Your arguments are getting worse now. So many of your contentions have been proven false you're resorting to silly comebacks now.
- HB77

What the hell are you talking about? I've had only one point. Edmonton has had adequate high draft picks and time to turn the franchise around long ago. Saying that since we've missed out on McKinnon and Ekblad is an excuse as to why we're still in the basement does not float with anyone, you still got Leon and Nurse in those drafts. Comparing Edmonton to Sabres is not right either, we are in year 3 of a rebuild with only 2 high draft picks, each with only 50 games under their belt. If we continue to be bad for years to come, than yes, we deserve to take some chit, but not yet. Edmonton needs to figure things out already and rewarding them with yet another first overall is NOT the answer. That is my point. Again, the Edmonton fan base deserves better, I'm not trying to attack you guys.

Ii was really hard for me to say that because I for one hate drafting defensemen but I was totally wrong about him
- gerbe75pts

Hate drafting them at #1? or hate drafting them top 5? Or just all together?

I feel like defensemen always take the longest to truly develop so taking them top 3 and not having that immediate rush can be discouraging to some I'm sure.

Dude.. I get it... not everyone is high on Fasching. I do think a 2 way physical forward like Fasching being a PPG player on a gutted Minnesota team is impressive. You don't.

Fasching is not gonna lead the league in scoring.. he isn't going to break records but I do think he is a darn good 2 way player. I see him as a 2nd line winger with a game much line Girgnesons but with more scoring upside.

That is my opinion. Agree to disagre perhaps.
- JVince11

Fasching will be Blake Wheeler 2.0 take that to the bank

Hate drafting them at #1? or hate drafting them top 5? Or just all together?

I feel like defensemen always take the longest to truly develop so taking them top 3 and not having that immediate rush can be discouraging to some I'm sure.
- JVince11

Top 5 .. if you look at the top defenseman in the league they're usually drafted in later rounds

Haha... I was more playing off of that was the cliche for Ruff when he was here man... calm down.

I know that guys like Benn and Seguin have absolutely flourished into top 5 NHL players under him there.
- JVince11

I'm not freaking out
Too many ppl blame Ruff or Regier for our past issues
Not that they didn't play they're parts, but it was a lot of things
I think the hate has gone too far on them

Does Riff maybe not like Russian players though?

Fasching will be Blake Wheeler 2.0 take that to the bank
- gerbe75pts

3 60 pt seasons under his belt. 3 20 goal seasons.

Fasching will be Blake Wheeler 2.0 take that to the bank
- gerbe75pts

How so?
He can't skate better than me, let alone be in the company with Wheeler

How so?
He can't skate better than me, let alone be in the company with Wheeler
- jdfitz77

I find that very hard to believe. While Fasching's skating isn't top notch, any player that's a prospect for an NHL team has to be a better skater than an average joe off the street.

What the hell are you talking about? I've had only one point. Edmonton has had adequate high draft picks and time to turn the franchise around long ago. Saying that since we've missed out on McKinnon and Ekblad is an excuse as to why we're still in the basement does not float with anyone, you still got Leon and Nurse in those drafts. Comparing Edmonton to Sabres is not right either, we are in year 3 of a rebuild with only 2 high draft picks, each with only 50 games under their belt. If we continue to be bad for years to come, than yes, we deserve to take some chit, but not yet. Edmonton needs to figure things out already and rewarding them with yet another first overall is NOT the answer. That is my point. Again, the Edmonton fan base deserves better, I'm not trying to attack you guys.
- sskkoo1

Yes they have.
Their current position as the leagues female dog can solely be attributed to not insulating those draft picks with capable veteran help (thanks Tambellini). And its happening again with Nurse.
I think Chiapet will do things differently, probably starting this offseason. At least I hope he does.

Top 5 .. if you look at the top defenseman in the league they're usually drafted in later rounds
- gerbe75pts

Murray was the highest drafted D men in recent years outside of Jones and Ekblad.

I think Murray has been pretty solid.

Last 10 years worth of top 10 drafted D-Men:

Morgan Reilly, Griffin Reinhart, Hampus Lindholm, Dumba, Pouliot, Trouba, Koekkoeck, Gudbrandson, Hedman, OEL, Cowen, Doughty, Bogosian, Pietrangelo, L. Schenn, Hickey, Alzner, E. Johnson, and J. Johnson

Not a TON of people in there that I would bend over backward for.

Go beyond the drafting is my opinion... whether it be via trade or UFA.. they have not been able to build a balanced team.

They probably could have traded back from a 1st or traded one of them now to get more balanced.

That is my issue with them. They know their issue but haven't really addressed it well enough.

Nurse, Klefbom, and Sekera could be a solid top 4 setup but they need a top tier guy in that group IMO. All 3 of them are probably best suited as 2nd pairing material IMO.
- JVince11

Throw free agency right out the window.
It's the least desirable destination in the league. (I think Connor changes that slightly going forward- but until him the point stands)

We attract nothing but secondary/tertiary players. And even have had to overpay te and dollars for them. But while we wait on development- gm had little choice

Tough to say about trades. We don't know what's been offered or discussed, but either way, tough to deal a kid you're still developing and hoping will be s franchise player. Not only that, but it wasn't until just recently that we had the depth to do so.
Like how we could we just deal Eberle who's our only bonafide scorer on the right side?
Or nuge before we had Connor and Leon showing his caliber just over the last couple months?

As far as the defence, we need a top pairing guy now to insulate. But i have little doubts Oscar is true #2. Even already possibly.
And while nurse is struggling he's still dynamic with so much talent. Thrown to the wolves tho. Think he can be that guy going forward. But we need to shelter him abit.
Love sekera, but he's a natural strong #3

?/klefbom
Nurse/sekera

Ekblad's been awesome, but I'm not sure he's top 10 yet.

Karlsson
Doughty
Josi
Subban
Burns
Giordano
Hedman
Brodie
Klingberg
Ekman-Larsson
Faulk

That's 11 that I'd say are playing at a higher level
- sbroads24

Not saying any of those guys suck,
But he made the AllStar game over Hedman
And there's only a few on the list is say are DEFINITELY better
He should at least be on that list (u forgot Weber & Keith too)
I won't argue too hard where u put who
Point is, he's up there
Draisaitl is just starting to show what he can be,
But i doubt he keeps up this pace
I do like him very much as a player though & had high praises for Edmonton for taking him. Thought it was a great pick

Yes they have.
Their current position as the leagues female dog can solely be attributed to not insulating those draft picks with capable veteran help (thanks Tambellini). And its happening again with Nurse.
I think Chiapet will do things differently, probably starting this offseason. At least I hope he does.
- Wildschwein

I hope the Oilers do get it together, they should be an exciting team to watch. We here in Buffalo know what it's like to watch a franchise continue to screw things up year after year (Bills). It's not right to the fan base, and we've been extremely loyal just like the Oilers fan base has been to their club.

Murray was the highest drafted D men in recent years outside of Jones and Ekblad.

I think Murray has been pretty solid.

Last 10 years worth of top 10 drafted D-Men:

Morgan Reilly, Griffin Reinhart, Hampus Lindholm, Dumba, Pouliot, Trouba, Koekkoeck, Gudbrandson, Hedman, OEL, Cowen, Doughty, Bogosian, Pietrangelo, L. Schenn, Hickey, Alzner, E. Johnson, and J. Johnson

Not a TON of people in there that I would bend over backward for.
- JVince11

Let me hit you up with some knowledge the top scorers in NHL are drafted in the top 5 the top scoring defensemen are drafted late round first round picks to last round picks

Hindsight on drafting is bs imo.
No one considers drafting trouba at 1 over yaks or Murray.

Yeah, I'm not sure I can agree that the oilers "should" be better. Had things/player so/free agency circumstances/drafting prior to rebuild etc etc gone abit differently, they could be much better
- HB77

But like I also said...
They could've traded the Yak pick
There were quite a few ppl that said they should bc they needed a franchise defenseman & not another forward
Sure it's hindsight to a degree, but it was certainly brought up at the time how yak was the wrong pick as far as building your team

I hope the Oilers do get it together, they should be an exciting team to watch. We here in Buffalo know what it's like to watch a franchise continue to screw things up year after year (Bills). It's not right to the fan base, and we've been extremely loyal just like the Oilers fan base has been to their club.
- sskkoo1

Same for the Sabres man.
Hope to Christ that they one day meet in the SCF.

Same for the Sabres man.
Hope to Christ that they one day meet in the SCF.
- Wildschwein

I want nothing more than the McDavid/Eichel series to become the new Crosby/Ovechkin.

Winter Classics and all. It is the success of these kids and others that this league hinges on.

Did anybody see Jerry Sullivan embarrass himself today?

Not saying any of those guys suck,
But he made the AllStar game over Hedman
And there's only a few on the list is say are DEFINITELY better
He should at least be on that list (u forgot Weber & Keith too)
I won't argue too hard where u put who
Point is, he's up there
Draisaitl is just starting to show what he can be,
But i doubt he keeps up this pace
I do like him very much as a player though & had high praises for Edmonton for taking him. Thought it was a great pick
- jdfitz77

I forgot Letang, Keith, Suter, McDonagh. He's just not in that category yet

What the hell are you talking about? I've had only one point. Edmonton has had adequate high draft picks and time to turn the franchise around long ago. Saying that since we've missed out on McKinnon and Ekblad is an excuse as to why we're still in the basement does not float with anyone, you still got Leon and Nurse in those drafts. Comparing Edmonton to Sabres is not right either, we are in year 3 of a rebuild with only 2 high draft picks, each with only 50 games under their belt. If we continue to be bad for years to come, than yes, we deserve to take some chit, but not yet. Edmonton needs to figure things out already and rewarding them with yet another first overall is NOT the answer. That is my point. Again, the Edmonton fan base deserves better, I'm not trying to attack you guys.
- sskkoo1

I've retorted a thousand times and you just ignore and rant the same thing forgetting any context or logic

First/ we've not been rebuilding for a decade. You were wrong there. We've established this.

Second/ebs, yaks have no bearing on your contention as one wasn't drafted high and the other hasn't done much thus far. Neither can be named in why we should be better due to high picks...make sense ?

Third/ no one ever said we need ekblad. But yet you continue to harp on this point regardless that it was used for context in reference to your post . Essentially you use yaks as a reason and this is false. Because it's not like we drafted a stud mackinnon is the point. Make sense? Pedigree after the fact means nothing

Fourth/ when we're supposed to be better? Right after hall and nuge? Well you got eichel/reinhart and a better supporting cast and still aren't.
Or After yaks? Well we've discussed this right!?

Fifth- nurse never played till this year. Neither did Connor and he missed 3 months. Leons first real crack is this year. So again when should we have been better?


All asking is to use logic and context. Not even saying you're entirely wrong

I forgot Letang, Keith, Suter, McDonagh. He's just not in that category yet
- sbroads24

So we all agree that Ekblad has the pedigree and early showings that he is an elite player but wouldn't take him over the more proven stars of the league...

but when it comes to McDavid... everyone seems to say they'd want him before any other player in the NHL on their team includes Kane, Karlsson, Weber, Benn, Tarasenko, Seguin, Crosby, Ovechkin, Carey, Quick, etc.

I don't get that. I'm taken proven young talent over potential every day.

Did anybody see Jerry Sullivan embarrass himself today?
- Stripes77

I did not. Care to explain what happened?

But like I also said...
They could've traded the Yak pick
There were quite a few ppl that said they should bc they needed a franchise defenseman & not another forward
Sure it's hindsight to a degree, but it was certainly brought up at the time how yak was the wrong pick as far as building your team
- jdfitz77

I don't know that there were any fair offers for a first overall

So we all agree that Ekblad has the pedigree and early showings that he is an elite player but wouldn't take him over the more proven stars of the league...

but when it comes to McDavid... everyone seems to say they'd want him before any other player in the NHL on their team includes Kane, Karlsson, Weber, Benn, Tarasenko, Seguin, Crosby, Ovechkin, Carey, Quick, etc.

I don't get that. I'm taken proven young talent over potential every day.
- JVince11

Depends. If I needed to win one game or series, I'm taking the proven player. If I'm starting a team, I'm taking McD over anyone in the league

This top 9 experiment will be interesting to see if it works at all.

McGinn - ROR - Reinhart
Girgensons - Eichel - Foligno
Kane - Larsson - Gionta

Don't know if they think Eichel needs more power around him instead of speed/playmaking or if they are trying to kick start Kane by putting him down there. I'm assuming they won't treat that line as they did with Girgensons and Foligno there as our defensive group to face the other team's top line with.


Can't tell if we are showcasing McGinn, just trying to win a damn game, or trying to convince ourselves he is worth resigning by playing him with ROR on the top line so much.