You have to know Edmontonians well in order to understand how much the Wednesday victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs meant to the city. I think it has to do with Toronto being the media center of the nation, combined with so many head offices being there and who wants to be a satellite. No matter what the reason, there’s every chance not one Oilers player has any idea what that convincing win meant to fans in the city.
Does it mean anything? Not really. Maybe someone will pay for your Timmy’s at the drive thru, or a co-worker will bring cake for the office (even better than cheese for the hand!) today. It’s a thing. Edmonton loves to beat Toronto in anything. If the two clubs ever met in a Stanley Cup Final, this nation would never be the same.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto and the balance between value contract and injury risk
- DNB: Why Mattias Ekholm is a big addition for an Oilers team that needs to win now
- DNB: Oilers trading Jesse Puljujarvi was an unavoidable and necessary solution
- Lowetide: Oilers’ mediocre February shows importance of protecting the puck
- DNB: Connor McDavid records his first career 50-goal season
- DNB and Lowetide: Evaluating your Oilers trades for Erik Karlsson, Jakob Chychrun, Mattias Ekholm and more
- Lowetide: Oilers signing Vincent Desharnais, James Hamblin proving innovative, effective one year later
- DNB: Inside Brad Holland’s scouting process
- Lowetide: 5 Oilers prospects with the most value ahead of NHL trade deadline
- DNB: 15 Oilers targets ahead of the NHL trade deadline
- Lowetide: What’s going on with Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl?
- DNB: Oilers captain Connor McDavid surpasses 800 career points
- Lowetide: Revisiting Oilers’ choice of Philip Broberg at the 2019 NHL Draft
- Lowetide: Oilers have an emerging prospect in Noah Philp
- Lowetide: Oilers centre Ryan McLeod’s comparables and career trajectory
- DNB: The Ben Stelter Fund is a legacy his family, Connor McDavid and the Oilers will proudly carry
- Lowetide: Is Edmonton Oilers’ 7-11 alignment here to stay?
- Lowetide: The Oilers’ asset cost in an Erik Karlsson trade and why it’s worth it
- DNB: What I’m hearing about Oilers’ interest in trading for Sharks’ Erik Karlsson
- Lowetide: Will Oilers prospect Phil Kemp have an NHL career?
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid’s top Oilers linemates and what it could mean for trade plans
- DNB: Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland NHL trade deadline Q&A
- Lowetide: How the Oilers finally found the key to five-on-five outscoring
- DNB: With Kailer Yamamoto nearing a return, which Oilers could be salary-cap casualties?
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie turns a corner, now NHL-ready
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers are about to start a major makeover at right wing
- Lowetide: Is Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft saving another season?
- DNB: Why Ryan Nugent-Hopkins matters more to the Oilers now than ever before
- Lowetide: 3 trades that could help the Oilers this season and beyond
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2022
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY
- At home to: TOR, WPG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG, BUF, BOS, TOR (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: OTT, DAL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: SEA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: SJS, ARI, VGK (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: ARI, VGK (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: LAK (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- March expected result: 9-6-0, 18 points in 15 games
- March actual result: 1-0-0, 2 points in one game
- February actual result: 4-3-4, 12 points in 11 games
- January actual result: 8-2-2, 18 points in 12 games
- December results: 7-6-2, 16 points in 15 games
- November results: 7-7-0, 14 points in 14 games
- October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
- Oilers in 2022-23: 33-21-8, 74 points in 62 games
It wasn’t just the win, it was how the win was secured. Connor McDavid was fire, the power play cashed after 28 seconds, Stuart Skinner looked calm and collected, new man Mattias Ekholm looked terrific. With the win, Edmonton is on pace to finish with 98 points. It was a good night. If Calgary loses tonight, both Alberta teams will have played 62 games and the Flames will be seven points behind Edmonton. Sutter’s crew is burning daylight now, that loss to the Bruins was unkind, unfair and a smash to the postseason hopes for our friends to the south. My guess is they win tonight. We wait.
DEFENSE AND GOAL
Darnell Nurse had a fine night, picked up an assist and made several solid defensive plays. Mattias Ekholm delivered on the hype, calm and intelligent play while always being in position. Young blue can learn much from a guy who understands the job. Cody Ceci thought it was offside and stopped playing, which is a mistake but man I thought everyone stopped playing. He can’t do that, though. Evan Bouchard scored a goal that was called back and I thought he played well. Ekholm played most with Bouchard, 2-0 goals and rocking chair minutes. Vincent Desharnais played more than I thought he might in this new alignment, more than Brett Kulak. Philip Broberg less.
Stuart Skinner was quality. I thought one of the keys to his game with his handling of the puck. He’s a rookie but has shown some real growth in that area.
FORWARDS
Connor McDavid has ventured into the supernova and the entire roster is seeing benefits from the slipstream. He has scored more than one goal in five straight games, a rare feat indeed (right, Joe Malone?) and now boasts 52-66-118 in 62 games. That’s 69-87-156 over 82. Zach Hyman had a game against his old team, twitter must-follow Shauna tweeted “Hyman is really giving it to his ex” and that’s accurate. He was determined, but he always plays that way. I thought there was a little extra on this night. Leon Draisaitl played his best game in some time, and more importantly his line (Nuge-Yamo) was 8-4 shots and 1-1 goals. He was 0-4 shots with Derek Ryan and Devin Shore missed a glorious chance off a Leon gorgeous pass.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins rained down blows on Justin Holl after his high hit on Kailer Yamamoto, easily the best fight of 93’s career. We have to stop with the ‘he’ll be shaving soon’ jokes now, he changed the conversation in a heartbeat. He also made a great play against Mitch Marner, using his stealth guile and great skill. I liked Kailer Yamamoto’s goal but worry about his concussion/neck/back issue. Hope to see him against the Jets. Klim Kostin had another nice game, he’s not playing much but is effective.
OILERS CENTERS AND OUTSCORING FIVE-ON-FIVE
As the deadline approaches, it’s my belief Ken Holland should add a center, preferably a RHC. Why? There are going to be times when Leon Draisaitl struggles and he’s best suited to moving up to the McDavid line. Here are the five-on-five goal shares for centers (isolated to exclude McDavid and or Draisaitl) this season:
- McDavid and Draisaitl 53.9
- Connor McDavid 51.9
- Leon Draisaitl 41.8
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 54.8
- Ryan McLeod 56.4
- Derek Ryan 60.0
- The rest 40.0
- Overall 138-129 51.7
Edmonton has some great things happening here, Nuge. McLeod and Ryan are hammering like both Allmans drummers at a summer outdoor concert in 1971 with Dickey Betts playing for the Gods and Carmella Scaggs. They need a RHC. Let’s look at my depleted trade list:
- RD Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks. He’s the best available fit.
LD Jakob Chychrun, Arizona Coyotes. Fans are divided on him, this blog endorses the acqusition.LD Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators. Veteran is an excellent defender. It’s going to cost assets.RW Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks. I don’t think it’s realistic, but you never know.LD Jake McCabe, Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton is on his no-fly list but he’s worthy.- RW Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks. He could soar with Edmonton’s centers.
- RD Radko Gudas, Florida Panthers. He’s tough as nails.
RD Nick Jensen, Washington Capitals. A solid second-pairing RH blue. Worthy acquisition.- RC Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators. A nice fit for a team that needs faceoff help.
LD Shayne Gostisbehere, Arizona Coyotes. Chaos blue, but rel numbers five-on-five are back to black.RW Ivan Barbashev, St. Louis Blues. Versatile and has enough offense to move up at times.- RC Nick Bjugstad, Arizona Coyotes. Inexpensive RHC having a good year.
LW Gustav Nyquist, Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s on LTIR, won’t be ready for playoffs. Has appeal.LW Tanner Jeannot, Nashville Predators. Agitator who can play.- LW Max Domi, Chicago Blackhawks. Suspect he signs with Chicago, but he’s an option.
LC Lars Eller, Washington Capitals. Veteran center could help on PK and bottom-six suppression.- RW Taylor Raddysh, Chicago Blackhawks. Big winger emerging.
- LD Dmitri Kulikov, Anaheim Ducks. Veteran offers depth.
LD Vladislav Gavrikov, Columbus Blue Jackets. He isn’t the defensemen they’re looking for.LW Sam Lafferty, Chicago Blackhawks. Bob loves him, good rel numbers. Not worth a 2nd. I’d pass.
Sissons seems unlikely and Bjugstadt will have plenty of teams lining up, but one of them would be the perfect addition in my opinion. Don’t undervalue Draisailt, he’s brilliant. We are talking how to deploy him and I think it’s with McDavid and Hyman on a super line. We’ll see.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
It’s the day before the trade deadline and still plenty of shopping being done. The Bruins made a big move this morning, we’ll detail it and talk about the Oilers and possible moves. Steve Lansky will drop in, James Duthie reacts to a busy week of trades and more! 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
That this trade won’t happen this year is a head scratcher for me. Karlsson’s salary is only $2,000,000 this season, so why would Grier wait? If he retains $4 million, they only pay ~$9,043,478 in real dollars, rather than $16 million over the last 4 seasons? And isn’t $9 million better than paying $29 million on the rest of the contract?
Lets say Buffalo is the 3rd party and they retain $2.5 million (leaving $5 million for Edm), which is ~$5,652,609 in real dollars, rather than the full $10 million over the remaining 4 years. For this season that number would be ~$84,835.63 in real dollars for $2.5 million in Capspace. Waiting makes little sense to me.
For the remainder of the contract it would look like this:
Year 1 SJ $3,652,174
Buf $2,282,609
Year 2 SJ $3,478,261
Buf $2,175,000
Year 3 SJ $1,391,304
Buf $870,000
Year 4 SJ $521,739
Buf $325,000
Just throwing it out there.
*I know the numbers aren’t perfect , but are very very close
I will tackle what the trade looks like when the sun is up, but for those who aren’t aware, the last 2 seasons are mostly bonus money, the Oilers would take that portion, I think.
Interestingly SJ signed Derrick Pouliot from their AHL team. They only had 6 dmen on their roster…
Trelivings mistake wasn’t the trades, it was the extensions….he could have kept his powder dry, forcing Huby and Weegar to flourish in contract years…and could have spent the Kadri money on other 1 year vets trying to pump their numbers a-la Kilngberg…That would have put him in a position to acquire massive assets in a sell-off position if the team faltered.
If Tre hadn’t extended Huby, what would his next contract look like after the year he’s had?
Even if he put up 80 points this year he wouldn’t be earning $10M going forward…same concept with Weegar……Tre fucked up….
If they are actually open to trading lindholm, I would break bank for him.
Preferably Yam but maybe foegle, retain whatever is needed to make cap work if needed.
2024 1st or Holloway
Plus added picks in later rounds
If he’s actually on market, 4.8 mill this year and next…heavy pursuit.
Kane McDavid Hyman
Nuge drai lindholm
Foegle McLeod kostin
Janmark bjugstad Ryan
Nurse ceci
Ekholm bouch
Bro/kulak Vinny D
Shore or niemo
I love that this blog has nearly 500 comments on a non-game day in March.
The Oilers must be furiously green with envy….haven’t heard a peep about oilers + since september…
Totally out of step with most of the discussion this evening, how would a summer fantasy Erik Karlsson trade look?
And note: I’m not necessarily endorsing this as a good idea, just trying to flush out what it might actually look like. Is it crazy talk? Is it plausible? (spoiler – kinda plausible IMO)
Starting point is San Jose retaining ~30% to get Karlsson’s salary down to $8M. That’s roughly half way between Mike Grier’s 18%, and the 40-45% the Oilers were reported to be asking for.
Setting assets out, how do you fit $8M on to next years Oilers roster? Well, you throw (almost) everything that isn’t tied down overboard.
I assumed Bouchard might accept a team-friendly 2 x $2.5M deal. It’s obviously preferable if Bouchard stays.
What goes? Foegele, Kulak, Ceci, Yamamoto. Ouch.
What remains? (And just guessing at contract numbers here obviously):
Kane-McDavid-Hyman
Nuge-Draisaitl-($2.4M for a 2RW)
Holloway-McLeod-Kostin
Janmark-Ryan-Gregor
(added Noah Gregor in the trade, substitute Bourgault, Lavoie, etc if you prefer)
Nurse-Karlsson
Ekholm-Bouchard
Broberg-Desharnais
Niemalainen
Skinner/Campbell
Contracts I guessed at are:
Bouchard $2.5M
Janmark $1.25M
McLeod $1.2M
Kostin $1.0M
Ryan $900k
Gregor $900k
That’s a totally crazy top 8 players. Depth relies heavily on young guys. I like the D a lot actually, but the forwards are definitely something of a concern. A Bourgault or Lavoie becoming a contributor would go a long way.
Anyway, I think this is in range of what adding Erik Karlsson this summer would look like, were it to happen.
I agree on who has to go in order to make the money work. I think what the team accomplishes in the playoffs this year will have a huge impact on their decision.
I won’t make you answer how you are planning to dispose of all of those guys or what the ask from SJ will be in order to eat the 30%. 😇
At this stage, I’m a proponent of paying a million draft picks (pinky to the corner of the mouth) to reduce Karlsson’s salary as much as possible, or to dump Campbell.
Details details. But yeah those are the key.
Speculation on the cost for Karlsson has varied widely, so who knows. Grier will certainly get a much better idea of the market in the summer.
And you can see from an Oilers POV why you can’t pull the trigger on a deal like that in-season (basically impossible to replace all those players on the fly).
Well, it works. Which is good to know. I’m not sure I would do it though. Not that it’s a decision that needs to be made today either.
Yeah the exercise was the ‘good to know’ part. It would certainly gut the depth around an elite core.
San Jose isn’t taking dollars off Karlsson plus a collection of Salary Dumps in Ceci – Foegele – Kulak – Yamamoto that would laughable to ask.
If You’re San Jose would you find any of these players even remotely acceptable to a Norris Trophy winner?
Replace Ceci with Bouchard or Broberg (this is the starting point one of those players), Kulak with Bourgault and Yamamoto with a 1st and possibly a 2nd.
Then you can have a discussion about dollars which will the Oilers will most likely add prospects and picks to offset dollars eaten.
It was not suggested as the actual trade that would happen. Good Lord.
I wonder if Erik Karlsson makes more sense next trade deadline. Oilers shouldn’t be in ltir so wouldn’t have to be doller in doller out. And there should be a rise in cap the next year, so maybe less retention needed. Which would keep the cost down.
There’s some sense to that for sure, but I think it will always be a more difficult trade to make in-season. You’d also think Grier will want to get this dealt with in the summer if at all possible.
Sutter sunk the flames
As predicted at the time of his hiring.
So sayeth the prophecy:
There shall come a day when he who cows both pasture and player will come to shepherd the flames of the city a second time. A dimness shall fall upon the city and its denizens, now dulled by his scowls and duped by his growls, and the city shall cometh to rue his harvests, for the flames he tends shall flicker with a bitter and hurt glare. The bitterest and best will depart for greener pastures and those that cometh in their place will also be cowed and fail to find the red light that so feedeth their flame. They shall burn at their shepherd, he who coweth them, and fail to harvest a second season, and the city shall reap the tears of losers until freed from the thrall of the cowman from the past.
TL/DR:
When the team plays as a soft as butter
It’s high time to can the man named Sutter
This.
Is.
Awesome.
Clap.
Clap.
🤣🤣🤣
That, Sir, was one of the best and funniest things I’ve read in a long, long time.
Kudos to you!
Yup. Bullshit has a short shelf life.
@frank_seravalli
Framework of the deal, but cap complications prevented one of the great spectacles in sports tonight: player walking across the hallway to his new team in same building.
To Dallas: Max Domi, Dylan Wells
To Chicago: 2nd Rd Pick, Anton Khudobin
No salary retained.
Glad he’s off market
Not looking like there will be much of a playoff race in the West this year. 8 clear playoff teams at this point.
A lot could change. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see Seattle fade but it just doesn’t seem like they will. Calgary looks cooked, wonder if they sell tomorrow. They probably should at least sell a little.
Flames lose in regulation. And there is much rejoicing.
Sucks to suck.
A Flames loss is always a wonderful feeling. Love watching Lucic lumbering around out there with 2 minutes to go down 1. Sutter – gotta love him!
Winning goal by Calle Jarnkrok, who went scoreless for the Falmes through 29 games last year, until he scored the 4th and final goal for Calgary in the playoffs on May 26, 2022.
I think we all remember how that one ended. Gosh, sometimes hockey is chef’s kiss!
2-1 final in Cowtown
Flames lose in regulation – does Treliving sell in the morning..?
He should.
I just looked at the Flames home page on Capfriendly – they don’t have much that is attractive in the waning hours of the trade deadline
Lucic is an expiring contract LOL
Trevor Lewis
Tanev and Hanifin have 1 more year but that’s a tough deal in the 11th hour
Of course, but who? For what? and who takes the fall????
Sutter to Arizona for a 7th in 2026? 😇
That would be the correct answer imo but Treliving is the most likely to take the fall.
There has been chatter that they are having buyer’s remorse over Weegar. His cap hit for this season is attractive if they can make it work long term but, yeah, not a lot that jumps out at you for a TD deal.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.
Treliving is a lame duck G.M. I think he’ll sneak out of town before the season ends.
That organization is adrift and needs to be torn down and rebuilt
They themselves probably can’t see that, but it’s what should happen this summer
Huberdeau, Weeger and Kadri all went out to dinner together and got shitfaced at B.P drinking Jagerbombs. At closing time Treliving wrote and they all signed their contracts on a cocktail napkin.
It’s only been a minute since he was lauded for miraculously replacing Johnny and Turtle. Such a shame…
G.M of the year Cassie, Hrudey, Stewart, MacLean and Buttons were spouting before the season started. This is what I think happened Treliving hung Johnny out to dry on the previous contract. Johnny looks like a straight up
chap. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
that’s not what that saying means.
Revenge is a dish best served cold means….wait for years and years and even decades before you get your revenge….the longer you wait…the better it tastes.
He waited 6 years after Treliving put him in a bad spot on his 2nd contract genius. 6 years that’s longer than the. average playing career by 1.5 years.
So interesting that people think they should be sellers. What young core do they have to rebuild around, exactly?
I would imagine the Flames are an analytics darling. I have often noted them to outshoot and out-chance opponents this season, even if some of these shots are low percentage. I suspect lack of finishing and piss poor goaltending are the main reasons for this season’s failure. Huberdeau has never been a goal scorer, and while some teammates have stepped up this season, others have taken steps backwards
2 years ago they had an off year in the North Division, and Tre was wise to bet on the same players, who rewarded him with strong seasons. I actually think the bones are still there for them to be competitive next year with a bounce back season from Markstrom, and it would be unwise for them to sell. They also have no useful rental players. Of course, if they choose to sell their better cost-controlled players, I would certainly not be disappointed…
Yep, they’re effed.
Lots of ‘good’ players but no emerging stars or elite game-breakers.
And Sutter is not going to reward creativity.
This is solid analysis. The fault largely lies with the media IMO, who so over-hyped Living Tree’s recover trades last summer, they created the expectation that everything was going to continue tickety-boo, without hiccup. How they could sell such a story with so many goals going unreplaced is bizarre, but I suppose the selling of bizarre stories is the age we live in now and I shouldn’t be so surprised.
Markstrom needs to get fixed and Living Tree needs to get his winter tires re-balanced in the summer, while he’s not got them bolted onto the Flames Wagon. they’re going to need to do well in FA, which is always tough for a team that seems in in disarry, and maybe a hockey trade too. Lucic’s boat anchor will be off the books…
They do that, they will contend again.
According to Capfriendly, the Flames have $82 million committed to 19 skaters and goalies next season. They gave the Lucic money and more to Huberdeau and Weegar. They have to trade away some higher salaried players just to be able to have more than 20 on their roster.
If he can overcome the Huberdeau, Kadri, Coleman, Weegar, Zadarov and Markstrom substantial overpays (based on current performance) for which he is responsible, it would be a miracle. That’s over $38 million in salary next season for this group.
Yeah, sorry was posting too extemporaneously, forgot they’ve already extended. I live down here though and see a lot of the Flames, and I stand by my feeling they’re not far off if goaltending returns to form.
Their top 6 is off kilter and so it is likely going to take a hockey trade to fix and possibly a cap dump (but I don’t think a prudent GM starts there). A couple of astute free agent signings and on-form goaltending and they should be closer to the playoffs than they are today. Some big ifs there but not insurmountable.
That and get a different coach. One players will want to stay and play for. One the goalies will feel confident under.
(I’m largely in agreement with dangilitis’s post, but was only addressing his last para with my own thoughts).
They lost two 40 goal guys, and brought in two 25 goal guys without chemistry to replace them….whoever thought it would work needs their logic brain reconfigured.
They don’t have a young core to build around, but they do have nice bones as you said
Treliving did make some bets a couple years ago that included Tkachuk and Gaudreau, but the trajectory of the franchise has been altered since then
My comment about being rebuilt pertained more to the GM and coach position – we all know Sutter has a shelf life, if he can’t work with the new additions perhaps it’s time to find a new coach
They’ve got a significant chunk of their roster with 1 more year before UFA, the ownership group will have to decide if Treliving is the guy that shapes the next few years of the franchise
To me that he got to free agency with his two best players without knowing what they were thinking is incompetent
Is there a worse mistake for a GM? If they wouldn’t commit to anything you have to trade them while you have control and time. Popular or not, to keep the team strong
Flames have nobody to sell
Phlegms losing to a team on a back half of a back to back.
TOR up 2-1 over Calgary early in the 3rd period
MON up 1-0 late in the 1st period in LA
Boston wins 7-1 over a desperate Buffalonian team.
Hopefully someone out east takes care of Boston for us.
Boston is now +103 on the season. I don’t follow team plus/minus much, but that has to a record in the modern era?
Boston and Colorado scare me the most.
Boston because they are really really really good.
Colorado because they have owned the Oil for the last couple of years.
Don’t sleep on Dallas.
The best goal differential in the WC and the best goaltending.
Otter has been run too hard and the wheels have come off
Some wheels
.923
Dallas 28 RW
Edmonton 31 RW
Dallas has scooped 13 points losing in OT/SO.
Well now they are fucked.
The HH en-worse-ment!
The Refs were in the Av’s back pocket like they needed it. Everyones sweetheart Makar this, Makar that, Makar could do no wrong. They cheated plain and simple they stretched the offside rule to a point of no return It’s too bad Coffey didn’t get half as many calls as Makar receives.
Sure. They still beat the Oil in five.
The 05/06 Senators finished with +107.
The 18/19 Lightning 103.
Boston should easily break the modern record.
I mentioned this a couple weeks ago. The fact that their plus/minus is even higher than their currently record-breaking season (this late in the season) is bonkers.
Orlov seems to be enjoying his time with Boston.
8 points in 3 games since the trade.
Les canadiens circa 1977 with 132 regular season points. Still considered modern era?
76-77 Canadiens scored 387 and allowed 171 for a +216 differential.
NYI first round upset due to mostly goalie nature of things.
So Panthers lose, as Redbird mentions in passing. We’ll see soon enough if defmn is right about something new shaking loose from the Eastern Conference.
Mayfield would be the literal perfect fit, but the Islanders don’t play and, and they just added Horvat and Engvall. It’s really tough to see Lou deciding to sell at this point.
The Panthers though. I believe they just dropped to 11th with the loss (checked, actually tied for 12th in points%).
Has Gudas become available?
If not, TVR is definitely also a good option.
Lou & Zito have some decisions to make before going to bed tonight. Should be some early morning meetings in those offices tomorrow.
Pittsburgh sneaks past TB in OT.
Montour, anybody?
Sabres lost though. The Islanders are basically tied with them in points%. I’d be surprised if Lou pulled the plug.
Zito should though. Would they trade Montour a year early? Looks like Gudas and the Staal brothers are the only expiring contracts.
Long shot for sure. Just looking at what is there. Holland has been on a roll.
I agree, it’s a longshot
I think Holland is happy with Vinny at 3D and they’ll backfill that 3 RD position with a lefty if he isn’t available
I’d like to get Gudas – double retained is a $625k cap hit
We have 0 cap space with a 22 man roster, so it would be Vinny himself off the roster if Gudas was acquired
That would probably be a 2nd round pick and a 4th (3rd party retention)
That a nice D group, but that’s livin’ large
Uptown, penthouse large
Gudas is the likely play if there even is one available.
Plenty of chatter today that Vancouver and Florida have been working on a deal.
Shayna Goldman suggesting it might be a trade for a former Florida first round pick but did not name names.
We’re all excited for Canucks to trade a first for Denisenko
Beat me to it 🙂
Summarizing!
Petrov finished with the one goal in a NB win.
No soup for Määttä in a rare Vermont victory.
Münzenberger did not dress.
Tyson Barrie played 22 minutes of 5 on 5 in his Nashville debut. A 2-1 road victory for his new team over Florida. Nashville moves out 4 players at the TD and beat a Panthers team that, though they have not acquired any TD assets yet, have still been hoping to get in.
Barrie looked decent. He was -1 but it was his partner who left Barrie to handle a 3-1 against. His 5 on 5 was increased because they did lose Ekholm’s RD partner Carrier in the first to injury. Add in there was only 7 seconds of special teams with Nashville scoring right off the face off in the games only penalty.
Looking at the standings, Nashville has 3 games in hand on the Oilers if they won those, they would be 2 points behind us. Fine, fine line between stripping it down and going for gold.
I think there is a non-zero chance Bjugstad plays RW as a defensive conscience in the top six.
Something like:
RNH-McD-Hyman
Kane-Drai-Bjugstad
Janmark-McLeod-Yamo
Foegele-Ryan-Kostin
That’s very interesting
Also adds the RS faceoff aspect which is really helpful in the top 6
Great first game with Ekholm. And the Oilers have been playing quite well since Christmas, though some disappointing efforts lately as well.
Lots has also been made about the Oilers facing weak competition since Christmas, and how that’s been largely responsible for their good play.
Looking though, they’ve been very good against the playoff teams they’ve played for some time now. Better even than against the non-playoff teams they’ve played.
They lost to the Kings back on January 9th. Since then they’ve played 20 games. 12-3-5 record, 29 points, .725 points%.
Only 8 of the 20 games were vs. playoff teams. How did those 8 games go? Well, the Oilers were 5-1-2 in those games. .750 points%. Outscoring 37-25 (59.7%).
4-3 win over the Knights
5-2 win over Seattle
5-3 win over TBay
4-5 SO loss to NYR
5-6 OT loss to Colorado
7-2 win over Pittsburgh
2-3 loss to Boston
5-2 win over the Leafs
Process looks pretty good too. Per 60 rates (all situations) in the 8 games.
33.6 SF – 30.9 SA – 52.1%
4.53 GF – 3.06 GA – 59.7%
31.6 SCF – 26.8 SCA – 54.1%
15.2 HDCF – 10.5 HDCA – 59.1%
Sh% – 13.5
SV% – .901
PDO – 1036
Those are good teams. Pretty decent little run.
I love when jp posts numbers.
Great post. Thank you.
Off a faceoff, the puck comes back to Petrov–he turns, fires and scores on a screened tendy to put NB up 4-2 in period 3. 26th goal of the season.
Hunter1909’s Oilers Season in a Season Update:
Since the Seattle Away game that Oilers won 7-2 to kick off this latest attempt to give order to chaos.
Oilers now are 14-7-6 which correlates into a 103 point reasonable decent regular season in the NHL.
The remaining games:
H – Jets
A – Jets
A – Buffalo
A – BOSTON THIS IS THE END OF THE SEASON IN A SEASON
Does Ekholm solidify the defence like a boss?
If you agree press: Thumbs Up
If you disagree Press: Thumbs down
I 100% believe that Ekholm brings true contending Oilers defence to the NHL.
Add the lethal powerplay and Connor McDavid,…
Now if Holland and crew can arrange to graft Stan Weir’s facial hair onto RNH for the playoffs they’ll be cooking with gas.
I have been pumping RNH as Jacques Lemaire or also a forward who develops after his usual prime.
Fun fact: Stan Weir did not grow facial hair. The facial hair grew him.
It would be great to find a decent scoring RW out there, but there really is no target at an affordable price point. I think a retained Henrique, who has a 5v5 goal total equal to Hyman, Tavares and Stamkos would be a great add. He would be a better version of ROR this season, although only average on the dot.
I would consider Nico Sturm, big wing/center, skates well, German, 2022 Cup winner, 57+% faceoff percentage and fed frequent Dzone starts. Former Wild linemate of Bjugstad.
And of course TVR and Nick Holden.
I think Ken has done good work this season, especially compared to previous seasons. Hopefully he keeps it up.
Tomorrow will be interesting.
I think Edmonton should revisit the Karlsson trade scenario during the season next year. As a betting man, I’d put good money on a steep fall off in the counting numbers next season.
Mike Grier needs to move that contract. There’s a real possibility Karlsson costs him assets to move in the future.
Karlsson is not happening. Oilers do not have the cap space.
They seemingly do not, I agree.
Yet, intriguingly, DNB said in his Ekholm/what else might they add article today that “the understanding here is” they’ll take another “run” at Karlsson in the summer.
(https://theathletic.com/4267534/2023/03/02/oilers-trade-deadline-mattias-ekholm/)
Really a lot would have to go out for that to happen, but it sure sounds like there is still serious interest in pursuing Karlsson.
I was spitballing how it could possibly work salary wise, and it would take throwing almost everything that isn’t nailed down (NMC) over board. I was guessing at 30% retention (about half way between the Sharks limit and the Oilers need that was being discussed), so $8M.
To fit that $8M, and ice even a 21 player roster, essentially you could only keep one of Foegele, Kulak, Yamamoto, Ceci and Bouchard (assuming Bouch at ~$3M). Or you find a way to move Campbell out and you can keep 2-3 of the others.
Seems impossible. But, ‘the understanding is”…
FWIW, this isn’t quite as bad as it sounds.
One of the RD would be replaced by Karlsson, and there are cheap in-house replacements for Foegele (Holloway) and Kulak (Broberg).
So these moves would be hurting depth, plus cutting salary at 2RW or 2RD.
Painful, but I think that kind of trade for Karlsson is plausible.
I am pretty certain that I was the first to bring up Karlsson (and Ekholm) several weeks ago. I wanted to see EK65 in Oilers silks so bad, but unless Campbell’s contract is moved (and it is not) we won’t be seeing him in E-town anytime soon.
And that is a damn shame for all hockey fans.
That ship sailed when Ekholm was acquired
They can’t have 9.25 + 6 + 7 plus and Bouch on the same roster. Also Bouch was given the offensive reigns
?
Higher salaries
EK has term, EK65 is at least 7, Bouch is getting a raise
Technically, I think I was the first one to bring up Karlsson, sometime last fall before Christmas, when I started shopping Bouchard.
Have you had any offers since you started shopping Bouchard? What kind?
Here’s mine, now show me yours 😁😁. Just wondering if it would do better this time ‘round than 5 downvotes.
https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/754da470ce9bafccdc9c33cb70741d8e?s=64&r=g€√¥£€^$
January 7, 2023 9:57 am
Looking at potential moves, I keep landing on 2 players; Ekholm & Karlsson. Big ticket items certainly , but it boosts the top 4 with legitimate high-end skill and experience in those roles. And for multiple seasons, far more impactful than a one and done move. Also, I do not send Bouchard or Broberg away, but everyone else 24 & under is on the table.
Both players, especially Broberg would immensely benefit from these two veteran Swedes on the team. Bouchard would also learn a lot from Karlsson. Both would bring a “Keith effect”, while also playing higher in the line-up.
I admit it seems challenging to fit these salaries on this team, but with a bit of retention and deals that include bottom of the roster adds like Gadjovich and the offensively challenged Jeannot, it is possible. Draft picks will be sacrificed, but not the entire future, in such a move.
Kenny doesn’t normally shop in these aisles, but this is where he needs to look to boost this team in to the actual contender category. They cannot continually rely solely on the will and skill of 97 & 29 to push, pull and drag them all the time.
Last edited 1 month ago by €√¥£€^$
0
-5
Well done.
Found one, Dec 11th…but there should be an earlier one when I first mentioned Karlsson.
https://lowetide.ca/2022/12/11/the-streets-of-bakersfield-3/#comment-1170817
godot10
December 11, 2022 4:09 pm
Bouchard, Puljujarvi, 1st for Chychrun
Kulak flips to the right side. Broberg and Barrie the 3rd pairing.
Bouchard is not progressing fast enough and Chychrun has a great contract. I like Broberg better than Bouchard as a D. And Barrie has Bouchard’s skillset.
(I prefer Karlsson over Chychrun, but hard to see San Jose eating 50%).
December 6th
https://lowetide.ca/2022/12/06/time-after-time-2/#comment-1169574
godot10
Reply to Ryan
December 6, 2022 8:23 pm
I’d rather trade Bouchard, Puljujarvi(or Yamamoto), Barrie, and the first for Eric Karlsson.
2
-1
Love your posts and insight, but, sorry… Godot was first (that I can recall) to talk about EK65 in roughly the first third of the season , and I know for a fact I was talking about Ekholm before Christmas.
Okay, I missed that. Good call, I support you 😊. I just remember all the negativity in the responses to my multiple posts and don’t recall much support until sometime after the all star game when Chris Johnston tweeted it.
I first mentioned Ekholm after Seravalli suggested that it was a possibility. If both are added, we all win! And we will.
We need him this year.
Considering he played for the Yotes, Bjugstad’s puck IQ numbers look pretty good.
should be a fun few months for Oil Country.
Good or better C depth is a really ice thing. Woody has lots of stuff in his kitchen now, hope he makes a Michelin meal
Kane and Hollywood back adds enough wing
What a silky smooth move by McLeod on the Kostin goal.
And on a separate note, I love the Nuge. If they go all the way and McDavid doesn’t hand the cup off to him first I’ll be upset for as reasonably long as possible, given the circumstances
A toss between Leon and Nurse I give the edge to Leon. My Darkhorse to recieve the Cup 2nd is Jack Campbell.
lol
Foegele’s beauty sauce to McLeod – hit him with speed – is being over-shadowed.
Three great plays.
Even the finish by Kostin – looked easy but, as a left shot, he did well to finish with a tough angle.
I think it goes McDavid, Nuge, Drai, Nurse…..
Mark Spector @SportsnetSpec·34s
As of this afternoon, Kailer Yamamoto does NOT have a concussion. He will be evaluated again Friday, but is expected to play tmw v. WPG.
Sorry for burying you on LTIR this morning Kailer.
That’s nothing – the forum ended the careers of Kassian and JJ Khaira multiple times over the last few years…..
Yes!!!
I’m ridiculously happy so far with this deadline.
1. Looking at things I’d prefer ekholm as main d target – week later check
2. With acciari gone (munny2.0 identified better target i have to admit) still would love bjugstad at 50% if it’s not crazy – check
I’m okay with Vinny D/broberg/kulak as 3rd
Wouldn’t mind RW addition is about end of it.
Why did Matthews agree to do a RBC commercial that makes him look like a silly dork. The commercial is not funny it’s more degrading than anything. I guess Money wins the day again.
Why did a DEI/ESG friendly Canadian bank hire a priviliged wealthy white American to do a TV commercial?
Without even considering the missing underpants.
I haven’t seen it, but Matthews looks like a silly dork all the time.
Papis gotta Papi
Oilers website already has Bjugstad on the roster with jersey #72.
Tony Brar informed him that this is Hunter’s jersey number during his first press conference, lol.
27 has been his number since minor hockey, he wears 17 in Arizona, but wore 27 in his other NHL stints.
What do the Flames do if they lose to a surly Leafs team tonight? They’ll be in the Twilight Zone. As the Clash once uttered Should I Stay are Shouid I Go. Buttons still thinks the Flames are in it. Does anyone know what Bjugstag face-off percentage is the last few years?
Do you play TVR over Broberg or Vinny (and have that player sent to the AHL)?
You can never have too many defensemen when you’re going on a cup run.
I’ll never forget the 2011 SCF. Vancouver should have won that series, but they flat out ran out of defensemen. Boston was a dirty team. Still are.
Aaron Rome playing too much too high up the lineup.
I’d play TVR over Broberg and Vinny. You always go with the vet in the playoffs.
Nurse – Ceci
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – TVR
Broberg – Vinny
Now that’s what you call depth!
Look at Colorado last year, Girard was injured with a broken sternum and Byram stepped up.
So, to be clear, are you sending Vinny or Broberg to the minors tomorrow for TVR?
I would as well, 100%.
They’ll be back.
Both likely regulars next season as well.
Golly Gee – I’d be remiss to send Phillip Broberg to the minors – after spending the year in the NHL, developing and helping the team, the high pedigree/high potential top 4 d-man of the future gets demoted for the playoff run. What a kick in the jock strap and not the best way to foster relations.
Good Lord man, you’re trying to win a Stanley Cup. Everyone’s making sacrifices this time of year.
FWIW I would keep Broberg as 7D and send Desharnais down, but if there was a good reason then yes I would assign Broberg.
If they acquire TVR or whoever tomorrow, Broberg likely remains with the team and continues to get some games as 7D down the stretch. Worst case he’s back up in 5 weeks or whatever as the 7D then.
I don’t see why he’d have an issue with that.
And adding a vet like Holden, also adds to that depth. Vinny and Broberg can still stashed in the AHL and along with Dineen they could really give Bakersfield a giant boost while playing meaningful games.
I thought I wanted Karlsson and would take him instantly onboard if possible but Ekholm settles the defence like no other since Pronger.
Nurse instantly plays better which is worth the price of him alone.
So did Bouchard, and Kulak now slots in better too.
Truth.
The entire Oilers defence including the goalies now have Techno Viking to rule over the ice on their behalf.
The oilers decided on kemp. This may be the right decision.
Agreed. Glad they didn’t move him.
Or the Coyotes decided on Kesselring.
One of my favourite moments last evening was the Nuge opening a can of whoop ass on Holl.
Classic and a shock to the majority of us who have yet to move past the ectomorph Nugent Hopkins that got drafted and never until now is turning to his supreme skillset(lol) post rookie year where he dominated until getting flattened.
If the Oilers are indeed done, given how wide open the west is, I suspect they are looking to circle back to Karlsson in the offseason. Why? Well, they still have some salary cap space and some picks and prospects available, so why would they not load up in a year where it seems like the team coming out of the West could be anybody who makes the playoffs? Maybe you don’t if you’re going to have only 71 million committed, and only two RFAs of note in McLeod and Bouchard, neither of which you have to pay a massive number (though to be fair, they’re probably both getting raises). If the cap goes up by even just 3.5 million, that’s about 15 million with which to structure your roster. Suddenly you don’t have to try to figure out a team that’s going to do a double retention on Karlsson to make him fit. I thought I heard, although I’m open to being corrected, that Grier was willing to retain part of the Karlsson contract, but just no more than a certain threshold, which was somewhere around 10-20%. Let’s say he retains 1.5 million, for a nice round 10 million dollar salary for the Oilers to pay–that starts to look doable if what you deal for Karlsson is mostly futures. It’s even more so if they deal Bouchard, but I would personally be loathe to do that and I think the fact that they just elevated Bouchard’s role on this team signals that he is not likely going anywhere. If they deal a young defenceman, I think given that they just solidified the left side Broberg is more likely to go.
Of course, this situation is fluid, because we don’t know if the players are going to push for a raise in the salary cap sooner and we don’t know the extent of the impact of Bally Sports fiasco on the NHL’s bottom line, which would directly impact whether the salary cap finally moves. It’s easy to forsee anything from another year of the flat cap to a substantial raise in the cap next year, but the closer it is to the latter, the better the Oilers chances of being able to take on Karlsson. Heck, if the cap goes up by eight million, they could probably take on the contract with no retention, which would drive down the price of assets sent out the door to acquire him.
I was definitely team “acquire Karlsson at (almost) any cost” this deadline, but if this team adds Karlsson and Ekholm in a span of months, I think we’re looking at winning one or two cups between the playoffs of 2024-2026. If you’re going to go all-in, go all-in for A)top-end talent and B)for players under contract for multiple years, so you can get multiple cracks at winning it all.
I wouldn’t even pick up phone unless starting point is them retaining to around 9 million per for remaining seasons, with no added cost consideration for that level of retention.
It didn’t end up being a great gamble but I hope oilers not paying to lower assumed risk of final years completely.
One factor is that once the salary cap (I wrote “salary cup” initially, let’s start calling the Stanley that, especially if a team over the cap wins) starts going up, it’s likely to start escalating again for a while. The years of Karlsson’s deal where he is going to be performing the worst will also be the years where his contract takes up the smallest percentage of the cap. Are you that concerned about paying Erik Karlsson 11.5 to play on your second pair if the cap is, say, 120 million? Are you concerned at all if he helps you win a cup or two first?
The Oilers have less cap room next season than you think. The $73 million that is already committed is only for the 15 roster players. They are also still carrying some dead cap space of $2 million and will likely get tagged with $500,000 to $1 million in bonus overage carry over from this season. That takes them to $75.5 million to $76 million next season with those 15 players signed.
The process for determining the cap next season has largely been determined. The players can’t just push for more. If revenue does not exceed expectations, it will rise by $1 million. If the revenue is higher than expected, there is already a formula for how that extra revenue is used to pay back the prior years and how it is shared with the players.
Currently the league is forecasting the revenue won’t increase by enough and that the cap will only rise by $1 million (and that was before the Bally’s going into Chapter which may or may not have a negative impact). If it does’t rise, the Oilers would have $7.5 million of cap space to fill up to 8 roster spots, and 2 of those are Bouchard and Macleod who will get raises.
It doesn’t mean it can’t be done, just that the cap gymnastics and the players that would have to be moved out to make it happen will be much more difficult that your post would imply.
Rough numbers, but even getting Karlsson’s salary down to $7 million, the Oilers would use up $70 million of cap space on 10 roster spots (McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge, Kane, Hyman, Nurse, Ekholm, Karlsson, Campbell and Skinner plus the dead space. That leaves 13.5 million for 13 players, so you’d have to flush Ceci, Kulak, Foegele and Yamamoto, give almost no raise to MacLeod or Bouchard or flush them, and run with 10 to 13 players averaging $1 million per player (ELC’s or veterans of lesser quality than Ryan and Janmark). Seems unlikely.
I want Karlsson by tomorrow!!
It’s now 2023. The clock is ticking like a bomb under these Oilers and Karlsson could fall to Ken Holland like ripe fruit. Grier at the end of the day is getting a personal message from Mr Katz and he’s going to play ball lol
A’s across the board from The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/4269710/2023/03/02/nhl-trade-grades-oilers-nick-bjugstad/
C’mon Ken, one more to go!
Daniel Nugent-Bowman
@DNBsports
·
1m
FWIW, Nick Bjugstad played the vast majority of his 5v5 time at centre with ARI this season. There’s a fourth-line role for the taking in EDM, especially if/when the Oilers go to 12/6.
Exactly.
Janmark-McLeod-Foegele
Kostin-Bjugstad-Ryan
Beats having Shore in the lineup.
Holloway should also be available by playoff time.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman
@DNBsports
·
7m
“I feel like I have more to give. I want to be part of a playoff-calibre team.” — Nick Bjugstad
“I’m willing to play whatever role these guys want me to.”
Music!
We got Bjugstad, let’s go!
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
·
19m
Hearing Dallas Stars are working on acquiring Max Domi from #Blackhawks There’s a few layers to it, so many take a little time to execute, but believe Anton Khudobin’s contract involved to make the money work.
Eric Engels
@EricEngels
·
11m
Further to
@frank_seravalli
report, sounds like Max Domi and an AHL goaltender being traded to Dallas from Chicago for a 2nd and Anton Khudobin.
With the addition of Ekholm, do folks think Woody should/will continue with 11-7?
A little of this and a little of that, keep the opposition guessing.
No.
Normal line ups.
Yes. They need Broberg to get reps on both sides and with each D to get him ready to replace anyone who might get injured.
Plus one want to keep the heat on Kulak and Ceci, with the future nipping at their skate blades.
At least seven D are going to be needed in the playoffs.
You taking out either Broberg or Vinny for a 12th forward?
Campbell aside, I really do like the Dutchman on the procurement side. If he added some analytics context to grind out better terms on the contracts, we’d be cooking with gas.
Right now Kenny reminds me of the Trophy Wife experience. It’s a damn sexy roster, I just hate the monthly visa bill.
What was Kenny’s time line from the outset? Don’t remember precisely but it was something like this non? (Possible I invented year two):
Year 1: Make postseason
Year 2: Contend
Year 3: Go Deep
Year 4 on… All In
Personally I think ‘all in’ was scheduled for next year given the LTIR’s and buyout etc. but circumstances pushed it up a year.
I’ve never heard him express it to that level of detail. It was basically make the playoffs each year to give yourself a chance and build the roster out over time.
I don’t know, the Kane, Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins contracts look pretty impressive from here.
Oh there’s some winners alright. There’s some real losers too.
Kane is different. Hyman at his pay was risky and I read mostly a number starting with an 5 was too much. He got lower cap hits going way long. I like the players. We may feel different in a couple of seasons with lots of track left on the contracts
You think he overpaid McLeod? 😎
Don’t give up on Captain Jack he’ll hit his Zone for the Playoffs and I don’t mean the Endzone Bar but the Zen Zone. Booook it……
Sorry Reja, he has had three quarters of a season to find his game. He is basically a passenger until next season.
Add better deal making for me as well
It’s still bugging me he paid more for Ekholm than Chychrun went for. I think Ek is better, but he’s older on a worse contract and less offensive
Ottawa had the higher 1st round pick and Arizona didn’t want to take on contracts or retain. They’re the NHL’s housing project. I can’t fault Kenny given those limitations.
Plus Armstrong is a competitor he was going to make the West pay more than the East.
Oiler Alert@OilerAlert
On @OilersNow,@FriedgeHNIC tells Bob that he was told this week Bjugstad to #Oilers is “unlikely”.
——————————
I believe the above was Eliotte on Bob’s show this morning.
Keep this in mind when Seravalli says ‘believe Oilers are done shopping” 😉
DNB also said he expects the Oilers are done.
Subject to something coming up out of the eastern bubble teams tonight I would think so as well.
That is unfortunate. A depth D would be really nice.
The RHD depth makes me nervous.
Agreed another RD would be really nice.
My point was, I don’t entirely believe the ‘no more trades’ intel.
Oh gotcha.
Hopefully he’s saying that yet has an agreed upon deal in his pocket that they will announce 1 minute before the deadline for the reason of not wanting to spook Western opponents
They’re still short a Samsonov.
Can’t be relying on both Yamamoto and Foegele.
I’m not sure you particularly need a Samsonov when at the top of your line-up you have McDavid and Draisaitl instead of Horcoff and Hemsky. I wouldn’t object if they brought in another scorer, but I think RD is the more glaring area of weakness.
I’m a big “no places where chances go to die” guy.
#s 37 and 56 both go silent from time to time.
lets not forget Evander
You’re still relying on Foegele and Yamamoto.
Nope, not a fan at all of giving up Kesselring and a 3rd for Bjugstad AKA “tall Derek Ryan”.
Kesselring has a REAL chance and it’s too much to rent a big (but not physical) 4C.
We play 11 forwards (and should continue that) and we have Ryan.
I’d save the real assets given up and roll with the current and maybe even test drive the 23 year old Noah Philp.
If he’s tall Derek Ryan but five years younger, that’s a terribly good player to have in your bottom six, but he posts enough offense to be considered a reasonable middle six option. The thing is, even if you think Kesselring has a real chance, and I won’t dispute that, how far down their depth chart was he in terms of young pieces? (Let’s say “young pieces” means 23 years old or younger, for the sake of argument.) I wouldn’t have him ahead of any of the roster players, so he’s behind McLeod, Holloway, Broberg and Bouchard. He’s not a better prospect than Bourgault. I would personally have Savoie, Lavoie and Puistola ahead of him. So that would make him, what, somewhere between your 5th and 8th best prospect? Is that such a steep price when your team is rebuilding? Yes, we don’t know what Kesselring is going to be, but you could make a lot of money betting against prospects being anything of significance with a lot more draft pedigree than Kesselring has. The most likely outcome is that Kesselring has little more than a cup of coffee or two at the NHL level.
Give me a 6’6″ version of Derek Ryan who can PK and play 3C for the most important playoff run of McDavid’s career all day long.
The happiest person is Bob Stauffer, who doesn’t have to worry about butchering Kesselring’s name anymore.
I really do not think 11-7 is going to continue. Unless necessitated by the cap.
IMO, 11-7 was necessary to shelter 4-5 Oil D. With the addition of Ekholm, Manson can hopefully build two pairs to play tough minutes and only have to shelter the third pair. With two tough minute pairs, Woody can return to 12-6.
Yup. That would be my guess as well.
There’s your solution to Broberg only getting 8 minutes as well 😉
But yes, I agree also.
In a 12-6 with all the D-men healthy, Broberg will be getting zero minutes. Desharnais is clearly higher up the depth chart right now.
Not so sure about that.
Was last night the very first game Desharnais got more ice than Broberg? Close to it if not the actual first.
But yes, one of them will sit if it’s 12/6 and there are no additions to the blueline.
I still think there may be an addition, in which case one of them will (most likely) be sitting as 7D and the other playing games in Bakersfield.
I think it will continue indefinitely subject to injuries depleting the d-group.
I mean, right now (even if no additional d-man is added) who comes out for that 12th forward?
I would simply not take Broberg out of the lineup without injury, end stop.
Sure, I guess Vinny D. could come out but he adds a dynamic and a presence and i think it would be tough for a 12th forward to have the same positive impact on the game.
Playoffs 11/7 would wear the forwards out
I expect
Nurse Ceci
EK Bouch
Kulak Des/Bro
I think Bro is better right than the less skilled and smaller Kulak, despite experience
McD
Drai/Nuge
Bjug
McL
Down the middle. McL to 3rd line when the bench shortens
Not a fan of the cost either, but 8+ Hits/60 is pretty decent for a “non-physical” player. It’s in the range of Foegele, only Kostin and Kane lay significantly more hits than that among Oilers forwards.
Kess is another Bouch but not as good. His chances of making the Oilers were probably pretty slim so good on them for getting something (saved another asset)
RC is the biggest hole, or was. Almost all teams have 2. It should really help gaining possession and help reduce GA and help GF. I’m thinking at critical times especially
I can’t agree with your Bouchard/Kesslering assessment – from watching the vast majority of Kesselring’s pro games. Bouchard is better and higher potential but they have different skill-set and I don’t think Kesselring’s chances of playing games for the Oilers was that low. 12 hours ago, he was 4RD in the org.
I’m fine with adding Bjugstad – he helps right now and Kesselring does not – I get it.
I’m not positive Bjugstad was necessary or moves the needle but he certainly adds depth and I’ve grown on his potential impact since the original post.
Organiational depth at RD is now very slim. There is Phil Kemp and then Max. Wanner and, well, his future is totally up in the air right now.
Oh ya: Noah Philp – earning a shot.
Say what you will about the Yotes, it’s nice to have a glorified farm team in the league when you need to add some cheap depth for the stretch run.
They have been so pathetic for so long….
Second worst record in the league since 2012, slightly ahead of Buffalo, but they snuck into the play ins in 2020 only because the league let in 24 teams. But unlike Buffalo, they have had no draft lottery luck at all. They have finished in the bottom 3 in the standings 5 times since 2012 and got a 3rd a 5th and a 3rd to show for it. The one third was spent on Strome when the Oilers hopped over them in the lottery to get McDavid and the 3rd last year.
In total over that 11 season span of futility they have had 5 top 10 draft picks. Meanwhile in that same span, Buffalo has had 10 top 10 picks including 2 number one picks and 2 number 2 picks.
Given Bettman’s desires to keep the team in Arizona and doing what he can to help the franchise, any idea the draft lottery is a rigged is a ridiculous conspiracy theory. And of course he took their first pick in 2021 for the Combines violation, but that is on them.
Prospectanic!
An Euro trio of NA prospects in action tonight, with Russia’s Petrov and the Vermont tandem of Finland’s Määttä and Germany’s Münzenberger. Their pucks drop at 5 p.m. Mirror time.
With Bjuggalo now added, is McLeod now a LW while Foegele is a..
When healthy..
Kane/McD/Hyman
Nuge/Drai/Yams
MCL/Bjug/Kostin
Foegele/Ryan?
Drai/McD/Hyman
Kane/Nuge/Kostin.. Group of mean sob’s.. What!?
MCL/Bjug/Yams
Foegele/Ryan
Imo if a RW is coming in, Foegele is super vulnerable.. maybe Vancouver because they’re making no sense, would value what he’s been bringing recently in a cost control while they “re-tool”..
Nucks have stated they would retain salary, Boeser’s contract runs through 24/25 at 6.65.. Foegele, Yams, Kulak, Holloway, Bourg, Savoie, yadda, draft capital. There’s a deal to be made there for a 26yr RW that scores a goal every 7-8 periods of hockey he plays that hasn’t had the likes of what the Oilers ice down the middle, imo the Oilers would be adding another Kane like goal scoring bump with the addition at the perfect age with a you’ll pay for doubting me mentality. Yes please.
Boeser is basically a RH version of Mike Hoffman. He gives up more than he produces.
I’d rather have David Perron.
I think Bjugstad plays RW and McLeod stays at centre. Or they run McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins down the middle. Either way, I suspect Kostin will play LW while Bjugstad plays RW. Just a guess, though.
Bjugstad is more a RW than a C. Consider him 3RW.
He’s taken more FOs than any other Coyote this year.
47.2%
Yes, he is a Center for Mulletville but not Oiltown, because that’s just not good…but better than RNH’s 44.9%…which is why RNH is not playing Centre (or at least taking draws) as much as he did earlier in the season.
We shall see
I’m a big Kesselring fan.
Glad he’s probably going to get into NHL games as a Coyote.
Yeah, I find myself quiet happy for Kesselring, he has a legit shot now to play a lot of games.
While losing Kesselring sucks, I like that they got Dineen from the transaction. He’s got a lot of chaos to his game but upgrades the offensive capabilities of the farm team and he’ll be a good contrast to Kemp and Wanner if EDM retains him next year.