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 CrusaderPi
Messages: 8140
Registered: December 2003
Location: Downtown Edmonton
6 Cups
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| Adam wrote on Tue, 08 November 2022 15:32 |
| CrusaderPi wrote on Tue, 08 November 2022 14:50 |
I thought he was pretty good at the start of seasons until this one. I seem to remember us talking about how he was a good early year players because the game isn't as tough. Then, as we get into the stretch drive, he starts getting muscled out of the play more.
Of course he had a decent post season last year, so that theory got blown out of the water.
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Yeah, I think the hand-wringing about Yamamoto (and other mid-tier and bottom line scorers) is a bit overblown. Would we like more production from him? Sure, of course. But the fact is, we're 2nd in the league in goals for. Some goals for Yamamoto and Puljujarvi would be a nice to have, but it's hardly where we're lacking the most.
The bottom six is getting outscored again for sure, and so as we look to improve 5v5 play, that's a concern - the minus players on the team at forward are Puljujarvi, Holloway, Foegele, McLeod and Malone which is an indication that when the third and fourth lines are on the ice, they tend to get outscored. That said, I think the fact that McDavid and Draisaitl are only at +4 shows that the 5v5 weakness goes deeper than just the depth players. The Oilers are really only getting the job done on the powerplay, so it's not that surprising that the only players with stats to write home about are those who get a lot of PP minutes.
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The bottom 6 (8?) and their lack of production is a huge problem for the Oilers. We don't talk about it enough. Because they're being scored on AND not scoring it's telling me that their ice time is causing more defensive zone time which puts more pressure on the Oilers questionable defense and shaking tending. This is also putting more pressure on the big 2 (4?) to simply outscore the obvious problems.
We're getting to the point, and maybe beyond the point, where the Oilers are going to be better off walking away from the non-productive players who are no longer cheap. If their promise is not realized, what are they? What purpose do they serve? Why are they here? It was probably a mistake keeping both Puljujarvi and Yamamoto this season purely for cap reason. It neither of them perform to a level that helps take the pressure of the stars or the D, the Oilers need to cut bait.
Now if the 3 million dollar trio was a collective plus 5 and were on pace for ~20 goal each (~3 each right now). No one would have a problem. It's not a big ask, but it might be too big for the team we watch right now.
Please do not feed the bears. Feeding the bears creates a dependent population unable to survive on their own. Bears.
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