FueltheFlames1075

I am curious if anyone watched the Avs or Blues games last year, after the trade deadline? The reason I ask is because obviously the Blues won the cup, and we all know how the Avs handled us. That being said, the Avs finished to post deadline schedule 11-8 I believe, and the Blues were 12-7. Not exactly tearing it up heading down the stretch, and they both had up and down seasons, then really turned it on in the playoffs. I am not saying we are either of those teams, but I’m sure their fans weren’t planning the parade heading in to the post season. I guess my point is that this is not the same team as last year (make-up wise), so we have no idea how they are going to perform/react to the post season. I am in the same boat that I don’t view the 2nd rounder(s) as much of a crazy loss, and I am willing to give this core and be more shot in the playoffs. If they crap the bed again down the stretch or in the playoffs, then the off-season is the time to move pieces out. Admittedly it’ll suck to lose out on the pick(s) Brodie would have fetched, however I’ll personally pay that price for one more shot with him as a part of the core. You can still trade him in the off-season for a lesser pick, to a team that wants to negotiate with him before FA. Obviously not ideal in hindsight if they go nowhere, but life is all about taking those chances.

I’ll be very interested to see if any of the Oilers players or ex-players who decided to spout off about the code, and what is “right” after the Tkachuk hits/non fight, will take the time to condemn this incident like they were so happy to do in the media before. If they do not, then it sure paints them as giant hypocrites. Guys like Kevin Bieksa, Ryan Kessler and others, who had no issues with throwing their two cents out there, better be at the forefront once again.

Where has this team been most of the season!? That looked a lot more like the team we grew accustomed to last year. Granted it’s one game, however they looked really good tonight.

I hate to say it, however I think this is definitely a lost season at this point. Regardless of tonight’s outcome, you just don’t see any passion from most of this team. You keep waiting for them to turn a corner, and show that they really are the team from last year. Maybe it’s time to accept that this is truly the team that they are. The question is why, with the talent that they seemingly have.

After all is said and done there are a couple of things that leave me annoyed. First and the smaller of the points is the coverage about how Kassian wanted to make Tkachuk wait and how that’s the game within the game. Somehow though, not a lot of people seemed to think how great of a job Tkachuk did of the exact same game within the game, in the previous matchup. I think he was far more masterful at that. Second and far more aggravating, is how much media coverage there is about the Giordano leg on leg hit on McDavid. Then at the same time there is not a single peep about Nurse cross checking Tkachuk square in the numbers and into the boards head first. That play is just as dangerous, if not more, however because it’s not McDavid and because Tkachuk didn’t throw a hissy fit about it, it’s not even mentioned at all. Its pretty despicable to me.

Tell me that this hit by Kassian does not look familiar, and make the whole situation a bit hypocritical. https://youtu.be/lXwK9KOB5As All of the aspects that Oiler fans are complaining about. Came down from his wing position, hit an already engaged opponent, when the opponent did not see him coming. I am not sure how to post the YouTube video directly. Any help?

Here’s a question that I think even Canucks fans would agree the answer is no to. Would you trade Rasmus Andersson for Sven Baertschi straight up now? It’s amazing what a few years does to change the perception of a trade. I remember it being critiqued at the time as losing a 1st round pick for a 2nd rounder, and now I would consider that flipped.

That’s a very good point. I figured it was way off.

I was thinking the same thing. What about the following trade? Brodie Frolik Jankowski 3rd round pick for Laine Beaulieu Is this an overpayment or not enough?

What’s the difference between having Lucic or Neal on the team though? Both will/would have played in the bottom 6, and Lucic will be the better fit there. Either way they were likely overpaying a bad contract.

This logic doesn’t make sense. I think we all can agree that Neal wasn’t going to play top 6 this year, in Calgary. He didn’t fit in the bottom 6 with his style, so we had no where to play him. So instead of paying Neal $5.75M to play in a bottom 6 role that he wouldn’t fit in, we pay Lucic $5.25M to play a bottom 6 role that he will fit in to. I agree it’s too much money to pay a bottom 6 guy, but we were going to be doing it either way. At least we have a better fit this way, and for $500,000 cheaper.

The only thing to consider, and the big question in this trade is, is James Neal a declining player as well, or was last year just a blip? Why is everyone so quick to assume that Neal just had an off year and give him credit that he’ll bounce back, while at the same time not giving Lucic the same benefit of the doubt? Maybe his last couple of years truly are a result of playing on a terrible Oilers team, and not being a good fit with their other players? We’re so quick to discount Lucic, when Neal really does carry the same risks.

Thanks for clarifying.

The other angle for the Aho contract is that it walks him right into UFA, does it not? How much AAV did he give up in order to get that, as well? When thinking about Tkachuk and other RFA’s, unless you’re planning on giving them the same opportunity, you should plan on the AAV to be higher than Aho’s.

Or maybe the blame lays with him for not pushing to make them give him games.