Time to Change the Oil.

[Meds]

The Oilers suck, but it is no real surprise that they aren't very good.

They have drafted a series "high end" forwards, mostly wingers at the expense of everything else.

And, to make things worse at least two haven't lived up to the hype, and one is trending toward bust.

The only d-man they have drafted isn't ready, and their latest high end forward is 18 and remains a healthy scratch.

Having had a quick look over the last 7 drafts for Edmonton, I can't really see how that team turns out differently no matter who they draft.

There are only 2 names that might have been the kind of rookie who could have developed in Edmonton without any veteran development.....Landeskog and Johansen.

The rest would be more of the same.

For now, I'll just hope that Tony Gallagher stops comparing the situation in Vancouver (after a stretch of 2-4-1) to that in Calgary and Edmonton. Vancouver's previous 14 seasons have been mostly terrific, that cannot be said about Calgary or Edmonton. Trips to the cup finals for all three teams notwithstanding.

Yeah, both of those trips to the finals were Cinderella stories, and for some reason everyone outside of Vancouver thought that those teams were contenders all of a sudden.

Vancouver was the team that developed, improved, and then went to the dance. We're nothing like those inbred tribes.

[damonberryman]

Watched the hilites from last night's game versus the Flames and if anyone needs proof of where the problem lies with the Oil just watch all five foot fuck all of Johnny Hockey bitch slap the entire Oil team as he had his way with them in the Oil d-zone. Yikes That was really gruesome.

I watched Schultz also and now wonder what all the fuss was about a few years ago. Thank god we did not get him as he is not just bad on the D, he is dumb overall in his game.

Last note about RNH. Maybe it is because he grew up across the 2nd Narrows but I feel for the kid. He tries to play his position and is getting killed out there which is a big waste of talent as this kid could be a franchise player if given a decent start.

[Zamboni Driver]

I think that we would see Bettman hand the Cup to the Canucks at the beginning of the season before we ever see the concept of of a two tiered NHL considered (not that's its a bad idea).

The idea of having a franchise lose value by being regulated to the 2nd tier goes against what the NHL's business side is all about.

It would be an interesting concept though, expand to 32 teams - but then drop the bottom two each year down to the AHL

[Chef Boi RD]

What a bunch if morons Lowe and company are

They are in the rebuild of the rebuild of the rebuild of the rebuild

Rebuild 1 - Hemsky, Cogliano, Gagner
Rebuild 2 - Eberle, Pjaarvi, Hall, RNH, Schultz
Rebuild 3 - Yakupov, Nurse, Draisaitl
Rebuild 4 - McEichel.........

It's looking like it will be four 1st overall picks for them in last 6 drafts. Throw in a 3rd (Draisaitl) and a 7th (Nurse)

How fucking dreadful is that. The league should take their 2015 1st away. They do not deserve another chance at picking 1st overall. Most GMs would be embarrassed. Lowe and company seemingly love drafting in the top 5. It's like it's all that matters to them

[Island Nucklehead]

I think that we would see Bettman hand the Cup to the Canucks at the beginning of the season before we ever see the concept of of a two tiered NHL considered (not that's its a bad idea).

The idea of having a franchise lose value by being regulated to the 2nd tier goes against what the NHL's business side is all about.

It would be an interesting concept though, expand to 32 teams - but then drop the bottom two each year down to the AHL

Can you fathom a team like Carolina or Arizona surviving a relegation move? Some of these NHL teams only survive through revenue sharing and the league-wide TV deal. Do AHL teams lose $20M-$30M per season? I wonder how the Oilers, payroll $65,000,000, would fare against AHL teams whose total salaries are $3M-$4M.

For those of us that favour contraction, this might not be bad idea after all...

[Strangelove]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/12/29/o ... ake-a-deal

“It’s exciting for me, going to a team with all the young skill that they have. All the history and everything that surrounds the Oilers. It’s a great honour to put that jersey on.”

[Chef Boi RD]

The British premiership of relegating the two bottom feeders to the next division down and promoting the top teams of the lower division is a brilliant concept. I can't stand rewarding tanking and the shittiest teams in the league with the best 18 year olds. It's a terrible system, especially with UFA at such a lower age now. The days of only being able to build a winner through drafting high are long over. Can't stand the thought of rewarding incompetent managers like Kevin Lowe the likes of McEichel.

There is only one way to do it, for the first round all teams get one lottery ball an equal chance at drafting 1st. You do 30 draws. And then come the 2nd round you go back to how teams finished worst to best

It does away with the tankers and puts added pressure on the Lowes of the world to smarten the fuck up.

I would love splitting the league into two divisions, best 15 in the Premier division and worst 15 in lower division and demote bottom two of premier division and promote top two of lower division each year. Kind of whacky but I'm all in penalizing the worst teams in the league instead of rewarding their incompetence

[BingoTough]

I think that we would see Bettman hand the Cup to the Canucks at the beginning of the season before we ever see the concept of of a two tiered NHL considered (not that's its a bad idea).

The idea of having a franchise lose value by being regulated to the 2nd tier goes against what the NHL's business side is all about.

It would be an interesting concept though, expand to 32 teams - but then drop the bottom two each year down to the AHL

Can you fathom a team like Carolina or Arizona surviving a relegation move? Some of these NHL teams only survive through revenue sharing and the league-wide TV deal. Do AHL teams lose $20M-$30M per season? I wonder how the Oilers, payroll $65,000,000, would fare against AHL teams whose total salaries are $3M-$4M.

For those of us that favour contraction, this might not be bad idea after all...

So I think this is manageable. You guarantee the contracts only for the league that the player is in. Certain players will only accept being in the premier league. Fringe players will be happy with either. It wouldn't be demote to the AHL, but rather demote to a 2nd-tier NHL with new expansion teams built with fringe NHL players (including some AHL), KHL folk who don't want to be in the AHL, SEL players, etc. Oilers, leaves etc. would start in the "Premier" division the first year and be subject to relegation at the end of that first season.

[Island Nucklehead]

The British premiership of relegating the two bottom feeders to the next division down and promoting the top teams of the lower division is a brilliant concept. I can't stand rewarding tanking and the shittiest teams in the league with the best 18 year olds. It's a terrible system, especially with UFA at such a lower age now. The days of only being able to build a winner through drafting high are long over. Can't stand the thought of rewarding incompetent managers like Kevin Lowe the likes of McEichel.

You'd kill 6-8 teams in the NHL if you did this. A team like Pittsburgh wouldn't be in the NHL if it wasn't for Crosby (+4,000 seats PER GAME when he was drafted). A team like Edmonton, who would surely be in the "2nd division" by now, would be in Seattle. Not a terrible idea for those of us with decent franchises, but it's a concept the NHL will 100% not entertain, for obvious reasons.

There is only one way to do it, for the first round all teams get one lottery ball an equal chance at drafting 1st. You do 30 draws. And then come the 2nd round you go back to how teams finished worst to best

Like this! It would likely hurt the number of trades short-term, but increasing the value of a 1st round pick, for every team, makes those assets much more valuable, and much more likely to draw bigger returns. Plenty of teams have proven they can rebuild without lottery picks. The Predators sit at 3rd in the League, their last top-3 pick was Legwand (1998). They've had 1 top-10 pick since 2010 (Jones), the Oilers have had 5 (Hall, RNH, Yak, Nurse, Draisaitl).

[Island Nucklehead]

As I posted in the World Junior thread...

Leon Draisaitl's rights traded to Kelowna, expected to be re-assigned this weekend.

This team just can't seem to figure it out.

[Chef Boi RD]

Remember back in the day, Island N when players couldn't hit UFA until they were 31. Actually I think it was worse than that. Nowadays you can land a UFA in their prime, ahem - Parise, Suter and have a good young team overnight. When the Sedins are done in a couple seasons the Canucks very well could fill those holes with the likes of young potential UFA's like Johansen, E. Kane or Lucic etc., taking the hometown route like Parise and Suter did.

With the low age of UFA and the salary cap and the crap shoot that the draft is, the system of rewarding the worst teams of the year with the best chance at drafting the best 18 year olds in the world is archaic. The Red Wings have proven time and time again that good scouting and a common sense developing program that the lottery pickings ain't the end all be all.

Punish the incompetent GM's and their lame scouting and piss poor developing and punish the tankers. One lottery ball for all 30 teams for the first round, how exciting is that?

[Topper]

The Draisaitl move has Bob Nicholson written all over it. Let's not make the kid available to Germany, a team in Canada's group at the WJC and then let's have Nicholson's old Hockey Canada buddy and current Kelowna GM, Bruce Hamilton pick up the rights for Leon from Prince Albert.

The IIHF has to be pissed a the NHL/Oilers over this one.

I guess when you can't compete in the NHL you may as well try building a Memorial Cup contender. Maybe, just maybe, this is an awakening for the Oilers that rushing Hall/RNH/Yak/MPS was a mistake and they have realized, albeit a bit late, that Leon deserved a better chance.

[herb]

Sending Draisaitl back down to junior pushes out his free agency date a year over leaving him with the Oilers past game 40, doesn't it?

It's the right move. 30+ games too late, but it is the right move. I still can't believe they didn't loan the kid to Germany for two weeks. What a twat Lowe is..

[Topper]

Sending Draisaitl back down to junior pushes out his free agency date a year over leaving him with the Oilers past game 40, doesn't it?

It's the right move. 30+ games too late, but it is the right move. I still can't believe they didn't loan the kid to Germany for two weeks. What a twat Lowe is..

Yes and yes.

[Hockey Widow]

And to add insult to injury, the German coach has come out and said they were all surprised that the kid made it to the NHL. Real surprised. Didn't consider him NHL ready and thought he would go back to junior. Had verbally discussed with someone in the Oilers organization that if the Oilers were out of a playoff spot by the Juniors they would make Leon available but when Germany came calling they were told it would be a backward step for his career, no development opportunity playing in the world's as opposed to playing in the NHL.

When we had the last lockout most of those kids got a chance to play together in the AHL. I remember how strong they were when the NHL resumed and the talk was about a loaded team. Guess they should have stayed in the AHL a little longer.