Game 15 2022-23: Oilers at Hurricanes

The injury to Evander Kane has ignited trade talk among Oilers fans. Don’t ask me to explain, if you know, you know. The excerpt above is from a December 2019 pre-game post involving Edmonton and the Carolina Hurricanes. Since then, general manager Ken Holland has traded several young defensemen (Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear, William Lagesson, Dmitri Samorukov) with varying degrees of success. If Holland decides to have a run during the season using the LTIR pool from Evander Kane’s contract, where would he shop? What would it cost?

THE ATHLETIC!

• Lowetide: How close to balanced are the 2022-23 Edmonton Oilers?
• DNB: Oilers’ Evander Kane hospitalized after skate blade cuts his arm
• Lowetide: Oilers top prospect is unclear for the first time in a dozen years
• Lowetide: Oilers prospects crowding AHL roster, ice time at a premium
• DNB: Why Oilers’ latest ‘pathetic’ performance from Jack Campbell is a growing issue
• Lowetide: Oilers rookie Stuart Skinner is chasing history
• DNB: Devils stun Oilers in Edmonton: How 7 seconds changed the game
• DNB: Ryan Smyth on Oilers memories, keepsakes and the current team: Q&A
• Lowetide: Making room for Dylan Holloway
• Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers start October slow but finish month strong
• Lowetide: Oilers prospect Tyler Tullio adjusting quickly to AHL
• DNB: Oilers’ Skinner, an Edmonton native, closes door on Flames
• DNB: The Oilers have a third line that’s settling in
• Lowetide: Early season trade unlikely for the Oilers
• DNB: How the Oilers can manage Connor McDavid and star players’ workloads
• Jonathan Willis: Jakob Chychrun would look good on the Oilers, but is there a deal to be had?
• Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers reasonable expectations for every player in 2022-23
• Lowetide: Oilers top-20 prospects, summer 2022

WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER

• At home to: NAS, NJD, DAL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 1-2-0)
• On the road to: WAS, TBY, CAR, FLA (Expected 1-2-1) (Actual 1-1-0)
• At home to: LAK, VEG (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: NJD, NYI, NYR (Expected (1-1-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: FLA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: CHI (Expected (1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• November expected result: 7-4-3, 17 points in 14 games
• Actual November results: 2-3-0, 4 points in 5 games
• October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
• Oilers in 2022-23: 8-6-0, 16 points in 14 games

A win tonight would set up the Oilers road trip as a success based on my expectations, and might go some ways to repairing the motzah balls homestand that began the month. A win means 9-6-0 through 15, that projects to 49-33-0, 98 points.

POSSIBLE LINEUP TONIGHT

This is my take on how things might go, although there are multiple options for Jay Woodcroft for the four lines. I’m hopeful Dylan Holloway gets a full shot, and would like to think the coach will keep the No. 1 line intact. If we see 11-7 again, it’s my opinion Kostin and Janmark will sit out until they’ve practiced more than once with the group. I’ll be watching the Kulak-Ceci pairing to see how they are deployed. Carolina has two No. 1 lines (Necas-Kotkianiemi-Svechnikov and Teravainen-Aho-Jarvis) so expect both the Nurse and Kulak pairings to be busy. Carolina played and lost last night, sometimes that gives the rested team an edge.

A TRADE?

Allow me to start by saying I’m dubious on the idea Ken Holland would pull the trigger on a deal. It’s too dangerous, and getting out from under when Kane comes back could prove to be excruciating for the organization. It’s a team game, and Kane is part of the team. Any usage of his cap hit while he’s away must be temporary.

What could temporary look like? Holland might look to bring back Kris Russell if Ryan Murray is not deemed suitable for the role. He could and will have a look at new acquisition Klim Kostin. If a smart trade appears, then making the deal could be easier short-term. I can’t see a Jakob Chychrun trade before he plays and establishes himself as a productive player again. That trade would also require a significant salary heading out and the Oilers don’t have an obvious expensive asset to deal unless you consider Tyson Barrie expendable (some do, some don’t). So let me hear it: WHO would you like to see Holland trade for with the Kane money, knowing the GM may have to flush cap when Kane may return?

PLEASE CHECK THE BLOG DAILY

In the last 12 months, people have clicked on my morning tweet promoting my daily blog post (this one for today) over 200,000 times. It is not the No. 1 entry to the blog but it’s up there. I’m not certain what changes twitter plans to make, but would ask you to come to the blog if you are unable to find the tweet promoting the daily post. Thanks and I appreciate it.

LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON

TSN 1260, 10-2 today, it’s the final show of the week. We’ll have James Duthie from TSN, preview the Oilers-Canes and talk Thursday night football and CFL playoffs. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!