The Edmonton Oilers looked a half bubble off plumb for most of the first period last night in Winnipeg; The Jets bullied the Oilers and forechecked Edmonton’s defensemen with great determination. You can credit another iconic Connor McDavid goal, the fact Trent Frederic took on an actual giant, or some other play, but whatever the reason Winnipeg folded like a cheap suit over the last 40 minutes. I think that team will have a new coach soon.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN JANUARY
- At home to: Flyers, Preds (Expected 1-0-1) 1-1-0
- On the road to: Jets (Expected 1-0-0) 1-0-0
- At home to: Kings (Expected 1-0-0)
- On the road to: Blackhawks, Preds (Expected 1-1-0)
- At home to: NYI (Expected 0-0-1)
- On the road to: Canucks (Expected 1-0-0)
- At home to: Blues, Devils, Penguins, Caps (Expected 2-1-1)
- At home to: Ducks, Sharks, Wild (Expected 1-1-1)
- Expected Record: 8-3-4, 20 points in 15 games
- Actual Record: 2-1-0, four points in three games
- Season Record: 22-16-6, 50 points in 44 games
The schedule is a good one for the rest of the month, the Oilers are tied for first (points) in the Pacific with Vegas Golden Knights. VGK have two games in hand, but Edmonton has gained four points in the last 10 games. In today’s NHL, that’s impressive.
- Nuge-McDavid-Hyman 11:12, 6-3 shots, 1-1 goals, 75X, 4-0 HDSC
- Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen 10:01, 3-5 shots, 1-0 goals, 39X, 2-4 HDSC
- Howard-Roslovic-Savoie 8:48, 7-3 shots, 0-2 goals, 66X, 2-1 HDSC
- Frederic-Lazar-Janmark 4:02, 1-2 shots, 5X
Connor McDavid is on a blistering pace now, leaping tall buildings in a single bound. In early November, I asked if the Oilers were overplaying him (here). His points-60 at five-on-five (1.37) and his solo goal share was 40 percent in the disicpline. Since then, his points-60 is 3.12 and he owns a 57 percent solo goal share. Amazing talent. I loved the Zach Hyman goal, he’s such a smart player. Same for Nuge, who sent a deft pass to Evan Bouchard for the winner. What a line.
Leon Draisaitl’s line is a fun trio to watch currently. Vasily Podkzolin flattens defensemen, Kasperi Kapanen makes wild back passes (to Podkolzin, who scored) and Leon is the “A” train every night. I think this line might hang for some time.
I know the third line gave up two goals, but aside from losing the faceoff one on one of them, not sure we ca be downbeat on any member of the unit. They look good to me, would suggest keeping them as a unit for another 10 games. That should get them to around 100 minutes and we’ll be able to see how they are trending. This Ike Howard fellow is something else.
- Ekholm-Bouchard 17:34, 13-5 shots, 1-0, 76X, 9-2 HDSC
- Nurse-Stastney 15:25, 9-3 shots, 1-2 goals, 70X, 3-1 HDSC
- Stillman-Emberson 11:43, 5-1 shots, 1-0 goals, 52X, 2-1 HDSC
- Calvin Pickard 13-16, .813
Evan Bouchard made a brilliant defensive play, scored a goal and picked up an assist. The top pairing is at 56 percent goal share at five-on-five. The only negative? The playoffs aren’t here yet. Nurse-Stastney were on for two GA but other than some unusual crease work I liked them just fine. Third pair looked steady, kept it simple. Calvin Pickard had a quiet night, but was not sharp in the first period.
On the Lowdown today, our feature guest will be Steve Lansky from Inside the Truck podcast. We’ll talk Oilers, NFL playoffs, college football and whatever the hell is going on with the Ottawa Senators. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Why Edmonton Oilers’ new makeshift line may be key to second half
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6954697/2026/01/09/edmonton-oilers-lineup-savoie-howard-roslovic-stats/
Love this new 3rd line. Fun to watch and should regress to getting some goals soon. I would think that keeping them together requires two things to happen; Kap keeps playing well on the 2nd line and that the 3rd actually cashes.
If both the above hold true, then the Oilers are legit to win the division. GOG
Let’s hope. Since Nov 20 (playing better) 5v5 the Oilers are 16th in GF at 49 – 24 PP GF. Overall they’re 6th at 82. 12th in GA 5v5 at 46, overall 12th at 66
The Avs are the opposite, crushing 5v5 1st with 69 GF, overall 1st at 96 – 12 PP GF. 5v5 2nd GA with 32, overall 1st with 50
If either team sorts out their weaker parts watch out
Bednar, a few games ago, said he was getting the team to focus on the PP and it seems to be showing some signs of life.
As recently as 2 weeks ago, they were ranked second last in the league but have since posted a 25% success rate in the last 5 games to improve to 24th.
Interesting though that in last night’s thumping of Ottawa, Bednar decided to not run up the score after going 33% on thePP in the first 2 periods.
Ottawa took 3 penalties in the 3rd period and Colorado sent out the second/third units for every one.
What a smart coach does. He gives the other guys some fun time – engagement
Josh Manson, who had a Gordie Howe hat trick in the game, was called on to QB the powerplay in place of Makar.
In a post game sit down interview , he admitted he was incredibly excited to do so since he hasn’t been called on to do that since he was in high school….over the moon.
Ottawa are in their decade of darkness phase, eh?
Canucks well on their way. They started well with the Hughes return but as the recent Athletic coverage points out they don’t have any history of that as a pattern in their decision making.
Not their first rodeo.
Remember the Mike Hoffman/Erik Karlsson wives cat fight.
Very happy for him
Incredible news. Thank you
Noah Philp in Carolina playing 7 and 10 mins his first 2 games since call up. I guess KK isn’t the only one who hopes he can do more with little TOI. Speculation he may play more if Kotkaniemi is traded, but hard to know with a hard nosed coach like Rod.
Curious to see what Carolina’s second opinion will hold, especially considering that opinion was not requested
Summarizing (Episode One):
The d-men who opposed each other tonight carried the load offensively.
Barnett recorded his 1st NCAA goal whilst Fischer garnered an apple.
Park, Wakely, Lewandowski and Nicholl did not receive soup.
Lafreniere’s match is in progress.
Summarizing! (Episode Dos)
Lafreniere picked up a helper in a 4-2 loss.
Kings have to travel from Winnipeg to Edmonton tonight after getting thrashed by the last place Jets (currently 5-1 in the 3rd).
Kings may come out “pissed” but the Oilers are in a good spot to get on them early and roll.
Connor Bedard returns to the lineup tonight after missing 11 games.
Will be watching to see how much he can catch up in the scoring race.
His 1.42 P/GP is 6th in the league.
In November, the stories around the NHL were all about the parity in the league and how it would be difficult to make trades with so many teams believing that they were still in contention for a playoff spot even at American Thanksgiving.
In the past month of so, we’ve had implosions in Vancouver, NYR, New Jersey and today in Ottawa. Everyone was so vague with the official statements from the Senators that I had to dig into the rumors and it’s wild right now.
As rough as it was in Edmonton thru the Decade of Darkness or during the McDavid rebuild, I’m thankful the drama never got this toxic as it’s happening in these other cities.
53-28-22
All results 5v5
TOI 14:43
Shot Share 83% (13-3)
xGF 83%
SCF 73%
GF 0% (0-2)
SH% 0%
SV% .333
PDO 333
This line is fire in an infitesimal sample with a PDO Moose kicking them in the face. Gotta keep that line going.
53 looks like a young Hyman. Total puck hound and not afraid of the blue paint. Hope he can put up with the punishment of going there.
28 has a good shot as well as 53. They should score some goals. I think 22 can be the play maker there, he needs to improve his board work. He’s small so he should get 93 to teach him how to win the puck on the boards when the other guy weighs 50lbs more than you.
I look forward to seeing more of this line. Could be manna from heaven.
This for sure. It seems to me from watching 22 this year and from his deployment that he would be a great eventual replacement for 93 as the mythical 3c. He is skilled, responsible and passes well. Your take on having 93 mentor his board work and teaching him patience with the puck (see 93 pass to 2 and then eventually on to McD breakaway goal). Maybe have someone else coach 22 on faceoffs lol. 28 scares me as being responsible defensively and I haven’t seen enough evidence of 28’s playmaking.
Ya know, I’ll bet Linus Ullmark could be had right now at 50% retention for a seventh-round pick.
He’s been a darn good goalie for a long time. If you take out this year (for seemingly obvious reasons), he’s got 92 GSAA in the past five years.
Elite goalies rarely become available. Ullmark is elite.
Hockey is mostly goalie.
And with goalies, you gotta throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks.
The only problem is all our NTCs. And nobody would waive to go to Ottawa right now….
The Oilers would have to do their due diligence about what is actually true and what is fabrication.
Some random guy opens an account, puts out an unverified rumor, and the account is gone 2 hours later.
Don’t think there’s any reason to believe anything flying around social media about the Senators, and I doubt very much that Ullmark is available.
There’s been several different posters on Reddit that seem to have information.
Of course co-ordinated fabrications are always possible. But a lot of things line up (Ullmark absence, other named players in slumps, the whole team seeming to fall apart). And Staios’ denials are awfully unusual. Elliotte Friedman said that the named Senators players are probably demanding out immediately, and Friedman’s not exactly a random source. If there were nothing to this, I doubt he would have even touched it.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire. And there’s a lotta smoke here.
I feel bad for Steady Steve. And for a franchise that already went through one tear-down over the Hoffman/Karlsson drama.
When has that mattered to the Oilers? Kane, Kassian, etc. never brought alleged issues to this team.
Far more concerned about Ullmarks play this season. Why would anyone take him when his GSA expected/60 ranks lower than every single goalie that has played for the Oilers this season, and he has the contract of a starting goalie that this team can hardly afford
The Oilers already traded for a goalie. Unless Jarry is heading the other way, which will not happen.
Chris Johnston
@reporterchris
The first Olympic test event at Santagiuliana Arena is being delayed because there’s a giant hole in the ice. They brought out a watering can to try and patch it.
The Italians never claimed to be world class hockey players, but didn’t expect them to confuse hockey with ice fishing.
Both Clattenburg and Dineen will be out “for an extended period of time”.
I feel like this is worth mentioning again.
While we are still waiting for the 3 game win streak type of consistency, I do think the fact that the team has pulled out the last 13 wins in regulation is big. Not just for the tiebreaker status (now 1st in division), but also it bodes better for playoff success to be able to not rely on 3v3 for points.
13 RW in past 21 games, compared to an abysmal 4 in the first 23…
They haven’t been able to win 3 in row but are essentially 2 out of 3 since December 1- not quite there but .639 P% since Dec 1 is close and is basically a division winning type pace.
Its wild how they’ve climbed in regulation wins when there were so few for two months.
The 6 week funk to start the season was real – pretty much all the vets were indifferent about playing, they really were.
It’ll be interesting to see how Bowman and co. handle roster construction and asset management going forward. They are developing a strong track record of creating value from nothing or late picks which Stauffer continued to add to saying we’re going to sign two RHC out of the NCAA and Europe who are mature prospects.
So our pipeline is getting full of players who are ready or on track for shots in the NHL but almost all top out as bottom six or bottom pairing and there is only so many spots. To me, the best asset and cap management would be to leave 3-4 forward spots and another D spot at the start of each year to these type of players who you can rotate between the NHL and AHL to see who can stick. They’re cheaper so you build cap space throughout the year while also hoping to build their value so you can flip some as part of deadline deals to bring in better players for playoff runs.
Breaking them down into buckets:
NHL ready bottom 6: Hutson, Jaraventie
On track for bottom 6 soon: Marajala (I get his limitations here), Clattenburg, Samanski, 2 rumoured RHCs
Likely Future bottom 6: Nicholl, Lafreniere, Lewandowski
NHL ready bottom pairing D: Emberson, Stastney, Regula
On track soon: Akey, Leppanen
Likely: Fischer, Yevseyev, Sandin, Barrett
Looking at the right d, it is really Regula’s job to lose. He is listed as 211 lbs and the others are all below 195. Size matters in a shutdown role. Regula has had a couple of bad games, and with 48 games of NHL experience he has to get it right away if he wants the job going forward.
Hoping for the others, but we will see.
Playing him on the second pair has not helped his progression. He may eventually be that guy but isn’t right now. Has the required size. Let him develop as a 6-7 D for a while.
Weirdly enough, Emberson is doing fairly well in a bottom pairing role that we 1. Don’t talk about him much and 2. It kinda blocks developing players that would normally have a soft landing there.
Kinda like Kulak on the left side for all those years.
The good thing is he’s only a cap hit of $1.3 mill per year for this season and next. I’m still hoping Emberson can push on to be a 2nd pair guy, but even if he doesn’t the cap hit isn’t large enough to make you feel uncomfortable with him on the 3rd pair.
Isn’t LT’s thing that with defenders you need 200 at bats before you can make a judgement on what they really are? He’s at 145 now so by the end of this season we should be pretty close to seeing if he’s going to be 3rd pair for life, or able to make a jump. To that same point, as Elgin R says above, Regula is at 48 games so he has a good bit more runway before we can truly say what he is.
I’m liking how the pipeline is filling up is my main takeaway.
Emberson is becoming an elite shut down 3RD. I would love to be able to just run him there through the playoffs but, at some point, in order to get Regula 3RD reps, they may need to see how Ty does at 2RD.
The issue is Regula is being asked/forced to play 2RD and not given any 3RD time.
Emberson has been lock down as 3RD, a GA/60 of apx 1.7 – yes, I know sheltered minutes but is it time to give Regula those minutes and see how Emberson does as 2RD for a bit?
Personally I think they should try Regula and Emberson at 2RD with both Nurse and Walman. See how both of them support the other side. I think just assuming Nurse is the 2LD without giving Walman that chance is not smart. Maybe even trying Walman with Bouchard like last year and having Ekholm work with the younger guys for a bit, seeing if his on ice coaching like he did with Bouchard makes a difference.
Personally, I am not sure Nurse has the patience and ability to play his game and coach his partner in real time. Not saying he can’t, just we know Ekholm can.
Bouchard can likely be put with any other d-man and thrive in tough minutes – shit, look what he did with Kulak for 150 minutes in the playoffs last season……..
I wonder what Ekholm is able to do away from Bouchard…?
Moving closer to the Olympic break and the trade deadline, I agree with Reja, hope the Oilers are looking to use some of their young promising forwards as trade capital. There just doesn’t appear to be room for them all. The fact that Hutson can’t stay in the line up is getting ridiculous at this point. Can’t let these assets die on the vine, so will need to turn them into something they can use soon.
Is it possible for an asset to be dying on the vine, after half a season as a rookie pro?
Lets not forget the player himself seems to have zero issues, less than 2 weeks ago he expressed how happy he is that he signed with Edmonton and how things are moving faster than he could have possibly imagined.
Team needs help this year.
I’m not sure that is relevant to the question I posed but, in any event, the Oilers are currently working Savoie and Howard in to the lineup and I think it might be tough for any coach to try and work a third very similar player (first or second year pro, undersized) in to the lineup let alone this coach who clearly requires trust to be earned before minutes and leverage – more than most fans think should be required.
To be honest, with Rico out, either Jarvenite or Samanski, both earning their chance right there with Hutson, would probably be more prudent.
In any event, I don’t think Quinn is dying on the vine 3 months in to his pro career.
Ok, I disagree with you
I posted the orher day that I have this bad feeling the org is going to try and move Hutson, just in time to watch him pop somewhere else. He is exactly the kind of guy you want bubbling under for a bit of insurance during the playoffs, and also for next year when guys like Roslovic and possibly Kapanen have most likely moved on. Free agency is expensive – the team should prioritize developing and deploying their own talent. If Hutson shows he can make it in the NHL and we have a legit logjam of smallish forwards, then sure maybe you start looking for a swap. But I feel like if you trade him prior to establishing himself, you’ll end up selling for pennies on the dollar.
Why would the organization move him though? He’s under contract and able to move between the AHL and NHL without needing to clear waivers. He’s playing well and getting reps in both pro leagues. Despite his age, I’d still call him a legitimate prospect.
If he’s part of a trade that provides a clear (and needed) upgrade, that’s just the cost of doing business.
I know you have that feeling but there is no indication that Bowman is looking to move on from the “older rookie’s” he just signed and is working in to the organization. Maybe he does sell one or more of these guys but Bowman has clearly had a plan to acquire this talent and he likely sees it as cheap value contracts going forward.
If he does move on from a Huston for value well, great job acquiring the assets and monetizing it, I guess, right?
Wonder if Carolina would have any interest in a Frederic for Kotkaniemi swap? Shorter contract, younger player, easier buy out if nothing else.
No offense, but that would be a terrible idea for the Oil. The Oil need some grit and toughness to get through another playoff grind. Having some skill with it is an asset. They traded Evander in part cause they felt that Frederic would provide that in a younger, cheaper contract. Unfortunately, they have so far been wrong on the player, but I don’t think wrong on the idea. They need to find a replacement for what they originallty sought, not bring in another soft, vanilla player like Kotkaniemi…
Fair, just don’t know how you find that player, and if you do, the team likely isn’t taking Frederic in exchange. Just trying to figure out how to get out from under that terrible contract.
I would keep Frederic over adding another KK to the organization. And also, Kotkaniemi sucks.
I would do that because the contract is several years shorter and because Frederic isn’t just bad, he’s useless.
Has been useless, not necessarily “is” useless or “will be” useless.
Yes, 40+ game is a long time and I get “what you see is what you’ll get” but there is a better player in there – he’s proven it over a longer period of time. That player, or a semblance of that player, will start to come out at some point. I’m hoping it happens sooner rather than later but I acknowledge it might just not be this season but it still very well could.
Come on Freddie – this org needs you.
I honestly don’t think it’s a terrible idea. Not that I think this is the Frederic of the future but I see JK as a bit of a Bjugstad type of player. If you’re expecting him to be a 2nd line centre, you’re joking yourself.
It is kinda like the people expecting Henrique to be a shutdown defensive zone starting 3rd line centre when he has proven to never be that. He needs the opportunity to provide offence and starting in the d zone 60-70% of the time is just handicapping him.
Bjugstad has averaged per 82g 17g 18a 35p through 785 games, with 2 of his best seasons coming after his 500th game. Career FO% of 49%.
JK through 501 games has averaged per 82g 13g 20a 33p, career FO% of 49.2 but for the last 4 seasons has averaged 51.5%.
There is a player there but you have to commit to playing him where his going to succeed. 3rd line centre, with some offensive zone starts or potentially trying him on the wing.
Liking the lines now, hopefully Knoblach lets them run for a few games and the team keeps playing well. Podz and Kap keep the energy up on that second line. I think Drai has another gear than what he’s shown the last few games so looking for this line to be even better. I think Roslovic’s ability to hold on to the puck and make plays is allowing some offensive zone time for that third line, giving the few kids a few more touches and it looks like their confidence is rising. Mcdavid line continues to dominate. Things are looking up.
I agree with all of this – I just hope they score a 5 on 5 goal soon, for confidence and vibes as much as anything. I believe there was a very high danger look for Howard on a shot from the slot (off a Roslovic pass) that he wired just wide/high – man I wish that would have gone in.
Its coming, I think, but if they go 4-5 games without scoring, that will get in their heads no matter how well they seem to be playing.
The big thing I notice watching the game recap is that the majority of highlights were McDavid or the Howard-Savoie-Roslovic line (both good and bad). They’ll be a high event 3rd line, but they seem to be all over the ice and looking to make plays in tight. Definitely bringing some excitement to the bottom 6 for the first time this year
Without McD and Drai on the ice the Oilers have scored 20 goals at 5v5 and given up 46.
Yikes. Just abysmal.
The expected numbers are better (but still poor).
Where did you pull that from?
Another look is since Nov 20, using NST 5v5 GF/GA, with Connor and Leon the forwards have 147 GF and 137 GA. Take the Duo out and it’s 101 GF 96 GA
If you call Nuge Connor Hyman Podz Drai Savoie the top 6 and take them out it’s 38 GF 53 GA
I used Naturalststtricks line tool and filtered w/o McDrai.
Naturalstatrick says the Oilers only have 89 GF at 5v5 this year so I am not sure what you are looking at.
Oiler forwards 5v5. It’s goals when a player is on the ice so higher
Every player post game (and the coach) bringing up Frederic and his fight without being asked about it – a couple multiple times.
Whether the fight had any impact or now, what is clear is his teammates appreciate him and are definitely cheering for him even if much of the fanbase has simply turned on and given up on the guy.
He’s here, he seems like a good guy and I’m cheering for him.
I do not for a second thing he’s checked out as he got paid or is in any way not providing effort.
I admit I have been down of Frederic, but I watched the post game on Sportsnet directly after the game and from the interviews I saw, the reporter asked about the impact of his fight first before the player commented on it. Was I not seeing the correct timeline of these comments? Different edit? It seemed to me they went out of there way to bring it up. He is here and it is best for all if he succeeds, but I did not see it the way you did.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned regarding Frederic is the very common “first-year-of-a-big-contract-dropoff”. The player puts a ton of pressure on themself to live up to the money and it typically goes bad.
I still don’t think the term is/was ever reasonable, but he’s here and I hope he can bring something to the table at some point. I fear he’ll become the Shawn Horcoff of the era, where no matter how well he recovers, a segment of the fanbase will always want to jettison him.
Frederic had zero impact on the game other than getting beat up as usual 🤣
It doesn’t usually matter which player wins the actual fight, what matters is which team uses the motivation the best. Jets were up 3-1 at that point. A couple minutes after the fight, McDavid makes it 3-2 going into intermission, and then the Oilers won it in the third. You think they were talking in the room about Frederic getting “beat up”? They believe it changed the momentum in their favour and they went out and got the result they wanted. That was the intended impact. I’m sure the Jets weren’t celebrating Stanley “winning” the fight because in the end they couldn’t keep the momentum and lost the game.
What are they supposed to say about Frederic? They know about his contract just like we do. They have to keep pumping his tires because they need him to become a passable player again.
Take a listen to the avail and listen to player bring him up multiple times without leading and note what I actually posted:
“Whether the fight had any impact or now, what is clear is his teammates appreciate him and are definitely cheering for him even if much of the fanbase has simply turned on and given up on the guy.”.
Podz – Drai – Kap is a fun line, but I feel like they have not been great in driving possession. Kap in particular is known to be a streaky player, and I feel that he’s been running with some good luck these last couple games back. Hopefully the possession numbers start to match the eye test, because it would be fantastic to have our top 6 solved (and a nice start on a functioning third line) going into the olympic break.
Here’s hoping with a kiddo on the way, Kap is motivated to play his way into an extension here
Remember the narrative that the Oilers were a team who wouldn’t be able to keep their stars? After Hughes exited Vancouver, Kypreos is saying Dallas is at risk of losing Jason Robertson. Sounds like Jason wants +$12 million and the Stars may not do it.
Also Friedman on his 32 thoughts said there is interest from other teams (San Jose, Winnipeg and a couple more) in Mangiapane and thinks there won’t be an issue in moving him.
Cup or not, warts and all, Edmonton has become a top tier franchise.
Under the same circumstances, Colorado moved Rantanen last season and recovered quite nicely.
Nill and company are no slouches so it will be fascinating to see what comes next.
I would expect Carolina will come calling since they are always trying to add a pure goal scorer like Robertson.
Likely will depend on if he will sign long term there as Rantanen refused to do.
Svechnikov has 3 more seasons left at $7.75 million so could could be a target.
Except Rantanen single handedly took out the Avalanche in the playoffs after the move….lol
Shit happens.
Good lord. You are an expert energy vampire. Impressive
and then was essentially rendered ineffective in most games by the Oilers….
Young man, you are in shambles.
Robertson is not worth 12!
Winnipeg is all sorts of bad right now but when the Oil’s solution to a bad goalie is to only allow 3 shots for the remaining 30 minutes, one can’t help but think about them doing that with Jarry or Ingram in a playoff game.
Is it possible to allow less than 0?
A version of this team has shown that, Yes! It can!
The question remains, Will that version of the team show up in Games 4-7 (or less) to win a SCF? Because every goalie will be human (aka “have a bad night,” eg. Hellebuyck allowed 4 against 3.45 xGA, all game states).
Winnipeg looked like a defeated team once the Oilers tightened the screws in the second – looked like they were just going thru the motions. Even Hellebuyck was passive and deep in his net (and probably relieved he won’t face the Bouch in the Olympics)
Just like that, the Oilers are Western Canada’s team of hope.
Many fans like to criticize Oiler coaches when they load up McDavid and Drai while chasing a game – lots of “that’s the only thing he knows to do”.
Well, sometimes it’s just the right move. Scott Arneil after the game essentially said, once McDavid and Drai were out together the Jets had no chance and no ability to not lose the game.
What was important last night is the entire bottom six was not rendered useless. I think the 4th line was essentially taken out of the game but the third line remained on rotation.
With that advantage, the only team that the Oilers shouldn’t roll most games is the Avs, because they also have world class players. Many teams don’t have one. I wish they would figure it out and reach their potential
Also helpful when the opposition (Winnipeg in this case) only has a single line of their own to worry about.
For sure – there are certain opponents where it likely makes much more sense than others – Winnipeg is one of them!
A repost from late last night. Nurse on for 2 more goals against at evens. He’s now up to 7th in the league with 40GA at 5v5. He’s actually a bit fortunate as he’s second in the league in scoring chances against.
What’s really wild is that he’s 6th in TOI on the PK/game. I think most would think that’s where he makes his hay. But his SCA/60 on the PK is around 90 second worst in the league ahead only of 18 year old Matthew Schaefer.
So what do you have when you have a guy that doesn’t play PP, can’t play PK and is getting carved up at evens?
I’ll admit he’s playing 2nd pairing with below average partners but if this performance sticks when Walman returns Nurse could quite easily be 4L behind Ekholm, Walman and Stastney.
If there’s ANY trade available hed accept you take it.
Any thoughts on what the Oil should and will do here as we know how this ends when the real competition comes calling in the playoffs.
PK numbers vary wildly. they just do.
In the words of the great Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X
Nurse is not going anywhere that I can envision. When Walman returns, the coaches will have more options on the back end. Nurse has played well with high-end D (Bouch, Walman etc) and should be OK.
I feel that he thinks he has to do too much and gets caught in the mushy middle accomplishing nothing on certain plays.
Note to management: Get Coffey back!
With all the negativity toward nurse I thought I’d put together a list of positive qualities he brings to the oilers.
1. He’s tough
.
To my recollection, Nurse started to lose PK minutes after the playoff series against Vegas in 2023.
For the 2022-3 season, even with Ekholm on the roster, Nurse and Ceci were the top Pk unit playing just under 3 minutes per game.
During the playoffs against Vegas and later against Florida, teams started to exploit his penchant for chasing the puck carrier, out to the blue line or behind the net.
It was so bad that the Oilers had to switch to zone d under Woodcroft. That was after the Vegas series loss.
Even with zone d, teams could get Nurse to chase behind the net. There was also that phase where he was sort of lost on zone d and standing in front of his goalie puck watching where teams started using his body or poorly positioned skate blades to bank shots into the net.
They had to cut his minutes.
First goal was in Stastney more than anything. Ya, Nurse was in no man’s land but it was all due to a bad switch by Stastney.
Other goal was on Pickard.
I thought both Nurse and Stastney had a strong game last night, in particular Nurse, despite a couple dashes.
I am not a Nurse apologist but your analysis of Nurse lacks so much context. Please look at his WOWYs.
Nurse is playing a ton with the bottom half of the roster (w/o Drai and McD) and getting killed in those minutes.
IMO the bottom six and goaltending are far bigger issues than Nurse.
That said, he is obviously a huge cap inefficiency.
Nothing about that slick assist on the game tying goal? He and Hyman easily made up for the 1st GA (and I think Hyman doing squat was more the culprit on that one.)
Tough crowd tough crowd.
Pretty sparkling expecteds and shot shares when he’s not tasked with dragging a rookie around with the ghost of Rico forward lines.
Regression is gonna start slamming the table hard if the forward lines stick.
saw a rumor about us possibly locking in Roslovic to a 6.5 mil a year contract. Which I would rather just let him go
I am loathe to call him a one trick pony, but there is not a ton of depth to his overall game and he is not a long term solution as a line driving 3C. Nor does he have an established track record of performing as a legit top 6 winger.
He was found money this year, he will be Kane or Henrique 2.0 on a longer term deal at that kind of money (even in the new cap environment).
Also hard to evaluate if there is any credibility to that tweet which I saw as well.
Kane 2.0? Other then injuries Kane was a damn good Oiler, one I wouldn’t be sad about if brought back for a 3rd straight crack at it.
That seems insane
This is the one thing that worries me about Bowman, that he might like skill and offense to the point that he isn’t as concerned about two way play
Season 5v5
SCF% GF% HDCF% HDGF%
Roslovic 47.11 / 47.50 / 43.35 / 16.67
Walman 40.93 / 45.45 / 42.45 / 38.46
Since Nov 20 5v5
Roslovic 45.33 / 28.57 / 40.30 / 16.67
Walman 1 game
Since Dec 1
Roslovic 44.32 / 12.50 / 37.50 / 0-2 0.00
Walman DNP
Brutal
Hurricanes considering trade offers for Jesperi Kotkaniemi
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/hurricanes-considering-trade-offers-for-jesperi-kotkaniemi/
Yup, sign me up for a big player that is a giveaway machine (-17 diff), who doesn’t PK (0:15 per game), bad at face-offs (47.3% at EV), no offence (25 gms: 2-4-6) and costs $4.82 for 4 years after this one.
Bah ha ha – no team is offering anything for this guy!
I expect Carolina will have to retain 50% to move him.
Even then. it could be difficult.
How about they retain 50% and then straight across for Frederic!
Over half the teams in the NHL need centres.
Over half the teams need competent centers. If you are below 50% FOW then you need to be The Nuge – and he is currently a winger.
JK will be lucky to not get bought out!
Don Waddle’s revenge offer sheet ploy backfires beautifully and may have cost the team the best years of Aho, Slavin & co. Buy high, sell low isn’t just an Oilers thing!
Carolina was never cap challenged.
And still isn’t.
Currently $15 million in cap space and projected $35 million at the deadline.
Roslovic is a river pusher, he isn’t perfect but he does the hardest thing in the NHL which is generate his own offense.
River pushers get faulted for everything they don’t do and then the goals they score are discounted because they don’t come “the right way.”
Rod the Bod had no idea what to do with Roslovic despite him being the best 5v5 scorer on the team. Maybe that’s why Carolina has underachieved its GMing?
The cap is going north of $110 million. $6.5 is roughly $4.65-4.95/year before the cap started rising. Let’s say $5 million in pre cap rise money for 20ish EV goals. He’s 28, not 32, he doesn’t take penalties, he doesn’t play recklessly so there’s not too much an injury history.
Doesn’t seem like too bad a deal to me if he can keep doing what he’s shown he can do. Doubly so if he happens to unlock our two you prospects who also have some offensive flair.
He’s not a perfect player, but the Oilers’ biggest weakness is 5v5. They’ve tried 5 players that are supposed have that game, only Ros has done the job well
Still makes me think it’s something about the system
Producing. Not so sure about the GA
I thought Podkolzin played a great power forward game. He forechecks, backchecks, battles on the boards and never gives up on a puck. Starting to really like this player. Oh, and he will shoot from anywhere!
I agree completely. Ever since he arrived this has been his game, and to his credit he continues to fine tune and improve. Leadership should be pointing to him (out loud) as a positive example, as a power forward who delivers in all aspects of the game. Love this guy!
He’s embraced the role that few high picks are willing to. Pouliot didn’t (sorry LT), Lawson Crouse did (first one that came to mind, there’s better options).
Being useful to the stars and by all accounts working his tail off has established him in a lineup where we see him as a lock even though his stats aren’t spectacular.
Whoever gave the young man this advice saved his career.
Podkolzin always played this way. I think I commented on Podkolzin when he played in the first Hlinka Gretzky in Edmonton. He was the best Russian forward but not your typical best Russian forward, in that he was a grinder.
What I don’t understand is why Tocchet did not embrace him.
IIRC Podkolzin was a Benning pick and a bit of a reach where he was selected. He was expected to bring more offence to the table and had one season where he popped a bit. When Rutherford/Allvin took over, he wasn’t one of their prospects and couldn’t reproduce his offensive numbers from his rookie season, so they found new shiny things.
Vancouver was busy signing Kiefer Sherwood, Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger and others while believing Podkholzin had been tried and failed in their top 6.
Plus Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko. They had invested pretty heavily in the former and the latter had an outstanding first season in the show. I think the move was defensible at the time, Green and Tocchet had both taught him well with respect to his 200 foot game but the Dys didn’t see him in that kind of role.
Precisely.
Vancouver won the division.
Then what happened.
The Dys did what they do best and imploded. It’s such fun to watch.
Self inflicted chaos,
That’s honestly the best part. It’s all so self inflicted.
Dy’s fans at the time: Petersson is better than McDavid
In reality, Vancouver traded Podz because they couldn’t find room for him in an opening night lineup that included Aatu Raty and Arshdeep Bains.
“Shit happens”
Unless the Oilers do it, then it’s a catastrophe for the org.
In reality, this is inaccurate,
They had long given up on him as a prospect and wanted to move on.
Yes, they prioritized Aatu Raty and Arshdeep Bains over him, as I posted.
They clearly sucked at making that decision.
Prospectwine!
The whole world’s goin’ crazy with the OHL trade deadline which has seen London jettison four players–including 3 of their top 5 scorers–for prospects and (a LOT of) picks. That means primo ice time on the power play and at evens for Will Nicholl who will not stand back and will likely become the full-time 1C and, also with O’Reilly’s departure, possibly captain. (Still an hour until the deadline passes though. Stay tuned!)
Meanwhile, the Dub trade deadline has come and gone, with the Dubstars staying put. With animal grace, Tommy Lafreniere, who is on record saying he’s going to Western Michigan next fall, has a career-best 25 goals which ties him for 4th in the Dub. And David Lewandowski who is known for playing harder, faster makes his return to the Blades from the WJHC.
In the NCAA, it’s a rare prospects-vs.-prospect matchup as Park and Barnett (who also returns from the WJ’s) oppose Fischer who has been an electric jewel this year with almost a point per game as a junior d-man.
At first glance, Dalyn Wakely hasn’t put up stellar counting numbers (5-7-12 in 19 GP). But that’s still good for 2nd on the team since UMass-Lowell is far from an offensive juggernaut.
London (Nicholl) @ 5 p.m.
Michigan (Park, Barnett) @ 5 p.m.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 5 p.m.
UMass-Lowell (Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 6 p.m.
Kamloops (Lafreniere) @ 8 p.m.
All times, as is the nature of the beast, are Consort time.
Love these updates! Thanks
Oh, and as long as Nicholl remains a Knight tonight, one may watch him vs. the Brantford Hymans as the Game of the Week on the OHL YouTube and X channels.
Interesting to note that the Brantford squadron, co-owned by Hyman and GM’ed by his brother, just acquired the rights to Asher Barnett’s younger brother Abe.
https://chl.ca/ohl/article/bulldogs-acquire-rights-to-usntdp-defenceman-abe-barnett-from-ottawa/
I once spent two weeks working as unskilled labor at a sour gas plant outside Consort, living in a tent to save money. Made a couple thousand, but couldn’t hack the life and left the job early to visit my grandma in Saskatoon, before going back to school. Flattest land in the province.
Go get ’em Mr Nicholl!
Isn’t K.D. Lang from Consort?
You speak the truth.
Good on Frederic last night, that turned the game around it seems.
I was really impressed with Howard’s game last night. He was tenacious in the Winnipeg zone around the net. I think if he is put with Drai sooner or later with the amount he passes, he will score a lot of goals.
Picard let in a terrible goal and that just can’t happen
McDavid is on fire. But that Dang Mackinon popped 4 points.
It is unreal that he and McD are running away in a 2 way battle for the scoring race. It is also funny that the top 3 scorers in the NHL are all Canadians on the Olympic team. As is the top scoring D man in Makar. Love it.
What is going on in Ottawa. Lots of rumours swirling and they played terrible last night.
Ottawa play did very little to dispel the rumors.
If you’re going to make up a rumour (and I have no idea about this one’s veracity), make one up that has an air of truthiness about it.
I also noticed that Corey Perry was shelved in a similar move to Ullmark, so I assume he’s also somehow involved.
Perry was granted leave from the Kings due to family illness. Kings’ Corey Perry granted leave to deal with family illness
The Sens just signed James Reimer to an AHL PTO.
I hope Knoblach gives the Savoie/Howard/Roslovic line some more time together as they looked really good and the 0-2 goal split does not look good but the bigger view was positive.
Frederic is useless. The narrative that he changed the game around is hilarious. He fights and loses. This all happens coincidentally after being scratched. Rinse repeat. Now he’ll continue to do ZERO as usual.
Whether the fight had any impact or now, what is clear is his teammates appreciate him and are definitely cheering for him even if much of the fanbase has simply turned on and given up on the guy.
He’s here, he seems like a good guy and I’m cheering for him.
I do not for a second thing he’s checked out as he got paid or is in any way not providing effort.