The Edmonton Oilers carved up the Kraken from the anthem to the final horn last night at Rogers Place. The dogs were barking as the cars were parking, the loan sharks were sharking, the narcs were narcing, practically everyone was there. The Kraken have been outscored by the Oilers 13-4 in the two recent meetings, and that’s called just what the doctor ordered.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER
- At home to: Wild, Kraken, Jets (Expected 2-1-0) 1-1-0
- At home to: Sabres, Red Wings (Expected 1-0-1)
- On the road to: TML, Canadiens, Penguins (Expected 2-1-0)
- On the road to: Bruins, Wild (Expected 1-1-0)
- At home to: VEG, Flames (Expected 1-0-1)
- On the road to: Flames, Jets (Expected 1-0-1)
- At home to: Bruins (Expected 1-0-0)
- Expected Record: 9-3-3, 21 points in 15 games
- Actual Record: 1-1-0, two points in two games
- Season Record: 12-11-5, 29 points in 28 games
This is an important month for the Oilers, and things are looking up. The goaltending has improved to .893 overall in the last five games (good for 16th, while remaining 32nd overall). The offense erupted last night, it was a double album with nine hit songs (Frampton Comes Alive?) and hit harder than that (Exile on Main Street) for a fan base waiting for a sign this team had real torque.
- Podz-Leon-Savoie: 11:40, 4-4 shots, 1-0 goals, 49X, 2-1 HDSC
- Nuge-McDavid-Hyman: 11:21, 7-5 shots, 1-1 goals, 44X, 3-6 HDSX
- Mangiapane-Henrique-Janmark: 10:25, 5-5 shots, 1-0 goals, 75X, 6-2 HDSC
- Clattenburg-Lazar-Frederic: 4:15, 2-4 shots, 41 X, 2-0 HDSC
It’s impossible to identify the top story in this group of forwards. Connor McDavid went 3-1-4, Leon Driasiatl went 1-3-4, Nuge had three assists, Adam Henrique had a couple. Matt Savoie scored twice, Vasily Podkolzin walked over to Leon’s firing range and scored from there. Zach Hyman scored, Andrew Mangiapane had an assist. Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar posted a HDSC each.
I think I’ll pick McDavid as the top story. His seven shots are such a positive sign. The captain is on pace for 117 points. That would be fourth-best for his career. It was a good night.
- Nurse-Regula 15:37, 6-5 shots, 71X, 6-1 HDSC
- Kulak-Emberson 15:22, 4-8 shots, 1-1 goals, 35X, 2-3 HDSC
- Ekholm-Bouchard 13:43, 10-8 shots, 3-2 goals, 53X, 6-5 HDSC
The defense, like the forwards, rotated not far from equally. The troops were fresh and the results fine. High event night for the Bouchard pair against an offensively challenged Kraken side, but that’s picking nits. Calvin Pickard stopped 28 of 32, .875.
Jake Walman’s day-to-day is now two weeks, and that’s a concern. I wrote about the Condors defense at The Athletic today, ranking the recalls. One thing the exercise taught me: Waiving Troy Stecher took some balls. Another thing it taught me? Damien Carfagna is going to play in the NHL. It reminded me that you can never have too many defensemen.
One way we can track progress during December for the Oilers is by counting five-on-five goals by center. This has been a tough year for the captain in this regard, and moving Nuge up to 97-Hyman should help. Last night, he was 1-1 at five-on-five, and the totals for the season (away from Draisaitl) are not good:
- 97 & 29: 9-9 (50 percent)
- Draisaitl: 18-10 (64 percent)
- McDavid: 13-17 (43 percent)
- The rest: 14-35 (29 percent)
McDavid has never finished below 50 percent in five-on-five goal percentage, but is 22-26 (46 percent) this morning. His expected goal share is 51 percent, so regression should occur. As for the third and fourth lines, it’s beyond a mess. Last night was encouraging (Henrique line) but more is needed. We’ll track these totals through the end of the month.
On the Lowdown today, our feature guest is Steve Lansky, and we’ll spend plenty of time talking Oilers, World Cup Draw and NFL weekend. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
New for The Athletic: Ranking Edmonton Oilers’ call-up options on suddenly thin defence depth chart
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6861775/2025/12/05/edmonton-oilers-defence-depth-chart-jake-walman-injury/
i must say that i did raise the bell regarding the need of a two way/ shutdown blue on a waiver exempt contract that we could stash in bako.
ryan johnson out of buffalo, cade webber from toronto, would be the guys i would target.
They need one for sure.
Hilarious caption and picture LT
Condors pressing hard for the first 7 minutes of the 3rd and then a brutal turnover by Prokop in the defensive zone for a quick strike 2 on 0 and Ingram has NO chance.
4-2 knights.
Bakersfield has such an odd record. Undefeated at home (0.944 winning percentage, #1 in the league), only 1 win and 5 points on the road (0.227 winning percentage, 3rd last in the league).
I am happy to see Petrov back in the line-up this week, very strange he didn’t get games in the ECHL, while 3 other prospects have been there all year. I guess the organization has decided to employ the “development by osmosis” method for him 🫤.
Ingram with a big save on a SH 2 on 1 by Henderson, the puck goes the other way, Hutson with a dangle on the d-man near the face-off dot, a shot, the rebound goes out the other side and Marjala buries it.
Leppanen drew the PP off a nice rush.
3-2 Knights and Ingram is the main reason the game is close.
Summarizing!
Fischer scored his 5th of the season and added an assist.
Park bagged his 6th tally.
Barnett, Berry and Wakely were denied life-affirming soup.
Lafreniere’s game is in progress, late in period 2. Update in the a.m.
Lafreniere was held off the scoresheet, ending his 12-game point streak.
He had a good night on the dot though–he seems to be playing at C often lately–winning 15 of 23 draws (65.2%).
The most mad of all scrambles and somehow the puck goes up and over the pile and in and the Condors are down 3-1.
Its 3 goals against on 20 shots against Ingram but lets be clear, he’s been very good (2nd goal meh).
I praise Josh Brown in a few threads earlier today and he’s having a HORRIBLE night. Primarily culpable on both goals against and multiple additional giveaways.
Oh my, Ingram with maybe the save of the year in the AHL, maybe in North American pro hockey – amazing full stretch glove save on a one-timer cross seam on the PK…..
https://x.com/bcurlock/status/1997158928162214199
Carfagna has left the game with an upper body injury and won’t return.
Blah.
Samanski with the zone entry and simple drop to Howard, he drives the net to force the d-men back and Howard rips one home from the top of the circles.
2-1 Henderson.
Henderson attacker turns Josh Brown inside out a bit on a one on one,.cuts to the center and rips one past Ingram – a “meh goal”.
2-0 early in the 2nd.
Condors give up a quick strike break after a poor PP but Ingram with a solid shoulder save to keep it 1-0.
Petrov with a wonderful cross-seam pass to Jarventie for the one-time bomb but Lindbom with a plus save!
Top line over-aggressive on a rush – 4 caught deeps and Brown with a poor step-up leading to a breakaway against – Howard tried hard on the back check but didn’t get there and the first shot on Ingram is in the net.
Max Jones out (constantly banged up) and Keppen in (not Copponi).
Petrov elevated to the 2nd line with Marjala and Jarventie – on merit – a great game finally getting back in the line up on Wed and the 3rd period may have been his best as a pro. Hope he keeps the momentum going.
Ingram starts.
Happy Birthday LT. Thanks for all you do for this community.
All the best to you and your family
Happy birthday!
Happy 39th BDay LT!
— I endorse this – Happy Bday !
Happy belated birthday!
That was a coming out party for Savoie last night when’s the last time we seen a couple of SH breakaways (Todd Marchant) I hope they continue to give the green light when SH would love to see Nurse involved as well.
Speaking of d-men in Bako one related note is the pop of Paul Fischer this season.
I think Paul Fischer might be the Oilers most under-rated prospect.
If I’m not mistaken, his calling card is high end defensive play but he’s now developed his 2-way and offensive game.
Let’s not forget, this was a targeted add by Bowman. At the time of acquisition, Bowman said he’d seen him play close to 100 times.
Look forward to him signing his ELC and turning pro
Kulikov as an Oiler was 10 lbs lighter. Hmmmm
Bowman has found talent with a realistic shot, but the ones being talked about are mostly undersized and that’s all of the D prospects. What can we make of that?
The Oilers won’t go down the PEDs road. Others will. They will all have to hit the gym big time beaucoup if they want a permanent job. If the NHL is the goal, the should be clean but be gym rats until they can’t get heavier and stronger
If I was that age and that was the realistic thing holding me back I’d be dog on bone
Olympic year. Time to be careful
They finally have magniapane in the right place!
Drai more likely to figure out how to utlize savoie better but that podz drai roslo line just seemed so damn effective i still hate idea it gets scarificed.
Podz keeps finding space and quick releasing pucks good things surely are going to follow. 15-20 5×5 goal season would be awesome.
I have been saying for a while that I can’t wait for Nuge to get back so Mangiapane can be moved out of the top 6 – he’s likely to be much more positively impactful on the third line given his current level of abilities – he’s better suited to that role right now.
Listening to Bruce Curlock waxing poetic about Quinn Hutson on Stauffer’s show yesterday, it sounds like he might be LT’s long awaited “Pisani”
Smart, skates well enough for the NHL, is almost perfect defensively and is putting up enough offense in the AHL to project as a NHLer.
Also had some great things to say about Samanski’s skill set and offense to go with his NHL size.
Both Bruce and LT being bullish on these two is a good thing.
Good to hear the org hitting (so far) on some minor pro signings
Curious, what do you think about undersized bottom 6 players in the NHL?
Pretty sure that 99.9% agree that this blog is a better place with Woodguy!
Dylan Holloway with 12 points at 5 on 5 and a 43% goal share
Podkolzin wth 11 points at 5 on 5 and a 57% goal share.
Yes, Leon matters, but still.
Holloway would have still been great on our team (last season was not replicable), and still cheaper than Arvidsson (who is doing decent things while not injured in Boston), Frederic, Henrique, and Mangiapane.
Having another offensive winger is not a bad thing. And the whole Blues team is in shambles right now so hard to know about the goal share. His expected goal % is 56% and this is 8% better than when he’s off the ice (?quality of comp but he’s in the top 6). I think most wish we still had him
Broberg is 52% expected goals for since moving. Not bad. Not really killing it either in the role and partners that he’s had.
Seems like both are going to be overpays in the next contracts, and Broberg may be elsewhere in a year. Both would have been valuable these past 2 years, no doubt. I also consider that Broberg’s offer sheet got a second and Walman cost us a first, so Walman locked up for his prime + 1st for prissy Broberg and a 2nd is fine with me. Losing Holloway for babkas was the sin.
For sure, I think Holloway would great on the Oilers and great at his current cap hit.
At the same time, and the point of my post was really, that maybe Holloway isn’t a locked in play driving 0.9 PPG player he looked to be trending towards and Pod isn’t a replacement level 4th line plugger some (including me, kind of) thought he was a year ago.
Holloway, even if his season continues as is, likely grabs a $6MM per contract this off-season
Agree. And that would be reasonable if he got that with the cap rising, but definitely not a discount.
What do you think is not an overpay for a top 6 winger next season?
You’re already asking the wrong Q. The question is what is not an overpay for a middle 6 forward, which is what he’s been playing as for his entire career. He is not a proven top line W, never has done that and never facing top lines throughout the season. A Zach Hyman is worth more than a Dylan Holloway, any day of the week.
https://thehockeywriters.com/blues-holloway-projecting-contract-extension/
He is not worth 8-9 million x 8 years, even with inflation, I can tell you that much.
The memories of players for many fans doesn’t remember everything. It wasn’t good how they lost the two players, but things were far from clear, largely due to developmental delays because of repeated injury at the worst times
5v 5GF% this season Bro is at 50%, one of 4 not under water, and 2 of them are 8 games or less. Last season they had 17 players. Seems like a rising tide floated all boats, and reality has come back for a visit
I didn’t mention Broberg in my post.
Just to be clear, I wish both these players were still on the Oilers (although not at Holloway’s likely contract number for next season).
But still…Holloway’s centre is Pius Suter whose career high is 46 points.
Despite that severe handicap Holloway is scoring .50 P/GP while Podkholzin is scoring .39
With Snuggerud and others on IR, St. Louis has a severe shortage of forwards.
I imagine if Holloway and Podkholzin switched places, this wouldn’t even be close.
and the reason for his center being Pius Sutter is cause he didn’t get much done with the other centers
No, its because Schenn was needed on the top line.
Classic cherry picking DSF. One night you attack RNH for goal share, then you ignore Holloway’s poor share (while Podkolzin’s is better)
You lack capacity for nuance. Holloway and Podkolzin can both have value
You just disparaged Draisaitl pts/game as recently as yesterday.
It’s okay to admit you have a hard on for him and McDavid and wish they were on Vancouver.
St louis basically screwed us for no real purpose. Like both those guys are walking into last rfa year contract with arbitration rights.
Is holloway worth 5 million? I bet he’ll want something like that on a contract of any length.
What kikd of deal is broberg willing to take for length?
I think they are going to end up too high to lock them both in.
Broberg is gonna cost more than Walman. I don’t think Holloway is very happy in St. Louis
Rightfully so.
Walman’s contract extension kicks in when he is 30.
Broberg will be 25 and offers a much longer runway of peak performance.\
LT, as a math guy, I’d love to see you discuss goalie /team stats other than SV%. GAA and SV% are as much team stats as individual player (goalie) stats.
From what I read and hear from people who are not content with the “goalies are voodoo” (lack of) analysis, things like Expected Goals Against and Saves Above Expected Goals, are more useful. Not perfect. But certainly throwing more light on what’s happening. I think it makes it harder to default to blaming the goalie, which doesn’t tell us much about anything, except that we, as fans, are always looking for an easy answer.
There has been some – to my eyes- interesting and detailed goalie discussion here recently, notably by @Ryan. I’d love to see more, and especially about xGA and SAxGA.
Your thoughts on these metrics? Especially as a way to better understand the defensive struggles of this team in this early season?
When a relatively new metric appears, I fade it. When enough people yell at me for not adopting it, I begin to pay attention Long after, I write about it. Currently, I’m interested in ‘expected save percentage’ and may write about it. However, I do think the noise around goalies is massive, and unless I’m convinced it would be dishionest to write about it.
Thanks
Goalies are such an emotional (biased) topic and Ryan’s math (logical) view has certainly added to the conversation. I found it interesting that there was zero discussion regarding goaltending in the goals against last night. I noticed something with Pickard that I’ve not previously recognized. When he goes into the butterfly he doesn’t have any recovery ability, seemingly unable to use his edges to push across once down. He often slides out of position and then has to dive to make any recovery saves (ala the diving Tampa save).
is this lack of flexibility? Style? Age?
Ive watched a bit of Wolf as I live in Calgary and I’m interested in how a smaller goalie is doing as well as he is. He is incredibly fast moving around his crease- up, down and side to side. He doesn’t get as easily out of position. I would say his skating is exceptional.
Skinner also seems slow to recover and so when he is swallowing the puck he doesn’t better, and also when his defense boxes out, which is not as frequently as I’d like.
i guess my point is you can look at numbers but it’s not the whole picture. Sometimes I think the style of the team matching the goalie is likely the most important.
Thanks. I’m curious about how Wolf fares, not only this year, but after several years of being leaned on heavily.
Are those stats as good as they are made out to be? A major issue I have always had with expected goals is that it is comparing players to a model. So you have to hope that the model is accurate.
Looking back at Stanley Cup winners, MoneyPuck’s top xG% team has won one cup. The 2010 Blackhawks. That’s 1 for 16.
I also struggle with how there never seems to be any error analysis with analytics. All statistics contain a signal and noise. We need to know how noisy the signal is in order to trust the signal. I suspect we never see this sort of analysis because it would highlight how untrustworthy a lot of statistics are.
Thanks
I would note that the one goal against was 100% Leon – no chance for any recovery help by the pair.
A thing that needs to change is that our top players need to have cleaner sheets at Cult of Hockey. They all got a pass last game because of the whalloping
It’s one thing when it’s said that the best players have more turn overs because they have the puck more, that’s just basic logic. It’s another when they make a lot of key mistakes. This is what sinks them at the end, and to me it’s different than turn overs
The closer the puck gets to their net, the more all of the players need to battle to keep it out, especially the best ones. That doesn’t have to mean giving up offense, as this season Colorado shows, and other teams playing well any season
The other side to this is that when a team fights hard to not get scored on, is paying well and the goalie too, it frustrates the other team which can drive more positive momentum
Last night was a bit of a “step back game” as far as defensive play.
More leaks last night than the past few weeks (except Dallas, of course).
Likely somewhat to do with the multi-goal lead for most of the game (although Leon’s gaff led to it being a one-goal game but the Oilers did have a multi-goal lead when he made it).
Maybe the biggest plus for me last night was the third line being very good, dominating possession, not giving anything up and scoring. I’m not sure that line will be able to sustain but it sure would be nice if they could be a solid to plus NHL 3rd line until Rosolvic is back.
Condors tonight (and tomorrow) and I’m excited.
So many of the new adds showing they are real prospects and crushing it.
A few names that aren’t mentioned as much:
1) Marjala – he’s a point per game on the season and second in scoring. Lots of PP merchant in his game and I’m not sure if his offence will translate at the next level but he is REALLY SKILLED with the puck, a great stickhandler with plus vision.
2) Leppanen – he is really coming along in all facets of his game. Lots of work on his 2-way play but he’s already come a long ways – he was a complete liability the first 3 weeks of the season, almost unplayable – he’s now stabilized in to the structure, generally, and is making some plus defensive plays and his offensive game is now where it was expected. I’m not sure if he’ll make it at the next level but his progress should be noted!
Nice to hear about Leppanen.
His story is something out of a movie – from not playing hockey at 20, to leading the Liiga in scoring as a defenseman at 26. Every single year his stats have taken big strides forward.
I think there’s a chance we have another Reijo Ruotsalainen on our hands.
Always a joy to see McD being lethal, but the real treats were Savoie finding the twine and Podz doing his Drai impression. Single events I hope might indicate a slow moving of the needle.
This team _needs_ its yutes to cash or the Connor extension counts for not enough.
I was so happy for Savoie after not scoring on the first breakaway and then being able to capitalize on his second opportunity. He noted in his post-game during the first intermission, Stu suggested he go backhand the next time and he was able to get a second opportunity and use that advice to score.
The Drai Discipleship is beginning to show…
Re McDavid, I’ve mentioned several times that one of the problems I’m seeing is lack of leadership from McD and Draisaitl.
Specifically: Last year, when McD was hurt, and after a brief benching for silly penalties, Draisaitl stepped up and began to play as if the Selke mattered (& as if the Rocket Richard was his to lose).
For whatever reason, and despite his expressed desire to “shoot more,” McD has not been inspiring his team to greatness w his weak defensive play this year.
Is that “voodoo?”
Who knows why these guys do what they do, when they do it?
Maybe the 0-1 was the voodoo required to get McD to shoot more.
What voodoo will inspire Draisaitl to play for the Selke? Or McD to follow suit?
My guess is that when these leaders step up, shooting more and defending as they can, the supporting cast will be there to follow them.
In the meantime, I watch and wait, with curiosity: what voodoo will unlock this team?
>The rest: 14-35 (29 percent)
That shouldn’t even be possible. Every organization strikes out on UFA signings and prospects not blossoming but nobody has it down to a science like our Edmonton Oilers. I’ll admit i’m a Cup or bust type fan especially here in Decade # 2 of Connor McDavid so numbers like this are really distressing. Just getting into the playoffs will require a herculean effort let alone making a genuine serious run.
I hear ya but I still think they got this.
Agree – it’s absurdly bad. Having Nuge and Hyman back resets the roster & it’ll be interesting to see if KK can build a 4th line now.
88-19-10 (I call him Casper) by all accounts should be a very good 3rd line. With Roslovic and Kapanen out we have yet to see this team at full health up front
Since the Tampa game 12 Oilers are above 50 5v5 GF%. Of the 9 under, Things are turning Connor Drai and Nuge are in there, Walman with 1 game is 0-0, they will get above soon enough we hope. The only one with a significant GF issue now is Regula at 0-4, but he played well and I think had some post concussion effects hopefully going away
It’s too bad they are slow starters, and it’s been compounded by having played so much. Build to the playoffs and get in firing on all cylinders, that’s all that matters in the end
Henri is playing very well lately. I have been down on him for quite some time. Glad to see his resurgence. I wonder if a Howard or Hutson on his wing would work?
Likewise w me and the Janitor.
Hope they can keep squeezing it out.
Agree on Janmark.
He’s improved his defensive game from last season and, for me, he’s added a bit of a “pest” element this year.
They need to give Jarventie some games would he replace Janmark-Clattenburg? Where would Jarventie be the best fit in your opinion?
Jarventie can play wing on any of the three lines, in my opinion.
I don’t imagine Knob would do that though.
I would be for a Hutson or Jarventie call-up with Lazar moved out of the lineup (Fred at 4C) and Janmark down to line 4 – noting that the third line played well last night.
If Samanski continues his solid play and then has a good Olympics with Leon does he get a call for 4-C? Bowman started with nothing and has built a farm system in less than 2 years. It’s actually quite amazing yet he did the same thing in Chicago. Hutson-Jarventie-Samanski-Howard-Clattenburg and the 2 Finns could all see meaningful NHL time.
Henrique hasn’t scored a goal since Oct 23, he’s got 3 assists in his last 16 games.
The Belanger triangle is alive and well.
He did double the amount of points he registered in November last night.
I thought we were winning a Cup or 2 with Henrique as a 3-C. In hindsight they should of kept Carrick for half the price.
Really odd to note that as a massive fan of Janmark who scored his first regular season goal in close to 50 games last night…..
Henrique has a had an underwhelming, but solid, season – a big part of the PK and his defensive game is coming along recently.
I would cite Hutson or Jarventie.
I think they want to, and should, give Howard a real run in the AHL to continue working on his game – of note, Howard was moved OFF the top line last game…… he hasn’t been nearly as good in his last two games.
Oilers creeping up the rankings for the extra fancy fancies (xG%, HDSC%) and while it’s a small sample size, the eye test from the last 6 games or so have matched that. Yesterday’s Oilers looked like last year’s Oilers in a good way.
It’s funny, watching McDavid slide his second goal home, all I could think while watching a frozen D’Accord was “Skinner would never”. Joey had a pretty bad night, but it’s not like he let his porous team down.
Saw some negative verbal about Clattenburg, but I saw him 1. force a delay of game penalty with his forechecking pressure 2. Take a very soft boarding penalty 3. make a great play to spring a rush as he stepped out of the box. Maybe it’s time to send him down where he can iron out some things, but it looks to me like he’s building upon his performances and unfortunately he brings a unique element to the roster right now. Very unfortunate injury, I hope he’s okay.
Finally: what a game for Savoie! He didn’t just score twice, but he was making some skilled plays too. Hopefully this is the start of an offensive breakout for him.
Clattenburg being criticized is nuts. That kid has been amazing. He has things to work on, but even one shift in the NHL at age 20 was mindblowing. A tremendous success imo.
Some people don’t get how special this kid playing NHL games is. Ask yourself how many 20 year-old 5th rounders have played meaningful minutes as a Oiler or any team for that matter?
Hey are you a fan of Clattenburg?
I love underdog stories the kid has moxie the team is definitely playing more spirited games since he arrived. He knows his job and he’s learning fast. Certain refs will target him for phatom calls in saying that he’ll also draw penalties.
I’m a numbers guy, but even I’m a fan of Clattenberg—I have been since I first saw him play in a prospect game.
Over the years, you see lots of energy guys who’’re willing to hit or drop the gloves, but Clattenberg is a bit unique.
He’s not the biggest guy or the strongest, but he’s got this motor and he can’t take his foot off the gas.
Blue Collar players and Edmonton Oilers fans fit like a glove. Ironic considering they’ve had the 2 greatest skill hockey players to ever grace this planet. Not that they don’t love them too, it’s just different.
Gator, Smytty, definitely Pronger come to mind but there are many other examples. The city values toughness and grit like no other, to the detriment of skill at times, given the comment section at times (hit moar grr). It’s an element that is absolutely needed and real.
Super excited for Clatts. He gives a bit of Cam Skattebo/Gronkowski energy you need. I think he’ll get sent down but every game he earns is a huge testament to him. He’ll be the fan favourite Freddy hasn’t been yet.
Yes Edmonton loves the grunts the obvious comparison is Buchberger. The one skill is Clattenburg can skate and if you can skate you can hang in this league for 10 plus years. I see Tyler Pitlick still in the league from Cleary-Chimera-Moreau-Torres-Kassian-Grier they all could skate. Clattenburg is unique as he’s not a heavyweight anyone on the opposition is fair game kinda like a poor man’s Sam Bennett. I don’t care what anyone says his call-up has put a spark into the team. I know he needs to work on many things but he’s a menace and as we used to say at work Chaos means Cash
Tyler Potlick did clear waivers a few days ago (but hasn’t been assigned to the AHL, still in the NHL, for now).
Mustve been a tasty meal to lick the pot.
Huge plus for the kid to get a nice Xmas bonus
hmm… I feel like your comments a bit ago regarding discourse might have been directed to me when I said that no sane person could conclude that Pickard didn’t steal them a point in TBL, and then I doubled down when that was challenged as offensive. If so, “crazy” and “not sane” are synonyms…
I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m saying that people shouldn’t be offended when a case is being made that demonstrates passion and logical reasoning. It’s not like we’re disparaging family members and bullying, like some trolls I know
One can agree that he’s been a tremendous success and give him full credit for earning an NHL game at 20 (and then earning more with his play in the NHL) but also believing that he remains best served in the AHL (and there are other more NHL ready, and older, players in the AHL) – without that being cited as a criticism right?
I mean Reja will take that as cheering against the kid but its not.
Clattenburg will burn out and die young in the AHL. Too many people willing to fight there for no good reason. The NHL is a “safer” place for him to develop, if he can not be a defensive liability.
This is so bang on Stan has always called up the young grunts with the Hawks and got the best yesrs out of them before they were mincemeat.
He’s only got 5 more fights available to him until he starts getting suspended.
This is a good thing as what he needs to do is to learn to “play hockey” – at the AHL level, he’s run around looking for hits and fights every shift. Clearly he was messaged by Knob that is not quite what they are looking for – of course, bring energy and finish checks to staying in structure and making puck plays are important.
He needs to focus on that at the AHL level.
He should also ask for PK time as its tough to see him with more than 5-7 minutes per night at 5 on 5 at the top level, at least for a while.
He’s a good skater and could develop in to a good PK guy if he can make the reads.
Love the song references in the title and preamble. A couple of my favourites. I appreciate your eclectic musical taste!
Hope #64 was held out because the game was not in doubt, rather than more serious injury concerns.
They need that energy. He would’ve beaten on someone at the end of that game when the Kraken were lingering around the goalie for sure. Lindgren and a couple others deserved to leave with some bruises.
Post game Tony B. tweeted that Knob mentioned Clattenburg got some stitches above his eye but was otherwise okay.
Knoblauch would have been a good hype man for the Black Knight from Monty Python. Like OP has stated before, one has to be leery of his player injury reports.
Would anyone be surprised if he’s having eye surgery today?
I shouldn’t joke about that, that’s too serious, but Knob is the King of “feeling good” and “maintenance day” followed by weeks (or months) of absence.
I love what Clatt can likely bring in the future, and what he brought early in this re-call but, truth be told, he’s not ready, based on watching him, right.
Each game he’s been a little less impactful and last night he had a bad penalty, a horrendous defensive zone clear attempt (with time and space and the team really needing a clear), etc.
He can’t PK so we are really in to 4-6 minutes unless its a blowout win.
He needs Bako more than the Oilers need him, at this point, in my opinion.
If Knob would commit to playing them in the top 9, the likes of Hutson and Jarventie have earned the call-up on playing lights out 2-way hockey in the AHL (and both being 23 years old – Hutson almost 24).
Prospectification!
It’s a sextet of NAmateurs what populate today’s docket.
Tommy Lafreniere cannot be stopped, he can only be contained. The last time he was held soupless, it wasn’t even Halloween yet. He has authored a 12-game point streak during which he has 10 + 11. As a result, he is tied for 2nd in goals (19) and 9th in points (35) in the Dub.
Wakely went off for a hatty last time, his 1st in the NCAA. Will he get another? Should he get another?
The Michiganders, who are still #1 in Div-1, have a weekend date with the rival Spartans whom Park, Barnett & Co. punted from the top spot.
D-men Fischer and Berry round out the sched.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 5 p.m.
UMass-Lowell (Wakely) @ 5:15 p.m.
St. Thomas (Berry) @ 6 p.m.
Michigan (Park, Barnettt) @ 6:30 p.m.
Kamloops (Lafreniere) @ 8 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Landry Heights time.
Oh, and it seems that Nicholl is expected to make his long-awaited return to the Knights lineup next month.
The “oft tense”… Yeah, that’s what I’ve called it this year as well.
I still can’t believe OP called McDavid’s 3G/1A last night.
Any prediction on the next winning lottery numbers?
Doesn’t he always predict McDavid is going to score 3g/1a ?
In my best Greta Thunberg voice “How Dare You”
Ha – was a bit surprised myself but it made sense to me that he was going to try his ass off to score a few goals – he was expressly mad at his passing choices last game and I don’t see Seattle, even as a solid defensive team, as a team that can contain him if he “sets his jaw” to score some goals.