We’re finally at a point in preseason where there’s movement on the depth chart, not because of great performances (although that is happening) but due to injuries and (uniquely this season) a player choice that may impact the final roster.
This is the third Riesen to believe of this season, and there have been changes. Why? Injuries to Dylan Holloway, Dmitri Samorukov, Kris Russell, Alex Stalock and the Josh Archibald uncertainty lead the way, and some verbal from the coach has inspired some small tweaks.
Is the final roster for opening night close? No, but it’s closer.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New DNB: Oilers training camp observations
- Lowetide: Why Colton Sceviour could be an important addition for the Oilers
- DNB: Derek Ryan Q&A
- Jonathan Willis: How can the Oilers find a long-term solution in net?
- Lowetide: What will three outscoring lines do for the Oilers and Connor McDavid?
- DNB: Oilers training camp questions
- Jonathan Willis: Darnell Nurse, in context
- DNB: The Oilers’ plan for prospect Philip Broberg
- Lowetide: Examining Ken Holland’s Oilers plan and how it could impact the future
- Lowetide: Filip Berglund, sleeper option for Edmonton’s defense
- DNB: Cooper Marody Q&A
- Lowetide: Oilers preseason stories of the past, from Tony Hand to Leon Draisaitl
- Lowetide: The Oilers and the Cooper Marody experiment are at a crossroads
- DNB: Oilers voice their frustration over top prospect Dylan Holloway’s injury setback
- Lowetide: A set roster? Oilers training camp gone wild? Expect the unexpected
- Lowetide: Xavier Bourgault and his ETA with the Edmonton Oilers
- DNB: Warren Foegele Q&A
- Lowetide: Oilers reasonable expectations for 2021-22: Goal differential
- Lowetide: Oilers’ reasonable expectations for 2021-22: Goal scoring
- Lowetide: What should the Oilers expect from Cody Ceci in his first season?
- Lowetide: Projecting the 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers opening night lineup
- Lowetide: What should Oilers expect from Duncan Keith in his first season?
- Jonathan Willis: Tyler Benson, Devin Shore and the 4-year difference between a prospect and a has-been
- Lowetide: What should Oilers fans expect from Zach Hyman in his first season?
- Lowetide: How much playing time will Evan Bouchard get with the Oilers this coming season?
- Jonathan Willis: A resurgent Zack Kassian could be an important part of the Oilers’ scoring
GOALIES (5)
The big item here is the Stalock news, added to the age of Smith meaning there is a possibility of an IR trip before the start of the season. Before you balk at the idea, remember, it happened a year ago. Mikko Koskinen’s first start came January 13. Smith? February 8.
Koskinen was 5-7-0 with an .889 SP on the day Smith started his first game. After that, the big Finn went 8-6-0 with a .910SP and he should be good for that kind of production if the coaches don’t overplay him. Smith? He was consistent once healthy. By month, his SP’s were .934, .907, .928 and .926. I think the Oilers would take that in 2021-22. Stuart Skinner is No. 3 right now, he might get some competition from Konovalov for first recall later in the year.
LEFT DEFENSE
Slight change at this position, but I don’t think it will impact opening night. Kris Russell has a neck issue, he’s expected to be out another week. Keith will be joining the team next Friday and has his vaccination. I think Koekkoek’s being paired with Evan Bouchard in early days of practice indicates he’s more on the roster than Lagesson. Broberg’s five percent represents the small chance he absolutely blows away the coaching staff with his fine play. Samorukov is a month away but could be a recall option.
RIGHT DEFENSE
Nothing has changed here, although Tippett’s verbal around Bouchard tells me the club might be looking at him as a co-second pairing blue along with Ceci. We’ll see but I don’t think they see him as a depth third pairing (Eric Gryba) type and that is encouraging. It’s great news, and I think he’ll shine.
CENTER
The song remains the same at this position, I do believe everyone listed here makes the opening night roster. The question is, do they play? Tippett has more special teams forwards now, he shouldn’t need to rely on Shore for the PK. The heart of this team is at center, if the coaching staff keeps 97 and 29 apart, and Ryan can lead a third line, things get interesting.
LEFT WING
The top three lines are locked, but the fourth line LW job is up in the air. I have Benson drawing even with Perlini, there’s been tons of verbal on Benson but we’ll have to see how he performs in preseason. If he gets four games and PK’s successfully while also posting something offensively, that’s a good arrow. Perlini has an equal chance as of this instant, in my opinion.
RIGHT WING
A position that appeared to be stable all summer has seen some movement over the course of the three RTB’s. Kailer Yamamoto didn’t have a contract until late, Sceviour is in on a PTO, and Josh Archibald is making the decision of his professional life. I moved Marody up and Turris down, both slight tweaks, but I think that’s reading the the tea leaves properly at this time.
Based on the numbers, opening night will be Smith-Koskinen, Nurse-Barrie, Keith-Ceci, Russell-Bouchard with Koekkoek the extra blue. Up fromt, it’s McDavid-Draisaitl-Ryan-McLeod-Shore at center, followed by Hyman-Nuge-Foegele-Benson-Perlini on left wing and Puljujarvi-Yamamoto-Kassian-Turris on right wing. That won’t be the roster, as one of Archibald or Sceviour will also make it, but (as I’ve been mentioning) the idea that 22 of 23 roster spots were decided entering camp is always wrong. There’s ALWAYS an injury or some damn thing that derails the plans.
It’s probably the jet lag but I’ll ignore that and posit the inability to sleep past 430 am is excitement for an Oilers game.
Sure, McDavid and Drai (and likelyvalost all their projected line mates) are staying home.
Sure, they are likely to go with the minimum required “veterans” with 8 which will be composed of the likes of Shore, Turris, Koekkoek, Ryan, etc.
It doesn’t mattter though, I’ll be hunkering down at 7 to watch the Oilers play and I’m excited.
We’ll probably see the likes of Bourgault for 1 game before he’s assigned. Lavoie probably plays and it may be his only game.
The top lines will probably be the Ryan/Foegele line plus the Bakersfield Trio line plus the Turris/Perlini line.
Should be lots of reps for the bubble competition players – even special teams time.
Let’s do this!
Gawd I love the development model Ken Holland has been using for a quarter century. I used to envy it immensely when he was in Detroit and we were throwing child after child into the fire. Bouchard, McLeod, and now Benson come into the league with man strength, confidence, maturity, and nothing left to prove outside the show. LOVE IT!
It’s back! But…for how long??
http://www.oilersdeathmarch.com/marches/2021-22
Hurry! The Sky is Falling!
No cross checking penalties in either of tonights games
(the NHL said they are cracking down on them this season, for those who don’t know)
James Neal with a hat trick for STL.
Canucks could have had him for nothing. Which is about all they can afford.
Oilers tend to use their media in certain ways. Early days obviously but we’ve never seen a narrative about how good Benson looks this early in the season.
I prognosticated he’d never play another regular season game for the Oilers and might be in Europe by 2022 but might be eating some tasty crow on that one.
In this instance I think ALL the crow goes to JOFA.
Lol it’s early. Let’s hope you’re right JP ?
Haha, for sure. IF he makes it.
Men plan…the gods laugh.
Yep.
Jim Benning has made a lot of plans. The gods laughed.
It’s too bad he spent significant assets for 10 games of Tyler Tofolli, then used Tofolli’s money to sign Braden Holtby (gods laughing).
Then 10 months later turned around and bought out Holtby. The new plan involved sending Dylan Guenther and multiple other picks to replace Tofolli with Conor Garland while also adding OELs 3rd worst (IIRC) contract in the NHL (men and gods laughed).
I expect Benson and his handling would hardly get a chuckle.
Potential media driven narrative or not, he sure looked good on the scrimmage highlights and guys like McCurdy, who are not part of the Oilers media but have been at camp, have also sung his praises.
Ah yes, the Leafs.
@LeafsAllDayy
·
1h
What a shift for ho-sang, he looks so good. We may have rebuilt him.
(VIDEO)
Could be a great addition for the Leafs if he works out.
So you’re saying the Islanders should have held onto him a little longer..
I dunno… I think Ho Sang fits the Leafs program perfectly. Out performs when it matters not. Shits the bed when it matters most.
Nah…he needed another opinion.
leafs always feel their players look the best. Overhype and exaggerated
– It has long suspected to be true, but its weird that Tippet owned up to asking McD and Drai if they wanted to play together this year. I’m surprised it hasn’t had much press. Apparently they said something to the effect of preferring two lines and then loading up when need be (presumably when they tell the coach to do so)
– Sucks that the players have so much sway…
More sad that the coach had to ask given the team is more balanced when they don’t play together.
This is fine to say, but Connor and Leon have to drive results apart for it to actually be true.
Over the past 3 seasons they’ve managed 56.1%GF when together. McDavid without Draisaitl has been 48.5%GF, Draisaitl without has been 51.0%GF.
Whoever was 2C when they played together only had to manage ~44%GF for it to be ‘worth’ it. Nuge without them was 43.2%GF in the same span, so it’s been essentially a wash playing them together vs apart.
If you do the same just for last season, McDavid+Draisaitl were 66.0%GF together. McDavid alone was 50.0%GF, Draisaitl alone was 57.9%GF.
So 2C/Nuge only needed to manage ~42%GF for break even vs McDavid/Draisaitl apart. Nuge was 45.5%GF in very limited minutes without McDavid/Draisaitl last season, so the team wasn’t actually better with McDavid and Draisaitl on different lines.
The hope is that the better winger depth this season helps both stars excel on their own lines, but it’s not hard to see why Tippett (and everyone before him) keeps putting them together.
McDavid already brought in Hyman and Keith as Assistant GM why not just make him player-coach at this point?
He’s already screaming at players on the bench…so why not.
Not everyone can be as perfect as the likes of Captain MacKinnon berating coaches and yelling at teamates re: diet habits.
Whataboutism is the second last refuge of a scoundrel.
Oh. My. Goodness.
That’s your primary tactic.
The lack of self-awareness is galling.
That would make the bridge you live under the last refuge
I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t he ask them???
This just in… Sather asks Gretzky if he’s ok with Kurri on his wing.
Fargin icehole. 🙂
Couldnt a contender circumvent the cap if they traded for Eichel? Bring him in for the playoffs get his value up, trade him in the summer for as much, close to or more assets depending on how he does?
That’s interesting given that he’ll be on LTIR on day 1 – whoever acquires him would have to ensure he’d be ‘injured’ until the playoffs start (ie:he doesn’t return mid season) but that’s not a high bar in today’s NHL
His contract would have to fit under the tagging rules and of course, it’s a big risk you might give up more than you get in return next summer, but it is interesting because you’d get a (hopefully) healthy Eichel for the playoffs and a (hopefully) healthy Eichel to trade next summer
It is living large and a big risk – that sounds like something Vegas would do
*I guess if Vegas wanted to keep him, that would buy them time to fit him into next years salary structure
That’s interesting- I hadn’t thought of that before
Interesting point. But Eichel has expressed a strong desire to play in the Olympics. Doubt he would entertain such a plan.
Although, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Just a sports entertainment note.
PBS has just dropped its latest Ken Burns epic…a 4 hour look at the life and times of Muhammed Ali.
As you might expect from Ken Burns, it’s brilliant.
Highly recommended.
I’m an hour into episode 1
Everything Ken Burns does is good
Edmonton Oilers
@EdmontonOilers
· 37m
Today’s #Oilers roster moves:
Tyler Tullio loaned to Oshawa (OHL)
Matvey Petrov returned to North Bay (OHL)
Jake Chiasson returned to Brandon (WHL)
Drew Englot, Henry Rybinski, Brady Burns & Ethan Kruger released from amateur tryouts
Edmonton Oilers
@EdmontonOilers
· 6m
Today’s #Oilers roster moves:
Tyler Tullio loaned to Oshawa (OHL)
Matvey Petrov returned to North Bay (OHL)
Jake Chiasson returned to Brandon (WHL)
Drew Englot, Henry Rybinski, Brady Burns & Ethan Kruger released from amateur tryouts https://nhl.com/oilers/news/release-oilers-make-roster-moves/c-326341854
I am surprised they released Rybinski
My presumption is that they might be trying to sign him to an AHL deal (and will do so if he can’t find an NHL contract out of his performance).
Watching today’s scrimmage highlights and Turris’ goal was a very nice snipe (great to see him using that plus shot of his), however, it was off one of the worse defensive zone passes/giveaways one will ever see – by Broberg.
No worries, first NHL camp and destined for the AHL – the key is learning, learning from the mistakes.
I’ve noticed that he has a tendency to force a high risk play rather than taking the safe option. If Manson and Woody can iron this out of his game, he’ll be a solid NHLer. I think he needs 1-2 years in the AHL.
Interesting to note that Oilers only have 9 B2b games this season which is least in league
Nice!
Although on second thought…their record in b2b’s is real good isn’t it?
Matty asked about the lineup for tomorrow – neither Connor nor Leon will be playing. “There will be alot of young guys”. There is a chance Bourgault will play.
This summer I tried to tell everyone that Benson was bona fide and ready for the show. There were a few on this blog that supported my assertion, but the vast majority were down on him. What do you guys think now after 3 days of camp and two scrimmages??
I think most Oilers fans are onboard with Benson but the time is now. It’s been five years. Further complicating things is the extra effort to upgrade his position over the summer by the organization. I recall just one naysayer re: Benson, but can’t recall the poster’s name. 🙂
Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln….(pounding his fist on the table) ..NOW! NOW! NOW!
I think you’re referring to AFOJ. I don’t really care for their posts.
Bastage! 🙂
Of course, any surplus of wingers probably figures into the possibility of trading for a suitable goaltender at the appropriate time. Benson, if he does not fit, might make for attractive trade bait.
I have been doubting Benson for a bit. His lack of wheels and goal scoring seems like an impediment for a long, successful NHL career.
I’m glad he’s having a strong camp so far. Hopefully it continues into late October.
Wouldn’t, after all this time, depend on upside?
While I have nothing against Benson, it appears at this point, his upside is bottom 6 winger…is that worth waiting 5 years for when they are plentiful every offseason?
For example, the Canucks signed Nic Petan to a $750K contract.
He plays all 3 forward positions, always over PPG in the AHL has 136 NHL games to his credit.
What is the advantage with Benson, if any?
But have you seen his hair??
better question is why would you waste your time signing Nic Petan that you know is not an Nhl player when you got guys you invested development time in that could be NHL players?
and even once in a blue moon they put it all together and become top 6 players
Generally a waste of time and resources.
Good Grief – so the Oilers are wasting resources developing and re-signing Benson. What are the TB Lightning doing with developing Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk? I assume that is also a waste of resources?
Very different situations.
Tampa has been stacked on wing since Christ was a cowboy while the Oilers have been crying for wingers especially in the bottom 6 for even longer but Benson couldn’t get a sniff.
Knowing the way Tampa operates, they would have cashed Benson years ago. They often trade their picks, even 1st rounders, for impact players.
They don’t play the wishin’ and hopin’ game.
Almost identical situations.
Spending 5 years of resources, and re-signing, 2nd round picks that have yet to establish themselves in the NHL.
Your third paragrpah is one of the most nonsensical sentences I’ve read on here – there is absolutely nothing to put Raddysh nor Katchouk above Benson, zero.
What Tampa has done with those two prospects is identical to what the Oilers have done with Benson.
To try and praise Tampa and denigrate the Oilers on this is awesome because its so laughable.
I would agree there is nothing to separate them from Benson.
That’s why Tampa signed Maroon, Perry, Bellemare, Barre-Boulet and Smith to play in its bottom 6.
Now, one or both of them might make it but, then again, they might not and Tampa won’t miss them…at all.
and the Oilers acquired Ryan, Shore, Foegele, Perlini, etc. to play in their bottom six.
Benson might make it but, then again, he might not and the Oilers won’t miss him…. at all.
And you sang the praises of Brogan Rafferty. Toad!
Congrats to the Canucks for signing vanilla flavored shit with sprinkles on top.
His upside may be bottom six winger (although we don’t know that yet) but the Canucks have put the same amount of time in to top 10 pick Juolevi and his upside is starting to look like tweener:
Thomas Drance
@ThomasDrance
·
1h
“I don’t think he did himself any favours,” says Travis Green of Olli Juolevi’s bag skate performance and overall form at training camp. #Canucks
Farhan Lalji
@FarhanLaljiTSN
·
Sep 24
Thoughts from #Canucks practice/scrimmage:
Ice hockey stick and puck Podkolzin is physically ready for this level & makes good decisions
Ice hockey stick and puck Klimovich has skill for days. Very little detail in his game
Ice hockey stick and puck Di Giuseppe has a lot to offer
Ice hockey stick and puck If Juolevi wasnt a 1st rnd pick we would never talk about him
The Texaco sign appears to be in Juolevi’s rear view mirror.
He’s in a camp battle for 3LD with Jack Rathbone who has been outstanding in camp, in the NCAA, the AHL and in a brief stint in the NHL last season.
All teams have failed 1st round picks especially when injury plays a major role. (LT still weeps to this day over Marc Pouliot) not to mention Yak and MPS.
And then some hit on later round picks like Hoglander and Rathbone but after 5 years you generally have a good idea what they are with very rare exceptions.
That Holland brought in Hyman and Foegele tells you what the organization thinks of Benson even if you disagree.
Glad you mentioned Phil Di Giuseppe…he’s just another example of what I’m saying.
I listened to a live account of Canucks scrimmage today and they were raving about him…another player with considerable NHL experience available for peanuts in the offseason.
Signing Hyman and Foegele have nothing to do with what the organization thinks of Benson, this is lunacy like suggesting the Canucks know which players to sign, and which to develop. If it was all sugar as you act why is Jack Hughes calling them a terrible team on airwaves?
If Olli was an Oilers pick you’d most likely suffer a stroke from frantically posting your superiority.
It’s like teams can’t sign players to win now, while developing their draft picks to move up the ranks. Just fucking terrible team management.
To me the answer is pretty simple.
/
You need to stock your AHL team. In your scenario you are stocking it with players who didn’t quite make the NHL or have dropped out of the league but they still cost you money. Probably more money than a newly drafted prospect.
/
So unless you are advocating not having an AHL team and shopping your high end draft picks to other teams – and we have seen that movie with the Oilers – why wouldn’t you keep a drafted player on your AHL team as long as they have some promise and aren’t susceptible to waivers?
/
Exactly what did Benson cost the Oilers for his 3 years in the AHL? $210,000 in salary according to capfriendly. For that amount – which is pretty modest by NHL standards – they got to show his photo in marketing material as a future NHL’er and relatively high end draft pick – not to mention that he provided a skilled player for the Oilers other draft picks to play with and learn from. In other words he provided stability and continuity in the pipeline.
/
To me those are all real advantages.
All of those things are absolutely true but that doesn’t make it the most efficient way to build out your bottom 6 if there are players with more proven ability available.
Of course it’s a nice story when one of them makes it but the old draft and develop model has sprung some leaks as the league gets younger and more skilled.
Benson hasn’t made the team yet. If they lose him to waivers they lose him.
My point is that you need a variety of players at the AHL level including those who are skilled but maybe not skilled enough for the NHL because you need them to play with your other prospects and you need to win some games to sell tickets etc. etc.
If you think the Oilers could have or should have traded him I would suggest that the return would not be all that great.
Tampa moves theirs because they have been good at drafting and need the spots for younger guys that are pushing. That was never the case with Benson and the Oilers so they just kept him and let him play. He hasn’t been a drag on anybody in Bakersfield who should have been getting any of his ice time.
If there are guys with more ‘proven ability’ I don’t expect Benson to win his spot but that is what Tippett is paid to decide and this TC is undoubtedly Benson’s last chance to impress him.
Agree completely but those who see this as almost “life and death” are missing the point that there are literally dozens of Bensons looking for NHL jobs all the time.
Ah, yes, there are those. Benson will be a great story if he makes it considering the roadblocks his health has put up but I primarily cheer for the team so he has to be able to make the team better first and foremost.
If he can’t I wish him well. Tough gig being good enough for the best league in the world. I think some forget how good you have to be just to get close.
I know this is more fanning flames than anything..
But Hudler, Filppila, Nyquist, Tatar etc from Holland’s own past say hi.
All paid similar dues to Benson before sticking in the NHL.
I believe Benson has scored better in the AHL than all of them as well.
True…but does not recognize that the league has changed since then.
Players are now younger, bigger, faster, in better physical condition and much more skilled.
In looking at AHL stats, it’s really important to put those into the context of the last couple of seasons that suffered from mass Covid disruptions meaning teams played a widely divergent number of games and the competition was sketchy.
In 2020-21 Benson scored 1.00 P/G
That was actually tied for 41st in the league.
Of note from today’s discussion:
Gemel Smith (TB) 2.00
Alex Barre-Boulet (TB)1.20
Boris Katchouk (TB) 1.17
Jack Rathbone (VCR) 1.13
Taylor Raddysh (TB) 1.13
Nic Petan (VCR) 1.07
There were actually 31 AHL players who matched Benson’s 1.00 and 40 who exceeded it.
So, if you’re looking at AHL scoring as a bellweather, it’s actually quite pedestrian.
Also of note, in the 19-20 season, which was closer to normal, Benson scored .77 PPG which was tied for 97th in the league and a tad behind the legendary defeseman Brogan Rafferty who scored at .79 PPG pace.
Ah yes, the old ‘nothing that happened in the past is relevant’ argument.
On Benson, there were only 9 AHL players who played 20 or more games who scored better than a point per game, so not pedestrian at all. Including players who only played 2 or 3 games is absurd. Thank you for the context though.
Now do the prior season.
Yes, one year lesser then the other two. He’s been a top 10 AHL scorer in 2 of his 3 years.
Seems like a player worth giving a shot. And no, not a wast of development time, unless you’re trying to say there shouldn’t be an AHL.
Aghhh, the league has changed argument – brought out when it suits your narrative but disregarded when it doesn’t (i.e. Daryl Sutter).
Yes, Canucks are particularly astute with filling out there bottom six with cheap vets, like Jay Beagle and Brandon Sutter who have been awesome.
Nic Petan has 3goals in his last 56 games over the last 5 NHL seasons. He is available because he is at best a 4th line player. He didn’t sign with the Oilers because he wouldn’t make the team.
Tyler Benson has scored ZERO goals in the NHL over the last 5 seasons.
This is a very reasonable question which would be easier to answer if Hyman and Foegle (and Perlini) had not been brought in. Benson is not a bottom six energy guy – I see below OP has him 4th line with (the less than prolific) Shore and McLeod – and needs to play with skill otherwise he is set up to fail. Hopefully he can force his way up the line.
Lol 🙂
Has anyone else seen the footage of OEL at the Nucks practise? Falling so far behind on their skates. Yikes. Good thing he has a few weeks to get back in shape….
For the benefit of those who haven’t seen it. https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1441099474449756162
But I heard that was because OEL had done multiple bag skates prior to this footage which is why he looked so bad!
Waitaminute..
https://canucksarmy.com/2021/09/24/5-players-stood-out-canucks-day-one-camp-wrong-reasons/
It’s totally misleading.
Even JFresh admitted in a subsequent tweet that it lacked context.
The Canucks day one bag skates are sandwiched between two scrimmages and OEL was part of the group that had just finished a scrimmage while half the team was fresh.
After watching all this, Henrik Sedin laughed and said to read nothing into it because the vets on the team have figured out how to game the system by being on cruise control in the scrimmage.
Looks like no one told Oliver.
JFresh – Good Grief – Does he have a useless chart for this as well?
You should read this to see how silly you look right now:
https://canucksarmy.com/2021/09/24/5-players-stood-out-canucks-day-one-camp-wrong-reasons/
So he is welcomed to the team! Nice cohesive sound to that! The more you talk the worse the Canucks leadership group sounds! Destruction from within and the dynasty continues!?
He wasn’t fast, but his movements were quick?
Yes, we’ve seen and discussed it – HH went to great lengths to explain to us the nuances of the drill and the context and why it provides zero intel in OEL’s potential fitness levels.
OEL only looks slow because he is slow. Its like an optical illusion.
I for one am happy that the Canucks traded for a 30 year old player that doesn’t take offseason training seriously.
Those contracts always age well.
As fun as it is to make fun of the Canucks and while OEL certainly comes with question marks he’s known to be a bit of VOmax beast so I doubt his conditioning is an issue.
I think the major concerns wrt OEL is if his heart is still fully in it, hasn’t really looked like it ever since his mother passed a few years ago and why his skating and his lateral movement in particular has looked so stiff the last few seasons. But I seriously doubt he’d be anything but professional regarding his off season training and coming into camp in great shape even if the passion to stay fully focused night in night out is somewhat gone.
Canucks are betting that he finds his drive again in a new enviroment and that him looking less agile is either not an actual issue or it’s something that he can fix. I know he changed some stuff in his off season regime before the 20/21 season but then the season got postponed and shortened and he got injured when the season eventually started so maybe the results will be seen this season. I think there’s a chance this ends up a good move for the Canucks, at least the first few seasons, but it’s a risky move no doubt.
My goodness…there’s another adult in the room.
Swedish-Poster and who’s the other one?
“Congrats to the Canucks for signing vanilla flavored shit with sprinkles on top.”.
Not Bank Shot.
OEL just looks slow cause he’s a coyote while everyone else is a road runner. This is simple math.
ah, I see, so everyone other than you is a child/idiot.
how you have gotten to your age with zero self awareness and without gaining the usual ‘being kind and a good dude is better than being (well, trying to be) right’ is beyond me.
your constant trolling and derailing of the blog have sucked all of the enjoyment out of the comments section for me.
Lets not forget that “insane chemistry” between Ryan and Foegele from their days in Carolina. Sure, it was only two games and 18 minutes of total ice but:
57% CF
100% GF (3-0)
71% xGF
I know Foegele scored in each game and both had multiple points in the two games.
This is a bit in jets, of course, but these two do have a small sample size history of success together.
Geez sorry guys, I never should have said that The Doors were the most overrated band of all time.
In that case I never should have agreed wholeheartedly with you.
Great great band. Morrison was a prima donna.
Completely off-topic but I think our host would be interested in this:
https://cultmtl.com/2021/09/announcement-about-the-return-of-the-montreal-expos-to-be-made-this-fall-october-november-tampa-bay-rays/
Tampa is one of the best teams in the league and they draw 15,000 fans down the stretch. Mngt continually sells off assets and replace them with even better, younger players. It appears that fans and mngt don’t care, yet all they do is win.
Beautiful if true.
Arpon Basu Retweeted
Sports by Tampa Bay Times
@TBTimes_Sports
The Rays will add a sign to the back wall at Tropicana Field for the postseason to promote their plan to split future seasons between Tampa Bay and Montreal.
Reid Wilkins
@ReidWilkins
·
9m
Dave Tippett says Konovalov and Skinner will be the goalies tomorrow in Calgary.
Look forward to watching these guys play. I’ve got a fairly good sense of Skinner’s game from watching the Condors last season but not much on Konovalov.
Holland mentioned the other day that both will get a game and a half, maybe two for Skinner (which means to me that Skinner is slightly ahead as we start camp – that could change).
He sure looked shaky in his debut win last year. I’m thinking that it had to have been from nerves anyhow they should give him and Konovalov a good look because we may need one or both this year.
Does anyone know where we can watch the game? Facebook?
Edmonton Oilers
@EdmontonOilers
·
4h
Replying to
@dstaples
Two games vs. Vancouver will be on Sportsnet, all others on http://EdmontonOilers.com.
There are others in the thread claiming the Jets game will be on TSN3.
Thanks for the info
Just a couple of weeks ago the battles I was most looking forward to centred around the youngsters Samorukov and Holloway and the backup goalie position between Koskinen and Stalock.
Poof. All three disappeared through injury & illness before camp even started.
BTW I agree with you that it will be Archibald or Sceviour on the roster. They are a type and Tippett will want one or the other.
I can’t see Archibald on the roster unless he changes his mind – its just untenable to me.
While I don’t disagree that Sceviour could be the Archie replacement, for me, I would like Marody and Turris to get a real shot at that job – simply more skill and a fourth line of Benson/McLeod and either Turris or Marody is a line that, with sheltered minutes, could chip in a bit.
This team has Hyman, Ryan, Foegele, Nuge, McLeod, Yamamoto, Drai for the PK – Shore/Sceviour are simply not needed due to PK.
I would also note that, as we start camp, Sceviour is playing with AHL tweeners (i.e. non NHL options) whereas Marody/Turris are both up a tier – that’s for now, could change based on performance.
Gee OP, I’ve never heard you express any of these ideas 137 times already.
Of course, you’ve never provided an opinion more than once – feel free to respond to the substance.
I would of lost a lot of money if I actually bet on Turris last year. I thought for sure he could handle 3C after always being higher in the batting order. Not only was he not capable of handling 3C but he was a bust at 4C or any other position. The more I hear about him not feeling the greatest health wise last year the more I’m hoping that he rebounds and surprises everyone with a good year.
Bob Stauffer
@Bob_Stauffer
Strong performance from Stuart Skinner in back half of scrimmage today. Stopped Foegele on PS, and Ryan hit the post on one. Yamamoto and Benson looked good as well IMO
That’s 3 for 3 for Benson.
Yamamoto as well but he’s a lock and performance is expected.
Go Benson!
Saw a few highlights from scrimmage, Benson was in on a lot of nice passing plays with McLeod and Marody, they definitely have some chem. Benson makes some unreal passes in tight spots, looked to keep up in the play too. McLeod looked good in the middle and aggressive on pucks along the wall/corner. Not sure if Marody makes it though, just have that feeling he’s not a Tippett player and especially for 4th line duties.
I haven’t seen the highlights of today’s scrimmage but, from accounts, Benson was all over yesterday’s scrimmage and his pass to Marody for his goals was high skill and high vision.
Yup, the highlights I watched were from yesterday’s scrimmage. Benson was featured a lot in the highlight pack, that assist on Marody’s goal was sublime vision. I also noticed how good Foegele looked forechecking, he will create some chances off turnovers. I like what I see from a highlight pack anyway. Bouchard got stripped in one of the sequences head down coming out of his D zone. Young D but yikes not a play you’d want to get noticed for early on. I’m sure everybody has those brainfarts early though.
Yup, I noticed that Bouchard play as well and was going to make a comment about how the Ceci giveaway (on the Yamamoto goal) is all over twitter and the player getting bashed but yet nothing about the Bouchard just as egregious giveaway.
Chemistry doesn’t seem to be enough for the staff in spite of the fact that previous bottom six lines didn’t have a hell of a lot of it.
I guess it will remain a unsolved mystery why Tippett broke up the Leon line with Yamo and Nuge.
Luc Tardif has been voted in as Rene Fasel’s replacement as IIHF president. Many will be disappointed thining this was Bob Nicholson’s exit from the Oiler org – personally I couldn’t care less if Nicholson stays or not – this is Holland’s team.
Nicholson wasn’t on the ballot.
source: https://www.iihf.com/en/news/28791/luc_tardif_new_iihf_president
I could get behind Marc Tardif. Over a pt/g and just under 1pim/g in 963 NHL/WHA games. Watched him against the Alberta Oilers. Good player and tough.
He was a “stylish” left winger according to a 1971-72 preseason preview I read that year.
Hate to pick gnat shit out of pepper but Tardif came into the WHA in ’73-74, the first year of the Edmonton Oilers. Also, he was not a tough player. He was almost killed in a fight with Rick Jodzio, a Calgary Cowboy legend and rumored inspiration for Slapshot’s Og lethorpe.
It wasn’t a fight. Jodzio knocked Tardiff out by hitting him in the head with his stick then pummeled him with his fists after Tardiff was already unconscious on the ice. Jodzio was charged with assault and plead guilty. Tardiff sustained permanent brain damage. It was a gutless play by Jodzio and says nothing about Tardiff’s toughness.
This is correct. It had major impact on Tardif’s career and you could argue he was never right again.
Actually, Jodzio was sent out to take Tardif, who was the Nord’s best player, out of the game. He hit Tardif with a clean check into the boards, head first unfortunately, and then tuned him up while he laid on the ice. In the ensuing bench clearing scrum, Tardif took a couple inadvertent boots to the melon which didn’t help. Tardif was never a fighter. There was not a Wayne Maki type stick attack involved.
New York Times article from 1976:
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/12/archives/tardif-is-hurt-in-brawl.html
Nothing clean about it. It was disgusting then and is more so now. And just because a player isn’t a fighter doesn’t mean he isn’t tough.
Edmonton Oilers
@EdmontonOilers
·
1m
Today’s Blue & White scrimmage complete. Heavy check mark
Final score: 3-1 Team White.
Sceviour, Turris & Puljujarvi (empty-netter) for White & Yamamoto for Blue.
I’m starting to think that Turris is getting close to being a lock for the lineup.
Yes, he’s got to continue his “strong play” during exhibition season, in particular late exhibition season (and one can only put so much stock in to scrimmage play) but this team is simply better if he can rebound to the player he was in the last few years in Nashville (where he was 0.5 P/G).
Turris has offensive skill and adding him and Benson to the fourth line, with a guy like McLeod in the middle, well, that is a line that can likely chip in offensively in sheltered minutes. Turris can shoot the pill and if he can get around the ice a bit better, this helps the team.
OP: his last few year’s in Nashville, Turris bled chances and goals against before being demoted to the 4th line. What you saw last year, poor coverage in the defensive zone, also in picture on goals against and not winning puck battles became the norm.
Nothing against him personally, he really is a nice guy, but he’s a defensive black hole and he has a long ways to go to earn any trust.
Sure, fair enough, however, he was 1.64 P/60 and 0.5 P/G in his last season. He xGF% was only a bit below 50% and he had a PDF of 0.982. His relative xGF% was essentially even.
Don’t get me wrong, he is not a strong 2-way player and was miscast as a 3C/PK guy by Tippett, however, a 0.5 P/G guy in the bottom six, even with some 2-way issues, is worth $1.6M in today’s NHL.
If sheltered on a 4th line with young skill (i.e. McLeod/Benson), I think he can chip in and not give it all back – we are talking 10-12 minutes per game against the soft parade.
Value only if he is not taking time from a younger player with upside!
I know that Russell’s GA/60 is sparkling and that is a definite asset and a plus. At the same time, I think that, subject to poor camp performance, Koekkoek is in the starting lineup – he was in there over Russell last year and, while Russell will play, he’s getting long in the tooth and injuries are starting to pile up with him – his load will be managed.
Subject to further injuries:
Hyman/McDavid/Jesse
Nuge/Drai/Yamamoto
Foegele/Ryan/Kassian
Benson/McLeod/Turris
Shore/Perlini
Nurse/Barrie
Keith/Ceci
Koekkoek/Bouchard
Russell
Smith
Koskinen
Tony Brar
@TonyBrarOTV
·
42m
Pace at Oilers Scrimmage today has been outstanding.
Koskinen has made a couple of point-blank saves in the first half.
McLeod showing lots of poise with the puck; creating plays in the O-Zone.
Yamamoto on the board for Blue. Sceviour for White. #Oilers
———————-
Also, Yamamoto back with Dra and Nuge and Kass with Ryan and Foegele.
——————–
Turris also scores early.
We are back. If you’d like to talk hockey, please proceed.
Gents, apparently we aren’t going to get along today. I am shutting down the comments section for one hour. Perhaps after that hour has elapsed we can talk hockey.
LT, that was the longest hour of OP’s life.
someone has a sense of humor
I missed all the fireworks this morning I guess – I have no idea what went down but presume it was re: Covid and Vaccinations, etc.
NEW for The Athletic: Why Tyler Tullio’s skillset is a good match for the Oilers — and makes him sure to be a fan favorite.
https://theathletic.com/2847661/2021/09/25/lowetide-why-tyler-tullios-skillset-is-a-good-match-for-the-oilers-and-makes-him-sure-to-be-a-fan-favorite/
Curious as to what you see his eventual ceiling? 4RW who can move up in a pinch?
I would say “middle six” forward. His offense is enough to consider him for a skill role, at least at this point, and he should bring more than enough offense to fill a third-line role.
Who among current prospects would you rank as middle-six?
By my estimation that lot would include (no order):
— Yamamoto
— Benson
— Marody
— Lavoie
— Savoie
— Tullio
— Holloway (as 3C)
— McLeod
— Maksimov
— some of the Russians?
(I’d include Safin as he’s got the skill but seems unlikely to make it due to consistency issues.)
There are some decent potential line combinations amongst that group, especially with Holloway or McLeod as pivot.
I count Yamamoto as a top-six winger, and Holloway could be if he was on a line with 97 or 29.
Marody’s ideal spot is in the top six but I don’t think he’s dynamic enough to win a job over JP/KY.
Lavoie and Savoie are snipers, they’re top-six candidates until they prove they can’t fill that role.
Mostly agree with that. Fair and logical, as always. Thanks.
For what it’s worth, my inclusion of KY or Holloway or S/Lavoie etc isn’t to look down on them, they have top-6 potential. But they’re also 3L candidates as well based on the team’s construction at the time and how their mojo is flowing.
Ryan – 1
Godaddy – 0
This is rally nice.
Well done, Sir! And thanks!
Thanks Ryan
You are a hero, “ryan”.
We have lift off
Still looks a little ‘buggy’. 😉
But I see the edit button is back. Congrats and thanks again.
EDIT: And now I see my little bug avatar has been replaced just as I was getting fond of it.
I got rid of the bug infestation too 😉
If you want to change your graphic, you can go to https://en.gravatar.com/
Thank you so much – this is so much better than the last few days.
I missed the litte dopamine hits that all the red down votes brought. #InstantTrollingFeedback
Happy to help. 😉
Actually I enjoy almost all of your posts.
What do you think of Kassian on the top line though?
Post of the year
I’m going to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to try to jump start the previous comment plugin.
We have a poster in timeout currently, I hate to do it but am also not interested in spending my day editing out comments that are inflammatory and derail the conversation.
So. Once again: This is a HOCKEY blog. Although posters are owners, managers, professionals, highly educated and wealthier than the average human, we have shown over MANY YEARS we cannot handle certain subjects.
So. Once again: IF YOU want to start a blog about a subject that is not hockey, fill your hat. I’ll even post the link on my blog roll.
What I won’t do is ruin a perfectly good Saturday with my family racing all over hell’s half acre making sure the blog hasn’t turned into a medical dialogue blog.
Stop posting about things the blog can’t handle, and I will end the time out.
My blog. Your choice.
aside from hockey the one thing this blog can handle is fine whiskey..
It’s whisky* you swine!
The correct spelling is always the one on the bottle in front of us.
Yeah but you said fine whiskey, which does not exist. Only fine whisky exists.
(I kid)
The other day Gregor said that if Archie gets waived and clears down to BAK, he will end up making more money than he would in EDM because there is no escrow in the AHL.
Sit Archibald for the year if you can — just send him home. This goes beyond his inability to cross the border — he’s putting the rest of his team at risk. If he brings COVID into the room, even with the rest of the team vaccinated someone else may very well get sick.
One player has already lost a season because of this virus — do we want to lose even more?
So I am not a medical professional , nor an anti vaxer but I believe you are incorrect. From what I have read vaccinated people can spread Covid same as non vaccinated. If a vaccinated person gets Covid they likely only have minor symptoms which is not he case for unvaccinated. It is Archie who is at the biggest risk if he rejoins the team. Having said that I don’t believe he should be welcome until he gets his shot….
I am not going to post a reply given the shutdown, but suggest you likely have access to a lovely doctor who would be willing to explain the facts.
I’m done with Archie, either he gets vaccinated or he sits out the season. Do not want him around the other players. As for Mr. PTO, if they keep him instead of Marody I will be very disappointed. We develop and then lose him to waivers for a guy who fell off a cliff last season. Dumb…..
I am looking at Russell as 7th defenseman this year. He was signed earlier and frankly unnecessarily last year to meet a Kraken draft requirement.
This is his last year and the club knows he they need to replace him. Watch for Koekkoek to start on LD and with the inevitable injuries Largesson / Samurokov maybe called up and play ahead of Russell.
Russell’s GA-60 at five on five and PK experience suggest to me he’ll play and play a lot if he’s healthy. Larsson’s exit makes Russell the most reliable pure defender on the roster and that means Tippett will use him imo.
Now, injuries are going to limit him, I have zero doubt that’s true.
Personally speaking, I think the reason the club extended KRusty had more to do with what you’re suggesting than any kind of expansion draft requirement. Reason (Riesen?) being there was plenty of track available between the signing and the draft to have taken care of the contract if that was the M.O. for that bit of business.
In addition to his ability to smother offence, KRusty is a liked veteran who can capably fill a 6/7 role with the ability to move up in a pinch. There’s some continuity there, and we all know how much Holland values stability (and I’m sure Tippett appreciates the familiarity). Looks like they’re grooming KK to either take KRusty’s current role or act as a placeholder for the likes of the leftorium in BAK.
Broberg and Samorukov, if they are not in at least 2/3 to 3/4 of the Oilers games, will be in Bakersfield getting development time. Neither will be the 7th defenseman. Russell, Koekkoek and even Lagesson can all be 6 or 7 as all can spend lengthy time in the press box.
Russell’s signing served both purposes at the time it was signed since it was very little risk. He can be sent to the minors with little to no cap consequences or traded.
That’s how I see it too, just put more succinctly.
Kenny is going to make every rookie beat out a veteran to play professional hockey. Russell is the perfect veteran for young player to inspire to beat for a spot on a professional team. Team guy, mentor, can still play a bit.
I imagine that Russell’s ability to play both sides will keep him quite active in the year ahead.
Yup, he’s 3/4LD AND 4RD. Definitely a useful guy to have on the team.
Given, at this point, 4th on the right shot depth chart is Filip Berglund, I would agree that Russell on his off-side is the first injury fill in.
With that said, I am not on board with the narrative re: Russell’s ability to play both sides. This issue with d-men on their off-side is reduced effectiveness – there are very few that are as effective on their off-side as their natural side. Russell is no different. Although he has indeed played that right side quite a bit as an Oiler, he is clearly much less effective on the right side. So, while he “can play the right side” so can any other left shot d-man, just at reduced effectiveness, like Russell.
Everything you say is correct, but Russell is a veteran and if a RH option is unavailable, he (along with Koekkoek) would be considered for work on the off side. THey COULD carry eight blue, but that seems unlikely.
As an aside, and not related to your post, the No. 7 defenseman routinely plays a bunch during the season. It’s a busy spot.
I don’t disagree with any of that and, yes, I anticipate that Russell is indeed to the first up to cover a right side injury – although I am hopeful that Berglund has a solid start in the AHL and puts himself in the conversation for a call-up.
I was just trying to make the point that “Russell can play the right side” is really no different than Nurse or Keith being able to play the right side – its just that Russell has experience doing it – he’s not any better on his offside than any other d-man.
Yes, I have posted about potentially keeping 8 d-men but, at this point, I don’t see it – not with Benson and Turris both pushing and Perlini right behind them.
Lagesson may be exposed (although there is a reasonable chance that one of the “starting 7” is on IR to start the season – as it happens).
On what do you base your conclusion that Russell on the right side is no different than Nurse and Keith on the right side. In the last 3 season he has played close to 1150 minutes 5 on 5 with Nurse and has a ga/60 of 2.22. His next most time on the right was with Klefbom at 214 minutes with a ga/60 of 1.4. Last season, with all the right D healthy (with Bouchard covering for Bear when he was hurt) he only spent about 36 minutes with a left D partner. While not ideal, the man can still defend on the right side at an NHL level.
I base my conclusion on watching Russell on his off-side over the course of his Oilers tenure and him being far less effective on the right side than his natural side. The narrative that “he can play his off-side” is simply due to the fact that he has done so – he does so with less efficiency, just like most d-men do when they play their off sides.
The narrative “he can play his off side” comes from the fact that, if necessary, Dave Tippett WILL PLAY HIM ON HIS OFF SIDE.
Yes, I agree that Tippett will play him on his offside – my point is that he is less effective on his off-side, as with almost all other d-men. He can play his offisde. Nurse can play his offside as well. As can Koekkoek, as can Barrie.
So you have said on here dozens of times, if not more, that despite the fact that samorukov having played a lot of right D in the KHL, that is not the same as the NHL. Yet here you state that Nurse could play the right side as effectively as Russell despite the fact that Nurse has never played the right side in the NHL while several NHL coaches have trusted Russell to play that position for thousands of minutes over his career.
it doesn’t matter if he is less effective on the right than the left, all that matter is that he is more effective than the next best option in the right. And Dave Tippett and all of Kris Russell’s coaches over his 800 plus NHL games have often believed that to be the case.
Correct – I think Nurse can play the right side, with reduced efficiency, just like Kris Russell plays the right side, with reduced efficiency.
My point is that any d-man can play their off-side……. with reduced efficiency.
I don’t think Russell’s reduced efficiency on the right side is any less than it would be for most others.
But you don’t address it with actual results, just your eye test. Sure he is less effective on his left than his right, more at moving the puck out, not defending. But his drop off is less than others. And a 90% Russell, if healthy, is possibly if not probably more effective than Berglund. It depends on the role Tippett wants for the 3rd right defender in a particular game. If it is shutdown low event hockey, Russell is still an NHL quality defender, but if puck moving needs to be more prominent during the shifts, Russell won’t do as well. He is no longer a multi game solution on the right but for 3 to 4 games he (or Koekkoek) is still a safety net for Tippett.
I trust my eye test on this one and, no, we don’t know his drop off is less than others – we don’t know how the likes of Nurse or Keith, for example, would do on the right side (nor will we find out).
Yeah. Agreed. I know Koekkoek played on the RH side at times in the year of the bubble and wonder if there’s any chance they use him there if necessary.
At even strength, Russell really is no longer capable on the right side. PK on the right side is fine. 3rd pairing LD, PK either side.
Russell has never really been capable on the right side, no more than any other left shot d-man.
You can trust your eyes, but at some point you need to listen to actual results, no?
Redbird has posted some of this, but I looked at Russell’s results with every partner he’s played more than 100 minutes with in his 5 years in Edmonton.
With lefty partners:
Nurse – 1593min 47.0%SF 48.0%GF
Sekera 1038min 48.6%SF 54.8%GF
Klefbom 500min 49.4%SF 45.9%GF
Jones — 202min 49.5%SF 46.7%GF
With righty partners:
Larsson 578min 44.0%SF 42.9%GF
Benning 405min 49.1%SF 64.0%GF
Bear —- 282min 43.3%SF 40.0%GF
Gryba — 127min 50.0%SF 50.0%GF
Barrie — 105min 43.2%SF 40.0%GF
He’s played about 2/3 of his time with the Oilers on the right side, and I’d say the numbers overall are actually better there than on the left side. For sure he’s not been worse by results on the right vs left.