Happy Thanksgiving! I’m making a turkey today, it’s like the fourth one I’ve made in my life so I’ll let Ziggy eat the first little bit. She doesn’t mind being a canary in the coal mine, she’ll eat a shoe if there’s food on it. We also have Clifford, who will inhale the entire turkey if we don’t watch him closely, so fun times. Clifford and the cats (Nimbus and Luna) are fully acclimated to their new surroundings, and have gotten used to Ziggy being a loose cannon that sometimes goes wrecking ball. Nimbus jumped on the bed this morning and Ziggy didn’t react much at all, so that smells like victory. Kind of sad too, reminds me of the last few games of Esa Tikkanen.
Our little family is very busy these days, so busy we’re cooking the turkey on Monday and even then not everyone will be able to attend. Such is life and we are thankful for our blessings. The kids are fine, I’m in a very good place and Karen is still in that ‘honeymoon’ period and doesn’t realize that marrying me means watching so much sports. The baseball games every day are being noticed, though. Seriously, she’s wonderful and I’m blessed to have found her. We all are. I hope you’re well, and in a warm place filled with hugs, dogs, cats, strong coffee and a turkey dinner. Screw ham, that’s for sandwiches.
WTH BAKERSFIELD
The Condors are going to be interesting this year, so my plan is to track their results step-by-step. In the first game of the year, the penalty kill let them down and it was clear the defensemen didn’t have enough time to practice together. Injuries to the blue line also had an impact. I’m not prepared to blame the goalie (Matt Tomkins goals-against average reads like it was made by Boeing) so let’s drill down on the fun stuff. Here are the forwards.
This is incredible for a one-game summary. The line of Roby Jarventie-James Hamblin-Rem Pitlick smashed the Barracuda at even strength and the numbers show it. There’s no doubt in my mind Jarventie will play NHL games this season if he’s healthy. Rem Pitlick was a perfect addition for this team, a veteran who can do things in the AHL to help the prospects along. His brother Rhett Pitlick scored a fantastic SH goal and led the team with seven shots.
Viljami Marjala was the power-play standout in the game, and got the Condors off to a good start with some nifty work on the first even-strength goal of the season. Josh Samanski held his own, and Max Jones can score goals at this level. Among forwards, only Matt Copponi and James Hamblin failed to get a shot on goal.
This is one game, so making any sweeping statements is unwise. I will say the Oilers ‘up the spine’ deployment is strong at center. Hamblin is a veteran and capable of performing well across 200 feet (he can’t score in the NHL and his size limits his ability to have success in puck battles in the world’s best league), and Marjala and Josh Samanski are both quality at this level.
As is often the case, the third pairing (Prokop-Millman) looks good while the defensemen asked to play the tougher minutes have outscoring numbers that do not impress. The Leppanen-Dineen pair was especially unsuccessful. We saw Leppanen play well enough in a structured environment during preseason, so I expect he’ll recover and post stronger numbers as the year rolls along. We do well to remind ourselves that taking strong impressions from a single game is unwise, especially from those who are new to the league. One first blue impression I will keep an eye on: Luke Prokop does good things.
I wrote about first impressions of the Oilers season today at The Athletic, hope you have time to read it. I also gave a quick update on the farmhands, including AHL and KHL kids. Happy thianksgiving!
New for The Athletic: What we learned from the Oilers’ first 2 games of 2025-26
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6711238/2025/10/13/edmonton-oilers-philp-savoie-howard-frederic/
It’s not quite as bad as JFJ-Horcoff-Hemsky, but how long will Frederic has last on the first line?
We’re not going to win many hockey games if you load up the top line and they’re not scoring at 5v5.
It could be a Wayne Cashman 1970-71 season!
That Bruins team of the 70’s were so good should of won 4-5 instead of 2. Losing Cheever’s etc to the WHA hurt bad. If he only would of payed the players a little more they would of stayed.
Until Hyman comes back, most likely.
Love the reference. JFJ scored a goal once and any line with Hemsky is a winner for me. It’s a small sample – seems early to say the line / team are not scoring at 5v5. From the link provided, the line is controlling play, and team 4v4 goals were excluded. Although I like having McD and Drai on different lines, combining them puts more onus on the other lines to contribute and carry the play. Through 2 games, they have controlled the puck more at evens, which I agree is a good recipe for winning games, and we are discovering which other players will step up this year too. LT specifically mentions elite shot suppression at 5v5 and Philps’ emergence, which are positive indicators so far. Perhaps the Oilers are seeing if Frederic plays well with either of McD/Drai, to inform their decisions when Hyman is back?
If memory serves, not only did JFJ record zero points in 37 games in 2006-07 – but also, not a single Oiler goal was scored while he was on the ice.
A true feat.
Perhaps but, at the same time, the lineup has been totally dominant at 5 on 5 through two games – barely giving up any scoring chances as a group.
Well he’s no where near replacing Hyman’s ability on that line so not sure what the coaches are seeing. He’s got 1 G in 25 games.
I see a decent straight line skater with below average agility and puck skills. Loses control of the puck too easily with pressure. Hasn’t been finding loose pucks in the scoring area
There’s better options for riding with the stallions on this team
I’m not really arguing about the particular player and fit on the current line but on a higher/macro level, the lineup as a whole has been very good at 5 on 5 to this point – team structure has been good and the team is dominating the puck at 5 on 5 and giving up little – they should easily have 4 points based on play – that’s the goal, right?
Here’s hoping Skinner gets back in there and performs like he is capable of on this road trip. When was the last time the Oilers had a goalie that you didn’t have to worry about what level of play you were going to get from game to game? The stretch from 1981 to 1998 probably ruined me for goaltender expectations. 17 years of Fuhr, Ranford, and Joseph was an amazing run of top notch goaltending that I now realize I definitely took for granted. Tommy Salo started off ok, but the ending wasn’t pretty and there hasn’t been much to write home about since. If Skinner can’t get it together, I hope they can make a call on Ingram before the trade deadline one way or the other. Bowman needs to fix the goaltending this season. Can’t keep kicking the can down the road.
That stretch was so good that you could actually forget the best (regular season) Oiler goalie: Andy Moog. (In terms of GSAA, Moog was far and away the best.)
Very true. Both Moog and Fuhr were so good, they almost detracted from each others legacy. How many more career wins would each of those guys have if they weren’t sharing the net almost 50/50 during that time?
Looks like Sam Carrick at 1 million for 3 years is going to age a lot better then the 2 year 3 million dollars Henrique recieves. I thought that was a good deal but Henrique hasn’t performed well hitting at the bottom of the order like penalty killing Sam Carrick is built for.
Watching Ingram hi-lights when he’s on he covers so much of the net and does it so calmly kinda reminds me of Dubnyk. I hope he’s up and running by December.
Interesting note about Roslovic’s contract clause: https://x.com/NHLRumourReport/status/1977841836015177831
Hmm….it suggests that there’s no guarantee that things go well, or that either party is fully committed.
Nov 1 is an awfully short trial period.
Summarizing!
Lafreniere potted his 3rd and 4th goals of the season, the latter a PPG for the OT winner in a 4-3 decision. Also had 5 SOG and was 10-for-17 (58.8%) on the dot.
Prospecting takes a break until Wodin’s Day.
Lafreniere’s goal sequences begin at 1:05 and 4:25:
https://chl.ca/whl/video/kamloops-blazers-at-regina-pats-10-13-whl-highlights-2025-26/
Legit snipes from distance.
If the team insists on running Drai and McDavid together, I’d much prefer they play Pod with them. Both seem to speak glowingly of his efforts and they had that game or two as a line last year that went well. Given they just locked him up, no reason to fear “boosting him”, either. Beyond that, it helps Frederic play on a line more aligned with his long term role on the team.
Drai McDavid Pod
Mangy Nuge Savoie
Frederic Philp Roslovic
Howard Henri Tomasek
Once Hyman returns, I’d trade Janmark and have them return to running deep down the middle:
Mangy McDavid Hyman
Pod Draisaitl Roslovic
Frederic Nuge Savoie
Henrique Philp Tomasek
I’d have Savoie and Roslovic (perhaps even Kapanen and Tomasek, as well) rotating based on performance, but so far I’ve liked Savoie with Nuge. Howard is sent down while Kapanen rotates in with Tomasek.
I do think the McDavid signing gave the entire organization a bump so hopefully we get out of the gate and bank some points come Olympic time. Going to 2 straight finals plus the condensed schedule we are going to need solid netminding with no drama. Bowman knows we can’t lose games because our goalies are sub negative .900. It’s nice not scrolling down 25-40 goalies before we find one of our guys
If Skinner isn’t your guy, Talbot appears to be an immediate upgrade at a lesser cap hit. Could Detroit be interested in Skinner’s future, and Edmonton interested in Talbot’s present?
Using our host’s favourite metric of 5v5 SV%, last three seasons.
Skinner: 90.14, 91.35, 92.65
Talbot: 92.53, 91.64, 90.27
Career Sv%
Skinner: 90.60, 175 GP
Talbot: 91.20, 537 GP
AAV, NMC
Skinner: $2.6M, no clause, UFA next season
Talbot: $2.5M, no clause, UFA next season
https://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/savingTeamSingle/2425/EDM/skinnst98/wrap
https://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/savingTeamSingle/2425/DET/talboca87/wrap
With Cossa and Augustine, I’m not sure they’d be interested in Skinner – they could move a goalie though given Cossa is likely ready for the NHL.
I like the idea of Talbot. It’s a risk at age 38, I’d prefer him as a 1B in the playoffs rather than the primary option. Do you think he could handle the load of 24 consecutive games in the playoffs? For me, I would aim higher. Skinner has value with his playoff experience, and there are a ton of teams that would trade for him, including Detroit for a stopgap until their young goalies are ready.
Austin Hockey
@AustinHockeyYT
Since 2022-23 Evan Bouchard’s ranks among 184 NHL Defenseman with 2,000+ TOI at 5v5:
xGF%: 1st
SCF%: 3rd
CF%: 4th
SF%: 1st
HDCF%: 1st
HDGF: 1st
Points: 9th
SV%: …165th!
Bouchard is a top-5 d-man in the NHL. Goaltending clouds people’s judgement of his play. #LetsGoOilers
No excuses for Team Canada to not bring Bouchard to the Olympics other then everyone in the league is poisonly jealous of the Oilers.
In a short tournament, I suspect they’re more worried about chances against rather than chances for. That’s how Babcock’s teams won in 2010 and 2014.
That isn’t an argument against Bouchard though……..
Happy Thanksgiving all.
Speaking of thanks-giving, I like how thankful/grateful you are LT.
They say it’s the key to mental health – gratitude.
I have been blessed in my life. It’s easy to be grateful. I credit hanging around with good people, plus of course my relatives. 🙂
The Sabres getting roundly booed off the ice after a 3-1 loss at home to Colorado.
The Sabres have now scored a total of 2 goals in 3 games and Lindy Ruff was disconsolate after the second loss accusing his players of not “moving their feet”.
I suspect huge changes could be coming soon.
In other news, it appears that Colorado is not missing Rantanen all that much as Martin Necas picked up two assists on MacKinnon’s 2 goals and now they share the scoring lead in the NHL with 8 points apiece.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Sabres:
We basically know that two of their franchise players, Dahlin and Thompson, have indicated that it has to get better this year; the Sabres don’t have a long runway for this – 32 Thoughts (10/13)
There’s something funny about you talking about how terrible the Sabres are and in the same breath, talking about how incredible Colorado is for beating the Sabres.
It’s almost like hiring Lindy Ruff again wasn’t a wise plan 🙂
Kind of a maintenance question. Did I miss a memo regarding what time the daily post comes out?
No. I slept in this morning it was a weird night. Back to 8:30 am tomorrow unless delayed.
Ha ha. Well deserved! It is a holiday afterall!
Newlyweds.
Speaking of maintenance — LT just had to pay the vig with Bluehost to clean up a malware problem and is busy moving to a new web host. Smash that PayPal button (bottom of page on the iPhone) if you want those morning posts dropping on time again. ????
Smashed
Thanks!
Remember folks. iPhones comprise most web traffic and now they block ads right out of the box. If you frequent the website in your iPhone, that’s zero ad revenue for Lt.
Bluehost malware crew is like a mafia protection racket. They charge a lot of money to fix problems and even more to prevent them. Web hosting is expensive these days.
Even the King needs his balls busted every once and awhile.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family LT! As always, super thankful for your writing and this space which is the best corner of the Oilers online community as far as I’m concerned.
Feel terrible for Sabres fans. Have been brutal forever, and even with Power, Dahlin, and some other decent talent, it looks like there is just no hope in sight. Losing Norris was a gut punch, and today they are getting pummelled again.
I’ve been stumping for Tuch for a couple of years now. That the Oilers are apparently circling that wagon really warms my heart.
The RW position is weakest skater position on the club, he would be a substantial add.
You and me both.
They should think about getting rid of Lindy Ruff… seems like he’s been their coach for eons.
????
Happy Turkey Day all. I’d had my choice of a feast with friends yesterday evening or turkey and ham with rellies on the mainland, but some virus or other vetoed both and it’s been a weekend puttering away in the apartment. Reminds me of student days where I seemed to catch the flu every reading and xmas break. Today’s holiday might be fueled by McDonald’s and Pita Land, but at least it’s been restful and I’m grateful for that much.
Any word of line up changes for Rangers game (Walman in)???
Canadiens Montréal
@CanadiensMTL
The Canadiens have agreed to terms on an eight-year contract extension (2026-27 to 2033-34) with defenseman Lane Hutson.
@FriedgeHNIC
8 x $8.85M
Wow are they ever building a exciting team Hughes is locking player after player for their prime years. I wish we had Hughes 6 years ago as this man has vision and not the same old same old tactics.
What an incredible bargain deal.
It takes Hutson until his 29 year old season.
Can you imagine what value that will represent in 3-4 years?
Jeff Gorton is more likely the guy who deserves recognition. He couldn’t be GM in MTL because he doesn’t parlez vous, so they made him executive VP instead. He’s the same guy who handed Chiarelli a championship roster on a silver platter (only to be fired a year later), and designed the current NYR team with so much speed and skill.
Several of us were calling for him to replace ChiaPete.
Yes that’s the guy he had something going in New York then poof they canceled his plan which was wierd as he was building a winner. He just needed a little playoff luck.
Agreed, the timing was surprising. The Big Apple is a tough market.
I could be wrong but I thought he became available when ol’ Dutch was gm. I wanted Holland punted upstairs with Gorton hired as Oilers gm… and Nicholson punted to the moon.
Gorton was fired (by ChiaPete, no less) from BOS on June 27, 2007, and immediately hired by NYR as a pro scout, eventually succeeding Glen Sather (no less) as GM of NYR on July 1, 2015.
NYR fired Groton on May 5, 2021, where he eventually landed as EVP of MTL November 28, 2021.
In between the time of him being picked up in the Big Apple and landing in MTL, there were hews and cries for his hiring here due in part to his strong track record of drafting and UFA signings.
That Condors game was as entertaining a game I had seen in a while.
Marjala and Jarventie were both exceptional.
Jarventie was an absolute beast on the boards behind the Barracuda net twice leading to goal (one his own as he drove net after digging the puck out) and his one assist was slick.
Mariana is as dynamic a Condor as I c am remember. He looks like Ales Hemsky with the puck stick handling through players to the net and great vision and passing skill.
Hutson was quiet but I think he’s “the shooter” and will spike in stretches.
Samanski looked as expected. Highly relied upon on the PK but did struggle there getting in passing and shorting lanes. One big block.
As good as the forwards were, Cam Dineen and Atro Leppanen were equally bad. In particular Dineen who made awful play after lost battle after poor decision all night long.
Leppanen, well, very weak on front of the net and got lost a lot. First game.
Happy Turkey day LT and all!
The best turkey ever!
What do folks think of Marjala?
He’s not much of a shooter, but his numbers last year line up fairly well otherwise with Puljujarvi.
Lots of talent. In pictures he looks like a young teenager. People physically mature at different rates. To me he will need at least a year in the A, probably more given the guys he’s competing with are a lot bigger and also talented, if he wants to hang around for that. He can get paid in Europe anytime
It’s the same scenario for Leppanen. He’s a smaller D, who is what we call around here a chaos D. I get that Bowman wanted the first look at him and Marjala, but for both they will have to be exceptionally productive to offset what isn’t a good NHL fit. Or play two ways better or get stronger for the young guy
Leppanen’s trajectory is absolutely fascinating. Look on HockeyDB. He wasn’t even playing organized hockey at age 20! He was working in an auto body shop or something, I forget where exactly.
And then every year after that, he dramatically increased his point total. Last year, he became the first d-man EVER to lead the Liiga in points. How is that even possible?
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=228276
Every single year he has taken massive steps forward.
Even if he never plays a minute in the NHL, he’s already got a story.
Yeah but now he has run headfirst into a chaulkboard.
Ya, giving him the best d-man on the team was a partner – Chaulk already running the player just like he ruined Savoie’s development.
This narrative on Chaulk, with zero back-up ever, is digusting (and by someone that doesn’t even take the time to watch the AHL games to formulate an informed opinion).
I think very highly of him. He is very creative and plays in the guts of the game. Not very fast, but gets to the puck quickly. Not a great shooter. He has a chance at NHL games by next season.
I really like Jarventie, I can’t wait to see him fulfill his scoring potential. I really hope his knee issues are history.
Samanski could be a 3 or 4 C in a couple years. He has a very good range of skills.
From my limited viewings I have to say I was impressed with his 200ft game. Creative on the offence and backchecks extremely well. Hemsky is a good comparison as well as Larionov. Looks like a keeper if he can get a little bit bigger and stronger.
Does anyone know the story on this giant Luke Prokup is he a Vincent Desharnais type? Is he more-less aggressive than Vinny? Can he move the puck up ice fast? Does he kill penalties? He would probably have too if hes going to make it as a bottom pairing type.
A good comparable would be Regula. Luke in his own words is a more passive type naturally, and is trying to develop using his size and to play with more grit. He gets the MO which is good, the NHL is a tough league. If you’re big and not a high producer, most coaches are going to want some edge from you
Regula is more physical I think but also not a banger. Both have more puck skill than Vinny and skate better. Regula has taken a page out of Bro’s and Emberson’s book on how to get blown up in the bigs. I hope he figures that out, at his size he should be get the lesser of hits like Kane’s second one – head up young fella
He is not Vinnie reincarnated, he is a superior skater and has much better offensive skills.
He lacks aggression and this is a part of why he was available.
In 2 years, if given all the opportunities he did not receive in Nashville, he could be knocking on the door. He has tremendous potential. This was a brilliant AHL signing.
I’m with all those that are saying Pickard should get the next start.
Pickard is not a better goalie than Stu. He is however a mentally tougher goalie.
And there is no doubt, that the team in front of Pickard plays a much more confident and disciplined game.
There is no reason for KK not to lean hard into that dynamic to start the road trip and the season.
This is a huge year for Cal he’s 33 and scraping and fighting for a contract to stay in the NHL. Cal knows Ingram is in the shadows but if he can keep winning he’s going to keep the dream alive. I expect a dialed in focused Cal on this upcoming rather crucial 5 game Eastern swing.
I don’t think Pick will have a hard time getting a gig somewhere. Two finals and played important games in the playoffs, decent numbers
I found it strange for our G.M to mention Skinner 3 fluke goals against Calgary as a anomaly. Like who is he actually trying to bullshit. Mentions for some reason a career back-up that we all know that is his ceiling letting in a bad preseason fluke goal against Seattle. He then wonders why the masses weren’t on Pickard like they were on Skinner. Note to Bowman first off one is a shinny game the other is The Battle Of Alberta.
He’s a better goalie right now and for the foreseeable future.
If they start Skinner tomorrow it’s not about accountability it’s not about winning it’s about favouritism. I hate when the game is rigged we’ve all seen someone at work and scratch our heads over then we later find out that he’s related to the boss.
Or, maybe your favoritism for Pickard/Anti Skinner attitude is not shared by those in charge and they believe that Skinner gives them the best chance to win, ergo, making the decision based on winning.
Did you not view the regular season or the playoffs last year you take away the 2 Dallas series the last 3 years and your left win some shaky goaltending with Skinner being pulled at least 7 times in the playoffs alone. Bowman better get Ingram up and running because I think the Skinner experiment is mercifully coming to a conclusion. I do hope Skinner would shut me and many other die-hard oiler fans up and have a good season. I just read a interesting stat about Skinner apparently he’s the best Goalie in the league when it comes to allowing rebounds.
Interesting response.
I didn’t say anything about what I thought about who should play.
I merely said management might not agree with your assessment and in an oblique fashion pointed out that in this instance favoritism is in the eye of the beholder
This is par for the course – thoughts that management may decide to send Howard to the AHL depending on how things go is “interpreted” as bashing the player and banishing him and rooting against him.
This is a pretty easy start to the schedule, make hay fellas and build some breathing room. Also, get organized for when the tougher teams show up
Happy Thanksgiving all! Glad to hear things are well LT. Even in strange times there is usually something to be grateful for. It’s good for a body to exercise gratitude, one of the most beneficial things to do
Coach Garlic (it is a gastronomic holiday) will tinker away, at this point I’m not worried about deployments. I hope they build on the last game and meet their goals for this eastern swing
These are all winnable games, the Rangers probably being the toughest game. The sturdy Bruins and filthy panthers lead the league to start out, I will reiterate that team play is the most important factor in success. The Bruins have lost a lot the last few seasons, the panthers their two best forwards. You can still win as a group, for the Bruins at least reg season
Goaltending does play into it, Swayman 5th in SV% Bob 14th (Pick 11th), but the attention to detail and commitment to getting your job done helps them play to their best
This road trip will mean facing some pretty physical teams. Waiting to see how much “toughness” Frederick brings. It’s the one thing this line up may be lacking….
True, Fred can’t do it all though, team toughness
The guys can do it, but first they have to collectively buy into team toughness as the default mode.
Guys like Kulak and Philp showed they’ve got that dog in them last game. Now we just need to see it from more of the roster, on a regular basis.
Probably need another strong skating forward with hands and a bit of a screw loose. Bob keeps stumping for local product, Zack Ostapchuk often predicating his referral with that time Zack tuned in Matt Rempe. The hands aren’t there yet around the net, but he’s young enough that things might yet slow down for him.
Although we’ve done a great job of replacing our lost forward depth, we still lack toughness. (You can’t get everything on a limited budget.) It may be a story all year.
Happy turkey day to one and all. We’re doing meal #2 today, with a bird a quarter of the size from yesterday. And despite our host’s pronouncements, we added ham to the preceding. But lots of starches to come today (stuffing, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes). A decent day to not watch hockey & have the baseball game on on the background.
Prospectgiving!
Turkey Day in Canada means Hockey Day in Canada, and the lone NAmateur in action will be spending it in the 306 capital.
Tommy Lafreniere hasn’t exactly gotten off to a Blazing start, registering 2 + 1 in 6 games since returning to junior. He is also wearing Kamloops’ green jacket with a minus-9. The Blazers are in the midst of a hectic swing through the East what sees them play 6 games in 9 days, and they’re coming off a 3-0 loss to Lewandowski and the Blades.
Puck drop ‘twixt Kamloops and Regina is at 2 p.m. Bittern Lake time.
and he scores…..
and he scores again, in overtime.
Start Pickard Rangers were just shutout if Oilers continue the D like the first 2 games the Rangers will be in tough. Pickard has been the sharper goalie we need to get the road trip off on a good start.
I would expect them to alternate goalies. Skinner gets the next start then Picks and so forth.. I mean why not?