I was a fan of the Minnesota Wild from the moment I saw the logo. As a Montreal Expos fan, I love love love logos that have multiple, layered meanings. The Wild logo is, well, Wild! The team has had an interesting history (Marian Gaborik was a perfect early pick and he would eventually win Stanley with LAK) but the Jacques Lemaire years were a grind.
The Wild are interesting again, with GM Bill Guerin emerging as an astute judge of talent and Kirill Kaprizov delivering at a unique level offensively. Minnesota will eventually win a Stanley Cup, fans already earned one with their devotion to the North Stars (I also loved their logo and colours) but I don’t think it’ll be this year.
The Athletic article today is about a perfect fit for Edmonton at the deadline. It is here.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN JANUARY
- At home to: ANA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: SEA, BOS, PIT, CHI (Expected 2-1-1) (Actual 3-1-0)
- At home to: LAK (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: MIN, COL, VAN (Expected 1-1-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: WAS, VAN, BUF, SEA, DET (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected results: 8-4-2, 18 points in 14 games
- January result: 5-1-0
- Oilers in 2024-25: 27-13-3, 57 points in 43 games
Edmonton is on pace to deliver 109 points and are in contention to win a division title for the first time since 1987. I think that kind of accomplishment, like making it to G7 of the SCF, is important. A team improves over time on the way to Stanley and collects new plateaus along the way. Before the Oilers won the SC in 1984, the team lost in the 1983 Final, the team won the Smythe in 1982, 1983 and 1984. It’s a marker, it’s higher ground.
NOAH PHILP
The Oilers have been slow-playing Philp for some time now, saying he needs to adjust and make sure he’s all the way ready. That’s fine, but the NHL team has been in need of a RH No. 4 center with speed for a few weeks now, so I’m going to call this recall overdue. Need to give the man a full chance here. I always want to see the AHL numbers, and here they are.
- 2022-23: 70, 19-18-37 (.529 points-game)
- 2024-25: 28, 9-8-17 (.61 points-game)
So he’s progressed, and this year’s team is having the damndest time scoring so Philp’s improvement is probably more pronounced than these numbers imply. Let’s look at the EV strength scoring:
- 2022-23: 47-39 (55 pct) Condors 113-113 (50 pct) with Philp OFF ice
- 2024-25: 22-18 (55 pct) Condors 48-56 (46 pct) with Philp OFF ice
Philp’s performance this year is even more impressive considering the difficulty Bakersfield is having in goal scoring overall. He’s ready, he could be the solution on No. 4 center and the Oilers need to give him a full chance. Starting now.
A busy day on the Lowdown, Sports 1440 starting at noon. We’ll have Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal to discuss Edmonton’s impressive January, the Noah Philp recall and we’ll probably ramble on a little about old timey things. Declam Krueger’s Declanations will feature Dunkin’ with Declan and we will have plenty of chatter about Oilers, MLB Sasaki signing and NFL. 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, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
Agree 100% that Philp should be up with the Oilers. The time to get a look at him for an extended period of time is upcoming. Starting Jan 23rd, the Oilers play 4 games at home vs non-playoff teams (VAN, BUF, SEA and DET). These games should allow KK to play him around 10 5v5 minutes a night, which should be enough to make the evaluation.
NP got 48 seconds of PK time during his earlier 3-game call up where he was not on the ice for a goal against. In around 30 minutes total time he is 1-0 for goals. I know that +/- is not a fancy stat, however if the 4th line is 50% or better pretty good chance that the Oilers win the game.
Faceoffs: NP was 48.1% on his 100% dzone faceoffs in the NHL. Better than Janmark, but way worse than Ryan.
The Oilers have the perfect player/coach in Ryan to help maximize NP in the NHL. Cheering hard for one Golden Bear to hand off 4th line center duties to another Golden Bear.
Picks starts tonight.
2 Mutts suggesting Oilers are front runner for Klingberg (and that he would play with Nurse and some PP time) – they are really pushing it in their tweet with him being a legit 2RD.
Gross
You are too quick to make harsh judgement.
I think it’s an ok move – it would be low risk. If he can’t perform, he’s sent to the minors and any other team can take a shot at him. Or – he’s depth for the playoffs. At best, his health problems are behind him and he can take on 2RD on this team at a value contract, and allow the team to search for a forward at the deadline versus a d man.
Ekholm not on ice this morning and, judging by the pairings (Kulak with Bouch), it looks like he won’t play tonight.
Game time decision.
Philp needs to make a statement and prove he’s a clear step up for 4C, otherwise Bowman needs to find one and look at Philp in the fall.
I’d like Bowman and crew to identify the best RHD they can bring in and make it happen. The spare parts they’re using to get the team to the deadline have done well but I don’t want to see the team go into the playoffs relying on them to make significant contributions night in and night out.
Bring in the best RHD and not take for granted another season, supply the fellas the troops!
4-1 Oilers, pile on the pain in Minnesota.
From your Athletic piece, it looks like you and Jason Strudwick are drinking the same Koolaid, LT.
“For Bowman, the expectation is that his current search must result in a strong solution. If [the player you’ve identified] is the best available option, he should take the heat and keep his powder dry.”
I’m with you on the dry powder. This team and this coaching staff are doing interesting and effective things w the D-corps. So far the results (shot suppression, lower GA) look good. The mantra has been, “Need-a-D.” Maybe that’s largely been solved in-house. Unless, of course, your Mr. X becomes available. But at what cost?
Good tilt b/w the Flames and Blues last night. That will be a good battle for 2nd wild card spot, and hopefully the Oil will go up against one of those 2 teams.
That would require landing 1st in the conference, Oil win the division looks like they’re dueling the 4th team from the western central.
That would be nice for a change.
Interesting, I don’t see Brown getting sent down in a corresponding move.
I guess we’re not trying to accrue cap space anymore?
I’m excited for Philp; I did like the idea of playing 7D to reduce ice time for the D and keep them fresher through a long season.
I guess everyone but 14 will get a break in 4 weeks anyways.
Re: The Athletic article/Rasmus Andersson.
Love the player and think it would be a great fit. Acquisition cost will be steep (not even factoring in the Flames reluctance to deal with Edmonton). If we were in year 3 or 4 of Bowman’s tenure, I think he’d be more likely to meet the asking price even if its an overpay, given its his first year (and this offseason will be his first real opportunity to build a roster), I don’t think it’s likely there will be an all-in move at the deadline where EDM gives up some combination of Savoie/O’Reilly/2026 1st.
My personal hope is that the Oilers buy low on a few “young player, needs a change of scenery” types and one or more of them break out and give the team controllable value contract over the next few years.
Unlike Treliving Conroy is not doing business with the Oilers unless it’s a gross overpayment. I see Bowman making a move for a D-man not only as a rental but also allows them a value contract either on his excising or future contract.
Is the Wild’s logo a bear or a wolf? Or is that the point?
Bear.
Minnesota Wild Logo, symbol, meaning, history, PNG, brand
wc1795003.png (1024×620)
Got a feeling the Oilers are going to end up with Klingberg .
If they do , it will free up assets for beefing up the bottom 6 with some grit, Or a really good Cman for the 3rd line.
Will they add a goalie?
But getting Klingberg ( whether you like him or not). Will give them a lot more options for sure
Whatever happens, do NOT give him a NMC, and get him for a completely buriable salary. And do it sooner rather than later, so that we can see what he could be.
They can still get an additional large Physical type of defenseman at the trade deadline. Klingberg will still need to prove himself. I can’t see them giving him anything more than an NHL minimum two-way contract.
Much has been discussed regarding the acquisition of a RD at the deadline. Recently LT has mentioned playing time for Kulak on the 2nd pair. I wonder if there’s a place for the Rangers 27 year old LD Ryan Lindgren in our lineup with his $4.5 cap. Could he be a replacement for Kulak as early as next year? The coach could play either with Nurse this year. is this mashing a square peg into a square hole?
I looked at him, he is having a rough season. I don’t watch the NYR much so can’t say if it’s injury, deployment, luck or performance, but before this season he was quality.
I don’t watch them either. I believe I read he had missed 3 of 37 playoff games and a few this year. I suspect since the Trouba trade he’s been playing over his head on the 1st pair with Adam Fox.
https://puckiq.com/players/8479324
Way, way back in the day I remember you ending a post along the lines of “The Minnesota Wild are going to win a Stanley Cup under Jacques Lemaire. Does anybody doubt this?”
And I think it stuck with me due to two reasons:
1: I very much doubted it. The Wild were competing with teams playing a similar style but with far more talent. Religious devotion to a defensive structure is all well and good, but it’s hard to win when the other team was doing the same thing but had future Hall of Famers on their roster.
2: At the time it seemed that dreadful, clog the neutral zone, clutch and grab hockey was something from which the sport would never escape from. Many here are too young to remember the pain of being a fan in the dead puck era. Watching the Oilers in a series against Dallas when Jim Houston wax ecstatic about penalties uncalled. “Great play by Brian Skrudland there, he had a hold of Weight’s jersey all through the neutral zone but was smart enough not to directly impact a scoring chance…”
It was awful.
That being said, one the Oilers win three more Cups I may tolerate fans in Minnesota or Manitoba celebrating a long-awaiting championship.
What Oilers’ management has done this year has been really impressive.
This season is unique in Oilers’ history. There has never been a season in the salary cap era where the Oilers have been trying to contend while holding back cap space for the trade deadline. Emberson, Podkolzin, Kapanen, Perry, Stetcher have all been very cheap and effective pieces to round out the roster. It was a big gamble to start the season with this patchwork blueline, and to stick with it instead of pushing the panic button when things started badly. What’s more, the ship has been righted without running McDavid and Draisaitl into the ground.
It’s probably safe to say this team will be firmly in contention for the Pacific division title and the President’s Trophy at the trade deadline. On top of that, they should be able to add a substantial defenceman, a depth piece (physical bottom 6 winger or 6/7 defenceman) and probably get Evander Kane back for the playoffs. It’ll be crucial and very hard to get that trade deadline right with limited assets, but there’s a very good chance we could be looking at the best Oilers team in decades come May.
Jackson and Bowman have already exceeded my expectations and come what may in the summer, I think there’s a very interesting story to tell.
From perusing the current NHL standings – Oilers are in a 3 way tie for 5th place. Overall.
As they seem to be losing only about every 4th or 5th game lately, I reckon they are going to be 1st overall sometime in the next month or so.
No Kaprizov, Faber is banged up and may or may not play, Spurgeon out. Hope the Oil take full advantage.
I don’t share your optimism for the Wild. Unfortunately for them I’m not convinced Kaprizov will stay despite him probably getting an offer for highest contract in the league
Kaprizov getting an outrageous contract offer after being injured? Sounds like MSG diligently at work.
I do enjoy Kaprisov and I’d rather see him stay with the Wild than land on one of the large coastal US teams…
From their morning skate, accounts are both look to be out but nothing official.
Excited to see Philp in the lineup tonight – when he got his three games, the team was not as good, engaged and/or committed as they are today.
Philp can help on the PK but I suspect that he only gets PK work if a PK forward is in the box – that’s OK, one thing at a time.
While I think the call-up has been imminent for 2-3 weeks now, I wouldn’t necessarily agree that he was slow-played. He started the season great in Bako but has a fairly lengthy mid-first half slump after he returned. I’m not talking about his offence but some defensive mistakes that creeped their way in to his game and with some consistency – even the coach mentioned in on Edmonton radio.
With that said, he’s corrected and reverted to his prime AHL game and he’s ready for a real shot, in my opinion.
I would agree if the Ryan drop off hadn’t been so extraordinary. The Oil were bleeding goals/chances so the priority should have been to fill the hole ASAP.
As we discussed in the past, some AHL players do better in the NHL given the level of structure and support around them. I hope Philip fits that mold.
I put that slump in Bake down to two main factors:
1) Getting his sea legs back under him after being out for a year. He went HARD in camp/preseason after not playing competitive hockey in a long time. It could only be expected that once the season started he’d need a bit to get used to the grind.
2) Bake had that period where they were missing some major supporting cast forwards through injury and/or call up to the Oilers.
From my Bake viewing he’s definitely progressed, and is definitely ready for another look in the NHL. Man I’m happy that he’s with the org, I loved watching him play for the Golden Bears. If he’s the natural successor for Ryan then even better.
I don’t disagree with either of those. They are both good points and I would suggest, at least the former, lead wine credence to the suggestion that the AHL was the right place for most of the early season.
He was 3-3-6 in 10 games with 25 shots and was once again ahead of the pack in outscoring even strength. The Oilers compromised the Henrique line, going pretzel logic in keeping him down. Stan Bowman owes it to the team to ice th best roster available. Hockey is cruel. Philp’s time is now. Framing issues is something the Oilers do. Same as it ever was.
Hoping that Philip is up until at least the trade deadline, even if he’s in the PB occasionally. The team really should see what they have in him to see if acquiring a bottom-6 C is necessary before the deadline or if they can rely on some combination of Philip/Ryan/Janmark as the 4C (I think they can)
One can only hope he’s here to stay.
My theory: Derek Ryan has played 33 games in 24-25. When he gets to 41 his equipment will get itchy, and Noah Philp will get recalled.
Philp has been recalled
Is 41 (regular season) the magic number to get your name on the cup? I’ve been looking for this confirmation.
This is the best resource I’ve found:
https://hockeyanswered.com/how-do-you-qualify-to-get-your-name-on-the-stanley-cup/
41 games in reg season OR 1 game in SC Finals.
Teams can petition the league to have someone added if they fall outside those criteria.
Yes, or at least one game in the SCF.
Teams can also petition the league for an exception and, I would think, a long term meme bet of the team, respected vet around the league at the end of his career with no cups, who did play over 30 games, would be at the top of the exemption approval list.
Ryan losing that faceoff so cleanly on his strong side against Chicago with around 8 seconds and the Hawk net empty signalled to me that his only value moving forward is as a injury replacement. It’s time for Philip to get a legit chance why waste assets at the trade deadline when we have the perfect 4-C in our pantry already. I do think if Philip was playing better earlier on the farm he would of been called up sooner. Remember this is Bowman team now the Hawks always instilled younger farm workers when necessary even while they were winning Cups.