I love the fall. Leaves turn, hockey gets underway at all levels, and soon those crisp mornings will mean the dogs refuse to come in the house because it’s fun running around in a pile of leaves. Hockey is underway now, the Camrose Kodiaks play their home opener tonight, the Oilers are hosting the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place.
Because I’m a nerd, fall means the renewal of a mountain of nerdworthy things. Like, for instance, may I ask you how much you’ve thought about NHL waivers recently? Not to brag, but I’m way ahead of you and it’s not going to get better.
Today’s conversation is going to be about Connor. No, not McDavid, nor Clattenburg, but in fact Connor Ingram. Much has been written about him, and his hitting waivers yesterday. Me? I’m laser focused on Logan Stanley of the Winnipeg Jets. He’s a gigantic defenseman with just below average footspeed. Last season in Winnipeg, he played a depth role and, as always, his fancy stats were not strong. Stanley, like Kris Russell, has established this weird tendency to outscore his expected five-on-five goals. Last season, his expected goals percentage was 48 percent, while the Jets scored 58 percent of the goals when he was on the ice. Damndest thing, because it was the second year in a row he did it (via Natural Stat Trick).
I’ve spoken about him many times on the Lowdown with Murat Ates at The Athletic, and yesterday afternoon on CJOB radio Winnipeg with Noah Fuchs. I believe he could help an NHL team. He isn’t on waivers yet, but if he is, I’d like the Oilers to grab him. I know you’re going to say there’s no room but I like him and think he might help on the PK while being a big No. 6-7 defenseman. If you remember the playoffs, I think the idea of Logan Stanley on Edmonton’s defense has appeal.
Okay. Connor Ingram. I prefer five-on-five save percentage when looking at goaltenders. Many do not, and that’s fine, but for me it’s the purest way to judge an individual goaltender. I want to see if Ingram has stronger numbers than Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard over the past three seasons in the metric. Fair?
2022-23: Stuart Skinner .926 in 50 games; Connor Ingram .920 in 27 games.
2023-24: Calvin Pickard .925 in 24 games; Connor Ingram .919 in 50 games; Stuart Skinner .913 in 59 games.
2024-25: Calvin Pickard .908 in 36 games; Connor Ingram .902 in 22 games; Stuart Skinner .901 in 51 games.
I’m not certain Ingram is an upgrade on either goaltender currently in the Oilers employ. Blue Bullet Brad, who is a friend of the blog and a fine analyst, called me “out to lunch” in regard to my take on the Lowdown (I don’t see a compelling reason to move out Pickard and insert Ingram) a little while ago.
Brad could be right, his analysis is never less than interesting, but my own feeling is the team claiming him today will say something like “our goalie scout had a great passion for him” and we’ve been to that rodeo before. The Oilers might claim him and lose him to another team, or maybe they claim him and he ends up being a brilliant pickup. I am saying I do not see it from here. It’s a bet. All bets have risks. The odds of Ingram being better than Pickard, based on the metric I trust, are not high. The odds of Ingram recovering at a higher rate than Skinner, based on the metric I trust, are not high. We wait.
On the Lowdon today, our feature guests will be Steve Lansky, Tyler Yaremchuk and we’ll have a massive NFL weekend preview. Declanations will also appear and of course we’ll preview Oilers versus Jets. Noon to 2pm on Sports 1440 and You Tube.
What we’ve learned about Oilers rookies Matt Savoie and Ike Howard in preseason
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6660338/2025/09/26/oilers-matt-savoie-ike-howard-rookies-preseason/
Tut tut. I didn’t see your usual caution about small sample size. The Howard PP points/shots per 60 is astronomical. Could have unwary readers salivating.
I imagine most readers, if not all, know two games is a small sample. Still, I think the article holds interest due to usage (Time on ice, and linemates).
Agreed. Interesting article. I was just missing your usual caveat.
Summarizing!
Lewandowski sniped a PP goal and added an assist in a S’toon victory. He was named 1st star for his efforts.
Lafreniere was denied soup despite 5 SOG.
I didn’t see all of this one, but my takeaways from what I saw:
Savoie- Ready for prime time. I really liked him and Mangiapane together. He reminds me of Conor Garland, but not as filthy of a player.
Howard- A little uneven in the other two zones but his offensive game is NHL ready. Ike reminds me of J Skinner but a lot faster.
Philp-NHLer. Would be a catastrophe to see him placed on waivers.
Tomasek- Like others have pointed out, I think he’ll be best served as a W in the NHL. He’s impressive in the offensive zone.
Hutson- I see him having a lot of appeal for KK. It seems that he and Philp get on quite well, two high IQ players. I would prefer him over Janmark in the lineup this season.
Samanski- Impressive in all three zones to my eye. I think he’s making a case.
Regula- I saw some wobble and I saw a lot of smart plays to keep the puck headed north.
Marjala- Has to be AHL bound shortly, but he appears to be a good find by the FO.
Jarventie- Didn’t stand out bad or good, has to be AHL bound. Lots to like with this player.
Pro scouting that turned nothing into something was the bread and butter of the post-Messier/pre-Katz Oilers. It may be early to say, but the arrows on all of SB’s non-NHL pro scouting adds appear to be pointed in the right direction.
Walman is hurt right now and unavailable- he’s Nurse’s partner though (says coach).
Just day to day – he’ll be on the ice in a few days.
Arvidsson was also day to day at the beginning of his two month disappearance last season….
My cuts after tonight are the 4th line and 3rd pair.
Marjala and Samanski have a lot like to like about them but things to work on. Marjala needs to get stronger particularly while carrying the puck.
Jarventie looked a bit better today but still too slow, I think he’ll need some time.
Dineen is a nice depth piece but it might be time. Brown looked better than last game but I’m not sure if we see him in the NHL regular season (or god forbid playoffs) again.
I’m not so certain Regula gets waived – I’d keep 8D based on camp so far. He looks good.
I wouldn’t waive Philp either.
I’d like so see him in one more game but I think Howard could use some AHL time.
I imagine Hutson will get the next game off so if he’s not cut after this game he’s starting to have a real chance at making the roster, particularly if they agree Howard needs some time.
I’m definitely concerned Regula would get claimed on waivers. Philp almost certainly would get claimed.
DNB has said multiple times that Howard likely breaks camp with the team. I’m liking what I’m seeing from Howard. Not great at transporting the puck yet perhaps but he makes some really sweet passes in the offensive zone.
Samanski is very intriguing. I want to see what he looks like in a cup of coffee at the end of the season after 50 AHL games.
Regula is making the team he’s a Bowman pick no way he hits the waiver wire. Stecher should have suitcase packed and sitting by the back door.
Regula is going to make it too much of a waiver risk if he can be as calm with the puck in the 2nd half of exhibition game.
Philp has separated early over Lazar and even Janmark but Hyman’s injury likely saves Janmark’s job for now.
Howard is struggling with the pace of the game (I think) and its just going to get faster. It won’t take him long with his skill and brain but it he’s trending towards starting in Bako, for me.
If Pickard continues to outplay Skinner I’m starting him in the home opener and he’ll keep playing until he loses.
I hope we bring in some goaltending help for Pickard
This.
That trip by Fleury on Savoie is such a dangerous play. Glad he seems fine.
Nice game from the Oilers’ number one goalie.
Who thought Pickard would be one of the best bang for your bucks in the league. He’s in a contract year and at 33 he still should get a nice 2 year contract from either us or elsewhere.
Does Knobber have the balls to ride whoever has the hot hand regardless of how anyone labels them? Looks like that may be Pickard to start.
They should both be very motivated
We don’t know what any of these players will be but Stan has wrangled up a good group of potential pieces for free from free agency:
Tomasek, Leppanen, Samanski, Hutson, Marjala. Add in Regula as a wavier pick up for free and there are clearly ways beyond just drafting to stock the pipeline.
Very true. Not many spots available in the short term so nice work convincing them to give it a shot here
Agreed. Tomasek and Leppanen were the league-leading scorers in the SHL and Liiga and we got them both in one year. That’s wild! And Marjala looks like there’s some potential there.
Lots of critique of Bowman’s hockey sense when we hired him. But so far, I’ve been pretty impressed.
Savoie with a bit of a dirty hit/trip on the offensive boards – Jet beside him gives him a tiny shot and Rico, right there, with two solid little cross-checks in defence.
PP1: Dineen, Jarventie, Majala, Hutson
Probably PP2 but the likes of Howard were out for a long shift drawing the penalty.
Now, Nurse, Tomasek, Henrique, Savoie, Howard.
Wow Savoie with a big burst.
With Magpie that looks like a dangerous PK pair
What a shorthanded play by Savoie, defensive zone play and he explodes on the loose puck and uses speak to create a semi 2 on 1 – great sauce pass by great save on Mangiapane
David Lewandowski goal:
https://x.com/BladesHockey/status/1971753208226906173
Added a primary assist on the following goal as well.
Even before that great shot, Philp has looked much more confident, direct and agressive in all his on ice movements this preseason.
Mangiapane with a weak play on the defensive half boards and the puck doesn’t get out. Light scoring chance against ensues.
Stecher with a nice rush, feeds Philp in the high slot, quick release snaps it home! He did that ALOT in Bako 2nd half of his rookie season.
Regula continues to look very good – great with the puck, good defensive positioning, dangerous shot.
Need to see him in some later exhibition games when the tempo is up and the space is less.
MASSIVE shift by Tomasek.
Win a battle in the offensive zone and gets the puck to the front of the net.
Seconds later, strips the d-man, sets up Samanski with a beautiful rush finish!
Samanski with more finish than we’ve ever seen from Frederic. But that won’t stop us from sending him down and keeping Frederic on the top line for 10 games.
Are you suggesting that Samanski should make the team over Frederic based on the first week of camp?
It was more an ugly turnover by Namestnikov than a strip by Tomasek.
But yes, excellent sequence for Tomasek.
Great period for Samanski, nice delay and pass to set up the Nurse goal & what a finish after the feed from Tomasek.
PK1: Philp/Janmark
PK2: Mangiapane/Savoie
Howard creating a great slot shot chance for himself earlier.
Now a bobble in the offensive zone and trips the Jet before he can fast break.
He makes some really skilled offensive plays but he’s also having trouble with the speed and lack of space – lots of puck bobbles, not making plays clean, etc.
He’s super smart/skilled so it won’t take the game to long to slow down for him but, for now, its tough to see him ready for the pace of the true NHL game.
For now.
He’s clearly adjusting to the pace but he makes better plays than the majority of players.
The replay exonerated Ike of the trip, at least to my eye.
I do think the play is to give him at least 10 games especially with Hyman out.
Very well could be right and, as I said, at his skill and hockey IQ level, the game won’t take too long to slow down but we aren’t even full pace yet…..
Regula with two very dangerous point shots on one shift.
Now saving goals – grabbing pucks off the goal line!
now getting stripped for a Grade B chance for Niederaitter.
I’m glad they are shortening preseason next year. There’s no reason for some of these guys to still be playing.
Barkov out for the season. Sign that contract mcdavid, we can win the cup
Could McDavid be doing the ultimate troll job on me and especially down East with all these cryptic interviews.That would sure be something if he signs the day before game1 giving the Captain teammates and the faithful the best bump since we obtained Mr.Pronger.
I wouldn’t bed on it, I wouldn’t bet against it.
I’m sad for Barkov. He’s my favourite non-Oiler player in the league. What an awesome talent. If Oilers keep things together, this really opens up a lane for them. Barkov is the Panthers.
He is a big part of the team no doubt. I love that player type.
Screw the cheating dirty ass Panthers.
Slasha Barkov, leads the league in slashes per 60 by a mile and a half
I feel for Team Finland as well – he’s their captain.
Definitely one of mine too. It’s unfortunate for him and I hope he makes a full recovery, after the panthers have been eliminated from this years playoffs
From the Oilers’ website:
EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers announced Friday they have reduced their training camp roster by 14 players.
James Hamblin (F) has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
The following players have been loaned to Bakersfield:
The following players have been released and will report to Bakersfield:
I thought Petrov earned another game and Akey would have been given one more – in particular given Bako hasn’t opened camp yet (I presume that is soon).
No point in keeping him up, he’s not making the team out of camp
Neither are Marjala or Samanski – both playing tonight. I’d have given him another game based on performance – he earned it.
I was a little leery of Akey’s pro viability after his D1 & 2 seasons. But, I was very impressed with what I saw from him in the preseason.
They just don’t like Petrov for some reason.
Did Stefan or Stonehouse get a game?
Hamblin going down this early isn’t great for him – he didn’t move the needle in Edmonton but I didn’t think he hurt the team and I like him as a fill-in
They got the split squad game and I think maybe the game in Winnipeg but don’t remember.
They were both terrible in the rookie games and should be ECHL bound.
This site seems so much faster now.
Come on Bowman the silence is deafening let’s flip with Chicago Janmark-Skinner for their Goaltender. Let’s call the marker in as the organization owes you for falling on the sword.
Have you seen Chicago’s D? After half a season behind them, any Chicago goalie should want out.
Chicago has lots of very young players with real long-term potential, but they need guys to mentor them. Chicago may be settling in for a run like the Oilers or Sabres in the 2010s.
Especially if they give their wildly overrated “superstar” a massive contract.
I dunno…I’d give Bedard more time before calling him “overrated.” #1 OV pick Nathan MacKinnon was still a 53-point player in his fourth season. Same with Guy Lafleur at age 22.
It’s not like Bedard is really in a position to succeed with Chicago. Yet he still put up 67 points and propelled Ryan Donato to be a 31-goal scorer.
There aren’t many players of his pedigree that are busts.
Spencer Knight at almost $6MM is the play?
A career save percentage below that of Stuart Skinner playing the easier games on the Florida Panthers….?
— speaking of the fall i had a wonderful moment with my 6 year old son this morning
— he had a 7am hockey practice (that’s another post, the madness of kids organized hockey now)
— anyway we leave at 6:40 in the morning and it’s pitch black : he’s never outside at that time so he was marvelling at how dark it was and was curious to observe that it seemed to be getting slowly lighter as we drove.
— practice ended at 8 am and we get out of the arena just after 8:10 and it’s completely sunny : he couldn’t understand what had happened so that it wasn’t dark and was very animated
— I once read that the greatest gift of organized hockey for parents isn’t the actual games and practices rather the drives back and forth where you get to spend times with your kids and talk about everything. For sure this was one of those moments.
Lovely!
My kids are adults now. Driving them anywhere (or being driven by them anywhere) continues to be some of the best time lost together. And now I’m getting similar magical moments with my granddaughters.
I so miss the drives! My son (who turns 30 in a couple days) would have 6 AM practices starting at a very young age. We’d be driving along in the darkness and every time we passed a house with its lights on, he’d pipe up from the bank seat, “I bet they’re up to go to hockey too!” Enjoy!
I would grab Logan Stanley in trade or waivers. Absolutely get him into the system. While we have other options, he brings a different element and a team should have a variety of tools available.
When the Jets put the Oilers out of the playoffs a few years back, Stanley dominated the ice. He owned his corner, nobody wanted any part of him in the corner nor the front of the net. Oilers would skate the other way.
Archibald chopped him down at the knees and I was fine with it. Not Archie’s fault he’s closer to the ice and Logan is big. Archie’s took the worst of it in regard to penalties and rebuke from fans.
Regardless, if Stanley can play, and he still needs to be able to play, his size brings another dimension to the defence.
I’m in agreement. Stanley as a 6-7D, or even available on recall, doesn’t hurt the Oilers overall focus on retrieval/exits. It does offer a nuclear deterrent for the times when teams who play a truly edgy style are the opponent.
Claim him and what?
He’s behind 4D on the LD depth chart (well, 3 I guess with Walman moving over).
Is he going to play 3RD over Stecher, Emberson and Regula?
They’d be waiving him a few days later, no?
Stanley would be No. 4 LH defense and in the mix for No. 7 defense, barring injuries. Regula is going to get waived, I would imagine. After that it comes down to the two RH defensemen (Emberson and Stecher) and they have similar skills. Stanley resets the Desharnais spot imo. I don’t imagine Stanley comes to Edmonton, but trading for him (or Ingram) has some appeal imo.
I would suggest that he’d been #5 left handed D, after Ekholm, Nurse, Walman and Kulak.
Of course, Walman will be playing the right side so he moves up to 4 LD (not LHD).
The issue remains keeping him over TWO of Emberson, Stecher and Regula and, given the LHD and RHD split, I don’t think that would be a good idea.
Would Stanley move over and play the right side in case of injury? Not sure he has the mobility for that.
I don’t agree he re-set the Deharnais spot given Stanley is a left shot
Regula is going to be waived, no matter what happens to Stanley. So including him in the argument doesn’t strengthen your case. Stanley brings several things Desharnais also brought to the roster. Both Emberson and Stecher are a little undersized and have somewhat duplicate skills. I suspect we’ll see a tweak there before the playoffs.
Are you moving Nurse, Ekholm or Kulak over to the right side so Stanley can play?
Is Stanley any better than Vincent Desharnais?
Ingram clears.
As I said, no surprise there at the $2MM cap hit.
A trade (with retainment) could make some sense now that he’s available for the AHL.
Recently retried Tyson Barrie will be joining the Canucks regional broadcasts on SN (home games) – I’m not sure what capacity, probably intermission analyst.
I love listening to Barrie speak – always great on podcasts, etc. Really seems like and awesome guy.
Likely as an analyst replacing Ray Ferraro when he is away tending to his other duties.
Ferraro recently signed on to do some LA Kings games and will still be doing ESPN games.
Busy guy.
Barrie is a good Victoria boy.
Yevseyev with close to 20 minutes in a 2-0 win. Oh, ya, should mention two assists in that 2-0 win – one at evens and one on the PP.
Now up to 5 points in 8 games which I believe is top 5 in d-man scoring in the KHL.
POP!
While I wish Ingram well, I don’t think Edmonton would be the best landing spot for him. I also think trying to slot him ahead of Pickard, and dare I say it Skinner too (there are people who are convinced he’s a better option than Stu) is a dangerous game. He’s solid enough as a 1B or backup guy from what I’ve seen and going by the numbers, but I don’t think he’s a material upgrade on either of our guys. The grass isn’t always greener.
Now, back to my plans to somehow turn a bag of pucks into Sorokin….
I agree that I don’t think we’re the best spot for him. He’s also not my favourite of the potential waiver pick-ups. I don’t mind taking a stab at Ingram, but only if we’re willing to do some cold, calculating player value maximising. If Ingram is a wash for Skinner, then freeing Skinner for a trade (I believe he likely has some value), is probably not a bad asset management move.
New York has a significant Russian community, and Russians tend to congregate there (e.g. Panarin signing there). Sorokin and Shesterkin are good buddies. Varlamov is his nominal backup. (I’m seeing a pattern here.) Even if the Islanders go the rebuilding route, I doubt Sorokin wants to leave, unfortunately.
Linus Ullmark was available quite recently. He single-handedly separated Ottawa from the Detroit/Buffalo pack of teams that were not quite getting over the playoff hump.
I would take chances on Jeremy Swayman.
The problem is that our goaltending is like a 20th overall team. Not good enough to be content, not bad enough to go hard for anything that comes available.
Calvin Pickard has done everything you could have asked for out of a backup, and yet if we do anything, he’ll be out of a job.
Per Tony B:
That Mangiapane – Henrique – Savoie line is the 3rd line apparent eh? If Mangiapane still has all the speed it could work out pretty well. I like Savoie not being thrust too high up the lineup to start the year but I would like to see him get a go with Drai eventually.
I’m intrigued to see who emerges to make up the 4th line from the Howard-Tomasek-Kapanen and Janmark-Philip-Hutson sets. Philip looks to be doing everything he can to earn that 4C slot.
I too am looking forward to these lines. Fingers crossed that Philp keeps doing what he’s been doing this preseason.
Is this the expected lineup for tonight’s game?
Yes.
Thank you
More likely Winnipeg would trade Stanley rather than waive him.
If Pickard continues to outplay Skinner this preseason do you not owe it to Cal and the team to start him in game one. We can’t afford to start the season 1-4 while Skinner is adapting to a new coach and 15 pound weight loss.
Connor Ingram has a $1.95M cap hit.
He has some upside but he is also no locked in upgrade on either Oilers goalies, not playing for most of last season and having a poor performance prior to the Players Assistance Program. Team matters in his recent numbers, of course.
I have said that, if they put Hyman on LTIR they have room to carry 3G but I find that very unlikely.
That $1MM over Pickard does not provide value – plus the waiver risk on Cal
The play here is, if he clears, and he might at that cap hit, is to acquire at half retained and allow him AHL time and see where it goes.
Could the shoe drop October 1st after a certain so and so signs. This signing should free up a pretty good goaltender out East apparently where the rumours are swirling.
If the Oilers pick-up a Goalie off of waivers say Dipietro does he have to be on the Oilers roster a certain amount of time before he can go to Bakersfield?
The Oilers can pick him up, but if the club wanted DiPietro in Bakersfield, they too would need to place him on waivers.
Thanks I guess with a cap hit of anything over a million it wouldn’t make sense to pick up any goalie unless your playing him instead of Pickard. Placing Pickard on waivers would be kinda nasty after Cal has been a more than adequate back-up for his price tag. Anyways I do think Cal would get plucked off of waivers with that cheap price tag he carries.
Correct (well, in my opinion).
Ingram, how having cleared, could be a trade option (with retention) as he could rebuild his game in Bakersfield and they could asses from there.
He would need to pass through waivers for the Oilers to send him down.
Claiming a goalie does not work for the Oilers
I see now if they like someone the best option would be if that Goalie cleared waivers and then you trade for him. I do think this is what happens with Dipietro.
The key is the goalie needs to clear waivers first.
A claim for the Oilers does not work.
Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Paul Maurice tells reporters that Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is undergoing surgery for a right knee injury.
Timeline for return TBD.
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
Going to know more in the next 24-48 hours, but Panthers are bracing for the possibility their captain, Aleksander Barkov, could be lost for the season.
Would be brutal, no one wants to see that…but, unfortunately, was a bad injury.
Did no one tell the Panther LTIR does not work anymore to circumvent the cap!
Anton Lundell is ready to be #1C. So they only need to find an elite #3C. If Barkov is gone for the season, they can offersheet Mason McTavish, but they probably lack the picks required…so nix that.
More likely Sam Bennett fills the 1C spot with Lundell moving to 2C.
Evan Rodrigues should slot in at 3C.
Maybe I’m wrong, it has happened many times before. If Barkov is out for the season, they can only replace him with a player at the league average AAV. That’s a helluva blow, not feeling bad for them but isn’t that part of the new CBA?
If he’s going to be out for the full season and playoffs then there is no change to prior years, his full cap hit can be used for LTIR reserves (less any unused cap space at the time of LTIR placement).
If he’s coming back at any point this season or playoffs, then the amount of LTIR reserves permitted is reduced to prior season’s league average (ap $3.8MM for his season).
Thanks OP
When I said in the summer that the Panthers have a tougher road to return to the SCF than the Oilers, this is not what I thought, but it is not unexpected. They’ve had three hard years in a row, winning twice & partying all summer(s). Fla was more susceptible to injury than any other team & it sucks that it happened to Barkov. It will be interesting to watch Zito adjust this winter to keep them in contention. The new cap rules make it that much harder for them.
I’m curious: why was Fla more susceptible to injury than any other team?
More Playoff games = more injuries.
Because they’ve gone to the final 3 years in a row & each summer has been very active for their players when they won. I’d say the losing team has a worse summer, but a lot fewer events.
Plus, with the way they play, it is harder on their bodies, imo. I could be wrong, but that is my prediction which I feel I should stand by, right or wrong.
Offseason activity is not a known precursor of knee injuries.
Walking around drunk holding Lord Stanley above your head could be considered hazardous. I’ve noticed some Panthers do this in the water. This likely cuts down on risk of injury.
Thank you.
Prospecticism!
After taking last season off, the Dub returns to the NAmateur pool. And with Nicholl taking a turn this season as “designated Oilers gimped-up prospect”, the WHL gets the spotlight this weekend.
Lewandowski and Lafreniere were returned to junior earlier this week and are expected to be in their respective lineups tonight.
WHL games this season can be seen on Victory+.
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 7 p.m.
Kamloops (Lafreniere) @ 8 p.m.
Both times, as usual, are Evansburg time.
Speaking of Connor’s I think he is waiting for others to sign before he signs a team friendly contract, which he doesn’t want to be a “ceiling” for salaries
I had been thinking about this for a few weeks now. Just my thoughts but I wonder if there is friction between McDavid and the PA when it comes to what he’s willing to sign for and what the PA would be hoping for? If he’d sign an under market deal, it’d probably piss off the union.
Let the likes of Kaprizov sign for $16+ million, rising cap or not, that’s a lot of money to 1 player.
He knows he can’t win the cup with a 17 mil contract but doesn’t want to piss of the nhlpa when he signs for 15 mil so he’s saying vague things like I may not sign until mid season to pressure Eichel Kaprizov and Kyle Connor to sign their contracts and then sign his. Unfortunately so far it hasn’t worked
I’ve never really understood the point of the PA pressuring superstars to get max money in the salary cap era…doesn’t it make more sense to spread it around more for the vast majority of the average players?
I can’t agree on Logan Stanley. The Jets play button down, which helps the backend with significantly more forward support than Edmonton’s makeup.
Helleybuck does what Carey Price did and polishes turds for a living.
Add to the fact that I’ve watched Stanley be a pylon repeatedly for years during my stint in Winnipeg and I’d say it’s a hard no from me dawg.
Stanley in Winnipeg is what Lucic was in Edmonton for a few years, the butt end of the joke.
This is not the Stanley the Oilers are looking for.
Archibald knocked him down like he was shot he’s a wuss just like Sheehy was.
Ya, taking out a player’s knees will that.
A top 10 bad Oilers play of the era.
The days of over sized players has come and gone. If they can’t obstruct most don’t have NHL mobility and get beat or take penalties. There are a few that the refs seem to favour, like Zadorov and his brutality, and the playoffs are different, but without the hall pass being giant is a liability. Even just being on the wrong side with the refs like Kane
I’m not sure where Stanley fits into this. But for me an Oilers team needs to be a top skating team, it’s in their DNA. Stout defenders that can move, gap well, and make a solid pass are the ideal to me. If they are typical size or a bit bigger, and mean, all the better. Or even a little smaller and mean, like prime Gudas
Today’s conversation should really be about the Flintstones, I see you Barney Rubble’d the photo LT… in addition if we’re talking about bets… bet.. bet… bet… bet. I believe Darcy would approve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D50bjRjwHc
Mental health issues are around my family, so I am not speaking from a place of insensitivity or lack of experience. Edmonton is probably not a great fit for a player that has had some issues with this
It is certainly among the top teams in terms fan and local media attention, to the point Stauffer mentioned that hockey radio goes 365 in Edmonton, through the doldrums, and that is not the case in most markets
There is also the pressure of playing with two superstars and the highest level expectations. That’s a lot of pressure not in most markets. I think Bowman will wait until he finds a goalie he clearly sees as better or more what he prefers, which is what he said some months ago. Maybe it’s CI, I’m leaning to probably not
It is also a welcome change that Stan has been openly supportive of his goalies, praising them, nobody under the bus explicitly or implied. At the same time making it clear he would still make a change if it made sense, as it should be in pro sports