During an Oilers game in January 2015, John Shannon mentioned a conversation with Craig MacTavish involving what the GM learned during his trip behind the bench.
Shannon: “I talked to Craig MacTavish before the game, and about the five or six games he spent behind the bench. I said you know size doesn’t matter anymore and he said oh no, one thing I learned is that size matters more than ever. Size and quickness.”
The Oilers 2020 draft has just been completed, and gives us a chance to see if the Ken Holland-Tyler Wright combination believes in all size all the time or has room for small skill.
THE ATHLETIC!
I’m proud to be writing for The Athletic, and pleased to be part of a great team with Daniel Nugent-Bowman and Jonathan Willis. Here is our recent work.
- New Lowetide: Jay Woodcroft oversees a spike in Oilers prospect development
- New Lowetide: The 2020-21 Oilers and value contracts: Career opportunities
- New Eric Duhatschek: For one season only, bring on the NHL’s Canada Division
- New Jonathan Willis: Oilers’ organizational depth chart: Where does Edmonton stand today?
- Lowetide: Dmitri Samorukov’s KHL impact and what it means to the Oilers
- Lowetide: How many goals will Tyler Ennis score in 2020-21?
- Lowetide: Oilers extend Kris Russell, solve expansion issue
- Lowetide: Can Kyle Turris centre an outscoring No. 3 line in Edmonton?
- Lowetide: Tyson Barrie’s skills and how Oilers coach Dave Tippett will deploy him
- Jonathan Willis: Can Oilers unlock James Neal’s scoring potential at five on five?
- Lowetide: Why is Ilya Konovalov no longer starting in the KHL?
- Lowetide: Oilers Top 20 prospects, post-draft edition.
- Lowetide: Finding Connor McDavid’s optimal linemates among 2020-21 Oilers
- Jonathan Willis: A cautious free agent period boosts an Oilers team still on the upswing
- Lowetide: Oilers bring back Mike Smith for another year.
- Lowetide: Oilers sign Tyson Barrie to a team-friendly deal.
- Lowetide: Oilers sign Kyle Turris, Tyler Ennis in early hours of free agency.
- Lowetide: Jesse Puljujarvi signing overshadows a strong day for Oilers at draft
- Lowetide: Oilers draft Dylan Holloway on Day 1, with trades possible Wednesday
OILERS 2020 DRAFT
Here are the heights and weights for Edmonton’s most recent draftees. I’m taking them from the Oilers site.
- C-LW Dylan Holloway 6.01, 203
- LW Carter Savoie 5.09, 192
- RW Tyler Tullio 5.10, 165
- LW Maxim Berezkin 6.02, 201
- C Filip Engaras 6.0, 187
- RW Jeremias Lindewall 6.02, 183
The average size for an NHL forward in 2019-20 was 6.01, 197 pounds according to this article from James Mirtle at The Athletic. Holloway will be above average if he makes it, Berezkin and Lindewall, too. The only undersized players are Savoie and Tullio and they are the most skilled in the group.
OILERS 2019 DRAFT
Holland was here in time for the draft, don’t know how much impact he had but I’ll bet a 2-4 of Crown Royal he did impact the Broberg selection. Here are the numbers for the 2019 draftees.
- LD Philip Broberg 6.03, 199
- RC Raphael Lovoie 6.04, 196
- G Ilya Konovalov 6.0, 194
- RW Matej Blumel 6.0, 198
- RC Tomas Mazura 6.02, 170
- LC Maxim Denezhkin 5.10, 165
Among forwards, Lavoie is the only player certain to be above average based on the Mirtle numbers. Blumel is very there but not above average, doubt Mazua or Denezhkin will be NHL average if they make the NHL.
The average defenseman is 6.02, 203 and Broberg will play far above the average based on his age and frame. Goalies are 6.02, 201 and Konovalov will never get there.
ROSTER FORWARDS ABOVE 6.01, 197
The current Oilers have some big forwards, here they are sorted by height.
- LC Jujhar Khaira 6.04, 212
- RW Alex Chiasson 6.04, 208
- RW Jesse Puljujarvi 6.04, 201
- LW James Neal 6.03, 212
- RW Zack Kassian 6.03, 211
- LC Leon Draisaitl 6.02, 208
- Patrick Russell 6.01, 203
- LC Connor McDavid 6.01, 193
- RC Kyle Turris 6.01, 190
The Oilers have a pile of forwards who are average or bigger than average NHL heading into next season. Some small forwards (Kailer Yamamoto, Tyler Ennis, Josh Archibald, Nuge, Joakim Nygard, Gaetan Haas) but the size part of this roster is real.
ILYA KONOVALOV
He played in just one game this week, and is now clearly the backup to Edward Pasquale, who leads the KHL with a .961 save percentage. Although that performance obscures Konvalov, he sits No. 5 among KHL goalies with a .933 save percentage.
DMITRI SAMORUKOV
Dmitri Samorukov hasn’t moved much in the boxcars (20 games, 2-5-7) but remains No. 1 in the KHL in even strength on ice goal differential (18-4). He’s playing a confident defensive game complete with solid hitting and puck separation. Easy to overlook him with so many other good defensemen in the system, but his style is rather unique compared to the rest of the group.
PHILIP BROBERG
Philip Broberg is tied for No. 15 among SHL blue in scoring (12 games, 1-4-5), he plays today so that could change. He is averaging 19:44 per game and has an on ice goal differential of 7-9, which ranks No. 3 among Skelleftea blue. Broberg is No. 5 in even strength ice time (14:53, two seconds behind the man in fourth) and has posted four power-play points in 31 minutes (7.55 per 60).
MIKE HOFFMAN
There is a connection between the Oilers and Mike Hoffman (covered here) which I find encouraging. Not because I think Hoffman is heading to Edmonton (I’d suggest it is a distant bell) but rather because it means Ken Holland is shopping for a skill or two-way forward. Adding Hoffman to this team is too much to dream, but a Duclair, Kahun or Athanasiou is realistic and I think an astute move.
Looks like all the features are available now (posted from my phone).
True, but the D group were a large group.
The little guy was McDonagh 6’1” 214
Love the new format, great job Ryan.
Wait, now I’m reading what LeBrun advised on Hoffman and the potential of him signing somewhere after the season has started when a team has accessed its LTIR cushion.
My goodness, I’m very wary of Hoffman to start with given his one-dimension play and below average (to be kind) defensive abilities. I have less than zero interest in that player being acquired for a shortened season without attending a training camp and having played a handful of games in a calendar year. I guess he could come to camp on a PTO but I don’t see him doing that.
Spooky.
Just listened to a bit on CKUA about the haunting of their old premises at the Alberta Block at 105 Street and Jasper.
Sam, the janitor, was a 6’4” hulk of a man.
He had been charged earlier with threatening Premier Earnest Manning, had been declared “insane” and was lobotomized.
After that he became to night janitor at CKUA and his love of opera and classical music found him in an “ideal” situation.
I was working there at the time, drawing the evening shift from 6-midnight.
Of course, I saw Sam every night and despite numerous attempts, could never engage him in conversation.
One night, I walked into the newsroom and saw Sam face down in a garbage recepticle…dead as a door nail.
You may think this was the end of Sam at CKUA but many staff members over the years swore that they would see Sam shuffling through the station.
The late Bill Coull reported seeing Sam often when he would visit the station at night to record his programs for the weekend.
True story.
Hmm, yes, I see. I’ve been posting from my tablet all day. I just checked on my Android phone and the toolbar along the bottom of the comment box is missing when I try to post from my phone
This will definitely limit what you can do wrt quoting a prior post
Perhaps that’s something Ryan could look into tomorrow
My “mobile” is an (old) iPhone. It’s possible I’m in a small minority, not having access to the editing options.
My Android is a couple years old, running Android 10, and I don’t see the toolbar required for quoting a comment. The only current option I see is the nested reply function
It would be helpful to hear from some other IOS users and let us know if they can see the editing options in the comment box (the toolbar along the bottom of the comment box including an italics/bold/underline buttons)
It’s possible to copy/paste the comment you want to quote. Then add a break,
———–
And then the reply.
All of this is more difficult on mobile vs with a keyboard though. There are alternatives to the nested reply, but the cost/benefit may not favour quoting, depending on the device.
———–
Would be good to hear how widespread the edit function issue is though.
You can take a look now.
Yes, confirmed- the toolbar is visible now on my Android phone
thanks again
Totally. I think this team could be very good, and that Jones could well pick up much of the slack. I’m probably overly optimistic about the team actually.
But LT has been clear (I believe) that he would only post a balance photo for an Oilers team starting the season being balanced. Pretty sure Jones maybe/hopefully being able to cover 2LD would be enough for a balance photo before game 1 (likewise the goaltending).
I’m many hours behind the thread so this may have been answered. But are any of these editing features available on mobile? I don’t see them on my phone where I do most of my reading. Quoting without using the nested reply is quite a lot more difficult now than it was.
Where is the PayPal button I keep reading about?
If you’re on a computer, it’s on the right. On mobile devices, it’s below the post. It’s yellow in color.
Thank you both
On desktop, scroll up on the right-hand side of the page. PayPal link appears above “Recent Posts”.
On mobile, it’ll be near the bottom of the page, again above “Recent Posts”.
Pretty sure Ryan volunteered to help so he could get that sweet, sweet Red name and Admin tag.
I’m enjoying it for sure, but I feel a little guilty about it too. It’s from the comment plugin that we’re using. Without Admin access though, I can’t do what I do. At some point, Lowetide could downgrade my access.
For anyone that doesn’t know, I’ve been posting on this website for over a decade. I have posted thousands of comments here.
People should stop thanking me, because this is not work. I am truly having a blast. As a fellow consumer of this website, I like having things work as best as I can facilitate.
This website was turning into one of those secret clubs in Los Angeles. You had to go to Lowetide’s twitter. Click on the link to his latest post. Login to the site. Post your comment. Get kicked out. Login again to post… repeat.
We are here now.
I’ll keep doing my best until I get kicked out… Which won’t be long. 🙂
Is anyone else having issues with the “subscribe” function? Even when I’m only subscribed to “new replies to my comments” I was getting notification of seemingly random replies that were not replies directly to me.
Yeah, same, I unsubscribed
I may revisit as I might have missed something or I might be able to tweek the settings but for now I just turned it off
I see now that when you are about to post a comment, just to the left of the “Post Comment” button there is an icon to get notified of responses to that post – that might be aces!
Yeah, I was using that button, in fact I pressed it just once with one comment as a test, and got a couple of dozen emails from various posters that didn’t seem to be related to my original test.
Anyway, I just unsubscribed for now and I may revisit if I feel like it
First and foremost, I hope my comments and thoughts about the new format did not come off ungrateful or disrespectful. LT and Ryan, I do thank you both for your efforts and, overall, 100%, the changes are positive and you both have done great work to make this place such an awesome community – the best Oilers community on the web.
I don’t like to miss posts, i read them all (clearly) and the threaded will lead to me missing posts but that’s fine – that’s my issue and I’ll deal with it. Its clear from the responses over the last two days that the changes are all but universally positive – great work and thank you.
One last thing, with respect to the new posts at the top, I’ve also already gotten used to it but, if possible, it may make sense to have the quote responses also go “up” given we’re now scrolling up as we read through the comments in real time.
I certainly didn’t take your comments in any way but input, but did take the opportunity to tease you a little. No offense intended.
No offence taken at all! Tease away!
All feedback is appreciated!
My feedback for everyone here is to be cognizant of the fact that it’s expensive to keep the lights on in this place. I’ve ran a large community blog in a past business venture, so I definitely know.
If you can afford it, think of the PayPal button as a voluntary subscription option. That’s what I’ve always done.
To carry on this conversation at the top, because its a good one, to me, there are 3 right shot d-men each capable of playing 20-23 minutes per night. While Larsson/Bear might see some of the tougher minutes, given Barrie has been around 30% TOI vs. elites for most of his prime, he doesn’t need to be overly sheltered. I think we might see relative even 5 on 5 minutes from the three (maybe a bit less for Larsson with heavier PK minutes).
On the Klef thing, I can’t remember which interview/radio hit it was, but I believe Holland somewhat intimated that Klef is likely to see how the shoulder is feeling closer to when camp and regular season are (once its known) to finalize his decision.
I know we all anticipate he’ll opt from some sort of surgery or elongated rehab but its not a given that he won’t be there for day 1 – I don’t think.
I’m prepared for everything from early retirement to seeing his smiling face at camp. Klefbom strikes me as a thoughtful kind of guy who will use all the time the uncertainty of a start date offers him and I think he has earned that right considering the pain it sounds like he has endured to play for this long.
I can’t disagree. With that said, i don’t think retirement is anything but a last option for Klef. I have always seen him as a guy over the years that just loves playing hockey and competing and being with the guy. Always classy in interviews and seems well liked by the media, his teammates, his coaches, etc. Of course, he does seem like an intelligent guy and realizes standard of living post-hockey could become an issue but I think he’s a ways away from retirement being a legit option.
I hope you are right but if the rumour is correct that it is arthritis that can be really debilitating.
My hope is that he shows up at camp with a big smile on his face ready to start the season and makes Holland scramble to get cap compliant.
What does following the user mean?
If you click on the follow button you get an email notification when that person posts a comment – I’m still fiddling with it and not certain I’d use/want this feature
There is even less of a cap impact – A $1M player acquired simply replaces an existing player on the roster (Haas, Nygard, etc.) and the cap impact is essentially nothing – shit, a cap benefit if its a Khaira for example.
“So, like your first experience with the opposite sex, alcohol and glue, probably best to let the experience wash over you”
It does take me back testors model cement, carling black label and (she who shall not be named). All good!
What great work and a lovely refresh of the site. Based on the small sample size of yesterday and today we are likely to fail but showing strong entertainment value. I promise to give 110 percent, starting next season.
Okay, I solved another issue.
Next to the lightening bolt and the flame symbols, you now have the option to sort comments by newest or oldest…. Or most voted.
Now you can read in either direction.
Goodnight folks. Thanks for all of your feedback!
Also, I moved the comment bubble to the right.
Vote with the button, not with your feet!
Vote this post up or down if you like or dislike the current settings.
Well done
Hell of a job Ryan. My thanks for all your work.
Doug Ford
@fordnation
·
32m
We are engaging with the @OHLHockey
to create a safe return to play plan, which will need to be approved by health experts. To date no decisions have been made. I would like to see the OHL return as normal as possible with body checking.
I would encourage everyone, especially the aged, to open up your minds on these changes. Some will fade away from non-use, OP will find a homeless man who can fix the quotation issue and set him up to make millions, and even I will figure out most of it. So far, I hated the new system of first post at the top,but now it’s cool. So, like your first experience with the opposite sex, alcohol and glue, probably best to let the experience wash over you before picking up a tiki torch.
Reading bottom up is counter-intuitive.
The rest is aces in my humble estimation.
I was just testing that option. We can switch it back easily. People were complaining about having to scroll to the bottom to read the latest comment. I brought it closer to the top.
Bottom is better IMO.
It is possible to sort “oldest” post on top to flip the order but that re-sets with every page refresh (at least for me).
A timestamp for posts would really help generally as well as with the above.
Geez can’t tell yet if this is trick or treat!
Happy Halloween everyone.
If Kahun was willing to sign for $1M per, for any term, it would have been done a long long time ago. We know Holland offered him a contract. I anticipate Kahun will be at $2M per, potentially higher. Oilers could probably fit him in at that price point, still get cap compliant and then LTIR Klef but I anticipate he isn’t amenable to Edmonton.
I don’t think Chiasson is tradable without a sweetener – this isn’t a bash of Chiasson or even saying he wasn’t value for $2M this past year but a reflection of the market re-set and that other legit and more dynamic NHL players are signing for less than $2M (Galchenyuk has the same amount of points as Chiasson), Kahun himself is likely around $2M. No chance, in my opinion, the Oilers get an asset for Chiasson – the Oilers would need to attach an asset for a team to take on his $2M in this market.
I disagree on both of your points.
.
If Kahun is worth $2M, then what is AA worth? If Kahun gets signed for more than $1.5M kudos to him. He is a 3td liner at this point, no way he gets $2M in this market. There is a very good reason he wasn’t qualified. He is very skilled Imo and I see him as the ultimate value deal, but it is highly likely that 12-13 goal scorers won’t get $2M deals this season.
You cannot compare contracts signed this year with contracts signed pre-Covid. Chiasson is a player that would fit well in NJ next year “Crazy Contract” and all.
So, you and I disagree on 3 things now, these 2 including Holloway going to the U20 camp. Not that I am keeping track, or anything like that ??
We shall see.
What struck me this morning when I read through the article was, “Hey! LT’s mock roster is exactly what I have on CapFriendly.”
The AAVs differ but the personnel and line placements are the same, except I’ve got Bear carrying Russell on the 3rd pair and Barrie with Nurse on the 1st pairing.
I’ve got the following for salary values, as I was trying to sign the players using the LTIR cushion and maintain Holland’s stated walking around change values of $1.5M (actually listed by CF.com as $1,574,509)
Kahun – $1.95M
Bear – $1.5M
Lagesson – $0.75M
Moral of the story is, we should be able to sign Bear and Wild Bill to reasonable contracts and perhaps look for a player costing up to $2M who can improve the roster balance. Provided Klefbom is on LTIR all year and there are no other trades/transactions.
How to get Barrie on the ice with McDavid without sticking Bear with Russell is a problem I haven’t yet been able to solve short of Lagesson beating him out of that 3rd pairing spot in TC.
Hopefully Tippett has it figured out.
Barring a radical shake up or slotting in KRusty too high in the lineup it’s going to be either nigh on impossible or difficult to achieve.
I have no impetus to break up Nurse-Bear as they were fantastic last year and deserve to continue until production dictates otherwise, but keeping Russell with a partner who excels at distribution is imperative. Barrie is wasted at a third pairing level.
Time for Bear to prove he’s worth a hefty raise by being able to demonstrate he can drive a pairing by himself.
If Nurse-Barrie, or perhaps even Jones-Barrie, do not mesh well then Russell-Barrie is always an option.
I, too, would prefer to see Lagesson-Barrie as a full time pairing. That would give a solid puck mover on each pair, plus a mentor paired with each younger player. Plus, the benefit of having WL learn on the job from Barrie would improve his already underrated puck moving which then would improve his value — either on the roster or in a trade.
But Tipp/Playfair seem to prefer veterans, so I imagine Lagesson will be relegated to injury/slump fill-in duties while not in the press box.
So we see the situation pretty much the same. Not ideal no matter how you shuffle the cards because one of them no longer really fits in with the others.
And no word on Klef since the original info came out.
I think the Plus/Minus function just cemented its value in the Pescador/HH interaction below – who has several friends? We now know!
#toobin
Thanks for this Bruce – although I think Broberg was even, on for a goal each way.
You are right about his box-cars not increasing much recently – sure, it would be nice to have him produce points but the TOI number is the one that means the most to me and its enthusing!
Technical question aimed @Ryan: is there a way to see a roster list of registered users and select those one wants to follow? Or is the only way to either wait for them to post and then select, or go back through old blog posts and find a comment by each individual?
Also, cool to see that the ‘@username’ function from forums/socials works… does that person get a notification/email that they’ve been cited in a post?
I didn’t think I’d ever see the day you could post gifs on LTs page
Same.
This has equal potential to be glorious, or insidious.
I rarely clicked on links people posted that weren’t links to hockey articles/sites.
Can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
testing….testing…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyONfX5bpyQ
@ Ryan:
Fantastic new look site! So far haven’t had time to figure everything out but it reminds me of going to Disneyland lol
Can’t wait to see how it develops over the coming days.
“And the last shall be first”. Grumble, grumble grumble.
I have gotten obsessive about a possible Dominik Kahun addition after spending several hours reading about him and watching video. He is a really dynamic player who I think would put up excellent numbers with McDavid. If they could sign him for 2 years at around $1 million it would be fantastique!
Kahun- McDavid – Kassian
Nuge – Drai – Yammer
Ennis – Turris Puljujarvis
Neal – Haas – Archibald
JJ
Nygard
Nurse – Bear
Jones – Larsson
Russell – Barrie
Lagesson
I have traded Chiasson to NJ for either Michael McLeod (a right shot C/RW & Ryan’s brother who has struggled a bit in the AHL, but is big, fast and has played in 35 games) or LC/LW Janne Kuokkanen (teammate of Jesse, who has put up good AHL numbers, but is on his 2nd team. NJ is a very young team with only Palmeri as right shot. Perhaps he is seen as a good fit there…
If you can get Kahun for $1M you don’t even have to trade Chiasson
Assuming Klef is gone for the season, there’s enough money in the LTIR cushion to acquire a $1M player, and still have some walking around money
I like Kahun as a target for sure
I’m not sure how anyone would dislike this comment (my + brought it back to 0). But what you say is truth.
If you can trade Chiasson for either of these players straight up you should take over as Edmontons GM.
These are not realistic trades. Every team is trying to shed salary and you just magically traded a 2 million dollar 4th line forward with no salary retention and no bad contract coming back?
C’mon man.
C’mon man, well then let me count the reasons why….
1. He is a Cup champion
2. Is an extremely effective PP producer
3 Can PK
4. Is a low-maintenance reliable vet
5. Has a plus shot and can beat NHL goalies cleanly (this is not a common skill))
16. Is a big body, and would easily be the biggest skater on the team.
23. He’s got one year left
37. Is a bonafide NHL player.
41. NJ has only 2 older veteran forwards
45. They have only 1 NHL right shot Right Winger,
50. With a few more spots to fill, if Boston is interested, why the Hell wouldn’t the talent-challenged Devils?
Would be awesome if the Oilers got a bit more of the “I can’t believe they got away with that!” luck. No way Kahun will be signing in Edmonton for that cheap. If he was, he’d be signed already. More likely to be signing closer to $2M as previously mentioned by multiple people here. He might sign closer to $1.5M in a market with no state Taxes, but highly unlikely here.
Ryan
Are you able to slide the comment bubble up..?…keep it on the left side but move it up and tuck it under the HOME tab
Chiasson was pretty much value for his $2M this past season but there has been a market re-set and, even though he is a legit NHL player that can help teams, given players like Galchenyuk, who had the same amount of point as Chiasson last year, just signed for half the price and guys like Kahun will likely come in around $2M, I don’t think Chiasson is moveable without a sweetener.
I originally thought the same thing about Savoie but was educated that not all of that 192 is “good weight” – we’re not looking at Martin St. Louis’ legs here….
I would imagine that Haula gets well over $2M and Kahun likely in the $2M plus range.
In my opinion, Mike Hoffman is not the way to go. His 5v5 points/60 are nothing exceptional, barely edging out Tyler Ennis this season. Add his awful defense, and he’s nothing more than a powerplay specialist. Whoever signs him to a long term contract this season would be getting James Neal 2.0. But James Neal was better when he signed his contract.
Duclair is a huge red flag. Amazing first half but only 2 goals in the 2nd half of the season is concerning. His S% rocketed in the first half and went back to the mean in the 2nd half, so that explains a lot.
I think we should be after someone like Dominik Kahun (knows Draisaitl, has great EV strength production in limited minutes) or Mikael Granlund (might be able to get him for cheap after a down year). Maybe even a winger like Conor Sheary, who was one of the best forecheckers in the league this season and can keep the puck in the offensive zone for McDavid.
PayPal button is enabled again (on your right)
I reversed the comment order for newest at the top near the comment box. Let’s try this out for a test drive and see how people react.
I am vehemently against this change (with respect).
Ya, big fat no from me as well LoL
*edit-actually,let me mull this for a bit
Yeah, I don’t think this is going to work as is
If you scroll to the bottom and read up, the “replies” appear first, and the comment that started the conversation appears last.
Now, if you are able to reverse the order of that particular post(and the subsequent replies it generated…)
Exactly how I’d have been finding it.
Thought I was going crazy for a minute.
I prefer to scroll down while reading, not up.
Same!
I prefer the steering wheel to be on the left side of the car, thanks.
I also don’t like it.
Something I just figured out that works to find recent comments which may be in threaded replies is to press command/CTRL and F then type ‘minutes ago’ to see the replies within the last hour.
If you’re on a desktop or laptop, you can simply hit the end button to get to the bottom. Also, there is a scroll to the top button on the bottom right.
I am going to try something which will probably drive people crazy.
Let’s test it out.
Not urgent…but under contact in the main menu there are icons for sharing on Twitter and Facebook.
Would be a great place to link to Lowetide’s Twitter feed.
Except with the nature of threaded replies one misses the newest posts since last refresh. Which is chiefly the opposition to threaded replies.
So I found a work around and thought I’d post it for the group.
– In 2015 while MacT learned stuff behind the bench I learned stuff about MacT:
– That stunt behind the bench was the epitome of someone with a misplaced high value of his own abilities
– I knew then that it would be his last spin behind a bench in the NHL: still took too many years for him to exit the Oil.
– Without MacT however there would be no McD: by far his greatest “contribution”
– Format is nice but like all modern sites I hate having to click off ads or have them encroach onto the page untill they minimize: but I get it.
– Where’s the yellow PayPal button? (Gentle reminder to all of us to say thanks for this place)
Just outstanding Ryan.
Love the new look of the place….
The site is definitely a boost. Enjoy the reddit style votes for comments. Lets us skip the troll content easier. The one issue I always have is i get a 429 on mobile trying to login. I autocomplete my password on ios and hit login. It thinks im trying to hack in. Minor issue. Just saying I always do it. The problem IS btw the keyboard and mouse.
I wonder if Boston would have interest in Klefbom. They could stash up the LTIR and sign Debrusk on day 1 of the season to max the benifit of LTIR. Oilers would need a 1st back though imo. With 4m cap space I would pass on Hoffman. Id want a 2 way guy. And probably a 1 year stop gap LHD. Lots of ifs but I do think there is something there. Im sure Oilers fans would push for Debrusk but he needs to stay in the team acquiring the LTIR player and Boston already has Pasta missing 1-2 months. Plus they could fit in Chara till Klef was fine. Ultimately this scenario could help Boston more but Klefs shoulder is a big variable.
The 429 error is a too many requests error, quite common apparently
https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/429-too-many-requests/
Lots to chew on there, good luck
Try installing the Puffin browser, apparently IOS users have had success with that while using this site
Interesting idea re: Klefbom. I like the player a lot but he may have played his last game as an Oiler
NEW for The Athletic: How close is Ryan McLeod to an Oilers roster spot? The young pivot is flourishing in the Swiss Alps.
https://theathletic.com/2171267/2020/10/31/ryan-mcleod-oilers-roster-spot/
Loving the new look, more treat than trick, let’s hope!
Love the new look blog, very easy on the eyes.
Well done Ryan!
Read through the comments and wanted to add,
Personally I much preferred the old comment section at the bottom of the thread. FWIW
Also, where do I find the “Mute HH” button?
Asking for several friends
Big heartfelt thanks to everyone who makes this amazing blog what it is everyday.
Highly likely you don’t have several friends.
Loved that zinger
jp
4 hours ago
Caleb Jones may have something to say about the defence balance – nope, he can’t replace Klef and all of what he does but, at 5 on 5, he has a chance to fill in very well.
Lets not forget how good he and Larsson were together last year when Klef was out – we are talking 60% goal share and not easy minutes. Sure, only 8 games (I think) but there is a non-zero chance that Jones, a year older and stronger and more mature, may be able to handle a good portion of those minutes.
We shall see.
Testing.
Thank you GR!
How did you separate your comment from the one you blockquoted?
Thanks.
You have to highlight the text you want to separate, then while it’s highlighted, choose your feature from the toolbox. The italics was the go to for me, but Ryan made a change this morning so the highlighted portion is a different color. The blog standard has become highlighting the portion you want to quote, then click the ” (blockquote) button.
Your reply can then be typed below the portion you’ve blockquoted
It’s easy to highlight with a mouse and scroll wheel..just move the cursor over the text(and the user’s name) to copy the text, then click on the comment bubble on the left to jump to the comment box, then paste
I haven’t tried it with my phone yet, it won’t be as easy but that will depend on how fat your fingers are LoL
Thanks. That is what I think I did but it ran my reply in with the blockquote. I’ll try again to see what I did wrong.
aha…yes, I think the trick is to copy/paste, type your reply below the pasted section, and THEN highlight the pasted section and apply the blockquote
Thanks. I’ll try that. Slow learner and all. 😉
Pretty good game for Broberg today by the numbers, 20:31 TOi, 5 shots on net to lead both teams, & a +1 in Skelleftea’s 3-2 loss to Orebro. But no points.
Now has 1-4-5 in 13 games, but has been living off that 1-2-3 season opener the whole time, just 2 apples in his last dozen outings.
Liking the new look of the site, though not all of the features seem to be working on my ancient tablet. Stick tap to Ryan for the work.
Nice job Ryan. Curious to find some good uses of the
ahhh….I was wondering what that function was
DBO
3 hours ago
I think Archibald is trusted by the coach, so doubt he sits.
Do wonder if moving Chiasson to open up money and spot for a Kahun, or dare I say Hoffman would make for an interesting option. I still think the best two way player who is coming off a down year is Granlund. He would easily improve our top 6 and add PK and PP option, while being able to help McDavid on faceoffs. The longer it goes, the more likely you get him at like 1 year $3 million. Moving Chiasson, to clear his cap and balance the lineup and adding a Granlund would suddenly make us as balanced and deep as anytime over the decade of darkness.
Wait..what is that..oh my god… it’s… it’s… it’s the “balance photo” LT has teased for years!!!!!!!!!
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I’m with you, I imagine Archibald as an every day player on this team – he’s important on the PK and he adds speed and tenacity to the bottom six with a little bit of skill.
I won’t bash Chiasson, he was pretty much value for his $2M this past season – to not get caved in bottom 6 minutes is valuable on this team – add that to his PP abilities and he was value.
At the same time, the league cap market has changed and, well, even though he is a legit NHL player and not egregiously over paid, he isn’t really tradable. Not with the glut of legit NHL players that are still available and likely to sign for cheap. Galchenyuk had the same amount of points as Chiasson last year and signed for half the price. The Oilers would need to add a legit sweetener for a team to take Chiasson because of the market re-set.
If they did move on from Chiasson, as per my previous posts, I would stay very clear of Hoffman and think, as you mentioned, Granlund would be an excellent addition – cheaper than Hoffman and, well, in my opinion, better as he’s more versatile and not awful defensively.
Granlund or Kahun are much better fits on the Oilers than Hoffman, in my opinion.
With that said, I don’t see either coming to Edmonton as I don’t think Holland will be able to open up the cap space with a RW disposition of Chiasson (or even Kass).
I don’t think either Kahun nor Granlund will come in under $2M so that disposition would be required.
OP-Ryan made a change to the site this morning re: quoting
You’re currently doing everything correct, however, instead of clicking on the Italics button, try clicking on the ” (blockquote) button, and the section you want to quote will be separated from your text, and displayed in the different color
I see Chiasson as the type of player that becomes more valuable in the play-offs.
I would like to see a load management approach where Neal, Chiasson, Haas, Benson platoon into the line-up based on the competition and making Benson a full time NHLer
leadfarmer
4 hours ago
Buying out Neal and using that money for Hoffman would have made LT dust off that picture he’s been hiding
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I’m not sure that would even make the team better in the interim. Hoffman can score goals, of that there is no doubt. He is also an awful 2-way player which is not what we seem to be looking for or needing on McDavid’s left wing. Goal scoring on McDavid’s line is not an issue – keeping goals against down is an issue – in my opinion.
I take a look at Neal in the play-in, the best Oiler forward among the bottom 6 – a couple points, huge possession numbers, 75% goal share. Worth $6M? Heck no, not even with his PP acumen. Still adds some value to the team and doesn’t create a defensive issue ala Hoffman.
Just say no to Hoffman.
I mean, if you can replace Neal with Hoffman I don’t see how you don’t do pull the trigger. A buyout may not be the best idea with the current cap uncertainty.