John Shannon on the Oilers expectations in the playoffs and the Canucks off-season plans
NHL Analyst John Shannon joined the guys to talk about the Oilers expectations with their 3 100 point players and if the Canucks end to the season is changing off-season expectations.
The Canucks will never be even a playoff team, let alone a contender, until they fix the defence. If you need top 3-5 goaltending just to be competitive with this kind of scoring, you're not good enough. If OEL comes back next year, that's going to create a huge issue with the cap and who knows what the status of Hronek is and if when he came back was playing at 100%. I don't care if they end up losing Pettersson, Hughes, Kuzmenko or anyone else. What matters is an eventual Stanley Cup. If they're just going to be a playoff team AT BEST with this group, it's time to reassess options and stop living this pipe dream.
Ekholm plays less minutes against easier competition, Nurse is still the number one. The Oilers now have a legit top four, so Nurse is getting a lighter load, but it is still the heaviest.
I don't think Jared McCann would score 30 goals if he's still in Vancouver. Also, Kraken's prospect pool isn't strong enough to bolster the team towards contender status in 3-4 years. Some of their key guys on the roster today are getting up there in age, and will be well passed their primes by the time Beniers and hopefully Wright are poised to enter their prime years.
7 Comments
The Canucks will never be even a playoff team, let alone a contender, until they fix the defence. If you need top 3-5 goaltending just to be competitive with this kind of scoring, you're not good enough. If OEL comes back next year, that's going to create a huge issue with the cap and who knows what the status of Hronek is and if when he came back was playing at 100%. I don't care if they end up losing Pettersson, Hughes, Kuzmenko or anyone else. What matters is an eventual Stanley Cup. If they're just going to be a playoff team AT BEST with this group, it's time to reassess options and stop living this pipe dream.
Ekholm plays less minutes against easier competition, Nurse is still the number one. The Oilers now have a legit top four, so Nurse is getting a lighter load, but it is still the heaviest.
Oilers Bruins Final
I think John forgot about the Oilers goaltending
I don't think Jared McCann would score 30 goals if he's still in Vancouver. Also, Kraken's prospect pool isn't strong enough to bolster the team towards contender status in 3-4 years. Some of their key guys on the roster today are getting up there in age, and will be well passed their primes by the time Beniers and hopefully Wright are poised to enter their prime years.
Always respect what Mr. Shannon has to say about the team. A true voice of reason in Van media!
Kings in 7.