ORIENTATION CAMP ROSTER AND NOTES from July 2, 2015
- C Connor McDavid. Beatlemania—Oilers edition begins now. He honestly seems too good to be true, on and off the ice. It’s incredible, he’s as obsessed with hockey as we are! Fantastic luck, pure adrenalin.
- C Leon Draisaitl. One of the players (along with Yakupov) I worried over being traded this spring, Leon’s combination of size and skill remains unique on the roster. I think they’re going to have a helluva time keeping him down on the farm.
- D Darnell Nurse. Big, strong, mobile defenseman is a big part of the future. Even AFTER the additions I’m not certain they can keep him off the opening night roster if they decide things on merit.
I wrote those words in a post entitled “The Mother of all Orientation Camps” almost 10 years ago. Both Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse spent time with the Bakersfield Condors in 2015-16, but it was brief and the ‘heart of the order’ was revealed at that orientation camp. I went to the open practice with my daughter, we sat right down at the front at about center ice. As we sat down, someone skated past us in a blur. “Who’s that?” she said. My reply: “Must be McDavid.”
The Athletic article today sings the praises of Mattias Ekholm. He has been an impact player for the Oilers. It is here.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: NJD, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
- On the road to: VAN (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: NYI, NAS (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: TOR, MTL, OTT (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: MIN, NYR (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: UTA, COL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
- November results: 3-2-0, 6 points in 5 games
- Oilers in 2024-25: 9-7-1, 19 points in 17 games
Oilers have got it now, they are on a winning streak and the pistons are firing. I think this road trip could be coming at a good time, if Edmonton can post four points on the road trip November should be a success. Extrapolating the current results over a full season, we come up with 82 games, 43-33-6, 92 points. That isn’t a lock for the postseason, but there should be no panic trades this winter.
THE NUMBERS
The Oilers ran with 11 forward and basically three lines for the evening. The McDavid line rolled well, with good metrics and the captain is flying currently. I remain concerned about RNH. Some folks on twitter were implying he wasn’t going all out to make the required play on the first goal against, but for me the fact Nuge can’t do what we knows to do is a tell. He’s hurt or still recovering from last year. If I’m the coaching staff, some games off in the next while could help. There’s something amiss here. I’m not wrong.
Leon Draisaitl is playing out of this world hockey currently, winning battles with that big frame and then delivering gorgeous touch passes in the same moment. Power and the glory. Vasily Podkolzin had a couple of good looks, eventually he’ll need to cash or the Oilers will move on. Jeff Skinner had some moments too, I’m cheering like hell for him. Maybe a road trip hat trick will help him impress the coaching staff. Right now all Adam Henrique is doing is make Oilers fans miss Ryan McLeod. He should get on that.
Darnell Nurse had a wonderful game and I’m here for it. The target of all manner of verbal over these last months, he played a strong defensive game plus delivered one of the best offensive outings of his career. I’m so happy he did it in front of the home fans.
Calvin Pickard played well, even as some fans want him kicked to the curb. I don’t really understand that line of thinking, he could backstop this team to victories for years to come. We all get that, right? He’s 32, he could easily play at a high level for several years.
A quick final note on McDavid. One of the great things in life comes from the ability (and the opportunity) to enjoy things that are exceptional and unique. I can’t tell you about great art or opera, I love the symphony but have no great expertise in that area. I can say that the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock and roll band ever, that Crazy Horse touches your soul and your bones with those electric Neil Young guitar runs, that John Prine cornered melancholy and sadness in every line and that Connor McDavid is beyond the blue horizon as a hockey player. The great thing in life is knowing it as it happens. Being able to watch this player on home ice is a wonderful experience. I hope you get to see him live. It’s beautiful.
At noon today, we’ll kickstart the weekend with Oilers talk and more. Steve Lanksy from Inside the Truck podcast will break down the broadcast of McDavid’s 1,000th point and give his opinion on how well the broadcasters and producers did on the play. Tyler Yaremchuk will put the moment in historical perspective from a young person’s point of view. Declan Krueger’s Declanations hits at 12:40 and we’ll talk Grey Cup, NFL weekend and more. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio; Radioplayer Canada, we tweet out the show after it’s done and you can catch us on Apple and Spotify.
Lets not forget that Pickard comes with some pedigree. A 2nd round pick that was a legit starter for a bit and an “up and comer” – perhaps being on the worst team of the generation really hurt him?
At the same time, although he gets the job done, he “looks smaller” than 6’1 200+ he’s listed at and so many saves look awkward or lucky. Of course, “getting the job done” is really all that matters in the end.
I mentioned last night that I thought Podz was awesome last night.
I hope he starts to piss a few drops as I do think he really helps drive play in the right direction – his offensive zone battle and puck retrieval is AWESOME – add that being a smart 2-way player – I’d like him to stay on that line but eventually he’ll get moved if he continues at 15-20 point pace.
Skinner was all around it last night – keep working Jeff and they’ll come. I believe, like most 2nd tier goal scorers, he’s a streaky scorer.
Written by a wise man on November 10th! He could have written it again this morning.
Wonderful game from Nurse. And yes, watching Henrique is cringeworthy and does make us miss Ryan McLeod. Hopefully Arvi isn’t out much longer.
Is it possible that he had exceeded draft day expectations – I mean, his production is the best of all time, with a bullet, outside the 80s.
No cups yet and maybe one of those will be required to fully state he’s exceeded expectations as expectations included leading the team to a cup.
Talk about exceeding draft day expectations…..
I don’t recall those off-season trade talks – that would have been a pretty bad thing.
A part of the core.
I mentioned this off-season that one of the most important needs for this team to win the cup is a bounce-back from Nurse to historical norms and, well, he’s has very good season and the Nurse/Kulak pairing has been high end 2nd pairing in their apx 100 minutes.
Last night was 2021 Nurse.
Talking about Nuge going through something, how about the RW on that line.
Hyman has had a few moments other then that he’s invisible, he’s not playing near the same amount of special teams Nuge is. He’s stapled to the best player in the league, he has the same amount of points that folks favorite punching bag Janmark has who is 6 months younger playing 7 minutes less per night.
He’s on pace for 14 goals, 14 goals! Playing right wing to McDavid, and sometimes Draisaitl and McDavid together. And 14 goals is your pace!?
Pathetic.
I’d still rather Hyman playing with McDavid than Janmark. Both Nuge & Hyman must be playing through something. And both will push through it.
After Nurse scored on his terrific shot, I was sort of hoping for a Gordie Howe hat trick. But an overtime goal was also satisfying!
McDavid hitting 1000 is incredible. Without trying to be a jerk about it, I’m glad it’s over with because the team has obviously been thinking about it the last few games.
That being said, the overall energy has been much, much better, but this remains a team of 2 lines (if that) and 3 defencemen, 4 I guess we’ll include Kulak, though I have my doubts about Nurse-Kulak as a long-term pairing given the handedness.
Not sold on Emberson yet though he’s not terrible. No offence to Stetcher and Dermott but they aren’t the answer.
And sorry LT, I’m super happy for Pickard having a bit of a renaissance here, but the defence did very well to limit chances last night and he should have had at least one of the goals.
I don’t have a problem with employing tandem goaltending, but it’s a lot more palatable when it’s Ullmark/Swayman or Sorokin/Varlamov than Skinner/Pickard.
I really think Knoblauch came in and hit the perfect storm in terms of the team being ready to go on a long run, got buy-in from everybody from the top to the bottom of the roster, and in the playoffs, probably got maximum performance from most of the roster.
Now we’re seeing the comedown.
“I guess we’ll include Kulak”
Nah some of us having been including Kulak the entire time, welcome to the bus.
“now we’re seeing the comedown”
3 game win streak, 3 points out of 1st in the division. What?
I am thinking long term. I have lots of time for Kulak, he’s done everything right. I’m just not convinced he is the long-term answer on the 2nd pair.
Kulak’s contract will be up after next season. He’ll be UFA. Do you think they will be able to afford his services?
I wish we could hire whoever we are going to play as our starting goalie. Those guys keep standing on their heads.
I imagine if you don’t get hyped up to play McDavid as a goalie you’re in the wrong business.
The switcheroo.
I haven’t felt that overall. With such a low SH% it makes them all look like Tretiak. Nurse had no issue beating Wedgie from a pretty sharp angle with a high quick hard shot. They just usually don’t do that
RE Nurse
In defence of the fanbase, players know the expectations they’ll be facing when they choose to sign a massive contract.
Nurse wanted the big money so he gets the big pressure. You can’t have one without the other.
Nurse played the hands dealt him. Twice Edmonton general managers chose not to buy unrestricted seasons while have restricted seasons to ease the AAV. Peter Chiarelli and Ken Holland authored this contract through their own actions. Nurse bet on himself, and won. I think that’s worthy of respect.
Fully agree. You absolutely can’t fault the player for how he and his team managed his negotiations. He’s maximized the money he’ll earn from his career. That’s the objective of any pro athlete. Any one of us would sign that deal in a heartbeat and live with the consequences. All I’m saying is there are consequences that come with heightening expectations.
Exactly. If you ask for $9M you are going to held to $9M standards, at rightfully so. How he and the team got their is irrelevant to that.
Going to be a tough one on Saturday. Flying out east and losing the two hours after playing two extra time games (should have won both in regulation).
I think they like to go into OT for the fun of it.
Skinner will be well rested.
Memorable night in Oilerville. Meaningful EV goal on a beauty feed from Leon. Couldn’t ask for a better scenario for 1000.
At this age, I have much more in common with Connor’s Dad than Connor so I really enjoyed his reactions and interview with Gene. Always comes across as a smart and fundamentally decent man. He’s living the Hockey Dad dream.
I’m happy for the kids of Edmonton. Their hockey hero does not have feet of clay. He’s a good honest Canadian kid who loves the game and loves his family. You can’t ask for more than that. Well, a set of rocket skates under the Christmas tree would be nice, but we reserve those for the all time greats.
#Legend
Since there are a lot of era comparisons happening, I wanted to look at the “McDavid Era” of 2014 – present.
The next closest player in the time McDavid has racked up his 1001 points is Kucherov with 879. Players ranked #2-16 in points have all played more games than McDavid. Kucherov at 1.28 and Kirill Kaprisov at 1.22 (360 in 294 games) are the only players in the last decade to crack 1.2 points per game. McDavid is at 1.52.
It’s not quite Gretzky level of separation from the pack, but it’s pretty damn significant.
You forgot about Drai…
872pts, 1.18ppg. 4 less games than Kuch and two years younger. But I’m splitting hairs here. they are all fantastic players.
Connor will have some crazy T-shirt for the boys when Leon scores his 1000th.
It will be fascinating to see how Nate MacKinnon finishes up his career.
Currently at 1.15 PPG despite having a relatively slow start to his career.
Barring injury, he should break 1000 points this season (932 right now) while on a 157 point pace which is rather remarkable considering Colorado has had 4 top 6 forwards out of the lineup.
Lehkonen returned a few games ago while Nichushkin, Drouin and Miles Wood all expected to be back in the lineup tonight against Washington.
Still no timeline on Landeskog.
That’s nice
The experimentation on the d-pairings should be at an end. 1st pairing is set.
The Kulak – Nurse numbers are good (or better) each time they are out together. Kulak’s speed should allow Nurse to push for offense, which we saw last night.
Emberson looks better each game though still some positioning issues to work on. Run Stecher – Emberson as the 3rd pair.
No, they need a better partner for Emberson. Dermott & Stecher need to be #7 & #8. Simply so they can play Nurse & Kulak regularly.
And a LHD should be easier to get than a right handed D. Need to clone Kukak
Or a reasonable facsimile.
Agree 100% He’s getting more and more confident. He is raw but has the tools to be a 4 for this team eventually. If they could pluck a Marcus Petterson from Pittsburg and play him with Emberson. Then leave Kulak with Nurse full-time and my golly we got some balance on the back end. Solved without selling too much future assets!? Wow, would that be nice.
LT was all over the Kulak-Nurse being the answer and now I’m a believer.
Emberson needs a steady partner to play with regularly.
Nurse had a great game. Sometimes he pulls one of these out of the hat and makes you hope for more.
Kulak is a really good defenseman. Maybe the goal should be to get another Kulak and let nurse Kukak do their thing. Not ideal but I don’t see any RHD that is available that I would be happy with
Skinner had a lot of chances but he’s just so bad defensively. Hope he starts scoring soon because he’s running away with the green jacket.
I know we got Henrique for less than market value but his value is plummeting quickly because of his skating.
Love Podkolzins game but I don’t think he scores all season. Which is a problem
its early but looking like keeping the existing roster and not signing Skinner Arvidsson Henrique was the right play
Podz may be the new 2018-2019 Tobias Rieder. Hope not but arrows are pointing that way.
I agree on Skinner and Henrique but think Arvidsson has shown some flashs of a useful player. Concerned about Nuge’s play and hope he is playing through some type of injury or playoff malaise as suggested by LT. Also think Ryan is almost done and almost time for Philp to return and stay. Podz is snakebit or just has stone hands but we need his physicality at least until Kane returns. The D is what it is and probably tweaked at trade deadline. Thankfully we have two lead horses who are capable of driving the wagon even if a few aren’t pulling their load!
I like Arvidsson. That’s the one person I like signing. But I was trying to avoid OP pointing out every time Arvidsson makes a mistake
Everyone makes mistakes….even OP.
A thrill to watch that on tv last night. I could tell the barn was buzzing right from the opening horn. McDavid had the bit in his teeth right off too. What a thrilling player to get to see do his thing in real time.
Prospectulent!
Another Full House Friday beckons.
After Day’s impressive October, the gales of November have come for him, especially in the past three games where he’s put up a 7.78 GAA and 74.6 SV%. His season GAA is now over 3 and SV% under 90.
On the flip side, Nicholl’s 4-point outburst last time out has him at 6-13-19 in 17 GP. Looking like a smart pick early on.
Everyone plays at 5 p.m. Rocky Mountain House time ‘cept for Berry at 6.
What a game for these guys. Couldn’t think of two guys more deserving of the assist than Drai and nurse
As Oiler fans, we are one of two teams since the merger to not only have the great fortune to have one generational player, but two
I am glad younger Oiler fans get to experience it as well, and older fans again. Hopefully with some Cups as well
What an awesome time to be a fan. Watching Connor and Leon right now is worth it. And Nurse looking good is a big positive. But not sure what more people expect of Pickard, as far as backups go he has consistently done his job. Lay off yah jackasses.
I disagree, Pickard just does his job. IMO Skinner needs a backup that will push him for ice time, maybe even take the crease away from him if he isn’t performing as a #1 goaltender should. He doesn’t make Skinner better.
My concern with Pick is if he had to take the net. His numbers are fine, but my take is he wouldn’t hold up doing other than a couple of games. It’s why he never established in the NHL. 10-20 in a stretch I don’t see it because of things like the breakaway goal that he didn’t play well
Yes the chances of giving one up are high, it’s the how I’m thinking about. He didn’t play it well. They would be in big trouble if Stu got hurt for any length of time because they have no one else in the system that can step in with any degree if certainty. Rod may be genius, but more likely unplayable, like Delia
Couldn’t agree more. A lot of nights they seem to be in trouble with Skinner in goal.
But the salary structure doesn’t allot enough for goaltending.
Watching history made in real time is a drug. There are few absolutes in this world. My grandfather told me there was only two. But I know there’s three; Death, Taxes and McDavid.
“His only goal is to win a Stanley Cup HERE IN EDMONTON.” – McDavid’s dad, last night
You know what? I’m going to plan to do that, this year or next. I said I was going to get to Foxboro before Brady was no longer a Patriot, and sadly I never did. Can’t make the same mistake twice.
You have to. He is so much better in person, if that is possible. You get to see all the amazing plays off the puck he makes. He IS good at defense. What people forget is that the other team are also trying hard and they’re not rolling their 4th lines against him. This is still the best league in the world and every team’s top line can be difference makers against any other team.
But go. You will never regret it.
It is a very good thing that Leon doesn’t seem to give a damn about getting credit.
He’s been the one driving the bus this year and continues to do so, but doesn’t get rattled with barely anyone seeming to notice and acknowledge.
Very glad #29 is who he is.
He’s leveled up his defence, his only area of weakness, and nobody is talking about it.
If Nurse can maintain his level of play over the last 6-8 games people will stop talking about his contract.
He has been quite good for the last while. Happy for the player and team. Nurse playing like at a high level solves a lot of problems in this team.
I am glad Nurse is playing better and looks happy. Confidence and feeling good are key to performance
He had a great offensive game. Still, according to LT’s numbers his shot share was 8-11. Given how the Oilers dominated play, there is still a ways to go, but at least it seems in the right direction
Relative to his deployment, his numbers were great.
Since October 31, he is 6-1 in GF/GA, 50.54% CF, and 55.45% xGF. Pretty good IMO. Especially since he barely plays with McD and he has a rotating cast of misfits as his partner.