Article content continued

3. “The long-term contract of Milan Lucic is killing this team”. Really? Lucic is on pace for a 50-point season. His point totals over the last 4 years: 59, 44, 55, 50. No, Milan Lucic is, for the most part, the player he has always been. In fact, in 2016-17, he was the 98th highest leading scorer in the NHL. So, Lucic is a Top 6 performer, minimum, on any NHL team. Maybe, in Year 5 of this contract, the Oilers will have a problem with the Milan Lucic deal. But it isn’t one now. Don’t pretend that it is.

2. “This team would be way better off with Jordan Eberle”. On a team challenged to consistently put up offence, it is hard to imagine how a career 50-point man would not have helped. The problem with Jordan was cap-space. Fans look at Cap Friendly, see the $8m, and claim the Eberle trade was not a salary dump. Remember…that number does not include bonuses. Any G.M. has to account for them, Chiralli included. With bonuses in, the Oilers have a little wiggle room. But if you have Eberle versus Strome, then you are barely shy of the cap, bonuses in, and have no room to move if you need to.

1.”This roster was flawed from the start”. The most commonly spread thought, and mighty easy to say after the fact. The problem? So little turnover from 2016-17. Only two moves made (or not made) by Peter Chiarelli are any evidence to support that. No, the Eberle for Strome deal has not paid off, to date. We’ve already talked about the cap issue, but from a pure point-per-game standpoint, fair. Eberle has 14 points to Strome’s eight. And yes, the D-core has missed Andrej Sekera. We can argue whether another Top-3 D-man was readily available. But as for the rest of the roster? 13 of the Top 15 scorers from last season returned (Eberle & Pouliot, Sekera IR). The entire defence core (again, sans Sekera) and the starting goaltender are back. So you telling me Benoit Pouliot, Tyler Pitlick and (though I loved his contributions to pieces) Matt Hendricks are the “gaping holes” in this roster? Sorry, not buying it. It is a revisionist’s angle, at best.

There is no denying this team has issues, which it has to iron out in a damn hurry. Just beware of the popular myths propagated, above. After all…none of us want to add one more fallacy to this list:

“The Oilers should just hope for a good pick in 2018”.

Find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins

Recently, at The Cult…

LEAVINS: Oilers come back from 0-2 deficit, stumble to 6-3 loss in Dallas

McCURDY: Clare Drake finally gets his due

STAPLES: Cammelleri check into Edmonton