McDavid Questions Team Strategy After Loss

[TheJackBurton]

Oh, and they need to find a goalie upgrade (which will involve moving out one of their current goalies, Skinner or Pickard).

Is there an RFA contract they could off Joel Hofer that the Blues wouldn't be able (or want to) match?

Unable for the Blues to match? Not really. We have $5M in cap space plus Krug's contract on LTIR, so we have space to match a deal. We also have 22/23 roster spots filled, with backup goalie the only one empty. Sure we could use some upgrades, but after signing Hofer we are at a full roster. Like I mentioned the Oilers have $11.9M in cap space, but they need to fill four roster spots and one of them is Bouchard. Once he's signed they will have less space than the Blues with more roster spots to fill.

Could they offer a deal that the Blues don't want to match? That's entirely possible since they are desperate for a goalie solution, and the Blues have a starting goalie at the moment and a young goalie behind Hofer in Ellis (not to mention ties to the top FA goalie in Allen). I think the Blues preference is to sign Hofer, but they aren't in a position of desperation like the Oilers are. The Oilers don't have their 1st round pick in 2026 so they can't go beyond the 2nd round pick level if they give Hofer an offer sheet, which maxes out at $4.68M. Would the Blues match that, or something slightly less than that instead of taking a 2nd round pick in 2026 (no idea how good the Oilers will be in 2026)? Will the Oilers be able to offer $4M to Hofer after they sign Bouchard, while still needing more forwards? I doubt it without moving other contracts first, which makes it even easier for the Blues to just match the offer sheet.

The more interesting question, and route, is what would you want from the Oilers if we traded Hofer to them? Are Savoie, Akey, or O'Reilly that appealing? I honestly don't know enough about them, but a RHD prospect like Akey would be welcomed, not sure if that would be enough (or too much, like I said, I don't know much about them). Would they trade a player like RNH for Hofer plus something? Would RNH waive his NMC? Would we want a (just turned) 32 year old signed for four more years instead of young talent? He seems like a pretty ideal short to medium term solution for 2C if we really want to compete in the next few years instead of waiting for our young players to mature.

RNH doesn't really play center anymore he plays wing mainly. Now does that mean he couldn't? I'm not sure, but basically he hasn't played center in 2-3 seasons because of Drai and McDavid.

[Pink Freud]

I don't get all the McHaters; last time I checked, hockey is not basketball, where you can have two superstars on the court handling the ball for the entire game. You need team depth, and great (not really good) goaltending, and the Oilers didn't have either. Yet, 28 other NHL teams would have killed to appear in back to back Finals.

Besides, seriously: Would any current NHL team have beaten the Panthers? They're perfectly constructed for playoff games, and they all bought into Paul Maurice's system, backed by a world-class goalie.

I wonder how Edmonton would have prevailed had Leon Draisaitl spent more time in front of the net, capturing rebounds and tip-ins, instead of camping out all game long in the right faceoff circle with a sharp angle toward the goalie's short side.

I hope for the Oilers' sake they bid adieu to penalty magnet Evander Kane, who just embarrassed himself and the organization all postseason long.

[HighStick]

The Cats will 3peat.

[Bacchk29]

The Cats will 3peat.

They won’t if the League finally starts calling the games the same way they do in the regular season. I’m not holding out hope though.

[rbirules]

The Cats will 3peat.

They won’t if the League finally starts calling the games the same way they do in the regular season. I’m not holding out hope though.

Yeah, I don't think they are going to suddenly reverse a decades long trend.

[Cardsfanforlife]

The Cats will 3peat.

be nice to see, but not sure they can keep the roster pieces together enough for that to be a possibility.