The Edmonton Oilers won a game with complementary scoring and a brilliant performance from backup goaltender Calvin Pickard. In fact, the goaltender was so good we may not be able to use the word backup anymore. Among goalies with 1,200+ five-on-five minutes this season, Pickard’s .916 save percentage ranks No. 18 overall. He is emerging as a late-season story of note for these Oilers.
Note: I wrote about the three recent free-agent signings by Edmonton at The Athletic today. It is here. I hope you have the time to read it. Three compelling players, and one who could be a prominent member of next year’s club.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN APRIL
- On the road to: VEG, SJS, LAK, ANA (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- At home to: STL, SJS (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: LAK (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: SJS (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected results: 5-3-1, 11 points in 9 games
- April result: 2-0-0
- Current record: 44-26-5, 93 points in 75 games
- Final projected record: 48-28-6, 102 points in 82 games
The Oilers are looking good to cover the April prediction, but injury worries once again plague the team this morning. Leon Draisaitl fell a couple of times (three?) and left the game with no return. Coach Kris Knoblauch said he hadn’t spoken to the medical staff in the last avail I’m aware of, and that casts a pall over the LA game Saturday afternoon.
THE NUMBERS
Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown and Jeff Skinner all scored in this game, and each man is helping his cause for staying in the lineup for the playoffs. As you may know, and be irritated by, I value points-60 at five-on-five as the supreme offensive contribution statistic. Skinner (1.85) ranks No. 3 among Oilers forwards this season, Brown (1.57, fifth) and Arvidsson (1.52, sixth) aren’t far behind. Since March 15, Skinner is scoring 2.74 points-60 and Arvidsson 2.04 points-60 at five-on-five. May want to smile when walking by your Jeff Jackson voodoo doll, maybe take out a pin or two.
Pickard played well, but the defense kept the HDSC’s at three and you know that’s a damn good total no matter the opponent.
The coaching staff has settled in with the pairings listed above, seems as though we’ll see this deployment until Mattias Ekholm returns. I’m very much looking forward to the healthy lineup in action, while also realizing we may not see it this spring.
The Leon worry is a big one. I’m not sure it was a good idea for him to come back, but that’s not fair since we don’t know the extent of the injury. Man this team is a MASH unit at the worst damn time. Frack!
I thought the Oilers had trouble with the speed of the Sharks, something that is a worry with these young and rebuilding teams. I was impressed with the quick recovery, it feels like opponents are entering against the Oilers RH defenseman often enough to believe it’s the plan. There were some harrowing moments over there, but also some nice and quick recoveries by the Edmonton defender.
The Lowdown hits at noon, Sports 1440. We’ll be joined by Steve Lansky and Tyler Yaremchuk, and Declan Krueger will have Declanations at 12:40. We’ll chat about last night, injuries to Oilers and the surging Toronto Blue Jays! 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.
Summarizing!
Flint dropped a 2-1 decision and bowed out in five games. Day stopped 21 of 23.
Clattenburg and Berry were denied the gift of soup.
Only six NAmateurs remain whose seasons continue.
Welcome to Bakersfield Connor Clattenburg.
Ovechkin 894…tied.
https://www.nhl.com/video/chi-wsh-ovechkin-scores-ppg-against-spencer-knight-6371068435112
Ovi just tied Gretzky!
Gretzky is in the building.
You guys are happy about it?
I’m fine with it.
An amazing achievement.
Its the biggest NHL record to be match/broken since, well, Gretzky set this one back in 94 so I’m certainly interested.
Whatever is supposed to be wrong with McDavid?
Maybe, he is possibly resting himself for the upcoming in less than 8 games away playoffs?
He’s so angry that he’d prefer death to losing. He will be rested fully now, whenever he does come back.
By the way, I also hope Draisaitl isn’t injured at all either. And Kane is healthy and ready to go, along with Ekholm who am 100% certain will return ready to play his Lidstrom light style of hockey.
Oilers suddenly have a good defence. And Pickard had better not have to enter the playoffs with a gun to his head either, we hope.
I would suggest there is all but zero chance that either McDavid or Drai are taking these games off in the name of load management.
I suspect that Kane is likely very close, if not ready, and would be playing soon if it wasn’t for the cap. He’s been skating with the team longer than Frederick who may play tomorrow.
If Kane is healthy, and the others show up I’m suddenly bullish about this team’s chances to repeat making the finals.
Kane has the ability to impact the game on a similar level as Jagr.
No, Kane certainly does not have the ability to impact the game on a similar level to Jagr, in my opinion – well, maybe Jagr’s current level – he’s having a decent season.
What am exactly describing is what happens when Kane throws his weight around the look on the opposition’s faces is pure comedy.
Stauff thinks Frederick plays tomorrow.
Thinks Ekholm will be back Wed/Friday.
According to my final 16 game mini season Oilers have a 6-2-1 record going into the final 7 games.
20 points is a perfectly good points total.
Anything more than that of course is excellent, but right now they would have to tank really hard to not make 20 points total that’s only 9 points in their last 7 games.
Ovechkin 893.
https://www.nhl.com/video/chi-wsh-ovechkin-scores-goal-against-spencer-knight-6371064693112
Ovechkin with 1756+ more shots than Wayne Gretzky.
Also, Ovechkin is only +62 in career plus/minus, which is 431st. Gretzky is 4th at +520.
Yup
Have you ever seen photos of the goaltending equipment in the 80’s?
Sure but how come no one else could score anywhere near as much as Gretzky on that same goalie equipment
Because of the metric system?
Brett Hull scored 86 goals in a single season.
Can anyone do that now?
I used some of it. Frankly, I just find the amount of shots impressive. The number of shots speaks to his vision and single mindedness, as does his plus/minus.
Ovechkin is still producing. He could probably play for 1,000 and really have a record until someone else comes along who can also stickhandle or something.
You are also more of an anti-Gretzky, to Oilers fans?
Why would I be anti Gretzky?
I met him several times and was at more than a few “social occasions” with him and was also at Molson House when he bid farewell to Edmonton.
Class act all the way.
If you’re of that age then why do you post here with the clear goal of upsetting Oilers fans? That is very immature behaviour.
These days goalies can simply stick their knees together and sink and let their pads cover 100% of the goal. It’s ruined the position, in that it allows for too many “stellar” moments from goalies.
Also, the game evolves constantly. Ovechkin will beat the record, and that’s glorious news for all hockey fans outside of Canada. Instantly he rises to a higher position than anyone dares to think until he does it. It’s got to be top 5, and that’s for certain. Maybe even higher.
”Slight chance” Frederick plays tomorrow. They should have 12 forwards as, if he doesn’t play, they’ll put him on LTIR and recall someone. Per coach.
Stauffer talking quite confidently that Frederic will be in tomorrow. Not certain if there’s a disconnect there, or difference in reporting based on time of day. If he’s in, I have to say that the projected line of Frederic-Henrique-Hyman seems to be one with a lot of willingness to go to the blue paint.
Stauffer talking with Seravalli, very very insistent that Frederic will be in tomorrow.
2024-2025
Skinner
48 GP, 5v5 89.9 SV%, PK 84.5 SV%
Pickard
31 GP, 5v5 91.6 SV%, PK 79.9 SV%
This extended period of Pickard is very interesting, and he is proving to be successful against tougher competition, including the Golden Knights.
In terms of stylistic match, it may be that Pickard is in better alignment with an Oilers team defence that is not great off of the rush. Being a smaller mobile goaltender, Pickard is posting a higher 5v5 SV% (91.6 vs 89.9) and it will be interesting to see if he can continue this trend against the Kings tomorrow.
But on the flip side, when the game state is not rush-based, as on the PK, Skinner’s size and positional goaltending has maintained statistical advantage over Pickard, even while his game has generally struggled. Let’s not forget the incredible importance of the Oiler’s PK in the last playoff run.
Good stuff
Good news on Draisaitl. And Frederic will be available to play in LA. No Problems.
Just heard on Gregor that Holloway is week to week. No idea what the injury is.
Injury history for this player is becoming extensive. Do you think we can pry him out of STL for a 3rd round pick?
I immediately thought horrible things such as: It must be getting near the playoffs, because Holloway was no good for the OILERS IN THEM EITHER.
He left in the first land night with a lower body issue.
These are the 5v5 numbers for D pairings since Walman joined 13 games ago. By spreadsheet and by eye (at least mine), the best pairings are Ekholm-Bouchard and Nurse-Walman. Walman-Bouchard has not been very good and has received some poor reviews from analysts as “too high event” (Got yer Back). Walman-Bouchard were not great last night as shown above by Lowetide.
What I find interesting here is that Nurse-Walman looks so killer and is the definition of high event. Yes, smaller sample.
If EDM can ice two great 5-man units—one with McDavid, Bouchard, and Ekholm, and another with Draisaitl, Nurse, and Walman—I have hope for this team. I am less concerned with who is on the wing. I would like the bigger bodies of Frederic or Kane, and I would like to see Arvidsson and Skinner maintain the gains they’ve made in the last 10 games, having been given extra ice time.
But the core of things—the intended design as I see it—are these two five-man units, each with a trio of McDavid-Ekholm-Bouchard and Draisaitl-Nurse-Walman. I’m both salivating to see these six at peak strength in the playoffs and equally terrified we won’t get to due to injury.
But Kulak-Emberson is…woof.
Nurse-Kulak has also been quite good this season. Maybe Walman-Emberson (or Walman-Stecher) on the 3rd pairing?
I suppose the Oilers may be able to LTIR Klingberg (as opposed to Frederick) which would provide the cap space to call up Ryan).
Friedman saying on the radio this morning that teams can’t use LTIR at all when there are 10 or fewer games left in the season.
That CAN if its retroactive.
Leon could not be put on LTIR today but Ekholm and Klingberg and Frederick can, retroactive to when they last played.
Unfortunately they gave him that one game three games ago. But that means that with 10 games left.
Are we sure that Klinberg doesn’t deserve more of an audition? People were awfully excited when we signed him.
While I think his numbers have been pretty good (also very sheltered I think), my eye test of his play has been, well, quite poor. A great 8D depth for sure but I think both Emberson and Stecher are ahead of him at this point – both are better on the PK too.
Lots of wiser hockey folk than me upset at not giving Rodrigue the start last night. The reasons seemed to be: Missed opportunity to see what we have in Rodrigue, missed opportunity to give Rodrigue valuable experience, wearing down Pickard
1 it doesn’t bother me at all that Rodrigue missed the opportunity to play 1 NHL game. Doubt it would change much with regards to trajectory.
2 What about the opportunity to see how Pickard handles a larger load. So many want to see him in the playoffs (not gonna happen), well, then we need to see how he does with a larger workload.
3 We don’t need to worry about him getting worn out. And he is relishing this.
Knob says Drai is out short term with LBI. Not concerned about playoff readiness.
He was hurt on the Goodrow hit, not stepping on the puck.
New injury, not related to the prior.
Expected to be fully healthy for the playoffs.
———————-
Oiler have two options I believe:
1) play short one game and then they can call up a player without cap implication (I’m not positive but I believe the cap on that call-up is $900K)
2) put Frederick on LTIR and they can call up an $875K player (so, Philp, Caggiula, Hamblin – not Savoie or Ryan).
Frederick would be available to be activated for Monday, if ready.
Can LTIR be retroactive based on games missed with another team?
— I mean respectfully its Knobs job to say he isn’t concerned. It is however concerning full stop
— Injured Stanley cog missed a bunch of games. Comes back. Injured again miss more games.
— Come back into gruelling playoffs: only a homer and or employee would say “0 concerns” or “not related to other time he missed games so 0 concerns”.
— I be concerned. I don’t like being told what to believe without facts. I let history and common sense guide Not ideal prep
Agreed on all points. I’m just posting what I read on twitter.
I’m much more concerned with the Ekholm injury, though. I think it’s going to require the offseason to fix, but they won’t admit it.
— yeah I was just responding to your post. Not directed at you. Ek too is a big concern.
— I just find it odd that always whenever a star gets injured it’s always “yeah he will be back and 100% no worries”.
— Fans buy into their teams propaganda too easily with no pushback.
I have no problem with a coach masking injury status. Also we don’t really know, so we kind of worry about what we think is reasonably the worst case.
Ek is my biggest concern. Then Leon. Then McDavid. Kanes another level of concern, but he’s been gone all year so he’s a bonus.
Best case is these guys get a few games at 100% before playoffs, and have given the other guys a chance to figure their stuff out without being rescued. It’s been good for the other guys.
Stauff thinks Ek will be back Wed or Friday.
McDavid possibly Wed.
Drail early the following week.
Always followed by: “He spent the entire injury time lifting weights like a madman and he’s in the best shape of his life”.
Its trending that Frederick will play tomorrow but, if he isn’t, yes, they can LTIR him retroactive, call up an $875 or less player and activate Frederick for Monday.
.
You very well know they will put Skinner in net for the first playoff game. Le Sigh
That’s what I would do, at this point anyway.
It might be wise to alternate the goalies during the playoffs.
With concussion recovery, I don’t think anyone knows anything at this point. It all depends on how his symptoms are as he progresses.
— This team won’t win a cup without a very healthy McDrai.
— Teams just don’t win Cups without their two best players at as close to 100% and performing as the two best players in their cup runs.
— Yeah secondary scoring is a necessary but not sufficient factor.
— It’s not a worry it’s just a fact. You can’t win the cup without your best guys healthy and the best players on your team
— None of these teams win without their top duo producing elite.
be like:
Barkov Tkachuk
Eichel March
Mikko MacKinnon
kucherov stamkos
Crosby Malkin
— O chance of winning without McDrai healthy.
— Hope for the best but coming back and re-injuring is not a good omen
In other news, the sky is blue.
— it’s a long season and games to watch and stuff but I don’t think there is a discussion about how f$cked this team would be if playoffs were tmrw or the unlikelihood that they do come back 100% and dominate playoffs.
— I mean sure if could still happen but generally guys who miss games near end of season don’t be 100% in playoffs
— Hope they do recover, but not holding breath.
It’s just a banal point. The Oilers have injury issues. This will definitely impact their chances. They are likely F ed this season.
Patrick Kane had his broken clavicle reset the day before the trade deadline in 2015. Came back for game 1 of the playoffs and scored 7 points in 6 games and went on to record 23 points in 23 games to help Chicago get a 3rd cup. That point total was consistent with his regular season that year.
Kucherov missed the entire 56 game season in 20/21 due to double hip surgery then proceeded to score 11 points in 5 games as Tampa took out Florida in the first round. He finished with 32 points in 23 games.
Mark Stone played his last game before the ‘23 playoffs in mid January, had back surgery, then showed up for game 1 of the playoffs. He scored 8 points in 5 games as Vegas took out Winnipeg in round 1 enroute to their cup with Stone scoring 24 points in 22 games.
I think Leon and Connor are as capable as these guys of returning to game action and excelling.
Coach said not a re-injury – something new.
— He can say whatever he wants and you’re free to believe it. I don’t.
— You work out a lot. When you have an injury and don’t work out for awhile and come back it takes awhile to get back.
— I’m clearly more critical and not taking what I’m fed at face value.
— Hope I’m wrong and hope you’re right. Hope being the key word because it’s sub optimal
The player also told Spec its a new injury sustained on the Goodrow hit
Who’s saying McDavid & Draisaitl won’t be healthy for the playoffs?
— that’s the rub. The media and coaches are telling fans it’s all good
— I don’t believe them but like any fan “hope”.
Is it just me or can others STILL see coach scratching Jeff Skinner in the playoffs if everyone is healthy?
I mean, take Kap and Jones out but one other has to sit.
I doubt its Brown or Janmark due to PK. It won’t be Podz. It won’t be Henrique.
Its either Perry or Skinner.
Hopefully coach actually has to make that decision (i.e. they get to full health).
i would not be surprised. Knobber is ok scratching Skinner regardless of performance.
????
If Skinner keeps playing like he has he will be in. Most likely Janmark unless brown starts faltering.
Not that he’s the coach, but the other day Stauff said zero chance Brown or Janmark sit to start the playoffs.
They still call the occasional penalty in the playoffs.
It’s not just you.
Skinner has done better lately. But he’s a fair weather skill player without a lot of dimensions. I can easily see him sitting at least to start
What makes him a “fairweather player”?
I like the most recent dimension he is showing – producing offence at 5 on 5 from the bottom or middle six.
He has a 68% goal share at 5 on 5 since Jan 1 – in 29 games.
He’s also 4th in 5 on 5 points in that time, and didn’t play in 7 games.
I think they’ll go to Nurse/Walman and Ek/Bouchard when they can – and I like that better than Walman/Bouchard.
Troy Stecher may be winning 6D over Ty Emberson right now.
Caveat: the Ekholm/Emberson PK duo is legit.
Kulak and Stecher in 16 minutes of PK time together, haven’t had a goal scored against them. Stecher also player 7 minutes on the with Ekholm with no goals against. Overall, Stecher. Even the xGA on the PK with Stecher and either Kulak and Ekholm have been quite low. In total, Stecher has been on the ice for 3GA on the PK in just over 40 minuites of PK time, for a team low of 4.43 GA/60 (Bouchard, Dermott and Klingberg in a combined 20 minutes of PK time have zero goals against). If Stecher spends more of his time against the other teams 2nd unit, that may contribute to his lower numbers as well.
Stecher has been a decent PK defenseman throughout his career. He did a lot of PK time early with Vancouver and Arizona used him a lot whereas Detroit, LA and Calgary didn’t use him there much. If they like Stecher’s 5 on 5 play better than Emberson currently, he may be doing enough to keep the role over Emberson after Ekholm gets healthy (PK duty to Nurse, Ekholm, Walman, Stecher and Kulak).
Also in their last 20 games together, Emberson/Ekholm were getting scored on at a rate of 10.89 GA/60 in 36 minutes of PK time so certainly not as effective as they had started out. Maybe Emberson turns it around down the stretch, but it would be understandable if Coffey/Knoblauch/Stuart stayed with Stecher.
The numbers above from LT for Walman/Bouchard are ugly. What happened? You would think Walman would dig deep for a big game in this situation.
Anyone would be sore after the awkward falls he took. Healthy or nearing the end of an NHL season.
Unless we hear something specific, it looked very very precautionary.
I know your RRSP and 401K portfolios are looking sickly today but …
I bought stock in Cal Pickard a couple weeks ago and am feeling richer for it.
Elliott Friedman confirming on the radio just now that Gabriel Landeskog will be returning for the playoffs.
In a quirk of the schedule, Colorado ends their season on April 13th giving them a week to work him into the lineup at practise.
Happy for him. That’s quite an ordeal that he’s been through. Hockey aside, this is a good news story.
It’s on – who’s aging long out power forward gets it going the best!
Is Kane on the road trip with the Oilers?
*pats head* it’s ok lil buddy
Yes and he’s going to play in playoffs unless he sucks
I think the Oilers have the day off today, so no media. They won’t make any call-up official until tomorrow and the Condors don’t play tonight so we won’t see anyone “missing”.
Likely won’t know anything until tomorrow.
Is Derek Ryan in Bako? If not, they don’t really need to call-up anyone, though they could and probably should.
I’ll answer my own question apparently Derek Ryan is in Bakersfield.
He’s been assigned to the Condors but, nope, he isn’t actually in Bako – hasn’t played and, to my knowledge isn’t there.
Take out a couple of loose games by Pickard and I would have to say he’s saved our season almost as much as Skinner did when Campbell was getting shit and pissed on by everyone and their dog. Without steady eddy Pickard getting the W this season could of really snowballed. I thought it would be both Skinner and Pickard getting shipped out at seasons end but now I think with his cap hit coupled with his steady play buys him another year or longer in Edmonton.
I brought both dogs
Jack got 25 million to post a .888 & 3.41 gga followed by a .873 & 4.50 gga; he deserved to be criticized by fans…those are poor echl numbers…
Campbell got into 36 games he was 21-9-4 with a .888sv the following year he only played in 5 games before he was tarred and feathered out of town. Skinner is batting .894sv with arguably a much better defence. Skinner has recieved 3 times more rope is it because of his salary which if it is than Pickard should have a chocolate bar named after him.
Oilers losing Draisaitl, McDavid and Ekholm to injury with 7 games left in the regular season more or less bodes ill for any playoff hopes.
Realistic ones, that is.
Maybe it’s all just a clever ruse to fool the opposition into taking them too lightly.
Not really, no.
All are expected back 100% before the playoffs.
This is not the “worst time” – the worst time would be in a few weeks.
There is time for them to heal and they’ll be fresher to start the playoffs.
I still believe Bouchard can get those warts out of his game. Talent should win the day.
Agreed. To be fair he’s been full value for the 3.9 they’re paying him. People hate the guy for a contract he hasn’t even signed.
He also finished with 2 points and +1 in a game without McDrai (for most of it). He makes 5 passes a game no other D on this team (though Walman shows flashes) can make. His awareness and positioning was poor on 1 goal, but we are talking about a 60-80 point defensemen who wins his minute with pretty much everyone. I’m critical of his play at times but he’s elite.
He’s a top 10 D in the league on his worse of days.
Just an FYI for those interested. There’s an Oilers dressing room tour with Podkolzin…it’s translated from Russian I think. But it’s really interesting.
He’s very engaging. Leon loves him, and they are very close…didn’t know that. Also, he became a better pro when he saw how hard the Oilers work. Neat.
would anyone have details on the dressing room tour? Didn’t see anything on the web site.
https://youtu.be/iBVasu6zlv8?si=GEfYwr0HhYusSBQO
I think it’s this
Fun! Thanks.
Is this on Oilers+?
I worry about Drai suffering an injury from the whiplash of his head when he was tripped. From my own experience, I slipped on the ice and, though I didn’t hit my head, I had the same type of whiplash effect. I laughed it off but in about an hour I couldn’t move my neck and my left side had tightened up badly. I was as actually off work for three days and in pain for about two weeks. I really hope he didn’t start feeling the effects of that whiplash in the second, when he left the ice. I’m sure the training staff can cut that injury time lower than the month that I suffered but it’s not something that can be played through.
Sideline Leon until the playoffs, coach. Playoff positioning be damned.
I hope they have a chiropractor. That physio and reduce inflammation and he’ll get better pretty quickly. If they just physio and medicate it could take a while
Also had a fair few back things over the years
They have to rest Leon now. Frederic will be back against the Ducks & McDavid will be back next week, so there will be some reinforcements coming soon. In the meantime, against LA they’ll call on Derek Ryan to come in, or call on Noah Philp if Ryan isn’t up to the task. The depth group of forwards will have to suffice and that isn’t a bad thing, especially if they win LOL.
Podz-Nuge-Arvidsson
Kapanen-Henrique-Hyman
Skinner-Janmark-Brown
Jones- (Ryan or Philp)-Perry
Walman-Bouchard
Nurse-Stecher
Kulak-Emberson
Rodrique & Pickard
I’d start Oly the goalie against the Kings to inspire the group.
I wouldn’t start Rodrique unless they’re playing with a colourful beachball.
The game to start Oly was yesterday.
He may get the Ducks game but they are more dynamic than the Sharks.
The recent stats on Pickard seem to match the eye test. I recognize my own bias and the quality of the competition isn’t the same. I also am not as stressed that he is going to give up a back breaking goal. Both goalies in the past 20 games have helped the PK back to 80+% (85% past 15 games).
But when your “backup” goalie has as many wins on the season as your regular goalie, that’s something to take note of. At minimum it means Pickard is delivering what is needed.
Interesting decision for coaching staff when Skinner recovers from concussion.
Also, how ridiculous is it that plays like the Hyman goalie “trip” (eg tangled up) get called all the time, but Rantanen is not suspended, let alone penalized, for literally knocking out Skinner?
Would not be surprised to see Picks start the playoffs. Could run with Picks until he falters and then give Skinner the net. Could be the motivation that Skinner needs to get back to the level he was at, last spring. Skinner has it in him to be much better, as we’ve all seen last spring, but seems to be lacking the fight that hit him to that level. Battling for his job might be just what he needs.
Why would Rantanen be suspended? There was clearly zero intent and he ran in he nicked Stu essentially because Stu was falling forward outside his crease. Rantanen did nothing wrong.
Prospectgenesis!
Flint’s season could reach its end tonight as they trail Kitchener 3-1 in the series and return to Ontario for Game 5.
Day has had an up-and-down series, resulting in a 3.67 GAA and 90.0 SV%. Clattenburg has 1 + 1 in the series. Both could potentially return as overagers next season, but since Clattenburg has a contract in hand already, he could wind up turning pro. Day has yet to sign, and will go back into the draft if the Oilers don’t sign him by June 1.
B-B-B-Berry and the ‘Jacks have four games left in the regular season. They will appear in the postseason and could potentially earn a bye through the opening round. (The top 2 in each conference get byes, 3 plays 6 while 4 plays 5. Muskegon is currently 3rd but only two points out of 1st.)
Flint (Day, Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.
Muskegon (Berry) @ 5 p.m.
Both times are the same time and are also Crossfield time.
Thank you, always appreciate the updates. Especially enjoyed the “Bruce time” reference earlier this week. Made my eyes well up a bit.
Glad they won that one. I didn’t enjoy Leo’s game. He’s ‘big’ but only a little more than average. Not like Frederic or Ovi
I saw him as reckless and he paid the price. Shades of young Taylor Hall. He’s too important to be captured, I hope he takes care of himself on the ice and plays smarter thinking about the ultimate goal
Pick got the job done, his loose style reminds me of the 80’s. I do like athletic goalers but it’s a clencher watching at times
If Bouch doesn’t amp it up in playoffs he might be playing himself to a trade sadly
I couldn’t see Drai playing any other way and being effective, honestly. He invites physicality and uses it against the opposition to slow down the game and open lanes. He is, imo, the best in the league at holding off a checker, shaking off a guy drapped all over him, breaking free and finding a man.
Injuries will happen, as players get older. It’s an inevitability. I would like to see Drai spend longer recovering when he is injured, though. I know he has a super high pain tolerance but, especially as he gets older, it can be detrimental to longevity. If he is injured, I’d rather we play the remaining games with him on the shelf, recovering fully. We need him to be as healthy as possible for the gauntlet. We have enough veterans that can manage until the playoffs begin.
Shades of Peter Forsberg.
I agree but what he was doing wasn’t that. His first call was because he stuck his leg back behind him. There is no reason to do that
I think the whiplash lead to stepping on the puck. As you have commented things can tighten up pretty quickly and it makes moving normally hard
Then letting himself get pushed over by a smaller guy. Which also may have been because of the first fall, but none of it was about his playing style. It just seemed reckless to me – there’s never a good time for that but especially now
Leon is extremely thick. By his own admission, one of the biggest bums in the league ha. Nobody is as big as Ovi but he’s never played like prime Ovi other than the PP spot. He doesn’t run people over like Ovi used to. He engages contact but usually not at speed. Jagr-esque.
Taylor Hall had reckless speed that got him crunched a lot, Leon isn’t slow but is far from a burner. Not comparable styles at all imo.
If we’re telling the presumptive MVP (pre injury) to change his game I don’t wanna be the one to tell him. He may go Forsberg he may go Jagr for longevity but I’d lean more Jagr with all the rule changes since that era. I always worry about that leg from 2022. Not sure if this is the same leg he injured last night.
Your right that Hall’s and Leon’s style’s are not similar at all, but I don’t think you are giving Leon much credit for his deceptive speed. He is 92 percentile for top speed among NHL forwards (23.2 mph) and ~95 percentile for speed bursts of 22+ mph, 20-22 mph and 18-20 mph.
All of those metrics are comfortably ahead of Taylor Hall’s current data (22.5 mph max this year) who has slowed down from his 23.5 mph top speed back in 21-22. And Leon has consistently been at these levels since the NHL has been tracking and posting this data on NHL Edge.
Leon’s speed is deceptive because of what seems like a longer skating stride, but with plenty of power. That big butt gives him glute power to tap into and he still gets up to speed pretty quick. Back in the day, Anderson looked like he was going quicker because of his shorter quicker strides, but Coffey was the faster skater with longer smooth strides. (I am not comparing Leon directly to Coffey, just using it as an example of how skating strides can impact the perception of speed.
Leon just barely edges out Arvidsson, Hyman and Kapanen to be 3rd fastest among Oiler forwards (behind Connor and Janmark). Those 3 topped out around 23.1 MPH.
I knew his top end speed was fast but that he rarely had to utilize it.
Did not know how impressive it actually was! Bigger man syndrome for these eyes I suppose. Thanks for the info.
Is it always cloudy at your place?
Oilers could put Frederick on LTIR and can call up an $875K or less player.
Retroactive, could activate him for Monday.
They could put Draisaitl on LTIR. Give him a couple weeks off to make sure he’s ready for game one.
They literally can’t. It would have to be for 10 games.
So, then they can’t put anyone on LTIR. If Leon needs IR, then wouldn’t they be able to make an emergency call up?
They can put him on regular IR but don’t get the cap relief. I’m not familiar with the emergency call up implications but I believe it would be if they can’t ice a full roster at all. It doesn’t use one of the 4 remaining callups post deadline, not sure about the cap treatment.
Maybe someone can chime in on that.
They cannot make an emergency call-up with cap relief for it until after they’ve played a game short a player.
Perhaps they do that tomorrow but I would think they would retroactively LTIR Frederick and call someone up. Frederick could be re-activated for Monday if he’s ready.
Expect Philp or Hamblin – Ryan makes too much.
LTIR is min 10 games or 24 days, not good with 7 games and 13 days left until the playoffs…
They cannot put Drai on LTIR – not 10 games and 30 days left in the season – he’s not eligible.
So No Tomasek?
I kid