Lack Of Buy In?

I was browsing the internet on this very eventful Friday, and found an interesting piece regarding the Edmonton Oilers. The source is ESPN, but before you roll your eyes and tune me out, keep in mind that the network has a terrific online crew for their NHL coverage. I’ll always give them that. Pierre LeBrun, a very legit hockey insider, tackled the question of what was wrong in Edmonton. What’s inside may surprise you.

LeBrun picked the Oilers to make the playoffs this season, and to the surprise of no one he is sticking to that prediction. It’s only four games, and even with people like myself starting to worry, Pierre isn’t just yet.

The thing that caught my mind however, was a quote from an eastern conference executive who was asked by LeBrun what the problem with the Oilers is. He gave two reasons. One totally feeds into the fans in Edmonton, and the other one might surprise you a little bit…

I spoke with a team executive on an Eastern Conference team and this was his assessment:

• Aside from Jordan Eberle and Sam Gagner, who hasn’t played yet because of injury, he thought the team’s young forwards aren’t fully committed to becoming complete players. They’re not paying the price to play a 200-foot game. He said that’s especially noticeable on a team where the blue line, aside from Justin Schultz — whom he refers to as a “stud” — has “neither depth nor dimension.”
• He thought the Oilers were in “denial” about Devan Dubnyk, who he doesn’t believe has the goods to be a No. 1 netminder

Let’s start with the point that a lot of people have thrown out there, and that’s Devan Dubnyk. I’ll take the side that I’ve been on since the start, and that is that Dubnyk isn’t the problem here. LeBrun agreed in the article. Dubnyk had two really bad games, I’ll be the first one to admit that, but he looked good on Thursday night.

Dubnyk is playing behind a team that really hasn’t been able to gel, and still has an average at best defense. It’s tough to blame him for a two-on-one coming his way, or for Ryan Smyth blowing his defensive coverage on a penalty kill. Yes, Dubnyk started rough, but over time he has proven to be an NHL level starter.

The other point, the one about players buying in, is extremely interesting and really caught my eye. To say guys like RNH, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov aren’t committed to becoming complete players is a statement that will no doubt bring about debate among Oilers fans and bloggers.

It’s a legit question, one that must be answered player by player. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, in my mind, has done everything he can to become a complete player. His defensive play is miles ahead of where it was his rookie year, and his scoring is pretty good as well. He’s a legit top line center, and is showing it on the ice. In my mind, this executive is way off base with the Nuge.

Taylor Hall has been frustrating to watch this season, and there is no doubt he is frustrated with the way the season has started. That being said, Hall is one of the best young players in the game today, and is arguably the top left winger out there right now. He’s struggled at the start of the season, but I’m not going to question Hall.

He’s not the best defensive forward out there, but Hall is far and away the best Oilers forward when it comes to offense and creating chances.

Nail Yakupov, well I think this executive might have a point here. Nail has been put in a bad spot, I’ll fully admit that. He’s playing on the third line and isn’t exactly playing with terrific offensive line mates. Yakupov is trying to make things happen all by himself. He’s not creating any offense because he’s attempting to dangle everyone and do it by himself. That doesn’t work at this level, and as a result the offense isn’t coming for him.

On top of that, he’s been caught out of position way too many times, and has looked pretty bad to this point. He hasn’t bought into a complete game, that much is clear, and the executive has a point regarding Yakupov. He needs to be much better if he wants to help the Oilers. That said, Nail is a terrific player and I’m confident he will figure it out.

Sam Gagner, we can’t say because he hasn’t played yet, but buy-in isn’t an issue with him. As for Eberle, I question him just a little bit. He hasn’t been able to generate much offense on the score sheet to this point and his defensive game has been ‘meh’. He’s been avoiding physical play too, and has been giving up the puck a little too much.

I’m not saying trade Yakupov or trade Eberle, I’m not, but what I’m saying here is that this eastern conference executive might have a point. Some of these Oilers youngsters haven’t molded into complete players. Is it a lack of buy-in? I’m not sure, but it’s a very interesting question to ask.

LeBrun concludes his article saying that he thinks Eakins will gain control of this team and end up leading them to the playoffs. I, as of right now, agree with Pierre, but the turnaround must start on the road trip.

Is there a lack of buy in with the Oilers? It’s a question to ponder….