YOU BE THE BOSS
Time to move Eberle, Oilers fans say
When Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli traded Taylor Hall for defenceman Adam Larsson last year, there was near outrage in the city.
If Chiarelli decides to do the same with Jordan Eberle and/or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins this coming season, it won’t be anywhere near the same reaction.
While Chiarelli indicated at the annual state of the union address Tuesday he was likely to continue next year with his other two inherited first round US$6 million-per-season draft picks Eberle and The Nuge, the 3,348 respondents to this year’s You Be The Boss post-season poll aren’t going to have a problem if he makes a similar move. Especially with Eberle.
It was Question No. 1 on the survey: “Should the Oilers trade Jordan Eberle, Ryan NugentHopkins or both?”
A total of 2,162 respondents (65 per cent) said “Yes” to Eberle and an additional 657 (20 per cent) said “Yes” to both while only 314 (nine per cent) answered “No, neither.”
By far, that was the hot button question on the survey that followed the 103-point season in which the Oilers made the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons and went to Game 7 of the second round.
The survey featured unprecedented high percentages for most players in the “Keep him” and “Give him a raise” categories compared to “Let him go.”
Eberle topped all in “Let him go” voting at 87 per cent, tied with season-long doghouse resident Benoit Pouliot.
Mark Fayne (91 per cent) and Matt Hendricks and David Desharnais (both 74 per cent) were the only other Oilers the fans wanted to see outta here.
Nugent-Hopkins recorded a 74 per cent “Keep him.”
The You Be The Boss survey was astounding in terms of player popularity.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Cam Talbot and Oscar Klefbom were all at 99 per cent in combined “Keep him” and “Give him a raise” categories.
Adam Larsson, Zack Kassian, Patrick Maroon and Drake Caggiula were at 98 per cent and Mark Letestu and Anton Slepyshev at 97 per cent. Management and coaches were all up there as well.
Most of that, of course, was totally predictable. It was the specific scenario questions section of the survey that proved to be interesting in several areas.
While Chiarelli suggested he believed the Oilers centres would dramatically improve their 30th place ranking in the faceoff circle with development, Edmonton’s educated fan base has clearly run out of patience. An overwhelming 73 per cent want him to bring in a faceoff specialist now to help fix the problem.
While the controversy came mostly from the fancy stat aficionados, there was a vocal segment objecting to Kris Russell returning for employment when he reaches unrestricted free agent status on July 1. But an overwhelming 82 per cent of the fans indicated in the survey they want the shot-blocking defenceman back.
One of the fascinating players to follow during the season was goaltender Cam Talbot, who gave the Oilers the kind of goaltending the team hasn’t had for a long while.
Talbot ended up tied for the league lead in wins with 42 and led league goalies in games played, starting 73 of them in the regular season. While there was much discussion and some controversy about wearing him out, Talbot also played well in 13 playoff games.
Most fans (69 per cent) want him in the 60-70 games area in starts next year, with 20 per cent recommending he plays 50-60 and only nine per cent OK with him back in the 70-80 game range despite his success.
The Edmonton constituents (56 per cent) are good with Laurent Brossoit returning as backup while a third of them would prefer to see the former Oil King return to Bakersfield for more development while acquiring a veteran NHL backup.
With Las Vegas entering the league as an expansion team, the Oilers are about to lose a roster player. But Edmonton fans seem to have no real feel who that player might be. Given a list of players to consider, the tally ended up Pouliot (24 per cent), Griffin Reinhart (23 per cent), Eberle (20 per cent), Letestu (16 per cent), Kassian (seven per cent), Jujhar Khaira (six per cent) and Fayne (four per cent).
Oh, and one other thing. Fans were almost unanimous (82 per cent) that the Oilers Entertainment Group is ripping them off at the concession stands.
That was probably as predictable as all of those “Give him a raise” votes.
The Oilers are about to lose a roster player. But Edmonton fans seem to have no real feel who that player might be.