She fits in there just fine, Ziggy is just trying to make me look bad. We watched the game together last night, and the doggo felt Edmonton should have won the game but several veteran wingers bobbled chances. I thought Stuart Skinner was a strong player for the Oilers, and that Jeff Skinner is playing like a man who got the message.
After watching the lack of finish from Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown and others, will Kris Knoblauch play Skinner on a skill line? Well, he did get 36 seconds with McDavid last night five-on-five and 49 seconds on the power play, so maybe détente is closer than it may appear.
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 3-1-1)
- Overall expected results: 8-4-2, 18 points in 14 games
- January result: 10-3-1, 21 points in 14 games
- Oilers in 2024-25: 32-15-4, 68 points in 51 games
It was a brilliant January. I know because of the record and because so many people online were critical of a highly entertaining game in which the Oilers lost in extra-Bettman. Oilers fans can get spoiled, same as anyone. I had an aggressive 8-4-2 prediction and Edmonton passed that and then some. So, bitch if you want, but that was a great game by the Detroit Red Wings. Sometimes you have to have the other man his due.
THE NUMBERS
I have some flowers to hand out this morning, and will begin with the aforementioned Skinners. Jeff scored a goal and delivered a stealth backcheck that had me thinking Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had changed his number. Impressive.
Stuart Skinner has a .923 SP at five-on-five since November 23, that’s No. 8 among NHL goaltenders. The chorus of Oilers fans who want Skinner gone appears to be growing, though, difficult to find an encouraging word beyond Bruce McCurdy and myself. None of that matters though, Stan Bowman’s opinion is the one that counts. I’ll give Skinner credit, he’s showing well if these are in fact the final days of his time with the Oilers.
I thought John Klingberg played well. He is mobile, makes good decisions with the puck and isn’t afraid of physical contact. I think Mattias Ekholm might have been less than 100 percent, so would like to see that pairing again on Saturday.
Darnell Nurse has been the best defenseman on the team for some time, and that quality of play continued last night. Evan Bouchard had some chaos, but also make some nice plays.
I’m mostly pleased with last night, and any of the great looks (Connor McDavid was so close to scoring) could have made it 3-0 and that’s all she wrote if Edmonton gets the third marker.
I will say that one of these jack ‘o lantern wingers better find a way to score a damn goal here, because their centres are giving them chances galore. 97, 29 and Adam Henrique to my eye could have had multiple points if their wingers could hit the ocean. Something to work on, and a reminder that Jeff Skinner is on the roster and that Matthew Savoie is a just a motion away.
A busy day on the Lowdown, noon to 2 on Sports 1440. We’ll look back at last night’s game and forward to the TML nation arriving for tomorrow’s HNIC early game. Guests include Steve Lansky (I’m going to ask what happens when a fan base tires of a pbp man or analyst), Tyler Yaremchuk (I’m going to ask his thoughts on Klingerg and the gang that couldn’t shoot straight) and Declanations with Declan Krueger is also on the schedule. 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.
New for The Athletic: How are Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl trending ahead of the stretch run?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6099847/2025/01/31/oilers-mcdavid-draisaitl-minutes/
Went down a bit of a internet rabbit hole for a bit with the trade of Pettersson to Vancouver.
So Petterson means son of Petter or Peter. Peter is derived from the greek “petros” so stone or rock. SO now the Canucks have three “stones” but really, they’ve shown they don’t have any balls…
There’s the makings of a joke there or maybe it’s just Vancouver.
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:fs7rbz3arcx2k55yijmmxnxs/bafkreib6sobdd6a6feyq6pgsdgquqlj6csasrcg5v4q6czsaa7ilxbnafy@jpeg
mwalk600.bsky.social @mwalk600.bsky.social
8h
“Something that is never talked about is the fact the Oilers have an Operating Income (Profit) of $213 million USD. By far the most in the NHL and 4th in the world only behind the Cowboys, Chargers, and Patriots. A lot of teams are going to struggle with the higher salary caps. (Sens, Jets, etc)”
*****
So even with a low Canadian dollar, the Oilers are in a strong financial position to handle a large increase in the cap for the next 3 years.
The team can easily spend to the cap limit and do everything to retain McDavid and Bouchard. A Bouchard extension at $10M AAV will be a bargain in 3 years but the team will be squeezed in 2026-27 until the next $9 million cap jump happens in 2027-28.
I just wonder if McDavid chooses to sign a 2 year extension and then see if the cap limit does in fact goes up to $113million so that he can sign for $22+million AAV after. If he signs for 8 years after this current deal, we’d be getting a huge bargain in years 3-8
Draisaitl signing for $14 million will be a bargain in 2 years. SO grateful he’s locked up for 8 years at that AAV. He did the club a huge solid signing the deal in September before the cap projections were released.
Not if many of their current fans are unemployed or the businesses that support them go broke.
I don’t think maximizing his compensation from the team is something McDavid is looking to do.
Canucks acquiring Marcus Pettersson.
Downgrade in the Miller trade and now trade for rental (for now).
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Sources say Canucks are in the process of trading Danton Heinen.
So they
HH is right. This isn’t a rebuild because you actually gain prospects in those transactions. This is putting lipstick on a pig
A framework for contacts in the interests of the paying customer and providing player protection still against the machine
Like salary retention a team gets 3 slots for full NMC’s
Contracts are guaranteed to 50% of term and slide on a scale after
The game would be better
Is there any other professional sport where players being traded is put down to ‘it’s a business’?
I find it ridiculous. Other major sports make way more trades, to win if they are being smart. Miss guys sure. Disrupts family sure. The people paying to watch and funding the sport mostly take many years to earn one year of the worst player’s contract
It’s a professional sport, the reason you get paid so much. It’s not a slight to trade, it’s an imperative to the paying customer, it happens because somebody can’t get it done
Old man voice ‘I’m going out of here feet first, pile those bones in the corner on me’
Summarizing!
Day turned in another quality performance, though in a losing cause. He stopped 31 of 33 in a 3-2 shootout loss, earning 3rd star honours.
Lachance had a goal and two assists.
Stonehouse tallied his 8th of the season, a backhand roof job while falling that earned him the OHL Play of the Night.
Akey and Nicholl each acquired an apple.
Copponi, Berry, Wakely, Clattenburg and O’Reilly did not garner soup.
March 22 NYR vs VCR. What are the odds we see a Pettersson Miller scrap?
Haha, I think Miller would enjoy that very much. There’s a reason weight classes exist.
Anyone know if any places in Edmonton, preferably downtown, carries Sleemans Cream Ale (cans?)
https://www.liquorconnect.com/Products/Search?query=&page=1
Beauty source, not always up to date.
Best to call ahead first
Early days but Philip not getting much traction. There has been much anticipation of him coming in and “taking” that 4 th line centre spot. Still finding his way I hope.
Has he even hit 10 games yet? He seems to alternate having a bad game then a good game right now. Hopefully that’ll even out with a few more reps, as it does seem like all he does is keep improving this year. It does seem like the leash is awful short for him though, basically only gets minutes when the team is comfortably up and barely managing 7 minutes a game.
He’s delivered a few heavy hits
Like Emberson he’s feeling his way out. I think his game is NHL level, but he has to play with more gusto. For most players it takes time to get there and also play responsibly. Not sure he’ll get the rope this season, Emberson took 30 or so games having more to start with
Forgot to mention earlier: the Barrie match is available on the OHL YouTube, Facebook and X pages.
JT Miller has been traded to NYR by Vancouver.
More to come.
@frank_seravalli
Sources say J.T. Miller has asked and verbally agreed to waive his ‘no-trade’ clause to accept a trade to the NYR.
Formal submission of paperwork pending.
@frank_seravalli
Sounds like other pieces and prospects are going with Miller to NYR as part of a package.
Larger deal this time around.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington are going to Rangers with Miller
@frank_seravalli
Full trade details:
To NYR J.T. Miller, Erik Brannstrom, Jackson Dorrington
To VCR Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, 2025 1st Round Pick (Top 13 Protected)
No salary retained on Miller. If pick is in Top 13, pick transfers to 2026.
Huge win for Rangers. Wow.
Vancouver had to make that trade. Considering the position they were in, I think they did alright. Rangers now holding the hot potato, we’ll have to wait and see how JT gets along with his new mates before calling any winners imo.
Miller for cap space would have been a win for the Canucks.
Can*cks göt hösed. 🤣
Bahaha!
Chytil and a first for a 100 point scorer! Terrible trade that you can safely judge in isolation for a team that was supposed to be a Cup contender.
All that talk about being willing to wait and then they pull this move.
Anyone judging this as anything other than a massive loss for Vancouver is kidding themselves. Especially if they were talking to Carolina before the Rantanen trade
‘How to turn a 100pt player into a 40pt guy’ by Patrik Allvin.
I’m sure the Oilers have a few old pucks lying around if Patrik wants something for Boeser before the deadline too.
I kinda wonder if they were talking Rantanen for JT Miller too. I think they had asked for Necas from Carolina too but neither Petterson nor Miller is worth that return.
Good on their GM to get that 1st alongside of Chytil. But it’s a downgrade, Chytils stats say 3rd liner but the Nucks are obviously hoping he can maybe flourish with more opportunity.
More like praying than hoping. He won’t get the best wingers, which will make the task even harder
Not sure who else they want. None of the difference-makers are available (e.g. Hellebuyck, Shesterkin, Sorokin, Vasilevsky). We should have gone after Logan Thompson as a 1B, but that would have meant kicking Pickard to the curb. I suppose we could have gone after Markstrom, but I don’t think many of us wanted him. John Gibson? You gotta be kidding.
Skinner has been more consistent this season than 2 of those 4 “difference makers”, FWIW.
Coach also said today, when asked about Perry with Leon and Connor, that Leon and Connor will each play 22-24 minutes and Perry will certainly not so there will be other trios used as well.
Also, Klingberg was not at practice today because he was sick (same with Ekholm) – not due to any sort of physical injury/rest/maintenance type reason.
Calgary traded Kuzmenko and Pelletier to the Flyers along with a 2nd (2025) and 7th (2028) for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.
https://www.nhl.com/news/andrei-kuzmenko-traded-to-flyers-from-flames-for-morgan-frost-joel-farabee
After the big splash his first year in Vancouver, Kuzmenko has significantly underperformed. Pelletier has been slow to arrive.
Calgary clearly still focused on making the playoffs this year and not worried about the draft. And Farabee is signed for 3 more at contract price he hasn’t played up to this season. Seems unlikely going in this direction will close the massive gap to the Oilers. However, they were likely going to lose Kuzmenko when he hit UFA this summer.
From Philly’s perspective, maybe they think Kuzmenko and Michkov (who has cooled off this past month considerably) will make a dynamic Russian duo. They are starting to look more like a seller at the deadline.
Calgary gets better players, Philly gets better contracts.
Makes sense if Calgary is retooling and Philly is rebuilding. Calgary gets two decent young players who are a little overpaid for their current production. Calgary hopes that those players are underperforming because they are in John Tortorella’s doghouse.
It’s going to take Kuzmenko about zero minutes to get in Torts doghouse
From his media today, its very clear that coach sees Klingberg as a top 4 D – he said he doesn’t know what the pairs will be going forward but they know their top 4. He says its important to have leftie/rightie. He says Kulak is a very good D, can play top 4 but he’s better on the left side.
Vegas signs Saad.
Islanders claim Adam Boqvist off waivers.
That’s too much for Saad. Apparently the Leafs were pushing hard for Saad also. Just me speculating, but Oilers were probably interested at a lower number and then walked away when the Leafs and Vegas started driving the price up. I’m 100 percent fine with him going to a rival Pacific Division team for too much money.
The Knights don’t have any big contracts coming up after the first cap jump. That gives them a lot to play with and that could be a problem short term. Hopefully they give it all to Saad for 8 years
Well, now that Saad ISN’T signing here…
He’s too slow and I don’t like the look of his face.
In the first period I thought Detroit looked awful, truly awful. And with Oilers starting out with their A game the Wings hardly touched the puck.
You knew the Wings would come out hard in the second and almost predictably the Oil would come in full leisure mode.
From there I’ll give the Wings a little credit but only a little, there is no valid reason why they should win over this particular oilers team.
It feels like the old slippage after a win streak. Win one you shouldn’t, then tie one, and next is like a loss. Unfortunately it’s the Leafs.
I think they came out as intended, and ran out of legs as it went. Hopefully this is it for sick, build to the playoffs
They should still win though, play smarter if you can’t play harder
Wings have recently beat, LA, Tampa, Florida, Washington, etc., etc.
Opinions along the lines of “there is no way this team should lose to that team” get cited all the time but simply aren’t vested in reality.
Yes, Detroit can beat ANY NHL team on any given night. So can San Jose and Chicago.
Of course, if the Oilers are at their very best, subject to crazy luck, goaltending or officiating, no, the Oilers should not lose to the Wings but, of course, to expect a team to be at their very best every night is not a reasonable expectation.
From all metrics, even thought the Wings came hard in the last 40 minutes of regulation, Oilers had more chances, more high danger chances and more five alarm chances.
Sometimes you don’t win.
If there is a flu bug going around why on earth would a player who has it stay in the line up? Is there not a fear of other players coming down with it? Perhaps going around the locker room? I guess it depends on what the bug is?….
Players play through being sick all the time.
Beside the fact that there isn’t enough roster flexibility to sit 6 guys on one random night, hockey players tend to gut it out.
Remember the ‘06 Anaheim series? The flu was the only reason the Ducks won a game.
Judging by practice lines today…. NOPE.
In fact, demonted to the fourth line to be centered by Janmark – per practice.
Corey Perry elevated to play with McDavid and Drai though….
The coach revealed his attitude in a presser yesterday without naming Skinner.
He talked about a player who needed to be on the first powerplay to be effective but there not being a spot and the problems that this causes.
He doesn’t like the way Skinner plays – which is really, really annoying given he could be deploying his talent and helping the team win.
His unwavering belief in Brown, Janmark, and to a lesser extent Podkolzin and Arvidsson, to the detriment of Skinner and Kapanen (and thus, the team’s overall shooting ability) is thankfully only causing minor problems, but that doesn’t make it right.
78 wins 33 losses 9otl, Coach can frankly ice whoever he pleases with the way he wins.
The Oilers haven’t been this superb defensively since peak MacT.
The record could (and should) still be better.
Notice the words “minor problems”.
”Good enough” doesn’t put banners in the rafters.
There’s zero evidence that Jinner will provide more to winning then any of the PK fellas in the playoffs.
There’s zero evidence Skinner would improve the current record, which is good enough to be battling for the division title for the first time since the 80’s.
Im sure your suggestions would improve Knoblauch as a coach lol.
Where would the franchise be without Mattias Janmark?
Should the record be better? I mean, since he was hired on Nov 12, 2023, through today, the Oilers have the 2nd best record in the NHL (plus 15 playoff wins).
Which is exactly why the Skinner signing was so perplexing.
Drai likely wanted skill wingers in order to re-sign with the Oilers. He got Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson.
The issue is one LT pointed out a month or 2 back.
Coach K is more concerned about GOAL Suppression than goal generation. The GF% is a key metric that I believe the team uses to measure player’s performances. The organization believes most of the team is adequate in Goal generation which Skinner actually excels at but it’s not just about what you make but what you give up.
If Skinner can bring the same defensively responsible 200 foot game that he showed last night by backchecking deep into our zone, he’ll eventually get more rope and more opportunity in the top 6. His early season results on McDavid’s wing were abysmal and he’s gotta re-earn the coaches trust that he won’t gush goals against if he plays against elites on the top 2 lines.
He also went out of his way to compliment Skinner after the game. One of the media brought up Skinner’s backcheck and coach parlayed that noting a couple other strong defensive plays that he made.
I was/am “the” OG Stu Skinner supporter.
Pickard does what he is supposed to do as a backup very well at a very reasonable price point.
I lay claim to the OG Skinner supporter. Every since teaching one of his brothers and sisters. The mustache, the calmness, this dude is only gonna get betted and better.
defmn was also an early vocal supporter of Stu Skinner.
LOL. Thanks for remembering.
You might be right. I didn’t notice him until he outdueled Carter Hart in a WHL playoff series.
Prospectorous!
Sorry gang, no preamble today. Not top-of-mind after sending one of our fur babies across the Rainbow Bridge.
Boston University (Lachance, Copponi) @ 5 p.m.
London (O’Reilly, Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Flint (Day, Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.
Barrie (Akey, Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
Peterborough (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 6 p.m.
All times are two times and are also Empress time.
My deepest condolences Tarkus.
My condolences Tarkus. That sucks.
So sorry to hear 😢 My giant goofy flurf turns 1 next month and I can’t fathom losing him, my heart goes.put to you all…Take care.
its starting to get difficult to decipher what the thought process is now….. per Stauff:
The @EdmontonOilers practice today:
Draisaitl-McDavid-Perry
Hyman-RNH-Arvidsson
Podkolzin-Henrique-Brown
J. Skinner-Janmark-Kapanen
Philp
Nurse-Bouchard
Kulak-Emberson/Stecher
Skinner
Pickard
(not on ice: Ekholm/Klingberg)
Shocking that Skinner still can’t get a look up top and Perry can….
Perry gets results?
Skinner meanwhile continues to struggle to make himself relevant on a playoff team.
Skinner has better results than Perry, offensively – both straight up and via rate of production.
It’s PRACTISE.
We talkin bout practice man!
https://youtu.be/eGDBR2L5kzI?si=fYhDtxP1GhaF-o-l
It would be so nice if the public could get more access to more specific stats, that they do collect but don’t allow to become available. It’s completely unnecessary to black out, it protects nothing for teams, it just diminishes engaged fan experience
But when you leadership still miss rotary phones that’s what you get. This version of the NHL is really poor at presenting their game. Kind of not the right plan, if you want to keep engaging younger fans – their future – who live in an increasingly app/tech world
This is why I started Power Wins tracking, to get a different look at things, that was once tracked a short while many years ago at an Oilers’ blog. Probably short term because it takes some time to do it manually
I don’t have the gumption to put up a bunch of stats today, but as would be expected they are amongst the top teams Since Nov 1 in most things. But, they aren’t as strong as the other top few teams overall. Yes all teams lose games, but the to whom, why and how many are where the difference lies
Since Nov 1, the Oilers are tied for fewest losses against playoff teams with the Caps, near the top in wins. They are fourth in GP against playoff teams. That is great, and theoretically the schedule isn’t as hard as some of the other tracked teams
These two stats start to tell the story to me of this season, Leads Lost plus Comebacks. These are defined as from the start of the game going up by 2, or down by 2, regardless of a win or loss. Adding them is about how many games got out of control, which isn’t a sign of team strength. This also doesn’t count games that got out of control in a different fashion, to me this was the an obvious way to count major ones
Last season the Oilers were the dominant team in Power Wins, this season in Win % but not in many other stats I’m collecting:
Leads Lost + Comebacks
Jets 2
Oilers 9
Knights 5
Kings 0
Stars 3
Wild 3
Avs 3
Devils 0
Bolts 0
Panthers 0
Caps 0
Leafs 1
Canes2
Oilers a bit spicy here, more to unpack – thoughts?
The new cap increases are a fascinating change in the way NHL teams will be managed.
The high-growth era for the cap (2005-2012) prioritized getting good players / keeping good players. Good teams could afford to pay their players because cap inflation kept feeding them more cap room.
The flat-cap decade that followed saw the cap only grow incrementally. Negative-value contracts became more problematic, and we saw retained salary transactions & cap dumps become the norm. Trying to squeeze $1M players and economy depth defenders alongside superstars was du jour.
As the NHL is in its next inflationary period, teams like the Oilers can afford all their superstars AND a supporting cast. $10M for Bouchard? Fine. $15M for McDavid? No problem. We’ll still have room for a carousel of $3M, $4M, and $5M wingers as next year will always offer more cap space.
Free agency is about to get really silly.
People are counting their chickens before they hatch. They are getting high on their own supply.
What happens when the loonie goes to 50 cents?
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Real concern for (some) Canadian teams moving forward: a $113.5 million USD salary cap in 2027-28 equates to $163.2 million spending in Canadian dollars based on today’s rate.
How will those teams find a way to significantly generate new revenue to match increase?
@frank_seravalli
Interesting part of today’s NHL / NHLPA memo to teams is that this isn’t merely a projection of cap increases, but an agreement between the two parties.
2025-26
Upper Limit: $95.5m
Lower Limit: $70.6m
2026-27
Upper: $104m
Lower: $76.9m
2027-28
Upper: $113.5m
Lower: $83.9m
Fortunately for those who watch the games from home, this shouldn’t change things too much as Barrel Cats’ growing billionaire status means this will be a minor annoyance.
Unfortunately for those who go to the games though, buckle up for $40 Bobby Nick burgers while browsing for $350 jerseys.
Aren’t the players paid with American currency?
But Canadian teams generate revenue in Canadian dollars.
Yep. I doubt the cap rises as quickly as folks are predicting. Tanking Loonie + incoming recession from trade war. Canadian revenues are going to plummet.
I was working an event with a lead economist of a major bank a week ago and he predicted the Canadian dollar won’t go very much lower than it is right now. The money markets already priced in the Trump tariffs over the past few months. We’re mostly at the floor for the CAD to USD unless Trump unveils even more extreme tariffs.
Interest rates: Canada will do at least two more 25 point rate drops by June because our inflation is mostly tamed and stimulating growth will be more important. The U.S. FED will have to maintain higher interest rates or even increase it by one 25 point step in the same time frame to try tamp down their inflation.
Unless Trump’s admin throws out all the migrant workers resulting in food prices across North America shooting thru the roof as crops rot in the fields with no one to pick them. Then we’ll go back to 2021 inflation rates. Food prices will rise no matter what as the tariffs will raise the energy costs for all producers and that will all be reflected downstream at the checkout.
“Unless Trump’s admin throws out all the migrant workers resulting in food prices across North America shooting thru the roof as crops rot in the fields with no one to pick them.”
So far he doesn’t even need to throw them out – migrant workers aren’t showing up at their jobs anymore out of fear so the crops are already starting to rot in the fields.
Did he actually say this? I’m going to assume something was lost in translation. Surely–hopefully–he said currency markets or FX or Forex rather than money markets, which are short term paper markets.
And I’m wondering how this could be “priced in”? Firstly, till a couple of days ago, these tariffs were uncertain and many did not believe they were coming. Secondly, FX depends on capital flows, which are ongoing. If this reduces exports to the USA as expected, if imports remain the same, there will continue to be downward pressure on the Loonie. If such reduction in turn reduces corporate profits, there will be selling of corporate paper, which will be a further outflow of capital by foreign investors, generating even more downward pressure.
As for inflation, there’s only one cure for inflation and it isn’t higher interest rates. There’s a chance that tariffed goods will become cheaper in Canada due to an excess of supply, if the American market is buying less. However, the loss of the Loonie on the FX markets will lead to higher prices and GovCan is contemplating retaliatory tariffs, which will also lead to higher prices.
I also find it difficult to believe his thinking that the USA can be suffering from an inflation problem and Canada will not be, considering how much we import from there. Also note that if the US increases rates and the BoC goes through with two rate cuts, that will also damage the loonie, further driving prices up.
It’s also an unknown on whether the energy tariff will increase oil prices in the US since it is coming with a policy of drill, drill, drill under a Trump-declared emergency. Can they make up the 4 million barrels? We’ll see. No one knows right now.
And while the BoC might be planning for two more rate cuts, they can only do that if the bond market lets them. Unless, of course, they’re looking to create more inflation through an easing program.
Your economist fellow could be right. But it’s by no means certain and needs a lot of things to go well.
Teams that have already locked in their elite talent will soon have a tremendous advantage…at least for a while.
For example, Colorado has only 2 pending core player up for renewal in the next 3 years…Makar and Necas.
The Oilers have McDavid, Bouchard, Stuart Skinner and a replacement for Ekholm to deal with.
Given news of the massive cap increases, your estimates for McDavid and Bouchard could be significantly low.
It’s a very good day to be Mitch Marner.
Colorado may have to worry about a Makar replacement given, as you’ve posted in the past, he will want to recoup the lost salary from taking a cheaper deal + the cap going up + if Colorado and Makar share your opinion of him being the McDavid of D, Makar will want around the same or more than McDavid.
Given Colorado wouldn’t pay Rantanen, a player who was shocked by the trade and was willing to take a market discount to stay, Colorado may have to find a cheaper replacement for Makar. I’m sure Colorado will have no problem signing Necas long term though.
Nah, they’ll back up the brinks for him. Hes probably one of the reasons they wouldn’t pay Rantenan.
Oh for sure.
I just like to use HH’s own talking points and thought process against him sometimes and watch him argue against his own points.
Yep.
And Rantanen’s age.
He will be 29 when an 8 year exertion kicks in.
Colorado is getting Necas at 26 and 27 and if he re-signs in Colorado an 8 year deal would end at a younger age.
Why does age matter now? Kopitar is 37 and has no signs of slowing down, right?
Bet MacKinnon wishes he signed a 4 year instead of 8 uear contract, a la matthews, who seems to want to milk every possible dollar out of the leafs.
Was at the game last night. Sat next to a Wings fan from Ohio. He, his wife, son, daughter in law and 2 kids had flown up to Edmonton to watch the game and they were headed to Calgary next to take in a game. Real nice folks. They were super impressed with Edmonton and the great hockey culture here. Loved the rink and the passionate fans. Good to be reminded sometimes of what we have…..
During the disaster of last year’s miserable start, I was one of many offenders shipping Bouchard out of town.
After the last two playoff drives, imo if you’re now saying to ship Bouchard out of town you belong in the asylum. Oilers will spend another 30 years looking for a Bouchard. There’s an argument to be made that he was the best player on both teams during 2 of the 4 series played last spring.
In two years even if they spend 26 million on McDavid and Bouchard, they’ll have 40 more million to throw around. Maybe Rantanen is a possibility, add in a Provorov to boot.
Given Bouchards mediocre, by his standards play, his future potential, and the cap increases that were announced, the Oilers should be doing everything they can to sign him to a team friendly 8 year contract IMO. Something like 8 years x 8.5 or 9 mill
If I was reading the tidbits right, if he signs for around 10, that would be the equivalent to around 8 with the current cap. If he has a 3rd spring of dominance it will definitely be 8×10 or more.
Exactly. That’s why they should sign him now, before that happens. Buy low for a change.
He’s never going to sign for 8 million a season with the 2 superb playoff outings he’s had. His analytics are available to his agent, he may take less then what he can get on the open market but it won’t be a number that starts with 8.
It takes 2 parties to come to an agreement on a contract.
Buy low- never feels low at thw time of signing. Only at the end of a long contract through which caps have risen. Essentially it is buy low, but more throigh the process of not buying higger and higher every 2 years the contract runs out.
So I am with you. Sign him.
Two thoughts:
1) I’ve been big on Alex Lyon as a 1B since we started looking for Jack Campbell replacements around October of 2023. Lyon isn’t perfect, but he seems to consistently outperform whoever he platoons the crease with. 2025 UFA is making peanuts.
He would serve as insurance to Skinner who I consider a superior goaltender.
2) Arvidsson I dislike. Don’t see how he contributes much of anything. Like I mentioned last week he’s Yamamoto 2.
Can we trade Arvidsson? I don’t see where he has a NMC.
Yes, he’s tradable. I suggested the other day moving him to Vancouver in a Boeser trade, he doesn’t have any trade protection and there’s the added bonus of clearing cap for next year too.
I think Arvidsson has the most value in the playoffs. I am willing to forego the lack of production in season to have him around when the going gets tough.
Every G.M in the league knows he’s built for the playoffs. He’s been snakebit and because of that he’s forcing things but I’ll take a mediocre regular season for a playoff where he’s the exact type of player that goes on a heater.
There is no way they are trading him after having his pal Ek vouch
He’s not finishing yes, but part of the reason he’s trying to shoot so much is that there isn’t much else to do with the puck many times
The puck support is terrible a lot of the time, players aren’t jumping into holes, or going to where you can actually pass to them, I don’t know how many got picked off last night that obviously weren’t getting through without a mistake
I see it with players new to the Oilers, what they are looking to do, they are used to attacking in a different way – like most other good teams do, and it doesn’t happen consistently with the Oilers. It’s essentially trying to get to the middle, and at the least set up a screen
This is why they get snake bit so much. They score a lot sure, but when you have Leon and Connor that happens. It’s about the games where basic tactics from any team stymies them. A lot if the can’t finish thing is because most of the chances aren’t that great and most Oilers aren’t great shooters
Leon’s post was a great set up, most weren’t in that class. That is actually what they need to all the time, and it was Leon getting there at the right time that gave Connor the ability to set it up. Otherwise he skates around the net which almost always is what happens, or he tries to take a low percentage shot which is because he’s in so close and doesn’t shoot high very often
I do agree. As Connor circles, or Drai lugs the puck on the boards, the opponent plugs up the net front. Oil wingers, uncertain at times also go net front. It seems nobody there or everybody but certainly lack of space.
Hyman as example, scored more when he alternated driving to the net from the corner and standing in front for tip or pass.
Now it seems the plan has become give it to McDavid and stand in front.
This results in majority of shots coming from the open man which is the dman, and shooting into a crowd. Some variety would help.
They also take a lot of shots from the point with nobody in front, they aren’t going in this season. Emberson does seem to be purposeful when he shoots, create a tip or rebound, and Ekholm
When they get in so tight as they do, there is nowhere to put it in, all pads and goalie and no room to get it up and over. Skinner’s goal is what they need more of – read the play and was first to the puck, and got it in and had a D after him. If he was just standing in tight he would have been checked
The problem being that it seems clear they don’t want a guy just floating around waiting to clean up, while not doing enough else. If he can build more of that back check in and be more aggressive on the boards he’ll get some more looks up the lineup. KK described it as ‘how are you elevating your linemates?’
He’s played about 65% of his TOI with Leon – I find it hard to reconcile an opinion that he doesn’t have offensive support.
Your missing the point
Before the blocked shot Arvidsson was driving the play, he’s clearly not 100%.
His durability seems to suck but can’t fault a player for blocking a shot for his team.
I suspect he comes back after the 4 nations in better health returning to the play driving winger he was showing.
Too bad he’s playing in the 4 nations; he could probably use the rest.
The grunts are going through a funk finishing the last little while. I have full faith this veteran forward group will turn it on come the real season. If you told me we would be first in our division at this point in the season with the shortest offseason ever I would of said sign me up.
LT I don’t see many here that want S Skinner traded or whatever. Sure the odd over the odd over the top comment, those are always around
Goalies have always been the hero or the goat. Comments about Stu’s mid stats are fair, them’s the facts, or the lack of depth behind Pick, or whether Pick could hold the fort in a bind
I can tell you, without hesitation, that a day doesn’t go by where I don’t read a comment on the radio station textline, twitter or here about the Oilers needing to trade Stuart Skinner. It’s absolutely everywhere. Seriously. It’s okay. People don’t believe in him. Maybe they’re right! Stan Bowman is the one who will make the call. Next time Skinner lets in a goal that is weak, just have a look around. Dozens and dozens most of the time.
I’ve raised my hand up multiple times and said “I believe in him!” Feels like a good morning to do that once more. We’re still out there! I still believe in him! He provides excellent value for his cap hit.
But I definitely hear and see the folks you’re talking about LT. They’re out there too. And there’s definitely a bunch of them.
Yes I get that, I meant to clarify that you see that because of your job, but here, it’s pretty reasonable I think. I don’t do much X etc about sport because of that, there’s no substance so no point, and it’s not my job so I don’t have to
Goalies get no respect. Most fans haven’t a clue about anything other than the drama. Goalies make for easy drama (unless they’re banking shutouts).
If a goalie is a big-ticket item from a mainstream team, like NYR or Boston, they’ll get respect in Edmonton.
But if Edmonton hires such a goalie they’d have to trade away Draisaitl or McDavid to make it under the cap.
This is a “we’re always insufficient” syndrome. It’s all over Canada, except maybe part of Toronto.
Different teams have different priorities that need to fit within their pay structure.
I don’t have a lot of faith in Skinner, his tendency to let in soft goals at really bad times is frustratingly awful. That being said, do I think the Oilers can win a cup with him, yes… but likely in spite of him and not because of him. Especially now that the teams psyche seems to be less fragile, but there was a time in the not too distant past that, IMHO, Skinners soft goals would deflate the team and severely affect their overall play.
With that being said, I’m solidly in the don’t trade Skinner camp, mostly because I don’t see an upgrade good enough that would move the needle enough to justify the cost. Especially mid season. I think this team is good enough to win Stanley despite it’s goaltending not because of it.
They are not trading Skinner midseason offseason if him and Pickard don’t win the Cup then that’s another story. Bowman has always had a better then average starter and reliever. I do believe he values goaltending more then Holland. I thought Bowman would upgrade Pickard but he’s been too good to do that to him and the team. I myself would start Pickard against the Leafs who are having trouble scoring.
LT, don’t forget that posters on those types of mediums often are not very representative of the larger population. Poeple often seem to go on their to voice their upsetedness.
This blog I feel holds a more measured response. What does this population feel about Skinner?
Good summary LT.
There are a couple other things that stood out for me.
Perry was slow, but he went right to where he could help, made sure it didn’t squeak through Stu, smart
It seemed Edmonton struggled with Detroit’s speed. In hindsight maybe playing Kapanen instead of Perry last night might have been a better choice. But yeah, Perry has his smarts.
The team has to have flu around if Ek is sick. They did little to get in the Wings way. When the Oilers play like that every team no matter how good or crappy look like Cup contenders and their goalie a Vezina candidate
That might have been a factor.
I think you need to give both goaltenders credit in that one. In the end it looked like Edmonton lost interest in the shootout.
The team had shots but almost zero finish. Seemed to be running on fumes. Like others, I’m wondering how many are playing sick?
I had a bit too many drinks last night at a work event before the game so my recollection of the game is a bit fuzzy … I remember the Skinners both had good games.
I’m firmly in the “don’t trade Stu” camp, but I think there’s a middle-ground between “He’s a bum trade him” and “I’m sold on him as unquestioned #1 for a deep playoff run ending in a cup”. I’m close to the latter based on last year’s postseason and this year’s performance but I would still do my due diligence on bringing in a 1B that’s a Pickard upgrade/injury insurance if the acquisition cost wasn’t too dear. I presume it would be, and probably wouldn’t make the move if it was anything more than 3rd round pick + depth prospect for Vemelka (or similar). I’m comfortable going into the postseason with the current tandem, but it wouldn’t hurt to kick the tires (pads?) on some other options before the deadline.
This is a good team, and the biggest holes in the roster (to my eye) are ones that the team has internal solutions auditioning/bubbling under: (1) Forward who can finish and is physical and/or fast (Kane, Savoie), (2) Top 4 D (Klingberg), and (3) bottom 6C (Philp).
I’ve taken issues with the Oilers roster construction before, but honestly the team as currently built is pretty solid. Best case scenario, those (2) and (3) succeed in their auditions and the Oilers and take one big swing at the deadline for a major piece that puts them over the top, rather than having to make multiple smaller moves.
I don’t see any plausible scenario where Vemelka gets moved for that cheap.
Alex Nedeljkovic or James Reimer, on the other hand…
Great article as always. The title could arguably be the theme of the season.
If we’re being fair to Skinner, we should look at save percentage for entire season, not just an arbitrary point, and it is .903. Similar to .905 last year. I think we have him surrounded as a starter, and it’s admittedly average to slightly above average.
No problem with that, but it’s magnified when game in and game out, our shooting percentage is lower than the opposing team. Is it because Skinner is bad? I would guess that more likely it is because our finishing is poor as a group this year. Bottom third in shooting percentage. This team needs 1-2 more goal scorers. The other Skinner, as you said, can help. Kane was that guy. Hyman or RNH can pick it up. I would personally like one more goal scorer come the deadline, I still think that’s the biggest need
Snipers rarely play the way coaches like. But you need them. The age old conundrum continues.
I’m with you on the shooting % thing. Oilers are near top of league with shots for, but not so close to the top in goals for. Last night was one of many recent examples of high expectations/low results. How to sharpen the knives?
Podz racking up the minuses lately and Arvidsson going full Yamamoto.
It’s time for Skinner to get a look up top.
A Savoie look starts to not be out of the question. The Oilers are in LTIR and have $5MM of LTIR room right now so there is no negative cap implications at this point.
Oh, and leave Connor Brown in the bottom six and Hyman on McDavid’s wing.
I get experimenting and seeing what might work but, let’s get back to reality here.
When Skinner back checked hard (I think it was in the 3rd period), it started to make me think that he may be getting the message from the coach. It’s the most notable instance of him looking to play a 200′ game.
If he’s willing to do that consistently, it would make a difference. At this point, Advidsson is not doing what he was paid to do – and I wonder if he’s hurt again. He’s not scoring and the Oilers need someone who can score in the top 6. Badly.
I still think Skinner will score 20 and more importantly come up large in the Playoffs. If we hit a goalie that’s on a heater on our way to the Cup it’s nice to have a relatively young (32) 366 goal scorer in your back pocket.
The wingers couldn’t hit a cow’s ass with a banjo.
lol. Arvidson shoots a lot, but misses way to often
I don’t think he aims, he just blasts away. He’s a banger. Place not pace. There’s a pickleball quote for you.
That seems to be a way to waste a perfectly good stringed instrument…
Coming this weekend at the Oilers skills competition, we have a new event…..
Broadcast on the Ocho…
I’d figured that the Oilers would lose one of these Wings/Leafs games and happy for the 1 point.
Beat the Leafs and all will be forgiven.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
·
5m
New:
NHL/NHLPA have released cap estimates for next three seasons:
2025-26: $95.5M
2026-27: $104 M
2027-28: $113.5M
Just saw that. I wonder if big names are going to sign short term deals knowing that the cap is going up substantially. Rantanen and McDavid could do that (although in McDavid’s case, the cap will be already a lot higher by 26-27). They may also convince Bouchard to go lower for next 2 years. There’s always risk in that, but that’s common fare in NBA
That Drai contract looking so good.
Just like the last one. Haters gonna hate, but Leon’s agent isn’t an idiot, probably did their homework and they probably still estimated this to be a team friendly deal balanced with the need to push the salary for the league’s elite
Once the big cap increases became public, Leon’s contract is team friendly for sure
Bridging Bouchard is a bad idea. They should have locked him up at his last extension. Kicking the can down the road like that leads to the Nurse contract.
I agree but I also think if Bouchard is kind enough to be patient for the cap to go up, this could be a scenario that benefits both player and team. It would make them more competitive and able to go after another player for next year.
Bowman is much more business like about contracts as Oiler GM, thank goodness. It would be harmful to the future to bridge Bouch, and could end up putting him in the position Nurse was in signing at the top of the range, when he isn’t a top of the range D. Nurse is good, but not top. There are consequences to big contracts, and I think it affected Nurse mentally
Rich Winter talked about it, it’s better to sign too low than too high, because you can always fire the agent and get a better deal next time. If you are locked in too high he says it can be stressful for the player, unless they only want money
Bouch is a top level defenseman because of having elite skills, but his inconsistency and lapses will bring a lot of heat on him if his contract is too high. Bridging him will put him into a range that will have a laser spotlight on him, maybe he lives up to it. I think he is who he is and the lapses will continue, but that he can dial it in for the playoffs being shorter term and intense, but he would be pilloried reg season. If he’s making 9-10M in 2-3 years if he blows a read it won’t be such a big deal as 13-14M
The decision is do you want him, or not. If you do, lock him up now and figure it out.
It has been revealed that some of the tension between JT Miller and Elias Petterson is the contract of the latter.
Apparently Miller started grinding him after he signed that $11.6 million deal while Miller is only pulling down $8 million.
Money is the root of all evil.
If this is true it is a sorry comment on Miller’s character. How many millions does a man need? Just play the f*cking game & get your team to Stanley. Egad, man.
Yep.
And that’s likely why offers for him in trade have been poor.
Yes there has been a little chatter of a 2 year ish 6.5 ish bridge deal for Bouchard. Someone mentioned it after that report of Strickland in regard to Rantanen possibly coming to Edmonton. Guess this is a decision that Bowman will have to look at if they do attempt to go after a Rantanen or some other big name.
Auston Matthews contract expires in 2027-28 just as the cap hits $113.5 million.
Hoo boy.
Does this consider tariffs? Ha
The bigger concern will be the impact of tariffs on the Canadian dollar which continues to drop in value.
Listening to some discussion this morning that some small market teams could have some difficulty spending enough under the expanded cap and I would think Winnipeg would be very vulnerable.
Winnipeg has one of the richest owners in the league…..
Brown should never be on the 1st line period. The Narrative last time was “he was being rewarded for his hot streak”. OK, this is what I don’t get. When they put him on the 1st and dropped Hyman to the 3rd the 1st time, both players were playing hot on the lines they were on and producing points. So they switch, Brown picked up a couple points then crickets for the next few, The 3rd line went silent.
I don’t get the coach doing this. I don’t really buy the trying out of different guys all over the place.
It was an entertaining game last night. Detroit is fast and have really turned it around it seems. Goalie was great.
Nuge and McD were pathetic on the Shootout. It was weird.
Kudos to Jeff Skinner. Great game.
Agreed 100% re leave Brown on the 3rd pair.
That said, maybe they wanted more defensive acumen vs Larkin & Raymond.
Coach K is not going to come out and reveal his strategy.
97 need to have a scoring winger; if Nuge is on the wing, then you already have the defensive acumen intact.
I think it’s more about balanced scoring in the top nine.
I think KK is trying to get players going. Brown is at this point fighting to hold a third line job, he just doesn’t do much other than PK if he’s not scoring. Yes he’s usually reliable defensively, that’s a pretty low bar, if important. PK specialists are fourth liners
I believe I heard Jack and Louie say Skinner was 10-2 in his last 12 home games… he made some quality saves last night.
Nuge also with a 24% shooting percentage over the last while… thought for sure he was going to score in the shootout.
I’m not mad, just disappointed.
I’m not so sure Stu was very good in the shootout. The shooters had his number.
I’m not sure Oilers shooters even had Lyons’ area code.
I was only able to watch a few minutes of the second period and the OT last night. Somehow managed to watch all three Red Wing goals. Does hockey make you superstitious or what?
Not particularly.
At the same time, it’d be best for you to stop watching games.
Just in case.
I won’t watch an Oilers game until I’m in my jersey and singing the anthem. It’s the least I can do (& pretty much the only thing I can do!).
But yes, I suggest you hold off on watching the game live. Console yourself with the replay.
I just have a favorite hat that I must wear for every Oiler game.
I don’t see a goalie change happening this year unless injuries happen:
I think a first person shooter is the biggest need and a RHD
I don’t anticipate a change either.
On the other hand if this season the Oilers again fall short, and goaleuring is presumed the reason, next season it will be time for EDM to eject their Andy Moog in favour of Ed Belfour as the missing piece.
The very moment the Stars did that I knew we were screwed.
Yep.
Belfour was so hated he didnt get his due, but I considered him the fourth horseman of the apocalypse, Hasek, Roy & Broduer being the others. Great goaltenders in that era.
Belfour was impossible to like, and impossible not to respect. He’s not getting his due post-retirement for whatever reason.
“I’ll give you a million dollars. A billion!”. The pride of Carman, Manitoba.
One of the underlying concerns (maybe a strong word – cause for pause?) I have with the bottom 6 is the lack of finishing touch. I had the same worry about Holloway last year, but now Janmark, Kapanen, Henrique, Brown and even Arvidsson & Podkolzin are all slumping, complementing the slower year by Nuge and McDavid (I know, heresy to say, but he’s off his normal pace).
It’s been the ultranova brilliance of Leon which has kept this team flying, but that won’t do it in April.
I hope Bowman is looking at forwards more than D right now. They didn’t lose for keeping the puck out of the net last spring. It was the scoring which ultimately let them down.
I’d argue it was some sort of differential between the two (scoring and keeping the puck out of the net). I don’t know, the first 3 losses in the final were 3-0, 4-1 and 4-3.
When you cant score you gotta keep the puck out.
I don’t know if I really focus on either. It’s going to come down to whats available at what price. (Keep the puck outters are probably cheaper – but if they can’t also move the puck…)
This has been my concern as well – there were some games last year where it felt like unless 29 or 97 scored, no one would and the Oilers had no shot to win the game.
Obviously with a top-heavy roster like the Oilers, you need your best players to be your best players, but depth scoring has been my biggest concern for a few years.
Still, a very good team.
I got no issues with Podz whatsoever. You’d like a few more of those chances to go in, but he just keeps playing the same game shift in and shift out and it’s an excellent complement on Drai’s line.
Arvidsson, while I like his compete, seems to be playing jazz while his linemates are playing rock n roll. It’s been such a weird fit (or lack there of). Time to try him elsewhere?
Henrique has seemed a lot more impactful in the new year. And spot starting Kapanen is fine.
Janmark and Brown… kinda wish they were one guy. Great PKers, not providing much else. Stan should try to upgrade here.
Kapanen was a nice fit with Leon & Podz when Arvidsson was out. I suppose everyone will be screaming for Jeff Skinner though. I like Kapanen’s speed.
I like his speed too, and I thought he was a good add. But he’s got to be at least a threat to score (quoting MacT).
He has scored some.
A winger like Taylor Hall essentially for free would have been a coup. Send Skinner to retain half or something and make it work. The flanks are weak on this team.
Jeff Skinner has an NMC.
He sure does. And Taylor Hall plays for the Hurricanes now.
‘like’ Taylor Hall. I’d call about Tage Thompson, Rackell, Konecny, Schwartz, Bertuzzi, Zucker, Tuch, and Terry.
My key is scoring winger to define ‘like’ Taylor Hall. I recognize many of these players are quite different.
Why would Jeff Skinner waive his NMC and leave a team who is one of the favorites to win the cup? The only way he does so is if he thinks the team he’s getting traded to has as good as, if not better, odds to win the cup, and that’s a pretty limited list (FLA, VGK, CAR, maybe WPG or WSH?)
Even if he would waive – why would one of these teams want to take on a $3M winger who’s having a bad season? Given that Skinner can choose his destination, meaning the return is going to be much lower, what is a contending team going to give the Oilers back that’s actually worth it?
Skinner isn’t so bad that it’s worth making the team worse just to free up $3M in cap, and if you need to lower cap hits coming in it’s probably better to just pay SJ or CHI a mid round pick to double-retain like the Oilers did with Henrique
Nitpicking on the Skinner thing a bit much here. The point was to add offence to the wings via trade. I threw out a name. You don’t know what Skinner would say if they approached him about a trade. Maybe it would be a relief that he gets to actually play and show his value regularly to save his career. It isn’t looking great at this time.
I’ll try to be more concise next time.
He does seem to be getting the message in Edmonton. His two-way play is noticeably better. Other teams could notice the new improved Skinner, maybe even a cup contender that he might not mind waiving his NMC for. Cap space is valuable to this Oiler team.
That’s a solid list.
I’d add the following guys as worthy targets, in no order of preference:
Of everyone between our lists, Alex Tuch is my favourite forward target. Has been for several seasons now. Konecny would be a great pick up as well, and I like Schwartz a lot. Zucker would also be a dandy. Although any of those guys would be costly.
Pretty sure Mr. Hall is still sporting a pretty healthy attitude. Why? Comments from the trade from the Hawks which were diplomatic regarding his ‘ideas’, and him burning the bridge after getting out, again. Always something, can’t stick. Not sure they need that
They need goals on the wings Slush. RE: Attitude – Evander Kane plays for this team. Kane stories in Winnipeg are peak jerk.
I would have an attitude too if they pushed me to the 4th line behind kids who are worse than you and lied to you about why.
The best story I heard of Hall’s attitude was that Anderson was Red Wine Summitting and told Hall he wouldn’t get his GWG record. Hall replied with ‘congrats on getting the 4th goal in an 8-3 game in January of 1986’ or similar.
That’s honestly just hilarious. Anderson wasn’t allowed near the team after that.
Yeah Anderson was gooned at that party. Apparently he was dominating the stereo, saying they could only play Lady Gaga.
Someone complained to Lowe and Anderson was told to leave the kids alone.
Hall trails Glenn Anderson by 223 career goals. Taylor might want to pick up the pace a bit.
They do, I don’t think Hall is that great a scorer, nowhere near Kane even when on the Bruins. His Puck IQ is meh, and it looks like he ends up being sheltered on the Bruins and Hawks
Would he be better than Perry? Maybe but Perry outplayed him on the Hawks before being fired. He might score more than Jan Kap or Brown, but can’t do the other things and isn’t defensively reliable it seems. The Canes can hide him in the lineup and Rod will keep him in line – a fit thing, not to mention his 6M cap hit
Also Kane’s stuff is well in the past, not Taylor’s. I don’t think it is a deal breaker, but a selfish attitude not backed by a lot of goals isn’t worth it to me
Meanwhile, Connor McDavid against the Kings back on Jan 13, tied Glenn for all time Oilers game winning goals at 72. Leon is close behind with 70. McDavid’s next GWG will set the all time record.
What’s this? Can you link to an article?
Not right now, but it was in the articles that came out post trade on SN or TSN, mainstream
The coach likes the guys who can’t really shoot too much.
It is one of his few failings so far.
You’re not telling the whole story.
“I think Mattias Ekholm might have been less than 100 percent, so would like to see that pairing again on Saturday.”
He has the flu, he played like he was at 60% when he was probably at 30%.
“Evan Bouchard had some chaos, but also make some nice plays.”
I tried to hard watch 2. If this was a playoff series, by game 3 Detroit would stop getting in the lane. They brought their icepacks in a Tmac special. Much better sticks in lanes too which reminded of LA.
My fav Bouch plays were at the line. He has a good reach and 3 times tapped the puck off defenders barreling in on him. Camera didn’t even see the plays (Sportsnet close cam special) and the puck went back up ice in a hurry. I did not see him make a headman pass that didn’t hit a man in stride. Nurses were more noticeable because he hadn’t been doing it in a year. Bouch has done it out of the box day 1.
He hit Kapanen in stride right as he crossed the blue in my fav sequence of the night that amounted to nothing. Of course, he looks bad on Skinner’s best backcheck of his career. I’d suggest when the D pinches like that the F3 has to be coming back hard to cover for it but he did lack urgency and doesn’t have Nurse’s turn recovery. Just a fact.
“…difficult to find an encouraging word beyond Bruce McCurdy and myself.”
I would say Stu has been the MVP of this homestand and that kick save was absolutely filthy. He’s a bad bad man for robbing him like he did. I think Stu is in the mold of ‘prefers to be busier’. Jeff Glass was taken on the 2003 WJC team because he was the only guy used to getting 10 shots against a game. Stu had no work then suddenly 2 goals were in the net (the team mentally lapsed). I wonder if that’s a wrinkle of his game he’s not fully used to yet. Is there a Chris Osgood who can handle a lesser workload then 2 sudden 5 alarm chances? Doubt it.
FYI… Kapanen was in the pressbox… must’ve been a hell of a pass…
Rats, my bad. (although would be great if Sportsnet streamed more than 720p).
Might’ve been Hyman. I have 0 timestamps so I’m going with yours. Tape to tape in stride right into his popcorn eating hand.
Well Stu did stop Lucas Raymond on a clear breakaway in between the 2 goals, so it was at least 3x “sudden” 5 alarm chances
Klingberg looked skilled and solid for a man coming back from surgery and not having played in a long time. Encouraging. Those that want to trade Skinner are delusional, he is not perfect but tell me who you plan to replace him with that would be a significant upgrade with out selling the farm. You keep the solid goalie we have, be happy we may have something in Klingberg and look to make moves to better that team at deadline if its possible. This is a damn good team as it is.
Skinner is trying to do his best imitation of a bottom six forward and he deserves credit for sticking with it. Evander Kane has started skating, they also might have a look at Brandon Saad. There’re options to replace Skinner that would be a significant upgrade without selling out the farm. Speaking of farms how about Matthew Savoie.
Hear hear!