Oilers Lament: Have They Recovered From August 2024 Disaster?

[a smell of green grass]

It’s funny to ponder how screwed the Oilers are without Holloway and Broberg—until you look at your own backyard. The Oilers made it to the Finals without them. How screwed woukd St Louus be?!! We alteady had one of the okdest defenses with Broberg.

Suter skewed that number. Nobody is over the hill back there

Reports suggest the St. Louis Blues have an aging defensive core compared to other NHL teams. For the 2024-2025 season, one of their defensemen, Ryan Suter, was the oldest active defenseman in the NHL at 40 years old.
Other defensemen on the Blues roster for the 2024-2025 season included:
Colton Parayko: 31 years old
Cam Fowler: 33 years old
Justin Faulk: 32 years old
Torey Krug: His contract ended after the 2024-25 season.
Nick Leddy: At the end of his contract in 2024-2025, and subsequently placed on waivers.
While the Blues did have some younger prospects like Logan Mailloux (22), and Tyler Tucker (24) on the roster, the core of their defense was relatively older compared to other teams. The team is aware of this and has been working to address the situation in the off-season.

A simple Google AI search reveals ASOGG is correct again.

For homework, give thought to how screwed the Blues would be without Holloway and Broberg.

For extra credit, give thought to which GM would you rather have?
a) the GM that has so much talent on the bench that 2 players can be stolen and you still make it to the Cup Finals.
b) the GM that has such a weak roster that when he steals 2 of another team's bench, those 2 are the best young players in the NHL and AHL. Further, the roster would be a train wreck without the 2 young players.

Hint: The GM to WANT is the one that knows how to build a roster using traditional means, aka the DRAFT. The GM to NOT WANT is the one that must steal from other rosters to create a team.

[theograce]

It’s funny to ponder how screwed the Oilers are without Holloway and Broberg—until you look at your own backyard. The Oilers made it to the Finals without them. How screwed woukd St Louus be?!! We alteady had one of the okdest defenses with Broberg.

Suter skewed that number. Nobody is over the hill back there

Reports suggest the St. Louis Blues have an aging defensive core compared to other NHL teams. For the 2024-2025 season, one of their defensemen, Ryan Suter, was the oldest active defenseman in the NHL at 40 years old.
Other defensemen on the Blues roster for the 2024-2025 season included:
Colton Parayko: 31 years old
Cam Fowler: 33 years old
Justin Faulk: 32 years old
Torey Krug: His contract ended after the 2024-25 season.
Nick Leddy: At the end of his contract in 2024-2025, and subsequently placed on waivers.
While the Blues did have some younger prospects like Logan Mailloux (22), and Tyler Tucker (24) on the roster, the core of their defense was relatively older compared to other teams. The team is aware of this and has been working to address the situation in the off-season.

A simple Google AI search reveals ASOGG is correct again.

For homework, give thought to how screwed the Blues would be without Holloway and Broberg.

For extra credit, give thought to which GM would you rather have?
a) the GM that has so much talent on the bench that 2 players can be stolen and you still make it to the Cup Finals.
b) the GM that has such a weak roster that when he steals 2 of another team's bench, those 2 are the best young players in the NHL and AHL. Further, the roster would be a train wreck without the 2 young players.

Hint: The GM to WANT is the one that knows how to build a roster using traditional means, aka the DRAFT. The GM to NOT WANT is the one that must steal from other rosters to create a team.

31 years old playing for Team Canada. Don’t be dumb

[dr0zombie]

I doubt Edmonton fans get over this anytime soon and this is probably going to be the biggest offer sheet win for a few decades.

It was a bit of impressive mistake by Edmonton. They expected career rebounds from Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson and Adam Henrique while ignoring (I would say disregarding) the emerging cost controlled players they had. It was confusing at the time that they would bet on several players who just didn't pan out on multiple teams. Their management team just screwed that up completely. The Blues management was observant and bold in their actions.

It is also fair to say that those two might have been the missing pieces for a cup win this year. Just in number of games played and visible effort Edmonton was clearly not the better team this yar. I have to feel like Holloway would have really made a difference for them.