The Edmonton Oiler's Official Chat page....

Could be worse , could be a flames fan lmao

Great series , had the refs not missed a few calls ,I think we had them ....
W certainly can outskate them . With a few additions , we are in the elite group of teams for awhile ....
And have the best 1/2 punch in the league...
Congrats oilers , brilliant season , well done

I would say the season was a success. Thanks young guys now have some experience under their belt and I'm sure next year they will be that much more hungry. Definitely going to be one heck of a force next year

Yeah they came out flat. Even with an early goal the Ducks forced the Oilers to make bad plays. They needed to feel that pressure of what game 7 means. Hopefully they remember.

Now onto an expansion draft and off season tweaking of the roster. Should be interesting.

Ebs is gone ....#1

YUP, summer is officially here now.... golfing, motorbikes, babes in bikinis.... oil gave us some good entertainment this year(flames too, I guess), so next year look out.
Job 1 = Eberle traded! They need to look at Pouliot too, even though I like his size and speed. Add another top dman and another big forward, and we're good to go

rnh did seem too valuable either

The Kickass One said:

I predict win series 4-3

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You totally called it!

I have been wishing for Ebs to be traded for a few years. I think they felt compelled to sign him to the contract they did because of the inability to sign free agents. He will be the best bet to get moved and only has 2 years remaining on his contract.

RNH even though he didn't have a great season is still valuable. McDavid is still a young centre and needs to beef up and win more face offs. Draisaitl took most of them. After McDavid and Draisaitl there isn't much grade A prospects to fill RNH's roll. Letestu may get to stick around and if there is a desire to play Draisaitl with McD next season they can't afford positionally get rid of RNH, plus he is signed for 4 more years which is a bit of a cap hit but if he turns around his game may be a bargain.

Pouliot is a good bet to be made available at the expansion draft. You don't want to lose a guy for nothing but at 4 million and a few more years on his contract and needing to free up cap space to resign Draisaitl who will get 6 mill + and McD later on at league max, it's not a good move to buy him out. He won't be a trade piece that gives any return unless you take bad salary in return so expansion draft he may go.

Then there is the 3/4th liners to resign, Kassian I think stays, Hendricks likely retires or stays on as some sort of assistant, Deshadnais I don't believe made a big enough impact to get resigned, at least not for a 4th line roll but I liked his play.

Going forward you have

Maroon, McD, Draisaitl
Lucic, RNH, Ebs (Puljujarvi if he can make it and they move Ebs)
Slepyshev, Letestu, Kassian
Khaira, Caggiula, Pakarinen

So there is a need for an established RW to move Drai back to Center and a lot of work to do in the bottom six to make it a stronger group. I don't see Lander, Samuelson, Benson, Yakimov or any other minor leaguer being a better replacement than what I listed as the 4th line above.

4 D in Sekera, Klefbom, Larson and Nurse are set. Benning was solid and will likely stay on as the 3rd pairing with Nurse. There is hope they can improve the top pairing and bring in a true RD as Russell was a bandaid. Gyrba only stays as a 7th unless he gets signed elsewhere and Reinhart likely gets on the expansion draft list.


So my wish list, a solid RW to play top line minutes and score and a top pairing RD.

Yes I think about this a lot lol.

I thought EBs was the real deal... I was wrong ... he simply does not play with enough heart ??

Get rid of Eberle and RNH and with the space pick up a top dman, replace those two with pylons and you'll have a better team then with them. Can likely get rid of one of them in the expansion draft, which is a positive instead of trying to find a team who wants them. RNH isn't as bad, but still didn't do a whole lot.

I think pitlick/ jujar/ and slepychev... will playa big role for us ....for not many $$$

You can't just pick up a Top D man. They are not hanging from trees like ripe fruit. Look at what it took to get Larrson from NJ. Now some people still feel giving up Hall was an over payment but his personality didn't work with the team and going forward in order for someone to take his salary and the chip on his shoulder you get a decent D in return. Ebs and RNH will not give you that return and there isn't a lot of top free agent D this summer. Cap strapped teams will likely lose someone and maybe a RFA through trade for one of the above would be a good target.

They still don't know what they have in Brossett yet either. Can he play 25-30 games as a solid back up? Talbot can't play 80 games every season.

There will be some moves but I am not sure they will be big enough to make people happy.

The bar has been set high for next season.

I understand that McDavid was going to get his payday but Draisaitl at 8.5 just handcuffs the ability to sign other players in the long run.

Russel was an overpayment, RNH's days are numbered if they plan on him being a third line centre at 6 mill.

If Nurse and Benning have good seasons they are both RFA's next year. Even if they are just okay and improve they will be 3.5 a year in a bridge contract.

The Hawks are showing that now and really can't add quality depth and their cupboards are looking a little bare on prospects. They at least have Cups. Edmonton hasn't done anything except overachieve one season in the last 10.

Won't be long now to see if they have a team that can win two or more rounds in the play offs.

takethebounce said:

I understand that McDavid was going to get his payday but Draisaitl at 8.5 just handcuffs the ability to sign other players in the long run.

Russel was an overpayment, RNH's days are numbered if they plan on him being a third line centre at 6 mill.

If Nurse and Benning have good seasons they are both RFA's next year. Even if they are just okay and improve they will be 3.5 a year in a bridge contract.

The Hawks are showing that now and really can't add quality depth and their cupboards are looking a little bare on prospects. They at least have Cups. Edmonton hasn't done anything except overachieve one season in the last 10.

Won't be long now to see if they have a team that can win two or more rounds in the play offs.

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I think Leon has a bit of a trek to earn his 8.5. If he can't produce without Connor like he did produce WITH Connor, the fans are going to be awful, and fast. It was a huge gamble and I hope it pays off.

In 3 or 4 years, the rest of the league $ increases will make these 2 deals seem like a golden deal,,, and it will only get better for the next 5 0r 6 years after that ...

Summitric said:

In 3 or 4 years, the rest of the league $ increases will make these 2 deals seem like a golden deal,,, and it will only get better for the next 5 0r 6 years after that ...

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It generally works out that way. Or there ends up being a strike and the cap is lowered and then you need to dump large contracts.

The Oilers better win quick. Those big contracts are gonna be a dime a dozen when these young talents all want their piece of the pie when contract time comes around for them in the near future.