The Edmonton Oilers/All Things McDavid

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:50 pm

oh oh

McDavid injured. Tripped into the boards and two Flyers fell onto him.
Seen holding shoulder.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:41 am

Oilers saying McDavid will be "out long-term". It did look really bad.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:49 am

And the only mention on ESPN's NHL page is a tweet. Still have the Connor McDavid vs. Jack Eichel tracker up front and center though (from 5 days ago.)

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:02 am

Grantland shuts down, the Royals win the World Series, and McDavid hurts his shoulder. Everything is awful.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:13 am

RIP Bapo!'s happiness for the rest of 2015. I'm going to make you a casserole.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:17 am

Time to up my dosage, I guess.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:21 am

Fucking horrible, even if I'm #teameichel.

The Bolts SBNation guys retweeted the following from the Flames (biased, sure) SBNation guy from earlier in the spring.

Let's hope the culture has changed.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:22 am

mister d wrote:RIP Bapo!'s happiness for the rest of 2015. I'm going to make you a casserole.

bapo! pleasing tip (<--um...) : substitute crumbled cheez-its for bread crumbs!

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 9:48 am

Chris Kelly broke his femur!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 10:07 am

The Oilers lost two heart-breaking games in the final seconds last week, and I was hoping that that would be the low point of the season. Guess not.

I'm worried about what's going to happen with Yakupov now. He was an afterthought heading into the season, but he showed a lot of life with McDavid.

Positives: Nuge, Hall, and Draisatl are playing very well together. Eberle will be returning soon, maybe as soon as Friday. Also, I hadn't yet splurged on tickets to that Pens/Oilers game later this month, so it looks like I've saved some money.

The Pens and Oilers will be playing in Edmonton on Friday night, actually. I really wanted to see McDavid and Crosby face each other. Oh, well. Maybe next year.

Hey, it's not all bad. I just bought this sweet leather football helmet via eBay!

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:49 pm

bapo! wrote:The Oilers lost two heart-breaking games in the final seconds last week, and I was hoping that that would be the low point of the season. Guess not.

I'm worried about what's going to happen with Yakupov now. He was an afterthought heading into the season, but he showed a lot of life with McDavid.

Positives: Nuge, Hall, and Draisatl are playing very well together. Eberle will be returning soon, maybe as soon as Friday. Also, I hadn't yet splurged on tickets to that Pens/Oilers game later this month, so it looks like I've saved some money.

The Pens and Oilers will be playing in Edmonton on Friday night, actually. I really wanted to see McDavid and Crosby face each other. Oh, well. Maybe next year.

Hey, it's not all bad. I just bought this sweet leather football helmet via eBay!

morgan o'malley wrote:what's up, bapo?

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 12:50 am

My interest in the Oilers has largely evaporated since McDavid got hurt. They once again have the worst record in the league, and it just takes too much out of me to read the blogs every day.

But this is worth sharing: last week, after a face-off, a linesman lost his balance and started to fall. He grabbed onto Nail Yakupov and pulled him down. Yakupov sprained his ankle and will be out a few weeks. The Oilers have enough to worry about without having linesmen conspire against them.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:34 am

The McDavidless Oilers have won four in a row! They're now 12th in the Western Conference! Take that, Calgary and Colorado!

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:37 am

Leon Drainaitl is about a thousand percent better than he was in his NHL cup of coffee last year. Really pairing up well with your boy, Taylor Hall.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:39 am

bapo! wrote:The McDavidless Oilers have won four in a row! They're now 12th in the Western Conference! Take that, Calgary and Colorado!

Could reeeeeeeally use a tough, roughed, shot-eating defenseman like Dan Girardi. Boy would be be a good fit in not NY.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:02 am

Your scrappy Edmonton Oilers have won six straight games and have climbed up to 7th place in the Western Conference. (Actually 9th because 7 and 8 have a game in hand. That Conference is so tightly bunched, and 7-14 are pretty much interchangeable at this point, separated by just 3 points.) They're hanging in there without McDavid and Yakupov. They might actually have a chance to do something once everybody is healthy.

Or they might be doing it with smoke and mirrors. They were outshot by the Rangers last night, 49-24. That's not exactly a tight defensive game.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:20 am

Don't care one bit for that little team name mixup.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:35 am

mister d wrote:Don't care one bit for that little team name mixup.

Oops. Soory. The Oilers beat the Bruins last night. But they beat the Rangers on Friday, and they're scheduled to beat them again tonight.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:36 am

+ Skjei - Girardi = WIN WIN WIN

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 11:59 pm

So, Connor McDavid just played his first game back, after missing most of his rookie season due to injury.

Three points on two assists and this pretty goal:

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 12:26 pm

Last week, I read that Edmonton was mathematically eliminated from winning the President's Cup. I had never seen that before. 'Okay, guys, you can't catch Washington, but technically you can still make the playoffs. Now go out there and win more than once every couple of weeks!'

I'm torn between wanting to see the Oilers string some wins together to build some sort of momentum, or tanking and hilariously the winning the lottery again and picking Auston Matthews. Even if they lose the lottery, they're still going to get Laine or Puljujarvi or Tkachuk or Chychrun. They need Chychrun/defensemen more than the other guys.

(I don't mind spreading the wealth a little bit. Toronto just called up Nylander and Kapanan. Would love to see Matthews added to that mix.)

Anyway, McDavid is healthy and doing McDavid things again. Scored twice against Buffalo a few nights ago in his first NHL game against Eichel. Nugent-Hopkins is still hurt, so it's kind of hard to know what this team really is now.

Oh, and they traded Justin Schultz. I and everybody else were really high on him three or four years ago, but his defensive gaffes made him a hated player in Edmonton. He's the Penguins' problem now.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 1:47 pm

bapo! wrote:Last week, I read that Edmonton was mathematically eliminated from winning the President's Cup. I had never seen that before. 'Okay, guys, you can't catch Washington, but technically you can still make the playoffs. Now go out there and win more than once every couple of weeks!'

I'm torn between wanting to see the Oilers string some wins together to build some sort of momentum, or tanking and hilariously the winning the lottery again and picking Auston Matthews. Even if they lose the lottery, they're still going to get Laine or Puljujarvi or Tkachuk or Chychrun. They need Chychrun/defensemen more than the other guys.

(I don't mind spreading the wealth a little bit. Toronto just called up Nylander and Kapanan. Would love to see Matthews added to that mix.)

Anyway, McDavid is healthy and doing McDavid things again. Scored twice against Buffalo a few nights ago in his first NHL game against Eichel. Nugent-Hopkins is still hurt, so it's kind of hard to know what this team really is now.

Oh, and they traded Justin Schultz. I and everybody else were really high on him three or four years ago, but his defensive gaffes made him a hated player in Edmonton. He's the Penguins' problem now.

It will be interesting to see what Chiarelli and McLellan do this offseason. They've had a full season with this roster and they need to win more games now. In the games I've seen, they look good for much of the game, but somebody loses a man or somebody loses a battle and boom, they lose. Getting rid of the defenseman who played the worst defense in the league was a good start.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 1:56 pm

bapo! wrote:I'm torn between wanting to see the Oilers string some wins together to build some sort of momentum, or tanking and hilariously the winning the lottery again and picking Auston Matthews.

Rooting for it hard. Assuming Yakupov doesn't carry much value anymore, you've gotta figure it would be Eberle who goes for a defenseman, right?

bapo! wrote:Oh, and they traded Justin Schultz. I and everybody else were really high on him three or four years ago, but his defensive gaffes made him a hated player in Edmonton. He's the Penguins' problem now.

God, I remember wanting him so bad when he was declared a UFA. Although its hard to whine having landed one of the big three over the last half decade.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:07 pm

Yeah, it's going to be an important off-season. It's too early to be thinking of that stuff, so I have no idea which defensemen might be available via free agency or trade. I have confidence in Chiarelli and McLellan, tho.

I love Eberle, but I can see him being moved just because every other team would love to have him and he would bring a decent return. The same goes for Taylor Hall, of course, but it would be hard to get an equal return for him. Can't really see him being moved, unless they just don't want a guy who struggles with bananas and open-book boating exams poisoning the locker room.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:18 pm

Taylor Hall is on my list of stars that I think we'd have atleast like a 3% realistic chance of acquiring versus the usual 0%.

Eberle we'd probably go after because he has a large contract and that really appeals to NYR brass.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:30 pm

I didn't realize that Eberle made that much money. (He, Hall, and Nuge all make $6M/year for the next several years.) Nuge is untouchable, but Eberle might be moved if they can get a decent piece or two, even if they have to retain some salary. Do the Rangers have any good 19-year-old prospects left?

Yakupov has one more year before he becomes an RFA. I don't see him staying there long-term. Draisatl is still on his entry-level deal, so they won't move him.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:32 pm

They certainly need some defense. Maybe they could trade for Jeff Petry. Oh, wait...

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:37 pm

I really believe that the Oilers can finish last and win the lottery again. They're 4 points clear of Toronto, but the Leafs have played 3 fewer games. A couple nights ago, I read the box score and read a defenseman's name I had never heard before. How does this continue to happen?

Winning the lottery, while it would be hilarious, might be the worst thing that could happen to this team. They already have Nuge and McDavid. They need a defenseman more than they need another great center. But if they have the first pick, they have to take Matthews, right? Unless they can get a hyooge trade return.

Anyway, I just wanted to note that Matthews finished second in voting for the MVP of the Swiss league. Not bad for an 18-year-old in his first professional season. Holy shit.

Oilers/Canucks tonight. Let's not get shut out!

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:16 am

If they had the first pick and really covet a defenseman, maybe Toronto would give them Morgan Reilly for Auston Matthews?

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 10:47 am

sancarlos wrote:If they had the first pick and really covet a defenseman, maybe Toronto would give them Morgan Reilly for Auston Matthews?

I doubt that the Leafs would part with Rielly.

They could get a hell of a lot for that first pick. If they pick 2, 3, or 4, it might make sense to trade down if they can get a good defenseman and other parts. I actually want them to pick 5, so that the four forwards are off the board when it's their turn. It's weird that I'm feeling something approaching stress about this.

The NHL announced yesterday that the lottery will be held April 30. Mark your calendars.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:42 pm

Another season is upon us, so I guess I'll write a bunch of words about the Oilers, thereby wasting my and your time.

Offseason stuff: Taylor Hall was traded to make room for Milan Lucic's contract. No, I have not made my peace with this yet, and I probably never will. I intend to complain about this for years.

They drafted Jesse Puljujarvi. He was once considered a potential #1 overall pick, and I'm excited to see him. He's going to wear jersey #98, which is a bold choice for this franchise.

Nail Yakupov was given away to St. Louis.

Connor McDavid was named the team's Captain. Degen, I know you hated this move, but I can understand it. This is clearly his team now anyway, so they're just getting this out of the way instead of waiting another year or two. Crosby and Toews were young when they were named Captains, too, but those moves look obvious in retrospect.

Okay, onto tonight. Lucic/McDavid/Eberle on the first line. They apparently played well together in the preseason, so I'll wait and see. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is still there, hoping to stay healthy and find some chemistry with his linemates. Leon Draisatl and Puljujarvi are on the third line. As always, there's offensive talent all over the place. But the defense is still the Edmonton defense, and Cam Talbot just won't be good enough to cover up for their mistakes.

They play Calgary tonight. I fear what Johnny Gaudreau might do to them.

Note: I'm pre-gaming by watching 1998 WCW. Tonight's game has to be better than that, right?

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:13 pm

A warning to you, puck drop is not til 8:45 Mountain tonight. Edmonton is opening their new arena and the Greatest Hits ceremony is a fucking hour long.

and yes I hate the McDavid as captain move. In Florida they named Derek MacKenzie captain. No idea who that is? I don't know either. But they're not going to give it to Ekblad even though he is the franchise.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:25 pm

degenerasian wrote:A warning to you, puck drop is not til 8:45 Mountain tonight. Edmonton is opening their new arena and the Greatest Hits ceremony is a fucking hour long.

Sincere thanks for the heads-up. I would have been pissed if I had turned on the tv at 10:00, then had to sit thru a 45-minute ceremony. Now I have time to watch more Scott Steiner matches!

Just announced that Wayne Gretzky is working for the Oilers front office now. Partner and Vice-Chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group. Holy shit. That's big news.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:37 pm

degenerasian wrote:and yes I hate the McDavid as captain move. In Florida they named Derek MacKenzie captain. No idea who that is? I don't know either. But they're not going to give it to Ekblad even though he is the franchise.

I agree with you in theory, and I would agree with you in almost any other situation, but McDavid is an exceptional case. He's a closer comparison to Crosby and Toews than he is to Ekblad.

We're going to disagree on this, and that's fine. But as long as no videos surface of McDavid bro-ing it up with Billy Bush, you might eventually admit that this wasn't a terrible decision.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:12 pm

So is Auston Matthews still feuding with the Black Keys?

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:46 pm

mister d wrote:So is Auston Matthews still feuding with the Black Keys?

Another reference that goes over my head, but hey, Matthews just scored his first NHL goal! I'm a Leafs sleeper-fan, and it's easy to root for a team with Matthews, Marner, and Nylander the Elder.

As I typed this, Matthews scored his second goal, this one of the 'holy shit' variety. You'll be seeing it replayed.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 7:26 pm

Oilers AND Leafs? We cant be friends.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 7:32 pm

mister d wrote:So is Auston Matthews still feuding with the Black Keys?

Auston Matthews looks like Jack White's younger, slightly beefier brother.

Post by **Sabo** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 7:34 pm

bapo! wrote:I'm a Leafs sleeper-fan

Ugh.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 7:38 pm

govmentchedda wrote:Auston Matthews looks like Jack White's younger, slightly beefier brother.