The Edmonton Oilers dominated the San Jose Sharks in the first period, but had nothing to show for it. A fairly even second stanza, and a break for the home team on a play that was probably a penalty, gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead after two. In the third period, Edmonton put it all to rest with some help from the power play. A solid effort, on a night offered little help from out of town, edges the team closer to a top-three finish in the Pacific.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Are Oilers approaching a crossroads with Zack Kassian?
- DNB: Should Oilers budget for Evander Kane beyond this season?
- Lowetide: Oilers’ 2022 draft strategy takes shape after trade deadline
- DNB: Oilers’ solid deadline adds depth but without goaltending upgrade, top concern remains
- Lowetide: 7 Condors who could impact Oilers’ fortunes in the playoffs
- Lowetide: 9 Oilers prospects who could be available in trade at the deadline
- Lowetide: Is Oilers winger Warren Foegele doing enough to warrant his contract?
- DNB: How Jesse Puljujarvi, as a player and person, became perfect fit for Oilers
- Lowetide: Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci emerging as top pair for Oilers
- Lowetide: Ryan McLeod’s case for a spot on Oilers’ skill lines
- DNB: Oilers’ recent play only underscores that upcoming trade deadline must be a time to act
- Lowetide: Revisiting the Oilers’ choice of Evan Bouchard in the 2018 draft
- DNB: Markus Niemelainen collecting catchy nicknames as his surprise breakout accelerates
- Lowetide: Oilers fans still adjusting to Ken Holland’s management style
- DNB: Ken Holland Q&A
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2021
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MARCH
- On the road to: PHI, CHI (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 1-0-1)
- At home to: MON (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- On the road to: CAL (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to: WAS, TBAY, DET, BUF, NJD (Expected 3-1-1) (Actual 5-0-0)
- On the road to: COL, DAL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-1-1)
- At home to: SJS (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: CAL (Expected 0-1-0) Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: ARI, LAK (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-2, 18 points from 15 games
- Actual March results: 7-3-2, 16 points in 12 games
- Oilers in 2021-22: 36-24-5, 77 points in 65 games
Edmonton is on pace for 97 points and that’s a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. This is a big win for lots of reasons, including Vegas recovering with a win last night and the fact Edmonton pocketed just one point on the road trip. It was a good night, with lots of interesting story lines.
GOALTENDER
Mike Smith stopped 28 of 30 shots, .933 save percentage. He stopped six of seven HDSC, but the two goals against weren’t grand. On the first goal, Nurse can’t stop the pass, and I don’t know what Smith was trying to do but he dropped to the ice immediately after the pass was sent. It was an easy goal for San Jose. Second goal, Oilers had a chance to secure the puck, but were unable and Tomas Hertl had a great look and cashed. Smith had some great moments in the game and contributed to the win.
DEFENSE
Brett Kulak was Edmonton’s best defenseman on the night, I don’t think that’s controversial. His skating is a big advantage, and added to his experience and calm feet it looks like Ken Holland found one. One shot, two hits, clean work area and no chaos. Tyson Barrie had two shots, two takeaways, the puck was heading in a good direction all night and Barrie helped things along consistently.
Darnell Nurse had a takeaway, four hits and rushed the puck aggressively a few times. Two shots on goal, four more didn’t make it. Cody Ceci had two shots, a takeaway and three blocked shots, both men used their mobility to jump into the play at times. The best thing for this pairing was the reduction in playing time, although over 13 minutes versus the Tomas Hertl line is no day at the beach.
Duncan Keith had an assist, three blocked shots and battled a surprisingly rugged Sharks team. Evan Bouchard also had an assist, five shots on net and another six attempts, and moved the puck well. I was especially pleased to see him drive closer to the net and take a shot at the net instead of passing to McDavid. Young Oilers do that all the time and opponents cheat on that play. Keeps the opponent honest when changing things up.
FORWARDS
Evander Kane scored a goal, took a penalty, had four shots, seven hits, and a high danger scoring chance. He’s 15-8-23 in 26 games, I see some suggesting he is a drag on results. I think that’s going to be a factor, but at five-on-five this line (in 149 minutes) is 10-4 goals and 59 percent expected goals. Going to need to cool off before we see movement. Connor McDavid had two assists, two HDSC at five-on-five and looked damn dangerous everywhere but his conversation with Ben. He is 35-50-95 in 64 games. Kailer Yamamoto is now at 18-14-32 (64 games) after a 1-1-2 night, his goal was a great skill move ala Jordan Eberle. He had three HDSC’s.
Derrick Brasssard scored in his first game as an Oiler, and looked strong on this line. He’s a steady veteran, I thought we’d see him as No. 4 center but this was better deployment. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a fine return, hit a post, had seven shots on goal and FOUR high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five. Impressive return. Jesse Puljujarvi picked up an assist, set up Brassard in the slot (Brassard sent it to Nuge and Nuge sent it to the post), three shots, two HDSC’s, he was freewheelin’ all night and looked dangerous flying down the LH side more than once. This line has interesting possibilities.
Zach Hyman had an assist, three shots, ragged the puck (it’s an old timey phrase) on the PK like Eddie Westfall and Derek Sanderson had a son, and generally played the game like Howie Meeker intended. What a player! Leon Draisaitl scored twice, four shots and played just 17:53. Music! He also used the F-bomb in the post-game and people loved it. Ryan McLeod picked up an assist, had a shot on goal, blocked a shot.
Warren Foegele had a HDSC, drew a penalty and had a takeaway. Devin Shore also had a HDSC, a takeaway and went 4-4 in the dot. Just 25 seconds on the PK, as Woodcroft went with Hyman, Nuge, Draisaitl, McLeod at the four-on-five. Fast Train (I read the colours this morning, I read the colours today) on the PK. Zack Kassian made a big play just before the Draisaitl goal, it looked like a penalty but he got away with it. He also made several good little plays and took a penalty. Calgary is next on the schedule, he needs to be disciplined for it.
THIRD PLACE IN THE PACIFIC
The key is third place, and this year it’s Vegas running out of time.
- Calgary 63gp, 38-17-8, 84 points
- Los Angeles 66gp, 35-22-9, 79 points
- Edmonton 65gp, 36-24-5, 77 points
- Vegas 67gp, 35-28-4, 74 points
- Vancouver 66gp, 31-26-9, 71 points
Let’s say the Oilers split the two games in hand, and land with 79 points after 67 games. Let’s also assume the VGK grab 18 points from their final 15 games. That places them at 92 points, I think that’s a reasonable expectation for the Golden Knights. In order for Edmonton to land at 93 points by game 82, the team would need to go 7-8-0 in the final 15 games. The damnable Bettman points will no doubt have their say, and Vegas could go on a run, but the Oilers could do the same.
LINE MATCHING
The Woodcroft coaching era is the gift that keeps on giving. Last night, against San Jose’s top line (Alexander Barabonov-Thomas Hertl-Timo Meier) was matched against Darnell Nuse-Cody Ceci around 13 minutes, and saw the McLeod-Draisaitl-Hyman line for about nine minutes (McLeod appears to have been dropped for a shift or two). Last time the two teams played, just after Woodcroft took over, the Hertl line saw less of a hard match (9 and a half versus Nurse-Barrie and six minutes versus Draisaitl), so that’s a subtle change the coach (and three strong lines) brought to Edmonton.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
It’s FRIDAY! We get rolling at 10 this morning, Steve Lansky will pop by and talk Oilers and 99/Mess on American television. Matt Iwanyk will drop in at 11 and tell us about his Thursday, a day that started with promise but ended with less than hoped for Italy and Canada on the soccer pitch. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
Didn’t see it mentioned, but the Condors won again last night (7-3 over Grand Rapids).
Skinner with another W (3GA on 28 shots).
Perlini with 2G-1A
Griffith with 2G
Marody with 1G-1A
Malone with 1G-1A
Hamblin with 2A
Benson, Esposito, Griffith, Hamblin, Schaller all at +2.
Samorukov-Desharnais both +3 again.
Desharnais leads the league in +/- by a wide margin (+36 vs +27 for 2nd place). Samorukov (+18) also in the top 20. IIRC Samorukov was a minus player a few months ago, by number at least that pair has been extremely impressive.
I watched the game last night, Bakersfield was down 2-1 and scored 3 quick goals at the end of the 2nd.
Sammy looked good out there, moved the puck very well and got some PP time.
Holloway was extremely physical, was on a 2-1, held on to the puck and had a clear shot, but shot it right into the breadbasket. Would have liked to see him take it hard to the net, rather than slow down like he did, as he had a relatively clear path. He will need a full year in the AHL next season.
Kesselring looked good, had 4 shots in the 1st 10 minutes. Almost got into a fight and after Kaldis, was the best puck-mover on the backend.
Lavoie was dealing with something, couldn’t see exactly, but got tangled up with with 2 Dmen in front of the net late in the first and didn’t return till after the 3rd had started. He didn’t have any good looks in the game, but he was working hard along the boards and his play didn’t wane when he came back. He is progressing away from the puck.
Skinner was good. The 1st goal was a 2 on 1, 1st shot. Kesselring was defending. Hit him in the mask, took a funny bounce and trickled in as he slid out of the net. The 3rd goal was a blistering top cheddar PP snipe glove side, no chance. The second goal was a PP shot from the blueline that went right through everyone, he didn’t seem to see it. There were a couple of posts and one crossbar.
Did you guys hear Woodcroft talking about McLeod after Bob asked him about sitting a couple shifts in his interview on ON today?
This is how it went…
“Ryan’s a young player. I have a very good understanding of his capabilities… him and I have a lot of understanding of what his expectations are. I have a lot of faith in him as a young hockey player in this league. And I feel good when he’s on the ice. I think his versatility is one of his best qualities: he can play with good players on the highest of high lines, but he can also center or drive his own line… and he’s been a real good player for our team over the last five weeks or so.”
Some things struck me about this quote.
First thing is how archetypal this quote is of how he discusses players in his pressers. Always positive. That is… he always talks as if the players themselves are listening. That’s a great skill, btw ,you manager types out there. Notice how he always expresses his belief in a player or players? Stick up for your guys publicly thru thick and thin and they will go through walls for you.
And see how he frames his compliment? “…as a young hockey player in this league.” Scotty Bowman would be proud of this psychology.
The other thing that struck me about the statement is that it seems like Woody has been grooming this guy. He’s invested some serious time in this individual.
Those words, that implied relationship, really reminded me of MacT and Horcoff. And as far as comps go Ryan’s hands look a little better, a little less awkward and self-conscious than Horc’s, plus the release on his wrister is A-1. When you see him tracking and supporting through the neutral zone… the intelligent paths he takes already at 64 NHL games played… so like Horcoff. That would be a heckuva ceiling for young Highlander, and a great second round pick.
But does it happen without Woodcroft’s guidance in Bako?
The presence of Kulak should lower both the minutes of Keith and Nurse, should it not?
Let’s say he’s approximately the equivalent of Keith right now, that is the Oilers have two second pairing LHD-men. I would expect that depth to allow Manson t copntrol Nurse’s minutes somewhat too.
I know it did last game but easier opponent, low number of special teams minutes, looking tired against Dallas, playing with the lead… were all likely contributing to how the minutes for the core were distributed in the end.
Definitely possible on Keith (as we saw last night).
With Nurse, I think they’ll still ride him in higher-paced and more competitive games. Score was close last night but the play wasn’t.
Yes, obviously, I’m agreed we didn’t get a good sense of it last game. Too may other variables in play.
Still, there’s an opportunity there to not only take a minute or two away from Keith, but also a minute from Nurse.
Lagesson and Nemo were averaging 13 mins per game, and Broberg 12 (numbers are all-situations). Now that’s 7-11, you bet. Barrie himself is averaging 18 mins per game under Manson–second pairing time over Boosh–so maybe that’s the natural rate for Kulak. On the other pairings, left side, Keith has been getting a little over 19 and Nurse a tad over 24. If I’m Jay, I’d think I’d look at moving a minute of Nurse’s time onto Kulak. Some off Keith too, but I wouldn’t stop there.
Now Ceci has been averaging 21 mins per game under Manwood, although there must be some time with Keith baked into that. But it is obviously possible to nick Nurse without overloading the other two RHD.
And I think a minute off the ice for Nurse would help his game out a great deal.
Agreed that Kulak is very likely to help reduce Nurse’s TOI a bit. And that’s a good thing, he could really use a bit of a breather down the stretch.
Nurse has been under 21 minutes in each of the last 2 games.
That’s 2 of the 3 games (Feb 17) all season where that’s happened, all of them under Woodcroft.
So on the Flames broadcast, I think it was Rick Bell, just stated Goudreau was the best playmaker in the NHL! I guess he hasn’t watched Connor and Leon………
Hopefully they’re enjoying the last 25 or so games of Johnny Hockey in Calgary.
Pumping him up like that is just going to make it harder to say goodbye.
I don’t see how the best playmaker in hockey signs for a dollar less than $12.5M…
Flames gotta pay Tkatchuk and Gauedreau over 23 million … mcjesus thats alot of cake
He might be right.
Johnny has 55 assists in the same number of games as McDavid but he plays an average of 4 minutes fewer per night.
But Huberdeau is the gold standard this season.
Gaudreau’s linemates are both running hot shooting percentages. Of course he’s going to collect a lot of apples. Meanwhile, McDavid had an obscene number of grade A setups to Jesse, Hyman, and Yamamoto that weren’t converted. For F’s sake man, have a look at McDavid’s statistical track record vs the league over a huge sample size. Or just watch the games. Either way, McDavid is the best playmaker of his generation and it’s not even close.
As if. Gaudreau and Huberdeau both 4 years older than McDavid, are having the best seasons of their career by far. McDavid is having his poorest season in terms of assists per game since 2017/18 and he is still right with them. Over that time period he has 25% more assists than the next highest guy in the league and 33% more than Johnny hockey. It’s not even close who the best playmaker is in the league. That determination is not a single season judgement.
Summarizing!
Tullio potted the OT winner and rung up a whopping 11 SOG.
Brind’Amour notched an assist as Quinnipiac won 5-4, advancing to play top seed Michigan on Sunday.
Lachance was held off the scoresheet.
Chiasson scored off the rush 13 seconds into his game tonight too. Thanks as always for the updates!
Jeebus…totally forgot. Thanks!
Finished 1+1 on the night.
Also forgot to mention Tullio was the game’s 2nd star.
Video evidence of the goal and the assist.
Wow, that PP Apple was shaded off 99, you don’t see much of that these days. Thank you, as always!
Of note, Calder lock and all around amazing defenseman Valimaki notched an assist today. In the AHL…
Holy crap, Laurent Brossoit makes more than Mike Smith (was checking out the Vegas cap situation when I saw).
As a career backup (24GP this season are a career high) I hadn’t noticed him climb up into the $2M+ pay bracket. Huh.
No one manages the cap better than our Vegas operation…
Pffffft!
Lets address the elephant in the room.
The Colorado Avalanche’s defenseman are better goalies than Brossoit.
If you squint hard enough and purse your lips though, you could argue that Brossoit has a better save % than Makar.
But arguing that the Colorado D aren’t better goalies than Brossoit means you live in a walled garden.
Huh? OK … get it. You hate Brossoit. Elephants yada yada walled garden. I have seen more intelligent arguments from people that live in padded rooms.
Do you get it? Maybe re-analyze Side’s message. You’ll find your answer under a bridge in Parksville.
Might I suggest we leave the trolling to the professionals … they are much better at it.
Interesting take considering I used his same comments and you fell for it.
It was very well-played.
Tullio plays the role of hero as he scores with 20 seconds left in OT in a 3-2 victory.
His 35th tally-o of the season came on his game-high 11th SOG.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Oshawa_Generals/status/1507538937992163332?cxt=HHwWiMC9wair7espAAAA
There you go – Riley Smith to LTIR.
I’d be OK if Connor hit 100 points tomorrow night……
The seed has been planted 😉
You’d probably go streaking down 17th Avenue….
Probably North Scottsdale Road but, yes sir.
Meh, I want a win much more than I care about which Oiler gets how many points.
I presume, if McDavid got 5 points, the Oilers are likely to win – that’s kind of part of the desire….
Oilers suing insurance companies for $174 million.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-oilers-sue-insurers-for-174m-over-massive-pandemic-losses-1.6395398
Brind’Amour picks up an assist as Quinnipiac opens the scoring less than five minutes in.
After being listed as 4C most of the season, he seems to have been 2C the past three weeks or so.
I believe he has been a 2C all year, taking on all the elites and has been heavily relied on for Dzone and SH draws. He and Engaras had similar deployment. The differences between the 2 is Brind’Amour is on the top defensive team in all of the NCAA (in fact one of the very best in NCAA history), which also is a top 10 (perhaps even top 4, the Ying to Denver U’s Yang, if you will) NCAA team this season. Whereas Engaras was on an offensively-challenged sub .500 team (in fact that was the case his entire NCAA career). Unlike Brind’Amour, Engaras also played on the PP (Face-offs and net-front).
It will be interesting to see if Brind’Amour decides to sign or if he stays 1 more year. It is possible he stays in school, as he may want to build on his first impactful NCAA season.
If he does return, next season will be very tough with 8 of the top 9 scorers, as well as 4 of the top 5 dmen and several other key depth players graduating. It depends if his priority is on school or a pro career.
As a side note, Ty Smilanic, the #6 scorer, will probably be the only top 10 returnee (SB is #10), his scoring results were not as impressive as his freshman year, so he’ll want take advantage of a prominent role. His rights were sent to Montreal in the Chariot trade.
As well, goaltender Yves Perets and his historic results (29 GP 21W 5L 2T 0.96 GAA 0.948 Save Percentage and a record 11 Shut Outs) will have a lot of NHL suitors. He is from Quebec, so that is an obvious one.
My point being, I can see a good argument for Brind’Amour to sign a pro contract this season, especially if his team wins it all.
Thanks for all the info.
Do you figure Brind’Amour would even be in line for an NHL contract at this point though? I get that he’s a quality shut down player, but he hasn’t scored even 0.5 points/game in college hockey yet. He has 3 goals on the season.
Even with most of the team leaving, it seems like he and Smilanic (the only 2 drafted players on the team) should stick around another year and hopefully show some more offense before they’re ready to turn pro.
Maybe I’m missing something (having never seen Brind’Amour play), but from his boxcars it seems unlikely the Oilers would want to turn him pro at this point. What do you think?
Holland has been signing players at his level to AHL deals, I expect that’s possible
Yeah, looking more you’re right it’s very possible.
I was thinking even most of the AHL deals had also scored better than Brind’Amour (and most have) but there are a number who’ve signed recently who posted similarly limited offense to Brind’Amour (Engras, McPhee, Kambeitz).
He turns 23 in July, I expect that’s a very good call.
I can’t imagine Skyler B. gets an ELC at this point and have been speculating on an AHL deal. Best case scenario for this player, in my opinion, is the Deharnais path.
And Desharnais got the AHL contract a year younger and played four full years NCAA.
AHL deal, for sure. Not sure what the plans are for Bakersfield next season, but from what have noticed is that they are weak on the face off circle. Much like Desharnais and McPhee and now Engaras, an ATO this season and a 2 year AHL deal next could be Brind’Amour’s path. If he arrives in 4 years in Edmonton as an effective PK and Face-off specialist and part-time NHLers, so be it. Organizational depth is a great thing. I really don’t see some of the previous years’ depth picks like Lindewall and Siikanen or any picks after the 2019 4th round as legit pro prospects. So any they can recoup in my mind makes up for those misses.
Is there really enough there to give him even an AHL deal?
How good is his skating? (Edit: honest question)
His skating isn’t elite, but he can do things….
https://youtu.be/0TgS6Tdu_8E
Here’s all his shifts from a game in 2020.
https://youtu.be/g-N6UtmIrDo
I think his value is totally on the defensive side. His career path could resemble Chris Vandevelde, without the NHL contract out of college.
interestingly, CV was a UND teammate of Brad Malone, CV being 3 years older. Both were 4th rounders and CV has 71 more NHL GP.
@lowetide / you’re always looking for ways to quantify defensive stats, and it feels like we’re not that far removed from quality of competition and advanced fenwick.
i thought this article on basketball was interesting.
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/33584857/the-new-advanced-metrics-show-on-nba-all-defense-teams-2021-22
A VGK injury update.
https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2022/03/max-pacioretty-suffers-setback-brett-howden-avoids-serious-injury.html
Vegas cap management at its finest. Ensure a number of players are injured longterm so their other LTIR players can return to the lineup. Those guys are playing 3 dimensional chess while everybody else is 2 dimensional. And that Davydov trade was a really brilliant move. Now, if they can just get into the playoffs….
I think it’s generally accepted that 0.5 P/GP is the cutoff for top-6. Pretty sure anything above 0.75 is top line production, somebody could confirm. With that in mind, let’s have a look at the Oilers lines.
Line 1
Kane: 0.88
McDavid: 1.48
Yamamoto: 0.50
Line 2
McLeod: 0.28
Draisaitl: 1.38
Hyman: 0.71
Line 3
Brassard: 0.53
Nugent-Hopkins: 0.80
Puljujarvi: 0.61
Line 4
Foegele: 0.34
Shore: 0.25
Kassian: 0.35
Other
Ryan: 0.28
Archibald: 0.25
That’s 4 guys in the “1st line” category (but spread over 3 lines!), and 4 more in the “2nd line” category. When your third line has a 1st line scorer and two 2nd line scorers, that’s depth that few – if any – other teams can match.
Best Oilers forward group ever. I know SS and Hunter are saying not yet, haven’t won anything, etc, and that’s a fair point. I’m not arguing best team ever, though, I’m arguing best forward group overall.
RNH is a superior player to MacT at 3rd line C, and who did the 80s teams have on 3rd line RW? Because this one has Puljujarvi, who is bonafide top line material.
McDavid and Drai are a fine era-adjusted comp to Gretz/Mess. Kurri/Anderson were spectacular, but Kane is on a 40 goal plus pace, Hyman on a 29 goal pace, and the latter contributes both ways in a similar vein to Kurri.
I’m just saying — enjoy it. Still have Holloway/Bourgeault/Savoie/Petrov/Lavoie bubbling under. Wow.
Not “ever”.
The 86-87 Oilers besides Gretzky, Messier, Kurri and Anderson, they added Kent Nilsson at the deadline who fully deserved the title of the Magic Man. Behind them they had Krush and Tikk who were bona fide top 6 players on any other team in the league as well. Maybe forward 8 & 9 in that line up MacTavish, Hunter aren’t stars MacTavish was a top end 3rd line player scoring above .5 ppg and being responsible defensively. That top 5 make that not just the most potent Oilers group ever, it is the most likely the most potent NHL forward group ever by a solid margin.
The early 90’s Pens were probably the closest, but not as good. They had some sweet rosters and Mario was ridiculous when healthy
LT’s 70’s Bruins were in that convo as well. Bobby Orr is the only other player I see as worthy if the question is GOAT
If Mario had been healthier him as well, health is a part of being GOAT, it is a skill to a certain extent, and besides C he had back problems he was asked to train to help and from what I read wasn’t into doing
Bobby didn’t play a long career, but he absolutely changed the game, Gretz pushed it again. Mario was the recipient of that to a large extent
Orr also was tough, a pretty solid dude and I was surprised seeing recently him whallop a fellow in a tussle. Fed the poor guy
I would say the best since. For me the difference is balance. Sather was really good at finding the pieces to have everything covered
It of course helps when you have skilled players that are also tough, to create balance. That is harder to do now
The 80’s Oilers were a mean team. Only Gretz wasn’t tough. Not that they all fought a lot, but I saw Kurri tune a couple of guys. Anderson was crazed, Messier was feared world wide. Tikhonov said his players couldn’t play when Messier was on the ice, with just cause
Tikk was bonkers and described as built like a bowling ball, MacT was no shrinking violet, Krush a big guy for the era and would fight
And they had Semenko, who knocked guys out on their feet
Different era, but it made them impossible to play against, you couldn’t beat them by skill or by force
Calgary took the best route and used psychological warfare, which worked for a while
I see Connor getting meaner, Leon has it in him and that is going to help them
Kane is cut from that cloth but has nowhere near the speed and talent of those 80’s guys.
Whom most of would be dominant players now if you brought out the time machine and they trained and played with today’s equipment. Imagine Kurri’s shot with a carbon twig
The guys in those days were shooting as hard as now with 2x2s
But, I believe if things go well up top we might see something special again of it’s own uniqueness and greatness, because Connor is as unique as Gretz, may become as great in the end
Just have to ditch the sentimentality. Oilers fans are lucky fans, only old Habs and Pens fans have had a similar ride
Remember when Dom talked about the Oilers having the worst forward depth in the league?
Should Holland be given some credit here?
Colorado has 8 players scoring at or above .75 P/GP.
Not true only 7 at .75 or above.
Hmmm, yet only 6 forwards at 0.5 P/game. How many did the Oilers have again?
Are defensemen not allowed to score in your walled garden?
Makar scores at a higher rate than 4 of the Oilers top 6 forwards and Toews isn’t far behind.
In a conversation about forward groups, no, Makar isn’t permitted to be involved in the conversation/discussion.
Yeah for sure…let’s ignore the elephants in the room.
Let’s all pretend Colorado doesn’t get massive scoring from its D because it makes everyone feel better if you don’t notice that Makar and Toews both score at a higher rate than every Oiler forward other than McDavid and Draisaitl.
I’m pretty sure Sakic would trade his D scoring for Nuge and Kane 🙂
P.S.
Burakovsky and Nichuskin both score at a higher rate than Hyman, Jesse and Yamamoto.
Good grief man – nobody is comparing the overall teams of Edmonton vs. Colorado.
Nobody.
Also, nobody gives a crap about the Avs and their defenders in this thread – it has nothing to do with this thread.
This is a thread about forward depth.
Start another thread if you want to talk about something else – its not part of this discussion.
Lol, walled garden. The post was about forwards, so…
You seem to have looked, you must have also noticed which team has more skaters over 0.5 points/game.
Yeah…if you squint hard enough and purse your lips you can make the argument that the Oilers forward depth is stacked as long as you pretend there are no other factors involved in scoring and winning games.
This is probably one of your most bizarre and nonsensical arguments yet.
“The Oilers have a lot of scoring depth at forward”
You “WHAT ABOUT COLORADO’S DEFENSE?!”
Brilliant.
What on earth are you on about?
I posted before the Colorado game about the teams having identical records and the Oilers scoring more goals per game than the Avalanche since Woodcroft arrived (2/3 of a goal more to be exact).
You could even go back to early January, if you wished to open your eyes, and see the Oilers have scored more than the Avalanche for half of the NHL season.
Hopefully they are as invincible as you think, cause they aren’t getting any chances better than this one to advance past the 2nd round.
Good grief – pretty much all Oiler fans acknowledge that the current tending and D-core is likely not good enough for a run to the cup finals.
That’s not the topic of conversation.
The topic is the forward depth of the team – end stop.
Not every topic has to be about the massive overall big picture – or encompass the topics you want to discuss.
Give. It. A. Break.
Grow. Up!
I would prefer drop dead than grow up!
By the way. Best D corp in the history of the game – Robinson, Savard and Lapointe and any other 3 guys they wanted to dress over about 6 seasons. No other team d-corp is even on the Same lap of the race. 22 year old Rod Langway was a part time 3rd pair D in that group in 78/79.
Usually when a player gets traded he’s running on adrenaline and has a meaningful first game. Here’s to Brassard who I’ve always liked and who’s the definition of a Journeyman and to Alberta boy Kulak who I thought was going to really pop with Calgary.
Does anyone know what Vegas will do once Martinez is ready to come back? They can’t keep him on LTIR if he’s healthy right?
I’m no capologist but it looks like they have a few guys injured like Patches Lehner and Smith who possibly could be moved to LTIR to make room. Wheres HH when you need him?
Mark my words Lehner is going to be a nightmare for the Vegas organization.
You are correct, under the CBA and by-laws, they must activate him when cleared and ready to play and, from accounts, that’s imminent.
As Nuggy mentioned, they could move some other players from regular IR to LTIR but, again, if they aren’t actually to be out for the 24 days and 10 games min, that’s not permitted.
They COULD still trade players away (i.e. Dadanov) but any player traded couldn’t play for their acquiring team this season.
I have posted a number of times recently, if Martinez is ready and they can’t activate him vis-a-vis the cap, the Knights should be league sanctioned via loss of draft picks.
Probably pay less than oilers did to hire fired gms!
Lehner, Patches and Smith have all been out since March 8-10. All 3 are very close to the 10 game mark and about a week to ten days away from the 24 day threshold. Anyone of them has enough salary by themselves that if they went on LTIR, they could activate Martinez and his salary. They just need to have one of those 3 to have the prognosis to be out at least that extra 7-10 days and the can transfer him retroactively to LTIR back to when they went on IR. Lehner was rumored to possibly gone for the rest of the regular season, since denied, so he seems like a likely candidate. I am not sure how close Patches or Smith are.
This of course just defers the rubber meeting the road to when whoever gets put on LTIR to spring Martinez, themselves get medically cleared to play. If everyone gets healthy during the regular season they are close to $15 million over. Vegas would have to put at least 2 of their IR players on LTIR to make room for Stone.
Given the trouble Vegas was going to to clear space in anticipation of one or both of Stone and Martinez being ready by the end of the regular season, it would seem strange now if all of a sudden some of their injured players went the rest of the regular season without being cleared only to be cleared for the playoffs.
Patches had a “setback in his recovery” – or so DeBoer was saying last night. Seems likely that he’ll head to LTIR as soon as he hits the 10 game mark like you say.
Honestly though, I think Vegas would rather move some money out and get him back sooner if he’s actually healthy, they’re not exactly a shoe-in for the playoffs as things stand.
For me? I hope they end up screwed over by the cap and gymnastics of trying to make things work. Like many people have said already it’s time for Vegas fans to experience the pain of supporting an NHL team, a decade or so of wandering in the desert is great for building appreciation of the good times.
The consequences for violating the cap can be a lot more severe than just draft picks. That’s just the start. They can be fined $5 million and could have to forfeit any game they played while in violation of the cap. For example, If they left Martinez on LTIR for 3 games beyond when he should have been cleared and the NHL investigates and rules it a violation, they could have to forfeit those 3 games.
The cap is a hard rule. They cannot be over it (in other words if Martinez has to be activated and no one else and no one else can go on LTIR, they have to lose a contract off the roster).
And if things get really bad with their hockey team folks can actually go wander in the desert!
Looks like Mikko is going to get the start (and I’m heartened that it doesn’t look like the coach is going to bump Foegele up in place of McLeod to start the game – he made an in-game change but looks like he is going back to the starting lines and giving McLeod more rope):
Tom Gazzola
@TomGazzola
·
25m
Brassard-RNH-Puljujarvi, Foegele-Shore-Kassian lines and Kulak-Barrie pairing taking part in optional practice. Both goalies along with McLeod and Bouchard on the ice as well as extras Archibald, Ryan and Russell. Koskinen in “starter’s net”.
One more interesting thing that may end up playing a factor in Goalie decisions. Here are the splits for the season:
GP W L OTL GAA Save%
Mike Smith
Home
11 6 4 0 3.16 .903
Away
7 1 4 2 3.47 .891
Mikko Koskinen:
Home
16 11 6 0 3.40 .892
Away
19 12 4 3 2.76 .913
It would seem we have one goalie who plays better on the road and one who plays better at home. This is unusual for Smith, but consistent with Mikko, so that might play some factors when deciding who plays when.
That is interesting!
I wonder if Archie is in the car on his way to Calgary? I’d take him over Kass, even in the Battle of Alberta.
We can debate if it was a penalty, but Kass made the play that allowed Drai to score.
This is more than a few other wingers showed last night.
Not sure why Kass would be first up on the batting order to be removed.
I don’t get why some folks wanted a penalty on the smart hit by Mama Kass which resulted in a turnover then bang a Leon snipe. It doesn’t matter what Kassian does a certain fanbase just can’t stand him.
I don’t think anyone wanted a penalty but many thought it should have been called a penalty because, well, it should have been.
It was fairly clear and obvious and has nothing to do with who committed the infraction.
Do you think any Avalanche fans lost sleep because shifty Kadri pulled off Nurses helmet. Just because Kassian was stronger on the puck doesn’t mean he should of received a penalty. I’m glad you weren’t officiating the game.
I’m not sure what Kadri and the Avs have to do with this – I’m simply speaking about the Oilers game last night.
If you don’t think that Kassian committed a fairly blatant infraction on the play, something that is called 95% of the time and the team is lucky it was missed, well, then I don’t think you are evaluating the play without bias.
Imagine if it was reversed and that was Coture on Ceci – the outrage would be epic.
Watching the Oilers Stars oldie the other day, the plays that started the Marchand goal were two guys taking out a Star in the D zone, finishing their checks, and that allowed the pass to Marchand
Something those Oilers were not doing previously in that OT. It matters, good on Kass. That’s why it’s a part of hockey
You don’t have to blow them up, just take them out of the play while getting the puck to the right places
He absolutely did but, as I posted earlier, I think that was a huge miss by the refs and Kass was extremely lucky – that was 2 minutes all day long.
I have to credit him for that play, I guess, it did lead to the goal but I saw Kass last night the same I’ve seen him but for his first two games back – lacking commitment to the hard parts of the game, lazy in the defensive zone, poor passes at the lines, not getting in lanes – he’s making mistakes, again and consistently, that are leading to the puck going to wrong way and/or staying in the defensive zone.
I am not sure what you saw that I did not. I saw a puck carrier get hit on the hip. The stick did not come around.
I guess you could have called it a crosscheck but it was at the hip level and not in the upper body so that is not called much.
You could call it interference because the puck carrier was in from of him and there was no play on the puck but McDavid has that happen to him every shift.
There was no hook. There was no slash. For me that is not a penalty. It is a hit.
You are correct. You see that play plenty of times through the year go uncalled. And this instance was more of a push than a crosscheck.
I’m no fan of Kassian’s often unmotivated, undisciplined, and inconsistent play, but I have zero issue with that particular play. Doesn’t appear that Woodcroft did either.
I disagree – that play in the offensive zone, leading directly to a high-end scoring chance – that’s called almost every time.
I disagree, gets let go lots. usually takes more of a crosscheck and contact higher up for a call.
It was a perfect playoff hit. If you can’t handle the heat in the Kitchen watch Ringette. We watch the opposition mug the shit out of Leon and Connor and we got our own fans that dislike Kassian lobbying for a penalty against him. How fuked up is that?
Obviously we see the play different even if I take off the rose coloured glasses it’s not a penalty. I’ll have to check my old phonebook but If I can find Andy Van Hellemond phone number he could resolve this dispute.
I say Kass has a big Playoff when the big ass D start slamming wingers Kass will earn his contract. If we face the heavies St.loo, Calgary I thick we have the right mix to defend ourselves. It all comes down to our Goaltending. I wish Woody had more of a hook on the bench. Everyone knows when Smith are Mikko are fighting the puck after they let in 2 leaky Goals pull them, leave your feelings in the dressing room.
I loved that Kassian didn’t get called for that greasy play. Other teams are doing greasy stuff like that against our boys all the time. If you’re not cheatin’ then you’re not trying hard enough to win.
Monohan will be healthy scratched tonight.
Thoughts of moving him for cap space without taking a big poison pill are clearly without foundation.
I imagine they’ll be forced to buy out his contract.
Wow. What happened to Monahan? Injuries?
He also lost his Mojo he needs a fresh start away from Sutter.
I presume they have taken a toll. It seems like every off-season he’s listed for like 2 plus surgeries.
Watching the Oilers vs the stars game last night, I had a thought and wanted to see where it led.
Your mileage may vary, but I believe Glen Sather to be one of the best Gm’s in NHL history, definitely one of the best in the last 40 years and I don’t think anyone could deny he has been a top-tier GM throughout his career. How did he manage his goalers?
Reminder, all of these years there are only 21 teams in the NHL, so 21-30 “starters” and tandems.
1979-80: Once Mio and Dryden seemed to falter, he traded for Ron Low
1980-81: Sather ran his veterans, and then installed the rookie Andy Moog in the playoffs
Sather makes the bold choice of drafting Grant Fuhr first round despite Moog’s emergence in the playoffs. this year he runs Low, and Fuhr.
1982-83: The start of the Moog and Fuhr tandem, the following years are as such:
Moog demands a trade and sits out nearly the whole year. Fuhr plays 75 games and Moog is traded at the deadline for Bill Ranford.
This is where things get interesting again… Fuhr runs into some injury trouble. an appendectomy and injured shoulder limit Fuhr to only 21 games. The following season, suspensions cause him to miss more time. After only playing 13 games in the 1990-91 season, he is traded.
*Expansion is starting around this time, so the number of teams progressively grows until 2000.*
The Oilers ship out Fuhr and rely heavily on Bill Ranford, who will play 85% of the team’s games until the 1996 season. The rotating cast of backups mainly include youngsters like Peter Ing, Ron Tugnutt, Fred Brathwaite and Joaquin Gage, but none play the 20 game minimum.
At this point, Ranford again plays heavily through the 1995-96 season before being traded back to the Boston Bruins halfway through the season. His save percentage at this point shoots up from .875 to .894 with Boston. Meanwhile every goalie in the top ten now has a modern-looking .910 or higher save percentage.
I love the news article i read on this. “Sather is sometimes described as hockey’s most patient man… sometimes maddeningly so”. He traded Ranford to make room for the previously acquired Curtis Joseph, and tried to maximize value. He runs Joseph heavy over the next few years.
Joseph leaves via free agency (I wonder how much the playoff revenue generated from Joseph stealing the series’ against Dallas and Colorado helped keep the team in Edmonton….)
Shtalenkov and Essensa start the season for the Oilers as Sather finds himself in the weird position of losing his starting goalie in the off-season for the first time. He tried running Shtalenkov and Essensa but eventually traded Shtalenkov for a 5th round pick, then turned around and acquired Salo, who was described as such: “the jury is still out whether Salo can be a number one, however his numbers are stellar considering the dismal performance of the Islanders this year”. Salo would be run heavy under Sather, and be the Oilers starter until past Sather’s time.
At this point, we move on from the Oilers like Sather did and we transition to the Rangers. If this is where you check out thats alright, but I am curious how he went through his whole career.
With the Rangers, he inherited the veteran duo of Kirk Mclean and Mike Richter, and eventually acquired Guy Hebert halfway through the season.
Richter returns the following season and splits the net with the 18 year old Dan Blackburn (!):
Richter suffers another injury, as a concussion sustained after a skull fracture the year before ends his career. 5 weeks after the initial injury, Sather trades for Mike Dunham to run with Blackburn:
Blackburn suffered a shoulder injury before training camp, which eventually forced his retirement, and thus ending the Blackburn experiment. Markkanen was acquired from the Oilers, before being sent back to Edmonton at the trade deadline.
After the lockout, a young goaltender came from Europe, and he would solidify the position in New York after many failed attempts. Henrik Lundqvist would remain the Rangers starter until Sather retired as GM, and remained a prominent figure in the net until Sather retired as POHO.
There are some really interesting patterns that emerge here.
Sorry to steal a huge chunk of blog LT, just some free time and an interesting thing I wanted to share!
Great stuff, thanks!
Incredible post.
Sather was one of the greatest GMs in history. Without the slightest hesitation he’s top 10 all time.
Epic post just like Sather!
Another thing Sather did was always protect his players. When things were bad, he always took the blame and never ever called out his players.
He also bailed a few out of jail and also squared up some debts with some undesirables. He was like a father to the younger players. We now have a G.M that I’m hoping doesn’t make a trade because of fear of overpaying. The man has had a year to find a dependable Goaltender instead we enter the Playoffs with Leaky and a beat up Senior.
great post! thank you for your time!
I wasn’t happy about the Oilers giving up a 2nd again (they trade all of them instead of drafting more Ryan Mcleods) but once I saw Kulak turn and burn on a forechecker last night I could tell right away that he is a big upgrade on what the Oilers have. He may even surpass Keith in the second pair. Pretty good chance Kulak signs here also as it sounds like he was a big Oilers fan. There was no way Holland could go into the playoffs with Bouchard and Broberg both in the lineup and I really like Broberg.
There’s Kulak’s all over the league you just have to look for them. Keith was such a overpay Mikko should of been involved in the trade. The Hawks needed a Goalie at the time. The Hawks dump Keith’s contract to the only team that was interested that fit his needs. We also gave up Caleb a cheap young serviceable D at the least and possibly a solid D for many years to come. Caleb looked good last night playing 21 minutes. The Keith trade allowed the Hawks to sign their Stud for 7 years and also get his Brother who seems to be learning his craft. Don’t even get me started on the 3rd rounder that could turn into a 2nd rounder in a deep draft next year.
“Mikko should of been involved in the trade” simply doesn’t ring true.
There is no doubt Holland tried to include Mikko (all account was he was trying hard to move Mikko all summer) but Bowman wouldn’t accept it. Bowman was trying to open up cap space so taking Mikko back in the trade simply did not work for them.
I’m not saying that Holland shouldn’t have backed off if Bowman would accept Mikko or material retention, he should have (in my opinion) but “Mikko should have been included” just isn’t real.
Pending UFA – could have had him in 40 days or so with no 2nd round cost.
If they win the cup it will be worth it. Not many see us as favourites.
But it sent a message to the team that he believes in them. Now don’t get started about goalies but upgrading the D will help the goalies….
No question. Kulak makes the team better.
That would apply for every team that acquires a rental and only one team wins……. no?
I understand where you are coming from but these look to be two moves that, really, aren’t all that expensive. I value 2nd rounders but these two moves make the team better and deeper.
There is every ability to beat LA in the first round to set up a, likely, BoA in the 2nd round.
Ya, I’m OK with the acquisition cost.
Also, it would probably be more expensive to try and sign Kulak in July then to re-sign him in the spring before free-agency, if the parties choose.
Kulak did play just over 2 minutes more than Keith at 5 on 5 last night.
It won’t take him long given Keith also isn’t physical
I just hope Keith is ok with it. It works in his favour as he can play fresher and survive the grind better with less TOI, and so contribute more
Nothing wrong with getting older. Kind of unavoidable. Woody has to put his Aces in their places and everyone plays better and the team does better
IF Smith becomes the Oiler starting goalie in the balance of games AND all starting play-off goalies play 10 more regular season games; Here is the number of regular season games the starter will have played this year
Nashville 64 games
Pittsburgh 60 games
TBL 60 games
Calgary 59 games
Colorado 55 games
Minnesota 55 games
Dallas 55 games
Carolina 54 games
NYR 52 games
Florida 51 games
TML 50 games
LAK 47 games
Washington 43 games
Boston 41 games
STL 40 games
Smith 26 games
That is probably good for a 40 year old goalie?
It’s great for a 40 year old goalie if he stays healthy. Health has always been the weak link in the signing.
No points for Nuge last night but a major positive impact on the game including important on two Oiler goals.
No question – solid game. Favourite play was his hard drive to the net on
the Brassard goal. ( that is a playoff type goal)
Another 10 bell chance with a half open net as well. I think Brassard put his hands in
the air on that gorgeous pass.
Nobody in the NHL has seen better looks at the net the last two years that Ryan Nugent Hopkins.
Evander Kane should be thanking Leon and Connor – every, single, day – here.
15-8-23 in 26 games and he’s a drag on results? Whose results? Is this for real?
I’m oversimplifying grossly here, but:
Is this what Lucic was meant to be for the Oilers?
Yes.
I think it is because his on-ice xGF% is weirdly low. I looked at it last week and he was the only one in the top 6 or 7 forwards below 50%. I am not sure why, it doesn’t match the eye test for me whatsoever. Curious to dig deeper.
It’s because he played lots with Draisaitl (who’s also a drag I guess? Is that what Twitter is saying?).
Kane, Nuge, Yamamoto all have xGF% below 50, and Draisaitl’s is also under water when not playing with McDavid.
Maybe the ‘x’ part of that stat isn’t accurate.
Maybe it’s Twitter that is inaccurate. That’d be a shock!
It’s not a stat that I rely on at all. People should be paying more attention to raw data than derivatives.
Sure, but the goals are often too small a sample, and xGF generally does line up well with shots, scoring chances, HD scoring chances.
Kane, Draisaitl, Nuge, Yamamoto have performed poorly this season by all of those metrics.
Draisaitl and his linemates have been outscoring the underlying numbers for a few years now though, so my main issue with the analysis would be not applying it equally.
I’m somewhat indifferent on who starts in goal on Saturday – I’m not sure what makes the most sense (and I usually have a fairly solid opinion on that).
I know Smith is taking heat for last night (which I don’t get) but, for me, I think he may be playing a bit better over the last bit – he’s been good since he came back and in his 3 games. Mikko has come off his heater a bit but still been “fairly good”.
They are playing every second day for a while now so both will play.
They could go back to Smith, and I might be leaning that way.
At the same time, they could continue the rotation they’ve been on.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but anecdotally, by memory, I think Mikko has generally played well against the flames – even some steals?
I would just rotate them.
They both need to play. They shouldn’t over work either of them.
No favorites, then make the call for game 1.
Exactly.
Playoffs ( NHL Season) are a marathon…..just rotate them for now.
Let them both be well rested for playoffs.( assuming reasonable play
by each )
At this point, of course, its looking like a fairly even split makes sense but, at least for me, that doesn’t necessarily mean one on/one off, repeated – they do need to take into account prior game play and even things like type of forecheck team (there are teams that Smith’s abilities with the puck will help against big time).
They don’t at all have to though.
I see Koskinen and Smith as competing for the playoff starters role from here on out, with close to a blank slate.
If Woodcroft is looking at it the same way then he doesn’t need to reward a good game with another one. And if you’re picking a guy as your playoff starter, there’s only so much consideration you can give to puck handling.
IMO there’s no need to strategize the starts through the end of the regular season, ymmv.
I agree 100% and that is what I’m saying – not strategizing the starts in any ways except for the decision on who gives the team the best chance to win that night (and with a view to the near term schedule to keep both guys playing and fresh) – there are factors that go in to that and should just be a one game on/one game off rotation.
One more thing on the standings – the Oilers have 30 regulation wins to to 27 for the Kings. If the Oilers end up tying the Kings, the Oilers will assuredly win the tie break.
With that said, the Oilers have 30 regulation wins to the Knights 29 – if the Knights and Oilers tie, it reasonably likely that the Knights will have more regulation wins but not for sure.
Assuredly?
The Kings next 2 games are against Seattle before a game against the Oilers.
All I know is both teams have played more the Edmonton and both teams have less regulation wins.
This assuredly means Calgary sucks, LA Sucks, and the Knights are cheating sucks.
All the while the unicorns are relieving themselves all over the rubber road.
In a scheduling quirk…those 2 games are both at home for LA.
LA has a worse winning percentage at home than on the road….
Seattle has a much worse winning percentage on the road.
9-20-3
It always amuses me watching you insist on how bad the Kraken is after watching you insist for the last year how they were going to be the Golden Knights 2.0.
Good times.
You’re missing his point. He’s not saying that the Oiler will assuredly catch the Kings he’s saying that if they do, they will have reached the same number of points with more wins which is accurate.
HH assuredly isn’t missing anything. His rampant narcissism would not stand for it lol
Yes – read the damn post.
The Oilers have 3 more regulation wins than the Kings.
If the Oilers gain standings points on the Kings between now and the end of the year how do you think they’ll do that with the Kings getting 4 more regulation wins than them in that time?
Does that seem even remotely likely?
Good Grief!
Knights are looking like they might fall flat on their collective faces. So much for their ruthless management style – post the flukey SC Finals appearance.
The season is already starting to run out. Kings look to be the more likely 1st round opponent?
100% – the focus is on Vegas.
Yup, I’m keeping my eye on the Kings and hoping to pass them for 2nd.
Yup, I’m keeping my eye on the likes of Dallas and Nashville in case something lame happens with Vegas and they need to solidify a wild card spot.
With that said, at the end of the day, they have points and games on Vegas and a Pacific playoff spot is there for the taking and the most likely.
Its highly likely they play the Kings in the first round and its a matter of where the series starts……. no jinxing though – lots of games left to blow it (or move up).
Vegas next 10 games:
vs. Chicago
@Seattle
@Seattle
@Vancouver
vs. Vancouver
vs. Arizona
@Vancouver
@Calgary
@Edmonton
vs. New Jersey
Only 2 games against teams currently in a playoff position.
Should Vegas get back (somehow) any of their injured players, they should be a tough out.
By way of contrast, 7 of the next 10 Oiler games are against teams currently in a playoff position.
In reality, any team can win any evening. Have we not seen top teams lose to bottom teams all season? Such as the Avs losing to the Coyotes, or Vegas losing to Phili and Buffalo in the past few weeks? Or vice versa… either way, your assumptions are baseless and your grasping at straws.
In reality…
Better teams beat weaker teams most of the time.
That’s why, you know, they’re better teams.
Ignoring that is what is indeed grasping at straws.
Tampa lost to the Oilers, a clearly worse team.
And by definition any team is superior to a team with a less winning record, rendering your point as ridiculous.
As usual, this was already mentioned below.
Worth noting, 10 of the 10 games against teams who’ve been better than Vegas over the last month.
That’s nice – the 32nd post over the last 3 seasons how strength of schedule is about to sewer the Oilers’ season.
If Oilers go 9-8 Vegas would need to go 10-4-1.
They surely at least starting to grind into the meridian on their soft rubber road. Won’t take a massive seachange for them to end up in ditch.
It’s also nice to note that Vegas are not in a playoff spot currently, and the Oilers are currently in a playoff spot.
Yes, it is early. And against John Leonard and Scott Ready but I really like
Brassard already. Good hockey IQ.
No bigger fan of McLeod than me but his play on the Hertl goal was horrific.
If you are going to play top 6 in the NHL young man you have to be hard in your own end.
I also saw McLeod bad on that Hertl goal. Shit happens. Definitely need more awareness when a player like Hertl is buzzing to the middle of the ice.
He’s been making some real bad plays in his own zone the last few games leading to goals against.
He’s got to slow it down, trust and use his linemates.
What I noticed with Foegle on the Drai line is that he immediately parked himself in front of the net. McLeod doesn’t do enough of that.
McLeod made a couple really really poor plays in fairly short succession – they cost the team on the scoreboard.
Coach made the in-game adjustment to reduce his minutes and role and moved up, mainly Foegele but also Kass for a few shifts).
Judging by optional skate today, it seems McLeod will be right back up on Leon’s wing next game and, this, I like.
A couple bad plays for a rookie should not lead to purgatory – now, if McLeod makes major defensive blunders tomorrow night……
Kulak and Brassard are astute additions.
Like you, I figured Brassard would slot in on line 4. He certainly has some game left in him; was surprised at his boots and mitts (given age).
The whole top 9 was excellent. Deepest Oiler forwards since the 80s, and probably better than them.
Better than the 5 time Champs?
Not yet
Better than the 80s Oilers?
As good as 2022 Oilers are, something about those HOFers Gretzky/Coffey/Messier/Kurri + Anderson/Simpson begs to differ…
They were so good that Slats could casually forget about the draft. He already had everything he could possibly want.
PS: Coffey wasn’t technically a forward but…
We’ve talked long about Nuge “playing the softs” with the 3-center deployment (and even a bit with the load up and Nuge at 2C in the past).
We know that Nuge doesn’t “drive a line” and that is just fine – its a highly over-used phrase the last while – not every player needs to “be a driver”. With that said, we know that Nuge is a very good and responsible player that can help with zone entires and create scoring chances while being very solid defensively.
When he’s been down the lineup, against real softs, in the past, he’s never had two legit wingers – until now. J
esse Puljujarvi and Derek Brassard as his linemates??????
WHAT?
On the 3rd line, against a team’s 3rd best (presumably)????
It was only one game last night, and against a non-deep team, but it was a DAMN good start. Two legit top 6 forwards and a former legit top 6 forward in Brassard (who, to my eye on 1 look, still has real skill and, like Nuge, is a smart player and is able to make plays with little space and is sneaky effective on the forecehck – experience).
Stay healthy lineup – do some damage.
I disagree.
This season RNH has been given a real set of linemates instead of getting shunted up and down the lineup like a red haired stepchild. His game has improved to a remarkable degree.
He’s starting to play like his original NHL style again, and it’s been a joy to watch.
Next year’s cap space reduced by $212,500 as Bouch hit his first Type A bonuses with his 25th assist last.
He will assuredly hit 3 of them and highly likely 4 for a total of $850K.
(1 goal away from 10. 100% will be top 4 in TOI. 40 points would be another. .49 P/G would be another. Top 3 in plus/minus for D would be another. Top 2 in blocked shots for D would be another and, as of two games ago, he was tied with Ceci for 2nd).
That honestly hurts but good on him. It’s a nasty puzzle looking at next year and trying to figure out how they can even manage to stand in place with this roster MINUS Kane.
Smith was just fine last night.
I know, and I agree, he “looked bad” on the first goal against but that was a 3 on 2 with the Sharks top players who scored a high skilled beautiful goal. Smith “looked bad” but wasn’t at fault on the goal – it was a beauty tic tac toe passing play.
Smith “looked good” on most of the shots – solid rebound control, etc.
I don’t agree with the comments about him “swimming” all night and not looking good or right or that he looks slow or whatever. I 100% agree with that in certain games this year, and generally this year, but I thought he “looked” fine last night.
Ya, he got caught out of the net once and had to dive back – that happens – he also made a dozen solid little plays with the puck that helped the team dominate.
I’ve been HIGHLY critical of Smith over the last while and of the org for not bringing Skinner up and moving Smith (down) but, as far as individual games go, I though he was good last night and has been in the three since he came back.
Nah, the first goal he committed to the Smith dive way too early, no idea what the plan was there.
He did do very well at points though, so credit where credit is due.
The smelly glove penalty was ridiculous though, what was he thinking?
I’m impressed the ref that was at center ice somehow saw the smelly glove.
His 3rd period wander away from his net and resulting hero dive back into his crease… That’s got to be ironed out, it won’t be but it will lead to far more bad then good.
I was at the game last night, on the opposite end of the rink from Smith’s smelly glove. The fan reaction was immediate anger at a perceived soft call on the defenceman, confusion when the ref announced #41 for roughing, and uproarious laughter when the replay came up. Mike Smith may not be our best or even 2nd best goalie, but he is damn sure the only one that opposition forwards need to be worried about punching them in the face when they circle behind the net.
lol
You’re 100% right. Smith is a Warrior.
I think it’s fair to say that I, and maybe some other fans, are looking at our goalies with an overly critical eye. Wish I had even a shred of optimism about them. Unfortunately, I can’t manufacture it. Koskinnen and Smith will crush our hockey souls in the playoffs.
Both Smith and Mikko have played good/bad all season. Neither can really be trusted, but for different reasons:
Smith is 40 years old and his body doesn’t recover from injury like it used to. Who the hell can count on him for a playoff run? Mikko simply bleeds goals in the 1st period.
The solution = Skinner!
I think everyone is entitled to their opinion on his play, but I will quibble with this. It was a beautiful play. However, when I watch the replay, Karlsson did not take the pass cleanly, it was in his skates. He had to stop it and then shoot. Any other goalie who stays on his feet and comes across may still get their late if Karlsson one timed it…oh well, great goal. But with Smith on his belly, facing the other way(?!), Karlsson stopped it with his feet and calmly deposited it in the empty net. Even if Smith was slow coming across it may have at least forced Karlsson to rush or try to pick the corner which may have made him miss.
Goals against happen, but you also can’t just give them away like that. Especially in the playoffs.
On the Smith penalty, yes, it was for sure a penalty and a poor decision by Smith – I was a bit miffed at the time that the back official from center called it (when he official 4 feet away did not).
As far as both goalies playing both good and bad on the year – absolutely, no doubt. Which goalie hasn’t though? Shesterkin has been LIT UP for apx 5 games now. Andrei V. recently as well.
Of course, the trust in those two to bounce back and then be VERY good is MUCH higher than in our two, but still.
I hate to mention rubber and roads, but Vegas has a bunch of shit soft opponents coming up. …Seattle twice, Vancouver thrice, Arizona, Chicago twice…
Yeah, but this is always the time of year that “shit soft opponents” suddenly break out the switchblades and start stabbing people.
When you are up against teams with the idea of possibly playing spoiler – I’d be pretty motivated as I’m sure most of the lottery team players would be as well. It’s something to play for in a lost season.
Vancouver beat Colorado on Wednesday and are 3 points behind Vegas with a game in hand. They’re not going to roll over.
Three of those teams have new management
Those players do have something to play for – their jobs
Trap games. Take them lightly and pay. I hope they do
Last night was a, seemingly, rare night where I felt the Oilers actually got the favorable refereeing. The Kassian infraction was real and spectacular and led directly to a goal. No blood but Kane could easily have received 4-minutes for his reckless stick in the face.
In any event, at the same time, the Oilers dominated that 5 on 5 play (and possession) – I guess they really did dominate the game and maybe earned a bit of ref-luck last night.
1st and 3rd lines – pure fire – my goodness.
4th line not effective but, guess what? If they wanted, they could insert an entirely new 4th line with Ryan and Archibald (and Malone I guess) – OK, 2/3 of a new line with legit NHL players who have played 3rd line in recent years.
Kass needs to come out for Archie – he just does.
Why would Kane get 4 mins if no blood?
Shore will come out for Arch, if McLeod isn’t sat for a game. Either way Kass will be still be playing. Also won’t be surprised if Foegele is sat.
There doesn’t need to be blood to call a double-minor. I’m sure that was no intent but was a reckless play by Kane as he took a one-handed swing/chop. It looked like he meant to get him in the mid-section but the stick rode up and he chopped the guy in the head with his stick. Could have easily been 4 for me.
I don’t disagree that Kass likely will be playing. I don’t think he should be playing.
Not sure what Archie brings that is so essential to putting him in? Would think that if anything Ryan would come in for Kassian if you really want him out. Can PK adequately like Archie and also gives you option of right handed face-off man to use when needed.
To me that spot rotates between Kassian and Ryan….and Shore and Ryan….no Archibald
I didn’t say it was essential. I said I’d prefer him in over Kassian (I’d prefer Ryan in over Kassian right now as well but Archie brings some similar skills to Kassian).
I query if “no Archibald” is based on evaluating on-ice play or, at leat partially, based on thoughts/feelings/opinions towards other off-ice issues.
Archie has not been very good this season but, of course, he’s still getting up to speed. Folks gave Kane time to get up to speed.
Archie can be a useful player when he’s on his game.
A couple times over the years at Friday night shinny, one of the guys will have a few pre game pops and then throw on the goalie gear. “Want to try it, it doesn’t look hard” they say.
What you get is exactly what we saw with Smith on SJ’s first goal. 😆
Father in law and I missed the next 5 minutes of the game from laughter!
To Smith’s credit, he did bounce back after that and was solid.
He kept the puck out. I’m not sure I would describe 3 giveaways, 2 of them with the net gaping, plus a bad penalty as “solid”.
I didn’t like the Scrivens bear rug on the second goal. He didn’t have much chance on it, but still…
I thought he provided a solid performance, which is all that’s needed when the team play that well.
Scrivens bear rug.. that’s good!
That was Anaheim Ducks’ nickname of Scrivens. Flat on the floor, eyes up, helpless.
Smith himself said he didn’t like either goal against and that he took himself out of position.
That first goal against, to me, is being so overblown on the goalie – he got turned around due to some great skill and very very poor defending – he was not at fault on the goal against, at all, and was solid to good overall in the win.
Good game from Smith.
A pass across the front shouldn’t make a goalie do the helicopter out in the slot. It was funny OP, 😃
Makes sense, I had never heard that one before.
Hyman’s PK ragging of the puck reminded me of Peter Forsberg, one of my favourite players of all time. I saw him do something similar and hold onto the pick for almost an entire PK once.
Hyman has been a wonderful addition to the team.
Also, the post-game with Ben and Zach was precious. Oilers did a good thing last night.
Do the Oilers have the best/deepest forward group in the league? (Also, someone pinch me, I never thought I would be talking about the Oilers having a dominant group of forwards)
Florida is in the conversation. Colorado, although they are not as deep as last year/they are quite top heavy. Maybe Vegas when healthy. I am probably missing many teams. Still drinking coffee.
Any 3rd line centres that come close to RNH?
Lowry. The best 3rd line center in the league IMO. Big, strong, fast, fantastic penalty killer, great at face-offs, can fight anyone in the league and win, and is a back checking demon. Nuge scores more points and has a bigger hockey brain but that’s mostly because he is on PP and Lowry is not. Lowry scored two beauty short handed goals in back to back games recently. Very underrated due to playing for his dad in Winnipeg.
Lowry is a good one. Although, he has never scored more than 29 points in a season.
I think I give RNH the edge. More versatile.
When Nuge scores more than 50pts in a season, he’ll be the best.
Lowry has only managed 36 5v5 points, total, over the last 3 seasons. 12 per season (Nuge has 65).
Yeah, what the hell happpened?
One freaking year ago the team had
Nuge-Puljujarvi
Kahun-Yamamoto
Chiasson-Archibald
as top 9 wingers, with JJ Khaira at 3C.
What a shocking difference in ONE calendar year.
Fire Holland!
Good article with Sutter talking about embracing analytics
https://www.tsn.ca/calgary-flames-darryl-sutter-hockey-analytics-1.1776365
Excellent!!! Thanks.
Big fan of he player, but there are times Hyman takes the puck hard into traffic/to the net when there is a pass available
I’ve noticed him looking off teammates fairly regularly
Minor quip. Great player.
I never watch Leaf games but my old man said he frequently did this while in Toronto and it drove him nuts. I’ve maybe paid more attention to it because of that. However, he does have possession but agreed that more options are available at times.
He’s a North-South player. I think he adds a unique element to the team, in that he routinely drives the puck hard to the net, whereas our other top players can be guilty of playing on the periphery at times, and overpassing the puck.
No player is perfect, but glad that we have him and the Leaf’s don’t.
My brother who is a huge Leafs fan warned me of this last summer, said that Hyman gets tunnel vision at times even when there might be a skilled shooter (typically Matthews, Marner) available for the pass. I’ve watched for it & have seen it plenty.
When Hyman is on a depth line & by definition the best player on it, this can be a strength, my bro said. Of course it is hard to criticize a player who will willingly drive the puck into the heavy areas but it’s not always optimum use of a possession.
LT, it never occurred to me last night that Yamamoto’s goal was ala Eberle but that’s so spot on!
OP wrote last night that Yamamoto did the jump after with grace too. I agree that he did the jump with style but you could see the confidence in him after he scored. We needed that goal to get back into the game after the 1st PP unit didn’t score and after we gave up that crappy first goal.
Yamamoto has been hanging around the opposition goal crease lately, poking in goals like a goodun.
LT: “Third place is the key”… just curious, are you suggesting this is our sweet spot for a playoff matchup, or we don’t want to take any chances falling into a wildcard position. Lastly, what’s wrong with 2nd place, which I believe is attainable and what Connor is going to push for.
Nice to see everyone healthy last night, first time since forever. My guess November 18th with Nurse’s injury. That’s 4 full months, incredible.
I think you secure third place, and shoot for second if you can. Five teams from the Central will make it, pretty sure.
This is the way – its right in front of them.
Is Yamamoto going to be more expensive to re-sign than Puljujarvi??
I’ll guess no, solely based on draft pedigree. During LT’s 2022 lineup exercise last week, I was with the group consensus Yamamoto would be the odd man out. Lots of goals since. Still seems he has that draft day interview attitude, something to the effect of “if you don’t draft me you’ll regret it”. Starting to wonder if the consensus, including myself is regretting their vote.
Went to the game last night. Surprisingly fun outing and always fun seeing new Oilers make their debut.
From the standing O for Ben, to the ridiculously loud cheer for Hyman’s PK work, to Draisaitl reiterating that Edmonton fans are f***ing phenomonal, it was an awesome experience. Rogers Place is definitely heating up for the stretch drive!
Agreed LT, Kulak looked great. What a welcome addition.
Yea Kulak definitely fills a hole! Solid D man. Brassard looks good with Nuge as well.
Prospectarium!
A quartet of Oilers NA prospects take to the ice, including Brind’Amour’s #8 Quinnipiac vs. #11 St. Cloud as the other half of the NCAA Div-1 bracket is in action.
Youngstown (Lachance) @ 5 p.m.
Oshawa (Tullio) @ 5:30 p.m.
Wheat Kings (Chiasson) @ 6 p.m.
Quinnipiac (Brind’Amour) @ 6 p.m.
As always, all times are Endiang time.
Endiang! just a stone’s throw down the road. More gophers than folks!
My wife’s family farm outside of Endiang!
Nice area Endiang and Byemoor. A lot of good people.
So you’re saying that there is such thing as a happy Endiang? 😀
🤣
Defence matching…
In that first SJS game, Manwood was running 7-11 (all hours), so you are not going get as true a comparison on D, LT.
Still, that was a coaching decision. I like Woodcroft’s evolving of the roster, and believe one of them is line matching now that he has three good-to-great ones.
Last change may also have been a factor.
You mean like I wrote about last night? Quite obviously you are preaching to the choir.
…And you are missing my point.
Yes. Perhaps next time you could make your post more self contained and complete, allowing the reader to better understand your point. It’s a win-win for everyone!
Woodcroft Era
EDM Goal Diff 21 gp(13-6-2) (0.667 pts%)
EV (3v3,4v4,5v5)
97 w/o 29(17-13) 57%
29 w/o 97(16-5) 76%
97&29 On(6-1) 86%
93 w/o either(6-3) 67%
71(1-5) 17%
10(5-4) 56%
Other(2-5) 29%
Net EV +17
Special Teams 17-20=-3
Empty Net 9-4=+5
SO/PS 0-0
Goal Diff +19
Really would like to see that special teams number turn positive.
Nuge back should help a lot.
Really would like to see 71 calm it down.
EDM Goal Diff 65 gp(36-24-5)
EV(5v5,4v4,3v3)
97 w/o 29(40-33) 55%
29 w/o 97(40-29) 58%
97&29 On(20-12) 63%
93 w/o either(14-12) 54%
71(9-16) 36%
10(15-27) 36%
Other(6-12) 33%
Net EV +3
Special Teams 56-53
Net ST +3
Empty Net 19-12
Net EN +7
SO & PS 3-0 = +3
Goal Diff +16