Edmonton Oilers

[Taco97]

Something is deeply wrong with this team. Wondering if anyone puts any stock in the rumours that have been floating around since the beginning of the year regarding drama between team-mates?

[Avalanche_Ambush]

Something is deeply wrong with this team. Wondering if anyone puts any stock in the rumours that have been floating around since the beginning of the year regarding drama between team-mates?

do tell? I haven't heard any but I don't follow them closely.

[chuckcouples]

My belief is that owning a professional sports team as a stand alone entity offers a very poor return on investment. ...The Oilers as a single entity may not make a great ROI but controlling them has allowed Katz to create a situation where he is set to earn a killing on related real estate. I would not be surprised one bit if he sells the team in a decade after the downtown re-development is finalised and moves on to other business ventures.

I disagree with this in many ways. Darryl Katz bought the Oilers for $200,000,000 in 2008. The team is worth probably closer to $1,000,000,000 now if an expansion team is going for $650,000,000 US. The Edmonton Investors Group, which sold the team to Katz, bought the team from Pocklington for $100,000,000 in 1998. That group doubled its investment over an 8 year period. Those are both pretty solid ROIs just based on the value of the team.

[Axeman33]

Something is deeply wrong with this team. Wondering if anyone puts any stock in the rumours that have been floating around since the beginning of the year regarding drama between team-mates?

That was the rumor ages ago when Taylor Hall was here too. Don't buy into those rumors.

[doulos]

That was the rumor ages ago when Taylor Hall was here too. Don't buy into those rumors.

Yes. I'd say not being able to score goals is probably the issue.

[Shift Disturber]

Yes. I'd say not being able to score goals is probably the issue.

...which is Chiarelli's fault and not McLellan's. It's the GM's job to find scoring talent, whether through the draft or via trade. Aside from the easy pick in McDavid, Chiarelli and the scouting team have utterly failed to find offence in the draft, and Chiarelli has traded away a tremendous amount of offence in Hall and Eberle.

[Axeman33]

...which is Chiarelli's fault and not McLellan's. It's the GM's job to find scoring talent, whether through the draft or via trade. Aside from the easy pick in McDavid, Chiarelli and the scouting team have utterly failed to find offence in the draft, and Chiarelli has traded away a tremendous amount of offence in Hall and Eberle.

I am not disagreeing with you that Chiarelli has blame to bear here, but this is basically the same lineup from last season who came one game away from the Western Conference finals. You can say Eberle isnt there, but lets be honest, everyone was moaning and pissing about how little Eberle contributed last season as well (although I was one who pointed out differently and really didn't want them to trade him due to a lack of depth on the right side). A little bit overachieving, maybe, but still the same basic lineup as far as the key players go.

[doulos]

...which is Chiarelli's fault and not McLellan's. It's the GM's job to find scoring talent, whether through the draft or via trade. Aside from the easy pick in McDavid, Chiarelli and the scouting team have utterly failed to find offence in the draft, and Chiarelli has traded away a tremendous amount of offence in Hall and Eberle.

A little early to determine how the drafting has gone in my view.

Agreed he has traded away offense. Cap space is struggling to score a lot of goals right now and the gambles Chiarelli took on a few other players have failed miserably.

I like a few of his deals, and I was not very comfortable with some of his others, but maintained that I would wait to see how they actually panned out on the ice. They have panned out horribly and so the blame goes to Chiarelli.

[blayze]

I'm going to quit watching hockey if the Oilers win the Dahlin lottery. Just putting it out there

[Jouko-Pouko]

I'm going to quit watching hockey if the Oilers win the Dahlin lottery. Just putting it out there

Yeah, I wouldn't like it either. But one guy (besides Dahlin) who would be a perfect fit for the Oilers is Adam Boqvist. If the Oilers end up with the 2nd overall pick, I'm not sure if they'll take a goal-scoring winger (Svechnikov/Zadina) or a right-handed D-man who can run their top PP. Traditional wisdom (D-men are more valuable than wingers) leads me to believe they might just go with Boqvist if that was the case.

[Axeman33]

Yeah, I wouldn't like it either. But one guy (besides Dahlin) who would be a perfect fit for the Oilers is Adam Boqvist. If the Oilers end up with the 2nd overall pick, I'm not sure if they'll take a goal-scoring winger (Svechnikov/Zadina) or a right-handed D-man who can run their top PP. Traditional wisdom (D-men are more valuable than wingers) leads me to believe they might just go with Boqvist if that was the case.

A scoring winger is exactly one of the main pieces the Oilers need (cue the wieners who bring up Hall/Eberle) and looking to acquire right now.

[Canucks_fan18]

Honestly look how many great D come later in the 1st round or beyond. I think I go with the best offensive talent early.

[rataylor22]

A scoring winger is exactly one of the main pieces the Oilers need (cue the wieners who bring up Hall/Eberle) and looking to acquire right now.

Don't they need both?

[Jouko-Pouko]

Don't they need both?

Yeah, I think the Oilers need both, so that's why I think they'd go with the D-man first because those guys are more valuable to NHL teams and harder to acquire via trade.

Regardless of who's drafting 2nd, I think Boqvist deserves to be in that discussion. But would the Oilers have too many Swedish D-men on their roster then?

[Shift Disturber]

cue the wieners who bring up Hall/Eberle

And a proud wiener I am.