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- Thread starter Gronk!
- Start date
Jack Harris
New Member
Gus Haynes
Active Member
Look, I don't love every signing that Jeff Jackson made today, but at least the questionable ones were for low money (Perry & J. Brown), and locking up Arvidsson, Skinner, and Henrique for $10m is some nice business. The D is still a bit of a mess, but Jackson has given this team the best-looking forward group of the McDavid era. This is the type of July 1st I always wanted Ken Holland to give us.
Gronk!
Senior Member
I'm almost certain that Ceci or Kulak will be traded just for the sake of salary cap space. They still need to sign Holloway and Broberg.
Greenspace
Senior Member
Henrique on decision to stay:
Greenspace
Senior Member
2024-25 Schedule:
erudyk_29
Active Member
The Oilers free agency was fantastic in my opinion. They basically brought back everyone (except Foegele) and added some really good pieces on forward (Arvidsson and Skinner). There were only 2 moves I didn't really like:
Perry 1x 1.4 million, he was good in the regular season, but went ghost mode in the playoffs, I don't love the extra 0.4 here. 1 million would have been good.
Josh Brown 1x1, Josh Brown is not an NHL level player, how he got more than league minimum is beyond me. He's a number 7-8 D at best, with any luck he won't have to play a game.
The next priorities for the Oilers are locking up their RFAs (most notably, Holloway, Broberg and Lavoie, all who have a solid shot at making the opening night roster, Broberg and Holloway have already earned their spots IMO), then they need to turn their attention to the Leon contract, I'd like to see him signed before the start of 24-25 and I think it will happen. No one including Leon was really thinking about it earlier on considering the Oilers were in the Stanley Cup final until just a few days ago. Negotiations should start soon.
Here's how I see the Oilers lines shaking out
Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Holloway (or Skinner) - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Skinner (or Holloway) - MCleod - Kane (might be injured long-term)
Janmark - Henrique - Brown
This may be the best forward core in the entire league (in fact I think it almost certainly is), the Oilers 3rd line of Janmark - Henrique and Brown, which is a very, very good 3rd line is now the fourth line. I think there will be a bit of a competition at the start of the year between Holloway and Skinner for that left wing spot on Draisaitl's line.
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Broberg
Kulak - Ceci
Defense is essentially unchanged, I would have liked the Oilers to add a guy that might factor in to the top 6, but, there are no FA's left I that I like at that spot and I'm not sure the Oilers have the cap flexibility to add anyone. Despite Nurse and Ceci being pretty obviously the weakest links on the team, I don't think there's any realistic way of getting rid of and subsequently replacing one or both of them.
Skinner
Pickard
Goalies are the same again, Skinner is a starting goalie at this point. He's a very inconsistent one, but is a starter. Pickard looks to be a pretty reliable backup. I would like to see Skinner take a step next year, and I think (hope) he will. He still cost the Oilers more games than he stole, but put up decent enough numbers overall and was very clutch when the Oilers needed him to be.
Looking around the rest of league, this was one of the most interesting "Free Agent Frenzies" I've seen in a while. The last several years we've seen 4 or 5 big signings right when the FA period opened, essentially contracts that were negotiated under the table before the period started and then very little for the rest of the day. This Frenzy lived up to the name much more, with signing trickling in throughout the day.
The Draft:
Nothing too exciting at the Oilers draft as they have hardly any picks and don't really care about drafting at this point. However, I thought their first two picks were good.
Sam O'Reilly
The Oilers traded up for the final pick in the 1st round and got forward Sam O'Reilly. From everything I've heard and read, he's a very low risk, low reward player. He's doesn't have any kind of game breaking skill or talent, and no particular skill stands out for him. But he's very solid defensively, makes very few mistakes and is pretty close to NHL ready. His ceiling is a third line defensive center which I think is fine.
Eemil Vinni
Many are calling him the best goalie in the draft, which is very interesting. Goalies are so weird so its very hard to project what he might become but I do like the selection of a goaltender here. If he can turn into a future backup for Skinner, that would be excellent. As with most goalies, he will need a few mores years to develop than say a forward or defenseman.
I really like Jeff Jackson's first few days as interim GM. I would be happy to keep him as full time GM after this, the Oilers had one of the most successful Free Agencies in my opinion and made some solid draft choices with very little capital. I really hope the rumours of Stan Bowman as GM are not true, or won't come to fruition. Jackson has been great so far, and Bowman is not only one of the main culprits in covering up the whole Blackhawks scandle, but is also just not a very good general manager. Please do not bring in Bowman, even if it isn't Jackson, just please not Bowman.
Perry 1x 1.4 million, he was good in the regular season, but went ghost mode in the playoffs, I don't love the extra 0.4 here. 1 million would have been good.
Josh Brown 1x1, Josh Brown is not an NHL level player, how he got more than league minimum is beyond me. He's a number 7-8 D at best, with any luck he won't have to play a game.
The next priorities for the Oilers are locking up their RFAs (most notably, Holloway, Broberg and Lavoie, all who have a solid shot at making the opening night roster, Broberg and Holloway have already earned their spots IMO), then they need to turn their attention to the Leon contract, I'd like to see him signed before the start of 24-25 and I think it will happen. No one including Leon was really thinking about it earlier on considering the Oilers were in the Stanley Cup final until just a few days ago. Negotiations should start soon.
Here's how I see the Oilers lines shaking out
Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Holloway (or Skinner) - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Skinner (or Holloway) - MCleod - Kane (might be injured long-term)
Janmark - Henrique - Brown
This may be the best forward core in the entire league (in fact I think it almost certainly is), the Oilers 3rd line of Janmark - Henrique and Brown, which is a very, very good 3rd line is now the fourth line. I think there will be a bit of a competition at the start of the year between Holloway and Skinner for that left wing spot on Draisaitl's line.
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Broberg
Kulak - Ceci
Defense is essentially unchanged, I would have liked the Oilers to add a guy that might factor in to the top 6, but, there are no FA's left I that I like at that spot and I'm not sure the Oilers have the cap flexibility to add anyone. Despite Nurse and Ceci being pretty obviously the weakest links on the team, I don't think there's any realistic way of getting rid of and subsequently replacing one or both of them.
Skinner
Pickard
Goalies are the same again, Skinner is a starting goalie at this point. He's a very inconsistent one, but is a starter. Pickard looks to be a pretty reliable backup. I would like to see Skinner take a step next year, and I think (hope) he will. He still cost the Oilers more games than he stole, but put up decent enough numbers overall and was very clutch when the Oilers needed him to be.
Looking around the rest of league, this was one of the most interesting "Free Agent Frenzies" I've seen in a while. The last several years we've seen 4 or 5 big signings right when the FA period opened, essentially contracts that were negotiated under the table before the period started and then very little for the rest of the day. This Frenzy lived up to the name much more, with signing trickling in throughout the day.
The Draft:
Nothing too exciting at the Oilers draft as they have hardly any picks and don't really care about drafting at this point. However, I thought their first two picks were good.
Sam O'Reilly
The Oilers traded up for the final pick in the 1st round and got forward Sam O'Reilly. From everything I've heard and read, he's a very low risk, low reward player. He's doesn't have any kind of game breaking skill or talent, and no particular skill stands out for him. But he's very solid defensively, makes very few mistakes and is pretty close to NHL ready. His ceiling is a third line defensive center which I think is fine.
Eemil Vinni
Many are calling him the best goalie in the draft, which is very interesting. Goalies are so weird so its very hard to project what he might become but I do like the selection of a goaltender here. If he can turn into a future backup for Skinner, that would be excellent. As with most goalies, he will need a few mores years to develop than say a forward or defenseman.
I really like Jeff Jackson's first few days as interim GM. I would be happy to keep him as full time GM after this, the Oilers had one of the most successful Free Agencies in my opinion and made some solid draft choices with very little capital. I really hope the rumours of Stan Bowman as GM are not true, or won't come to fruition. Jackson has been great so far, and Bowman is not only one of the main culprits in covering up the whole Blackhawks scandle, but is also just not a very good general manager. Please do not bring in Bowman, even if it isn't Jackson, just please not Bowman.
erudyk_29
Active Member
For some fun offseason posting I thought it might be interesting to get everyone's thoughts on the Oilers Jersey History.
Here's how it shakes out for me:
We'll start at the bottom and work our way to the top:
F: The Oilers have two F tier jersey in their history in my eyes. These are the copper and navy home and away from the late 2000s/early 2010s. I hate piping in general on jerseys, the colour scheme is not my personal preference. It also bugs me to no end that there is arm striping is under the arm but not on the top of the arm. These jerseys suck and should never be brought back.
D: In D tier, is another from the copper/navy era, it's a big step up from the previous two, without the piping and weird arm striping. Still don't love it though.
C: This is the away jersey between 17-18 and 21-22. I was never really a fan of this era of Oilers jersey for one very specific reason and that is the highlighter orange, which looks not great with the navy and is very obvious and highlighted on this particular white jersey.
B:
The Reverse Retro 2.0: It's a good jersey, I like the cog logo and am glad they brought it back, but the highlighter orange brings it down quite a bit for me.
19-24 to 23-24 Navy Alternate: I like this one as well, and I think it did everything it needed to, but two-tone jerseys are tough as they are pretty much as boring and plain as you can get.
Original Copper/Navy Home: Another jersey I like, but it was a downgrade from what's come before and since, decent but not bad. The colour scheme overall is a bit too dark for me, with not enough contrast.
17-18 to 21-22 Orange Home: I didn't really like this one when it first came out, because of the highlighter orange, but looking back at highlights from a few years ago where they wore this, they actually looked pretty good on the ice.
A:
Reverse Retro 1.0: I really liked this one, and it was nice to see the darker orange and royal blue make a return in the middle of the Oilers highlighter Orange and Navy era. I was not entirely sold on the orange pants and gloves on the full uniform, but the jersey itself is awesome.
23 Heritage Classic: I think this jersey was everything it needed to be. I really liked the vintage vibe and tribute to the Mercury's, honestly, I would be a fan of keeping at least the logo from the uniform around (maybe as a secondary logo or for an alternate jersey). These were great and they looked great on the ice too. If the Oilers ever did a full rebrand (which I don't think they should) this would be what I would want them to go to.
Original Cog Jersey: I love the old cog, the logo is dynamic and modern, the striping looks great and the font is unique. It's also cool to see that the Oilers did do some experimentation with their brand in the past. Without the highlighter orange, this is an A tier jersey.
97-98 to 06-07 White: For some reason, this jersey looks great in white, and not so much in Navy in my opinion. Easily the best of the copper/navy era.
Current/Classic Dark: The Royal Blue, classic Oilers jersey is maybe the most iconic jersey in franchise history (though I think another jersey gives it a run for its money there). It looks great on the ice and just as a jersey. But it falls just short of the top tier for me.
S:
2017 "Orange Crush" Alternate: Unfortunately, this was only worn for two seasons at the end of Reebok and was phased out when Adidas came in. These were the first jerseys I watched the Oilers play in as I didn't become a fan until the 2017 playoff run. My fond memories of this one may be clouding my judgement a bit, but I think these are definitely the second best jersey in Oilers history (imho).
Current/Classic Light: The Oilers current white jersey, which was also worn during all those cup runs in the 80s is my personal favorite Oilers jersey ever. Probably the best white jersey in the NHL, and probably the most iconic uniform in franchise history. I usually like dark jerseys better, but for the Oilers, I like the white better for some reason.
So I guess I open the question to the floor, what is your favorite jersey/uniform in Oilers history? Or your least favorite?
Here's how it shakes out for me:
We'll start at the bottom and work our way to the top:
F: The Oilers have two F tier jersey in their history in my eyes. These are the copper and navy home and away from the late 2000s/early 2010s. I hate piping in general on jerseys, the colour scheme is not my personal preference. It also bugs me to no end that there is arm striping is under the arm but not on the top of the arm. These jerseys suck and should never be brought back.
D: In D tier, is another from the copper/navy era, it's a big step up from the previous two, without the piping and weird arm striping. Still don't love it though.
C: This is the away jersey between 17-18 and 21-22. I was never really a fan of this era of Oilers jersey for one very specific reason and that is the highlighter orange, which looks not great with the navy and is very obvious and highlighted on this particular white jersey.
B:
The Reverse Retro 2.0: It's a good jersey, I like the cog logo and am glad they brought it back, but the highlighter orange brings it down quite a bit for me.
19-24 to 23-24 Navy Alternate: I like this one as well, and I think it did everything it needed to, but two-tone jerseys are tough as they are pretty much as boring and plain as you can get.
Original Copper/Navy Home: Another jersey I like, but it was a downgrade from what's come before and since, decent but not bad. The colour scheme overall is a bit too dark for me, with not enough contrast.
17-18 to 21-22 Orange Home: I didn't really like this one when it first came out, because of the highlighter orange, but looking back at highlights from a few years ago where they wore this, they actually looked pretty good on the ice.
A:
Reverse Retro 1.0: I really liked this one, and it was nice to see the darker orange and royal blue make a return in the middle of the Oilers highlighter Orange and Navy era. I was not entirely sold on the orange pants and gloves on the full uniform, but the jersey itself is awesome.
23 Heritage Classic: I think this jersey was everything it needed to be. I really liked the vintage vibe and tribute to the Mercury's, honestly, I would be a fan of keeping at least the logo from the uniform around (maybe as a secondary logo or for an alternate jersey). These were great and they looked great on the ice too. If the Oilers ever did a full rebrand (which I don't think they should) this would be what I would want them to go to.
Original Cog Jersey: I love the old cog, the logo is dynamic and modern, the striping looks great and the font is unique. It's also cool to see that the Oilers did do some experimentation with their brand in the past. Without the highlighter orange, this is an A tier jersey.
97-98 to 06-07 White: For some reason, this jersey looks great in white, and not so much in Navy in my opinion. Easily the best of the copper/navy era.
Current/Classic Dark: The Royal Blue, classic Oilers jersey is maybe the most iconic jersey in franchise history (though I think another jersey gives it a run for its money there). It looks great on the ice and just as a jersey. But it falls just short of the top tier for me.
S:
2017 "Orange Crush" Alternate: Unfortunately, this was only worn for two seasons at the end of Reebok and was phased out when Adidas came in. These were the first jerseys I watched the Oilers play in as I didn't become a fan until the 2017 playoff run. My fond memories of this one may be clouding my judgement a bit, but I think these are definitely the second best jersey in Oilers history (imho).
Current/Classic Light: The Oilers current white jersey, which was also worn during all those cup runs in the 80s is my personal favorite Oilers jersey ever. Probably the best white jersey in the NHL, and probably the most iconic uniform in franchise history. I usually like dark jerseys better, but for the Oilers, I like the white better for some reason.
So I guess I open the question to the floor, what is your favorite jersey/uniform in Oilers history? Or your least favorite?
IanO
Superstar
A bet's a bet.
Greenspace
Senior Member
It I was a Councillor I wouldn't want to be in that photo. But I guess they can't resist. 
IanO
Superstar
TAS
Senior Member
I don't see how the Oilers were going to afford Debrusk.
Louie spoke today and said Canucks were at top of Jake's list from the get go.
Tocchet and him are good buddies.
Greenspace
Senior Member
"I wanted to go to a competitive team" You wanted to do a what now?!
MacLac
Senior Member
If I were a Kings fan……I’d know he’s just spewing BS cause he HAS to say something positive about the franchise…..but c’mon Warren! You’re better than that!
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kcantor
Senior Member
To be fair, their record last year was 44 - 27 - 11 for 99 points and third in the division (tied for 7th in the conference and tied for 10th in the league) which surely has to be considered competitive.
Noting of course that "competitive" doesn't necessarily translate to "winning" once the season is over...
