The Shocking Truth Behind the Oilers’ Playoff Collapse: Four Stars Who Let Them Down

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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The Cult of Hockey

Four big name Edmonton Oilers knocked for poor playoff performances

Summary: The Edmonton Oilers had high hopes of reaching the Stanley Cup finals, but they were humiliated by the Vegas Golden Knights in four straight games. What went wrong? The answer lies in the dismal performances of four of their core players, who failed to live up to their expectations and salaries.
- Darnell Nurse, the franchise defenseman, was a turnover machine and a liability on the ice.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the versatile forward, was a ghost who couldn’t score or create chances.
- Stuart Skinner, the rookie goalie, was exposed and outplayed by his veteran counterpart.
- Kailer Yamamoto, the speedy winger, was a non-factor who couldn’t generate any offense.

The article exposes the harsh reality of these players’ shortcomings and how they doomed the Oilers’ chances. It also questions the coach’s choices and the team’s lack of depth and toughness.

BLH’s Thoughts: I would say that the Oilers were dealing with a number of injuries as well. Most notably to top-six wingers Evander Kane and Zach Hyman. If they were healthy or healthier I believe they would’ve been able to make a more substantial difference. I’ve also had it communicated to me that that slash on Leon Draisaitl might’ve actually really hurt him considering his passing and shooting was not nearly at the level it should’ve been in game six.

Really though, the coaches shot themselves in the foot over and over with line matchups, PK performance, lineup selections, and defensive zone schemes.

Why was Janmark playing when it was clear he was nowhere near 100%? Why didn’t Jack Campbell get a start after Skinner was pulled for the second game in a row? Why Desharnais over Broberg? Dylan Holloway’s speed and physicality would’ve been very welcome in this series but instead a tenderized Klim Kostin was sent out for more punishment. Bjugstad was great but as a 3rd liner, why put him up in the top-six and further deplete your depth? McLeod had Eichel pretty much wrapped up in the series early on but why stick with that?

The Oilers coaches fucked around and found out is basically what happened.

Oilersnation

Who’s coming back and who’s moving on?

Summary: The Edmonton Oilers have a lot of mess to clean up this summer, as they have 14 players who will become free agents on July 1. The article splits the list of players into three categories: likely to return, likely to leave and toss-ups. The article roasts each player and their poor performance with the Oilers. It also considers the salary cap hell and the ridiculous expectations of each player. The article jokes that the Oilers will have to be miracle workers and magicians to fix their team and avoid another playoff disaster.

BLH’s Thoughts: There are some rumors that the cap may go up by $3M-$4M and in theory that would be a massive help for Edmonton but at the same time they’ve got Ken Holland on the last year of his deal looking to go huge before he’s sent to pasture.

I liked Bjugstad in a bottom-six role. As soon as they elevated him though, he ate shit. So management has to decide whether or not they’re going to go out and get a bona fide middle six center that will play on the third line but can also jump up to the 2nd line when Woodcroft wants to send out the Super Twins together and doesn’t trust Nugent-Hopkins.

The big one here is Bouchard. He’s emerged as a top-pairing defenseman and alongside Ekholm they’ve supplanted $9M/yr Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci as the Oilers top pairing. If the Oilers want to lock him up long-term, and they should, will they prefer to get him done on a deal similar to Noah Dobson’s ($4m/yr x 3) or is Shea Theodore’s closer ($5.2M/yr x 7)? It’s a big jump from $863k anyway you cut it.

Trade Rumors

BLH’s Thoughts: Oilers bringing in Staios? What happened to Brad Holland or 99’s brother? Somebody’s got to bring me up to date on Staios? Not a lot of professional management experience there from what I can gather and with Brad Treliving available, Eric Tulsky, I imagine you’ll hear Brian Lawton’s name as well as Kevin Weeke’s, and Mathieu Darche out of Tampa, I just don’t know what makes Staios a better option for the season after next to lead the Oilers.