Something Better Beginning

by Lowetide

The stars came out Monday night, but so did the department of youth on a night when the Edmonton Oilers looked good in pretty much every area of the game. Perhaps the most encouraging part of the night came from youngsters Ryan McLeod (2-1-3), Jesse Puljujarvi (0-2-2) and Kailer Yamamoto (0-1-1). The 20 giveaways were far too Santa for me, but as a recovery game, this was a satisfying experience.

THE ATHLETIC!

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 0-1-0)
  • At home to: ARI, LAK (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
  • Overall expected result: 8-5-2, 18 points from 15 games
  • Actual March results: 8-4-2, 18 points in 14 games
  • Oilers in 2021-22: 37-25-5, 79 points in 67 games

Edmonton is on track for 97 points and could pass 80 points by the end of March. If the team hits 80 before April 1, a point-per-game in each of the final 14 contests should be enough to secure third place in the Pacific Division. I know it was Arizona and the team had to show up after the ghastly Calgary game, but small victories are big steps. The loss by Los Angeles (to the Kraken) means Edmonton is two points behind, with a game in hand, and gives new meaning to the game tomorrow night versus the Vachons.

GOALTENDER

Mikko Koskinen had a nice recovery game, stopping 31 of 32, .969. According to NST, there were seven HDSC and MK stopped all of them. The GA was a fluke. Koskinen owns a .901SP for the season. I would start him against the Kings. You?

DEFENSE

Duncan Keith had a takeaway, an assist and a blocked shot. He played two clean minutes on the PK. Evan Bouchard also had two PK minutes with nothing good happening for the Coyotes, and three shots on goal. Showed more urgency and was stronger on the puck defensively, of course Arizona isn’t as talented as Calgary but the video is less worrisome.

Darnell Nurse picked up an assist, three shots and five blocked shots. Played a more controlled game, it helped that the Coyotes forecheck was less suffocating than the Flames version. Cody Ceci had a giveaway, one decent look and a couple of hits. He looked good defensively. Ceci is now 48-48 goals at five-on-five for the season, after starting 22-28 through mid-January.

Brett Kulak really is noticeable because of his foot speed. Three hits, two giveaways, he is 3-3 goals through three games at five-on-five. Tyson Barrie had a good night: One assist, six shots, a giveaway and several sorties up the ice for offensive looks. This pairing was on the ice for the PK that didn’t get the job done, puck went of Zach Hyman and in. Both D looked like they were in good position.

FORWARDS

Evander Kane had five hits, three giveaways and took four minor penalties in a row. I thought he played a physical game and he also drew a penalty. Quiet offensively, but has 15 goals in 28 games, with 20 on the horizon. He earned all the penalties, but refs rarely call all of them, don’t recall three back-to-back-to-back in my time. Connor McDavid scored early and was dangerous all night, with five shots and five more shot at net, one HDSC. Jesse Puljujarvi had easily his best game since coming back from injury, two outstanding assists and he’s now 12-21-33 in 53 games. Also ran into a couple of guys and a couple of guys ran into him. The result is always the same, man down for the other team. Jesse is a wall. He is now 41-25 in five-on-five goals, best on the team among regular forwards.

Zach Hyman had a goal, four shots, most of them surrounding attempts to get around that corner behind the net, coming out the other side and getting a good look. He had four HDSC’s at five-on-five to lead the team. Wonderful player. Leon Draisaitl went 1-1-2 and now is 48-48-96 on the season. He and CMD had a late two-on-one in the second that almost cashed. Six shots, two takeaways, legend. Kailer Yamamoto picked up an assist and is now 18-15-33 on the year. The assist was a beauty, McLeod was going 200 MPH, hard to gauge that pass but KY did it.

Derrick Brassard had one chance of note but nothing dangerous, the entire line missed the big Finn. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played a bunch in all areas, was most effective on the PK and had no real offense of note. His three giveaways were uncommon for this player. Josh Archibald had six hits, two takeaways and a giveaway, but he didn’t bring much offense to the line.

Warren Foegele scored a nice goal, he is now 9-14-23 in 67 games. He had a HDSC and three takeaways on the evening, also took a penalty. Ryan McLeod was the star of the game, 2-1-3, skated miles and was involved all over. Drew a penalty, looked calm and pushed constantly. Impressive. Derek Ryan picked up an assist, a HDSC and brought experience to the line.

OILERS SIGN RYAN FANTI

The Edmonton Oilers reached into college free agency for the first time since Ken Holland arrived to sign a prospect to an NHL deal. Ryan Fanti is a helluva goalie based on numbers and a fine young man based on anecdotal evidence. Carter Savoie, Edmonton’s unsigned scoring winger who plays for the Denver Pioneers, ended Fanti’s college career on the weekend. Fanti’s .929 save percentage is a fantastic number, he is 6.02 and signed an ATO with the Condors. He should see action this spring in the AHL and is a promising addition.

OILERS 2022-23 50-MAN LIST (38)

  • Goalies (5): Mike Smith, Stuart Skinner, Ilya Konovalov, Olivier Rodrigue, Ryan Fanti
  • Left Defense (7): Darnell Nurse, Duncan Keith, Oscar Klefbom, Slater Koekkoek, Philip Broberg, Markus Niemelainen, Dmitri Samorukov
  • Right Defense (6): Cody Ceci, Tyson Barrie, Evan Bouchard, Vincent Desharnais, Phil Kemp, Mike Kesselring
  • Center (6): Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan McLeod (RFA), Devin Shore, James Hamblin.
  • Left Wing (7): Zach Hyman, Warren Foegele, Dylan Holloway, Brendan Perlini (RFA), Tyler Benson (RFA), Ostap Safin (RFA), Matvei Petrov
  • Right Wing (7): Jesse Puljujarvi (RFA), Kailer Yamamoto (RFA), Derek Ryan, Zack Kassian, Seth Griffith, Rafael Lavoie, Tyler Tullio.

Some of those RFA’s are going to get walked, and I do wonder about a player like Konovalov (he may want to return to Russia, depending on Edmonton’s plans). I would say the areas to address are clear for the summer.

LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE

At 10 this morning, we break down the Oilers game and more on TSN1260. Guests include Tyler Yaremchuk from Daily Faceoff, and we’ll chat about Canadian men’s soccer over the rest of this week with Mattew Iwanyk. Jays, final four, Condors and more! 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk in 90 minutes!

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OriginalPouzar

No MacKinnon. No Landeskog. Flames still can’t take the Avs to OT.

OriginalPouzar

Daly was in Paris last week, along with Mathieu Schneider from the NHLPA, meeting with the IIHF and member federations in planning for the next World Cup.

https://theathletic.com/3217582/2022/03/29/lebrun-nhl-gms-agree-to-continue-ltir-playoff-salary-cap-talks-will-propose-changes-to-no-trade-list-filings/

YES! That means that non-NHL players would be able to participate – a real best on best.

meanashell11

I assume no russians.

JimmyV1965

Watched the last five minutes of the Flames – Avs game and it confirmed everything awful about the NHL. Lindholm elbows Toews, knocking him to the ground and causing a bloody nose. No penalty. Kadri high sticks Gaudreau. No injury, but refs call a penalty. They have to I guess, but the no call on Lindholm was bush league.

Kelly Hrudey was even worse. He’s just such an awful blah meh homer. Why can’t this league get competent refs and broadcasters? It can’t possibly be this difficult. And I’m not casting judgement on the Flames crew only. I love Louie Debrusk, but he’s unwatchable at this point. I basically mute the games now. 

fishman

I tried watching some of that game. Had to turn it off as I could not listen to Kelly!

Reja

I wish we had Kuemper between the pipes this man is dialed in.

Bulging Twine

41-25 goals noice

OriginalPouzar

Perusing through the Kings’ numbers and I was surprised to see Kopitar’s production is lagging behind last year’s rate (by a small bit).

I recall the position that Danault was going to open up Kopitar to less defensive responsibilities and his offence would take off and that positioned doubled down on and championed after being over a PPG for the first two months.

Still a very good player (although regressing), Kopitar is exactly who he was last year – under a PPG with forward worst plus/minus and second worst 5 on 5 goal share (among regulars with enough games).

Danult is a good player but he has not changed anything about Kopitar or his results.

McSorley33

Kopitar turns 35 in a few months ….time catches up with all athletes

Harpers Hair

That may appear to be true but a little deeper dive tells another story.

Last Season/This Season

CF% 51.71/54.78
FF% 52.08/55.22
SF% 53.38/55.38
xGF% 48.70/53.27

So significant improvement across the board BUT…

ON/SH% 7.94/6.29
ON/SV% .909/.904

His PDO this season is .967.

He’s been massively unlucky but his performance has also been affected by a rotating cast of wingers as the Kings have suffered numerous injuries.

Redbird62

Meanwhile, you try and claim Johnny Hockey is as good or better playmaker than McDavid yesterday, yet is rocking a 13.22% team on ice shooting percentage (career high by a wide margin) while McDavid has a 7.88% team on ice shooting %, (by far a career low).

Harpers Hair

Gaudreau has better line mates….both 30+ goal scorers.

In term of individual shooting percentages…

McDavid 14.2%

Gaudreau 14.2%

Gaudreau has a PDO of 1.068 but much of that is driven by an ON/SV% of .937 thanks to Markstrom.

I posted this earlier…it indicates how dominant Gaudreau has been at 5X5 this season.

Brailey (@BraileyMartin) Tweeted:
Johnny Gaudreau puts up 4.186 points per 60 minutes at 5on5. Good for 1st in the NHL
Connor McDavid puts up 2.940 points per 60 mins of 5on5. Good for 28th in the NHL 

Anyone who is actually open to the numbers will have to agree that Gaudreau is having one hell of a season.

€√¥£€^$

Clearly Gaudreau is having his best season ever and his team is Stanley Cup contender.

Gaudreau should get more Hart votes than Matthews if the world was fair.

OriginalPouzar

That’s nice. 4/5 of the way through the season and lower points per game then last season and team worst plus/minus and second worst goal share among forwards.

No matter what is spun here, the position that Danault was going to lead to him breaking out offensively has been proven wrong. Its factual.

Tarkus

Summarizing!

Tullio finished with the one goal and a game-high 9 SOG in a 4-3 shootout loss.

Wanner remains out for the Moose Javians. The reason is unknown, but I’m pretty sure it’s not elephantiasis.

Tarkus

Tullio tally-o’s for the 36th time this season to halve their deficit in period 3:

https://twitter.com/Oshawa_Generals/status/1508972281686642688?cxt=HHwWgMC-nfOS-fApAAAA

Last edited 2 years ago by Tarkus
TheGreatBigMac

The NHL tracking no trade lists is an interesting thought. Aggregating data across players, NTC data is an objective measure of market desirability.

Doubtful we’ll get to see the data or that the league would act to compensate for this but it would be interesting to see this quantified.

Harpers Hair

The reticence to do this is that the information might get leaked which could be embarrassing for numerous teams.

Ryan

It’s not too hard to map out.

The Canadian teams are on a lot of lists (taxes, weather, lack of beaches, high scrutiny and pressure) though I would suspect that many young millionaire hockey players would still find Toronto and Vancouver desirable cities to live.

Winnipeg is probably on every single no trade list. Edmonton is reportedly on most. Ottawa has an edge because the eastern conference travel. Many veteran hockey players seem to like Montreal for its attractions.

If I played in the NHL, Buffalo would be on my no trade list. You’d have to offer me an insane incentive in my current occupation to move to Buffalo. It would take far less to entice me to move to Tampa or Sunrise.

Some players probably strategically target lower tax states like Texas and Florida as desirable locales. However, I have long heard unsubstantiated theories that taxes balance out because they depend on playing in multiple cities though I’m not an accountant.

Hockey wives seem to like California though the state taxes are an issue.

Russian players seem to prefer anything close to New York City.

Canadians are more amenable to playing in Canada and Americans prefer to live in the States.

It is unfortunate that the salary cap gives an unfair advantage to cities that are more desirable for NHL players.

Redbird62

You mean as opposed to no salary cap giving an unfair advantage to cities that have humongous populations which is also nothing that the individual franchises’ earned.

Ryan

The salary cap was a step in the right direction.

Are you suggesting that Winnipeg and Edmonton are now on equal footing with Tampa?

Redbird62

No I am not suggesting that at all, nor is in implied in what I wrote. Both system’s have imperfections, that is the way of the world. While not perfect, a salary cap system allows more even competition for the league than does a free for all like Baseball. The big “haves” in baseball are almost perennial contenders, while small markets get lucky once in a while to compete.

Football, Basketball and Hockey with their caps, give smaller markets a fighting chance. In an uncapped environment, the San Antonio Spurs would not have won 5 championships. In an upcapped world, instead of losing players to Tampa or St. Louis, Edmonton would lose them to New York, Toronto, Chicago, Boston and LA all day long.

And even if you fix the tax discrepancy in the Cap, the desirability of the cities has nothing to do with the hockey teams. Teams can somewhat overcome that by being good organizations to play for, but no NHL team can fix geography.

ArmchairGM

Edmonton, as far as I can tell, is a top-15 team for revenue and a top-10 team for profit. While they’re dwarfed by the huge market teams you mentioned, in a non-cash world they would be in a better position than most.

ArmchairGM

One of the insiders indicated that it’s the Canadian teams + the California teams + the NY teams that are most often listed on No-Trade lists. The reason? Taxes.

OriginalPouzar

“…..If you looked at all the metrics describing the LA kings, it would show that they are willing to check their way to two points…….” – Jay W. on the Kings”

“…..Evan’s offensive skills, they speak for themselves…… When Dave and I came in one of the areas of focus with Bouch was the defending side of things, taking pride in working back to pucks quickly, breaking pucks out clean, the proximity to his check in the defensive zone, those little things that I think all young d-men have to continue to work at in this league. This is the best league in the world and I think Bouch is taking some positive steps forward here in the last month or so.

Primetime

You know in some ways, I hope Auston beats Drai out for the Rocket. The only reason why, is that if the Hockey Writers don’t see that Matthews has a guaranteed trophy for this year, they will vote him in for the Hart, which I truly don’t think he deserves. Or the Lady Byng which still mystifies me…

For me Josi is the clear cut winner. But in case the Preds fall just short of playoffs and “disqualifies” him, then it’s Shesterkin, leading that young team to the playoffs.

The Lindsay could be the most interesting award to see how the players truly view things.

maudite

I regret not taking +10,000 on josi…the bookies have corrected it.

Harpers Hair

Goaltenders are always at a disadvantage because they can qualify for two other awards and I think that affects the thinking of voters.

If I was voting, I would vote for Shesterkin but doubt he wins it.

The Lindsay is straight up “best player” so McDavid will likely win it until the next phenom comes along.

OriginalPouzar

I think you mean Selke, not Lady Byng, right?

I mean the cross-check to the face and suspension puts a nail in that coffin, no?

ashley

It surprises me how much a single win and a single game goalie performance can not only completely change our view of things like playoffs and the de facto starting goalie, but more curiously, provide us with a high level of conviction in these views after single events.

I am wary to say a team that is capable of losing 7+ games twice in one season is a lock for playoffs at any moment in time before the star is inscribed next to their name in the standings let alone when they tenuously hold a playoff position by only a few points. A couple of wins doesn’t change that. I’m cheering and hoping for the best. I’m not betting my house on it. We will see.

I am wary of declaring a goalie on this roster “1A” material when both have been highly inconsistent all season long save for glimpses of brilliance for short stretches, sometimes even several games in a row but eventually followed by dismal performances. A nice game from Koskinen last night doesn’t change that. I’m cheering for him and hoping for the best. I’m not betting my house on him becoming something different than what he has been all season. 1A? We will see.

Durag

There has been some weird Stockholm Syndrome (Helsinki Syndrome?) with Koskinen since he righted the ship a bit. He’s playing right around his established level with the typical highs and lows. We are still going to be out-goaltended in pretty much any playoff series unless we call up Skinner and he has a Binnington type run.

Ice Sage

If the Oilers play the Kings or Vegas with Thompson and Brossoit, I think Koski would out-duel those ‘keepers. Markstrom is more Stockholm-y

JimmyV1965

There is some kind of weird Stockholm Syndrome with Koskinnen. He goes on a hot run and everyone loves him again, even knowing his long track record here. Hell, some people were talking about resigning him a couple weeks ago. I’m not any better. I had high hopes after his strong start this year. But then he went cold again.

Solly

I don’t think anyone is declaring Koski as the 1A. The only sure thing this goalie tandem has showed us is that we can’t declare a 1A for the rest of the season. We have to declare the 1A strictly off of recent performance. And at this point…the “1A” is Koski.

John Chambers

It’s all relative, isn’t it?
Koski is 1a because despite his 24-10-3 record he is prone to a stinker (or a succession of them) that informs you that he’s not a bona fide #1 goalie.
But then the other guy is objectively worse …
So Mikko is the “starter” because nobody else can yet grab the mantle.

Scungilli Slushy

As for goalie, playing an AHL caliber team when your team is trying. Yup, didn’t let in many. Of course

It’s when things are hard that the best shine

Redbird62

Well in Koskinen’s case, you can get either. Since Jan 15, he has had .936 vs Calgary, .933 vs Nashville, .936 vs Florida, and .969 vs Tampa (and those were all hard) to go along with some bad games that the team lost and some so so games statistically that the team won. He is 12-3-2 since that time span with pedestrian save % of .902. At the moment there doesn’t appear to be any pattern any outside observer can nail down. Bottom line though is the coaching staff right now seems to have him ahead of Smith and Skinner.

JimmyV1965

I tried to figure out a pattern, thinking he loses to good teams and beats bad teams. But if you look at his record, it’s almost completely random. He beats good and loses to good teams. He beats bad teams and loses to bad teams.

Reja

Mikko played alright last night against a team with stone hands. If he doesn’t clean up his rebound control players with net front presence like Toffoli Perry, Tkachuk etc will feast on his AHL rebounds come Playoff time.

OriginalPouzar

I’m pretty sure this is somewhat in response to my earlier post on Mikko starting and being the clear 1A.

1) One performance has changed nothing for me.

2) I have never said the Oilers are a lock for the playoffs, never.

3) My post did not declare any personal preference regarding Mikko being 1A but that it seems clear, given deployment since Smith’s return from illness, that Jay W. has Mikko as 1A currently.

LadiesloveSmid

Happy retirement to Laddy Smid! LT didn’t love him but the Ladies sure did.

I saw him at a Calgary establishment one night in 2017, he wanted me to pipe down about his $14M contract.

OriginalPouzar

For me, the news that the World Cup of Hockey will be a legit 8-country tournament without any gimmick teams is big. For me, I don’t really care about venue, all I really care about is we get a legit, best on best, country vs. country tournament and this sounds like its it.

My question/concern is if this is an NHL/NHLPA run/governed tournament meaning that non NHL players can’t play? If that’s the case, its not quite what I’m looking for as many of the European countries would be looking to players overseas in a legit best on best. I hope that is the case.

Jethro Tull

Can’t be best on best if the Russians aren’t there.

Gimmick teams it is then.

Jethro Tull

Maybe no Draisaitl, either.

Bruce McCurdy

Deutscheland currently #6 on IIHF rankings.

Jethro Tull

Wunderbar!

Munny 2.0

Sail on, Eugene Melnyk… sail on Mr. Ottawa Senator.

May you lift the Holy Grail in victory every night on heavenly ice. (In a downtown arena, of course)

Jaxon

The Oilers need 18 points to get the magic 97 to make the playoffs. There’s a chance they could still get in with less, but 97 pretty much guarantees it. I have it down as a loss, but a win tonight against the injury-depleted LAK would be great

#68-LAK@EDM-L
#69-STL@EDM-W
#70-EDM@ANA-W
#71-EDM@SJS-W
#72-EDM@LAK-W
#73-COL@EDM-L
#74-EDM@MIN-L
#75-EDM@NSH-L
#76-VGK@EDM-W
#77-DAL@EDM-W
#78-COL@EDM-L
#79-EDM@CBJ-T
#80-EDM@PIT-T
#81-SJS@EDM-W
#82-VAN@EDM-W

If they win tonight, it would allow them to lose GM#79@CBJ, tie GM#82vsVAN, and still get to 97 points.

The thing is, the way the schedule goes, fans will be losing their minds with excitement when Edmonton likely wins 4 or 5 of their next 5, and then fans will be losing their minds in exasperation when they lose the next 3 in-a-row.

A win tonight would be a relief, and with LAK’s injuries, it’s definitely possible. Of note, is that LAK is better on the road than at home, though. That’s why I initially had EDM losing GM#68 and winning GM#72.

Ice Sage

Appreciate the rundown! I think Oilers go 4-5 points in California and win one vs Colorado.
Am hoping they can wrap it up before the last 2 games and rest some guys.
Game vs LA is tomorrow though

Jaxon

Oops, yes, tomorrow, my bad. Yeah. I hope they can come out ahead of what I’ve laid out. And if the conference rivals do their part, then the Oilers won’t need all 97 points, either.

OriginalPouzar

Woody confirms that Koskinen is starting tomorrow against LA.

The clear 1A.

ashley

Lol

ashley

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, Maybe.

The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, Maybe.

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, Maybe.

The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, Maybe.

Oz

Brilliant

meanashell11

Guess you have never watched Charlie Wilson’s War.

Oz

No I have not watched the movie, but I think the moral of the parable is apropos of many Oiler fans and how we have reacted to this season. But hey, I could be way off since my most recent post suggested KY should have been trade bait at the recent deadline, and has he ever made me eat crow on that one 😎

McNuge93

Unless I didn’t see it I think we missed an important update on the Rocket Richard from HH. Drai caught Matthew’s and now tied.

Harpers Hair

Matthews has played 7 fewer games.

DeerMachine11

good thing the Rocket is based on goals per game

Harpers Hair

The Rocket Richard Trophy is not an iron man Trophy.

If Matthews and Draisaitl are tied at the end of the season, Matthews will win it.

Redbird62

No it is a total goals trophy and total goals only. There are no tie breakers – so both would get their name on it. Number of games doesn’t matter. Already happened 3 times since they started awarding it.

DeerMachine11

I’m the event of a tie, both players would have their name in the trophy, as GPG does not count to the award.. be better Andrew

Side

For those of you who think HH adds value to this blog with his contrarian takes because otherwise, everyone would agree with eachother on everything, I get it now.

In this example, without HH, everyone would agree with how the Rocket is awarded because of how it’s written in the rules. With HH around though, he can just make stuff up in an attempt to try to win an argument.

Darth Tu

Oh right, I forgot that they gave the Rocket Richard out based on goals per game and not total goals scored.

Durag

Good point, Draisaitl’s ability to stay healthy probably gives him the edge in the Richard race.

Shamus23

Sick of the Eastern Media bias towards Matthews right now. Even Amber brought up who will win the Heart. Matthews or Huberdeau. Yesterday afternoon. At least Botteril said what about McD and that twit Amber said no between the 2. She said Matthews.
Now my complaint is what about Drai as well. He kills penalties, has 15 ish more points and is tied in goals with Matthews. It is a joke for God’s sake.
I mean hate the Flames, but Gaudreau deserves more votes than Matthews.
Mike Johnson the other day said Austin Matthews “ The best player in the world” while referring to him for the heart . In all Honesty I think this should be the rankings currently .

1) Drasaitl
2) McDavid
3) Shesterkin
4) Josi ( that team would not be close the dance without him )
5) Huberdeau ( just too good of a supporting cast to be higher )
6) Gaudreau
7) Matthews

Side

I don’t mind the hype around the Leafs and Matthews anymore, because when the Leafs inevitably implode and get eliminated from the playoffs it makes the fallout that much more enjoyable.

ArmchairGM

Leon hasn’t missed a game in 4 seasons IIRC. That has tremendous value.

Durag

It might even make him the Most Valuable of players!

Ice Sage

And to not play too dirty

Side

In case you forgot, 2 of those games were because Matthews had a tantrum and cross checked Dahlin in the head.

Bruce McCurdy

Gretzky played 1 fewer game than Dionne in 1979-80. How’d that work out for the Great One?

Ice Sage

got a bite on the first cast!

Ryan

The Edmonton Oilers reached into college free agency for the first time since Ken Holland arrived to sign a prospect to an NHL deal. Ryan Fanti is a helluva goalie based on numbers and a fine young man based on anecdotal evidence.

Most importantly the Oilers have increased the number of Ryan’s per 50 man (list).

McSorley33

Caught the tail end of the Kings vs Seattle game – LA TV crew was just as upset
as the fans at the missed 2 points. Everyone in that org. was banking on 2 points from the Kraken.

Kings are a very injured team – no Edler. No Doughty, etc, etc, etc

Here are the D pairs from last night:

Bjornfort – Durzi
Maata – Stetcher
Moverare-Spence

Totally get how dominant Danault and Kopitar can be. Get it.

But if we face that D tomorrow…I am sorry, we have to be able to beat them.
( barring a really hot goalie performance)

JimmyV1965

Our final 10 games include five against teams that currently have more points than us, plus the Stars and Knights. We absolutely have to create breathing room before that stretch. These are must win games.

Scungilli Slushy

I think Woody is leading the team very well

I don’t think they should worry about any team. These Oilers can play with anybody, if they take care of the details, goalers foibles and whatever

Of course banking ‘easier points’ is critical, but they need to have a mindset that they should win every game

The Herdman effect let’s call it, the first step is believing you can win every game and any series

OriginalPouzar

I watched the third period as well and almost made a post about their announcers. They sounded very demoralized – almost like they were on the outside looking in and that loss was highly crushing.

Didn’t make sense to me.

Ice Sage

it’s strange because the Kings weren’t meant to be in this position and have basically been riding a resurgence of vets who are now wearing down (Kopitar looked Neil-slow last night) or injured.
Oilers have to blast them with speed and line-match from the get go tomorrow.

Bling

My concerns with Smith are:

A) He is having more difficulty going side to side.
B) He is having more difficulty getting up.
C) He sells out on slot shots, basically belly flopping to cover the bottom half of the net.

There’s no way I want a guy like that playing in the playoffs when the scouting is more in depth.

JP’s point below re: Skinner facing lesser opp is well taken, but given Smith’s profile, I’d sooner roll with Skinner.

SKOilerFan

Agreed. Love his battle level, but Smith’s current style is not a reliable way of keeping pucks out.
Just watch him for a shift – half his body and equipment is inside the net!

Gerta Rauss

I suffer from both A) and B), and I don’t even play goal

MADOIL

LOL!

Scungilli Slushy

I’m starting to wonder if they want to play Smith as much as they do because they have trouble with the crease

Smith is ferocious. Nobody is going into blue paint and being a dink when he’s between pipes

Koski is mild and Principal a kid

knighttown

The Kings have just entered a very interesting stretch of games. In their next 8; they have home and away versus the Oilers and Flames plus a road game in Winnipeg, Colorado and Minnie. One roadie vs Chicago is their cupcake but that’s not that easy. Without some or all of Doughty, Brown, Walker and Athanasiou. The Oilers could cripple them…1-7 or 2-8 would be a fair bet.

But if they can survive these 8 at 4-4 they have a joke to finish. Jackets, Hawks, Ducks x 2, Kraken and Canucks to finish.

Knights very much alive.

knighttown

Knights next 6 is Kraken, Kraken, Canucks, Canucks, Coyotes, Canucks.

I expect these three teams to be packed even more tightly after this next stretch

leadfarmer

Just like LA vs Seattle yesterday??

McSorley33

The Kings were not a very good team on the backend coming into the season.

Now remove Doughty and Edler.

Sorry, it is ugly in LA right now.

I think some people think Doughty is gone for the regular season.

Harpers Hair
OriginalPouzar

Interesting as I don’t recall seeing any similar injuryvupdate posts about the Oilers back when they were absolutely ravaged including 5 NHL d-men out at the same time.

All teams, except the flames, go through periods of multiple injuries that add up – we are close to being through 82 games and seeing who comes through the other side.

Ice Sage

LOL – no the refrain for our beloved Oil was ‘good teams have depth’ or ‘good teams get Covid all at once’… thanks for the laugh

JimmyV1965

Our final 10 games include five against teams that currently have more points than us, plus the Stars and Knights. We absolutely have to create breathing room before that stretch. These are must win games.

OriginalPouzar

As the Kings found out last night at home, there are no jokes, no gimme points. Yes, probabilities are real but all points need to be earned (well, the vast majority of them).

McSorley33

On LT’s page. Watched a lot of hockey for the decades…don’t ever remember a player taking that many penalties in a row.

Jethro Tull

LT must be happy. Laddy Smid has retired.

Genjutsu

Still hates him though.

OriginalPouzar

Mikko Koskinen had a nice recovery game, stopping 31 of 32, .969. According to NST, there were seven HDSC and MK stopped all of them. The GA was a fluke. Koskinen owns a .901SP for the season. I would start him against the Kings. You?

Yes, after the solid game from Mikko last night, I would. Lets not forget 3-4 really solid saves, including a 10-bell save, right after the Oilers took that 4-1 lead. The Yotes scoring and making the game 4-2 going in to the 3rd changes the complexion. I have no doubt that the Oilers, as the vastly superior team overall (and on the night) would have been able to not crater the game away but, still, but moments and stops.

A couple of days ago, I would think that Smith would start against LA but, giving Mikko the start last night, to me, kind of shows that Woody is looking for Mikko to keep the 1A job – the job he earned during those 3-4 really solid weeks.

OriginalPouzar

 Perhaps the most encouraging part of the night came from youngsters Ryan McLeod (2-1-3), Jesse Puljujarvi (0-2-2) and Kailer Yamamoto (0-1-1). 

I agree with this 100%.

That’s probably the best game from Puljujarvi that I can recall, and that is saying something. From the very first shift, Jesse was doing what he does to impact the game – great on the forecheck, creating turnovers and chaos and being a strong bull out there, whether intended or not. His skating was top end from that first shift. Then, what Jesse added, which is not always there, is high level puck and IQ plays – two fantastic passes to superstars for goals – the first more of an IQ play and the second a great sklll/vision pass. Great game.

Ryan McLeod heartned me as this is the first time he really “took over” as a bottom 6 center. Yes, he has had games in that spot where he is great on the zone exit, transition and zone entry and making some plays and he has had games where he looks very good offensively when he’s up with Drai but this is the first time he combined those two things in the bottom six – as Jay W stated, he drove that line (and they asked him to do just that).

Great games from those two. A main part of the future secondary core of the team.

Bling

Telling that Woodcroft mentioned the top forwards on the team want to play with McLeod. Yeah, he has game for sure. Love that he is at home anywhere on lines 2-4.

My hope with Puljujarvi is they staple him to 97. Yesterday his game had an exclamation mark on it, but his game has been in that range-ish all year. Best two-way winger on the team, I think the day is coming soon where we see him unleashed (first line at EV, first unit PP, and penalty kill duty).

I have some optimism that a long-term deal with JP happens. I know Stauffer said it’s going to be a bridge, but they opened talks earlier this season and you don’t do that to talk about a bridge deal. Anything under 5 for JP long term is a huge win for the franchise.

Elgin R

Yeah who needs to draft a guy like McLeod in the 2nd round. Keep wasting those 2nds Kenny!

Reja

We did get quite the value of Mike Green for 2 games.

€√¥£€^$

It was a conditional 4th (it became Jan Bednar) for 50% retention and a broken Brodziak. The price of was AA 2 2nd rounders. I hated that cost and vehemently disagree with anyone who wouldn’t listen, both 2nds should have been conditional based on performance and ultimately should have only cost a 3rd.

MushedPeas

Please Gord make Keith retire this summer. Preferably w a new SC ring.

OriginalPouzar

Absolutely no surprise that of the $1M increase in the cap for next season – that is mandated in the CBA extension provided revenues provide for it.

The key is when the escrow balance is paid off as that is when the cap will be re-linked to 50% of HRR and Seravelli is reporting that is projected for the end of the 2024/25 season. That is when the cap will jump huge – probably $90MM plus with $100MM in view.

Bling

So, if Holland (or replacement) make the right moves this summer, it is possible to keep everyone. For the love of goodness they should hire a proper cap person. At least buy Holland a white board and force him to create a 5 year plan 🙂

Coilers2021

A nice win last night for sure, albeit against the worst team in the league so I take it with a grain of salt. Saturday’s game is still burning.

I don’t know what to make of this team sometimes. Very Jekyll and Hyde.

OriginalPouzar

Their production didn’t quite match but the top two lines are dominant last night. The third line has nothing last night but 3 goals from the 4th line (1 PP) and the 3rd pairing plus 3 – love to see that (along with MxDavid and Drai at 19-18 minutes and Nurse under 21).

Shamus23

Last night was A very good night for a confidence booster for everyone ( Not just young players) . Arizona has been completely dismantled and are a very bad team. I hope we can come out and blow LA out of the building Tom night. Be interesting to see how we play that game.
wonder if we see the exact same lineup.

leadfarmer

I would have been a lot happier if they kept the coyotes to under 20 shots than scoring 6

cowboy bill

The important thing is there was only one goal against that was tipped in by Hyman’s skate .

Bling

I’ll take the goals 🙂

OriginalPouzar

I would suggest that is not a reasonable expectation though.

Yotes would likely be right around their yearly shot average of 25 without Kane setting records in the name of real game PK practice.

Last edited 2 years ago by OriginalPouzar
31saves

If we can agree that the LA Kings are the most likely opponent in the playoffs ( the Knights have to make up 3 points with 14 games left, and the Oilers have the game in hand. The Canucks need to make up 6 points in 14 games and the Oilers have the game in hand. It is going to be difficult for either to catch the Oilers and Kings. Oilers can’t realistically catch the Flames. Its likely to be the Kings fighting for home-ice advantage) lets look at some stats:

I took our goalers from the last 4 seasons. This captures now 3 seperate coaches each, and for Smith a whole seperate team. Not really fair since the Kings and Oilers are very different teams, but looking to see if maybe one goalie has either luck or stylistic fit vs the Kings.

Mike Smith last 4 seasons vs Kings:

Date Outcome Shots Saves Save Percentage Ga

  • 2/15/2022 W 32 30 0.937% 2
  • 2/23/2020 W 23 21 .913% 2
  • 11/21/2019 L 12 9 .750% 3
  • 10/05/2019 W 32 27 0.844% 5
  • 3/25/2019 W 19 17 0.895% 2
  • 1/30/2018 W 14 13 0.929% 1

Mikko Koskinen Last 4 seasons vs Kings:

Date Outcome Shots Saves Save Percentage Ga

  • 12/5/2021 L 40 35 .875% 5
  • 12/6/2019 W 36 35 0.972% 1
  • 11/21/2018 N/A 18 16 0.889% 2
  • 3/26/2019 W 38 34 0.895% 4
  • 1/5/2019 L 8 5 .625% 3
  • 11/29/2018 W 32 30 .938% 2

Totals:

GP W L OTL SP GA GAA

  • Mike Smith: 6 5 1 0 0.886% 15 2.65
  • Mikko Koskinen: 6 3 2 0 0.901% 17 2.89

What does this tell us? I’m not sure.

Both goalies have had one game where they got pulled against the Kings.

Smith played a full 60 minutes against the Kings and faced 14 shots when he was with the Flames. Is that a function of his puckhandling perhaps?

Smith has better stats in terms of wins, and his save percentage and GAA are trending in the right direction. Koskinen has had slightly higher highs and lower lows, and although he has a slightly worse record, he has a better save percentage, but worse GAA.

Smith has the better record vs the Kings. Then again, they’ve only played 6 games each against the La Kings since 2018.

Shamus23

Think it is very important to pass LA and get home ice advantage in the playoffs. Starting with tom’s game, it is a must win.

Harpers Hair

Important to recognize that team personnel over those 4 seasons has changed significantly.

Side

Bizarre comment. What team hasn’t had significant personnel changes over the last 4 seasons?

Elgin R

Just team HH. Which consists of HH himself, his mom and his mom’s cat!

knighttown

Minor quibble time.

I know stars shouldn’t always get their way but I’d have to guess 97/29s favourite moments in a game are when they have the opposition hemmed in and are approaching 90 seconds of shift length. Connor specifically starts dancing. If you were play from there I’d guess there’s a positive outcome (Grade A scoring chance, goal or penalty) 75% of the time.

Virtually every Oilers player understands their job during these times is to jump on loose pucks (or create them) get them to 97, run a little pick, get open and repeat.

I noticed Kane, not for the first time, grab a loose puck on the side wall and blindly fire it at the net for a whistle while Connor was supporting him in perfect position during one of these times.

And Nurse, for the one billionth time, received a pass, froze like a deer in headlights and wristed a muffin at the tender leaving 97 shaking his head.

The third play I hated was Hyman looking off Kane on a clear and obvious Royal Road play (when Kane took the penalty for crushing Dineen I think)

Kane and Hyman are new here and Nurse is well, Nurse, but it would be nice to see these guys get with the program a bit.

Shamus23

Hyman has a really bad tendency of just putting his head down (All the time) when going around the net ( the wrap around) , or when driving hard to the net, and never looks for a pass ( or very very rarely) . Nurse freezes the O way too much. But Kane does make some nice plays, but did notice 2 bad shots at net when McD was open. Did love it when he ran the D man right over last night.

MADOIL

Agreed. Saw the same thing as well. Also, Hyman has tunnel vision when he goes to the net with the puck. I hope the coach has already pointed to him that he needs to pass the puck to the open teammate not just go around the net, turn and take a low percentage shot.

Bling

This is a great point.

I made this comment after the Carolina game: does Nurse make that high low play that resulted in a tic-tac-toe highlight reel goal for Carolina? No. Is he capable? Absolutely.

Would like to see him cut down on his low percentage shooting and start finding guys. I bet you that comes in time with Woodcroft/Manson at the helm.

McSorley33

The Hyman play was so obvious a pass to Kane – even the AZ crew did not think Kane
hit warranted a penalty. Kane like everyone on the planet was certain Hyman was going to pass to him. Seen this a few times from Hyman.

Don’t get me wrong – love the shoot first / drive to the net player. But wow.

Darth Tu

On Ryan McLeod – how long should we be looking to extend him for? He’s an ideal 3rd line player that can spot up to the 2nd line when we have injuries. I’m leaning towards giving him a good chunk more than a 2 year bridge being the play.

ArmchairGM

Money is too tight to mention next year though. I’m thinking he gets the Puljujarvi deal: $1.175M x 2.

Darth Tu

This is very true. We really need to move Kassian out and try to free up some cash elsewhere.

Boy do I wish that we were playing Skinner now, if we knew if he was able to survive at a 1B level as an example, it frees up a bit of cash at least over one year due to him being on a cheap contract. Still need to address the main goalie too though.

There’s more than a few deckchairs to shuffle when I look at it.

OriginalPouzar

Even taking away the fact that Skinner may just be better than the current guys (we don’t know) and give the team every bit as chance to win on any given night (we just don’t know), not taking the opportunity to play the kid and gain highly important information over the last 2 months has been the biggest organizational fail of the season.

This kid could be ready to be a 20 game back-up, a 40 game 1B or maybe even a 50 game 1A – we just don’t know and the organization is missing a glorious opportunity to gain important information the player and the role he could/should be ready for next season.

pts2pndr

This is how we got into the current high contract for Nurse. Given the cap should start to go up it may not be as big a thing moving forward. McLeod with the Kassian contract fro seven or eight years would be pretty sweet!

OriginalPouzar

Yup, it might even be one year for a bit less as well.

This is the type of contract that Kenny grinds.

RocklandRascal

What About Filip Berglend the RD wasn’t mentioned for next year? He’s an RFA and was a paring with Broberg in Europe.

Not sure why with the concerns on The defensive aspect on the right side for defence why he hasn’t been called up at all this year for a test drive to see what he can bring? Especially before the trade deadline?

He played well in preseason.

fishman

Apparently he has faded badly in the back half of the season and no longer considered an option. This based on comments from OP a while back and not an exact quote!!!

RocklandRascal

That’s disappointing AS I was hoping he was found money. Didn’t we trade Petry for his draft pick?

Bruce McCurdy

Nope, he was the third rounder EDM got from PIT for Justin Schultz in 2016. Last pick in the round after the Penguins (& Schultz) won the Cup.

OriginalPouzar

We got Caleb Jones for Petry (via draft pick).

Bruce McCurdy

& a big chunk of Cam Talbot.

OriginalPouzar

I haven’t watched the Condors much the last month (as I’ve been out of the country for three of the last 4 weeks – Costa Rica then Scottsdale – eff winter) but, from my eye, he as been up and down and “OK” but not great.

There was a period of games where he seemed to be gaining some traction but, again, up and down.

I think he’s been in and out of the lineup a bit as well over the last couple of months – sometimes the coach’s decision.

Skating seems to be an issue to my eye.

They may qualify him but I presume he heads back to the SHL for next season.

€√¥£€^$

He has been very meh and often healthy scratched. The rock solid Desharnais is the #1 RHD and Kemp and Kesselring have been decent, with Kemp being the most consistent (steady). Berglund is a distant 4th, perhaps he improves with more time, but this is his 6th pro season and he turns 25 in a few weeks

jp

I’m not ready to throw Smith out due to his injuries, but I’d also have zero issues running Skinner if Woodcroft thinks he’s one of the best 2 options.

About Skinner’s quality of comp face though. OP (I think) linked a tweet recently showing Skinner’s record against top 20 teams is better than vs bottom 12 (I think that’s right).

Was just looking at his opponents on the year, and I guess he’s faced a bunch of non-terrible, non-playoff teams. He’s only played vs 2 actual playoff teams all season (Dal and Boston), going 0-2 with an .889 SV%.

Again, I’d have no issue giving Skinner games, but he really has faced lesser competition en route to becoming the ‘best’ goaltender in the organization.

fishman

Assuming the goalie choice is purely up to Woodcroft he is in the best position to decide which 2 net minders give Oilers best chance to win.

OriginalPouzar

It is notable that Woody had Skinner on the roster for 3 (maybe 4) games and didn’t start him.

dustrock

Don’t get playing Archibald at all.

Nuge is probably still rusty from the layoff, you’re sticking him with a guy who is new to the team because of trade (Brassard) and a guy who is new to the team because he is an antivaxxer (Archibald).

Not shocked that line didn’t get much done.

Darth Tu

Yeah, I’d slide Ryan back up with Nuge. The Foegele-Nuge-Ryan line was going great guns prior to the Nuge injury.

Still, for McLeod I liked him having two fairly able linemates on the 4th last night. I’m guessing Archibald being with Nugent Hopkins was more to do with giving McLeod: Ryan and Foegele rather than Brassard (new guy) and Archibald (newish guy to McLeod).

OriginalPouzar

I suspect the coach isn’t changing the 4th line from last night after a couple of 5 on 5 goals.

Three lines dominated last night and one got caved – a line that has two legit top NHL skill players on it (Nuge and Brass). The only lineup change I could see from last night is subbing someone in for Archie – be it Kass or Shore.

dustrock

Still early, but could Ryan McLeod be Young Mike Peca?

Tarkus

Only if he can add this to his repertoire.

hunter1909

Ryan McLeod looks like an excellent player.

Home grown, 100% using McDavid as a role model, learning how to excel at NHLing.

OriginalPouzar

Bouchard is going to be on the point of PP1 for a decade and accumulate hoards of points but, for now, Barrie is the guy in that spot. He’s been playing much better in all aspects recently and moves the puck the quickest on the PP and that is key for now.

Seems like a four person battle for the 5th spot on PP1 among Jesse, Hyman, Kane and Yamo – all have had success in that spot at times this season

McSorley33

Oddly, and especially considering what his D mates have been doing the last few weeks, I have not minded Barrie’s game lately.

Tarkus

Prospectaganza!

Only two Oilers NA prospects take to the ice today, and only one of whom is certain to play (Tullio). Meanwhile, Wanner’s status continues to be a mystery not even Angela Lansbury can solve.

Oshawa (Tullio) @ 5 p.m.
Moose Jaw (Wanner) @ 6 p.m.

As always, all times are Kitscoty time.

Todd Macallan

Kitscoty, I spent a month there one night.

teamblue

I played my atom hockey provincials in Kitscoty way back when. The bus trip from La Glace to their was funnest trip I ever had.

31saves

As an interesting conversation starter, inspired by LT’s use of the word legend to describe Draisaitl, I was wondering. Which current Oilers are in contention to have their numbers retired?

I know that the rule is that you need to be in HHOF right now, so I see Leon and Connor hurtling towards that goal.. and could very easily see both numbers retired in about 20 years time.

Is there anyone else? Some are still too far away to really know.. but in my opinion if they relax the rule for some (man it’s a slippery slope but Smitty should be in the rafters) then I think Nugent-Hopkins has a shot. Maybe not so much for the HOF but as the first star player for the oilers to play his entire career here. He’ll be 35 by the time his contract expired and spent 17 seasons as an oiler .. that seems worthy to me..

Darnell Nurse has an outside shot, he is one of the 4 leadership core of the team, but he’d need a few Stanley’s to be considered I think… Plus that might him some HOF consideration.

Aside from that, can you see anyone? Make your picks here and check back in about 20 years, and I’ll buy a bottle for whoever’s right! 😁(97 and 29 don’t count!)

Ford Prefect

Duncan Keith.

greenshifter

Be a shame if Smyth doesn’t get number retired.

yamfry

I honestly think none outside of Drai and McD. If they go for the ‘wall of honour’ idea, then Nuge could definitely be a part of that. Hopefully Nurse will as well, as that would mean the next 8 years go well(ish). I see Nuge and Nurse being part of the same class of Oilers greats as Doug Weight and Ryan Smyth, but not part of the HoF and that upper tier.

31saves

I think whoever starts tomorrow is a tell for the playoffs. In my opinion you start Mikko, he’s earned the starter role, with Smith playing spot duty and maybe even grabbing some playoff starts to spell Mikko.

However if Smith starts tomorrow, with both goalies fairly rested and rolling.. it might be a tell he’s favoured to start the playoffs.

jp

Koskinen owns a .901SP for the season. I would start him against the Kings. You?

I would start Smith, and keep generally rotating them for the time being, though I know that’s not a popular opinion.

There’s very little to choose between them in terms of performance under Woodcroft.

Brantford Boy

Yes on Koskinen for the start tomorrow, we don’t require the goaltending puck handling for the Kings.

Klefbom has another year, oh boy… I thought this was his last year for some reason… that stings!

OriginalPouzar

Such a fantastic contract not all that long ago. Sigh.

OriginalPouzar

Post game Woddy mentioned they had some “hard meetings” that be thought the group took well.

There isn’t a ton of video from the AHL unless you watch but I’ve seen Jay blow up and get angry and stern many times. He has the “nice guy personna” which is great but he has it in him to get angry at his team and be stern and teach in that way.

It seems like a very good and broad coaching structure.

Todd Macallan

What a great 31 Thoughts story on Fanti and his parents, posted exactly 1 year ago, thanks LT.

Now there is something else to be excited about with him over and above the 7 shutouts he pitched in the NCAA this season.

Bling

A few things:

1 – Agree LT, start Koskinen versus LA.

2 – JP is so effective at turning over pucks and getting in the way. As Woodcroft alluded to, he was also exceptionally effective as the high man, sealing off clearing attempts and then sending the puck to high danger areas for 97 and 29 to finish off. He did it a couple other times as well, extending zone time. But you don’t make two all world passes, on the tape, through traffic, by being a dummy. Puljujarvi has elite hockey IQ, and on both plays his head was up. As a huge fan of his, I confess to being distracted by his — at times — discombobulated style. But make no mistake, the guy’s hockey sense is exceptional. Best two-way winger on the team. JP must be signed long term this summer; it’s the number one priority. Give him the Kotkaniemi deal.

3 – Archibald simply cannot play on the third line. He does not bring enough at evens. It’s looking like Archibald and Kassian don’t bring enough to play top 9. Shore should probably play ahead of both of them, but he’s a 4th liner. Isn’t this roster hole begging to be filled by Holloway? Yeah he’s LW; move some people around. The zone entries and playmaking at the AHL level are elite. I think he’s a better bet to help that line drive possession than any of the other options.

4 – Skinner? He has a, what, .940ish save percentage in his last few games? Prior to this recent run, an external scout said he was the best goalie in the AHL. Mike Smith himself said that Skinner had taken a huge step at the beginning of the year. What exactly is the hold up, here?

who

Your point #3 is bang on. Archibald is a 4th line banger/energy player. I’m not sure why he’s even in the lineup when he can only play half the games. Maybe they are trying to light a fire under Kassian?
Adding Holloway as a 3rd line winger may be the solution, but I still like the thought of McLeod playing in the top 9 as a winger right now.
I love McLeod at center but as 4C he doesn’t get on the ice enough, or play with enough skill players, to really impact the game. Last night being the exception.
I think on the current team, these players should be in the top 9.
McDavid
Draisaitl
Nuge
JP
Yamamoto
Hyman
Kane
McLeod
Brassard
You could substitute Foegele for Brassard, maybe, but man he fumbles a lot of pucks away. He really struggles to pick up passes cleanly, and he fans on a lot of his own pass attempts. For me, he is more of an Archibald type than a skill player.

Primetime

Isn’t this roster hole begging to be filled by Holloway? Yeah he’s LW; move some people around.

I couldn’t agree more. No one is grabbing this spot, let the young guy have a rip and see if he can ignite something.
I seem to recall Brassard playing the right side on occasion, but even if he hasn’t, he can adapt as a veteran. It may be an ideal situation for Holloway, playing with 2 veterans to cover, but who have skill so that he isn’t playing with 4th liners.
I would leave the current 4th line as it is for next game, they deserve it. That leaves Kass, Archie and Shore as the odd men out. No problems there….

Bruce McCurdy

Shots last night were 0-7 with Archibald on the ice & 0-8 with Brassard.

fishman

Holy cow that is telling!!!!

Primetime

Yikes!!! Somebody save the Nuge!
Would you go back to Foegle-RNH-Ryan then?
That would leave McLeod and scraps on the 4th line…wouldn’t bring Holloway into that…
Maybe Holloway-RNH-Ryan/ Foegle-McLeod-xxx

Munny 2.0

And Nuge was 2-6.

Bling

Woof. Thanks for that, Bruce.

Scungilli Slushy

For me imagine JP with man strength and more confidence with age, wow

Yama is a fine player, but if it’s a choice JP is a far more impactful player through the whole game IMO

OriginalPouzar

The Oilers did exactly what they were expected to do and exactly what they had to do.

Mission accomplished – On to the next one.

fishman

Oilers gave up 32 shots to a poor, rookie laden AZ team. Koski did have to make some tough saves. Yes they scored 6 which was great but it wasn’t exactly a lock down defensive gem. A better effort likely required against LA.

jp

Not if LA brings the same game they did in getting blown out by Seattle. (but yes, likely)

JimmyV1965

I don’t think SOG tell the story of last night’s game. After two periods, the shots were 35-22 for Edmonton. I was stunned the Yotes had 22 shots because they spent very little time in the ozone. I don’t recall them hemming in the Oilers at any time, although there must have been one or two instances of extended ozone time for the Yotes.

norm2015

3 power plays in a row for Arizona and very little mcdavid /draisaitl on the ice in the 3rd

rich tm

You can bet LA will come in tomorrow pissed at how they lost to Seattle last night. They started slow and never recovered, so I would expect they’ll come out hard from the opening shift. Matching the early intensity will be crucial as this is a 4 point game.

Shamus23

Arizona is not good. But I think the stats were padded a bit ( shots) from 3 pp’s in a row. Be interesting to see how we fare against LA Tom night, where we get a big hard checking team

pts2pndr

They quite frankly don’t have the personnel on the back end to play that style. They lack both the size and experience required to play that style.

OriginalPouzar

I will stop well short of equating shots against with any sort of game evaluation.

Nope, it wasn’t “lock down” but its rare for any NHL team to play against any other NHL team without giving up scoring chances and some legit ones.

This game was well in hand from, essentially, the opening faceoff, and aside from 4-5 minutes after the Oilers took the 3-goal lead, where they sagged, Arizona have very little going on.

They can play even tighter, of course, but given the nature of the game and how the flow of play went with the multiple goal lead, I am satisfied with their detail from last night.

Harpers Hair

Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) Tweeted:
As GM Meetings wrap, Gary Bettman and Bill Daly will address media. There was discussion on LTIR exception, but the big reminder from the league to managers: This is a CBA issue that must be bargained with NHLPA.

https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1508824146855309313?s=20&t=-2sibxC6lYwWiNoeNMbknw