You could pick eight different stories from this year’s preseason and be right on the lead item. I’ll choose Jack Campbell’s performances and save percentage. It’s just a hair beyond Mattias Ekholm not making an appearance, Ben Gleason’s strong showing and Connor Brown having a nice run as training camp nears completion.
How big is the Campbell development? Massive. If he plays like he did in Toronto (.916 SP) and Skinner is close to duplicating his performance, Edmonton can cut 30 goals off last year’s total. A goal differential of +107 is a golden zone.
What else caught your eye? I think Connor Brown is going to be a great addition. I’m not sure if Zach Hyman is going to be a strong performer on the Draisaitl line, so am unsure how things will work. I’m confident it will, though.
What would you do? I think the current alignment makes sense but would be interested in seeing Brown on the second line and his impact there on five-on-five outscoring. I also think pairs (McDavid-Hyman, Draisaitl-Brown, Nuge-Kane) might work. We’ll see.
You like Connor Brown? Oh yes. He’s a two-way winger and better at it than Hyman or Evander Kane. That’s an important part of his skill set. Edmonton needs that.
What about Raphael Lavoie? I predicted he would make the team but I don’t think he’s going to play every game. In fact, my RE series at The Athletic has him playing just 35 games while scoring well. I think he’ll slowly establish himself, but it won’t be a game or a week. It’ll be a slow build.
What about Dylan Holloway? We’ll find out this season about him. There’s no doubt he’ll have an NHL career and he could be an effective 15-goal third-line winger or center. I think there might be something beyond it, another gear. Tyler Wright thought so, I didn’t believe it was worth the risk on his draft day and that’s for sure. I’ll admit my mistake if he blossoms offensively. I do believe there’s a chance Lavoie passes him on the depth chart, eventually. Not this year.
Bold. Not really. Holloway was drafted a year after Lavoie and is exactly one year younger. Holloway passed Lavoie, but offense is king. We’ll see. Lavoie’s two preseason goals are a solid reminder about the importance of a pure goal scorer. Lavoie is one. He won’t score 20 this season, but could beat Holloway to that number in the years to come.
What about Broberg? I wrote in my piece for The Athletic today that the shame of the Mattias Ekholm injury is the two Swedes didn’t get to play together. That will happen, but you’d like a foundation before rolling the airplane down. Travis Yost wrote a great story about him at TSN, we’ll discuss it today on the Lowdown.
Anything else? I think Broberg’s emergence, should it come, will be at the expense of Cody Ceci. However, if Ceci thrives, then Vincent Desharnais might be in some danger. If that happens, you can officially declare Edmonton’s defense deep and balanced. We aren’t there yet.
Will the Oilers win the Stanley Cup? They can win it, but need goaltending, everyone pulling on the rope at five-on-five, a better penalty kill, luck and fewer lapses. Oh. And fewer penalties.
A busy day on the Lowdown, noon-2 on Sports 1440. We’ll be joined by Travis Yost of TSN, Steve Lansky from Big Mouth Sports and Tyler Yaremchuk from Daily Faceoff. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Campbell looks to be in the zone early. Woody needs to be on this and take advantage. I would definitely start Campbell 1st game on the road (less pressure) then I would come back with Skinner at home. I dont think this will happen as Woody is pretty stubborn and I believe he’s had Skinner pegged as game 1 starter since last May.
He said there is a full on competition between the two for game 1 start. Campbell has hands down won the competition and should start. Probably just another one of Woodys outrageous lies 😉
As much as I enjoyed the Lavoie saga thank heavens the pylon Sutter is long gone. Campbell has been the story so far if Jack can stay dialled it allows the boys to take more chances offensively. As shaky as Campbell was last year believe it or not he had a better winning percentage than All-Star Skinner.
Fuhr and Lowething in Vegreville
October 6, 2023 10:27 pm
I know the first game will be Wednesday, but what’s the deadline for final NHL roster submission/cap compliance?
Monday afternoon, which I think players need to be placed on waivers on Sunday
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 10:24 pm
Philip Broberg led the team in PK TOI (tied with Vinny at 4:01, 1 second more than Nurse).
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 10:13 pm
No mention of Kulak since he started missing the skates a few days ago.
I wonder how hurt he is, if Kulak goes on LTIR (yes, 10 games and 24 days minimum) then Gleason can stay as 7D and both Pederson and Lavoie – for the short term.
Woody just asked about Kulak now – said he’s in the bumps and bruises category and progressing well.
There will be some cuts announced tonight or tomorrow morning.
I was going to ask if pre-season games can count as retro-active for LTIR but seems a moot point now.
Good that Ceci is looking healthy. I like him but man if we had Ekholm-Larsson as our shutdown pair…..
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:54 pm
Obviously Pickard, Dineen and Malone will hit the waiver wire sometime in the next days and Erne likely released.
Ben Gleason has somewhat kind of, almost, earned a spot on the team, but I don’t think they’d waive Vinny and I’d be shocked if Broberg was going anywhere – i liked his game very much tonight, again.
No mention of Kulak since he started missing the skates a few days ago.
I wonder how hurt he is, if Kulak goes on LTIR (yes, 10 games and 24 days minimum) then Gleason can stay as 7D and both Pederson and Lavoie – for the short term.
Also of note he is from my hometown of Whitehorse, and both his folks were absolutely fantastic hockey players so he comes by it honestly. Plenty of time for him to get a better nickname than Cozens haha.
He also shattered the Canada Winter Games scoring record last year, over the likes of Crosby and Stamkos before him, by going 16-15-31 in SEVEN games haha.
jp
October 6, 2023 9:38 pm
Couldn’t watch the last few minutes, and it’s pre season of course.
But I saw a high quality 3rd period while protecting the lead. And a calming presence in net.
Thumbs up.
flea
October 6, 2023 9:36 pm
Campbell with some huge saves and calm demeanour as Seattle pressured with the empty net.
Campbell gets G1 in my opinion. Great development for the Oilers out of camp.
Fair enough. I just like watching hockey. I don’t care who wins the pickleball tournament, or what McDavid wears for Halloween, or whether Kane wipes front to back or back to front. 😛
Fair enough but that isn’t an accurate description of much of the content on the platform. I think the behind the scenes shots from the dressing room, of Holland on the phone with agents and GMs and players, etc. is awesome.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:30 pm
Well, the stream goes dead with 3 minutes to play.
It seems that Jack Campbell has simply earned the opening night start on merit – he’s just been the better goalie through camp.
Yeah, was thinking that could be the case with soup getting the start tonight. He was definitely quality through 59 minutes tonight though.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:27 pm
Some wild stuff from Bob – in the first period he says he thinks Pederson is the front-runner for 12F and, now, with a few minutes left in the 3rd he says he thinks its Lavoie’s job when Lavoie is in the midst of his weakest game of the exhibition season – he was non-existent – both Pederson and Erne were more noticeable (although I did see a few poor plays from Pederson – Lavoie wasn’t in the play to make poor plays with the puck).
As has already been pointed out earlier in the thread, you definitely misheard that Stauffer said Pedersen in the first, he said Lavoie in the first and stayed consistent with that assessment in the third.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:21 pm
Make that 2 goals for Bourgault who ties the game up with 4 minutes to go.
Bank Shot
October 6, 2023 9:15 pm
Bad turnover by Pederson. He’s cut.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:14 pm
Your 4th line center can’t give that puck away at the offensive blue with a 2 goal lead in the third period.
Pederson is not the answer.
Of note, Ceci is once again able to skate a full speed – great closing speed to negate that 2 on 1
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:11 pm
Hyman’s 3rd breakaway of the night, 0-3 (his goal was snipe on a delay – off a wonderful 2-way play by Nuge – and it was off-side).
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:08 pm
Michaels keeps talking about the potential for the back-end injuries to give Gleason a shot to make the team out of camp but they can’t keep him unless one of them is going on LTIR (or they send someone additional down). Ekholm won’t be going on LTIR and, well, we don’t know anything about Kulak except that Woody said just bumps the first day he wasn’t skating.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:04 pm
Condors are down 2-1 mid-way through the third although dominating the shot clock (currently 31-21 and that is a big tightening).
Bourgault with a slot snipe for the goal.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 9:02 pm
So, Kane can still snap it from distance.
jp
October 6, 2023 9:02 pm
Kane. Wow.
Solid PK too.
jp
October 6, 2023 8:38 pm
Really enjoyed that Draisaitl/Nuge/Broberg etc shift.
jp
October 6, 2023 8:33 pm
That’s a nice goal by Zach Hyman. Wonderful pick by Nuge.
Yeah, you must have misheard he definitely said that about Lavoie.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 7:22 pm
Broberg starting to carry the puck more and more in the defensive zone – instead of just looking for a pass to outlet right away, he’s taking his time and creating lanes with his feet.
This player is coming – he’s coming.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 7:21 pm
LOL – two clear breakaways and another clear look at the goalie for Hyman and he’s 0-3.
Thought it was Bouch? Either way all world pass for sure.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 7:17 pm
Its time to release Erne from his PTO – that play right there is an example of why he is not “good enough” to play on this team’s fourth line – fourth line/3rd pair cycle shift – he gets a puck retrieval and then a poor pass back to the point is easily picked off and the possession is over.
leadfarmer
October 6, 2023 6:36 pm
Looks like can’t miss prospects Alex Turcotte and Brandt Clarke are going to … what’s that term again? Oh yeah, Toil in the minors.
To be honest, a rookie pro d-man needing AHL time is far from a concern but, citing him as a certain impact player right away seems about as good a take as positing that the Kings had, essentially, the best and deepest prospect depth in NHL history.
Turcotte prays for a Jesse Puljujarvi type career at this point.
How are they getting worse?
They have the cap space to add a good goaltender, will have phenom Brandt Clarke in the lineup and have more than a few NHL ready prospects.”
Chelios is a Dinosaur
October 6, 2023 4:07 pm
Super excited to watch my favourite sport this year where my favourite team is once again the cream of the crop.
or LA… or Dallas… or (insert any other team except Oilers)
SwedishPoster
October 6, 2023 3:31 pm
Samuel Jonsson made his season debut in Sweden’s 2nd tier tonight and was solid saving 22 of 24 shots for a .917 SP, his team still lost 2-1, their fifth regular time loss in as many games and they’re dead last in the league, surprising as they’ve been a top 5 team for the last decade.
He’s currently the clear cut #2, which was to be expected as his competition is a vet and usually one of the better goalies in Hockeyallsvenskan but he’s started the season terribly so there is an opportunity here for Jonsson. Tonight was the best tending they’ve had this season so he should get the next start at least.
I’ll add that Jeremias Lindewall still hangs around the swedish second tier, this season with newcomers Kalmar, one of the league’s early surprises. He’s played in 3 of 5 games, around 8 minutes per game and no points. I think we can safely write him off completely as an NHL prospect. He has some interesting tools but he just can’t put them together even at this level. He’s proven to be a dominant player in the third tier but one step up and he just never pops. I think his processor is too slow.
Louis Levasseur
October 6, 2023 1:55 pm
apologize in advance for asking the old guy question: is the game televised tonight on “regular tv”, or do I need some kind of streaming subscription for plus size Oiler internet?
If you have a firestick you can purchase a streaming provider. The game is televised on Roots Sports from the Seattle area. You can also use your firestick as an internet streamer through the internet option on the firestick with the Silk browser. Google up Onhockey.tv and the game will be available from either an Edmonton broadcast or the afore mentioned Roots tv broadcast. I purchased a Firestick 4K Max from Amazon for about $40 last prime week and have a streaming provider with all Canadian, USA and more channels. The cost for the provider is around $25/month.
Well it looks like Root sports is no more, too bad!…Onhockey.tv has the Oilers stream in pretty good quality, basically a hybrid radio/video broadcast, works for me, peace out!
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 1:17 pm
Apparantly I’m not the only one that can be “frustrated” with Woody and his injury updates that, in my opinion, aren’t just vague, but often without truth:
Last spring, Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said little about centre Ryan McLeod’s injury. The expectation was a quick return, but days turned into homestands and road trips. The updates from the coach were vague.
Sports gambling isn’t and can never be clean. The NHL and NHLPA have waded into Faustian waters and I will hold all the gamblers half responsible when some shit invariably hits. It is so corrosive. Even competitive chess can’t guarantee a transparently technical and non disputed outcome.
There are simply a vast number of uncontrollable variables that someone needs to bite the bullet over when they place a bet. Should athletes be forced to divulge the sleeping pattern of their newborn, or when their parent has a terminal illness?
Agreed that sports betting is a deal with the devil. Inevitably a player/official will be pressured or forced to compromise himself for the sake of some outcome. Once this spreads widely enough, your sport is ruined.
I agree 100% regarding injury specifics and type of injury, whether it be upper body, lower body, physical, mental or personal reasons, athletes and teams should 100% not have to disclose such things. But realistic, honest and forthcoming timeframes for the players return should not be too much to ask for. Also betting be damned.
However, if I live in Nashville and I have an eight year old kid that grew up idolizing Ekholm and want to surprise him/her with tickets to the game on the 17th, and all I hear are vague answers that can’t be trusted, I’m probably feeling pretty damn frustrated.
Last edited 1 year ago by Fuhr and Lowething in Vegreville
It seems to me that betting will make this worse, not better. Sports betting will make the demand for health specifics more intense and coaches and teams and players will and should protect themselves **because integrity**. I’m extremely anti Sports Betting obviously and sad to see Play Alberta as the new helmet sponsor for home dates. But I’m also realistic: sports betting has always and will always exist. But I think leagues have a responsibility to put up firewalls. This is what Woodcroft is doing, perhaps it’s not what he is intending but it’s what he’s doing, and good for him. I guess I’m just a stickler for professional ethics. Not a man of my time.
So you’d rather have them say (example)
”Draisatl has a slight to moderate wrist sprain on the right side towards the thumb ”
so he gets that spot slashed every 5 seconds?
would that make the gamblers happy?
Well during that “maintenance day” that player may fly to Cincinatti to see a medical expert and then to Rochester to see another one before coming up with a treatment plan.
would you like a video of the consultation so you can make your bets?
I figure it’s the team’s prerogative as to what injury information they give. Keep the opponents guessing. It also might prevent other teams’ targeting a specific body part upon the player’s return to play.
I’m not talking about disclosing the exact injury and specifics, I’m not asking for that, but just more honestly regarding why a player may be out of practice, for example – stating “just a maintenance day” an hour before an LTIR placement seems disingenuous and some might even say, dishonest, or even a lie.
I agree. They can avoid the lying. Saying that they won’t be disclosing info is better than lying. Also, they don’t have to give medical info, just a somewhat accurate ETA on return to play.
I had not heard of him. Apparently he’s played 3 NHL games, for Vancouver.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 12:42 pm
Condors first exhibition game tonight but there will be no eyes on it unfortunately.
Per Ryan Holt:
No broadcast this weekend of either game. Caggiula / McKegg / Hamblin three of the more veteran players expected to play. Petrov/Tullio/Bourgault expected up front and we’ll get our first look at Max Wanner on the back end.
Lewis Grant
October 6, 2023 12:40 pm
From Friedman’s 32 Thoughts:
15. Thing I liked hearing in the pre-season: one team sent a prospect back to his junior team after a really strong game. It seemed counterintuitive, so I asked why. “Let him leave on a high,” was the answer. He wasn’t ready for the NHL, but instead of having the player walking away sadly after a poor performance, he leaves feeling good about himself. I like that.
My first thought was, “Beau Akey.” Then Friedman’s 16th Thought was about the Oilers, so I took that as support for my hypothesis.
Yost’s Broberg article isn’t really intellectually honest. Defensemen typically take a year longer to make an impact than forwards. Broberg has a June birthday, on the younger side of his draft class.
Even with the forwards included, Broberg does not look out of place. And if one only includes the defensemen in the class, he is perfectly fine comparatively.
If Broberg turns into a legit complete #3D in a couple of years, than he pretty much has as much value as average 1st line winger.
freckledelbows
October 6, 2023 11:45 am
Will the Oilers win the Stanley Cup?
I’m not prone to conspiracy theories (and recognize saying that is proof of a crazy person), but what also needs to happen is the league giving its blessing for the Oilers to get that far. They’ve inexplicably had their thumb on the scale a few times (e.g. Kesler on top of Talbot, Pietrangelo 1 game) and need to tacitly deem that the Oilers have paid their dues and may proceed this year.
I am not prone to them either. However, I will say that it is probably in the league’s interest to have McDavid sign with a team in a major market. That has a better chance of happening if he does not get a Cup in Edmonton
I don’t think there is any real risk that he signs anywhere else, however, I could reason that, if the Oilers win the cup this year or next, that might make it MORE likely that he leaves – that would be like “mission accomplished”.
Suggesting that the Oilers would need approval in order to make it to the SCF (which implies express league bias in “off-ice decisions” and direction to the on-ice officials) is suggesting a conspiracy – no?
The regular season doesn’t matter. (This team won’t miss the playoffs.) As long as Ekhom’s healthy in the playoffs, that’s what matters. Keep him out until he’s 100%.
so you are saying keep him out until after the trade deadline and then sign a $6 million dollar player when we can exceed the Cap just before playoffs?
It’s just a hair beyond Mattias Ekholm not making an appearance,
What about Broberg? I wrote in my piece for The Athletic today that the shame of the Mattias Ekholm injury is the two Swedes didn’t get to play together.
Appearance made at morning skate today and, although I don’t think he’s playing tonight, its trending for Ekholm to be in the lineup on Wed night and I would think with Broberg as his starting partner.
Lets not forget, when Bouchard was paired with Ekholm mid-season, they didn’t have any tryout together and were able to click right away.
All accounts are they want to go with 12/6 more often than not but, sure, you could be right.
I sure hope not – it totally effs up the d-man deployment and required deployment of Broberg (likely).
Vinny is a 7D – until they show the PK requires his presence (and we hope that doesn’t happen), he should be spot-started until injuries happen (which will likely be early and often).
It gets complicated if it is both Ekholm’s and McLeod’s first game. I still think one errs on the side of the extra D.
It is Wednesday Saturday Tuesday to start.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 11:00 am
What about Raphael Lavoie? I predicted he would make the team but I don’t think he’s going to play every game. In fact, my RE series at The Athletic has him playing just 35 games while scoring well. I think he’ll slowly establish himself, but it won’t be a game or a week. It’ll be a slow build.
I think the coaching staff wants to go 12/6 as the default and 11/7 as the exception, however, with only 12 forwards on the roster, any nick, bump, illness, personal issues, etc. leads to 11/7.
If everyone is healthy, one question might be, do they like their 7th d-man (Deharnais) more than their 12th forward (Lavoie/Janmark/Ryan)?
I say play the 12th forward and ensure 14 plus minutes for ALL the d-men.
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 10:58 am
What else caught your eye? I think Connor Brown is going to be a great addition. I’m not sure if Zach Hyman is going to be a strong performer on the Draisaitl line, so am unsure how things will work. I’m confident it will, though.
Two years of history tell us that Drai/Hyman without McDavid does not work (28-41 goals over two years) but that’s not to say it can’t work going forward. I think the main issue is both those players have been, well, inconsistent in their commitmen to defensive zone play – Drai can be an elite defensive player but he’s prone to “off days” in the area and Zack, well, he does like to move towards the offensive zone as quickly as he can.
In any event, no doubt the “known top 6” will see many different set-ups – shit, the lines that start on October 11 likely aren’t the lines that finish.
Connor Brown played 25 seconds with Drai in the exhibition season (at 5 on 5).
It seems like the coaching staff just locked in on Brown/McDavid, which essentially leave Drai/Hyman.
teddyturnbuckle
October 6, 2023 10:57 am
Call me crazy but I think this is going to be Campbell’s year to take the Oilers where they need to go. Skinner will have his time in the future. I know it’s only preseason but I’m seeing the same thing as last year in the playoffs. Skinner looks a little shaky and uncertain when handling the puck. Campbell looks composed stopping and getting touches on the puck. Unfortunately Campbell sewered his season last year with his regular season performance and the trust just wasn’t there. After game 5 against Vegas I was certain Woodcroft would go with Campbell the rest of the way. A “break this glass in case of emergency” type of approach. It just wasn’t working with Skinner and I was liking what I was seeing from Campbell especially when he was handling the puck behind the net. As it turned out Skinner got the call and turned the puck over 20 seconds into the game on an iffy play into the corner. In saying all this I am not convinced the Oilers would have beaten Vegas even if they played Campbell the rest of the way. Vegas dominated game 6 ( I don’t care what the shots were, the game was over in the second) and I actually think Vegas would have had another gear had it reached game 7. The Oilers lost because they can’t play defence.
Campbell would lose games the OIlers had won in front of him.
Skinner would never lose games the OIlers had won in front of him.
Skinner’s “weakness” last year is that he didn’t steal games.
If one wants McDraivid as the deciding factor in the games, Skinner was the safer choice last year.
In the long term, Skinner has to be better in games when the team is struggling. I think he will, and I think he will be the long term goaltender here.
I think this is the tandem for a couple of years, and then Campbell will be tradeable with a couple of years left on his contract without a dump.
That’s a nice lineup. It appears Gleason can step right in there for Kulak and of course there’s plenty of familiarity with Broberg & Desharnais. Awesome. And Pederson in for MacLeod works too.
Last edited 1 year ago by cowboy bill
OriginalPouzar
October 6, 2023 10:34 am
Not only is Ryan McLeod on the ice for morning skate (again) but so is Mattias and Ekholm.
Campbell looks to be in the zone early. Woody needs to be on this and take advantage. I would definitely start Campbell 1st game on the road (less pressure) then I would come back with Skinner at home. I dont think this will happen as Woody is pretty stubborn and I believe he’s had Skinner pegged as game 1 starter since last May.
He said there is a full on competition between the two for game 1 start. Campbell has hands down won the competition and should start. Probably just another one of Woodys outrageous lies 😉
As much as I enjoyed the Lavoie saga thank heavens the pylon Sutter is long gone. Campbell has been the story so far if Jack can stay dialled it allows the boys to take more chances offensively. As shaky as Campbell was last year believe it or not he had a better winning percentage than All-Star Skinner.
I know the first game will be Wednesday, but what’s the deadline for final NHL roster submission/cap compliance?
Monday afternoon, which I think players need to be placed on waivers on Sunday
Philip Broberg led the team in PK TOI (tied with Vinny at 4:01, 1 second more than Nurse).
Woody just asked about Kulak now – said he’s in the bumps and bruises category and progressing well.
There will be some cuts announced tonight or tomorrow morning.
I was going to ask if pre-season games can count as retro-active for LTIR but seems a moot point now.
Good that Ceci is looking healthy. I like him but man if we had Ekholm-Larsson as our shutdown pair…..
Obviously Pickard, Dineen and Malone will hit the waiver wire sometime in the next days and Erne likely released.
Ben Gleason has somewhat kind of, almost, earned a spot on the team, but I don’t think they’d waive Vinny and I’d be shocked if Broberg was going anywhere – i liked his game very much tonight, again.
No mention of Kulak since he started missing the skates a few days ago.
I wonder how hurt he is, if Kulak goes on LTIR (yes, 10 games and 24 days minimum) then Gleason can stay as 7D and both Pederson and Lavoie – for the short term.
Remember the name Gavin McKenna.
Through 6 games with the Tigers of Med Hat, he has 11 points (4+7), including a hat trick and an assist tonight.
Doesn’t even turn 16 until December. Not draft-eligible till 2026.
Bedard’s cousin apparently. Cool.
Yes thru marriage I believe.
Also of note he is from my hometown of Whitehorse, and both his folks were absolutely fantastic hockey players so he comes by it honestly. Plenty of time for him to get a better nickname than Cozens haha.
I stumbled across his name last year. I believe he got 4 points in his first WHL game as a 14 year old.
He also shattered the Canada Winter Games scoring record last year, over the likes of Crosby and Stamkos before him, by going 16-15-31 in SEVEN games haha.
Couldn’t watch the last few minutes, and it’s pre season of course.
But I saw a high quality 3rd period while protecting the lead. And a calming presence in net.
Thumbs up.
Campbell with some huge saves and calm demeanour as Seattle pressured with the empty net.
Campbell gets G1 in my opinion. Great development for the Oilers out of camp.
100% agree.
He’s super sharp.
Condors lose in OT.
Bourgault with 7 shots (and both goals).
Hoefenmayer, and Drake each with 6 shots.
Oilers plus dies. Glad I didn’t pay anything for this quality product. 😛
Oilers Plus is more than worth the cost for the “non-live streaming” content, at least in my opinion.
Fair enough. I just like watching hockey. I don’t care who wins the pickleball tournament, or what McDavid wears for Halloween, or whether Kane wipes front to back or back to front. 😛
Fair enough but that isn’t an accurate description of much of the content on the platform. I think the behind the scenes shots from the dressing room, of Holland on the phone with agents and GMs and players, etc. is awesome.
Well, the stream goes dead with 3 minutes to play.
It seems that Jack Campbell has simply earned the opening night start on merit – he’s just been the better goalie through camp.
Listening to the last minute on Ched and Michaels talks about 3 additional sensational saves by Campbell.
I think the net is his on Wed!
Yeah, was thinking that could be the case with soup getting the start tonight. He was definitely quality through 59 minutes tonight though.
Some wild stuff from Bob – in the first period he says he thinks Pederson is the front-runner for 12F and, now, with a few minutes left in the 3rd he says he thinks its Lavoie’s job when Lavoie is in the midst of his weakest game of the exhibition season – he was non-existent – both Pederson and Erne were more noticeable (although I did see a few poor plays from Pederson – Lavoie wasn’t in the play to make poor plays with the puck).
Pretty sure earlier he said Lavoie was the front runner for 12F (not Pederson). But yeah, Lavoie has not stood out tonight.
Ya, it seems I misheard Bob in the first – I swear he was talking about Pederson but I’ve been correct by many now.
Sorry.
It was Lavoie in the first period, not Pederson.
As has already been pointed out earlier in the thread, you definitely misheard that Stauffer said Pedersen in the first, he said Lavoie in the first and stayed consistent with that assessment in the third.
Make that 2 goals for Bourgault who ties the game up with 4 minutes to go.
Bad turnover by Pederson. He’s cut.
Your 4th line center can’t give that puck away at the offensive blue with a 2 goal lead in the third period.
Pederson is not the answer.
Of note, Ceci is once again able to skate a full speed – great closing speed to negate that 2 on 1
Hyman’s 3rd breakaway of the night, 0-3 (his goal was snipe on a delay – off a wonderful 2-way play by Nuge – and it was off-side).
Michaels keeps talking about the potential for the back-end injuries to give Gleason a shot to make the team out of camp but they can’t keep him unless one of them is going on LTIR (or they send someone additional down). Ekholm won’t be going on LTIR and, well, we don’t know anything about Kulak except that Woody said just bumps the first day he wasn’t skating.
Condors are down 2-1 mid-way through the third although dominating the shot clock (currently 31-21 and that is a big tightening).
Bourgault with a slot snipe for the goal.
So, Kane can still snap it from distance.
Kane. Wow.
Solid PK too.
Really enjoyed that Draisaitl/Nuge/Broberg etc shift.
That’s a nice goal by Zach Hyman. Wonderful pick by Nuge.
Snake!
Doesn’t matter in the big picture, but that was a 100% dive.
Nice PK chance by Pederson.
Wow, thought that would be an even up rather than the only penalty on Gleason.
Wish I could say it’s pre-season form, but…
Ekholm is starting the season injured and Gleason is on the roster
Considering Ekholm skated with the group this morning, I’m thinking he won’t be out for 10 games and 3 weeks – I sure hope not.
Kulak, on the other hand, who knows what is up with him.
Bouchard should always be on the ice with McDavid – more evidence!
Nice goal Bouch to McDavid.
McCann beats Campbell clean short side from the top of the circles.
Canucks traded McCann, a 2nd and a 4th for Gudbranson. lol
Ouch!
Stauffer says he thinks Pederson is in the driver’s seat for the 12F spot.
I feel like I’m the only Oilers fan that has saw him good. 😛
He said Lavoie in the drivers seat, no?
He said that about Raph
Yeah, you must have misheard he definitely said that about Lavoie.
Broberg starting to carry the puck more and more in the defensive zone – instead of just looking for a pass to outlet right away, he’s taking his time and creating lanes with his feet.
This player is coming – he’s coming.
LOL – two clear breakaways and another clear look at the goalie for Hyman and he’s 0-3.
Great pass by Nuge there.
Thought it was Bouch? Either way all world pass for sure.
Its time to release Erne from his PTO – that play right there is an example of why he is not “good enough” to play on this team’s fourth line – fourth line/3rd pair cycle shift – he gets a puck retrieval and then a poor pass back to the point is easily picked off and the possession is over.
Looks like can’t miss prospects Alex Turcotte and Brandt Clarke are going to … what’s that term again? Oh yeah, Toil in the minors.
Whaaat? I was under the impression they would win at least the Calder this year. I didn’t know you could win it in the AHL.
I wonder how you got that impression:
“Harpers Hair
Reply to Lowetide
August 21, 2023 12:15 pm
Not at all.
Clarke is likely a Calder candidate this fall but Spence is certainly a credible backup as 7 or 8 D.
Of course inexperience is always an issue as young players make their way.”
To be honest, a rookie pro d-man needing AHL time is far from a concern but, citing him as a certain impact player right away seems about as good a take as positing that the Kings had, essentially, the best and deepest prospect depth in NHL history.
Turcotte prays for a Jesse Puljujarvi type career at this point.
Phenom Brandt Clarke showing early symptoms of the kiss of death?
“Harpers Hair
Reply to flea
June 7, 2023 2:10 pm
How are they getting worse?
They have the cap space to add a good goaltender, will have phenom Brandt Clarke in the lineup and have more than a few NHL ready prospects.”
Super excited to watch my favourite sport this year where my favourite team is once again the cream of the crop.
“Cream of the crop” reminds me of a famous macho man Randy savage interview
Colorado fan!
or LA… or Dallas… or (insert any other team except Oilers)
Samuel Jonsson made his season debut in Sweden’s 2nd tier tonight and was solid saving 22 of 24 shots for a .917 SP, his team still lost 2-1, their fifth regular time loss in as many games and they’re dead last in the league, surprising as they’ve been a top 5 team for the last decade.
He’s currently the clear cut #2, which was to be expected as his competition is a vet and usually one of the better goalies in Hockeyallsvenskan but he’s started the season terribly so there is an opportunity here for Jonsson. Tonight was the best tending they’ve had this season so he should get the next start at least.
I’ll add that Jeremias Lindewall still hangs around the swedish second tier, this season with newcomers Kalmar, one of the league’s early surprises. He’s played in 3 of 5 games, around 8 minutes per game and no points. I think we can safely write him off completely as an NHL prospect. He has some interesting tools but he just can’t put them together even at this level. He’s proven to be a dominant player in the third tier but one step up and he just never pops. I think his processor is too slow.
apologize in advance for asking the old guy question: is the game televised tonight on “regular tv”, or do I need some kind of streaming subscription for plus size Oiler internet?
Not on regular TV in the Oilers region.
If you have a firestick you can purchase a streaming provider. The game is televised on Roots Sports from the Seattle area. You can also use your firestick as an internet streamer through the internet option on the firestick with the Silk browser. Google up Onhockey.tv and the game will be available from either an Edmonton broadcast or the afore mentioned Roots tv broadcast. I purchased a Firestick 4K Max from Amazon for about $40 last prime week and have a streaming provider with all Canadian, USA and more channels. The cost for the provider is around $25/month.
Well it looks like Root sports is no more, too bad!…Onhockey.tv has the Oilers stream in pretty good quality, basically a hybrid radio/video broadcast, works for me, peace out!
Apparantly I’m not the only one that can be “frustrated” with Woody and his injury updates that, in my opinion, aren’t just vague, but often without truth:
From Alan Mitchell:
https://theathletic.com/4934378/2023/10/06/oilers-mattias-ekholm-injury/
Medical information is and should be protected and confidential.
This a 100%. Athletes should have the same rights as the rest of us wrt medical information. Gambling companies be damned.
Except the NHL and NHLPA have partnered with sports betting. For sports betting to be legit, the NHL and the NHLPA must come clean with injury status.
Sports gambling isn’t and can never be clean. The NHL and NHLPA have waded into Faustian waters and I will hold all the gamblers half responsible when some shit invariably hits. It is so corrosive. Even competitive chess can’t guarantee a transparently technical and non disputed outcome.
There are simply a vast number of uncontrollable variables that someone needs to bite the bullet over when they place a bet. Should athletes be forced to divulge the sleeping pattern of their newborn, or when their parent has a terminal illness?
Perhaps we have entered some era where financial transactions can demand more rights into themselves than workers. But I don’t think so.
Agreed that sports betting is a deal with the devil. Inevitably a player/official will be pressured or forced to compromise himself for the sake of some outcome. Once this spreads widely enough, your sport is ruined.
I agree 100% regarding injury specifics and type of injury, whether it be upper body, lower body, physical, mental or personal reasons, athletes and teams should 100% not have to disclose such things. But realistic, honest and forthcoming timeframes for the players return should not be too much to ask for. Also betting be damned.
However, if I live in Nashville and I have an eight year old kid that grew up idolizing Ekholm and want to surprise him/her with tickets to the game on the 17th, and all I hear are vague answers that can’t be trusted, I’m probably feeling pretty damn frustrated.
It seems to me that betting will make this worse, not better. Sports betting will make the demand for health specifics more intense and coaches and teams and players will and should protect themselves **because integrity**. I’m extremely anti Sports Betting obviously and sad to see Play Alberta as the new helmet sponsor for home dates. But I’m also realistic: sports betting has always and will always exist. But I think leagues have a responsibility to put up firewalls. This is what Woodcroft is doing, perhaps it’s not what he is intending but it’s what he’s doing, and good for him. I guess I’m just a stickler for professional ethics. Not a man of my time.
That’s not quite how professional sports works, of course.
Not to mention: the coach citing “maintenance day” an hour before an LTIR placement is not about protecting medical privacy.
So you’d rather have them say (example)
”Draisatl has a slight to moderate wrist sprain on the right side towards the thumb ”
so he gets that spot slashed every 5 seconds?
would that make the gamblers happy?
No, but I’d rather them not say that Drai is just missing practice for a maintenance day prior knowing he’s going to go on LTIR or miss two weeks.
Not once have I ever said, or implied, that specific details on injuries should be given – not once.
Well during that “maintenance day” that player may fly to Cincinatti to see a medical expert and then to Rochester to see another one before coming up with a treatment plan.
would you like a video of the consultation so you can make your bets?
Right, feel free to believe that has been the case.
Except for vaccine status of course (sarcasm alert)
Ha!
Gold.
And that has nothing to do with Woody staring reporters in the eyes and telling whoppers.
highly frustrating. in my POV with the betting aspects to the game now the league needs to be more forthcoming about injury issues.
To hell with betting.
Do you also want a refund if a player goes down with injury?
I figure it’s the team’s prerogative as to what injury information they give. Keep the opponents guessing. It also might prevent other teams’ targeting a specific body part upon the player’s return to play.
I’m not talking about disclosing the exact injury and specifics, I’m not asking for that, but just more honestly regarding why a player may be out of practice, for example – stating “just a maintenance day” an hour before an LTIR placement seems disingenuous and some might even say, dishonest, or even a lie.
Yeah of course it is that’s the point put the shoe on the other foot. Sports are fun but it’s none of your business.
I agree. They can avoid the lying. Saying that they won’t be disclosing info is better than lying. Also, they don’t have to give medical info, just a somewhat accurate ETA on return to play.
Exactly.
Of course.
But that has nothing to do with what our Head coach did, though.
well well…
i just had to come here to state that ELITE dman brogan rafferty has hit the waiver wire.
Maybe a certain poster could claim him as his very own and finally find true happiness.
Along with Caleb Jones.
I had not heard of him. Apparently he’s played 3 NHL games, for Vancouver.
Condors first exhibition game tonight but there will be no eyes on it unfortunately.
Per Ryan Holt:
No broadcast this weekend of either game. Caggiula / McKegg / Hamblin three of the more veteran players expected to play. Petrov/Tullio/Bourgault expected up front and we’ll get our first look at Max Wanner on the back end.
From Friedman’s 32 Thoughts:
15. Thing I liked hearing in the pre-season: one team sent a prospect back to his junior team after a really strong game. It seemed counterintuitive, so I asked why. “Let him leave on a high,” was the answer. He wasn’t ready for the NHL, but instead of having the player walking away sadly after a poor performance, he leaves feeling good about himself. I like that.
My first thought was, “Beau Akey.” Then Friedman’s 16th Thought was about the Oilers, so I took that as support for my hypothesis.
a very interesting thought, i have often wondered why the oielrs did this.
sending bourgault down after a 2 goal game.
sending skinner down after a shutout.
etc
Yost’s Broberg article isn’t really intellectually honest. Defensemen typically take a year longer to make an impact than forwards. Broberg has a June birthday, on the younger side of his draft class.
Even with the forwards included, Broberg does not look out of place. And if one only includes the defensemen in the class, he is perfectly fine comparatively.
If Broberg turns into a legit complete #3D in a couple of years, than he pretty much has as much value as average 1st line winger.
Will the Oilers win the Stanley Cup?
I’m not prone to conspiracy theories (and recognize saying that is proof of a crazy person), but what also needs to happen is the league giving its blessing for the Oilers to get that far. They’ve inexplicably had their thumb on the scale a few times (e.g. Kesler on top of Talbot, Pietrangelo 1 game) and need to tacitly deem that the Oilers have paid their dues and may proceed this year.
Well, it’s been three decades since a Canadian team has won a Stanley Cup.
I am not prone to them either. However, I will say that it is probably in the league’s interest to have McDavid sign with a team in a major market. That has a better chance of happening if he does not get a Cup in Edmonton
I don’t think there is any real risk that he signs anywhere else, however, I could reason that, if the Oilers win the cup this year or next, that might make it MORE likely that he leaves – that would be like “mission accomplished”.
Suggesting that the Oilers would need approval in order to make it to the SCF (which implies express league bias in “off-ice decisions” and direction to the on-ice officials) is suggesting a conspiracy – no?
Note: the officials game notes from the league are not available to the public!
Well, this is less than enthusing:
Tony Brar
@TonyBrarOTV
·
1m
Ekholm on playing the season opener: “I can’t tell you right now.”
Mentions recovery has been slower than anticipated.
I’m not saying the season is banking on Ekholm, but….
The regular season doesn’t matter. (This team won’t miss the playoffs.) As long as Ekhom’s healthy in the playoffs, that’s what matters. Keep him out until he’s 100%.
so you are saying keep him out until after the trade deadline and then sign a $6 million dollar player when we can exceed the Cap just before playoffs?
Now you’re thinking!
This. NHL is a Marathon…
Appearance made at morning skate today and, although I don’t think he’s playing tonight, its trending for Ekholm to be in the lineup on Wed night and I would think with Broberg as his starting partner.
Lets not forget, when Bouchard was paired with Ekholm mid-season, they didn’t have any tryout together and were able to click right away.
I think if Ekholm plays his first game opening night, the Oilers will go 11-7.
All accounts are they want to go with 12/6 more often than not but, sure, you could be right.
I sure hope not – it totally effs up the d-man deployment and required deployment of Broberg (likely).
Vinny is a 7D – until they show the PK requires his presence (and we hope that doesn’t happen), he should be spot-started until injuries happen (which will likely be early and often).
It gets complicated if it is both Ekholm’s and McLeod’s first game. I still think one errs on the side of the extra D.
It is Wednesday Saturday Tuesday to start.
I think the coaching staff wants to go 12/6 as the default and 11/7 as the exception, however, with only 12 forwards on the roster, any nick, bump, illness, personal issues, etc. leads to 11/7.
If everyone is healthy, one question might be, do they like their 7th d-man (Deharnais) more than their 12th forward (Lavoie/Janmark/Ryan)?
I say play the 12th forward and ensure 14 plus minutes for ALL the d-men.
Two years of history tell us that Drai/Hyman without McDavid does not work (28-41 goals over two years) but that’s not to say it can’t work going forward. I think the main issue is both those players have been, well, inconsistent in their commitmen to defensive zone play – Drai can be an elite defensive player but he’s prone to “off days” in the area and Zack, well, he does like to move towards the offensive zone as quickly as he can.
In any event, no doubt the “known top 6” will see many different set-ups – shit, the lines that start on October 11 likely aren’t the lines that finish.
He ( Woody ) Can’t stop. Won’t stop.
2 years of data – as you say…..Hyman/ Drai.
Chemistry is a thing….Hyman and Drai just don’t have it.
So, why keep trying to pound that square peg into a round circle?
As you say, there are many different set ups for the top 6.
Connor Brown played 25 seconds with Drai in the exhibition season (at 5 on 5).
It seems like the coaching staff just locked in on Brown/McDavid, which essentially leave Drai/Hyman.
Call me crazy but I think this is going to be Campbell’s year to take the Oilers where they need to go. Skinner will have his time in the future. I know it’s only preseason but I’m seeing the same thing as last year in the playoffs. Skinner looks a little shaky and uncertain when handling the puck. Campbell looks composed stopping and getting touches on the puck. Unfortunately Campbell sewered his season last year with his regular season performance and the trust just wasn’t there. After game 5 against Vegas I was certain Woodcroft would go with Campbell the rest of the way. A “break this glass in case of emergency” type of approach. It just wasn’t working with Skinner and I was liking what I was seeing from Campbell especially when he was handling the puck behind the net. As it turned out Skinner got the call and turned the puck over 20 seconds into the game on an iffy play into the corner. In saying all this I am not convinced the Oilers would have beaten Vegas even if they played Campbell the rest of the way. Vegas dominated game 6 ( I don’t care what the shots were, the game was over in the second) and I actually think Vegas would have had another gear had it reached game 7. The Oilers lost because they can’t play defence.
Last year,
Campbell would lose games the OIlers had won in front of him.
Skinner would never lose games the OIlers had won in front of him.
Skinner’s “weakness” last year is that he didn’t steal games.
If one wants McDraivid as the deciding factor in the games, Skinner was the safer choice last year.
In the long term, Skinner has to be better in games when the team is struggling. I think he will, and I think he will be the long term goaltender here.
I think this is the tandem for a couple of years, and then Campbell will be tradeable with a couple of years left on his contract without a dump.
Truth be told Oilers had a higher winning percentage in front of Campbell than Skinner last year.
Per Rishaug:
Looks like
Kane-McD-Brown
RNH-Drai-Hyman
Foegele-Pederson-Lav
Ernie-Janmark-Ryan
Nurse Bouchard
Gleason-Ceci
Broberg-Desharnais
Campbell
Ekholm leads stretch.
Is that Mattias or Ekholm leading the stretch??
That’s a nice lineup. It appears Gleason can step right in there for Kulak and of course there’s plenty of familiarity with Broberg & Desharnais. Awesome. And Pederson in for MacLeod works too.
Not only is Ryan McLeod on the ice for morning skate (again) but so is Mattias and Ekholm.
Beauty!