Canadiens at Oilers, G62 2024-25

The Edmonton Oilers have power on and are in search mode (one assumes) with a fourth-line center and a defenseman (last report had a depth LH as the target) as the deadline nears.

Let’s be frank, not Seravalli and not Bagged Milk’s dog but rather open and honest about the reality of the situation. The Oilers have a world of issues currently and many of them can’t be solved at the deadline and won’t be solved before the playoffs.

Illness and injuries can improve, meaning Mattias Ekholm should be closer to full torque by the postseason. Darnell Nurse too, and hopefully whatever is impacting Connor McDavid (although he has been wheeling better of late to my eye).

Even if all of those things work out, the No. 1 line is scoring far less at five-on-five and outscoring is down (although still impressive) for the trio.

We’re deep into the season and still in search of wingers for Leon Draisaitl. The big man has played 90+ minutes five-on-five with eight different forwards as linemates in 2024-25.

John Klingberg has done some good things, and credit to him for joining the cast in the middle of the play, but he’s missing some cues and the Oilers have enough chaos all by their lonesome.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH

• On the road to: CAR (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 1-0-0)
• At home to: ANA, MTL, DAL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
• On the road to: BUF, NJD, NYI, NYR (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: UTA, WPG, SEA, DAL (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: SEA (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: CGY (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• Overall expected results: 7-5-2, 16 points in 14 games
• March result: 1-1-0
• Oilers in 2024-25: 35-22-4, 74 points in 61 games

There isn’t much to say about tonight’s game. The Oilers are 3-7-0 in the last 10, Montreal 6-4-0. If talent wins the day, it’s a W for the home team. You can’t count on jack doodley with this team right now, so we’ll wait to see how it plays out. I’m assuming Stuart Skinner starts, but he played quite a bit in the most recent loss so we’ll see about that, too.

OLD SAM POLLOCK

On the Lowdown yesterday, I was forced to say nice things about Sam Pollock. Please don’t make me do that again, Edmonton Oilers!

Back in 1971, Pollock called up a young goalie at the end of the season. No one thought much about it, except that he did the same thing four years earlier, and that goalie (Rogie Vachon) backstopped the Habs all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

So, when Ken Dryden was recalled in spring 1971 to play a few regular season games, it wasn’t huge news. The early news on him in the newspapers mentioned he was studying law “as a hobby” and that he was modest in victory after this first game. Much of the attention in the Gazette focused on Rogie Vachon having played so much and deserving of rest. The top line was Frank Mahovlich with Yvan Cournoyer between Jean Beliveau. Uh, yeah. Terry Harper was held to PK duty.

Pollock’s Canadiens were NOT the best team in the NHL (Boston Bruins) but goaltending can hide many flaws if it’s brilliant. In 1971 spring, Ken Dryden was impossible to solve.

Rogie Vachon was a good goaltender, but Dryden held sway in the postseason and helped bring Stanley to town. The January trade for Frank Mahovlich made the biggest headlines, but Dryden was the major story when all was said and done.

The Oilers, and Stan Bowman, have several issues to solve and not enough cap, assets or time to get them all covered in the next 30 hours.

There is no plan to trade for a goaltender. Why would they? Well, in the scenario I’m suggesting, Stuart Skinner is Rogie Vachon.

All Bowman has to do is find Ken Dryden, right? I don’t think the team can find the modern Dryden at the deadline, but do believe the one move Bowman can make that has a chance to impact all of the issues (lower scoring top line, chaos on the blue) is a big damn brick wall with a quick glove in net.

You can hide many imperfections with an exceptional suit, a black dress, a pitcher who paints the corners and a goalie on a hot streak. Find him, Stan! Then bring him to Edmonton.

Today on the Lowdown, we get you set for the deadline. Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation and Steve Lansky from Inside the Truck podcast will join us, and we’ll be wall to wall deadline and the game tonight. Bagged will talk Oilers needs, and Lansky will tell us about the genesis of trade deadline coverage on Canadian television.

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.