The Edmonton Oilers won 7-2 last night at home against a group of hockey players and also-rans wearing Calgary Flames colours. It was a good victory for the home side, with Connor Brown showcased and a few youngsters contributing. It was a Dr. Feelgood night at the rink.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: With Oilers rookies in short supply, expect more from sophomores
- DNB: Five intriguing Edmonton Oilers developments from the preseason
- Lowetide: Do the Edmonton Oilers have a blockbuster trade in their future?
- DNB: Oilers release Brandon Sutter from tryout offer
- Lowetide: Oilers reaching critical pressure point with prospect Raphael Lavoie
- DNB: A third Edmonton Oilers tenure, no matter the odds, is Sam Gagner’s goal
- Lowetide: Should the Edmonton Oilers alter how Connor McDavid is deployed?
- DNB: Oilers, Flames unveil Heritage Classic jerseys: How do we rate them?
- DNB: Vincent Desharnais Q&A
SOME NOTES
- Connor Brown went 2-1-3 with six shots, three HDSC won three of five in the dot and delivered a takeaway. I have to say that the fit with 97’s line appears brilliant and then some. He has skill and two-way acumen, plus a good motor.
- Connor McDavid was on fire, going 1-3-4 while looking like he was on a walk in the park.
- Evander Kane cashed and looks like he’s back and ready.
- Darnell Nurse-Evan Bouchard played well but were 2-2 goals in part because of a wobbly bit of goaltender work.
- The Nuge-Draisaitl-Hyman line was just okay.
- Lane Pederson went 1-1-2 and played well. I don’t think he makes the team.
- Dylan Holloway has wheels and made a nice pass on the Lavoie goal. I’m excited to see his season.
- Mattias Janmark looked good at center. Important to remember the Flames did not dress an NHL roster.
- Raphael Lavoie scored a goal that could have beaten most any NHL goaltender. The Oilers scouting staff found one.
- Stuart Skinner looked a little off in small area of the game during the first period. I remain convinced he’s a quality starter, but that’s something to work on.
- Philip Broberg had a quiet game, that’s a good thing.
WHAT’S NEXT?
I suspect the next round of cuts will be Calvin Pickard, Ben Gleason, Markus Niemelainen (unless he goes on IR), Phil Kemp, Brad Malone and Adam Erne. That will leave Raphael Lavoie and Lane Pederson. If Niemelainen starts the season on regular IR, Philip Broberg may start in Bakersfield and the team could start 12-6-2 on a skeleton crew. Less than ideal.
MATTIAS EKHOLM
Less than ideal. He is apparently going to start the season on Edmonton’s blue but that would mean we see him in the next game, right? Interesting.
It’ll be a fun show starting at noon, Sports 1440. Guests include Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation and Jeff Krushell from Krush Sports Performance. We’ll chat about the Oilers game, Jays season and MLB playoffs. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Scrolling through Connor Brown’s headshots on Hockey db is worthwhile. Three clicks gets you to this weird funhouse mirror shot where his head looks longer than Desharnais’ stick.
Named back in 2009 as the most feared tackler in NFL history, legendary middle linebacker Dick Butkus passed away today at age 80. Great player with great football name. Had a pretty good TV analyst and Hollywood careers after his playing career ended.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/dick-butkus-nfl-hall-famer-former-bears-linebacker-dies-80-rcna119126
He’s also in the hall of fame for best names.
He has some competition though:
https://soonersports.com/sports/football/roster/general-booty/16106
Came here today to see a blog post in the comments section!
Thought I’d fix that for you, LT.
Bless you!
Dom and Shayna (Athletic) say, among other things, that Nurse is Oilers #3 dman. I kinda agree
They also have Bouchard ranked as the Oilers best defenseman.
I get that Bouch put tons of points, but I have Nurse ahead of him in terms of overall value.
I just realized – no Hunter1909 Deathmarch this year?
Maybe a Parade Plan instead of a Deathmarch? Or is too soon jaja
For anyone who ever thought the refs were against their team–the Spokane Chiefs will experience it for real in a couple of weeks:
https://chl.ca/whl/article/vancouver-giants-to-don-stripes-for-referee-appreciation-night/
Although it would suck to lose Gleason and/or Pederson to waivers, I think nonetheless it is a good sign for this franchise that they were able to find them to begin with and get them signed here.
Losing good players to waivers is – usually – a good problem to have, as it means you probably have too many good players (or a bonehead GM, which Ken Holland is not).
Speaking of high ranked players that didn’t pan out
how about Podkolzin
Listening to Woody after practice today, he mentioned that it was a good thing Niemo was back today.
That’s not a small think as if he needed IR, given he played NHL games last seasons, it would have created a real cap implication.
Of note, there was no mention of Ekholm joining the group……
Jamie Drysdale 3X$2.3 million in Anaheim.
Verbeek is indeed a grinder.
Worked out well for Treliving.
Verbeek has many more options down the road so had a lot of leverage.
All of Pavel Mintyukov OHL, Tristan Luneau QMJHL and Olen Zellwegger WHL won top defenseman awards in their respective leagues and all have signed ELCs.
They also acquired Drew Helleson in a trade so are absolutely stacked with high end D propects.
Its kinda like having five Evan Bouchard’s warming up in the bullpen.
You place way too much trust in the prospects of every team except the Oilers. 😛
You have to go back a considerable way to find on Oiler draft pick who lived up to his draft pedigree.
Obviously still time for some but the list of underperforming 1st round picks is pretty long other than the 1st overall ones.
I will go waaaay back to 2014. #3 – Leon Draisatl
Yeah once every is amazing!
Drai?
You have to go back to Evan Bouchard to find an Oiler draft pick who lived up to his draft pedigree.
Bouchard, Yamamoto, Nurse, Klefbom, Holloway is on his way
You have to go back a considerable way to find a prospect of another team you pumped that didn’t flame out.
Shirokov
Podkolzhin
Rafferty
Trymakin
etc etc
It’s like you have zero self awareness. hah
You can keep your magic beans. I’d rather have Evan Bouchard.
5 #1 D’s for Anaheim!
Possible but not likely.
However’ having 5 blue chip D prospects at the same time certainly bodes well for the future.
I’m a bit surprised that Adam Erne hasn’t been officially released from his PTO.
I wonder if he signs an AHL deal?
Can they even play him down there?
They already have Caggiula, Griffith, Malone, McKegg, potentially Pederson and Gagner.
Gleason will hit Vet status halfway through the season as well I believe.
Depending on in season performance I am keeping an eye on Kulak/Ceci vs Desharnais/Neimalainen/Broberg/Kemp/Gleason… If the vets falter and the rooks step up, we could really revamp our Cap structure in a hurry. If one or both of Ceci/Kulak are dealt by next offseason, we might be able to retain Brown or a similarly priced winger under the cap… hmmm. This will be fun!
Also, if the Oilers manage to win the Cup or make the finals it increases the chances that you will be able to sign an aging vet on a low cap hit contract. One of those “Help me get a Cup” contracts.
Broberg is beginning to work with everybody, even Ceci. The Oilers will be able to slot him anywhere as needed.
You have been dead on for months that he needs to play meaningful minutes up the batting order. It’s time to see what he is.
He has and he was right. He had the wrong top 4 set-up but he had him in there on the right side.
Broberg will likely be with Nurse by the trade deadline. I am still alone in my phone booth that this will ultimately be the optimum deployment. But I am close to convinced that he can be deployed with anyone now and be successful.
Oilers sign Stonehouse to an ELC: https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/release-oilers-sign-brady-stonehouse-to-entry-level-contract
LT and I, amongst others, have been beating this drum all summer. Music!
All hail the new Jackson era (and maybe input from Pracey with his OHL experience) in this innovative procurement. Also further confirmation that all important hockey people read this blog, as well they should haha.
Now just have to cheer for both he and Akey to make the WJC team.
As someone who missed the conversation earlier and didn’t watch rookie camp, can someone explain why he is a prospect of interest? His boxcars are uninspiring at this time. Is it the WJC camp invitation?
37 goals in the world’s best jr league is a good place to start, even in his draft +1 season, along with the WJC invite as you mentioned.
For a kid who do this:
https://youtu.be/2B4NAthBOt4?feature=shared
And also skate, forecheck aggressively and play a very agitating style is pretty unique. A few reasons I’m quite stoked they signed him, like getting a free pick that is a little furtheralong in his development. Hope that helps!
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Reply to €√¥£€^$
July 2, 2023 11:58 pm
Brady Stonehouse is an interesting player, one scout I read called him a forechecking demon. He is an agitator for sure (sounds a lot like what Tullio was expected to be by some, but I saw little evidence of that during his rookie AHL season).
Interesting article on Stonehouse:
https://thehockeynews.com/.amp/news/real-prospect-gossip-dont-sleep-on-brady-stonehouse
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Perhaps they wouldn’t have actually signed him, but the folks folks in place pre-Jackson and Pracey invited him to development camp. Likely they played a larger role in this procurement than the two new guys.
I’d never heard of this player 3 months ago but this community was talking about him and I did like what I saw from him the rookie tournament.
Look forward to watching him in Bako!
Already sent back to junior.
Correct. He will play his D+2 year in Ottawa and work to make the WJC squad. Surely that will be a tall order and he remains a longshot but heartening that he was one of 16 OHL players invited to the WJC team meetings this summer. Smart means of procurement for any team hemorrhaging drafts picks on a regular basis haha.
Yep…the Oilers have long overlooked acquiring players like this.
A promising sign.
Like Lowetide already mentioned smart move, the cookie jar is down to crumbs the Oilers need to identify and sign young lads with upside. The more the merrier as the odds increase that 1 or 2 may pop and become everyday NHLers.
Fantastic. The NA amateur prospect group is now an octet.
He makes his debut as an official Oilers prospect Saturday.
Would love to see a kid line.
Kane McD Brown
Nuge Drai Hyman
Holloway McLeod Lavoie
Janmark Ryan Foegele
With the flexibility of the players in this forward group anything is possible. Woodie could mix and match as he likes, and I suspect he will.
It would be ideal if Holloway could play center and you could run:
Foegele Holloway Lavoie to crush the soft parade
Janmark McLeod Ryan as a checking line.
I like that they don’t need to play the youngsters together, instead they can be paired up with good veteran support.
Kane McDavid Brown
Nugent-Hopkins Draisaitl Lavoie
Holloway McLeod Hyman
Foegele Janmark Ryan
There are (sorta) FOUR lines.
I like these lines Godot. It’s nice to finally see you’ve moved off that Nuge on the ‘fourth’ line nonsense.
I honestly love this, but with so much “gotta earn this and put in the time” blah blahblah we’ve been hearing from the coaching staff, I don’t think we realistically see Lavoie in the top 6 unless injuries become a thing.
After watching the 7th goal pop up on my scrolling before bed last night, I thought of this exact line-up as a hope. Each of the top three lines has a driver (McD, Drai, Holloway), either a finisher or battler (Kane, Hyman, Lavoie) plus a defensive conscience (Brown, Nuge, McLeod). Foegele is kind of the odd man out in favour of Lavoie but he’ll still get his touches.
Not sure this is the best idea but it’s my favourite one.
The other thing that stood out to me was the defensive pairing of Broberg & Ceci. they were solid as solid can be. Once Ekholm gets back, the two Swedes no doubt will be paired together. But Broberg will be on his offside. So, it may not be ideal. What is also apparent is that the Oilers have plenty of depth defensively, the absence of both Ekholm & Kulak is proof positive. There is also plenty of forward depth as well. To my eye, this team has come together by all accounts. Let the season begin.
Wouldn’t you play the veteran Ekholm on his offside in that situation?
Ekholm is listed as a LD/RD… possible I suppose?
All the date re: Ekholm on his right side over the years in Nashville is not encouraging.
Broberg on his off side is less than idea but I think its more important to keep Ekholm as highly effective as possible (and Broberg does have very good numbers with every left shot D man he’s played with as an Oiler – including sparking numbers in 40 minutes with Ekholm).
Broberg is more mobile. I don’t like him playing RD, but if he’s fast enough it’s could work.
Seravelli did his Western Canadian tour last week and a bunch of interviews will drop on his pod next week. With Stauff yesterday he gave some tidbits from the Connor Brown interview and did mention that, in the summer, he went for dinner with McDavid who pitched him and set out “the plan” and after that Brown knew where he would be.
I take that at face value although I still think the contract structure is full value for the player with the bonus being all but guaranteed – it’s a full $4MM notwithstanding performance.
He looks like a very good fit for the team – happy to have him.
Janmark looks good at center. Between Janmark & Ryan they have two 4c’s one RHC & one LHC. Throw one of Dylan Holloway or Raphael Lavoie on one of the wings and either way it should be a high functioning 4th line. The third line, when MacLeod gets back can be, Foegele on one wing and either of Holloway or Lavoie on the other with MacLeod in the middle. Makes sense to me anyway.
Janmark playing well at center is encouraging as it likely means they will lean towards Lavoie on the team over Pederson.
At the same time, Janmark played most commonly against the likes of Osterle and some forward dude named Cole Schwindt.
I’m cool starting with 4C being a Janmark and Ryan combo, maybe with some Holloway thrown in but, at some point, they may need to upgrade.
They could still go with Pedersen between Janmark & Ryan. A trio of centers on the fourth line.
I believe that Lavoie will be on the roster and Pederson will not.
Woody starts to glow and heap praise last night when asked what he thought of Janmark at center.
I think Lavoie is close to a lock wit Pederson waived and assigned to play 1C in Bako to start the season.
Is it just me? I can’t see a post
Actually the post shows up as multiple comments by LT
yup
same
Woody said straight up after the game last night that McLeod will play in game 1 of the regular season.
Woodcroft has also straight up lied to the press about injuries in the past. He lied about McLeod las season, said the injury wasn’t serious then McLeod went on LTIR a few days later.
Factually correct!
Woody has the bullshitting part down pat. Gambling sites or going to start making N.H.L teams pencil in there rosters for the upcoming game earlier since fibbing has become a game for many Coaches recently.
Also when this happens it’ll effect teams with short rosters more, so Woody is kinda shooting himself in the foot.
Maybe the press shouldn’t ask about injuries.
Did you notice Lavoie last night?
Did you?
Sure did he scored a Goal but I didn’t notice that 4C fossil who you were tooting his horn all preseason.
🎣
Campbell will be 1A by Christmas.
Campbell may be 1A by October 7.
Campbell was out of sorts right from that 1st shot by the Canucks where it just snowballed from there on. Equipment change, new city, new D as well as system and pressure of the contract. I really like Campbell he’s such a humble honest fellow. Jack has proven that he can win 2010 World Juniors. Today they said he lost weight I would gather that this is for quickness. Jack has the talent and pedigree I can tell he’s a proud man and has been stewing for 6 months listening and seeing his name being bashed around. I would not be surprised if he’s a candidate for the All-Star game or in fact ends up going there. All aboard the Campbell express choo chooo.
The ATHLETIC did a piece on the Oilers and it has Edmonton as the Favorite to Win the Stanley Cup.
15% chance according to them. Next closest team is at 10%.
What a season this will be.
Im sure Don’s inbox is full of DSF hate mail this morning
Including made up betting odds from fictional bookies.
If you take a weighted average of team preseason booked odds, over the last 13.25 seasons, oilers aren’t even close to top 10 ranking. In fact, every team I presently like ranks higher Ober that period.
Dom picked the Oilers last season too.
Interesting that the model has the Oilers only slightly higher rated that Dallas while Colorado and Vegas trail by quite a bit.
The Oilers had tremendous injury luck last season but still came up well short. A couple of injuries on the blue line would devastate the Oilers as would significant injury to McDavid or Draisaitl since the Oilers centre depth beyond those two is poor.
And if the Oilers had Mark Stone level “injury luck” it would improve their chances of winning.
Carolina the betting favourite at +700
Colorado second at +800
Oilers and New Jersey at +900
https://www.oddsshark.com/nhl/stanley-cup-futures
Im not convinced on Colorado but Dallas at +1200 looks like the play for me.
The EC has a much more difficult path to the cup final but Carolina’s D depth is just ridiculous.
New Jersey is absolutely loaded and might prevail if their younger D emerge quickly.
In the WC, the path is easier with fewer real contenders and Dallas’ forward depth should prevail.
The Stars D has some question marks but Thomas Harley and Nils Lunqvist may erase that doubt and they have the best goaltending.
I expect injury may play a major role in who emerges from the west and teams that lack depth to compensate are very vulnerable.
Carolina and Dallas in the final…book it.
https://www.thelines.com/odds/stanley-cup/
Depends on the book.
The EC has a more difficult path when the last winners have been Colorado and Vegas? With the Oilers being Vegas’ most difficult battle last spring?
Without even mentioning the Dallas Stars or LA Kings or 2014 Minnesota Wild or Sutter hockey or wait not that one anymore lol.
Every year you tell us Dallas will win the cup and to book it, and then every year you try to brag about how you bet on the Stanley Cup winner (not Dallas).
I also recall you saying to book it for both Carolina and NJ last year, too.
I guess when you make a bet on every team to win the Stanley Cup, you can always say you were right.
None of these things are true…but carry on.
Dallas is too old. You said it yourself. Or age is only a problem for the Oilers? 😛
Oettinger 24
Heiskanen 24
Lundqvist 22
Harley 23
Robertson 24
Hintz 26
Johnston 20
Dellandrea 23
Steel 25
Mavrik Bourque 21 and Logan Stankhoven 20 are still in camp and may make then team.
While Pavelski, Benn, Seguin and Suter are all older, they now play complementary roles on the team.
The core is all in its prime.
Complementary players??? Suter was behind only Heiskanen on defense in regular season and playoff ice time per game and points. Pavelski, Benn and Seguin were 2nd, 3rd and 5th in regular season scoring, and 2nd, 3rd and 6th in ice time per game. In the playoffs, they dropped slightly to 3rd, 5th and 7th in scoring and 3rd, 5th and 6th in ice time.
I’ll take the other side of that with the loser donating USD$100 to our guy, LT. If they are not in the final, you lose.
Careful, HH has already proven he doesn’t pay his bets. The last bet he lost on this site he was supposed to donate $100 to the site and he never did.
That’s why! Expose this P O S!
If I recall, it was during HH’s “Mackinnon is the best player in the world” kick in 2020 where he bet Reja $100 that Mackinnon would lead McDavid in points. It didn’t happen so HH refused to pay and pretended like the bet never happened.
Reja also tried to bet HH another $100 that Bouchard would be playing with the Oilers after HH’s “Bouchard is < Ty Smith, not an NHL player, failure of a draft pick, Brogan Rafferty is better and will play 61 games in his first season in the NHL. Book it!”” nonsense and HH never agreed which is even more funny in hindsight.
Perfect. So tell you what. I know USD$100 is a lot, those CPP checks don’t go as far as they used to. So I am willing to set the stakes on honor. Loser can never post on LT again. Deal?
Well that’ll never happen, trolling is all he has. And this is nothing compared to the crap he spews on the Sportsnet comment sections.
I hear crickets.
I hear crickets too. Where did he go?
Connor Brown went 2-1-3 with six shots, three HDSC won three of five in the dot and delivered a takeaway. I have to say that the fit with 97’s line appears brilliant and then some. He has skill and two-way acumen, plus a good motor.
Connor McDavid was on fire, going 1-3-4 while looking like he was on a walk in the park.
Evander Kane cashed and looks like he’s back and ready.
Darnell Nurse-Evan Bouchard played well but were 2-2 goals in part because of a wobbly bit of goaltender work.
The Nuge-Draisaitl-Hyman line was just okay.
Lane Pederson went 1-1-2 and played well. I don’t think he makes the team.
Dylan Holloway has wheels and made a nice pass on the Lavoie goal. I’m excited to see his season.
Mattias Janmark looked good at center. Important to remember the Flames did not dress an NHL roster.
Raphael Lavoie scored a goal that could have beaten most any NHL goaltender. The Oilers scouting staff found one.
Stuart Skinner looked a little off in small area of the game during the first period. I remain convinced he’s a quality starter, but that’s something to work on.
Philip Broberg had a quiet game, that’s a good thing.
I suspect the next round of cuts will be Calvin Pickard, Ben Gleason, Markus Niemelainen (unless he goes on IR), Phil Kemp, Brad Malone and Adam Erne. That will leave Raphael Lavoie and Lane Pederson. If Niemelainen starts the season on regular IR, Philip Broberg may start in Bakersfield and the team could start 12-6-2 on a skeleton crew. Less than ideal.
Mattias Ekholm: Less than ideal. He is apparently going to start the season on Edmonton’s blue but that would mean we see him in the next game, right? Interesting.
It’ll be a fun show starting at noon, Sports 1440. Guests include Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation and Jeff Krushell from Krush Sports Performance. We’ll chat about the Oilers game, Jays season and MLB playoffs. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Any Lowetide gear in the works? Or am I behind the times?
Farther out but yes
Krokus was a Swiss heavy metal band. They had 3 big hits Screaming in the Night, The Long Stick Goes Boom and a heavier version of Ballroom Blitz. Probably the best band to come out of Switzerland. The Edmonton High Schools back in the early eighties had a contest for most fan signatures wins a mini Krokus concert at there School. Our School won and we were treated to around 6 or 7 ear splitting tunes by Krokus in our gym. It was awesome apparently they could be heard from a 6 block radius.
Krokus! the music of my youth! Eat the rich!
https://youtu.be/Fcrj4szgTjc?si=JvQWK0Cg2QDtQLnn
Rock on. MOYA
Midnight Maniac!
Drai and Hyman as a combo (without McDavid) has been shredded over the course of two season – i think to the tune of 28-41 goals.
I’m not sure we’ve seen much in exhibition to suggest a change but, of course, exhibition for these types of players means very little.
I hope this combo can flip the script once the season starts – the Drai line has to be a material out-scorer for this team to have real success.
Agre on all this OP.
This is one of the keys to the season.
Yamamoto, for all his shortcomings, contributed to an outscoring line when with Draisaitl.
Draisaitl/brown without McDavid should be examined before regular season.
I am not sure how 2 guys of that calibre (combined 200 scoring points) get shredded
5×5 GF vs GA. it’s pretty simple.
yeah I understand the process, just seems outta sorts is what I meant
At 5 on 5 they get scored on a ton more than they score (over the course of two years).
I wonder if Pederson would get claimed on waivers.
I think he’s had the best performance out of the bubble guys.
decent look at half of Stu’s new mask
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F7ozLVzaEAESdvq?format=jpg&name=large