Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 21 Author Share Posted May 21 1 minute ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: I think battle-hardened is the key phrase. They learned a lot from the Vegas series last year. Even the stars on the Oilers were willing to block shots, that sets a great example for the rest of the team. They were hungry and willing to pay the price. Dallas is deeper up front but they don't have a McDavid or Draisatl. I think the key is Skinner. If he plays well then the Oilers have a real chance. I voted for Edmonton to beat Dallas and win the cup. Nobody is stopping that offence and as you guys have said the Oilers are much better defensively too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 Playoff point leaders… 4 Oilers in the top 4 - Good luck Dallas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Draisaitl is painting himself a Conn Smythe trophy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Boagalott Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Playoff point leaders… 4 Oilers in the top 4 - Good luck Dallas I definitely interpret that info incredibly differently than you. The Stars have 4 guys to check and shut down whereas the Oils have an entire team to check and shut down. I'd say it is the Oils that have their work cut out for them. There are at least 3 issues having elite players; 1) they cost too much which makes it hard to ice a complete team, and 2) it is simple to know who their go to guys are which makes it easier to be able to check them and shut them down. 3) injuries - if 1 of the Oils top 4 point guys becomes injured their team will instantly be way less effective. It should be an interesting series of skill either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 17 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said: I definitely interpret that info incredibly differently than you. The Stars have 4 guys to check and shut down whereas the Oils have an entire team to check and shut down. I'd say it is the Oils that have their work cut out for them. There are at least 3 issues having elite players; 1) they cost too much which makes it hard to ice a complete team, and 2) it is simple to know who their go to guys are which makes it easier to be able to check them and shut them down. 3) injuries - if 1 of the Oils top 4 point guys becomes injured their team will instantly be way less effective. It should be an interesting series of skill either way. Two teams have tried to shut that offence down and failed. Dallas certainly has more options in trying to shut it down but I don’t think they will be successful. Almost 70% picked Dallas to win in the poll so you certainly aren’t alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 1 hour ago, Sir_Boagalott said: I definitely interpret that info incredibly differently than you. The Stars have 4 guys to check and shut down whereas the Oils have an entire team to check and shut down. I'd say it is the Oils that have their work cut out for them. There are at least 3 issues having elite players; 1) they cost too much which makes it hard to ice a complete team, and 2) it is simple to know who their go to guys are which makes it easier to be able to check them and shut them down. 3) injuries - if 1 of the Oils top 4 point guys becomes injured their team will instantly be way less effective. It should be an interesting series of skill either way. It's one thing to know who you have to shut down, it's another thing to do it effectively. LA and Vancouver knew who they had to shut down but neither were very successful. Having said that there is no question that Dallas is deep but the Oilers are deeper than many think. Dallas had 8 twenty goal scorers, the Oilers had 8 guys with 18 or more. Both teams have faced adversity in the playoffs. Dallas lost the first two at home to Vegas and came roaring back, the Oilers had their back against the wall against Vancouver. Where I give Dallas the edge is in goal. Oettinger is one of the better goalies in the league, Skinner has been inconsistent. Skinner had some great stretches this year but hasn't proven anything in the playoffs yet. I think the goalie battle is where the series will be won or lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 9 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said: I definitely interpret that info incredibly differently than you. The Stars have 4 guys to check and shut down whereas the Oils have an entire team to check and shut down. I'd say it is the Oils that have their work cut out for them. There are at least 3 issues having elite players; 1) they cost too much which makes it hard to ice a complete team, and 2) it is simple to know who their go to guys are which makes it easier to be able to check them and shut them down. 3) injuries - if 1 of the Oils top 4 point guys becomes injured their team will instantly be way less effective. It should be an interesting series of skill either way. Yeah it sucks to have elite players. Oilers should trade McDavid and Draisaitl. Painting having elite talent as a bad thing is one of the silliest things ever said on this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 3 hours ago, Commandant said: Yeah it sucks to have elite players. Oilers should trade McDavid and Draisaitl. Painting having elite talent as a bad thing is one of the silliest things ever said on this site. I take his real point to be that a top-heavy roster is problematic. And in fairness, this has been the problem of both the Leafs and the Oilers for most of the past decade. 🤷♂️ But if the Habs had the chance to add a McDavid and Dreiseitl, or the Toronto Big Four, all at 19 years old? HELL YEAH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 18 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: I take his real point to be that a top-heavy roster is problematic. And in fairness, this has been the problem of both the Leafs and the Oilers for most of the past decade. 🤷♂️ But if the Habs had the chance to add a McDavid and Dreiseitl, or the Toronto Big Four, all at 19 years old? HELL YEAH. I don’t think the issue is with having elite players like McDavid and Draisaitl. The issue is that neither team addressed their roster needs. Both teams have had a need for defence, goaltending and bottom 6. Both teams have hamstrung themselves with poor cap management in their own ways which just adds to the problem. Pittsburg managed their cap and roster very well when they built their team on Crosby, Malkin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 10 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: I don’t think the issue is with having elite players like McDavid and Draisaitl. The issue is that neither team addressed their roster needs. Both teams have had a need for defence, goaltending and bottom 6. Both teams have hamstrung themselves with poor cap management in their own ways which just adds to the problem. Pittsburg managed their cap and roster very well when they built their team on Crosby, Malkin. Exactly. The issue isn't McDavid and Draisaitl, its massively overpaying Jack Campbell and Darnell Nurse. Both of those contracts are albatrosses and prevent building out the roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 2 minutes ago, Commandant said: The issue isn't McDavid and Draisaitl, its massively overpaying Jack Campbell and Darnell Nurse. Both of those contracts are albatrosses and prevent building out the roster. Plus what are Bouchard and Draisaitl going to want as their contracts are up next year? Plus they have a 3 million bonus for Connor Brown that cuts into the salary cap next year. And then McDavid in 2 years. Foegele had an excellent year this year but there is no way they can afford him now. Oilers have some big salary cap issues coming up. They are definitely in win now mode as they don't really have enough young players coming up on ELC's to fill the void except for Holloway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 2 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said: Plus what are Bouchard and Draisaitl going to want as their contracts are up next year? Plus they have a 3 million bonus for Connor Brown that cuts into the salary cap next year. And then McDavid in 2 years. Foegele had an excellent year this year but there is no way they can afford him now. Oilers have some big salary cap issues coming up. They are definitely in win now mode as they don't really have enough young players coming up on ELC's to fill the void except for Holloway. Yup, management has made a mess of the books, but its not cause of the elite talent. Its because they have overpaid shitty players. Nurse, Campbell, Brown are all obvious names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 The year Campbell was signed there wasn't much in the way of quality goalies available. MAF, Georgiev and Campbell. At the time Campbell appeared to be a starter with a question mark. MAF was too expensive. So it was either Campbell or Georgiev and I don't know if Georgiev was interested. It was a bad situation, but you can easily see why they signed Campbell, and when there are few goalies available the price will go up. Nurse was bad right from the get go, like horribly bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 23 Author Share Posted May 23 Rangers are sloppy as hell in their own zone and that Tkachuk goal was really weak. Hopefully it’s just the resting jitters and they get their Dzone game in order. The Rangers rush is savage though and I’m not sure that Florida can stop it. Rangers had a bunch of great chances in the first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 54 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said: The year Campbell was signed there wasn't much in the way of quality goalies available. MAF, Georgiev and Campbell. At the time Campbell appeared to be a starter with a question mark. MAF was too expensive. So it was either Campbell or Georgiev and I don't know if Georgiev was interested. It was a bad situation, but you can easily see why they signed Campbell, and when there are few goalies available the price will go up. Nurse was bad right from the get go, like horribly bad. Lack of options is not a reason to overspend on a long-term contract. Campbell was extremely unproven, a high draft pick who flopped in Dallas/LA, eventually worked his way into being a backup, and then played well for half a season as a starter in Toronto. It was a disaster from the day it was made and I said it at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 1 hour ago, Commandant said: Lack of options is not a reason to overspend on a long-term contract. Strongly disagree with that statement. It's common in the NHL when a team is desperate for position and the free agency options are limited. It happens almost every year. It's a bad practice, but still a very common occurrence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 Go Panthers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 2-0 Panthers, nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 49 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said: Strongly disagree with that statement. It's common in the NHL when a team is desperate for position and the free agency options are limited. It happens almost every year. It's a bad practice, but still a very common occurrence. Its common and bad practice. I agree with that. But the oilers are currently using Skinner, which is the same position theyd be in if they never signed Campbell and could have 5 million more to pay another dman or give Draisaitl a raise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurdBurglar Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 10 hours ago, Commandant said: Its common and bad practice. I agree with that. But the oilers are currently using Skinner, which is the same position theyd be in if they never signed Campbell and could have 5 million more to pay another dman or give Draisaitl a raise. It is, but nobody could have predicted that Campbell would regress this badly. At worse you wouldn't of expected Camlbell to be any worse than Skinner is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 12 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said: It is, but nobody could have predicted that Campbell would regress this badly. At worse you wouldn't of expected Camlbell to be any worse than Skinner is now. Everybody should have seen that it was a risk, given the small sample size. A Montembeault-level contract would have been a much more reasonable contract. Then again, Campbell might have refused that--assuming he had another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs Fan in Edmonton Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 9 minutes ago, tomh009 said: Everybody should have seen that it was a risk, given the small sample size. A Montembeault-level contract would have been a much more reasonable contract. Then again, Campbell might have refused that--assuming he had another option. Goalies are just so hard to predict, it's almost always a risk signing a free agent goalie to a big contract. The Oilers were a little desperate, Campbell was available, it was an accident waiting to happen. It could have worked out but it didn't, now the Oilers are stuck with a bad contract with some big raises coming up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 Team often do make desperation signings. And quite often, they live to regret it. When EDM signed Campbell, goalie experts immediately identified it as a bad signing. So I call that stupid, full stop. I’m pretty sure it was old-school “screw the advanced stats, I need a guy right now” GMing. I’m reminded a bit of when MB signed Gally to that preposterous contract. Foxhole Man was trying to have the Habs contend within Price’s window, and probably felt that letting Gally go would be a huge blow. “Desperation signing” in that sense. Now we’re doomed to carry him around on a ridiculous ticket until the cows come home. There is simply no substitute for having a pipeline of talent coming up through the system, so that you can plug guys into holes rather than handicap the team with an albatross contract in order to fill a gap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 47 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said: It is, but nobody could have predicted that Campbell would regress this badly. At worse you wouldn't of expected Camlbell to be any worse than Skinner is now. I said at the time that he could end up an overpaid backup level goalie as that was what he was *or worse* for the majority of his career outside a half season in empty rinks of the canadian division during covid. Many people can and did see this to be a risky contract on the day it was signed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 24 Author Share Posted May 24 Go Edmonton 🎉 Decent first period for Edmonton but holy hell is Dallas ever good at defending their zone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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