I remember well the day Washington Capitals entered the NHL. The team was given absolute roll ends and odd sizes in the expansion draft, with only Ron Low, Yvon Labre, Denis Dupere and Mike Bloom worthy of mention. The Caps had an interesting if unsuccessful entry draft, with Greg Joly, Mike Marson and Tony White among the notables. The first Capitals team was as bad as bad can be, winning just eight games for three coaches.
Washington has come a long way baby, from Mike Gartner to Scott Stevens to Alexander Ovechkin and beyond. The Capitals have always employed players I consider favourites, like Sergei Gonchar, Peter Bondra and Gaetan Duchesne. The Caps are in town. Milt Schmidt is dead. That Stanley Cup was five years ago.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2022
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers avert disaster with strong finish to November
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers look for rugged forward in a trade
- Lowetide: Oilers’ young players providing a spark after a slow start
- Lowetide: What could Oilers forward Dylan Holloway accomplish in AHL?
- DNB: Oilers’ win over Rangers shows how valuable secondary scoring can be
- DNB: Oilers GM Ken Holland Q&A: Can the team be improved? If so, how?
- Lowetide: Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into 2nd decade of being misunderstood
- DNB: Oilers have a long way to go as defensive problems persist
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers’ Jack Campbell will be better, but can he be a true No. 1?
- Lowetide: The Edmonton Oilers and early-season trades during road trips
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers’ lack of secondary scoring is a critical situation
- Lowetide: Oilers rookie Stuart Skinner is chasing history
- 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
WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER
- On the road to: MIN (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- At home to: MTL, WAS, ARI, MIN (Expected 3-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: MIN, NAS (Expected (1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: STL, ANA (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: NAS, DAL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: CAL, SEA (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: WPG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- December expected result: 9-5-1, 19 points in 15 games
- December actual result: 1-1-0, two points in two games
- November results: 7-7-0, 14 points in 14 games
- October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
- Oilers in 2022-23: 14-11-0, 28 points in 25 games
A win tonight moves Edmonton to 15-11-0, 30 points in 26 games. That’s a pace that would see the team end the season with a record like 47-34-1, 95 points. That’s a playoff team.
EMERGING?
Evander Kane has been out of the lineup for 11 games now (12 tonight) and the Oilers have lost Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele (they have missed several games) and Kailer Yamamoto (he last played November 8, same as Kane) as well.
In the games since McLeod and Foegele left the lineup, there hasn’t been much in the way of offense outside the top line. In 4GP, Leon Draisaitl (2-4-6) leads five-on-five scoring among forwards, followed by Connor McDavid (3-1-4), Zach Hyman (0-4-4), RNH (1-1-2), Mattias Janmark (1-1-2), Klim Kostin (a goal), Jesse Puljujarvi, Derek Ryan and Devin Shore (all with an assist).
Kailer Yamamoto practised yesterday on the top line (Draisaitl-McDavid) but he might have been there because Zach Hyman wasn’t in attendance. If KY is playing, and Hyman is too, I’d like to see this:
- Holloway-McDavid-Hyman (18-11 goals in 212 minutes for 97 and Hyman this year five-on-five)
- Kostin-Draisaitl-Yamamoto (29-KY 6-3 goals in 81 minutes this year five-on-five)
- Janmark-Nuge-Puljujarvi
- Benson-Hamblin-Ryan
WAYWARD CONDORS
Bakersfield is down several players and it seems as though the organization is more focused on the career of (checks notes) Drake Rymsha than Xavier Bourgault. One is on the No. 1 PP, the other is not. That’s not cool in terms of development. I get that Tyler Tullio has the hot hand, but you can put both kids on the power play at once. Hell, add Carter Savoie.
This year is beginning to remind me of the year Tyler Pitlick, Curtis Hamilton and Ryan Martindale didn’t play much as AHL rookies. So strange. I don’t get it. Bakersfield is losing and playing like crap with veteran minor leaguers, surely to God they can lose and play like crap (with the promise of a better tomorrow) with the kids? The minor league team isn’t going to develop jack squat with the current coaching decisions.
Bourgault did score in the game (twice), he’s 7-4-11 in 20 games. In a 72-game season, that would be 25+ goals and I do believe he would get an NHL look if he continues to pop goals at the current rate.
NHL EQUIVALENICES
- Xavier Bourgault 22
- Mike Kesselring 22
- Phil Kemp 18
- Tyler Tullio 15
- Carter Savoie 11
- Raphael Lavoie 9
- Noah Philp 8
Every damn one of these guys should be in the lineup every night. This is no way to run a railroad. I understand trying to win hockey games and being competitive, but giving power-play time to Rymsha (with due respect to the player) over Bourgault is simply bad coaching. Whatever bias landed Colin Chaulk on that square, he needs to change course and right soon. By the way, Kailer Yamamoto had an NHLE of 28 on the day he was recalled from Bakersfield, so Bourgault is building. Last night’s goals should get noticed in the luxury offices here in Edmonton.
BARRY FRASER
I wrote “On the Clock” during the pandemic, from September 2020 to March of 2021. In that time, I spent tons of time looking at the draft picks of Barry Fraser. He and his scouting staff (that’s a stretch, back then it wasn’t so much a staff as a coffee clatch, three guys driving gigantic Buicks through prairie winters) delivered the heart of a dynasty via the 1979, 1980 and 1981 drafts. He and his scouts were inspired and those three seasons represent the outer marker of drafting. He passed away yesterday, long ago a legend of remarkable reputation in his industry. RIP. My friend Bruce McCurdy wrote eloquently on the subject today.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
We’ll talk World Cup, Oilers-Caps, Fred McGriff and more. 10-2, including a World Cup game at noon, TSN1260.
This team can start by getting some sort of humility. After that, structure and commitment to defence. Stop with injury excuses. The Caps have had half a team out and they go out and play. Then and only then, can you properly evaluate. The majority of the players that get bashed with this team would most likely perform better elsewhere.
Too close to new article time so will save the brunt of it but two things today.
1) Replacing Hyman with Yamo last night effectively means you’re still 1 NHL player shorter than the Habs game. Yamo after a month off is 1/2 an NHL player and Hyman does the work of 1.5 guys.
2) Blaming Bouchard for the winner is so odd considering the Kulak punt is what kicked the whole thing off. ManWood didn’t suffer young guys lightly in the AHL and I think we’re seeing that a bit in real time at the NHL level.
No we are not firing the coach. Stop talking like that.
More to come in a few minutes.
Connor does well almost always
I am finding Leo extremely predictable lately. Sometimes it works with the two. It’s either desperate or one of those games you are going to win
I don’t see it consistently when there is solid opposition to their wills on the ice
They need to start trusting who they play with. Yes they are lesser but you need them. Gretzky was great because he did that. You never knew what he was scheming. Yes it was a lot of Kurri and Coffey, but if slats stuck Semenko on his line Semenko scored too
Change it up and get even more chances. Right now everyone knows what the play will be when the Duo play together, and it’s down to Mano a Mano
Not even the greatest can do that all the time
Apologies if this has already been forwarded, but I thought this was a really classy shout out to Allan: https://apple.news/A4ha66dotRaqPWZ4Ax0KnkQ
From Jack Michaels;
“Another Oilers Broadcaster Who Deserves Respect
I would be remiss to write a piece about Oilers broadcasters and not mention the name Alan Mitchell aka “Lowetide” on Team 1260 in Edmonton. As many Oilers fans know, Lowetide hosts a midday show with Dave Jamieson on TSN 1260, and both Lowetide and Jamieson bring a refreshing and sometimes humorous approach to covering the Oilers. Lowetide is always a delight to listen to, and unfortunately he had to share some sad personal news recently with his readers and listeners that he lost his wife Jo-Anne to Acute Myeloid Leukemia in late November.
Lowetide, who also covers the Oilers for The Athletic, is a broadcaster with a real sense of the moment. I like listening to him because he feels like a fun Uncle who also happens to talk about the Oilers and great music. His loss also feels like a loss to listeners such as myself. On behalf of The Hockey Writers, we extend our deepest condolences to Lowetide and his family on the loss of his wife Jo-Anne.”
Oof. Team is stale rolling out McDrai for ~24 minutes a night and virtually no hope for a boost from the rest.
There is no conceivable reason to keep 29 and 97 together when 4 out of the top 9 F are injured; especially when they get caved seemingly every game at 5v5. At least if Woodcroft has a healthy top 9 and just can’t control himself icing 91-97-29, then at least Nuge has Hyman and Yamo. Janmark is not a 2nd line player (I am a fan), and JP’s lone goal in 26 (!!!) games deflected off his shin pad in the high slot… a goal JF Jacques could have scored.
55-97-18
93-29-56
I had such hope for Woody.
Just outstanding from Skinner …..
At one point, Washington was on pace for 60
Thought Holloway came on as well with Nuge.
That was a dog. Felt like someone put a curse on the Oilers or something.
On the bright side, I like Janmark particularly his play with Nuge the past few games. Might be something to build a 3rd line around once healthy:
Hyman-McDavid-Yamo
Draisaitl-McLeod-Kane
Janmark-RNH-Puljujarvi
Trade for a defensive presence at 2LD and a competent, veteran 4C and maybe the team can pull itself together heading into a playoff run. Rolling the lines more evenly would really help, Jay.
Wait… are you seriously saying to have the Highlander as 2C, on the same line as Draisaitl?
Yes, though the idea would be to split C duties; you could list either of them as the C and the idea remains the same. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that level of inference given how often people list Drai-McDavid-XXX or RNH-Drai-XXX as lines knowing full well that C duties are shared.
Or is it that you don’t agree that McLeod’s speed, puck carrying, and defensive acumen could be useful on a line with Drai & Kane?
Coach really hammering on the “we made a criticial error in the third period to lose the game” note. Obviously not happy with Boosh, but Spector chased that angle and Jay wouldn’t throw him a bone.Got a bit defensive and facetious though when Gregor asked him about game starts.
Hyman and Foegele are both day-to-day.
In the third period? Really?
I’m souring on this coach in real time. Your team played like trash tonight coach own it.
I think a coach only gets so many “our team sucked tonight” in his tenure with a team
not sure I’d want him to use that now but to each their own
The game was tied after 40. The Oilers were not being owned in the 3rd. That was the deciding play of the game.
This D group wasn’t this bad last season. Starting to seriously wonder about the coaching, although I did question the wisdom of relying on Kulak to be 2LD.
I would’ve sat Drai right after he gave the Caps their 1st goal. His game tonight was selfish garbage that hurt the team and he gave the puck away at least once every single shift he played. His number had to be above 10 TO. I knew that comment at the beginning of the season about learning he can play with just one leg was a bad sign. He’s not elevating his game. He’s just lazy now.
Stu deserved better from his team…they better be paying for sups and drinks tonight.
Oh and Pool, for those blind faithful out there, went from line 1 to 4 in a single game. And deservedly so.
Closest thing to a silver lining aside from Skinner was probably Holloway.
Pretty decent game from him. Might have earned himself some more time in a prominent spot.
Yams, Janmark and Kostin too.
McDavid, Ryan and Nurse out of the “it should be expected” group.
No first step, no commitment to the battle, losing every puck race, no hitting, halfhearted passes, no zip to their game at al… they were clearly fatigued. Or just the letdown from the emotional win over the Habs. That was a team that played with little in the tank to my eye, whatever the reason.
Hard to pin it on specific plays, players or systems when everyone but the goalie served up a bowl of mush.
Other than someone, and by someone I mean everyone, knows they can stretch pass Kulak and Boosh, and that definitely needs to be dealt with.
Maybe their annual pre Christmas flu bug?
Brown was joking when he said that. Both he and Bob emphasized “fatigue” rather than saying “illness.”
Do other teams get fatigued?
No other teams have structure and balanced lines
Of course they do, especially western teams.
Bruce, you’re not helping your cause when you overuse 4 players. It’s the same old story year after year.
With 2 top line forwards out and 2 more on the third line down, this team is gonna struggle. No one has stepped up at all in the forward ranks either. Jesse’s failure to do so is very disappointing. Janmark looks overmatched on top 6. Then a bunch of tweeners and AHLers. Then a weak D corp. ugh.
not nearly good enough. really wondering what this team’s identity is – beyond being Connor and Leon’s. They don’t play heavy, they’re not volume shooters, our forecheck is meh, we don’t suppress much of anything… seemed after Woody took over there were signs, but that team really is nowhere to be found.
Stu deserved better.
So who’s supposed to form that identity?
We deserved to lose this. It was only Stu’s brilliant performance that made it close.
The whole team looked about a litre short of oil…except McDavid. He’s inhuman.
I don’t know what the D are Trying to do but it’s not even close to working.
When you play a whole crew of guys looking this bad it’s up to the coach to figure out a better way.
Do some of the coaching shit, ManWood.
Whatever system you were Trying to use, clearly, isn’t working…
Coaches are going to have an aneurism going over that game.
also, seems the refs let the caps have their way with the oilers. So many overlooked infractions.
Very poor coaching decision to not call timeout at the 2 min mark…Connor line had just got off ice and were tired. Stupid coaching decision.
Are we done with Puljujarvi on the top line ffs? Woodcroft wasted half the game with that line. Only Oilers who showed up tonight was Skinner and Holloway. Washington deserved that win by a mile.
McDavid and Drai did not generate a shot on net for well over half the game. Even if Louie was on that line I expect more 5 on 5 chances from them.
Woody might have to resort to having a former Hart winner play his natural position at C.
There are much greater issues on this team than Jesse on the first line or not.
Bouchard was benched I guess. Didn’t play a minute after the third Wash goal.
I certainly thought he was most culpable for the GWG.
Not that I like to see him being benched in the least.
If he was gonna bench guys for lack of performance we probably couldn’t finish the game with a full 5 skaters.
Drai, Ceci, Kulak, Barrie and Puljujarvi should’ve joined him…and that’s still being nice…
I love how the guy who bailed them out against Florida took the greatest heat for the loss last night. Laughable!
They got absolutely manhandled in that game. It’s probably just not a good idea to even bother watching them against heavy teams. It’s obvious the oppositions game plan and the Oilers have simply no response.
Dismal performance by the team. They should be embarrassed by that performance. The defense collectively shit the bed and the forward group was culpable in said bed-shitting. Great job by Stu Skinner.
Broberg is close to being the 2nd best D defensively on the team already.
No, no.
The coach says it was just one critical error in the 3rd that was the difference in this game.
It’s not that they were outshot and outplayed the entire game, nope.
~It’s all Bouchard’s fault.~
Drai gets beat like a rented mule in October November
plays like crap in December
same thing every year
You figure this a Hart Trophy recovery year? Or just normal recovery year?
After tonight, he’s getting votes from Washington.
Gorgeous pass to set up the Eller goal.
He did have four primary points and was first star last game – also December……
Even though Nurse plays the toughs (I think), I’ve not enjoyed his game nor his passes tonight
Has the coach lost the room? How else can anyone explain the garbage team play I just watched.
general disinterest and malaise caused by inflated egos and lack of pride in secondary contributors
not sure how a coach can make adults care enough about making millions of $$ a year to play with full effort each game
This is on the players. They are professionals and need to execute at a higher level. More intensity or focus is required, whatever that takes. You see how they played once they had some desperation — everything was faster, harder, more precise. They need to start the game with something approaching that level of desire if they expect to be contenders.
Well they aren’t most of the time. How many good starts have the Oilers had this year?
I could count the good starts on one hand…and still have enough fingers to play the flute…
This is a team run by 4 players and the rest just simply dress. Would love to see what they do in their practices….
Top line absolutely owned tonight 5×5. Time to break it up.
I think that has to happen once Hyman is back. Need a shake up. Maybe they’ll start playing better two way hockey instead of trying to make highlights with each other. Save that crap for the PP…
Whaaaaat
Play former Hart winner Drai at his natural position?
Deploy a C depth of
McDavid
Drai
RNH
Opposition coaches all agree, Woody should not do it
Wow. That was rough. Really rough.
Great job Skinner. That is all.
I thought we had the better goalie tonight (for a change) but….
Nice of the team to start playing to their abilities late in the third.
To waste that effort from Skinner is appalling.
Agreed, but you can’t extract that much effort from a goalie without being terrible.
WTF was that Drai
Lots of hard work cycling and a handful of plays to a scoring area
Also 3 guys on the boards and below the puck constantly
Sure their behind but that’s not going work either
How many breakaways have they given up tonight?
Drai has been full value for that -2. He’s truly been a burden on the team tonight.
not too look too much into it,
but was sure inspiring watching him bite his nails on the bench after that 3rd goal against
For me he’s been super high risk many games, and occasionally does his great things
He’s the one constantly talking about it, playing from behind sucks. Ok Leo, your 27, in your 9th season, when does it start happening, the mature patient, winning when it counts style?
Cause it isn’t happening yet. All forcing plays, high risk, constant turnovers. Which is hard on the team, and kills the momentum of building on solid group play
I have read many on this blog suggest that Draisaitl is an elite 1c who just happens to play behind the best player in the world. Some have even suggested he is a better player than Austin Matthews. I’m not so sure I believe that.
Draisaitl is an otherworldly offensive talent. And, at times, he plays a solid 200 foot game. Can he turn into a consistently great two way player? Maybe, but what’s the hold up here? As you note, he’s 27. He knows better.
So it’s an effort thing or a refusal to play a lower risk, less haphazard brand of 5 v 5 hockey. Because I don’t get the sense that Draisaitl lacks hockey IQ.
It seems they don’t trust their teammates. Maybe justifiably, outside of Kane whom they seem to ‘play with’
I see Connor adopting a more mature game sooner than Drai as it plays out
Much harder back and consistent effort defensively. He’s still screwing up a lot but learning in Connor giant chunks
I think Drai is super stubborn and is going slower. Hopefully he gets there full time, but it costs short term in team play and team building IMO, which is critical for the next step all of us and them want
Skinner deserves a juicy steak.
First solid shift all period. 13 minutes in.
That was a really nice sequence by the Nuge line.
Gord Nuge your shot is so frustratng at tmes
Yup his finish is largely luck based
Man, this team is frustrating to watch. And they have no business being in this game. If they waste this Skinner gem of a game….
Broberg flashes some defensive ability.
That’s one!
That backtrack was brilliant
For me that is enough. They all suck currently, but The B Brothers are showing signs of growth
Play them as much as possible and get them ready for later
It can’t be worse, and will get better
Ceci and Kulak will stabilize but that goes up to almost acceptable when playing a pair too high
Barrie isn’t getting better and is bad at D things. As a much smaller guy he gave Protas the inside lane (which he gladly took) instead of forcing him out. Awful
That should have been a penalty
Oops! BS
Wth? Kulak garbage…horrible.
lots of blame to go round. to me it’s becoming inescapable that Oil need to add to the D. Barring crazy, sustained turnaround by Dept. of Youth.
I would still get a top 4 defenseman to force Kulak down. He can battle Broberg for 3LD ice time.
Anytime you give up 48 shot attempts to your 24 … at Home … it has the makings of a well deserved loss.
I’ll be VERY disappointed if the team reaction to this game is; “Nothing to see here. Just another game.” Regardless of the outcome, this is the worst game I’ve witnessed since the decade of darkness.
I was trying to figure out whether game 4 7-0 to SJS was the worst game I can remember but didn’t come to a solid conclusion on that
Hamblin, Malone, and Holloway are the only line with a positive xGF%
kulak caught figure skating at centre ice
Burn the tape holy hell that was awful. Bouch was swimming and a pylon all in the same play. D core give your head a shake.
That’s cause Kulak sold him down the river
Jailbreak turnover
Also K seemed to have a pretty weak pivot for an NHL D trying to get back into it
As Knight already said
I pointed out the Bouch part, others pointed out Kulak. The swim move accomplished nothing.
This D group stinks
They should just get the Blue man group…
Geez. Kulak did the same this as that last breakaway…wrong pivot..,
Wonder where the backcheckers were…