Edmonton Oilers are Beating a Dead Horse Not Caring About +/-. Blame the Old Boys!

[Parture]

Oilers vs. Blackhawks

Oilers lost the last game against Montreal because Koskinen let in some easy ones.

Latest lines...

Lucic - McDavid - Rattie
Rieder - Draisaitl - Chiasson
Khaira - Nugent-Hopkins - Kassian
Malone - Brodziak - Puljujarvi

Are you kidding me? Malone has a career of -29. He should not be in the NHL.

Putting Lucic with McD is going to backfire!

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Gravel - Benning

This defense is the best we can do until we replace Gravel with Bouchard.

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Bouchard
Russell - Benning

Put Lucic on the 4th line and get rid of Brodziak (-12)….

Benson - McD - Rattie
Rieder - Draisaitl - Chiasson
Khaira - RNH - Kassian
Lucic - Brodziak - Pulju (-12)

Lucic could be useful if he played like Craig Simpson standing in front of the net, screening the goalie the the whole game.

[Parture]

Blackhawks 6 Oilers 2

Oilers are definitely not making the playoffs this year even though they are still miraculously only 2 games back after losing tonight. The players know the team is not good enough. The team needs to be blown up! Bob Nicholson last year in an interview said, "I will not blow the team up!" That's exactly what he should have done was blow the team up! He is still not willing to blow the team up showing Nicholson needs to be let go.

The players are exhausted by their failures, or rather, the failings of Peter Chiarelli and Bob Nicholson for hiring him. Because Bob Nicholson is not being fired, along with Peter Chiarelli whom he hired, the players don't want to play for this group of management (old boys club of MacTavish and Lowe). Not until Nicholson is fired, along with MacTavish and Lowe, will the Oilers have a future. The aura of having them around for so many years is bringing the Oilers down.

The goalies are not that bad, but they are getting beat badly because the defense perpetually sucks. Once Connor and Draisaitl, in the run for the scoring title, get their two points on the night they take it easy. It's exhausting to try to get that 3rd point. Nobody else on the team can contribute besides McD and Draisaitl.

The solution is obvious: get rid of everyone who is showing extremely negative +/-. Puljujarvi is now -13, Brodziak is -12, and Lucic is -9. Get rid of these players for starters. By the way Lucic did nothing all night, again, as usual. He is slowing McDavid down. Bench Lucic, Brodziak and Pulju. Anyone can do better than them. It's amazing how incompetent the Oilers management is that they can't see how long, lanky and uncoordinated Pulju is, how slow and old Brodziak is, and what a demented sasquatch Lucic is. What does Lucic care? He is getting paid $6 million a year for 7 years. He has other interests than hockey.

After being up 2-1 Oilers gave up 5 unanswered goals.

Heads will roll!

[Parture]

Latest lines...

Rieder - McDavid - Draisaitl
Lucic - Nugent-Hopkins - Chiasson
Malone - Brodziak - Kassian
Cave - Khaira - Puljujarvi

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Gravel - Benning
Manning - Petrovic

During the break Ken Hitchcock sought out advice about what to do with the Oilers. One of the things given was not to keep changing the lines. But that exactly what he did, changing them up all over the place. Funny.

Lucic does not belong on the 2nd line. He is a 4th liner at best as a brawler. The lines should be...

RNH - McDavid - Draisaitl
Rieder - Khaira - Chiasson
Malone - Cave - Kassian
Lucic - Brodziak - Puljujarvi

If nothing is working for the Oilers at least support the top 3 players vying for the Art Ross Trophy by placing them on the same line. This is the one thing the coaches have never tried.

[Parture]

Oilers vs Wild

So much for 3 lines centered by the top 3 players; at least we know Oilers don't play well that strategy. Old man Brodziak is finally out of the line-up. I have been calling for this since he was first acquired. I predict the Oilers do really well tonight because Brodziak (-12) is out!

Rieder - McDavid - Draisaitl
Lucic - RNH - Chiasson
Rattie - Khaira - Pulju
Cave - Malone - Kassian

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Manning - Benning

Gravel, Petrovic, and Manning are all the same to me.

Basically this is as good as the Oilers can get, and no injuries, until they start making some traders.

I think the Oilers should throw a hail Mary and do this...

RNH - McD - Draisaitl (this is like having a free power play ever few minutes)
Rattie - Khaira - Chiasson
Rieder - Malone - Kassian
Lucic (-9) - Cave - Pulju (-13)

We got rid of the -12 player Brodziak. Yea!!!

While it may look like Ken Hitchcock cares about +/- now for the first time in his career by getting rid of Brodziak, he still doesn't understand that Lucic has to go to the bottom line (not the 2nd line), along with Pulju (not the 3rd), and severely limit their minutes. Numbers matter!

[Parture]

Oilers 4 vs Wild 1

The only goal by Minnesota was funny. First, Nurse along the boards passes to the Minnesota player behind the net (not sure why he did that), and then that player behind the net passes to the Minnesota player in front of the net, and Rattie and McDavid are not covering that man, giving him free reign to shoot. This is where most goals are scored and they did not protect this area. That's terrible hockey sense. You could see McDavid was fixated on watching the play behind the net instead of covering his man in front of the net. Ridiculous dumbness! Also, what was Draisaitl doing behind the net drifting in no man's land (3 players behind the net)? So dumb! What they say about Draisaitl is true, he is great when he has the puck, but has no idea what he is doing when he doesn't have the puck.

When in defensive mode you're suppose to cover another player; otherwise, you give the other team an open player. It really is about positioning. At all times there is an optimal spot for a player to be. If you are not in that spot, you are giving them chances.

However, when Lucic is in the optimal spot it doesn't matter anyway because he is slow as molasses. I watched Lucic again and notice he is so ineffective. His legs are the problem. If I were him I would work out just on sprints, 3 yard sprints.

[Parture]

Oilers 4 vs Wild 1

Old man Brodziak is finally out of the line-up. I have been calling for this since he was first acquired. I predict the Oilers do really well tonight because Brodziak (-12) is out!

Do you believe me now? Now they just need to bench Lucic. He contributes nothing.

[Parture]

Oilers vs Sharks

Draisaitl - McDavid - Rattie
Lucic - Nugent-Hopkins - Chiasson
Khaira - Malone - Kassian
Rieder - Brodziak - Puljujarvi

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Russell
Manning - Gravel

Where is Benning? Damnit, Brodziak is in the line-up so Oilers lose. And Lucic is with RNH so Oilers will definitely lose. The lines should be...

Draisaitl - McD - Rattie
Rieder - RNH - Chiasson
Khaira - Malone - Kassian
Lucic - Cave - Pulju

This will be Talbot's 2nd game in a row so he will lose this game. He can't play two games in a row successfully.

[Parture]

Sharks 5 Oilers 2

#26 Manning and #5 Gravel (he was -3 in the game) are horrible and it showed in their +/-. They back up all the way to the goalie Talbot on the Shark's rush. That's a sure way to lose defensively.

At the very least get rid of these players (they are showing their true colors). You do not need to analyze their games. Their +/- sums it up in a nutshell. Players need to be told their job is on the line if they are the worst +/- players on the team. What they are experiencing is no imminent threat since they are all still hanging around, and we don't have a manager who implements these corrective measures.

Pulju -14
Brodziak -12
Larsson -12
Lucic -9
Khaira -8
Nurse -8
Petrovic -7 in 6 games
RNH -6
Cave -3 in 6 games

McDavid was lucky tonight. He had no points. But neither did Kucherov even though Tampa Bay had 5 goals.

[Parture]

Penguins 3 Oilers 1

What players must the Oilers absolutely get rid of?

Pulju -14
Brodziak -12
Larsson -11
Nurse -11
Lucic -9
RNH -8
Khaira -8
Petrovic -7 in 7 games
Cave -3 in 7 games

[Parture]

Hurricanes 3 Oilers 1

Ken Hitchock should go back into retirement. If I was coach and manager I would trade these players...

Pulju -14 (long, lanky and uncoordinated; should never have been acquired in the draft)
Larsson -14 (he really is not that good, not to mention no offense at all)
Brodziak -12 (too old and slow)
Nurse -11 (he is really not that good)
Lucic -10 (demented sasquatch)
RNH -9 (not good defensively)
Petrovic -6 in 8 games

Have you ever seen a team that only has 1 positive +/- player (Benning) This shows how bad the Oilers really are.

It looks like the old boys, MacTavish, Lowe and Nicholson are trying to destroy Connor McDavid's career. There is no way McD is going to get ahead of Kucherov. McD is 10 points behind Kucherov. Under any other circumstance McD would have won the Art Ross Trophy for the 3rd year in a row. Not this year!

Oilers are locked into long, expensive contracts that will curse Oilers for years, e.g. Lucic.

Connor & the Oilers have no chance at a Stanley Cup for many years to come. Connor might be close to 30 years old when the team has changed enough and these contracts have run off to give him an opportunity at success. But as long as MacT, Lowe and Nicholson are still in the organization it will never happen. They should do the right thing and resign from their jobs. Who is responsible for firing Nicholson? That's step #1.

This is a crisis moment.