ahead of yourself, to nuts.

[cross16]

While I don't agree with tossing Gretzkys name in there I don't disagree with the best player in the NHL label. Very little doubt in my mind he will be in the discussion by year end. 

[conundrumed]

What's funny, is how fickle goalies are.

Talbot was humiliated by Buffalo.

He's looking a lot like having an answer for that.

He's starting to look really bad for the rest of us.

Talbot's looking a lot like he gives a elbowing.

I want epic goalie battles on the #2 Hwy.

[420since1974]

So far, the Oiler's defense group are looking better than last season.

 

IMO, neither Klefbom or Larrson are true first pairing D, but are making a go at it.

 

Russell is looking surprising decent playing on the right side of Sekera.

Who'd have thought?

 

Nurse - Gryba still suck though.

[cross16]

The D core there is better for sure but IMO the OIlers are where they are right now because of Talbot and because things are going their way. They are still being outshot more then they are outshooting and giving up 30 plus shots  per game and their opponents shooting percentage is well below the average. 

 

They are off to a hot start but there are some "danger" signs that tell you that's all this is and they are due for a regression to the mean. Unless Talbot turns in a Vezina calibre season I suspect you will see the Oilers fall back to the pack a little but no question they are a better team. 

[robrob74]

I was at the Canucks game, granted it is the Canucks. The Oilers have them almost nothing to shoot at. There were only a few scoring chances for the Canucks and Talbot saw everything. I was surprised that the Canucks kept up in shots because the Oilers ruled most of the game. The Canucks came on half way, but I still felt like there was no threat. I still think we are underestimating them. 

 

Who consifered Giordano a top pair defensemen before the rebuild started? Defensemen need to get their chance and Larson is still young. When did Giordano turn into a top pair and what were his projections at the age Larson is at now?

 

Sekera was supposed to be a good add to their team last year and perhaps now he has adjusted to Edmonton. 

 

I realky dont think we (or should I say the rest of the Flames fans because I have been warning and worried about them) give the Oilers enough respect. I know how have they earned it, but I had a feeling there would be natural progression. 

 

Are they contenders, probably not quite yet, but playoff bound?  Maybe. 

[DirtyDeeds]

Oilers are improved which is to be expected. I expect them to fall off this early pace shortly. Only way I see them with playoff consideration is if Mcjesus stays healthy all season.

[travel_dude]

What I see from the Oilers is a team that hasn't faced any adversity.  Pretty cushy start to the season so far; the only real challenges have been the Caps and Blues.  Zero B2B games until November 5th.  It's hard to get a real idea of what the team is right now.  They are not winning most games by dominating; they are winning because their goalie is in the zone.    

[420since1974]

Oilers with a very favorable schedule to begin the season with.

I can envision them as being up and down this season and just making or just missing the play-offs.

I see the Flames with much the same end result, though along a different path.

Edmonton is one season ahead of Calgary re: learning a new coach and system.

Calgary has more franchise depth; so they should be able to keep up to, or exceed, Edmonton over the next few years.

[rocketdoctor]

Good to see the Edmonton fans give Craig Anderson loads of support on getting first star. 

 

Hockey community is the best.

[Pucksage]

McDavid is the real deal even though oilers lost last night.

What I wouldn't give if the Flames could have gotten Laine last draft though.

[Fins&FIre15]

If Backstrom and Sieloff don't play hero in the final game last year we would be sitting pretty with Laine, although gotta love what TK brings.

[travel_dude]

6 minutes ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

If Backstrom and Sieloff don't play hero in the final game last year we would be sitting pretty with Laine, although gotta love what TK brings.

 

Not really.  If we had lost that game, we would have been ahead of CBJ, and picked 3rd (assuming the balls fell exactly the same).  Would have had the option of Pulju, DuBois or Tkachuk.  Has we had another OTL, we would possibly have been picking Laine (same lotto results expected). 

[cross16]

Well and not to mention the Canucks were the 3rd worst team in the league and wound up picking 5th. No way to know how the lottery balls would have fallen for the Flames had they lost that game. 

[Fins&FIre15]

Oops, my bad...I got Columbus and Winnipegs positions mixed up for some reason.

[CBTC-FLAMES-EDITION]

If an Oiler shats on the ice and no one is around to hear it, does he make a sound???? I just watched the Wild beat them. Man have they been bad for a while now after a torrid start. Go Flames Go!!!!

[robrob74]

17 hours ago, CBTC-FLAMES-EDITION said:

If an Oiler shats on the ice and no one is around to hear it, does he make a sound???? I just watched the Wild beat them. Man have they been bad for a while now after a torrid start. Go Flames Go!!!!

 

Or if no one is around to smell it, does it still stink? 

[Pucksage]

On ‎12‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 0:57 PM, Fins&FIre15 said:

If Backstrom and Sieloff don't play hero in the final game last year we would be sitting pretty with Laine, although gotta love what TK brings.

 

Not complaining what we got with Chucky there. Actually after Mathews and Laine he was my 3rd pick and was afraid the oilers was getting him if the balls didn't change the draft order. Then when Vancouver went ahead of the Flames I was thinking for sure he will be gone by the 5th pick. I was so psyched when he was still available for us to pick at 6th.

[travel_dude]

Two moves by the Oilers today.

 

Waived the Moster.  Bringing up Brossoit as backup.

Sent Puljujarvi to the AHL.  They have burned a year of his ELC and a year of his UFA years.  He will probably be there until he starts producing at a pro level.

 

Pulju should have been sent down a long time ago.  Wasted first year, much like they did with Draisaitl.  Shouldn't hurt the Finn's development, but will be a bit of a blow to his ego.  At least Bakersfield is warmer than EDM.  

[cross16]

34 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

Two moves by the Oilers today.

 

Waived the Moster.  Bringing up Brossoit as backup.

Sent Puljujarvi to the AHL.  They have burned a year of his ELC and a year of his UFA years.  He will probably be there until he starts producing at a pro level.

 

Pulju should have been sent down a long time ago.  Wasted first year, much like they did with Draisaitl.  Shouldn't hurt the Finn's development, but will be a bit of a blow to his ego.  At least Bakersfield is warmer than EDM.  

 

Edit: NM I just saw the OIlers already played their 40th game. I thought they were a few games behind the Flames for some reason.

 

I didn't think the Draistl incident was mis management becuase they preserved the RFA year but this is totally mismangement on the Oilers. Pretty stupid to waste both a ELC and a UFA year on a guy who wasn't playing. 

[Flyerfan52]

12 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

Just burnt the ELC year. This year won't count towards a UFA year as AHL games don't count towards that number. I really think the 40 game mark is the new standard as there are some benefits by actually doing it that way. 

 

Don't think it's as big a deal as some but he probably should have gone down earlier. That being said I thought he was ready for the NHL so I undertand why they kept hiim up for as long as they did. 

Sportsnet says it does.

Could it be that unlike Draisaitl he came straight from Europe so had no CHL team to be sent to & therefore will still be a pro? Technically this is his 3rd pro year.

[travel_dude]

27 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

Edit: NM I just saw the OIlers already played their 40th game. I thought they were a few games behind the Flames for some reason.

 

I didn't think the Draistl incident was mis management becuase they preserved the RFA year but this is totally mismangement on the Oilers. Pretty stupid to waste both a ELC and a UFA year on a guy who wasn't playing. 

 

With Draisaitl, it was the burnt ELC year that was more concerning.  He should have been sent to junior.  With Pulju, it was both.  Pulju could have been sent after 9 games to the AHL.  IIRC, it's 40 games on the roster, and the Oilers played 42.  As far as the AHL goes, I think because he was drafted out of the Euro leagues he can go to Bakersfield.

 

As afr as goaltending goes, I don't think they have problems picking up a replacement.  McElhenney is available.

Talbot is going to get burned out playing about 70 games, so it really doesn't matter who they pick up.  

[cross16]

1 hour ago, flyerfans52 said:

Sportsnet says it does.

Could it be that unlike Draisaitl he came straight from Europe so had no CHL team to be sent to & therefore will still be a pro? Technically this is his 3rd pro year.

 

It does, for some reason I thought the OIlers had only played 39 games as a team so he wouldn't qualify. I didn't realize they had played more and i made the  mistake of giving Edmonton the benefit of the doubt I guess. Silly me.

 

So yes this will burn both a year off his ELC and also counts as an accured year towards UFA. The AHL games won't count towards the 40 it has to be NHL games which makes it very perplexing why he wasn't sent down a few games ago to save that extra RFA year. 

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

With Draisaitl, it was the burnt ELC year that was more concerning.  He should have been sent to junior.  With Pulju, it was both.  Pulju could have been sent after 9 games to the AHL.  IIRC, it's 40 games on the roster, and the Oilers played 42.  As far as the AHL goes, I think because he was drafted out of the Euro leagues he can go to Bakersfield.

 

Correct, he can go to the AHL as an underager because of where he was drafted same as Kylington and those games don't count towards an RFA year, or an ELC either. Kylington's deal has been sliding the entire time he is in the A.

 

For me, i've stopped really worrying about the 10 games as it don't really think its a big deal. I worry much more about the 40 games mark than i do the 10 game. I actually think its an advantage to use up the 1 ELC year and save the RFA year becuae that way when you are negotiating off the ELC you actually have an extra year of RFA to play with before they became UFA so you can do an extension and buy less UFA years and keep the price down.