Made the mistake of venturing into EE's habs thread....those guys in there are friggin loonytunes...

I planted a little seed...watch them blow up....
- Iggysbff

what's to blow up about? the comment about Hall was a joke. and the Oilers did not outplay Montreal last night. i don't see how you can make that claim when you lose by 3 goals on home ice to a team that played 24 hours before and started its backup goalie.

Should have written it here but I've been telling my buddy's that NYR are gonna be in tough this year. Poor Lundquist wasting his time there
- BigDre

Won't be surprised if he leaves.

He also rang one off the post. It'll come.
- Iggysbff

He's young and hasn't had a whole season under his belt. I think he will calm down soon and the goals will come. Just remember Taylor Hall's goal drought in his rookie year.

He also rang one off the post. It'll come.
- Iggysbff

He's young and hasn't had a whole season under his belt. I think he will calm down soon and the goals will come. Just remember Taylor Hall's goal drought in his rookie year.

For them to be successful they've got to have 100% buy-in from the guys on a two-way game that I'm guessing Eakins is preaching. Is that happening and are they capable of that?

San Jose is clearly better than the Canucks, the Canucks (IMO) are clearly better than the Oilers. That means they've (Oilers) got to take a big step to be able to compete with SJ, St Louis, Chicago & LA.
- LeftCoaster

I think they are some what capable, guys are getting used on the PK that usually weren't in the past. Usually helps guys learn the two-way game by experiencing a purely defensive situation.

Lets keep in mind our goal is simply to make the playoffs are a least be damn close. That and I do think the roster as it stands today is going to be the same at the end of the year. Talk about adding defensive help, if that doesn't include Hemsky then you might see another deal where Hemmer goes for a more two-way player.
- Lahey

Do you feel moving a player like Eberle would help in making the line-up more complete from top to bottom?

Peron Eberle Hemsky and Yakupov are all redundant players IMO. More size and skill is what's needed...but easier said than done I know.

HockeyLegends ‏@HockeyLegends 5m
if @botchford was a blogger, MSM would be telling him to go back to his mom's basement and put his underwear back on.

The habs were lucky to win seed?
- Yeti1181

Of your core 4 forwards (yaks, hall, eberle, Nuge) who do you see the most likely to be moved? Hypothetically of course

Do you feel moving a player like Eberle would help in making the line-up more complete from top to bottom?

Peron Eberle Hemsky and Yakupov are all redundant players IMO. More size and skill is what's needed...but easier said than done I know.
- LeftCoaster

Perron and Yak have an edge to their game. Perron is quite the female genitalia at times so I don't think he's redundant. When Yak was playing his best last year he was hitting someone every shift.

To answer your question I would say yes, but personally it better be for a #1 d-man. At this point I wouldn't be shopping him either, I think this team still needs time and could be quite competitive with some tweaks. We added (frank)ing plugs and this team has a new identity. Add a physical 3rd liner and top 4 d-man and who knows what this team would look like. Those shouldn't cost you an Eberle to get.

- Iggysbff

Oh dear god

Of your core 4 forwards (yaks, hall, eberle, Nuge) who do you see the most likely to be moved? Hypothetically of course
- Danformo

hemsky

hemsky
- Killbot460

To Phoenix for OEL of course!

Perron and Yak have an edge to their game. Perron is quite the female genitalia at times so I don't think he's redundant. When Yak was playing his best last year he was hitting someone every shift.

To answer your question I would say yes, but personally it better be for a #1 d-man. At this point I wouldn't be shopping him either, I think this team still needs time and could be quite competitive with some tweaks. We added (frank)ing plugs and this team has a new identity. Add a physical 3rd liner and top 4 d-man and who knows what this team would look like. Those shouldn't cost you an Eberle to get.
- Lahey

IMO the oil are lacking a bigger 2nd line center and a top pairing defender. But I agree the new identity on the 4th line has been great.

To Phoenix for OEL of course!
- Iggysbff

I was thinking seth jones

Of your core 4 forwards (yaks, hall, eberle, Nuge) who do you see the most likely to be moved? Hypothetically of course
- Danformo

Further to this, what is Oil fan "objectively" thinking about Hall? It seems he is out of control just flying and not accomplishing much. His turnovers are brutal and often.

Can he be coached into playing a more cerebral game?

Watching the games, the Oilers could very easily be 3-1.

Contrast that with a Toronto who is 3-1 but could very easily be 1-3.

I think the Oil are getting better and Nuge coming back has been a huge help.

I think Hemsky is being showcased and that is hurting Yak. He will come around. Just a matter of time.
- Iggysbff

Agreed.... The Nuge is Huge

Further to this, what is Oil fan "objectively" thinking about Hall? It seems he is out of control just flying and not accomplishing much. His turnovers are brutal and often.

Can he be coached into playing a more cerebral game?
- scoot174

depending on the return I wouldn't be opposed to moving Hall. But it seems a bit early in the year to make a drastic move. Maybe in November if they are on the poop slide still

I know I'm gonna get killed in here for this, but, the Oilers (as it stands) don't have enough depth to compete in the West. They're a tremendously skilled team, but their depth is what's gonna hurt them in the long run.

Too many one dimensional players (offensive) and not enough of a two-way game. But whuddo I know right.

You can go ahead and rip the Nucks all you want. This comment was about the Oilers. And yes I know the Canucks don't have enough talent (as it stands) for them to compete with the very good teams in the West either.
- LeftCoaster

Yeah, very rippable. Trade us Goalies and let Gagner be healthy and the Oilers compete head on with the Canucks. Anyway, the Canucks are just hanging on, they're on the downward spiral...and really have no depth to stem the downfall.

Matt Henderson: Oilers Send Two Down, Oilers Fans Sent To Therapy
Grebeshkov and Davidson go to OKC, Larsen is recalled. Is it time to panic yet? Not unless you left Kevin behind when the family went to France.
- Matt_Henderson

Pretty much agreed - good blog too.

Hopefully the team Corsi positives start to put W's on paper.

Yakupov gets some pretty talented line mates on the power play and he still fails to capitalize. Remember against Vancouver when he had 3 decent opportunities and he sailed them all over the net?
- Dangles13

He's only 19 lol I wouldn't worry about him yet

Do you feel moving a player like Eberle would help in making the line-up more complete from top to bottom?

Peron Eberle Hemsky and Yakupov are all redundant players IMO. More size and skill is what's needed...but easier said than done I know.
- LeftCoaster

Yakupov hits like a Mack Truck! are you retarded?

The goals against Dubnyk last night weren’t his fault. He looked like an NHL goalie out there. There is no way you watched that game and came away blaming the big guy (The Goalie, not the Deity). Despite the result, the performance should be enough to give you all a little peace of mind. His numbers will even out. He looked terrible in the first 2 games, no doubt, but the history is there to suggest he is at least an average NHL starter.

But what about Yakupov? We are 4 games in. He is struggling, absolutely. Maybe it’s the new coach and system, maybe it’s the 3rd line ice-time and team mates. Whatever the problem was that started him down this path it’s his problem now. He needs to earn his ice-time now, and I expect that sooner or later he will. Hemsky’s early resurgence has robbed him of some very talented linemates and quality icetime. Yakupov isn’t helping it when he tries to go solo into a group of defenders either, but it’s hard to make a pass in that situation when Ryan Smyth is still somewhere in his own zone. He wants to score so bad that if he grips his stick any harder it will turn to dust. It’s going to come eventually. Step back from the crazy Yakupov trade proposals for a minute and give the kid a break..
- Matt_Henderson

A-(frank)ing-greed

Dubey did ok last night, but sure looked like he was fighting the puck. I was still nervous when a shot came through to him in the third.

Ebs has been invisible. He and Hall bumped into eachother twice on the same shift, it's like they forgot how to play together (it'll come back i'm sure)

David Staples is right, Yak needs consistent linemates who have some offense in them to play with... does him no good to be at the enemy blue line with the puck and Smyth and Gordon just getting out of their own zone. I've never seen Yak look so out of place in his own zone though.

edit: oh yeah... and watching Smid rush the puck to the end line ...

edit2: Nuge looks great out there
- BigDre

I agree on Ebs.

Good point on Yak as well... Smyth and Gordon are not the type of players Yak will succeed with. That being said, Yak needs to play better away from the puck, and he needs to start showing a little hustle out there. I'm sick of seeing him half-ass it and glide for 95% of the time he's on the ice.

Yakupov gets some pretty talented line mates on the power play and he still fails to capitalize. Remember against Vancouver when he had 3 decent opportunities and he sailed them all over the net?
- Dangles13

True.