Don’t look now, but much of the roster improvement again this season is coming via drafted players. In Evan Bouchard (2.54 points-per-60 five on five), Kailer Yamamoto (1.96 points-per-60 five on five) and Jesse Puljujarvi (1.51 points-per-60 five on five), the Oilers have added (Yamamoto arrived January 2020) a trio of valuable roster assets in a calendar year. Add in Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, William Lagesson and there’s a small mountain of drafted prospects on the big league roster. They won’t all make it, and some will move on from Edmonton in the early years of their career, but this is turning into a productive era for prospect procurement, development and graduation.
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: Tinkering with the Oilers’ top six — what are the best line combinations?
- Lowetide: Philip Broberg and the Oilers’ Leftorium
- Lowetide: Jujhar Khaira, a waiver reset and the Oilers’ future at No. 3 centre
- Lowetide: What to do with the Oilers defence now that the rookies have arrived
- Lowetide: Mike Smith’s return calms the Oilers goalie hysteria — for now
- Lowetide: Bakersfield Condors are back, but true NHL prospects a roster rarity
- Lowetide: Dylan Holloway caps strong NCAA season with Hobey Baker nomination
- Lowetide: Oilers rookie Evan Bouchard’s 2021 NHL debut — a shift-by-shift review
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers report card for January
- Lowetide: Some of the Oilers’ Russian prospects less than a year from the NHL
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers need misfiring elements to come together — and fast
- Lowetide: 3 auditioning Oilers who should be given time to find their groove
- Lowetide: Oilers Kailer Yamamoto is the real deal.
- Lowetide: Is this peak Connor McDavid?
OILERS AFTER 18 GAMES
- Oilers in 2015-16: 6-12-0, 12 points; goal differential -11
- Oilers in 2016-17: 9-8-1, 19 points; goal differential -1
- Oilers in 2017-18: 7-9-2, 16 points; goal differential -7
- Oilers in 2018-19: 9-8-1, 19 points; goal differential -4
- Oilers in 2019-20: 11-5-2, 24 points; goal differential +8
- Oilers in 2020-21: 9-8-0, 18 points; goal differential +2
A win tonight and the current team is in a good spot compared to PMs (previous McDavids). Important to cut losing streaks off at the path, but remember all these teams are close to being equal so there’s a lot that will land on luck.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY
- At home to: Ottawa (Expected: 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: Calgary, Ottawa, Ottawa, Montreal (Expected: 2-1-1) (Actual 3-1-0)
- At home to: Winnipeg, Winnipeg (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- On the road to: Calgary (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: Calgary (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Vancouver, Vancouver (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: Toronto (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-4-1, 15 points in 12 games
- Current results: 4-2-0, 8 points in 6 games
The first month of the season was a downer so it’s important to win at least six games during this month (and collect more than 12 points). A win tonight would give the Oilers 10 points with five games to play.
OILERS FIVE ON FIVE PER 60, 2020-21
This is five on five per 60 for the skaters, Bouchard ranks No. 4 on the list in a very small sample size. The club also has three additional defensemen between 1.23 and 1.39 per 60, a reflection of how much offense is coming from the blue line.
The bottom six has some performers now, including Ennis who looks like he’ll make a trip up the depth chart tonight. Alex Chiasson got healthy in a hurry.
Connor McDavid could reach 500 points tonight, tying Sidney Crosby in reaching that plateau in Game No. 369. When asked, McDavid mentioned the Stanley Cups owned by Crosby as being the goal. Pure McDavid. Focused like an eagle.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
At 10, TSN1260, we have a busy show spent mostly teeing up the Oilers-Jets and talking about McDavid, Puljujarvi and the playoffs. Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal will talk about the Oilers and the week ahead. Joe Osborne from OddsShark will talk about NBA underdogs paying off consistently. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
Recentish UFA C signings (covering no rfa years):
Backstrom 5 / 9.2
Schenn 8 / 6.5
Duchene 7 / 8
Pavelski 3 / 7
Hayes 7 / 7.1
Nelson 6 / 6
Henrique 5 / 5.8
Tavares 7 / 11
Couture 8 / 8
Stastny 3 / 6.5
Turris nvm / jk
Setting may have changed with the flat cap / Covid (spits) but not sure Seattle cares about that.
Tavares and Backstrom are all-star players, so their cap hits mostly match accordingly (Tavares is a little high)
but the rest are right around Nuge’s ball park. Couture and Duchene a smidge high at $8M, and Hayes is at least $1.5M too high. If Nuge can come in at Pavelski’s cap hit ($7M) I think I would be ok with it, but would much prefer it closer to $6.5M (Schenn, Statsny)
Who played with Russel tonight.
Brains in a real poor phase right now from the Chemo.
I forgot my kids names!
You do anything to stay alive for your family.
There is no greater Karma in the universe than Hockey Karma…it is swift and sweet.
With 15:36 to play in the 3rd…Drai is hauled down with an obvious slew foot by Forbort at the side of the net….The ref is 5 feet away seemingly looking directly at the infraction and doesn’t call it….the hockey gods are displeased with him.
4 seconds later, an angry Draisatl gets back to his feet, adjusts his bucket, resets himself, and receives an amazing pass from McDiety.
Drai one-times the puck as hard as he can, ringing the short-side post….the puck deflects high into the corner and smacks the oblivious ref right between his eyes….
the Hockey Gods swiftly enact their Karma and the Universe returns to balance.
Go watch Pulujarvi’s goal again (1-0)
Right before PJ releases the shot, Andrew Copp is about to slash his sitck…Nuge makes a crafty veteran play and swings his stick under Copp’s to prevent contact….this is what they mean when they say “Cerebral Player” Give Nuge his $7.5M x 6yr contract already!
Oh wow, good catch there man.
sharp eyes
great little play
And what a breakout!
4 SHORT passes
Have people noticed this more lately? The breakout support? I’ve noticed that the puck will go up to the winger who puts it back to the Center who passes it to the crossing winger. More please! Beauty
Most see to only notice the times that a depth d-man ring it around the board or goes off the glass and out. Russell gets to praise for a little pass that started the Drai goal break out but, if that was Bouchard, we’d be talking about another point for the young man.
Eighteen games in and I still don’t know what I’m looking at here (other than the obvious).
Happy for the win and hoping to see more consistency/attention to detail from a fairly large amount of players on this team.
Why did the refs keep throwing out the wrong team on the faceoffs (went both ways)? Looked brutal.
Bad aural chemo affects last night.
Slept from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. today.
Nice to See the Oilers only gave up 2 ga.
Sucks only having the energy to go out 1 or 2 days a month.
1 is for blood work.
Does not sounds like fun stuff you are having to go through! I am glad to read that you can still check out the games these days at least 🙂
All the best Ricki. And definitely nice to see the team keep the Jets to a couple GA.
Never post, always enjoy your take. Sorry to hear you are going through this.
I’ve been through chemo, ricki. If I could let me share what helped me.
Give yourself a reward, a promise, something that you’re going to deliver on once you are through the chemo. And make that your goal, not the chemo. Think of the chemo as a really shitty fucking job. But at the other end is this beautiful holiday (or whatever you want).
For me it was Stonehenge. When I got off chemo I was going to go to Stonehenge. I’m British (moved to Canada as half-a-half-pint) and I needed something spiritual and I’d always had this strange fascination for Stonehenge (History in general, really). And so I did.
That was 20 years ago last summer.
Thoughts and prayers, bro.
CP’s Jenna Carson-Smith (I think) shows up the vet reporters and asks Tippett about his 600th win.
His answer to her and Brar’s follow-up were his best answers of the night
It’s staggering what happens when you do your homework before the game instead of taking the same tired angles by rote.
I was going to quote Tippett’s reply to Brar’s follow up — there was a lot said that speaks favourably to Dave’s character.
I thought about typing it out too. Truly was a stellar response considering it was extemporaneous.
(And that’s why I wanted to get her name right, she stole the vets lunch money, she’d earned it.)
I just watched that. Great questions, showing such respect for Tippet and the moment. Loved Tippets answer. Seems like a genuinely humble and interesting human.
Yeah that was really good. I wouldn’t have gone searching for it otherwise, thanks (wasn’t on the Oilers site yet, though it seems to be now).
Well done Jenna. Shame on those who follow the Oilers for a living. And great answers by Tippett.
Tippett’s 600th win tonight.
This easily the most comfortable I’ve seen Connor in a post-game
Connor on reaching 500 points:
“Yeah, it’s a little milestone.”
I’m sure much of the talk after this game will be about coaching and deployment – Russell and Koekkoek over Jones, Turris playing, deployment on the 4 on 4, Barrie on the PP, etc. but I believe the Oiles have only lost 3 times in the last 10 game and, in two of those losses, the main/only reason was tending.
This team is good
The Oilers have a winning record against one team this year.
You better believe coaching and deployment should be talked about.
Oilers are 7-3 in their last 10 and, without the tender being their worst player in two of them, they could be 9-1.
Coaching and deployment should always be up for discussion but I would hope Oilers fans can/would acknowledge the plus play of the team that is being coached and deployed.
Which games other than the Flames game was because of the goaltending?
Mike Smith with the hat tip to James Neal in his post-game presser.
4 played the last 2 min, you’ll never get him out of the line up.
Nope. I will bet right now Caleb draws in for Bouchard.
Bouchard shouldn’t be out there playing the left side at this stage of his career.
My comment wasn’t a criticism of Bouchard.
??? you’ve lost me.
No, mine was. Or rather the deployment of him on the left side.
Caleb would be better to play there than Bouch.
What I am saying is that Coach will keep KR with Lars and sub in Caleb for Bouchard. I don’t like it but I can see it. I want Russel fired to the ****in sun.
You think he’s going to insert Jones in to the lineup on the right side?
He could yes. If Lags comes back, however, you may see KR/Coo-Bouchard as the 3rd pair.
I know what you’re originally saying.
But then the choice would be Bouchard over Russell on the left and I can’t go along with that either. It’s not fair to the player and he’s struggling to defend there.
Barrie on the PP is down there on my list of things to worry about.
That shiny orange Oilers crest on the navy jersey is *in Fat Bastard’s voice* Dead Sexxyyy
Can’t believe Smith wasn’t first star. He was the only reason they held on. Lots of mistakes in that 3rd period. Let’s hope that combination of D never has to play together again
Barrie almost let Copp have a breakaway on that last powerplay, cheating up ice.
Not sure why you have down votes on this observation as that is exactly what I saw also. I am not confident in his defence, and his shot from the point is slow to setup
Yes, not a good look on Barrie.
Great to get the win! This game was negatively impacted by horse shit officiating. I am sure both teams unhappy with the guys in stripes. I would hope these guys get a failing grade tonight from supervisors.
I’m sure they’ll be getting a phone call.
From inside the house?!
I hope Larson recovers some of his dad strength mojo. Absolutely pancaked schieffle at the death there
Larsson is an important rock on the back end. Nice hit on Schieffle. No one else hits with such efficiency as Larsson when it matters. You definitely keep him over Barrie. Bouchard will supersede Barrie by the end of the year in a number of ways.
That was a great last 30 second sequence for Larsson. Two dominant physical plays to stop the cycle.
He looked great for those 30 seconds.
He had one of his best games this year tonight to my eye. (defensively)
Larsson has been quite good for the majority of the year.
Some high visible mistakes early that led to goals against but not many mistakes that have led to scoring chance against all year – lowest rates on the team I believe (as per the count of Cult of Hockey).
The refs will be disappointed with the outcome…I mean the Jet will be.
Too conservative by Tip? Do you not go with killer instinct to finish it on PP? Would RNH bury that Nurse shot?
Or booch
right handed shot
Would RNH bury that Nurse shot?
Nuge had a wide open net from 8 feet out on the powerplay before and completely missed the net. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have buried the Nurse opportunity. But it certainly wouldn’t be a “for sure”.
Just giving away this power play?
If they hang on it won’t be for lack of trying.
Horribly coached 3rd period.
Agreed.
Tippett has lost me. Stubborn to a fault.
trying not to lose the game not win it
Nice to see Larson get some PP tine
Not a good PP thus far
Winnipeg crew not a fan of the refs either…..
Oh they’ve missed a ton of shit on us too. They should be unemployed by 9 am
Agreed…terrible reffing
Slash to the head — I thought NHL rules was that’s 10 and a game?
I’m surprised they called that. Seriously.
I am too actually
Yamamoto has had a beauty of a game – for a guy with nothing to show for it on the scoresheet!
Agreed. Was one of his best games tonight.
Put Turris on this Pp. he needs to get a goal to get going…
Smart play nikolai
Draisaitl might be the best high-off-the-glass passer in the history of the NHL, lol
So Kahun is playing…
Drai has been an absolute beast below the hashmarks in the defensive zone!
I see you Bouchard!!!!!
Tying up those mutha fracking sticks.
Somebody talked to him & he listened
Hallelujah
He’s had a bit of a rookie-ish game to my eye
What a shift. chaisson turns the puck over on transition when the Oilers are trying to change. Then Larsson flubs it in the corner, followed by Jets pressure. Then Bouchard has the puck on the wall above the hashmarks and fails to get it out.
One of the players has played a couple fewer games in the NHL
Alex Chiasson……Wow.
wow
That was nearly Kahun type of mistake.
I think Tipp should let Turris play the whole final 3 mins. I mean Turris needs a chance to redeem himself. Don’t want Turris to be embarrassed or nothing…
Awesome. Tippet did put Turris out….perfect…
Jesus Nuge get that out
Just an all around garbage night for these refs.
These refs aren’t having a good night. They’re making some pretty random calls, then missing a bunch of big calls.
Damn, Jesse didn’t really open a passing line on that 2 on 1.
morrisey got in the way of the tap in!
The pass was there much earlier when they crossed the blue line.
Yeah, Pujo has to learn to control his pace there. Coulda made the Smiths former lead singer pay.
Oh Yamo whiffs on it. Too bad.
and of course they miss the high stick on Larsson.
Put Turris out there Tipp.
He did.
love the high stick in front of the net
He did.
Excuse me Mr. Russell…Blake comin through.
My word Yamamoto has had a game without the boxcars to show for it.