The Edmonton Oilers played a complete game on Thursday night, winning 6-4 over the Carolina Hurricanes. Issues remain, most notably the lack of a second- or third-pairing tandem, but the gunners gunned and the goalie stopped enough for the home team to get the win. At 2-2-0, Edmonton rights the ship and stays within reach of the dizzying heights at the top of the Pacific Division.
Oilers’ defence depth impacted by Philip Broberg’s early woes. Edmonton needs him to be what the organization thinks he is, and right soon. @TheAthleticNHLhttps://t.co/Evtx2Rn4UF
At home to: VAN, CGY, BUF, CAR, STL, PIT (Expected 4-1-1) (Actual 2-2-0)
On the road to: STL, CHI, CGY (Expected 1-1-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
Overall expected result: 5-2-2, 12 points in 9 games
Actual October results: 2-2-0, 4 points in 4 games
Oilers in 2022-23: 2-2-0, 4 points in 4 games
It’s too early to call last night’s win a major moment in the season, but on the other hand a loss would have been met with rage in the cage. It was a wild night, filled with some glorious performances and herculian efforts. I give the Oilers full value, this was a team win against a strong opponent.
SUMMARY
Evander Kane scored his first goal of the season, he’d been working for it since opening night. He had five shots, one HDSC, one giveaway, a penalty, hit three guys and blocked a shot. Kane’s ability to check off the columns in the game summary is impressive.
Connor McDavid was 1-3-4, four shots, two HDSC, TK, blocked shot. He was flying on a night when the Oilers needed everyone pushing. Despite the offense, my favourite play was an early back check where he absolutely saved a goal by hauling ass over most of 200 feet to tie up a Hurricane’s stick. Fantastic player.
Kailer Yamamoto had one shot, one HDSC, drew a penalty and had two hits. His five-on-five shots-60 and HDSC per 60 are low compared to his own past, but it’s early.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins enjoyed one of the best offensive nights of his career, going 1-3-4. He had two shots, a penalty, GV, TK, three hits and a blocked shot.
Leon Draisaitl was late to the offensive party and still delivered 1-1-2 on six shots and three HDSC. He took a penalty, drew two penalties, three TK and three giveaways. Won a pile of faceoffs.
Zach Hyman was 1-1-2, with two shots and three HDSC. He’s kind of life Kane in that all the columns get filled every night. Two TK, three hits and a blocked shot.
Warren Foegele took a costly penalty, but also had two shots, one HDSC, a TK and two hits. One of them was rock solid.
Ryan McLeod scored a SH goal, two shots, a HDSC and drew a penalty. GV, TK. He’s emerging as one of the more valuable complementary forwards.
Jesse Puljujarvi had a good night, delivered one shot, a HDSC and a takeaway. He gave the Hurricanes fits on the forecheck and to my eye is more physically (and maybe bigger) effective this season. He’s playing better than Yamamoto, I wonder if we see a switch in the coming days. Led all Oilers players with a five-on-five expected goals of 78.2 percent.
Devin Shore was noticeable on the PK, and did have one HDSC.
Derek Ryan had two shots, GV, TK and was effective in getting pucks deep and making Carolina’s progress difficult.
Darnell Nurse played almost 23 minutes, two hits, two shot blocks. His 65 percent expected goals five-on-five was a solid number on a chaotic night. He was unable to impede Marin Necas on his PP goal. Through four games, the only defensive pairing that rhymes five-on-five is this one. Nurse-Ceci are 2-2 goals and 61 percent expected goals in 49 minutes.
Cody Ceci had three shots, two HDSC, GV, TK, one hit, three blocked shots. His positioning on the Necas goal allowed Sebastian Aho a wide berth and Ceci was unable to close the gap in time. He played 20:40, second among defenders on the club last night.
Evan Bouchard had an assist, one shot, three turnovers, TK, two hits and two blocked shots. His casual backpass put the team in a spot of bother in the second period, he needs to tighten that up. He had 64 giveaways one year ago, is on track for 140 this year. My goodness this team and the turnovers. Had three defensive partners on the evening, math named Niemelainen as the best one. His assist came via a gorgeous outlet pass, Bouchard’s greatest skill is electric passing.
Tyson Barrie tipped the second goal against, backing in on the double and allowing a strong shooting lane. At no point was he between the puck and the net on the play. He also had one assist, a shot and three takeaways on the evening. He has ONE giveaway on the season, and I give him a gold star for it.
Brett Kulak had a shot on goal GV, TK, blocked a shot. Drew a penalty. Edmonton is 1-0 at five-on-five when he’s on the ice this season, 4-9 when he’s at rest. Kulak-Bouchard might be an idea to try for the second pair.
Ryan Murray was not effective in any way on the first Andrei Svechnikov goal, even allowing for the fact this is a dynamic player. At five-on-five this season, he is 1-5 goals. The Oilers are 4-4 goals at five-on-five with Murray at rest.
Markus Niemelainen was unable to corral the puck in the neutral zone which aided the second Svechnikov goal. He had a couple of hits, and a shot block, I didn’t notice anything untoward in terms of positioning on the night. I think he’s earning an NHL job here.
Jack Campbell allowed the first goal from distance, but after that I’ll suggest the other three were either ‘no chance goalie’ types or tipped. NST has him stopping four of five HDSC, in watching the game I would have bet on a higher count on HDSC. He was solid to my eye, have to remember the Hurricanes are quality. Campbell made some huge late stops, including one against Aho.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
10-2, TSN1260, we’ll start the weekend right. Steve Lansky will pop in to talk World Series and Oilers, Tyler Yaremchuk from Daily Faceoff and Oilers Nation will chime in, I’ll ask him about the second and third pairing and if he sees anything emerging. A big NFL trade, big CFL weekend and more! 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
I like Brenden Dillon or Joel Edmondson as 2LD trade targets.
Longer track records of playing shut-down D
Lower acquisition costs
Contracts that come off the books in summer 2024 when Broberg should (in theory) be suited to take on their role.
Dillon would be a consideration but I’d need a put right to trade him back after this season – I don’t want that 2nd year, at all.
Bling
October 21, 2022 2:07 pm
Here’s my thing with Chychrun.
Look at how ankle injuries robbed Karlsson, Weber, and Whitney of their effectiveness. Two of those guys were firmly top 5 D in the NHL.
Chychrun has had one season where he had a white hot shooting percentage (a criticism levelled by some against Nurse). Chychrun doesn’t just have an ankle problem; it seems he has afflictions of multiple limbs.
So the bet is, all those injuries get better AND the white hot shooting percentage year is his true level of ability.
I don’t buy it.
I’m completely against selling the farm for this guy. I don’t want a single elite piece out the door. For what? Broberg/Holloway/Bourgeault all have great upside and are cost-controlled. You’re not waiting 5 years for those guys to contribute; they will be able to do so within the next 1-2 seasons.
I’m not against the Oilers spending big on a top 3 Defenceman but I wouldn’t touch Chychrun with his injury history. He is on track to be another Klefbom. There are other D men to trade for. The Oilers don’t need another offensive defensemen either. They should be targeting a top 4 all around D man to keep the puck out of their net.
That’s one of the things though, yes, 2LD may indeed be a problem as it relates to making a deep run in the playoffs but it SHOULD not be a problem to fight for the division and make the playoffs.
In that regard, there is no rush to move one of the team’s top prospects, on the cusp of NHL readiness, in Ocrtober/November for a player that comes with real and significant risk. I’m not saying that Broberg can’t be moved for a legit 2LD but I would think its in more of a “slam dunk” move.
There is time to asses, not only the d-group for need, but also Broberg himself and, of course, the market.
A move will almost certainly be made for a d-man but there is no need to panic – there is time to make the right trade for the right player.
That’s fair. Maybe even earlier if it remains an issue. But cap space is also an issue. I hoped Hollywood would stick and be decent enough to make Foggy expendable but now I’m not so confident he can stay all year…
That was pretty much my point before the season, and why they should have started the season with Broberg Barrie as the 3rd pair. Broberg has two years in Sweden and a very good AHL season behind him.
An average ho-hum training camp should not have meant go with Murray.
The plan should have been to play Broberg until one has a strong idea of where he is as a player right now, and how long it is going to take him. To determine whether one needs to go get a top 4LD.
Also because one has given Kulak a 4 year contract, and Niemelainen is tentatively (high probable outcome) the #3LD next season The opportunity to give Broberg lots of ice time was early this season.
Bulging Twine
October 21, 2022 2:01 pm
Ratthew Thachuks first game against state rival Lightning tonight.
You KNOW he’ll be trying to leave a good first impression
Good point. Betting money he does something cheap to one of TB’s stars .
To announce his presence…
ashley
October 21, 2022 1:18 pm
Since the missed the game posts (“Missed the game last night, glad I did”) which always happen several times the day after a loss and never on a day after a win, I thought I would break the trend:
Missed the game last night, sad I did!
Last edited 2 years ago by ashley
Bobcaygeon
October 21, 2022 1:07 pm
We were (friends & I) discussing at the game last night with offence hitting highs not seen in years that maybe a lower than average SV% is the new normal? (905-908%)
it was an interesting discussion for sure for both
For & against those numbers.
I admit, I’m not a huge analytic guy but I found the theory interesting.
Goals are up again this year.
An interesting segment on the Marek show this morning with a goalie guru.
He is suggesting save percentages across the league are dropping because too many teams are running with goalies that are not proven #1s and are often employing multiple sub par goaltenders throughout the season.
While I don’t disagree that the game has changed (the advent of the modern defenseman is primality responsible), it would seem expansion has resulted in a shortage of quality goaltending.
For example, VGK currently have 5 “NHL goaltenders” in their system while SEA has 4.
Hell, Arizona couldn’t even find 1, not that they care.
Expansion has very little to do with it.
The game has gotten fast and skilled resulting in more very high danger scoring chances (high danger scoring chances where the goalie cannot get square to the shooter)
Defensive systems are hard to break down once the 5 players are setup. Teams have countered by attacking before defensive systems can set up.
Speed speed speed.
I seem to remember a poster here who used to always talk about things in terms of defending home plate area, talking about shots in terms of being binary (open or closed), and lamenting the move towards “roving” defenders.
How long before we see teams move back to stifling style team defence to try and take away this new threat? I don’t know if just clogging the “home plate” area with big giants is the way to do it though. I’d say you have to counter speed with more speed. But the key is maybe to have 5 fast guys that can move back as a solid unit just as quickly as attackers can get up there.
As for goalies, we need to start looking at the stats for where shots are coming from, the kind of shots they are to see what the root cause is – are the goalies crapping the bed, or is it a case of more in tight looks are leading to more goals? Are defenders also not doing as much of the hacky-whacky stuff at the netfront as they know they’ll get called and that’s leading to more zone time for the offence?
*COMPLETE GUESS INCOMING* I think you’re right in that it’s more to do with speed and skill of shooters versus goalies getting worse. If anything they’re bigger and more athletic than they were previously. Protective gear size has shrunk a bit so that plays a part too (although should have factored in last year etc.).
Other factors are equipment – goalie’s is smaller, shooters sticks now give any fella a good shot or better and are being improved all the time
And I also think players are far more trained than ever. In Canada you basically have to be an academy player to have any decent chance at the CHL unless you are very special, in which case you would get a scholarship if your family couldn’t afford it so still academy etc
I have noticed the US team program forwards all shoot really well regardless of size and look very similar in style. I would hazard they get a lot of training / coaching with their shots/skills, Zegras and Caufield for example
A goalie’s job gets harder each year. I don’t think Bettman minds
OriginalPouzar
October 21, 2022 12:37 pm
1) I’m not loving Yamamoto on McDavid’s wing so far this year and prefer Jesse there. At the same time, that 3rd line was wonderful last night and I think its better to keep last night’s top 9 even with Yamamoto not fitting so far (to my eye).
2) I do like Kane and love the fact that he is always involved somehow/someway but, my goodness, he makes some poor decisions with the puck in the neutral zone. It was his pass to Ceci off the won face-off that started the pain on the last minute breakaway – it wasn’t hard enough and Ceci got caught in between. Its the type of “meh decision” Kane makes quite a bit. Not a HUGE issue but something I’ve noticed in his game.
3) I posted about half way through the BUF game that I looked forward to Nuge once again being MORE than just an “Ok player who touches all game states” as, we were starting the 3rd season where that’s all he was and he wasn’t really a plus player at 5 on 5. He’s never been a massive producer at 5 on 5 or anything but he’s had four seasons over 1.9 P/60 which is high end 2nd line scoring rates (and one over 2.3 P/60).
Since then, he’s had 4 period of “old Nuge” where he’s “part of the solution” at evens and contributing to a line that’s producing. It hasn’t even been two full games, so lets guard ourselves, but Nuge “regressing positively” at evens, after a couple of seasons, would be big.
4) Nuge is a “more offensive role” on Leon’s wing allows McLeod to play that 3C role and be the primary player on that line (along with Jesse) and we get game last like night. I think this is the way forward most of the time.
5) Drai played 16 minutes and McDavid 14 minutes at 5 on 5. Yes, they were 22-23 minutes total but much of that was on the PP. Woody/Gully did a good job of running the 11 forwards and got both Shore and Ryan some legit minutes which they deserved. I did find one thing odd. That third line was dominant most of the night but, down he stretch, Jesse got skipped on it at least once (I think it was more but not sure) but then he was out there with Nuge on the 2nd last shift with the net empty. I’m not sure what was going on there.
6) Murray and Niemo kind of split that 3LW role last night – neither of them really “stepping up for the job. Broberg is scheduled to play next weekend – maybe a few games to get up to speed in the Bake and then, damn, man, TAKE THAT JOB – Klefbom style.
7) Bouch still “uneven” out there but last night he finally got the offensive side of his game on track – what a play on the SH goal, wonderful.
8) Prior to the season starting, Rob Brown predicted 10 empty net goals for McDavid this season – that would be an NHL record. Well, that’s 2 in four games…… On the note, its still WILD that in his first 50G season, Drai has ZERO empty net goals. Ovie won the Richard with something like 8 (I think).
I was watching the game last night with my dad and there were times when we even wondered if Yamamoto was playing. McDavid and Kane dominated the possession on that line. Niemo made an awful pinch on the second goal and hung Barrie out to dry — he needs to stop pinching altogether.
I like Niems but the game still seems fast to him. If he can slow it down he might be a decent shutdown guy. I just don’t know that we have time for him to acclimate. He’s got tools. Just needs to find his calm feet…
Let’s face it, both of Yamamoto and your favorite of all time, dear Jesse, have not looked very good so far this season.
They could put Derek Ryan with Kane & McDavid, and the line would be just as good, even better than with either of Yamo or your sweetheart Jesse.
Sorry, I do not agree. I saw Yamo and Jesse harassing Canes D and backchecking like madmen. As a matter of fact I thought the forwards did a good job backchecking overall. I remember one play when the Canes were 2 on one coming into the Oiler zone and the twogot caught from behind and I was amazed and even more so when I saw the two oilers that were back were forwards.
When they were making a million on ELC they were a positive. As the 3M men are we getting value are there players that don’t have stone hands available for 3M. Would a old veteran like Corey Perry score 25 with Leon and drive the opposition nuts as well.
Keeping Puljujarvi on the third is my preference. I said earlier that he seems to defer less on that line. If he can build some confidence with handling the puck on that line it could translate to him being more of a driver than passenger. Jesse, Foggy and McLeod are all above average skaters who are all strong forecheckers and defensively conscious. I can see that like being a 2b line if they continue to play together. McLeod is coming into his own and Jesse can handle the puck more and impact the game more. On that line he can be a distributor and finisher, not just a puck retrieval pylon for McDavid or Drai.
Nuge has been very good this year to my eye. Even in the first few games he has had some great touches. I’m a little surprised he doesn’t score more given how much torque he gets on that wrister, but the NHL is a hard league.
I don’t think enough is said about his deft touch on the powerplay. He made a real nice play on the Draisaitl goal, winning a puck battle and sending a perfect pass to 97, who made an excellent play getting the puck to a wide-open Drai.
Nuge made another *excellent* pass on the powerplay, a kind of high-low play, on another power play.
For sure its debatable, and we do debate it from time to time.
There is no doubt who the two primary drivers of the PP are, of course. At the same time, per my post a few minutes ago, I think Nuge’s skills are under-rated by many and that he really does help drive the PP in a secondary manner.
The numbers bore that out last season as well where the PP produced at 12 G/60 with the three of them on (in 210 minutes) and 8 G/60 when Nuge wasn’t with them (81 minutes).
There are very few posts of length and substance that I can agree with as much as this one. While most agree that Nuge is a good PP guy there are many who, in my opinion, under-value his role on the Oilers’ PP and think the other two forwards, in addition to 29/97 don’t really matter.
That pass to Hyman down low for his previous PP assist was a high skill pass that needed to be perfect to get past the defender and be in position for Hyman to one-touch it – nope, Kane, etc, do not make that pass (likely). He is also very important as a secondary option (and decoy) on the zone entry and his preciseness when going back up top (often no look) is also an important part of the Oilers’ PP.
Cape Breton Oilers 4EVR
October 21, 2022 12:27 pm
They need a legit 2LD to play with (and somewhat shelter) Bouchard. Kulak and Barrie are OK as third pair, but championship teams don’t usually have almost $8M tied up in their 3rd pair.
Tarkus
October 21, 2022 12:16 pm
Prospectropicalia!
Surprisingly for a Friday, only two NA amateur prospects take flight tonight. Chiasson and the Kings of Leon Wheat continue their roadie, but are drawing ever closer to home. South of the border, Shane has Lachance (that joke will never get old) to build upon his strong start to the season, scoring thrice in four games.
Brett Kulak had a shot on goal GV, TK, blocked a shot. Drew a penalty. Edmonton is 1-0 at five-on-five when he’s on the ice this season, 4-9 when he’s at rest. Kulak-Bouchard might be an idea to try for the second pair.
Ryan Murray was not effective in any way on the first Andrei Svechnikov goal, even allowing for the fact this is a dynamic player. At five-on-five this season, he is 1-5 goals. The Oilers are 4-4 goals at five-on-five with Murray at rest.
***********************************************************************************
Why are the coaches doing this?
This is self inflicted pain.
Try Kulak – Bouchard ( he needs a good skating partner)
I don’t know if this is a Manson decision – but Woody has to step in and let logic flow.
106 and 106
October 21, 2022 11:39 am
Ryan Murray is what I thought Duncan Keith was when they signed him last year.
I miss the competitive level Keith brings. What is best is when Keith gets beat he brings nasty Keith out and gets away with it.
Whaler Slamamoto
October 21, 2022 11:35 am
For me this game felt like last year. A strong game, some signs of wobble, and any time that decade of darkness feeling crept in, they cranked it up and returned fire. I think that game was closer than in should have been. Those two snipes from Svechnikov don’t normally go in. Those were just A++ shots. Anyways, glad to see the team showing glimmers of last season. It was as refreshing as the rain this morning (first in months).
Firstly, I was kind of thinking the same thing….felt like last year.
While they were elite shots – but they were taken from the circle – centre slot.
Barrie nearly backed up all the way into blue paint.
That is a high success spot on the ice for any NHL shooter.
31saves
October 21, 2022 11:28 am
Here is the absolute best, objective analysis I can do on Jakob Chychrun:
“He’s Sheltered!”
Yes and no… Jakob Chychrun played around 5.9 Minutes a night against elite competition (Thank you Woodmoney!). That would place him 2nd/3rd on the Coyotes last year, but everyone in their top 4 played a similar amount of time against elite competition per game. Plus, Chychrun was far ahead of dmen who played a similiar number of games, including Lyubushkin, Moser, Capobianco and a few other low-level D.
In comparison, Nurse played 8+ minutes a game against elite competition, Ceci 6+ minutes and no other defensman played over 5 minutes a night. He would be firmly ahead of even Keith’s or Kulak’s level of competition. He would be our third most trusted D-man, assuming nothing changes in his usage.
Although Zone starts is no longer the indication of competition that it used to be, it is still a good indication of a coach’s faith and strategy. Chychrun stated only 37% of his zone starts in the offensive zone, down from 62% the year before. Compare his zone starts to the rest of the team, and Chychrun is only ahead of Stralman, Lyubushkin and Dysin Mayo.
“He’s Injury Prone!”
Well, in fairness, a little bit yes. I am always hesitant to declare a player injury prone since I believe injuries are mainly bad luck and flukes until they start recurring. Chychrun has unfortunately had a long list of injuries:
Torn ligament in his shoulder (Nuge, Hall, Eberle and a few others recovered from this injury at a similar age)
Torn meniscus in his left knee (mostly fixable injury)
Torn ACL in his Right knee (less than ideal)
His second Wrist surgery this summer (ugh)
Ankle injury ending his season last year
There is a point to be made about a player’s availability. While you can’t control injuries, some players, for whatever reason, do get injured more often than others.
He was also able to play the entire season in 2020-21, before missing nearly half the season last year, which probably contributes to his relatively poor results. Until last season, the injuries didn’t impact his play in the lineup, but then it seemed to have caught up to him.
Currently, Chychrun is still not playing or practicing with the team due to the wrist surgery he had at the end of last season. While it may be alright and he could come back ready as new, he has missed a full training camp and the last 7 weeks of last years season. He hasn’t played a hockey game in 7 and a half months, and thats a problem. There will be a risk to pick him up right now, and in the future, whether he can play 82 games a year plus playoffs, or if injuries will affect him too much.
“Is he even good when he’s not hurt?”
When he was younger he was! Last year he had a really bad season in most raw stats. 46% CF, 36% GF%. This was the first season since he was a rookie he was below 50% CF and GF. Usually he is well above water.
What’s driving those poor results? Well the team of course is not very good… so what’s Chychrun’s stats compared to the team?
Last year, JC had a 4.86 CF% relative to the team, which means he was quite a bit better than the rest of the team in that category, but that was almost completely driven by his offensive Corsi. His defensive stats are below even Coyotes level, with a -4.56 CA/60 than the rest of the team. This is also a trend for Chychrun every year, where he drives play offensively but seems to be worse defensively than the rest of the team in Corsi, Fenwick, Shots, and Scoring Chances against.
Curiously, the only defensive category that Chychrun is on par with his team is GA/60. he was a little bit ahead of the rest of the team last year and close to even the previous two years.
Chychrun played in Rotten luck last year, with a 0.966 PDO, mainly driven by an .880 save percentage while he was on the ice. The year before the team’s save percentage was low while he was on the ice too,but the goals were going in so the PDO was still respectable. Every other year of his career, he was around 1000 PDO, and also was on the ice for far fewer Goals against than he was for last year.
Apparently Chychrun’s wrist was bothering him throughout the season, so that might contribute to his poor play and results.
“Is he an upgrade?”
It is difficult to say with certainty without a similiar deep dive into Kulak, Broberg and Murray to say. Looking at the last few games, I believe that Kulak and Broberg have another gear still to go, and so there is some room for error because of that. The eye test, in my opinion, would suggest that Chychrun is a clear upgrade and would perfectly slot behind Nurse.
His propensity for offense and relatively weak defense would give me pause.
Compared to a young Tyson Barrie on a similiarly bad Colorado team, Chychrun doesn’t score as much, nor does he allow as many goals. He is relatively in line with Barrie’s Goals against and Scoring Chances Against. Take this with a grain of salt, he is playing elite competition more and his linemates aren’t as good, but still his stats are in line with Barrie, who, despite being a good player and Oiler, is not known for his defence.
“Is he worth Trading for?”
Sure, but that depends on the price. For a 1st round pick, I’d be all over it. For the asking price of say, Barrie, Puljujarvi, a 1st and Broberg? Not a chance.
Chychrun represents a real upgrade on the left side defence, but he is a 2nd line LD on a decent contract, injury prone and high-risk since he’s still not healthy RIGHT NOW. He is an offensive first D-man, which is not what we need, and although he could be a good fit here, the money, the trade and all that comes with it doesn’t make sense to me. There will be a better fit if we just keep our powder dry and try a minimal upgrade at LD for the time being if our depth chart can’t keep up right now.
Friedman and Marek saying Coyotes right to keep asking price super high for him. Injuries on D all over the league – from Muzzin to Ekblad, lot’s of folks needing a top four guy already.
Great analysis – Chychrun keeps getting brought up here cause it’s known that he’s available for a price.
Trick will be parsing out other options that are not so obvious but better fits that will help reduce GA, fit under the limited cap space that we have for this season, and don’t cost the moon in assets.
Holland and his team did really well last year finding Kulak. I hope they can repeat the trick this season.
Question is how far can you go with Kulak Murray Nemo behind Nurse?
guessing not far
this team really needs a top 4Lhd of the Josh Manson type and can we wait for Broberg who lost his job to the guys mentioned above?
I absolutely agree. I think that, unless one of the existing LD step up, you need to upgrade and sooner is better. The only thing i find with Chychrun is that they’re expecting #1 Dman payment for a #3 Dman, and although I’m not sure who is or will be available, I’m sure there’s a better fit somewhere
Thank you for this comprehensive look at the Dman… exactly what I was asking for earlier. I gotta agree that his talents would be very useful to our Oilers… BUT only at the right price, the farm ain’t the right price. Then the challenge is how to fit his salary into our already bulging cap.
Harpers Hair
October 21, 2022 11:07 am
Rasmus Dahlin sets an NHL record by being the first defenseman in history to score a goal in his first four games of his team’s season.
Dahlin appears to be taking a big step, Owen Power looking very good early and 2018 second round pick Mattias Samuelsson (6’4″ 231) playing big shutdown minutes (25:50 last night) and bone cruncher Ilya Lybushkin (he nailed Holloway) they will be very tough to play against.
I called Dahlin the most under-rated player in the NHL prior to the season….. Him and Power has close to Pronger/Niedernayer type potential…. That may be a stretch, I mean, two all time greats, but Dahlin is well on his way to being a top 3-5 d-man in the league and Power has that potential.
Makar/Byram has some potential in that regard but just don’t have the size of the Buffalo combo.
I have done extensive research and they are called Svenska Kettbullar’s .
cowboy bill
October 21, 2022 10:30 am
Honestly, I didn’t believe the Oil would win that game last night and by the sound of all the belly aching around here, it sounds like they lost. No team is perfect every night. Even Puljujarvi isn’t perfect every night LOL.
No team is perfect ANY night. The perfect game has not been played, nor will ever be. Play well, score some goals, get the W more often than not. That’s what it’s all about.
I actually thought the Oil would win last night. They seem to play to the level of the competition. I don’t bet often but I am pretty successful when I bet the Oil to win against elite teams and lose to basement dwellers. Ha ha
Last edited 2 years ago by Pechetr
KnightRain
October 21, 2022 9:55 am
Great game to watch. A few things to complain about(isn’t there always?) but everyone showed up and towed the line, imo. Kaner’s touch is a bit off. He’s missed guys on passes a fair bit but he really showed his speed when pacing Connor up the ice for a goal. Drai and Connor are phenomenal but Drai also has to clean up his giveaways. Only a couple last night but teams like Caroline will hurt you if you give them freebies. Hyman is so fun to watch. Never slows down and never gives up. Who didn’t hate playing against that one guy who didn’t know when to quit? So glad we get to watch him in Oilers silks, now. Hardly noticed Yammo out there. He seems a step behind. Hopefully he comes around cuz I think Jesse is better off on the third line. I liked seeing Jesse rag the puck in the corners and look for open guys. Looked like a young Drai a few times. Playing with McLeod and Foggy is good for him. He’s not deferring as much. Nuge was doing all the right things, as usual, and was rewarded this time. McLeod is gonna be our Kirk Maltby 2.0(who, at one time, we had pegged as our future #1 centre). Fast and skilled but never a top producer. If he can score 40 and anchor the third line I’ll be over the moon.
Nurse was strong and skated hard, Seems more physical this year. Ceci is steady but sometime gets choppy with the puck and freaks me out. Hope he irons that out soon or I’m gonna break some glasses this year. Same with Bouch. Undeniable talent(the pass to McLeod for the shorty was brilliance) but needs to raise his defensive awareness. Made some veteran position plays but still a few rookie plays as well. I like Kulaks game. I think he and Bouch would be really good together. Mobility and passing from both sides. Jack looked bad on a few but really battles and made some wicked stops. He doesn’t have to be great, just can’t be bad, yanno?
Anyways, long story short(to late?), this is much more like the brand of hockey we were playing in March. Few things to clean up but we’re not that far from being crazy hard to play against. Can’t wait to see this version against the Blues!!!
Boil-in-the-Oil
October 21, 2022 9:54 am
So just how good is Chychrun? I’ve seen comments, both wanting him and not. The suggested ask for him is quite high . . . is he worth giving up serious futures and/or prospects to acquire him, would he be an improvement? I dont know, but I’m doubtful.
Chychrun won’t get traded until he gets back on the ice. Teams will want to see that he’s OK and back up to speed before committing the kinds of assets needed.
He’s good but he’s been injured a lot in his career. One good year offensively in a season where he got the PP push over OEL. Mobile but not that physical. He’d be a substantial upgrade.
Problem for the Oilers will be fitting his salary under the cap … it’s easy to say send out one or two of Jesse, Foegele, Yamo or Barrier … but that leaves holes at other parts of the roster.
I might feel better about moving out a winger or two right now if Holloway and Janmark had shown more.
Melman
October 21, 2022 9:49 am
Giveaways are the main issue right now. They about twice as many as the Canes. Biggest hole is LHD, where Neimo who is not quite ready is better than Murray. Lots of track ahead
who
October 21, 2022 9:46 am
I’ve heard a lot of people blaming Ceci and Nurse for the Necas goal last night, but I think the real culprit was Nuge. Puck entered the zone from the right wing boards and Nuge was on the left wing boards. He has to read that quicker and collapse to the middle. I believe Aho was his responsibility.
Regarding all the ticky tack penalties, it went both ways. Seems like a lot of posters have a definite Oilers bias when it comes to refereeing. Understandable, but kind of comical at times.
I do think the penalty on Kane was legit. I’m pretty sure that an attacking player is not allowed to interfere with a defender skating backwards, even if the attacker is standing still. I think they get away with it if they are standing beside the defender, but not when they are directly behind the defender.
There were a lot of weak calls last night, in fact most of them were, but there were 3 straight-up obvious non-calls that were ignored for some reason.
When the defender got his stick into Bouchard’s hands, forcing him out of the O-zone and then he dropped his stick. When Draisaitl’s helmet was ripped off in the D-zone. And when McDavid was cross-checked head-first into the boards behind the Canes net. Very clearly no-brainer calls.
A missed penalty vs Edm that I can think of (and it would have been weak, but is sometimes called after 2 cross-checks vs Carolina) was Nurse on Svechnikov. I was very surprised.
After 8 calls against the hometown team vs Vancouver in the opener (3-0 in the first period alone), I have even less faith in the zebras than I have ever had. Generally the harder working team should get more favourable calls, and I agree that the Oilers are not always that team. However stars should get more calls and our 2 superstars are consistently not given that level of respect. It is disgraceful to the integrity of the game and it should be unacceptable. That being said, I am 100% on board with fairness.
The penalty count against/for the hometown team while playing at home for 4 straight games sits at -5, so not exactly a even playing field ( 8-4 Van, 5-5 Cgy, 6-5 Buf, 5-5 Car). So much for gambling forcing officials to change their ways…And you can see how fans get upset when the penalty calls don’t seem unbiased, especially at home.
Last edited 2 years ago by €√¥£€^$
hunter1909
October 21, 2022 9:13 am
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)
To Recap:
1 – Predict Oilers final regular season point total
Lagesson, Bear and Jones went through a honest AHL defenseman process and came out the other side as 6-7-8 defenseman. What exactly are we looking for Broberg to continue to work in AHL?
Nemo and Broberg in a NHL 7-11 roster is the right spot for both players and probably sets up for a successful play off better than playing Murray now.
Coilers2021
October 21, 2022 9:04 am
LT, thanks for the analysis.
The Oilers played a quality team last night and in my opinion, played with some fire. Svechnikov has a hell of a shot and was solid all night but I think the Oiler’s D is the issue right now.
Some very loosey goosey plays by the D and I think things need to tighten up. Murray is being asked to do way too much and it’s showing. He’s been regressing for a number of years now so I’m perplexed by why the Oilers thought he could play as high as he has been.
After watching the last number of games, I am starting to really miss Keith. I think he would have been ideal for Nemo.
Hyman is like the Energizer bunny. Where would the team be without him and his energy?
I think the team is still trying to find it’s ‘groove’ TBH. Hopefully it comes together sooner rather than later.
Woodguy v2.0
October 21, 2022 9:02 am
Ryan Murray was not effective in any way on the first Andrei Svechnikov goal, even allowing for the fact this is a dynamic player. At five-on-five this season, he is 1-5 goals. The Oilers are 4-4 goals at five-on-five with Murray at rest.
While some local fans and pundits mentioned “Murray bringing valuable experience from COL’s Stanley Cup run” when Ken signed him, few if any mentioned that Murray didn’t dress for any of COL’s playoff games last year.
You can see why Bednar didn’t play him.
They even played Jack Johnson ahead of him.
That’s a bit of a red flag.
Cheap signing so there will be warts, but he needs to be 7D, not 6D
I believe that Murray got hurt in the 2nd half and, once he was ready around playoff time, was relegated to extra D and didn’t get in to. playoff game. He did play 37 regular season games for the Avs – 3rd pairing minutes with about a minute of PK time per game.
So, essentially, he was used as a 7D/depth d-man for the Stanley Cup Champions last season. Pretty much the role the Oilers signed him to play, right?
He’s been pressed in to duty early rally due to Broberg’s injury and has had his minutes reduced through the 4 games.
I know it’s early but I’ve seen enough to know that it’s time to go get Chychurn to settle the backend down.
The question is how. Will Ken part with his precious Broberg? How will they make salary work? I don’t know,.but they’ve got to do something on the backend.
When would Chychrun actually be able to help the Oilers?
I know he’s been skating on his own for a while but has he even started practicing/skating with his team? Speculation was that was pontentilly going to happen this week but I haven’t heard that it is (or that it hasn’t).
Further, when he is ready to play, what player would we get? I mean, lets take away a poor year last year (and, yes, part of the is playing on a poor team but lots of good d-men have good seasons on poor teams) – he’s still coming off an off-season without hockey training (likely) due to rehabbing both ankle and wrist surgery procedures, missed all of training camp and the first part of the season.
Do we anticipate “peak Chychrun” to appear?
Also what is peak Chychrun now? Shoulder, knee, ankle, wrist – all material injuries – at some point these things add up and simply reduce a player’s effectiveness. I’m not saying that has happened, or will happen, but its a legit concern.
Not to mention, you “develop a past” – do we think this player will be in the lineup, night in and night out going forward?
From a high level, of course, this is a good player that would be awesome at 2LD but there are MANY concerns/risks here are there not?
——–
EDIT: Friedman thinks he joined the team for the first time yesterday.
Last edited 2 years ago by OriginalPouzar
judgedrude
October 21, 2022 8:47 am
Kulak-Bouchard might be an idea to try for the second pair.
One of the best forechecks in general that I can recall. Absolutely busts his ass to beat the defender, somewhat pins Andersen in a legal way to keep him occupied, fights off Skej and then kicks it out to Nuge.
This was like a McDavid Magic moment in terms of forechecking brilliance. Hyman is a beast.
Hyman is an absolute gem. His work ethic is off the charts, he truly has a non-stop motor, it seems like a simple formula, but it is a rare commodity so it seems.
Holloway could potentially become a player like Hyman, but with better boots and better passing. But Hyman didn’t really “arrive” until he turned 25.
And did we notice that Nuge’s finish was very similar to how he scored against Calgary in Game 4 of the playoffs when Markstrom misplayed the puck? I don’t think it’s that easy for Nuge to score from that angle but that’s twice now he’s done it.
Thanks for the hat tip, kgo. Hyman with such a subtle, clever play.
JJS
October 21, 2022 8:37 am
While exciting, this is tough hockey to watch
It seems every breakout by the opposition leads to a scoring chance
I was really hopeful for Murray but the results are in and they match the eye test. What are the alternatives outside Broberg – who did not impress in preseason?
6D with Murray in the press box or Bakersfield and Niemo in the 3rd pairing with Barrie, Kulak with Bouchard until Broberg is healthy and ready to stick.
Broberg played mostly road games with weaker Oiler rosters against stacked ones, so he was mostly playing defense and he wasn’t worse than anyone else.
For me, Broberg was better than Niemelainen in the exhibition season (and the reason many thing opposite is they are assessing in relation to expectations and not straight up performance). Broberg defended better than Niemo (although both were inferior to Sammy).
To Godot’s point re: line mates, Broberg’s most common partners were Demers and Murray and he was mostly on the ice with: Esposito, Benson, Puljujarvi, Shore, Hamblin, Janmark, Virtanen, Griffith……
I can’t say if he will make a materially positive impact over the others playing in that spot, but I think he can.
It’s still only the fourth game of the young season there’s 78 games remaining. They are still a work in progress, like every other team in the best hockey league in the world.
Summarizing!
Lachance tallied tonight for his 4th goal of the season. Chiasson was held off the scoresheet.
@Peter_Baugh
·
2m
Bowen Byram is scoring at 164-point pace in games in NHL games in which he has a fellow Cranbrook native on the #Avs roster.
Ok, but what’s his scoring pace on the second Tuesday in January?
whats up with P. Kane … 1 point so far this season
New linemates.
Ryan Fanti giving up 6 on 30 shots in his first ECHL start is less than ideal.
Do we know if the team in front of him is any good?
We do not, well, I do not.
I think giving up 6 goals is less than ideal no matter the team in front but, yes, for all we (I) know, there were 8 four on ones…..
No, it’s not. I wonder if he is suffering inside a little from getting demoted. I’m sure everyone comes in with higher hopes than the E.
Stamkos on fire.
7th goal in 5 games.
Classic
Stamkos with a beauty setup for Brayden Point in OT.
Stamkos now with 9 points in 5 games.,
its been a long time for Stammer to be 100% health or finished recovery. Maybe this year is the year
Barring further injury…he will hit 500 goals and 1000 points this season.
Again, who cares.
“Heaven” acoustic version by David Byrne….it’s heavenly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZpZuIWu1tw
I like Brenden Dillon or Joel Edmondson as 2LD trade targets.
Longer track records of playing shut-down D
Lower acquisition costs
Contracts that come off the books in summer 2024 when Broberg should (in theory) be suited to take on their role.
Dillon would be a consideration but I’d need a put right to trade him back after this season – I don’t want that 2nd year, at all.
Here’s my thing with Chychrun.
Look at how ankle injuries robbed Karlsson, Weber, and Whitney of their effectiveness. Two of those guys were firmly top 5 D in the NHL.
Chychrun has had one season where he had a white hot shooting percentage (a criticism levelled by some against Nurse). Chychrun doesn’t just have an ankle problem; it seems he has afflictions of multiple limbs.
So the bet is, all those injuries get better AND the white hot shooting percentage year is his true level of ability.
I don’t buy it.
I’m completely against selling the farm for this guy. I don’t want a single elite piece out the door. For what? Broberg/Holloway/Bourgeault all have great upside and are cost-controlled. You’re not waiting 5 years for those guys to contribute; they will be able to do so within the next 1-2 seasons.
I’m not against the Oilers spending big on a top 3 Defenceman but I wouldn’t touch Chychrun with his injury history. He is on track to be another Klefbom. There are other D men to trade for. The Oilers don’t need another offensive defensemen either. They should be targeting a top 4 all around D man to keep the puck out of their net.
Well, that is more than fair -especially on the cost front.
With that being said, you have to proffer a solution on 2LD.
Even the Oilers PR crew is realizing 2LD might be a problem here.
That’s one of the things though, yes, 2LD may indeed be a problem as it relates to making a deep run in the playoffs but it SHOULD not be a problem to fight for the division and make the playoffs.
In that regard, there is no rush to move one of the team’s top prospects, on the cusp of NHL readiness, in Ocrtober/November for a player that comes with real and significant risk. I’m not saying that Broberg can’t be moved for a legit 2LD but I would think its in more of a “slam dunk” move.
There is time to asses, not only the d-group for need, but also Broberg himself and, of course, the market.
A move will almost certainly be made for a d-man but there is no need to panic – there is time to make the right trade for the right player.
Very fair.
completely agree with you
So Kulak and Broberg have until the trade deadline to win the 2LD position? If not….acquisition time
That’s fair. Maybe even earlier if it remains an issue. But cap space is also an issue. I hoped Hollywood would stick and be decent enough to make Foggy expendable but now I’m not so confident he can stay all year…
That was pretty much my point before the season, and why they should have started the season with Broberg Barrie as the 3rd pair. Broberg has two years in Sweden and a very good AHL season behind him.
An average ho-hum training camp should not have meant go with Murray.
The plan should have been to play Broberg until one has a strong idea of where he is as a player right now, and how long it is going to take him. To determine whether one needs to go get a top 4LD.
Also because one has given Kulak a 4 year contract, and Niemelainen is tentatively (high probable outcome) the #3LD next season The opportunity to give Broberg lots of ice time was early this season.
Ratthew Thachuks first game against state rival Lightning tonight.
You KNOW he’ll be trying to leave a good first impression
Good point. Betting money he does something cheap to one of TB’s stars .
To announce his presence…
Since the missed the game posts (“Missed the game last night, glad I did”) which always happen several times the day after a loss and never on a day after a win, I thought I would break the trend:
Missed the game last night, sad I did!
We were (friends & I) discussing at the game last night with offence hitting highs not seen in years that maybe a lower than average SV% is the new normal? (905-908%)
it was an interesting discussion for sure for both
For & against those numbers.
I admit, I’m not a huge analytic guy but I found the theory interesting.
Goals are up again this year.
An interesting segment on the Marek show this morning with a goalie guru.
He is suggesting save percentages across the league are dropping because too many teams are running with goalies that are not proven #1s and are often employing multiple sub par goaltenders throughout the season.
But where did these goalies go?
exactly
still there
the game has changed
as I’ve been saying for years the name of the game is speed speed speed
Less Lucic, more Marchessault in the game now, for sure.
While I don’t disagree that the game has changed (the advent of the modern defenseman is primality responsible), it would seem expansion has resulted in a shortage of quality goaltending.
For example, VGK currently have 5 “NHL goaltenders” in their system while SEA has 4.
Hell, Arizona couldn’t even find 1, not that they care.
Expansion has very little to do with it.
The game has gotten fast and skilled resulting in more very high danger scoring chances (high danger scoring chances where the goalie cannot get square to the shooter)
Defensive systems are hard to break down once the 5 players are setup. Teams have countered by attacking before defensive systems can set up.
Speed speed speed.
I seem to remember a poster here who used to always talk about things in terms of defending home plate area, talking about shots in terms of being binary (open or closed), and lamenting the move towards “roving” defenders.
How long before we see teams move back to stifling style team defence to try and take away this new threat? I don’t know if just clogging the “home plate” area with big giants is the way to do it though. I’d say you have to counter speed with more speed. But the key is maybe to have 5 fast guys that can move back as a solid unit just as quickly as attackers can get up there.
As for goalies, we need to start looking at the stats for where shots are coming from, the kind of shots they are to see what the root cause is – are the goalies crapping the bed, or is it a case of more in tight looks are leading to more goals? Are defenders also not doing as much of the hacky-whacky stuff at the netfront as they know they’ll get called and that’s leading to more zone time for the offence?
*COMPLETE GUESS INCOMING* I think you’re right in that it’s more to do with speed and skill of shooters versus goalies getting worse. If anything they’re bigger and more athletic than they were previously. Protective gear size has shrunk a bit so that plays a part too (although should have factored in last year etc.).
Equipment is smaller for sure….
“Defensive systems are hard to break down once the 5 players are setup. ”
Try tell that to the Oilers in case they haven’t got the memo.
Other factors are equipment – goalie’s is smaller, shooters sticks now give any fella a good shot or better and are being improved all the time
And I also think players are far more trained than ever. In Canada you basically have to be an academy player to have any decent chance at the CHL unless you are very special, in which case you would get a scholarship if your family couldn’t afford it so still academy etc
I have noticed the US team program forwards all shoot really well regardless of size and look very similar in style. I would hazard they get a lot of training / coaching with their shots/skills, Zegras and Caufield for example
A goalie’s job gets harder each year. I don’t think Bettman minds
1) I’m not loving Yamamoto on McDavid’s wing so far this year and prefer Jesse there. At the same time, that 3rd line was wonderful last night and I think its better to keep last night’s top 9 even with Yamamoto not fitting so far (to my eye).
2) I do like Kane and love the fact that he is always involved somehow/someway but, my goodness, he makes some poor decisions with the puck in the neutral zone. It was his pass to Ceci off the won face-off that started the pain on the last minute breakaway – it wasn’t hard enough and Ceci got caught in between. Its the type of “meh decision” Kane makes quite a bit. Not a HUGE issue but something I’ve noticed in his game.
3) I posted about half way through the BUF game that I looked forward to Nuge once again being MORE than just an “Ok player who touches all game states” as, we were starting the 3rd season where that’s all he was and he wasn’t really a plus player at 5 on 5. He’s never been a massive producer at 5 on 5 or anything but he’s had four seasons over 1.9 P/60 which is high end 2nd line scoring rates (and one over 2.3 P/60).
Since then, he’s had 4 period of “old Nuge” where he’s “part of the solution” at evens and contributing to a line that’s producing. It hasn’t even been two full games, so lets guard ourselves, but Nuge “regressing positively” at evens, after a couple of seasons, would be big.
4) Nuge is a “more offensive role” on Leon’s wing allows McLeod to play that 3C role and be the primary player on that line (along with Jesse) and we get game last like night. I think this is the way forward most of the time.
5) Drai played 16 minutes and McDavid 14 minutes at 5 on 5. Yes, they were 22-23 minutes total but much of that was on the PP. Woody/Gully did a good job of running the 11 forwards and got both Shore and Ryan some legit minutes which they deserved. I did find one thing odd. That third line was dominant most of the night but, down he stretch, Jesse got skipped on it at least once (I think it was more but not sure) but then he was out there with Nuge on the 2nd last shift with the net empty. I’m not sure what was going on there.
6) Murray and Niemo kind of split that 3LW role last night – neither of them really “stepping up for the job. Broberg is scheduled to play next weekend – maybe a few games to get up to speed in the Bake and then, damn, man, TAKE THAT JOB – Klefbom style.
7) Bouch still “uneven” out there but last night he finally got the offensive side of his game on track – what a play on the SH goal, wonderful.
8) Prior to the season starting, Rob Brown predicted 10 empty net goals for McDavid this season – that would be an NHL record. Well, that’s 2 in four games…… On the note, its still WILD that in his first 50G season, Drai has ZERO empty net goals. Ovie won the Richard with something like 8 (I think).
I was watching the game last night with my dad and there were times when we even wondered if Yamamoto was playing. McDavid and Kane dominated the possession on that line. Niemo made an awful pinch on the second goal and hung Barrie out to dry — he needs to stop pinching altogether.
I like Niems but the game still seems fast to him. If he can slow it down he might be a decent shutdown guy. I just don’t know that we have time for him to acclimate. He’s got tools. Just needs to find his calm feet…
Yes, I said that for the first few games as well on yams.
Let’s face it, both of Yamamoto and your favorite of all time, dear Jesse, have not looked very good so far this season.
They could put Derek Ryan with Kane & McDavid, and the line would be just as good, even better than with either of Yamo or your sweetheart Jesse.
We all have a blind spot Bill…
It’s all in the name of fun .
Sorry, I do not agree. I saw Yamo and Jesse harassing Canes D and backchecking like madmen. As a matter of fact I thought the forwards did a good job backchecking overall. I remember one play when the Canes were 2 on one coming into the Oiler zone and the twogot caught from behind and I was amazed and even more so when I saw the two oilers that were back were forwards.
I saw #37 of the Canes score three goals. Maybe Kenny could trade both Yamamoto & jesse for #37. So, they could have a couple backchecking madmen.
When they were making a million on ELC they were a positive. As the 3M men are we getting value are there players that don’t have stone hands available for 3M. Would a old veteran like Corey Perry score 25 with Leon and drive the opposition nuts as well.
It seems assessing a player with reason leads to some feelings and the need for immature posts. Presumably some weird (and failed) attempt at humour.
No real need to point out the the last sentence has been proven, objectively false (and, for the vast majority I would think, subjectively false).
Keeping Puljujarvi on the third is my preference. I said earlier that he seems to defer less on that line. If he can build some confidence with handling the puck on that line it could translate to him being more of a driver than passenger. Jesse, Foggy and McLeod are all above average skaters who are all strong forecheckers and defensively conscious. I can see that like being a 2b line if they continue to play together. McLeod is coming into his own and Jesse can handle the puck more and impact the game more. On that line he can be a distributor and finisher, not just a puck retrieval pylon for McDavid or Drai.
Yes to all your points!!
Nuge has been very good this year to my eye. Even in the first few games he has had some great touches. I’m a little surprised he doesn’t score more given how much torque he gets on that wrister, but the NHL is a hard league.
I don’t think enough is said about his deft touch on the powerplay. He made a real nice play on the Draisaitl goal, winning a puck battle and sending a perfect pass to 97, who made an excellent play getting the puck to a wide-open Drai.
Nuge made another *excellent* pass on the powerplay, a kind of high-low play, on another power play.
How much help 2 gods need help on the PP can be debated.
I don’t believe anyone has questioned Nuge on the PP -ever.
Nuge needs to produce at 5 x 5 – without McDavid and Drai on the ice.
Bottom line.
For sure its debatable, and we do debate it from time to time.
There is no doubt who the two primary drivers of the PP are, of course. At the same time, per my post a few minutes ago, I think Nuge’s skills are under-rated by many and that he really does help drive the PP in a secondary manner.
The numbers bore that out last season as well where the PP produced at 12 G/60 with the three of them on (in 210 minutes) and 8 G/60 when Nuge wasn’t with them (81 minutes).
There are very few posts of length and substance that I can agree with as much as this one. While most agree that Nuge is a good PP guy there are many who, in my opinion, under-value his role on the Oilers’ PP and think the other two forwards, in addition to 29/97 don’t really matter.
That pass to Hyman down low for his previous PP assist was a high skill pass that needed to be perfect to get past the defender and be in position for Hyman to one-touch it – nope, Kane, etc, do not make that pass (likely). He is also very important as a secondary option (and decoy) on the zone entry and his preciseness when going back up top (often no look) is also an important part of the Oilers’ PP.
They need a legit 2LD to play with (and somewhat shelter) Bouchard. Kulak and Barrie are OK as third pair, but championship teams don’t usually have almost $8M tied up in their 3rd pair.
Prospectropicalia!
Surprisingly for a Friday, only two NA amateur prospects take flight tonight. Chiasson and the Kings of
LeonWheat continue their roadie, but are drawing ever closer to home. South of the border, Shane has Lachance (that joke will never get old) to build upon his strong start to the season, scoring thrice in four games.Youngstown (Lachance) @ 6 p.m.
Wheat Kings (Chiasson) @ 7 p.m.
Both times, as usual, are Ardmore time.
***********************************************************************************
Why are the coaches doing this?
This is self inflicted pain.
Try Kulak – Bouchard ( he needs a good skating partner)
I don’t know if this is a Manson decision – but Woody has to step in and let logic flow.
Ryan Murray is what I thought Duncan Keith was when they signed him last year.
Keith proved me wrong.
Murray proving me right.
I miss Keith.
I miss the competitive level Keith brings. What is best is when Keith gets beat he brings nasty Keith out and gets away with it.
For me this game felt like last year. A strong game, some signs of wobble, and any time that decade of darkness feeling crept in, they cranked it up and returned fire. I think that game was closer than in should have been. Those two snipes from Svechnikov don’t normally go in. Those were just A++ shots. Anyways, glad to see the team showing glimmers of last season. It was as refreshing as the rain this morning (first in months).
Firstly, I was kind of thinking the same thing….felt like last year.
While they were elite shots – but they were taken from the circle – centre slot.
Barrie nearly backed up all the way into blue paint.
That is a high success spot on the ice for any NHL shooter.
Here is the absolute best, objective analysis I can do on Jakob Chychrun:
Friedman and Marek saying Coyotes right to keep asking price super high for him. Injuries on D all over the league – from Muzzin to Ekblad, lot’s of folks needing a top four guy already.
But who will pay?
Don’t think it’s YEG.
Ekblad is returning though so they don’t need to force a trade
Who cares .
I mean chychrun was brought up earlier this morning so I’m sure some people care, even if you don’t 🙂
Great analysis – Chychrun keeps getting brought up here cause it’s known that he’s available for a price.
Trick will be parsing out other options that are not so obvious but better fits that will help reduce GA, fit under the limited cap space that we have for this season, and don’t cost the moon in assets.
Holland and his team did really well last year finding Kulak. I hope they can repeat the trick this season.
Great breakdown.
Do you know who Jakob’s D partner was?
I would be a hug fan of the player if we can add – role is for 2LD – not 1LD
( big difference as Nurse will eat up most of touch comp)
Jakob is only 24
As we see with Ryan Murray – who your D partner is matters.
1.Jakob was playing inured last year.
2.AZ is a *tire fire* team
3.D partner- my guess is Jakob had a ‘Ryan Murray’ D partner
My guess is the price is way to high for Kenny
I don’t yet, but let me dig into it!
Most common partner was, the now well known to Oiler fans, Ilya Lybushkin (followed by Stralman).
Interesting -thanks
I would trade for Ilya Lybushkin, instead.
Question is how far can you go with Kulak Murray Nemo behind Nurse?
guessing not far
this team really needs a top 4Lhd of the Josh Manson type and can we wait for Broberg who lost his job to the guys mentioned above?
I absolutely agree. I think that, unless one of the existing LD step up, you need to upgrade and sooner is better. The only thing i find with Chychrun is that they’re expecting #1 Dman payment for a #3 Dman, and although I’m not sure who is or will be available, I’m sure there’s a better fit somewhere
Thank you for this comprehensive look at the Dman… exactly what I was asking for earlier. I gotta agree that his talents would be very useful to our Oilers… BUT only at the right price, the farm ain’t the right price. Then the challenge is how to fit his salary into our already bulging cap.
Rasmus Dahlin sets an NHL record by being the first defenseman in history to score a goal in his first four games of his team’s season.
who cares
Just an insane start for the young man…..
Buffalo looking absolutely stacked on D now.
Dahlin appears to be taking a big step, Owen Power looking very good early and 2018 second round pick Mattias Samuelsson (6’4″ 231) playing big shutdown minutes (25:50 last night) and bone cruncher Ilya Lybushkin (he nailed Holloway) they will be very tough to play against.
Agreed.
Dahlin on one pair and Power on the next one.
That will be tough.
If both Cozens and Mittelstadt – progress into top 6 they could be real good.
I am uncertain on the ceiling, right now, of both though…
I called Dahlin the most under-rated player in the NHL prior to the season….. Him and Power has close to Pronger/Niedernayer type potential…. That may be a stretch, I mean, two all time greats, but Dahlin is well on his way to being a top 3-5 d-man in the league and Power has that potential.
Makar/Byram has some potential in that regard but just don’t have the size of the Buffalo combo.
Honestly, my prior viewings of him I was not sure….clearly you were more right.
And like you say to have Power as well….wow.
I like your comp actually….I can’t remember the last time a team had 2 Norris candidates on same team.
Cale Makar and Devon Toews last season.
Dahlin has 44 points in his 18 year old season as a d-man in the NHL…. on a shit team who’s leading scorer had 82 points.
Fearless Dahlin.
https://www.nhl.com/news/rasmus-dahlin-not-slowing-down-after-record-setting-start-to-season-for-buffalo/c-336653456?tcid=tw_news_content_id
Eric Staal signs a one year deal in Florida.
who cares
Eric Staal working from within to ensure Florida crater so Montreal get a second lotto pick in the Bedard draft? Something something Sam Pollock….
I will say the Expos fan in me really likes the new Habs jersey.
Can someone please tell me what a Swedish assist is? There’s like, four google results and I’ve heard it here a dozen times.
It’s a massage parlour in the west end.
I have done extensive research and they are called Svenska Kettbullar’s .
Honestly, I didn’t believe the Oil would win that game last night and by the sound of all the belly aching around here, it sounds like they lost. No team is perfect every night. Even Puljujarvi isn’t perfect every night LOL.
No team is perfect ANY night. The perfect game has not been played, nor will ever be. Play well, score some goals, get the W more often than not. That’s what it’s all about.
Just find a way to win .
I actually thought the Oil would win last night. They seem to play to the level of the competition. I don’t bet often but I am pretty successful when I bet the Oil to win against elite teams and lose to basement dwellers. Ha ha
Great game to watch. A few things to complain about(isn’t there always?) but everyone showed up and towed the line, imo. Kaner’s touch is a bit off. He’s missed guys on passes a fair bit but he really showed his speed when pacing Connor up the ice for a goal. Drai and Connor are phenomenal but Drai also has to clean up his giveaways. Only a couple last night but teams like Caroline will hurt you if you give them freebies. Hyman is so fun to watch. Never slows down and never gives up. Who didn’t hate playing against that one guy who didn’t know when to quit? So glad we get to watch him in Oilers silks, now. Hardly noticed Yammo out there. He seems a step behind. Hopefully he comes around cuz I think Jesse is better off on the third line. I liked seeing Jesse rag the puck in the corners and look for open guys. Looked like a young Drai a few times. Playing with McLeod and Foggy is good for him. He’s not deferring as much. Nuge was doing all the right things, as usual, and was rewarded this time. McLeod is gonna be our Kirk Maltby 2.0(who, at one time, we had pegged as our future #1 centre). Fast and skilled but never a top producer. If he can score 40 and anchor the third line I’ll be over the moon.
Nurse was strong and skated hard, Seems more physical this year. Ceci is steady but sometime gets choppy with the puck and freaks me out. Hope he irons that out soon or I’m gonna break some glasses this year. Same with Bouch. Undeniable talent(the pass to McLeod for the shorty was brilliance) but needs to raise his defensive awareness. Made some veteran position plays but still a few rookie plays as well. I like Kulaks game. I think he and Bouch would be really good together. Mobility and passing from both sides. Jack looked bad on a few but really battles and made some wicked stops. He doesn’t have to be great, just can’t be bad, yanno?
Anyways, long story short(to late?), this is much more like the brand of hockey we were playing in March. Few things to clean up but we’re not that far from being crazy hard to play against. Can’t wait to see this version against the Blues!!!
So just how good is Chychrun? I’ve seen comments, both wanting him and not. The suggested ask for him is quite high . . . is he worth giving up serious futures and/or prospects to acquire him, would he be an improvement? I dont know, but I’m doubtful.
Probably not .
Given the tire fire on #2LHD I don’t think we can afford to not upgrade the position. But the price will be dear
Chychrun won’t get traded until he gets back on the ice. Teams will want to see that he’s OK and back up to speed before committing the kinds of assets needed.
He’s good but he’s been injured a lot in his career. One good year offensively in a season where he got the PP push over OEL. Mobile but not that physical. He’d be a substantial upgrade.
Problem for the Oilers will be fitting his salary under the cap … it’s easy to say send out one or two of Jesse, Foegele, Yamo or Barrier … but that leaves holes at other parts of the roster.
I might feel better about moving out a winger or two right now if Holloway and Janmark had shown more.
Giveaways are the main issue right now. They about twice as many as the Canes. Biggest hole is LHD, where Neimo who is not quite ready is better than Murray. Lots of track ahead
I’ve heard a lot of people blaming Ceci and Nurse for the Necas goal last night, but I think the real culprit was Nuge. Puck entered the zone from the right wing boards and Nuge was on the left wing boards. He has to read that quicker and collapse to the middle. I believe Aho was his responsibility.
Regarding all the ticky tack penalties, it went both ways. Seems like a lot of posters have a definite Oilers bias when it comes to refereeing. Understandable, but kind of comical at times.
I do think the penalty on Kane was legit. I’m pretty sure that an attacking player is not allowed to interfere with a defender skating backwards, even if the attacker is standing still. I think they get away with it if they are standing beside the defender, but not when they are directly behind the defender.
There were a lot of weak calls last night, in fact most of them were, but there were 3 straight-up obvious non-calls that were ignored for some reason.
When the defender got his stick into Bouchard’s hands, forcing him out of the O-zone and then he dropped his stick. When Draisaitl’s helmet was ripped off in the D-zone. And when McDavid was cross-checked head-first into the boards behind the Canes net. Very clearly no-brainer calls.
A missed penalty vs Edm that I can think of (and it would have been weak, but is sometimes called after 2 cross-checks vs Carolina) was Nurse on Svechnikov. I was very surprised.
After 8 calls against the hometown team vs Vancouver in the opener (3-0 in the first period alone), I have even less faith in the zebras than I have ever had. Generally the harder working team should get more favourable calls, and I agree that the Oilers are not always that team. However stars should get more calls and our 2 superstars are consistently not given that level of respect. It is disgraceful to the integrity of the game and it should be unacceptable. That being said, I am 100% on board with fairness.
The penalty count against/for the hometown team while playing at home for 4 straight games sits at -5, so not exactly a even playing field ( 8-4 Van, 5-5 Cgy, 6-5 Buf, 5-5 Car). So much for gambling forcing officials to change their ways…And you can see how fans get upset when the penalty calls don’t seem unbiased, especially at home.
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)
To Recap:
1 – Predict Oilers final regular season point total
2 – Connormcdavid points
3 – leondraisatl goals
4 – oilers finish in the West(1-16)
DEADLINE PUCK DROP PENGUINS GAME 6
Thank you for doing this Hunter.
Oilers points: 107
A) McDavid – 144
B) Draisatl – 48
C) 2nd place
Lagesson, Bear and Jones went through a honest AHL defenseman process and came out the other side as 6-7-8 defenseman. What exactly are we looking for Broberg to continue to work in AHL?
Nemo and Broberg in a NHL 7-11 roster is the right spot for both players and probably sets up for a successful play off better than playing Murray now.
LT, thanks for the analysis.
The Oilers played a quality team last night and in my opinion, played with some fire. Svechnikov has a hell of a shot and was solid all night but I think the Oiler’s D is the issue right now.
Some very loosey goosey plays by the D and I think things need to tighten up. Murray is being asked to do way too much and it’s showing. He’s been regressing for a number of years now so I’m perplexed by why the Oilers thought he could play as high as he has been.
After watching the last number of games, I am starting to really miss Keith. I think he would have been ideal for Nemo.
Hyman is like the Energizer bunny. Where would the team be without him and his energy?
I think the team is still trying to find it’s ‘groove’ TBH. Hopefully it comes together sooner rather than later.
While some local fans and pundits mentioned “Murray bringing valuable experience from COL’s Stanley Cup run” when Ken signed him, few if any mentioned that Murray didn’t dress for any of COL’s playoff games last year.
You can see why Bednar didn’t play him.
They even played Jack Johnson ahead of him.
That’s a bit of a red flag.
Cheap signing so there will be warts, but he needs to be 7D, not 6D
Maybe 8D when Broberg is ready and they run 11F 7D with Nemo?
Hi Woodguy!
Hi!
Woodguy drops in to drop off – Gold.
Well put as always.
Easily wins the thread.
I believe that Murray got hurt in the 2nd half and, once he was ready around playoff time, was relegated to extra D and didn’t get in to. playoff game. He did play 37 regular season games for the Avs – 3rd pairing minutes with about a minute of PK time per game.
So, essentially, he was used as a 7D/depth d-man for the Stanley Cup Champions last season. Pretty much the role the Oilers signed him to play, right?
He’s been pressed in to duty early rally due to Broberg’s injury and has had his minutes reduced through the 4 games.
Oh for sure-Ryan has played a full 82 games only once in a nearly decade long
career in the NHL.
Not the same at all – imo- Murray did not in fact make it back into the lineup -despite injuries.
Oilers have 6 healthy Dmen
Nurse- Ceci
Kulak- Bouchard
Niemo- Barrie
It is a specific choice to play Ryan Murray.
Avs had D injuries – Did not play Murray
Oilers have D injury- Are playing Murray.
Ryan Murray simply stinks.
4 teams in 4 years….
I expect Europe is next
I know it’s early but I’ve seen enough to know that it’s time to go get Chychurn to settle the backend down.
The question is how. Will Ken part with his precious Broberg? How will they make salary work? I don’t know,.but they’ve got to do something on the backend.
Send Yamo or JP along with Broberg and a first.
I think the oilers do this trade all day, not sure if Arizona would bite though. They prefer futures I’m sure.
Are they even less likely to bite now? I have to believe Broberg’s trade value was higher a month ago than it is now.
Put the bottle down buddy lol
Friedman reporting this morning that Chycrun trade talks heating up with Ottawa.
When would Chychrun actually be able to help the Oilers?
I know he’s been skating on his own for a while but has he even started practicing/skating with his team? Speculation was that was pontentilly going to happen this week but I haven’t heard that it is (or that it hasn’t).
Further, when he is ready to play, what player would we get? I mean, lets take away a poor year last year (and, yes, part of the is playing on a poor team but lots of good d-men have good seasons on poor teams) – he’s still coming off an off-season without hockey training (likely) due to rehabbing both ankle and wrist surgery procedures, missed all of training camp and the first part of the season.
Do we anticipate “peak Chychrun” to appear?
Also what is peak Chychrun now? Shoulder, knee, ankle, wrist – all material injuries – at some point these things add up and simply reduce a player’s effectiveness. I’m not saying that has happened, or will happen, but its a legit concern.
Not to mention, you “develop a past” – do we think this player will be in the lineup, night in and night out going forward?
From a high level, of course, this is a good player that would be awesome at 2LD but there are MANY concerns/risks here are there not?
——–
EDIT: Friedman thinks he joined the team for the first time yesterday.
Said every post here all summer long.
Another option would be Nurse-Bouchard and Kulak-Ceci. Both pairings showed good shot, xgoal and scoring chance metrics dating back to last season.
Mentioned yesterday by Munny2.0 but it bears repeating….
Hyman with that skate pass on Nuge’s goal was a thing of beauty. I can’t think of a nicer skate assist, go back and rewatch it for those who missed.
One of the best forechecks in general that I can recall. Absolutely busts his ass to beat the defender, somewhat pins Andersen in a legal way to keep him occupied, fights off Skej and then kicks it out to Nuge.
This was like a McDavid Magic moment in terms of forechecking brilliance. Hyman is a beast.
Hyman is an absolute gem. His work ethic is off the charts, he truly has a non-stop motor, it seems like a simple formula, but it is a rare commodity so it seems.
Holloway could potentially become a player like Hyman, but with better boots and better passing. But Hyman didn’t really “arrive” until he turned 25.
And did we notice that Nuge’s finish was very similar to how he scored against Calgary in Game 4 of the playoffs when Markstrom misplayed the puck? I don’t think it’s that easy for Nuge to score from that angle but that’s twice now he’s done it.
Sergei Samsonov in 2006. Can’t remember who it was to or the opponent, but recall it was a no-look backheel kick pass right onto the tape.
Thanks for the hat tip, kgo. Hyman with such a subtle, clever play.
While exciting, this is tough hockey to watch
It seems every breakout by the opposition leads to a scoring chance
I was really hopeful for Murray but the results are in and they match the eye test. What are the alternatives outside Broberg – who did not impress in preseason?
6D with Murray in the press box or Bakersfield and Niemo in the 3rd pairing with Barrie, Kulak with Bouchard until Broberg is healthy and ready to stick.
broberg being injured in preseason likely impacted his play.
he hopes to be healthy next weekend according to DNB so we could see him end of the month or start of next. Murray has struggled by my eye.
Broberg played mostly road games with weaker Oiler rosters against stacked ones, so he was mostly playing defense and he wasn’t worse than anyone else.
Pre-season and eye tests lie.
Broberg has an AHL track record.
Going to have to agree with Godot here.
For me, Broberg was better than Niemelainen in the exhibition season (and the reason many thing opposite is they are assessing in relation to expectations and not straight up performance). Broberg defended better than Niemo (although both were inferior to Sammy).
To Godot’s point re: line mates, Broberg’s most common partners were Demers and Murray and he was mostly on the ice with: Esposito, Benson, Puljujarvi, Shore, Hamblin, Janmark, Virtanen, Griffith……
I can’t say if he will make a materially positive impact over the others playing in that spot, but I think he can.
It’s still only the fourth game of the young season there’s 78 games remaining. They are still a work in progress, like every other team in the best hockey league in the world.