The news is trickling in, two items from Matty last night have Sam Gagner as a non-candidate for opening night and Connor Brown playing a modified pre-season schedule. Does this change the order of things? Yes it does. Getting Raphael Lavoie on the roster is easier today, and we should be prepared for maladies impacting other veterans. Realistically, Brandon Sutter avoiding time in Bakersfield would seem impossible based on his long layoff. That increases the odds of Derek Ryan moving to No. 4 center, and increases the chances for Lavoie and Adam Erne. The game is afoot!
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Were the Edmonton Oilers’ summer moves supported by analytics?
- New DNB: 10 pressing Edmonton Oilers questions entering training camp
- Lowetide: The Oilers’ best prospect is Xavier Bourgault. Will he play in the NHL this year?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers prospects preseason stock watch
- Lowetide: Previewing the Edmonton Oilers’ roster ahead of 2023 training camp
- Lowetide: How will Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft deploy rookie Raphael Lavoie?
- Lowetide: Why Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains key to Stanley Cup pursuit
- Lowetide: 5 Oilers assets that could get moved early or late in 2023-24
- Lowetide: What to expect from Oilers rookies, led by Raphael Lavoie
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers 2023-24 complete reasonable expectations
- Lowetide: What should Oilers fans expect from new scouting director Richard Pracey?
- Lowetide: Unpacking Oilers’ decision to hire Rick Pracey, part ways with Tyler Wright
- Lowetide: 9 bold Edmonton Oilers predictions for 2023-24
- Lowetide: New Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson promises innovation. What will it look like?
- Lowetide: For Oilers in 2023-24, a more aggressive in-season approach is likely
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers top 20 prospects, summer 2023
PROJECTED ROSTER FOR TRAINING CAMP (55)
I think that’s going to be close. I would add Brett Brochu who has signed with Edmonton’s ECHL team (Fort Wayne Komets) and might be a better prospect than Fanti or Day. The news on Gagner and Brown offers us a possible opening night roster scenario that could look see several players (Ryan, Janmark, Holloway, Broberg) sent to the minors for cap reasons. Fun times!
Today on the Lowdown (Sports 1440) it’s the Bruce show! Bruce Curlock from Oilers Nation will join us at 12:20 to talk Young Stars and the players who we’ll see in Bakersfield this season. Then Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal will pop in at 1pm to discuss the latest Oilers news. You can leave comments here, @Lowetide on twitter or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly. We’re very close now, ladies!!
New for The Athletic: Were the Edmonton Oilers’ summer moves supported by analytics?
https://theathletic.com/4876823/2023/09/20/edmonton-oilers-trade-signing-analytics/
So Matt Murray conveniently needs an unidentified major surgery when camp starts instead of 2 months ago when he went on LTIR. Karma will be a bitch for the Leafs at some point.
They had to make sure he was on LTIR all season so they delayed surgery.
Hmmm.. this comment aged like milk.
Harpers Hair
Reply to rich tm
September 11, 2023 3:28 pm
LTIR is heavily policed by the league’s doctors.
Hah! Year after year, HH digs his hole deeper and deeper. I look forward to a year from now and his countless ‘statements’ that have soured.
Truly the blog’s jester.
Yeah…pretty sure Mike Smith and Duncan Keith planned to play two years on those contracts.
Not a chance they gamed the system.
Keith retired and left his money on the table. Only in Harper’s head could that be considered “gaming” the system.
Sort of like all the bets he (wins) yet public statements always go bad…….
Sorry to be off topic here, but what streaming service do I want to subscribe to to get all the Oilers games? I’m in Alberta.
Sportsnet.
Specifically you do not need SN+ (as it’s called now) premium, you just need the standard SN+ as you are in the Oilers region. Be aware if you travel, you may get blacked out on regional games.
I think most of the preseason games are free streamed from the Oilers (but they might put them behind Oilers+)
Sportsnet usually has a promo around the start of the year. Typically it’s on premium. I’ve also seen Black Friday deals so sometimes it’s better to buy a month and see if there is a deal on Black Friday.
Right now $180 annually for SN+ regular and $250 for Premium. If you really like hockey it’s probably worth it. Watch for a sale though.
SN emails Premium sends promo codes for about 200 for the year (includes all Baseball, Raptors, etc.). I split it with a friend last year. At the start of the year the streams were shaky but they figured it out and we easily got more than enough value. Lifts all blackout restrictions as well.
OnHockey.TV
Thanks! I appreciate the intel.
I’ll listen to the Jackson spot on the Gregor show in full tomorrow at the gym but….:
@JasonGregor
·
39m
“We will have an announcement soon on analytics. We are excited about that,” Jeff Jackson #Oilers @Sports1440
Yeah just watched the full interview which was great, but near the end where that quote comes from was especially intriguing. He went into detail about the importance of analytics as a tool which will be music to the ears of most here for sure, including our host.
Broberg starting camp on left D is not a good idea. Ekholm will be back soon enough. Start as you mean to go on. Start as necessity demands one proceed.
The way to reduce randomness as the determining factor in the playoffs is to maximize the potential of the roster when one has the opportunity.
Broberg has to get from here to a fully competent top 4 RD by the trade deadline.
So they should put Desharnais on LD until Eckholm gets back…🙄
No Sloan or Stonehouse,but:
1 – Linden, wait….whaaat?
and
2 – Ganske…..remember the name!
Added to the TC roster
Link to the TC roster here:
https://x.com/JasonGregor/status/1704518978947965033?s=20
Gregor notes that Ernie (not listed) will also be at camp.
Ernie getting more love today than Lavoie has all off-season.
Lol.
I mean, Lavoie is on the TC list too.
Maybe the young guys are being sent back to start their seasons?
Sloan’s 1st regular season game is this Friday while Stonehouse’s is the following week.
Looks like Akey and Day are the only Jr aged players on the list.
Once the players are back with their clubs they can’t be signed until March, I believe.
I wonder if they told them that they will offer them contracts if they have breakout seasons…
Or, I wonder if they have (an)other player in mind to sign later out of the CHL. It does seem like an opportunity missed to sign a large 2-way RHC with size (and offense, which Grubbe lacks).
They one have one in the entire prospect pool. Odd decision given the room for contracts.
And the Oilers have one of the smallest prospects pool (including Reserve List) in the league. This does not bode well for the future.
I’d forgotten about the moratorium on signings during the season. I *think it starts after they’ve played a game, but it’s true this signals that contracts likely aren’t forthcoming this fall.
After watching them both in Penticton, I am a fair bit surprised about Ganske and totally shocked about Linden who seemed like a total non-factor. Missed opportunity to take a longer look at Stonehouse or Sloan.
Ganske moves well and IMO passes well, and is huge. Size has it’s appeal.
I’m in agreement with Shane here. Tavares is not the play driver he once was. He is being asked to carry a rookie and Lafferty whose careers 82 game average ppg is south of 25. He is not top 6 material.
And really, Nylander has no track record of successfully running his own line.
Nice in theory to run their three best forwards at centre, but difficult in practice to flesh out three capable lines.
I suspect this will be a short-lived experiment, or at a minimum, someone in the middle 6 needs to be shuffled with Bertuzzi or Marner.
Matthews can’t have both those guys in this scenario.
From Pronman:
Knies was one of the top players in his conference and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker, continuing his upward trajectory as a prospect. Knies is a big, highly skilled winger who plays heavy games. He’s not going to run over people, but he creates so much offense in the high percentage areas and is a true net-front threat. That he has such great offensive creativity only helps that cause with his direct style of play. Knies isn’t the fastest and his playmaking is just OK, but he looks like a high-in-the-lineup wing who plays a premium role in a lineup.
Keefe on Nylander moving to centre.
https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2023/09/20/sheldon-keefe-on-starting-william-nylander-at-center-in-training-camp/
This is Treliving working his magic. He’s pissy with Nylander’s asking price so is getting Keefe to embarrass him so it comes down. Not a shocker, Shanny finally got his Babcock replacement in place after he canned the Boy Wonder but man… when it goes wrong its going to sour the dressing room something fierce.
Its so sad that Toronto messed its chance so horribly. Now the entire clown show is out infecting other organizations. As much as I love the Pittsburgh experiment the level of Risk that Dubas just saddled his second franchise with in his first few months is hysterical. Imagining hiring a new trader who takes his kitty and goes all in with zero hedge on day one. That’s the Kyle Dubas approach to GMing. He’s got great glasses though!
Nonsense.
“Willy’s been fully on board. He’s totally comfortable playing centre,” Keefe said. “It’s not a huge leap from my position, just something we haven’t given a whole lot of runway with.”
Remember when Babcock played Nylander at center, who struggled, and Babcock replaced him with Bozak?
And then Nylander was put back on wing, after the media had been hyping up the Leafs to have the best center depth because Nylander was playing center on the 3rd line?
For a team that’s trying to make a statement about defense its bizarre to take a guy who’s played next to zero NHL center and who has defensive issues dogging him his whole career and have him play that spot in a contract year.
This is Treliving going – “you’re a winger and you’ll be paid like a winger and son you’re no Johnny. If you want the big money play center.”
Don’t worry, just like PLD this will reveal itself to be an asinine call very quickly.
Interesting.
James Mirtle
@mirtle
Judging from the Leafs training camp groups and fact Nylander will be at centre, lines could be something like:
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Marner
Knies – Tavares – Lafferty
Robertson – Nylander – Domi
Jarnkrok – Kampf – Reaves
Going to be interesting with three of Core Four at centre
3 scoring lines with grit on all 4.
Looks like someone was paying attention to the Vegas cup win.
Paying attention to what? Cheat on the cap and ride a hot goalie??
Knies – Tavares – Lafferty looks like a very very weak second line to me. Nylander should be back up there in short order.
Of course, the Oilers top 9 is much better.
lol – you’re precious HH.
Do you really think that Nylander is going to go along with playing 3rd line minutes in a contract year?
You’re totally missing the point of 3 scoring lines.
TOI/GP of Vegas centres in the playoffs:
Eichel 19:00
Stephenson 18:20
Karlsson 17:21
Who is their 3rd line centre?
Eichel’s most common linemates at 5v5 were Marchessault and Stephenson.
Which begs the question: who is their 3rd line center?
You mean they had depth and balance?
Of course they did.
And relatedly, did ‘4C’ Nicholas Roy really only play 4:59 per game?
No HH – you’re totally naive.
Hockey is a business, and few know this better than the Nylander family.
Nylander will demand a trade if Keefe tries to play him on the third line.
The Leafs would be wise not to screw with this for too long.
I guess you don’t understand the principle of depth and balance.
The Oilers third line scored a total of 34 goals last season.
The projected Leafs third line scored 62 and that’s with Robertson only scoring 2 in 15 games played due to injury.
That kind of balance creates very difficult matchups for opponents and is exactly the reason Vegas won the cup last season.
Worth noting that the projected Leafs projected 4th line scored 32 goals last season
I think we all know that if the team that wins the Stanley Cup this year consisted of a bunch of big, old, slow, coke machines who played 2 scoring lines and 2 energy/hitting lines, next year you would be saying
“I guess you don’t understand the principle of playing heavy, experienced hockey!
Worth noting that they hit the most compared to any other team! The smart teams are taking note of this! This kind of heavy hitting hockey creates very difficult matchups for opponents who can’t score if they are neutralized!”
You just parrot whatever you read from some analyst at the time and act as if you knew the answer all along.
The Oilers 3rd line scored 34 goals mostly while playing as a third line.
The Leafs projected third line “scored” 62 goals while not playing as a third line, or even on the same team. Nylander alone scored 40 of those 62 goals playing mostly with Matthews and Bunting – much, much different than Domi and Robertson.
It’s like projecting a third line of Foegele – Nuge – McLeod and then still pretending that Nuge will have another 100 point season.
How many goals with the Oilers third line score if McDavid was the centre?
What point do you imagine you are making with this comparison?
Why stop there… How many goals would the Oilers third line score if the 3rd line was McDavid – Draisaitl – Nuge?
Leafs 3rd line center cap hit can`t exceed $3,7 Mil…good luck with Nylander signing that.
Ekholm downplays the hip flexor thing – saying that its just something he felt so they’ve decided to give him some “maintenance time” until its 100%.
DNB asks Ekholm how much he’d advocate to keep playing with Bouch if the coaches decide to go with different pairs and, of course, Ekholm dodges that completely and talks about the pairs will change through the year, etc.
When asked about helping the young guys he started glowing when talking about Broberg and his potential.
For the actual quote:
@JasonGregor
“It is just maintenance. We have a few extra weeks so no need to rush it. If it was the regular season I’d just push through it,” Ekholm on tightness in his hip flexor. He won’t skate for first few days (no exact timetable) of camp. #Oilers
Kane intimates that they will be working on some structural differences in their neutral zone and defensive zone systems.
Jack Campbell rocking the long hair, backward hat and 3-days growth on the beard – he looks like a totally different person.
Same personality though.
I love Skinner, shook his had last November, but I’m also cheering for Jack.
Well that’s a relief your still cheering for Jack.
Cool value add!
A team needs two goaltenders when only half the teams make the playoffs.
The news on Gagner and Brown offers us a possible opening night roster scenario that could look see several players (Ryan, Janmark, Holloway, Broberg) sent to the minors for cap reasons.
Unless there is a set-back, Brown should be fine to start the season. I think they are just easing him back in which makes sense.
Gagner was never a front-runner to be on the opening night roster.
I’m not sure this changes anything and I think, subject to real injuries heading in to opening night, I don’t think there will be any surprises with the top 20 and can’t see any of the four listed going to the minors.
Listening to Rishaug on his pod this morning and I guess Holland spoke about these at the Oilers/Media golf tournament yesterday and he said that they’ve talked to Sam and going to the American League (at some point) is something he might be OK with.
More to come in due course.
Holland Presser (I started watching after it had started so may have missed: also typing in real time so quotes are necessarily exact words)
Based on last season, ya, Skinner has the leg up but we will need both guys. Who plays opening night? Don’t know. Things chance so much over the course of six months and 82 games – then you factor in injuries. I’m confidant we’ll have a good 1-2 punch. Stu was great. Jack had a great finish (and was good when Stu had his baby). With Jack it was about consistency. Being on the 2nd year of a 5 year deal, knowing the city, etc. The first year is a tough year. I’m hoping he comes in and plays.
Rishaug on D and Broberg and 11/7 and can Broberg be a in and out guy? I hope not. We are going to have injuries. You need depth. I told these guys in the meeting that if you are coming in to camp and don’t see yourself on the team, you need to have a good camp as we are likely going to play 15-16 forwards and 9-10 D. Because of the cap we will likely have to play some games under-manned and then fill due to the rules. I think there is going to be lots of opportunity. Last year we sent down Janmark and we became important. Things change over the course of 82 games. You’ll need depth.
Stauff: Any hesitation of moving Broberg to right side (he’s got great analytics) – Well Broberg can play left or right. Ekholm won’t start camp so Broberg will start practicing on the left.
Asked about the PTOs: Holland talked about trying to win and needing depth in the American league but will see how guys play.
Erne: Talked about his size and spoke about the loss of Kostin and Bjugstad. 28 years old – like his age. Talked about Blashill and Verbeek about him. Great person, respected in the locker room, been around the league. Can play in bottom of roster but can move up if there are injuries. I respect Steve Yzerman who traded for Erne and brought him with him from TBL to DET. Its a PTO and he’s trying to earn a job.
Spec asks about Sutter – What I told Brandon after we signed the PTO – you are 34, haven’t played in 2 years, you had long Covid. You don’t know where your game is and we don’t but if you are anything like what you were when you were 29, you are exactly what we need. Center, good defensively, FO, PK. We’ll have to see where he’s at. Intel is he looks good but there is lots of ramping up to do. If he’s anywhere close to what he was in his prime, he’s exactly what we’re looking for.
DNB ask about Staios: Steve is not here. He’s had some things going on with his family. I haven’t talked to Steve in a month. Jeff came in. Steve is an Oiler and I plan on talking to him and seeing where he’s at.
DNB asks what’s next for McDavid/Drai: Being around Connor, he’s the most focused and driven athlete I’ve ever been around. Leon too. Two of the greatest players in the world, maybe in the history of the team. Drive, individually driven, team driven. Want to win. Connor got everyone here two weeks early. Leon bought a house in Toronto so he can be close to Connor in the summer.
DVD (I think) asks about Holland’s status? I’m not worried about me. I want to win the Stanley Cup. That’s my focus. I’ll worry about me at the end of the year. Everyone knows how old I am – I had the green banana joke in May. I’m focused on making the team the best it can be. I’m thrilled to be here. Have alot of juice, have alot of energy. Thrilled to work with Jeff Jackson. We have great ownership, etc.
Thanks OP
In a nutshell it’s Sutter’s job to lose and Erne brings a element they are missing since Kostin was traded.
I wouldn’t phrase it that way on Sutter. As I’ve been posting for a while, its becoming clear that the org (Holland) is hoping that Brandon Sutter can be close to the player he was 6-7 years ago and, if that is the case, he’s the player to win 12/4C. I actually don’t disagree with that.
Of course, I don’t think anyone realistically expects Sutter to be close to that. I would suggest that he needs to prove to be that guy in order to earn a contract and not be assigned to the AHL.
As an aside, the Oilers haven’t played a game since Kostin was traded……
Holland mentioned Sutter’s play as anywhere near the level before injuries and health derailed his game the last 5 years. What does anywhere near mean 70%-75%? I’ve been listening to Gregor pimping Sutter’s tires for 2 weeks now and barely a mention of Lavoie. When it comes to Kostin he’s already being missed it wouldn’t surprise me if Erne gets a long leash on making the team.
Cue Leafs fans starting to convince themselves McDavid and Draisaitl will both be Leafs in a few years.
Their disappointment will be actually epic
And sweet nectar for us
Question here. If Brown goes on LTIR what is his cap hit for injury recalls? Is it 775k or 4 million?
$775k assuming they put him on LTIR
Holland says that Ekholm has a bit of a hip flexor and won’t start camp.
I wonder if this is carried over from the playoffs or happened during summer training/captain skates?
Its not a carryover – he just said he felt in, a little stiff/tight so they are taking some time given they have it.
C’mon Mattias. I had a tight hip last week took a couple of Advil and squatted 3 x 275. And I’m a little guy. 🙂 🙂 🙂
We all are getting so excited over the 4th line. Funny thing is that it almost doesn’t matter beyond waiver losses. Our team is plenty good enough for the regular season. The excitement won’t come until we see injuries and get close to the deadline. Until then …. Lay on, Macduff, And damned be him that first cries “Hold!
Its alot better than thinking ‘can Nikitin be a top 4 D?’ when the question should’ve been ‘should he be in the NHL?’
Or how bout ‘Should we scratch our captain because he can’t keep up?’
It’s been a long road, having nothing to talk about come training camp is the best problem to have imo.
It’s a long season and hopefully Playoff you can’t double shift Leon and Connor for a 100 games. This is not a Stanley Cup winning recipe takes a full team pulling in the same direction.
It could also be noted that both MacKinnon and Rantanen played move per game at 5 on 5 than both Drai and McDavid last season.
What round did Colorado make it too?
Do you think?
Gagner doesn’t have a contract, so his not being ready doesn’t affect the opening night cap (it might actually be a positive since it will be easier to stash him in Bakersfield once he is fully recovered).
And Brown, worst case scenario is that he starts the season on LTIR. Even then the Oilers wouldn’t need to waive or assign any of the listed players to be compliant on day 1 (they could be complaint with Brown on a 21-man roster, then put him on LTIR and recall whoever as a replacement).
It still remains a battle between Lavoie, Sutter, Ernie, Pederson, Caggiula etc. (sans Gagner) for the 12th forward spot, with an additional spot possibly opening for one of them if Brown isn’t ready to go.
If Brown goes on IR, Foegele moves up imo and then there’s going to be some dancing to get under the cap with 21.
Yes, if they were to put Brown on IR instead of LTIR things would get tighter. And if they also wanted run a 21- instead of 20-man roster with Brown on IR I think they’d need to waive/assign 4/5 of Lavoie, Ryan, Janmark, Holloway and Broberg (all replaced by roughly league min players).
Why is there a suggestion that Brown will be going on LTIR – that doesn’t seem like a reasonable conclusion from a statement that he won’t play back to back games in exhibition. I would be shocked if any of Hyman, Nurse, Ekholm, McDavid, Kane, Drai, Nuge, etc. play back to back games in exhibition season.
Yes I agree.
Seriously though, most veterans take the exhibition season as a grain of salt. They will be ready for the regular season and that’s what counts. You won’t see Connor or Leon in very many exhibition games either.
I like it. You don’t see Brandon Sutter pussy footing around; he’s taking the bull by the horns in typical Sutter fashion.
Tom Brady Opens up – 7th Ring Motivation MJ or Belichick | Enemies | Style of Leadership
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liz8rZx1NJ8