The first thing you must do in these middle preseason games is check the quality of competition. Thatcher Demko qualifies as quality no matter how long he’s been out. That Lekkerimäki fellow looks like a player too, but this wasn’t a strong Vancouver team last night. Old Rick Tocchet would have had his Canucks treating last night like a playoff game, sure as hell.
So, what did I see? Well, the Oilers remain a one-line team but my goodness what a line. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl had a time, with Trent Frederic jamming good with Weird and Gilly. In 14 minutes playing time five-on-five, the trio was 3-1 goals and had across the board handsome fancies. The line had eight points at five-on-five, the rest of the team zero.
The second line featured Ryan Nugent-Hopkins between Andrew Mangiapane and Ike Howard. The trio got chances, but were outshot 7-4, outscored 1-0 and owned a 42 percent goal share at five-on-five. Howard did have two HDSC’s and you can see him coming along, but this is a big ask for player and really the entire line.
The third unit had Noah Philp, Curtis Lazar and Kasperi Kapenen rolling down the highway. The line played eight minutes together, 1-4 shots but did have a 53 percent expected goal share. Lazar had two HDSC’s, I thought Philp was effective physically and he had a good night in the faceoff dot. Lazar and Kapanen received over a minute on the penalty kill. Philp none. Everything is everything at this time of year, unless it’s nothing.
The fourth unit was populated by Josh Samanski, David Tomasek and Quinn Hutson. They didn’t get much done, and I do think the team sends Samanski and Hutson down in the coming hours. Samanski was the most effective player in this group, though. Maybe one more game.
Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm played 19 minutes and went 2-2 goals. Splendid mixed with a pinch of sin for Bouchard, he’s just so damn good you have to overlook the follies. Ekholm isn’t back to being the Viking yet, but one hopes he gets there soon.
Atro Leppanen and Alec Regula had some adventures too, but overall both men continued to impress me. I don’t know what this team is going to do about Regula, but he’s pushing pretty hard and it might force the issue for Stan Bowman.
Cam Dineen and Ty Emberson were solid, and posted a clean slate five-on-five (expected goals 58 percent). Emberson was used as a regular on the PK and his arrows are looking up. Dineen, and Leppanen, probably get sent out soon.
Stuart Skinner stopped 23 of 25 at five-on-five, that’s a solid number in the metric I trust the most. You may rain down blows upon me in the comments section as needed.
On the Lowdown today, Rachel Kryshak (Doerrie) returns! We’ll talk McDavid, McDavid-Draisaitl, the goaltending and more. Jason Gregor will be by to talk about the latest Oilers news, I anticipate another condo of Condors flying south in the next few hours. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
New for The Athletic: Could the Edmonton Oilers make a trade before the regular season begins?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6670503/2025/09/29/edmonton-oilers-trade-preseason-2025/
Plan A appears to have Trent Frederic play the Tom Wilson / Patrick Maroon role, flaking the stars and providing a bit of scoring.
If he can go 20-25-45 a few times over the first 5 years of his contract it’ll be a screaming bargain.
His cap isn’t bad either if he can score 15 and provide some physicality down the lineup, but it may offer incredible upside if he can hand with 29 and 97.
Does this make any sense when Hyman gets back
Mangiapane-McDavid – Hyman
Podz-Leon-Savoie
Howard-Nuge-Freddy
Henrique-Philp-Kapanen
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Walman
Kulak-Regula
Emberson-Stecher
Skinner
Pickard
Me: This makes sense.
Knoblauch: This makes too much sense.
All I ever see around here is hand wringing over lines. “OMG, McD and Drai on the same like!!!!!!” Well one thing a lot of people forget is that there is more than one top 6 winger not available right now, Podz. So does everyone feel better if they start the season with Mcd /Nuge/Frederick (LT style), Drai/Podz/Mangiapane (I’ll learn to spell their names when they make me appreciate them!), and the rest. That is one more line than they had last night. They are sorting out a 3rd line. There are just too many good wingers that have not been available. Give them time.
Yes
We need to find out if Leppänen can replace kulak on the 3rd pair. If so his salary and skinners plus built up cap space can be used for the goalie upgrade
First thing first, Leppanen needs to be play a whack of games in the AHL and learn some defensive structure.
Walk first, then swim.
Replace Kulak or Ekholm?
Ek is not getting younger and right now, I’m just hoping that what I’ve seen in pre-season is a vet who’s pacing himself, not one that’s starting to go off a cliff.
This is just me. But if it comes down to keeping Ekholm or Kulak, I’d rather Kulak at this stage in their careers.
I hope coach is messing with everyone with his first line.
“build a stronger team by allowing the other lines to grow?”
So McDavid, Leon, Frederic play together. This looks unstoppable but i believe will be proven less effective. The big two will try and out doodle everyone while the third man will stand in front of the net. Add in Bouchard’s special form of defensive coverage and Ekholms recent inability to provide cover for everyone and I do not like it. Yes at times they will crush it, but is this really the way to go?
“build a stronger team by outscoring across your line up”
Build a 1A line around one center
Build a 1B line out of the second center
You can’t build two lines around two league MVP’s??
Build a third line out of the third center (hes going to be around 8 years)
Philp to lead fourth line.
Load on the wingers wherever they fit.
Coach mentioned post-game that Max Jones is close, he’s skating and will be back healthy for at least one of the next two games.
This is important to the ability to be able to waive and send him down so there is no cap implication.
This. Very important.
I question the vaunted C depth. Like wobbly goaltending, they haven’t been able to put 4 for certain centres on the roster in a long time. The problem is that usually the centre drives a line’s play
LT talks about how it affects AHL wingers. If a talented young winger doesn’t have a good enough C it tanks their results, both ways often
Florida won their second Cup because their 3rd line demolished all comers, too much to handle for teams that weren’t as deep, which it appears was everyone
Maybe Nuge has it in him, but he hasn’t stuck at C for years. Maybe because he was better than most of the other wingers. So far it’s not looking good at C. Bowman had his hands partly tied when Henri wouldn’t waive
Philp can almost certainly contribute as 4C. Lazar is a passable back up. So when the Duo are together they are weak or uncertain at 2 and 3 C, when not it depends on how they deploy 3C
I don’t think Tomasek has the boots to play C in the NHL regularly, at least with his style. It will be interesting to see what Bowman does, maybe not much this year because movement clauses. Although he will make unpopular decisions such as sending Ryan down
Flowers to Lundell, he is the goods but future HOFer Brad Marchand is a heckuva player acquired through ridiculous means. Won’t rehash, just don’t agree it was lack of centre depth.
No other team in the league has 2 MVP’s at centre. One transcends MVP’s yet our top lines were the ones that didn’t get it done. The bottom lines sawed off or won their minutes.
The depth is the envy of the league. Barkov is bigger Bergeron and if he was in Toronto and wasn’t a quiet Finn he would get unproblematic, pre injured Lindros comparisons all day.
Henrique waiving, along with Nurse, was denied publically by all of Stauffer, organization (I believe Bowman), and players too. Believe what you will.
I think 4th line is like goaltending. It’s not important until it’s a problem.
Every other quasi-journalistic hockey site (and that is being extremely generous) on the subject of whether Henrique and Nurse were asked to waive cited Eliot Freidman claiming that he reported they were asked. Freidman however did not report that they were asked. He said he “thinks” they were approached. Here is the full excerpt from Friedman that everyone seems to be relying on:
“I think basically Edmonton went to a check with all their guys who had no trade clauses, who they would want to move and say, ‘Okay, how many of you are willing to go places?’ And (Viktor) Arvidson said he was, so he went. But, you know, Nurse, I don’t think he wants to go anywhere. (Adam) Henrique, I’m not convinced he wants to go anywhere. So that’s kind of where it ended up. They made it clear they liked being part of something where they can win, and they decided to stay, as is their right.”
If someone else can provide a link to anywhere where Freidman backed this up saying he got this from inside sources, provide that link. Otherwise Freidman was making an educated guess based on some rumors he might have heard. Or post a link to any other credible source that didn’t rely on Freidman and can verify that Nurse and/or Henrique were asked to waive and said no.
The Panthers had 9 forwards with 15 or more playoff points, the Oilers 4, and only two were centres. Yes the Panthers shut the Duo down pretty good
In the finals the wheels fell off. NST is being uncooperative, so hockey reference says in all strengths only Pod, Kap, Arvidsson, Janmark and Skinner were at zero or better +/- and +1 was tops – they were all used sparingly by TOI, Janmark the most at ATOI 13:35
The Panthers had 4 players at zero or worse: Luostarinen, Mikkola, Gadjovich, Greer and Nosek. Three of these fellas are the 4th line they barely used. Their top 3 centres by TOI, pts and +/-: Barkov 5pts 0, Bennett 6 pts 4, Lundell 6 pts 7
The Oilers top 4 C by TOI, CMD 7 pts -7, Drai 8 pts -7, Henri 1 pts -1, Janmark 0 pts 1
I don’t think any Oiler centres did that well in the finals
Below is a link to Naturalstattricks On Ice 5 on 5 line tool with and without McDavid and Leon for the 6 games against the Panthers.
When Playing together, the duo was 1-5 GF/GA despite an expected goal share of 60%. Without Leon, Connor was 2-3, and Leon was 3-4 without Leon. When both were off the ice, the team was 4-4. Most of the other +/- negatives were from empty net goals and conceding a short handed goal.
Hard to fully evaluate the center depth from that series when each of Connor and Leon played over 55% of their 5 on 5 ice time together (with shockingly poor goal results). The main drivers for Leon and Connor playing so much together in that series were probably Hyman’s complete absence and Nuge’s broken hand.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=3&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=gpteam&fd=2025-04-19&td=2025-06-17&tgp=6&strict=incl&p1=8478402&p2=8477934&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0
While the duo played a lot together in the LA series to drive the comeback (which LA, a great defensive team, couldn’t stop), against Vegas and Dallas, also 2 excellent teams, the duo only played about 35% of their 5 on 5 time together with great results all around:
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=3&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=gpdate&fd=2025-05-06&td=2025-05-29&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8478402&p2=8477934&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0
Thanks
Thanks
Anyone know who the Oilers designated EBUG is going to be this season?
Me, I lead the league in Popcorn per 60.
Per Tony B.
In my eyes, based on the playoffs and the preseason, Calvin Pickard is this team’s number one goalie. On merit, I’d start him game 1, barring some drastic change in performance this week.
1A/1B see how it goes.
He absolutely should be the opening night starter unless they acquire someone spectacular in the meantime. He’s been their #1 for some time now, including when they entered the playoffs last year.
We’ll see how the rest of the pre-season goes. Pickard has always struggled with running hot and cold. Same as Skinner.
1A/1B is correct. Ride the hot goalie, but don’t let the other one get cold on the bench. It’s a long season, and the Oilers need to focus on playing strong 2 way hockey … this will set them up for success in the playoffs.
A return to good health from the vets (Hyman, Ekholm and RNH), along with the new players learning to play the system, will set them up nicely at theTDL. Then we’ll see how it all shakes out, and whether a true goalie upgrade emerges.
For me a successful season includes (1) one of Howard or Savoie cementing a role on the 2nd or 3rd lines, (2) two of the older pros – Podz, Tomasek, Frederic stepping up to be legit top 6 forwards, (3) Philp settling into the 4C role, and (4) Regula or Emberson stepping up to really take ownership of the 3rd pairing RHD role.
The rest of the roster are mostly known quantities … but if the above happens, then Bowman can focus what few assets we have on acquiring a goalie upgrade.
He got walked to the middle on the play that led to the disallowed goal. It was reminiscent of his issues in the SCF.
Question is if that is simply a vet being in exhibition or a sign of lowered mobility or age regression?
We won’t know much until October 8
I have nothing but respect for what Ekholm has brought to the Oilers since he came aboard, but I really don’t think a contract extension would be worth it now. Injuries and age, the bell eventually rings. Some fellas can do it gracefully, others not so much.
Really depends on the term and AAV to me. Even in a reduced role, he has good value to the team in the right circumstances.We shall see how both he and the up and comers like Leppanen et al perform going forward.
This play was a well executed 3 on 2 by the Canucks. Frederic went to change with both of McDrai staying up high, leading to the odd-man.
Ekholm didn’t fully cut off the middle because he had to stay left. Drew O’Connor played it perfectly and drove right down the middle.
I don’t think its correct at all to say he got walked.
Personally, I would chalk this play up as a pre-season play. And, as you pointed out, we won’t know until the real games start.
Original Pouzar has an agenda against Ekholm for some reason.
I saw their C game again last night – McDavid making terrible plays near his own blueine in the third period, etc. Points against that Canuck lineup is expected from this trio.
Frederic was much better but he also (a) had a tough play on the defensive boards (it wasn’t an easy play but he didn’t make it and it went in the net) and (b) as was pointed out last night, he’s got to be able to receive passes better – there was alot of Lucic there last night.
I am far from a “more bigger” guy but this is a slight line that I think can get pushed out of games. I’m not sure Howard is NHL-ready and I’d rather see Savoie on this line (which does not solve the slender issue).
Truth be told, we may see Podz on this line.
Faded later in the game but I thought Philp was fantastic in the first – he’s very confident with the puck in the defensive zone. I see Philp as miles more effective than Lazar so far.
Very odd that Philp served that penalty……. if they don’t trust him in a PK role, they probably don’t have him on the team and I don’t get that.
Hutson and Samanski should be prominent Condors – can’t wait.
I think Tomasek should start as a middle six RW – not a bottom 6 center.
Hutson and Samanski should be prominent Condors – can’t wait.
I am eyeing the new years eve game in Coachella hope to attend
.
Obviously when Hyman returns the top six will have more punch. Right now, it’s about surviving without him to start the season, and I see no problems whatsoever. But if Freddy works well with Connor & Leon, Hyman & Mangiapane might be Nuge’s wingmen on the second unit. That leaves Henrique & Tomasek as the two options for 3c IMO & Philp & Lazar for 4c. If they choose to place Connor & Leon on separate lines & Nuge at 3c that may very well be the optimal option along with Noah Philp at 4c. All I can say is just “WOW”.
I was very annoyed when I saw the Nuck lineup for last night.
Regula was great again last night (I thought) – great with puck on his stick and solid in the defensive zone even with a chaos partner. At the same time, it only means so much even against a close to legit NHL roster in exhibition, it means even less against a lineup like last night.
I think he’s putting Stecher at risk but, again, what does what we’ve seen really mean?
I love Stetcher’s compete level and he has been a valuable 3 rd pair player. Having said that it sure looks like Regula has the size and a skill set that is pretty promising!
Agreed – Colour me impressed on first viewing with Regula. He likely isn’t quite an NHL regular yet, but to my eye his upside is too good to risk losing on waivers. He could possibly help offset the Broberg departure and having a baby Bouch-lite seems like a good thing. It would seem poor asset management to lose him b/c they kept Stetcher (who I like too).
Hope they can hang onto both but to me you gotta keep pushing the players, keep cultivating the roster, and they know what they have in Stetcher (cue McD quip about trying same thing over and over).
It’s Not so much about new n shiny as about allowing space for every possible improvement. That’s something no Oilers Admin – at least not from the development slash asset management side – has embraced for some time. At least not since the Golden Ticket.
Stan’s moves give me hope for change on that front. Don’t know yet if Knob is the guy to let that happen.
Stecher is the Nurse whisperer. Walman will more than likely be Nurses steady partner this season. But I wonder how Regula would look alongside Nursey.
Might we see
Walman-Bouchard
Nurse-Regula
Ekholm with Kulak or Emberson or Stecher.
After watching last night’s game,I didn’t think Skinner was bad or good. I thought he was average and probably could have made a save on one of the goals. I still see the same issues with him. 1- Still doesn’t move side to side very well 2: Has a narrow butterfly when he drops to his knees 3: His hands are average at best (part of the reason he gets beat high consistently. Hopefully the new goaltending coach can correct or improve these issues. I would also mention hockey sense as he seems to lose sight of the puck quite often. I’m not a goalie savant,but a played the position for 30 years and managed to play at a fairly competitive level(Whl). This is my opinion of what I have seen from Skinner the past 2-3 years.
This is probably my favourite post of yours, solid value add.
Hopefully you can shed some light on this for me, because it’s been driving me nuts watching Stu. Why does he elevate his elbow instead of holding up his glove to cover the corner? Maybe it’s an evolution of technique, but seems to me you’d want to be ready to snag pucks top cheddar as opposed to block them with your elbow.
One thing I noted on Tomasek, he was getting PP time instead of Howard. I think even with a quiet game he’s maybe looking good to start the year on the 3rd line as things go. Granted the PP time he got was minimal seeing as Drai decided to score instantly.
He was quiet, but I noticed him. Seemed to be in the right place, defensively, several times.
Really could use a forward upgrade
Internal progress!
#wepray
OK, I’ll be the first to start the punching:
.893 SP against AHLers doesn’t instill me with confidence
We’ve seen this movie countless times.
Go get a goalie. Thanks
If Picks continues to outplay Skinner in preseason he needs to start game one and continue until he loses. Skinner looks lost again we can’t afford to start in the hole 0-3 or 2-9-1 because Skinner is locating his inner Harikrishna side.
There is a deeply symbiotic relationship between Skinner’s quality of play and the quality of the defending in front of him. Skinner can look really, really good when the Oilers buckle down and play the type of team defence we know they can play when they put their minds to it. Unfortunately, when they decide to spit the bit defensively, Skinner’s not able to bail them out a la Grant Fuhr. So, after numerous coaches, I agree with you – we’ve seen this movie countless times, but there’s also a B side to this movie.
Skinner has until the trade deadline to show everyone he is the goods, otherwise he’ll be full Dubnyk’d. Thanks to all the NTC’s and NMC’s, moving skaters out is harder to do. It’ll be up to KK to truly get these guys committed to playing good defence all the time. We wait for the bullets to start flying in earnest.
So you want the Oilers to play boring low event trap hockey so Skinner can get his SV percentage over 903.
Remember the series vs. Dallas last playoffs? The Oilers gave up a grand total of 8 GA in that series, while putting up 25 GF. They can play good defence and still put up crooked numbers.
Remember the first 2 games against L.A. Go back and look at the winning goal in game 1 against L.A or the winning goal in game 2 OT against the Panthers. These type of lame goals should get you demoted. Skinner has it in him to get hot in small stretches where he gives up 1 goal in a 100 shots the problem with this is it still doesn’t raise his save percentage above 900. I think we see the dominoes fall once Mr.Hart is signed by a lucky team out East.
Oilers actually have a very solid defense that move the puck wonderfully. They might be the best in the league. Honestly, I think Skins & Picks will be just fine.
Then he’s not the goalie for this team.
The Oilers don’t face stronger chances than other teams. In fact, if I recall correctly, they often face ones that are a fair bit weaker.
You shouldn’t have to constantly bail out your goalie.
For 24/25 regular season, you are correct that the Oilers low & medium danger shots against are well managed (27th for low danger & 28th for medium danger), meaning only 5 & 4 teams were better at minimizing these. They were 20th in high danger shots, so 12 teams were better at minimizing the high danger ones. This is probably a factor of their d-zone giveaways being 6th in the league, so 26 teams managed these giveaways better. 48.5% of their total giveaways were in the defensive zone, which was 8th in the league (24 teams were better).
All per moneypuck.com
Thanks for this.
I am not sure Moneypuck is all that reliable an indicator for chances for and against. First, they are only using Fenwick (unblocked shot attempts) for the ranking. And their criteria for high danger shots is extremely narrow. Under their criteria, Vegas led the league with 209 high danger unblocked shot attempts at 5 on 5.
https://moneypuck.com/teams.htm
Naturalstattrick, uses War on Ice’s criteria for low, medium and high danger shots and chances. Their high danger chances are almost triple the Moneypuck numbers.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=y&team=all&loc=B&gpf=410&fd=&td=
Using Naturalstattrick data, for 24/25 Edmonton at 5 on 5, was 10th stingiest in shots against, fourth stingiest in high danger chances against and 3rd stingiest in high danger chances against (at 394 vs. LA’s league lowest 389). Most of the criteria for the chance categorization is shot distance and location.
In the same table, Moneypuck does list rebound shot attempts at 5 on 5. Here Edmonton allowed the 6th least amount of rebound attempts against at 187, but unfortunately the Oilers allowed the 2nd most rebound goals against (31). Were the goalies slow to react after the rebound, were the skaters poorer clearing rebounds or blocking out and/or tying up the opposition or were there other factors? No way to know from just looking at data.
On the giveaways in the defensive zone, 2 teams worse than Edmonton were Carolina and Vegas. And Winnipeg, Colorado and Tampa were all within 25 giveaways of Edmonton’s 545 in the defensive zone during the year. I am not sure that stat looked at in isolation can lead to any firm conclusions.
Thanks, I agree you can’t take any data in isolation, and the other thing to beware of is there are fluctuations during the year. I had posted last season using NST about how Skinner faced the most HDSA per 60 in Feb/25 (compared to the 31 goalies > 2,000 minutes at that point). The Oilers were decent Oct-Dec, dipped in Jan-Feb and then improved. I think it’s fair to say we know from watching, when the Oilers make mistakes, they are often big ones in the d-zone. The point of my post was related to the blanket comment they don’t face stronger chances than other teams.
In the first 3 rounds of the 24/25 playoffs, even including the first 2 game debacle, the Oilers had the second lowest High Danger shots against per 60 compared to all 16 playoff teams. Only Ottawa was lower. And they achieved this while at the same time, having the 2nd highest high danger shots for per 60 and an overall 60% HDSF/60 which was also 2nd. As an aside, how Colorado lost to Dallas in the first round while having a 67% HDSF/60 is hard to understand.
Edmonton was underwater in this metric in the games against Florida at 6.16/6.89 HDSF/HDSA per 60. The team knows how to play the game, they just weren’t able to execute at that level in the finals, particularly over the last 2 games. And the goaltending performance gap in the finals was significant.
If only we could play for the Cup vs Dallas the last two years! Thanks for the info. 🙂
Thanks
Man, there are some interesting decisions to make. Do both of Savoie & Howard make the team? What to do with Regula? What to do with Hyman on his return? What to do with Ekholm & Kulak extensions? Where does Tomasek fit, or does he even fit on the roster? I think he does. Who’s the 4c going to be Philp or Lazar? Or do both make the team? What to do with Janmark, Kapanen, Emberson & Stecher? And I might add Henrique. Don’t worry it’s all good.
Yes, in many ways, a wealth of riches. With some areas wanting upgrades. As per LT in the Athletic, is there a trade on the horizon, some of these riches moving on?
No doubt there will be a trade or two on the horizon.
I tap Philp and keep Lazar on the 50 man if I can. I move Janmark and spend all season looking to optimize Tomasek. Henrique too since he’s not going anywhere. I’m banking on a complete Hyman recovery keeping him top six, if not to say stapled to McD.
Unlike many I consider Kap a tweener and am only concerned with his limiting opportunities for ultimately more productive or reliable players – players like Tomasek or Savoie who might need the reps to know who they are, how best they might contribute. Though it’s probably best for Howard to split the season between leagues I’m okay with him sticking around. IF he can grow his game in the bigs. Reminds me of some the young talent that would start on the fringes of those dynasty Oilers teams.
I keep as much D depth as I can, and part of that is keeping Regula off the waiver wire. I actively shop our beloved Viking in hopes of nabbing the best goalie possible at the TDL. If re-signing Kulak is in the cards it can wait til summer.
/reviews
hm. not sure I agree with myself.
Some interesting bits on the latest 32 Thoughts regarding goalies on waivers. There could be some players discussed by LT including DePietro. However, according to the hosts, Calvin Pickard is so incredibly popular in the dressing room, they couldn’t imagine Edmonton waiving the player. Was surprised to hear Thoughts views that as such a strong consideration.
Picks looks confident to say the least. I’m comfortable with him backing up Skinner and so does the team.
Pickard is the team’s best goaltender. It won’t be long til he gets 2/3 of the team’s starts.
I predict Skinner will be demoted and ultimately traded.
I don’t know about him taking 2/3rds of the starts. He does well as a backup, but I don’t think running him as a starter full time is the play.
I’m fairly happy to run Skinner and Pickard as is for at least the first few months. If Skinner doesn’t show improvement I can see us making a move at that point, but doubt anything happens for now. We’ll want to see how Skinner progresses with the new goalie coach before any change is made, and adequate time has to be given for the results to be seen.
I don’t know about that.
Picks is clearly popular in the room and an excellent teammate, but… so was Tyson Barrie. SBGM will solve the goalie conundrum, cuz, well, he has to.
By upgrading on Skinner. Not by giving his best goalie away hoping that 74 finally discovers some resilience.
I certainly agree. I’m kinda glad it’s not KH making the ultimate goaler decision, Stan will do what needs to be done.
They like the pay scale for their goaltenders. How about that Stolarz extension.
This should have nothing to do with “the room”. He’s the better goalie. Simple as that right now.
But Skinner is the homie favourite. I hate when decisions are made on other then performance base. Skinner’s been riding his rookie season when the league shooters didn’t know his weak spots for going on over 2 years now.
Skinner still has more upside whether you like it or not.
Skinner been riding his rookie season the last 2 years. Pickard who is probably classified as a below or at best average Goaltender has a better average has a better save percentage and has better winning percentage the last 2 years. If Skinner shits the bed early and Bowman finally pulls the chute on him nobody is picking him off the waiver wire.
Part of the job description for the backup goalie is that they need to be “good in the room”. It’s an absolute thankless job … they have to be ready to step in at a moments notice, and they have to be the consummate pro throughout the season, always present to help the skaters work on the ice.
I think Pick’s job is quite secure … it’s Skinner who is on the hot seat. If he falters, then he’s gone for an upgrade. Bowman’s saying all the right things to start the season, but if Skinner has another start to the season like his last two, then he’s gone by the TDL, if not sooner. They’ve given him everything possible to be successful … it’s time for Skinner to step up.
The thing I don’t like to hear. I’m glad players are great guys and well liked, but there are only 3 players that should be off the table. Everyone else should be vulnerable to an upgrade. If winning championships is the goal
Pickard is a decent back up, but given he is relied upon for significant games, they need to try to get better in net. 10 games or more, Pick reg season played 36 games and was 35th in SV% at .900. Skinner 51 games 45th in SV% at .896, from NHL.com
Playoffs 5th and 7th over 10 games out of 8 goalies. The Oilers played fairly well in front of them. Could definitely be better
It is difficult to upgrade on a backup who wins far more than he loses. Advanced stats for pure backup goaltenders do not matter, only wins and losses.
i.e. The intangibles that measure a good pure backup goaltender are not necessarily reflected in advanced stats.
Que McD quip about trying same thing over and over?
I don’t think Pickard makes it through waivers. I do think Skinner would.
LOL.
I’m not sure that’s quite an accurate representation. Friedman and Kyle B. didn’t provide any opinion or intel that management wouldn’t waive Pickard or that the lockeroom would be pissed off if they did.
All they did was provide the intel, which we already knew, that Pickard is universally loved in that dressing room.
I would also note that Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci were also very popular people in the dressing room.
Is Connor playing for time, jiving us that we’re voodoo?
— there is much more randomness in winning the World Series than winning the Stanley Cup
— However the Jays do in playoffs though it’s a reminder how career seasons propel teams
— Kirk and Springer career years. The “grinders” 4 of them for 4mm total all had career years way above expectations. Bo massive bounce back.
— This would be like McDrai having a massive bounce back and a bunch of these howard Savoies greatly exceeding expectations and Skinner having career year.
— Most of the jays moves didn’t work out : max Santander and giminez very mediocre and or missed a lot of games, Hoffman terrible era and most dingers. That’s the 4 significant moves.
— Jays basically overcame a fairly inept management by outperforming
— Inept might be too harsh but Oil need some surprises bounce backs and career years to win it all IMO
Lets go Jays: enjoy the week off.
I agree with most of what you said with the Jays! Giminez hasn’t been quite as stellar defensively as the last couple seasons but I will give him he is pretty good on that side of the game!
For sure. I think you could add that Vlad hasn’t had the best results after signing the big contract. His power hitting has been lacking. Kirk amazing last two games! Go Jays!
Personally, I prefer this edition fo the Jays to last year’s – maybe the power numbers are down across the board, but man, they are plate patient and can create offence in other ways. Better defensively too.
Rotation and bullpen will be key, given all the older arms. Trey Y is an absolute godsend. Max will find a way to be competitive, cuz that’s what playoff Max does (baseball gords, send us some 2019 Scherzer, please).
Winning the pennant and getting the bye is the perfect outcome. Healthy Bo and CBass, fingers crossed.
Agreed. I’ll be cheering for the Mariners, but also want the Jays to do well.
I love this time of year, Baseball playoffs, Hockey coming back, CFL season in the stretch run, NFL back and rolling… Truly glorious.
obviously winning the division was huge. The only problem is with a week off your timing (hitting) is a bit off for the first game or two. It is so important for our game 1 starter to throw a 7 inning 3 hit performance until the bats catch up. Also how hard is it going to be to potentially having to face Crochet twice in the 5 game series as I believe the Bo-Sox knock off rhe Yanks with Crochet-Giolito-Bello shutting down that amazing hitting machine in New York. Schewzer Gausman Bieder need to up their control-velocity-off speed action.
BOS rotation is waaayyyyyyyy scary.
They have a under the radar chance of surpassing everyone. We are going to need better pitching then what we’ve seen from Bieber-Gausman-Scherzer if we’re going to beat Boston in such a fast series as 5 games.
Less scary with Giolito being ruled out.
There is mad randomness in winning the World Series.
That’s why there shouldn’t be playoffs in baseball. You win the regular-season pennant over 162 games, you’re the champ.
Then you have a World Series as a sort of bonus tournament, because even in a 7-game series, the inferior ball team will probably win at least 45% of the time.
Only a long, 162-game season can sort out the inherent randomness in baseball. A 7-game series is a travesty, all the moreso when a .512 team can get into the playoffs.
More games, sure, but the play resets to the same static position in baseball creating more of a distinct pattern. IE, less random than hockey; the most random of professional sports.
https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/6/5/15740632/luck-skill-sports
Note: this article seems to have been truncated over the years, there was a much more in-depth version when I first read it. Maybe it’s in video form now, as linked above.
— your conflating inherent structure of game and winning championships
— there is absolutely no discussion as to which 7 game series has more randomness
— That’s because single events have massive changes in fortunes in baseball vs the flow of hockey as well as the hitting and pitching and fielding vagaries
I am doing an in studio hit at the stingray studio this morning and just want to say; we hear in thevradio you tslk about how beautiful the station is and LowetodeI have to agree. Looks like a great place to work!
It really is.