The Edmonton Oilers, in my opinion, reached a new plateau during the last several weeks. I have no idea if the club can sustain it, but it’s clear as day this group believes in themselves in a way we haven’t seen in many years. The bitter loss in G7 last spring SCF has produced the kind of team Chris Pronger agitated his teammates to become back in 2006. A determined, skilled, smart, diligent, aggressive unit. It is something to behold.
Kris Knoblauch appears to be cooking up one of his more effective lineup tweaks. No surprise Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is the key to the ploy. Here’s the story.
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 2-0-0)
- 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: 7-1-0
- Oilers in 2024-25: 29-13-3, 61 points in 45 games
This month has been a dream for Oilers fans. It’s possible the club is running in to a hornet’s nest tonight, the Canucks are not a happy crew, but there are times when desperation wins the day. It’s also possible this Oilers team sends the Canucks to the moon tonight. Rick Tocchet has had a mittful of misery at the hands of the Oilers over his career, this could be an interesting night.
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
A helluva lot of Oilers fans are jumping to conclusions on the John Klingberg signing. Here’s what we know. The Oilers had to pay a little more than hoped (one assumes there were competitive offers beyond Edmonton’s) and that’s an interesting wrinkle. Stan Bowman has carefully worked around the edges of the roster previous to this move; I thought this would be the same. The impact on the cap isn’t massive, but it is dear if the deadline means a big trade.
We also know that Klingberg has not performed well in recent years, and peak Johnny was several years ago. Injuries can derail a career, and I believe it’s safe to say Klingberg hasn’t been right for a long time. He may never be right again. However, we don’t know what we don’t know. Bowman acquired a player who he is uncertain of, and that’s no sin because Klingberg isn’t certain either. We know this because of the price of the contract. He’s looking for a chance to show what he can do, and that could be a little or a lot. There’s time before the deadline to take him for a test drive, and this is mountains better than giving up real assets for a long-term Rasmus Ristolainen.
I think some folks are jumping to conclusions here. Not every move the Oilers make is worth hitting the panic button, and when you get outraged at everything the impact of your opinion is reduced when something horrawful does come along.
Bottom line: This could be a home run. It could also be another Anton Burdasov and that’s a fact. We would know it to be true if we could just remember Anton Burdasov! Getting all het up over this signing is not worth your time. See how it plays out.
A STORY
Let me tell you a story. Many years ago, when I was maybe 8 and my brother 12, the two of us collected bottles that had been thrown out of cars along the roads by our house. This is 17 miles north of Maidstone on the way to Turtleford. We had a pile of them, and my Dad said we could take them to the bottle depot in Lloyd on the Saturday he went grocery shopping. So we loaded up the back of the red GMC three-quarter ton truck with our boxes of bottles and his the road (Mom was there, probably trying to get Ira to refrain from chewing tobacco during the trip).
We arrived at the bottle depot, and knew to the absolute penny how much they were worth. However, for some reason, Pop Shoppe bottles were worth less and I don’t think they counted right. The amount of cash delivered to Dad’s hand was far short of the amount expected. Who knows, maybe we counted wrong (we didn’t count wrong). We walk back to the truck, and I’m crying, my brother is upset and Mom was probably trying to hide the Copenhagen container. So, there we were, sad and miserable.
Except. Except my Dad asked my brother how much it was supposed to be, reached into his wallet and made it right. My Dad was NOT the kind of man to feel sorry for you, he grew up in humble Saskatchewan and was 18 years old when the dirty 30’s hit. He had a tough life, he didn’t throw money around and we weren’t rich. On that day, he did help his boys because he knew something wasn’t right, and decided to correct it. I loved my Dad, and I love that day all the way to this one. He gave me hockey, baseball and a life experience with a foundation of love and kindness. That’s everything.
VIKTOR ARVIDSSON
I damn well knew something was up re: Arvidsson the other night. Buddy doesn’t play the last few shifts, nothing after the game and then quiet word that it isn’t deemed serious. You do you, but for me the Oilers verbal about injuries isn’t really worth much. Due respect to the organization, these day-to-day injuries have become week-to-week or more too often for me to believe them. I get it. Why tell the opposition how badly hurt an individual is, and why make the fan base fret? However, the remnant of this behaviour is a lack of trust. I don’t trust that Arvidsson is okay, even if he is fine and will play tonight. Now, the Oilers don’t (rightly) care what I think of their practices, but for me this is worth calling out. Don’t trust the Oilers when they talk about injuries folks. What is said may or may not be true. Get well, Mr. Arvidsson, you are a helluva player.
I just got back from Canmore Golf and Curling club. We had a fun day, lots local businesses, friends and neighbours. I played road hockey, got my picture with the Stanley Cup and enjoyed a Junior B hockey game.
Now I have the fireplace going, a cold beer from the Canmore Brewing Company and my dog (Ziggy’s twin) back at the condo. I will head back to watch the Oiler game later tonight.
if there are Lowetiders here I will buy the first round.
I can’t remember the last time where the Oilers were comfortably in a playoff position and could afford to experiment so much with new lines or new players in the middle of the season.
Last year they had such a horrendous start they were playing catch up most of the season and then were chasing first in the division.
Years before that they almost seemed to depend on McDavid/Drai to outscore other teams and were desperately trying to find wingers for them to help spread out the scoring, always fearful that they would drop out of a playoff spot, especially if either of them got injured.
This is a bizarre feeling.
Listened to Farhan Lalji on overdrive (available on TSN: “Lalji: I think if Canucks had their choice, they’d move J.T. Miller”).
If you like the dramatic, it’s worth a listen. Lalji manages to insult the brittle character of Canucks players, while taking swipes at the “softball” younger media of Vancouver. Pumping himself up as the one of a select few who knows how to ask tough questions. Taking shots at Miller and Pettersson. It’s a doozy. I should have made popcorn first
Miller has a history. A few weeks ago I found a post which listed out all the issues Miller has had with coaches, management, teammates and the issues they had with Miller. I tried posting it but it had so many reference links it got caught up in moderation.
I’m sure Pettersson has some blame on his side of things for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Miller and Pettersson are seperated that we never hear of Pettersson being problematic publicly again. Miller on the other hand…
There’s being fiery and competitive and then there’s lacking self control and taking it too far
In one case it has caused previous trades. It’s a no brainer in choice because age, but there’s the good old team and league damaging NMC in play. Not a fan, as a fan, of those things. Nobody should be granted total immunity regardless of performance or disruptiveness, especially as money is guaranteed
Every team in Canada has their equivalent of Spector.
I’m sorry I just don’t see why this signing was made. I don’t hate it but I am
trying to articulate why it is not great:
– if it is handcuffing our ability to accrue more cap space, then we aren’t getting him for “free.” There is a cost to not being able to get a deadline player with a higher AAV contract. I don’t know what that cost is, hopefully the team has considered it.
-he was never good defensively, and his added offence has not been able to outscore the defensive deficiencies for nearly a decade. Granted, he was higher in the batting order, so that should be considered
-relying on name recognition rather than evaluating other players available on waivers. Using that to offer above replacement cost. Just because other teams were doing it, doesn’t mean we had to do it or that it was wise
-the timing is odd with the deadline fast approaching when there will be more D available with annual market costs yet unknown. A patient team would wait to evaluate all of this, whereas this type of acquisition is one a team makes when they are in a more desperate place.
He’s an Oiler now and I’ll be rooting for him so long as he’s not leaking goals and chances. I think this is riverboat gambling. I am also well aware that my biases extend to Kane, whom I believe is more capable of coming back from similar injury given that his pre-injury level was more well established
I don’t think this decision was made in the same vacuum of information that we all live in.
They’ve probably watched his workouts, and have a much better idea than we do whether he’s regained his skating speed and agility.
He was a premier offensive RHD for a long time in the NHL … Coffey must feel that he can coach him back to something approximating that level in the 40 something games that remains.
They don’t need him to regain his form on game 45. They need him to be ready by the playoffs. He’ll get some time off during the 4 Nations to work on his game and brush off the rust. They’ve got Stecher and Brown to fill until he’s ready.
He needs to get back to game speed, and he needs to learn the Oiler’s system. This is going to take some time … but there is enough time until the trade deadline to figure out if it’s going to work … and if it does, it’s an absolute heist in much the same way that getting Kane was.
If it doesn’t work, then bury him, move Kulak to 2RHD full time, and go get yourself a Provorov or Ferraro. I doubt there will be a RHD worth pursuing at the deadline, and there are no “Ekholms” out there either.
If it does work, then you can spend the assets on shooting for the moon at forward.
While his results were very poor and declining his last 3 seasons in Dallas, his time in Anaheim (worst team in the league that season) and his brief stint with Toronto while dealing with his hip issues, he also had a decent short stint with Minnesota in 2023 when Anaheim traded him there at the deadline which was about 6 months before his surgery (and time with the Leafs).
But it is an overstatement to suggest he has never been good defensively. Just the two seasons before his game starting to decline in Dallas, 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, he had the 6th lowest 5 on 5 on ice GA/60 among all regular NHL defenseman at 1.78 with a goal share of almost 58%. While a player doesn’t own 100% of his on ice results, he was clearly doing something right in his own end. He was never a shut down guy, but he wasn’t a liability in his own end either. His 5 on 5 GA/60 slipped in 2019/2020 to 2.38 then 2.48 in 21/22 but didn’t get really bad till 21/22 when it jumped to 3.08 ga/60.
Another way to look at it is that this is them spending the potentially accumulated cap now, because opportunity, and they still have the LTIR pool. It’s a gamble, but it didn’t cost assets If they were thinking they needed a puck mover they got one. Most aren’t great defensively or they would be very expensive and probably not on the market
We like to wax poetic about the 2006 pronger team. Most of us probably feel like we were robbed in the finals. But if you only look at the regular season, they were a mediocre team even with the absolute beast known as Pronger.
An absolutely stunning playoffs led several players to over pays on their next contract in my opinion. (Have not looked at the math, and am basing it purely on memories of events nearly 20 years ago).
If memory serves Horc and Pisani signed huge contracts that summer?
This team? This team is not in anyway some version of the 06 team. This team is far far beyond that 06 team. 06 was so exciting because we were such underdogs.
I’ve never seen anything like this current team in Edmonton. (Born in the 80s, but certainly don’t remember them much).
No they weren’t. They were a very good team with mediocre goaltending till Dwayne roloed into town.
They didn’t have the top end offensive stars at forward of the 80s and 20s teams, but they could shut down any team at EVs, as long as the netminding held.
They were very much like the Oilers started this season. They outshot and outplayed most teams on most nights, and their goalies were often 2nd best, until Roli arrived. It is true that some players (Peca) peaked at the right time. Samsonov was a great pick up. As LT has outlined here, they had a ton of value contracts, including Pronger’s
The Athletic panel with their predictions for the rest of the season.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6065688/2025/01/18/nhl-stanley-cup-predictions-playoff-standings/
Most interesting to me is they have 4 Western Conference teams as favourites to win the cup.
LT would you ever consider an autobiography, or compiling and curating the many stories from your youth into a book? I’d read that all day!
That was another beautiful little gem today, thanks for sharing it.
That’s very kind, but I don’t think my story is special and my stories are universal. I don’t think anyone would buy it! 🙂
Of course your stories are special. The fact that they are universal in some sensw is why poeple connect with them, and maybe what makes them special. The problem isnt that your stories are not special, its that there aren’t enough people who know that they are special for you to make a bunch of money off of it.
J.D. Salinger might disagree with you.
You’ve already written it, basically. Assuming you have everything from this blog available to copy.
There is too much in your stories for them not to resonate amongst those who live or have livid in the 3 western-most provinces.
Or those who grew up watching HNIC.
Or those who grew up as NHL fans in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
If you and your stories were not unique or special, I would not be reading your posts and visiting your site every day.
I think this is probably the only site I visit daily.
Coach says they are adding a d-man and taking out a forward.
I can’t express my dislike for this, in particular if its Philp out. If Arvy isn’t going to play, I can understand it (but would like to see Kap in over the terrible 11/7) but if they are effing with the fourth line last night that had some amazing shifts and scored a goal to add Josh Brown….. well, I don’t like that one bit.
They definitely don’t need the toughness against the Canucks.
They don’t need his “toughness” against any team.
He did nothing against Boston which was a game where, if there was ever a time to do something, that was it (tapping the glass, lol).
He tried to do it in his last game but simply got mad because he took a clean hit and then took a terrible retaliatory penalty that, not only put his team SH but negated an Oilers scoring chance – it doesn’t get much worse.
Why is he playing to go with 7D over any of Kap, Skinner or Philp (a center for the 4th lines)/Ryan?
Maybe for the PK. But I have no idea
The Nucks are a desperate team we may see some tomfoolery which is why I can see Brown playing tonight. Leon&Connor can not continue to get slewfooted every night with no repercussions except a excuse me elbow by McDavid. Coach Kris doesn’t have many options and that’s on Bowman. Brown was suppose to be the Vinny we had last year.
We’ve seen that Josh Brown in the lineup deters NOTHING – if there is going to be a slewfoot, Josh Brown in the lineup will not change that.
Maybe he is in there because against certain types of forwards he is better defensively than Stecher and can deal with a heavy forecheck (Vancouver is second in the league in hits per 60). Brown has had much giveaways per 60 than Stecher and the highest rate of shot blocks per 60 on the team. Coffey and Knoblauch believe he is a better defensive option under certain conditions otherwise he wouldn’t be out there.
You make it sound like Coffey and Knoblauch are some clown show because they choose to see this differently than you.
Vancouver is 2nd in the league in hits per 60 behind only Boston. They play a physical game. And they are likely to be cranky.
Situationally, within game they can deploy Stecher as the no. 6 (or no. 4 if it is time with Nurse) when a puck mover is needed and Brown as the no. 6 (or 4) when a bigger body is needed to handle heavy forecheck pressure. It will be like playing with 11-6, and Coffey will try to maximize Brown and Stecher’s strengths/offsetting their weaknesses by splitting their duties.
This is why the Oilers have had a need for another right D who is more well rounded than either Stecher or Brown (a hybrid of the two) and neither of the two is so good at what they they do best that their deficiencies can be ignored (but they can be sheltered which reduces the coaches flexibility). Maybe Klingberg is a step in that direction if he can take on second pair with Nurse, and have Emberson handles the no.6 spot. If not, there is still the trade deadline.
They had 1 great shift, everything else was meh. Philp was 1/5 on the draw, played less then 8mins total with a bad penalty.
They had back to back shifts entirely in the offensive zone.
Philp was 3/4 on the draw the game before.
Josh Brown does nothing.
Can’t wait to see how much the boys have left in the tank. Been a heck of a schedule and they’ve killed it.
I’m more worried about the next game than this game. Back home with a couple of days off after a rough road trip
It’s against Washington so that may be Colorado-type motivation
Klingberg would be a fine option for someone needing a pp qb and a guy they can shelter with o zone starts and easy matchups.
So not us
Klingberg is only 32 I’ll put money down if he wasn’t offered more by a couple of teams. Klingberg is playing the long game taking less here in Edmonton. He knows there’s a path to playing top 4 on the Stanley Cup favourites in front of all 32 G.M’s. If Klingberg comes in ends up top 4 on a Stanley Cup winning team he’s getting a nice retirement contract from someone. Klingberg is going all in on himself coming to Edmonton.
I like that bet for both him and the Oilers.
As long as he’s really back to full health, I’m going to bet on Coffey and Stuart being able to coach him up to what they need him to deliver.
I’m not sure if Klingberg can turn back the clock or not. It seems the majority here thinks not. Evander Kane is basically in the same boat. It’ll be a year since he’s played with multiple procedures done. I for one am hoping both have great success.
Vancouver is a train wreck, but in saying that they hate the Oilers. This could be the game where they come out flying and the whole team plays hard. I hope they come out flat like against LA. But thinking they will be very tough tonight
I fully expect the Nucks to show up fully tonight.
Arvidsson ON THE ICE for morning skate.
Same lines as last game except Nuge and Drai are swapped (i.e. McDavid and Drai on separate lines).
Skinner in starters’ net.
Per Tony B.
Great news, Arvidsson has been pushing the river let’s hope lunging for that blocked shot doesn’t change that.
A winger for Leon.
If Klingberg has magically returned to his ‘17-‘18 form (I am doubtful), then our highest priority becomes, again, finding a talented winger to play with Leon.
If Arvidsson is hurt for a while, does it make sense to give Savoie a run of games alongside 29?
As far as the RW market goes it doesn’t appear that deep, but one guy I like is the Flyers’ 23 yo Tyson Foerster, 6’3 215 and scoring at a clip of 20 goals per 82. He’s buried behind Konecny, Mitchkov, and Tippett on the right side.
I like that thought, I hold onto a glimmer of unlikely hope that Alex Tuch can be pried out of his hometown Sabres.
Think they’d take Skinner back, lol?
getting a different winger for Drai isn’t high on my priority list.
Me either. Kane could be in the top 6 if he comes back 100%. Anyways.
I would love to get a UFA IN either a Cman with grit like a Frederic good tough kid who can play the wing as well or a Gritty Brandon Tanev who is like a dog on a bone or The beast Olivier Out of Columbus who is having a career year with 10g/17 points and hits like a Mack truck and will fight anyone and can stand in front and battle.
PHI was reportedly looking to move on from Konecny as early as last year, so there’s a chance they intend to keep Foerster as they develop their roster.
Koneckny was in the coaches dog house the other night. I just don’t see the GM moving him after giving him a new contract
No one should expect Kling to be a 2RHD.
If he can be a reliable third pair player then this is a win.
A few things on Klingberg. I like the bet, and the price is just fine with me. Klingberg is the second youngest NHLer to have the procedure, with only Puljujarvi being younger.
I think Klingberg did his due diligence by talking to Patrick Kane and then seeing the same specialist as Kane for the resurfacing. The resurfacing was done 13 months ago. Kane only had one hip done, Klingberg had both.
Not going to lie, it sounds like the procedure and the immediate recovery border on torture. Klingberg texted Puljujarvi “I’m dying” not long after having the surgery. Puljujarvi said that was consistent with his experience. Kane has stated he’s not felt any hip pain since returning to NHL action which is a big positive.
I think the Oilers have a good situation for Klingberg. We have the ‘how do you shelter him?’ plan in place already with Kulak being Nurse’s partner for the defensive minutes. I expect Klingberg to play the offensive situations, like Stetcher has been.
It’s entirely possible he’s useless. But it’s also entirely possible he’s still an offensive threat who can bomb the puck from the point. If he can still play, he’s excellent powerplay insurance if Bouch gets hurt.
I still fully expect the Oilers to acquire another defenseman at the deadline, but if Klingberg pans out we may be looking for a strictly defensive defenseman. Which could both increase Knoblauch’s options and would, presumably, be cheaper to acquire than a two-way puck moving type. You can’t have too many D in the playoffs. Last year, Dallas’s biggest weakness was that they only really had 5 D they trusted.
How Tall in Klingberg, actually?
I had always thought he was 6’3”, but I seen 6’ 1” more recently, along with 6’2”.
There was a photo on social media yesterday of him and 6’2” Janny standing shoulder to shoulder and it looks like JK is about 2” taller and longer-limbed.
Haha I have no idea. There’s photos with Janmark where he looks 2 inches taller than than him and others where he looks 1 inch shorter. He’s also listed as weighing 185 on db, but I’ve heard 190 as well. If I had to guess, I’d go with 6’2.5″ and 180 lbs. I’ve always thought with him, he might be getting a few extra pounds on the listing to make him sound less scrawny. Not a player that ever got by on his brawn. But I have no idea and it can be so hard to tell from photos.
So if Bowman signs Captain Serious before the TDL, who would be surpised and who would be happy if these are the only moves before the playoffs roll around?
For me, I’d like to see at minimum a depth forward with speed/tenacity and a vet depth Dman. Maybe a swap of Pick for Quick?
I don’t think there is much more they can add, due to lack of cap space and assets.
I would not be surprised at all if he signed Toews. I would be floored if that and Klingberg were the only two moves he made, though.
Great story about your dad LT. In my youthful days dad would allow to take 4 cases of his empties. We’d load up our Red Arrow wagon and make the hike to the liquor distribution branch which back then was the only place to take them in. After standing in line between cars we’d get our money and walk back home. We usually stopped at 7-11 and after getting a Slurpee and candy the money was gone but it didn’t matter cause we lived like Kings for a day.
Could anyone actually figure out how the bottle depot came up with their calculation amount?
One of life’s great mysteries
A friend told the story of when he was camping, and he and his brother would go around and check for empties after people packed up and left their sites. On one lucky day they saw a whole case under a tree at an empty campsite. They were on their bikes so my friend was going to balance the case on his handlebars, until they got closer and saw it was a full unopened case. So they raced back to the campsite and told their Dad about it and he was like, get in the truck and take me to that campsite. He paid them for the empties in advance and put the beer in the cooler!
In Turtleford, my family ran one of the restaurants and we all used to take in a few empties from kids in the neighbourhood at 1 cent a bottle. One of my chores was washing up the empties that had obviously been fished out of the slough by the school or from the pond by the water treatment plant north of T’ford.
We’d return those bottles to Coke in exchange for a discount on the new cases of pop. The Coke delivery guy never looked too closely as long as you could still see that it was in the Coke family of products. For instance, Sprite bottles had the dimples so they would easily see if we were trying to sneak in a smooth 7-up bottle
We loved using those pop crates to construct a net to make our own hockey arena in the basement. Nothing better sounding than hearing that tennis ball thunk into the top corner of a wooden crate for the winning goal. We broke a lot of crates and lightbulbs playing in the Stanley Cup of Turtleford…
Lions at 6, Oilers at 8, what a grand day to be alive!
Condors at 6 as well!
Hockey writing that is about what’s important. That story about your Dad, Mr. Lowetide, that is why you are gold to me as a reader. Thank you.
I second that, I believe most of us are riveted by your stories and even forget about the hockey side of the article for a few precious moments.
Okay. If Podkolzin scores twice I will be very happy.
Nothing like adding salt to the Canucks fan’s tears.
We might see a scrap or two the Nucks have Tocchet breathing down their necks. I foresee a feisty game with the PP burning the Nucks. Pod is going to rub it in the Nucks face and a scrap by Pod right in front of the Nucks bench will have Tocchet fuming internally. booook it…….
You don’t know Podkholzin, if you think he’s going out there looking to punch someone in the face, let alone his old friends. He doesn’t hate anyone. Based on what I’ve learned about him, I think he is extremely humble and at his core, just a very kind human.
He doesn’t play with a chip on shoulder, he just goes out with a consistent hard-working effort every shift. He is internally driven to give his absolute best to help his team win when he is on the ice.
He actually really hates fighting and will only do it as a last resort.
I really liked that article OP posted a few days ago. Podz gave a pretty candid look into what goes on behind the scenes. Talking about going out with the team and doing a tea tasting with McDavid seemed kind of hilarious. And he made it very clear he doesn’t like fighting and would rather just play the game, which even he says is basically just getting the puck for Draisaitl.
Curious LT what you don’t like about the price point? 850k cap hit if they aren’t in LTIR. You literally can’t get much better than that? If they go into LTIR then the extra 850 doesn’t really matter.
The bonus is on this season’s cap and that impacts (marginally) the deadline. I could be wrong but that’s my take.
The 824k cap hit if not into LTIR includes the bonus I believe as well, tho I could be wrong as it has certainly happened before.
Puckpedia’s tweet on this didn’t explain it well.
His AAV (and cap hit) is $1.73MM (apx). End stop.
As far as fitting that $1.73MM of AAV in, if the Oilers are not in LTIR, they only need to account for the apx 45% of the season he is projected to be on the roster, that is, projected cap space.
His cap hit is $824K in the same manner that McDavid’s cap hit is $6MM – that’s what’s left to fit in for the season but that’s dealing with “projected cap space” and accrual, etc.
For all accounts and purposes, for normal discussion as hockey fans have it, his cap hit is $1.73MM.
2 of the next 3 against the Canucks, Tocchet could be in his final days with the team or they may just trade all their talent not named Hughes.
Podkolzin with a Gordie Howe tonight, 5-1 Oilers.
Great to see Philp up with the big club for Canmore’s Hockey Day in Canada. Not sure he’d get the attention from NHL.com if he was in the minors. Apologies for not providing a link, but it’s an easy article to find.
One may think the Oilers brass had this in mind when calling up the Canmore native from Bakersfield last week? As my wife said this morning (Flames fan) “the Oilers organization always thinks of cool events and go the extra mile for their players.” Not a word for word quote, but I had to agree with her.
Sportsnet has this written article, but they also just did a video piece on the broadcast today, interviewing his family.
The video is under the “Top Videos” section on Sportsnet.ca right now.
Inside Noah Philp’s eight-month journey from out of the game to the Oilers’ lineup
Our Gm’s strategy of collecting wounded birds ( Jarventie, Klingberg and Regula ) at very low cost to the oilers and fixing them up could be a home run if they turn into viable NHL players .Does any one know how Jarventie and Regula are doing ?
OP had mentioned earlier or yesterday that Jarventie is expected to start skating in a couple weeks and Regula is skating on his own now.
Kind of: Chaulk say he was “hopeful” that Jarventie would start skating with 2-3 weeks (I think that was around 10-14 days ago).
Fun with roster construction!
We’re promoting Bouchard and Pickard to the forward ranks. Why? Because we can:
McDavid-Draisaitl-Ryan
Podkolzin-Kapanen-Bouchard
Perry-CBrown-Hyman
Nuge-Janmark-Pickard
What is remarkable about this lineup?
Answer: it still beats Vancouver.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Final answer.
I remember picking bottles as well, quite a bit actually. It was mostly to buy the latest various artists compilation from k-tel.
K-tel probably had a hand in starting the mixed tape trend.
Other than the Dys, I’m hoping for some underdogs to be feeling it this Saturday and help the Good Guys out in the standings
It’s a little nipply out there!
Is this an arctic high… or the dreaded of all meteorogical phenomena, the Siberian high?
I understood this reference.
I miss Bill
I mentioned last night (and posted the article) re: escrow payments being cut off for the rest of the season and per the Servaelli tweet I’ll past below, I would say that’s official now. Players will actually be getting an extra bit due to revenues being so high.
We know the cap right now is not linked to 50% of HRR and cap is artificially low becuase the 2020 MOU for return to play capped yearly increases at 5% through the term of the extended CBA.
There has been talk about next year’s cap going higher than the $93MM but that would, of course, require full NHLPA and BOG approval but, given where we are with revenue it seems quite likely and we could have a cap around $97MM or so next season.
The system is working as it should. The players also had more than 50% previously. Such things happen with fluctuating revenue and a profit split
Mcdavid is signing for 18 million
He deserves it. I wouldn’t be damaged if he asked for a little less. He’s got a decade of hockey to dominate, every little bit helps the cause, if Stan does his job well
I’d give him 20 if he asked lol
I wouldn’t say I’ve been outraged over any moves. Most annoyed at the Bowman hire and walking the offer sheets.
However, Arvidson and Skinner weren’t good gambles in my opinion. Skinner I thought was a bad fit and Arvidson I like but he’s always hurt. Why would we presume he’d make it through the playoff drive.
Trying to win a cup here and that’s $7,000,000 in cap. I’d rather have one defender or Broberg and Holloway.
Jinner and Arvi were signed by Jackson prior to Bowman coming aboard. Not to mention the genesis for the offer sheets also predated his arrival.
Not disputing or correlating. Whoever was in charge I think there was too much risk in those moves. For 7 million I would have preferred more certainty if it was out there or waited until the deadline.
This is the third injured player Stan Leecup has pursued and signed. I get and like the buy low approach to business.
BUT we still need an impact hockey player, the top 5 teams have the assets to get better at the trade deadline and they will.
I don’t think this changes their deadline plans. If he works out they’ll still add a Dman.
EDM is the best cycling/forececk team in the league.
I big leak is the play in the ozone dying with the Dmen unless 2, 14 and kinda 27 gets the puck.
Klingberg’s value will come from adding goals from those ozone possessions (through passing amd shooting) as well as moving the puck out of the dzone with possession.
He has never been good defensively. The question is whether the goals for will outweigh the goals against.
I like the bet.
EDM is one of the best defensive teams in the league. They may be able to afford to leak a bit more goals against for a greater gain in goals for.
I was also thinking that unlike in the past they do have more ability to try to add offense and worry less about D. Nicely put
They can score for sure, but they do still run into times when they can’t get the puck in for whatever reasons , and pumping the bottom 6 up a bit to broaden the threats is pretty smart when it’s that cheap. It will be something if he can contribute enough
I’m also hopeful that Coffey figures out what Klingberg can do, and maximizes that strength. We saw it with Desharnais, Kulak, Emeberson & even Nurse, so it makes me more hopeful about the signing
Will be a shock if Klingberg’s hip surgeon has rolled John’s clock back 5 years. Even then he was -28 on a Stars squad that made the playoffs.
Nurse is the 2nd highest scoring defender on the team, he’s been doing well in the offensive zone.
^^^ My thoughts too, but I hope I’m wrong.
Nedeljkovic’s goal last night was noteworthy for two reasons:
First time an NHL goalie recorded a goal and an assist in one game.
Only goalie to have scored in the NHL, AHL and ECHL.
This only continues to fuel my bitterness that Holland didn’t pick him up for free.
Klingberg obviously needs to be up and running with satisfactory play by Playoffs whether that’s anywhere from a 4-7 I guess will find out. It took Brown 3/4 of year and I believe the organization knew it would take close to that long. I wonder what timeframe they have on Klingberg on returning to N.H.L form. Besides Armstrong back-dooring the Oilers I’ve been impressed with all the little deals by Bowman. Pod was a small deal among a few others that turned out or will turnout to be more than just a infield single.
I remain hopeful with Bowman because the moves seem calculated and his group seems to have a particular vision. He hasn’t clearly lost a deal yet. I haven’t felt the last years there was a particular vision, just basic ‘get an NHL experienced player’, which is about as unsophisticated as it can be
It’s not about always being right, it’s about not making deals that are too expensive or from the start suspect, which to me is doing the GM job well and starting as you mean to go
Put a bow on it by being active and proactive, and move on from the ones that don’t work out, this being the last piece we haven’t seen quite yet
Klingberg isn’t my type of player, even when healthy, Bouch covers that skill set and more. Ek and Nurse can produce offense as well. But it’s obviously something they value, what JK does
I suppose the last thing we will see is actually what Stan promised JK. Hopefully nothing more than a spot for good play. I’m not sure that’s been the case these last years
With Holland it was now or never thinking which puts a great deal of pressure on everyone’s job all through the organization. Bowman although being hamstrung with assets has years to shape this team to be a force for the next decade. I’m starting to warm-up to Bowman I never really liked the Hawks growing up but the team that won the 3 Cups under Bowman reminded me of peak Oilers 80’s style.
Hopefully a little bit of Keith lingers with the team. His drive was huge for them in those days of onions on belts, as was the style at that time
LT I agree 100% with you on the organization never being forthcoming with injury status. I don’t expect them to tell us what is wrong with a player when they may play but if there going to be out a month just say so. I mentioned as much yesterday and was met with disagreement which is fine but the Oilers have been doing this forever.
It is a black mark on the character of the organization.
We seem to have gone to the other end of the spectrum from the Sheldon Souray injury. We talk about it because it’s our team, but look at how the Golden Kerniggets treat injury as a player procurement opportunity, I think we’re okay. Information isn’t volunteered but available upon request.
Love your stories LT. You guys had worked hard, invested emotionally and the world didn’t add up to how you thought. Instead of a lesson on the harshness of reality to two kids that were in no condition to take on board, your Dad made it good. A great lesson for parents everywhere.
On to tonight. Destroy them. Kick them while they’re down. Get Dra level with McKinnon. Hide the remote control and change their WiFi password. Sweep the leg. That is all.
I agree with everything you said up to “Sweep the leg”. It was a dick move in the movie (and got the guy disqualified), and its what Kempe, Hartman and Rantanen have done on McDavid and Draisaitl in 3 consecutive games.
Yeah, but Danny LaRusso won with an illegal kick to the head.
Literary retroactive continuity to advance the plot of the Cobra Kai series!
We all knew at the time! Die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain… 😂
So you do have a problem with that Mr. Traveller?
Nobody is going to stop them
Prospecturity!
It’s another dectet on the ice tonight. Clattenburg will get out of gaol after this evening’s match, his suspension done. The Londoners also get the Knight off.
Day-man put up a 2nd star performance yesternight in a losing cause. He gets to face an Owen Sound squad he has shut out both games they’ve played this season, stopping all 53 shots he’s faced.
Münzenberger’s apple last night gave him double digits in points. One more–maybe tonight?–matches his three previous seasons’ output combined.
With Fischer’s goal last night, he has as many in 2025 as in calendar 2023 and 2024 combined.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 4 p.m.
Vermont (Määttä, Münzenberger) @ 4 p.m.
Boston University (Lachance, Copponi) @ 5 p.m.
Flint (Day,
Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.Peterborough (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 5 p.m.
Barrie (Akey, Wakely) @ 5:30 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Chipman time.
I was initially skeptical but the team needs a bit of drama, if Klingberg has a dream, I’m here for it!
While initially against betting on Klingberg (broken, hasn’t played for a long time) until after he’s played and shown whether his surgeries were successful, I agree the cost was low (enough) and has nothing but potential upside.
Be interesting to see how this bet shakes out. Hopefully we can’t afford him next season.
For me the Klingberg signing is similar to the past two times an Oiler GM took a flyer on players with questions surrounding them. Both the other times paid off to varying degrees. Why complain about a move that could potentially solve a significant piece of the puzzle for less than 2 million and zero prospect capital? Sometimes we Oilers fans don’t know what to do with ourselves when things are going well. It’s an unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling I guess! I have certainly been guilty of it at times but man are we blessed as longtime Oiler fans. There is no denying that!
This game, tonight, is one that could be worrisome.
Oilers are the best team in the league and rolling through tough scheduling and the Nucks are pretty much the opposite with in fighting and negative vibes.
Oilers coming off a very committed and character win when one would have fought the energy stores are low.
Well, they travelled yet again for this game with little rest and they very well could be looking past it and finally getting back home.
I also know the Nucks do have high talent and goalies that can perform elitely – they are better on paper than ice so far and presumably will be going all out to turn it around.
It’s a trap game for sure but I expect the Oilers, given how great they are, to just win.
All I ask for is a Podkolzin hat trick.
Presuming Arvidsson isn’t out, there could be some roster jiggling today to get the team out of LTIR and create room to officially register the Klingberg contract using normal cap and accrual (that is, they only need to fit in apx $875K if the $1.7MM AAV).
I haven’t crunched but Josh Brown and one of Philp or Ryan might do it.
Can they send him to BAK for a conditioning stint before putting him on the NHL roster/cap?
I think he can be loaned to Bakersfield for a Conditioning Loan, but it is unlikely that the Oilers could get cap relief doing so. Based on the wording I have seen in the CBA, to get relief, Klingberg would need go on LTIR and to do that they would be claiming his injuries mean he is unavailable to play for a minimum 10 games/24 days.
He would have to agree to conditioning loan to start and it would not help the cap situation in the time he is in Bako.
This makes a great deal of sense for the player and the Cap.
No, I don’t think so – his contract needs to be accounted for.