Yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue singing it forever just because… WOULD SOMEBODY KILL THAT GOD DAMNED LAMBCHOP!! GOOD LORD! ENOUGH ALREADY!
There will only be a select few that gets that reference and it may or may not be funny but doesn’t it have some relevance to Oilers fans? After ten long years of not being in the playoffs, not being competitive, relying on kids to pull the team out of the quicksand, hiring defensemen to defend that obviously cannot do that or are deployed above their abilities, new coach, new GM, bringing the Old Boys Club back every year to celebrate some anniversary… When will it stop? Honestly.
I think going into this off-season most of the fans of the Oilers are hoping for a major shake-up and I don’t know if that’s the smart play. The reason I believe that is because I know less about how this team would look healthy than Chiarelli and McLellan and they’re the ones that have to make the decisions about the team.
How would this defense look next season with a healthy Oscar Klefbom and a healthy Brandon Davidson? What will it play like with Yak playing in a top six role EVERY NIGHT? Would the team get better results if Nuge managed to get out of his funk? Is Jordan Oesterle the puck mover the team has been looking for? Is Griffin Reinhart turning into the shutdown defender he was labelled to be when the Oilers acquired him? What about the additions of Auston Matthews, Patrick Laine, or Jesse Puljujarvi? How would they affect the team? Do the Oilers really have to gut the “core” to get to where they want to go?
I’ll tell you this though. If PK Subban is a possibility this summer, that is one the team cannot lose out on. I don’t think that’s a reality though. The Habs would be about the dumbest team in the league to trade that guy unless they wanted Hall… 🙂
As for players going out, I’ve said this all along and I still believe it. I think that Benoit Pouliot will be shipped out eventually but sooner rather than later. PC is not a Pou-guy and now that Maroon is clicking with McDavid, there’s no way that Pouliot is going to produce. He was almost on his way to Anaheim before he got injured too, so there’s the smoke to that fire. Maybe he gets moved for prospects or contracts. If Anaheim was interested in him maybe that’d be a good place to go back to and see if they’d be willing to talk about a Josh Manson trade…
Mark Fayne will most likely get moved out for chump change or a bad contract or both. He had his moments this year both bad and good but He just doesn’t seem the type of defender McLellan and Chiarelli like to deploy.
I think the usual suspects on D will be targeted this summer. We’ve been over these guys about a million bloody times it almost feels like they’re part of the team already:
- Sami Vatanen – (RFA) RHD
– I like this target a lot. Smart guy who gets the puck where it needs to be. - Travis Hamonic – RHD
– I’m a huge fan of the throwback dman. Rugged but effective. - Tyson Barrie – (RFA) RHD
– Chaos man chaos but he can score from the point and boy do the Oilers need some of that. - Jason Demers – (UFA) RHD
– I’m indifferent about Demers. I think he’ll cost over $5M per season and that’s a lot of dough for a no.4 dman who’s not all that offensive. - Kevin Shattenkirk – RHD
– He’s going to cost a pretty penny and look for term. The Blues will undoubtedly be looking for a forward in return. A good one and I’m not keen on the Oilers dealing one of the youngsters for a guy with one year left on his deal which ends in him being a UFA.
As for the forwards, I’m not too sure to be honest, especially if Chiarelli is taking this rebuild slowly. I think there’ll be a shit ton of pressure on him to do something but I don’t get the feeling that he himself is affected by it. Maybe some more muscle like Lucic or Okposo but that would mean another $6M man is heading out. Or perhaps signing a killer veteran like Kris Versteeg or Loui Eriksson would be a solid plan to go by.
But as Lowetide talks about almost every day, they’ve got to do something about the defense. If they don’t address it then the team is in for another debacle of a year or ten.
My whole thing is the team has to focus on one glaring problem and address that first without carving a hole somewhere else that’s too big it can’t be handled by prospects coming up or a short-term free agent acquisition.
So the elephant in the room is that right-handed defenseman. How many do the Oilers need? Ideally two I think but I’m not 100% certain that is carved in stone. Getting Klefbom back will be like a new signing. Same with Davidson… So maybe the team gets one right-handed defender. Which would you like out of Vatanen, Barrie, Shattenkirk, Demers, or Hamonic? I reckon I’d prefer Hamonic because whoever the team deals to get him, we’ll only have to see that guy or hear about him once or twice a year. Deal a guy to Anaheim… Six times a year we’d have to hear about that deal. Not cool! So My thoughts are that Garth Snow will eventually settle for a package including Jordan Eberle and if they want more then perhaps this is the deal that sees David Musil move along or god forbid, Brandon Davidson. Love that guy!
Just an aside for a moment. We STILL haven’t heard anything on him. Has his leg been amputated or what? Seriously. An update would be kind.
The second thing they have to do in my opinion is fill the whole left from the Hamonic deal. Here is where things get interesting. I think that the player they draft will slot in here. Do I think that is a good idea… It’s dodgy no doubt about it. Whether that’s Matthews, Laine, or Puljujarvi. They look to be a solid go at RW if nothing else changes with the rest of the fwds.
Another option that I’d take if I were GM is signing Loui Eriksson. I like his two-way game and his veteran experience. He’d be a SOLID addition to the wing of McDavid, Draisaitl, or Nuge.
So in summary if they Oilers added Hamonic, Eriksson and say Darren Helm (You know Horcoff is a UFA coming up? Hehehe) this summer and held on to Hall and Nugent-Hopkins, would that be a win in your books? Enough to get the team into the playoff picture? Or would you prefer to blow this Mutha F*cka up and cut out any perceived cancers immediately? Let me know in the comments below!
