Hard Nose The Highway

by Lowetide

We talked yesterday about the Carolina Hurricanes representing a tough opponent for a team already four in the ditch before the anthem, and I think the script matched the teaser. Zach Hyman’s shoulder injury will be a story over the next few days, welcome to the team Mr. Hyman! Shoulder injuries are the official malady of young Oilers, but Hyman is a new arrival so the Hockey Gods wanted to make him feel welcome.

Losing is no fun, for players, fans, coaching staffs and managers. I think there will be plenty of time in the offseason to talk about the price of Duncan Keith and the risk of signing Mike Smith, but those are factors and are certainly front and center for fans today.

I wish I could tell you that the words to come on this blog today are about ‘the power play can go to hell’ and similar, but all I have for you is that (in my opinion) the team played well enough to get a result against a very tough team. You don’t like it, and I get it. I will simply remind you that Evan Bouchard, William Lagesson and Markus Niemelainen are very early in their NHL careers. That’s a lot of inexperience every night. Against a stifling, deep and talented team like the Hurricanes, even stunning skill from youth (Bouchard’s passing) is lost in the supermarket.

THE ATHLETIC!

WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER

  • At home to: PIT (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
  • On the road to: SEA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
  • At home to: LAK, MIN, BOS, CAR, TOR, CBJ (Expected 3-3-0) (Actual 0-4-0)
  • On the road to: SEA (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • At home to: ANA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • On the road to: LAK, SJS, CAL, STL, NJD (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
  • Overall expected result: 8-7-0, 16 points in 15 games
  • Actual December results: 1-5-0, 2 points in 6 games
  • Oilers in 2021-22: 16-10-0, 32 points in 26 games

The Oilers can’t go back and win those five games, but the ones straight ahead take on more importance. There are nine games left in the month, a 5-4-0 finish gets them to 6-9-0 and that’s the ideal scenario from here. I don’t think firing the coach is in the cards and I don’t think we’ll see a trade. Perhaps Duncan Keith is ready on Tuesday night.

THIS IS FINE!

  1. Mikko Koskinen gave up three goals, the Niederreiter score looked like a tip off Nurse’s stick, your mileage may vary. The third goal was awful, you can’t have that. He stopped 28 of 31, .903. Edmonton isn’t going to win scoring one goal a game, but allowing three is not acceptable. In typical Mikko fashion, he made both stunning saves and leaked at an inopportune time.
  2. Darnell Nurse had an assist, played a physical game (six hits) and to my eye tipped the Niederreiter shot that was the eventual game winner. His shot differential at five-on-five (9-8) and goal differential (1-1) came while playing 16 minutes with a struggling Evan Bouchard and six with Tyson Barrie. That could indicate a change in partner at practice on Monday. He had trouble with the Hurricanes forecheck and clean exits were rare, that’s a theme for all the blue.
  3. Evan Bouchard had a tough night, combining indecision and coverage issues for an 0-2 goal differential at five-on-five. The Koskinen gaffe wasn’t his fault, but Niederreiter was by him in a heartbeat and he never recovered. Nurse’s stick had more impact but riding Niederreiter out of the lane to the net would have been a better result. Took a penalty, it wasn’t much, had a shot on net. His passing was uncommonly poor in this game, Hurricanes forecheck no doubt part of the problem. He had one great chance five-on-five.
  4. Cody Ceci went 6-10 shots and 1-1 goals at five on five. He handled the Hurricanes forecheck as well as anyone, although the passing was average. Two shots, three hits and two blocked shots, he spent 1:19 on the PK and was on the ice for the GA. My own opinion is that he’s given Tippett a chance to ice two pairs confidently, while asking Ceci to mentor Lagesson on that second pair. It’s a big chore, and because Edmonton is losing it’s unlikely Ceci will get much credit.
  5. Markus Niemelainen went a little walkabout on the PK GA, giving the Hurricanes’ Aho all day. He had one shot on goal, was 3-9 at five-on-five shots, 1-7 with Ceci on the third pairing. That duo was out with the Draisaitl line and my goodness Carolina owned the group. It was more like Joe Pesci than Brett Pesce for Niemelainen, who is breaking in to the NHL with a chaos partner. He needs a little coaching up in recognizing danger, but no matter what happens now, my guess is the Oilers feel Niemelainen is part of the organization’s future.
  6. William Lagesson played 10:28 at five-on-five with Ceci (5-7 shots, no goals), he spent a minute on the PK and didn’t make many passes that worked. If there’s a role for him on this team, it’s as Russell’s replacement so in this way things are breaking well for him. In truth, Niemelainen’s emergence and Samorukov’s presence in Bakersfield sound the alarms and open up the exits for Willie.
  7. Tyson Barrie played over 20 minutes all-in, two shots, two hits, and not much creativity from the point on the power play. Edmonton’s special teams are now costing games, and Barrie can’t PK and isn’t helping the power play.
  8. Connor McDavid was 0-2 at five-on-five and had a helluva time with the Carolina club. Three shots, several impressive chances, he drew at least one penalty (I thought it was two). Slavin-Cole manhandled him, and the Aho line beat 97 straight up at five-on-five, going 2-0 goals. Hurricanes are miles ahead of the Oilers, although Edmonton’s lack of experience on defense was certainly a factor.
  9. Zach Hyman’s shoulder injury could have a major impact on the team. No matter what anyone thinks of the team as it sits idling in the driveway this morning, Hyman gives the club a chance to populate two legit outscoring lines. Before the injury, he had a glorious chance that just went wide. Edmonton hasn’t had much puck luck lately, that would have been a wonderful score.
  10. Jesse Puljujarvi’s pass to Nuge was nuclear good, and he didn’t stop there. JP was Edmonton’s best player last night, he skated miles and had an impact across the sheet. He saw just one minute on the PP, that’s an opportunity missed by the coach. His player is rocking and rolling and Zack Kassian comes out for 30 seconds to replace Hyman? Huh. I don’t get that one.
  11. Leon Draisaitl had one great chance at five-on-five, while having a devil of a time with the Carolina defending. At five-on-five, he and Nuge were 0-7 shots and that might be a place to start in shuffling lines. I don’t think Leon looked tired, I think he (and McDavid) ran into an elite defense and came out second best on the night. Outlet passing by Edmonton’s defense was poor and had an impact.
  12. Kailer Yamamoto is one of my favourite players, but spent the entire game as a passenger. When a player can’t touch the puck in dangerous areas, then he is no longer effective. Absolutely devastating shot differential (14-39) at five-on-five during this losing streak. He’s in a Rodney Crowell song, waving lanterns at runaway trains.
  13. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a goal, and that’s breaking news. What a pass by JP, my goodness. Nuge also drew a penalty, I think he’s wearing down a little and seems to be a bit hesitant on the power play. Might want to back off his minutes for the next few games.
  14. Ryan McLeod had a good game, I’m not sure he’s generating enough in the offensive zone to be completely free of worry but his speed is such an advantage.
  15. Warren Foegele had some good looks but couldn’t get through the tackling. He might have received a chance to move up the depth chart depending on Hyman’s health today. A Foegele-McDavid-Puljujarvi line could be less than 48 hours away.
  16. Zack Kassian took the wind out of the Oilers sails with a hit from behind that gets called every time. A moment without thought that proved too much for a team lacking confidence to overcome. If it was the first time, or even a rarity, we could pass it off as moments in a game. Kassian does it too often. He did have a 10-bell chance late and was robbed after a great pass from 97.
  17. Derek Ryan was close to the puck a few times, but couldn’t impact the game offensively.
  18. Colton Sceviour sent the puck to safety but couldn’t get the puck heading to the net.
  19. Devin Shore was most noticeable in battling for pucks, didn’t win many on a night when Edmonton was both second best and second strongest.

FORWARD LINES

These numbers reflect, in my opinion, both the strength of the Hurricanes up and down the lineup, and the difficulty the forwards had in converting any passes from the defense into sustained rushes. It was a mess on the outlet, and the result was 97-29-13 getting 32.72 percent expected goals in just shy of seven minutes.

DEFENSE

I’m not sure what they’ll do with the third pairing, possibly running Duncan Keith with Ceci will allow some relief. Interesting that the top two pairings managed to run over 50 percent in expected goals on a night when passing and transporting the puck out of the defensive zone was a true rarity.

TUESDAY

The Oilers will stay the course, there’s nothing in the minors that can help and there’s no obvious trade to be made. The goaltending is my primary area to look at, although another scoring winger would seem to be a rising need. We don’t know how close Keith and Mike Smith are to returning, and Holland (plus Tippett) will want to see the entire team back together before proceeding with a move.

Where will Edmonton be in the standings at that time? Don’t know. I do know they have played well enough to earn points in this losing streak, and that panic is the worst possible move from here.

I would stay the course. I know that is the least popular opinion on the internet today. I’m a stubborn kind of fellow, that comes in handy at moments like this one.

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OriginalPouzar

Flames games postponed through December 16 due to Covid.

OriginalPouzar

Big day today, presumably finding out Hyman’s status.

I am hopeful he is on the ice for practice!

Tarkus

According to Scott Wheeler’s post-camp write-up, The Bourg has been getting PK time at camp.

Not sure whether he does that in the Q as well, but it bodes well for his pro career if he can add penalty-killing to his resume.

Victoria Oil

Was travelling today so I had two major sporting events to watch on tape when I got home:

F1: Verstappen was trailing Hamilton by two goals with 5 minutes left but managed to come back and score the winning goal in the last minute. The whole season came down to an exhilarating final lap on the last race of the year. Epic.

Grey Cup: crazy game. No idea why the Hamilton kick returner conceded a single with two minutes left when he had a lot of real estate in front of him and his team was down by two. Of course, that turned out to be the TSN turning point.

High drama in both.

OK, back to hockey.

meanashell11

I think you forgot the part in F1 where the refs put away the whistle in the final five minutes allowing Verstappen to hook and hold and water ski all the way to the final lap where he then slingshotted his way to the lead!

Victoria Oil

True dat, my friend. At least the refs were somewhat consistent as they ignored Hamilton”s interference in the first minute of the game. Unlike the NHL where the refereeing changes depending on how much time is left in the game.

CrazyCoach

I always seems to comment on these too late. West coast address, bedtime responsibilities, etc.

However, the Twitterverse is a cesspool of insanity and Chicken Little type behaviour.

I only saw the last 17 minutes and my short impression was this team deserved better especially after the effort they put in. AT least in the 3rd period. That 3rd goal was a soul and momentum killer. I thought it took a bad bounce and caught Kosko off guard, which I realize is very weak considering he has to have reflexes for those little unexpected bounces. However, I have to admit that he is a backup at best and he is struggling. Some smartass joked on Twitter that every time 19 gets scored on, Chiarelli giggles and mutters, “fire me will you”.

Kassian is beyond repair. The warranty is shot and the repairs are just too costly. I understand when you buy the exotic race car, it requires upkeep, but right now Kassian reminds me of my buddy’s 78 Corvette that he has put no work into. Yeah, it’s nice to talk about, but it’s a heap heading for the junkyard. Maybe the Oilers were part of the effort that rescued his life (which is awesome), but the hockey player was gone long ago.

As hard as it is to believe, I have liked watching the young D corps out there. Rough around the edges and full of errors, but those who enjoy listening to, “A day in the life”, also enjoy listening to “P.S. I Love You”. Compositions take time, and I like what Bakersfield is developing.

As I stated on Twitter, I’m beyond booing the team off the ice or throwing a jersey. I’ve been guilty of crapping on this team and in general acting like an ass. However, I have realized that getting that emotionally involved in a game so negatively, doesn’t help anyone, especially me. I’m willing to look at solutions to the issues facing this team and give you my opinion, but I just don’t want to hear how crappy thing are.

Have a good night all

Harpers Hair

The clash of the two highest scoring teams in the league is over in Denver.

The Avalanche win 3-2 over the Panthers…all 3 Colorado goals from Burakovsky.

Material Elvis

Very interesting that certain posters don’t comment when the team is winning. But a five game losing streak and all of a sudden they are posting at a rate that makes OP look lazy.

Foege Foegele Torpe

Entirely predictable, narcissistic behavior
Textbook actually.
The thing that is probably the most laughable is the idea that the posters on this blog are a bunch of blind homer fans.
In truth the sharpest most succinct criticism comes from some of the biggest diehard supporters of this franchise.
At least we are honest about it

Last edited 2 years ago by Foege Foegele Torpe
Harpers Hair

In truth, the sharpest and most succinct critics have all left.

jp

Glad you were at least honest about yourself right there.

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

Huge self-burn.

Material Elvis

There was a guy around here who used to go by DSF. Man, did *he* ever drive a lot of people from here….Oh well, good thing there are still plenty of sharp minds hanging around.

meanashell11

Yet you remain. I realize you are not the sharpest.

Harpers Hair

Woodguy (@Woodguy55) Tweeted:
NHL Team’s 5v5 Goal Share.

Teams in green are in a playoff spot today. https://t.co/d2M7k2OC6R

https://twitter.com/Woodguy55/status/1470066248570458118?s=20

(CLICK FOR CHART)

jtblack

At least we know its 1 person sqewwimg the #’s down

without Ryan team is PLUS

Ryan

Derek Ryan is a buzzkill.

I might have to change my handle.

Scungilli Slushy

The interesting part about WGs feed is the graphic showing how much the Hawks improved in one month defensively.

From tire fire to tidy in the key. Same players. Just sayin.

OriginalPouzar

Bourgault has made Team Canada.

Tarkus

Excellent.

In The Bourg’s case, persistence was not futile.

Foege Foegele Torpe

Thankfully the braintrust of the SS Canada realized that resistance was indeed futile!

Richard Roma

What about Vinny Hinostroza?

He used to be annoying when we played against him. That usually bodes well.

He’s listed as a right handed shot centre?

He can’t cost much.

Last edited 2 years ago by Richard Roma
Ryan

22 faceoffs taken in the past two years.

DBO

What would it take to get Fleury and Strome from Chicago?
Koskinen and Turris with them keeping half Fleurys salary.

A 1st? Solid prospect? Both? They paid nothing for Fleury, and it saves them Stromes $3 mill plus next year if they want to move him.

Richard Roma

If Fleury’s healthy and has continued to play well, him with half his cap hit retained will have considerable value at the deadline.

I could see a team paying a first for that.

Last edited 2 years ago by Richard Roma
dessert1111

Love the new post-game format LT, hope it stays.

Since we’re likely a couple months from a trade, I’d like all the options explored to get of this funk – it’s time for a few games of RNH at 3C and to sit guys like Ryan and Kassian. If there are more injuries, give Marody or Griffith a look. See what you have and make an informed decision about which holes to plug in the second half of the season.

OriginalPouzar

Nuge did end up playing 3C last night with Foegele and Kass. Of course, McLeod was elevated and Drai/McDavid together, so we still haven’t see the 3-center set-up.

jp

I don’t know what the best lines would be if Hyman is out any time (or what Tippett might do), but the only two lines that did really anything last night were Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi and Foegele-McLeod-Kassian.

I expect they’ll be broken up, but I’d be inclined to keep Foegele-McLeod-Kassian together since they’ve had a pretty strong run of games lately.

Tarkus

Tullio extends Oshawa’s lead with a third-period goal. 8th goal of the season.

Harpers Hair

The injury parade continues in Colorado…Landeskog out 2 weeks with a lower body injury.

Richard Roma

The Oilers have a lot of room on the 50 man which is kind of weird.

They could have signed some more league min guys like John Hayden or Dylan Sikura. The AHL vets are probably cheaper, but don’t provide any injury cover.

I wonder what Buffalo would want for Mark Jankowski? He can’t be worse than Ryan.

Scungilli Slushy

I wondered that as well

Ryan

That’s interesting for sure. There’s definitely a story there.

I couldn’t find any details on the contracts for Malone and Esposito other than they’re 2-year AHL deals. I’d imagine they’re way cheaper than a $750k (450k minors salary) tweener teams usually sneak thru waivers to have available for recall.

Colorado has a couple of the usual guys Kiefer and Sherwood in the minors for injury reserve. Oddly, we only have Seth Griffith. He’s older and several years removed from the NHL, so I’m not really sure why we have him.

I was thinking the same thing about the room on the 50 man list. For years, it was clogged to the max. Derek Ryan has been terrible, but the Oilers don’t have many options.

The Shore $850 x2 was a curious contract. That was actually pretty rich for a player of his ilk.

There we’re a lot of guys in the 750-1m range that we’re around 26 that have worked out well this year.

  • Kampf
  • Kase
  • Bunting
  • Danton Heinen
  • Vinny Hinnostroza
  • Evan Rodrigues

Also so marginal guys, but aren’t as poor defensively as Ryan.

  • Cedric Paquette
  • Mike Amadio
  • Mark Jankowski
  • John Hayden

The trick is to find the guys between 25-8.

jp

Lots of order guys in that price range have worked out too though.

Brassard
Perry
Bozak
Bellemare
Simmons
Cogliano
Lewis

Would you advocate for never signing a player over 34? or 32? or 30?

I guess another issue I have here is that Ryan had a pristine fancy stats record before joining the Oilers, so criticizing the signing now kind of seems like hindsight. Maybe you did think it was a bad bet at the time though, I don’t recall.

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

I mentioned this the other day, most fancy stat folks thought the signing was reasonable. There were maybe some concerns about age/scoring but nobody could have predicted how bad Ryan has been. He is worse than Turris last season. That is incredible.

Material Elvis

On the day they signed him, I believe my comment was ‘Did they really need to sign another 4C?’ or something to that effect. But management saw him as a 3C and he has gotten massacred. I still think that he could be a reasonable 4C given the fact that his last two years counting numbers and goal differential numbers were pretty decent. He was put in a position that he could no longer handle and now his confidence looks shot. Moreover, McLeod looks like he has passed him on the depth chart, which might imperil his career, especially if Holland gets an established 3C or they play RNH at 3C and McLeod is bumped to 4C.

jp

Yeah. I’m still hoping he can turn it around some and at least be a positive contributor to the 4th line. And with Turris the red flags were more obvious, even though some chose not to listen (like myself, since there were also things to recommend him).

OriginalPouzar

This new info that a positive Covid test while over in China for the Olympics could mean a quarantine of up to 5 weeks is a big deal. That may be too big a risk for the players to take.

We all have differing opinions but I hope they are able to find a way to make this happen.

Tarkus

After The Bourg was held off the scoresheet in yesterday’s match, he picked up an assist today in Team Canada’s 7-2 exhibition victory.

https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2021-22/selection-camp/stats/game-summary?gameid=3548

OriginalPouzar

Cuts are expected fairly soon this evening.

Here is hoping he makes it or the only Oiler prospect will be Munzenburger (given the Petrov snub…. crazy Russians)

Tarkus

Petrov’s 12-game point streak ended today as North Bay was shut out 1-0.

He racked up an impressive 26 points (9+17) in that stretch, vaulting him into third in the OHL scoring race (27-19-25-44).

BornInAGretzkyJersey

What a gem. And a somewhat unique skill set amongst the prospects, Lavoie aside.

Here’s hoping he’s able to bring that scoring touch to the pros.

flyfish1168

Let’s hope he can bring it to the next level? How is his skating? Is it NHL level?

Richard Roma

Oilers management this summer. Hey guys remember when Tambellini signed Belanger to play 3c back in the day?

A round of laughter and chortling ensues.

Ken Holland stands up, “hold my beer.”

When will the Oilers finally get some decent pro scouting?

TheGreatBigMac

We spent our money on 1LW and D last summer there was nothing left for 3C.

Scungilli Slushy

I would think a young RD (second hardest position to fill after G, third being RC) that had played a lot of top pair TOI successfully might fetch a 3C

Lets go again, Because Oilers

TheGreatBigMac

Yes, most/all of us are high on Bear, me too. I suspect that was not true around the league, who knows. I like Foegele, we had zero LW depth in the off-season.

Last edited 2 years ago by TheGreatBigMac
Scungilli Slushy

So Mr E Kane is not a great human as it stands, but how much could the Good Guys benefit from his on ice play right now especially? Since when were pro athletes ever role models of ethics and morality? Since never. If it’s all in, you get a Tkachuk (spit) for nearly nothing to carry until the prospects push.

Anyways, I’ll assume Hyman is out for a bit. Never waste a good crisis right?

I was hired as GM this morning, Kenny finds the grind too hard. So I want to balance the lines, I put Tipp & Co on notice, too boring, I get bored easily with the banal, and it leading to terrible fundamentals.

I told him to balance the lines with forecheck, defense and skill, assuming Hyman is out.

Foegele CMD Yamo (last chance small fry)
Benson Drai Turris
Sceviour Nuge JP
Shore Highlander Kassian/Ryan

Connor is getting the best, for now.

Drai gets two players with top 6 IQ. Turris can take right draws. Most importantly he has a good shot. The only reason he’s considered. Hoffman has a career as a one skill player, Kenny signed Turris, let’s use him where he can do something in his realm. He has to support play and finish. If he’s better than Yamo I switch them. Connor needs a shooter more , baby steps.

Nuge gets a driver and puck carrier. Colton is there to grind and be defensive, and there is nobody else. He can play C, he can figure out LW, and can take right draws. Tipp can’t figure out how to line match, this line probably sees D zone.

The 4th can probably saw off, and if Ryan is in can take right side D zone draws.

Should be enough PK for Tipp, and he’ll be surprised at his 5v5 results. No blender for at least 10 games. I pulled the plug.

Scungilli Slushy

Forgot to mention that I had a chat with Connor. He is incredible two ways when he can stay focused

I told him desperate times, we need two way Connor, the offense will still come, especially if we are in control instead of chasing. Looser D to play as they open up to come back, more PP hopefully. First things first

John Chambers

I like your lineup. Tippett has never gone with the configuration of McDavid – Drai – Nuge down the middle, but I honestly think this might be the key to unlock depth scoring and win xGF 5v5.

Only change I’d make is calling up Marody and putting him in Turris’ spot.

Kassian and a 1st to San Jose for Kane 50% retained. I think the Oilers locker room can handle his noise, and the payoff would be massive.

Foege Foegele Torpe

I’m all for off loading Kassian but SJ gives us the 1st for taking actual human shit bag off their hands

Material Elvis

This is a very interesting debate. Kane the hockey player would actually help the team win. He bumps Yamamoto out of the top 6 or bumps RNH to 3C. I wonder if he would have enough motivation, given all the negative publicity he has faced (rightfully so) to prove his naysayers wrong? It would be a huge risk given his past history but it could possibly pay huge dividends if he can repeat his past performance on the ice and keep his nose clean off the ice. I think the players would have to be on board for this kind of transaction. But if they were OK with it, this could be a great opportunity to get an impact winger for cheap.

pts2pndr

Please tell me you’ve been drinking! Kane is not the answer to any question other than what player should never play again in the NHL.

Scungilli Slushy

You understand the team you cheer for has done this before right? For more serious issues.

Depends on the individual and where they’re at.

Scungilli Slushy

What I read is they would pay a first and retain

Scungilli Slushy

Is Marody a finisher? Not that I know

OriginalPouzar

Well, he led the AHL in goals last season….

Bondo11

I like the makeup of your lines and it’s worth trying with Hyman likely out for a while.
That being said, how many of us believe that Tippett would employ this lineup or a variation close to it?
I believe, like you, that Tippett needs to deploy a defensive system and they need to tighten up defensively.
Tippett was consistently able to make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t in Arizona and play pretty good defensive hockey.
I would be extremely happy with a solid, defensive effort on most nights, versus what we’ve seen most of year. The wins will follow the effort.
My 2 bits worth…

Scungilli Slushy

I worry that what the ask is baffles the players

Gallant does simple. He feels if players have to think too much it slows them, and they don’t play to their level

I agree. Get a read on your players and make a system. No shortage of tape. Eakins was surprised his team couldn’t do his layered system (swarm) which killed them

Or course he had a terrible roster overall.

Watching replays of goals last game it seems the Oilers may be trying to overload on the strong side (where the puck is) and that’s why they leave the centre ice open continually and get crushed by that

The players can’t make the reads, so unless you think they will don’t.

Our competitors we lose to protect the middle I notice . If you overload, driving to the other side is critical if the puck goes cross seam.

They can do it PK , need to 5v5.

MushedPeas

I like the lines.

I don’t armchair GM for what I think is happening or might happen ‘in the room,’ but EK is straight radioactive. Jumbo Joe gave him his last best chance.

TheGreatBigMac

Same thinking that said DeAngelo was a bad idea. Kane is significantly more crazy than DeAngelo but if that’s behind him the reward is handsome.

leadfarmer

Deangelo is on a 1 year 1 million dollar contract that can very easily be burried if he did not change his ways. Aka pretty much risk free
with Kane you get stuck with a unhappy locker room and a contract you can’t move and ties up 7 mil for 3 more years after this.
the two are nowhere near comparable

Scungilli Slushy

Kane is nuts but Deangelo is an A hole

Whats worse? Have the guys involved done things to change?

DevilsLettuce

Wait so the GM tells the coach who* plays on what line?

Dear GM,

This game is called mostly goalie by the wise ones, go get a fucking goalie you bum!

Last edited 2 years ago by DevilsLettuce
Scungilli Slushy

Awesome

rich tm

Kane is a total cancer in the locker room so if the goal is to make things worse, fill your boots.

who

If Hyman is out, my bet is Tuesdays lines look like this.
Foegele McDavid JP
Nuge Draisaitl Yam
Benson McLeod Kass
Shore Ryan Scevior
We might have seen a LW depth chart like that pretty soon anyways.
I think Yamamoto and Kassian are fortunate if Hyman is out because they were probably in danger of getting pushed down the lineup or into the pressbox.

Scungilli Slushy

Drai’s line is stale as

Two small wingers, neither are shooters. It hasn’t worked since the heater

Shake it up

Bondo11

Totally agree.

SoCaloil

this teams scoring is coming from generating grade A chances
what they need more of is gritty goals
Hyman had a few of those chances but there needs to be others that can pitch in those areas. Foegele has that potential. Idk why Kassian can’t do it but he can’t
at he end of the day, the Carolina D out battled us in front of the net

This team doesn’t play for gritty goals
Some times you need a gritty goal. Especially in the playoffs
bring Ryan Smyth back

Harpers Hair

The key is to identify the next Ryan Smyth.

Toronto has done it with Bunting and Vancouver acquired Conor Garland…both having some success.

An analytics team sure would help.

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

Holland and Tip have a guy print off a sheet of paper with numbers on it twice a month. They are fine!

DevilsLettuce

Is this fella really coming in here and touting Vancouver management?

Edmonton added this magical player, infact he injured his shoulder last night. Zack Hyman.

Or has Zack Hyman not been successful this season seeing how he has more goals and hits them either of these two amazingly gritty players?

The Oilers need a goalie and a 3C, plus a coaching change.

They have more then enough grit and grind on the wings, that’s on the coaches for not figuring out their heads from their asses.

Harpers Hair

Then why can’t they score at even strength?

Harpers Hair

BTW, Garland has more points than Hyman despite playing on a team that was totally disfunctional.

He is also paid significantly less and is almost 5 years younger.

OriginalPouzar

Garland was a legit acquisition, as was Hyman.

Hyman costs more on the cap and will regress sooner.

Of course, Garland cost the acquisition of a massive boat-anchor contract for many years plus Dylan Gunther.

Harpers Hair

Simplistic and wrong.

Vancouver offloaded more than $12 million in cap space in return for taking on OEL’s contract.

Garland was the return for a 1st round pick who may or may not be as good as Garland someday.

Hyman is likely to provide 2-3 years of adequate value on his contract but publicly available aging curves indicate he will likely become a drag on the cap for the following years.

Of course, the same applies to OEL but that has nothing to do with the likelihood that Garland will provide much more value than Hyman over the course of their contracts.

OriginalPouzar

That is amazing, you call my take simplistic and then try and compare shedding 1-year cap commitments with taking on a 6-year cap commitment.

Please.

Taking on OEL’s massive boat anchor was a huge part of the acquisition cost for Garland – its quite relevant give how crippling to bettering the roster it is.

jp

Vancouver did open up a 1 year window though by shedding all that cap this season. That has huge value.

OriginalPouzar

Yup – they sure did – crushing that one-year window as well….

leadfarmer

Btw Garland cost a top prospect and required tying a boat anchor around your salary cap. No thanks

pts2pndr

And which team has won a championship since 1967? Better yet jinx one of these teams by which team you see ever winning. Vancouver won’t do it in my life time and Toronto might win a division title in the next ten years. Your senile thinking is getting tiresome!

pts2pndr

I’m pretty sure tackling is not allowed except when playing the Oilers! To give credence to Carolina’s defence on the night is to buy into the NHL game management for referees and the dribble from the talking heads! This will be my last year of supporting anything to do with NHL hockey unless I see drastic improvements in officiating!

LMHF#1

You mean the guy who did absolutely nothing in a 7 game series for the Stanley Cup?

He’s not what you seek.

People don’t like to hear it – but he failed in his big moment.

31saves

Are you talking about Smyth?

MrEd

Benson-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Foegele-Draisaitl-Kassian
RNH-McLeod-Yamomoto
Shore-Ryan-Scevior

With Hyman likely out for a time I’d sure like to (finally) see Benson get 10 games with McDavid.
Foegele and Kassian flanking Leon at least gives him some physical cover.
Will RNH-McLeod-Yamomoto be able to get the puck out?

Sierra

Lol, Benson, Foegele and Kassian in the top 6.

maudite

I swap Benson and foegle. Had similar posted a few days ago with Hyman where kassian is and kassian on 3rd line.

Foegle – crash for rebounds and cycle with puj. McDavid take more shots instead of looking for perfect pass set up.

Benson better passer makes more sense with better shooter.

Last edited 2 years ago by maudite
Munny 2.0

The second line has been a massive disappointment this year.

Two players, or two-thirds of the line, are under-performing that slotting.

It’s a helluva ask on your first line if the second line can’t at least get some possession time in the zone, much less threaten the net.

doctoreye

It’s time for a major shakeup!How about trading Barrie,Kassian,Yamomoto,and a pick for someone like Laine?Can you imagine He and Jesse flanking Connor?Now put Fogele and Hyman with Leon,and you have two great lines.Bring up Marody to play with McLeod and Benson.They have proven chemistry from the AHL,and should outscore weaker opposition.Put Bouchard on PP1,bring in Berglund for 6D,and use Lagesson as #7D.Make use of Scevior and the two best checkers from the Condors for line# 4.Send the rest to waiver heaven!

JimmyV1965

Why on earth would Columbus do this?

doctoreye

They will lose Laine before too long anyway.Word has it he is not happy in Columbus….Not a big enough town.A trade would improve toughness,power play,and futures.

Richard Roma

That’s still a very poorly balanced trade. Kassian and Barrie’s contract probably have negative value.

doctoreye

Edit,Barrie,Kassian,and a first for Laine.Also,need to find Nuge with Yamo andSceviour for third line,and make McLeod line the fourth.Hello to Washington,I hope the gig in Vancouver goes well!

McSorley33

If we can just get Smith back and fix our goaltending that will solve our 5 on 5 scoring.

Honest question when was the last time Foegele scored a goal?

Love his work ethic and skating, but at some point you have to score, no?

On pace for 6 goals?

Don’t get me wrong he had a good game yesterday….but at some point you have to be much more than Patrick Russell.

godot10

One is basically playing 4 on 5 when Kassian is your linemate.

JimmyV1965

I suspect Foegle is a streaky scorer, like most players in the NHL really. He’s avg 14 goals per 82 throughout his career and has actually improved his scoring rates every year. Maybe the question should be; why does he appear to be going backwards here?

Bondo11

Foegle doesn’t have a 3C which drives the play and is a setup man. He had that with Staal in Carolina.
Foegle would be better suited to play with Leon.

Richard Roma

Derek Ryan is like a worse version of Erik Belanger.

McSorley33

Very fair. I suspect the water.

Bryan

Carolina is as good as any team the Oilers will face this year. If the league’s standard of officiating is going to stay the way it is, which is likely, then this is the type of team to build. Big and well coached with a knack for a bit of interfering here and a bit of holding there. Slow the game down a bit to a comfortable speed.

Brindamour is either the best coach in the league or very close to it. He’s the type of leader that most players will never tire of, unlike a lot of the career coaches. The Hurricanes play with structure and enthusiasm which obviously has a lot to do with the guy behind the bench. Not sure that the Oilers can say the same thing.

When a team is struggling eveeything seems bad. The Oilers could have easily won that game with a few different bounces. They had a number of five star chances but Anderson was very good and Koskinen a bit unlucky. The Hurricanes certainly earned the victory though.

If Tippet was let go after a few more losses it would likely be Gulutzan that would step in, although I would much prefer Woodcroft. There is not much chance that either of those moves happen.

One thing that Holland needs to do is bring in another veteran defenceman, preferably an RD. Perhaps a package of Kassian and a young d or a draft pick would work. There is simply too much chaos in the Oilers zone to have consistent success.

Derek Ryan is not able to compete at that level anymore and needs to be removed from the lineup. McLeod, Foegele and whoever is playing decently should be able to compete most nights and even contribute offensively at times. The fourth line does not have great potential but don’t play enough to be a huge issue. Dylan Holloway making a speedy recovery would be huge.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Brindamour is either the best coach in the league or very close to it. He’s the type of leader that most players will never tire of, unlike a lot of the career coaches. The Hurricanes play with structure and enthusiasm which obviously has a lot to do with the guy behind the bench. Not sure that the Oilers can say the same thing.

Agreed. I’d put Gallant up there with him among active coaches who were former players.

Rod the Bod epitomizes the practice what you preach mantra.

Last edited 2 years ago by BornInAGretzkyJersey
Paulie

Yamamoto’s stats over the past three years (from NST). I combined last year and this year, which works out to a full season. I didn’t look up playing time with 29 & 97. My assumption is that much of his time was with high quality line mates.

We may have this player surrounded. A 27 game heater in 2019-2020 with a high PDO made him look better than he is. And/or the league adjusted and he has not been able to counter those adjustments yet. He still has some time to grow his game.

Yr G G A Pts 5×5 pts Shoot% ExpG% PDO
19-20 27 11 15 26 22 25% 55% 107
20-22 78 13 14 27 21 14% 49% 102

Reja

Mr.Yamamoto needs to be lower in the batting order if Tippett can’t see that then Holland should trade him while he still has value.

Sierra

Perhaps it’s not that Tipp doesn’t seen it, but that the Coach doesn’t have alternatives.

in your world who replaces Yamo as 2LW?

Richard Roma

Harper’s Hair. All your green jackets are belong to us.

Harpers Hair

Jakob Chychrun has the jacket pretty much all locked up at -29.

Poor bastard.

Material Elvis

Shows how useless that stat is. The guy is a damn good player.

OriginalPouzar

Yes, big minute d-men on bad teams often have big minuses which often include lots of empty netters against.

He’s also 9-31 goals at 5 on 5 for a GF of 22.5%.

McSorley33

Carolina broadcast crew reporting how Hurricanes Rod Brindamour coach has no problem with Oilers loading up McDavid and Drai.

The ‘all the eggs in one basket’ approach is just fine with Carolina.

Like Paul Maurice in Winnipeg, most coaches pretty happy to dominate lines 2, 3 & 4 of the Oilers.

LMHF#1

I’ll play just to throw something different into the works:

Carolina is what I expected. Massively overrated. They have nowhere near the required firepower but play a strong collapsing system in their own zone. The Oilers struggle against that because their coach is totally unimaginative. The Hurricanes should have scored one whole goal. Maybe. They’ll get nuked in the playoffs and a bunch of folks will stand there wondering why. It’s no mystery. Same people drooling over the Sharks for all those years and the Senators and Blues before that.

The Oilers are failing to execute basic plays and shots in the offensive zone, which is leading to pressure rather than confidence and making everything worse. Even a BS performance from Koskinen shouldn’t have mattered. If they take their shots and make the same decisions as the first 10 games, they win going away.

McDavid is also way off his usual game. He’s not beating the opposition clean. He’s whiffing shots. He’s in different spots that don’t work. Not sure what’s wrong, but it is something.

9-1 and then 7-9…is that ever an atrocious follow up.

They need to get back to playing to their strengths and dictating the game. It’s all sit back and wait the past month. That never works.

innercitysmytty

I agree with this take. I also think on playing to their strengths and dictating the game, the first goal makes a massive difference for this team. And we’ve seen that in the outcomes the past few weeks. Drai even referenced it earlier this week as well.

hunter1909

Eventually chasing games gets terribly, terribly old.

MushedPeas

I’m impressed with CAR team play, but wholeheartedly agree with Tip’s in game creativity or aptitude falling somewhere around zero out of eleven.

jtblack

CAR doesn’t have the required firepower? OK THEN

LMHF#1

They do not. What about them, their record, or roster would suggest differently? Even last night they did almost nothing offensively against a mediocre Oilers D group.

Harpers Hair

Best GA/GP in the entire league at 2.15

8th in the league in GF/GP at 3.23

PP is 11th at 20.7%

PK is 2nd at 87.9%

Look like a winning team to me and, of course, defense wins championships.

LMHF#1

Not in the NHL it doesn’t.

Excess scoring depth so that scoring continues when it gets harder in the playoffs wins championships. Helps to have a superstar goalie too.

Again – these are the same things many teams of similar construction and praise have done before. That’s fine – but it also leads to the same place over and over.

hunter1909

You may be right but Carolina beat MacT’s Oilers in 2006, and last night. And some double didgit shellacking on the random night off for some Oilers stars like Gretzky, Kurri, Coffey etc in 1984?

Canes coach is on point about happy to play the Terrible Twins as a single entity. McDavid seems lacklustre recently(for him).

But Mike Smith is AWOL at this point and his understudy cannot hack the bright lights of leadership.

Last edited 2 years ago by hunter1909
Chief Inspector

Gretzky was injured for that shellacking

McSorley33

Which bottom 8 Oiler forwards do you think opposition teams fear?

McDavids shoulders are tired.

Carolina is maybe the best team in the league.

With injuries, the Hurricanes are strolling thru Western Canada taking candy from babies.

JimmyV1965

I totally agree with this. Carolina is a very good team, but they don’t have difference makers. Svetch will likely be one if he isn’t already. Aho is one for sure. The team executes well and have a bunch of really good players. They’re like a better version of the Islanders IMO. I don’t think they compare at all to the Sharks in their prime. The Sharks might have been the most dominant teams in the NHL for a long time.

jtblack

Honest question:

Is there any scenario where Edm can resign Drai (contract up in 3.5 yrs) and McD (contract up in 4.5 yrs)?

DRAI’s ascention to one of the best in the NHL tells me he will get $12 Mil + per.

I beleive McD will be the 1st hockey player to have a salary starting with $20.

So even if CAP is $110 mil; these 2 are gonna be $30 – $35 Mil.

I know there are a lot of variables ahead but asking for input.

Bruce McCurdy

In what scenario does Draisaitl accept $8 million less than McDavid?

Last time around McDavid left a little on the table, according to some it went towards the Draisaitl contract & they are still $4 million apart. On the ice I would argue their value is much closer than that.

jtblack

Give me a guess Bruce?

DRAI -$16 MIL?
MCD – $21 MIL?

flyfish1168

Stanley will never see Edmonton if these 2 players want this much. CAP control is king. I would hope Connor and Leon will leave enough on the table for other good players to come here.

Paulie

How close? I’ve thought at times this season 29 has been the more valuable contributor on both sides of the puck. Suspect I’m not alone.

innercitysmytty

You’re not alone

MushedPeas

Even if they do it’ll just be post-cups CHI all over again. The time to win is now, with those two, while there’s still a chance of building a deep squad around them.

I suppose McDrai 2.0 could jettison Nurse and any other vets, but god that would be painful and there’s just not enough road. By then McDrai will be post-peak and pointed downhill, even if they manage Crosby/Malkin mid-to-late careers.

There might be a Stanley in the offing, but… Chia. Holland. They’ve wasted this.

tileguy

I threw this out a while back and got bruised pretty good for it, but it’s going to spark a good conversation eventually. We could always trade one of the 2.

MushedPeas

I’ve had that thought.

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

Even if the Oilers can afford both they will not be able to afford a supporting cast.

jtblack

Agreed. Thats my point. I dont think they can sign both and eat up 30%+ of the Cap ….

But miles to go before then ….

Bruce McCurdy

As it stands today they eat up 26%

jp

Is there any scenario where Edm can resign Drai (contract up in 3.5 yrs) and McD (contract up in 4.5 yrs)?

It depends entirely on what they want. If they want out, and/or to get paid by the highest bidder, then clearly the Oilers won’t be able to keep both.

But McDavid remains the highest cap hit in the league at $12.5M. Expecting him to ask for $20M+ a few years from now seems a bit pessimistic.

If McDavid/Draisaitl want keep their Oilers team together then I could absolutely see both players re-signing. That’s obviously far from a certainty though.

In terms of the actual numbers, that depends a lot on where the cap is. WG mentioned yesterday I think that the NHL expects to cap to start rising again following 22-23, so it should be higher (and rising) when those deals would be signed than it is today.

OriginalPouzar

I was talking about this with my parents last night and my first instinct was $12.5M and $15M.

I also made the point that while, of course they need to sign them and to max term contracts, they will be getting paid more money (although maybe not necessarily a higher cap percentage) for lesser play through the contracts.

Here is hoping for Ovi like longevity – not counting on it though.

jp

Yeah I had similar numbers in my head, but we don’t really know. They could obviously get more if that were their goal.

For Ovechkin, this is his best season in, well ever. He’s been very good but not totally dominant through his mid-30’s. There’s no reason not to expect Connor and Leon to remain point per game players through the end of their next deals as well.

flyfish1168

If the CAP goes up only a couple million no way will they ask for more. As it stands this yr Leon and Connor eat up 26%. With Darnell next season at 9.25 and Jesse looking for a big payday we will be needing others to take a hometown discount. If they truly want a SC here I really hope they don’t eat up such a high % of the total CAP space

Last edited 2 years ago by flyfish1168
jp

The cap should be over $90M now, based on expectations when the deals were signed (IIRC the expectation pre-COVID was $88M for 2020-21). They did leave money on the table on their last deals, there’s no reason they won’t do the same on their next ones, IF they want to stay.

OriginalPouzar

Agreed that they didn’t leave money on the table – Drai for sure didn’t at the time of signing. McDavid, well, I guess he could have demanded the max but demanding to have the highest cap hit by almost $5M would not have been reasonable. He became the highest cap hit by $2M per – he got paid.

MrEd

It’s always neat to get the opportunity to play in an NHL arena but when I was down on the ice at Rogers not long ago it was disappointing. Ad board signage is layered on 5 or 6 thick, the arena board ledges are frayed and the zamboni gate kicker board isn’t even.

The third goal isn’t on Koskinen- that puck needs to ring around the boards true.

Sierra

This is a good point.

leadfarmer

I know that people are gathering pitchforks for Tippett but Holland is the one that’s at fault. The roster continues to be horribly unbalanced and all the cap space was blown

Scungilli Slushy

Agreed, probably the bigger issue, but Tipp & Co. have been spectacularly unimaginative.

Richard Roma

Absolutely, Holland has made a litany of blunders and here we are.

  • Keith trade
  • Ryan signing
  • Kassian extension
  • Turris signing
  • Athanasiou trade
  • Mike Smith signing

Other debatable transactions

  • Barrie signing

Really though the killers were the AA trade, Keith trade, and Kassian signing.

What’s interesting is that most of Holland’s mistakes were obviously bad ideas at the time.

Keith and Smith are $7.7m in dead cap.

Holland should have targeted younger players in depth roles like Dubas.

McSorley33

Holland has blown assets at the trade deadline ever since he arrived.

Lots of people in here ‘ aided and abetted ‘ those moves. Including many posters who should have known just how unbalanced our teams were the last few years.

If you find your GM throwing assets away on such poorly built teams, you likely have an indication of your GM

innercitysmytty

The trades he made at the 2020 deadline weren’t great bets when they were made but the pandemic certainly made the results worse. Not sure he blew assets at the trade deadline last year. He traded for Kulikov, which wasn’t a terrible bet, and didn’t do anything else unless I’m missing something.

Richard Roma

Great post!

We’ll, no it wasn’t a good look making all of those trades to get swept by a non-playoff team in the play-in round, was it?

Last edited 2 years ago by Richard Roma
jtblack

My issue with playing McDrai together was shown last night; if they don’t score or get outscored it is virtually impossible for the others to deliver a win.

At least with Drai & McD separated; there is a chance 1 line can produce even if the other is quiet.

I also beleive playing them separate makes it tougher for the opposition coach & team.

McSorley33

Yep.

Most coaches love it when Tippet does it.

Carolina crew explained Brindamour’s thoughts on it.

JimmyV1965

I actually don’t have an issue going to McDrai occasionally. But that seems to be the only thing that ever happens. Maybe double shift those two on the bottom six every once in awhile.

dustrock

Just like every year, Tippett will run 97&29 into the ground and they’ll be exhausted come playoffs.

Guys like Kassian will continue to cost the team games and will never be called out by the coach.

Holland never had a clue, he lucked into some generational talent in Detroit with no cap.

Just like Chiarelli built his reputation by being fortunate enough to grab Chara from Ottawa. More bad moves than good while on Boston, more bad moves than good while on Edmontom.

If they wanted to use Holland as a POHO and glad-hander with the Team Canada boys that has value but they ostensibly have Bobby Nicks for that very job.

Scungilli Slushy

I agree, keep him for stability and the rep.

They have to find a freakin smart GM that is not afraid to ‘upset the room’ and trade his or her way out if this capped out mess of old or aging out of prime non finishing vanilla with a side of brainfartitis support players.

Or it’s years of this. The teams at the top have all been active good deal makers, Bolts, Canes, Panthers, Avs. It’s not just sign old FAs to bad contracts and hope to gord the draft and Woody can make it all go away.

hunter1909

By the time “they” find that mythical Unicorn GM, both the star forwards will be packing their bags lol

Hate to break this to you, but Holland IS the McDraisaitl GM no matter what.

Last edited 2 years ago by hunter1909
Scungilli Slushy

If Holland is patient, why did he sign some pretty average top 6 guys to long deals? It hasn’t worked, and there is a problem when the youth are ready. If they could identify actual talent, a few cheaper placeholders would have done just as well. And left some deadline room.

hunter1909

…Except when your young players are anything more than below average they are getting 7 million bucks a season offered to them.

JimmyV1965

The boys are really gripping their sticks too tight right now. They’re trying to pick location, rather than just get the puck on net. So many shots sail miles wide. So many shots blocked or thwarted because guys waiting too long to shoot looking for better angles. Just shoot it on net already.

Neumann

Absolutely. Stop looking for the tap in. The Oilers haven’t scored a greasy or garbage goal yet this year.

Bling

Decent effort from the Oilers, but the gap in EV play was real and spectacular. Keith was out but otherwise the club was at full strength.

I see what you’re saying, LT, but the team hasn’t been good at evens all season. I know you think the time for smart management will come after McDrai, but the book on Tipp/Holland has been written and we’re in the epilogue now.

The off-season was a golden opportunity wasted.

Tipp now says they have issues transitioning the puck. Well…half the D don’t have that tool. The guys who did that well were traded, and the best at it in Bouchard may get faded for Barrie.

What does that tell you?

Material Elvis

Wasn’t Keith leading the Oilers defensemen in controlled zone exit pass completions at the time of his injury? By a wide margin?

JimmyV1965

I thought the Kassian penalty was marginal. He didn’t hit the guy in the numbers and it was actually about two or three feet from the boards. I’m still not sure what the penalty was. In fact, it was quite similar to the hit Hyman took, except Hyman was closer to the boards.

Material Elvis

Agree with you Jimmy, it was in the back of his shoulder, not right in the numbers. I’m not sure what the rule book says about that, but I do believe they are biased by a player like Kassian making that hit vs a guy like JP, for example.

Material Elvis

The penalty was boarding. So the refs felt that Svechnikov was ‘defenseless against the hit and hit the boards violently or dangerously’.

Last edited 2 years ago by Material Elvis
dustrock

Geez what a shock that the defence and goaltending are poor.

Nobody could have predicted that coming into the season, I checked the Guide.

Derek

It was nice watching their Cinderella run to begin the season, winning games when every puck was going in on the PP while routinely being outshot, outchanced and outplayed at 5 on 5. If you were optimistic enough you could handwave it away as score effects or the team just not coming out to play the first 10 minutes of the game for some bizarre reason.

We all knew this correction was coming. A loss to Carolina is expected.

To see another team play with such structure and tenacity on both sides of the puck compared to the home team is pretty demoralizing however. Carolina is a Stanley Cup contender. I could never see the current Edmonton roster as its constructed and coached defeating that team in a best of 7. They probably wouldn’t even win a game, if the last 2 post seasons are any indication.

jtblack

LT: Where do the Oilers go from here?

jtblack

Well that is depressing. But true.

Guess we see what happens in the nxt 2 games and go from there.

leadfarmer

Hardly a balanced team

Bruce McCurdy

Carolina meanwhile lost its entire right side defence & somehow manage to carry on. Bear was back last night but a marginal factor, yet they stretched their win streak to 4 with 15 for, 6 against.

innercitysmytty

Good teams with depth will do this, but here in Edmonton injuries are always a good excuse.

hunter1909

Losing your starter goalie is slightly more than “a good excuse”.

It’s a great excuse.

Last edited 2 years ago by hunter1909
Material Elvis

If our goalies were playing like Freddie Andersen did last night, we wouldn’t be discussing a five game losing streak. The early goals and ill-timed soft goals have been killers.

hunter1909

It gots to be a goalie.

jtblack

5 game Losing streak Def cause for concern.

If the slide hits 7 or 8 games, TIppett could be toast.

Tocchet? Babcock? 😎

Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve

This is the best argument in favour of keeping Tip. Holland will be responsible for hiring a replacement and it will not be good.

jp

Holland HC hires before Tippett:

Babcock – 2 yrs as Anaheim’s HC previously

Lewis – long time assistant, no HC experience

Bashill – AHL HC, no NHL HC experience

Richard Roma

Which coaches had Holland fired?

jp

Lewis and Babcock? I don’t know the circumstances around their departures.

innercitysmytty

Exactly, history shows us that on the coaching front, Holland may actually choose Woodcroft. Although his teams where Lewis and Bashill were chosen had much different expectations than this team.

jp

I listed their order incorrectly.

Lewis was directly after Bowman and took over after the 2002 Cup. He lead to Red Wings to 3rd overall and 1st overall finishes (110 and 109 points). Out in the 1st and 2nd round though and didn’t return after the 04-05 lockout.

Then Babcock for 10 seasons. Expectations would have been extremely high for him as well, and he delivered. The Wings had 100 points in his final season, but it’s true that there were clearly different expectations when Bashill took over.

BornInAGretzkyJersey

Nelson.

Scungilli Slushy

I think the Oilers will make the playoffs, and I am very curious to see what Holland does.

Outside of Ceci and Hyman, and his understanding that losing a player with JPs potential for peanuts was a bad idea, he’s on the wrong side of the equity and cap ledger.

He needs to win a few deals in a row to push it forward.

Kenny’s not a fan of the bold moves. He likes his moves obvious and easy, no outside the box for him.

I sure hope Hyman is ok. Way to soon for that one to bite Kenny in the ass already. Or to be made to look foolish by Dubas who replaced Zach with Bunting for 950K, same 19 points.

The Gords owe the Oilers some good juju.

JimmyV1965

Interesting. It seems most people hate the Barrie signing and love the Hyman signing. I love the Barrie signing and hate the Hyman signing. Hyman is a great player and brings tremendous value to this team today, but these are the contracts that sink teams long term. I’m just happy it’s a seven-year deal, not an eight-year deal.

Scungilli Slushy

I don’t like either signing. Barrie brings nothing the team needs, it’s dead cap space and a dead roster spot in a key position. I would bet with this many games in Berglund would be providing more of what the team needs, he is not young, has skills and has years of pro experience.

No reason he couldn’t do 3rd pair and help the GA. Barrie does not help consistently and isn’t lighting it up. Also aging out I would bet, doesn’t seem as mobile and it’s the kiss of death to his game.

Scungilli Slushy

Have a look at who is playing D on better teams. I don’t recognize a lot of names. Young players can help. Bro is not ready, he is very young, so he’s crashed.

But 24-26 YO guys if they can skate and handle the puck well enough, and are put with the right partner, can at least survive. That is how the other teams are getting through their roster hiccups.

Also they can all play their system. Chaos sinks all players, and the coaches can’t seem to get them all on the same page, after a couple of years. If the Oilers were stable everyone would be playing better.

Someone commented yesterday McD leads the league with 1.75 minute shifts. That is ridiculous, and we can see he’s getting flat.

Whoever’s bad idea that is, it needs to be reigned in. If it’s Tippet, see ya. If it’s Connor, the coach needs to be able to convince him he’s not that good that he can do that, because nobody else does because it doesn’t work in the long run. What’s better for the team, right?

Neumann

This team is missing Duncan Keith more than many would like to believe. Of course he isn’t the Keith of old but the puck moves north damn fast when he is on the ice and just maybe his presence on the bench and in the room has value.

tileguy

Maybe it doesn’t, we don’t know. Some players might see a star that sulked his way out of town and think it might be a good idea. Could the room be divided by the haves and have nots?

Neumann

All speculation. Results with Keith in the lineup are better than without. As much as everyone is pissy about the acquisition cost he has spent most of his career as 1D, that has incredible value.

J-Bo

I really liked the new format today for debriefing the game. Fresh. I like lists. Ha.

Randle McMurphy

“In typical Mikko fashion, he made both stunning saves and leaked at an inopportune time.”

That’s what most good backups do. It’s why they’re backups.

tileguy

We have seen the potential for a few years now but it just never comes about.

Randle McMurphy

Price tag aside, Mikko has been an exceptionally good Backup Goalie this season. Exceptionally good.

Not a lot of backups out there with 12 wins. As a backup to the injured Starter, Mikko has not been the problem in this 5 game losing streak imo..

Harpers Hair

Like the rest of the results, Koskinen’s 12 wins are also partially a function of the 50% PP heater.

A .907 SV% won’t get you very far.

innercitysmytty

Truth – Koski has had a few good games, but generally speaking we were winning early in the year in spite of his play. As soon as the pressure ratchets up a bit because we’re not scoring as much, a leaky goal happens most games like clockwork. I think we’d be much better off in the long run with Skinner getting the backup role when Smith is back. Problem is, how long until Smith is injured again.

Richard Roma

Look at Carolina, they were missing Joe Pesci, Tony DeAngelo, and Bear played only 10 minutes due presumably to a recent illness.

They still had Ian Cole and Chadfield to play 25:50 and 18:30 respectively.

They signed Cole for a one-year $2.9 m contact.

Our depth on d wasn’t built for success.

JimmyV1965

I don’t think defensive depth was the issue. Here’s the Canes pairings last night:

Slavin – Cole
Skjei – Chatfield
Smith – Bear

Its not exactly murderers row.

Harpers Hair

TEAM D is a thing.

Material Elvis

Hot goalie is even more of a thing.

McSorley33

That is a big indictment on the Oilers.

But you are right – someone called Chetfield stymied us.

Randle McMurphy

Tip O’ the Day,

Add Niemelainen to your spell checker dictionary.

#YourWelcome

JOFA

And “Your”

jtblack

Niemienaneman

jtblack

How about

37-97-13
93-29-18
14-71-56
Nvr play Line 4.

Randle McMurphy

How about we put the numbered balls in a Lotto machine.

But we leave out numbers 44, 10, 8, 20 and 6

JOFA

You forgot 14 & 16

JOFA

18 may be hurt
14 is lucky to have a job