The experts tell me you can begin to make conclusions about a player or team at the 20-game mark. I think we can probably dig in now.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: Chicago (Expected 1-0) Actual 1-0
- Road: Blues, Stars (Expected 1-1-0) Actual 0-1-1
- At home to: Avalanche, Blue Jackets (1-0-1) Actual 1-1-0
- On the road to: Flyers, Blue Jackets, Hurricanes (1-2-0) Actual 1-1-0
- On the road to: Sabres, Capitals, Lightning, Panthers (1-2-1)
- At home to: Stars (1-0-0)
- On the road to: Kraken (0-0-1)
- Expected Record: 6-5-3, 15 points in 14 games
- Actual Record 3-3-1, seven points in seven games
- Season Record: 8-7-4, 20 points in 19 games
The Oilers are pretty vanilla everywhere. They are 30th in five-on-five goal share, 25th in five-on-five goals-60 and 28th in GA-60. They do have strengths and are playing the living hell out of both. The coaching staff is under fire not because the record is ghastly (it’s not that bad) but rather because the goals surrendered are abominable.
The Oilers look like an expansion team at times in their own end. The last time I saw an Oilers team this poor defensively Dallas Eakins was starring in The Swarm. I’m not a hockey tactician, but am pretty sure someone has to get their head out of their proverbial and change the structure of the defending. The current system of defending (and outlets) is malodorous.
- Draisaitl-McDavid-Savoie 7:40, 7-4 shots, 3-1 goals, 66 pct expected 1-2 HDSC
- Podkolzin-Henrique-Roslovic: 6:55, 4-2 shots, 1-0 goals, 61 pct expected 1-0 HDSC
- Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Roslovic: 5:19, 2-0 shots, 100 pct expected 1-0 HDSC
- Mangiapane-McDavid-Savoie: 4:49, 0-5 shots, 0-2 goals, 6 pct expected, 0-4 HDSC
- Janmark-Philp-Lazar 4:43, 0-1 shots, 80 pct expected, 0-0 HDSC
- Tomasek-Philp-Lazar 3:21, 1-1 shots, 0 expected, 0-0 HDSC
- Frederic-Henrique-Janmark 3:10, 2-2 shots, 4 expected, 0-4 HDSC
The addition of Matt Savoie to the McDavid-Draisaitl duo was damn exciting, although depressing once they were off the ice. I do feel a little for Kris Knoblauch, he doesn’t have a lot happening on the rest of the roster. Part of it comes from Trent Frederic and Andrew Mangiapane bringing less than expected, but he’s the coach and good for him to move both down the depth chart. I think some time in the pressbox might be warranted for both men. Put Ike Howard in there, see what he can do. This isn’t a playoff forward group, let alone a SC Final 12. Howard is the future. Play the man, because we know what happens to veterans who hit a wall.
Ekholm-Bouchard had a tough start but then recovered and the bottom line was solid. 15:25, 12-8 shots and 4-2 goals for the duo, despite 42 percent expected goals and 3-8 HDSC. Regression is a mother but it’s going in a good direction for this tandem. By the way, since November 1 at five-on-five, Ekholm-Bouchard are 6-5 goals, Bouchard is 1-1 solo and Ekholm 0-1 solo. The rest of the defense? 4-14 goals at five-on-five.
Nurse-Walman spent 15:25 at five-on-five, 4-7 shots, 0-1 goals, 21 percent expected and 0-2 HDSC. The pairing is 4-5 goals since November 1. The is a ‘wayward wind’ feel to this pairing at times.
Kulak-Regula played 12:54, going 4-4 shots, 0-1 goals, 27 pct expected and 0-1 HDSC. Regula just got back in the lineup, but Kulak and friends are 0-9 goals at five-on-five since November 1. Regula is 0-2 for the month.
Calvin Pickard had a wild game, not sure how much blame he should get for an .800 save percentage. He wasn’t good, the pipes were calling from glen to glen and down the mountainside. Then again, his defensemen were hanging out at the swim-up bar and covering sweet nothing, so it’s a debate we can have.
We’re 19 games into this hockey season. What can we say with authority about this team? The Edmonton Oilers are a team in the National Hockey League.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll chat with Steve Lansky from Inside the Truck podcast, preview the NFL weekend and have a look at MLB’s pending free agency and trade season. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
What’s the Edmonton Oilers’ best path to Stanley Cup contention? T
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6805650/2025/11/14/edmonton-oilers-stats-roster-trade-standings-2025/
“The Oilers should stay the course.”
This redeems the piece, and is generally the tone and the guidance I appreciate from you on most mornings, LT. The fulminating and wild gesticulating and the feeding of fan impatience, not so much.
Not only do I not know what you mean by this, as the article clearly lines up potential paths for Bowman (go all in or face growing pains) with a dose of reality (this team has alot of question marks), I don’t believe LT has an agenda nor, no offense, the clout to writhe up a fanbase the way you’re claiming.
Added to the fact he doesn’t owe you anything and can write and talk about whatever he pleases (radio would be boring as all get out if every day was ‘be patient’), I think opining on the pinned comment every day about a writer’s inconsistent tone is a great sign to write your own blog. Might I suggest ‘Steady as she goes’.
Got it!
Summarizing!
Fischer scored a PPG for his 3rd tally of the season, while Wakely potted his 2nd.
Lewandowski and Lafreniere each had a helper.
The Michiganders were denied soup despite winning 7-1.
Baily sneaks one 5-hole off the rush in OT.
Condors were down to 4D with Dineen out for most of the game and Stilman in the box.
I don’t have the condors feed so would you be so kind as to tell us if the Oilers coaching staff have the Condors coaches deploying/teaching the same defensive and break out systems as the Oilers?
An absolute shooting gallery for the last 4 minutes on the PK – Ingram huge.
A 6 on 3 for the last 9 seconds and one last massive save with just over 3 seconds left but he one timer beats Ingram as the clock hits zero.
That should count and we are going to OT and the Condor will be short for almost 2 minutes.
Massive save by Ingram on the back-door a few seconds in to the PK.
Jarventie tries the Michigan, almost nails it, but his follow through gets the defender in the face and he’s leading.
Just under 4 minutes left and they are shorthanded for 4 up by a goal.
Rhett Pitlick and Hamblin with some wild blind passes that word and Rem Pitlick scores for a 3-2 lead.
Josh Bailey ties it at 2-2 with a bomb from the top of the circles.
The 20th shot beats Ingram – zero chance as the slap pass gets deflected in the high slot and knocks the water-bottle off the top of the net.
2-1 Condors late in 2nd.
Beautiful PPG.
Marjala down low to Hutson, cross-crease, Rem Pitlick with the backdoor tap in.
The Gulls PK is the most aggressive I’ve ever seen. they passed around the aggression wonderfully.
Carfagna leads the 3 on 2 rush on the, drops it for Copponi who steps one on the one-timer from the face-off dot – beats Husso far side for the 1-0.
Dineen crunched in to the end/side boards and he’s down the tunnel – looks like his shoulder and it didn’t look good.
They are already down Brown for the weekend.
Clattenburg just goes down and blocks a point shot. For some reason, he gets a blind-side elbow the head from the d-man and his helmet comes off – he will be looking for a fight I’m sure.
Clattenburg has also had a couple issues with the puck in the defensive zone in the 1st period.
Lots to love. Lots that needs to come a long ways.
He gets his fight – gets the win with Rolan Mcakewan who took Dineen out of the game earlier – nothing really landed through.
3rd fight .
The individual player dislike reminds me of rap – which I don’t listen to much – don’t hate the player, hate the game
So imagine that you went from a team that set the record for the best reg season ever to the highly touted Oilers
Nobody overcomes the inability to be consistently organized. A fact
every time the Oilers seem to have the parts; they self implode it and it sets the Org back 2 – 3 years. But in a world where shelf life / winning window is relatively short; those years are the difference. All teams have misses but the Oilers seem to have many ….
Many of you will have a longer / better recollection, but here goes.
2015 Magic beans – Win McD lottery.
PC comes in and instantly makes (whether his fault or not – on his watch) – Reinhart trade
next 3 years trades Eberle and Hall
Holland comes in: trades for A.A. cause he is fast. plays 20 games? cost 2 – 2nd rounders
Every trade throws in a extra pick. I do think he did better with hyman and Ekholm.
Jackson – doesn’t get Broberg and Holloway signed (on his watch). trades McLeod Foegle. 4 young strong good skaters in the heart of the order. Bring in Arvy and J skinner – both poor. lets them go and then brings in Mangiapagne / Frederic. not looking good. Roslovic looks good.
point is there seems to be a lot of LARGE mistakes which are not off set by the quality moves
WRONG? RIGHT?
I didn’t like the McLeod trade when it happened. You could tell he was on the cusp of breaking out, but I guess everyone thought he played too much on the perimeter. Maybe, but he was second only to McDavid for being able to transport the puck up ice at will and I remain convinced he was one of the reasons for our historic PK that year.
Holloway was just coming into his prime and showed extremely well in his stint against the Panthers. But I guess that didn’t earn him much more than league min so rightly jumped ship. Bowman should have matched, but I think he got bad intel.
Foegele scored well 5×5, forechecked hard, and helped drive possession. But he didn’t score well in the playoffs so he was a bust and apparently had to be moved.
It’s almost like we get new guys, develop them, and then when they don’t immediately kick the doors in we get impatient and ship them off. Keeping these three guys instead of all the washed up vets we’ve been chasing gives us three solid players right around that magic age of 25-28 right as the McDrai window looks to be closing. In my opinion, losing all three of those guys in one off-season – right after making the finals – was an underrated blow to our chances of winning a cup. In my opinion, this was even worse than the blunders of the many GMs who came before, because we were 98% of the way there and they decided that the best move was to get rid of all the young guys who had the most potential to improve.
Blocking Broberg and constantly screwing him over probably didn’t help either…
Akey with his first pro goal – a floater from the point – Comets lead 2-0 in the 2nd.
Day has stopped all 5 shots. 16-5.
Komets don’t give up many shots – least in the league.
Ingram starts for the Condors tonight.
Petrov in – no Hamblin yet.
Milman in for Brown who hurt his shoulder last game.
Defence will be an issue.
Prospectardiness!
All work and then all play make Tarkus something something.
Michigan (Park, Barnett) @ 5 p.m.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 5 p.m.
UMass-Lowell (Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 7 p.m.
Kamloops (Lafreniere) @ 8 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Sedalia time.
The Blue Jackets are big and fast and playing a Panthers style of hockey. Often two man forecheck PLUS defenceman pinching strong side.
Oilers built what they wanted to be a strong puck moving defensive group. Up and out, pass it past the pressure to the red line.
With forwards so high, the Oilers dmen immediately get into trouble. Two opposition forecheckers cutting off the outlet pass plus the boards at blue line is pinched off.
The only outlet is the middle if they have a centerman swinging low for a quick pass. Trouble again, is the second forechecker is coming from the middle.
In nuetral zone, the opposition knows the Oilers hate to give up the puck. Thus they do not fear the dump in and they tend to hold the blue line, they do not back in. This results in turnovers.
)Yes the Oilers should deviate from script sometimes and dump it in, but again, defenders have nothing to fear in regards to hard forecheck. Oilers hit like a roll of Charmin.)
Contrast this to Oilers dmen who back way, way in thinking they need more time to turn and get that puck all the way back up to the high wingers. Getting our dmen to hold the line and force the dump in is such an easy coaching instruction.
Anyway, there was saying “this is a copycat league” meaning teams learn from each other. The scouting report on Edmonton is out. It would behoove them to change and adapt to become less predictable.
Agreed
The coach is passive and his system is passive. The panthers two Cups and three finals show that an aggressive system and a team where everyone knows their roles is the most effective
It is very hard to capitalize on what they give up. We couldn’t do it, the teams they beat in the east couldn’t either, and I believe were favoured to win
I think and have said they should have adopted a style like that or at least more. I think it suits the frenetic nature of the core, being assertive and attacking all of the time. There is such a drop off when they sit back at all or think too much
I think that’s why they thrive trying to come back in games and are more successful attacking then. It’s all instinct and energy. The coach just needs a system to direct it in a structured way, so every game isn’t a barn burner
Play tight enough and like that and I think they would get the better of most teams because of the skill. I also think it would be more fun and engaging for the types of players they have at the top of the roster
Of the last bunch of Cup teams, most have played a style like that – high tempo and so little time for the other team to do anything they can’t. Florida, Tampa, Colorado
I’m not sure the Knights were exactly that, and not the Blues, but they were a one off. Another pretty successful team from Edmonton I can think of 40 years ago played like that
If you read “The Power of Habit” you’ll see how Dungy got the Bucs to understand the system he was implementing. It took years before it became second nature. Asking players to play on instinct when you’re trying to teach them something new will have growing pains.
It’s an interesting question, because the team has been built a certain way that is successful, but has met a bad matchup for that playstyle twice (same with every other team). It undid Woody because he didn’t know how to teach a zone defence. The team needs to learn how to win in 1 more different way, maybe that was the difference and this pain right now will pay dividends come playoff time.
Or maybe they’re overthinking it.
Football would be much harder to do that with having so many players and plays. Hockey does take time, but only has a few different systems that are used
Most of the team has been playing it for over a year and a half. I agree they need to be able to play well against any style, that’s always been the case. Especially for a high skill team, usually trying to talent your way through isn’t enough in playoffs
I know your not a MacT guy, but he was saying he doesn’t think they’ve found the plan for this group. I agree, I think they have been too focused on GA, but in a way that doesn’t suit the core, and kills offense
Years ago part of the problem was Connor and Leon weren’t mature enough, and attempted to will there way through everything. The glory Oilers tried that too, also without success, but they figured it out fast
I have suggested doing things that Sather did, like perhaps don’t ask Connor to play C in the D zone. Kurri did that for Wayne. Leon can do it on his line. I think they need a system with a more aggressive style and attack, find the balance with defending
That is where Bowman is heading with personnel, but the way they are playing has been reducing offense over time. I think they get bored playing too conservatively and end up not doing it well which means the GA, at least when under pressure isn’t better
I think the simple system Maurice has is the key. Someone here commented Gallant does the same thing. I think they both think it lets players play better less thinking, and most players aren’t Bergeron, Kopitar or Barkov. I read Marty St Louis saying something similar. They’ve tried man to man, but even the Canes can’t pull that off deeper in playoffs, and they are far more disciplined. This doesn’t seem right, there aren’t a lot of other choices
Memories of mcdavid saying we’re doing the same f’ing thing banging our heads against a wall rings true in every game this season too. He looks checked out. They need a new coach, the balls to move out nurse, and to add some aggressive players, especially on the forecheck. I fully agree with everything you’ve posted.
I think their offensive zone is what is causing his frustration. It’s become progressively more anemic. It keeps getting talked about everywhere, they need traffic etc, but that the players who all want to score find it harder and harder, and guys that move on recover their offense, says it’s the coach’s ask that is messing them up
Knoblauch said defense starts in the O zone, but you have to score too. They are too spread out and don’t seem to have a plan to get to the net front or set up plays, haven’t for years, if ever in the Connor era. Adam Oates thinks how a lot of teams play (too spread out) kills offense for anyone but stars. Now it’s even stifling them
We know that teams that go to finals mostly have cold starts the next season, the Oilers have gone to two, and played deep in seasons before
Add on that they start slow anyways. I still wonder at the level of mistake making by individuals, and why the coaches haven’t been able to guide them to better play. Shouldn’t we see it improving more than it has nearing 20 games?
Is it what the coaches mainly Knoblauch are focusing on, and they are wrong? They haven’t seen what is really at the heart of the problem? The system they use has delivered better play than so far, even if I’m not sure I think it’s right for this team and it’s core. I’m starting to think so
He seems to be stuck on “it worked before” “just do it better or harder” But its okay to be less predictable at times. When Oilers decide they will really turn it on and go all out, they are still a handful.
Here is a thought…..If they never got scored on….the worst they can do is tie.
That is 82 points. Win half the overtimes, and that is another 41 points.
123 point season.
Steady, limit mistakes, wait for chances, patience. A bit boring and not what we love, but if you are just trudging through a season, be boring, be steady.
They should play the basics better, as MacT said no team has the offense to outscore the amount of egregious break downs they are having. Do that while having an aggressive enough system and golden
The issue this time is the underlying process doesn’t look good.
https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1989329541626520028?s=46
Previous years, I could always look at sterling expected numbers and solid fancies when I got nervous about this team. This year feels bad in all possible ways.
The talk has been about better defenaive play, etc., but we’re getting scored on more than ever before. I prefer when we would rather keep the puck and drive possession, rather than trying to play perfect, mistake-free hockey.
i hear you. Fortunately. I don’t think we’re too far off.
Nothing that Zach Hyman, Alex Tuch, and a true 1B goalie along with some. Savoie development won’t fix.
Lucky that Hyman injured his lower rather than top hand on the stick.
Not sure what the GM saw in Frederic. No hands, skates like he’s stuck in molasses and doesn’t really play physical. What am I missing?
He’s the exact opposite of what he was in Boston.
Hey! Trent has long conversations with opposing players in the corner, okay!
lock him down for as long as possible!!
No world where Stetcher isn’t claimed. Sail on, probably down the road they need all the help they can get.
Lots of worlds in my opinion but he probably does get claimed by an org with some injuries on D – Carolina maybe.
I cannot wait for the Trent Frederic buyout penalty for the next 14 years
My thought prior to the season was that this Oilers D was the best since 2006 when Pronger was back there eating 25-30min a night.
What the hell happened?
they’re drinking decaf now
Coaching plus on any given night 7-8 new forwards to make high risk, stretch passes to since they don’t like to come back and break out like a 5 man unit.
Coaching
The defense numbers tell me that both Nurse and Kulak are playing far below their level. Especially Kulak. Fair?
Nurse, Kulak and Walman.
Bouchard as well but he’s starting to come – he should have have a 4th assist last night – his pass on the Leon one-time was exceptional. He’s starting to make offensive plays that only a handful of d-men in the league can with any consistency.
Id try swapping Kulak and Walman cause why not. Nurse Kulak has ‘survived’ historically and Walman might still be injured and/or behind because of time missed. He can help in offensive situations but he’s been soft in his zone (not the only one but 1 hole at a time).
As usual a bit of Chicken and egg with this team. We talk allot about the goaltending being better if team was better but also the team would be better if goaltending was better.
Regardless of what’s said I believe the core of this team does not trust our goaltending and for good reason (they are not good). I think this affects their play and thus more mistakes made. There was an article awhile back where it came out that Chris Pronger went to Lowe and told him that the team was going nowhere unless he got them a f*cking goalie and Lowe went out and got Rollie shortly after and they went to Stanley Cup final. I believe almost everyone including Lowtide felt we needed to improve our goaltending; i would find it hard to believe that Connor and Leon didn’t feel that way as well. Management again did nothing to address their biggest issue and then it’s a scratch of the head wondering why they are under performing and playing the hell out of your stars.
Im envious of Kelly M., of Vegas. If something isn’t working, he changes it because his 1st priority is to do this and not worry about who is friends with who. Also he is not afraid to play hardball with over paid players who are not playing well and have protections.
Being a fan my whole life (in my 50’s now), I watch almost all their games. Without using stats it seems to me that anyone who plays with Nurse seems to go down hill on their play (this is using the eye test). Maybe Nurse goes in the press box to get the message and if the response is not improved you look at getting rid of him; if he uses NTC then he remains in pressure (if he’s hurting the team it doesn’t matter about his salary). How do you trade him? Ask Kelly as he seems to do it all the time.
System change: We lost Coffey as a coach. A new coach came in and I assume he changed the system? If it’s so bad and not working then isn’t it on the head coach to go back to what worked? We essentially have the same team that went to the Stanley Cup final with the same terrible goaltending and we look like a completely different team!
Coffey has been mentioned a few times. I recall that what he changed was demanding the D make plays, not just glass and out. As in do it or we’ll find guys that can. Desharnais mentioned it in an interview, I was surprised that it was a break out option, not an emergency play
Stuart may have asked they do something different, but the team system isn’t his to change, all three zone have to work together, and forwards would have to be involved
They are playing poorly as a team, at least to what their potential is. Knoblauch and some media have been saying the D group in particular has been the worst, my thought is that the back end including goalies are very affected by a lack of support from forwards. Who are the D supposed to pass to when the F are a zone up the ice and everyone including the opponent know what is going to happen
So the coaches job is to get them focused on the details and just play and not over think every play
Howard won’t play tonight but will be ready for tomorrow (per Holt)
Sorry if already posted. Stecher on waivers, Howard to the Condors.
RELEASE: Oilers make two roster moves | Edmonton Oilers
Neither overly surprising.
There was never a realistic chance that Emberson was being moved to keep Stecher. That made zero sense unless a team wanted to over pay for Emberson.
I think Howard has been “better than” Tomasek or Lazar (and Janny isn’t an option yet – coach’s choice I’m sure) but this makes sense.
Howard will be back this season.
I hope they sent him on a plane yesterday so he can play to curb but I presume maybe tomorrow for his Condors debut.
Why doesnt Bowman call up mike grier and make a deal.
Nedeljkovic makes 2.5 million, has a 0.906 sv and a 2.32 GSAA.
He could fit under the cap with a few moves.
Tomasek, Pickard, Janmark, Stecher out.
They can’t just send out a bunch of players – they need a roster with extras.
I would much rather grab DiPietro or Daws – just as good likely and cheaper.
we know how this team feels about young players…
We know how the coach feels – GM seems to feel differently.
Also, DiPietro is 26 and Daws is turning 25.
How bad would things have to get for Knobber to on the chopping block? He just signed a three year extension.
I don’t think we are getting a new coach anytime soon.
I believe they fired Jay a year after giving him a 3 year contract.
Lots of coaches have been fired early in contract. Shit, Daryl Sutter got fired before his deal kicked in – it happens.
If anything, the Oilers owner has proven that spending is a non-factor and, if his GM thinks a coaching move is prudent, I’d be surprised if ownership blocked it.
Usually a G.M can fire 2 Coaches before his ass is in the hot plate. Bowman never hired K.K who doesn’t fit the style of play with the personal Bowman is acquiring. I get why he renewed him as results matter and if he gets fired tomorrow the extra couple of years on his new contract is just a severance package for the 23 plus home dates of revenue the last 2 years
I kinda chuckled reading “Vanilla”
The way this team plays, reminds me of c-rats Ham and Lima Beans. Not the most pleasant, to put it mildly.
So does someone need to be waived today to get Hyman on the roster? It’s been quiet on the RNH injury front. I’m worried he may end up on LTIR to get Zack back in the lineup.
Tomacek and Howard can be sent down but I’m not sure that creates enough cap space to get Hyman on. Kapanen is already on LTIR.
That said, the way the coach has been talking – I’ll believe Hyman plays when he finally joins a warm up. If you listened to him yesterday (the coach) he was still hedging ever so slightly.
UPDATE: Stetcher on waivers, Howard assigned to the Bake. I’d say Hyman will be back.
Fire the coach and get a goalie. Simple.
Apparently not. We have our G.M on a Saturday night National telecast asking the fans to be nice to Skinner and at the same time kinda throwing Pickard under the bus. Little does he know it in today’s world that just puts a big bulleye on Skinner’s back.
Honestly, missing the playoffs/being a bubble team might be good long term. It would deter Stan from blowing assets this year when there is no reasonable chance of contending for a Cup.
I’m with you on, “I would deter Stan from blowing assets this year…”
As for Cup contention, when you have as much talent as this team, I don’t count them out. Ever. Stay the course. Keep a steady hand on the tiller. I believe our host has recently encouraged us to allow the players to show us who they are. Even though we’re 19 days in, the roster is still in flux. Perhaps by Xmas we’ll know what we don’t know now. But even then…
I believe we don’t have a 1st round pick in the Walman trade. Only way this team retools on the fly is trading McDavid
Stop with all the excuses, the oilers are a BAD hockey club period. Prima donna top line and sieve goaltending, defencemen who have no idea on how to play defence
Well, we should definitely look into whether we can skip the games for the rest of the season and concede the remainder for a good draft position. Definitely possible.
They are not playing good, which is a far cry from being out and out bad hockey team . Massive skill still resides here. Execution is completely missing.
Edmonton sure could use a Matthew Olivier.
The Oilers had Evander Kane. Gave him away for basically nothing.
Corey Perry
12GP 7G 4A 11P +5
GF 71.4% / CF 63% / P/60 2.60
Total compensation if all games played bonuses are hit $3.5 million/ 1 year
Trent Frederic
19GP 1G 0A 1P -7
GF 26.7% / CF 43% / P/60 0.26
$3.85 million X 8 years
Oops
and, from accounts, the Nucks would love to be able to do the same.
Oilers should bring him back imo
Whose accounts?
After a slow (unlucky) start he’s been coming on.
56 SOG in 18GP while his shooting percentage is only 5.4%…about half his career average.
Only one Oiler has produced more shots…McDavid with 58 but in one more game played.
Kane was effectively replaced in the Oilers lineup by Andrew Mangiapane who has produced 19 SOG with a shooting percentage regressing hard.
All the Nucks fans that are convinced he’s just killing the year before coming back to Edmonton
How many Canucks fans have you spoken with?
I’m surrounded by literally millions of them and not one has mentioned he wants to leave his hometown to return to the frozen tundra.
Im surrounded by millions of them too. Most want a tear down. They can see Hughes will be moving on and they are done with Petey and the oft injured Demko.
Mangiapane has more goals lol.
Yeah he does.
At one point, his shooting percentage was 50% but now is down to 21.1% and dropping like a stone.
Considering he’s averaging ONE shot per game while playing 15 minutes a night, I’m pretty confident Kane’s 6.2 shots per game will result in much better results..Lol.
Canucks radio is in non-stop talk about their eventual and soon to be tear down and rebuild lol.
They should have done it long ago IMO
Jim Rutherford says no way.
Iain MacIntyre
@imacSportsnet
Jim Rutherford interview.
Spoiler alert: “A rebuild is not something that we’re going to look at doing. Like I said, we’re in transition. But we’re not trading all these players for draft picks that may or may not end up playing someday.”
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/q-and-a-canucks-jim-rutherford-on-rebuilds-injuries-and-overall-outlook/
It all depends on what Quinn Hughes decides next summer.
Even then, it would depend on what the Canucks receive in return for Hughes.
They have acquired a number of very good D prospects in D-Peetey, Tom Willander and Victor Mancini so I would imagine they would be looking for some high end forwards in a trade to join Lekkermaki and Braeden Cootes in the short term.
The resigning of chonic injury plaqued Demko was bat-shit crazy. They’ll be lucky If they get 50 starts out of him in the next 3.75 years
K.K didn’t know how to use him but apparently Coffey knew this.
this coach would have him winning the Lady Byng
Ah, I’d be happy if they had a Kiefer Sherwood.
He will most likely be available at the deadline but the price and his next contract won’t be cheap.
Man I had him as a target 2 years ago. Do you actually think Bennett would of been allowed to strut around like a peecock in mating season if we had Olivier.
Medical question, I heard that Hyman had five plates screwed into his wrist, do they come out or are they permanent? What are the chances he will be the old Hyman?
6 months post a wrist injury and still not playing is very very worrisome
doubtful at 33
the good news is most of his goals came from banging pucks that were in the blue paint not from stick handling or wicked wristers or slapshots.
i cant see it destroying his game at all. how many goals came from outside of 5 ft from the net… very few.
Good ol google.
Overview
No, the plates and screws in a wrist are not typically removed and are usually intended to stay in permanently.
Upon further googling,
Zach Hyman had a plate inserted during surgery for a dislocated and fractured right wrist in May 2025, but publicly available reports do not indicate that the plates have been removed.
Medical professionals typically leave plates and screws in permanently unless they cause pain or an infection arises. Hyman has been focused on recovery and a return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup, which was expected in early November 2025.
I believe the answer is “it depends”. If they were screwed into the wrist, they likely are permanent, unless they are causing pain, infection, allergic reaction, etc. after the injury has healed. They usually don’t want to perform a second surgery to remove them unless absolutely necessary.
I am only basing this my son’s experience, so I don’t know for sure, and I’m not a doctor. He was hit by a clearing shot when he was playing high school hockey, and it smashed a finger and a couple knuckles. The surgeon told us he would first try to stabilize the breaks by inserting pins through the skin, so these were visible. Thankfully that was enough to allow the bones to heal, and the pins were later removed, otherwise he would have needed more invasive surgery to install plates. I just remember the surgeon telling us pins would be temporary and plates would probably be permanent, so they wanted to try the pins first.
I’m still wrapping my head on why Oilers obtained Ingram who’s been a NHLer and is in a contract year in the first place If he’s not a viable option to play in the NHL anytime soon. As far as I know he’s still on the AHL team playing Hockey. Why didn’t they obtain Depietro or Daws instead of Ingram? If we had rock solid Goaltending to begin with I could care less why they obtained Ingram him but we don’t. This deal makes absolutely no sense as Ingram is not a project.
It sounds like Ingram is a project.
And the procurement didn’t cost anything. Patience is a virtue
Was hoping they aim much higher, disappointing development.
The Ingram transaction took place on Sept 26. Depietro and Daws were put on waivers Oct 5. How were they supposed to know that would happen?
They could of made a move for Ingram after if they had to, they knew opening day cuts were coming and talent may become available as long as they don’t handcuff themselves.
Patience yadda yadda.
DiPietro and Daws on waivers was indeed projected.
No need to claim them – they can still be acquired very cheap, I’m sure.
Yes but now I’m being told Ingram is a project so why if Ingram is a project didn’t Bowman obtain Diepetro or Daws for nothing when they had the opportunity. Now the Sharks are circling this is how the G.M game is played.
Ingram is a project. If you have followed the condors at all lately you would know that he is clearly working through things with his mental health and is not “available”.
Tomkins has started in back to backs and i believe has started the last 4 straight games despite having terrible sv% etc.
I’ve explained this to him multiplle times – he disregards.
Just one quick note, Tomkins was very good in the back to back games (he stole the second game).
He was awful in the next mid-week game but still didn’t get pulled for Ingram despite 4 bad goals (6 overall).
I am very anxious to see who starts tonight.
Ok so I never once heard Ingram was a project when first obtained. I will claim ignorance as I don’t follow the daily personal lives of every player like apparently some of you posters do. I knew he was Making 2 million and Utah wiped their hands clean of him by paying 1 million of his remaining 2 million dollar salary. What I thought was Ingram needed some AHL time to get him up to speed for a NHL look.
‘I was ignorant of the facts so its not my fault, you guys are nerds’
I’ve never seen a fan of any hockey team that requires instant results from everything.
You realize there is half a season in 2026 and the playoffs and there is the potential for this player to help at that time?
So why the hatred for Pickard maybe he’s dealing with the leg injury that Hertl dished out. Patience while he works through it he could he be going through something personal. I have no idea as I just watch Hockey the same as watching a movie for entertainment. Bottom line is we still need probably 2 Goaltenders as .890 as a Stanley Cup contender doesn’t cut it or do we keep saying this patience thing over and over until we’re eliminated from the Playoffs.
No indication that Pickard is anything but 100% and regressing to his career norms.
Goalies are quirky cats.
Not all do but Spencer Knight is a good example of one who emerged from a period of mental reckoning. A bit too early to throw in the towel on Ingram, IMO.
Also, don’t the Oilers have a new goalie coaching scheme? “Meet the new boss…”
The pressure on these players is immense you can include most any sport Gymnastics to Ping Pong. From what I see the more money (fame) these players make the more they are scrutinized. Nobody is forcing these Hockey Players to play even with a contract there is alternatives.
DiPietro has been a good to great AHL goalie, but he has only 3 games in the NHL to his credit, and the numbers are terrible. Daws has average-ish AHL and NHL results with small-ish NHL sample size and small-ish AHL sample size. Ingram was a low (no) cost acquisition with a decent NHL resume – somewhat small sample size but decent numbers. His results have been tempered by playing on not so good teams.
However, Ingram only played 22 games last season, and he hasn’t played an NHL regular season game since February 22. Looking at his GP more closely, he only played 4 of 13 games in November, 0 of 13 December games, only 5 of 14 January games, and 4 of 6 February games before his last game.
To me, based only on the amount of games played and the amount of time missed, Ingram needed some time to physically get into game shape. Add into that his mental state, and he needs even more time to get back to NHL readiness. Unfortunately for him, the Oilers, and the fans, he still doesn’t look ready to be professional goaltender. I am hopeful that will come, as it can only help the team, but it’s clear that patience is needed.
For me I thought Bowman first move was obviously a Netminder that didn’t cost much and wouldn’t be totally out of his league kinda like a Silovs. If you can’t catch lightning in a bottle with him keep repeating until you find a Goalie that’s the right fit. If these plans failure then you have to blow assets like Saviie-Howard for a proven Goaltender. Bowman can not sit back and idly watch Skinner flop around at .885 costing us points after points.
The Coach’s Room youtube channel put up an analysis of the Oilers 5v5 offense and defence. On defence he pointed out the Oilers low forward in the slot was frequently missing their assignments. In last night’s game, I saw Fredric and Henrique at fault for this exact failing. They either left the front of the net or were late to cover the scorer going there. The other part was the defencemen weren’t communicating or attacking the puck carrier too late. We saw this in the 5th goal with Nurse and Walman indecisive about going behind the net. When Walman did attack the puck, Nurse was on the other side of the net protecting nobody when the puck was passed out front to the scorer.
On offence, not enough of our forwards are driving the net for rebounds or tips; a lot of one and done efforts on goal. In transition, we’re sending the forwards out for the stretch pass too often and leaving our D isolated with no passing options. Need to have more 5 man exits where we have better puck support thru the neutral zone.
Our coach has been digging his heels in on Mangiapane’s usage on McDavid’s line and it came home to roost last night with a well deserved -4. I was yelling at the TV to get him off the line after the weak coverage on the 1st goal but KK didn’t make the change until later in the 2nd period. So many missed defensive assignments and so many offensive attacks died on 88’s stick.
Going forward, I think Savoie should stay wiith Drai and Podkolzin while Roslovic goes with McDavid and Hyman. Each line would have a good blend of puck retrieval, playmaking and shooting ability.
Will be interested to see if Ingram gets the start today. If he doesn’t we can be certain the poor guy might be currently struggling.
Im cheering for the person.
Me too.
As an aside: How many goalies in past 5-10 years have availed themselves of the Player Assistance Program? How does this compare to skaters?
I know of two who were or are currently in the Oilers system. Others?
Ekholm looks healthy to me and his mobility is fine. I think he’s just 35 years old and, while there are stints where he’s near the top of his game, he’s just not able to bring it nightly.
Not sure how you manage his minutes in that regard.
It would help if Nurse wasn’t a shadow of the hard to play against dman (even if mistake prone) he once was and Walman is as up and down as you will ever see.
Nurse needs to see the sky box, either it awakens the player of old or he accepts a move.
Management needs to make some tough and correct decisions.
Just old and worn down. The knock on Walman has always been “Up and Down”
They could do Walman a huge favour by playing him on his proper side with a stay at home partner.
Yes Walman would be sneaky good in this deployment. It’s starting to look like Coffey was the stick that stirred the drink.
Was a fan of Coffey day 1, his replacement has been cheeks.
Remember the abuse Coffey took around here by folks that never seen him play. Oh my we pride ourselves on being knowledgeable fans yet go back and read the hatred slung at Coffey because he belonged to the OBC. The Bruins fans young and old would never otter the sacrilegious distain that I read for weeks on this board when Coffey was hired. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but man Coffey knows more in his little picky about Hockey then all these weekend SJW put together.
What does seeing him play have to do with anything. We know with certainty being an all-time great hockey player does not equate to being a great coach.
I think much of the concern was due to a lack of experience and his other job being a highly leaned up advisor to the owner.
Exactly this is your opinion and others may have a opinion that say poppycock to this. Every Coach has a first job Coffey masterfully came in with the team in total disarray at 3-9-1 he settled down the troops under intense hatred and also got Nurse playing well. He did it because he’s a Oiler for life unlike Holland and Bowman. I get your a newer Oiler Fan but remember this when folks start slagging McDavid-Nuge-Leon in 30 years from now for no apparent reason you’ll say hey that’s unfair treatment towards a Oiler that poured his heart and soul into the Team and City.
Example 501 now of you responding with an argument that has nothing to do with my post.
Or just get him away from Nurse. Kulak & Walman which means Nurse & Regula/ Emberson, and balance out playing time for both pairs. Kulak deserves more minutes.
Meh, put Walman on his proper side with a stay at home defender.
Management decided to pay him big and long term.
Find him a RH partner, Regula perhaps and make that your second pairing.
Find Wallman and the rest of the d a new coach or bring back Coffey. They are making too many high risk plays too often and teams have scouted it and are pouncing.
And coach the forwards to come back and help the breakout instead of camping in the neutral zone to wait for the long stretch pass to hopefully arrive.
Then stop screwing around with the lines and settle them. You’d be amazed how much better guys play when they know who’s responsible for what.
At this point the only return for Coffey would likely be as head coach with some say as who comes and goes.
Believe it was reported he was chapped Kane was moved.
I don’t think it’s in the cards.
Walman was acquired to play the right side and has done so for most of his career, no?
carrying Nurse is weighing Walman down.
remember when we were told it’s all Ceci’s fault….
This is why some of us weren’t entirely thrilled with a contract through age 39. Staples showed that there are very few 35+ defensemen playing above the third pairing.
This true but he’s priced as a plus 3rd pairing guy over the term of that contract (or pretty close).
Picard has to make a few of those saves during that game period. He didn’t. He has been terrible this year and at this point is not an NHL goalie period ( Albeit he is one for this team) . The GM rolled the dice sticking with this goaltending duo this past summer and it is probably the worst decision he has made thus far as the GM. HIS only ANSWER was to pick up Ingram , who has not been good and isn’t being given starts even with his over 4 GAA and .848 Sv%. Don’t get me wrong the D was generally terrible last night, but Picard was not good.
Oilers probably could have grabbed DiPietro off of waivers back in October. He has had great stats in the A for the last 2 years and in the 7 games since going back to providence is 2.13/.929. He would have cost nothing. His cap hit is 812,500. Cheaper than Picard.
Oh well.
Are there any goalies out there that Bowman is looking at or even trying to go after. It’s probably very hard to talk to other GM’s in regards to a goalie when they know our goaltending is very bad and they have the huge upper hand on him. Lots of chatter on Saros, but I can guarantee to make that 7.74 for the next several years the Oil would have to have send back $$$$ a who would they send? Not sure Nashville would want any of the bottom guys or either of our goalies in a deal. Pretty sure they would want a Savoie, Howard, type guys for sure as part of that package.
This team is definitely in trouble. The bottom 6 is not good. D is underperforming, and the coach is forced to go to McDrai nuclear option way too much.
The team does not have any faith or trust in either goalie. The coach even said something to that about Skinner where he said “after the second goal on Skinner you could feel the team completely deflated”.
Is what it is I guess, but no clue if this team can really get going on any kind of a run this year, or how they are going to upgrade on a goalie. Really don’t think any team is going to do us any favours.
Signing Trent to $3.85 for 5 years might be his worst move so far.
8 years.
But who’s counting?
It’s worse than you think.
It’s like the Pierre Engvall contract.
I don’t agree they should have grabbed DiPietro off waivers necessarily.
I do believe they should be looking to acquire him (or Daws) now.
The cost should not be more than nominal.
— Savoie mang and Frederic performing at the “lower range” of outcomes isn’t a surprise
— of course no one knows for sure intill it happens but more often than not fans get enamoured with shiny new things being slotted into roles that they aren’t suited for because management has to get guys and slot them into roles they “hope” but probably know aren’t suited for.
— in this league today a team with 4 lines with players all slotted properly and skill on 4 lines : it just is a very rare unlikely occurrence.
— McDai haven’t been lights out like in some years and the rest of forwards just meh. This is who we are and at least in of my expectations kind of what I thought was reasonable
— I’m not angry per se. maybe Hyman comes back and we get a goalie and one of the new wingers actually gets good.
— That’s the thin line in this league that we are teetering on : harder than it sounds to solve
Savoie has played very good since he was put on McD’s line. Very good . Kid should have never been stapled in the bottom 6 , especially with Hyman out. The coach should have stapled him on McD’s wing on game 1 and left him there
As Lowetide says skill needs to play with skill
Savoie immediately playing at expectations if not better once paired with skilled is also not a surprise.
Savoie does not belong in that group.
Savoie is not a “shiny new thing” to be as I watched him play 60 or so games in the AHL last season – my opinion on his potential (overall and this season) was based on watching the player play.
I noted his highly advanced 2-way game, etc. and it seems he might be the best defensive forward on the team right now…..
We are seeing over the last few games what he can do playing with real skill and with some offensive confidence.
Agreed. His play is one of the good things I’m enjoying in recent games. I also like McD being the captain of this ship. A “disconnected” group needs that from him. Good to see Drai as the angry first mate last night.
I anticipate the crew pulling together and in the same direction by Xmas.
Lowetide said “The Oilers are pretty vanilla everywhere. They are 30th in five-on-five goal share, 25th in five-on-five goals-60 and 28th in GA-60.”
I love vanilla icecream. I wouldn’t touch vanilla if it had numbers that bad. If I saw 30th, 25th, and 28th in major categories of team success, I would use adjectives other than “vanilla” to describe the team, but then again, Lowetide is a much better person than I am. 🙂
Pickard was the worst of the worst last night, several candidates in the running but none had their cheeks out like Calvin. That was local men’s league level mostly goalie, put him on waivers and call up anyone.
Is whoever ran the penalty kill last season now in charge of defense?
One could tell it was going to be that night when the first shot leaked through him for no reason.
I watched his career as a Condor and know what his game looks like when he’s truly off and its not even ECHL level – I said this at 0-0 last night.
Pickard gave this team so good back-up goaltending for a few years but he hasn’t been close to being close this season.
Its time to get DiPietro/Daws who are blocked and cleared waivers – their organization’s offered them to the league for free – I’m sure they are glad they cleared but he price should be very cheap.
Tough to image either being worse that Pickard and there is real upside.
I completely agree, Pickard was never turning into Roloson.
Doubt they make a move for either, their mostly goalie decisions are baffling.
This group of defence men were ranked top 5 in league at the beginning of the season Not now The only thing different is the coach and the system he is implementing Not rocket science to figure out the solutions
The goaltending is average, so you’d think the players playing Infront of this tandem would realize that and play accordingly. Or are they tired of trying to cover up for them and want some fresh blood between the pipes, to pipe out a stronger tune. I believe sometimes that sort of thing is done to coaches but that’s something new to pull on your goaltenders.
It’s below avg. 26th in the league
They usually play better in front of Pickard & not so great for Skinner it’s strange.
Pickard is dead last in save % and GAA with 5 or more starts, imagine anyone would get tired of losing if you give up more then 15 shots.
The defensive group was supposed to be a strength and it’s a definite weakness. These guys have no idea where the most dangerous areas of the ice are or what to do about players in those locations. Even a top goalie is gonna get torched behind these guys
This is equal parts on the coaching/players.
They’re being coached to make more high danger/high risk passes and are getting in trouble. They’re playing a softer zone. And the forwards are cheating for offense more – plus becuase the coach keeps changing the lines – they frequently don’t know who is covering what and miss assignments.
They still could be an area of strength. They have been, I mean it’s not as if all of a sudden they’ve all forgotten how to play hockey. Or is it?
The Dallas Eakins comparison is a sobering thought, but fitting.