Find yourself a teammate like Corey Perry. His veteran presence last night turned a night that began with tension into a hockey comedy on ice. If I had to pick a movie character that reflects Corey Perry’s on-ice presence, it would be “Curly” (the Jack Palance character from City Slickers) and it would be hilarious.
Lines like “I crap bigger than you” and “day ain’t over yet” (in answer to ‘hey Curly, killed anyone today?’) are a perfect fit for gunslinger Perry. He’s a beauty. I wasn’t prepared to enjoy him in Oilers threads as much as I do. I guess that’s part of his appeal.
The Athletic article today is about Kris Knoblauch and the coaching staff finding answers on defense and the challenges ahead. Article 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 2-1-0)
- At home to: WAS, VAN, BUF, SEA, DET (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 1-1-0)
- Overall expected results: 8-4-2, 18 points in 14 games
- January result: 8-3-0
- Oilers in 2024-25: 30-15-3, 63 points in 48 games
Edmonton is on pace for 51 wins and the top of the Pacific Division is one point away (with no games in hand). In the last 10 games, the Oilers (7-3-0) have gained five standings points on division leader Vegas Golden Knights (4-5-1) after a month of Sundays getting nowhere. This could be the year.
THE NUMBERS
I promise to talk about more than one player, but want to take a moment to recognize possibly the best pass I’ve ever seen. It was a Roger Federer passing shot on a backhand that went many many feet (and past two Oilers) before landing perfectly on the stick of Zach Hyman. It was a transcendental hockey moment, like discovering the Bajoran wormhole for the first time. I was in shock when I saw it, only slightly less so the second and third time. Jesus, Mary and Joseph what a play, and credit for Zach Hyman for cashing while everyone else was in shock.
Leon has already signed his contract, can you imagine the price if he was mere months from free agency?
The HDSC’s had some interesting leaders last night. Hyman had six, celebrating his new look and better vision. Noah Philp had four, and that’s a nice total (as is the 11 minutes) for a player who looks to be laboring a little on the backcheck. He needs to show well, and the coaching staff needs to give him chances. Last night the playing time was there and he responded.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored (huzzah!) and had an assist, but the five-on-five points-60 (0.96) is the worst on the team among forwards. I see people worrying about Vasily Podkolzin’s offense but he is at 1.9 points-60 five-on-five. Jeff Skinner is at 1.59 points-60. I think the coaching staff needs to have a long look at what is happening on left wing five-on-five before the deadline. If they don’t trust Skinner, then it might be an idea to move Adam Henrique to the McDavid line.
Skinner got six minutes on the power play last night and had three HDSC’s, plus another at five-on-five. His scoring rates are reasonable (eighth among forwards, and he isn’t playing with the Glimmer Twins) and his goal share (15-17) isn’t terrible if you take that damnable start with McDavid (1-7 goals in less than an hour) away. I hope we see an easing of the freeze for Skinner. He might be the guy they’re looking for and he’s on the roster.
I thought all of the defensemen played well, Pickard strong when the game was in doubt. This is an impressive team.
The Lowdown hits at noon today, Sports 1440. We’ll be wall to wall on Oilers coverage, with Steve Lansky from Inside the Truck podcast giving us insight into the game and the last two contests between Oilers and Canucks. Declan Krueger will have his Declanations list and we’ll be heavy duty on the NFL playoffs (I’m hoping for Eagles-Bills in the Super Bowl). 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.
The world junior players, court case come to trial in April and is expected to run for 8 weeks (CBC story). Dube and McLeod are having poor seasons in Russia and are under contract until May.
Legal and moral issues aside, is this a unique time to sign low with Carter Hart, McLeod and Dube it would quickly fix that mid 20s cohort within the Oilers – given they are found not guilty.
We have a history of – either the team of second chance or we don’t have a moral compass.
it does feel like an opportunity to add to the team.
I’ve long stopped caring about sports not having any type of moral compass so sign me up!
I was happy with signing Perry despite everything, because he does things unique on this roster. Most rosters really. A well built team with good coaching can make use of a guy like him, he can still score and is excellent from the circles down. He does things the rest of them should be emulating
The trick is that you can’t have too many one dimensional players that need specific support, or it gets unmanageable and the team can become unbalanced, unless the GM is really on it and everyone stays healthy
After a good and proper Power Win I’ll put up PW data, I have revised it to Nov 1
Power wins are by 2 or more goals, no EN. Clear Losses are also by 2 or more, no EN
Leads Lost/Comebacks are counted as the team being up or down the first 2 goals of a game
CB-LL – the higher the number the better, higher than average Comebacks indicates team weakness because falling behind too often
The teams I’m tracking: Oilers, Jets, Knights, Kings, Stars, Wild, Avs, Devils, Bolts, Panthers, Caps, Leafs, Canes
Power Wins – Devils 14, Oilers 13 (2nd most tied 3 ways)
Wins – Avs 13, Oilers 7 (7th)
Clear Losses – Kings 3 (tied), Oilers 4 (3rd tied two ways)
Losses – Knights 4 (tied 4 ways), Oilers 7 (7th tied 3 ways)
Win% Reg – Caps .568, Oilers .541 (tied 3rd two ways)
Win% All – Oilers .676 tied first with the Caps
OT Games – Caps 9, Oilers 6 (tied 4th most)
Comebacks – 6 teams have 0, Oilers 4 for the most, average 1
Leads Lost – 6 teams have 0, Oilers 4 for the most, average 1
CB-LL – Oilers 4-4 = 0 (5th)
NST
5v5 FF% – Canes 57.93, Oilers 53.83 (3rd)
5v5 GF% – Kings 59.13, Oilers 55.06 (3rd)
5v5 HDCF% – Oilers 57.47, Bolts 56.07 (2nd)
5v5 HDGF% – Kings 63.08, Oilers 57.29 (3rd)
5v5 SH% – Oilers 9.27 (3rd), Average 8.79
5v5 SV% – Oilers .910 (11th), Average .917
5v5 HDSH% – Oilers 19.11 (6th), Average 18.39
5v5 HDSV% – Oilers .824 (tied 5th), Average .819
5v5 GF – Oilers 87 (1st)
5v5 GA – Oilers 71 (7th)
5v5 Goal Diff – Caps 25, Oilers 16 (3rd)
The Oilers aren’t quite as strong as last reg season even though they are winning still. I thought revising to Nov 1 might bump them up more than it did
SH% has recovered some, SV% as well but it remains at the low end for these teams. The Oilers have the 4th least HDCA in the league at NST. Their PPG/GF% is 22.73 which is 2nd lowest, meaning they aren’t as reliant as many teams on their PP for goals, which is good for playoffs. The highest are Jets 37.29, Bolts 29.37 and Panthers 29.27
The Kings are lowest at 18.95, they might be a tougher out than last playoffs with their 5v5 scoring and goals against which is lowest at 47. If their goalies can hold up who delivering at the top of these teams. So finish first in the Pacific Oilers
Since Nov 1 league wide their PP is 4th, PK 10th. Now that they are shooting better given they suppress HDCA very well as far as NST says, and are finishing better, the wildcard remains goalies, it’s the weakest metric and has lead as I see it to having so many games that were less in control than should be with these players, or were lost by a goal where the Oilers have more 1G losses than many of the 13 teams
Last nights game is a great example of how they can play. SH% was 17.6 and Pick SV% .923, and they won handily, as I think they should in a lot if not most of games. If the goalies can play at level higher in ranking compared to the goalies of the 13 teams in particular, they would be a beast these playoffs
If they don’t, I expect a roller coaster like last year. They really need them both to stay healthy, or might need a Ken Dryden out of body experience for Rod
Need a playoff scenario in which Vegas gets eliminated in the first round by not the Oilers. I’m not scarred of the Kings or any team in the Central.
Corey Perry has become one of my favorite players on the team.
I had him in waiver wire discussions in fall….
Rumor is that Brad Marchand *might* be available for a 2nd rounder and a cost controlled young player…
Dreaming but … Oilers could do it if Savoie, 2nd and Janmark are sent back to even out the cap hits whilst using Kane’s LTIR dollars.
Also that choke on Nick Cousins should get Marchand a 1 game suspension?
Yikes. Hard pass.
Oilers cannot trade Savoie for another old forward.
Can only trade Savoie if they get another young, long term piece.
Marchand still doing Marchand things. Took his glove off last night to grab another player’s throat.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain of the Boston Bruins…
Hall for a 3rd
McCarron who was 17/29 on the draw last night. Plays center and wing, huge, hits, fights, and Lauzon who is a beef 3rd pairing defender for 2 4ths and Phil Kemp.
I would love it if Hall came back to the Oilers for this playoff run and maybe beyond. Feels like a wrong righted. Good karma.
Marchand & Perry on the same line would be… something.
I wouldn’t offer Savoie though.
Per Tony B on Perry: 5 PTS, +9 over 10 games to begin the calendar year.
Wow, pretty good.
I was going to comment on Perry yesterday and how he has impressed me the past few weeks, and then he goes and has an even better game last night. Someone should make a gif of his faces on the bench after he suckered Blueger into his penalty. What a leader they added when they signed him. Thank you, Kenny.
And its been useful having him on the roster with Kane out. They’re not the exact same player obviously, but they both have wonderful qualities after the whistle, I can’t believe I’m saying this after two decades of hating on his ass, but he has grown into one of my favorite players on the team.
He also looks like he could keep playing a few more years if he chose to do so.
You left me a very thoughtful reply on a post I made a few days ago after I claimed that the league was run by dinosaurs. Thanks for that. I figured I’d reply here.
I absolutely agree that we’re dealing with a systems or human-organization (or lack thereof) issue in how the league is administrated. While much of what we see can be attributed to an emergent property of collections of humans in a complex system, being a chaotic consensus of interests creating suboptimal outcomes, I believe the the particular suboptimal outcome we see (beyond questionable refereeing), is due to a lack of attention to systems/leadership/transparency/diligence rather than a concentration on a progressive theme and simply not executing. In that respect, I’d claim that the league is run by ‘dinosaurs’ given that what we see, outside of a collection of independent progressive moves (second referee, no more fighting, no more headshots, etc) that aren’t wrapped into a coherent overarching progressive theme. I’d suggest that if this were the case, we’d see something far more similar to the other major sports leagues. Instead, we often see two steps forward and then 3 steps back.
Another thing I was wrong about (so far).
I was not a fan of the Perry signing.
He has been excellent for most of the season. Shame on me.
I think the other benefit is that, supposing a Kane return, Corey acts as a kind of guardrail on ego or attitude. I don’t mean to accuse Kane of anything, but if at any time for any reason Kane has to be called out, or called in, not many people around the league could manage that. Perry can.
Sometimes groups have such a big presence, that nothing ever needs to be said. I think this group is such a group. Who are you going to show ego to, or with on this team? Perry is for sure part of that group, and can do exactly as you say. But imagine showing ego and attitude in the presence of Hyman, or Nuge, or Henrique. Or mcdavid or drai, or Nurse, or ek. Not sure youd get much traction. Even guys like Kulak who wants to be here or brown, or janmark. No traction to be had there… Bouch? Doesnt seem like a rabble rouser. Philp seems pretty humble.
Such a group of professionals. Most of whom came here or stayed here by their own choice.
Then again, Im not in the room, so what do I know.
When Connor is flying into the O-zone, it terrifies the opposing D-men. One thing that struck me last night is how Leon must also terrify the opposition-D, but in a completely different way. He sloooows the game down, holding the puck usually at the right half-wall. If you’re a Dman, you can’t really rush him because he’s so good at protecting the puck. If you try he’ll swat you away with one hand or spin by you driving toward the slot or make a pass to the lane you just vacated. So you wait for it, knowing that he sees everything on the ice, where his teammates are going, things that the D can’t see. And then he makes passes that no one else can see – that no one else in the league can make – from his forehand or backhand. If nothing is opening up, Leon is patience, he’ll drift a bit higher up in the O-Zone or toward the center, waiting and waiting. Now he has new pass options and he can fire a quick snap shot against the goalie’s pads to create net front chaos. The only chance you really have is to hope he makes a bad drop or cross ice pass, except that he doesn’t make those any more. So if you’re the opposing D you’ve got to defend against Connor at maximum speed than take on Leon as he slows everything down. This must be exhausting physically and mentally for the D – like a batter facing a 101 mph fastball than a 73 mph change up.
In an overly simplistic way, following what you describe, McDavid reminds me of a basketball player and Leon of a soccer player.
Given the MVP season that Draisaitl is currently having vs the season McDavid is having, what are the chances McDavid signs a contract that matches the one Draisaitl signed?
Besides union business the future earning increase of many star players are dependent on Connor’s earnings.
Based on the “Agent Provacateur” podcast and Elliote Friedman’s 32 Thoughts column, it’s highly likely that the cap will go to $97 million next (2025-26) season and $105 million by the 2027-28 season instead of having a huge $20 million jump next year.
That would make a $10 million AAV for Bouchard and a $19.7 AAV for McDavid fairly palatable.
The other side effect of the “smoothed cap jump” soon to be agreed to by the NHLPA and the league, is that some elite players may take shorter 1-3 year deals to catch the benefits of signing in a $100million+ cap world. Think Marner and Rantanen… Matthews agent predicted correctly by signing the 5 year deal to perfectly take advantage of the jump.
The NHL and PA saw the effect of the NBA’s $24M 2016 cap jump that allowed the Golden State Warriors to sign Kevin Durant and prolong their dynasty and didn’t want a repeat. Smoothing the jump allows 3 UFA groups take part more fully in the benefits and also gives teams the ability to actually make a solid budgeting decisions instead of the guessing they were dealing with for past 5 years.
Hard to imagine being Connor, but if I were Connor I would take that exact contract.
Now in my fantasy world, Connor takes a page from Sids book and goes 9.7.
In 2017 he took 15.7% of the cap. In a 92M cap that’s 14.5M. Drai is 14.0
Unfortunately I think Holloway would be perfect next to Mcdavid in a Pat Maroon role. Hope they can find someone similar
Holloway has 10 times the talent Pat Maroon had.
Maroon gets little cred for being a three time champion.
That’s just your opinion. Pat Maroon was a completely different player. Not sure how you can compare the two?
The comparable makes no sense some people have a hard time letting go. Armstrong fuked us over there’s going to be a handful of G.M’s that will pounce on St.Louis free agents in his tenure. Armstrong better not leave a crack in the opening.
I think he’s suggesting “making space”
but I don’t really agree w/ this. Holloway is better served on the cycle
I think the Nuge off the PP should be fully silenced (not that there should have been any to start with in my opinion).
What a pass to Drai and what a snipe off a chemistry driven give and go.
I don’t have the numbers handy but do remember that when RNH was out of lineup a few years ago the PP and PK both suffered.
https://images.app.goo.gl/DEB72WmEEfBLVELn9
Feel free to counter the opinion with substance……
We played well against the Caps didn’t get any puck luck. Our PP with Leon-Nuge-Hyman-Bouchard-? Might not be as flashy without McDavid but they are still a top tier PP. Leon is having a magical year with Leon getting a nice holiday with the 4 nations cup coach Kris can run him hard for now.
Jamark, Brown, Arvidsson and Perry all played more than Drai at 5 on 5 last night.
Drai ended up with just under 22 minutes, in line with his season average, but there was quite a few easy PP minutes on there.
When your up 4-0 early in the second coach Kris rightfully pumped the grunts with minutes. We need more games like this where they don’t go into the prevent defence until the game is well in hand.
Not to get in the way of your fued, but is that steve buscemi in the crook of that guys arm? Lol. What a funny clip.
They figured it out somewhat without McDavid on the PP. Nuge played McDavid’s role, not nearly as good, but they had reasonable results.
Nuge definitely helped his case with regard to PP time. Arvidson and Skinner haven’t made significant cases for themselves at the same time. While Skinner had some HDs last night, he’s a bit of a giveaway machine in the offensive zone. Nuge has coughed up a lot of pucks on the PP in the past few weeks. He gets trapped easily on the half-boards and just isn’t tough to recover pucks against in a board-scrum. Yesterday, he drifted over into McDavid’s position cycling low on the left side and found great chem with Leon (though it seems everyone has chem with Leon). This is all eye-test, I haven’t crosschecked these claims with data.
I do think the right play is to run this PP as is (McD-Leon-Hyman-Bouch-Nuge) rather than rethink strategy (adding a finisher in a guy like Skinner vs another PP playmaker that can help expose soft spots in a PK as Nuge does) in the short term. I think there’d be significant growing pains to the PP-strategy-rethink although I do believe having a natural finisher on that flank to be a better fit in the medium to long run. That’d likely open up some room for Bouche too(PKs are defending his bomb while giving up a vulnerability to shots from the Ovi position). Right now, Nuge truly is a non-threat to score from that flank and PK structure against the Oilers PP demonstrates this.
Nuge is quickly becoming a middle 6 guy rather than a top 6 and I believe the biggest reason for this is footspeed and strength along the wall. Both of those matter immensely in gaining zone entries or recovering possession in a board battle on the PK.
The man ate bacon with every meal…you can’t do that!
In the past Hyman has said Leon is a “pass first 50 goal scorer”. I always thought that was spot on, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe it should be a “pass first 50 goal scorer who plays Selke level defense”. By the end of the season it could be “a pass first 60 goal scorer who plays Selke level defense”.
Noah Philp was quietly solid and showed smarts and skill on his great assist. Caved in faceoff (that might be JT Miller – would have to check) but that will take time to come and it will.
They have the perfect mentor for him in D. Ryan but sent him away. I know why (salary cap), but I would sure be nice to have Ryan around to help the inexperienced lad.
I know Ryan is American, but maybe the Oilers can convince him to spend some more years in Edmonton as an assistant coach (not on the bench but mentoring players off ice).
I’m confused why no one thinks Henrique or any of the other centers can’t perform this task of guidance.
Perhaps its a product of viewing this as the only thing Ryan can do.
Jeff Skinner played well and couldn’t finish.
Roll with it coach, he’s about to go on a heater.
I’m nit sure the price goes up that much, Leon already re-set the market (and the Avs are dealing with the after-math) but it shows the character and dedication that this first ballet hall of famer, signs to be the highest paid player in the game, for term, and before that even kicks in, he takes his game to a level that only McDavid can match.
There are many that regress after signing the big one, let alone keep the prior level – let’s alone elevate. Look at Pettersson as an example. Do we think Marner or Rantanen are going to be better next season? I don’t.
This is superstar level. Cosby did it, Gretzky did it, Mario did it – maintained or exceeded expectations on later contracts. The only player in the UFA class coming up that should be even close to, or above, Leon’s AAV is 97. There are some really, really good players there (Marner, Rantanen as you listed) but not a single superstar other than the forementioned McDavid.
Ty Emberson is such a likeable hockey player. He is going to be a legit 2RD shutdown d-man in due course.
This was a targeted add by Bowman – great identification by the GM.
Wasn’t it more of a Knoblauch identification with management listening to him, considering they were in Hartford together?
And great to offload Ceci at the same time.
I wasn’t in the room or part of any of the conversations but the intel is that, of course, Knob was asked about the player and his thoughts held weight but, no, I have not heard anything about Knob going to management and requesting they acquire a d-man he coached in the AHL a few years back that is playing in another org and under contract.
Imo Bowman didn’t identified Emberson, Bowman was looking to cap dump Ceci and folks within the organization including the coach mostly, who coached him very well less then two years ago were the ones most responsible for identifying Emberson. Kudos for Bowman listening and getting him included.
I believe Bowman in conjunction with his pro scouts identified the player.
6mths after Knoblauch coached Emberson the Oilers hired him, 1 year after Knoblauch coached Emberson the Oilers acquired him through trade.
Not a few, not a couple.
I believe Bowman was cap dumping Ceci. The head coach and scouts let Bowman know that he should try to include Emberson in the deal.
I don’t believe that to be the case but that’s OK.
@BellevilleSens
ROSTER UPDATE: Veteran forward Sam Gagner has agreed to a professional tryout with the Belleville Sens.
Hart Trophy Solidification Week – holding up to the name and more.
I don’t watch MacKinnon nightly but it’s impossible to imagine him impacting the game on such a high level, all over the ice, in this consistent of a basis.
Leon controlled the game last night, while barely breaking a sweat, on a first line with Podkolzin and Arvidsson.
He’s one point behind Nate now, crushing the field on goals, producing mainly at evens (without elite linemates) and leading the league in plus minus. Oh ya, take all important draws, etc.
My goodness Leon.
Nathan MacKinnon is an absolutely elite player. The Avs have bled out talent in the last couple years and he keeps the ship sailing.
We can like our guy without needing to diminish the other guy.
But they don’t get to share the trophy.
Fans don’t vote on these awards.
We sure can like our guy without diminishing the other guy – which is exactly what I did.
My son is a huge Makar fan, so I watch quite a few Av’s game, and I’ll just say, Mackinnon tilts the ice shift after shift, night after night. He does has unreal linemates, but everything on that team runs through him when he’s out there…and rightfully so..
That said, I totally agree Dra’s having a much more impactful season overall.
Everybody is going on and on about that backhand pass, but I don’t think it even makes the Draisaitl top 10.
First of all, he didn’t hit Hyman on the tape, and secondly, I’m not even sure Hyman was the target. That pass just missed an Oiler at the blueline, and I wonder if he was the actual target.
Draisaitl was voted by his peers as the best passer in the league. He might be the best backhand passer in NHL history.
I’m going to choose to believe that the pass was intentional. Don’t rain on my parade!
Just like I’m going to believe that Mario Lemieux intentionally let the pass go through his legs to a wide-open Paul Kariya for the key goal in the 2002 Olympics.
Respectfully, Wayne Gretzky was the best backhand passer in the history of the NHL.
What separates him from Leon imo (who is also a generational passer) is the number of passes Leon has intercepted. Gretz’s ability to thread a saucer right onto the tape was real and spectacular. Can’t count the number of times Kurri just had to snap his wrists to put the puck in a wide open net off a beautiful feed from the Great One.
Gretzky was sublime with his 10 ft saucers, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone laser a cross ice pass on the tape as consistently as Draisaitl.
That’s why I’m saying last nights pass doesn’t even make his top 10.
My favourite all time Gretzky pass was a diagonal cross ice pass that hit Kurri perfectly in stride for a breakaway goal. Gretzky’s back was to Kurri and the announcers wondered how he could make that pass without eyes in the back of his head. Turns out he saw Kurri’s reflection in the glass. True story.
I can count on one hand the games I never watched or listened to while Gretzky was a Oiler. Leon is the best “long backhand passer” the game has ever seen. Gretzky then a few CCCP players rank behind him. Leon is also the greatest down low goal scoring machine that nobody will ever match.
These are the fun debates. You can have strong opinions but never truly settle them because so much of the evaluation is subjective ‘saw him good.’
It’s like debating which one is the best guitarist to come out of the Yardbirds, Clapton, Beck, or Page? You could make a solid argument for each and not be wrong.
I’ll add a few of my own Hendrix-Blackmore-Gilmour and for my most underrated pick Mark Knopfler with Dire Straits.
Can’t go wrong with any those guys. Knopfler and Gilmour are still releasing interesting music to this day. Aging like fine wine.
Given Leon’s history, I would suggest that Hyman was the target. Leon clearly looks over his left shoulder, spots Hyman and sends the puck (HARD) on the backhand to him. That it went off the boards is irrelevant to the decision to send a teammate in.
I think it was a huge pass but I do think there have been 10 or so absolute circus passes that all can make a claim. My personal favourite is the one (blanking on the opposition but it was a home game) where Leon and Connor crossed at the blue line, 97 went low and Leon just lazered a backhand across the zone to 97s tape and Connor went around the net and tucked it on a wrap around it was pure ballet. You know the one?
This pass. Disco music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3-FRbIwEY8&t=14s
It was an area pass that Hyman could skate on to and pick up off the wall. I don’t know what LT is talking about. It was a fine pass, but it was more like top 50 than best ever.
Henrique with a very good game last night, hoping to start seeing that as a trend.
Kapanen with that goal may have just eaten Skinners lunch, I’d try him in the shooting/puck retrieval role on PP1 next time out.
Janmark is going to finish the season with 2 empty net goals and 30 assists lol.
With Pickards play maybe they do swap Skinner for a retained Saros. Probably not, but there’s at least a 1% chance.
Hope Philp can carry that game going forward.
They’ll give Skinner and Pickard one more crack at it if they don’t get it done I could see both moved in the off-season. The tandem is batting a couple of ticks below league average but as we all know playoffs are all that matters.
Captain Pickard is 12-4 with a 2.50 GA and rocking a 0.912 ES SV% all for $1M and signed for another year. On a team that many claim needs an upgrade on D, he is exceeding expectations. I would suggest that Pickard is the perfect backup at 32 years old and I would have no problem having him back next year.
Skinner / Pickard took this team to Game 7 of the SCF where the team in front could not score 2 goals. Tending can always get better, but where is the money coming from?
Probably the raising salary cap, Pickard is the perfect back up if your team is running a workhorse 1A.
With the Blackwood contract in Colorado, Skinners next deal is coming in at that or higher, does Bowman keep status quo or go with someone with more dependable consistency once the Skinner price doubles?
Skinner will be in his final year at 2.6 if we don’t win the cup the time to offload him will be off-season. We can’t afford to resign Skinner who’ll get a raise by someone else. This is Bowman’s team now. Pickard does get the lesser of opposition but he also usually gets the 2nd game of a back to back. I just don’t trust Pickard but he keeps proving me wrong maybe it’s time to run Pickard for a stretch while he’s playing well and Skinner can get a reset.
Great LT… just when I’m about to post that I’ve been loving the chemistry building between Henrique and Perry you move him up to the top line.
And can’t we just add a one to RNH five-on-five points-60 (1.96)… fixed! We love the Nuge!
I enjoyed MacTavish’s thoughts during the intermission as I have always found that I do that myself. Breaking down the game into 5 minute increments on scoring or not getting scored on. Smart guy.
His 5 on 5 play has been terrible.
The backhand pass on the first goal was all-time…just another day at the office for Drai though…
This guy is fire right now…you can see the energy radiating off him through the TV screen…
We are beyond lucky to be able to watch a talent like this…
I was most impressed by how he controlled the flow of PP1 and worked give and gos with RNH. They had no problem gaining the zone without McDavid, as Leon was deftly stick handling and passing around Canucks with ease.
PP1 has been stale all season and dating back to the Finals against the Panthers. A lot of that has to do with them standing around and watching McDavid circle the perimeter with the puck. Leon defers too much to Connor on PP1 looking for the executioner shot that everyone, including the other team and their goalie, knows is coming.
I’m hoping Gulutzan can work more wrinkles into PP1, with Leon being the QB, and McDavid in constant motion without the puck causing havoc.
Greetings from Malaga, Spain.
Looks like it may be a couple more years, but nice to see Harry Buttman’s* time is coming to an end. There will be much rejoicing – at least in my house – when that happens.
*thank you to the Canadian Movie ‘Bon Cop, Bad Cop’ for that moniker.
Gary Bettman officially notifies NHL that he will retire
Hola!
The couple of years probably coincides with getting the next CBA signed.
Ekholm is a beauty; an OX
He took some hard checks last night; keeps on going.
Pettersson laid him out.
i was going to go to bed early, with a smile on my face and a score of 5nil
Stage left, Corey Perry makes it worthwhile to stay for the desert.
J. Skinner had a good game although he needs to cash.
Stick taps to Kapanen;
I’d like to see Janmark get that extra gear. I do like the player but it will be tough to stay in the lineup with the production he’s having. His PK work is saving his heiny.
There was a play last night that spotlighted what I believe concerns Knoblauch about Jeff Skinner. Oiler powerplay. Puck dumped in on the left wing boards. Skinner first man in. To take possession in the zone, Skinner had to win a contested puck battle with the Van D on the wall. And he did nothing. Actually hung back to avoid the battle and let the Nucks Dman easily possess the puck to end the sortie.
When a player shows a decided lack of physical compete, that is a culture hit that the HC is going to hate all the live long day.
Knoblauch has accomplished SO much in his relatively brief time in charge. D is much more disciplined positionally and limits slot chances. Team plays as a 5 man unit and contests pucks battles over the full sheet. Passing and transitions are sharp and crisp. Team is much looser and finishes well around the net.
When you finally get everyone moving in the right direction, you’re not going to let a player with bad habits or prone to shortcuts loose to mess that up.
Jeff Skinner is an undoubtedly talented shooter but he’s fairly one dimensional in the rest of his game. Fading off an obvious puck battle was a clear red flag imo. Not sure this player is learning from the 4th line demotion.
That’s what fourth liners do is battle. I don’t buy that he’s such a talented shooter, if he is, he would have scored at least a couple goals last night. When guys aren’t scoring, they have to do other things to make up for it.
He’s scored 364 goals in the NHL. He can shoot.
Used to be able to. He’s fighting it and not showing enough fire to get dirty in puck battles. He’ll be a healthy scratch when Connor comes back I’m guessing. If only they’d kept Holloway and not signed him. Sigh
You lose the wheels. You don’t lose the hands.
Goalscorers need confidence like we need oxygen. JS is struggling to find a role in this team and that is going to affect the confidence of a guy who’s always been slotted into the Top 6.
He’s in a tough spot, an old dog being asked to learn a new trick. It’s the best shot at a ring he’s ever going to get, I hope he figures it out.
He obviously has been a shooter in the past, that doesn’t mean he still is. I totally agree he’s fairly one dimensional in the rest of his game.
I agree with your observations he is a talented shooter but as I watched Skinner, I saw him go into 5 puck battles and he did not win one..I was also surprised at how weak he seems to be on his feet as he always seems to end up on his butt.This team is built around a system that requires everyone including the stars to play a 200 foot game .I hope Skinner gets the message but im not sure its in his DNA.
Knoblauch may have to figure out a way to be more flexible with his deployment and expectations of this player.
Brett Hull played an entire NHL career barely backchecking. Like LT often says, maximize what a player can do, don’t obsess on what he can’t.
But for Gord’s sake Jeff, you’ve got to complete your basic assignments. Handing the puck over to the opposition with the man advantage is egregious.
Brett Hull would have had a hat-trick last night back in his day.
Don’t disagree. My operating theory is Skinner has lost confidence with his demotion to the 4th line. You’re going with he’s lost it for good?
If Skinner brings the game he brought last night to the playoffs, he’ll be watching from the skybox.
Mcleod got ran out of town for his fly by’s, losing every puck battle last night is not a recipe for ice time on the Oilers.
Agreed. Something has to change. I believe LT calls it “Last Chance Texaco.”
No, I’m going with he may not be as good as he once was at shooting the puck. Time to work on other parts of his game. Playing on the third & fourth lines can help him round out his game. The bottom six lines are also expected to score goals. It isn’t a bad thing.
I’m sure Brett Hall had games, in his prime, where he missed a couple great chances and came up with nothing……. as all players do.
Skinner is likely dealing with low confidence and, once that flips, and all it takes is one moment for it to flip, he’s going on a heater.
Skinner has done nothing to suggest he’s up to playing for a championship team. Certain players are able to get 25-35 goals playing on palooka teams, until they get sent to a good one and their production drops instantly.
I cannot for the life of my think of one example other than Skinner, a player who I just personally cannot stand lol
Coming on here to rant at the Oilogosphere for a moment.
These plays are all branches on the same tree maybe by skilled players on the best passing and puck possession team in the NHL.
We need to stop coming on here and saying things like “he can’t make that play” every time something goes wrong. They assess situations in the blink of an eye and there are a spectrum of outcomes. The pass through a puck-sized space in Soucey’s skates has a less than 10% chance of getting through but if it does it’s a 50% chance of being a goal.
Viktor Arvidsson will NOT remain on Drai’s line if he’s not willing to make that drop pass mentioned above. Leon demands that puck in that spot every time. If, one in a hundred times it takes an odd bounce and/or poor execution that’s acceptable. I was so happy to see him make an even more adept tip pass backwards to Leon through his own skates later in that same game.
Also so happy to see Bouchard continue to use the middle of the ice over and over. That one happened to hit McDavid and bounce directly to an opposing player stinks and will happen, but that’s what makes him the player he is.
A team can be successful by chipping pucks in and chipping pucks out all day long but not this team. Not if it wants to reach levels others can’t match. We might as well embrace it.
It’s ok if it works out. But if it doesn’t, its hard work to get back and defend. I suppose it’s fine for Leon, Connor & Bouchard to try these things now and again but the rest of the team should take the safe route.
I don’t think telling people they have to stop posting things is going to work.
There’s that old XKCD cartoon I just love where the stick guy is sitting at his computer and his wife says “are you coming to bed?” and he replies “I can’t, this is important.” “What?” “Someone is wrong on the internet”
https://xkcd.com/386/
One of those things is not like the other, when discussing making elite offensive plays – Arvidsson is not on the same level as Bouchard and, in particular Drai.
Part of it is recognizing the situation and what happens if the pass goes wrong. In Arvidsson’s case, if if he messed it up (which he did, he hit his own skate with the puck which was the issue), he had a d-man rushing in deep along with both other forwards – it was almost sure to be a clear 2 on 1 against.
In that situation, a complimentary player can’t make that play.
When Perry signed here one of my Habs supporting friends told me that I would LOVE Corey as an Oiler. I didn’t believe him, despite his repeated insistence that he’s the ideal guy on your team and once you see him and what he does you’ll get it.
I was dead wrong. I tried so hard to hold onto the hate from his Ducks days, but I think he’s my favourite non McDavid/Draisatl Oiler on the current roster. That says a lot because I have a huge amount of time for Ekholm.
Our best players were the best players on the ice. Our role players were playing their roles. I thought Jinner played well and was snake bitten.
And Corey Perry put on a master class for any ‘nucks that think they’re a good agitator.
Vancouver got the Worm. The one from Dune.
Skinner did play well and had his chances but couldn’t cash in on the power play. One thing that’s vital to the PP success is puck retrieval which isn’t one of his strong suits.
Fantastic game.
Early on in the game they showed the Canucks bench – the players looked stressed out and frightened as for what was ahead of them.
They didn’t seem interested in playing until they were down five goals. Oilers were having their way with them.
Safe to say the Canucks got Perry’d last night.
2022-23 had to be the closest year for the division. They won like 16 of their last 17 but Vegas ran the table too and we couldnt catch them. I maintain that team wins Stanley if Brossoit stays in.
Margins are so damn thin in the playoffs.
Prospectura!
An undectet on the docket, as the Colts are the only NAmateurs with a night off.
Sorry, no preamble today.*
Boston University (Lachance, Copponi) @ 5 p.m.
Vermont (Münzenberger, Määttä) @ 5 p.m.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 5 p.m.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 5 p.m.
London (O’Reilly, Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Flint (Day, Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.
Peterborough (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
All times are the same time and are also High River time.
*Does that count as a preamble itself? Hmmm…
New for The Athletic: Kris Knoblauch and the coaching staff are cooking with defensive solutions. It’s a thing.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6083474/2025/01/24/edmonton-oilers-defence-stats-2025/