The Neverending Story…

It has been a long time since I came down to this secluded part of the great interweb. Amazingly, however, not much has changed with the mighty Oilers of Edmonton. Another disappointing season, and another draft party to organize. Remember when we had to plan parades every year? Yeah, me neither….

The Oilers have somehow gone backwards. Hard to do when you’re sitting on rock bottom, no? This year, they are looking to set a franchise record for the least amount of wins in a season. Think about that. Five years after we had the season that netted us Taylor Hall, we are on pace for less wins. How? Why? Maybe, because Oilers? Yeah, that sounds about right…

Dallas Eakins was….terrible? A disaster? A huge gamble that backfired in the face of a rookie GM? I say yes to all three. Now, Eakins did do something’s okay, so credit where its due. He had a lot of the underlying numbers (Corsi, etc) trending in the right direction, and his deployment (OZ/DZ starts, QoC, etc) looked fine. So where’s the disconnect? The infamous part of the game where numbers have no power, and the emotion of the players rule all. The players didn’t respect him. Plain and simple. You can have an asshole for a coach, and not like him at all, but if there’s no respect, game over. He set this franchise back a year and a half, and as MacT said, “the blood is on his hands”. Craig’s on it, though….

Taylor Hall may not be developing properly folks. I know, I thought a young guy putting up a PPG on a shit team was doing fine, but I guess a rusty start after a 24 game layoff for a hurt knee tells Corey Hirsch enough that he feels comfortable enough saying something like that on national TV. Eleven more years of this bullshit coverage, folks. Even though TSN lost the rights for games, they sure kept all the on-air talent. Who are some of these “analysts” Sportsnet thinks they’re pawning off on us? It’s terrible TV and I think the playoffs are going to be a little painful. Eleven more years….

On that note, I just want to get out there how terrible I think the Oilers radio and TV crews are. Jack Michaels is painful to listen to. Seriously, I first thought it was just the hangover of losing such a fantastic PBP guy as Rod Phillips. I mean, who is honestly going to fill those shoes? Now, I realize, Michaels is just what he was when we grabbed him. An ECHL calibre game caller. Now, I realize that things like this are fairly subjective, and every one has a different view on them, but I can’t be the only one who gets angry listening to him fumble over a play with a useless fact, or a pointless story with Bob. And would it kill you to say, “He scores!” when the puck goes in? Every goal Jack… Drew Remenda is just terrible. My Uncle would be able to form a smoother commentary than this guy. Debrusk was a huge homer, but at least he sounded like he paid attention. But, bush league announcers for a bush league team I suppose…

The GM has come out and said Klefbom and Schultz are his top pair next year. Ference and Nikitin are still signed. Fayne isn’t going anywhere. That is 5 out of 6 dmen for next year. And yes, we will be in lotto territory again next year with that group. MacTnever mentions Marincin, and we all know his love-in with Darnell, so a good bet would be Nurse starting next year as well, which will help us lock up Auston Matthews. Scrivens and whoever they get will be fodder for actual NHL shooters on a nightly basis. The Gm seems okay with this outlook, just like he did with the center situation last year (even though all he did to help it was Derek Roy and having Nelson unlock Lander). This might get worse before it gets better (I know, I know…)

The playoffs are the best time of year, especially the first round. 2-3 super intense games every night? Yes please. I usually have an idea on how its going to go, but this year…I just don’t know. I like NYR, but Lundquist is coming off injury. I like Washington. Tampa Bay looks good, too. The West is a total crapshoot, imo. I don’t have a lot of faith in Anaheim, or St. Louis. I like Winnipeg, only because they remind me of my late 90’s Oilers. F*ck the Flames and Canucks. I may have to cheer for Minny, just for the Big Easy. Go Doobie Go!

Oilers get the third overall pick. They should take Hanifin, but will take Strome. Hanifin comes in and dominates ala Ekblad, and Marner comes in and Pat Kane’s the shit out of his season, while Strome is Draisaitl V 2.0 and we can’t figure out why a teenager can’t save us. I see a possible shoulder surgery in there somewhere too….

It has been said every year since we drafted Taylor Hall, but this summer is huge for MacT. If he doesn’t get it right, it should be his last. Then, we get to start the Messier Era…Yahoo~ Oilers going oil baby…

Locking it up: three down….

The news broke a couple of days ago, and now that it’s official, I suppose I can come out and say just how thrilled I am with the Nuge’s new contract. With one year remaining on his entry-level deal, the Oilers decided to sign the remaining member of their top line long-term. Seven years at six million per makes the Burnaby Boy a rich kid, and this Oilers fan very happy.

If I were GM, and one day, you never know…, I would have been looking for a loophole to sign him for ten years. Damn the injury concerns, this kid is a potential Selke nominee, and a legit first line center already. His line mates will be quality, even if he doesn’t play with Hall and Ebs. The kid can thread a pass through sticks and legs like nobody’s business, and will only get better. He’s only twenty years old for crying out loud!

This basically continues the only good work Steve Tambellinni did other than build the farm team up. The Hall contract is just magnificent, only bested by the insane Tavares contract (Snow bought himself a few more years with that one), and I think the Eberle deal is just fine. I’m not worried about unsustainable percentages and such. Now with the Nuge deal, all three contracts will come up for renewal, staggered one year after another. Smart. The Radish strikes, AGAIN! As an Oilers fan, I can’t say how nice it is to see things being done right and in a timely fashion.

The only downfall? Injury, and how it impacts Yakupov and Schultz Jr, I suppose. The injury is concerning, however, I know a few twenty year old who have bounced back from worse, and they weren’t elite athletes. Now-a-days, the chance he comes back even stronger is actually a possibility ( i.e.: Adrian Peterson). I also believe Yakupov will be a steal at 6 million a year. I also think he takes the “home-town” deal, just because Nail Yakupov is the most awesome player to grace the city since….well, you know. Schultz Jr. will be the one to watch. His offence is top-notch. His defense? Not so much. Not worth 6 a year, even with his points. We can cross that bridge when we get there, though.

Right now, I’m having fun dreaming of our soon to be best line in the NHL destroying the league for years to come…”and finishing 1-2-3 in league scoring for the third year in a row,”… Has a nice ring, doesn’t it?