I’m sure you’ve heard or read these quotes from former GM and TSN hockey analyst Craig Button regarding the Edmonton Oilers’ recent woes but if you haven’t, enjoy…
“They need a lot more horse power. Speed, speed and more speed. In a 100 km league, they’re going 95 km/h and it’s not good enough.”
“When you are slow, you are always going to be chasing the puck and they are slow. I know Peter Chiarelli has talked about we need to play fast — playing fast is the new buzz phrase in hockey. Well… they can only play at a certain speed and, quite frankly, that speed is not up to the competition.”
“Until they address their speed problems, they are going to be chasing the puck all night long, giving up grade ‘A’ scoring chances. Outside of Connor McDavid, there is no other player on the Edmonton Oilers who threatens with speed.”
I don’t necessarily agree with Button on this one because last year when the team was playing into the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, speed wasn’t a concern. Not only that but last I checked, Jordan Eberle, Benoit Pouliot, and Matt Hendricks weren’t winning races.
So I went ahead and asked one of my sources what the deal was with this supposed team speed problem and was there a player the Oilers were looking at to address it? I was offered these thoughts,
“Well, the Oilers are looking at a guy like Carl Hagelin, He’s had a rough start (this year) in Pittsburgh but he’s quick, moves well, and thinks the game fast, supports the puck fast, has the wheels, and a quick release.”
“The team is constantly chasing the puck because they are slow and Hagelin is the kind of player who would help there.”
“With adding a speedy player, I think that hockey IQ is just as important as everything else when it comes to grading a player on ability. Hagelin isn’t a star in my opinion but if the Oilers could get him for a young winger, it’d help the Oilers be faster AND quicker.”
Very interesting, no? I love his speed and if that is truly the reason for looking at him, I don’t have any qualms about the Oilers picking him up. He doesn’t score a lot (either did Maroon before coming to Edmonton) but he might be part of a very select group of players that can keep up with McDavid. He makes $4M per year this year and next before going UFA in 2019.
Only 3pts this year but the Penguins are not having a great start scoring-wise either. Here are his career stats.
I asked if Pat Maroon would be the kind of guy that could go the other way because of all the players that are probably the most tradeable but wouldn’t hurt the Oilers as much, it’d be Maroon… Having Maroon, Lucic, and Khaira all on that left side is a tad redundant I feel.
“Maroon is definitely a possible trade chip. Word is, he’s looking for $3.5-$4.5 for 4 years and the Oilers aren’t wise to that.”
Now from what I’ve gathered, the Penguins are looking for scoring too but I’m not confident that Maroon would be that guy. That being said, Maroon has shown a propensity to score with generational players and the Pens might want to rid themselves of Hagelin’s contract…
How do you feel about Carl Hagelin? Do you think that he’s the kind of player that would help the Oilers?
If we can get Maroon under 4×4 do it. Chemistry is a thing and he has it on the team.
Russell needs to move, and we should be moving futures to fill that top 4 rhd gap and scoring winger issues.
The team isnt as bad as its record, its having some personal issues (identity, mental durability, etc) underperforming issues (Klefbom and Talbot struggles are huge), and coaching issues (seriously with the special teams…).
The biggest issue right now is removing Russell and adding a top 4 puck mover for the right side. Klefbom/Sekera/Nurse is a great right side, and Larsson/Benning are missing a puck mover. The third line basically cant score, and I’m not sold on Strome as the 3C but its early days for that yet (I have Draisaitl on RW mainly because we don’t have the wing support to have 3 scoring lines).
In any event, we don’t need more wingers that cant score no matter how fast they are
I think the Oilers have to stay the coarse, one of the big issues is that this team has very little in a way of prospects that will make a real difference.
They cant afford to trade any of the top 4-5 prospects they have to build on this, when you are paying two players 21 million bucks and have contracts like Lucic and Rusell you better find some cheaper help that can play big minutes. This almost always comes from draft picks.
The team does need to be faster, again the draft gives you the opportunity to find these players. Benson is ripping up the WHL , if he stays healthy he can replace Maroon at less than 1/2 of what it will take to keep him. He’s also way younger and will give the team 10 quality years. Bear could be that R/H scoring D man the team is desperate for .
Trying to trade your way to success is fools gold, especially when you have a GM that has lost (in a big way) every big trade he has made.
If the Oilers are not going to make the playoffs, they need to move some players for picks.
Michael grabner is who they should be after
If u can get hagelin then yes buy low
If the Oilers could get Hagelin I would be great with that! Even a draft pick because when Slepyshev gets back he needs a spot to get some minutes! I think Maroon has been an anchor thinking about his next contract & if it’s what’s been speculated the Oilers need to stay away! Too slow for today’s NHL! Lucic, Kassian, Kharia & Nurse is plenty of muscle that can play.
KCD. Need to trade Drai and picks or prospects for Ekman Larsson.Also trade Pulijaarvi and picks and prospects to JETS for Trouba.Build team from defence out. Offence will look after itself