Philip Broberg is listed on the IIHF WJ site as 6.03, 203. He’ll probably play at 215-220 as a mature player, that matches Barry Beck who was a load in NHL games 45 years ago. Did you know, that for a brief time, Beck was on Glen Sather’s radar?
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: How will the Oilers find chemistry with no preseason games?
- New Jonathan Willis: After a brilliant rookie Oilers season, how high is Ethan Bear’s ceiling?
- Lowetide: How secure is Zack Kassian’s role on Oilers’ top line?
- Lowetide: Oilers’ signing of Slater Koekkoek could be about more than depth
- Lowetide: Why fans should expect an Oilers playoff berth in Canadian division
- Jonathan Willis: Dave Tippett has more options now thanks to versatile Oilers forwards
- Lowetide: 7 big questions facing the Oilers heading into next season
- Lowetide: What if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins doesn’t sign with the Oilers?
- Jonathan Willis: Left-side logjam will force the Oilers to make a choice, and perhaps a sacrifice
- Lowetide: Ken Holland’s 2020 Oilers offseason report card
- Lowetide: Theodor Lennstrom is the Oilers’ latest European bet on defence
- Lowetide: Why Anton Forsberg could win the Oilers’ backup job in 2020-21
- Jonathan Willis: Team Draft vs. Team Trade: Which collection of all-time Oilers is better?
- Lowetide: Seattle Kraken expansion mock draft 5.0: Who could the Oilers lose?
- Lowetide: Why McDavid and Nuge together could be key to Oilers’ playoff success
- Lowetide: Projected training camp roster for the 2020-21 Oilers.
BECK!
It was September 1986, Barry Beck had informed coach Ted Sator and the New York Rangers that he wasn’t going to play in 1986-87. NHL teams don’t take these things seriously, because there’s a salary ($350,000 for Beck at the time) and most times players (even proud ones, like Bobby Hull) return. Well, Beck wasn’t budging, so when weeks grew to months, Glen Sather reached out to see if there was interest in playing for the Oilers.
In the middle of all this, a trade rumour hit the media, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reporting the outrageous price for Beck (Charlie Huddy and Mike Krushelnyski) while including a quote from Sather saying he asked Beck and there was no interest in playing 1986-87 in New York or elsewhere.
Sather told the media he had no interest in making a deal, as youngsters Jeff Beukeboom, Selmar Odelein and others were in the mix to make the jump to the NHL.
(Source: Edmonton Journal, September 17, 1986)
Beck did in fact sit out the season and then another and then another. Whatever Sator did to Beck, it cost the team a pretty good defenseman. Rangers traded him to the Kings for a pick just before the 1989-90 season and he finally returned.
BROBERG
Philip Broberg had a tough night against the Russians, it was a bizarre evening. He kept getting beat to the net wide side by Russian wingers, which is not allowed at any time. People are guessing leg or groin, it isn’t certain and we’ll have to wait and see if he plays against the Americans today.
Broberg played 23:41 against Russia, leading all Swedes in ice time. He tried to score a Bobby Orr goal late in the third period, he cam up limping after that play.
This is Broberg’s final shot at the World Juniors I hope he gets a chance to play in the big game next week (whateve the medal played for). I think he’s a fine prospect, nothing that happened last night changes that opinion.
Edmonton’s investment in Broberg continues a trend that began in 2013 with the selection of Darnell Nurse. Along with Evan Bouchard, the three men are top-10 overall selections who are defensemen and chosen in a seven-year period. The last time Edmonton chose three blue top-10 in a seven-year period was never.
EVAN BOUCHARD
I wrote a little about him today for The Athletic, for me this is going to be a major opportunity for Bouchard. I’m not suggesting he’ll beat anyone out for a job, but a strong showing in training camp may give Holland and Tippett the impression he’s NHL-ready now. If that happens, any injury gets him on the roster and once Bouchard arrives the clock starts ticking on his becoming an established defenseman. There’s a parade of youngsters coming (Bouchard, Broberg, Samorukov at the front of the pack), probably wise to get one of them to the NHL this season.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
A busy morning as we prepare to say goodbye to 2020, we get rolling at 10 on TSN1260. Frank Seravalli from TSN will join us at 10:20 to talk about the opening of training camps and the remaining free agents. Michael Hurley from WBZ Boston will pop in at 11 to talk about the Bruins and Zdeno Chara. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. New Year’s Eve! Drive safely!
No World Juniors today but Denver and Carter Savoie are back in action tonight!
@coreypronman
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32s
WJC shots on goal leaders through the round robin:
Holtz, Raymond 21
Stutzle, Hirvonen 18
Podkolzin 17
Cozens, Heinola, McMichael, Peterka, Amirov, Kaliyev 16
Zegras, Boldy, Teply, Knak 15
For some reason I can’t post this with comment but it’s a thing.
https://torontosun.com/news/world/neanderthal-gene-protects-against-covid-19
People with this gene were immune from the Black Plague and Aids.
Cool, I hadn’t seen this. Thanks.
But what’s up with the bubonic plague and HIV stuff? That doesn’t seem to be real.
Great, looks like Broberg has hurt his shoulder/arm in addition to his existing LBI…..
But yet he’s out there on the very next shift after the TV timeout to kill a penalty.
What a horse.
~ Now his status is FBI ~
Why can’t players from the ahl go through the Calgary airport and quarantine for 1-2 days while they wait for the test, then take another test a week later then play?? Everybody else in Alberta is doing …
Don’t know what the game protocols add to the picture, but yes they can get out of quarantine early through the Calgary pilot program.However they have to stay in Alberta (the first week or perhaps both weeks?)
For one, they’d have to stay in Alberta until the results of the follow-up test 6 plus days later.
Also, notwithstanding government quarantine protocols, there are protocols agreed to as between the NHL and the NHLPA in their return to play and it likely requires multiple tests within a certain amount of time.
@theScore
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2m
Pierre-Luc Dubois reportedly preferred short-term deal, hoping for trade from Jackets. http://thesco.re/2L63uSS
He wanted a 2 year contract because there’s going to be a mass exodus from Cbus in 2 years
players treat it like a banishment to Siberia
The Winnipeg of the Rust Belt.
So we should re-sign 1 of Larsson or Barrie next summer to a 1-year deal with the goal of getting Seth Jones in the summer of 22?
Looks like Broberg is in for Sweden…..
https://twitter.com/chrismpeters/status/1344818052249112577/photo/1
Holloway deflects it in
Heck of an ugly goal by Holloway but he did lots of little things that led to it – the zone exit, the dump in and battle for offensive zone possession – part of wrecking havoc in front of the net and puck retrieval, the battle in front and screen.
An Oiler prospect who can score ugly goals. Been waiting for one of them for a long time.
Yup. The team needs a new Ryan Smyth.
Goal by Holloway as he simultaneously ties up the net front defender, screens the goalie, and tips the puck in off his skate for his first of the tournament.
Ryan Smyth goal. 😉
Holloway tied up by Heinola and goes headlong into the boards… drawing a penalty in the process.
Broberg is clearly injured. Was doubtful for game one and sat once the game was in the bag, sat out game two and was limping around like late career Ryan Whitney last night, crazy that he still lead the team in ice time. I hope they rest him tonight to save him for the quarterfinals but since the coach had him out there in the dying seconds it wouldn’t surprise me if he plays. They clearly think he’s important enough that they’re prepared to play him on one leg. The swedish D group, deemed a strength before the tournament, has looked pretty bad overall so my guess is they are quite desperate to have him on the ice. Sweden will certainly need him healthy to do any kind of damage.
I can’t say I’m loving our chances at this point.
I’ve been waiting for tonight’s lineup to be posted – still nothing yet. I would think that he’s not playing but they probably don’t want to go in to the medal round on a 2-game losing streak
First place in Sweden’s division is a big deal though. One avoids Canada** till the final, plus easy first elimination game. If Sweden were to lose, tonight, then it is Finland**, and two of Canada, US, and Russia to win the tournament.
**If Canada beat Finland.
Thanks for the Barry Beck memories, he was a favourite player of mine growing up.
Barry lost his only son to a road rage incident this past summer and he has been coaching in Hong Kong for about 12 years or so.
Here is an interesting interview with him from a few years ago that covers a lot of ground, if anyone is interested.
https://athletesquarterly.com/athletes/barrybeck/
Chara signs with Caps $795K
Again?
Just kidding.
Hilarious… just saw the interview combined with ticker tape on TSN, thought it was live… I’ll just watch the remainder of this Sweden/Russian game… Broberg looks injured 😉
Happy New Years, all! Hope wherever you are in the world you and yours are keeping safe and sane. As the fireworks went off down here and the cheers lifted to 2021 I couldnt help but think of one of our hosts favourite aphorisms “hope springs eternal”.
Can’t say 2021 will be any greater than the year its succeeding but I can’t help but love us all for believing it might. Now if those damn Oilers could sort out that top defensive line we could probably take the division…
TSN is reporting that PLD just signed for $10 mln over 2 years.
those Lebrun comments sure aged well
Confirmed by Cap Friendly.
That’s a bargain for Columbus.
Really wanted Broberg to look better than he did. Makes sense that he’s injured. Too bad it’s in the WJC. Had heard Raymond was ~Marner-ish. Didn’t see that either. He’s good, but not as darting quick, crafty, and smart as advertised. The tall Russian LD looks like perhaps the polysyllabic second coming of Chara…fee fi fo fum. Seemed Sweden might have been saving some energy for the USA game today.
Watch him skate in the 3rd period and overtime. Pushes off one leg and braces with the other
you feel bad that the coach put him out there for 24 minutes
Okay, LT now you have me curious.
a) Did you recently go to the library and read the Edmonton Journal, 1986 on microfiche?
b) Did you save a copy of the journal article in a scrap book?
c) Or do you just remember the date you read this?
I’m worried that the answer might be c). You seem to have a phenomenal autobiographical memory.
There are trap doors all over the internet. 🙂
He’s got McCurdy on “speed dial”.
It’s very clear that Dubois and Barzal aren’t taking covid discounts.
this is all just posturing
And probably Strome in CHI too.
Nuge for Dubois make it happen Tambo
Because we need a 1st line centre? 😉
I truly appreciate your quick and sometimes twisted sense of humour. You have made me smile on many occasions. Thank you and Happy New Year!?
I remember that Barry Beck trade rumour. It seems like yesterday, back when I had an onion on my belt.
My brother and I were not impressed with his fancy stats, which in the 1970s was mainly the length of the sideburns. His were ridiculously short for those days.
Of course my brother and I had decided a few years earlier that the team should dump that terrible defenseman named Coffey who didn’t seem to know what his job was. Our judgement of defensemen may have been less than perfect.
To think we whined because Coffey was so loose on D especially early on. 35 years later still waiting on a creative hybrid D that can join the rush and score goals.
I’m surprised there isn’t more drooling about how a very injured Broberg stick handled through the entire Russian squad and almost scored goal of tourney
knock on him draft year was elite size and speed and little else
also are the Sens every lucky that Stutzle fell to them. That’s a future star in the NHL
The Calder trophy race should be fantastic this year.
The two NYR Russian goalies
Zegras
Stutzle
Valimaki
Who am I missing?
Lafrenier.
One of these is not like the other
I assume you mean this one.
https://theathletic.com/2278144/2020/12/31/juuso-valimaki-will-win-calder/
I wouldn’t count him out…he’s the goods.
Georgiev isn’t a rookie, FWIW.
I wanted Zegras. I wonder how soon he’s in a Ducks uniform torturing us for the next ten years. With that being said if Broberg is the workhorse that he looks to be it could be a home run.
Zegras is expected to make the Ducks’ roster this season.
Byfield.
Although it’s conceivable that it takes him a couple/few years to put it all together. He’s got a lot of growing to do to fill in his frame and is likely to be slow played by #flattop
Do you think he’ll make the Kings?
He’s pretty young.
He’s also a pretty good player, and the Kings are looking to be a pretty bad team. Again.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he would be listed atop many a redraft in five years time.
No argument from me there but LA has a boatload of young centres coming up this season including:
Turcotte
Madden
Anderson-Dolan
I don’t doubt for a second that Byfield is the best of the bunch but he just turned 18 (youngest player at the WJHC).
Perhaps he can make the team out of camp but he will have some competition.
I might have this framed, to be prominently displayed in my home.
In all seriousness, the depth of the system in LA bodes well for both team and player. If he earns a roster spot over those guys it’ll be for good reason. If he needs time to develop, that level of competition will only help him hone his skills.
Yeah..LA is going to be a Colorado type force in a year or two.
I reckon they’ll need a coaching… evolution before that can take place.
Yeah..I would imagine Flat Top will be on a very short leash.
Only youngest on Canada, not in WJC.
I think Byfield may be in the AHL until the OHL starts up (if it does) – looks like CHL players will be permitted to play in the AHL until their respect leagues start up.
Subsequent to the discussion of Nick Robertson the other day and how the Leafs will manage the cap.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/maple-leafs-can-use-taxi-squad-manage-salary-cap-crunch/sn-amp/
(the video is worth watching)
In both his recent public interviews, Tippett has mentioned Bouchard and that the team will need many d-men this year. Holland consistently mentions Bouchard when talking about the team, both current and future, and recently said “we need to see what he can do”.
The Oilers do have some options, I guess, of moving left shot D to the right side in case of injury. Koekkoek has played the right side with success via the numbers. We know both Jones and Russell have played the right side but with marked drop in play at the NHL level.
I anticipate, that Bouchard is first man up for a right shot D injury unless he’s struggling at camp/practice.
Blues sign Vince Dunn…1 year @ $1.875 million.
Makes the Bear contract look even better!
Group B is us for grabs. Sweden win in OT tonight would create a 3 way tie break with loser playing loser of Canada-Finland, Otherwise the loser of Sweden-USA plays the loser of Canada-Finland. Canada-Finland should be playoff intensity.
From what I understand, it all hinges on the SWE/USA game tonight:
1) If Sweden wins (regulation or otherwise), they take 1st place
2) If USA wins in regulation, they take 1st place
3) If USA wins in OT or SO, Russia takes 1st place.
Is there any way the Czech’s don’t finish 4th is my question as, assuming Canada can take care of Finland tonight (they should but no guarantee), they play the 4th place team.
different lenses. I was looking at paths to 3rd place. so I can confirm that there is no scenario for the Czechs to finish 3rd. if Sweden loses they still have that tiebreak. I have not looked up who finishes 3rd in the 3 way tie for 1st if Sweden wins in OT.
I wonder if Holland has approached the Jets, Habs, Sens and TML about carrying a few “free” AHL players on their squads this year? It feels like the Oilers, Flames and Nucks are at a true disadvantage vs. every other club in the league.
How’s that?
Every other team has their AHL Farm team in the same country as the NHL team so travel for call ups between teams is “easier” than the Oilers/Flames/Canucks.
Yup, this is a massive disadvantage.
I am hopeful the government exemption that was announced today gets extended for regular season cross-border travel. Won’t take away the issue completely but may make call-ups from the Condors more practical (won’t be instantaneous though).
gotcha. Thx
Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) Tweeted:
Pierre-Luc Dubois is not in Columbus as camp approaches and remains unsigned. And now there are rumblings from a few teams around the league that Dubois may be looking for a change of scenery. Maybe wishful thinking on their part. But stay tuned on this one.
https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1344691581614436352?s=20
While I doubt that to be the case and he probably wants to be paid like a top line center
i do wonder why some of these guys are treating Columbus like a punishment.
its a great city for a 20 something guy and definitely the highlight of the rust belt.
there are plenty of worse places to end up.
Maybe it’s the coach not the city?
His issue may be style of play. It’s harder to get a lot of points in their defensive system and that can definitely affect pay checks and some players enjoyment of their career.
What’s with that draft year? Laine, Puljujarvi and now possibly Dubois all unhappy and wanting out at one time or another.
Signed with CBJ – 2 years, $10M total ($3.5M/$6.5M).
Friedman pointed out to Stauff an interesting point I hadn’t considered. Given the border crossing and subsequent quarantine, the AHL roster (if there’s even a season) isn’t really an option for the Oilers as injury replacement or lineup adjustments. Further, it means trades are far less likely this season as, in addition to the cap crunches everyone is under, you wouldn’t get your player for a couple weeks.
These Shore and Stanton and taxi squad setups are crucial for the Oil, whose minor team is across a border.
Yes, we’ve known for a while that access to Bakersfield (or the trade market) may be severely depleted this season.
With that said, the news this morning regarding the exemption for players and staff returning to Canada to get ready for camp/training/etc. could be a massive factor on the assumption that it gets extended to regular season cross-border crossings. Players would still need to follow league protocol but it would be much less than a 14 day quarantine.
Stanton is non-factor on the taxi squad. He’s signed to an AHL deal with the Condors and isn’t going to get an NHL contract. He is coming to camp on the PTO solely as a body for intra-squad scrimmages.
The taxi squad is likely to have at least two, if not all three of, Bouchard, Lagesson, Lennstrom.
Shore has the potential to earn a contract at camp but the taxi squad already likely has Nygard and Benson to start (or switch Haas with Nygard is he’s not quite ready to start the season due to his late start) plus the potential for P. Russell, Quine, Cracknell.
Yes, I have Benson and, in particular, Bouchard on the taxi squad. The AHL doesn’t start until at least February 5, no point in assigning either of them and Bouchard is likely to impact the NHL lineup prior to the AHL starting. Benson has more competition for a LW injury fill in (Nygard) but he needs to be in Edmonton and available to the team (hence the taxi squad).
Per SN:
Federal government says it has issued an exemption to the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for NHL players and team staff to return to Canada for training camp under “national interest grounds.”
If this is something that could be in course during the season, it could be a game changer for having players play in the AHL and available for recall.
I wish they’d just vaccinate them and the staff. The 100 doses a team is just a drop in the bucket
Yup. But that would make too much sense and offend the sensibility of those who think equality is some kind of hill to die on.
I can’t think of very many people who think vaccinations should be based on equality. I think most people would agree that there are demographics or professions that should get them first.
I don’t think hockey players or staff should rank high on that list. It’s just a game, afterall.
For all we know the rich who want to get vaccinated have already purchased this under the table.
If there were no advantages to being rich what would be the point of doing all the soul sucking things necessary to become wealthy? 😉
Haha. I’m sure that is front of mind for some Strivers!
Equality as in no special treatment for the privileged. It is ingrained in our democratic psyches.
Hockey is a game. The NHL is a multi billion dollar business that uses hockey as a platform.
“Equality as in no special treatment for the privileged. It is ingrained in our democratic psyches”
Oh, if only this statement were true..
It is for those who lean left. Two virtues in a democracy. Freedom – favoured by the right. Equality – favoured by the left.
Hobbes is happy to explain his reasoning for designing the modern liberal democracy based upon those two virtues in his Leviathan – and why it was necessary to lower the common denominator of public virtue in order to achieve the technological advancement Bacon envisions his scientific method could make possible should such a polity be implemented.
Yes, it is implanted in our democratic psyches.
All you have to do is spend time in countries that are not democratic to understand that they think the idea of equality is some kind of weird delusion.
And this is the end of my dipping into political discussion.
My apologies to our host.
Of course it’s a delusion. Where have we ever seen it? Should every player get the same ice time? Should every employee be paid the same?
I agree… I did read the National/Provincial Advisory this morning. I was quite disappointed in “Provincial correctional facilities” being listed before the general public. Yes, get the guards dealt with, then stop the program. I don’t believe rapist and murderers should jump the line despite their living quarters, sorry in advance for my political rant and it may not be welcome here.
I don’t want to continue the off topic comments. But just for context, provincial correctional facilities are for people serving less than 2 years in prison. They are non violent criminals who many don’t even spend every night in the facility.
I’m sure the optics of the poor little rich kids stepping in front of the line ahead of granny on her death bed will get you instantly re-elected.
Well they are being asked to do something that’s a huge no no to everyone else
getting the vaccine out to people is going to a huge undertaking that will probably require the use of arenas and convention centers
Yup. But the reality is that it is all optics. The amount of vaccine involved is negligible.
Didn’t stop senators and those in congress from getting the vaccine. Indispensable of course.
Wait until it gets to 3rd world countries and suddenly there are millions of doses available on the market to the highest bidder. 😉
Anybody who thinks you can roll out 16 billion doses (world population times 2) in an orderly and equitable manner either hasn’t thought about it much or hasn’t thought much about human nature.
I follow a lot of philosophy professors who work at Oxford on my twitter feed (don’t ask) and they were all on twitter claiming they had their first jab the 2nd day it was available in the UK and joking about how they saw all their colleagues in line while they were there.
At least Brits wait in line unlike most of the world where it is sharp elbows and money that gets you to the front.
I give it about another 2 weeks before we start reading a steady stream of stories about who got theirs ahead of when they should have according to protocol.
The reality for those that are not informed is that if the workers in long term care or the workers in prisons were vaccinated there would be no way the virus would get into these institutions. The older people that you disrespect with your tirade helped build this country and most sacrificed a great deal. Take a long look in the mirror for there be you in the future that is far closer than you may believe now. It is only a matter of time that when you look in the mirror an old person looks back at you!
In Canada the players being vaccinated has nothing to do in a good way except for the players. The public is not allowed to have large gatherings. The bottom line is until they can get butts in the seats the NHL will bleed money. Best case scenario will in my opinion be November of 2021.
Vaccination would not meaningfully change the quarantine or protocol requirements, since it has not been proven (yet) that recipients are not able to spread the disease.
It hasn’t been proven for anything
So you will wait until there is proof? You would fit in well with those that believed the world was flat. As long as the vaccine is proven safe, basic common sense would be to get vaccinated.
1) Rishaug saying that, a few days ago, team Sweden was walking somewhere in the bubble and had to take a few flights of stairs – Broberg took the elevator. He thinks its a Charlie Horse which can be very painful.
2) Gregor saying he believe the Oilers have a player that won’t be ready for the season (he said season, not camp) – this is in addition to Haas. He said he’s trying to run down who it is. I wonder if its Marody?
3) Rishaug saying that he knows the team was disappointed with the shape a few players were in back in July/August – not physically ready for the Return to Play – old news but I wonder why noone mentioned it at the time?
Guy Lafleur used to smoke a deck of smokes in between periods and some shifts. What a Lame ass excuse we got beat because as Nurse put it we just weren’t into it or something to that effect. Unknowingly throwing his coach under the bus to some degree. As for playoff hockey if your a soldier you better be willing to sacrifice are your getting bounced in the first round every time.
Its notable to me that you continue to take Nurse’s comments from August totally out of context and infer meaning on them that did seem to be intended and to use them to continue to propagate your narrative on the play months later.
Please prove me wrong with the quote from what I remember hearing was not somebody I want leading my backend. It took little Sam Gagner to be the only one to respond and go after Sneaky Gio who came close to ending Mcdavid’s career. Kassian Nurse and Khaira all ghosts. If this team doesn’t start to learn to rally for each other they’re not winning jackshit. Will see how much Holland values Nurse in the not to distant future or if he parlays him.
You are very hard on Nurse with your memory of what Nurse may have said. Given what you post what could be said about you? It is easy to judge but I believe that you are a hard Corp Oiler fan that cares deeply about the team. Others could interpret your comments very differently.
Slight exaggeration or you have never smoked. You are correct in that he was reputed to be a pack a day smoker.
Bouchard will be on the 4th pair with probably CooCoo and they will be rotated in and out of the lineup. Guessing he plays about 15-20 games which combined with 23 already played is not a bad season
It does suck that our only two world junior players are playing injured
I agree he will play many games this year but I’m not sure he starts on the active roster unless they only carry one extra forward on the active roster (which I think is unlikely).
I think Bouchard will start on the taxi squad if the D-group is healthy. He’s easily placed there given he’s exempt from waivers.
The issue with this type of rotation is cap space. Activating a player from the taxi squad add their cap hit (or the buried portion of their cap hit if its a player that has a hit of more than 1.075M). That cap hit may be in addition to the existing cap if the player being replaced is on IR (not LTIR) which is generally the case with “call-ups”. Regular IR does not provide any cap relief. If its not for injury then a player will need to be removed from the 23-man roster and there are only 4 players exempt from waivers (Lennstrom, Bouchard, Benson, Yamamoto) – well McLeod, etc. but he’s not an NHL option.
Broberg was hurt or pulled something as early as game 1…remember he had strong 2nd period with 3 assists but played very little in the 3rd….sat game two completely, then played last night on one leg….he should never have dressed…..big mistake if he plays in the USA game today.
Bouchard will play for the Oilers this season and it could be as early as opening night. Lots of injuries happening in the WJC – and some of these young men had been playing some prior to the tournament. Will we see more strain/pull injuries than usual due to the long layoff and shortened training camp? Probably. Glad Bouchard is available. This kid is going to have a fine NHL career with the Oilers as a 2RD / PP guy. 2021 will be his year to begin the journey.
100% he will play games this year. I’ve been predicting apx 50%, could definitely be more.
It will be interesting to me to see what the coaching staff does if there is an early injury to a right shot D.
Will Bouchard be activated from the taxi squad and straight to the lineup or will Playfair and Tippett move one of Koekkoek or Russell over the 3RD notwithstanding their preference for leftie/rightie.
I hope, and anticipate, option 1 – of course, if there is cap room to activate Bouchard from the taxi squad.
I had wondered if some of the youngsters getting playing time might look a bit sharper in training camp.
Had an outside thought about Lavoie but not sure who’s invited at this point.
Lavoie is committed to Sweden for the season.
Correct, he is committed to Sweden this year and, even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be a legit option for the NHL roster to taxi squad, in my opinion.
I think he is two full pro seasons of development away from being a realistic option..
With the AHL looking like it will indeed start up in early February, I hold out some hope that Holland, Lavoie and Vasby can work out an agreement to allow Ralphael to head to the Condors as I believe that is the best league for his development (bring Phil Kemp with him too).
This week Stauffer strongly hinted that Broberg was working through a groin issue.
This reminds me of that Alan Thicke sitcom, “Groin Pains”.
I’m only here for the ear worm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg9ruee3Vos
I’d forgotten all about that. Thanks for the reminder.
Also not to be forgotten is this Jay and Dan classic.
That’s a Stretch…