Hibernia wrote on Thu, 10 June 2021 07:02

clutchlikeeberle wrote on Wed, 09 June 2021 21:24 Zero need to complain about this. Zero. If by October it's the only signing yes. But right now this is just some house keeping. Lord God. I can come up with a whole whack of reasons to complain about this... 1) Shore was one of the worst forwards in the NHL last season on a GF/GA basis at 5-on-5 on a team that needs to improve it's 5-on-5 numbers. 1a) I only use that stat to show that Ken Holland has no idea what he's doing as he singled out GF/GA as his favourite analytical stat when asked about analytics last week. 2) Essentially, he's a replacement level player who was just signed for two years. 3) This is a player who Tippett himself wouldn't play in the first two games of the playoffs Yet, somehow was one of the trusted few when Tippett shortened his bench two games later. 3b) If Shore himself thought he was as good as Tippett and Holland does he wouldn't have signed a two year deal. He would be banking on himself to put up a better season and sign for more money. Another dumb move by an organization that hasn't made consecutive good ones since 2006. *Edit* If it's the only signing by October, than there is a whole lot more to complain about than this. This a molehill compared to the mountain of complaint that would (justifiably) generate.

Yeah, on the spectrum of Oilers mistakes, this is a pretty minor one.

That said, this is a really important summer for the team and this was a move that Ken Holland prioritized. He spoke about it at the year end press conference, and then it is the first thing he got done after the end of the season. That speaks some volumes.

The move this reminds me most of is Eric Gryba's last contract. He too was a healthy scratch in the playoffs, and like Shore, he was one of the first things the Oilers did that summer. He also got a two-year deal, and we heard a lot of similar defences at the time - it's not that bad, it's pretty cheap, it can be buried in the minors, he's a good soldier, he works hard, blah blah blah.

Those who complained about that deal were right to do so - he wasn't an NHLer for the bulk of that time and his buyout among of the stupidest moves of the Chia era (which is saying a lot).

http://oilfans.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&goto=696641& ;rid=1325&SQ=a1c66ada9dba278bf29f4e35a5698d1e#msg_696641

This isn't the move that sinks the 2021-22 Oilers, but it does not make the team better, and it should be concerning that a player who so clearly is among the league's worst is considered that important to the team. I think this is as much about him playing a lot of minutes (in a top-six role no less!) in a long overtime game that we lost as it is anything else he did.

"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireLowe #FireBobbyNicks #FireKenHolland #FireKeithGretzky