I used to read baseball magazines and books voraciously. The Sporting News, Street and Smith’s, The Baseball Dope Book (yes), Baseball Guide, Baseball Register, Who’s Who in Baseball (that was stats and photos taken from long distances, so not exactly reading).
After about 12 years of reading, I came to one conclusion: Baseball managers had a lot of stress. I’m not going to tell you how they handled it, but “not well” covers the era nicely.
Thing is, you can understand it. There’s a certain randomness to wins and losses, some of them seem preordained. Like last night. Edmonton lost because the Canucks ran it in from the one-yard line. In a hockey game! If you’re the Oilers you have to tell yourself luck will even things out, that you’ll get that one back later on. The alternative? Madness.
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: Are the Oilers and Elvis Merzlikins a trade match?
- Lowetide: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Dominik Kahun, Dylan Holloway and a perfect storm on the Oilers’ left side
- Lowetide: Why Oilers GM Ken Holland shouldn’t wait for the deadline to make a trade
- Lowetide: Three Oilers prospects form hottest line in the AHL
- Lowetide: Oilers’ top 20 prospects, trade deadline edition
- Lowetide: Why are some Oilers fans hesitant to give Darnell Nurse his due?
- Jonathan Willis: Can Oilers improve enough to beat TML it in May?
- Lowetide: Top trade targets for the Oilers at the 2021 deadline
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers 2021 trade value rankings
- Lowetide: February report cards for the Oilers
- Lowetide: Difficult season for trio of Oilers prospects playing in the AHL
- Jonathan Willis: The Oilers’ 2020 trade deadline splash: What we learned, a year later
- Lowetide: Revisiting our preseason predictions for the Oilers after 20 games
- Jonathan Willis: Could an Ethan Bear trade improve the Oilers?
- Lowetide: Philip Broberg and the Oilers’ Leftorium
- Lowetide: Jujhar Khaira, a waiver reset and the Oilers’ future at No. 3 centre
- Lowetide: Is this peak Connor McDavid?
OILERS AFTER 30 GAMES
- Oilers in 2015-16: 13-15-2, 28 points; goal differential -8
- Oilers in 2016-17: 14-11-5, 33 points; goal differential +5
- Oilers in 2017-18: 12-16-2, 26 points; goal differential -11
- Oilers in 2018-19: 16-12-2, 34 points; goal differential 0
- Oilers in 2019-20: 17-10-3, 37 points; goal differential +5
- Oilers in 2020-21: 18-12-0, 36 points; goal differential +12
As was the case with the week from hell (TML), this is a disappointing result but a lot of good work before the loss makes this easier to digest. Perhaps the Saturday loss will allow better readiness for the games against Calgary in the days to come. This is a good hockey club.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH
- At home to: Toronto, Toronto, Calgary (Expected: 1-1-1) (Actual 1-2-0)
- At home to: Ottawa, Ottawa, Ottawa (Expected: 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
- On the road to: Vancouver, Calgary, Calgary (Expected: 2-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to Winnipeg, Winnipeg (Expected: 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Montreal, Montreal, Montreal (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: Toronto, Toronto (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 9-6-1, 19 points in 16 games
- Current results: 4-3-0, 8 points in seven games
I had last night as a win for Edmonton and a split to come against Calgary. There are nine games left in the month. The Oilers need 11 points in those games to make the projections I have above. Hard nose the highway.
LINES, LAST NIGHT
- McDavid-Draisaitl-Yamamoto played 16:55, going 13-12 shots, 4-0 HDSC and 23-21 Corsi five on five. The line looked dangerous all night, save for the times 97 was tackled cross checked and mugged. He had an assist, 14 shot attempts and two takeaways. Draisaitl scored the Oilers only goal, could have had several more. He had 13 shot attempts. Yamamoto had three shots on goal and three HDSC. He’s an excellent complementary player for 97 and 29. This line is very good.
- Ennis-Nuge-Puljujarvi played 10:25, going 5-2 shots, 2-3 HDSC and 9-7 Corsi five on five. Ennis is an effective player, greasy in a good way in the offensive end and can win battles because of it. Nuge is baffling lately with his passing, seems to turn over the puck often on the power play with mental lapses. He did have a nice assist. Puljujarvi damn near scored a couple of times, he is due and pushing. I bet he scores against Calgary this coming week.
- Shore-Khaira-Russell played 8:13, going 1-5 shots, 2-2 HDSC and 4-10 Corsi five on five. This line had a tough night, although Khaira wasn’t there when disaster struck (Nuge was the centre on the Myers goal). Shore and Russell had been on the ice for over a minute when the Myers goal counted, meaning they were caught miles too late on their shift. Shore has to find a way to harness his mark, and has to get the puck out. He did not, and didn’t stop the pass to the point and the results was a goal against. Depth lines should never cost you in this way.
- Archibald-Haas-Chiasson played 7:43, going 4-0 shots, no goals, 1-0 HDSC and 10-3 Corsi five on five. Archibald had three shots and was noticeable as a checker and a physical menace. Haas had two shots on goal and was effective on the forecheck. Chiasson didn’t author any fabulous chances but puck did get out.
PAIRINGS, PLUS GOALIE
- Nurse-Barrie played 19:25, 16-10 shots, 4-1 HDSC and 26-20 Corsi five on five. All numbers positive, but no goals at five on five this time. Nurse had three shots, played well, was physical on a chippy night. He’s confident in all areas of the game now. Barrie had three shots at five on five, one on the PP and had his usual chaos marbled through his performance.
- Lagesson-Larsson played 15:31, going 4-7 shots, 3-2 HDSC and 15-12 Corsi five on five. Lagesson was steady again, he is just settling in with the puck on his stick and seems to defer to Larsson most of the time. The veteran was refreshing in his puck movement, venturing north several times. Nothing came of it, but he breaks the pattern when he does it and that’s a good thing (less predictable).
- Jones-Bear played 11:43, going 5-2 shots, 0-1 goals, 2-2 HDSC and 7-10 Corsi five on five. Jones is developing some confidence with the puck, he’ll knife into the neutral zone a few times a game and is becoming adept at pinching at the blue line. Bear had some good looks, a takeaway, his passing was mostly solid and he drew a power play for Edmonton. He lost a physical battle along the wall on the winner, not fatal in the breakdown of the play but Bear would have sealed it better a year ago. Growing pains for defensemen are maddening but necessary.
- Mikko Koskinen stopped 26 of 28, .929 and was solid the whole way through but whiffed on the winner (looked like he didn’t pick up the puck despite the lack of a screen). Now at .901 for the season.
BRUINS
I watched the Bruins game against the New York Rangers yesterday afternoon. I’ve probably watched several dozen between the two (they’re both very famous teams) and that’s the poorest performance by Boston I’ve seen. Ever. I think some allowances have to be made for the unfair schedules faced by these men. Edmonton was far better on Saturday night, this was a ’50 you lose no matter what’ Casey Stengel game, but it’s also true these players (especially the stars) are fatigued. Not making excuses, that’s a fact.
MARODY, BENSON AND MCLEOD (PLUS SKINNER)
There’s hot, there’s red hot, then there’s whatever Cooper Marody, Tyler Benson, Ryan McLeod and Stuart Skinner are doing for the Bakersfield Condors. I wrote about the three forwards here, and there’s a special offer on now so if you want to read it this is a timely click. I don’t know how many NHL games any of the four will get, but each is increasing the odds with every passing brilliant performance.
As I had mentioned a couple of days ago, I was going to take a deeper dive into Goalies. One method of determining consistency of results is using the Quality Starts (QS) metrics this measurement was developed by Rob Vollman of Hockey Abstract fame and I took this information from the excellent data treasure trove that is Hockey-Reference.com.
FYI: QS answers the question-did the goalie play well enough in this start for his team to win. A flaw, is that It does not take into consideration shot quality (if he let in a bad goal or HDSC’s) or anything like that. A game like last night’s loss by Koskinen would be registered as a Quality Start. I compiled a list of 60 goalies, but this is the top 47, initially I was just going to do the UFA’s, but then I thought I should add all the famous names so we have proper context. I am not a real stats geek, so if anyone can explain QS better, please do so.
I have listed the UFA’s in bold and *names* as such have the previous 3 years data, as they have yet to play a game this season.
After going through this data I have added a range scale of this measurement for context. As you can see, no goaltender has had a season where they have had 80% quality starts, it goes to show you how tough it is to play the position. Hellebuyck and Gibson do not shine by this measure, but Kuemper shines like a diamond.
Exceptional = 0.700 or higher
Elite = 0.600 to 0.699
Above Average = 0.560 to 0.599
Average = 0.500 to 0.559
Below Average = Less than 0.500
(# of QS) and % of QS–2018-19–2019-20—-2020-21–Cumulative-Age
1. Driedger–————-N/A—–(8) 0.727–(9) 0.750–(17) 0.739—26
2. Shesterkin————–N/A—–(9) 0.750–(8) 0.615–(17) 0.680—25
3. Kuemper———(36) 0.665–(22) 0.759-(11) 0.610–(69) 0.677—30
4. Khudobin———(23) 0.622–(19) 0.731–(7) 0.500–(49) 0.636—34
5. Vasilevsky——–(34) 0.642–(31) 0.596-(14) 0.700–(70) 0.632–26
6. Halak————-(22) 0.595–(18) 0.621—(7) 0.636–(47) 0.610–35
7. *Bishop*———-(27) 0.529–(31) 0.689-(27) 0.628–(85) 0.612–34
8. Varlamov———(25) 0.510–(21) 0.538–(19) 0.737–(65) 0.608–33
9. Binnington——-(20) 0.667–(28) 0.560–(12) 0.600–(60) 0.600–27
10.Rask————-(24) 0.533–(28) 0.688–(8) 0.571–(60) 0.600—33
11.Demko————(6) 0.750–(15) 0.600–(11) 0.550–(32) 0.604–25
12.Allen————-(25) 0.556–(14) 0.667—(6) 0.600—(45) 0.592–30
13. Brossoit——-(12) 0.632—(7) 0.467—(5) 0.833—(24) 0.600–27
14.Lehner———–(26) 0.605—(19) 0.559–(2) 0.400—(47) 0.573–29
15.DeSmith———-(7) 0.636—(18) 0.600–(4) 0.500—-(29) 0.592–29
16.Markstrom——-(34) 0.567—(25) 0.581-(10) 0.526—(69) 0.566–31
17.Raanta————(6) 0.500—(19) 0.594–(4) 0.571—(29) 0.569—31
18.Fleury————(34) 0.557—(24) 0.500-(14) 0.737–(72) 0.563—36
19.Grubauer——-(20) 0.606—(17) 0.472-(14) 0.667–(51) 0.567–29
20.F.Andersen—–(38) 0.633—(27) 0.519–(9) 0.429—(74) 0.556-31
21.Price————–(37) 0.578—(31) 0.534–(9) 0.563–(77) 0.558–33
22.Blackwood——-(14) 0.667—(22) 0.512–(6) 0.429–(42) 0.539–24
23.Rittich———–(26) 0.619—(24) 0.500—(5) 0.556—(55) 0.556–28
24.Samsonov————–N/A—-(13) 0.591—(2) 0.400–(15) 0.556–23
25.Ullmark———-(18) 0.529—(19) 0.559—(7) 0.583–(44) 0.550–27
26.Greiss———–(25) 0.641—(15) 0.536—(5) 0.333—(45) 0.549–35
27.Saros————(14) 0.519—-(21) 0.618—(5) 0.417–(40) 0.548–26
29.Hart————– (14) 0.467—(25) 0.625—(6) 0.400—(46) 0.529–22
30.Merzlikins————–N/A—–(17) 0.548—(4) 0.500—(21) 0.538–26
31.Mrazek———-(23) 0.575—(19) 0.500—(2) 0.500—(44) 0.537–28
32.Hellybucyk——(28) 0.452—-(36) 0.643-(10) 0.476—(74) 0.532–27
33 Smith————-(20) 0.500—-(17) 0.459—(9) 0.750—-(46) 0.517–38
34.Rinne————(30) 0.545—-(16) 0.457—(8) 0.533—-(54) 0.514–38
35. Korpisalo———(8) 0.381—-(21) 0.600–(9) 0.450—(38) 0.500–26
36.Elliot————-(12) 0.522—–(14) 0.519—(4) 0.400—(30) 0.500–36
37.Georgiev———(15) 0.500—-(17) 0.531—(4) 0.364—(36) 0.493–24
38.Gibson———–(34) 0.596—–(22) 0.431–(8) 0.348—-(64) 0.489–27
39.Holtby————(33) 0.569—–(22) 0.468–(3) 0.273—-(58) 0.500–31
40.Murray———–(29) 0.580—–(16) 0.421–(9) 0.450—(54) 0.500–26
41.Dubnyk———-(38) 0.576——(9) 0.321—(5) 0.556–(52) 0.505—34
42.Campbell——-(16) 0.640——(11) 0.423—(3) 1.000–(30) 0.500–29
43.Koskinen——–(24) 0.471—–(17) 0.515—(8) 0.500–(49) 0.490—32
44.Bobrovsky——-(31) 0.508—-(20) 0.417—(8) 0.533—(59) 0.476–32
45.Bernier———(13) 0.433—–(17) 0.433–(17) 0.415–(39) 0.464–32
46.Reimer———(10) 0.345——(15) 0.625—(6) 0.462–(31) 0.463–32
This ranking is in flux, since games are being played and I updated some today, since I started this on Thursday and stopped short of Koskinen because it was taking too much time and would mess up my ranking. I have this on a Word Doc and it was too much trouble to re-order them. This will look different at season’s end, so I will redo it then, as it is too much effort to keep updating this. When I do this, it will have 60 names listed.
Interesting look into goalies, thanks. I know this has taken some time, have been anticipating this post for a while.
If my memory serves, Binnington is an upcoming UFA.
Seeing Gibson rated so poorly gives me pause. When Woodguy recently looked into his fancy stats (largely based on HDS%, I believe) he was right at the top over the last few years. Suppose that’s the tough part of taking a look at one stat in isolation when forming an opinion.
Some of the names that stand out to me for further investigation as UFA signings:
My reasoning for these guys is less about their QS ranking on your list and more about cost, age, history, and ability. Some guys are intriguing potential wise but apparently injury prone (Greiss, Varlamov, Kuemper, Raanta).
FYI, Binnington re-signed 2 days ago.
$6 Million x 6 years
I have been a huge fan of pursuing Driedger since the summer. He should be cheap BUT with so many teams with older UFA goalies, the competition could be fierce.
Sign Holloway after his NCAA season ends. Bring up Benson. Trade a mid-to-late round pick for Erik Haula.
Holloway / McDavid / Puljujarvi
Nugent-Hopkins / Draisaitl / Yamamoto
Benson / Haula / Neal
Ennis / Khaira / Kassian
Kahun / Haas / Archibald
Chiasson / Shore / Russell
Nygard / Turris / Marody
That’s some pretty solid depth for a playoff run.
If Holloway can come up and find some luck with McDavid and Puljujarvi, they could go on a magical playoff run.
That would allow Tippet to make everyone happy and put the DYNamite line back together. If they get hot like they finished last season it could be a game changer.
Haula and Neal combined for a 60 goal pace just 3 seasons ago in 2017-18 in Vegas plus they had a 20 game playoff run together. Give them a responsible setup winger in Benson and they might be able to find some of that chemistry again. As a 3A or 3B line that would just be gravy.
Ennis / Khaira / Kassian could be playoff gold, too. We’ve seen how good Khaira has been lately and we all remember how great Kassian was on the 2017 playoffs. Ennis can be very creative and can forecheck with the best of them.
Any injuries and Chiasson, Kahun, Haas, and Archibald could easily jump in.
I can’t wait to see Hollaway destroy it with Connor come playoff time. His speed, size and style of play might mesh perfectly with Connor plus the kid is from Bragg Creek you know he’s going to want to stick a fork in the Flames.
Taking January out the Oilers are vs league 5v5
GF 44 – 4th (Leafs 3rd at 46 no other North team above)
GA 34 –12th (Leafs also 34, only the Habs better in 3rd at 27, but are 19th GF at 39)
The other day I put up some stats, done for my own interest, but thought I would share in case anyone might be interested.
I may not have been careful enough with the math, so I went through again up tp today’s games.
I find this interesting because it is simple, and simply counts regulation wins and regulation losses. The idea is to tease out teams winning a lot of OT games, and ones that are losing a lot of games straight up which I think indicates a team weakness.
This matters as it speaks to which teams are likely to be better in the playoffs. I am not a professional math person, just in case you couldn’t tell. Ha ha.
I considered whether other important stats such as SV%, PDO etc should be a part of it. I don’t know how those could reasonably be incorporated, and they are probably not going to illuminate much short term because of sample size.
So just the basics. which are also of course affected by sample size, but less so because it’s not trying to capture and use a lot of data points. I’ll use (Reg games won – reg games lost / games played). Today’s games are done so up to today.
Games played to account for the schedule. I’ll call it Team Strength, I’ll also put Points Percentage for interest sake:
Team TS PTS%
NORTH
Toronto .233 .667
Oilers .166 .600
Winnipeg .148 .667
WEST
Vegas .28 .740
Minnesota .192 .673
Colorado .192 .654
CENTRAL
Tampa .423 .769
Florida .296 .741
Carolina .259 .759
EAST
Islanders .379 .724
Washington .259 .704
Pittsburgh .037 .648
The Oilers aren’t looking strong here, but January’s losses skewed their numbers. I see them climbing up if things keep going as they are.
I had then taken TS and multiplied it by Goal Differential. I though this might make the stronger teams separate further from the pack. Each season Goal Diff almost exactly aligns with standings. Logically of course. Let’s call it Team Strength Outscoring:
NORTH
Toronto 5.35
Oilers 2.15
Winnipeg 1.92
WEST
Vegas 7.56
Minnesota 3.64
Colorado 3.45
CENTRAL
Tampa 15.65
Carolina 6.99
Florida 4.44
EAST
Islanders 8.33
Washington 1.81
Pittsburgh .37
TSO didn’t change the division rankings as much as it did create more separation. As it stands the final four looks pretty clear barring Covid, injuries, trades, etc.
In El Norte I see the Oilers continuing to get stronger as the youth gain at bats and Tippet has more time to gel things. I think the Jets are a good team, but they are riding the PDO pony more than the Oilers. The Leafs are also on a bit of a heater, but the SV% is 910.5 and their 11.2 SH% might be that good given the talent.
I think the Oilers have a good chance at second all things even.
I also wouldn’t put many units against the Bolts to repeat as it stands.
EDIT:
The big mystery of course is how divisional play only is affecting things. The North might be one of the tougher divisions after all. There are no teams staying really weak even if playoffs are not happening for them.
According to David Pagnotta, Eric Staal is saying “No Canada”.
Does not want to undergo quarantine.
We really have fuck-all for trade partners.
Yes, but it is a good year for this situation, because of the lack of picks. The only partners will likely be Ottawa and Vancouver. I honestly have no idea what Kenny will do, given he is not a GM that really ever swings for the fences and his deal for his former players really blew up in his face last year. I had thought Stevie Y would do him a solid and send over Glendenning, but Glendenning is only (really, really, really) good at winning face-offs this season, Haas is an otherwise superior player in every other facet….
Perhaps Getzlaf is the one we end up getting because he asks for another kick at the can. Not sure what it would take, but in a fantasy scenario this is how we dispose of that Neal contract…
The Holloway discussion at the beginning of this post sent me down a rabbit hole today, so I thought I’d share my findings. Caufield played on the PP with Holloway and often they would spend a bit of time together after a line change, but they were not linemates, just to be clear. But Holloway was the absolute driver of his line based on the stats I compiled with his linemates with and without. I abondoned that exercise and just thought I would share the apparent impact of his presence on both Caufield’s and the team’s results.
********************GP G A Pts Shots GpG ApG PtspG SpG S%
Without Holloway – Caufield 8 **6 *5 *11 40 0.75 0.63 1.38 5.0 15.0
***With Holloway – Caufield 20 19 16 35 97 0.95 0.80 1.75 4.9 19.6
*******************Holloway 20 11 23 34 71 0.55 1.15 1.70 3.6 15.5
*******************GP W L T OTL G GA GFpG GApG S SA SpG SApG S% S%A
Team Results W/O DH 8 **3 4 0 1 27 29 3.38 3.63 234 297 29.8 37.1 11.5 9.8
Team Results with DH 20 16 3 1 0 80 36 4.00 1.80 712 553 35.6 27.7 11.2 6.5
So Caufield will likely win the Hobey Baker and get all the accolades, but Holloway is the one that stirs the drink for Wisconsin. He is the kind of player that you go to war and win with, because he leads by example and gets results while inspiring his team mates to dig a little deeper within themselves.
We definitely picked the right guy. Will he step right in and be a difference maker, I don’t know this, but what I do know is that Holland likes his young talent to marinate. So it is 50-50 if we see Holloway in an Oilers jersey this season. I believe his speed, strength, smarts and effort would have a positive impact on the team, but more in a PRuss kind of way, than on the stats line this year. But he is EXACTLY the type of player you want on your playoff roster.
Wisconsin plays tomorrow vs Penn State (they are 3-1 vs Penn State, the loss was with Holloway) at 1:30 for the Big Ten playoffs and the finals are on Tuesday at 5:00, which I expect they will reach.
*Sorry about the mess, I tried lining the stats up twice, but it is beyond my abilities
I have been looking forward to tomorrow afternoon for a full week now.
Thanks for the work.
I watched almost all of Holloway’s game’s this year and can say the eye test matches -he is 100% the driver of his line at evens and an argument can be made he’s more important to their PP than Caufield given he’s the faceoff guy and a primary zone entry player.
Really appreciate your work and sharing this. I’m, very excited to see Holloway in the organization. I have only been able to watch one full game and highlights but he’s already a favourite.
Honestly.
Connor still gets the same respect from the refs as any highly touted rookie just coming into the league.
It must be infuriating for him being the face of the NHL.
If he played for the Maple Leafs there would be a national referendum in the media.
Its fuckin ridiculous.
The future of the NHL is right in front of our eyes.
Gary and the rest of the bigwigs would rather look the other way in the name of balance.
He needs to go full on Mario in the media to change the game for the better.
By the time the Leafs play again on Friday they could be in 3rd place….pity!
Stutzle went full Drai on this pass:
https://twitter.com/EverydaySens/status/1371253551066972165
Do they make you grow up playing with the “wrong curve” in Germany?
Stutzle is an absolute stud.
I have a feeling LA and quite possibly NYR could be looking back what might have been.
Still early though.
To be fair I haven’t watched many games outside of the Canadian division.
Ottawa is now 10-13-1 if you take away their games versus the Oilers.
They have beat every team in the division except the Oilers and, I believe, the Canucks – they have beat the Leafs three times now.
Full credit to the Oilers for their 7-0 record (all in regulation) versus this team.
BINGO
https://www.nhl.com/news/darryl-sutter-says-connor-mcdavid-best-player-in-nhl/c-322509426?tid=281072352
In other news, Leafs lose to the Sens.
0 goals for Matthews.
I think Sutter must have smiled when he said “within the rules”.
cause he and every other person with eyes knows that’s not possible.
unless of course you are a NHL caliber referee.
Daryl knows a lot about BS. #rancher He’s good at it.
Munny
March 14, 2021 4:58 pm
“Managed to obtain a can of Hoyne’s Dark Matter. Looking forward to it.”
****
Nice, if you like the taste of that beer
I would also strongly recommend
BraveLiver brewed by Mt. Begbie out of Revelstoke.
It’s easily the best Scotch Ale I’ve tried
https://images.app.goo.gl/taCCXU262GVburYu8
There’s two Begbies in town for sure… Kolsch and the Cream Ale, haven’t seen the BraveLiver
I’m not usually much of an IPA fan but I had a pleasant surprise trying Original Gravity Haze, a fruity New England style IPA from Driftwood, one of the craft breweries on the Island. 7% alcohol if you’re manly enough for it. 🙂
Hope you liked the Dark Matter.
I love porters so I am enjoying it greatly. Just wish the ABV wasn’t at uberstout level.
While I’m no beer connoisseur, I do enjoy me some craft beer.
I am thanking you gents for the recommendations…mayhaps I can score some of ’em in my corner of Sask.
Someone forgot to tell the leafs that the Sens games are freebies
6 1/2 minutes left down 4-1 leafs pull the goalie. I like it.
Väsby played their last game of the regular season today but Lavoie wasn’t on the ice. He’s been suspended for three games after a slewfoot and following fight in the game before thus not only missing the game today but also the first two games of Väsby’s relegation round(a best of five against Kristianstad, winner stays in Allsvenskan, loser is relegated to the swedish third tier)
Haven’t seen the incident myself but people who have claim it was worthy of a longer suspension. This at the end of a meaningless game since Väsby was already locked in their spot and the suspension means he’s missing two extremely important games. File that under incredibly stupid and letting your teammates down. Hopefully he can learn from it.
Just to clarify just how big these games are, the difference between staying in Allsvenskan and getting relegated is massive financially, for some of Lavoie’s teammates it might mean the difference between being able to make a living playing or having to work part-time outside the rink. So yeah a major fuck up on his part but hopefully this helps him to avoid losing his head going forward. He’s young, it happens, just has to realize that the stakes are a lot higher in pro hockey.
Kemp did however play, had no points and was +1 in 19:59 of ice. The team won 3-2.
Hopefully Väsby can win the first two without Lavoie and then he can join the team for game 3, help them secure the sweep and get on the first flight to Bako. Game 3 is the 20th, game 5 the 23rd.
Lavoie has been suspended before, but it was 4 years ago, so hopefully he is done with this nonsense. Thank you for the updates!
https://theqmjhl.ca/video/lavoie-suspended-7-games
I believe I dislike Brady more than Matthew but I am pleased that he just opened the scoring…..
I dislike Matthew more than Brady.
I think this is the first time I have seen you refer to him by his actual name.
I like Brady more than turtle.
His net front work is more impressive because it’s just as or more effective and less shithead.
I would put the two of them on Connors wings.
And then trade for Marchand and plant him with drai
It’s easy to hate all those bastards but fuck would I love them with an oil Crest.
Managed to obtain a can of Hoyne’s Dark Matter. Looking forward to it.
Origin’s Marzan and anything by Beau’s are–at least, presently–unobtainium. however.
The 2021 Edmonton Oilers are:
Tied for 8th in the NHL for points (36).
Tied for 3rd in the NHL for wins (18).
Tied for 1st in the NHL for regulation wins (18).
1st in the NHL in goals for (100).
Tied for 9th in the NHL for goal differential (+13).
Have the two top scoring forwards in the league, which no other team has.
Have two top 10 scoring defencemen in the league, which no other team has.
Mike Smith is 4th in Sv% (.927) and 6th in GAA (2.16) for goaltenders with 10 or more games played.
Have three forwards in the top 10 AHL scorers.
One of the best goaltenders in the AHL.
Ladies and gentlemen… this seems to be a pretty good hockey team.
They’ve done all of this without Klefbom, without legitimate top 6 LWs (I’m not counting Draisaitl and Nuge as they’re both centres), and with what was universally considered below average goaltending depth at the start of the season and we are halfway through the season. Not bad.
You realize most of the American teams have played fewer games because of Covid…so unless one is doing those statistics on a per game basis, they are misleading.
Also true of the AHL.
Marody is actually 13th in league scoring by PPG…Benson 14th.
2
2
1
6
8
6
4
4
2
2
2
2
2
Those are the games played by those ahead of Marody and Benson.
There is one person ahead on the list that is legit.
Marody and Benson are full value at the top of the AHL scoring.
Who is making misleading posts?
It should be embarrasing someone had to actually do that. Thanks for listing them I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It is too stupid to respond to.
What complete nonsense.
You deciding who is legit or not to enhance your weak narrative is so sad.
More than a few of these players have spent time on NHL rosters or taxi squads while Marody and Benson plug away for another season in the AHL.
Pretty slim chance either of them ends up as the top AHL scorer this season.
Settle down spaz.
They can’t all be Bogart Ravioli.
It’s hilarious to see hard cold actual data now being thrown out the window ? ? ?
You’re just jealous OP is more successful at your tactics to decide who’s good and who’s the 2014 Minnesota wild then you are.
OriginalPouzar
Reply to Bulging Twine
March 14, 2021 2:26 pm
Khaira’s next contract will be interesting if he can sustain this level of play through the rest of the season and in to the playoffs. In addition to those fabulous goal share numbers away from McDavid and Drai (they are WONDERFUL), he is also a wrecking ball out there – like 5-10 hits per game and that is indeed something.
Does he actually warrant a raise on $1.6M if he sustains this?
This is 3rd line play, not 4th line.
2 years.
*******
This ⬆️
How about $1.75-$1.8, thats still a raise where I come from.
Am I crazy to image an upgrade at 3C, I think K.H has the cap space to sign a FA in the summer or even add salary in trade.
If J.J. is the 4C, you at deep down the middle.
Backfill the bottom 6 wingers with McLeod & Holloway on his ELC.
Keep Archibald, Hass, Ennis
What the hell, add a 2LW & we’re talking balance picture bitches!!
What a shot!
?
Brandon Boettcher beauty angle raise takeout to get into the Brier finals.
Brandon Boettcher. Buffalo Bills. Hmmm…..
Not tonight comrade.
To many chefs in the kitchen for team Koe.
So, the Oilers chartered in to Calgary this afternoon and will “rest up” for the game tomorrow night – not sure if they skated today (or will skate today) or not.
I wonder how much of a challenge this is for them mentally on the road.
Aside from a potential skate today and tomorrow morning and maybe a meeting, they are all stuck in their hotel rooms the entire time – they can’t have another player in their hotel room, they can’t socialize in a common area or do anything – literally mandated to be alone in their hotel rooms the entire time (i belive).
Between edibles and X-Box I these young men should be able to keep themselves entertained; I doubt they’re going to miss the annual trip to the Calgary zoo.
True but I’m also certain they would prefer if they could bring a few of the hyenas & vultures back to the hotel with them.
Only the single guys tho, of course.
*rolls eyes*
You are being obtuse.
I’m comfortable with who I am
Bitch to themselves about all the taxes and unions dues taken off their cheques
Being stuck all alone in a five star hotel room for a couple of days does sound pretty awful, ngl.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31026751/the-nhl-struggles-mental-health-season-how-players-confronting-anxiety-isolation
Thanks for sharing
i don’t think that is completely accurate.
unless the rules have changed. This is from the club travel protocols
“ Clubs shall make best efforts to arrange for a dedicated common area or lounge in the hotel for the exclusive use by Players. The common area or lounge should be in the vicinity of the Players’ rooms and must be of sufficient size and equipped with seating so as to permit for adherence to physical distancing and other hygiene measures by Players when present in the area. The Club shall ensure that the common area or lounge shall be equipped with a refrigerator and that it is stocked with single use snacks and beverages for consumption
by the Players. Such space must adhere to local restrictions regarding capacity limits in the space. All members of the Club’s Travelling Party are reminded that face coverings are mandatory in this communal space.
•
I believe restrictions on gatherings were further “restricted” in-season.
The NHL is even trying to get families of the players to restric their social contacts.
Dustrock: “Meanwhile all I want is a body cam on McDavid”
****
I would definitely pay extra to listen to the players mic’d up on ice
I’m well aware that the content would be *Shudder* rated R
Oh no! But what about the children!!??
Last time I checked, I’m practically an adult and I’ve heard and said worse.
Family friendly version broadcast on Sportsnet.
Adult version (behind the paywall) complete with warnings & disclaimers
Can’t see a body cam on McDavid working…
I mean are they going to stop the game after every cheap shot and fix the camera?
😉
Do body cameras even record footage correctly when they are moving that fast? Or will it just be streams of lights and blurry footage?
Think of it more like a police cam,
We only need the evidence for proof of the muggings
But it will be self-incriminating because we will have evidence of McDavid stealing the oppositions dignity.
ha ha ha ha
Right need a helmet mounted gopro.
To me, Jones is the expendable defenseman. Package him for Debrusk please! Nurse’s game has fully matured and is playing like a #1D, love it!
DeBrusk has a cap hit of 3.675 million this season and next.
Little chance that becomes a true value contract. Jones, meanwhile, would easily cover his cap hit by playing on the bottom pairing next season, and even more so if he continues to improve and lands on the second pairing.
I would not waste a D on a forward; plenty of talent coming up in the pipeline with high upside and low dollars attached.
If there is a deal to be made for a goaltender, I would be tempted, though this depends on what happens with Klef.
I agree with Bling. We need to sort out our goaltending for the remainder of McDavid’s contract. We have several promising forward and defensemen prospects bubbling up. Just need to grab a goalie.
That’s off-season though.
As much as we all love LT, his latest article seems misguided.
Oil have already made their in-season goalie movie: Stalock. Good move. Cost Holly nothing.
True salvation will have to wait till the Zambonis are parked for the summer.
Not sure columbus needs more D but they might like having the Caleb and Seth together. Merzlinkins might be possible, they can’t protect two goalies anyway.
Merzlikins is exempt from the expansion draft. Doesn’t need to be protected.
The Jackets just traded away a tending prospect – they are now fine for the expansion draft vis-a-vis goalies.
The Oilers only have 8 NHL ready D who can play this year. Defensemen get injured, particularly in the playoffs. Can’t trade one of the 8 unless another D is coming back.
Even Barrie?
Can’t trade one of the 8 unless another D is coming back.
I don’t want to re-sign Barrie (as he will never be value for money), but if he is being traded this year (which is highly unlikely), another D has to be coming back.
I don’t see the external value at this years trade deadline, with CoVid protocols and the current cap it is really tricky.
I do wonder if Tyler Benson and Cooper Marody to the NHL and PRusty and Turris to the AHL doesn’t make this team better?
I think we completely understand these players now and we have better players on our AHL team than the NHL team.
This is my temptation too
How do you know those players on the AHL team are better?
Turris is 31 years old that was bought out by a team. This year after 21 games he has 1 goal and 3 assists is -11 and a healthy scratch by the coach. Mr. Russell has never scored a goal in the NHL these two players are the exact players that are replaced for new younger more dynamic hockey players. This is how the minor pro league system works. Think of the opposite- if the first and third scorer in the AHL with three years pro experience can’t contribute more than Turris and P. Russell in the NHL why bother having an AHL team.
The Oilers don’t have access to their AHL team – not practical access. Any player called up is 3 plus weeks away.
If this was a normal season without covid-issues, the potential call-up of Benson or Marody would be a real discussion – its not practical right now.
If Oilers are not going to stand pat at the trade deadline. They have 4 options to my eye,
1.Trade with Ottawa, the other Canadian team are likely still mathematically still in the playoff hunt. = money has go out
2.Trade a prospect on a AHL team in Canada = why would you playoff competitor make the Oilers better?
3.Trade for a player on a team in America=quarantine issues
4.Call up player in your control from AHL/NCAA =quarantine issues
Is she a free agent?
Nuggy manning the second line with 1 other top 6 forward that is weeks into the role while supporting a bottom 6 winger on his other side. This is all the while penalty killing and piling up points on the power play, while also moving over to wing whenever the coaches ask.
But he’s hurting himself because he’s not blowing the doors off of the 5×5 scoring? Lordy.
The Oilers may need 3 different players to cover the loss of the Nuge but damn it he better start proving his worth. ???
Sure, expecting to put up 5v5 scoring over a 4th line rate is just too much to ask.
Exactly.
Now add who he was playing with for half the year.
Its actually been an incredible run – in not a good way.
I’m sorry who are his wings? Lol weak.
I agree with this.
Georges had a fantastic post in the summer about how 5v5 scoring can vary quite a bit season to season. He showed total points is more predictive of future offensive output than EV scoring alone.
Sidney Crosby himself had a season a few years ago where he was around 1.5 P/60.
We know that Nuge has been snakebit, and so has JP. I think both are a bit better than their EV scoring numbers indicate.
There may be regression this season, there may be not. I do not think it should unduly influence the decision as to whether the player should be brought back (I believe he should).
Thank you for posting this, I largely agree. Miss Georges and his deep dives.
People are much a bluster and ballyhooing about one cherry picked stat or another proclaiming Nuge to be a catastrophic failure. Such a narrow focus misses the broader context.
The guy is on pace for 20g and 20a in a 56gm season. Pardon me if I don’t see a problem. I could care less where he’s scoring, whether it’s shorthanded, at 5v5 or on the PP. Just help the team win.
Much ado about nothing.
What is Rogers and TSN doing to make the hockey production more interesting?
They have a completely empty arena and we get the exact same camera angles as we did a year ago.
What have they done to help the fans fill the void of not attending the games. The game production is basically the same as a year ago.
One of their best on air personality leave and they don’t replace him? Stouffer loses Burke and he is replaced with a new interesting guest the next week for HIS listeners.
I have to believe ESPN is about to change the entertainment value for the TV viewing fans. Bieska calling for the stars to be slowed slowed down pissed me off and made me wonder about the entertainment value that the NHL and their partners are bring to their fans.
On the topic of hockey production – is anyone watching NHL games in 4k?
I may be shit out of luck because I have Shaw and the quality seems to be 1080p?
I understand there is a Sportsnet app, however, the Sportsnet now app seems to have horrendous reviews (at least on an Xbox). And I can’t seem to find a straight answer on whether they stream in 4k or not. Googling it implies they might, but when you dig into the details I believe Sportsnet admits it streams at 720p and 60 frames per second.
I want to see the muscle, fat and skin ripple from victims being on the receiving end of Jesse’s reverse check damnit!
The espn+ app is just a step above stepping in dog shit at the moment imo.
Either way NHL needs to wake up and move on from the Bieksa’s of the world.
The NHL is bush league and won’t change. Maybe if someone comes in after Bettman to shake things up but they’re way behind the 21st century in almost everything. Goal celebrations discouraged, personalities discouraged, actual questions and answers discouraged.
They approach the game as if there’s some canonical laws that state the game can’t be changed and the purity of the game makes it somehow sacrosanct.
Meanwhile all I want is a body cam on McDavid.
A sign of how well a team is coming along is (I think) how well they play when they lose.
Oilers were in it all game. Their play in the first period, in particular, was stellar.
The 5 man attack of 29-97-56 alongside Barrie and Nurse was again in fine form. Barrie is so good at sneaking in from the point to that soft ice above the slot. He did a fine job of it again in the first period, only to have the puck bounce over his stick.
The last Oiler D I can remember being this good at stepping into that soft ice was Tom Gilbert. He was wicked at it.
The game plan against the Oilers (maybe against any team) is to completely clog the low slot.
Whether it’s Barrie or whomever, more sorties from that high slot area, please.
“A sign of how well a team is coming along is (I think) how well they play when they lose.”
Yeah the loss isn’t as difficult to swallow when you see the team who won, like the Canucks, reacting to their win as if they are glad the game finished when it did.
I don’t miss the days where the opposition celebrated their win over the Oilers with as much energy and excitement as someone who just finished paying for their groceries.
Do we know why Kahun isn’t in the line-up? I don’t recall him getting injured. Is he being healthy scratched?
Explanation 1: He doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt from the coach, who clearly has favourites (see Smith, Mike).
Explanation 2: Scoring wingers who don’t play on the powerplay have a hard time making it into the lineup.
This season, Smith, Mike has earned every second of ice time given.
Mike Smith is a comparable to Kahun?
If you were to say (Russell, Patrick)
you would have a great point.
If healthy, I would make the following line up changes:
Out: Russell, Shore
In: Kassian, Kahun
I mean, why making winning harder than it needs to be?
Plus Puljujarvi gets a promotion to 1st unit P.P.
Chaisson isn’t cutting it, for me at least
He did have an injury – undisclosed – that left him unable to practice for a while. He’s healthy now, but things were going well in the games against Ottawa so Tippett said he needed to bide his time. Perhaps now is the moment…
Thanks
The coach was asked this a couple games ago and was express that (a) Kahun is healthy and available and (b) he is NOT in the “dog-house” – he is being healthy scratched but it wasn’t a knock on Kahun but more a function that the coaches were liking what they were getting out of the current lineup.
After Shore making a mistake on the game winning goal last night, I would be shocked if Kahun wasn’t in next game.
I expect Shore and P. Russell out and Kahun and Kass (or Turris if Kass isn’t ready) in.
If you are a forward and find yourself being a healthy scratch over players like P. Russell or Devin Shore, you are not in a good spot with your coach.
That sounds like the doghouse to me.
The coach went out of his way to express that he wasn’t unhappy with Kahun in the least and was quite adamant about it. Anyone can take that any way they want, of course.
P. Russell and Kahun play different positions.
Shore had a couple of real nice games, some plus PK action and some real nice plays at 5 on 5. He struggled last night and I would be shocked if Kahun isn’t in the lineup tomorrow night.
I just had a thought about JP, with Tkachuk punching him repeatedly in the face while JP stares open mouthed, not even particularly bothered at what Tkachuk is doing.
It’s a metaphor for the Tale of the Two Teams.
Then JP scores a pair of goals – one chaotic – the second one coming from an elegant shot.
I finally figured out the situation with the zebras.
It’s the NHL’s unofficial affirmative action plan.
If the star takes it on the chin all season long (without too many camera-conspicuous eye-rolls), the “tab” is finally repaid in the playoffs when your battered star earns a close call (or two) at critical junctures, when whistles are far from a dime a dozen.
Never waste a star shining too bright until the chips are down …
Bettman points are black and white.
Bettman whistles are black and blue.
And if you don’t even make the playoffs while stacked with celestial talent? Memo from head office: sucks to be you — and please stop squandering our collective assets, you jumbo floppy bag of giant asses.
[*] Bettman points are not so much black and white as characteristically puke yellow when viewed through McCurdy’s Patented Parity-Impious Polarrhoids.™
The iridescent halogen halo sullies into from a fetching yellow into a retching puke green if you rotate the lens 90°. Bruce’s special-edition motorized monocle (left eye/right brain) spins continuously for an entire week on a single charge.
Get yours today!
And the design is cool too.
The sleek goth-metal frame won Bruce a blue ribbon one year for Best in Show (Uncategorized) at the Steampunk World Fair, as none of the judges could figure out where he concealed the battery.
But the truth of the matter was that the rotating lens was actually powered directly by mental steam conducted through a working temple implant and along the temple bar (in this clever cosplay contraption, not just for looks alone).
The retail edition is slightly larger and does actually contain a micro-battery, as few seething Steves pack enough nauna stones to power the monocular monomotor on sterling importunity alone.
[**] nauna = noggin sauna
Classic NID, welcome back.
Or the NHL is just out to screw the Oilers.
Occam’s razor rule stated that when there is two competing theory explaining the same phenomenon, often time the simpler one is closer to the truth.
Now all I can do is picture McCurdy as Mad-eye Moody
Elon Musk gonna be here before you can say “Cathode McCurdy”.
Stunning visuals as usual.
I’ve been to the Steampunk Worlds Fair,
I barely made it out alive & I’m still looking for that shoe
Ha, good to have you around nid, ive missed your prose and often wondered what happened.
Playing Shore-Khaira-Russell for 8 minutes isn’t going to get you anywhere good.
Said on Twitter I ain’t even mad, between the Corey (Refrigerator) Perry goal and McDavid getting hauled down repeatedly they weren’t going to win.
I don’t believe in Koskinen, that’s a saveable shot in a 1-1 game in the third bit overall meh, some games you aren’t going to win.
I will say this team looks right now like McLellan coaching 5v5, we have 1 good line and then we roll 3 lines just hoping the opposition doesn’t score.
Nuge doing himself a huge disfavour in his UFA year.
Nuge doing himself a huge disfavour in his UFA year.
Has RNH ever played up to his contract, as in ever?
once
Well he’s never scored more than 50 pts. So I guess not
There he is! My Hater!
I don’t hate you Hunter,
I’m just sorry to say that you’re wrong again! ?
You provide a flavour to the blog that makes it undeniably better with you around then not
I’m not very good at this internet thing. Every time anyone contradicts me I want to kill them, then as soon as anyone agrees with me they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Well you’re doing the Murderous rage part of the internet ing perfectly
Are you sure your parents didn’t name you “Twitter”?
Shame about the two week quarantine because I think The Bakersfield Line could provide … wait for it … tertiary scoring right now.
I’m probably in the minority, but I think Holland should call up at least Benson and Marody ASAP and plan to get them into the lineup in early April.
No need to make a trade to bolster the top-9 … we have AAA players ready to take spots from hitters on the major league club.
I’m not betting much on guys who couldn’t make the team out of camp suddenly being good enough to be difference makers in the big show.
But we didn’t really have a ‘camp’ this season did we?
Whether the was a traditional camp or not, these guys had a chance to make the this team and/or the taxi squad.
Benson (and Marody) had all but zero chance to make the team this season.
I don’t think either was given even a single line rush with a player who was an NHL lock.
Covid essentially took away any chance for these guys to have a chance to earn an NHL job this “camp” – there was not opportunity to win roster spots at camp – the roster was pretty much settled and camp was for figuring out who plays where to start the season.
Even though I do think Benson (and maybe Marody) could positively impact the NHL lineup right now, given protocol, I don’t think a call-up would make sense.
The player gets called up, once he arrives in Edmonton, he stays in a hotel room for 14 days, no skating, no training except for maybe a bike in the room or something like that. 14 days after arrival in Edmonton, he can finally get back on the ice and will practice and skate for a week at least getting game shape back and getting up to speed with the team.
3 weeks (plus) off of games and expected to make a positive impact in the lineup? That’s not putting the player in a position to succeed.
McLeod should stay in the AHL and continue to dominate in the top 6 as well
All three should have real opportunities at camp in September.
Not a conventional one.
Didn’t some of these guys play in Europe prior to the “pre-season gathering?”
I think Holland / Tippett’s philosophy is to defer to veterans but to get young players as many ‘reps’ as possible to prepare themselves for higher levels of competition.
Nygard, Shore, and Russell have gotten their chances. Of the three Shore can contribute the most, but I think it’s clear now that there’s perhaps more upside with the AHL kids.
Just like Yamamoto at mid-season last year, it’s time to bring them up. How they get integrated is up to Tip.
You mean like Yammo last year?
This was definitely a Stengel game. The best part about this team is that opposing teams need to be dialed in to get the win. Leafs beat them 3 straight but that stretch has been widely discussed as their best games all year. Canucks played a desparate game and needed Demko to stand on his head just to squeak out a win.
North Division Regulation Wins March 14:
EDM 17
TOR 16
WPG 12
MTL 12
CGY 11
VAN 11
OTT 5
…and because someone will say “But games vs OTT”….
Games played vs OTT:
EDM 7
TOR 5
CGY 5
MTL 5
WPG 5
VAN 3
For fun, regulation win % vs OTT so far:
EDM (7/7) 1.000
VAN (3/3) 1.000
TOR (3/5) .600
WPG (3/5) .600
MTL (2/5) .400
CGY (2/5) .400
Ottawa isn’t going to lose every game this year and every time they win the Oilers are gaining points on the team that lost
I’m glad the “but the Oilers beat the Sens when they were bad, but are a different team now” talking point is out the window now.
The Oilers managed to beat the Sens worse than they did earlier in the season when the Sens were supposed to be worse.
It’s unfortunate for the Sens. Their record is kind of a mirage because losing to a team 7 times in a row is pretty rare. If the Sens maintained a win % of .4 or .6 against the Oilers like they are against most of the other teams, they would be up with Vancouver in the standings.
I watched some of the games the Sens played against the rest of the division and the games were more competitive where they looked like they could pull out a win or a Bettman point at least. They didn’t turn into pumpkins like they did against the Oilers.
Oh well. I’m just glad it’s not the Oilers in their position anymore.
EDM Goal Share after 30 games (18-12-0)
Even strength (5v5,4v4,3v3)
97 w/o 29 (15-20)-43%
29 w/o 97 (17-11)-61%
97 & 29 On (17-2)-89%
Turris (6-16)-27%
Other (12-12)-50%
Net EV +6
Special Teams: 29-24
Net ST +5
Empty Net:4-2
Net EN +2
SO/PS 0-0
Net SO/PS 0
Net Goal Diff +13
Other at 50%?!!! Re sign the man!
Khaira is signed already
in 181 Even strength minutes without McDavid, Draisattl or Turris; Khaira is 8 GF – 7 GA
and Haas is 3-2 in 117
ah what the heck may as well look at them all…here are the rest of the FW’s by minutes played without the 3 mentioned:
Archibald 187 6-7
Ennis 163 7-5
Chiasson 124 2-3
Shore 88 2-4
Neal 71 2-3
PRussel 67 2-2
Nuge 66 1-1
JP 65 2-0
Kahun 28 0-1
Kassian 17 1-0
Yamamoto 16 0-2
Nygaard 12 0-0
Khaira’s next contract will be interesting if he can sustain this level of play through the rest of the season and in to the playoffs. In addition to those fabulous goal share numbers away from McDavid and Drai (they are WONDERFUL), he is also a wrecking ball out there – like 5-10 hits per game and that is indeed something.
Does he actually warrant a raise on $1.6M if he sustains this?
This is 3rd line play, not 4th line.
2 years max.
The Zeller’s Skillet North Division standings March 14th using points percentage shown as points over/under fake Bettman .500
TOR +11
WPG +9
EDM +6
MTL + 4
CGY +1
VAN -3
OTT -11
Yesterday, I mentioned bringing up Holloway for the end of the season and playoffs. There is some precedent for this.
Cale Makar just last season came straight from NCAA and scored 6 pts in 10 games in the playoffs without playing a regular season game.
In ’16-’17 Charlie McCavoy got 3 pts in 6 gp straight out of college.
in ’11-’12 Chris Kreider got 7 pts in 19 gp, no regular season.
Going back further… other players have either started in the playoffs straight out of college, amateur Olympics, junior, or semi-pro, or played a bit in the NHL regular season before a playoff run: Pat Flatley, Craig Janney, Joe Juneau, Tony Amonte, Bryan Smolinski, Chris Chelios, Brett Hull, Trent Yawney, Jochen Hecht, Joe Mullen, Sam Bennett, Dino Ciccarelli, Claude Lemieux.
Seeing as Holloways Draft+1 NCAA season is one of the best in history and he’s a physically mature, fast, responsible player, I don’t see it as a big risk. The only stumbling block seems to be both parties’ willingness to sign a contract and when his NCAA season finishes.
And if he’s on the club I’d be inclined to try him in the top 6.
If they’re backing on Holloway providing material top 6 minutes for this playoffs, they’re not taking their shot seriously this year.
They wouldn’t be banking on it. The reality is it could be of benefit to him to see where he is at to where he needs to be. If he finds the magic touch fine if not it is still good experience. Moving assets for a possible shot at a long run is foolish given the lack of assets and flat cap moving forward.
If only there was a giant hole in the top 6 @ LW for him to slot into. ~~~~~~~
Not sure why McD & Drai played 23 mins the previous night in a blowout. Then Tippett runs them 25 mins +.
Agree with LT. Stars are getting run ragged all over the League.
EDM plays 8 in 13 nights starting tomorrow. TIPP May want to dial back the ice time for the 2 Superstars
TOI made no sense in the last Ottawa game.
For those who advocate trading Barrie:
regardless of what you think of his performance, as long as the oilers are a playoff team and he is performing reasonably I’m not sure (as a gm who signed Barrie) you can trade him. In other words: other free agents won’t want to sign one year show-me deals with you if you just flip them to a crap team where they won’t get the same opportunity.
Barrie signed to play pp for the oilers.
maybe next year they will be able to sign another player (Barrie 2.0) but that player will never sign for cheap if the oilers trade Barrie now.
I get it. This is probably a trade high moment in Barrie’s career and I don’t think he’s the player the Oilers should re sign but I don’t think the GM can trade him with any view to the long term formation of the team.
in fact, these short contracts for skill players is exactly what the GM should do. Let Barrie come in, put up 60 pts in a regular season playing with a figurative god on skates, and then let him walk to sign in Florida for a pay day. Player X sees how well that worked and signs cheap in Edmonton for some PP time to do the same. Everyone wins but Florida.
if Barrie is having so much fun playing with Connor and wants to sign a cheap 4×4 team deal (for example) then that’s fine but you can’t pay the man for a 60 pt season when he has to play with Nurse and McDavid to be effective.
There’s fans that want us to currenty “trade” him? I’ve read a ton about resigning, not trading midseason.
There is all but zero chance that Tyson Barrie gets traded this season. This only happens if the Oilers’ season goes off the rails and they aren’t looking like a playoff team which seems highly unlikely.
There is all but not chance Holland takes away from the roster, in particular, a material player (he is playing 22-25 min per game generally) as they head in to the stretch drive.
With respect to the point re: trading a player who just signed a one-year deal and, all of a sudden, he’s on a crappy team – well, the only teams that are trading for a pending UFA in-season are playoff teams so that wouldn’t really be an issue.
In any event, I believe this is a non-issue this year as the Oilers are a playoff team and will be keeping Tyson Barrie as an important part of the team.
Being an important part of the team this season does not equate to “needing” to re-sign the player for next year. I doubt Barrie is amenable to at $4M X 4 deal. That would be solid value for the team, however, I don’t think that type of money should be spent on Barrie, heading in to his 30s, with the likes of Bouchard ready for more playing time and, likely, within a year or two, to be a substantial offensive driver.
I’d prefer Larsson at the contract to Barrie (although I’d like Larsson to come in under $4M and, preferably, for 3 years).
I think the only way Holland moves Barrie is if Barrie asks for a trade. This could be possible if Holland advises Barrie’s agent that he won’t be re-signing his client. It is never a good idea to change the team chemistry if the team is playing well approaching the playoffs with a playoff spot as it sends the wrong message to the rest of the team.
HUNTER1909’s Death March™ (since 2014)
Update:
With Oilers now on pace for a 67 point finish, here are the current leaders in the Death March game which might pay out to all winners at the end of the season.
JRizzer25; Hazwasted; KGB; Oilnc79; Unjustenrichment; Whale :
Will replace previous leaders:
Boil-in-the-Oil; Cowboy; Z Mac; Crazy Pedestrian
Morning Hunter
Did you see my request regarding the March? I put in 67 as well a while back before the ‘deadline’.
Can you place it in a comment on the death march website? That way it won’t get lost. Remember to have a tie breaker.
Done thanks!
Of course that’s what Bieksa would say. That’s the kind of tactics he employed when he was in the NHL. I think he missed the mark of what Versteeg said though, and if he didn’t, then I couldn’t disagree more. What a travesty. The NHL product is objectively worse when star players have to fight through illegal bull crap on every shift.
Bieksa is just trying to drum up some drama for the ratings. He quoted Versteeg as saying nobody is allowed to touch McDavid then Bieksa showed a clip of a Vancouver defender running a nice, perfectly legal, pick play against McDavid. When Versteeg was showing clips of McDavid been run from behind away from the puck.
Classic strawman argument against Vesteeg. But I get, controversy brings ratings, ratings gives Bieksa job security. Here we are today discussing it. It obviously works.
I’m not one of those who thinks Bieksa is funny or smart.
I feel like I need a shower after his segments. Greasy.
Im sure he’s good for numbers with his antics, but so was Howard Stern in his day.
I didn’t see the clip or what Bieska said, but I thought picks are illegal in the NHL.
It wasn’t a full on pick. But the point being Bieksa showed a clip that was a relatively harmless play. Not one of the many ones of McDavid been thrown to the ice in the corners nowhere near the play.
The Oilers are in a pickle here
A killer PP is the best answer, but that only works if the penalties get called, and they aren’t enough.
The answer is a multi prongered response
Katz and Nicholson need to get right PO’d and burn the bozo’s in New York ears off. They should have facial sunburns from that many zoom calls.
Second a coach needs to get after the refs hard and stay on them.
Third it has to be quid pro quo. You hack Connor or Yama and Pete or Jenny better keep their heads up.
They need to return the favour as visciously as possible. This is how Messier did it, for a reason.
I don’t know if they have a couple guys that are mean enough, but they need to protect Connor bcs the league won’t.
This is right – the NHL has completely lost the story line. We are fans for the entertainment. 4 club seats and a couple of beers at Rogers is $1000 bill for one night of entertainment NOBODY wants to pay that to see a 30 year old AHL replacement player draped all over McDavid. ESPN is going to demand the NHL help with the story line or be shot into obscurity with the next contract.
Personally, I thought that was the most entertaining game of the Oilers season despite the outcome. I had the goal scrum as a rugby play but same result. They’ll need that effort in Calgary, Sutter seems to have those bastards playing better as of late.
The word is out as Beiska let everyone know that clipping, tackling, hooking and face washing of Mcdavid is the only way to slow him down. Watch Bobby Orr that was also the game plan as well there’s a reason the Bruins got mean. If Kassian can’t do the job Holland needs to add someone with skill but is mean or it’s going to get worse for Mcdavid and Leon. You think Travis Green is bad next up smothering Sutter will have the same game plan for the dynamic duo.
While in no way do I understand how tough this current lineup is, there are several non-shrinking violets like Nurse, Kassian, Khiara, and Smith who literally had the Senators goalie crying for Mommy in that post game brouhaha.
Larsson is no ones patsy either.
Anyway its inevitable that team are going to try to attack the star players. Nothing to do with Bieska, more to do with teams not wanting to get humiliated on an ongoing basis. It’s up to the Oilers to be tough enough to protect them, that’s essential.
Imagine if McDavid/Draisaitl decided to add being goons to their respective hockey repetoires. Then Oilers would have everything they need lol
Your downplaying the power of the media when all the anti Oiler announcers Cassie, Bieksa, Hrudey, Garrett, Button and Burke to name a few are saying Mcdavid has different rules because he’s to good and he’s embarrassing their bum boys so it’s acceptable. Remember when the Flames were whining and put out the tape of little Jenny getting slashed on the hands like 25 times in one shift by the Wild which in turn embarrassed the league. Next game little Jenny was prancing around the ice without a care in the world because if you got near him it was a penalty.
I don’t listen to most of those announcers because I literally can’t stand their ignorance. At least 2 of them are absolute morons only there for affirmative action reasons for a start, so I prefer to either watch another feed or turn the sound off.
The reality is, teams have seen Oilers get bitch slapped by Toronto, then turn it on like gangbusters vs Ottawa and for example Calgary have re-united with hard case Sutter who isn’t going to stand still and watch his team beaten by the Edmonton Oilers. This is a natural an expected development. If you were a Calgary fan that’s exactly what you want to see.
McDavid, Draisaitl and the rest of the team need to learn how to win in all circumstances. If the opposition tries to goon it up, Oilers need goons of their own. otherwise they just turn into the 2011 Canucks, looking to the refs to save them lol and good luck with that philosophy.
Similarly Oilers need to learn how to outplay Toronto. Then be able to move on and play with Vegas, and Tampa. All the signs right now look good to me. The only trouble is, I have thought this team had what it took before and it was a bad thing.
I agree there needed to be a response on Dadanov when he blindsided Mcdavid in a 6-2 game against the Sens. Mcdavid’s starting to get the Glenn Anderson vibe and is learning that his stick is a deterrent but if Tippett’s not going to instill the Wolfpack mentality the Flames and other teams will just keep bitch slapping us. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mcdavid drop the gloves in a game soon.
the between period segments are unwatchable….100% agreed
It’s actually supposed to be the ref’s job. It is ridiculous for the players to have to be running around trying to protect the stars from illegal conduct. It is supposed to be a hockey game. Call the game by the rules, at least occasionally, and it’s a beautiful sport.
Yeah this is pretty funny, considering that the NHL has a policy where regular season and playoffs get called completely differently.
It’s a lot like a Vancouver fan, after the Boston Bruins final series. They thought the refs would continue to give those diving clowns endless powerplays but instead the refs suddenly wised up to the reality that, had the Canucks won then the entire NHL would start diving like assholes as a matter of policy.
On the assumption that Kass is ready to come in to the lineup soon (or even Turris), I make three changes to the forward group:
1) Kahun and Kass in over Shore and P. Russell
2) put the Ennis back with Khaira and Archie
3) McDavid and Drai on separate lines
For 3, I would prefer they go to the Nuge/Drai/Yamamoto line and put Kahun with Jesse and Connor
The issue here is 5 RW and, Archie, the guy that’s played the most left is locked in to a 3RW spot given the success of that line previously.
Morning OP, just curious… what, in your opinion would P. Russell have to do to his game for you to consider him a legitimate bottom 6 forward? I’m sure the easy answer is to score… I do like this player.
He would have to have the ability to actually add a more material positive to the lineup than a good forecheck a couple of times a game.
I don’t hate P. Russell – he’s generally a responsible player but he does make some mistakes out there (like every player) – he was part of the issue on the winning goal last night (along with Shore). He’s a solid player to be able to insert when there are 3 forwards unavailable, like there have been but he doesn’t add much to the team.
Guys like Kassian and Turris have warts to their games as well – neither are great defensive players (and Turris has had major struggles in that area this year) and both have battle issues but, on the other hand, both are more material skilled players than a guy like Russell.
Turris has been awful for the year, however, we saw in his last game, what he can do when he finds his game and gets some confidence.
Prusty is a 15th/16th forward and he’s found some ice time in that role – with Archie back and Kass coming soon (and Turris likely ready soon), he shouldn’t be in the lineup, in my opinion.
The reason Tippet went with them together is the system that Toronto used to shut them both down. When either McDavid or Draisaitl were on the ice separately they were double teamed by the opposing centre and winger on whichever side of the ice they were on. The interference was egregious. You can’t double team them both when they are on the ice together. Calgary did a reasonable imitation until Tippet put them out together. At least that’s how it looked to me when I went back and reviewed a couple of games.
Yup, Toronto was successful in the three game set defending the top two lines – no argument against that.
I don’t believe that, all of a sudden, Toronto has found the formula and McDavid and Drai can’t each be successful away from each other.
Lessons should (and I’m sure have) been learned from those three games and. fully expect McDavid will be able to produce against the Leafs, and the rest of the league, without Drai on his line.
The Condors are on fire right now. The Benson/McLeod/Marody line is even more dominant than the Benson/Marody/Currie line was in the 2018/19 run.
Skinner is indeed part of it but, with respect to last night, all three goals were poor and two were awful with Stuie being the sole culprit.
1) The Baracuda beat Stanton wide (easily) but ended up going behind the net, he fooled everyone, including Skinner, reversed, came in front and put one short side.
2) A very very very weak dump/flip/shot from the outside off the rush (no traffic) and Skinner just totally lost the rebound, which was buried
3) Skinner whiffed on the puck behind the net and, as he scrambled back to his net the puck was shot off him an in.
No worries, he’s been very good lately and I think this might be fatigue. He’s played every game since he arrived and a number of back to back set and 3 in 4 nights (as last night was).