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In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on where the Edmonton Oilers go after being swept out of the playoffs by the Winnipeg Jets.
Todd Cordell
I think the Oilers need to be a lot smarter about how they’re spending their money. Paying a premium for superstars is not at all an issue, despite what some people will argue. It only becomes a problem when you overpay for garbage around the stars.
You know, things like paying a premium for a declining Milan Lucic (then swapping him for James Neal). Giving more than $3 million per season to Zack Kassian. Giving Kris Russell $4M per year. Those kinds of moves are problematic.
You’ll hear teams justify those kinds of deals by needing some physicality on the roster and ‘being tough to play against.’ It’s all garbage. You know what is tough to play against? Good hockey players (see Colorado).
The Oilers are getting somewhat of a blank slate this off-season. A lot of bad money is coming off the books. And they need to be very smart about how they go about spending it.
There is next to no scoring or play-driving ability beyond the top three or four forwards. That has to change.
Obviously, they can’t go on a spending spree and sign all of the top names. But every year there are guys like Tyler Toffoli, Craig Smith, and Joonas Donskoi that become available and sign for middling money and term. Scooping up a name or two like that is what the Oilers need to be prioritizing.
I mean, Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs top players are unbelievable. But they can have an off night and still win. The other day, for example, MacKinnon and co. were blanked. The Avs won 5-1.
Do you think for a second there’s any chance the Oilers can win a playoff game by three or four goals without McDavid and/or Draisaitl factoring in heavily? Absolutely not. And that is the problem.
I’ve seen the stars take plenty of heat on social media – Pierre McGuire did a radio spot and said McDavid needs to step up defensively (LOL) – but I’d argue having Kassian (five points this year) and McLeod (just recalled from the AHL) playing on the 2nd line in an elimination game is the problem. Not McDavid or Draisaitl.
Unless the Oilers are going to prioritize skill in the middle-6, bargain buy players with upside (like Florida did with Alex Wennberg, Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair), and maximize the talent they do have – you know, perhaps dressing Evan Bouchard – they’re not going anywhere.
Sean Maloughney
The Oilers lost three of the four games in OT and lost the first game by a single goal. Had things bounced just a little different this could have been a 2-2 series instead of a four game sweep.
All that being said, there needs to be some massive changes that come to the roster this off-season. The supporting cast around McDavid and Draisaitl simply is not good enough. Jesse Puljujarvi came to play every game and was a positive force but after that things were bleak. RNH remained invisible for most of the games with the exception of Game 4. This is the second playoff series where Kailer Yamamoto wasn't able to physically handle the pace of play and did not produce.
This roster needs to add at least another two top six wingers to add to the roster and likely a full third line. The Jets won this series because of some impressive goaltending by Connor Hellebuyck and the fact that Maurice could roll out four lines that all provided a scoring threat. The Oilers (specifically Tippett) rolled McDavid and Draisaitl on a single line and after that there was little real danger for the Jets. McLeod is an exciting young prospect but he should not have been centring the second line with Kassian on his wing of all people.
Edmonton has about 7-9 different fourth line forwards on this team right now. Pick 3-4 of them and purge the rest. The good news is the Oilers will have roughly 28 million dollars in cap space this off-season to address these changes. How they go about it will be directly responsible for how this team competes over the next 3-5 years. Somehow this organization needs to figure out relying on two players simply is not going to get you far once the playoffs roll around.
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