This is the Oilers 50-man roster in April of 2017. Just two players on this roster who played outside the NHL that season would go on to a career of note. Ethan Bear and Caleb Jones. That isn’t a good sign for an organization. You need to be developing contributors.
THE ATHLETIC!
- Lowetide: Can the Oilers find roster solutions on the NHL fringes?
- DNB: Oilers must address goaltending situation before it’s too late
- Lowetide: What’s leading to Connor McDavid’s baffling season?
- Lowetide: Why the Oilers making a productive goalie trade is an expensive proposition
- Lowetide: Oilers’ top prospects impacted by struggles and injuries
- DNB: Who is new Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch? These 3 traits define his approach
- Lowetide: Oilers winger Connor Brown and the question of his optimal usage
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers forward Dylan Holloway’s injury highlights concern over offensive potential
- Lowetide: What Oilers management must reckon with in roster construction
- DNB: Edmonton Oilers’ transition of power happening in real-time and the stakes couldn’t be higher
- Lowetide: What if the Edmonton Oilers end up in the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery?
- Lowetide: Can Connor McDavid come from behind to win another Art Ross Trophy?
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: DAL, NAS (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
- On the road to: VAN, SJS, SEA (Expected 1-1-1) (Actual 1-2-0)
- At home to: NYI, SEA (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: TBY, FLA, CAR, WAS (Expected 1-3-0) (Actual 0-3-0)
- At home to: ANA, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
- Actual November results: 3-7-0, 6 points in 10 games
- Oilers in 2023-24: 5-12-1, 11 points in 18 games
I don’t know what to tell you. These steps into the elevator shaft happen, it just occurs rarely and it shouldn’t happen when the best hockey player on earth plays for you. I’m starting to feel bad for Kris Knoblauch, he has the questions but needs time to find the answers. A strong final game on this trip would help.
50-MAN WHEN PETER CHIARELLI TOOK OVER
This is the exact moment Chiarelli took over, so it’s the MacT list. We see Tyler Pitlick, Brad Hunt, Jordan Oesterle, Darnell Nurse as future NHL players, and if the Oilers weren’t so silly Leon Draisaitl would be there, too. MacT was building you know. The Jeff Petry handling was the mystery for me. Why do the Oilers draft college defensemen if they don’t like them? Baffling.
THE CURRENT 50-MAN LIST (47)
- Goalies (5): Stuart Skinner, Calvin Pickard, Jack Campbell, Olivier Rodrigue, Ryan Fanti
- Defense (14): Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, Cody Ceci, Brett Kulak, Philip Broberg, Vincent Desharnais, Ben Gleason, Noel Hoefenmayer, Markus Niemelainen, Phil Kemp, Cam Dineen, Max Wanner, Beau Akey
- Center (9): Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan McLeod, James Hamblin, Lane Pederson, Brad Malone, Jayden Grubbe, Greg McKegg, Carl Berglund
- Left Wing (10): Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Warren Foegele, Mattias Janmark, Adam Erne, Dylan Holloway (injured), Raphael Lavoie, Drake Caggiula, Carter Savoie, Brady Stonehouse
- Right Wing (9): Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Derek Ryan, Sam Gagner, Xavier Bourgault, Seth Griffith, Matvey Petrov, Tyler Tullio, Jake Chiasson.
How many players outside the NHL will have a career? Candidates include Olivier Rodrigue, Max Wanner, Beau Akey, Jayden Grubbe, Carter Savoie, Xavier Bourgault and Matvey Petrov are the candidates. Not many, and not all of them will cash.
It’s funny, though. Many of you look at the Oilers depth chart and blame the amateur scouts. I look at this depth chart and blame the general manager. He has traded most everything. He (by all reports) was the driving force behind the Broberg selection. Edmonton used seven picks in the last 14 rounds (that’s two seasons) and one of those picks (Reid Schaefer) has been traded. Holland didn’t sign Matej Blumel, Ilya Konovalov was signed and given one season in North America. The players who are NHL-ready (Broberg, Holloway, Lavoie) are getting squeezed. I think some of you are blaming the wrong people.
It’s an early game day so we’ll be using the Lowdown as pregame show and update the score in hour two, Sports 1440. We’ll have Steve Lansky, Tyler Yaremchuk and Declan Krueger will have a brand new ‘Declanations’ for you during the show. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Summarizing!
Copponi extended his point streak to 11 with a assist.
Stonehouse was held off the scoresheet despite 4 SOG.
It did not appear that Mazura dressed for tonight’s match.
I didn’t see Paul Coffey on the bench this afternoon.
I said this a few days ago too but he will disappear into the woodwork soon enough. He isn’t committed to being a coach and all the demands that come with it.
He was there. Shown several times on tv.
I don’t watch many non Oiler games, no time
Apparently flowing as a defensive unit on PK is doable. In and out of pressure. Seems easy even
39-19-5 gets it done. Tall task for sure.
8 of next 9 @ home. Only road game is a puddle jump to the Winnipeg Airport 🙂
Safe to say gonna need 6 wins at a minimum in the next 9 games.
Glad to see they had a good game today.
That’s if Seattle goes 35-21-5.
If Seattle can’t manage that (they are 8-8-5 currently) then the Oilers task gets easier.
And I’m not seeing other teams below Seattle who look poised to go on a run (St. Louis in 7th isn’t a world beater either).
The Oilers need to perform, but playoffs are very achievable if they do.
I do envy your optimism.
https://youtu.be/NK3Jx2yvtVE?si=EbRQrs11R59oqT-3
Yeah, I just don’t think that very good teams (managers, coaches, players) turn into actual crap overnight.
So I still think it’s likely they return to being a very good team at some point.
If they do, things aren’t as bleak as some like to think.
Flames seem to have awakened.
6-2-2 in their last 10 after pounding Dallas tonight.
Right now I’d just be happy if they string another solid game together on Sunday.
A nice complete game. Happy for Skinner.
Looked like Washington took them lightly.
Time to string another 10 just like that to put the fear back in the league.
Agree with godot10’s assertion re: the Caps being a slow team that didn’t seem particularly interested in winning the game, which in a way diluted our win. Maybe they were misled into thinking that the Oilers would be a pushover looking at the standings. Credit to the good guys, they took advantage of Capital’s lethargy. The big question is, can our guys do it against faster, hungrier teams? Hopefully they win the next one against the Ducks but the real test will be the following game against the Knights. I think that one will be a testament game – win that one and we’ll be on our way…
Also I’ll eat crow for my post a couple of days ago re: McDavid being hurt and still playing just so that the Oilers don’t lose gate revenue. I thought today we saw the real Connor come out and play and we even got a bonus when he smiled after the powerplay goal while pointing to the bench. So, maybe the Captain is getting back his mojo and we wouldn’t have to despair that McLeod or Brown aren’t scoring…
Let’s build this shift by shift, period by period and game by game to the playoffs…
If they can’t keep it together against the Knights it’s not the end of the world
But you would think they’d mind they’re Ps and Qs
I like the idea of having Corey Perry and Pat Maroon together; making a veteran brace of goon hockey personalities in the dressing room.
I think those two would help the team immensely.
This might turn out to be the perfect season, provided they are able to mentally strengthen themselves to enter the playoffs loaded for bear instead of timidly hoping the other team won’t hurt them, etc.
“Colorado were too tough”
“Vegas we might have won but we didn’t”
etc
I agree, if they make the playoffs they will be stronger mentally for this than if things went more easily as planned
I know many of you are hoping for Ovi, but it warms the cockles for me that the boys kept him from getting closer to Wayne
And that they have an appallingly bad PP this go round
If he can score more goals then he deserves to score more goals.
If he fails to score more goals then he deserves to score less goals.
That is very clear logic
It’s just that I don’t want him to
These days there are too many teams for me to follow any of them. Back in the day with 21 teams it was pretty easy you just have 5 teams in each of 4 divisions and they were playing for the chance to lose to the Oilers.
Just 8 points out of a playoff spot, chasing Seattle.
Very doable
First shutout of the season. Feels nice to get a big win during a season so fraught with disaster.
We haven’t made it easy on ourselves to get back in the race, but luckily our competition has dragged the race back down to us. As of 4pm MST, the final wildcard is on pace for 82 points.
No team has made the playoffs from our standings and record position, but if any team during any season is primed to pull it off, it’s still us.
Funny how I’ve been parroting: “give the new regime 20 games” yet all it takes is one quick loss followed by the opposition winning even one game and everything will seem for nought lol
St.Louis 2019 was dead last in late December. They made the playoffs (barely) and then Won the Cup
McDavid and Drai both under 18 minutes tonight.
They lead the whole game, but nice to see
Happy Friday fans… that was fun. Our team looked “for real”, resembling the team we thought we were getting for game 1. I’m just going to be happy with the performance and expect this team to continue to play in this awakened state.
GO OILERS
Fool me once.
I get it.
I’m a wee bit superstitious and I criticized ownership last game.
Katz is an opportunist that likes the status of having a sports team. Uhh grrr!
Let’s go at home!
Good job all around. Looks like the coaches were able to get them to carry the 3rd period momentum over to this game. Boys kept their heads in it for 60. The Caps were hot even if not as good as their streak
Let’s hope this is this season’s turning point! Relax and play hockey!
They took a lot of risk out of their game today, as I’ve been beggin for, and came away with a Skinner shutout for their efforts. Didn’t go full track meet at 5v5 once they got up and let special teams take care of the game scraps.
Still some bozo thinking in the latter half of the game, and the three penalties, but nothing egregious.
That said, the Caps didn’t really compete for the game, looking like they gave a little too much Thanks yesterday. Second worst effort by an opponent, worst being Seattle in our first meeting.
So the question becomes, can they repeat it? We wait.
Bob now agreeing with me on the Caps not looking full value tonight.
Rob Brown just thinks the Caps are a crap team, lol. I was kind of assuming they were decent considering their record over the past month.
I normally don’t want easy win when there are still underlying issues, but in this case it’s probably the best thing to have a game like this. I doubt they will take it for granted, even if they keep losing some games
2 points count no matter what. Oilers won and they should have, given how Wash played.
So…goaltending! Am I right?
Oilers dominated the game from start to finish.
Skinner did make a couple fantastic saves, absolutely.
If one or two of those go in, maybe it changes the complexion of the game and isn’t a laugher but the Oilers were full value for that blowout – from the goalie out.
Charlie L. also made a couple 10-bell saves.
Matinee game, American Black Friday in their capital, Oilers on a losing streak, Caps having won 5 in a row…
Well, I’m impressed.
We worked our asses off for 60 mins and got the breaks, as a result.
Worm turning game.
Cohesive
Relentless
My kinda game.
Foor me once….
Looking at TSN game page, if they get the turnovers down and block a few more shots (get in lanes) that’s going to work against any team
Washington is slower than most NHL teams. Missing Backstrom. Rookie coach playing his first game against McDavid and the Oilers. Probably didn’t have time to study up on the handbook on how to beat the Oilers. Particulary with a slow start from which he has been slowly fixing problems, but with a still massive power play problem.
Absolutely. The Caps were hot but have a rep they lived up to
Still, a nice win, with bounces on the right side, can help the morale
If they don’t know that is what happened there is no hope, but I don’t think that
The Oilers now have two goalie on shutout streaks!
Guy went down like a peewee player. Wish refs would call embellishments, more. Weak call but Brown’s gotta know the refs are hunting for a call to make the game atleast look a little competitive.
Big PK now. Sell out for Skinner!!!
Bad penalty by Brown (damn, he just can’t get traction, although MUCH better today than the last two games).
Kill this for Stu!
That shift by McDavid was, well, i am without breath.
The Oilers show today why its always a choice to “do something else” or decide “I have better things to do” and McDavid is starting to make plays, on a nightly basis, that are just so special to see – what we are used to (and what he hadn’t been doing for 15 or so games – very often).
Holy mackerel. I think it’s safe to say that Connor is finally up to speed. That was amazing to watch!
If nothing else this game shows how critical the PP and PK are to the Oilers
I repeat: Vinny is having a very strong game!
It’s good to hear, The Caps are old and skating optional, and rough, so right up his alley
We’re getting all the breaks. Curse is done.
OV fires one past Skins but its called off
Do not fnck this scoreboard up for Skins.
What the…
Bob says Manny Legace working with Jack Campbell in Bfield. Cool.
Ya, Jim Matheson had that in a piece a couple of days ago.
How’s the guy who talked himself into losing a playoff series (go look at the interviews in ‘06) going to assist? I hope he’s learned from it big time.
Body of work, please
Tough crowd. It is not Schwartz. One would thing people would be happier.
Can we count it as a full 60-minute effort by looking back to the 3rd period of the Canes game plus the first 40 minutes today?
Game effects at the end of a 4 game road trip that began with three losses. And the Capitals are playing like they ate too much turkey.
Has Connor smiled yet?
2 or 3 more Oiler goals and I’ll really be able to relax.
Satisfying game. Now is the test. Keep pushing the pace regardless of the score. We’ve played a great 40 mins. I wanna see a great 60.
Lots of special teams work in the second, so no rythm at 5v5. KK needs to roll the lines for the 3rd to get the rythm back.
Would like to see a Connor Brown/Ryan McLeod goal…….
Charlie Lindren has made 2-3 10-bell saves and I don’t think has let in a “bad goal” and he’s given up 5……..
I like THIS team!
Be aware of the clock and the scoreboard here
This seems a lot easier when the top guys are scoring
Drai finishes off a flurry, top cheese, with Lindgren down ad out.
BOOM!!! Drai is back!!! Killer instinct!!!
Wide open net on the off-wing for Nuge – geez.
Drai cleans it up moments later by Nuge is SNAKEBITTEN!
Terrible pass decision by Kane but it leads to a PP on a terrible over the glass play.
Vinny was gassed. Could barely skate. I’d take a penalty over a goal. Now to pick up your teammate and kill this.
Vinny has had a strong game!
He’s playing within himself this game. Physical, good stick and he’s even skated with the puck a bit! lol I like his game when he doesn’t panic.
Washington is big and slower and mean. Vinny’s ideal opponent.
And just got dumber
Ugh, back to back PKs are tough.
Darnell Nurse is good at hockey!
We’re getting the bounces now!!! The curse is breaking!!!
Man they are playing hungry hockey. Loving it!