S

Kassian is an annoying wiener, bumhole. (wow. this child safety corrects to such weird words)

But I'd absolutely have him on my 3rd line
- TheNugeIsHuge

Truth is every team could use a guy like him

So the team is worse than Cal, Buf, Fla on paper ???

- Byfuglien Ate Me

FLA on paper has been good since firing their coaching staff. Still sort of in contention in the east

FLA on paper has been good since firing their coaching staff. Still sort of in contention in the east
- TheNugeIsHuge

They would be a long shot to make the playoff's.

S
Truth is every team could use a guy like him
- VANTEL

He is the K-Mart version of Lucic.

Kassian impacted Sam Gagner and the Oilers depth in 2013-2014.
Lowe has impacted the Oilers regular season futility for 8 years.

I think your mystery man is pretty obvious.
- therealagent

kassian's just an bumhole.

he's a worse(in play, personality, and probably brains) version of marchand and brown.

I'd take him on EDM for sure, but mocking a guy for having a visor because he slashed him in the mouth is petty and small.

They would be a long shot to make the playoff's.
- Jeropotato

not as far out of the realm of possibility as EDM.

aaah ya I guess. Hadn't checked the standings in a while as EDM has me so depressed I wanna burn down rexall and I wanna go on strike for another lockout

not as far out of the realm of possibility as EDM.

aaah ya I guess. Hadn't checked the standings in a while as EDM has me so depressed I wanna burn down rexall and I wanna go on strike for another lockout
- TheNugeIsHuge

Okay, I get it, Edmonton is a bottom 3 team, FLA is not...but they still aint very good.

He is the K-Mart version of Lucic.
- Jeropotato

Right now yup , but he is improving by the month

They would be a long shot to make the playoff's.
- Jeropotato

still

Campbell-Gilbert
Kulikov-Gudbranson
Weaver-???Jovanovski?

Thomas

is much better than EDM's back end. Barkov, Huberdeau, Bjugstad, Mathias, etc. is a good future up front too. Good vets in Fleischmann, Upshall, Boyes, n kopecky

kassian's just an bumhole.

he's a worse(in play, personality, and probably brains) version of marchand and brown.

I'd take him on EDM for sure, but mocking a guy for having a visor because he slashed him in the mouth is petty and small.
- TheNugeIsHuge

i know you're kidding when you say brown has more brains.

bert was an a-hole as well, so was almost any intimidating power forward. let's not forget that this kid is 22 years old. 22. I think that should resonate to Oiler fans especially. It's tough for a 22 year old to have an impact and to be consistent. Give him time and a comparison to someone like lucic is probably more likely. he's a dink too. ask buffalo.

i know you're kidding when you say brown has more brains.

bert was an a-hole as well, so was almost any intimidating power forward. let's not forget that this kid is 22 years old. 22. I think that should resonate to Oiler fans especially. It's tough for a 22 year old to have an impact and to be consistent. Give him time and a comparison to someone like lucic is probably more likely. he's a dink too. ask buffalo.
- therealagent

He's not Lucic and he's not gonna be Lucic. I doubt he ever tops 40P. Which is fine.

Still an effective player. EDM could probably use something like the Hodgson-kassian deal

i know you're kidding when you say brown has more brains.

bert was an a-hole as well, so was almost any intimidating power forward. let's not forget that this kid is 22 years old. 22. I think that should resonate to Oiler fans especially. It's tough for a 22 year old to have an impact and to be consistent. Give him time and a comparison to someone like lucic is probably more likely. he's a dink too. ask buffalo.
- therealagent

- TheNugeIsHuge

This reminds me of every little kid getting a photo taken at his birthday

He's not Lucic and he's not gonna be Lucic. I doubt he ever tops 40P. Which is fine.

Still an effective player. EDM could probably use something like the Hodgson-kassian deal
- TheNugeIsHuge

I'll take that bet.

Yes, you could. You just have to trade one of your young players. Time to ship Gagner to Florida for Mattias. Sam can wear his dad's old number.

I'll take that bet.

Yes, you could. You just have to trade one of your young players. Time to ship Gagner to Florida for Mattias. Sam can wear his dad's old number.
- therealagent

eeeeeeeeeh. Matthias isn't exactly an imposing physical force and only has 10P.

More suited to a 3C role, whereas EDM's needs a new top 6C

- Yeti1181

Ranger on the Oil Blueline next year

Callin it, just like I called Bryz 6months b4 it happened.

Eakins stays and MacT brings in more Leaf AHL talent!

still

Campbell-Gilbert
Kulikov-Gudbranson
Weaver-???Jovanovski?

Thomas

is much better than EDM's back end. Barkov, Huberdeau, Bjugstad, Mathias, etc. is a good future up front too. Good vets in Fleischmann, Upshall, Boyes, n kopecky
- TheNugeIsHuge

Agreed, however you are still comparing them to Edmonton.

some of the sh*t you find looking up 'zack kassian'

Agreed, however you are still comparing them to Edmonton.
- Jeropotato

yea. This was more to BuffAteMe's point about EDM looking better on paper. Not necessarily true

yea. This was more to BuffAteMe's point about EDM looking better on paper. Not necessarily true
- TheNugeIsHuge

Not true at all.

some of the sh*t you find looking up 'zack kassian'


- TheNugeIsHuge

Nailed it

Not true at all.
- Jeropotato

better looking when sites are trying to get readers "Oilers Team Ready to Burst With Eyes on Post-Season"

then oil fans get shat on because every oiler fan claims "this is the year they make it!"

Nailed it
- Yeti1181

kinda looks like this guy

Oilers Suck and Eakins Swallows

It is many people's conventional wisdom that a poor team's best chance to rebuild is to become as poor a team as possible and try to build through top draft picks. This is the path the Edmonton Oilers have followed. They have picked first overall in the NHL draft three years in a row netting them Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. They have picked up other young talented players in Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz and Sam Gagner. This rebuild has netted them a team in last place in the West Conference. In fact, that same conventional wisdom that lead to the first rebuild would suggest now is the time to trash the team again and rebuild in exactly the same way that has failed them so far.

While it is true that none of the young players the Edmonton Oilers have picked up are on Hall of Fame tracks. They haven't "hit a home run" with any of their first overall picks - at least not yet. It is still quite possible that one or more of them does project to a Hall of Famer in the future. It is also clear that this route to building a winning team has no guarantees. In fact it appears to be no better than any other method - and possible worse than them.

What is the way to build a winning team today? The top teams today have had to acquire their core at early ages in their career. Most often this occurs through the draft, although good players can come from anywhere. For example, first place Anaheim's top goalie Jonas Hiller was a free agent signee from Europe. There is no excuse to give away talent. There is no excuse to stop looking and tank a team. You need a scouting staff that is good enough to find these players. That is the problem in Edmonton. There isn't any player currently on their roster who makes a significant contribution to their core who was drafted in a later round in the draft. Had Edmonton been able to find players like Brandon Saad and Corey Crawford in Chicago or TJ Oshie in St Louis or countless other players on top teams.

The secret to rebuilding a team is not to tank the team and get top draft picks. It is to rebuild your scouting system and continue to find core players both with your early draft picks and also by finding players elsewhere (such as later in the draft, undrafted free agents etc.). The Edmonton Oiler method of rebuilding their team hasn't worked. They may have been a better team before the process began than they are now six or seven or possibly even eight years into the process.
- Jurco_28

Oh my God really the oilers have been and are poorly managed and have rushed kids in the nhl and hurt their development? Please tell us more no one has realized this yet. Even better rent out a billboard in Edmonton and put this post on it so all oilers fans and management can become aware of this brilliant strategy