Dallas Eakins Fired

Something had to give, the first shoe has dropped and I assume the second won't be far behind. This group had enough time to turn this franchise around. All the high picks and opportunities and they are still a last place team. Time to get some proven leadership in the office and behind the bench. Sad for the Oilers fans.
 
I'm sorry, but Edmonton has turned into a total gong show. It just keeps getting worse and worse. Just when I figure they might be able to get things back on track, they keep derailing it further.

What I don't really understand is why Eakins was given the vote of confidence 10 days ago in a press conference (which MacT basically said nothing substantial too), and then fire Eakins today. Totally looks like a bush move.

MacT isn't going to make a lick of difference behind the bench, and for that matter any new rookie head coach. How will he light a fire under these guys that have guaranteed contracts? Threaten to trade them? Most of the players would welcome that. Bench them? They won't care, they still get their money and probably go party every night and have a good time.

Trade for some veteran leadership? Wait, wasn't it MacT that showed Hemsky and Horcoff the door as soon as he became GM? Handed the keys to the kids and booted loyal vets to the curb. Yeah, any vet is going to look forward to playing for this organization and give it their 100%.

You can be sure Fasth is going to sign elsewhere, and same with Scrivens the following year, unless they totally overpay for them to stay. Overpaying Pouliot, Nikitin, and Fayne look like awesome moves, don't they???

Purcell, Perron probably feeling the same. Yakupov might look for big money and more ice time in the KHL.

Even if Edm wins the lottery, and McDavid will solve everything. Heard that song and dance 5 years ago.

And then RNH is #2C? Draisaitl is #3C? $6M for a #2C, and demote your #2C to #3C checking role, which is what you want a top 4 pick to develop into. Totally made sense to keep Draisaitl up and burn a year of his ELC.

But this was all because of MacT thinking that Gagner was expendable. And that they could sign a UFA #2C to fill that void. Don't know what was the rush to get that trade done before July 1. Plus totally over estimated Mark Arcobello's ability. If they thought he could be the back up plan for the #2C (based on small sample size), they dropped the ball on that.
 
And the Oilers' problems are now SOLVED!!!!

:duh: :|

Because MacT was soooooooooo successful in his previous 8 year run as coach of the Oilers (and, yes, I do remember the Cup run).

:rolleyes:
 
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newfiecomicguy1 said:
Something had to give, the first shoe has dropped and I assume the second won't be far behind. This group had enough time to turn this franchise around. All the high picks and opportunities and they are still a last place team. Time to get some proven leadership in the office and behind the bench. Sad for the Oilers fans.
Click to expand...

some reports had Kevin Lowe wanting to resign or take a leave of absence in early 2014, but Katz refused.

Dunno why. Maybe forcing Lowe to clean up the mess before he gets the boot?

Also supposedly, Edm was going to draft Ryan Murray 1st overall, but ownership nixed it and said to take Yakupov. Made no sense to have a 1st overall pick playing on the 2nd line. And I'm sure the player would not be content in that role.

I really don't know what Edmonton can do but to clean house from top to bottom. The re-build failed badly. Time to blow it up and re-start. Otherwise it'll happen later anyway b/c Hall, Eberle, RNH, Schultz, Yakupov won't re-sign and a traded will be forced. What would be even more unfortunate is if they keep them and try to re-sign them, and all of them leave as UFAs, and Edm gets nothing in return.

The only player I would keep is Nurse b/c he's a dman, and hasn't had any years on his ELC used up. Develop him properly. Finish junior, go to the AHL for a couple of years, then the NHL. Build from the back end out. Move players to land defensemen like Hanafin, Werenski, and Kylington in this year's draft. Hope Provorov or Zboril drop to the 2nd r. They take longer to develop properly, so let each finish junior go to the AHL or college.

Use the 1st to draft McDavid/Eichel. Next year go after Auston Matthews. But only thing, he's a C too. Either one needs to be converted to wing. Or Draisaitl should be traded for a winger prospect.

If the locker room environment isn't completely cancerous (with player attitudes), keep Hall, Eberle, Perron. RNH and Yakupov will have to be traded. Trade for hard working vets preferably from former championship/successful teams. Have more players with championship attitude vs young party boys. Bolland, Boyes, and Bjugstad for Yakupov and Arcobello?

RNH to Carolina for their 1st r pick? Draft Hanafin.

Wish I had more optimistic stuff to say to Oilers fans.
 
I first read this thread's title as "Dallas Eakins FREED," which would also be accurate. None of this is his mess, and I'm incredibly sorry his future will be tainted by this.

tiger tiger said:
some reports had Kevin Lowe wanting to resign or take a leave of absence in early 2014, but Katz refused.
Click to expand...

You can tell someone they can't resign?
 
Their problem starts with the owner. He continues to let his old Oilers idols like Lowe and Mactavish run the show when they are clearly inept. Until he starts bringing in the right people to run the team they will go no where.
 
When it comes to the Oilers, the ego and hubris of the management 'team' is palpable. Only the media has spent the past few years hiding the problems, by painting disgruntled players as "disloyal", or "a cancer in the room". There have been many opportunities to make this team better, but usually, Lowe's ego has gotten in the way. Anyone remember the Mike Comrie for Cory Perry trade, that Lowe shot down, as he thought Comrie owed him $1M? Yeah, then he trades Comrie for Jeff Woywitka, and Comrie KEPT the Money!!! How about Lowe being gifted Chris Pronger, and then claiming HE was the mastermind of that deal! Pronger wanted out 1 month into the season!! The team self destructed days after losing game 7 of the SCF. How about Sheldon Souray? Breaks his hand in a fight with Iginla, and Lowe tells the team doctors to clear him to play. Souray refuses, so Lowe banishes him to the minors, while claiming he's "a cancer in the locker room, and we don't want him near our young players". Interestingly enough, these three players are considered public enemies #1, 2, and 3 to Oilers fans. I still love the gift basket and grovelling to Dany Heatley to convince him to come to Edmonton, while letting Glencross walk for less to the Flames. Anyone think how much better the Oilers would be with Glencross and Horcoff in the lineup? Think on that, Oiler fans, while ol' SIX RINGS is still pulling the strings in Oil Country...
 
The_IceBox said:
I first read this thread's title as "Dallas Eakins FREED," which would also be accurate. None of this is his mess, and I'm incredibly sorry his future will be tainted by this.



You can tell someone they can't resign?
Click to expand...

Yup. If I am correct, you can refuse a letter of resignation and require the other party to fulfil the obligations to the standards of the contract agreement. If the other party does not provide a good reason on why they are breaking that contract (illness, etc), the other party could sue for breach of contract and sue for damages (damaging corporate image, etc).

http://www.coppernblue.com/2014/1/2...fers-to-go-katz-protects-mate-fans-lose-again

On Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman dropped the following news bomb (the good stuff starts at 18:36):

It was a wild week in Edmonton, obviously, and I tried to reach out to Kevin Lowe today but the Oilers said that he had declined several media requests during the week so he wasn't going to take this one. But Ron, what I believe has happened this week is that with all of the craziness going around the team Kevin Lowe offered to either take a sabbatical or step away from the Oilers if they felt that that would calm things down in the market and in the city. And I understand that offer was rejected by the owner Daryl Katz.
 
Personally I would give Babcock ANY amount he wanted and go from there.
I cant remember any team getting so many pieces and still sucking!


The old saying is that:
The fish stinks from the head down.

Could not be more appropriate in this instance
 
tiger tiger said:
On Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman dropped the following news bomb (the good stuff starts at 18:36):

It was a wild week in Edmonton, obviously, and I tried to reach out to Kevin Lowe today but the Oilers said that he had declined several media requests during the week so he wasn't going to take this one. But Ron, what I believe has happened this week is that with all of the craziness going around the team Kevin Lowe offered to either take a sabbatical or step away from the Oilers if they felt that that would calm things down in the market and in the city. And I understand that offer was rejected by the owner Daryl Katz.
Click to expand...

I think is this the most telling part of this whole thing. Only a moron would give a promotion to a guy who's got the track record of Kevin Lowe as a hockey executive.
 
Taylor Hall is next on the trading block... Just read it on The Score App. Hall's Off-Ice antics are leaving a bad taste on his teammates. The article doesn't go into details but... when I talked to a few cab drivers after the Oilers game during the past 2 years, Hall is known to party late until 4am in the morning, spit on cab drivers, rude, arrogant punk. A lot of the stuffs don't make it to the press.

Hoping MacT clean up the locker room and change the culture starting tomorrow.
 
Seriously? ... Wow !

HighEndPlease said:
Taylor Hall is next on the trading block... Just read it on The Score App. Hall's Off-Ice antics are leaving a bad taste on his teammates. The article doesn't go into details but... when I talked to a few cab drivers after the Oilers game during the past 2 years, Hall is known to party late until 4am in the morning, spit on cab drivers, rude, arrogant punk. A lot of the stuffs don't make it to the press.

Hoping MacT clean up the locker room and change the culture starting tomorrow.
Click to expand...
 
I heard that too. and it's not just Hall. A couple of "party" boys.

Not totally uncommon, but some maturity needed. Seguin and P. Kane also like to have a pretty good time. Same with Richards/Carter.

With that said, it's been going on for awhile, so it's not like MacT doesn't know what's going on. That's what "veteran leadership" is for. It was naive to think that 22 year guys with $6M multi year contracts didn't need some sort of guidance.

You get rid of the vets who show the young guys how to be "pros", and hand the keys to the bus to the kids and leave them to their own devices, how do you think it's going to turn out?

I think MacT is going to do squat. He won't be able to if the owners don't give him the authority to "clean house" either.
 
Hall, literally, stepped in between a buddy and his girlfriend and started to hit on her. It ended in a fight not long after. Hall is not the type of guy I would want to build around as a cornerstone piece.

The only thing I can assume is that Katz just wants to be around the glory days Oilers. I feel bad for Oilers fans because there can be zero confidence that real changes will be made.

They need to clear out the front office, and they need to fire the scouting staff, at least on the amateur side. Their draft record beyond the first round is historically bad. It boggles the mind that they have not completely cleaned out that department.

The Islanders can move over, there is a new laughing stock in the NHL.
 
There are so many problems here that there really is nowhere to even begin.

This is clearly a rudderless ship. As much as McT wants to push all the blame onto his predecessors he's the one that brought in a young coach with no NHL experience to interview for an assistant job, fell in love and offered him the head coaching job and then fired his existing coach via Skype. Class move.

I think even the most casual fan understands that winning teams are built from the middle out - give me centers, physical defensemen that are tough to play against and a solid goaltender. This team has been drafting at the top of the board for years and has none of that - RNH could be in the future but he's clearly not ready to take on the #1 role (and there is no way a decent franchise would expect him too).

How many defenseman do they have that would even make the Blackhawks roster? Is Fasth/Scrivens anything more than a solid backup? Scrivens is 28 but Fasth is over 30, not exactly a long term solution. Ference was a good signing (maybe the only one - but he's no spring chicken either), but he's pissed and hates it there - he can tell they are running into the ground and fast

You can say that they got a little bit unlucky with their drafts - that there was never a franchise defeseman at the top of the heap...fine. But get creative and trade for a guy - could they have moved Hall for the #1 pick last year? I have no idea but Ekblad would have certainly helped at least fill the cupboards.

In 2007 this club had THREE first round picks - THREE! They walked away with Gagner, Riley Nash and Alex Plante. Just go scan through their draft picks and it won't take you long to figure out why there are in this mess - facts are facts. Edmonton is always going to be a tough free agent draw, how many Mrs Johnny Superstars would choose Edmonton over SoCal? Probably not many. So you better hit the draft hard...this is just awful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Edmonton_Oilers_draft_picks

But at least they are going to correct that now - McT is going to coach a coach instead of heading to eastern Canada to scout the World Juniors - welcome to another five years of rebuild...at best.
 
timber09 said:
In 2007 this club had THREE first round picks - THREE! They walked away with Gagner, Riley Nash and Alex Plante. Just go scan through their draft picks and it won't take you long to figure out why there are in this mess - facts are facts. Edmonton is always going to be a tough free agent draw, how many Mrs Johnny Superstars would choose Edmonton over SoCal? Probably not many. So you better hit the draft hard...this is just awful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Edmonton_Oilers_draft_picks

But at least they are going to correct that now - McT is going to coach a coach instead of heading to eastern Canada to scout the World Juniors - welcome to another five years of rebuild...at best.
Click to expand...


Yeah...hindsight is 20/20 but there is a definite problem with scouting and/or development.

Voracek, Couture, McDonagh, and Shattenkirk all drafted after Gagner.

Pacioretty, Backlund, and Perron (!) drafted after Plante and Nash. There's Cherapanov too but that was unfortunate what happened.


Plus I'm not sure if the GM's have been ignorant to the fact the Edmonton is one of the least popular destinations for UFAs.

So it totally baffled my mind when the high draft picks were put into the NHL right away, and given monster contracts as their bridge contracts to get a year or 2 of UFA years.

Part of it is a philosophical problem. When they got rid of the vets completely.

If you had Hemsky still and he was your #1 RW, then Eberle would be #2RW and paid accordingly. Also, there would be no rush to bump Eberle into the #1 spot b/c of lack of better options. Repeat with Hall and RNH. Schultz too. This year is Draisaitl.

You look at organizations like Detroit who don't rush their prospects. Plus they have done well over the years in scouting that they have a lot of organizational depth. So roster spots have to be "won" not given.

You can be sure that a prospect like Mantha will go through the usually detroit route. Finish off junior and dominate there. Go to the AHL, and get a couple of seasons under your belt. Get call ups for their 9 game stints each year to give the a taste of the NHL. And if they're putting up a PPG in the A, they get their shot at the big leagues at training camp. By then, the player is 22 when they just start in the NHL and isn't a UFA until they are 30. You're paying the player for when they are NHL ready. Edmonton has been paying top dollar for the player's development.

Given the gong show it has been, I don't know if any of the big named players in Edmonton will re-sign after their contract is done. They'll be UFAs. Edm will try to sign them beforehand, but will need to have a firm answer in the the 2nd last year of their contracts. Eberle will be first in the 2017-18 season. 3 years from now. If he declines, and is traded away for a draft pick and prospects, what is the likeliness that Hall will stick around when he's asked the following year? And then RNH?

In 3 years, this team isn't going to look like a contender. Eberle could see that there are strides in the right direction but he'll be 27 at the time, and will have to decide if he can wait a few more years to wait for the team to be a winner, assuming that it is even on the horizon.

If you wait, then you risk losing Eberle for nothing, Hall might get a 1st R back, and maybe something for RNH. In 2 years the whole core will be gutted and this "re-build" is finished.
 

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