Dylan Holloway’s career trajectory is currently on an upward climb, but the yearly NHLE’s have been a mixed bag. In Wisconsin during his draft year, he played more than most freshman but looked a little shy. Draft plus one he emerged as a substantial talent, then got hurt. Recovering from that injury limited his playing time to late season and he didn’t get untracked offensively. This fall, he dominated the young stars tournament, and then looked good early in preseason. Now, it’s late early, and Holloway is kicking out the jams. The young man had a big night. The only downbeat? Canucks didn’t send their best, so there’s a need to temper enthusiasm over what was a truly spectacular evening.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New DNB: Dylan Holloway’s emergence for Oilers puts Jesse Puljujarvi’s future into focus
- Lowetide: Is this the year an Edmonton Oilers player wins the Calder Trophy?
- Jonathan Willis: Jakob Chychrun would look good on the Oilers, but is there a deal to be had?
- Lowetide: Oilers cuts headed to AHL Bakersfield. What will it look like?
- DNB: 10 observations from the first week of games
- DNB: Oilers’ Connor McDavid may have 50 goals in his reach, but a bigger goal remains
- Lowetide: How Jay Woodcroft’s Oilers training camp differs from previous coaches
- Lowetide: Are Edmonton Oilers’ recent trades supported by analytics?
- DNB: How Edmonton Oilers’ salary cap and training camp impacts roster decisions
- DNB: Darnell Nurse’s big-money contract with Oilers isn’t going to change who he is or how he plays
- DNB: 10 questions to address in training camp
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers’ right wing options on skill lines may be shifting
- Lowetide: The truth about Jesse Puljujarvi and the Edmonton Oilers
- DNB: Jack Campbell is determined to win in Edmonton: ‘I’m ready for this’
- Lowetide: Making the early call on Edmonton Oilers’ 2018 draft haul
- Lowetide: 9 Bold Predictions for the 2022-23 Edmonton Oilers
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers reasonable expectations for every player in 2022-23
- Lowetide: Who will the Oilers trade for cap purposes?
- Lowetide: Oilers top-20 prospects, summer 2022
SUMMARY
- Dylan Holloway scored 3-1-4 with five shots, three hits, a giveaway and a takeaway. The Oilers were showcasing him (17:25, including 2:37 on the PK) and he delivered. His emergence could have a ‘oh my God, Esa Tikkanen’s good, too!” feel to it if this is Holloway road. Those late additions to the cluster are vital.
- Leon Draisaitl had two shots, a takeaway, played with authority. He’s like the quiet King, just goes about his business, leaving carnage all along the way. Such a wonderful passer, not many big men better in my lifetime.
- Zach Hyman scored a nice power-play goal, forechecked like a demon and had two assists, six shots. He’s a lunch bucket player with hands. 5 HDSC. Man.
- Ryan McLeod had some good looks, including three HDSC, but didn’t cash. Had a giveaway and a takeaway, took three hits (he’s playing in high traffic areas). Lots of chatter about this line being set, if that’s the case it’s a strong trio for a No. 3 line.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had five shot attempts, just one hit the net. Worked hard and smart, noticed most of the time on special teams but also played well in five-on-five possession (65 percent Corsi). Such a good player, and his versatility gives the roster a boost in multiple areras.
- Warren Foegele scored twice and was white hot after waiting for the Shore line (sorry, it was there). Had a couple hits. He’s working hard at making things happen when around the puck, bodes well for him.
- Evander Kane had two penalties, four shots and five hits. He needs to stay out of the box, and this wasn’t a night where he cashed, but he’s dangerous with the puck on his stick and could have a massive season.
- Connor McDavid had an assist, two shots and a HDSC. His puck pursuit is mid-season level and he’s such a physical player now, engages and torments in a strategic way. What a ridiculous player.
- Kailer Yamamoto got crunched in the corner but seemed okay. He played just 10:19. Lost in the flood of accolades for the top two lines, Yamamoto had a quiet evening. Zero doubt he’s on the team, but ample reason to be careful about making a quick move just before the season in an area (right wing) that isn’t so strong you can afford to lose a qualified man.
- Tyler Benson was playing well before injury. A trip to IR could save him from waivers, though.
- Devin Shore had three assists and filled every box in the summary save a shot on net. I thought he played a fine game in all areas.
- Jake Virtanen got a late assist, but didn’t get a lot done. He needs to have success in order to make this team. There are things breaking his way, Benson’s injury being the latest.
DEFENSE AND GOAL
- Darnell Nurse had a nice assist on the first goal, sending a good shot in Holloway’s direction. Physical, blocked shots, passing was poor in a few places (iced the puck when there were options). Drew a penalty. He and Jack Campbell were late getting over to cover on the first goal, sometimes you have to give the other man his due.
- Cody Ceci had a hiccup on the second goal, as the puck went off him, changed direction, and resulted in a soft goal. He had one good look, didn’t amount to anything but he was there and he is capable of scoring.
- Dmitri Samorukov had an assist, a shot, two takeaways and a giveaway on the night. Had one prolonged shift where he couldn’t get the puck out cleanly and it kept coming back into the zone on another sortie. Leon saved the day. Overall he played well enough to be in the picture for the seventh defender, but I’m not certain it will be enough to avoid waivers. Perhaps Edmonton runs with eight blue.
- Tyson Barrie was strong last night, scoring a goal with three shots at the offensive end. Had a takeaway, took some hits to make plays and seems well suited to a mentor role. That will be important this season.
- Brett Kulak had two shots, a takeaway and I thought a quality chance late in the game when he ripped the puck from a bad angle. Watching the game, I got the feeling this pair was insurance and little else. A rocking chair evening.
- Evan Bouchard had an assist, a shot, several errant passes (that isn’t like him) and showed there’s still some chaos in his exceptional game.
Goaltender Jack Campbell was quality, making some enormous saves and flashing a brilliant glove hand Oilers fans haven’t seen in some time. He’s calm, plays angles well, intelligent and his pads aren’t made of kevlar. This was a rock solid game by the goaltender.
THE BOOK
As of 8:30 this morning, we have filled the list of 50 names for the book. So, if you emailed me before reading this, someone will be contacting you about delivery, etc. The opportunity is now closed and thanks so much for making this painless. I appreciate it.
BEWARE!
Last night was a great night, but let’s keep in mind quality of competition and the need for rational thought in the days to come. I said yesterday that Jesse Puljujarvi’s absence from last night’s roster was a bad sign, and now we have many rushing to judgement. Let’s see how this plays out. Jay Woodcroft might run Holloway-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi tomorrow night against tougher competition and get a better read. Don’t rush it, let it come to you. I will say it’s going to be damn hard to send Holloway back based on his overall performance this fall.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
A big day for waivers and demotions, TSN 1260 10-2 today. Bruce Arthur and Glen Suitor are the regular insiders and we’ll have plenty of Oilers and NFL talk, too. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
Kane – McDavid – Yamamoto
Holloway – Draisaitl – Hyman
Foegele – Nugent-Hopkins – Puljujarvi
Benson – McLeod – Ryan
Nurse – Ceci
Kulak – Bouchard
Broberg – Barrie
Murray
Campbell
Skinner
Anyone have any intel on what players will be coming to Abbotsford tomorrow to play the Canucks? Debating going.
No, but a good guess (I’d guess) is that the top guys, who played last game, will also play on Friday. So you probably would’t be seeing McDavid tomorrow.
It’s odd as the advertisement says Borvat v McDavid.
I’ll just go regardless. How many times do the Oilers play where I live. And for 56$ and don’t have to drive into the city. Abbotsford arena is decent. Great for concerts.
Sounds like a plan.
You’ll certainly see some Oiler players play tomorrow, though I don’t think any pre-season game can ever guarantee you specific players.
Yeah. I’ll go in with minimal expectation and hope to be surprised.
Congrats on the book LT! I got my preorder a couple of weeks ago and wanted to post a pic and fanfare, but instead my family decided it was our turn to ride the covid train…so I’m mostly just resting instead! I can’t wait to read it; I’m going to get a copy for my dad as well…despite having no claim to feel such, I’m incredibly proud of you, sir! It’s like one of our own “done good!”. Bravo!!!!!
Awesome! Thanks so much.
Dammit! Feel better soon. ’tis the season though.
I’m anxiously awaiting taste to return…there is prime rib with my parents awaiting, and that shouldn’t be wasted!!! Ever.
“His emergence could have a ‘oh my God, Esa Tikkanen’s good, too!” feel to it if this is Holloway road.”
perfectly captured
I’m too young for the glory days…but can’t Holloway be Anderson? Save Tikkanen’s spot for JP because he’s certainly no Kurri.
Sure but I took it to mean more that there were all these great players; 99, 11, 9, 17 etc then we got ANOTHER one and wooo! so many great players! And he fit right in, assimilated into the team seamlessly.
and now at FW we have 97, 29, Kane, Hyman, etc. and along comes this kid who looks so good. And he would be ANOTHER good fw.
I also like how he tempered it with words such as “could” and “if”.
Anyone know Ricki the Bear’s real name?
Richard T Bruin
I wish wish wish this was true, because awesome. Hope he’s doing well.
Side note – currently making our way down the US east coast after our long drive across Canada to St. John. Just happen to be spending a few days in Ocean City, New Jersey. It has been very rainy and windy basically since we got here. To kill some time we popped by the Ocean City Historical Museum.
So far most are probably thinking why should we care, but it just so happens that Ocean City New Jersey was the summer family home of one very balanced Grace Kelly. She was born and grew up in Philly, but she came here every summer since she was a small child and kept visiting every summer right up until the summer before she died. The locals here are very proud of that fact:
https://ocnjdaily.com/ocean-city-embraces-grace-kelly-connection/
LT’s Balance Photo is not part of the exhibit but otherwise it was pretty good. I wouldn’t make a special trip to Ocean City just to see it, but even popping into a local museum in Ocean City NJ, there’s a connection to Lowetide.
ps. Another Lowetide reminder, since many of us love our music, would be wandering through the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City (About 30 minutes drive from here). Like all their venues, they have a lot of rock and roll / pop memorabilia on display throughout the place with particular emphasis on New Jersey music icons: the Boss, the Chairman, Kool and the Gang, Bon Jovi, Frankie Vali, Paul Simon, Whitney and a few others. While they had a lot of really impressive stuff, my favorite was not from a New Jersey star but an original rough draft in Lennon’s handwriting of “Imagine”.
Was that drive ending in Saint John (NB) or St. John’s (NL)? If it’s the latter I’m curious how you enjoyed your time here!
Newfoundland. We had a great time on the rock, ferrying to Port au Basque (man do we empathize with them on Hurricane Fiona). Spent a few days in Gros Morne, a couple of days in Gander (with a side trip up to Twillingate, then several days in St. John’s. Loved all of it. The people are fantastic and the scenery is unbelievable. We stayed about 2 blocks up the hill from George street and had dinner at O’Reilly’s where Newhook held his Stanley Cup celebration (a few weeks before we were there). The only bad weather we had was taking the ferry from Argentia back to Nova Scotia as Hurricane Earl, though not a direct hit, made the seas very rough. No sea sickness though, so we were good. We’ll definitely get back there again with more time.
That sounds like a great trip! Gros Morne is up there with any place I have traveled all over the world, and Twillingate is such a unique landscape, just love going there any chance I get. Sounds like a fun intro to George St. as well. Imagine that street packed with several thousand ppl because it definitely was when for Newhook’s final parade stop haha.
Next time you’re back feel free to reach out here for any other recommendations, I have many!
Thanks! Will do.
Paul Simon’s very much a child of New York City–a Queens kid. He and Art Garfunkel grew up there together.
But he was born in Newark and lived there till 4 so New Jersey puts a claim on him as well.
“grew”
lol
You don’t think that word means what I think it does?
I think/fear/hope/dread/predict Holland will probably offer Arizona Puljujarvi, Broberg,and the 1st (maybe two) plus other stuff for Chychrun (50% retained).
While not ideal to give up Broberg, adding Chychrun to this group would make us cup faves or darn close to it
Seems a slight overpay even with 50% retained. If Ari wants a prospect and a first round pick then Pulji and the first should get it done as Pulji is more than a prospect. But if another sweetener needs to be added, it should not cost Broberg or Holloway IMO
With 50% retained would cost im sure at least 2 1st round picks
What exactly has Holland done as Oilers GM that wasn’t a good solid move?
I hate to be picky, but the Kassian contract was terrible from Day 1. Holland gave Kassian ~$13M for fighting Matt Tkachuk.
Tkachuk basically ended Davidson’s career with the slew foot. With Kassian in the line-up he kept Tkachuk in check. Holland and others thought we had our Tom Wilson as a high and Kris Draper as a low in Kassian. A 20 goal scorer and a physical presence. Something happened to Kassian their was rumour’s he hurt his back hunting or something like that a few years ago.
Tkachuk is in Florida he wants to play the Oilers so much.
He was traded after Kassian was. I don’t think Kassian’s previous presence in the Oiler lineup was a big factor in his refusal to sign long-term with the Flames, or he could have reversed his position after the Oilers dumped Kassian’s salary.
Tkachuk was in check only when Evander Kane showed up.
That was really impressive.
A fair number of his less important moves also haven’t particularly panned out. The free agent signings of Haas, Nygard, Archibald, Koekkoek…the trade for Derick Brassard. As of now, I don’t think either the Bear/Foegele or the Foegele extension looks great.
I give Holland a solid B+ overall, but he hasn’t been perfect. He just looks like it to some of us because B+ is such a vast improvement over what we’ve seen in the past.
(This post is really not intended to slag Holland–I think he’s a good GM. But you asked a question, and I’m answering it.)
(I also have the Nurse contract provisionally on this list, but once upon a time I had the Draisaitl contract there as well, so…I’m not perfect either.)
I feel like folks should only be allowed to complain about the current Nurse contract if they’d have supported signing Nurse to a ~$7M long-term deal at some point prior to his last contract.
One question is whether he should have been signed longer-term sooner and more cheaply, and with the benefit of hindsight, the answer’s obviously “yes”. But that’s not the basis on which I’m evaluating the contract, because I agree with you that any answer today will be tainted by hindsight bias.
Rather, the two questions on which I’m evaluating it are “Was that the most team-friendly deal that could be signed at that time, given the sides’ respective leverage (including the fact that there was still a year on his existing contract)?” and “If the answer to the first question is ‘yes’, was signing that contract preferable to options other than signing Nurse long-term (most notably moving on from the player in some fashion, or risking doing so by letting him find out whether he was worth what he thought he was as a UFA)?” I am not at all convinced that the answers to those questions is “yes”, though the first can never be answered with confidence, and the second will be answerable only in hindsight, if at all.
Yes, that’s a good way to look at it for sure.
I feel pretty comfortable with the answers to those two questions, but obviously YMMV.
This is an excellent assessment.
i actually didnt dislike haas, he brought no offense but he was speedy, cheap, and defensively responsible, cant really ask for more in a 4c.
Is Chychrun that much better than potential rentals like Severson or Sanheim?
(I haven’t really dug into the potential deadline targets, of course Kane or Pastrnak would also be nice)
I assume Chychrun being locked into that value contract for a few more years is a big part of his trade value, but that is a lot of assets to give up.
Now that have time to think this over:
I can see Arizona taking Puljujarvi who can be hyped as a still as yet unknown entity as an NHL star but a thoroughly useful player particularly if he gets a starring role…
Broberg you must be joking he’s a far superior product all by himself factoring injuries etc into the picture.
Arizona will be eating 75% of this player’s salary and will be happy with a couple of AHLers and a 3rd.
FINAL EDIT: Just looked at his career this player is another Klefbom always freaking injured so in other words he misses every other playoffs WTF LOL HE’S A BUM
Fortunately I am happy to not worry about what doesn’t happen anymore.
That’s so for the generation of Darkness lol
I’ll take a Jason Smith any day of the week, dependable, honest effort, new when to get nasty. I hope Broberg pans out but if he comes from the same glass factory as kelfbom better for another team to be saddled with him then us.
Broberg is a prospect and such is cost effective and controllable – if he busts so be it but why would any sane GM want to bet on this Chychrun who basically health wise is Mike Smith for the defence??
Take a look over to that Coyote defenceman who has played 60 games 2X in his career and 50 games 3X in his limp career finishing off with a glorious 40 game campaign.
Avoid.
Kane – McDavid – JP
Hollywood – Drai – Hyman
McLeod – Nuge – Yamo
Janmark – Shore/Hamblin – Foegele
If Holloway needs a break or falls off you just move up Yamo so
Hyman – Drai – Yamo
McLeod – Nuge – Foegele and bring someone else in for 4th line or leave Holloway on 4th line for some games.
JP and Kane cause so much chaos, this lets McDavid read the play and dart and counterstrike.
If Holloway is a legit NHL top 6 this gives you a 1b line that has puck pursuit and protection, and Drai gets to dominate because Hyman and Hyman JR(aka Hollywood) are fast and relentless.
McLeod-Nuge-Yamo are all smart, and fast. This line is not going to be physical but the skating, skill and hockey IQ make it a top 6 line all around the league. If you can run 3 lines at around equal minutes all season long this will keep Drai and McD healthy.
The 4th line is the biggest question as I would love to have smart, fast and physical players that could play against a line 1 or 2 for 5 to 6 minutes a game and saw them off. If you could pressure the D, make hits and suppress shots. Foegele is great at this, so finding the correct other two guys to make this work would be amazing.
But that is a damn good hockey team. Cant wait to see them ratchet it up against real competition this year. We are in for an amazing time watching these Oilers.
Sail on Coal Miner’s Daughter
Seravalli: “Puljujarvi has no trade value right now”
Good news tbh
Other than the whole cap compliance issue. Holland is going to have to expend assets to trade contracts or hold his nose and trade JP for nothing.
Has he ever?
THE CONTEST FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEATH MARCH™:
now known as – HUNTER1909’S OILERS DYNASTY MARCH™
Here is how it works.
Same rules same everything and all of the previous records will be retained for posterity.
Here is how to play: Predict the total points that Oilers finish the season with.
Tie breakers:
a) – How many points Connor McDavid gets
b) – how many goals Leon Draisaitl scores
c) – Where Oilers finish(1-16th in the West)
Deadline: Puck drop @ Game 6 Pittsburgh
To Recap:
1 – Predict Oilers final regular season point total
2 – Connormcdavid points
3 – leondraisatl goals
4 – oilers finish in the West(1-16)
I think I may have given an incomplete and entry the other day… So please see my revised complete entry.
Oilers points – 110
Connor points – 134
Leon goals – 57
Oilers place – 2nd
As the winner of both the Regular Season and Playoffs Death March last year, I am stoked this is happening again!
And with a rebrand! The Death March is Over!
Long Live the Dynasty March!
Oilers Points – 108
Connor Points – 125
Leon Goals – 52
Oilers Finish – 4th
PS: Thanks, Hunter. Appreciate you, buddy.
Hunter, please put me down for:
Oilers Points – 108
Connor Points – 125
Leon Goals – 52
Oilers Finish – 4th
Incredible and instant Death March Dynasty™
No problem Jeremy.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Hunter, Here’s my entry, thanks.
Oiler points – 102
Connor points – 129
Leon goals – 46
Oilers place – 5th
1) 111
2) 133
3) 45
4) 1st
Huge news! Brogan Rafferty sent down to the minors!
Inconceivable!
I do not think this word means what you think it means…
How many claims will be made? I’d set the over/under at 30.
I bet Seattle realizes its mistake and claims him themselves.
As if the KHL won’t get in on this action! And the CFL! You’re underestimating the guaranteed impact of this guy! He can ALSO play first base!
You mean that we’ve got a shot at getting the guaranteed superstar for FREE??? That’s unpossible!
1) I’m not sure how Holloway potentially emerging makes Puljujarvi expendable, now or in the future.
2) Great game by Holloway last night, he continues to check off those boxes but lets not forget that, in the same game (a) Foegele had two goals, (b) Shore had 3 points, (c) Samorukov was plus 4 and (d) Holloway’s most common opposition were: Jason Dickinson, Brady Keeper, William Lockwood, Curis Lazar, Kyle Burroughs and John Stevens.
3) I’m not against Holloway continuing to get 2LW at bats and, if he continues to check them off, starting there on October 12. At the same time, last night really doesn’t mean all that much. Lets see how he does against even a middling NHL level of comp (and his one “OK game” was the one game he played against actual NHL players.
4) Samorukov is quietly killing the exhibition season. Its unfortunate that, like Holloway, his level of comp has been so low and it only means so much.
5) Here is hoping that Benson does not require IR because, unless its LTIR, it REALLY messes up the cap. They can’t waive/assign him if he’s hurt and, if he’s on opening IR, it hits the cap at a weird number ($585K as per Puckpedia) given the number of games he played last season and his contract. If this happens, it reduces the Oilers LTIR pool, and will leave them with 11 healthy forwards to start the season.
6) Shore has had a good exhibition season but I don’t see a path for him on the opening roster. His $850K is too much as the 12th forward (on a 12/7/2 – 21) has to be $762,500 or less – Benson (healthy) or Malone.
7) Nurse has played two games, 1st game he fought twice and last night he was VERY physical to my eye, even when he didn’t “need to be”. I think he’s making a conscious choice to be rough and tough. I like it but it comes with injury risk as well.
8) Kulak – he just plays well every single time he’s on the ice. Defends well, closes gaps, moves the puck – every game. Level of comp warning for last night but, again, its every game.
Brett Kulak’s skating ability is truly an excellent addition to a mostly slow D group. He can recover from danger, it’s excellent retrieving dump ins. Great depth add, maybe my favourite Holland addition.
Is the D group mostly slow???
Nurse- elite skater
Ceci- average skater
Kulak- plus skater
Bouchard- average skater
Barrie- average skater
Only Barrie is slow…everyone else average or better
Ceci is an average skater. Bouchard is a below average skater, Barrie is a well below average skater. Kulak is replacing where Keith slotted last year, who was a a very poor skater
What is your criteria for determining an average skater, etc?
Tough to evaluate by competition yet Holloway stands head and shoulder above all forwards prospects he’s playing
Nurse fighting in the preseason is beyond stupid.
For all the complaining about his contract, Nurse is the least replaceable player on the Oilers going into the season.
OP why do you hate Holloway?
Of course I don’t hate Holloway – I’ve probably watched more of his games then the vast majority (most of this games last season and about half of his draft plus 1 at Wisconsin) – I have posted for months about his impact on the game in Bakersfield being much greater than his box-cars.
I’m highly optimistic that many of his skills are already NHL ready and he can be an impact player this season.
I’ve also posted for years and years and years about putting little stock in to exhibition games, in particular those against non-NHL lineups (and even many with NHL lineups where the established players are not anywhere near pushing it).
Look at the specific players he was on the ice against.
I’m not saying he isn’t ready or even ready for 2LW, I’m just giving proper credence to these games. All he can do is check off the next box and earn the next opportunity and he’s doing that nightly right now.
Where’s the love for Jack Campbell arguably the most important position on the team.
OP, if it’s going to mess with the cap, Benson will be on LTIR.
How many points will Holloway have to put up to overcome the “he plays with McDavid and/or Draisaitl” attitude to win the Calder?
Michael Bunting came close as a senior citizen playing with Matthews and Marner. I imagine a similar season would get Holloway the Calder.
i personally don’t think he wins it
Bunting either equaled or out performed Zegras in almost any meaningful stats metric last season, yet Zegras got twice as many 1st’s and seconds in Calder voting. I would say that both his age and that he played with Matthews, Marner and Reilly on a good team while Zegras was mostly with Milano, Rackell and Shattenkirk on a horrible team led the voters to correctly conclude that Zegras had much lower quality help to achieve his results. Zegras’ flair probably influenced the voters as well.
As a side note, Bunting pushed the limits of Calder eligibility last year – perhaps more than any player in NHL history. He was 25 years and 363 days on Sept. 15th last year plus he had two NHL seasons of 5 and 21 games beforehand.
Sergei Makarov won at the ripe age of 31. He was only 6 years older than Bunting.
And him winning is the reason they changed the eligibility rules for the very next season making 26 the maximum age. It was called the Makarov rule. The NHL had never encountered the situation before when practically overnight in 1989, the Soviet Union allowed its superstars to go play in the NHL. The members of the KLM line (among the best players in the world in 1989, show up in the NHL and by the rules in the league, Makarov was techncially an NHL rookie as were Krutov, Larionov, and Fetisov, the core of the Central Red Army team and the CCCP National team.
And probably more than any NHL player ever will. How much closer could you be? One day, I guess.
Trevor Zegras is on the cover of NHL 23 this year. Super marketable player and I think you would be correct saying that played a role.
Panarin won the Calder at 24 playing with Patrick Kane in his hart trophy/art Ross season, so the voters have looked past it before
I don’t think Holloway will win it, but I think if he puts up big numbers he has a chance. Edmonton has what, 14-15 nationally televised games in the US this year? They’ll get more eyeballs than in your average year after the playoff run.
I should have said a similar season will get Holloway serious consideration for the Calder
Matty Beniers in a walk.
How many goal posts will have to be moved in order for Holloway to lose the Calder Trophy if he leads all rookies in scoring?
That’s probably true in that scenario if he loses the Calder to another forward with less points, but he could also lose to a defenseman or goalie. Seider took the trophy last season with 50 points compared to Bunting at 63 points and Zegras at 61 points. Defenseman have won it 4 times since 2010. Makar actually finished 2nd in scoring behind Hughes in winning in 2020. Ekbald was well back in rookie scoring in 2015. Tyler Myers had his best offensive season as a rookie in 09/010 and came 3rd in rookie scoring behind Duchene and Tavares but first in Calder votes.
Steve Mason was the last goalie to win the Calder, playin 61 games in 08/09 and also finished 2nd in Vezina and 4th in Hart. Bobby Ryan’s 57 points to lead rookies never had a chance.
Powers is considered the front runner right now. Not often a number one overall decides themselves to wait an extra year before starting his NHL career.
I’m not sure Power is enough of an offensive D-man to score 50 points in his rookie year. I suspect a forward takes it. It may be someone we didn’t expect. Beniers and McTavish look good early, but it might be a forward on a better team who gets to play with some top-notch players. Rossi, Quinn, Kravtsov, Robertson?
Perfetti looked pretty good the other night from the highlights.
I don’t think McDavid and Kane need any help. ( JP)
I don’t think Drai and Hyman need any help. ( KY)
The 3rd line needs help. We have been dreaming for years – just not get our head kicked in with McDavid and Drai on the bench.
I think Holloway should go to the 3rd line – where help is needed. And way less pressure for Dylan – especially after this pre-season.
With injuries and juggling – Dylan will get his top 6 appearances in the season.
Fix what is broken. ( bottom 6)
Once that is fixed, we can tinker with top 6.
This team does not have a bottom 6 based upon makeup.
It is a 9/3 team now. It took me a long time to warm up to the idea of a top nine but that is clearly what this team has.
The ‘third’ line is not built for a shut down role, it is built to outscore by scoring – not suppressing.
Third line this year is strong. 93,71,and whoever the coach wants is strong. Fourth line is based on what the coach wants. This team has some really nice depth. The weakest areas are RW, and RD. But RW you have guys that can play both wings so your weakest position then is RD where the best LD guys playing RD have to be exceptional to pull 50% or better.
Draisaitl + Hyman did not have great results together last year. I’d probably try splitting them up.
Agreed but this was part of the learning curve for both guys.
Hyman is a unique sort of player. He doesn’t have the greatest hands but man he’s good at shielding and hold onto the puck. He’s also a strong but not exceptional skater who’s again an expert at shielding the puck. But cause of these skills Hyman often holds the puck too long and takes his own path to the net. He’s also good at getting to areas but isn’t the speediest guy either. He’s a tricky player for McDavid. McDavid needs someone quick and someone who can find the soft underbelly. Hyman is naturally suited to that role.
Draisaitl can hold the puck but he’s also a shooter. He’s a more flexible option for Hyman. They will play much better together this year now that each of them knows what the other is about. My bet – The puck possession stats of this duo will be off the charts by the end of this season.
Alleluia!
After seeing all the talent that has become apparent in pre-season, I think we can all agree that the Oilers will win the cup this year.
So my question is, do the Oilers request Klefbom and Smith’s names engraved on the cup as players under NHL contract during the cup win? #lastchanceTexaco
I may be wrong… just ask my ex, she says it happens a lot. But if I understand correctly, a player’s name cannot be on the cup unless they were on the game day roster for at least one game in the final round…
Klefbom has zero to do with anything like winning a cup.
At this rate I raise you a Sheldon Souray and a Robbie Schremp.
We are still paying lucic. Put his name on there too!
Joey Moss.
I just tried to find a clip from Boston Legal of William Shatner proposing to drink from the Cup, saying “It’s the Holy Grail, man. Gordie Howe drank from this cup. Rocket Richard. Basil Pocklington.”
But it doesn’t appear to be on YouTube.
I’d rather see Captain Kirk say those exact lines.
https://youtu.be/PlKONEQxevw
You only needed to search, “Boston Legal Stanley Cup” to find it.
Let’s win the cup first eh
With that sort of confidence one should make a hearty wager on an Oilers Cup win and reel in the big bucks. Starting to sound like Maple Leaf fans arguing where to build the podium and the parade route every fall.
pre-season and all that, but my oh my how great is it that this team is (finally) actually difficult to make. You need to be deep to go deep in the playoffs. I think they are more likely to shrink the roster than trade away JP or WF to start the year. Everyone here has watched enough hockey to know that within a week after one of them gets traded player X (and Y, and maybe Z) will get hurt. Somewhere there is a room full of Als (Mitchell, Arbour, Iafrate) muttering “get good players, keep good players”…
I remember the good old days when Mark Arcobello was 2C.
Delete Alex Chiasson and James Neal.
Add Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway.
Night and Day difference in team speed.
Imagine the Oilers actually creating a 3rd line that can outscore.
It might happen. And I am a cynic.
By co-incidence, James Neal’s PTO with the Blue Jackets was terminated yesterday. The Real Deal’s time in the NHL may be over. Chaisson is still on his PTO with Arizona.
I posted this during Holloway’s big NCAA breakout year. We may be seeing what the comparables were telling us back then.
Here are some interesting comparables. All big, fast responsible players (I’ve only included NCAA Draft+1 seasons):
PLAYER – D+1 PPG
Dylan Holloway (C/LW) – 1.92
Kyle Connor (LW) – 1.87
Jaden Schwartz (LW)1.57
Michael Cammalleri (W/C)1.52
Zach Parise (LW/RW)1.49
Dany Heatley (LW/RW)1.46
Clayton Keller (W/C)1.45
Brock Boeser (RW) – 1.43
Jonathan Toews (C) – 1.35
Dylan Larkin (C) – 1.34
Thomas Vanek (LW/RW)1.34
Alex Newhook (C) – 1.24
All impact players, 8 All-Stars. Of 2 of the non-All-stars (Schwartz and Cammalleri), Schwartz has had seasons that were close to All-Star calibre and won a Cup recently where he had 20 playoff points, and Cammalleri led the playoffs in goals one year. The other, Newhook, is still young and just won a Cup.
Truthfully, Kyle Connor may be the best comparable and he outscored him.
It’s too bad about his injury last year. We sure could of used him against the speedy Avalanche last year. With him being from the Bragg Creek area I’m really looking forward to him torching the Flames for years to come. He kinda reminds me of John Tonelli with the motor he possesses.
Where are you getting this 1.92 number? Elite prospects has him at 35p/23g = 1.52 p/g.
Ah, yes, you’re right. That’s what I get for just finding an old post and re-using it. I think this was part way through the year. He slowed down toward the end.
So I guess that ties him with Cammalleri just behind Connor and Schwartz. Still in really good company. And, in context, he did get injured during the World Juniors that year, so maybe that was a factor in the reduced rate of scoring.
He played through his wrist injury, he didn’t get any points in his last 4 games. So at the time of injury he was 35p / 19g IIRC, which is 1.84 P/GP.
Thanks for the context. I wasn’t sure. Well, 1.84 puts him back up in Kyle Connor territory. Looking forward to seeing what he can do this year.
$100,167 Cap Space
Foegele sent away along with a 6th. Not sure that will get it done.
FORWARDS (12)
Right wing: Kailer Yamamoto ($3,100,000) – Zach Hyman ($5,500,000) – Jesse Puljujärvi ($3,000,000) – Derek Ryan ($1,250,000)
Centre: Connor McDavid ($12,500,000) – Leon Draisaitl ($8,500,000) – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($5,125,000) – Ryan McLeod ($798,000)
Left wing: Evander Kane ($5,125,000) – Dylan Holloway ($925,000) – Mattias Janmark ($1,250,000) – Tyler Benson ($750,000)
DEFENSE (9)
Right: Cody Ceci ($3,250,000) – Evan Bouchard ($863,333) – Tyson Barrie ($4,500,000) – Ryan Murray ($750,000)
Left: Darnell Nurse ($9,250,000) – Brett Kulak ($2,750,000) – Philip Broberg ($863,333) – Dmitri Samorukov ($775,000) – Markus Niemeläinen ($762,500)
GOALTENDER (2)
Jack Campbell ($5,000,000) – Stuart Skinner ($750,000)
Thoughts:
I’m not sure what it would take to get a bottom team with cap space to take on Foegele or which team might be interested, so I somewhat randomly chose BUF. I don’t think they’d need to send anything better than a 5th rounder with him as a sweetener.
I might put Ryan on waivers and bring Bourgault up for the opening roster to get his $177,500 bonus on the roster as a paper transaction, then switch them after cap compliance day.
I’m not sure when to expose Samorukov to waivers. They probably have to sneak him through at some point. Maybe now is the time, when many teams still don’t know if they’ll have room for him. Or maybe it’s after cap compliance when teams have pretty much filled their rosters. OR maybe he improves enough to stick as the preseason moves along and the regular season is a few games old.
Niemelainen has impressed, but Broberg hasn’t exactly lost his spot. Maybe Holland keeps 9D and 12F to start.
I think Benson has both earned his spot and may make it based on his cheap contract. I hope his injury isn’t severe and he’s just being precautionary.
Holloway has earned his spot already (even though it is against lesser teams at this point). He’s outscoring all his teammates, who are also playing against lesser teams.
Janmark hasn’t shown much in the preseason but he has scored at a 20-goal pace for 2 different teams. 20-goal scorers don’t get waived or play on the 4th. As much as I like McLeod, he hasn’t scored much at the NHL level. Maybe he does end up 4th C.
I think one of the hardest choices is deciding who is on 1RW. Puljujarvi or Yamamoto? The consolation prize isn’t too bad though with Nugent-Hopkins and Janmark on the 3rd line against easier competition.
I do wonder if, by the end of the year, the D ends up as Nurse-Bouchard, Broberg-Ceci, Kulak-Barrie. That gives offense with defense, and youth with experience on each pairing.
I think Foegele should be able to be traded with minimal/no additional costs going out.
He is reasonable value for his contract. IT is just to squishy in the top 9 right now to justify his spot here at the cost of cap space and other options
IF, you can trade Foegele, this isn’t a bad roster. You would have to drop at least 1 dman and add Shore. I would drop Neimaleinin because he is waiver exempt.
Yeah, 13F and 8D makes more sense than 12F and 9D. That would get them very close to cap at $12,167 below.
So, are we going to see some cuts today?
Jake & Demers maybe. Neither has made a case to stay.
Please god, let the cap go up next offseason!
Signed,
Ken Holland
Yup. As I’ve mentioned before, I think Edmonton may have been screwed by the cap freeze more than any other team. During a time they should have been surrounding their core stars with solid vets and the cap should have been going up so McDavid and Draisaitl contracts were bargains by now. As their contracts progressed they were supposed to take up less percentage of the overall cap making their cap hits into bargains in the final years. In a way, McDavid and Draisaitl are still bargains but imagine what kind of bargain they’d be if the cap was around $90M this season instead of $82.5M. Holland has done really well, all things considered.
Barzal signs 8X$9.15 million with NYI.
Holloway is looking great. I know he probably won’t be rushed, but I think there is a clear path for him to the “top 6” and I believe he will be able to stay there most of the time. I also believe that if JP 2.0 is pushed harder and harder to stay in the “top 6” he will continue to do the things he needs to do to be there. Even though Foegele has had a nice few games in a row now on the 3rd line, I don’t view him as a “top 6” regular. In other words, stiff competition between KY, JP and Hollywood makes for a great opportunity to push these players and make the team as good as it can be.
This is my vision for 7 players competing to play, and be able to be effective, in the “top 6”
McD, Drai, Kane, Hyman = lock
JP, KY, Hollywood = battling it out to stay in the top 6. It will be great to have this internal competition and to go with the hot hand, when 2 of them are rocking. The odd-man out of this list moves down to the 3rd line.
However, there are also options for Nuge and McLeod to play in the “top 6” on occasion, but I think the two of them form the basis for an excellent 3rd line with whichever of the 3 RW are not in the top 6. Also one can envisage Hyman playing on the 3rd line which would basically give 3 scoring lines if all breaks right.
So as one possible permutation
Kane-McD-JP
Holloway-Drai-Hyman
McLeod-Nuge (they can be switched) -KY
the best available remaining 3 or 4 forwards that can fit into the cap. I suspect this is Shore, Ryan and ?
It seems weird to have to move Janmark after signing him, but maybe that is necessary since we are down to nickels and dimes for the cap and Ryan provides a RHC option. I think Foegele can be moved for some return (even if just a draft pick). His very good pre-season may help this move.
Too bad for Benson getting hurt again just when he was getting some momentum. Hopefully it is not too serious. His improvements and motor and minimum salary could help him stay on the team.
I think unless Bro gets on track in the next 2 games, it makes sense to send him to AHL for a stint to get his confidence back and he is able to go down without a waiver claim. There is no need to rush him or Nemo, there are options for 3LD for a while…
Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Bouch
Murray/Sammy-Barrie
We wait.
I don’t think we can talk top-6/bottom-6 anymore. It’s top-9/bottom-3 as I feel like all of Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Holloway, McLeod, Yamamoto and Puljujarvi can and will play anywhere in the top-9 and not be out of place.
Honestly in some ways I see Yamamoto as the weakest player of the top-9 and yet I don’t have an issue with him stapled to McDavid to start. I think chemistry and who’s ‘going’ will largely determine placement within the top-9.
I agree with the 9 and 3, and get annoyed when MSM attribute undue importance to the 2nd/3rd dividing line (notably to trash their whipping boys, boost their crush). It’s a distinction that matters only, really, in terms of cap.
That said Foegs is not top six lol. I like his play but he’s not a fit with high skill, in the sense that neither he nor the line seem to benefit when he’s pushed up the roster.
I agree. I prefer top 9 thinking too! Nuge and possibly McLeod are arguably “top 6”.
I guess my point was if it comes down to JP vs Foegele, at this point I look to move Foegele b/c I can’t see him really playing a significant role above the 3rd line, whereas the rest of the “top 9” could also be “top 6”. However there are of course other things to consider when dealing with the abundance of riches and if JP just doesn’t fit in with the group or team plans for whatever reason, then it makes sense to move him instead. I have loved that Big Bison Smile since it arrived in town and would love to see things work out for him and for the team with him.
The beauty is that there will be 3 very good lines this year (including 2 excellent lines) and that gets me “excited to watch” to say the least…
Oh, I totally agree regarding Foegele. This team has nine “top-6” players excluding Foegele. Since he’s not a top-6 player (at least, not on a contender), then clearly he’s the odd man out. I mean, I like him and would love to retain him for the 4th line, but I’m not sure that’s possible at this point. We’ll see what wizardry Holland has up his sleeve…
Related to Bro. He apparently added 12 lbs of muscle this summer. That is a significant change in body composition in a very short time period! The team has time to help him find his stride in Bakersfield for a few months or however long it takes for him to get comfortable playing with a new body.
Jack Campbell has the best glove hand since Curtis Joseph.
I neglected to mention Rollie also had a fine mitt.
I was going to post this morning that I am getting the feeling that Soupy will be the most popular (fan favorite goalie) since Cujo…well maybe Rollie.
What I loved to see from Campbell last night was the pant pat to Ceci after the own goal. “Don’t worry about it bud, we got this.” That is a great teammate. We have seen other goalies here berating their teammates on the ice (and possibly in the dressing room). I view Campbell’s attitude as key intangible to the success of this team over the next 5 years
refreshing change from Koski.
Quality of competition being poor?? Podkolzinovich was playing.
LT trolling HH again!
Welcome to the Holloway fan club everybody!
If memory serves I believe you have been telling us this day would come for a few years now….
Cheers!
THE CONTEST FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEATH MARCH™:
now known as – HUNTER1909’S OILERS DYNASTY MARCH™
Here is how it works.
Same rules same everything and all of the previous records will be retained for posterity.
Here is how to play: Predict the total points that Oilers finish the season with.
Tie breakers:
a) – How many points Connor McDavid gets
b) – how many goals Leon Draisaitl scores
c) – Where Oilers finish(1-16th in the West)
Deadline: Puck drop @ Game 6 Pittsburgh
To Recap:
1 – Predict Oilers final regular season point total
2 – Connormcdavid points
3 – leondraisatl points
4 – oilers finish in the West(1-16)
111 team standing points
133 points
39 goals
2nd in the west
Leon points or goals, please make this abundantly clear and adjust your posting.
Yeah its goals sorry about that.
97 points
115 points
45 goals
7th in the west
Reviewing last night’s scoresheet, I noticed a Canuck by the name of B.Keeper logged 18mins of ice time with a -3.
B. Keeper. ***GIGGLES
He caused quite a buzz.
Oooh that stings…
It’s crazy to me just how many Oilers fans are willing to throw away a talented young player like Puljujarvi just so they can make space under the cap to add guys like Shore, Murray and Ryan to the press box. It doesn’t seem logical to me, yet here we are.
It’s being picked 4th overall it can be a blessing and a curse.
This situation doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Substantiated or not, there has been noise about Puljujarvi not wanting to stick around and, alongside the first hold out, I think a lot of people think it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s going to leave anyway. As such, there’s a tendency to just want to cut ties and get it over with.
Holland is trying to make this year’s group the best possible. Trading a guy now for pennies on the dollar just because he might ask for a trade next summer doesn’t strike me as particularly logical either.
The writing has been on the wall for quite some time. Obviously, the rest of the league
isn’t as high on this player, I’m tired of mentioning his name, as many local fans think.
It finally might be coming into focus now.
I agree that in that framing it’s not logical. However, you’re framing it in the least charitable way possible. What I’m saying is that there are more to the frame than fans saying “I hate Pulj; trade him to fit Shore, Murray, and Ryan in the press box”. A combination of concerns I see commonly is:
1.) concerns related to running a 21-man roster (pressure to make a trade)
2.) concerns about Foegele costing assets to move and the ensuing gap in assets when compared to trading Puljujarvi (muddying the player-to-player comparison that would otherwise come out in Jesse’s favour)
Are you seeing a bunch of crazies demanding he be moved for a 5th or something?
With the way Puljujarvi’s stock is plummeting, he may line up with Ryan & Shore on the fourth line. When that happens, you will be saying $3M for a fourth liner WTF.
LOL
Holdout?
Playing with a 21-man roster is not feasible long-term. I would prefer trading Foegele. Something has to give.
Dylan Holloway = Dylan Larkin, but with better teammates
Hard to believe Larkin is only 26 he’s a hell of a player, great pick by the Red Wing scouting staff at 15.
As everyone knows, Holland and Woodcroft will make the roster decisions. And as hard as the reporters try after every game to get Woodcroft to reveal those decisions, he is very non-committal on which players have the edge for any of the open spots. In real time, Woodcroft and his staff notice way more than the fans and the media how each player is performing, and on how well and consistently players are doing what they are asked to do in all areas of the game (and they are not all tasked to make the same decisions in every situation). The fans/media may see Samorukov or Bouchard make a bad pass or clear, but Woodcroft or Manson may see that a forward or defensive partner wasn’t in the right spot at the time.
They supplement their real time assessment with careful video review, how the players perform in practice and their prior knowledge of the players to make their full assessment. I think Woodcroft made it fairly clear in his post game presser that the competition for any of the open spots on the roster is not over yet. He will patiently wait until all evidence is in. Once Woodcroft has his preferred recommendations, Kenny then has to figure out how best to make it work with the cap, the waiver wire and the medium/long term considerations (to trade or not to trade) factoring into the algorithm. Unfortunately, Woodcroft may not get to ice his most preferred line up, given the constraints the Oilers face. Only a week to go before we have all the answers.
Here is what I do not understand. If lesser competition is such a thing, why did only Hollywood outperform. Drai, Hyman, McD, Yamo, they all played against the lesser competition yet its Hollywood with the 4 points.
Drai, McD, Hyman, and presumably Yamo aren’t fighting for a job, so they aren’t going to go balls to the wall in a pre season game against a lot of non-NHL players for 60 minutes. Holloway is fighting for a job and so too are Foegele, (two goals and a number of other good plays) and Shore (3 assists). Holloway also admitted he was pretty amped at getting to play a game on a line with Drai and Hyman.
Holloway is the only one of that group fighting for a roster spot
He may be the only one fighting for a roster spot but I can guaranty you McD and Drai are very competitive guys. I am pretty sure they were not just going through the motions. Hyman seemed to be pretty balls to the wall. Yamo did not seem to be holding back.
Didn’t Hyman also get 3 points last night though? That’s a top notch performance for him. And not going balls to the wall is not the same as going through the motions. There is a middle ground.
To be fair to Holloway and Hyman as well they both carry lunch pails to work neither one takes many shifts off.
There was another similarly hyped Oilers prospect who scored a hat trick in exhibition. His name was Magnus Paajarvi.
That player went on to a fairly mediocre career. Today I think he plays in the KHL.
Not saying Holloway is a bum, but I prefer to see him score a hat trick in the next playoff round 1,000X more than a silly pre season tilt vs the Canuck-yucks.
Oh I don’t disagree, I remember MPS very well. My point is more to people downplaying the nights work because of the opposition yet he still outplayed a lot of others who were up against the same opposition!
Draisaitl was fantastic last night. 0-0-0 but was directly involved in 3 multi-way scoring plays, skated well in both directions, PK’d well, 60% on the dot, any number of fine passes from all areas of the sheet. So good to see him skating with both legs again.
Yup. Centred the best line on the ice last night.
Nah, I miss one legged Leon 😉
In a nutshell I think this proves the difference between a Death March™ team – where the fans get hyped up in the pre season to the less callow more cerebral current fans who are now able to wait until the playoffs, etc.
I was wondering what it would be like if the Canucks had Holloway and HH would be screaming about him every freaking day lol
In the end we are all Oiler fans and its all good. personally I have been waiting for a legit skill forward to emerge from the prospect file – since Jani Rita and that other Finn who’s name sounded like Salmonella.
If he does want out and that’s why he only signed the 1 year team friendly deal. Would you trade him for 2 high second round draft picks? It opens up cap room and the 1 high second rounder will be valuable currency in a deep draft this year the other could be used for a D at the deadline.
I have no idea about how to manage an NHL team with a cap.
No idea whatsoever.
I’m here for the goals and the punch ups.
I assume you are talking about JP for two 2nd round picks?
The issue is that no one is offering that. I’m not sure anyone has offered more than one 3rd round pick, if the media speculation is correct.
At this point, if someone offered two 2nd round picks I’m guessing Holland say yes in a heartbeat. Especially if the only other cap solution is to add a sweetener to Foegele so you can move him.
I’m a Puljujarvi fan, but I’m not sure he’s a 3 million dollar player right now. And this team can’t afford very many more players in that tax bracket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVTMuB6RWxU The Pajaarvi pre season hat trick. Holloway looks grrrreat but it’s only preseason.
the comments are pretty funny 10+ years later.
So in a world where the Oilers roster contains a swath of players under 25 all competing for limited forward spots and all with reasonably expected upsides. It makes the most sense to punt the 3rd overall draft pick, with the spookily good fancies, instead of a 35 year old and/or a 29 year old single season winger on pickup contracts?
Removing the Bison King would solve a lot of media issues for our team. It would allow those on one side to say that Kenny is aware the Oilers need to “man up,” and move on from the sentimentals, waiting for players to arrive (after JP leaves Broberg is the next target). For others it would be the opening to go after Kenny for not being in tune with the analysis, too many “gut feelings and shiny new toys,” clouding his judgement. Both sides in that debate have been disappointed the last few months with all the astute moves. Both sides are confused about what it takes to win, how close the Oilers are and how long the window will be out for.
Fascinating times with this franchise and certain media folks who’s Smirks can’t be contained.
Derek Ryan and Mattias Janmark are great guys. Limited upside compared to all of Holloway, Yamo, JP, McLeod, Foegele and Nugie. Janmark might be the odd guy out with Ryan’s faceoff prowess. I’d waive both twice to avoid losing one of the others and I don’t really think its a contest in any of the stats that matter.
Maybe this is the final shoe to drop with our Oilers team, a roll of the dice on supporting cast youth with exceptionally skilled experience anchoring the forward corps? Coaches who could unlock that sort of risk seem to be in place. But both liked vets in their AHL roles. A shift to forward youth would be “innovative,” to this fan. Way more innovative and forward thinking than allowing Specter’s Smirk to cast off JP to keep Ryan and Janmark…
The equation isn’t as simple as that though.
It’s Puljujarvi/Foegele out + cap for 2 roster spots
vs.
Ryan/Janmark out (+ no cap for those roster spots)
Ignoring the extra cap space, of course it’s clear. Unfortunately the cap is real.
Here’s the rub.
You can’t throw Drai out over the boards every time you have a D zone faceoff.
And the rooks won’t help you there either.
Love the Nuge, but that’s not his forte. I’d like to see McLeod improve there too.
Removing the Bison King would solve a lot of media issues for our team.
In this town, only until they find the next whipping boy. Not sure who is more insufferable lately, Spec with his incessant Jesse bashing, or Stauffer’s “Broberg altered his physiology in the offseason and now he can’t skate” rants
Oiler fans are very passionate about our team especially with the history we have.
If you think the media run the Oilers, you are sadly mistaken.
I thought it was the red-headed step child running the show.
Stauffer comments often a canary tho.
My recollection is that the media and fan base were highly critical of Paul Coffey early in his career. Fortunately for the Oilers, Sather knew better. Not to say at times, Sather didn’t take advantage of how things worked in Edmonton to grease the wheels to make it easier to move a player (Jason Arnott for example).
Spec and Stauffer are good at what they do (generate clicks/discussion about the team) but as far as actual knowledge about what makes a player or team perform they are sadly lacking.
He altered his physiology? That must be quite the gym he’s going to over in Sweden…..
“In this town, only until they find the next whipping boy.”
so very accurate
Good post!
I know nothing about this JP situation but its clear that he is somewhat less than enamored with being an Oiler.
If this is in fact correct, there is no reason to think they are in any panic to move him, nor in any hurry to humor his agent. Once again, this is a clear difference in the overall philosophy of a good team vs a generation of darkness team. Less pandering to the wishes of disgruntled players.
Anyway it seems that JP hasn’t even produced for a single full season yet. It’s doubtful that anyone is offering much more than a mediocre return.
Holloway has a bit of Taylor Hall in him. Hall-oway.
He crashes everywhere like the Kingston Cannonball – which might see him amass quite an injury history like Taylor.
I wouldn’t pencil him in to this top 6 full time just yet, but early signs are awesome.
Barring a quick trade, I expect we will see a 21 man roster until Kenny either gets the deal he is waiting for or circumstances force a decision.
McDavid-Draisatle, Nuge, McLeod, Kane, Hyman,Foegele Holloway, Benson, Jesse, Yamo, and one of Janmark/Ryan with the other buried in the AHL for a 125000 net cap hit.
Nurse,Kulak, Broberg, Murray(?), Ceci,Bouchard, Barrie, Campbell, SKinner,
12 forwards, 7 defencemen 2 goalies. Run 12/7 as long as is feasible until things resolve. Leaves 12,667 of cap space.
Someone will need to fill a spot due to injury or other circumstance in the first few weeks of the season, and that is our trade partner methinks… better leverage than doing something right now.
I am leaning towards Foegele for a decent prospect and a pick. Then we can elevate 2 of the buried forward, Shore or Malone and be at 23 and under the Cap.
Correction: run 11/7, not 12/7. typo by me!
…except you’ve listed 12 forwards.
Oh, sorry, you meant *dress* 11/7, not maintain a roster of 11/7; I get what you’re saying now.
I don’t think there’s any way that Foegele lands a decent prospect if the other team’s not sending salary back, let alone a decent prospect and a pick. But Holland’s proven me wrong before…
Definition of decent prospect can cover a LOT of ground. Simeone with a realistic shot, but not necessarily a top 6 F or top 4 D apparent upside is likely.
I’d be tempted by a RD defesive D type reasonably expected to be soon a thrid paring guy, and a 3/4 round pick in this draft…
Foegele might clear waivers. The competitive teams don’t have cap space for him either and he is of little use to a rebuilder. But they can run a 21 man roster for awhile. Lots of games last year where a player or two played 5-8 minutes. Not hard to cover those minutes short term.
Exactly.
Even in here – Warren lost his staunch defenders at the end of last year.
Outside of Edmonton – people are genuinely curious if Warren even scores in practice.
Hyperbole much? He scored 12 goals last season, including 3 in the month of April. That is lower 3rd line scoring levels in the NHL which is what he is on the Oilers. His goals per 60 and points per 60 were 8th and 9th among Oiler regular forwards and in 3rd line range compared to the whole league. Overall he did not have a good playoff and his season was uneven. Maybe need a little more offensively from him at his salary range (not much more if he becomes a solid penalty killer as well). I’d lean towards keeping him to see what he can do after a one season adjustment, but if the Oilers move on from him, I’d be okay with it.
Can’t bury more than 1,125,000 in AHL rest hits the cap, so just burying Foegele is a no go.
It’s identical to burying Ryan/Janmark cap wise.
If Holland isn’t making a trade, Foegele will be in the lineup with one of the $1.25M players waived.
(the only possible reason for waiving Foegele over the others is to see if someone claims him, clearing his whole cap hit).
I have read this before and I don’t understand it. If you bury Ryan in the minors you are left with $125,000 counting on the cap. If you bury Foegele in the minors you are left with $1,625,000 counting on the cap.
How is that identical?
They are both currently “on the roster” and their current full cap hits count in calculations. Sending down either one saves $1.125MM on the cap. As far as getting cap compliant from where we are, sending one or the other down (after clearing waivers) has the identical effect.
OPs got it.
That is a peculiar use of the word identical, no?
The specific act of burying any one of the three players from the time shortly before the action and the time shortly after the action has the identical outcome on the immediate calculation of the Oiler’s cap situation. ie. Their overall cap is lowered by the same $1.125 million in total and their roster is reduced by one player. (If the roster has 22 players at $83.5 million, no matter which player is waived then buried, afterwards the Oilers would have 21 players and $82.375 million). The $125,000 for Ryan or Janmark and the $1,625,000 for Foegele you mention above remain in the cap totals in all scenarios.
The outcomes would only be different immediately if the player being waived gets claimed in which case the whole salary disappears from the cap. The difference in salary could also come in to play if the player kept on the roster were to get injured to the point of being placed on LTIR. The relief the Oiler’s would get from such an event with Foegele is higher than the relief they would get if it were Ryan or Janmark.
Waiving (and assigning) Foegele has the identical effect on the Oilers’ current cap situation as waiving Ryan or Janmark.
There is a difference effect on the cap if the player is claimed but not if they are assigned.
What Redbird and OP said, haha.
Identical strictly in terms of effect on the available cap space relative to today.
Yeah, I understood all of that. I guess how Holland gets the team compliant for the first day interests me much less than how he gets the team to where it needs to be for the 82 games so the Foegele example really didn’t register as relevant.
Yes, fair enough. And I agree that talk of waiving Foegele makes little sense/is irrelevant (if I’m understanding you).
We’re close to go time now. Do you think we see a trade? Or is Holland going to try to walk the line? 21 is feeling more likely by the day, I feel.
I wonder also if Woodcroft is having an effect on the decision, potentially favouring the unorthodox route.
I honestly don’t know what Holland has planned. I agree the smart money is on going with 21 players and delaying as long as possible to see if the offers improve for whoever.
I would hope that Woodcroft has a major impact on the roster and looking at the available talent I won’t be surprised if they go with 13 forwards and 8 dmen once the 1st day juggling has settled.
I’m much more comfortable playing a dman on a fourth line than a forward on the 3rd pair should injury hit and cap considerations make a call up impossible.
About the only thing I am pretty sure of is that Holland knows what is available for him to do and he doesn’t much like the options available.
That $3 M goalie idea looking any better now than back in June?
Yeah, yeah, I know, Campbell is looking good. Holland probably made the right decision. I guess we will know soon enough the full cost of that decision though.
Yeah no question a D filling in at forward is preferable to the other way around. We’ll have an answer on the roster/cap issue soon enough I guess.
The $3M goalie idea…
Would I rather have Campbell and lose one of 1) Foegele, 2) Puljujarvi, or 3) Ryan plus another depth player
vs.
Have Reimer and not lose another player?
Honestly I think I prefer where we’re at. We’re talking about running a short roster or removing a top 9 forward from a group that looks to have 10 of them (and that’s not including Janmark and Ryan, who’ve played the role more than capably in the recent past) vs. less certain goaltending.
The latter certainly have a better chance of sewering a season.
Could very well be. Holland certainly chose the path with less risk. We’ll know what we have in Skinner by the new year and that was always my contention – that if he wasn’t going to be ready by the playoffs Holland would have to go shopping at the TD.
I’m sure this will come up again during the season since it was the move that Holland made this summer with the biggest long term impact and I fully admit that my position was the high wire solution.
That would be a more than decent return for a guy that really struggles to get anything going offensively.
The Oilers third line this season will be better than the Oilers second line from 2018-2021.
Also, I increasingly think RNH should play LW with Drai. I am a godot10 convert, Drai needs a passer and RNH is the best non-McD option.
Either way, this forward group is hot hot hot. Maybe the deepest in the league?
Holloway is obviously a very good passer too, but I prefer he start on the third line.
Darn, you beat me to my #1 line suggestion for tomorrow night against an NHL Canucks squad: Holloway – Draisaitl – Puljujarvi. I’d give the entire McDavid line the night off (Yama got crunched and the others have nothing to prove) and I’d run McLeod – Nugent-Hopkins – Hyman on the 2nd line. This will also be the final look for the guys competing for the 4th line role as the last pre-season game should be mostly the set roster.
So good to see the blue uniforms back.They look great! RIP orange unis.
yes, and I love the away (used to be home) whites
I am interested to see what the others think on here as there are truly some great minds.
I thought samorukov aquitted himself well, i would like to see him get the next game as well against vancouver.
I liked his passing, his boxing out from the slot was solid, his pk work was decent, and he skated well. I think he offers more than broberg currently, especially as a partner for tyson barrie.
If its me i trade warren foegele, and keep broberg/murray/samorukov on the roster and alternate games between the 3 men for the first 12 games or so to see what we actually have.
It would be almost certain that samorukov would be claimed if placed on waivers.
i am really not sure what all the hype is with niemalainen other than his physicality shines.
I am less excited about a hit that blows a guy up on the wall than i am about smart plays that drive posession and lead to less goals and chances against.
If you look at almost any stat, zone entrys, zone denials, dzone starts, high danger chances, expected goals, real goals, samorukov has grossly outplayed niemalainen.
Broberg has likely played himself off the team. It would be better for him to log big AHL minutes. He is the polar opposite of what Holloway has done.
i do feel like brobergs transition game is very solid, however he seems a little uncomfortable with his new size but i will say that the 3rd period against winnipeg he looked very dynamic.
Great game last night. I subscribed to the new sportsnet app and so far so good. It runs smoother than the NHL live app. I think Jesse didn’t play last night because he played the previous two so I wouldn’t look too much into that but Holloway definitely leap frogged him after that performance. Last night night was an example of what real goal scorers do when they are put with players like Draisaitl and McDavid. Another example would be Evander Kane last spring. Holloway is blowing the doors off. Lots of intriguing stories on Defence also.
Help me out here: Puljujarvi and Holloway don’t play the same position – how could one “leapfrog” the other?
Hyman’s ability to play both wings clearly makes this leap possible.
Foegele too.
Yeah. SN Now is a way better platform, and I’m happy to steam other sports in the bargain (haven’t had cable since the cup run)z
Everyone keeps speculating that JP has lost his spot in the top 6…I personally think it’s yamo who will shake out and land on the 3rd line….
I think JP and Yamo will alternate between the top 6 and the 3rd line depending on opponent, production and other circumstances. Keep them both on the edge. A little internal competition always is nice!
Some suggest the third line is set with 71-93-37, leaving no spot for either 56 or 13 there.
It’s a conundrum for sure.
If its one thing we should know about Woodcroft, no lines are actually “set”. Some maybe probable, like the first line for right now. Postgame last night, Woodcroft even said that he liked how Foegele knew he was fighting for a job(s) (plural because it includes winning a spot in the line up (he is after all, a possible trade candidate), and specific roles are up for grabs like which line and PK duty), and that Foegele was playing accordingly.
When everyone is healthy the roster seems overloaded. Not much part of the season where everyone is healthy though.
JP played back 2 back Friday and Saturday,.so its unsurprising he wasnt in last night I’m not reading into him not being in the lineup at all. Holloway definitely has made the team. The question is, who doesn’t?
Mattias Janmark has been the least impressive NHL forward we’ve seen at camp. He gets my vote off the island.
The players know.