They all arrive with fresh faces, skilled to the max and dreaming of Stanley. This century has been a complete disaster for the Oilers and delivered fans heartaches by the number, troubles by the score.
This season’s script is especially cruel, with a fantastic 15-5-0 start bleeding into what may well be a 5-15-0 middle. Incredible.
THE ATHLETIC
- New Lowetide: Making the waiver call on young Oilers players as the deadline approaches
- New DNB: Oilers’ flaws can’t be ignored as losing skid goes from bad to worse
- Lowetide: Can Oilers identify cost efficient solutions at problem positions?
- Lowetide: Why can’t the Oilers win a trade in the Connor McDavid era?
- DNB: ‘We’re finding ways to lose’
- Lowetide: Midseason review of Oilers reasonable predictions for 2021-22
- DNB: The Oilers aren’t getting a dominant Leon Draisaitl right now
- Lowetide: What to expect from Dylan Holloway in Bakersfield and Edmonton this season
- DNB: Connor McDavid supports Oilers’ pursuit of Evander Kane.
- DNB: Ken Holland speaks
- Lowetide: Forget the Connor McDavid bump, Jesse Puljujarvi is the real deal after all
- Lowetide: Should the Oilers sign Evander Kane and what would it look like?
- Lowetide: What’s the gap for Oilers between now and the 2016-17 playoff team?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Will this be another lost season?
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers forward lineup isn’t deep or good enough
- DNB: Time for the Oilers to move on from Mikko Koskinen
- Lowetide: If Oilers plan a coaching change, why stop there?
- New DNB: Exploring how the Oilers can get back on track
- Lowetide: Long December has Oilers fans looking for reasons to believe
- Lowetide: A complete review of the Bakersfield Condors’ 2021-22 season to date
- DNB: For Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto, the goal has always been to belong with the best
- Lowetide: 7 AHL trade targets that could immediately improve Oilers’ NHL forward depth
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2021
WHAT TO EXPECT IN JANUARY
- On the road to: NYI, NYR, TOR (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-2-1)
- At home to: OTT, FLA, CGY (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
- On the road to: VAN (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: NAS (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: MTL, OTT (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 4-5-1, 9 points in 10 games
- Actual January results: 0-4-1, 1 point in 5 games
- Oilers in 2021-22: 18-16-2, 38 points in 36 games
This losing streak reminds me of former MLB catcher Bob Uecker’s response to the question “How do you catch a knuckleball?” Uecker: “The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and pick it up.”
One hundred years from now, we’ll all be dead. Oilers probably win by then.
I think we’re in a zone now where Ken Holland is going to do something bold. What will it be? The popular choices for a GM under enormous pressure are firing the coach or making a trade, in this case trading for a goaltender.
FORWARDS
I was interested yesterday, all day, in what the Oilers ‘expected goal share five-on-five’ would look like by line. As these Natural Stat Trick totals show, the McDavid, Draiasitl and McLeod lines all had more than 50 percent of the share.
And all were scored on. Here’s the thing about underlying numbers. Over a long period of time, they’ll line up, but there can be significant wobble (sometimes known as luck in modern books) in a specific portion of a season.
Tippett says you have to work through it, Holland says the wins are in the room. I think the general manager owes it to his team to get a better goalie. That’s not the only problem with Holland’s roster, but it’s a one transaction fix.
If I’m guessing, the coach goes first. The available goaltenders are no upgrade.
One of the things this Oilers team has gotten themselves into is a top pairing that doesn’t work. Nurse is 6-11 at five-on-five on ice goal differential since December 1, that’s a lot of bleeding. From the beginning of December, he is 2-2 with Ceci in 50 minutes five-on-five, 2-8 (ouch) with Evan Bouchard and 1-1 with Tyson Barrie.
Duncan Keith is 10-6 since December 1 at five-on-five, he’s 2-0 with Tyson Barrie. I think those pairings probably stay together if Tippett is the coach.
WHAT CAN THEY DO TO CHANGE?
There are many things the club can do to improve. As I mentioned, changing the coach or making a trade are the traditional moves, but there are a few things Tippett can try.
Since two dynamite LW’s are currently out (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman) why not give Tyler Benson a shot on a high skill line? Run Benson and Jesse Puljujarvi with McDavid. Benson isn’t a shooter like Perlini but he can make passes and does provide some grit. Puljujarvi turns over pucks for sun. I’d like to see that line for a game.
Try a No. 4 line that is skilled. The PK is garbage anyway right now, so give the veteran forwards time in the pressbox and run two kids, maybe call up Cooper Marody for a few games.
The key is to refrain from making a change to the lineup guaranteed to fail. I’ve seen Jean-Francois Jacques line up with Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky, and defenseman Scott Ferguson play on left wing while rookie Jani Rita played an early NHL game.
I believe the die is cast, once these things start rolling downhill fast it takes on a life of its own. I believe the time for tweaks is over, and that we’re about to see some things. Ken Holland was in Palm Springs for scouts meetings, and was scheduled (based on verbal) to watch the Condors on Saturday night. He showed up to do a television hit to calm the waters (with Gene Principe) between periods last night. It’s a big old world, things change and lots of reasons for a flight change. One of the things worth tracking in life is why things happen.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
It’s going to be a spirited show with everyone voicing opinions and making loud noises, TSN 1260 beginning at 10 this morning. Steve Lansky will have his say on the team’s performance of late and how to get out of it, plus Matt Iwanyk will pass along his opinion and we’ll look at the NFL weekend. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. It’s Friday!!
Dylan Holloway plays his first professional hockey game tonight – how exciting.
Wing or center?
Sheltered with the likes of Cracknell and Esposito?
Special Teams time?
Honestly torn which game to watch tonight, which is kind of sad.
1) Wing (for now, ease that scaphoid back into action, faceoffs might be tough for awhile).
2) Ideally. Eventually fun to see him with Lavoie, turn over some pucks for him like Bison.
3) PK (again, for now, ease that scaphoid back into action, no wiring one-timers for a bit).
Does Koski need to be placed on waivers to go from the varsity squad to the taxi squad?
I’m guessing yes but don’t know know. I can’t see him playing again without a convincing win against the Cows tomorrow night.
I also wonder if a mutual termination (considering the state of affairs in Edmonton) and taking a shot at the Suomi Olympic team would be appealing to him. Throw in a flight back to Helsinki on a private jet in return…
-yes to waivers if the Oilers want to send him to the taxi squad
-interesting about a mutual termination…Bogosian and the Sabres did that a couple years ago that allowed Bogo to continue that season (BUF wasn’t going to be able to move him with that contract)…Mikko still has a huge chunk of money owed to him, although he has a long history in the KHL so I’m sure he’d have KHL options…dare to dream
There’s about three million reasons why that won’t happen.
I take a far less glib attitude:
Living in hell isn’t worth all the pesos in paradise. It’s not like he’s broke and it’s not like he wouldn’t be earning a good living elsewhere.
And all you can really say is you wouldn’t. We’re not in his boots and have no idea what he and his family are going through or thinking about. People walk away from big paydays all the time.
Now I’m not saying it’s the likeliest outcome, but that doesn’t mean 100 out of 100 people would take the cash, either.
Thus… I am wondering about the possibility. And as Gerta says, daring to dream.
I think we’re in agreement – it’s extremely unlikely Koskinen walks from almost $3M -we’re just a couple of hockey fans blue skying on a Friday night
With that said, I think Tippett and Koskinen are going to have “the talk” in very short order here. I believe the Oilers would have done it already if Smith hadn’t injured himself
I think there is a very good chance we see Smith/Skinner as soon as next week, Mikko will be waived, and then assigned to the taxi squad (the Oilers will save a couple bucks with this transaction as well)
And if Stalock shows he can stop a fucking puck once in a while, Koskinen could find himself #4 on the depth chart and walking the streets of Bakersfield before too long
Agreed. I think he plays Calgary, backs up Skinner the next one and if Smith is good to go Thursday, is waived.
Here’s another wonder…
Let’s say a buyer can be found. Something like Koski with half retained with Barrie to the Flyers for Jones (a lot of assumptions there but its just an example).
Lol… is Koski willing to waive his 15 team NTC if its to a team that’s on it?
He’d be the first player to block a trade OUT of Edmonton LoL
I think all parties are at the end of their rope(s) – if he was given an option out I think he’d take it*
*he may have a few players wanting to join him LoL
I thought the taxi squad had a salary limit?
Lots of rules and regs, but I can’t find anything that states that, let me know if you do
It’s tricky, because the NHL tweaked the rules when they re-introduced the taxi squad about 3 weeks ago,so you have to watch the date of the article you’re reading
https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2021/12/29/22856895/taxi-squad-2-0-understanding-the-second-iteration-of-this-covid-era-tool
=================
Fun fact from this article:
If you’re wondering about the origin of the term “taxi squad,” it derives from the Cleveland Browns pro football team during the 1940s. Its legendary coach, Paul Brown, came up with the idea of keeping promising players who didn’t make the Browns to be available in case of injury or illness.
The Browns’ owner operated a taxi company. He employed those reserve players via the taxi company rather than the football team, but none of them actually drove cabs.
https://www.nhl.com/kraken/news/nhl-returns-to-taxi-squads/c-329264016
So NHL that there’s amendments to the CBA but they’re not public.
Nope, no salary limit (they changed the emergency recall no cap hit salary limit to $1MM) and Mikko would qualify for the taxi squad.
Brother-in-law just passed on a Tidbit he picked up from Makerzone.com
this sums it up and you can go read the whole article on the Evander Kane situation
Basically said the investigation is wrapping up and it looks good for Kane ( says some reasons or their thoughts). Says he could suit up as early as Tuesday in Vancouver ( thus insinuating he Is going to sign with the Oil )
Could this be true ? Possibly part of the reason for some of the moves today
Here’s to hope.
Expected tomorrow:
Koski 12-8-1
Marksi 13-8-5
Made me raise my eyebrows.
Clark Gillies has passed away at age 67.
Aww, man. Been a rough end of the week for peeps passing.
It’s been a pretty tough day. Time, has come calling again for my childhood/teenage/young adult, idols. Time, has not been my friend today. 🙁 RIP Clark, RIP Meatloaf. What a great time those days were.
Agree. Gillies was a big star in junior for the Regina Pats, and went right to the NHL with the Islanders. He was part of their dynasty team before the Oilers dynasty team.
Meat Loaf had an amazing voice and a long and varied acting career.
Louie Anderson also passed. I loved him.
That just sucks. I know him a bit. He used to play a pro-am I was part of and I spent many a night drinking beers and talking Oilers/Islanders with him. A true gentleman.
Friends, Lowetidians, Oiler fans; lend me your ears.
I come bury Koskinen, not to praise him.
The goals goalies surrender, lose teams games.
The saves is oft forgotten by some McDavid magic.
So let it be with Koskinen. The noble Spector
Hath told you that Koskinen is a sieve.
If it were so, it was a grievous fault
And grievously has Koskinen answered it.
Here under leave of Spector and the rest
For Spector is an honourable man
So the Oilogosphere are all honourable men
Come I to speak of Koskinen’s last days.
He was my goalie, faithful and always available
But Spector said he was a sieve.
And Spector is an honorable man….
If the rumour is true that Tippett is gone if the lose to Calgary that clearly tells me one thing.
Ken Holland does not have the stomach to do the awful things a GM needs to do anymore. His friend deserves two more games to “save his job”. That line of thinking has no place in any significant senior management position let alone a professional sports team.
Firing the coach just after a two week practice-filled break would be the dumbest executive decision made since they let a GM sign a goalie for 4 years and fired him the next day.
I actually don’t think he’s dumb. I think he’s soft.
I don’t think casual fans understand and I don’t think even hardcore fans are angry enough about the Oilers goaltending because me, Knighttown would have fixed it with two simple moves. It was almost impossible to blow one of these let alone both.
1. Oilers not claiming Alex Nedeljkovic.
I’ve heard people say “all the other teams passed on him too” but they obviously didn’t follow the story closely enough. Oilers waved Forsberg to taxi squad like other teams did with their thirds. Carolina, out of nowhere claims him. Waddell calls Ken and apologizes and explains that they have to waive Ned and they only claimed Forsberg so they “wouldn’t be without a 3rd goalie if Ned gets claimed”. He promises to re-waive Forsberg the second Ned slides through.
Literally, any other GM would have claimed Ned (even if the moron Schwartz doesn’t like him) at least to get the leverage back. Frig, look at Carolina signing Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet simply to screw Montreal.
But Holland, the Mr. Rogers of the league agrees not to claim Ned BECAUSE HE WONT DO THE DIRTY JOB OF NHL GMing anymore.
Ned gets through, Carolina waives Forsberg and guess what…our divisional rival grabs him before we even get the chance.
The result?
The vicious cycle of Covid goalie roulette that led to Koskinen starting like 15 straight games and having his first mental breakdown.
Oh, and Ned is now .923 for his career, signed to a great contract and is 25.
2. Jesper Wallstedt
Again, I expect we’ll hear “19 other GMs passed on him” but again, people weren’t following closely enough. There was a Big 9 and it was unlikely any of those teams would pass on a McTavish level prospect. So picks 10-20 were our only worry and if you looked closely, those slots were jammed with teams with valuable young goalie assets. Nashville, Winnipeg, Philly, NYR, St. Louis, Calgary etc. Ottawa was a worry but was picking really early in that run. It was down to Detroit and Chicago. Detroit grabbed the Edmonton kid and Chicago picked the shooter.
Never have the stars aligned better. The team with no short, medium or long term solution in nets had a top 5 overall prospect fall to them at 20.
And they pick another mediocre winger in Xavier Bourgault.
And save me the rebuttals. He’s fine. Wheeler has him ranked about 130th of the under 23s so he’s not nothing. But he’s not Jesper Wallstedt.
Yep – and it also proves that there are in all likelihood goalies out there that can be gotten. It happens every year.
The issue is that it takes pro scouts and initiative. This team has neither. They have never heard the word proactive.
For a fanbase that is focussed on winning in the here and now and the next couple of years, I would anticipate that Bourgault is likelier to make an impact in the NHL sooner than the goalie, no?
Isn’t it essential that the goalie position be materially upgraded MUCH sooner than the reasonable arrival of Wallstedt?
I’d counter that it’s rarely a bad idea to get an elite goalie nowadays.
The goalie market is not what it was 5 years ago when it was like the QB market; zero is death, one is perfect, two is too many and three is nuts.
If you’re backup got too good or a bit older he was dealt to give him an opportunity. Cam Talbot.
Starting with Jake Allan being brought in for money and term to play with mid-career Carey Price, the market shifted. Now backups are paid well and more importantly, are given tons of chance to play. Frig, the Bruins have three and even though Swayman isn’t super pumped he’s placated as he knows it’s likely him and Ullmark next year.
Teams are drafting Askarov when they have Saros. They’re drafting Knight when they have Bobrovsky. They’re drafting Wallstedt when they have Talbot and Kahkonen.
The Oilers should have a late career, mid career, young and baby prospect. Four spots.
they have one, Skinner.
Of course its always a good idea to get an elite goalie.
There is no certainty that Wallstedt is that nor that he will be that ii the NHL in the next 3 or even 5 years.
He is definitely a touted goalie prospect, that’s for sure, and I’d love to have him.
He very well may turn out to be an NHL start but its unlikely he would be during the term of the current Drai contract. I anticipate Bourgault will have an NHL impact in that time and, shit, for all we know, he’s a legit top 6 guy.
Ok that’s a different argument if you’re agreeing it’s good to get an elite goalie.
Now we’re back to who the better prospect is and what the bigger need is.
Wallstedt was ranked much higher heading into the draft. In the year since that gap has widened and Pronman has him as the 47th best u23 in the world and the best goalie outside the NHL. Bourgault is doing fine, at #147, and tracking as a middle six winger. Then you add one of the most desperate positional needs in the entire sport and you get a no brainer.
If you’re living by Pronman’s rankings as your guideposts, you’ve got a lot of disappointment on the road ahead. Personally, I don’t think the subjective ranking of another human is a convincing argument for “elite” or “mediocre”.
The Oilers only chance of finding a top goalie is in the first round, they have not found any 2nd or later like the teams that are good at goalies find.
A lot of the top guys were first rounders as well
Apparently Konovalov and Rodrigue are not prospects now?
I log in to nhl.com, load up Pens and Blue Jackets just in time to watch Korpisalo go full Koski, letting in a backbreaking 4-2 goal, squeeeeeeeezing his body bits together for many steam boats while the puck farts out the backside and edges over the goal line…..showcase for trade officially over.
3-2 deflation
There is no reason the Oilers should be interested in Korpisalo unless it was a straight flip for Mikko (as it would open up some cap space) which makes no sense for the Jackets.
Martin Jones does make some sense if the Stars aren’t ready to move on from Holtby yet (which they shouldn’t be).
Is ‘because oilers’ not a valid reason OP? Say it ain’t so.
I would not want a Korisalo. He has been around enough and we see what he is all about. I would like to give Karel Vejmelka a chance. He is an RFA and the end of the season and then he can sign a cheap show me contract. He has decent numbers on a bad team
I do think the Oilers should just run with the rookie goalies for 5 games. If they get lucky, not even good, just lucky enough to win the first game you keep going with that guy. He is new and not yet proven to fail. If you win 3 out of 5 you start having belief. It also buys time to find someone else. If you get really hot and win 4 out of 5 you may turn the corner, get some swagger – and Nuge and Hyman – back and move on to a more even keel. If it fails you still have hope that a new saviour will be found and you also get rid of Tippet before the season is out. Faint hope!
The season isn’t gone yet, but that would be a high risk gamble that could do it and sour fans on a youngster who isn’t ready. We need some help.
it would. but i think gambling on a broken Koski is even worse.
Top defenseman Ethan the Bear is a healthy scratch for 3rd game in a row
but I’m sure his average is still high
He would be the Oilers #1RD. None of the Oilers RD would likely be playing in Carolina (and only Nurse would crack the left side).
Not even Nurse.
He will be making almost double the salary and cap hit of Slavin and Skjei.
No way the Canes would pay that after letting Dougie Hamilton walk.
BS
They let hamilton go because he is too soft.
No, they let him walk because they didn’t want to pay him more than $9 million.
BS
There is the reasonable argument the Bear wouldn’t play ahead of any of Bouchard, Ceci or Barrie on any given night – there is the argument he would play ahead of Barrie, potentially.
Yes. Agreed.
Maybe the Oilers can add him for a late pick? 😉
Go look at Carolina’s D and then look at our tire fire and get back to me. Depth is a thing; not here, mind you, but in other places.
If you think that losing 6 or 7 games in a row, twice, is rough…Philly just looks at you and says hold my beer…2-10 games losing streaks.
According to Capfriendly if Skinner and Benson (you know it) go to Taxi, Turris down there’s 2.3M
You now know Kane’s salary at least
Because KennY
How much of the 5M do they save on the cap, if Kenny is sent down to Bako?
Ha!
He’s going back to Detroit when his contract is up. Book it!
Busy day, is there any indication Skinner and Benson are headed to the taxi squad?
Skinner is in Covid protocol.
That’s what I thought, though he should be out any day I guess. Just checking if the above had been reported or was speculation. Thanks.
Benson would need to clear waivers.
Griffith is on the taxi squad.
Yes, just checking if the “Skinner and Benson (you know it) go to Taxi” above was real or imagined.
You were wondering about Barrie. I guess he’s OKish since no D were called up. I know they’ve got Lagesson on the taxi squad, but they’d presumably have called up a 7th if Barrie was really injured.
I was too. That’s a good point. Should’ve known something about his status in the morning, and it wasn’t like they weren’t active.
I’ve said from the beginning, you are not going to find more value for $2.3m than the value Kane brings. NOWHERE! NO HOW! NO WAY!
The primary decision point is/was do you even want Kane ( can you live with th risk he presents). Once that decision is made, the dollars are almost irrelevant for the balance of the year. ( unless you think a $2.3m goalie is the answer)
Korpisalo with a GA in first 30 sec in his 1st start in a long time
He’ll fit right in Kenny!
Make it so, number 1!
And for those of you reading that as Sir Patrick Stewart, my gift to you! There are four lights.
Georgiev also showing he doesn’t want to be traded
Holland gave the Oilers the “Kass of Death”, and “Barrie-d them” with too many bad free (or pending free) agent signings, and without a “load-Bearing” wall. That was the “Tippett-ing Point”.
Congratulations, you win the first annual Gene Principe Punning Award. Bravo
**slow-clap**
So, now, Oilers haters are posting Oiler jokes by randoms from twitter.
This is what we are doing now?
Don’t freak out about Nuge on LTIR – he got hurt on Dec 31 so would be eligible to come off after 21 days. Same with Smith on regular IR, he’ll be eligible a week from his last game:
Connor Halley
Placed on IR
Mike Smith (G)
Placed on LTIR
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (F)
Reassigned to Taxi Squad:
Seth Griffith (F)
What is the purpose of putting RNH on LTIR 21 days after the fact. Is the cap advantage back dated too? Why would they not have done this on the 31st or anytime between then and now?
They had apx $450K in cap space a couple of days ago – not even enough to call up a single player.
I’d have to take a bit of a closer look at the cap situation with all the moves today (and see what they do with Turris when he clears, etc.) but this provides them a bit of flexibility for the next couple of games prior to Nuge being activated for Thursday (hopefully).
To add to OP’s comment, it is common practice to back-date in the case of medium term or uncertain length injuries. Typically they’re added to LTIR once they qualify for it.
You’re not supposed to put them on LTIR from the get-go unless you’re certain they will be out at least 21 days. Now does it behoove you to do so.
Thanks ^^
Some much needed good news: as per DNB, plan is for Holloway to make his AHL debut tomorrow.
Huzzah!
I just saw that.
How exciting – I wasn’t sure he’d be quite ready to play this weekend.
I selfishly almost wish it would be for Sunday’s game as the Sat night game starts at the exact same time as the Oil.
Cue the jokes about the Condors game being a better watch – they may not be far off though.
I think Turris going on waivers broke CapFriendly
https://www.capfriendly.com/
Same with extraskater and waronice, unless I missed something over the last few years
Kyle Turris used to do the best hockey streams you could *ahem* borrow and return the next day.
I may have missed one, but has Tippett called a timeout at all during this steaming pile of games?
I don’t think he knows what they are…
I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again because I find humor in it.
-Tippet thinks hard matches are for lighting cigars.
-Tippet thinks timeouts are for naughty children.
-Tippet thinks young players are there to carry water bottles, hand towels, and to attract puck bunnies for the not so handsome vets.
-Tippet thinks pulling the goalie in public is wrong on more than one level
Im on board with the last one. Your mileage may vary.
Why would anyone take a timeout? Isn’t that why they have tv commercials?
He should of been fired after he failed to take a TO against the Devils after we iced it with their netminder pulled and a exhaustive McDavid taking the ensuing face-off only to lose it and the Devils tying it up and winning in OT.
Yep, way underutilized. He should be using it every game to rest his horses for the final 10 min push if he insists on running them that hard.
Drives me crazy. Most think they need to save them for the last minute to draw up that game winning play that never connects
I don’t believe that the defending team can take a TO following an icing.
You are correct PokeCheck – that rule was implement 4 or 5 years ago.
He should be fired for not doing something that he’s not allowed to do?
Can’t call a timeout after your team has iced the puck……
Attaboy Tippett would be proud of you. He’s had many opportunities to use a timeout when Leon and Connor look completely gassed are the opposition scores a couple of quick ones. Nobody would probably care but when you lose 14 in a row everything gets over analyzed. I don’t think you really care if the oilers win are lose as along as your the man on this blog. You’ve already stated that you could care less about the history of the Oilers. H.H knows more about Oilers Hockey in his little finger then you do in your whole tiny body.
You opined that Tip should be fired after no calling a timeout in a situation where he wasn’t allowed to call a timeout.
No need to get defensive for making a mistake.
The Oilers’ woes are so bad they warranted a mention on Pardon the Interruption today.
Yikes.
When the fans start throwing team sweaters on the ice it’s time to fire the Coach
I’m not sure that:
(1) management should be making decisions based off of fan emotion (even tier 1 fans); or
(2) such dangerous and childish actions should be condoned.
Do you actually think he’s the only fan that’s disappointed with the total collapse of the team in the last 6 weeks? Get your head out of the sand this is my teams window to win a cup. Instead of building momentum for the playoffs their tanking because Holland is to stubborn to fire Tippett.
I’m not saying the coach shouldn’t be dismissed – I’m saying I hope management doesn’t base decisions on fan emotion.
A 4 year-old child can see that the team is going through the motions. There’s no fight in them you would think one player would say Fuk this and drop the gloves and motivate the bench. Since Nurse has signed his massive deal he’s contracted Kassittus. Hopefully Kane and if they acquire Jones can inject some live into this sorry ass team.
They really could use some toughness especially up front. Some crash and bang at least.
There’s future help coming on defense, but there’s really nothing other than Holloway in the pipe for the forwards. And you don’t want that being the number one part of his game.
And at least one of KK or Barrie needs to be replaced by a physical defenceman whose primary skill is he can defend ASAP though.
I know there are many here with better memories than mine: what was the consensus before the season started on the goaltending bet? Did anyone look at the Smith-Koskinen duo as ‘the right thing to do’? We all thought it was a huge gamble, no? A 38 year-old often-injured middle-of-the-pack tender (at best) and a proven inconsistent first-shot waving 1B. (Considering them 1A and 1B only for relative distinguishing – neither are NHL starters.)
To be clear, Smith’s playoff performance was miles above what could be consistently expected, no?
Given that both sides of this gamble have come up on the wrong side of helpful and there’s no real minor league alternative (don’t you dare say Stalock is one!), we shouldn’t be suddenly surprised with the goaltending situation. It’s particularly bad but that it’s bad shouldn’t be surprising in any way. The time for outrage was September. It was a crazy bad bet and the outcome is kind of irrelevant. It’s the most important position and Dutchy made our biggest bet on THAT position.
What’s truly outrageous is how you could see this all coming a mile. The start to the season is what was surprising. The current slump is anomalous only with the shooting%, not the save%.
In any other job, what would happen when you make a wild bet on a critical position that comes out unfavourable? Trick question – you should be fired before the outcome so something might be salvaged. The longer you endure risk that you cannot tolerate, the worse.
This season is quickly getting lost. Sad thing is there are no real patch-work moves out there that wouldn’t cost dearly. This franchise…..
My general recollection is the the goaltending plan was largely viewed as “high risk” by most people not connected to the organization
defmn called it early and often: going into last season it was a good bet considering the difference between the two goalie’s win-loss records. However, going into this year he wasn’t prepared to expect catching lightning I’m a bottle with a geriatric tender twice (let alone three times, sigh) in a row.
Plenty others were skeptical.
Sorry AA, my IPad acting up. Posting replies in wrong place. 😊
Like many people, I was okay with it, not thrilled with it by any stretch. I didn’t anticipate Smith missing so many games.
Irfaan Gaffar
@irfgaffar
·
5h
Sounds like we could hear something one way or another regarding the Evander Kane investigation by this weekend. Strong indication is if all goes well he could play Tuesday in Vancouver against the Canucks.
I called for Tippett’s head when they lost the first 5 games of a 6 game home stand. Tippet didn’t line match overplayed Leon and Connor and you could tell that the players were just going through the motions. The reason they can’t score is because they are over compensating on D everyone is cheating for defence which leads to playing tight which leads to the Canucks passing us in the standing while Holland cashes his $100000 a week cheque laughing all the way to the bank.
Edit: I replied to wrong post. Sorry Rej.
One thing I liked from last night’s beat down (although its a double edged sword) is that this group has for too long believed that it is better than it actually is. Last night was the grand daddy of all wake up calls imo ( like a heart attack called widow maker) . Hard work alone is not going to make this group into a contender. They need to improve their systems play and be prepared to play 60 minutes of hard nosed disciplined hockey.
If they had lost say 3-1 they would have thought well, a hot goalie, a couple of crossbars; with a few bounces the outcome could have been much different.
But they came at Florida with everything they have, and not only did they lose, they lost 6-0.
The looks on their faces was not the usual frustration. It looked more to me like realization.
Will the pain be the catalyst for the “required change” that has been long overdue?
Or will they resort to rationalizing…. well you know, no Nuge, no Hyman, no Smith
We wait.
On the bright side, Leon eliminated about 90% of his non-disciplined plays last night.
Not sure this is a wake up call from hitting rock bottom. Losing to the best team in the league can easily be minimized as an expected loss. What should be notable is ‘how’ they’re losing. The body language out there is the worst I’ve ever seen it. The last PP, the first line called it quits VERY quickly. It was clear they weren’t interested any longer.
It was a 3-0 loss followed by 3 goals of who gives a truck.
This is an intriguing comment. First of the day.
Are you making fun of yourself, or of us all?
You say the organization is rotten from top to bottom, nothing else matters until the owner decides stop worrying about reputation. Then point out the single biggest reason for the ugly 7 week stretch, team shooting %.
The team is shooting 6.9% since Dec 2nd (with a .865 SV%, simultaneously the worst marks in the league over that stretch).
This after shooting 10.9% for the first 148 games of Holland/Tippett (and with a .909 SV%).
Setting aside the atrocious goaltending (which can be laid at least somewhat fairly on Holland and Tippett), the Oilers would have scored 55 goals since Dec 2nd instead of 35 with their ‘normal’ SH%.
That would put the Oilers at 55GF and 62GA since Dec. 2nd. A 2-11-2 record likely becomes 6-7-2 or similar. That’s with .865SV% goaltending.
6-7-2 instead of 2-11-2 in the last 15 puts the Oilers at 22-12-2 (46 PTS, .639PTS%) on the season and comfortably in 1st in the Pacific (by PTS%).
It didn’t happen that way, of course.
But to simultaneously point out the team has shot 4% (!!!) worse than they have over the previous 2+ seasons, AND call for everything to be torn down due to rot and (I’m assuming) incompetence, is quite something.
McDavid, Draisaitl et al., haven’t actually lost the ability to score, have they?
You’re not very good at validating people’s frustrations, are you?
“I don’t get how you can be so mad, honey. I’m sure if you calm down, we can talk about how you and your emotions are wrong like reasonable human beings.”
Tensions are high and one of the very best things is how LT lets us (within reason) have the catharsis of writing some of this down, especially after last night.
Most of us went through the DoD and Every Saturday is Tanernac Saturday together. We’re a team!
People need to vent. Maybe picking holes in those vents is your way of venting? Mines a slow descent into absurdism. But your mileage may vary. Stay classy!
What I have a hard time reconciling is comparing this year’s roster to last year. If we’re being objective, the roster is better. You can even argue it’s grittier with the addition of Hyman and Foegle. So why are the results so much worse? The scoring will recover. McDavid has one secondary assist in the last four games. That will change. What won’t change is the goaltending.
And this isn’t giving the coach or GM a free pass. While Holland improved the team, he had a tonne of cap space, which he didn’t use efficiently.
I’m not so sure that the goaltending won’t change. It depends on Smith’s health, but there’s no doubt a healthy Smith is better than Koskinen has been recently. Skinner, too. Right now the Oilers are running their #3 & #4 goalies, it certainly can get better than this.
I’m not letting Holland off the hook for betting on this group of goalies, but to say it won’t get better than Koskinen just isn’t looking at the facts.
Haha, I guess not.
My wife doesn’t enjoy me a all the time either 🙂
I enjoy our back and forth! My nephew was given tickets for tomorrow by his girlfriend’s parents for xmas. I think they’re trying to run him off.
You never know, maybe it will even work out for your nephew!
Excellent post putting the Oilers’ woes into perspective.
Read it again, friend.
I don’t think it’s worth making a coaching change right now, because:
1) Despite Tippett’s poor performance, the underlying problems are structural across the org (as in they’re not likely to make a better decision on the next coaching hire anyhow), and
2) PDO
Thanks for your call.
Fair enough, and sorry for calling your post out.
IMO the PDO part hold a lot more weight than you do, we can disagree.
This is good, however we also know that shooting percentage is not all luck.
Here is where coaching comes in and the dreaded “shooting mentality.” We know that as the number of passes before a shot increases so does the shooting percentage. We also know that if these passes go east to west (rather than North to South) shooting percentage also increases.
Does Dave Tippett know this? Watching the team play it sure doesn’t look like it.
And herein lies the problem, if you listen to the noise what you hear is that the Oilers are struggling because they aren’t big enough, they play too cute, they need a net front presence,yada yada yada.
They need to have more east-west movement, not less, which means you go to the net, but you can’t stand there, they need to have more shot quality not shot quantity, etc.
It would also help to have more than 1 or 2 powerplays a game. That said, having a good powerplay can disguise a mediocre offensive game, as it did at the beginning of the year.
The D on this team isn’t great, and the goaltending is worse, but they don’t score enough goals, and that is one thing they might be able to change.
This team needs a modern coach in the worst way.
I would add to that Jon Willis’ analysis in the Athletic this morning shows very clearly that the Oilers D takes far more low percentage shots than the good teams in the league.
Over time, that has to be coaching.
Sure, but the Tippett-coached teams of 2019-20 and 2020-21, as well as this exact team in October and November scored at a much higher rate. Hard to blame coaching then, isn’t it?
Something seems to have changed…why are the D taking so many shots?
If not being coached to do it then the next question has to be why have the coaches not intervened to change?
It’s easier than teaching how to create high scoring chances if they even understand that
Pittsburgh apparently is really good at limiting HDSC and creating them, I tried to recall who did the write up but can’t, sorry
Which is why they do better as a team despite issues. Decent goalering and whomever they play have more success
Which is why I wonder how it isn’t a coaching issue at least in part. The players have to execute, but crap systems produce merd results and players get mentally fried.
They know it doesn’t work, or work as well as it could. Usually sinks goalers below actual ability, good or bad, it’s a self feeding spiral down
The Dys and Hawks are recent examples
You beat me too it.
Yes absolutely
it’s not just d taking shots. They are taking shots with one foot on the blue line with no traffic. Rinse and repeat
Maybe they need a more modern coach, but Dave Tippett coached this team to a 10.9% SH% over his first 148 games. It’s now tanked to 6.9% in the last 15 games (though I guess Tippett only coached 12 of them). I think it’s unlikely Dave caused the 4% drop in SH%, but what do I know.
I am curious about your modern coach candidate comment.
I am interested who your top three potential replacements would be. Could you share?
Excellent post. What’s the solution?
$64,000 question, AGM!
Haha, you got any ideas?
You of course are ignoring what got the Oilers to that stellar run at the beginning of the season…that is a 50%+ PP and individual shooting percentages well above career norms.
Even after this bleak period:
Draisaitl 22% (career 17.5)
McDavid 14% (15.1)
Puljujaarvi 10.6% (9.6)
RNH 4.2% (11.6)
Hyman 13.6% (12)
Yamamoto 21.1% (15)
I won’t bother with the bottom 6 but as you can see 5 of the normal top 6 forwards are either close to their career shooting percentages or well above.
If McDavid was shooting at his career mark he would have scored 1 more goal while Draisaitl at his career mark would have scored about 5 fewer.
It’s nothing more than regression to the mean after an unsustainable start.
I was comparing the Oilers over 2+ seasons (148 games) to the last 15 games. I am expecting regression to the mean of the much larger sample.
But the players are carrying their career average shooting percentages (a much larger sample size) with the exception of Draisaitll and Nuge being slight outliers.
This is who they are.
Not sure you’re following the Athletic?
Willis had an article indicating that the low shooting % is a result of too many shots taken by defensemen.
That’s a coaching issue and something that won’t regress to the meat.
I hadn’t read it. Timely 🙂
I had a quick look just now and it seems like he’s looking just at 5v5 and comparing this season pre and post Dec 1st.
I looked at all situations and for 2+ seasons vs post Dec 1st, so the PP tanking lately is playing a big role in the overall SH% (it’s actually at 9.4% shooting lately vs. 19.3% in the previous 2+ years).
If you look just at the 5v5 change Willis talks about, the % of shots by forwards went from 64% to 60%. The team overall actually went from 30 to 32 SF/60 at 5v5 before/after Dec 1st. I *think* that means the forwards still took slightly more shots/60 after Dec. 1st than before, even though it was a slightly lower % of overall shots. So the change in proportion shouldn’t have reduced goals scored, even though it would reduce overall SH% a little.
The article also shows the forwards SH% going from 12% to 9% at 5v5, so most of the 5v5 SH% difference is right there I think, with a small contribution from a higher proportion of D shots.
This likely is a coaching issue, but I’m pretty sure the effect is tiny and isn’t what’s responsible for the Oilers offense or SH% falling off since December.
Maybe the same thing is happening on the PP, I don’t have time to look if anything has changed there.
And beyond all that, even if you accept this is a coaching issue that’s affecting the teams performance (I’m not convinced of that), it’s easily fixable and probably doesn’t warrant firing the coach, much less demonstrating that there are deep organizational and/or personnel issues that need to be fixed.
Great series of posts, jp
What the hell has Marody done to deserve this treatment. Get him up here and form a 3rd line of Marody – McLeod – Benson. What in God’s name do we have to lose?
COVID.
Covid protocol.
I have calling for this all year!With their AHL history,and chemistry,how could they be any worse than what we currently have on our third or fourth line?Wake up Tippet!
Prediction on a small move or two that won’t cost much cause Holland is scared. And won’t do much
Jones and Braun from Philly
For
Koskinen and Lavoie or Samorukov plus 4th Rd pick.
Then they move Barrie ideally for my favorite non stop put it in universe so it happens
Connor Brown from Ottawa
Then sign Kane
That’s the best I can hope for cause I have no faith in Holland making a blockbuster
Just as an FYI for the many pining for Marody in light of the Seth Grffith recall – Marody missed the game on Wed in Covid-protocol – he may not be an option to travel right now (or play)…….
Why are the Oilers doing all these small moves today that don’t actually impact anything? It’s like they need to warm up before making a real move.
With only a few coins in the piggy bank,
I predict 2 changes in the wake of our newest Nadir
Evander Kane
and a new hire
Chris MacFarland (Katz finally does some succession planning)
Oh…..and they rush Holloway
I’ve taken two major life lessons away from being an Oiler fan.
1) People in charge aren’t there because they are smarter or more deserving.
2) Your weakest link will always undermine your best asset.
This worldview comes in handy when assessing a number of different real world scenarios.
This organization is still reeling from the Pronger trade demand.
And the Larsson demand (demanded to exercise his hard earned UFA rights)
And the Klefbom demand ( demanded to choose health over money )
Jeesh…don’t these guys remember Old Time Hockey…
In the 1964, Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, Leaf defenseman Bob Baun fell to the ice in excruciating pain after blocking a slap shot off his ankle late in the third period.
Baun was carried off on a stretcher and was presumed to be out for the remainder of the series. During the intermission, Baun refused to have his ankle X-rayed. Instead, he insisted it be frozen and, miraculously, he skated out for the overtime session.
The Maple Leafs, facing a three games to two deficit at the time, were in need of a hero to keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive. At the 1:42 mark of overtime, Baun drilled a shot from the point that beat Detroit netminder Terry Sawchuk, giving the Leafs a Game 6 victory.
Ken Holland was pissed and promptly fired Terry Sawchuk for letting a one legged man score on him.
#RudimentaryAnalytics
I hear you.
Look at Bill Masterson. Dude played without a helmet.
It started before that.
And if they weren’t stupid they could have traded him for Malkin instead of parts.
Has Holland been fired yet?
“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” -Indiana Jones.
How precise and prophetic LT.
Connor “Indy” McDavid did indeed pull out his gun and fire it at the sword swinging giant; But alas. the chamber was empty and chaos ensued.
Bob on ON called this this the organization’s lowest point since the 07 Smyth trade.
PFFFT! Its lower than that.
August ’88.
Because Holland won’t fire his Coach. When’s the last time a Coach lost 15 in a row? Holland is pissing away the season all you have to do is look at the Canucks and the bounce they received from firing Green.
Carrying on the first paragraph Karaoke style,
“I’ve got heartaches by the numbers, a love that I can’t win
But the day that I stop counting that’s the day my world will end.”
Awesome tune!
I swear I saw a guy named Nadir in the stands last night. He was sitting top edge of the lower bowl in the corner…you know where Harold Ballard used to sit in the old Maple Leaf Gardens.
Fun fact of the day:
2 goaltenders named Spencer will be in net tonight when Vancouver hosts Florida.
Florida will have Spencer Knight in goal facing Spencer Martin who gets the start with both Thatcher Demko and Jaroslav Halak in Covid protocol.
Martin started 3 games for Colorado 5 years ago.
Vancouver also without JT Miller, Bo Horvat, Conor Garland and Travis Hamonic.
There should be lots of goals for Florida.
I believe Holland will fire the season into the sun before he fires Tippett. He’ll just let his contract run out, point to a building season that didn’t go as planned.
I don’t get the circular reasoning of Kenny: I’ll only get them help if they’re doing well.
That’s like saying, “clean the carpets by hand, and if you do a good enough job, then I’ll spring for a vacuum cleaner.” Then saying, “these floors aren’t very clean and you are taking far too long. No vacuum for you!”
You’d think he’d be chomping at the bit to offload a brand new shiny Electrolux
Not Electrolux, but Hoover!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_free_flights_promotion
At this point, the person getting screwed the most by this shit show is Koskinnen. He’s clearly in over his head and his confidence is shot. He will never play well in Edmonton. Have some heart and just move the guy, even if it’s the AHL. Give him a chance to recover his career as a backup.
Very true.
We often forget there is a human being under all that gear and behind the mask. This isn’t fair to him at all.
I don’t know why Koski would want to stay over here. He’s not young, made his money and played in the NHL, and should know he isn’t NHL caliber
He can go to Europe, be a top goalie again especially with this experience, and play until he’s 40 instead of being crapped on etc, which won’t change much in any team.
He has weaknesses that he had years to work on and can’t change, that NHL players know and exploit
Very difficult to win when your team doesn’t score any goals.Time to get off his back as the cause of these losses!Dont forget the backup responsible for most of the 16-5 start of the season.If not for Koskinen,we would already be out of the playoffs!Give the guy a fucking break!
Truth.
I actually think he is by far the biggest contributor to the losses. Just think it’s a crappy situation for him.
Kyle Turris on waivers. Tim Soderlund on unconditional waivers.
If this were a meritocracy then Turris would’ve played the entire season in the minors and Marody would’ve been given the opportunity.
Hope Cooper gets the call-up, a full year later than it should’ve l.
Lol, Turris feeling the wrath of the GM!
I doubt it has anything to do with wrath
Turn on the sarcasm detector!
So you want wrath from the GM?
That would mean I wasn’t being sarcastic. Or would it?
Let me know when you figure out what you meant.
https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1484606282552291332?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
I’m not here to defend Kyle Turris one iota but simply to note that the JFresh charts and stats are not something I will even look at – they don’t provide any value to me. Takes a lot of penalties?
It took Holland 48 games to realize Turris was sub-replacement. JFresh knew that the day Turris was signed.
J not alone on that one
It’s hard to take JFresh seriously.
Does he weight performance on quality of competition/quality of teammate? I honestly don’t know but many of the numbers fellows don’t and that means (as an example) all the third pairing guys do very well because there’s no governor. WG has written on this a few times iirc.
I don’t know either. I was going off my memory of his tweets a couple of years ago when I was on Twitter more. I just took a look at his feed and I have to say I like a lot of his commentary. And his recognition of the role of PDO during this nosedive. I didn’t see a ton of stats work though so can’t say what his philosophy is.
I agree with WG though. I have been an advocate for qualteam and qualcomp for a long time in these halls. From before him even. They’re key in my opinion, the only argument is over measurement. And I think that argument might be moot now we have firms and likely teams themselves recording the granular data: battles and passing success and pressures, etc.
Our stats were great because they and their appeal led to a faster adoption of data in hockey. But we have always been limited by proxies and correlations. Now that there are organizations out there recording actual causes and effects, we have been surpassed IMO. I’m simply waiting for public access. Why is there no subscription model, yaknowhadImean??
(Borrowing a line from 31Saves down below)
“Let this be a lesson… NOBODY plays 13 bad games in a row for Ken Holland’s team without there being consequences”
Kyle Turris….. GOAT !
#Scape
Wasn’t this Soderlund fellow the one picked up in the Keith trade and someone we were supposed to hold on to?
Yes and no. Yes, he was in the Keith trade.
He just was a contract dump from Chicago.
Remember how much we hated Dallas Eakins
And now his team is ahead of the Oilers – has he gotten that much better as a coach? Or are the Oilers just that bad an organization?
I’d say column ‘a,’ column ‘B,’ in proportion
Eakins has needed at least 6 additional seasons of learning that his method was wrong for the NHL and has adapted to some degree. He was that bad. The long line of players he destroyed is all the evidence anyone needs. That was on him.
Even now his team has lost more games than it has won.
19-23 if you count OTLs with Ls – true – man the Pacific Division is terrible
Indeed. It’s rather wild.
And Lowe and MacTavish
Ryan Rishaug
@TSNRyanRishaug
· 1h
My sense is, a coaching change is not imminent today. It’s going to be a day by day process for now. A poor result/effort vs Calgary and there likely won’t be any choice. As far as candidates, if change happens, Gulutzan on an interim basis is the most likely IMO…/
“Let this be a lesson… NOBODY plays 14 bad games in a row for Ken Holland’s team!”
What in the F is wrong with this club?…if changing the coach is even a remote thought, it’s too late…why change the coach when you are about to embark on a 47 games in 100 days? It’s too damn late. There is no time to practice anything with a new coach now. The club had every reason to change the coach during the recent long break, when there was a chance to implement new systems and tactics and yet did nothing, and for Rishaug to say something like, well, if they lose the next one we might change the coach? FML. 2-10-2 is not enough reason to fire, but 2-12-2 is? One of the most rediculous things….ever! All time lows….
If this is an accurate portrayal – even more reason Holland can’t do the job.
No one game should matter. If you don’t know by now, you’ll never know enough to do it right. And if thumping Calgary 17-2 matters to your decision – you’re a bonehead.
Holland is way more of an issue than Tippett.
Also, I forget to mention the I saw that Tim Soderlund was heading back to the SHL and, now, he’s been placed on waivers for the purpose of contract termination so making that somewhat offical.
I kind of liked what I saw of him in the AHL – shifty and quick – kind of like an Ennis.
Turris on waivers.
Marody or Griffith coming?
Kane?
Cap space to sign Chelios
Ha!
I hope for both.
Does anyone remember the last time the oilers iced a full roster without any injuries or sickness? How about the full top 9 of forwards and top 4 d-man?
1990
Ken Holland at the scouting meeting in Cali.
You’re a bloody loony!
This, is comical. Well done!
I wonder if Barrie is OK and available for tomorrow night.
Yes, I posted that same thing first thing this morning.
No Barrie leads to a Koekkoek/Russell pairing or, shit, Keith/Russell…..
Who’s got two thumbs, a 928 in 21 AHL games (943 in 23 games the year prior) and is 6’4″ tall?
This guy?
What would he cost?
No idea on the cost but that’s the type of guy they should target. Numbers look good. Vegas certainly won’t do them any favours.
He looks like a very interesting pickup… I think a prudent approach is looking a bit deeper into the team (how good has Vegas’ AHL team been the last few years?) but he’s a really good target at first glance!
This season, he leads his team in starts and SV% the other two are .918 and .914 for 7 and 4 starts respectively.
Last year, Oscar Dansk had a .902 in 11 starts (2.99 GA) vs Logan Thompson with a .943 and 1.96 GAA.
The Silver Knights are right ahead of the Condors this season. Last season they were also ahead of the Condors (1st and 2nd) in pacific.
What separates this guy from Stuart Skinner except “not an Oiler” or being a year older?
This franchise needs an exorcism. Latest exhibit:
@JasonGregor
Malone tested positive for COVID…so he won’t be signed for now…tough break for him.
My vote is for Keanu in Constantine as exorcist.
Would sacrificing chickens work? Hell, I’ll even supply a bucket of KFC for the weak of stomach if it’ll help.
Latest, latest exhibit:
@SportsnetSpec
In case you are wondering, it does not appear that Stuart Skinner’s timeline will free him from Covid protocol in time for the Flames visit Saturday. Looks like another Koskinen start.
What about Nuge and Hyman? And I’m hoping for a Konovalov start.
Lol, Cam Lewis reports Kostkinan gets the cage on Sat.
WTF
They don’t have a choice.
You DID have a choice, you could have said “no”.
They have no one else. Skinner in Covid protocol, Mike Smith working the Etch-a-Sketch, Ilya Konovalov hoping for a groin pull.
I’ll take him over Koskinen right now. Only question is does he have to quarantine when he lands in Canada?
To the question about Nuge and Hyman:
1) Hyman just entered protocol, he won’t be available for Saturday
2) Nuge is likely to start practicing with the team next week – he’s been skating for a while.