Edmonton Rebuild ?

[timber09]

Everyone seems to be dancing around what I see as the real issue here - they have no leadership on this team.

If you look what other teams in similar situations have done to be successful you will always find older players that have been around and know what it takes to compete and win in the NHL. Sometimes those guys are stars or minor stars but more often than not they are now role players that know how to get the very best out of the talent of the kids.

Watching this Edmonton team, you can tell they are young. They pass when they should shoot, they overhandle the puck when there are lanes to pass, they consistantly try to force passes through the middle of the zone on the powerplay and around the net, don't have any real presence in front of the net or in the corners and pout like little kids when the game gets away from them a bit. Just look at the Hall slash a couple of days ago.

This team should do everything they can to bring in a couple old soldiers to help lead this team. There are a number of guys floating around the league that could really help them and one they could likely get for a song within their own division to help them in the pipes a little bit. Dubnyk has played well but a guy like Luongo could go a long way in getting this team going in the right direction.

Everyone laughed when the Isle picked up Nabokov and it has been a huge steal for them and, from all I have heard, he's a driving force in the lockerroom and helps keep those kids moving forward.

[HOCKEY68]

Went to the game last night with some people who have season tix[might be their last year of season tix from what it sounds like],what an embarrassment,waste of money to watch a team get schooled by an AHL club like calgary,edmonton is nothing but 3rd and 4th liners with absolutely no leadership from what they call vets,hey Tambellini,do you wanna tank it now lol or better still,Katz,get rid of lowe and steve and start from there,work down to getting rid of some players also!

[Wickabee]

Everyone seems to be dancing around what I see as the real issue here - they have no leadership on this team.

If you look what other teams in similar situations have done to be successful you will always find older players that have been around and know what it takes to compete and win in the NHL. Sometimes those guys are stars or minor stars but more often than not they are now role players that know how to get the very best out of the talent of the kids.

Watching this Edmonton team, you can tell they are young. They pass when they should shoot, they overhandle the puck when there are lanes to pass, they consistantly try to force passes through the middle of the zone on the powerplay and around the net, don't have any real presence in front of the net or in the corners and pout like little kids when the game gets away from them a bit. Just look at the Hall slash a couple of days ago.

This team should do everything they can to bring in a couple old soldiers to help lead this team. There are a number of guys floating around the league that could really help them and one they could likely get for a song within their own division to help them in the pipes a little bit. Dubnyk has played well but a guy like Luongo could go a long way in getting this team going in the right direction.

Everyone laughed when the Isle picked up Nabokov and it has been a huge steal for them and, from all I have heard, he's a driving force in the lockerroom and helps keep those kids moving forward.

That's pretty much what I said.

[Craig2]

Actually, you have it backwards. If anything, goaltending has been keeping this team from being at the bottom of the league. Devan Dubnyk's save percentage(.922), and the number of shots he sees per game rank him amongst the top 10 in the league. His .922 save percentage ranks higher than guys like Rinne, Price, Smith, Backstrom, etc. To me, Devan Dubnyk answered all of his critics this season, and has quite frankly been the team's most consistent player.

The defence, I agree, is obviously the biggest problem of the team. They give up tons of scoring opportunities and really struggle to get the puck out of the defensive zone. And offensively they don't move the puck very well either.

But I'm also going to look at the forwards as a big problem. If they don't have the puck, they're incredibly easy to play against. When they do have the puck, they're either very easy to knock off, or they pass far too often and never get a shot on goal. If you watch them play, they're being far too fancy trying to make a cross-ice pass or a drop pass on every play which mostly result in turnovers. I'm looking at RNH, Eberle, Gagner, and Hemsky. Yes, they are some of the leading scorers on the team, but so many of their points have come concentrated within a stretch of a few games. Taylor Hall has been their most consistent forward, but also makes the same mistakes(to a lesser extent), especially during the 4 game losing streak.

It doesn't matter how much team speed the forwards have if you instantly lose all momentum but not bringing the play to the goal, and allowing the opposing team to get in position defensively. So regarding this "firepower", aside from a few games against Calgary, it has been non-existent all year.

So the answer? The Oilers need a better group of defencemen. Petry, Smid, and J. Schultz are playing well enough, not great. While the other 4 D are not playing well at all. And they need the forwards to be more difficult to play against, or simplify their game offensively because the "run & gun" style is not working. I don't think the forwards are being held accountable enough for their struggles by people personally.

Everything said here is completely correct, and I think anyone who has watched this team regularly would agree.

This team is almost laughably bad without the puck.

[Saytalk]

Actually, you have it backwards. If anything, goaltending has been keeping this team from being at the bottom of the league. Devan Dubnyk's save percentage(.922), and the number of shots he sees per game rank him amongst the top 10 in the league. His .922 save percentage ranks higher than guys like Rinne, Price, Smith, Backstrom, etc. To me, Devan Dubnyk answered all of his critics this season, and has quite frankly been the team's most consistent player.

The defence, I agree, is obviously the biggest problem of the team. They give up tons of scoring opportunities and really struggle to get the puck out of the defensive zone. And offensively they don't move the puck very well either.

But I'm also going to look at the forwards as a big problem. If they don't have the puck, they're incredibly easy to play against. When they do have the puck, they're either very easy to knock off, or they pass far too often and never get a shot on goal. If you watch them play, they're being far too fancy trying to make a cross-ice pass or a drop pass on every play which mostly result in turnovers. I'm looking at RNH, Eberle, Gagner, and Hemsky. Yes, they are some of the leading scorers on the team, but so many of their points have come concentrated within a stretch of a few games. Taylor Hall has been their most consistent forward, but also makes the same mistakes(to a lesser extent), especially during the 4 game losing streak.

It doesn't matter how much team speed the forwards have if you instantly lose all momentum but not bringing the play to the goal, and allowing the opposing team to get in position defensively. So regarding this "firepower", aside from a few games against Calgary, it has been non-existent all year.

So the answer? The Oilers need a better group of defencemen. Petry, Smid, and J. Schultz are playing well enough, not great. While the other 4 D are not playing well at all. And they need the forwards to be more difficult to play against, or simplify their game offensively because the "run & gun" style is not working. I don't think the forwards are being held accountable enough for their struggles by people personally.

I read several different fan blogs, but this is the best comment I've read on the situation all year. Too many people blame the goaltending (which has been decent) or the 3rd/4th liners (who are only 3rd/4th liners, c'mon they can't be causing all of the losses), but it's the defence and the lack of size/grit among the young core that are the bigger problems. I have some hope that MacTavish will at least make an effort to fill those holes instead of just sitting on his hands like Tambi did.