Tag Archives: Bob Nicholson

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Keith Fries, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers: Weekly #AskBLH Mailbag + The 2019 NHL Entry Drafts 1st and 2nd Team All-Stars from @KeithFries

It’s time to get into the #AskBLH mailbag one more time! This is where you ask me any question you’d like and I give you my honest answer. Topics might simply be centered on the Edmonton Oilers, but I encourage folks to step outside that box and ask me whatever is on their minds.

Now, I hope to get around to everybody who sends me their question, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. In that case, I will do my best to get back to you on the ol’ Twitter machine.

THE MAILBAG!

@dashate24 asks: Why do we want to trade Lucic for a more useless player?

Good question my friend! I think it’s just a matter of giving guys a fresh start in other markets. What I’m wondering is why the Oilers are the ones having to sweeten the deal if the Canucks are the ones who really want Lucic?

@AhmedMayta asks: Realistic free agents Oilers should target?

You know what Ahmed? I think it’s going to be really hard to gauge this until we know what the roster is going to look like the night before Canada Day. I would say they should go after players like Dan Carr, Brandon Pirri, Joonas Donskoi, and Brian Elliott, but if they find a way to clear up some cap space by trading some of their bigger tickets, that changes things. You might see them go after players like Gus Nyquist, Marcus Johansson, or Anton Stralman then.

@adnacOilGhost asks: You replace Bob Nicholson as CEO, what’s the very first thing you do?

Oh! I like this question. I’d make it as affordable as possible to go to regular season games for everyone. Bringing down the prices on healthier food options would be a must for me. I’d do what it takes to make the in-game presentation one that rivals that of Vegas’ or Nashville’s. The fan experience is really important to me, so I’d try to maximize that potential the most.

I enjoy anarchy a bit, so I’d also give media passes to the Oilers bloggers out there who pass my rigorous interview process.

As for the team itself, I’d encourage my GM to expand the scouting team as much as possible. I feel like teams really skimp out here. I want scouts everywhere, including Asia. I’d be having hockey camps all over the world promoting the brand and keeping an eye out for talent.

@dashate24 asks: Is it possible that Poolparty (Puljujarvi) gets an offer sheet at $2M x 4 years, and if he does, do we take the 3rd rounder?

I’d match it. JP at $2M for four years would be an amazing contract.

@ArchivistSports asks: What do you think JP will do this June/July?

I think he’ll head home and resume his off-ice training and participate in his annual charity games. Whether he comes back in September or not, we’ll have to wait and see on that.

@Tusen_bitar asks: Why and when you have chosen Oilers?

I was born in 1980, so one might consider me to have been born into the Oilers. My father tells me stories of cheering for Edmonton when I was a very young lad during their Cup dynasty days but I don’t really remember much about that.

As I got older I gravitated towards the Red Wings because of Yzerman/Coffey/Federov and the Penguins for Lemieux/Jagr/Coffey in the early 90s. I liked Peter Forsberg and the Avs for a while and also the Maple Leafs when Curtis Joseph was playing net for them too.

But I always had the Oilers in my back pocket. It wasn’t really until they started to get really bad as to when I ramped up my interest in the team and I simply haven’t found a reason to not cheer for them since then.

@OilDoug asks: What happens with Lucic this offseason. Stay? Go? What comes back?

He gone. What comes back for him? Who knows? It sounds like a player who needs a change of scenery like Milan.

@LonnbergMari asks: If Leavins is right and part of the team just doesn’t want to play with him, what should a smart gm do? Resign or trade and in either case, just hope for the best?

I’m torn on this. Aren’t we sick of the locker room cliques on this team yet? If Holland believes there’s still something in Jesse, he could sit down those guilty of alienating Jesse and give them a stern grilling. Then at the same time, sit Pulju down and tell him it’s time to grow up and that we don’t always work/play with people we like.

But if things are simply too broken, he would find a way to move him and get a good like-aged player in return. My fear in this scenario is that Jesse hits his stride on another club and the Oilers get burned though.

When it’s all said and done though, the players have a job to do, so they should go and do it.

THE 2019 NHL ENTRY DRAFTS 1ST AND 2ND TEAM ALL-STARS by Keith Fries

With this article, I thought it’d be fun to try and construct all-first and all-second teams for this year’s draft-eligible prospects.

Keep in mind that I went with the player’s primary position.

All-First Team

LW – Matthew Boldy  /  C – Jack Hughes  /  RW – Kaapo Kakko

LD – Bowen Byram  /  RD – Moritz Seider

LG – Spencer Knight

A forward line made up of Boldy, Hughes, and Kakko would likely be nicknamed, “Goals and Grit.”

While Hughes maybe is more on the “goals” side than the grit one, there’s no doubt that he’s flanked by some rough riders with skill. We know of Kakko’s explosive offensive abilities, but Boldy also shows a propensity to score. All three are great puck movers. Speaking of which, there’s Byram whose bread and butter is getting the puck out of his own zone. Playing alongside the physically imposing Seider would make those breakout rushes much easier for Byram. Once the puck enters the offensive zone, both defensemen have the ability to jump into the play as a fourth-forward. In their own zone, Seider is the more reliable defender of the two and is helped in net by arguably one of the best goaltending prospects of all-time. Knight, who some would say has franchise potential, doesn’t need much help in front of him to be the brick wall that he is.

This starting line-up certainly helps, though, but even if playing with an All-Worst Team, Knight would find ways to make his squad seem competitive.

All-Second Team

LW – Peyton Krebs  /  C – Alex Turcotte  /  RW – Cole Caufield

LD – Philip Broberg  /  RD – Victor Soderstrom

LG – Dustin Wolf

Krebs, Turcotte, and Caufield would not only be a hell of a trio, but could legitimately be one of the best power play units, in history.

Krebs’ distribution game is off the charts, and with his smart reads and calculated timing, could dish out some beautiful primary assists to either Caufield or Turcotte. We know Caufield is arguably the best sniper in his entire draft class, but Turcotte’s shooting stroke is just as pretty and just as effective. While he may be more of a playmaker, like Krebs, Turcotte has the kind of slick mitts that you want in a centerman to either set up his linemates or finish with a remarkable shot. On the back end, they’re flanked by two highly-skilled Swedish-born defensemen, Soderstrom and Broberg. While Soderstrom handles more of the defensive duties – sound play in his own end, moving the puck along the boards, or manning the point, Broberg is able to jump into the rush with his lightning quick speed and heads up play. The two would make a formidable pairing, with a complimentary skill set. An argument could be made about who slots in at goaltender, here – possibly Ilya Konovalov or Mads Sogaard – but there’s no argument in my mind. Wolf has been lights out since debuting in the WHL in 2017 and has received nothing but criticism along the way – all because of his undersized frame. His IQ, compete level, and maturity are all well beyond his years.

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Edmonton Oilers: Katz Looking to Replace Nicholson According to Inside Source

Early this morning, I was contacted by one of my sources and what I was told wasn’t shocking. It was nothing I hadn’t already been aware of thanks to Nick Kypreos and other NHL insiders. But what did stand out for me was the urgency to get the message out.

I was told, “The fans have to know what’s going on. They’ve been in the dark too long and nobody is saying a f*cking thing.” and “Just copy and paste everything I say.”

It wasn’t the type of language I was used to in dialogues that I’d had in the past with this source.

My feeling is that changes really are coming and they’re going to be sweeping. It sounds like Darryl Katz has been embarrassed by those running his team and their actions and that he’s going to be taking some real action.

I’ve found that the one thing people with money hate most is being embarrassed or having their brand humiliated and regarded as one of the worst in its industry. I reckon we’re at that point with Katz.

Now, some might feel that Katz is out there sitting on a bed of money not giving two shits about his team but I’d be willing to bet that he knows more than a lot of fans choose to believe. As if he doesn’t hear what the fanbase is saying from his family and friends.

We’ve heard Elliotte Friedman talk about a “crisis of confidence” and how that is affecting Katz’s bottom line and if you’re an owner of a hockey team, you can handle losing some money each year. It happens. But can you handle losing money AND being lumped into the same sentence as Eugene Melnyk every week?

Let’s get into this thread on Twitter a bit.

DARRYL KATZ

“Katz heard Bob’s comments. He’s not impressed. Sounds like he himself will find a POHO and then that POHO will hire a GM.”

“Katz isn’t impressed. Gave Nick some shit. Sounds like Katz will hire the POHO and remove the hockey side from under Nicholson.”

“Katz isnt a public eye kind of Owner. He doesn’t want to be and never has been obviously.”

Nicholson really screwed the pooch with those Rieder comments but not so much in that he’s embarrassed the player or himself but more in that he’s made the team (aka brand) look terrible all the while preaching character and culture.

This isn’t the first time this year that Katz has laid into Nicholson. I’m under the impression he let Nicholson know what for when McLellan was fired and Chiarelli was let go.

The patience has worn thin and the people he’s trusted to manage his investment have failed. You would have to wonder if he’ll go back to the Hockey Canada well for more help though because it hasn’t really worked out.

Katz has been thrust into the public eye now. He doesn’t like it one bit it sounds. Hence why you never see the guy at those season ticket events.

THE NEW GM

“Well Katz quietly wants Holland for POHO potentially and McCrimmon as GM if possible. If not Holland, he will find someone else. I know the fans don’t want Holland but he wouldn’t be the GM. McCrimmon would be the GM and get FULL autonomy.”

This goes right in line with what Nick Kypreos said on Headlines this weekend and what Elliotte Friedman was talking about recently on the 31 Thoughts podcast. Although he pontificated on Holland as GM and Glen Gulutzan as the head coach I believe.

A lot of fans really don’t want Ken Holland as the team’s President of Hockey Operations and I get that his team hasn’t been great in recent years but this is a man who has been at the head of one of the greatest hockey dynasties ever. You wouldn’t want that sort of knowledge being part of the brain trust in Edmonton? He’s not going to be GM. So he won’t be making the deals and signings.

As for Kelly McCrimmon, the Oilers want to focus on skill and speed, right?

 

What better template to copy than that of the Vegas Golden Knights? So go out and get the man that is partly responsible for said template. IF you can convince him NOT to go to Seattle…

ON THE TEAM

“I expect a full sweep coming.” This is talking about the pro scouting I believe.

“The team has not improved. Chia never listened but at the same time the team needs to win. It really sucks ass but things need to turn around here. Pete isolated himself hardcore for half last season and all of this season. The word needs to get out.”

“The focus was on big heavy hockey for a long time. But now it’s back to speed and skill. A lot of people in the org disagreed with Pete over most of his trades. I mean, where do I begin. That’s why he isolated himself as fast as he did.”

“The Ottawa loss did it for me. Boys didn’t even compete that much. They’ve given up. It pisses me off. Keith is doing his best and honestly. He’s a great guy. He uses EVERYONE. Everyone. He uses all of his sources. I really like Keith. I couldn’t stand Peter.”

“The Oilers won’t make the playoffs. Thats the thing. They don’t believe in Koski. You can see it on the ice. He lets in a bad goal every game. The new contract for him is awful”

It’s hard not to believe that the pro scouts are going to be cleaned out. When Jason Gregor asked Nicholson about the openness of changes to the pro scouting department, I believe the reply was, “definitely’.

So does that mean the three guys they have employed as pro scouts are gone? It could. It could also mean that the head scout is removed too. My thought is that if Chiarelli really went into isolation with Duane Sutter and Ken Hitchcock (talk about some pro-heavy hockey men) in the final months of his tenure, one of those gentlemen are gone, why wouldn’t the other two be as well? And there’s a pretty good feeling that Hitch won’t be back behind the bench next year, so that leaves Sutter.

I’m not as worried about Koskinen as some. Sure his glove hand works but at least he saves the first shot of the game/period. Maybe the Oilers look at a new goalie coach? Because didn’t Talbot get beat quite a bit on the glove-hand too? Or at least over his shoulders?

MORE ON NICHOLSON

“Katz is removing the Hiring from Nicholson. He’s going to hire a POHO himself who will then hire a GM. Oilers culture is fast, aggressive hockey. Attack attack attack. Exciting hockey. Nicholson couldn’t even answer the culture question with Gregor.”

“The Oilers at one point were the fastest team in the NHL. Now, they’re among the slowest. It’s going to change. Otherwise the fans will drop like flies.”

“Nicholson is being removed to focus on expanding the brand on the business side with Lowe. Katz will hire a POHO to fix this shit.”

“Katz doesn’t want to feel like a Harrold Ballard so to speak. He doesn’t want that label. And if the fans can’t realize that, then I don’t know. Leafs fans hated that shit back in the day.”

When Gregor asked Nicholson about hiring a POHO and the reply was that the GM would be the priority, I had to question this. Why would a team do that? Unless of course, the POHO candidate was already in the organization… Would Wayne Gretzky step in there? He held that position with Team Canada at the Olympics, no? Would Kevin Lowe take the job on the short term as he’s been in that chair under Nicholson before? Ken Hitchcock? Craig MacTavish?

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POSSIBLE SUMMER MOVES

“I do personally believe that MacT will stay on. He runs Bako and they’re killing it.”

“Hall is open to returning. At a DISCOUNT price. That’s all I’ll say on that. I can’t say more.”

“Lucic is in a handshake agreement to move in the offseason. Then we would bring Hall back. I can’t say much more.”

“It would be Lucic and a piece on D. About 10M leaving off the cap after Lucic is paid his bonus”

I’ve heard that MacTavish will stay on and that he’ll be dismissed. So who knows with that one. Could Keith Gretzky do that job just as well? Probably but I won’t pretend to know what all goes into performing the duties the position entails.

I’ve just felt this year that maybe it’s time for folks like MacTavish and/or Howson to move on and for the Oilers to bring in fresh(er) blood.

Bob Stauffer’s been touting Hall back to Edmonton for a few months now. Combine that with the rumored return of Jordan Eberle and the Oilers trading for Sam Gagner… It’s almost insane to think that Taylor Hall would come back after all the BS he went through but I’ll say this, I wasn’t a huge fan when he was in Edmonton but if he came back at a discount, I’d be willing to forget about his first stint with the team.

Tons of people don’t believe the Oilers can move Lucic. I’m not one of those. I do believe there are GMs who exist that value his skillset and would be willing to make a move for him. Now, if it’s him and a defender whose contracts add up to around $10M that are moved, who’s the dman going with him?

Lucic – $6M

Klefbom – $4.1M
Larsson – $4.1M
Russell – $4M
Nurse – $3.2M

I imagine Andrej Sekera is an option as well but I think the team really values his locker room presence and puck moving and they’d prefer to move Russell. I can’t wait until the trade is announced… I am very curious as to what team would take on two of those five players.

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It’s really hard to speculate on any moves without the team having a general manager in place though. I believe that some headway was made on summer moves but it’ll be up to the new guy to agree to or augment them to his liking.

One name I want to throw out there that isn’t getting that much traction is LA’s Mike Futa. I’m reading a book right now called, “The Art of Scouting” by Shane Malloy and inside there are some stories from scouts about the hijinks involved amongst the scouting fraternity. I’ll share one here,

“There are so many good people in the industry and I’ve become good friends with Keith Gretzky of the Phoenix Coyotes, and we have ongoing pranks with those guys. I remember two years ago at the NHL draft our schedules crossed, so we knew which players they were metting with and we knew they wanted defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, like hugely. We also knew that we wanted to take a forward, but nobody else knew that; they assumed but they didn’t know for sure.

I remember we had the name bars written up for the prospects at the draft. We saw Evander Kane went to Atlanta and I leaned back and took a deep breath. Then I just look to my right and Gretz (Keith Gretzky) looked at me and his eyes were burning through me and he gave me a look that said, “Who are you taking?” and I mouthed back to him, “Ekman-Larsson.” He just about fell off his chair and his whole face turned white and he began go sweat. We started to dig into the bag of name bars we had. We were taking Brayden Schenn all the way-if he was there, he was our guy. But it looked like the Coyotes staff were freaking out. Gretz told me later that they said, “I thought you were friends,” and “What the f*ck?” At that time, I was shuffling through the bag for the Ekman-Larsson name bar so I could pull that out to even add a little more pain.

If you click that link above and buy the book, you’ll be helping me a bit. It’s an affiliate link, so I’ll get a small commission for it.

So if Mike Futa gets the job a job in Edmonton… Don’t be surprised if Keith Gretzky has a lot to do with it.

Lastly, it’s really interesting who comes in with the kind words when the rumors align with their own thoughts about the direction of the club. “I don’t normally support these kinds of rumors but…”

Give me a break…

What do you think about the quotes above? Let me know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Edmonton Oilers: I’m Not Worried About Nicholson’s Comments and Neither Should You

Yesterday, the Edmonton Oilers swept their season series with the Columbus Blue Jackets by tuning them in 4-1, but you would probably never know that as the fanbase was all in a huff because the CEO of the team went too far in regards to a question from a season ticket holder regarding one specific player.

“Toby Rieder … came here for one year because he wanted to play with Leon Draisaitl, who he plays with on the German national team. He thought if he wasn’t playing with Leon, he’d be playing with Connor. He’d score 15-16 goals, and instead of making two million, he’d sign a four-year deal at $3.5 million.”

From my gathering, Rieder is a solid guy with a good head on his shoulders and I love his optimism and long-term planning, but for the love of the Gord himself, can you tell me what he was thinking when he thought he was going to be getting top-6 minutes after being let go by the LA Kings? Did the management group tell him that to get him to sign for only $2M?

Toby isn’t a top-6 scoring winger, he’s a solid middle/bottom-6 checker who contributes on the penalty kill. This is a player that should’ve scored AT LEAST 10 goals this year but has found himself stapled to the boards all year. I think I could count on one hand the number of times he’s found his way to the slot all season…

“Toby Rieder hasn’t scored a goal.”

True. It’s hard to do that when your ass is glued to the wall (or the bench).

“Toby Rieder has missed so many breakaways.”

Not lying here. No reason to get upset with this comment.

“Toby Rieder will not be signed by the Edmonton Oilers at the end of this year.”

Some took offense to this but anybody who watches the game would come to this conclusion as well. Rieder was a calculated gamble, not a guarantee.

I imagine that there will be some analysts that believe Edmonton should try to re-sign him (good luck with that) on the cheap (say 800k or so) and bet on him rebounding. You could do that but he’s not shown to be more valuable than the late-season call-ups from Bakersfield.

0 Goals
11 Assists
-7
-4.2 CF% Rel (2nd worst for regular skaters)
-4.2 FF% Rel (Worst for regular skaters)

Stats courtesy of Hockey-Reference

I think Edmonton tried to trade him at the deadline but there was no interest. Shocking.

“If Toby Rieder would have scored 10 or 12 goals, we’d probably be in the playoffs.”

Can you figure out where he went offside in amongst those quotes?

Now, I made a comment on Twitter yesterday defending this and it was hard to do in 280 characters. But I found this post and it talks about the value of a win in the NHL? And what I took away from it is that 4-5 goals should equate to a win.

So if Toby Rieder scores 10-12 goals, does that equal up to six more points for the Oilers? If it does, that means the Oilers are in the playoffs today.

It’s not this simple. I’m aware of that. What I’m saying is that if Rieder (or anybody for that matter) scores an extra 12 goals for the Oilers, are they still -35 in goal differential? If Rieder or Lucic, Puljujarvi or Brad Malone was scoring, would that have permeated the into the psyches of the other players thus allowing them to reach their scoring potentials as well?

We can bring up if the goals were scored in a blowout for the other team or if they were GWG, EN goals, game-tying goals, shorthanded, powerplay, or ones scored while blindfolded and skating backwards on one leg, but at the end of the year when they are all tallied up, who cares? You need to score goals to win games.

Was what Bob Nicholson said really THAT bad… Terry Jones was far more cutting in his article this morning.

How marvelous is McDavid, how dynamic is Draisaitl and how nifty is Nugent-Hopkins if the Oilers keep playing Tobias Rieder on one of their lines and he hasn’t been able to score one single, solitary goal?

Here’s what the CEO of the Dallas Stars said about the team’s two superstar players that are actually scoring goals earlier in the year…

“They are fucking horse-shit, I don’t know how else to put it,” Lites said. “The team was ok. But (Tyler) Seguin and (Jamie) Benn were terrible.” – Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites (source)

That’s bad… But the Stars are most likely going to be in the playoffs this year barring some mad collapse on their part. So you can’t say successful organizations never make these sort of comments.

Some oversensitive fans in Edmonton just can’t have enough blood. Two sacrifices were made this year in Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan and it’s not enough. Every day there’s some new excuse as to why Bob Nicholson should be the one to go. He’s not going anywhere in my opinion.

Supporters of the team are worried that he’ll make the same mistake again and hire another bad GM. Now, they’re worried that free agents aren’t going to come to town and that’s a bunch of BS too.

Nicholson isn’t the one that is going to be signing players to new contracts unless he appoints himself GM of the team and there’s a better chance of John Tavares going back to the Islanders than the CEO of the Oilers becoming the boss of hockey ops in Edmonton.

Who he hires as GM and head coach of the team will directly affect the quality of free agents that come to town. Full stop. I mean Nicholson isn’t even supposed to be working in hockey operations as it is. From the get-go, he was to be on the “business” side of things and Kevin Lowe oversaw the hockey ops. Then that job was passed on to Peter Chiarelli as POHO.

He was the overseer until Chiarelli was dismissed.

Anybody that has been following the Oilers shouldn’t even be worried about free agents anyhow. The team doesn’t have the money to spend on the good ones and the players they have signed (including Rieder) don’t inspire confidence that they’ll be able to reverse the trend.

Alex Chiasson and Kevin Gravel are probably the exceptions.

Speaking of free agents, not long ago there was a bit of chatter pertaining to the return of Taylor Hall to Edmonton…

Darren Ferris represents Hall as well as Rieder.

I do have a bone to pick with that release though. Ferris would’ve known about the comments as soon as they went out publicly if not before. Surely he would’ve had media (like Rishaug) calling him, right? So he had the whole day to figure out what to say in response and when to release the comments… Ferris lets the day go by and allows the talk shows to dig in to see how the public reacts, then he allows his response to go public late in the evening close to the end of the Oilers game. Was his hope that the media would pick up on it and ask the players about it? What was the motivation there?

The Oilers are not having great luck with agents this year… At all…

I reached out to a person that is close to the organization and asked what they thought of the chances Edmonton would have in the Hall sweepstakes now should there be one and I was told that only time will tell…

You would have to think that Nicholson would have been more tempered in his comments but should he be crucified for making a mistake? I don’t think so. He’s already apologized to Rieder and both he and the German had a good laugh about it by all accounts.

This from Mark Spector’s post-game article from last night,

“I screwed up,” Nicholson told me before the game Thursday. “I promised I’d talk until all the questions were done. I don’t look back on that in a negative way. But where I got offside in my comment is that Toby wouldn’t be here next year. That, if he would have scored 12 or 15 goals, we’d be in the playoffs.

“That’s wrong for me to say that.

“Now you’re saying the reason you’re making the playoffs is because of Toby Rieder, which is the furthest thing from what I meant to say,” rued Nicholson. “I take the blame. I said it. I phoned the player and apologized. He chuckled and said, ‘Don’t worry about it Bob.’”

Bottom line, Rieder is just as frustrated as his boss and Bob made a boo boo, but he did the right thing and made amends immediately.

As a hockey guy himself, he should’ve known better than to throw one of his own under the bus like that. You can be sure that he’s learned from this and any comments coming from him in the future will likely be more guarded.

The Oilers are still playing meaningful hockey and that shouldn’t be glossed over. Like it or not, Bob Nicholson is driving the bus right now and this isn’t the mishap that the former head of Hockey Canada should be judged upon during his tenure in Edmonton.

On a more positive note, the focus is off the GM search and onto the team’s CEO search…

This fanbase never ceases to amaze me.

“Always drink upstream from the herd.” – Will Rogers

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Edmonton Oilers: What Bob Nicholson Said at the Season Ticket Holders Event

User D722 from Reddit posted some of the things heard from Bob Nicholson at the most recent Edmonton Oilers season seat holder reception. You can click here to read them without my comments if you wish.

Development of Prospects:

– Bob admitted it was a mistake to bring up Yamamoto this year and Bear last year. Players need time to mature. They weren’t doing that in the past.

– Believes 7-8 defenseman in Bakersfield could be NHL ready.

– Brought up that Evan Bouchard will have to start off in Bakersfield and earn his strips before playing an NHL full time. This is part of the new philosophy for development.

We’re starting things off with a bang. Of course it was a mistake to bring up Yamamoto this year. I’m not sure I’d agree with Bear. I think it was fine to give him a taste, just as it was to give Jones a taste earlier this season. No word on Jesse Puljujarvi though. That’s interesting. I think most would feel he was also brought along too quickly but maybe his name simply didn’t come up and that Nicholson felt it was unnecessary to bring him up.

If I list off the dmen in Bakersfield right now, do you think they’d all be NHL-caliber players?

  • William Lagesson: Sure.
  • Ethan Bear: Questionable.
  • Caleb Jones: Sure.
  • Brandon Manning: As a no.7, sure.
  • Ryan Stanton: Refer to Manning.
  • Logan Day: No.
  • Keegan Lowe: Refer to Manning/Stanton
  • Jake Kulevich: No.

So I don’t get where he’s saying there are 7-8 defensemen in Bakersfield that could be NHL-ready. Was he including Kevin Gravel and Alex Petrovic in that group?

I love the idea of forcing Evan Bouchard to earn those stripes. That’s an organizational philosophy I can get behind. The same should go for any other new defenders who are under the age of 25 who are joining the club.

Darryl Katz:

– Not involved in any hockey decisions. 100% Nicholson.

If this was a comment in the present tense, I might believe it. But if it’s one that covers the span of time that Nicholson has been employed, then it is a very questionable comment to make.

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Finding a GM:

– Main characteristics for the newest GM: Analytics, scouting and development

– GM needs the right “eyeballs” aka the right scouts to assist him

– Advised that a lot of top GM candidates are not available for interviews until the club is out of the playoffs

– Interview process to start soon. No interviews to date.

– Has a list of around 34 candidates. Will trim to around 10 to 12 soon.

– There is no guarantee he’ll have a GM by the draft. Advise its necessary to have a GM for the draft for trades. To clarify trading picks and assets

– Bob will be patient because you might not know who will be available in the near future. He brought up of an example from Shanahan. Shanahan was going to appoint Dubas or another name (I forgot…. Hunter I believe. Don’t remember really) as GM of the Leafs until Lomoriello was suddenly available.

– Keith Gretzky wasn’t on his list of candidates. Gretzky is now on the list. Based on the strong scouting, recent decisions and communication (Communication with the fans, media and players).

– One of Bob’s questions for the next GM: Where will you be buying your house in Edmonton and which two Charities you’ll support in the Edmonton area? Bob is emphasizing culture fit for the next GM.

It seems as if the Oilers are going to go balls deep into the analytics with this next hire. I’m not opposed to it but I hope they don’t overcompensate for all the time they missed not using them.

I’ve said before that the Oilers should have a massive network of scouts across North America and Europe scanning the arenas for talent. That means pro scouts and amateur scouts. Don’t leave any stone unturned in the hunt to make the club better at every level of the organization.

Plucking talent away from playoff-bound teams sounds like the search for the next GM is starting in the right places and I don’t mind if the Oilers are without a new GM at the draft. I trust Keith Gretzky’s judgment in that area but where I’m a bit leery is if the Oilers are going to be making trades there. But if I’m reading the comments correctly, perhaps if the new boss isn’t installed by then, no trades will be made.

That said, I think there’ll be a new general manager before the draft.

As for Gretzky’s future, my belief is that he’ll stay on as AGM and take over for Craig MacTavish. I’m hearing quiet rumblings that MacTavish and Howson won’t be returning next season… So that will allow Keith to slide into MacT’s chair and run the farm team. Which is more or less what he’s been helping out with anyhow.

Needs for Next Season and Cap Management:

– On Defense: Need a top one or two defenseman this off-season. However, the Oilers organization believes there are 7-8 defenseman in Bakersfield that are close to being NHL ready. Still evaluating on the direction for the defense corp.

– Oilers are anticipating the cap to go up by 4-5 milion next year. Using that cap to sign a couple of wingers to support the centres (McDavid, Draisaitl and Nuge). If I remember the key word was serviceable forwards.

– Drafting. Needs players in the 2 round and later to pan out.

– Yakupov was brought up. Essentially the top draft picks in the that year didn’t really pan out…

Good luck procuring a top-pairing defenseman without trading a massive chunk of the team’s future or one of its main players. That said, do not be surprised if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ name starts to come up in trade rumors. I know they did this year in connection to Colton Parayko but is Parayko a top-pairing defender?

Serviceable forwards eh? That’s pretty cryptic. Toby Rieder was a serviceable forward this year but he didn’t score any goals. Alex Chiasson was a serviceable forward that scored goals but isn’t a great skater.

If they’re anticipating having only $4M-$5M available to add multiple wingers, I’d say we’re in for another season of H.O.P.E baby! Just because that basically puts them out of the running for the top available players (Panarin, Lee, Dzingel, Ferland, Skinner, Simmonds, Pavelski, Nyquist, Zuccarello). So are they looking at Pat Maroon, Richard Panik, Carl Hagelin, Magnus Paaajarvi on the left side? What about the right wing? Do players like Jordan Eberle, Joonas Donskoi, Brett Connolly, or Brandon Pirri hold any interest?

I would say they’re probably hoping Jesse Puljujarvi takes the next step. They’re hoping Tyler Benson can jump in and contribute next season. They’re hoping that a player like Daniel Carr can be signed for under a million dollars and he does the opposite of Rieder and actually scores goals. I think they’re hoping Chiasson will re-sign on a cheap deal.

Yes, the Oilers need to do better after the 2nd round with their draft picks.

If they’re going to bring up Nail Yakupov, why not do it in the vein of possibly bringing him back? I’m not 100% sure but is he not represented by someone different or is Larionov still his agent?

Head Coach:

– Hitchcock only until the end of the year. Status is unknown

– Next GM to decide who is head coach

– The head coach is critical for free agency to attract players.

Good Christ. Get these old dinosaur coaches outta there. It’s time to bring in someone who can connect with the younger talent in the league and capitalize on that relationship like Jar Woodcroft is in Bakersfield.

Is it too much to assume there’ll be an onus on hiring a head coach whose reputation precedes him? Rocky Thompson is well thought of in the coaching fraternity and if the Oilers hire Kelly McCrimmon, that would make sense right? Thompson coaches Vegas’ farm club in Chicago.

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Culture:

– Bob believes that team chemistry is as good as it was two years ago. He admitted the loss of Matt Hendriks was significant to the team culture. However, he compared the recent acquisition of Sam Gagner has significantly helped the locker room and culture. Comparing Gagner similar to Hendriks as veteran leadership.

– Oilers looking to take pressure off McDavid and Draisaitl for next year.

This was a major point of contention yesterday and I love how Jason Strudwick talked about it on the Jason Gregor Show. I’m paraphrasing but basically, he said that it’s not about the stats so much but about the effect that a player has on the club. If one player can come in and bring the club’s performance and attitude up by 1% or 2%, then that’s worth it.

Did you notice vs. STL, Sam Gagner stirring the pot behind the net in the 2nd period? What happened not long after? Zack Kassian got in a spirited scrap with former Oiler and one of my favs, Pat Maroon. Then Edmonton scored a couple of goals.

That’s the kind of magic players like Matt Hendricks works and if you’re still on the fence about it, why would a team like the Winnipeg Jets go out and re-acquire a player like that instead of trading for a more skilled player?

Milan Lucic:

– Lucic was signed to show off that the Oilers was a destination. There were 7-8 teams interested in him and offer more money. Be listed all of the teams such as Vancouver, Montreal, Minnesota and I forgot the rest. Lucic was signed for his offense and to protect McDavid. His lack of offense has affected his leadership. Oilers organization want Lucic to be comfortable in the dressing room.

I think coming to Edmonton has knocked the shit out of Milan Lucic, to be honest. He wasn’t prepared for this fight and it’s been getting to him. Between him and Sekera coming in as premier free agents in their class, that’s a pretty good indication that the club WAS a destination for the top FAs but I’m not so sure now if that’s the case and the team shouldn’t be shopping in that aisle anyhow. They simply don’t have the credit any more, McDavid or not.

Players will not follow a leader if he can’t perform on the ice. Now, that doesn’t just mean goals and assists. It means effort and actual ability to play.

Going back to Matt Hendricks, he wasn’t a great player but boy did he bust his balls when he got his chance. Literally. When Milan plays his game, the one the fans all love, he’s effective and that’s what his teammates want. But if he can’t or doesn’t want to do that on an 82-game basis and that makes him feel uncomfortable in the dressing room, then he should be moved on from.

Old Boys Club:

– Kevin Lowe: Lowe has not been involved in the hockey decisions in the 4 years Nicholson was been with the Oilers. Lowe mainly works with sponsors, alumnis. Chia had the rights to the hockey decisions not Kevin Lowe.

– Wayne Gretzky: Only been at the around arena a couple of times this year and a few road trips.

– MacTavish: His role is to take care of Bakersfield. Look at Bakersfield now…

I have never really believed that Lowe and Gretzky were that influential in the decision making of the team. They’re busy with their own lives. That said, they have been used as sounding boards in the early Chiarelli days. Maybe their opinion was a bit stronger at the end of the 2015/16 season if you know what I mean.

Performance This Year:

– Emphasis on home games… too inconsistent this year. Needs to be better.

One of the greatest things a sports club can have is invincibility in their own castle. But what they require is the support and participation of the fans in attendance. Watch an Edmonton Oilers home game and then watch a Vegas Golden Knights home game… There’s a MASSIVE difference in the quality of “fanning” going on and I do believe that has an effect on the players from both clubs.

Analytics:

– Oilers haven’t really relied on analytics during Bob’s four years. Needs to be a bigger tool for the next GM. Analytics shouldn’t be the main tool but another tool for the Oilers to use. Especially for match ups and trades.

Duh. I think the feeling towards the new GM will be more positive if he/she can come out and cite some advanced metrics with regards to players. Make it a bigger part of the hockey conversation in Edmonton, for better or worse.

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Non-Hockey Operations Question (Bob and others answered):

Some lady brought up how the ice girls have mid-drift and the guys wear track suits. Question wasn’t really answered…

Really? I guess this is important to some fans. Personally, I could give two hoots if there were cheerleaders in the stands/concourse or not. They’re not the reason I would be going to watch the game. But maybe the guys should go mid-drift too, I hear big hairy 6-packs are back in style.

Oranges / Blues jerseys:

– We are orange for at least another year and likely the foreseeable future.

– The Adidas agreement means teams have to stick to jerseys for 3 year teams. They can reevaluate after next year if they wanted.

– They wanted something that can unify the team and fans. Aka Calgary’s sea of red. The blue didn’t help. Orange it is and also fan support during the playoffs.

– New 3rd jersey confirmed in the works!

– Admits there’s a split in the fans regarding orange or blue primary jerseys

I love how the dark blue Condors jerseys look and I foresee that scheme making its way into Edmonton at some point. As for a new 3rd uni… Maybe a return to the Todd McFarlane jerseys would be fun.

At the end of the day, the team needs to add skill and speed AS WELL AS character. Culture is something that can’t be brought in. It has to be… Bear with me… Cultivated!

What do you think about these words from Bob Nicholson? Let me know in the comments below!

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Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson Hints at Dressing Room Problems and Other Interesting Quotes From Yesterday

We all probably have seen, heard, or read about Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson’s press conference today announcing the dismissal of Peter Chiarelli and I thought that it was pretty standard but there were two comments near the end of that initial media avail that I thought stood out.

I was really, not shocked/surprised, that Nicholson would say this but really intrigued with how this sentence came out.

I have been told that Ken Hitchcock has a deal on the table for a 2-3 year extension and all he has to do is sign it. What I haven’t been told is what position that is for. I can only assume it’s for the coaching position but with how much he’s contributing to the direction of the team’s playing personnel decisions right now, it wouldn’t shock me if President of Hockey Operations was a title he took up in the future.

And that dovetails nicely into this quote with regards to what kind of GM Bob Nicholson will be looking for,

This tells me that Nicholson has clearly made a mistake with Chiarelli and that he wants a general manager that can work with this new generation of hockey player. The “I” generation as Hitchcock calls them. Basically, young folk now need to know what’s in it for them and why that’s a good thing for everybody and they need it ASAP.

Chiarelli rarely made himself available to media or the team and from my gathering was tough to work with. I’m sure you could tell when he did his press conferences or media avails with how he carried himself during them.

So that’s going to change now. The Oilers will do an extensive search for the right man for once and I’m jacked about it and I’ll support the new guy just as I supported Peter Chiarelli during his time.

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The Other Media Avails

Our favorite media man Gene Principe did a short 5-minute interview with Nicholson after the original avail and there were a couple of things he said there as well that I thought really shed some light on the current situation in the Oilers dressing room and a bit more on what kind of GM he’ll be looking for to replace Chiarelli.

You can’t define it in a couple of words or a sentence but I want to make sure that the general manager really can evaluate the players.

If this isn’t a shot at Chiarelli, I’m not sure what is. It’s a fair comment to make too. Look, I spent a lot of time defending Chiarelli’s moves and I won’t take anything back either. He made some dodgy deals that I’ve questioned very publicly too. The Reinhart deal was one and the Spooner deal was another.

I know I’ve been told in the past that the pro scouts that everybody wants fired did their job and would make their recommendations but in fact, and I’ve mentioned this before, Chiarelli would go ahead and make the decisions on player personnel individually despite the reports given.

I think we have really good assets but I think that’s the key and I really want to have open communication. I want all lines of communication to be open in this organization and make sure that’s done within the dressing room so the players feel comfortable speaking to all the staff. 

This goes back to what I said before. Chiarelli wasn’t a good communicator, be that with his co-workers, his playing staff, or the media. Nicholson is basically spelling it out here regarding how tense it was to work in the organization with Chia at the helm.

We gotta have a lot of other leaders and we have a good leadership group but we’ve got to make sure everyone in that room leads and we can’t have any passengers and right now I feel we have passengers and we have to sort that out.

This is the money shot in my opinion. I’ve touched on the locker room status briefly previously when I talked about Leon Draisaitl and his preference to play on Connor’s wing. Now, I’m not saying Leon is a passenger because he’s not. He’s clearly a driver on the ice.

Nicholson did another interview with TSN’s Ryan Rishaug after his presser as well and there he reiterated the dressing room problem,

We need everyone in the room on the same page. I’m not convinced, at this time, that everyone is on the same page. We need character in that room, we need to make sure everyone believes and has each other’s backs as we go forward here for the rest of the season. 

Bobby Nick is telling us that there are players in that dressing room that do not believe this team can make the playoffs. Recently, Connor McDavid, more or less, stated that if you’re not with us, then get the hell out of our dressing room!

What if that message wasn’t for the players? What if it was for the fans and the mainstream media covering the team? What if it was for Peter Chiarelli?

I can’t begin to speculate on who those players might be but it also doesn’t surprise me that there are elements of the team that have lost belief. I am willing to bet that before the deadline, the players that are identified as “not being on the same page” will be moved along, just as they were when Chiarelli was hired.

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The State of the Fanbase

I talked to a friend of mine who’s followed the team since 1972 and he said to me that he was tired. Following the team is no fun right now.

Now, I don’t live in Edmonton, in fact, I live about as far away as one can get from the city and I understand that Alberta isn’t having a great time economically these days. Is it possible that all of this is compounding with the season the Oilers are having?

I feel for the fans who have stuck around but I have a hard time, and this is my own problem, seeing this situation as being as horrible as some are saying. There’s no threat of the team leaving. The people are still filling the stands. I remember a time when both of those things were a reality and now there’s a new arena, the team has probably the most prolific NHL player since Gretzky playing for it, and the future of the team is as bright as it’s ever been.

My friend said that he’s had a hard time even gifting tickets away… That’s insanity to me! I get that going to the game, finding parking, having dinner, etc. is hard but for me personally, I couldn’t care less about those inconveniences. If I had a son/daughter who was passionate about hockey and idolized the Oilers as I did when I was a boy, I’d do my damnedest to find a way to make things work. Just like my father did and we were by no means even an average income family.

That said, I value this gentleman’s words and I trust them very much. Times back home aren’t great.

He also said he’d talked to one of the players and was told,

Chiarelli absolutely had to be fired. It had to be immediate or there was the legitimate potential for very serious problems ahead.

I was left agasp. It had my mind wondering all sorts of ways. And so I asked if McDavid asking out was what he thought the player meant and the answer was, “I was not told that.”

So read into that what you will.

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