Richard Cloutier: Starting to Feel a Draft?

Richard Cloutier: Starting to Feel a Draft?
- Maxbone

Nooooo...................

Is it not time for the Oilers to bring in some veteran leadership and grit.

Teams that cannot break out of the losing cycle will begin to discount their talent base. They will make some bad trades and, finally, morph into another rebuild.

I think the Oilers don't need to worry about the draft, it is what it is. They need to take the best player available. But, the real priority has to be bringing in a few high quality veteran players to upgrade the character content and winning perspective. Losing should not be so acceptable to this talented group of players.

Is it not time for the Oilers to bring in some veteran leadership and grit.

Teams that cannot break out of the losing cycle will begin to discount their talent base. They will make some bad trades and, finally, morph into another rebuild.

I think the Oilers don't need to worry about the draft, it is what it is. They need to take the best player available. But, the real priority has to be bringing in a few high quality veteran players to upgrade the character content and winning perspective. Losing should not be so acceptable to this talented group of players.
- spatso

You mentioned Lander....Is this guy going to even have an NHL career. I just don't feel the love when I see him play or read his stats. Smallish and not exactly a "point whore".....I just don't see what everybody is on about with this guy.
And still again they'd be an easy team to “beat down”.....I mean play against. Assuming this was the "line up" all their alledged "muscle" would be from Sweden and Finland....two annual powerhouses known for developing "grinders" and "beasts" that sacrifice thier bodies with no regard for their personal well being.
Paarjari
Hartikainen
Barkov
Petrell
Lander
Rajala
And don't get me started on those "hairdressers" on the blue line.

Is it not time for the Oilers to bring in some veteran leadership and grit.

Teams that cannot break out of the losing cycle will begin to discount their talent base. They will make some bad trades and, finally, morph into another rebuild.

I think the Oilers don't need to worry about the draft, it is what it is. They need to take the best player available. But, the real priority has to be bringing in a few high quality veteran players to upgrade the character content and winning perspective. Losing should not be so acceptable to this talented group of players.
- spatso

many people share this sentiment, clouts not so much. Im with you on this one.

Richard Cloutier: Starting to Feel a Draft?
- Maxbone

Richard Cloutier: Starting to Feel a Draft?
- Maxbone

I don't think Horcoff gets bought out. Gregor speculated that this might be the year they give someone else the captaincy, which is more likely, but I don't think that happens either. I think the idea that Horcoff is just here to collect a paycheque has been overblown. He's a pretty good, massively overpaid player who for the majority of his captain tenure was on a supremely untalented/unbalanced team (that was often comprised of many locker room cancers).

Looking forward to getting bigger through trades and free agency. He's not big, but we should also look at Burmistrov.

I know he probably isn't going anywhere but Backes would be a great leader for this young team. From some of the interviews I have seen of him he is all about winning and the team and cant stand guys not willing to do everything to make a play plus he is like 6 foot 3 so that doesn't hurt either

I know he probably isn't going anywhere but Backes would be a great leader for this young team. From some of the interviews I have seen of him he is all about winning and the team and cant stand guys not willing to do everything to make a play plus he is like 6 foot 3 so that doesn't hurt either
- blizzzard

I agree but the cost would be unreal.

I agree but the cost would be unreal.
- Morris

It would but is it maybe something the Oil need to do or if they are going to do a move that costs them that much do you prefer they go after a D

Oilers need some grit!!!

Hopefully they make the right moves this summer to improve the team.

!!!JimmyMac!!!

It would but is it maybe something the Oil need to do or if they are going to do a move that costs them that much do you prefer they go after a D
- blizzzard

That is a consideration. To get a Backes-equivalent Dman puts us ahead probably further than getting Backes does. I'm sort of leaning towards getting some bigger FA forwards who aren't necessarily as good offensively as Backes for cheaper, but there's no denying it'd be nice to have a guy who could do it all.

Will RNH be ready for the start of the season?

Will RNH be ready for the start of the season?
- LeftCoaster

Nope. Signing a FA centre is necessary. Or getting a guy like Burmi.

A sizeable vet would be nice if we could get one (Zubrus, Antropov), and I'm not so sure they wouldn't stay at centre even when RNH got back. I'd rather have Antro/Zubrus at centre than Smyth/Lander.

Seth Jones was his team this year. He was also the American JRs team that won the gold medal. He is also a local Colorado boy. He is going first overall. He will play next year and he might win them their second rookie of the year in 3 years (because their is a large group of voters in the city of Colorado itself).

Druin out played Mackinnon all year. Was the second best player behind Nuge on the Jr team. Looked, IMO just as good as Mackinnon in the playoffs. Florida however has a need for a center. They will take him. Tampa also has a need for a Center if they are buying out Vinny. But they also only have 1 winger. Drouin is miles ahead of barkov and Nich might be a few inches taller than druoin but there is no comparing the two for Canadian GM Yzerman. The top 3 will go as predicted by everyone. Mackinnon will go first ONLY because of the need for centre and because him and Drouin are so close in talent.

Here is my thought. I am not against using our first round pick to get a player who improves the team this year. However why not move up with Nashville or carolina by using one of our defensive prospects. Gernat, Musil or Marincin. All great prospects and future NHLers. We could be giving away a gem but I don't see how they are ever going to fit into our lineup. Schultz, Petry, Klefbom are all the same age roughly and our core. We pick 2 of the 3 prospects we want and trade the third. Then we have 5 guys at the age of 22 ish coming up. Its easy to see who will Fedun being number 6 if his leg really did heal. It is easy to predict who will be 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6. Until then I think we add Streit rather than two rookies for next year.

I think Carolina especially would be interesting in taking a D prospect that could compete this year for their line up and still be AT WORST stuck with playmaking forward Lind.

As for Barkov who is not as good as Canadian Monahan offensively. He gets out of military service by changing his citizenship to Russian if he hasn't already. His dad is. Hello NHL, good by training for an army that never does anything globally. Seriously guys. Watch a game or two at random of Barkov playing and Monahan (Nich is better than both but a center is better for us unless hall moves). Monahan is the more skilled forward. Barkov's goals are almost all capitalizing on rebounds or passes from teammates that give him an open net. Monahan has to make entire plays by himself and then finish them alone. He is the only player on his team.

Nope. Signing a FA centre is necessary. Or getting a guy like Burmi.

A sizeable vet would be nice if we could get one (Zubrus, Antropov), and I'm not so sure they wouldn't stay at centre even when RNH got back. I'd rather have Antro/Zubrus at centre than Smyth/Lander.
- Morris

Antropov is listed as playing LW or Center. Which makes him a great choice for our team. He is big and he puts up nice numbers in the hits category. Plus his offensive ability is good enough to start the season as our number two guy. I have suggested we get him and Bickel from the start and I completely agree with you now. He adds versatility to our lineup. We can move him during injury, PP/PK time, when people are tired or we have two centers on the ice on line 3 if we do draft and play a center in case one gets tossed out of the draw. Also at 34 he is a nice aged veteran for our back line. He is also one of the types of guys that might be cheap due to the surplus of similar players due to buyouts and the lower cap. He could be a 3 year man at 2-2.5 per year if he is not signed early. For some players it will be musical chairs this summer.

Is it not time for the Oilers to bring in some veteran leadership and grit.

Teams that cannot break out of the losing cycle will begin to discount their talent base. They will make some bad trades and, finally, morph into another rebuild.

I think the Oilers don't need to worry about the draft, it is what it is. They need to take the best player available. But, the real priority has to be bringing in a few high quality veteran players to upgrade the character content and winning perspective. Losing should not be so acceptable to this talented group of players.
- spatso

I agree, talking about Barkov, you're talking about a player who won't really be able to contribute to the team in a meaningful way for at least 2 years. Anyone else below him youre talking 3+ years until they're on the team at all. The Oilers would be better served dealing what they have now to fill in the holes on their team. Offensive depth, goaltending, and D all need an upgrade, if they don't start focusing on that right now, the team culture is not going to change. They need size at centre? Gotta make the change now with a proven big centre. It's going to be a very important off season for the Oilers, looking forward to seeing what MacT does,

I agree, talking about Barkov, you're talking about a player who won't really be able to contribute to the team in a meaningful way for at least 2 years. Anyone else below him youre talking 3+ years until they're on the team at all. The Oilers would be better served dealing what they have now to fill in the holes on their team. Offensive depth, goaltending, and D all need an upgrade, if they don't start focusing on that right now, the team culture is not going to change. They need size at centre? Gotta make the change now with a proven big centre. It's going to be a very important off season for the Oilers, looking forward to seeing what MacT does,
- 13sundin13

I agree that the UFA market is our best way to improve. I also agree it is very doable to find players we can use. Add 3 versatile players to our back end with size. I like Antropov, Bickel and Nystrom, but their are plenty of options. Then add a veteran 1-2 d in Streit, which should be our priority. Then add a quality backup. The options suggested are the obvious. I might even talk to the Blues and see what their thoughts are. They started Halak and Allen last year. Now they look smitten with Elliot. All have fair price tags and the blues are going to need some money if their RFA's get the raises they should. I am thinking they will need to pick one of the goalies to put on the market eventually.

Maybe he goes back for a few summers to wear the Finnish military mascot costume at the President's annual staff picnic or something. If the NHL wants him bad enough, they'll sort something out. You watch.

A few randoms for you to chew on while you're waiting for your wife to get your waffle out of her iron:

Now I go back to reading, but this had me dropping my phone, freaking hilarious

Holy ballsack Clouts no more sucking. Im tired of being bottom feeders. We've waited long enough, drafted our core, and now its time to compete. Maybe Paajarvi will be good enough for top 6 minutes but who knows. I see him more as a 3rd line scoring winger at this point which is why I suggest we take a run at Nathan Horton at free agency. He's big, he can score, and he hits. In todays NHL you need 3 scoring lines. Thats why we keep Paajarvi on the 3rd. And at this point its undecisive he can succeed under top 6 minutes. He had some chemistry going with Hartikainen last year and say we do move up and draft Barkov and put him on the 3rd line, that could be just what they need. Buyout Horcoff, trade Hemsky for a 2nd or 3rd, shave off 10.5m in cap space, and sign Streit maybe or some top 4 defender and weve got a team...

Hall / Nugent-Hopkins / Eberle
Yakupov / Gagner / Horton
Paajarvi / Barkov / Hartikainen
Smyth / Lander / Brown

Streit / J. Schultz
Smid/ Petry
Klefbom / N. Schultz

Dubnyk
(Random)

Will RNH be ready for the start of the season?
- LeftCoaster

I think his agent said he's tracking to be ready by the start of the season, but I'd say he'll come in 2-3 weeks late. Although it is the oilers so he'll be back tomorrow

Maybe he goes back for a few summers to wear the Finnish military mascot costume at the President's annual staff picnic or something. If the NHL wants him bad enough, they'll sort something out. You watch.

A few randoms for you to chew on while you're waiting for your wife to get your waffle out of her iron:

Now I go back to reading, but this had me dropping my phone, freaking hilarious

Barkov or monahan ill be happy cause the oil are done with the draft. They have there impact players already from choosing so high the last three-four yrs. The difference will be what mac t does with that bottom six. I heard stalberg was available maybe? He would be a great third liner to have playing for us next season.

Barkov or monahan ill be happy cause the oil are done with the draft. They have there impact players already from choosing so high the last three-four yrs. The difference will be what mac t does with that bottom six. I heard stalberg was available maybe? He would be a great third liner to have playing for us next season.
- BleedOil06

Stalberg plays pretty easy minutes and isn't physical at all for a guy who's 6'3 210+.

I'd rather they sign Bickell. Just watch the highlights from yesterday's game. He ran like 4 people over and scored. Could be a good fit with Nuge-Eberle