This photo was taken about 30 miles from the place I lived on April 5, 1972. I remember that day very well, because the sports report on CKSA Lloydminster told me that Rusty Staub, my favourite basebll player, had been traded from the Montreal Expos to the New York Mets. I was devastated. I remember exactly where I was standing, 17 miles north of Maidstone, two miles up from the Allan Store. I rode my bike all the way to Keith Schwartz’s place, and back again, just for the release.
Funny thing about that trade. The Expos received three players in return, and all of them had significant mlb careers. The best was Ken Singleton, who was an outstanding hitter. Tim Foli was a young shortstop who could play good defense and fought quite a lot (seriously, Foli fought many times). Mike Jorgensen was not a fab hitter, but one of the best defensive first basemen I’ve ever seen. It was an emotionally upsetting trade that worked out brilliantly for the Expos.
That’s kind of what the Oilers need right now, to be honest. Dealing Staub (age 28) for Singleton (25), Jorgensen (23) and Foli (21) gave the organization a jolt across the starting lineup. Back then, there were exactly zero no-movement clauses and no cap, so things were different.
Edmonton has itself in a spot of bother in regard to cap and talent pool, and are at a crossroads. What should Stan Bowman do? The only veteran assets that aren’t nailed down by a NMC are Mattias Ekholm, Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak. All of these men play significant roles on the team, and the defenders will be relied on during the long road ahead. Both are struggling and their trade value is lower than you’d want heading to market. Skinner’s value has cratered. Skinner and Kulak are UFA’s at the end of the season and would have limited appeal for another team without an extension.
So that means picks and prospects. Same as it ever was. The goalies in play for Edmonton are Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) and Pittsburgh Penguins (Tristan Jarry). The likelihood of Skinner being involved in a trade is high at this time, although I’d prefer the Oilers keep him. I’ll suggest draft picks and various fringe players will be in play, and maybe the Blues or Penguins have scouted the Condors or like Maxim Berezkin.
For me, I’d recall Connor Ingram. I would also change the gapping between defense and forwards. The odds of Kris Knoblauch being fired is low, but not impossible. Bowman’s hands are basically tied unless a player is willing to give up the NMC. Stop giving out NMC”s! I like Tristan Jarry for the Oilers if a trade does happen, would prefer to go with Ingram.
For Skinner, I think a new NHL city will benefit him. The Oilers have offloaded many goalies in the last decade who went on to have success, including Devan Dubnyk and Cam Talbot. I suspect Skinner will have his best seasons in another NHL city. I wish him well.
On the Lowdown today, Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation will join us and talk about the way forward, and we’ll have a long look at Oilers best trade assets. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and YouTube.
I was in the Rusty Staub fan club too.
Actually got to shake his hand when I was 10 years old.
The best
Ryan: I 1st applied my xAvg methodology predicting pladtic disaster doing material, transfer, & Disposal analysis in technical writing class.
Being raised in dad’s world of Aerospace, CIA, Notad, Weapons, Assinations. Thought they are really pushing plastic packaging.
Here in 07/08 3D ( Team, comp, XS volume) player situation graphs groups of expected avg xAvg was argued against.
Regression, small Sample size.
There are 2 analysis. Absolute (109%/0%), obn/off.
On the fly change w/ & w/o puck.
OZ & DZ volume.
A general gf% is just wrong.
4 different data set
The Same GF%, CF%, can have different GF minus GA/60 totals.
Each year inquest range of Variables has a defined xAvg to compare 2
Here come the Oilers!
How fitting through 25 games the Oilers are rocking a 28% goal share when 29 and 97 are both off the ice.
Without McDavid and Draisaitl (5v5)
GF%: 28.26
xGF%: 45.26
SCF%: 43.38
TOI/GP: 23.90
PDO: 0.913
On-Ice SH%: 5.68
On-Ice SV%: 85.59
Its more “without Drai” this season as McDavid is sitting at apx 40% goal share without Drai (which is up in recent games) and Drai is well over 60% without McDavid (and, when Drai is anchored with McDavid, its one-goal over 50%).
You ever heard of a Denver boot?
The Oilers Achilles heel is perpetually the sunk cost fallacy.
We just signed Mangiapane. We gotta get him going.
McDavid with Mangiapane (5v5 totals)
TOI: 175.02
GF%: 33.33
xGF%: 50.64
FF%: 50.43
PDO: 0.922
SH%: 8.22
SV%: 84.00
McDavid without Mangiapane (5v5 totals)
TOI: 260.60
GF%: 53.85
xGF%: 51.61
FF%: 54.12
PDO: 0.997
SH%: 10.14
SV%: 89.57
When Carolina bombed the Habs with the kotkaniemi offer sheet, they didn’t compound the mistake by keeping him in the top six to get him going. He fell down the depth chart to 4c regardless of contract.
Drai is with Mccrucifiedjesus when magpie isn’t in general. Why in sam hell when hyman came back did they try to get like frederic going and split up.drai’s line with roslovic is far more maddening moment in all of this for me.
McDavid is still 45% without Mangiapane and Drai (and his expected goals in that range as well).
Those numbers without Mangiapane are well below expectations for a 1C pulling in 12.5 a year (especially as a significant amount of that time is with Draisaitl). They are even more galling for McDavid, a generational talent who is hardwired to win and is in late 20s
The bottom 6 has been the Denver boot of this team for years and yet the top 2 lines consistently outscored and overcame the generally negative goal differential from the bottom 6. The big story is that this is not happening this year
It is not reasonable to believe his best days are behind McD. Maybe 2 deep runs took their toll on him, but he’s a conditioning freak (another reason why the 2-3 extra mins a night argument makes little sense). Systems is my guess, paired with some below average D awareness and some lack of winger finishing power. But McDavid has been able to overcome these things before, so something is definitely amiss.
When you constantly change the lines and not allow anyone to build chemistry, what did you expect? No one knows what they’e doing, who’s covering or where to be.
The only solution the coach has is to over play 29 & 97. Not sustainable – the results speak for themselves. Only 5 regulation wins in 25 games. It’s malpractice.
I will always say I think the rules behind NTC should be that if a player is signed to one, the GM is not allowed to ask them to waive it, puts more emphasis on not giving them out because it truly hamstrings the team.
As well to be fair from the players side, if they request a trade, the NTC is removed. You don’t get to be guaranteed to play in a city and decide where you play if you want to leave. Equally gives both sides good/bad with the decision in my opinion.
Condors should get Josh Brown back on Saturday. That will help them for sure.
Yes, he is doing a good job as crease guardian. I know he’s not the answer but what if he played number 6 minutes and was a physical jerk
The problem is leaking goals against and not being able to transition the puck but, well, the entire group is having trouble. Regula is really struggling and Brown may be able to fill a role but, at the same time, Regula needs to keep playing and develop – he’s still recovering from missing a full year of hockey.
Call me crazy but I think the goaltending and defence are both brutal.
The Oilers have the worst 5v5 sv% in the league last I checked. That is a team effort baby.
They got 9-12 problems and drai ain’t one
Truth is not crazy!
The easiest solution is to work with what you’ve got. Fix the team’s defensive structure (gaps/back checking/connectedness/etc) first and give yourself a chance. No point bringing in a new goalie and throwing him behind that mess.
Skinner is an average goalie who is more than capable when the team plays well. He’ll give you the kind of goaltending that any of the trade options would, without spending assets. This gives Ingram a chance to get his game in order and buys some time to wait for a better solution.
Maybe that ends up being Ingram/Skinner and we go shopping in the summer for a long-term fix. Just fix the defensive play first.
Nailed it
Roslovic questionable for Saturday per coach – from the blocked shot against Dallas (must have accidentally gotten in the way…..).
See ya in April Jack
Not the oiler way
Walman not at practice but he did skate earlier (per Gregor) so that is something positive.
As bad as he had been the last few weeks, they need him back.
The Pacific is the worst division in the NHL.
Everyone sans Anaheim (who rode a hot start) within ~5 points at equa games is a wash when the Oilers still have 21 games against them.
I can’t see any, nevermind three, of Anaheim, San Jose, Vegas, Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle running .600 against the Oilers.
It will be very hard to miss the playoffs.
Vegas is weaker than anticipated. That backend is very shaky.
Colorado is top heavy as ever. That top line changes one person per year, has unreal chemistry and always jumps out very hot. Necas shooting % is going to course correct.
Dallas still with the same meh cast of characters, one year older and less grit than last year.
No need to write off the season yet.
As long as they get it together by playoffs all good. Home ice is nice, they got further without it. Take what you get, each season has it’s problems
With Colorado, I posted Larkin’s 7 things Cup teams have. They have a few of them, but I wonder if they are built for playoffs. They have quite a few smaller players, and I’m not sure how the Manson Burns pair looks in a much higher tempo environment
Their goalies are looking good, but whose wouldn’t with a team running that white hot? Their bottom 6 is pretty no name. Two of their D pairs are small, Makar Toews of course very good
Nicushkin coming back would be a boost, I suppose a great deadline could change things, they could also run hot right through like the Bruins did, but that didn’t turn out for them
This is untrue.
The Pacific Division has 4 teams above .600
The Atlantic 3
The Metropolitan 2
The Central 3.
The Pacific only appears weaker because the Oilers, Canucks and Flames are very poor.
The pacific has 1 team with more wins then combined losses.
No one buys that a team is playing 600 hockey at 11-6-6. That’s 11-12 with a bunch of bettmans.
That’s weak.
I see the pacific as the basement and the expansion team who had piles of draft picks (ANH, SEA, SJS) significantly improving, relative to the rest of the division, as early rebuild draftpicks start becoming journeyman with new recruits starting to graduate as well.
The failure to launch group of perpetual retooling will start their sink for lottery picks as wildcard spots fade from reachable distance (CGY & VCR fair to argue LAK could be included)
Who is the first to fall through because of too many misteps out of the caution thin ice prerenial playoff contenders and pretenders (LAK, EDM, VGK)?
-> anyone not using handle fibonnaci probably leaning “hard to guess exactly”
-> my take: Likely LAK
*before you bite on this harbonacci
1. LAK @ 29.96 yrs – look at that woukd ya! Oldest average age of entire league
-> Corey perry, doughty and kopitar is a lot of talent aging out quite soon.
-> fair to say that embarrasment of can’t miss unproven draft picks didn’t add up to as much as you suggested (not unlike your canuck prediction prior to your time aboard this bandwagon)and gm that went from genius to bad bets (don’t forget you were a staunch advocate far beyond point when defending durzi for a 2nd was value and made sense)
-> 27th THE 27th best ranked prospect pool
9. EDM @ 28.60 yrs – still have some time left but good gord i hope they stop with NMC contracts for everyone immediately.
-> likely 2026 1st round pick gone to SJS
-> 2028 3rd round to blues
-> 23rd ranked prospect pool
10. VGK @ 28.48 yrs.
-> 2026 1st and 4th gone
-> 2027 2nd or 3rd to NSH if make conference finals this year or not, have SJS 3rd
-> 31st ranked prospect system
This is going to be a real dogfight of a division to win or even place the next couple years.
Only concern is spring leg of intra division games EDM has been blessed with and have been making hay last few seasons (california grab bag style road trips) ain’t likely as depleted playing for no reason getting ready to go golfing…luckily no one is pulling ahead by any real measure yet. They definitely need to get rolling sooner than later.
Final thought for evening:
Bubble teams are going to regret waivering on commiting to a rebuild through this flat cap era. This period is surely going to result in tne teams who were willing to strip bare and dance through it, while raking up draft picks and prospects, just flipping dynamics of all divisions on their heads at a level unlike any shift ever seen before.
Last thought…it’s probably NHL 93/94 hockey or maybe a divison filled with original dixs teams that i have to blame for my eastern 2ndary fandom team stupidly being buffalo…the bills play some part in it….mogilny does as well…clearly hasek has something to do with it…i blame the guy who used to announce pat lafontaine’s name in that way he made highlights over and over again though.
While generally, true you have to realize that teams are built in very different ways.
For example, neither Tampa or Vegas give a shit about draft picks and/or prospects.
Both have been adept at signing or trading for impact players and their success speaks for itself.
As Dallas aged out after their cup win, they decided to build around Benn and Seguin by acquiring impact players in trade (Rantanen, Duchene) while also focusing on scouting, drafting and development.
It’s interesting to look at which of their current roster was drafted compared to the Oilers.
The only player on the current Oilers roster drafted after Bouchard in 2018 is Clattenburg…all the rest have failed or been sent away.
In that same time frame, the Stars have added Oskar Back, Thomas Harley, Maverick Bourque, Wyatt Johnson and Lian Bischel and, of course, drafted and developed Logan Stankhoven before moving him for Rantanen.
And this is only after the 2017 draft that brought them Heiskanen, Oettinger and Robertson.
San Jose tried to take the same approach with the Joe Thornton cluster but it failed miserably because they had so many aging players locked into immovable contracts and the management group was not up to a fix and ownership finally threw in the towel for a rebuild.
P.S. Moving Durzi was the right move since he and Brandt Clarke were applying for the same job and management wasn’t interested in developing both at the same time.
It would appear that LA made the right choice since Durzi has only managed to play 33 games over this season and last while Clarke has played 101 and is thriving.
Jim nill effect in dallas is very real and fantastic.
I’m certain vegas presently does not deserve or possibly will even come to ever be deserving of being mentionable in same breath as tampa. I think tampa has far more drafted and developed talent impact related advantage than vegas stands chance of ever realizing.
I do get that they both have exceptionally long runs at interchanging roster players and deadline additions and there is an irony that at same time both walked away from cornerstone of franchise players that subsequently signed contracts the preds will surely regret winning free agent sweepstakes over. It’s just this vegas version to me seems like it is quite likely going to run out of runway a lot faster and harder after a much shorter distance to me.
I know shorter warmup track is fair but also there will never be another expansion draft like that after exposing how questionably poor the acerage competency level is of NHL general managers might actually be or at least how packled like sheep they are collectively… easily arguable they failed to identify what should be their franchise goalie as well.
Vegas may in some defendable ways comparable to tampa but it’s selling TB well short IMO.
Vegas is hired merc like force. Tampa is more home built at it’s core. Yes both hold some similar ideologies in value of later 1st round draft capital being often expendable but even with that tampa seems like they still do a better job of at least getting other teams to toss in lare round lotto balls.
Vegas signs big name players
Tampa signs players who quite frequently outplay contracts signed for.
Just yeah your points overall are fare. They both strike while iron is hot and not afraid to cut and run… i just somehow can see it quite possible there’s more of a house of cards lurking in vegas’s style.
Well, Vegas did not have the same team building conditions as Tampa.
They were presented with a situation and took full advantage of what was available.
Thing is, management in Vegas is ruthless and, in some ways, unpredictable so it’s very hard to forecast their future.
For now, their cap is in good shape and they have no poor contracts on the books.
WC ranked by Bettmans:
VGK 8
STL 7
LAK 6
SEA 6
LAK 6
EDM 5
CHI 5
COL 5
NSH 4
MIN 4
DAL 4
CAL 3
SJS 3
UTA 3
VAN 2
ANA 1
WPG 0
As you can see there is little correlation between OTL and overall record and it is easy to make an argument that losing in OT is far preferable to getting your ass kicked in regulation.
Side note:
Wow the list of teams in order of number of no trade or no movement clauses is quite interesting.
14 – CAR, NJD, SEA
13 – NYI
12 – COL, EDM, VGK, TBL
11 – CLB, LAK
10 – BOS, FLA, NYR, PIT, VCR
9 – MIN, SJS
8 – DAL, DET, STL, TOR
7 – ANH, CGY, NSH, OTT, UTA, WPG
6 – CHI, WSH
5 – BUF, PHI
4 – MTL
Again jim Nill is one hell of a GM.
I can’t find results of willis’s great series on voting for tambo replacement back in 2012
Pretty sure he won though.
https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/if-you-could-pick-the-next-g-m-of-the-edmonton-oilers-the-finalists
Important to distinguish between no move clauses and no trade clauses which most often are a limited list of teams the player will not accept a trade to (usually 10 or 12).
NMCs are a real pain in the ass while no trade clauses are generally much easier to navigate.
3,2,1,0
Not world ending differentiator imo. But dealers call.
I mean sure you could wade redden players but like a team starts down that path they simply aren’t getting any guys to agree to less than NMC if they have the leverage for that level tactic.l at very least but likely some guys just not even wajting to sign with franchise. Which i think at some point might start happening to vegas if they lesj into cutthroat to much further.
I still love that the buried salary counting against cap is referred to as wade redden rule.
This team came make the playoffs. There is no doubt about that, and then anything can happen.
However, this team has too many flaws to correct in a single season. IMHO, management should therefore focus on what it takes to become a contender next season. Save your prospects, play your prospects and retool next summer when there are far better options to choose from.
Also say thank-you again to McDavid for leaving cap on the table! Don’t blow the opportunity to come back stronger next year.
@lowetide
Somebody has to do a deep-dive into the gaps between the Oiler forwards and the D in the neutral zone.
Its some of the worst I’ve seen at a pro-level. And it looks to be a strategy.
This team dumps, chases, gives up break-outs and then proceeds to give up their own blue line like it’s a Safeway coupon.
It’s insane. And they just doing it, over and over and over again.
This(!) is the real issue.
It is boring, predictable, and not utilizing the roster talent correctly. Whoever came up with the plan should’ve been out the door 10 games ago.
It’s also how they have gotten themselves out of jams when they were a good team. They would come to the realization that forwards were cheating and they would wake up to disaster this creates. The defence and goaltending of this team gets the major criticisms but historically correction has been the result of forwards cleaning up their assignments.
It used to be that they would start to play fast and loose because that’s their nature, but would be quick to correct. Now this stretch bullshit seems to be the game plan. Very stupid.
Not a lot of pass options for the D when nobody is around to pass to. Glass and out or long bomb
Well a fourth liner gets his wings every time a 1st liner fly’s the zone or doesn’t cover
We hear them say and it’s in media that Connor and Leon have to score it’s the job etc. They do over a season, but other than that it’s another thing that should have been managed better by the team, not creating extra pressure
What they need to do is outscore, not necessarily lead the league. If it’s not happening stick to the plan and limit GA. It will come, the whole team needs to have that focus. Or you get this, pressuring themselves and trying to do too much, and things get loose and the results worse
Noticed strange stat columns on ESPN “team skating stats” they go “GF/g” then “assist” then “pts”
Colorado obvious leads 4.09 GF/G, 159 assists, 253 points
edmonton is 7th in total points by players 3.08 GF/G, 130 assists, 207 points
Which i thought seemed really bizarre considering they are 25th ranked in GF/G.
Haven’t found any public access passing stats but i’m pretty sure it woukd highlight the problems in transition & offensive zone quite prolifically.
Bill Guerin summed the Oilers up talking about the US Olympic team. If you can’t check, it’s probably not the place for you
Elite players aren’t always tasked with that in the NHL he said, but they can. There was so little room at the 4 Nations they had to
Oops. Meaning if there’s no room if you won’t play tight there’s no point. Connor is under water in GF. Every team comes to play the 2 time finalists and the Duo. If they won’t commit as a team to keeping the puck out of the net, play solid until something opens up if it does, they will lose a lot of games
The Dallas game was a prime example. First game back after a hard trip, the Stars come in having been bounced twice by Oilers, sporting a former Oiler coach. They wanted it bad, the Oilers were not focused. Worry about the little things and the big will sort themselves out
At the very least might have avoided an embarrassing trouncing
In my opinion only 97 and 29 will likely be playing in the Olympics and thats likely a good thing for the team.
and Josh Samanski!
I never see Devon Levi mentioned. Apparently he is available, numbers aren’t great in the NHL but also behind a bad Buffalo team. Good AHL numbers, maybe a little shy this year but decent W/L record.
I haven’t watched him play so maybe there are tells in his game the NHL teams have figured out, or some other reason he hasn’t gotten his shot. This is more like an Ingram style move, buy low and hope for growth.
He’s only 6’ so he needs to play like Wolf to get noticed I think
Not sure someone ‘who plays like wolf’ is the solution the oilers should be looking for.
Interesting lines at practice
Hyman and Savoie flank McDavid and Nuge set-up at 3C.
Kap is at 2RW and Clatt at 3LW but Roslovic is not on ice so there is likely a placeholder there.
Rishaug and Bob have been talking about Kap looking great at practice but, Gregor now reporting, that he got injured on the last drill and left the ice visibly frustrated.
I love them keeping Savoie in the top 6 and putting Nuge at 3C.
Tony B:
Kappanen got hurt on the last drill and left the ice and knocked over all the sticks in the hallway. He was pissed,mpretty sure that says he reinjured whatever it was that hurt him
I was told on here that a Clattenburg demotion was a sure thing.
A guy who wasn’t able to play above the 4th line in the AHL playing top 9 in the NHL, what does that say about this team.
Looks like they want a hard forechecking guy on each line, which I think they’ve mentioned before, which makes enough sense.
I think Tomasek needs to play with skill to be effective but I think he’s probably run out of time with this team
It might say that Clattenburg was a placeholder and, if Kap, Roslovic and Nuge are all ready, he’s not playing (Lazar is available for Sat says coach).
People are still thinking the goalie is a number. And a singular force on the team.
Goalies are more than numbers – and have a disproportionate impact on the psyche and play of a team.
You cannot have someone the team doesn’t believe in. You cannot have someone who struggles with confidence.
He needs to go.
Everyone is blaming Stu for poor goaltending.The best number one tenders in the league would be sub .900,behind this terrible defensive team.Put Stu behind the best defensive team in the league and he would be .920.In the Florida win,in the first period,the team started to hit for the first time this year,and were well up at the end of the period.In the last two period,they stopped hitting and Florida came back,and took over the game.We we’re lucky to win that game.Against Dallas,there was very little hitting,and we saw the result!If all of our players would follow the example of pods,we would be much better.All of our defence men other than Embersom do not take players out of the play with the body,but all want to stick check,and that makes them watch the puck instead of the man.The forwards attack the center line as soon as the defence gets the puck.We give up the puck on thosestupid long passes.The only time we have good control of the puck is on the power play because we use short passes.If we came out of our zone with five players using short passes,we would keep control of the puck,and be a better attacking unit.This is on the coaches!!!Stop blaming Stu.Even Hellebucyk would be at sub900,
Disagree. This team has gone through stretches of outstanding defending and been let down. He needs to go.
Has this team gone through outstanding stretches of defensive play this season?
Has Skinner gone through an outstanding stretch of play this season? He literally started this season by giving away game 1.
How can you forgot the NY game where the Rangers hit like 5 post and crossbars. Skinner stoned Sam Carrick the best Rangers player over and over for the shutout. Apparently City Council came within 1 vote of dismantling the Ben Scrivens statue and replacing it with a Stuart Skinner one.
Thank gord they didn’t get rid of such an iconic statue. I couldn’t i imagine if there was no longer a place for people to go out on saturday and just scriven it up.
I miss diamond bill smith and his constant proclamations of what everyday from now on will hereby be known as…
Wanyezky day (unveiling wayne gretzky drive the tarp didn’t fully come off the wiser asses in thecrowd like us started chanting wanyezky and it caught on pretty solid bill smith was confused more than usual)
stompin tom connors day…
so many days so few people really even actually remember what meaning bill smith gifted us constantly with. I try to keep track of the few days i personally was in atrendance while he was magically imbuing them with more meaningful local.significance. the guy truly tried to make everyone’s lifes better in really stupid ways. I miss him.
Soery for rambling.
I’ll show myself out and rejoin mainly background again.
Dave Staples article today is an excellent one .This is not all on Skinner we are playing crap defence in front of him .We would lose with a piece of 4×8 plywood covering the net the coverage is so bad ..I keep coming back to the new assistant coaches who are not getting their messages thru or the messages are flawed.
I am not in favour of trading for a goalie, nor am I in favour of trading Skinner. You wouldn’t believe the stuff people have sent me privately questioning my intelligence and sanity. Good times!
Wow, really? I’m all for a good debate on ideas but reaching out personally to rage? That’s just a bridge too far. We are all pulling for the team and it can get heated here but at the end of the day it’s sports entertainment. Nothing more. Keep on with your beautiful prose LT, I appreciate the space that you have created.
What Moonlight said, and just remember that for every rage comment you get, there are many mostly silent supporters who are nodding their heads in agreement.
Chicken or the egg. Goals going in because of bad D of bad D because every mistake goes in.
Even if the goalies were standing on their heads we’d be discussing how bad the D is, how bad Nurse and Kulak are playing, the brain cramps of Bouchard, the hail-mary stretch passes, the horrible gap control….
It seems a bit of a stretch that just consistently there are that many clean passes followed by clean shots right in center of of hash marks because the team is deflated so baddly because goalie aren’t playing good enough for them…
I’d wager it’s more to do with too many turnovers in transition causing way more time in defensive end being combined with opposing teams all well prepared on exactly how to exploit gaping hole exposed in the zone defense they are using.
The level of patience the current Oilers management seems to have with goaltending compared to previous management is interesting. Devan Dubnyk had save percentages of 0.916, 0.914, and 0.921 before he was traded away for Matt Hendricks (who I loved as a player but was a 4th liner) during a season where he had a save percentage of 0.894. That same season, Edmonton started the year with Jason LaBarbera as their backup. He had save percentages of 0.910, 0.901, 0.928, 0.909, 0.912, and 0.923 before being waived and traded during a season where he had a save percentage of 0.870. Ben Scrivens had save percentages of 0.903, 0.915, and 0.922 before being traded for Zack Kassian after a season where he had a save percentage of 0.890. Viktor Fasth had save percentages of 0.921 and 0.903 before being moved on from, after having a save percentage of 0.888. Jonas Gustavsson had save percentages of 0.907, 0.911, and 0.908 before being waived during a season where he had a save percentage of 0.878. Cam Talbot had save percentages of 0.941, 0.926, 0.917, 0.919, and 0.908 before being traded for Anthony Stolarz (who Edmonton didn’t play for some inexplicable reason) during a season where he had a save percentage of 0.893. Right now, Edmonton has a team save percentage of 0.860!!!! Skinner has had save percentages of 0.913, 0.914, 0.905, 0.896, and is currently at 0.878. Pickard has had save percentages of 0.909, 0.900, and is currently at 0.847. All of those other goalies had as good a track record and some of them much better than Skinner and Pickard, yet they were all sent away after at most 1 season of poor play and in some cases under 10 games of poor play. It’s hard to imagine Edmonton sticking with Pickard and Skinner for much longer unless their performance improves drastically. It also makes me wonder how long a goaltender needs to perform poorly before it is reasonable for them to be moved on from. Dubnyk and Talbot went on to play well for many years after leaving Edmonton, while on the other hand, LaBarbera, Scrivens, Fasth, and Gustavsson were out of the league a year after leaving Edmonton.
This is staggering. Granted SV% has been on the decline across the NHL but the point stands. Great info.
Yeah, that’s a good point. The league average save percentage has been steadily dropping each season. Comparing their save percentages to the league average, the season where they got rid of Dubnyk and LaBarbera, the league average save percentage was 0.914, so Dubnyk was 0.020 below, and LaBarbera was 0.044 below. When they got rid of Scrivens and Fasth, the league average save percentage was 0.915, so Scrivens was 0.025 below, and Fasth was 0.027 below. When they got rid of Gustavsson, the league average save percentage was 0.913, so Gustavsson was 0.035 below. When they got rid of Talbot, the league average save percentage was 0.910, so Talbot was 0.017 below. This season, the league average save percentage is 0.897, so Skinner is 0.019 below, and Pickard is 0.050 below!!! Of all of the goalies I listed, Pickard is the furthest below the league average save percentage, while Skinner is slightly lower than Talbot and slightly above Dubnyk. I like Pickard, but I think it’s definitely time to upgrade on him, given how far below the league average he is right now. I mean, LaBarbera was a veteran backup who had 6 solid seasons in a row, who was promptly moved on from after 7 games of poor play. Pickard has basically been a #3 goalie for most of his career, who was thrust into a backup position because Campbell was brutal (even then, his save percentage was only 0.030 below league average when he was moved on from, which is 0.020 better than what Pickard is delivering right now!!!). Skinner is in the Dubnyk/Talbot range, which is not great considering both of them were moved on from while in this range, but of all the goalies I listed above, those are the only two who managed to provide solid to outstanding goaltending after leaving Edmonton. Given Skinner’s age (27) and how atrocious the team defense has been, I would keep him and trade for one of the guys I listed below to replace Pickard, and hopefully the new goalie is able to operate in a tandem with Skinner and possibly push Skinner to a 1B position.
The goalies that I’d be looking at are:
1) Michael DiPietro (Age: 26 | Cap hit: $812,500) Behind Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo
2) Simon Zajicek (Age: 24 | Cap hit: $872,500) Behind Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo
3) Nico Daws (Age: 24 | Cap hit: $812,500) Behind Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen
4) Matthew Murray (Age: 27 | Cap hit: $775,000) Behind Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen
5) Colten Ellis (Age: 25 | Cap hit: $775,000) Part of a 3-goalie rotation with UPL and Alex Lyon
6) Alex Lyon (Age: 32 | Cap hit: $1,500,000) Part of a 3-goalie rotation with UPL and Colten Ellis
7) Trent Miner (Age: 24 | Cap hit: $775,000) Behind Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood
8) Brandon Bussi (Age: 27 | Cap hit: $775,000) Part of a 3-goalie rotation with Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov
9) Drew Commesso (Age: 23 | Cap hit: $925,000) Behind Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom
10) Laurent Brossoit (Age: 32 | Cap hit: $3,300,000) currently injured but possibly behind Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom
I don’t think any of these guys will cost very much to acquire, and I believe they have a chance to be better than Skinner and Pickard.
This guy knows how to shop in the right aisle.
You might have to cycle through a few of them too. Like small ball poker.
Murray seemed like he might be one of the better bets when i was tryimg to sift through canidates.
This is a great list!
Should grab as many as possible
For me, Jarry and Binnington are automatic no’s because their contracts spill into next year — the Oilers need short-term, flexible, upside plays, not multi-year anchors burning McDavid’s final window
Benny has next year left, maybe the Oilers will find a young tender or maybe their own in Sam to take over after next year.
Or maybe Benny ignites the team for a few more years, Bob is several years older then Benny and has won the last two cups.
I’m not buying any of the doom and gloom of this myself.
I like Alex Lyon as a low-cost / low-risk target.
Lyon and Skinner can 1B tandem, then maybe we look at upgrading later in the season if needed.
Lyon can likely give us 15-20 starts between now and end of February.
I like Jarry, I like Binnington, I don’t like the impact either will have on our winning percentage compared to their cap hit and acquisition cost.
I like Skinner, I think he’s performed tremendously considering the situation he has been thrown into (in a world where Campbell pans out, Skinner is likely pushing Campbell for the starter job this season).
One thing I do like about acquiring a stable starter is that it gives us some cover to pick up an unproven guy like Daws to be backup. Getting a Daws or DiPietro to be the backup behind either Skinner or Pickard would have had the potential to result in a repeat of Skinner’s journey.
On a tangential note, what’s the deal with the minor league Gs? Sam Johnsson appears to be too good for the ECHL (as does potentially Ungar), but isn’t getting the majority of the starts. Ingram and Tomkins appear to have created a bit of a log jam behind them which is unfortunate. I don’t love having zero of our young Gs in the AHL.
Jonsson is hurt which is why he didn’t play last weekend.
Why would the Oilers give up any assets to acquire Jordan Binnington? Yes, this is a goalie that has had past success and in big games (although so has Stuart Skinner) but is pretty much in the same tier as Skinner -a wildly inconsistent goaltender with highs and lows and his lows are just as low as Skinner – heck, he’s objectively been worse than Skinner this season and that is taking in to account environment.
Could he be better than Skinner going forward? Sure. Is that a lock? No at all.
I see zero reason to give up any assets to take on the $6MM cap commitment for next season. I don’t swap Skinner for Binnington straight up given contracts.
————–
Jarry, on the other hand, has been a very consistent over .900 goalie that had one bad season, last season, and has recovered so far this season.
He’s got two years left after this year (one for Binnington) but I think he’s more likely to provide consistent starting goaltending than Binnington.
Not including the games played by either tender this season, the last 2 seasons
Binnington GAA 2.69 – 2.84 S%900 – 913 GP113
Jarry GAA 3.12 – 2.91 S%893 – 903 GP87
For the past two seasons imo Binnington is clearly the superior option, superior GAA and S% while playing significantly far more games.
Jarry will see the backup playing far more then Binnington would, the Oilers do not have a 1B with Skinner leaving town if either is brought in. Only classic backup options which would be another point towards Binnington being a serious option for a team desperately needing a legit starter like the Oilers.
.921
.909
.919
,909
.903
.893
.941
I thought the mantra was this team just needs consistent .900 tending and they will win Stanley.
I’ll take Jarry’s consistency (but for last season which seems like a one-off) over the swings of Binnington plus the fact that, well, he can be a loose cannon at times.
To absorb Binnington’s cap, someone has to go. In terms of value, it depends on retention. Jonathan Quick was traded in the last year of his big contract for a 7th round pick and a backup goalie which is the floor of what a struggling Binnington would net them next year. St Louis isn’t pressed for time to deal him so whatever they get now if they are going to retain has to be more than what they would get this summer for Binnington with 50% retention and a possible improvement over the year.
I’m not speculate on what that is but I will say that it isn’t nothing. I don’t know know if a deal can be made here that makes sense to both sides. Bowman would have to be really, really set on Binnington being the guy.
No doubt that Blues would require more in trade value coming back than I would be willing to give up to acquire him – of course, I don’t attach any positive value to Binnington with his recent play, his wild swings and his contract.
Others would attribute more value I’m sure.
You keep saying why would Edmonton pay anything but the OILERS are the ones entering the store. If you need bread and the only available store sells day old bread like it’s fresh, then you pay that price.
I prefer NOT buying day old bread, but when you are the pursuer in the deal, you can’t be indifferent about it. You are the motivated buyer.
It’s hard to explain supply and demand to certain people. Bowman is in a pickle and not through injury but performance. This problem should of been addressed in the offseason or early season. The sharks are circling.
My point is that I, personally, have zero interest in this particular piece of bread – I think the store owner charges way too much for the product
I am entering the store for bread but, in this case, am being offered moldy bread and I’d rather stay with the cheaper partially moldy bread already in my cupboard until I find a better offer.
Career Playoffs Skinner is .893 Jordan is .909 on a worse teams. I believe we have 2 Cups and counting with the Jordan level of play he displays in the playoffs.
Way worse team? The biggest part of that playoff save percentage was on a team that won the SC. I don’t put a ton of stock in to his performance back in 2019 (and would not he get swept the next two seasons with save percentages below .900 – when average save percentage was higher than it is today).
I put more stock in to Binnington’s season performance this season than the fact he’s won some big games in the past. Stuart Skinner has won a ton of elimination games in the playoffs in his own right.
If you want to cherry-pick take away the Dallas numbers and Skinner’s are by far the worst in Stanley Cup Playoff history. Somebody besides Pickard is going to have to save this season.
Feel free to cherry pick as you wish but I will put more emphasis in to the last few seasons than what happened 7 years ago.
Binnington has never played more than 7 playoff games except that one time in 2019.
He hasn’t been good enough to backstop his team deep in to the playoffs and hasn’t played a deep round playoff game in 7 years.
Yes all day long
Detroit , ottawa, utah, montreal, toronto and maybe a couple more competitive teams who appear or are required to be playoff qualifying caliber teams who are for most part outscoring less than ideal goaltending at present to varying degrees surely at least casually scanning the aisles.
It does look like a sellers market in a way it kind of seems like it might be wise to add to cart a bit sooner than deadline.
I’m not sure who it was I heard in a podcast but he was laughing about Oiler fans who will suggest every goalie on earth as a potential starter. Connor Ingram, Samuel Jonsson, Bob’s uncle Fred from Red Deer.
But when Jordan Binnington or Tristan Jarry are mentioned we dismiss it out of hand. It is kind of funny.
Let’s bring up the guy battling for his mental health while struggling against AHL shooters and drop him into the most pressure packed situation in the entire NHL.
This is all performance wise if Ingram was playing better in Bakersfield he would of already recieved the call-up. Now it looks like Bowman is almost forced into Plan D and the other 31 G.M’s will not be kind to him. Bowman asking the fans to be nice to Skinner on Saturday night intermission will not work again in Edmonton. Bowman needs to give his Coach a better and different looking Netminnder. For those that think Goalies performance is all just a product of defence and not talent then the Coach needs to fired. The Colorado and Dallas best downs at home so close in succession is not acceptable with the talent we have.,
It’s about money. We’ll try anyone for 1.2M or less that can be stashed in the minors if they don’t work out but 5 or 6 Million over multiple years absolutely has to be the right deal because we’ll be stuck with them.
True-ish. Gotta think both St Lou and the Pens are willing to eat some dollars to make this work plus we lose Skinners dough.
So yes this likely means spending more on the goaltending position but, especially in the case of JB, not a long term anchor.
Jarry is more high risk
I have seen the effects crippling anxiety has on a person first-hand, the kind of anxiety Connor Ingram has described, and he is dealing with multiple mental health challenges. Recovery is slow and steady, and it doesn’t take much for any kind of instability to result in a step backward. If he is going to be beneficial as a call up for the Oilers, they have to be very careful not to destroy any progress he is making on and off the ice in the AHL so far, given the inconsistency of the Oilers team defensive game.
Yes, I agree. Ingram, while a more cost effective option than the other goalies out there, would be getting thrown in the deep end if he started here.
I actually don’t have a better solution for improvement, but I also recognize that Skinner is likely down to single digit games left in this org.
I can’t think of a worse place to drop someone struggling with major anxiety issues than the net of the Edmonton Oilers right now.
I’m not sure where he is in terms of getting stable, but I thought I read last month he had a minor setback. Hockey ability aside, I hope they don’t call him up unless he is actually doing ok.
I think a more reasonable plan would be to ease him in as the backup towards the end of the season and see how it goes, if he’s ready at that time. He’s not the answer to get us through the bulk of the season.
I was talking to an Avs fan this morning (my business opens real early). It got me interested in their roster. They have a bunch of players that weren’t drafted that they signed, some old guys, and a lot of smaller players, and two career meh goalies pre Avs. I don’t recognize a lot of names on that roster
I asked the fella when the wheels were going to fall off, a little poke. He said – of course – that they wouldn’t, MacKinnon doesn’t go full tilt all shift, picks his spots. They are playing him about 15 min at 5v5, 21.5 overall. Connor is at 17.5 and 23. That adds up, and I bet Nate takes less hacks and runs than Connor
The more we debate about things and look at numbers, the more I think they need a coach that can get this team on the same page, and organized better. The Avs aren’t a team stacked with names, they are a team that plays as well as they can. They have skill, old guys, more small guys than the Oilers, slow older guys that seem to be able to get the job done
The Avs are the 7th oldest team, the Oilers the 9th. The Avs are the 31st tallest team, the Oilers 18th. The Avs are the 31st heaviest team, the Oilers 11th
NHL Edge team speed the Avs 7th, the Oilers 1st. Neither team makes the top 10 for shot speed. Skating Distance Avg/60 the Avs T1, the Oilers 10th. Miles/G the Avs 10th, the Oilers don’t rank. Miles/Period the Avs 2nd, the Oilers don’t rank. The Avs skate harder than the Oilers, a problem I think many see this season, no legs
Matt Larkin at DFO did a series on Cup winner traits: Team Weight, Top 10 Scorer, Top 10 Goalie, Top 10 xGD, Top 20 PK, How Many Cup rings, Deadline deals. The Oilers hit more last season, this season:
The Avs have the goalie, xGD, PK, Rings at 10 (Oilers 0). The Oilers weight. The start skews much of this, and the Avs have been home more. The Avs PP is 24th, the Oilers 3rd, their PK 3rd the Oilers 22nd
The in season advantage they have is coaching, player buy in and execution, and more saves. And perhaps getting the right players for the team plan. The only way player changes move the needle for us is better fits for the ask, and a better goalie or two. Doable, but Bowman can’t move very many guys if he wanted to
Knoblauch needs to channel his inner Scotty asap, or someone does. I think the Oilers might have to buy some coaching experience, I don’t think a change matters as much right now as someone with more in their leadership tool bag
That seems the most likely solution to me. Adding one or two players isn’t likely to fix the overall attitudes and bad play. Leadership is lacking
Trading are demoting players is a wake-up call for the rest of the team.
Stacked with names: McKinnon, Necas, Makar, Toews, Nichushkin and don’t forget Landeskog who is their captain and inspirational leader despite being snake bitten on the scoresheet this season.
TWO high end goaltenders with Blackwood now finding his way after offseason injury.
Blackwood – 5GP I .928 I 1.99 GAA I 5.15 GSAX I back to back shutouts
Wedgewood – 17GP I .918 I 2.09 GAA 0 I 9.0 GSAX
A very clean cap sheet with zero dead money and only one player, MacKinnon, with a NMC although they do have a few players with no trade lists.
They also have an uncanny ability to identify and acquire players who are undervalued and the list is very long. Nichuskhkin, Necas, Lehkonen, Olofsson, Toews, Girard, Manson, Malinski, Brindley, Bardakov.
(Imagine having 5 of your top 6 D being paid well under market value with Brent Burns thrown in on a one year $1 million deal (with bonuses).
Yes, the Oilers schedule is likely a factor but bear in mind Colorado has lost only one game in regulation in 12 road games.
Hard to imagine how dominant they might be if their underperforming power play (24th) gets rolling.
IMO, their excellence starts in the executive suite with a clear understanding of team building, pro scouting and value contracts and extends to the coaching staff and team leadership from Landeskog, MacKinnon and Makar.
MacKinnon is the better player and captain
Landeskog is the Colorado captain but MacKinnon is great leader nonetheless.
Maybe so, he is pretty hard on everyone around him from reports. That works with some people, others not
On 1440 a few times have heard mention of oilers seeming to have higher than league average issues with bad lime changes causing problems.
I have yet to hear anyone correlate this to maybe being at least in part due to almost no ome havimg any idea what lines are goimg to be from shift to shift let alone period to period let alone game to game.
Like this blender bs has got to be crazy confusing and surely hard on guys tryim to keep head in the game as far as anticipating when they shoukd be ready to jump.in again.
Been saying it for years. I mostly don’t notice other teams changing, with the Oilers it’s often where the heck is everybody – goal – or another rush dies because the puck carrier has no support for too long
Should the Oilers try to acquire a proven #1? Of course, but one isn’t easily acquired considering the lack of proven #1s in the league, let alone ones who have won a Cup. By my count, there are currently only 10 active NHL goalies who have been either the starter or the backup on a Stanley Cup winner: Bobrovsky, Vanecek (never got into a playoff game last season), Stolarz, Hill, Vasilevskiy, Binnington, Allen, Grubauer, Murray, and Quick.
Of those goalies, Grubauer is the only one who would likely be available. Maybe Binnington, maybe Murray. Grubauer is as inconsistent or more than Skinner, and his cap hit and injury history are problems. Grubauer was only a backup to Holtby when he won a Cup, so you can’t definitively say he can be the starting goalie on a Cup winner. Binnington is also inconsistent. He has been declining stats-wise even as the team is on the rise and has had good seasons the past couple of years (92 pts in 2023-2024 and 96 points in 2024-2025). Binnington has a prohibitive cap hit (with another season to go), and is a team chemistry question mark (which could actually be what the Oilers need at this point). Murray is less likely to be available because he’s having a great season, although in a small sample size, and has an amazing cap hit; however, he is an injury risk and is currently expected to be out for the next several weeks.
I think it was knighttown who made an excellent post recently about the way teams look at goaltending. In the post, the author said teams are prioritizing having two NHL level goalies, which seems to be true looking at how teams handle load management and the fact that there aren’t many goalies who consistently put up good results.
There aren’t many goalies who would be clear upgrades over Skinner, and those who are, are not likely available. It’s all fine and dandy to say they should have gone after some of the goalies who were available on the waiver wire, but the reality is, they are massive wildcards. They’re still worth a gamble, but are more likely to not be the answer than they are to be the answer. As I’ve said before, DiPietro has terrible NHL results in the 3 games he has played in the NHL, while Daws doesn’t have great results in the NHL, although he does have some impressive numbers in the 7 games he has played over the past 2 seasons. Dipietro’s age (26 and only 3 NHL games to date) and size (6’0” to 6’1”) also give some pause for consideration.
Skinner still has the time to find consistency in his game and is the more likely of the three to raise his game to a level capable of winning the Stanley Cup. If getting DiPietro or Daws/Allen, or even Jarry, Soderblom/Commesso (Chicago), Lyon/UPL, or Kochetkov, without impact loss, to play in tandem with Skinner is the play, then, I’m all for it.
Skinner can have a run of good enough games, but despite Pick’s W/L record, his numbers have never been cherry. Someone who can spell Stu off and keep the level up is critical, go with the hot hand. Knoblauch doesn’t seem to think it’s Pick
I’m in full agreement with you on this. Find a complementary goalie. This is the way.
If not for Pickard saving the team last year Skinner would be long gone. Pickard is basically AHL level always has been he did a commendable job last in season and Playoff run. Skinner suckered in Bowman with his toned down I’ll be better I promise boss off-season spiel. It’s going get extremely ugly if Skinner continues at his .880 level of play.
How did Pickard save the season? By stepping up when Skinner went down? Isn’t that what a backup is supposed to do? In the games Pickard played in while Skinner was out near the end of the season, he went 7-3 in games against Sea (L), Cgy (W), Veg (W), SJ (W), LA (L), StL (W), and SJ (W). Out of those games, only 3 were against playoff teams, and he went 2-1. Do you know who also got wins against every one of those teams last season? Skinner.
In the playoffs, Pickard was a goalie who helped the team get to the Stanley Cup Finals, just like any goalie who gets a start is supposed to do. You know who else helped get the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals? Skinner.
It’s a great problem to have when both of your goalies can contribute to the team’s success.
As for this season, I highly doubt Skinner “suckered in Bowman with his toned down I’ll be better I promise boss off-season spiel.” What likely happened was that Bowman looked at the market, conferred with his scouting team and anyone else whose opinion he valued, and decided what he had was just as good as anything he could afford or otherwise acquire.
He may have also factored in that they brought in a new goalie coach who, as far as I know, wouldn’t really have a lot of time to work with Skinner with the Oilers’ training camp and preseason schedules and the limited in-season practice time due to the Oilers’ compressed schedule and amount of time on the road. Camp opened on Sept. 17 with on-ice sessions starting the next day. Preseason games started on Sept. 21 with 8 games (7 in reality since one was a split squad game) between then and Oct. 8. That’s 7 games over 17 days, which doesn’t necessarily leave a lot of time to work on specific elements, especially if CBA restrictions on practice time vs. “days off” are in place.
Lowetide said “Stop giving out NMC”s”.
Amen.
I can see you providing them to superstars (McDavid and Drai), and even some of the players you believe to be foundational pieces (so despite their consistent play, Nurse and Bouchard at time of signings would have fallen under this).
But Henrique? Frederic?! Janmark (partial)? What on earth are the GM’s in Edmonton doing??
The Avs have 4 NMCs, and 7 modifieds. Makar has no protection weirdly. Dallas has 7 NMCs and that’s it. The Oilers 9 NMCs and 2 modifieds. If they can do it we can too
I could see Jarry as a backup or 1B, I can’t see Jarry as 1A or full fledged starter. If I’m looking to make a impact statement to the room, I’d attempt to make a different move.
Tristan Jarry says, “No you don’t.”
Not sure if anyone got the reference?
Nope, went way over…
I like Tristan Jarry for the Oilers if a trade does happen, would prefer to go with Ingram.
Hear me out. Jarry and Ingram.
Happy Yanky Thanky to all of the American fans.
No matter who comes here as a goalie , the Oilers are going to overpay. I cannot see any GM doing the Oilers a favour. Especially Armstrong who bent the Oilers over stealing 2 players last year. Guy is ruthless.
you know it really is sad that they didn’t grab Dipietro off waivers earlier this year, or even trade for a goalie this past summer instead of grabbing a dream hope with Ingram.
The report out ( not sure if this happened) that the Oiler players poo poo’d the idea of sending down Pickard is an absolute joke IMO. IF true what is going on with the inmates running the asylum? I like Picard, but this team should shut the hell up and let the GM make the decisions and try and help them out. This isn’t a country club and bending into the players wishes is an absolute joke. The team didn’t want him gone, but yet the D especially are not playing up to potential to help the guy out. If that really did happen , this team needs a huge wake up call and A shake up is needed more than ever.
This team is in trouble right now, so the players better buckle down, STFU and play some meaningful hockey NOW.
THIS team is a joke with the talent they have. In all honesty the coaching staff is a bit of a joke right now with all the excuses. Knoblauch is getting some practise time this weak so this team better come out and play some D on Saturday. If they don’t Stewart should be fired immediately and they should force Coffey back on the bench.
It’s time to put up and shut up and play like they can.
Seattle is a MUST win on Saturday.
Well, that ought to do it…
How do they force Coffey back to the bench? Is their a jail under the ice district?
Sadly the team needs a jolt. Clattenburg has the most energy and give a shit outside of Savoie.
the old dogs are tired, knowing it is a long season. The issue is they are once again diggin a heck of a hole. And this time they may not climb out.
So a shakeup is needed. I agree LT, start with Ingram. See if that helps. Sending Pickard, their guy they love, to the minors before Christmas should shake them al up. their fault he is sent down. they have been crap in front of their goalies. Dollar wise it makes sense, and potential wise it does as well.
Sending Janmark or kapanen down does nothing. All their guys healthy plus the Ingram/Pickard slap in the face is the first jolt. No response, then it’s a major shakeup.
The coach is also running McDavid and Drai into the ground which does not help a bit.
What happens Saturday is going to be really interesting. Does the team respond w/a better effort or not. The last few times they’ve had practice time, they’ve looked like absolute crap – and that’s pretty damning on the coaches.
Happy thanksgiving!
But I do strongly disagree with you LT. I think Skinner is gonna have trouble hanging around even as a backup. The combination of poor lateral movement, bad rebound control, and being mentally weaker than most goalies is a deadly combination
The difference between him and Soupy was he could shake off the goals and keep fighting, that part has been gone the last couple of years. He’s essentially soupy now.
You are not alone. 🙂 That’s okay, it makes the conversation more interesting.
Do you have any actual evidence of Skinner being mentally weaker than most goalies, or of his inability to shake off the goals?
I would think most goalies would suffer behind this team defence. Skinner has shown that he can lock it down over short periods of time after an iffy goal or poor team play in front of him (see Florida game), and he has shown that he can lock it down and/or recover over a longer stretch (see last season’s series with Vegas and Dallas).
The media from the telecast crew down has given Skinner a pass continuously over the years whereas Campbell was taking hit after hit from game one. Ask yourself why?
Could be that he’s young, cheap, homegrown, and likeable.
if he was brought in as a free agent with a 6 mil cap hit the knives would have been out a lot earlier
Skinner is not mentally weak. He lasted longer than Campbell and Talbot. Koskinen surrendered and went to Europe. Skinner has not quit after being pulled in critical moments.
Skinner is going to go to a team who plays with structure and will be fine.
Ones he gets beat another goal is coming. He fell apart in both playoff runs and needed sports psych intervention and thankful that Pickard took over well for stretches.
Skinner is gonna go to another team to win the lotto
As stated yesterday, fix and maximize what you can control. Throwing another name into the roster, this person will be absorbed into the shitmix.
Fix what is within your power to do. You have Ingram, give him a timeline. Play energy to eat up some minutes. Give roles, provide absolute standard. Hold player to that role or standard. Encourage those who do it right. In the meantime…
Bowmans has enough information now to be sure of some things, but his best move is patience. There is enough talent on this roster to be at least winning 6 out of every 10 games, even when struggling.