So, as far as UFA is concerned, I can see the Oilers looking at another 3-4C, a top-9 RW and a bottom-4 Dman. They've got cap space to commit for a year and might pony up for the right 3C and move Nuge next year. My ideal list features Hanzal (longer term), Boyle (short term) as the C, Sharp (short term) at RW and either Campbell, Del Zotto or- gods be willing- Markov on a short term deal. Resigning Gryba or Oesterle would leave us with:

Maroon- McDavid- Draisaitl
Lucic- Nugent-Hopkins- Strome
Caggiula- Hanzal- Sharp
Slepyshev- Letestu- Kassian
Khaira,

Puljujarvi, Gambardella and maybe Foo in the AHL

Yammers and Benson in the CHL

Klefbom- Larsson
Markov- Russell
Nurse- Benning
Gryba or Oesterle

Sekera injured

Simpson, Jones, Bear and Paigin in the AHL

Talbot
Brossoit

Ellis and Starrett in the AHL

Wells in the CHL

If that UFA D is Markov on a 1-year deal pursuing a Cup, that is one hell of an attractive line-up to my eye. If it's one of the other two, it's still got some great depth.

That's likely my realistically ideal summer.
- MaximumBone

Very good,

Do I really need to make a list of young gm/coaches that are/have been successful ?
Or an even longer list of vet ones that are utter buffoons?

I don't agree at all about the awful Russel signing, buy maybe you're right. But certainly not because of the reasons you originally stated. It was just a poor argument.

Again- people "in the game" don't automatically know better. They're just regular dudes who can be bad at their jobs and are prone to bias and mistakes
- Ihateallofu

Except I'm not talking about other GMs and coaches. I'm specifically referencing these 4 since that's who we're talking about.

And I respect and put more value in the opinions of Chia McLellan over those 2. You would disagree with that?

Except I'm not talking about other GMs and coaches. I'm specifically referencing these 4 since that's who we're talking about.

And I respect and put more value in the opinions of Chia McLellan over those 2. You would disagree with that?
- Oildrum

THe coaches yes...the GM's? Not so much.

Except I'm not talking about other GMs and coaches. I'm specifically referencing these 4 since that's who we're talking about.

And I respect and put more value in the opinions of Chia McLellan over those 2. You would disagree with that?
- Oildrum

NOt more than mact per se . Tmac coaching better rosters than mact ever did isn't Craig's fault. Furthermore, mact has actually been deeper in the playoffs as a head coach than tmac ever has. With less at his disposal. Just sayin..

But those were just the two that immediately came to mind when u made the "they know better than we do" as I know for sure you've called them idiots. But I was basically referring to any and all people in the game. I just don't agree with that assessment.

I think pc made a really stupid deal here that could've easily been avoided had he not made knee jerk reaction to Sekeras injury. One that is gonna hurt us fairly soon and handcuff mobility and potential upgrades. I view it a lot like the deal for fayne.
Knee jerk like the ference deal too


Hjalmarsson is 5x the defender Russel is amd just went for a medium prospect and a decent young defender . and is paid the same.

Hjalmarsson is 5x the defender Russel is amd just went for a medium prospect and a decent young defender . and is paid the same.
- Ihateallofu

Two issues:

2.) The equivalent deal for us likely would've been more as we're direct competition for them as a fellow playoff team

2.) The equivalent for us would've definitely required Benning and likely Slepyshev (at least) so we'd instead be down two defenders as we then wouldn't resign Russell

I love me some Hjalmarsson, but 5 times the defender is an overstatement.

Bailed on work early and went for sushi at lunch and hammered a few pitchers of sake margaritas with a few peeps
Hella good.

Been sippin my ladies cheap wine all evening while she workin .

Id estimate Halfway cut
- Ihateallofu

Sake eh? Don't think I have ever been drunk on sake. Seems to bring out the tiger in someone even better than Frosted Flakes so I should give it a try.

A poster on ON just made an interesting observation that the Oilers are surprisingly diverse in family background with an Indain descent (Khaira), Canadian (many), Native (Bear), American (Maroon, Pitlick, Yamamoto), Sweden (Klefbom, Larsson), Finland (Puljujarvi, Pakarinen), German (Draisaitl), Slovakia (Sekera), Russia (Slepyshev), Japanese descent (Yamamoto) and if Foo signs that’s Chinese descent, as well.

Two issues:

2.) The equivalent deal for us likely would've been more as we're direct competition for them as a fellow playoff team

2.) The equivalent for us would've definitely required Benning and likely Slepyshev (at least) so we'd instead be down two defenders as we then wouldn't resign Russell

I love me some Hjalmarsson, but 5 times the defender is an overstatement.
- MaximumBone

Nah. Dauphin is buried on their depth chart. He ain't worth much to the yotes. Certainly not what slepyshev is to us.

Benning for sure and a solid ahl'er/prospect . Hell we coulda thrown a pick em

I mean I dunno how the conversation actually goes, But again, this forces us to sign a stop gap 3rd pairing guy SHORT TERM.

And whatever, 3x then. Point is , he's much better

NOt more than mact per se . Tmac coaching better rosters than mact ever did isn't Craig's fault. Furthermore, mact has actually been deeper in the playoffs as a head coach than tmac ever has. With less at his disposal. Just sayin..

But those were just the two that immediately came to mind when u made the "they know better than we do" as I know for sure you've called them idiots. But I was basically referring to any and all people in the game. I just don't agree with that assessment.

I think pc made a really stupid deal here that could've easily been avoided had he not made knee jerk reaction to Sekeras injury. One that is gonna hurt us fairly soon and handcuff mobility and potential upgrades. I view it a lot like the deal for fayne.
Knee jerk like the ference deal too



Hjalmarsson is 5x the defender Russel is amd just went for a medium prospect and a decent young defender . and is paid the same.
- Ihateallofu

I loved MacT as a head coach, I was referring to his time as GM. I guess we just differ on our thoughts of the signing. Time will tell how the deal plays out.

I still think he's an indispensable type of player especially during the playoffs.

Sake eh? Don't think I have ever been drunk on sake. Seems to bring out the tiger in someone even better than Frosted Flakes so I should give it a try.
- leonkennedy

Sake margs are great. Taste good and get you lit quick . A good out for lunch on the patio in the sun Friday happy drink ya know ?

A poster on ON just made an interesting observation that the Oilers are surprisingly diverse in family background with an Indain descent (Khaira), Canadian (many), Native (Bear), American (Maroon, Pitlick, Yamamoto), Sweden (Klefbom, Larsson), Finland (Puljujarvi, Pakarinen), German (Draisaitl), Slovakia (Sekera), Russia (Slepyshev), Japanese descent (Yamamoto) and if Foo signs that’s Chinese descent, as well.
- MaximumBone

Come back home Foo.

Come back home Foo.
- Oildrum

Ni hao !!

Nah. Dauphin is buried on their depth chart. He ain't worth much to the yotes. Certainly not what slepyshev is to us.

Benning for sure and a solid ahl'er/prospect . Hell we coulda thrown a pick em

I mean I dunno how the conversation actually goes, But again, this forces us to sign a stop gap 3rd pairing guy SHORT TERM.

And whatever, 3x then. Point is , he's much better
- Ihateallofu

Dauphin still had potential and- while I love him- Murphy has more track record than Benning so difference between Dauphin and Slepy is made up in the other two.

As for signing, I think it'd have to be more than just one stop-gap third pairing guy. We'd be looking at:

Klefbom- Larsson
???- Hjalmarsson
Nurse- ???
???

Until Sekera got back. After that it'd be an excellent top-4, but the concern for filling that hole would still exist.

I think we can all agree that the mistake was firing Tom Renney. That guy was a pretty damn good coach and got some solid results out of some of the worst rosters. I definitely would've given him another year or two but with Tambellini at the helm, it would've still ended with his firing.

Dauphin still had potential and- while I love him- Murphy has more track record than Benning so difference between Dauphin and Slepy is made up in the other two.

As for signing, I think it'd have to be more than just one stop-gap third pairing guy. We'd be looking at:

Klefbom- Larsson
???- Hjalmarsson
Nurse- ???
???

Until Sekera got back. After that it'd be an excellent top-4, but the concern for filling that hole would still exist.
- MaximumBone

what a great top 4

Klefbom -hjalmarsson
Sekera- Larsson

I think we can all agree that the mistake was firing Tom Renney. That guy was a pretty damn good coach and got some solid results out of some of the worst rosters. I definitely would've given him another year or two but with Tambellini at the helm, it would've still ended with his firing.
- MaximumBone

Yep, and the second mistake was firing Kreuger.

what a great top 4

Klefbom -hjalmarsson
Sekera- Larsson
- Ihateallofu

That it would be, though I think that might be close to sealing the deal on Nurse. Can't imagine they'd let Hjalmarsson walk a couple years after acquiring him.

That it would be, though I think that might be close to sealing the deal on Nurse. Can't imagine they'd let Hjalmarsson walk a couple years after acquiring him.
- MaximumBone

How so it it worse for nurse? Cause hjakmarsson is better than russel?
Can't imagine he's gonna be getting a huge raise at 33.
Worst case you pony up to play him on the 3rd pairing just like we now don't have much choice to do with russel should nurse surpass him

Or if hjalmarssons play doesn't dip dramatically you could deal a developing nurse for a quality piece . The spot we're in now we're hoping nurse overtakes russel cause our top 4 is average at best (forgetting klefbom/Larson development )

How so it it worse for nurse? Cause hjakmarsson is better than russel?
Can't imagine he's gonna be getting a huge raise at 33.
Worst case you pony up to play him on the 3rd pairing just like we now don't have much choice to do with russel should nurse surpass him

Or if hjalmarssons play doesn't dip dramatically you could deal a developing nurse for a quality piece . The spot we're in now we're hoping nurse overtakes russel cause our top 4 is average at best (forgetting klefbom/Larson development )
- Ihateallofu

Never said that was a problem, but I just figured that Nurse would be on the move without a certain lane into the top-4 for the foreseeable future at that point. I'd honestly grieve the loss of Benning more.

Loving that Yamamoto pick by Chia...

Yeah. That was about a small pathetic as i thought from Chiarelli. Eberle is worth way more than STrome (even though STROMe is better than Larson). If he couldn't get a better deal then don't trade.

Russel is a brutal signing unless he was going to trade him but then he put the NMC in. Why does he feel like every contract needs one? Russel has value in the range of a third round pick. He is only good as a 7th dmen unless they are trading Sekeras finally and using Russel as the third guy. They should also ship off Larsson too.

Then they draft the only midget in the first round. Strome's brother would have been a great pick. There was a bunch of great players left and we grab a guy that isn't strong enough to wear equipment.

I hate Chiarelli

Yeah. That was about a small pathetic as i thought from Chiarelli. Eberle is worth way more than STrome (even though STROMe is better than Larson). If he couldn't get a better deal then don't trade.

Russel is a brutal signing unless he was going to trade him but then he put the NMC in. Why does he feel like every contract needs one? Russel has value in the range of a third round pick. He is only good as a 7th dmen unless they are trading Sekeras finally and using Russel as the third guy. They should also ship off Larsson too.

Then they draft the only midget in the first round. Strome's brother would have been a great pick. There was a bunch of great players left and we grab a guy that isn't strong enough to wear equipment.

I hate Chiarelli
- Hall Fan

Pathetically awful as usual.

There's no NMC for Russell. It's a limited-(frank)ing-NTC for the last 2 years of the 4 year deal.

Yup, trade two of our top-3 Dmen because YOU think they're a 3rd pairing guy and a prospect. Genius. Brilliant.

Strome's brother wouldn't even be a good pick at 52, let alone 22. He's a below average skater, below average puck handler, average shooter and is average to mediocre in virtually every capacity except "hockey sense". High end potential for him is Benoit Pouliot.

But I don't even know why I respond. You'd never even consider responding to my posts because I disprove every claim you make and you're intellectually incapable of handling criticism and addressing the obvious shortcomings in your understanding of this sport you claim to watch.

That is all.

A poster on ON just made an interesting observation that the Oilers are surprisingly diverse in family background with an Indain descent (Khaira), Canadian (many), Native (Bear), American (Maroon, Pitlick, Yamamoto), Sweden (Klefbom, Larsson), Finland (Puljujarvi, Pakarinen), German (Draisaitl), Slovakia (Sekera), Russia (Slepyshev), Japanese descent (Yamamoto) and if Foo signs that’s Chinese descent, as well.
- MaximumBone

Yay...maybe they can unite the world and give us world peace?