Stuff and Things – Oilers Edition

I haven’t written in months, it feels like years and I know some of you were quite happy about not having to read through my garbled blogs. But, I’m back. HA.

When I first started blogging I created a little wordpress site called Rustyknuckler’s Stuff and Things. I thought I’d use it to write about hockey and whatever else held my interest at the time, and the title of the blog came from a commonly asked question, “Dave, what are you doing?” and my reply, “Stuff……and things” Basically an answer that encompasses many things, and made me sound busy to the bosses. So this new weekly, or as close to weekly as my time will allow, blog won’t be about one specific subject. It will be about what ever subject or subjects relating to the Oilers or hockey in general are floating my boat at that particular time. So without anymore babble let’s get started.

Stuff

First I’d like to welcome and thank our two newest writers at the site; Megan F (aka @Mig14 on twitter), and Trin Potratz (aka @potratzhockey). They’ve both done great so far, their writing styles are unique and informative, make sure you check out their work and leave a comment letting them know what you think.

Secondly, along with the writers mentioned above, I’m very proud to be involved with everyone here at theoilersrig.com, and felt very honored when I found out that the site has been nominated for a Yeggie award. The Rig is a hobby for the majority of us, and to be nominated for such an esteemed award is far beyond anything I would have ever imagined for this site. A huge thank you goes out to all of you who keep coming back to read our opinions on our favourite team.

Ok, back to hockey.

About a month ago Craig MacTavish said that he expects to see about 80% of this years team back in the fold next season. EXCUSE ME?!? That means only 4 new members on this team next season. This 28th place team. If that is the expectation of the general manager then I suspect our expectation should be another season sitting at or near the bottom of the western conference.

This team needs many changes to become competetive, I’d say with confidence that the Oilers need to add a number 1 goalie, a number 1 and 2 defenceman, a 2nd/3rd line center and a 2nd line power forward. That’s 5 new faces right there, add to that the novel idea of buying out a guy like Nikita Nikitan, and trading away the charmin ultra-soft Teddy Purcell and we’re up to 7. If this organization thinks that players like Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl are going to step in next season and be difference makers then that again constitutes a major problem in managerial thinking.

Things

Craig MacTavish is not a good GM, plain and simple. His ability to recognize talent, what will and what will not help the Oilers become a successful team, is flawed. It isn’t all on him or is it? Much has been written about the professional scouting staff for the Oilers and they’re poor talent evaluation, but let’s face facts, MacT is the one that listens to his advisors, takes their opinions into account and then ultimately makes the final decision. If the GM isn’t able to realize that the information he is receiving is flawed then that is a major problem.

When Craig was hired I was optimistic. I liked what he had done, gone and got a degree, some more experience in the minors with the Chicago Wolves, a short stint with the Oilers in a consultant role, all things that should have played a role in Craig being successful in as an NHL GM. But, all of this practical experience hasn’t seemed to have had a positive impact in his decision making abilities.

Think of it like baseball, MacT steps up to the plate on his first swing he wants to hit one out of the park and add an associate coach for Ralph Krueger. Instead a skype call later Kreuger is out and Eakins is in…..Swing and a miss strike one.

Next it’s time to add a second line center, you know a position the team is very weak at. Drafts Leon Draisaitl, doesn’t sign one of the many decent free agent options on the market. Whoosh, strike two.

Ok, let’s look at this teams defensive depth. It’s ok right? Justin Schultz has Norris Trophy written all over him (possibly literally, in sharpie), Nikitan is a top 4 NHL defenseman. Boom Strike three looking, Ump with a glorious punch out.

MacT has made a few decent moves, but the bad far outweighs the good. The signings of Pouliot and Fayne weren’t terrible, trading Dubnyk for Hendricks was ok too (hindsight being what it is). But overall he deserves an F for his work so far. I can only hope that Vice-Chairman of the Oilers Entertainment group Bob Nicholson comes to the conclusion that the GM position needs to be upgraded, It doesn’t take a lot of digging to come to that realization, this forensic audit should have him shouting this finding from the rooftops of Katz Tower.

Other Things

One thing we’ve prided ourselves on doing here at the Oilers Rig is fundraising for great causes. These efforts are continuing, as I’m riding in the MS Johnson bike tour this year with the Battered Piles team. It’s going to be quite the challenge as I’ll be riding my bike 180km over two days, something I’ve not even come close to doing in my training so far. Anyhow I’ve set a goal to be one of the top 10 individual fundraisers for this years event and right now I’m sitting in 7th spot. I’m also only $40 from my original cash goal of $3000. I can’t reach these goals without your help, if you would like to donate please do so by clicking the banner image below.

Also as a quick update, I pledged at the start of the season that I would donate $5 for each goal the Oilers scored this season, this total now sits at $865 with 9 games to go. Here’s hoping for an offensive outburst in the days to come.

Thanks for Reading