It remains my favourite series of posts each year. Perhaps I’ll have a chance to write a Stanley Cup post some day that will surpass draft weekend, but for now it’s the best time on the blog for its author.
It begins on draft Friday with ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and then goes through a series (more than five less than 10) of “Oilers at” posts that offer quick details about the latest addition.
Finally, on Saturday night comes ‘Harvest Moon’ and an overview of the weekend’s procurement. The draft won’t happen until October, but there’s much to discuss from this draft already. Let’s have a look.
THE ATHLETIC!
Great perspective from a ridiculous group of writers and analysts. I am proud to be part of The Athletic. Here are the most recent Oilers stories.
- New Lowetide: What should Oilers fans expect from Connor McDavid in the playoffs?
- New Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Oilers observations: Connor McDavid shines, Caleb Jones MIA and more
- New Jonathan Willis: Oilers get good cap news: Long-term outlook is tight but workable
- New Lowetide: The Oilers’ approach to Russians at the draft? Trust but verify
- New Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Mike Green’s opt-out isn’t ideal, but Oilers defence should manage without him
- New Lowetide: Joakim Nygard’s Oilers season reveals speedster with range of skills
- Lowetide: Dave Tippett’s postseason strategy against the Blackhawks
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Oilers notebook: Bear’s contract quandary, Broberg’s mini camp, bubble goalies
- Lowetide: Jesse Puljujarvi’s comparables suggest a possible future with Oilers
- Jonathan Willis: Every Oilers AHL prospect rated by how close they are to the NHL
- Lowetide: Setting the record straight on Oilers prospect Cooper Marody’s future
- Lowetide: Tough decisions face Oilers’ Ken Holland as cap forces painful choices
- Lowetide: How Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto can increase his value
- Lowetide: Everything you forgot (but need to know) about Oilers’ 2019-20 season
- Lowetide: Injury is biggest factor in the Oilers’ hopes for extended playoff run
- Lowetide: Tyler Benson’s struggle to score might affect future role with Oilers
- Lowetide: Ken Holland’s second Oilers draft should deliver high-octane offence
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: ‘It’s all surreal’: Kevin Lowe’s Hall of Fame nod nets surprise and satisfaction
- Lowetide: 10 things to look for at Oilers training camp and the 2020 playoffs
LOWETIDE PROJECTED WEEKEND
First round, No. 23 overall — RC Mavrik Bourque, Shawinigan (QMJHL). NHLE: 33.7. Fine skater, great passer, creative. He’s 5.10 176 and a quality prospect. Red Line compares him to Travis Konecny.
Second round, No. 54 overall — L Martin Chromiak, Kingston (OHL). NHLE: 31.2 Skilled winger with speed, I don’t think Mysak lasts this long but Chromiak is a nice consolation.
Third round, No. 85 overall — RW Alexander Pashin, Ufa (MHL). NHLE: 15.6 Undersized, skill forward who is a bit under the radar.
Fourth round, No. 116 overall — LW Oskar Magnusson, Malmo (SuperElite). NHLE: 25.9 .Fine prospect brings speed and a great shot. Undersized.
Fifth round, No. 147 overall — RD Thimo Nickl, Drummondville (QMJHL). NHLE: 18.2 Puck moving defenseman with some chaos.
Sixth round, No. 178 overall — LW Eric Juhlin, Vasteras (SuperElite). NHLE: 17.7. Good shot, solid performance (13 goals in 36 games) at even strength.
Seventh round, No. 209 overall — RD Mitch Miller, Tri-City Storm (USHL). NHLE: 16.6. Skilled defenseman, passing his greatest asset.
KEN HOLLAND’S 2020 DRAFT
First round, No. 23 overall — RW Jacob Perreault, Sarnia (OHL). NHLE: 32.5. He scored 39 goals in 57 OHL games. Sniper. Skilled. Red Line compares him to Jake DeBrusk. Great shot. Quick release.
Second round, No. 54 overall — TRADED for LW Andreas Athanasiou. After a bunch of trades that involved sending out Devan Dubnyk, Jeff Petry and Andrew Cogliano for second round picks or less, Holland’s decision to add Athanasiou for two seconds (another in 2021) hit a good spot for this observer. I don’t know if it’ll work out but I like the bet. Athanasiou can deliver immediately and is young enough to hang around for several years.
Third round, No. 85 overall — TRADED for James Neal. No matter what happens here and I do believe the NHL will side with Calgary, this is a trade that made sense at the time. Holland would have been severely handcuffed with both the noxious buyout penalty and punitive ‘no movement’ aspect as it pertained to the expansion draft.
Fourth round, No. 116 overall — TRADED for Mike Green. Edmonton received just one game and a little bit for this pick, but Green looked like an astute acquisition at the time. One assumes Holland feels he can trade back in to the top 100 overall.
Fifth round, No. 147 overall — RD Mason Langenbrunner, Eden Prairie High School. Young defenseman with the vital stats of a pencil (6.03, 170). He has the complete range of skills and is on his way to Harvard.
Sixth round, No. 178 overall — G Calle Clang, Rogle (SuperElite). Big goalie with good results in league play and internationally, projecting goaltenders and where they’ll land is impossible in the era of ‘searching for giants’ but I like Clang’s resume a lot.
Seventh round, No. 209 overall — LW Pavel Gogolev, Guelph Storm (OHL). He turned 20 in February, has passed through the draft twice and remains a dynamic offensive prospect. He represents exceptional value here (I have him No. 96) and should go earlier but you could have said that in 2018 and 2019, too.
JP
Aivis Kalniņš is reporting (here) that Jesse Puljujarvi has no interest in the KHL (an approach was made). I do think there’s a chance we see the big Finn dealt over the summer, perhaps for a NY Rangers selection. I’ve always said the Athanasiou acquisition looked like swapping in AA and would eventually see JP swapped out. I would not trade JP for picks.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
At 10 this morning, TSN 1260, we hit the ground running with a great group of guests. Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal will talk new lines (Bruce won’t be pleased) and a few old timey items. Joe Osborne from OddsShark will tell us about the pain of Cole Custer going four wide at a Nascar race to win a race and explode a bet that looked good all day long. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Constant chatter at 10!
Okay, from what I gathered I would be able to watch the same day, but I likely misunderstood.
Thank you
I was contemplating cutting cable and just buying Sportsnet now for a few months. Then I finally pulled the trigger and got Sportsnet Now. The next day, they shut down the season. ?♂️.
But it turned out well. I watched a bunch of old games thru the service. Some on tv. Some on my phone with the app.
You can watch it live.
And they also have a replay section. I believe it shows games that were Streamed in the last 24 hours.
Currently they have rugby game, a blue jays rewind game from 16 and a blue jays instrasquad game on in this section.
I believe it’s $20 a month and you can cancel anytime.
NEW for The Athletic: Zack Kassian’s role on Oilers top line must include responsible play
https://theathletic.com/1928146/2020/07/16/lowetide-zack-kassians-role-on-oilers-top-line-must-include-responsible-play/
BornInAGretzkyJersey,
Okay, thanks.
Not being tech savvy, I thought streaming meant you can only watch games live. I’d read you could only go back 30 seconds, so I don’t know if you can watch “on demand”.
Nope. Mentioned the Buibonic plague isn’t a moving target. As others have mentioned very treatable. Years ago there’d be the odd European traveler come back with it from an Arizona trip and the connection was made too late to the travel, but plague is about bottom of the list as a threat for a long time now.
OK that was gloomy. But sorry if any one’s betting on herd immunity we just don’t know if getting it a year later will be rare or typical. Coronaviruses in general seem to circle back.
But some good news, I’m done for the month. Keep safe.
Actually Hunter reminded me of Pepys when he mentioned Dafoe. Though they showed up in survey courses, fortunately did not have to read either of them. That Pepys “tweet” was apparently his first diary entry when the plague hit his neighborhood. Sorry to disappoint but quote was just as new to me today.
€√¥£€^$,
I cut the cord about five years ago. Was a great decision, haven’t looked back.
There are plenty of places you can watch the games online or you can pay for a streaming service through Sportsnet or the NHL. I use the former options which often are mirrors of the latter.
So…..I cancelled our tv service a few months ago, the only reason I had it was for watching the hockey (it was really cheap because will live in a new development and Telus and Shaw trip all over themselves for new customers). I live in Calgary & am looking to be able to watch later, since I am driving for about 12 hrs on the 1st.
Any suggestions other than getting cable again?
Any suggestions are much appreciated
Apparently, though, from all the rumours the league failed to insert such a clause into the contracts with their media partners.
giarc,
So shortened seasons had been previously contemplated.
Thank you. It was difficult to believe they hadn’t been.
Thanks for all you do LT and people. Man oh man it is slowly starting to get exciting just reading about hockey practice, ha ha. Tally ho!
Munny,
The CBA had force majeure clauses. Apparently the fact that the league never threatened to use it provided a lot of goodwill towards the players in the new The CBA negotiation. As the previous CBA was written it “grants owners the power to negotiate different salary figures for players in the event that the league suspends operations because of a “state of war or other cause beyond the control of the league or of the club.”
Considering that force majeure clauses are pretty common in the real world, I’d say the lack of one in NHL contracts and trade agreements is either laziness or hubris on part of either the NHL or it’s legal team.
The fact they didn’t think to include one in their massive TV contracts—on which they are existentially dependent for revenue—is revealing.
They know they have no defense against any plaintiff for non-performance due to Covid. There isn’t a court of law anywhere that would back the NHL… “well, it’s never happened to us before”.
But it has happened in other businesses and other sports. Ostrich heads buried in the sand is not a defense.
Unfortunately for the Oil, their case won’t be heard in a court of law, but by the very same idiots who thought these types of things were unnecessary in the first place.
#asscovering
I love the optimism!
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Of course I drag it back to Covid because that is the situation.
I 100% disagree with the latter paragraph. There was zero chance of a shortened season due to labor unrest, zero – the only reason a season has been cut short in 100 years.
Inserting a clause regarding the season being less than 82 games would not have been a reasonable consideration.
We can’t project that the conditions would have vest. We can’t project that they wouldn’t have. Each projection has a semblance of reasonableness. This is the normal trade parameter – the pick goes or it stays – doesn’t work in this instance – in my opinion.
To answer your question regarding bonuses, as they relate to NHL contracts, yes, the league is doing just that……
godot10,
The bubonic plague is endemic to the Western US. This is not new.
It is easily and successfully treated with Gentamicin and fluoroquinolones (as suggested by the CDC).
There’s a lot of things to worry about in 2020, but the plague isn’t one of them.
Don’t know why you drag it back to covid. Shortened seasons are recent. Recent enough to have gone through cba grievance.
Trev’s lawyers should know better than to think that’s not a relevant contingency to cover. They did not cover it. Now they’re into asking Gary for something. Maybe he gives them something., Maybe he doesn’t
I like the view of: Neal didn’t get 21 & Luc didn’t get 11. Numbers are black and white. Projecting what could have been could also be taken from their previous 10 games in which Luc would have scored 5 more as well while Neal did not score any. Season ended due to unfortunate circumstances but that affected everyone. Did you & I get bonus payments or even a cheque saying this is what you likely would have made? What about the employees at the rink, the owner & teams. Covid fucked us all, let’s all suffer a little.
Side,
Like N64… good grief…
Noone is lobbying for the Oilers to give up the pick.
Of course I’d love for the league to rule that the pick stays and the flames get nothing. I don’t think that will happen because, trying to be non-biased, I don’t think that is equitable in the circumstances.
The above statement, to me, shows your opinion on the matter is based on Oiler bias and what is best for the Oilers.
I’d prefer what’s best for the Oilers but don’t think it’s the “right decision”.
The plague has always been popping up but it is easily struck back down. It’s easily identified and treated.
Not sure why your posts related to diseases or infections are so fear mongering.
I don’t agree its clear cut – my reasons are cited in this thread (and previous).
I think to deem it clear cut is a biased position.
N64,
Uh… more… thanks… I’ll make another drink…
I believe that the NHL should intervene.
Taking off my Oilers-colored glasses, I don’t believe the black and white route is equitable in this circumstance.
N64,
Seems to me like you’ve been holding onto this like a loaded shotgun to release it for some time… ugh, thanks for the update… back to my vodka…
There hasn’t been a shortened season without labor stoppage in 100 years (I think) and there was no chance of a labor stoppage – I’m quite confident both Holland and Treliving made the deal with no thought that there teams would play less than 82 regular season games.
This is a very unique situation and there is no “right answer” in my mind.
Has there ever been a season cut short other than due to labor stoppage (which wasn’t an option this year) since 1919 and the Spanish Flu?
Any position that Treliving should have put in some sort of “shortened season” clause in to the trade condition is propagating a very biased view in my opinion.
The Black Death hung around for a lot longer than a year.
2020 isn’t over. The Black Death has been found recently in Mongolia in animals and has killed a teenager.
And recently found in a squirrel in Colorado,
Gotta love hearing the young guys aren’t just there for the entertainment.
I doubt anything they do changes lineups for opening night but stuff happens and coaches are paid to remember these things.
Parishes, that is, local areas used to keep a weekly death toll, that really could keep the death carts moving. In one instance the church needed to dig a tunnel so they could sneak all of the dead into their churchyard without causing a general panic.
Family reason is very wide open. Includes not fair to them for him to take on that personal risk.
thanks Bruce.
I know he does not have to defend his decision, but a little bit of info such as this certainly allows a lot more empathy to his situation.
Viruses just like to be different.
Plague leaves immunity.
Flu changes a lot to avoid immunity and there can be decades between pandemics.
Coronaviruses don’t leave as persistent immunity.
We wait.
Bouch bomb for the OT winner. Benson with 2 goals. dun dun DUN
Regarding Mike Green, obviously we don’t know what we don’t know, but he did mention family reasons in his brief message on his decision not to attend, so if it’s not him, it’s likely someone in his family who already is or could be compromised.
ha ha ha 5/5
Samuel Pepys would have been great on twitter:
@peeps123
tweeted April 30, 1665
Great fears of the Sickenesse here in the City. It being said that two or three houses are already shut up. God preserve us all
Having studied Defoe’s “Diary of the Plague Year” there are many many forms these pandemic viruses can take.
For example, everyone today assumes in 1665 Londoners all came down with a 3 day fever with blotchy skin which although was generally true there were multiple instances of people suddenly dropping dead on the spot showing no symptoms whatsoever.
The great Plague lasted approximately a year, then simply dissipated. The Flu epidemic of a century ago lasted a similar length of time, so its reasonable to expect the same time frame for this latest scourge to finally clear.
Yep. There were a lot of questions about the bonuses today.
Main difference is that bonuses are settled by cba directly or by grievance.
Whereas trade conditions are settled as written unless the league wants to resettle them however they want tomorrow.
I know that – I was just responding to the specific question on those matters and advising that, yes, they are expressly dealt with.
“They played over seven minutes of 5×5 overtime”
~ They made it 7 minutes just to get Drai off the ice before the overtime period ended ~
Apparently the Samorukov loaning to CSKA Moscow of the KHL wasn’t official – Oilers officially announced it today.
So happy Sammy will have a place to play this fall and continue his development.
Strong prospect.
Nor does he. Can’t expect studies specific enough to assign risk to his exact scenario. But where this thing gets nasty is week 2 immune system storm and week 3 blood embolisms. I’d run for the exits too if I had history of multiple liver infections. immune-blood-liver. yikes.
Update: Covid knocked a 19 yr old with mono into Calgary ICU:
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/scariest-experience-of-my-life-okotoks-man-becomes-youngest-icu-patient-in-alberta-from-covid-19-1.4897238
Of course there is. If they hadn’t settled that they’d be back to greivance procedures.
Zero to do with internal matters like rewriting contracts on the fly for any perceived reasons.
I do my part.
It’s 100% a great risk. And as the worst stage of Coronavirus is death it’s not clear what you think is more serious than that.
This is my favourite comment this week.