Matt Henderson: G3 Oilers vs Sabres: McDavid takes flight

first SUCK IT EVERYONE!

second the best

havent looked at the fancies, but if they do show poorly on nuges lines, i think its another indication of how flawed they are.
nuges line hasnt been an offensive force, but theyve been quality on the defensive side of the puck, giving the other lines easier minutes and matchups.
and of course nuge and poo have that offensive capabilities as well, so they can move the puck up ice and create chances. a quality two way line imo.

and after 12 goals in two games, i dont see how we can say we miss yakupov at all.
i guess his "potential" isnt matched by the players in those spots now, but structure and effectiveness absolutely is.

It'll be interesting when the Blues come to town.

Eichel’s ankle shattered under the weight of expectation to be McDavid’s peer and Kane’s ribs shattered on a nasty spill into the boards as he was chasing down a puck

I'd consider donating Ebs to the Pou - Nuge line in order to spread out the talent a bit more evenly. McDavid seems capable of elevating others and still dominating so I think Ebs could be used to get Nuges line to tilt the ice better and generate some offense.

I don't know who would slot in for Ebs on the top line tho. Giving Kassian/Pulju/Slep an opportunity would be experimentation but I wouldn't mind some of that with McDs RW.

I think Pou - Nuge - Ebs have had relative success in the past.

It'll be interesting when the Blues come to town.
- haymac

yaks can be effective in this league, but it wasnt gonna happen here and his value wasnt going up.
and neither could we afford to worry about trying to up yaks value instead of winning games

sucks we got such a brutal return for a former first overall, but thats what his value was and it was time to move on.
another miss by the oilers, but after 3 years of ineffective play, it really doesnt bother me much

I'd consider donating Ebs to the Pou - Nuge line in order to spread out the talent a bit more evenly. McDavid seems capable of elevating others and still dominating so I think Ebs could be used to get Nuges line to tilt the ice better and generate some offense.

I don't know who would slot in for Ebs on the top line tho. Giving Kassian/Pulju/Slep an opportunity would be experimentation but I wouldn't mind some of that with McDs RW.

I think Pou - Nuge - Ebs have had relative success in the past.
- RonPielep

love the idea of spreading depth. and im sure they will over the long haul.
but ebs and mcdavid are clicking and dangerous every shift. dont fix if it aint broke and all that

nice dig on eichel and his injury....... how many years of of being the biggest joke in hockey did it take to finally get a great player.......dont worry about jack or his ankle as he will be fine jesus get over yourself with the expaction of them being peers..remember you havent won anything yet and are 1 mcdavid injury from sucking again we get it you guys got the better player but we will have the better team in time

nice dig on eichel and his injury....... how many years of of being the biggest joke in hockey did it take to finally get a great player.......dont worry about jack or his ankle as he will be fine jesus get over yourself with the expaction of them being peers..remember you havent won anything yet and are 1 mcdavid injury from sucking again we get it you guys got the better player but we will have the better team in time
- tyler46

apparently this guy didnt think your joke was funny matt

apparently this guy didnt think your joke was funny matt
- HB77

They never do. I sympathize with Sabres fans though. We lost McDavid for months to injury. We know what it's like to watch all your hopes crash head on into the Coffee Shop of Destiny.

apparently this guy didnt think your joke was funny matt
- HB77

Not one bit.

havent looked at the fancies, but if they do show poorly on nuges lines, i think its another indication of how flawed they are.
nuges line hasnt been an offensive force, but theyve been quality on the defensive side of the puck, giving the other lines easier minutes and matchups.
and of course nuge and poo have that offensive capabilities as well, so they can move the puck up ice and create chances. a quality two way line imo.

and after 12 goals in two games, i dont see how we can say we miss yakupov at all.
i guess his "potential" isnt matched by the players in those spots now, but structure and effectiveness absolutely is.
- HB77

RNH's line does have pretty poor results, but it's only been 2 games. Guys like Doughty/Carter are running on sh*t for numbers after 2 games. Will regress.

While EDM was out shot and out possessed in the first 2 games, they out scoring chanced CGY 31-21 and by high danger scoring chances 20-12

love the idea of spreading depth. and im sure they will over the long haul.
but ebs and mcdavid are clicking and dangerous every shift. dont fix if it aint broke and all that
- HB77

I'd be hesitant to label it 'special chemistry' as opposed to mostly just McDavid. Point is McDavid is gunna tilt the ice one way or another. I think he could have Maroon and Pulju as wingers and still completely dominate. But he can't play the whole game so at some point it's going to be important to get a quality second line going that can consistently generate scoring.

RNH's line does have pretty poor results, but it's only been 2 games. Guys like Doughty/Carter are running on sh*t for numbers after 2 games. Will regress.

While EDM was out shot and out possessed in the first 2 games, they out scoring chanced CGY 31-21 and by high danger scoring chances 20-12
- TheNugeIsHuge

And that's what I've started focusing on more. It'd be great for them to outshoot as well, but as long as they're out chancing, that's more important.

They never do. I sympathize with Sabres fans though. We lost McDavid for months to injury. We know what it's like to watch all your hopes crash head on into the Coffee Shop of Destiny.
- Matt_Henderson

we sure do

its funny how used to the injury bug we are when 3 starters are out (two potentially very important ones ) and i kinda feel like weve dodged a bullet thus far..


if connor goes down, the masses will be lining up to give your thread hits and that guy will be at the front of the line

And that's what I've started focusing on more. It'd be great for them to outshoot as well, but as long as they're out chancing, that's more important.
- MaximumBone

Same here, it should balance out in the long run. Think Gulutzan just wants CGY throwing everything on net, ala Eakins. Corsi will look good and you won't win a ton of hockey games. We'll see where they're at after 10-20 games under a new system/coach

I'd be hesitant to label it 'special chemistry' as opposed to mostly just McDavid. Point is McDavid is gunna tilt the ice one way or another. I think he could have Maroon and Pulju as wingers and still completely dominate. But he can't play the whole game so at some point it's going to be important to get a quality second line going that can consistently generate scoring.
- RonPielep

next to impossible for me to say connor isnt the engine and he couldnt potentially be successful with anyone.

but lets not equate eberle with just anyone. this is a proven scorer with a ton of skill.

you might be corrrect, but imo, eberle as been quality in his own right.

im just saying that if struggles occur, we go cold etc (which will both happen) then switch it up.

I really want to see a full lineup with Drake and Matt. Drai goes to the RW and solidifies it and Matt makes the 4th line more like a 4th line. Pitlick goes to the RW and Sleppy heads to the press box.

Knocks on wood****

I'd be hesitant to label it 'special chemistry' as opposed to mostly just McDavid. Point is McDavid is gunna tilt the ice one way or another. I think he could have Maroon and Pulju as wingers and still completely dominate. But he can't play the whole game so at some point it's going to be important to get a quality second line going that can consistently generate scoring.
- RonPielep

I think we need to move Lucic with Dr. Drai, they seem to have better chemistry than Lucic and McDavid.

Same here, it should balance out in the long run. Think Gulutzan just wants CGY throwing everything on net, ala Eakins. Corsi will look good and you won't win a ton of hockey games. We'll see where they're at after 10-20 games under a new system/coach
- TheNugeIsHuge

I've been encouraged by the verbal Chiarelli had regarding his Russell signing where he very specifically laid out the two major facets of Russell's game that he wanted (zone exits and neutral zone puck movement) and he's gone on to exemplify those things perfectly. It speaks to deeper analysis of players than traditional stats and possession metrics and also to Chiarelli recognizing two major needs on the backend and addressing them.

It's obviously just two games in and they're far from perfect acquisitions, but little things like that can make all the difference as niche players often make the difference in Championships. It speaks to a different level of talent analysis that we haven't had during the rebuild before and I hope it continues.

I think we need to move Lucic with Dr. Drai, they seem to have better chemistry than Lucic and McDavid.
- Reveen.

I like that idea too, might have to wait for Edmonton to drop a dud game first. That first line is buzzing

I think we need to move Lucic with Dr. Drai, they seem to have better chemistry than Lucic and McDavid.
- Reveen.

For now, the first line has been dominant so I'd rather keep them together. I'd be open to some change after a stinker as I wanna see Slappy get another shot with McDavid, but I don't think now is the time. Something like:

Pouliot- McDavid- Jewels (fast & aggressive)
Lucic- Draisaitl- Kassian/Puljujarvi (strong cycle)
Maroon- RNH- Eberle (balanced attack)

or

Maroon- McDavid- Eberle (dominant)
Lucic- RNH- Draisaitl (strong cycle)
Pouliot- Jewels- Kassian/Puljujarvi (heavy forecheck)

or stack up the top-6

Pouliot- McDavid- Eberle
Lucic- RNH- Draisaitl
Maroon- Jewels- Kassian/Puljujarvi