It looks like the Oilers will break camp with more than one Finnish skater to begin the 2022-23 season. I don’t need to tell you that it looked dire at times over the summer, but Jesse Puljujarvi’s performance on Friday night against the Kraken, added to the waiver move of Mattias Janmark earlier in the day, cemented the forward group save for the last man standing at the end of the roster. Now. What about Markus Niemelainen?
The Oilers did plenty in the offseason, now the team needs some luck (injury), growth (rookies) and a real MacGyver effort from the coaching staff (second pair) to make this a Stanley team. https://t.co/1gqZrgVSdB
Jack Campbell made several fantastic saves (five of seven HDSC) and finishes the preseason with good stats: .933 five-on-five save percentage and a 3-0 record. His overall GAA was 1.99 for the exhibition season. He had a couple of sequences that were brilliant, showing off his glove and ability to recover on a play.
DEFENSE
Darnell Nurse had an assist, two shots, two giveaways, went 2-0 goals at five-on-five goal differential. He also made some good plays, moving bodies, moving pucks out of harms way and guarding the Edmonton goal. 63.6 percent expected goals five-on-five.
Cody Ceci had another strong night of good defending. He was 65.9 expected goals five-on-five, played a steady game and did a good job of being on the right side of the puck.
Brett Kulak had two shots, three hits and blocked a shot at five-on-five. Effective with both Bouchard and Barrie, I love his mobility.
Evan Bouchard had two shots, drew a penalty, blocked a shot, 78.7 expected goals. His passing was a big part of Edmonton’s game coming out of the zone. Expect electric all year long.
Ryan Murray had a good night. He had one shot, it was a HDSC, and he had calm feet all night long. 66.9 percent expected goals.
Tyson Barrie scored a power-play goal with a rocket shot. At five-on-five, he had an assist, four shots, a couple that were good looks and two giveaways. 48.1 expected goals.
Suspect we could see Nurse-Ceci, Murray-Bouchard and Kulak-Barrie opening night.
FORWARDS
Evander Kane scored a goal at five-on-five and had seven shots in the discipline. He is the most productive left-winger for McDavid not named Leon Draisaitl, passing Patrick Maroon on the list. Also picked up an assist during even-strength play. Finishes training camp 1-1-2 in three games, 12 HDSC in all disciplines.
Connor McDavid had an assist, three shots, two HDSC’s, a takeaway and a blocked shot at five-on-five. He seemed especially fast and physical on the night. He added an empty netter and finishes the presason 3, 1-2-3.
Jesse Puljujarvi had his best game, scoring a nice goal, effective in passing and turning over pucks. At five-on-five, he went 1-0-1, five shots, two HDSC, took a penalty, three hits and a blocked shot. The sequence that led up to his goal was pure JP: Engaged behind the net, drives to the scoring zone, gets good wood on a brilliant pass. For the exhibition season, he scored 1-1-2 in four games.
Dylan Holloway had three shots, one HDSC, giveaway, takeaway. I don’t think you could script a better audition. He finishes 4-2-6 in five games.
Leon Draisaitl’s pass to Evander Kane made the angels in heaven weep. HOW does he do it? Sweet mercy the man has ridiculous skill. He was 1-1-2 at five-on-five on the night, four points overall. Finished 2-3-5 in three games.
Zach Hyman had a shot, four HDSC and did plenty of strong work along the way and near the net. I could watch him play forever, and he’s the perfect addition to the passing/shooting/thrilling elites on the team. Hyman arrives with business to conduct and gets it done. Music! 1-2-3 in three games.
A quick note about Kane-McDavid-Draisaitl. I like the way Jay Woodcroft uses them, find myself wishing they were out there together more. That’s usually a good sign.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had one shot, two HDSC and two takeaways at five-on-five, easily his most effective evening. I still believe Jesse Puljujarvi on his line may be needed more, but the big Finn is also strong with 97. RNH was 0-1-1 in three pre-season games, his least effective offensive camp since 2016-17.
James Hamblin had one shot, one HDSC and played well again last night. He chimed in good with Nuge and McLeod. 4, 1-0-1 in preseason.
Ryan McLeod drew a penalty and had a takeaway five-on-five, showing he can be effective even on nights when the offense isn’t there. 1-0-1 in five games, he did post seven HDSC and I thought he had a good camp.
Derek Ryan had one shot, one HDSC and came close to something a couple of other times. He’s a trustworthy plyer, scored no points in four games and will have to move the needle at least a little offensively.
Devin Shore had one HDSC, two takeaways and capped a strong preseason where he went 0-3-3 in five games.
Brad Malone didn’t get to play much and didn’t have the puck often. 4, 0-1-1 in preseason.
TODAY
It will be eventful, we’ll find out about Mattias Janmark and Dmitri Samorukov, plus there’s a chance Devin Shore hits waivers at noon today. It sounds like the team will send down Philip Broberg and Brad Malone right after the roster is declared, with Markus Niemelainen and Devin Shore being placed on the roster before Wednesday’s opener. Much to come. Stay tuned.
Oilers: 110
McDavid: 135
Draisaitl: 58
Oilers in West: 2
Tarkus
October 8, 2022 10:33 pm
Summarizing!
Offence was scant tonight, with only Petrov able to find the scoresheet, assisting on North Bay’s lone goal in a losing effort. That is all.
Munny 2.0
October 8, 2022 9:22 pm
Onhockey dot tv has the Seattle-Van game btw.
You have to hammer the back button (or better, right click and return to your start page) and re-enter the site, but after that this game is pop up free.
I don’t normally use the site except for pre-season and NCAA, where largely it is pop-up free anyways.
What I like about Firefox (and support) is it is open source and I get a lot of control over u-toob. I watch as much professor stuff as I can squeeze in on the old toobage lol. There’s so much free development available out there.
I honestly prefer https://v2.sportsurge.net/list-hockey
it lists all available streams (by sport) so you can pick from a few of the reliable streamers.
Huge blunder by the coach. That enabled Santana to switch to his better side. Under 100 pitches thrown, you leave your best in for 1 more batter. And like you said, the bullpen. Been bad most of the year.
I have not watch baseball since they screwed MTL back in 94 I believe? I was there at the Skydome the night the Jays won it all and have not watched since.
I went to see the Blue Jays twice and honestly it is nothing like Fenway Park.
meanashell11
October 8, 2022 5:27 pm
Maybe this was discussed yesterday but I just looked at this VCR/CHI trade that was done. Why would Chicago take a guy that had worse stats than Foegele and is paid more than Foegele and give VCR cap relief for 5th rounder? And why would Holland not done that trade. The only reason I can come up with is he really was not trying to trade anyone to get cap compliant. What am I missing?
You are correct, I did not read it that closely. So what should it have cost Holland given Foegele is a better player and cheaper? A third? I don’t think he wanted to make a trade.
Holly wouldn’t want a player back, so that’s would be a material difference. Hmm. The weird thing is that for some teams that particular would mean cheaper and for others more expensive. Bizarro world. And in an illiquid market like the NHL, it’s hard to play the arbitrage.
If it was CHI and their situation, well then we also need to ask would they accept a winger over a C and are they okay with a LWer over a RWer? Because neither 13 or 37 would be going there to get buried in CHI’s system. If neither of those two fit the Hawks plans then maybe there’s no deal or an even higher ask.
In general, I think Holland doesn’t want to pay anything, if he can avoid it. And I think he’d like to keep as much powder dry as possible. Not just for the trade deadline, but also going into a strong draft, whether to hold or deal. But this isn’t going to be easy. You know commodities… which do you think is the better course: accepting less than value for Pujo or paying to divest Foegele? Tough to say without knowing the rest of the trade, I guess.
Now the present cap course isn’t sustainable in the medium term IMO. Something has to give. Getting out cheap or ahead seems like it would take a miracle but there’s always luck and timing and getting that one buyer with need. *crosses fingers*
Maybe the GMs are playing a huge game of chicken… while defmn’s Doomsday Clock ticks away the minutes to cap midnight. Tick… tick…
I’m really going to fucking miss Foegele, to tell you the truth. But I don’t see how he survives October.
You know what they say about Toronto teams and an 8-1 lead…
winchester
October 8, 2022 3:57 pm
Something is changing in Oilers front office. There has been an element of creative thinking that has taken a seat. We see this in some creative trade suggestions, though rumors, they differ from typical hockey trade and resemble more of what we see around the NHL when teams are challenged to find solutions.
With todays cap hit problem, I believe something similar is happening. Creative solutions. They are not going to give away players just cause. Or waivers. They may lose a man on waivers but I do believe a lot more thought goes in to asset management.
And the cap, somebody, I don’t know who, seems to have a plan. Its a risk reward plan around potential injuries and maintaining depth most likely. They are trying to work the system rather them be slaves to it. I approve, not that anyone would ask. It may not work, but Im happy they are trying, rather than make the simple move of sending out a player for nothing.
I am sure Brad offers a different and perhaps newer perspective to Ken than others Ken has working for him in the past, and it may be that Brad has an edge now on being the next GM. But if you don’t think Ken Holland is still making all the final decisions on every player transaction right now, then you don’t understand what makes the man tick. As long as he has the title, he will take full responsibility for the direction of the club. Holland is fully capable of learning from the people that work for him, while still being the leader.
Whoever runs the Oilers is going to be in a great place until Draisaitl/McDavid want out.
The good news is, neither player appears smitten with the high life.
This can be a team that is guaranteed to win 1, 2 or more cups before its all said and done. There are no teams other than Colorado that can offer that.
Last edited 1 year ago by hunter1909
kgo
October 8, 2022 3:45 pm
There was never any chance Samo was getting claimed…anyone who thought he might needs to reset their perspective
Lets talk more about this player Samorukov. Right now, he is a Willie Lagesson. Great hockey player but not quite great enough to stick in the NHL.
Thing about Sammy though, is his potential is still not fully identified. When he started junior he faltered. When he finished junior hockey he was so good his coaches (and at least 1 scout) stated he was NHL ready. The next year! They thought he was NHL ready.
When he started in the AHL he faltered. Then he excelled. He was playing big #1 LHD minutes. That was good progress.
When he gets a chance in the NHL, he more than faltered, i don’t know if I have ever seen a worse start. Now his preseason camp was meh.
So the question is why does he do well once he adjusts to the level of play? He seems a slow starter. Needs to gain confidence, Needs time. Maybe needs the right coach. This pattern seems to repeat.
So is there a coach or a scout out there that watched him in junior? Or AHL? Thinks hes on the verge of breaking out? Needs time to adadpt, adjust, settle in. I think there might be – or that coach is in the Oilers org right now.
But what they should not do, is slam the door or any young player, and this is what we are seeing. If Sammy moves on, the Oilers should be confident they did everything possible to help the player succeed. And thus reached his maximum asset value, to be used on the ice or in trade.
I agree with your points, but what about the opportunity cost of “doing everything possible”. If it costs another prospect a development opportunity, or hurts the big club…maybe they shouldn’t “do everything possible”
My point, when I say “reset your perspective” is that a manager for another team is going to ask his pro scout about Samorukov when he hits the wire…what is his scout going to say? He was 11th on the depth chart last year, got 2 NHL shifts, got walked twice, -2, benched….sent down. Decent camp metrics, doesn’t have any unique skills that stick out, showing signs of improving at the AHL level, had 24 pts in 100gms.
Now the manager has his own players he’s trying to sneak thru waivers, knows there’s more guys coming across the waiver wire with better resumes, has his own rookies that need an opportunity to see what they’ve got …
There’s was never a chance Samo was getting claimed
What this analysis is missing is the actual views of that pro scout who will have watched/seen Samorukov in the AHL over the last two season and would have seen him make marketed improvement in his rookie season before his facial injury and would have seen him be the Condors best d-man over the last 6-8 weeks of the regular season last year.
I would posit you are putting WAY too much emphasis on his one NHL period – my goodness. Connor McDavid gave the puck away twice in the defensive zone in his first shift last night – I think we can throw away the four shifts and I’m confident scouts would do the same.
I agree there wasn’t a great chance he was getting claimed, few players do in the days leading up to the season, but there wasn’t a ZERO chance – this is a player that not long ago was being coveted by other orgs (from various accounts Holland was asked about him quite a bit) and there are a few teams with injuries on the back-end that are scrambling a bit.
His one NHL period cant get thrown out entirely. It’s not nothing…I know he got beat by Jordan Kyrou who also won the fastest skater title last year. So I think I’ve got it in perspective.
If kylington didn’t get claimed last year, and valiamaki doesn’t get claimed this year…then there was a zero chance Samo was getting claimed.
Don’t you think if there was interest that Holland would have flipped him for a pick by now?
Ryan was brought in just over 12 months ago to be the 3rd/4th line C…he’s lost both jobs and only made this roster by the skin of his teeth.
He’s 35, undersized, and appears to have lost a step…perhaps he hasn’t lost the step and it was a pre-season effort I was witnessing…or a long shift. I’m happy to debate the issue.
If he has lost a step, he’ll be below replacement and guess what…he’ll be replaced….we wait.
Yes, he did lose the 3C job last year. He’s among the top 11 forwards on the current roster, so if you want to call that by the skin of his teeth then feel free.
I wasn’t able to watch really any of the pre-season games so I can’t comment on how he’s looked. I do know that he hasn’t been on the ice for any 5v5 GF or GA in pre-season, and that the Oilers have had 56% of the shots and 66% of the xGoals with him on. I don’t see much evidence that he’s done.
I haven’t seen anyone other than you argue Ryan isn’t better than 12th forward Shore/Hamblin.
Redbird nicely laid out what Ryan was the last time he played regular season/playoff games, and it didn’t resemble replacement level.
If you think there’s been a major change in the 4 months since then, you’re probably drawing a little too much from the eye test in mostly meaningless pre-season games.
Yes you’re correct, my opinion is often not a popular one. I agree with everyone that Ryan was a good player last year, above replacement, value for his contract.
I’m merely making an observation or a prediction that it appears, to my eyes, (eyes that watch more hockey than 99.9999% of humanity) that Ryan appears to have lost a step.
Okay, Touche, I’ll add a caveat then, for people under 40 I’ve probably watched more than 99.9999%
I got hooked when Vincent Damphousse got traded to the Oilers, my mom made me a deal when I was 7 that I could stay up past bedtime to watch oiler games as long as I didn’t complain the next morning about getting up for school.
I’ve easily watched 2000 oiler games on TV or Live since then. (I remember getting pissed when random columbus/minnesota games weren’t televised pre-lockout) I’ve seen 1000 amateur games live most of which I participated in, and I’ve probably watched 800 non oiler playoff games in the last 30 years. I watch 80% of every world juniors, and every world championships, even the odd spengler cup game. Olympics, even women’s olympics when Szabados was on the team (I was her dman for 2 years age 12)
I used to put the classic NHL games on for background while I would play Sid Meier’s Civ games as a kid.
I don’t watch football, I don’t watch baseball, I am FANatical about Hockey.
I’ve assistant coached high school hockey.
I spent 6 months as a shot-lister, I was literally paid (min-wage) to watch hockey by a local media company Aquila productions. Every evening I would drive to the west end, and spend 6 hours watching beta tapes of old playoff series, I would watch them at 2x – 3x speed and pause to mark every event, every shot, save, hit, fight, goal, etc…so the producers could easily search thru B-roll footage.
Since the Hall draft I’ve only missed watching 7 oiler games…and believe it or not, one of them was Sam Gagner’s 8 point night, and one was Hemsky’s heroics after Stefan’s gaffe. (during the DOD I had to turn games off if we were down by 4…and I may have intentionally missed a few games vs the Wild)
So yeah, I recognize patterns on the ice….and Derek Ryan looked slower/weaker last week than he did 4 months ago.
So now you’ve narrowed it down to only 5,000 people on the entire planet under 40 may have watched more hockey than you. Sorry still not buying it, even based on reading your resume.
I remember when I stuck a fork in Ryan’s career last season that you vehemently defended him.
Is he a friend or relative of yours? ;). If he is, my apologies.
Tippett didn’t trust him and sheltered him like crazy with the on the fly starts /60, but he found new life on the wing under Woodcroft. Indeed, he had a remarkable scoring run.
Nope, I’m not JP Ryan, or an acquaintance/friend of any kind.
Tippett did shelter him, as did Woodcroft. Ryan’s resurrection started well before Woodcroft arrived though.
In Ryan’s last 20 games under Tippett his numbers look like:
57% shots
53% goals (8GF-7GA)
59% xGoals
1.72 P/60
This was during that dark stretch of the season including the 2-11-2 run. All those numbers are among the top 4 forwards on the team. His P/60 was better than McDavid’s (1.56) during that period.
Then in 35 games under Woodcroft his scoring was up, but his other numbers remained strong:
55% shots
61% goals (22GF-14GA)
52% xGoals
2.51 P/60
All his numbers under Woodcroft were among the top 6 on the team.
In addition to getting among the most OTF starts/60 (3rd most under Tippett, #1 under Woodcroft), he also got the highest rate of Dzone faceoffs/60 of any Oiler under both coaches. So he was sheltered in some ways, but not in others.
I dunno, I don’t think I need to be a close personal friend to think D. Ryan is alright 😉
That’s all good stuff except the d-zone start percentage.
”he also got the highest rate of Dzone faceoffs/60 of any Oiler under both coaches.”
There was a time when heavy d-zone starts were thought to be the Malhotra experience. I vaguely remember an article ages ago showing that it was mostly earned by icing the puck or getting stuck in your zone rather than “heavy sledding.”
They took that out of the stat and reduced it to start of shift, IIRC. Or they split the stats out.
But zone starts aren’t credible evidence for much IMO. There’s too many things going on. And a whole bunch of questions one would want answered. Not the least of which is those same on-ice performance stats filtered by the respective starts—for the League too over years, so we can judge the relevance of starts and their effect. But a hole bunch of others too.
Sorry, I’m a long time anti-start stat guy. I’m sure was an ass to LT when he used to have them in his game reports.
Yes, I know Dzone starts aren’t the be all, and I also vaguely recall the article you’re talking about. I’m not sure if the effects of OTF starts are any more clearly established though.
From watching, it’s also clear that a lot of Ryan’s Dzone starts are because he’s a good FO man.
Whatever the case, at least he’s been able to bring some offense and generally win his minutes, which is more than a lot of NHLers can say.
After Woodcroft arrived, Ryan played 31 of 34 games, and had the 9th most minutes per game of any forward on the team and 8th in the playoffs. He was also part of the 2nd pair pk with McLeod in the regular season and in the playoffs. He managed 1.77 point per 60 last season 5 on 5, which is right on the border between 2nd and 3rd line production. Don’t believe he keeps that up if given more minutes, but even his point totals 5 on 5 were in the middle of 3rd line territory. So far, the Oilers do not have anyone capable of replacing him. I think it is the professionalism he brings that he can adapt so he keeps playing in the NHL even if age is impacting him. Last year he was undeniably a full time NHL player on merit. Whether he continues at that level this season remains to be seen, but so far Woody considers him more than a replacement level talent.
If he has lost a step, its so far not enough to get Ryan sent down. Opening night roster has not been set yet so it could be he isn’t on it, but he is still in the mix as of today..
After watching Sammy’s 2 shifts last year any G.M that claimed him should and would of been fired. The waiver wire is not a development league, it’s a plug and play. Every team has a handful of projects they don’t need anymore. Murray on the other hand might of been chosen by a team that’s banged up on D.
fishman
October 8, 2022 3:06 pm
Jays up 3-0 in the third!!!
Reja
October 8, 2022 2:05 pm
With the Oilers Cap so tight could marginal players say in the next few years tax less money which gives them a better chance of playing on the big club. Even though player A and player B are let’s say equal in talent yet since player A signed for $175000 less then what the blue book lists him at he gets a opportunity while player B who makes more money but misses his window of playing regularly in the NHL.
Pretty sure you meant to write “take less money” not “tax less money”. It’s a great point.
And the answer is “of course”. That’s how a free market is supposed to work.
We are seeing already that some cheaper players have accidentally priced themselves out of the market because they didn’t realize how important $25k might turn out to be on day 1 of the regular season.
Great write up as always LT. Murray – Bouchard 7-0 HDSCs in 5.04 of ice team. Not too shabby! Ryan McLeod “showing he can be effective even on nights when the offense isn’t there.” I think you have written something like this several times already this preseason – I just don’t see him and Nuge as a fit. Hope I am wrong.
Last edited 1 year ago by jm363561
doritogrande
October 8, 2022 12:33 pm
I could watch Hyman kill penalties day and night. We like to talk about RNH as a special teams savant but 18’s giving him a good run for his money.
He is a good fit with Nuge for sure, but Nuge was a premium Pker before Hyman showed up. Hyman’s performance in that role in Toronto was just average. They didn’t start off great as a pair last year, but as the season went on, Hyman’s aggressiveness has them getting more short handed chances which keeps the other team’s PP off balance when they are on. Paired with someone other than Nuge, his aggressiveness might not be as effective.
And Nuge’s “savantness” was also includes his PP work. Hyman is more easily replaced on the first unit than Nuge. Hyman’s style of play is far more noticeable, but Nuge is a far more effective player than people generally give him credit for.
Brogan Rafferty's Uncle Steve
October 8, 2022 12:32 pm
Acclaimed winner of both the Norris and Calder, Juuso Valimaki, is put on waivers.
Both Samorukov and Janmark clear waiver. I’m not surprised by either but am relieved – there was an argument that either, or both, could be claimed.
There could have been some positive if Janmark was claimed as it would open up an addition $125K of cap space (which would make a difference this week) but, for me, he should be value for his cap hit (based on history) and the depth cover is more important than the $125K, even if that is a “material amount” vis-a-vis the Oilers cap space.
Agree on Janmark generally, and would add the only way that extra $125k would matter even this week is if they’d wanted to keep Broberg after day 1 (they could have both Shore and Broberg on the roster with the extra $125k).
If they’d planned to send Broberg down to get 1D ice in Bakersfield regardless, then the extra $125k basically means nothing.
Maybe Broberg is going to be given at least a few games at the start of the season, with Murray being the 7th defenseman. It wouldn’t be the first time the eye test of the fans and media don’t line up with the real experts.
That’s conceivable, but unlikely I think. With Broberg on the roster there isn’t cap room for Shore or Hamblin as the 12th forward, and apparently Malone was told he’s starting in Bakersfield. So those things don’t add up to Broberg remaining on the roster beyond the opening submission.
I just looked at Capfriendly. Based on their numbers, which still have Janmark on the NHL roster, the Oilers have $89.154 million against the cap. Take out Smith and Klefbom and replace Janmark’s 1.25 million with Holloway’s 925,000 and it appears the Oilers are just under the cap. That includes Murray on D and Shore and Ryan still on the team. Is there something missing in Capfriendly that I didn’t notice, or maybe my math is wrong?
Well it lists the Oilers as $6.654M over the cap. Put Smith and Klefbom on LTIR ($6.367M) and the Oilers are still $278k over.
Replace Janmark with Holloway opens another $200k, but that’s still $78k short (recall only $1.125M of Janmark’s cap hit goes away, guessing that might be what happened).
Replacing Broberg with one of the cheaper D, or Shore with Malone makes up that $78k, but I don’t think they can keep Broberg and Shore on the roster.
I’ve been using the ArmchairGM feature on Capfriendly so I don’t usually have to do that much math 🙂
Right, I completely forgot about the $1.125 part as I did my back of the envelope even though I posted about that at length the other day. And where they’re at only Malone, Griffith, McKegg and Benson are cheap enough to replace Shore, with Benson likely headed to LTIR.
Right, I completely forgot about the $1.125 parts I did my back of the envelope even though I posted about that at length the other day. And where they’re at only Malone, Griffith, McKegg and Benson are cheap enough to replace Shore, with Benson likely headed to LTIR.
i am not sure your point. The cap hit for every player is the same every year within a contract regardless of the specific year to year cash salaries. This only changes if a 35 year old+ player has bonuses which Smith did not in either year of this contract. And even if his cap hit were higher it would be irrelevant. If he was higher by a million the total for the oilers before LTIR relief would be higher by a million and the net number the same.
I was talking about the Wednesday roster for game 1.
Malone pretty much has to be on the Monday (?) initial roster because if Broberg and Holloway are on it there’s not enough cap space to fit Shore or Hamblin.
I do the same thing though. I use CF’s GM tool. Largely because I’ve never had to be the one who has to create the Excel spreadsheet lol… and I’m clueless at scraping data (which seems eminently preferable to data entry… my typing is self-taught and it shows).
They could run with Malone as the 12F and Murray/Broberg as 6/7D.
I think they may very well keep that and go 7D for game 1 (and maybe more) – shelter Broberg and ease him in while still having the veteran Murray in there.
If he struggles after a few games he can go down (with Malone) for Nimeo or Sammy and Shore or Hamblin or whoever…..
I think Shore will be on waivers tomorrow and, if he clears, they’ll send Hamblin down on Monday. If he doesn’t clear, they may send Malone down and keep Hamblin – I think they want Malone in the AHL and will find a way for him there – it may be after a few NHL games though.
I’m sure they want Malone around the likes of Bourgault, Tulio, etc.
But you yourself relayed the intel from DNB yesterday that Malone has been told he’ll play in Bakersfield.
I’m basing my speculation on that, plus that Samorukov and Niemalainen have already been sent down (you’d think the team would keep them around as long as possible to practice with the big club if the plan was to have them there for game 1).
What you’re saying is possible for sure, I just don’t think the tea leaves suggest that the team keeping Broberg and Malone up for game 1 is the most likely outcome.
Perhaps not but Niemo being sent down so early suggests that its not a paper transaction, at least to me.
Maybe the plan is to call Samorukov up for Broberg prior to Wed – does that create enough room to swap Malone for Shore as well? It would create room to sub Malone for Hamblin for sure (I think).
The Condors played their second, and last, exhibition game this afternoon and they don’t play until Sat. Malone could stay on the NHL roster for a few more day (whether he plays Wed or not) and earn a few extra dollars.
Unless they really want to get Shore (or Hamblin) in that 12F spot for game 1, I’m not sure there is a rush for the swap. Maybe they really want Nimeo/Sammy over Broberg for game 1 but I can’t see that being the case with Murray likely in the lineup.
And yes, if Samorukov, Niemalainen or Demers were to replace Broberg, then there would be enough room for Shore or Hamblin as 12F.
Fair enough that they could delay sending Broberg down if they want to get him into one game, but if they’re planning to send him down I’m not sure there’s much reason to wait.
Not sure what Woodcroft’s plan A is, but he has run 12F 6D every game in pre-season I think. Maybe he’ll do more of that this regular season as well (and going back to last season, they used 7 D in only 4 of 18 regular season games after Kulak was added, and 6 of 16 playoff games, so 10/34 total).
First, on Broberg, based on Holland’s stated philosophy that he wants players to really be ready when he gives them a line up spot (as opposed to be called up for injury reasons, then sent back down), I wonder if he’d let Broberg start the season in the NHL if he was leaning towards sending him down after a few games. Holland has said it is hard on the young players confidence to give them a spot then subsequently sending them back to the AHL If he starts this season with Broberg in the NHL while still having some doubts that he is ready and having other options, that could be going against his philosophy. Now, if he can sit Broberg down and say that the plan is to send him down, since he needs a little more time in the minors, but for cap reasons they need him on the NHL roster and maybe even in a few games for cap/waiver reasons, maybe that is less damaging to Broberg’s confidence.
Second, on the 7/11 vs 6/12, a lot of the time it was used in the regular season was with injury issues like when Keith was hurt and he ran with 7 D as well Keith’s first 3 games back from IR. The Oilers were also a little light on quality forwards with Nuge and Jesse being on LTIR in March as well. Even in the playoffs, you could argue Nurse’s injury played a part in using 7 D, since Nurse couldn’t play his full amount of time (he only average 21 minutes a game. I think Woodcroft and Manson tend to prefer 6 and 12 but are willing to go 7 /11 under certain circumstances. I don’t think if the Oilers are healthy, it will occur often.
Good point on Broberg and how Holland has said he wants to treat young players. I also see pretty minimal benefit that could be gained from keeping Broberg up for a few more games.
And absolutely, Woodcroft/Manson running 11/7 was in part borne out of necessity. Just checked, and 16 of Woodcroft’s first 20 games were run with 7D. That included 14 games each for Lagesson and Broberg, and 13 for Niemalainen. Then, after Kulak was added, they only used 7D in 10 of 34 games (and as you said, the Nurse injury was an important factor in many of those)
Woodcroft/Manson are definitely more flexible than we’ve been used to. That’s a great thing, but it likely is true that if they’ve got 12 worthy forwards and 6 worthy defensemen available to them, that’s what they’d prefer to do. With a 21-man roster I guess we’ll see a healthy dose of 11/7 though.
I’m generally not in favour of 11/7, except on the rare occurrence (and it might be forced on the team this year with no ability to call up player for short term injuries) but my thinking is they may want to give Broberg a bit more rope and the 11/7 to start the season could be a decent way.
I don’t think either of Niemo or Samorukov outplayed Broberg at all, let alone to the extent where its a must to get one of them on the roster over Broberg for game 1. I think people are focusing on some mistakes that Broberg made and not remembering or accepting the one’s the Niemo made due to the expectations for each of the two. Its not like Niemo wasn’t making mistakes and getting scored against. Samorukov was actually the most steady of the three (but faced the least quality of comp from my eye test).
Yes, fair enough on the camp performance of those players. My take has been that none of them really seized the day, so the veteran Murray gets the job for the time being. And if Murray is the 6D, then 100% Broberg is in the AHL, while the 2+ years older Niemalainen, Samorukov or Demers are the candidates for 7D.
If that’s they way Holland and the coaching staff see it, then they probably aren’t going to keep Broberg around for 1 or 2 or 3 more games before sending him down, IMO.
Wow, I don’t see how they’re getting compliant. With the roster at 22 after Malone, Samorukov, Janmark, and Niemelainen all sent down and Klefbom and Smith on TLIR, they are still $894,833 over the cap. That means sending down any one of Hamblin, Shore,or McLeod won’t get them compliant. And they want to keep Holloway, Broberg, and Bouchard up for bonus purposes for the opening roster. That means sending down or trading one of Ryan, Foegele, Puljujarvi, or Yamamoto. You could probably send down Foegele without him getting picked up, but that might not be a popular move in the room or with Foegele. Might create some friction. They’re in a tough position unless they go down to a 20 person roster, which seems a bit crazy to me. Maybe a trade is still in the cards.
Oh, so they send Hamblin down and keep Malone for cap compliance? After that, do you think they send Broberg down and bring Niemelainen up? I would think they’d want to try to fit Janmark back on the roster, no? How would they do that?
So right now, it’s either Malone and Broberg, or Shore and Niemelainen?
Kicking the problem down the road a bit. Someone who makes more than $863,500 either has to get sent down, picked up on waivers or traded to give them any flexibility or breathing room. Truthfully, someone who makes double that would be best to get back to 23 players, yes?
Yes, that’s right, with Broberg on the opening roster, they have to send Hamblin and Shore down. The can assign Broberg the next day, and before game 1, which gives them some more flexibility but not enough for Janmark unless they don’t call up another D.
The COULD have the 21 player opening roster and then send Broberg and Malone down and recall Janmark and have a 20 player roster for game 1.
If they need to recall a d-man at any time, the can send Janmark down without having to re-clear until he plays 10 games.
Flames going all in it’s going to be a tense division. I really like the Campbell signing it won’t take long before the faithful fall in love with this gracious man. I believe it’ll come down to us having the best Goaltending minus Demko in the conference.
Yeah Markstrom has struggled badly against the Oilers as a Flame. A bit weird because he was pretty good as a Canuck.
With the Flames:
.884 SV% in 13 regular season games, .852 in those 5 playoff games.
Put it all together and you’ve got a line of:
18GP 7-11-0 3.88 .874
With the Canucks:
16FP 9-6-1 2.56 .916
Career:
Add in one more game while he was still with the Panthers and his regular season career vs. the Oilers looks pretty Koskinen-esque.
30GP 15-13-2 2.98 .901
That would be under a .900 SV% if you include the playoff performance, but I didn’t calculate.
Actually, Koskinsn’s Oilers career line looks rather good in comparison:
164GP 83-59-13 2.98 .907
I believe Tom Barrasso was the first Yankee to win then Tim Thomas followed by Quivk a couple of times. This all off top of head. I don’t think a Swede has ever won or even been back-up. Hedberg with the Penguins is top of head but I don’t think he was on a winner. Again this is top of head.
McDavid and Drai have been shooting on this guy since they were rookies. They have proven they know how to score on him. Markstrom might have been smarter to sign with the Oilers so he didn’t have to face them anymore!
Its a shame they only play 3x. The game in one week is going to be an early bit of excitement in this schedule. Looking forward to watching Marky swim for some shots.
That’s why they play the game. Campbell’s going to surprise a lot of folks out West.
jp
October 8, 2022 11:23 am
Maybe Janmark and Samorukov cleared?
Puckapedia had Megna from Colorado clearing waivers today, so the process is finished with no announcement about the Oilers. It’d be real cool to have both players remain in the system IMO.
The #Oilers have placed forward Brad Malone on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the @Condors & assigned defenceman Markus Niemelainen to Bakersfield. 11:00 AM · Oct 8, 2022
Shore not being on waivers is a bit mystifying as there isn’t room for him (or Hamblin) on the opening roster submission presuming Broberg is on the roster.
I think Shore will be on waivers tomorrow and Hamblin assigned. I don’t see another way unless they assign Broberg for the opening submission which I can’t imagine happening.
Agree that Broberg will be on the opening submission, then Shore (or possibly Hamblin) will be back up for game 1.
I think I know why Shore wasn’t assigned today: they were waiting to see if Janmark was claimed. If he had been then there’d be no need to waive Shore at all (if I understand correctly, they’d needed to waive players today before knowing the outcome for players place on waivers yesterday).
I guess there will also be more players on waivers tomorrow, so the chance of a claim would probably be lower then vs. today.
Tarkus
October 8, 2022 10:18 am
Prospectication!
Five neat guys are in action on NA ice this day, including the third game in three nights for Matvey Petrov, who hasn’t missed a beat so far this season with 3+3 in four games. Also off to a fine start is Luca Munzenberger, who already has as many points in two games this year (three) as he did in 32 last year. Now if only his teammate Joel Maatta could find the scoresheet too, even though he continues to be money on faceoffs (another 11-of-19 last night, 57.9%).
A sixth neat guy, Max Wanner, would have been in action for the Moose Javians tonight but is serving the middle game of his three-game suspension and is not listed below.
Vermont (Munzenberger, Maatta) @ 5 p.m.
St. Lawrence (Mazura) @ 5 p.m.
North Bay (Petrov) @ 5 p.m.
Seattle (Schaefer) @ 8 p.m.
Also of note: The CHL on TSN broadcast schedule is out for the 2022 portion of this season, and two games will feature Oilers prospects (barring player movement):
Fri, Nov. 11: Moose Jaw vs. Medicine Hat @ 7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 30: Seattle vs. Kelowna @ 8 p.m.
I should add that the Dec. 30 game would be without Schaefer if he ends up on the WJHC squad.
flea
October 8, 2022 10:12 am
Did Yamo outperform JP on that top line? I didn’t get to watch last night, but the goal was nice by JP.
Always thought Yamo fit better as an energy 3rd liner. I’d be fine him starting lower in the lineup while they showcase JP on the top line.
Not worried about the cap. The Oilers got through preseason relatively unscathed by injuries but this is hockey, and injuries happen. I don’t mind them walking the line to ice the best lineup. That’s a them problem, not a me problem, and I’ll enjoy the team that hits the ice.
hunter1909
October 8, 2022 9:50 am
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)
hunter1909
October 8, 2022 9:32 am
Just watched highlights but wow does JP ever know how to score when he gets that lightning pass from McDavid. 19/20 other NHLers would have flubbed that pass.
Go back in the highlight another 30 seconds you will see why the puck stayed in the end for the tip in.
YYCOil
October 8, 2022 9:29 am
I am applauding the Oilers today for ditching the old paradigm of a 23 player roster in a cap league.
Abundant private planes make more of the arenas from call up to arena arrival doable in less than a half day.
Many teams have embraced the AHL team in the same city as the NHL team and that helps the quality on the ice as well.
4 clubs seats at Rogers is $45,000 add in parking and entertainment cost this large budget line item for any company or individual. We want to see more stars for more minutes. If each team has $4M in salary cap in the press box – that is like robbing the fans of $8M of players we should be watching for our entertainment dollar.
Ability to get a player from the AHL in to the NHL lineup quickly and efficiently doesn’t help when there isn’t the ability to recall a player though.
Without. trade, the Oilers will be running a 21 player roster with all but zero cap space.
Lets say Nuge gets hurt and is projected to be out about 10 – 14 days, well, they couldn’t call a player up to fill in as they don’t have the cap space. They could only do so if (a) Nuge went on LTIR so is out a min of 10 games and 24 days or (b) they assigned an additional player off the roster.
The Oilers will only be able to add simply a player to the roster to fill in for a short term injury, illness, personal leave after playing a game with less than 18 skaters and then only an $850K or less cap hit player.
Sure, in isolation, I don’t disagree with that but (a) it does show how little flexibility they will have without/until a trade of cap out, (b) it can turn in to a big deal quickly if an in-game injury or two occur and, holy heck, what if two people to down at the same time for short term injuries and (c) the context of my post was responding to the position that a 21 player roster isn’t an issue given speed of getting players in the the AHL and that that doesn’t really matter if call-ups are not permitted due to cap issues.
SoCaloil
October 8, 2022 9:22 am
I gotta say
its a subscript on this Preseason
the few times I watched, shoresy played well and looked faster
Entire team is the fastest they’ve been since the mid 80s.
dustrock
October 8, 2022 9:09 am
I usually never miss an opportunity to criticize Holland so let me take this opportunity to praise the procurement of Ceci. There were signs he was settling in at Pittsburgh after being a tire fire in Ottawa but overall it felt like a risky signing, especially the term. I didn’t look back on the posts at the time, but I seem to recall expecting 3rd pairing.
Holland took over a team that was totally fucked over by the sinister Chiarelli with little to no cap space and mediocre to shite players has turned the ship around 155 degrees – and you are foaming at the mouth, waiting to criticise him??
I won’t get into the Festivus listing of grievances. Let’s not forget how long he waited to pull the plug on Tippett and there was a scenario where the Oilers, with 2 Hart winners in their crew, were going to miss the playoffs. Holland has been good but also lucky (Smith, Kane).
He is in no wise as poor as Chiarelli, who was so bad he felt like a walking false flag.
I don’t disagree that Chiarelli was a disaster and that Holland’s righted the ship considerably, but let’s not forget that he *did* inherit McDavid and Draisaitl…he hasn’t exactly had to rebuild this team from the ground up.
Even many of the Stanley Cup winning GM’s in the league inherited a few really solid building blocks if not more. For example Joe Sakic inherited Gabriel Landeskog and he was able to draft MacKinnon 1st overall (no brainer) 3 weeks after he was named President of hockey ops. Also, the team he inherited already had players that were or would become stellar performers that, while he didn’t keep them, he parlayed them all into players and draft choices that would help them win the cup (O’Reilly: Compher; Duchene: Girard/Byram; Barrie: Kadri). Julien Brisebois inherited most of the core of his Stanley Cup winning teams In Tampa (Kucherov/Stamkos/Hedman etc.). Brian MacClellan inherited most of the core that went on to win the Cup (Ovie, Backstrom, Carlson, Kuznetsov.
Wow are you ever selling Ceci short. He’s had 2 fine years in a row and is exactly the steady eddy D that G.M’s drool over. Ceci quietly does his job up and down the line-up on a very friendly contract.
Based on what criteria is Ceci a 3rd pair? Throughout most of his career in Ottawa, he was 2nd right D behind Karlsson, (who wouldn’t up to that point in Karlsson’s career) till Karlsson left, then he played first pair RD his last season in Ottawa. He started in Toronto as the first pair D with Reilly, but had an off season and while his ice time dropped a bit in the latter part of the season, he was still Reilly’s partner in the playoffs. When he signed his show me contract with Pittsburgh, they started him on the 3rd pair behind Letang (go figure) and John Marino, but by April (of the short season), Ceci’s play had him jump ahead of Marino and in the playoffs he was clearly their second paid D averaging 23 minutes per game.
In Edmonton, before Woodcroft and Manson showed up, Tippett was playing Ceci mostly with Duncan Keith on the second pair. So whatever metric you want to trot out, every coach Ceci’s had in his career has deployed him as a second pair or better expect for the start of his one season in Pittsburgh. In his coaches’ eyes, Ceci is not a 3rd pair defenseman.
Sekera missing the first half of 17/18 and also almost 3/4’s of 18/19 and never returning to the quality he was before was also a major blow. Add in Larsson’s back problems at that time, then his father’s passing and the Oiler’s d corp was playing many games over those 2 season with its top 3 from the 16/17 run either not in the line up or playing at far less than full health.
Not Wanting to be a Bore But….
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)
Total Oilers points: 105
McD points: 118
Drai goals: 58
Oilers finish in west: 3
Oilers: 108 points
McD points: 124
Leon goals: 53
Oilers in West: 2nd place
Oilers: 110
McDavid: 135
Draisaitl: 58
Oilers in West: 2
Summarizing!
Offence was scant tonight, with only Petrov able to find the scoresheet, assisting on North Bay’s lone goal in a losing effort. That is all.
Onhockey dot tv has the Seattle-Van game btw.
You have to hammer the back button (or better, right click and return to your start page) and re-enter the site, but after that this game is pop up free.
I know you’re not a fan, but zero pop ups with Brave browser.
even internal to the frame?
Yessir.
Wait, maybe some banners that have to get closed but no overt popups/new windows.
I don’t normally use the site except for pre-season and NCAA, where largely it is pop-up free anyways.
What I like about Firefox (and support) is it is open source and I get a lot of control over u-toob. I watch as much professor stuff as I can squeeze in on the old toobage lol. There’s so much free development available out there.
Edit: and for CHL
I honestly prefer https://v2.sportsurge.net/list-hockey
it lists all available streams (by sport) so you can pick from a few of the reliable streamers.
Lol, it lists no available streams.
Happy Thanksgiving Al and All
i wonder if woody will run 11/7 out of the gate.
the top 9 + Foegele and Ryan?
Bro and Murray both dressing for 3LD until Bro can get settled (he does not seem settled in te-season)
do they need $750K forward as 12F to fit the cap or can Shore be #12 most nights?
Sadly a truly epic collapse by the Jays as they blow an 8-1 lead……
I wonder whether Schneider regrets pulling Gausman as early as he did. That bullpen was awful.
Huge blunder by the coach. That enabled Santana to switch to his better side. Under 100 pitches thrown, you leave your best in for 1 more batter. And like you said, the bullpen. Been bad most of the year.
I have not watch baseball since they screwed MTL back in 94 I believe? I was there at the Skydome the night the Jays won it all and have not watched since.
I went to see the Blue Jays twice and honestly it is nothing like Fenway Park.
Maybe this was discussed yesterday but I just looked at this VCR/CHI trade that was done. Why would Chicago take a guy that had worse stats than Foegele and is paid more than Foegele and give VCR cap relief for 5th rounder? And why would Holland not done that trade. The only reason I can come up with is he really was not trying to trade anyone to get cap compliant. What am I missing?
Cost Van a 2nd not a 5th when I relayed the news last night
You are correct, I did not read it that closely. So what should it have cost Holland given Foegele is a better player and cheaper? A third? I don’t think he wanted to make a trade.
Foegele’s cap hit is $100k higher.
And it’s possible Chicago didn’t want the better player (or they could have wanted a C over winger).
You could also be correct though, that Holland didn’t want to pay anything to move a useful player.
Holly wouldn’t want a player back, so that’s would be a material difference. Hmm. The weird thing is that for some teams that particular would mean cheaper and for others more expensive. Bizarro world. And in an illiquid market like the NHL, it’s hard to play the arbitrage.
If it was CHI and their situation, well then we also need to ask would they accept a winger over a C and are they okay with a LWer over a RWer? Because neither 13 or 37 would be going there to get buried in CHI’s system. If neither of those two fit the Hawks plans then maybe there’s no deal or an even higher ask.
In general, I think Holland doesn’t want to pay anything, if he can avoid it. And I think he’d like to keep as much powder dry as possible. Not just for the trade deadline, but also going into a strong draft, whether to hold or deal. But this isn’t going to be easy. You know commodities… which do you think is the better course: accepting less than value for Pujo or paying to divest Foegele? Tough to say without knowing the rest of the trade, I guess.
Now the present cap course isn’t sustainable in the medium term IMO. Something has to give. Getting out cheap or ahead seems like it would take a miracle but there’s always luck and timing and getting that one buyer with need. *crosses fingers*
Maybe the GMs are playing a huge game of chicken… while defmn’s Doomsday Clock ticks away the minutes to cap midnight. Tick… tick…
I’m really going to fucking miss Foegele, to tell you the truth. But I don’t see how he survives October.
I cannot even remember anything about the player. Too busy watching the others score and win lol
Petrov continues his solid start to the season with an assist as North Bay gets on the board in period uno.
In the dying seconds of a PP, he fakes a shot from the left circle and sends a cross-ice pass for Jackson to convert into the yawning cage:
https://mobile.twitter.com/OHLBattalion/status/1578889568262098944?cxt=HHwWgMCo_c3sq-krAAAA
Jays up 8-1! Looking good!
I hope you do not command the same ability to anger the hockey gods!
My apologies to all the gods! Things are looking truly dismal for the Jays as they now trail 10-9 top of the ninth……
Ya, that was then.
This is now . . . 9 – 9
Yikes.
You know what they say about Toronto teams and an 8-1 lead…
Something is changing in Oilers front office. There has been an element of creative thinking that has taken a seat. We see this in some creative trade suggestions, though rumors, they differ from typical hockey trade and resemble more of what we see around the NHL when teams are challenged to find solutions.
With todays cap hit problem, I believe something similar is happening. Creative solutions. They are not going to give away players just cause. Or waivers. They may lose a man on waivers but I do believe a lot more thought goes in to asset management.
And the cap, somebody, I don’t know who, seems to have a plan. Its a risk reward plan around potential injuries and maintaining depth most likely. They are trying to work the system rather them be slaves to it. I approve, not that anyone would ask. It may not work, but Im happy they are trying, rather than make the simple move of sending out a player for nothing.
You would have to think Ken is quietly handing the reins over to Brad.
I am sure Brad offers a different and perhaps newer perspective to Ken than others Ken has working for him in the past, and it may be that Brad has an edge now on being the next GM. But if you don’t think Ken Holland is still making all the final decisions on every player transaction right now, then you don’t understand what makes the man tick. As long as he has the title, he will take full responsibility for the direction of the club. Holland is fully capable of learning from the people that work for him, while still being the leader.
Bill Scott is the Oilers capologist and CBA expert.
Whoever runs the Oilers is going to be in a great place until Draisaitl/McDavid want out.
The good news is, neither player appears smitten with the high life.
This can be a team that is guaranteed to win 1, 2 or more cups before its all said and done. There are no teams other than Colorado that can offer that.
There was never any chance Samo was getting claimed…anyone who thought he might needs to reset their perspective
Im certain there was a chance, no need to reset anything.
You know…..as an analogy…. people who stink can’t smell themselves.
Lets talk more about this player Samorukov. Right now, he is a Willie Lagesson. Great hockey player but not quite great enough to stick in the NHL.
Thing about Sammy though, is his potential is still not fully identified. When he started junior he faltered. When he finished junior hockey he was so good his coaches (and at least 1 scout) stated he was NHL ready. The next year! They thought he was NHL ready.
When he started in the AHL he faltered. Then he excelled. He was playing big #1 LHD minutes. That was good progress.
When he gets a chance in the NHL, he more than faltered, i don’t know if I have ever seen a worse start. Now his preseason camp was meh.
So the question is why does he do well once he adjusts to the level of play? He seems a slow starter. Needs to gain confidence, Needs time. Maybe needs the right coach. This pattern seems to repeat.
So is there a coach or a scout out there that watched him in junior? Or AHL? Thinks hes on the verge of breaking out? Needs time to adadpt, adjust, settle in. I think there might be – or that coach is in the Oilers org right now.
But what they should not do, is slam the door or any young player, and this is what we are seeing. If Sammy moves on, the Oilers should be confident they did everything possible to help the player succeed. And thus reached his maximum asset value, to be used on the ice or in trade.
I agree with your points, but what about the opportunity cost of “doing everything possible”. If it costs another prospect a development opportunity, or hurts the big club…maybe they shouldn’t “do everything possible”
My point, when I say “reset your perspective” is that a manager for another team is going to ask his pro scout about Samorukov when he hits the wire…what is his scout going to say? He was 11th on the depth chart last year, got 2 NHL shifts, got walked twice, -2, benched….sent down. Decent camp metrics, doesn’t have any unique skills that stick out, showing signs of improving at the AHL level, had 24 pts in 100gms.
Now the manager has his own players he’s trying to sneak thru waivers, knows there’s more guys coming across the waiver wire with better resumes, has his own rookies that need an opportunity to see what they’ve got …
There’s was never a chance Samo was getting claimed
What this analysis is missing is the actual views of that pro scout who will have watched/seen Samorukov in the AHL over the last two season and would have seen him make marketed improvement in his rookie season before his facial injury and would have seen him be the Condors best d-man over the last 6-8 weeks of the regular season last year.
I would posit you are putting WAY too much emphasis on his one NHL period – my goodness. Connor McDavid gave the puck away twice in the defensive zone in his first shift last night – I think we can throw away the four shifts and I’m confident scouts would do the same.
I agree there wasn’t a great chance he was getting claimed, few players do in the days leading up to the season, but there wasn’t a ZERO chance – this is a player that not long ago was being coveted by other orgs (from various accounts Holland was asked about him quite a bit) and there are a few teams with injuries on the back-end that are scrambling a bit.
His one NHL period cant get thrown out entirely. It’s not nothing…I know he got beat by Jordan Kyrou who also won the fastest skater title last year. So I think I’ve got it in perspective.
If kylington didn’t get claimed last year, and valiamaki doesn’t get claimed this year…then there was a zero chance Samo was getting claimed.
Don’t you think if there was interest that Holland would have flipped him for a pick by now?
You called Ryan ‘below replacement level’ just yesterday, didn’t you?
Are you sure you don’t need the perspective reset?
I did,
Ryan was brought in just over 12 months ago to be the 3rd/4th line C…he’s lost both jobs and only made this roster by the skin of his teeth.
He’s 35, undersized, and appears to have lost a step…perhaps he hasn’t lost the step and it was a pre-season effort I was witnessing…or a long shift. I’m happy to debate the issue.
If he has lost a step, he’ll be below replacement and guess what…he’ll be replaced….we wait.
Yes, he did lose the 3C job last year. He’s among the top 11 forwards on the current roster, so if you want to call that by the skin of his teeth then feel free.
I wasn’t able to watch really any of the pre-season games so I can’t comment on how he’s looked. I do know that he hasn’t been on the ice for any 5v5 GF or GA in pre-season, and that the Oilers have had 56% of the shots and 66% of the xGoals with him on. I don’t see much evidence that he’s done.
This roster is only starting with 12F…and he’s arguably the 12th best so ya ….skin of his right handed teeth.
Oh you didn’t watch a single shift Derek Ryan took this pre-season yet you’re chosing to debate my “hot take” that Ryan appears to have regressed?
You need to mix the stats with the eye test bro…or else you end up with Marincin on your playoff roster.
I haven’t seen anyone other than you argue Ryan isn’t better than 12th forward Shore/Hamblin.
Redbird nicely laid out what Ryan was the last time he played regular season/playoff games, and it didn’t resemble replacement level.
If you think there’s been a major change in the 4 months since then, you’re probably drawing a little too much from the eye test in mostly meaningless pre-season games.
Yes you’re correct, my opinion is often not a popular one. I agree with everyone that Ryan was a good player last year, above replacement, value for his contract.
I’m merely making an observation or a prediction that it appears, to my eyes, (eyes that watch more hockey than 99.9999% of humanity) that Ryan appears to have lost a step.
I hope I’m wrong.
I am highly skeptical that you watch more hockey than all but 8000 people on the planet.
Okay, Touche, I’ll add a caveat then, for people under 40 I’ve probably watched more than 99.9999%
I got hooked when Vincent Damphousse got traded to the Oilers, my mom made me a deal when I was 7 that I could stay up past bedtime to watch oiler games as long as I didn’t complain the next morning about getting up for school.
I’ve easily watched 2000 oiler games on TV or Live since then. (I remember getting pissed when random columbus/minnesota games weren’t televised pre-lockout) I’ve seen 1000 amateur games live most of which I participated in, and I’ve probably watched 800 non oiler playoff games in the last 30 years. I watch 80% of every world juniors, and every world championships, even the odd spengler cup game. Olympics, even women’s olympics when Szabados was on the team (I was her dman for 2 years age 12)
I used to put the classic NHL games on for background while I would play Sid Meier’s Civ games as a kid.
I don’t watch football, I don’t watch baseball, I am FANatical about Hockey.
I’ve assistant coached high school hockey.
I spent 6 months as a shot-lister, I was literally paid (min-wage) to watch hockey by a local media company Aquila productions. Every evening I would drive to the west end, and spend 6 hours watching beta tapes of old playoff series, I would watch them at 2x – 3x speed and pause to mark every event, every shot, save, hit, fight, goal, etc…so the producers could easily search thru B-roll footage.
Since the Hall draft I’ve only missed watching 7 oiler games…and believe it or not, one of them was Sam Gagner’s 8 point night, and one was Hemsky’s heroics after Stefan’s gaffe. (during the DOD I had to turn games off if we were down by 4…and I may have intentionally missed a few games vs the Wild)
So yeah, I recognize patterns on the ice….and Derek Ryan looked slower/weaker last week than he did 4 months ago.
So now you’ve narrowed it down to only 5,000 people on the entire planet under 40 may have watched more hockey than you. Sorry still not buying it, even based on reading your resume.
I remember when I stuck a fork in Ryan’s career last season that you vehemently defended him.
Is he a friend or relative of yours? ;). If he is, my apologies.
Tippett didn’t trust him and sheltered him like crazy with the on the fly starts /60, but he found new life on the wing under Woodcroft. Indeed, he had a remarkable scoring run.
Hehe.
Nope, I’m not JP Ryan, or an acquaintance/friend of any kind.
Tippett did shelter him, as did Woodcroft. Ryan’s resurrection started well before Woodcroft arrived though.
In Ryan’s last 20 games under Tippett his numbers look like:
57% shots
53% goals (8GF-7GA)
59% xGoals
1.72 P/60
This was during that dark stretch of the season including the 2-11-2 run. All those numbers are among the top 4 forwards on the team. His P/60 was better than McDavid’s (1.56) during that period.
Then in 35 games under Woodcroft his scoring was up, but his other numbers remained strong:
55% shots
61% goals (22GF-14GA)
52% xGoals
2.51 P/60
All his numbers under Woodcroft were among the top 6 on the team.
In addition to getting among the most OTF starts/60 (3rd most under Tippett, #1 under Woodcroft), he also got the highest rate of Dzone faceoffs/60 of any Oiler under both coaches. So he was sheltered in some ways, but not in others.
I dunno, I don’t think I need to be a close personal friend to think D. Ryan is alright 😉
That’s all good stuff except the d-zone start percentage.
There was a time when heavy d-zone starts were thought to be the Malhotra experience. I vaguely remember an article ages ago showing that it was mostly earned by icing the puck or getting stuck in your zone rather than “heavy sledding.”
They took that out of the stat and reduced it to start of shift, IIRC. Or they split the stats out.
But zone starts aren’t credible evidence for much IMO. There’s too many things going on. And a whole bunch of questions one would want answered. Not the least of which is those same on-ice performance stats filtered by the respective starts—for the League too over years, so we can judge the relevance of starts and their effect. But a hole bunch of others too.
Sorry, I’m a long time anti-start stat guy. I’m sure was an ass to LT when he used to have them in his game reports.
Yes, I know Dzone starts aren’t the be all, and I also vaguely recall the article you’re talking about. I’m not sure if the effects of OTF starts are any more clearly established though.
From watching, it’s also clear that a lot of Ryan’s Dzone starts are because he’s a good FO man.
Whatever the case, at least he’s been able to bring some offense and generally win his minutes, which is more than a lot of NHLers can say.
Aren’t you supposed to be advocating for more Ryans on the team lol
It’s all about the Ryans/60. I can’t believe they don’t have that as a team stat at NST.
Maybe then you’d appreciate D. Ryan a bit more 🙂
After Woodcroft arrived, Ryan played 31 of 34 games, and had the 9th most minutes per game of any forward on the team and 8th in the playoffs. He was also part of the 2nd pair pk with McLeod in the regular season and in the playoffs. He managed 1.77 point per 60 last season 5 on 5, which is right on the border between 2nd and 3rd line production. Don’t believe he keeps that up if given more minutes, but even his point totals 5 on 5 were in the middle of 3rd line territory. So far, the Oilers do not have anyone capable of replacing him. I think it is the professionalism he brings that he can adapt so he keeps playing in the NHL even if age is impacting him. Last year he was undeniably a full time NHL player on merit. Whether he continues at that level this season remains to be seen, but so far Woody considers him more than a replacement level talent.
I agree with your points, I’m saying just this pre-season, in a vacuum, he appears to have lost a step…
If he has lost a step, its so far not enough to get Ryan sent down. Opening night roster has not been set yet so it could be he isn’t on it, but he is still in the mix as of today..
Johnathan Kovacevic was claimed on waivers. It happens.
Kovacevic is a prime aged RHD who put up 0.5ppg in the past 2 AHL seasons. He also fights, and makes less than 800k for the next 3 years.
That’s 4 reasons to claim him that don’t apply to Samo.
a 25 year old who has only ever made it into 4 NHL games was claimed on waivers. it happens.
After watching Sammy’s 2 shifts last year any G.M that claimed him should and would of been fired. The waiver wire is not a development league, it’s a plug and play. Every team has a handful of projects they don’t need anymore. Murray on the other hand might of been chosen by a team that’s banged up on D.
Jays up 3-0 in the third!!!
With the Oilers Cap so tight could marginal players say in the next few years tax less money which gives them a better chance of playing on the big club. Even though player A and player B are let’s say equal in talent yet since player A signed for $175000 less then what the blue book lists him at he gets a opportunity while player B who makes more money but misses his window of playing regularly in the NHL.
Pretty sure you meant to write “take less money” not “tax less money”. It’s a great point.
And the answer is “of course”. That’s how a free market is supposed to work.
We are seeing already that some cheaper players have accidentally priced themselves out of the market because they didn’t realize how important $25k might turn out to be on day 1 of the regular season.
I seem to remember that Adam Larsson took a base salary and no bonuses on his first contract as that made it easier for him to make the team (NJD).
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/devils-sign-prized-draft-pick-adam-larsson-to-three-year-deal/
Great write up as always LT. Murray – Bouchard 7-0 HDSCs in 5.04 of ice team. Not too shabby! Ryan McLeod “showing he can be effective even on nights when the offense isn’t there.” I think you have written something like this several times already this preseason – I just don’t see him and Nuge as a fit. Hope I am wrong.
I could watch Hyman kill penalties day and night. We like to talk about RNH as a special teams savant but 18’s giving him a good run for his money.
He is a good fit with Nuge for sure, but Nuge was a premium Pker before Hyman showed up. Hyman’s performance in that role in Toronto was just average. They didn’t start off great as a pair last year, but as the season went on, Hyman’s aggressiveness has them getting more short handed chances which keeps the other team’s PP off balance when they are on. Paired with someone other than Nuge, his aggressiveness might not be as effective.
And Nuge’s “savantness” was also includes his PP work. Hyman is more easily replaced on the first unit than Nuge. Hyman’s style of play is far more noticeable, but Nuge is a far more effective player than people generally give him credit for.
Acclaimed winner of both the Norris and Calder, Juuso Valimaki, is put on waivers.
HH just decimating our competitions prospects
Valimaki on waivers. Hasn’t been the same since injury iirc
16th overall in 2017
He has not been the same since the HH kiss of death.
and the 16th overall the following year, 2018, Martin Kaut also on waivers
I’ve always felt any 16th overall picks should be traded…
*ducks and runs*
Felt the same way about 13th overall picks till we finally hit one with Hemmer.
Anyhoo Isle let myself out now.
ha
Both Samorukov and Janmark clear waiver. I’m not surprised by either but am relieved – there was an argument that either, or both, could be claimed.
There could have been some positive if Janmark was claimed as it would open up an addition $125K of cap space (which would make a difference this week) but, for me, he should be value for his cap hit (based on history) and the depth cover is more important than the $125K, even if that is a “material amount” vis-a-vis the Oilers cap space.
nice to have the depth
Glad they both cleared.
Agree on Janmark generally, and would add the only way that extra $125k would matter even this week is if they’d wanted to keep Broberg after day 1 (they could have both Shore and Broberg on the roster with the extra $125k).
If they’d planned to send Broberg down to get 1D ice in Bakersfield regardless, then the extra $125k basically means nothing.
Can somebody go the airport and see if Nemo is actually getting on a plane.
I think he might be or else they would have waited until Monday to assign him, right?
That’s a good point. They’ve kept Hamblin around still.
So what would that mean for the #7D?
After the opening submission shenanigans they do have the cap space to fit either of Shore or Hamblin, and any of Niemalainen, Samorukov or Demers.
I guess Niemalainen or Samorukov could be called back up, but I think this suggests Demers is sticking around, no?
Maybe Broberg is going to be given at least a few games at the start of the season, with Murray being the 7th defenseman. It wouldn’t be the first time the eye test of the fans and media don’t line up with the real experts.
That’s conceivable, but unlikely I think. With Broberg on the roster there isn’t cap room for Shore or Hamblin as the 12th forward, and apparently Malone was told he’s starting in Bakersfield. So those things don’t add up to Broberg remaining on the roster beyond the opening submission.
I just looked at Capfriendly. Based on their numbers, which still have Janmark on the NHL roster, the Oilers have $89.154 million against the cap. Take out Smith and Klefbom and replace Janmark’s 1.25 million with Holloway’s 925,000 and it appears the Oilers are just under the cap. That includes Murray on D and Shore and Ryan still on the team. Is there something missing in Capfriendly that I didn’t notice, or maybe my math is wrong?
Well it lists the Oilers as $6.654M over the cap. Put Smith and Klefbom on LTIR ($6.367M) and the Oilers are still $278k over.
Replace Janmark with Holloway opens another $200k, but that’s still $78k short (recall only $1.125M of Janmark’s cap hit goes away, guessing that might be what happened).
Replacing Broberg with one of the cheaper D, or Shore with Malone makes up that $78k, but I don’t think they can keep Broberg and Shore on the roster.
I’ve been using the ArmchairGM feature on Capfriendly so I don’t usually have to do that much math 🙂
Right, I completely forgot about the $1.125 part as I did my back of the envelope even though I posted about that at length the other day. And where they’re at only Malone, Griffith, McKegg and Benson are cheap enough to replace Shore, with Benson likely headed to LTIR.
Right, I completely forgot about the $1.125 parts I did my back of the envelope even though I posted about that at length the other day. And where they’re at only Malone, Griffith, McKegg and Benson are cheap enough to replace Shore, with Benson likely headed to LTIR.
That’s why I use ArmchairGM, easier to calculate and harder to make mistakes.
If they would of given Smith a Milllion more this year than last year we would been sitting pretty.
i am not sure your point. The cap hit for every player is the same every year within a contract regardless of the specific year to year cash salaries. This only changes if a 35 year old+ player has bonuses which Smith did not in either year of this contract. And even if his cap hit were higher it would be irrelevant. If he was higher by a million the total for the oilers before LTIR relief would be higher by a million and the net number the same.
Bob has been hinting strongly that Malone will be on the Tuesday roster for Shore.
You mean remaining on the roster beyond the opening day submission?
I was just going off what DNB reported about Malone yesterday.
No, they’d flip the next day.
Ah, yes.
I was talking about the Wednesday roster for game 1.
Malone pretty much has to be on the Monday (?) initial roster because if Broberg and Holloway are on it there’s not enough cap space to fit Shore or Hamblin.
Apologies for the misread.
I do the same thing though. I use CF’s GM tool. Largely because I’ve never had to be the one who has to create the Excel spreadsheet lol… and I’m clueless at scraping data (which seems eminently preferable to data entry… my typing is self-taught and it shows).
You cant bury all of janmark’s 1250000, only the max of 1125000. Still a cap hit to the big club of 125000 when in the AHL
They could run with Malone as the 12F and Murray/Broberg as 6/7D.
I think they may very well keep that and go 7D for game 1 (and maybe more) – shelter Broberg and ease him in while still having the veteran Murray in there.
If he struggles after a few games he can go down (with Malone) for Nimeo or Sammy and Shore or Hamblin or whoever…..
I think Shore will be on waivers tomorrow and, if he clears, they’ll send Hamblin down on Monday. If he doesn’t clear, they may send Malone down and keep Hamblin – I think they want Malone in the AHL and will find a way for him there – it may be after a few NHL games though.
I’m sure they want Malone around the likes of Bourgault, Tulio, etc.
Absolutely, they could run Malone there.
But you yourself relayed the intel from DNB yesterday that Malone has been told he’ll play in Bakersfield.
I’m basing my speculation on that, plus that Samorukov and Niemalainen have already been sent down (you’d think the team would keep them around as long as possible to practice with the big club if the plan was to have them there for game 1).
I didn’t see your edit when I replied.
What you’re saying is possible for sure, I just don’t think the tea leaves suggest that the team keeping Broberg and Malone up for game 1 is the most likely outcome.
Perhaps not but Niemo being sent down so early suggests that its not a paper transaction, at least to me.
Maybe the plan is to call Samorukov up for Broberg prior to Wed – does that create enough room to swap Malone for Shore as well? It would create room to sub Malone for Hamblin for sure (I think).
The Condors played their second, and last, exhibition game this afternoon and they don’t play until Sat. Malone could stay on the NHL roster for a few more day (whether he plays Wed or not) and earn a few extra dollars.
Unless they really want to get Shore (or Hamblin) in that 12F spot for game 1, I’m not sure there is a rush for the swap. Maybe they really want Nimeo/Sammy over Broberg for game 1 but I can’t see that being the case with Murray likely in the lineup.
Agree on Niemalainen.
And yes, if Samorukov, Niemalainen or Demers were to replace Broberg, then there would be enough room for Shore or Hamblin as 12F.
Fair enough that they could delay sending Broberg down if they want to get him into one game, but if they’re planning to send him down I’m not sure there’s much reason to wait.
Not sure what Woodcroft’s plan A is, but he has run 12F 6D every game in pre-season I think. Maybe he’ll do more of that this regular season as well (and going back to last season, they used 7 D in only 4 of 18 regular season games after Kulak was added, and 6 of 16 playoff games, so 10/34 total).
First, on Broberg, based on Holland’s stated philosophy that he wants players to really be ready when he gives them a line up spot (as opposed to be called up for injury reasons, then sent back down), I wonder if he’d let Broberg start the season in the NHL if he was leaning towards sending him down after a few games. Holland has said it is hard on the young players confidence to give them a spot then subsequently sending them back to the AHL If he starts this season with Broberg in the NHL while still having some doubts that he is ready and having other options, that could be going against his philosophy. Now, if he can sit Broberg down and say that the plan is to send him down, since he needs a little more time in the minors, but for cap reasons they need him on the NHL roster and maybe even in a few games for cap/waiver reasons, maybe that is less damaging to Broberg’s confidence.
Second, on the 7/11 vs 6/12, a lot of the time it was used in the regular season was with injury issues like when Keith was hurt and he ran with 7 D as well Keith’s first 3 games back from IR. The Oilers were also a little light on quality forwards with Nuge and Jesse being on LTIR in March as well. Even in the playoffs, you could argue Nurse’s injury played a part in using 7 D, since Nurse couldn’t play his full amount of time (he only average 21 minutes a game. I think Woodcroft and Manson tend to prefer 6 and 12 but are willing to go 7 /11 under certain circumstances. I don’t think if the Oilers are healthy, it will occur often.
Good point on Broberg and how Holland has said he wants to treat young players. I also see pretty minimal benefit that could be gained from keeping Broberg up for a few more games.
And absolutely, Woodcroft/Manson running 11/7 was in part borne out of necessity. Just checked, and 16 of Woodcroft’s first 20 games were run with 7D. That included 14 games each for Lagesson and Broberg, and 13 for Niemalainen. Then, after Kulak was added, they only used 7D in 10 of 34 games (and as you said, the Nurse injury was an important factor in many of those)
Woodcroft/Manson are definitely more flexible than we’ve been used to. That’s a great thing, but it likely is true that if they’ve got 12 worthy forwards and 6 worthy defensemen available to them, that’s what they’d prefer to do. With a 21-man roster I guess we’ll see a healthy dose of 11/7 though.
I’m generally not in favour of 11/7, except on the rare occurrence (and it might be forced on the team this year with no ability to call up player for short term injuries) but my thinking is they may want to give Broberg a bit more rope and the 11/7 to start the season could be a decent way.
I don’t think either of Niemo or Samorukov outplayed Broberg at all, let alone to the extent where its a must to get one of them on the roster over Broberg for game 1. I think people are focusing on some mistakes that Broberg made and not remembering or accepting the one’s the Niemo made due to the expectations for each of the two. Its not like Niemo wasn’t making mistakes and getting scored against. Samorukov was actually the most steady of the three (but faced the least quality of comp from my eye test).
Yes, fair enough on the camp performance of those players. My take has been that none of them really seized the day, so the veteran Murray gets the job for the time being. And if Murray is the 6D, then 100% Broberg is in the AHL, while the 2+ years older Niemalainen, Samorukov or Demers are the candidates for 7D.
If that’s they way Holland and the coaching staff see it, then they probably aren’t going to keep Broberg around for 1 or 2 or 3 more games before sending him down, IMO.
Wow, I don’t see how they’re getting compliant. With the roster at 22 after Malone, Samorukov, Janmark, and Niemelainen all sent down and Klefbom and Smith on TLIR, they are still $894,833 over the cap. That means sending down any one of Hamblin, Shore,or McLeod won’t get them compliant. And they want to keep Holloway, Broberg, and Bouchard up for bonus purposes for the opening roster. That means sending down or trading one of Ryan, Foegele, Puljujarvi, or Yamamoto. You could probably send down Foegele without him getting picked up, but that might not be a popular move in the room or with Foegele. Might create some friction. They’re in a tough position unless they go down to a 20 person roster, which seems a bit crazy to me. Maybe a trade is still in the cards.
They can be cap compliant with the 21 player roster with Malone as 12F and Broberg as 7D (Murray as 6D).
Waiving Malone today does not mean he is sent down right away.
Oh, so they send Hamblin down and keep Malone for cap compliance? After that, do you think they send Broberg down and bring Niemelainen up? I would think they’d want to try to fit Janmark back on the roster, no? How would they do that?
So right now, it’s either Malone and Broberg, or Shore and Niemelainen?
Kicking the problem down the road a bit. Someone who makes more than $863,500 either has to get sent down, picked up on waivers or traded to give them any flexibility or breathing room. Truthfully, someone who makes double that would be best to get back to 23 players, yes?
Yes, that’s right, with Broberg on the opening roster, they have to send Hamblin and Shore down. The can assign Broberg the next day, and before game 1, which gives them some more flexibility but not enough for Janmark unless they don’t call up another D.
The COULD have the 21 player opening roster and then send Broberg and Malone down and recall Janmark and have a 20 player roster for game 1.
If they need to recall a d-man at any time, the can send Janmark down without having to re-clear until he plays 10 games.
The could run:
Kane/McDavid/Jesse
Holloway/Drai/Hyman
Nuge/McLeod/Yamamoto
Janmark/Ryan/Foegele
Nurse/Ceci
Kulak/Bouch
Murray/Barrie
Holy hell that forward 12.
yeah I think they’re just stacking up waiver exemptions going forward ttytt
Flames sign Daryl Sutter to a multi year extension.
Flames going all in it’s going to be a tense division. I really like the Campbell signing it won’t take long before the faithful fall in love with this gracious man. I believe it’ll come down to us having the best Goaltending minus Demko in the conference.
Markstrom say hi!
Yep…and it’s not really close although Calgary needs to ensure they don’t over work him this season.
Yeah, he was soooooo good against the Oilers in the playoffs………… Bring him on, McD and Drai will light him up like a Christmas tree again!
Yeah Markstrom has struggled badly against the Oilers as a Flame. A bit weird because he was pretty good as a Canuck.
With the Flames:
.884 SV% in 13 regular season games, .852 in those 5 playoff games.
Put it all together and you’ve got a line of:
18GP 7-11-0 3.88 .874
With the Canucks:
16FP 9-6-1 2.56 .916
Career:
Add in one more game while he was still with the Panthers and his regular season career vs. the Oilers looks pretty Koskinen-esque.
30GP 15-13-2 2.98 .901
That would be under a .900 SV% if you include the playoff performance, but I didn’t calculate.
Actually, Koskinsn’s Oilers career line looks rather good in comparison:
164GP 83-59-13 2.98 .907
Oh well, I hope it continues.
Quiz time. Name the last Swede to backstop his team to a Cup? Can you also name the last American this one is easy.
Quick would have been the last American. No idea the last Swede to do it. Has there ever been one?
I believe Tom Barrasso was the first Yankee to win then Tim Thomas followed by Quivk a couple of times. This all off top of head. I don’t think a Swede has ever won or even been back-up. Hedberg with the Penguins is top of head but I don’t think he was on a winner. Again this is top of head.
McDavid and Drai have been shooting on this guy since they were rookies. They have proven they know how to score on him. Markstrom might have been smarter to sign with the Oilers so he didn’t have to face them anymore!
Its a shame they only play 3x. The game in one week is going to be an early bit of excitement in this schedule. Looking forward to watching Marky swim for some shots.
That’s why they play the game. Campbell’s going to surprise a lot of folks out West.
Maybe Janmark and Samorukov cleared?
Puckapedia had Megna from Colorado clearing waivers today, so the process is finished with no announcement about the Oilers. It’d be real cool to have both players remain in the system IMO.
Edmonton Oilers
@EdmontonOilers
The #Oilers have placed forward Brad Malone on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the @Condors
& assigned defenceman Markus Niemelainen to Bakersfield.
11:00 AM · Oct 8, 2022
Ramblin’ gamblin’ James Hamblin!
Shore is still around too. Not sure why they’d wait to put Shore on waivers.
I guess Malone will be called back ‘up’ for the opening night roster.
Shore not being on waivers is a bit mystifying as there isn’t room for him (or Hamblin) on the opening roster submission presuming Broberg is on the roster.
I think Shore will be on waivers tomorrow and Hamblin assigned. I don’t see another way unless they assign Broberg for the opening submission which I can’t imagine happening.
Agree that Broberg will be on the opening submission, then Shore (or possibly Hamblin) will be back up for game 1.
I think I know why Shore wasn’t assigned today: they were waiting to see if Janmark was claimed. If he had been then there’d be no need to waive Shore at all (if I understand correctly, they’d needed to waive players today before knowing the outcome for players place on waivers yesterday).
I guess there will also be more players on waivers tomorrow, so the chance of a claim would probably be lower then vs. today.
Prospectication!
Five neat guys are in action on NA ice this day, including the third game in three nights for Matvey Petrov, who hasn’t missed a beat so far this season with 3+3 in four games. Also off to a fine start is Luca Munzenberger, who already has as many points in two games this year (three) as he did in 32 last year. Now if only his teammate Joel Maatta could find the scoresheet too, even though he continues to be money on faceoffs (another 11-of-19 last night, 57.9%).
A sixth neat guy, Max Wanner, would have been in action for the Moose Javians tonight but is serving the middle game of his three-game suspension and is not listed below.
Vermont (Munzenberger, Maatta) @ 5 p.m.
St. Lawrence (Mazura) @ 5 p.m.
North Bay (Petrov) @ 5 p.m.
Seattle (Schaefer) @ 8 p.m.
Also of note: The CHL on TSN broadcast schedule is out for the 2022 portion of this season, and two games will feature Oilers prospects (barring player movement):
Fri, Nov. 11: Moose Jaw vs. Medicine Hat @ 7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 30: Seattle vs. Kelowna @ 8 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Violet Grove time.
I should add that the Dec. 30 game would be without Schaefer if he ends up on the WJHC squad.
Did Yamo outperform JP on that top line? I didn’t get to watch last night, but the goal was nice by JP.
Always thought Yamo fit better as an energy 3rd liner. I’d be fine him starting lower in the lineup while they showcase JP on the top line.
Not worried about the cap. The Oilers got through preseason relatively unscathed by injuries but this is hockey, and injuries happen. I don’t mind them walking the line to ice the best lineup. That’s a them problem, not a me problem, and I’ll enjoy the team that hits the ice.
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)
Just watched highlights but wow does JP ever know how to score when he gets that lightning pass from McDavid. 19/20 other NHLers would have flubbed that pass.
Maybe they’re showcasing him?
*runs*
Go back in the highlight another 30 seconds you will see why the puck stayed in the end for the tip in.
I am applauding the Oilers today for ditching the old paradigm of a 23 player roster in a cap league.
Abundant private planes make more of the arenas from call up to arena arrival doable in less than a half day.
Many teams have embraced the AHL team in the same city as the NHL team and that helps the quality on the ice as well.
4 clubs seats at Rogers is $45,000 add in parking and entertainment cost this large budget line item for any company or individual. We want to see more stars for more minutes. If each team has $4M in salary cap in the press box – that is like robbing the fans of $8M of players we should be watching for our entertainment dollar.
Ability to get a player from the AHL in to the NHL lineup quickly and efficiently doesn’t help when there isn’t the ability to recall a player though.
Without. trade, the Oilers will be running a 21 player roster with all but zero cap space.
Lets say Nuge gets hurt and is projected to be out about 10 – 14 days, well, they couldn’t call a player up to fill in as they don’t have the cap space. They could only do so if (a) Nuge went on LTIR so is out a min of 10 games and 24 days or (b) they assigned an additional player off the roster.
The Oilers will only be able to add simply a player to the roster to fill in for a short term injury, illness, personal leave after playing a game with less than 18 skaters and then only an $850K or less cap hit player.
One game going 11-6 doesn’t seem like a big deal. They will just run the bench like they do with 11-7 except not having to substitute in the extra d.
I could be wrong though, we’ll see.
Sure, in isolation, I don’t disagree with that but (a) it does show how little flexibility they will have without/until a trade of cap out, (b) it can turn in to a big deal quickly if an in-game injury or two occur and, holy heck, what if two people to down at the same time for short term injuries and (c) the context of my post was responding to the position that a 21 player roster isn’t an issue given speed of getting players in the the AHL and that that doesn’t really matter if call-ups are not permitted due to cap issues.
I gotta say
its a subscript on this Preseason
the few times I watched, shoresy played well and looked faster
Entire team is the fastest they’ve been since the mid 80s.
I usually never miss an opportunity to criticize Holland so let me take this opportunity to praise the procurement of Ceci. There were signs he was settling in at Pittsburgh after being a tire fire in Ottawa but overall it felt like a risky signing, especially the term. I didn’t look back on the posts at the time, but I seem to recall expecting 3rd pairing.
Knocked that one out of the park.
They missed him in the playoffs this past season. They were a little dissatisfied with their D.
Holland took over a team that was totally fucked over by the sinister Chiarelli with little to no cap space and mediocre to shite players has turned the ship around 155 degrees – and you are foaming at the mouth, waiting to criticise him??
It’s what I do.
I won’t get into the Festivus listing of grievances. Let’s not forget how long he waited to pull the plug on Tippett and there was a scenario where the Oilers, with 2 Hart winners in their crew, were going to miss the playoffs. Holland has been good but also lucky (Smith, Kane).
He is in no wise as poor as Chiarelli, who was so bad he felt like a walking false flag.
I don’t disagree that Chiarelli was a disaster and that Holland’s righted the ship considerably, but let’s not forget that he *did* inherit McDavid and Draisaitl…he hasn’t exactly had to rebuild this team from the ground up.
Even many of the Stanley Cup winning GM’s in the league inherited a few really solid building blocks if not more. For example Joe Sakic inherited Gabriel Landeskog and he was able to draft MacKinnon 1st overall (no brainer) 3 weeks after he was named President of hockey ops. Also, the team he inherited already had players that were or would become stellar performers that, while he didn’t keep them, he parlayed them all into players and draft choices that would help them win the cup (O’Reilly: Compher; Duchene: Girard/Byram; Barrie: Kadri). Julien Brisebois inherited most of the core of his Stanley Cup winning teams In Tampa (Kucherov/Stamkos/Hedman etc.). Brian MacClellan inherited most of the core that went on to win the Cup (Ovie, Backstrom, Carlson, Kuznetsov.
Nurse can carry anybody (and has, Bear as a rookie, Bouchard as a rookie, Barrie). Ceci is a 3rd pairing D on his own merit.
Wow are you ever selling Ceci short. He’s had 2 fine years in a row and is exactly the steady eddy D that G.M’s drool over. Ceci quietly does his job up and down the line-up on a very friendly contract.
Finally I agree with a post of yours.
In some ways, Ceci reminds me of a less gritty right-handed “Steady” Steve Staios.
Based on what criteria is Ceci a 3rd pair? Throughout most of his career in Ottawa, he was 2nd right D behind Karlsson, (who wouldn’t up to that point in Karlsson’s career) till Karlsson left, then he played first pair RD his last season in Ottawa. He started in Toronto as the first pair D with Reilly, but had an off season and while his ice time dropped a bit in the latter part of the season, he was still Reilly’s partner in the playoffs. When he signed his show me contract with Pittsburgh, they started him on the 3rd pair behind Letang (go figure) and John Marino, but by April (of the short season), Ceci’s play had him jump ahead of Marino and in the playoffs he was clearly their second paid D averaging 23 minutes per game.
In Edmonton, before Woodcroft and Manson showed up, Tippett was playing Ceci mostly with Duncan Keith on the second pair. So whatever metric you want to trot out, every coach Ceci’s had in his career has deployed him as a second pair or better expect for the start of his one season in Pittsburgh. In his coaches’ eyes, Ceci is not a 3rd pair defenseman.
To be fair to Pete- his vision for defense was derailed when Klef was injured which not a small thing. Today I could see Pete’s defense as
Nurse-Larsson
Klefbom-Bouchard
Jones-Bear
Sekera missing the first half of 17/18 and also almost 3/4’s of 18/19 and never returning to the quality he was before was also a major blow. Add in Larsson’s back problems at that time, then his father’s passing and the Oiler’s d corp was playing many games over those 2 season with its top 3 from the 16/17 run either not in the line up or playing at far less than full health.
Ceci has been just fine
is he a bonafide 1D? No, and he’s not getting paid like one
but the fact that he stepped up to play tough comp w Nurse is a huge win for the team.
and everyone should be thrilled with this outcome
The Nuge scored a goal on Wednesday so he was at least 1-1-2.
Not all games count on NST.
Bouchard has a funny push off hey? Straight legged like a figure skater. I wonder if his first skating was figure skating.
*disclaimer – The statement above is in no way intended to disparage said player, nor his value as a player. (chill)
OTC says hello.
OTC? ah nvm
Figure skaters are by far superior skaters.
All your power skating coaches are figure skaters.
They don’t teach their hockey player students to skate straight legged though
I could see Chicago taking Samorukov.
They just traded a LHD and their depth chart is thin.
Would C Jones give a positive reference?
I don’t see Chicago doing anything that gets them wins this season.
The one two picks this year are franchise altering.