Evan Bouchard joined some dynamite players in the NHL Guide and Record Book last night. Rogers Place was rocking during a tense see-saw battle between the Oilers and Washington Capitals. Almost everyone was thrilled, save the goalies and coaching staffs. What a HNIC thriller!
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) 0-0-1
- On the road to: Blackhawks, Preds (Expected 1-1-0) 1-0-1
- At home to: NYI (Expected 0-0-1) 0-1-0
- On the road to: Canucks (Expected 1-0-0) 1-0-0
- At home to: Blues, Devils, Penguins, Caps (Expected 2-1-1) 2-2-0
- At home to: Ducks, Sharks, Wild (Expected 1-1-1)
- Expected Record: 8-3-4, 20 points in 15 games
- Actual Record: 6-4-2, 14 points in 12 games
- Season Record: 26-19-8, 60 points in 53 games
The Oilers won the game and have a chance to finish the month of January on a high note. It’s been a weird one for sure, and coach Kris Knoblauch has to find a way to avoid playing the hell out of Connor McDavid. That subject is for another day, as a fantastic win against the Capitals means a happy fan base and dreams of Stanley. The Oilers lost the five-on-five goals (2-4) but went 3-0 in all other even strength situations. This team thrives with fewer players on the ice.
- Nuge-McDavid-Hyman 7:55, 2-3 shots, 70X, 2-1 HDSC
- Mangiapane-Draisaitl-Podkolzin 7:35, 3-6 shots, 0-2 goals, 18X, 0-6 HDSC
- Howard-Roslovic-Savoie 6:34, 4-4 shots, 0-1 goals, 25X, 2-2 HDSC
- Frederic-Lazar-Janmark 5:28, 1-1 shots, 65X, 2-0 HDSC
The top line looked strong, didn’t cash as a unit but all had at least a point. McDavid was 2-3-5, Hyman scored his 20th and posted eight HDSC! The Draisaitl line was poor, I don’t think Andrew Mangiapane helps enough to stay there. Calling up Quinn Hutson or Roby Jarventie is an option when Mangiapane is dealt in my opinion. The Roslovic line was scrapped for parts in the third period, I’d be highly negative about it but the coach shortening the bench helped win the game. Howard looks a little lost in the supermarket at times, too. Fourth line did its job.
- Ekholm-Bouchard 12:19, 9-4 shots, 2-0 goals, 75X, 2-1 HDSC
- Nurse-Emberson 7:36, 2-5 shots, 0-1 goals, 2-1X, 2-6 HDSC
- Nurse-Walman 6:42, 6-10 shots, 0-2 goals, 24X, 1-8 HDSC (!!!)
- Stastney-Walman 6:12, 0-5 shots, 0-1 goals 0X, 0-1 HDSC
- Stastney-Emberson 4:01, 0-2 shots, 14X, 2-2 HDSC
The top pairing were strong again, if the Oilers could find a second pairing of similar quality I’d call them a strong Cup contender. Darnell Nurse had a tough game, partly because he kept leaving his feet in time of trouble. How in h-e-double-hockey-sticks Connor McMichael had four whacks at the puck on his third period goal is baffling. Nurse needs to stay on his feet and clear away trees, not impersonate Kris Russell on that play. Connor Ingram stopped nine of 12, .750SP and Jarry stopped 15 of 17, .867. I don’t think Ingram warranted a pull, but sometimes a coach does it to wake up his club and it worked. No goalie shone in this game.
The Capitals breakouts are quality, though. One reason is Lindgen’s puck movement, but those blue are tape-to-tape monsters, too.
I wrote about the Condors today at The Athletic, hope you get a chance to read it.
How the Edmonton Oilers are building their farm system the right way
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6995828/2026/01/25/edmonton-oilers-prospects-minors-ahl-2026/
ill be interested to see who they pick up in the spring. Ti Hughes is my bet. Don’t need to hit on all. Just need to hit a single or double here and there
Stauffer has been saying he is certain here will be a couple adds coming from Europe and he NCAA shortly.
But nary a word about Atro Lepannen…
Leppanen, like David Tomasek, isn’t a ‘future’ player or someone who can spend two years in the minors building to an NHL look. He could be one and done.
Thanks
He was coming on big time before he got hurt.
He is a UFA after this season but. hope they re-sign him.
Leppanen was he worst defensive d-man I’d ever seen in my life for the first 3 weeks of the AHL season – I can go in to detail but he was so bad and he Dineen/Lappenen pairing was unplayable. They switched the pairings, Leppanen settled in, learned some structure and sorting playing well – then the offence picked up and he was developing big time before our eyes – he was coming. Then he go hurt and has been out for a month or so.
He’s got a chance to play in the NHL, for sure – he is dynamic.
Thanks
I wish him well but he’s the opposite of what they need to me. Defensive chaos is the Oilers’ main problem and boxing out the net
Much of that has come out of his game at the AHL level – of course, the NHL is a massive step but he’s two months in to this journey. I hope for a re-sign.
If Bowman would have traded Skinner for Jarry before the season, Skinner might have made the Olympic team for Canada.
Vegas narrowly loses 7-1 to the Sens today.
Time to bring in Samanski to try 3C.
Move Jack to the wing (either with Drai or with Samanski) – any of Savoie, Howard or Jack can take Mang’s spot on the 2nd line – well, unless Kap is back.
Summarizing!
Nicholl earned an assist.
Lewandowski and Lafreniere were forbidden soup, despite the latter recording a season-high 11 SOG. Lafreneiere also went 16-of-28 (57.1%) on the dot.
Prospecting takes a break until Tiw’s Day.
Random thought
Last nites game featured many guys with first names as last names.
Howard, Fredrick, Frank, Roy, Leonard
When you have three of the best players in the world on your team, and you can’t quite get there over a lengthy time, maybe it’s an off the ice issue at heart
Could it be that the two biggest misses of Connor’s era are not hiring Zito, and then choosing Woody over Maurice? I wonder how they would look with PM as coach
Jim Nill lined up much more readily to their GM issues, and they missed on him.
Quite confident he pushes them over the top roster-wise.
Could be. Better than KH but I think Zito gets that you need to be a mean enough team so that won’t work against you. Or in their case work for you bcs less talent. To me the Stars have some nice players but not enough jam. They were supposed to whallop us last playoffs
We interviewed Zito right? He was my guy back then. I think he was quite into the analytics when he was with CBJ
They don’t have 29 and 97.
He would’ve known how to round that out. He’s had to chase his own mega stars.
Akey is going to miss some time – he got hit in the mouth with the puck on the bench…..
As impressive as Bouchards game was last night for the oilers Walmans game was even more unimpressive. Hopefully he can reset over the Olympic break
I’m no fan of D playing off hand. But there’s a contract in te way
The Oilers website has as the title of last night’s game wrap-up “Evan-sanity”.
It’s good, but I would have gone with “Stairway to Evan”.
Incidentally, since I’ve been watching a lot of SCTV lately, this seems appropriate.
Evan almighty
Evantually.
InEvanitable
What are you playing at?
Evan’s breakout year was a adult-faced 21-year-old, and it would have been sooner if it were not for that global pandemic.
He could retire now and still be considered an absolute home run pick at #10 overall (Only Selanne and Rantanen have fared better), and I would say he rivals Dahlin for the 2nd best pick in the entire 2018 draft.
He also leads the entire 2018 draft class in career playoff points (81) by a country mile (Svenchnikov as a F has 48 pts).
Nothing Evantually about him. He was always excellent.
Please, though, tell us more about Pettyrson and what a good player and teammate he is,,,
It’s been really exciting to watch Savoie and Howard creating several/ many quality chances.
The puck will start to go in for them although not sure Roslavic is the ideal center for them. And I really like roslovic.
If/ when the results come the energy will be contagious.
Maybe it’s Samanski. Roslovic is a better winger than center. It might be worth a shot, maybe.
Samanski should have got a chance with Drai was out, but Pickard.
Sprague Cleghorn is right up there on the list of great hockey player / terrible human being. He was a pretty amazing combination of skill and dirtiness; probably as much as anybody ever, but he literally never turned it off, on the ice or at home.
Kneeing, hair pulling, butt-ending: a routine evening for Cleghorn. He once beat the hell out of Cyclone Taylor (who was no slouch as a fighter) until he was unconscious and just wouldn’t stop, to the extent that his own team fined and suspended him. He had such a habit of starting riots that, on a fairly routine basis, that the Sens had to sneak him into opposing arenas. Once cut Buck Boucher’s face with his skate on purpose. After, he ended up playing on the Habs with his brother Odie, Cleghorn lived to terrorize his old teammates.
Beating his wife with this crutches, throwing her down the stairs, being married to two women at the same time? All in a day’s work.
Florida Panthers have announced that Sprague Cleghorn has been promoted to league commissioner.
Wow. Sure glad things settled down so hockey could be represented as a clean, wholesome activity in Slapshot.
Sounds like a real a-hole.
Definitely had some Foghorn Leghorn in him.
Was messing around on the excellent puckiq.com today trying to find us a center or winger that can play tough competition.
I looked up forwards who play the most % of their minutes against elite competition and was trying to see who could be available. The guys who stuck out are two that have been discussed a lot – Charlie Coyle and Boone Jenner.
Coyle plays 45% of the time against elite players and gets about 55% of the goals and expected goals. 33, Is a big, right shot center. 25 even strength points in 51 games. Looks like a decent skater – 65th percentile in speed bursts over 20mph. Contract is 5.25M done at the end of this year.
Jenner plays similar time vs elites with similar great results and has for many years. 32, Is a big left winger. 19 even strength points in 37 games. Looks slow based on NHL Edge (<50th percentile). Hits a ton and fights. Makes 3.75 til the end of this season.
I think either of these guys would be great. Charlie Coyle is probably perfect. Jenner is probably a lot cheaper and could play with Nuge as 3C? Also their captain though. I wonder what each would cost.
Also, Warren Foegele shows up as playing some of the toughest competition in the league (45% against elites) which is way different than his usual usage (the year before he was 25% against elites). I think he was scratched the other night. Might be a good low cost pickup.
I’ve been banging the Coyle and Jenner drum for a long time, but no way to Foegele.
Thx for that. Jenner gets injured would be a worry. For me Foegele no
Haha fair enough on Foegele. Just thought it was interesting that he’s only 29 and his production has fallen off a cliff but is playing way tougher minutes. I like his speed.
the list I’m looking at by the way
https://puckiq.com/woodmoney?season=20252026&tier=Elite&positions=clr&group_by=player_season_team&min_toi=200&sort=ctoipct&sort_direction=desc
again, hats off to Woodguy and Gmoney and anyone else here who were involved in this site – it and Natural Stat Trick are amazing resources.
Thanks for link. Quickly into toying around with it ->
Who the hell is this guy?
https://puckiq.com/players/8481721
Foegele was just healthy scratched I believe.
Wow he must of stopped going to the net.
Hockey Canada are fools. And worse than that they’ve never had a conflict of interest they didn’t exploit.
I bet a million dollars if a D gets hurt Jon Cooper brings Darren Raddysh.
That’s impressive for Morrisey given how bad the Jets are. Not to mention all the great songs he’s sang
This doesn’t reflect games played.
Makar had an assist and was +2 today and still has 3 games in hand on Bouchard.
Bouchard has played 53 games…Theodore 39…Harley 40…Toews 40…Doughty 42…Morrissey 51.
LOL – the poster is not suggesting Bouchard over Makar or Theodore or Toews.
Its objectively impossible to argue for the likes of Doughty, Samheim, Harley and Parayko over Bouchard.
Also of note, even if Bouchard was a PP merchant, which he isn’t, he’s he best PP d-man in country – miles better than Makar as a PP d-man.
I agree about Harley bcs Bouch is a better version of the same type of player and has more experience
Doughty probably doesn’t play, he’s done, but he’s a dirty mean player so maybe that’s the reason. And bcs he once was very good
Maybe this motivates Bouch to take a step in his game, the lapses and pretty unreliable net front play. Rob Brown when asked about it along with some other folks said for a playoff series you take Bouch for sure, but in single elimination play they wouldn’t
I get that. The lapses are big and often, it changes the equation. The managers think the have lots of offense up front, and want a D group that can make a pass but are hard to play against and defend well
The 80’s team’s players didn’t get respect until they won a Cup. This group has a similar feel with the game talent, but can’t overcome in the biggest moments, and it’s often the best players that mess up or can’t get it done
Win a Cup and I say more Oilers get the call
So he will obviously win the Norris Trophy this season?
You might notice that the Colorado PP is inexplicably ineffective this season.
Last season it was at 24.8% while the Oilers were at 23.7% despite both teams utilizing essentially the identical personnel.
Randomness does not make careers.
Since Harley and Sanheim are both LD, big, mobile and defensively sound, Bouchard is not in competition with them for a spot on the team.
So he would be competing with Doughty and Parayko for the 3RD position where he would get precious little ice time and likely zero on the PP.
Doughty has exceptional international big game experience including 2 Olympic gold medals, a World Cup gold, a WJHC gold, a 4 Nations Cup gold and World Championship silver medal to go along with 2 Stanley Cup championships.
Would you suggest Bouchard has earned higher consideration than him based on his reputation for brain farts and precious little else?
You could make a case for Bouchard over Parayko but that is only as an extra in any event.
Objectively.
I agree with your first sentence.
Evan should win a Norris this season
Really?
Let’s take a look.
GF
Makar – 67.1%
Bouchard – 54.6%
P/GP
Makar – 1.12 (92 point pace)
Bouchard – 1.04 (85 points pace)
P/60
Makar – 1.91
Bouchard – 1.61
EVP
Makar – 37
Bouchard – 34
PPP
Bouchard – 20
Makar – 19
PLUS/MINUS
Makar – +30
Bouchard – +9
Makar blows him away in every category with the slight exception of PPP.
Bear in mind that Makar has FOUR games in hand and is very likely to score 4-5 points in those games including a PP point or two.
Do you have some evidence to support your position?
Yes, Makar is on a PP with MacKinnon and Necas and the other talent and its terrible -thank you for helping prove my point that Bouchard is a better PP d-man than Makar.
I couldn’t care less about Doughty’s former accolades, he is a much inferior player to Bouchard right now now, end stop.
Bouchard and these “brain farts” – he’s less likely to make a mistake leading to a goal against than Parayko, Harley, etc.
Despite all those massive defensive issues, he’s just a massive outscore no matter who he’s on the ice with.
Hes 59% goal share over the last two playoff seasons, without both McDavid and Dra on the ice – against playoff team and the final 8, 4 and 2 teams.
You are so effin dense that the point of what OP was saying was lost on you.
How you would deploy him is stupid, that’s what he’s saying.
Bouch should be 3 RD and 1 or 2 PP on Team Canada.
Your point about how ineffective the Colorado PP is exactly why Makar would actually be a logical 2nd choice for PP time behind Bouchard, had Evan been appropriately selected for the team in the first place. The “randomness” line is complete bullshit. Oilers PP has been a dynamo over years and years, and Bouch has been excellent on it throughout, with a P/60 that has exceeded Makar in 2 of the past 3 seasons.
Bouchard at age 26 is unequivocally better than Doughty at age 36. You would have to be intellectually deficient or a real Sprague Cleghorn to argue otherwise.
Bouch is 12th/14th of all league D (>200 min) in xGF% and GF%, the stats that you toggle between with reckless abandon depending on the point you wish to prove. In this case, either stat show he is elite. Only Makar is higher among the Team Canada in either category, and Toews and Makar benefit greatly from playing with one another and one of the top lines in the league on the daily (because I know you will respond with a comment about who Bouch plays with, but he still scores higher than Toews here).
“Reputation for brain farts” are the words of an absolute clown who wants to use stats when he chooses, but then pretends that he can also apply the eye test at will. You understand neither stats or how to objectively use those eyes of yours to come to correct conclusions. MacKinnon leads the league both in giveaways (101) and giveaways per 60 mins. You taking him off the team for that?
Doughty’s Stanley cup from yesteryear has literally shit-all to do with how he is playing now. Which is old, slow, and surly. At the 4 nations his balls were 1 year higher and it was still a North American tourney. International refs won’t give him the benefit of the doubt when he hacks and whacks. By your usual faulty logic, let’s also throw Jonathan Toews on the team, while we’re at it? Conn Smythe, Stanley Cups, Selke, he’s got all the experience…
Haha. I would like to know why you need to just come in here and naysay every Oiler thing. Genuinely. Wild cherry picked takes. So anti-social.
Bouchard is elite, sorry you don’t like it. Sheesh.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t14/
A pattern of negativistic; hostile, and defiant behavior, involving:
Argumentative/Defiant Behavior
4.
Often argues with authority figures or, for children and adolescents, with adults
5.
Often actively defies or refuses to comply with requests from authority figures or with rules
6.
Often deliberately annoys others
7.
Often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
Vindictiveness
8.
Has been spiteful or vindictive at least twice within the past 6 months
https://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/psicologia/sitios_catedras/practicas_profesionales/820_clinica_tr_personalidad_psicosis/material/dsm.pdf
Definitely cluster B (narcissistic or anti-social) personality disorders come to mind…
Sanheim, Parayko and arguably Doughty are all poor choices and hard to defend beyond being the GM/coach favorites. Certainly Schaefer should have gotten a spot based on early season play (and the desire to grow the strength of the program) and the Bouchard exclusion is looking less defensible by the week. Of course there was also Chychrun who was a better D than two guys picked.
Each and every Hockey Canada team is questionable for decisions made for reasons other than winning games. The execs feel they are right, and no one should second guess them, is the appearance they give.
I’m glad for the Oilers’ sake that Bouchard has decided to turn on the jets earlier this season, and we got to watch an amazing performance from him last night.
The coefficient of determination (R²) between Evan Bouchard’s projected performance bounds (ceiling and floor) and the Edmonton Oilers’ projected team performance bounds is 0.75.
I only watched oilers in 20 (on oilers+) so I’m sure it’s biased, but the team seemed to dominate. They had a ton of grade a chances, Howard and Savoie had some great chances early. A game where goaltending nearly cost them -although it’s hard to fault the goalies completely – tips, deflections, rebounds- some of it was bad luck.
Lindgren was excellent for the 5 goals – could have been 10. Gotta tighten up a little defensively but there were also some nothing plays that ended up in the back of the net. Just bad luck.
Hopefully they can build on that, bank a couple of wins before the break. Really they need to get rolling after the Olympics, maybe they are saving their best for that stretch and into the playoffs.
this was a stars gonna star game and it fell in the Oilers favour. Most definitely not a cohesive team effort.
Nurse being a polarizing player is a gross understatement.
But I honestly think a good comparable is Seth Jones, whose stock crashed hard playing in Chicago. In his case, moving to Florida where he was playing with very capable teammates and in situations that best utilized his skillset. He wasn’t sheltered. He probably received some good coaching advice in Florida as well.
I personally see a lot of similarities in Nurse’s and Jones’ skillsets and deficiencies. Both need structure/predictability in their team’s system, and a good partner. That may sound needy, and it is for 9 mil/yr D, but it’s a sunk cost and the best way to maximize the return is to try and satisfy those issues.
I also remain bullish on what Walman is capable of and he will be here even longer-term.
Getting the best out of these 2 D is obviously going to be critical, and is another area where the coaching is currently failing. Player accountability, yes. But there’s a reason why Jones made team USA one year after being considered a contract bust, and it wasn’t because he suddenly learned how to play D.
LT articulated Nurse’s deficiencies very well today … main issue is he does not stay on his skates when under pressure. This has been going on for years. While he’s knocked it off with the star fish; these days he just as quick to go down to one knee with his stick across the ice like a goalie.
He just can’t process the game fast enough to do anything else; he panics and leaves his skates, which allows players to get behind him. If the puck gets through, then there is no one to prevent the opposition from hacking away at the puck uncontested.
This predilection to leave his skates means he gets exposed on rush chances. He needs to play with a RH d-man who is good at preventing zone entries, so that he can post up in front of the net and stay on his skates. I’m not sure that guy is Walman … if there is an opportunity to trade Walman for a RHD who can steady Nurse, then they should strongly consider it.
I agree with this. Amazing that nurse used to be an excellent defender off the rush. Also is a good cycle breaker.
Unfortunately the rush defender in him has gone somewhere else.
Forget LW strap some goalie equipment on him and let him play in goal.
You know he’ll be able to cover the bottom of the net like a Vezina winner.
In theory that’s what Nurse is doing, trying to cover the bottom of the net, while the real goaltender covers the top portion of the net. It just doesn’t always work out that way.
And just to clarify … if there was even a glimmer of a hope of shipping Nurse out of town, I would prefer this to moving Walman. But we all know that’s not happening.
Yeah, just try him at LW. Again, I feel it plays to his strengths and swaps from a position of abundance to a position of need. It won’t happen, but is worth trying.
Who has two thumbs, scored a natural hatty, and added 3 assists?
This guy! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r_43Ny2gIrg
Gregor said only those D men with 6 points in a game Kevin Lowe did it too with Oilers and Paul Coffey did it with Edmonton
Defenceman who’ve scored three goals and at least six points in an NHL game:
Sprague Cleghorn (1922): 4-2-6
Bobby Orr (1971): 3-3-6
Bobby Orr (1973): 3-4-7
Bobby Orr (1974): 3-3-6
Tom Bladon (1977): 4-4-8
Doug Crossman (1992): 3-3-6
Evan Bouchard (last night): 3-3-6
Thought for sure Bombart Raggiddy would of been on this list a few times.
You keep Brogan’s name out of your mouth!
He’s a nice guy, was installing gutters on my neighbours shop the other week.
I found a way around it haha
He finished with 3 assists but I thought Drai had one of his weakest games of the year, especially the 2nd period.
Getting Kap back, the way he was playing before his most recent injury, as a replacement for Mangiapane should be a massive upgrade (and I say that as a fan that, 3 months ago, thought Kap was over-paid vis-a-vis the cap).
That third line was dynamic early but the issue is they are very poor in their own zone and prone to leaking chances. Roslovic is not a center. I wonder about keeping the line, for now, and playing Savoie at center? I know, he has only played a handful of games at center as a pro but that is his pedigree. Would he be worse on the “center responsibilities” than Roslovic?
Would be nice to have that call-up now….. oh, right 3 goalies, no cap.
Send Mangiapanne to the waiver wire. It seems to be obvious no one wants him or he would be gone.
They need to find a way to get more than $1.150MM of cap relief.
Waive both Mang & Picks. Wouldn’t that give them $2.150M of cap relief?
Yup, and it’s still not enough to activate Rico……. let alone made an external add.
I read stuff like “playing defensive hockey is optional for the Oilers” and I don’ think its true.
Yes, they can make mistakes leading to chances against and they can often be loose net front (their biggest defensman deficiency – the other team deficiency being puck management at times) but lets not forget they can also go an entire period without giving up a shot until the last 30 seconds.
And of course that shot goes in…….
and the shot gong in means they played “defence optional”.
The shot was going wide and, unlucky for the Oilers, hit the Poitras and dropped where he could bang it in.
Its wild to think they were defence optional in the first period last night.
I’m with you. It’s “responsible play” that got them through the Vegans and the Stars in five games. It irresponsible play that doomed them in the SCF ‘25, and has -to my eye – played havoc this season. The exception has been the all too brief Nov 26-Dec 25 period (and the “miraculous weekend” of Jan 17-18), when they, for the most part, played responsibly.
Kudos’s to Bouchard. Best game as an Oiler by far.
Bit of a weird game but it was fun for sure , especially with the win.
I thought the D had another rough night in our zone, and the goaltending was not great either. That one goal on Jarry where he made 4 saves was brutal. Stay on your feet Nurse!
But 2 pts is 2 pts.
The goaltending has been a bit shaky the past 2 for sure. As has the D in front f them.
Those 2 kids are buzzing and playing good both ways, but just having a bit of trouble finishing . I just don’t think Roslovic is the answer as the 3rd line C man.
Does anyone else notice how much Mangiapane falls down or gets knocked down Quite easy every game. It’s weird. Janmark has not looked great either the last few and even on the pk. I wonder if he will be moved on the money out scheme.
Team needs to come out and get a full game performance from everyone on Monday night. Anaheim is young and fast and well coached. Oilers will get stomped if they play like the last 2 games in their zone with that goaltending .
Mangi spends as much time on his knees as he does on his skates. He needs to go ASAP. Our bottom two D pair playing like keystone cops. Emberson has been solid but other 3 are yikes. You obviously can’t do anything with Nurse other than reducing his minutes by parking him on 3 rd D pair. Hard to know what Stastneys potential is. He looked good initially but now struggling. I don’t think any rookie going to thrive with Nurse. Need to find a physical RD with size who is nasty in front of the net to play with Nurse.
Yes Stastny seems to be struggling. I think Walman needs to play his left side and if someone claims would be much better. Would Murphy ( Chicago ) be good enough to play #4 on the R side? I don’t know as I haven’t watched Chicago much. So if they traded for him, Could you run this?
Bouchard/Viking
Walman/Murphy
Emberson/Nurse
Stastny
It would be Lefty/Rightey.
I do think Walman needs to play the L side to be as effective as he can be. He should stay in the 2nd pair over Nurse as he passes better, and is smarter offensively . I also think,playing with Nurse takes away from his O game as Nurse takes off way too much IMO, making Walman not use his O skills properly
Murphy would be a good pick up.
Cool. If Calgary does trade White cloud, he would be great to grab as a Rightey. Always liked his game in the playoffs
Prospecthosers!
Indeed, all the NAmateur action today is from the CHL contingent.
Nicholl has a five-game point streak going, and is 3-4-7 in 9 GP.
Lewandowski has a similar streak happening. He has just one goal in his last 15 WHL games, but has 16 assists in that span.
Lafreniere had a six-game point streak snapped last night. He and the Blazers conclude a 3-in-3 weekend.
London (Nicholl) @ noon
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 4 p.m.
Kamloops (Lafreniere) @ 5 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Canyon Creek time.
I just read about Sprague Cleghorn on Wikipedia. Quite the career.
Although outside of the smooth skating and offensive prowess, he had quite a different temperament than Bouch.
5’10” and under 200 lbs, his nickname was “the big train” and he was violent as anything. Suspended multiple times and charged for assault 2x, having to pay 50$ each time for hitting opponents in the head with a stick…
Florida Panthers have announced they’ve signed Sprague Cleghorne to a contract. Terms were not disclosed.
I think it said they put him in Player Development with Clubber Lang and the Hanson Brothers.
Sounds like the next executive in charge of the Department of Player Safety.
Ovechkin held pointless and limited to 1 SOG last night in 15:29 TOI. Drew the penalty that just ended as the Caps scored their 5th goal. While his game is fading a bit as he ages, he is still a dangerous & clutch player. I’m not sure who on the Oilers was keeping him in check, but it could have been a different outcome if they hadn’t.
He looked old last night.
Old man killed Walman
Didn’t kill him, but he did hit him hard, but other than that and one shot on a pp, he was visible.
Walman had a worse game.
definitely slowing down.
Enjoyable game.
I didn’t see Nurse same as others, I think when you look for fault, you see fault.
The Oilers actually have good defencmen. But they do not play good defence.
Probably play the worst in the entire NHL in regard to protecting their net front. An opponent could park a lazy boy chair their and hang out to tip shots, no Oilers defenceman would move it.
once again, I like the defencmen, plenty of ability, and plenty of skill, but don’t agree with some of the teams tactics.
Stop backing in, seriously pick up your man, clear man out in front of your goalie. Less goals against and then less you need McDavid to save the day.
I turned the game off, this team outside of the top 5 forwards is below average. Turned back on late 3rd amused by the loose play. Jarry is chaotic in net much like Skinner when he struggled. Watched the Logan Thompson interview and his incredible path from being undrafted, not giving up and now being an Olympian! Do you know who is a literal carbon copy of him? Connor Ungar. Both played for the Brandon Wheat Kings and Brock University before bouncing around the ECHL to the AHL. Both have almost identical stats and height, weight etc. I think the Oilers might have the Connors in net as their tandem in the near future. They need outstanding goaltending, their team defense is abysmal since Coffey left. Look up both goalies on Elite Prospects and compare. It’s fascinating!
“almost” Thompson is 6’4. Ungar is 6’0.
Then went an entire period without a shot, sounds like you just watched the Nurse lowlight and made a call. Ingram was bad and the Nurse play was terrible. Single moments.
“Jarry is chaotic in net much like Skinner when he struggled.”
And here it comes… the Oilerville default “blame the goalie” chorus.
This team plays in a way that makes goalies vulnerable. Not always (the Nov 26-Dec 25 stretch had every goalie looking good, with Skinner the best at .943 SV% 5v5, Ingram next at .938). But often.
Oilerville verbiage uses the following to find fault: looks unsteady in crease; falls down; rebounds!; should have had that one; etc.
Struddy recently said of Ingram, he makes easy saves look easy.
Skinner, after a recent game for the Penguins when reporters were lauding his play (can you imagine?), pointed to the team in front of him: they make my job easy.
When Jarry scrambles I still have hope he’s gonna battle through and make the stop. When Skinner starts scrambling it’s basically a guaranteed goal if it hits the net.
I see Jarry as more acrobatic/unorthodox; or, I see him as as a goaleur with the skills to occasionally recover from broken plays or sequences (as with a large or mobile D man initially beat but able to kick it into high gear or apply stick to wingspan and disrupt the play that way).
Once Skinner loses the plot he is simply lost.
Ya an Oiler goalie is going to have to scramble. Jarry and Ingram both scramble and recover very well.
I’m glad the oilers have both
Skinner was & probably still is, the Stay Puft Marshmellow man. Dan Aykroyd’s choice to destroy the world.
Not sure why one would turn off last night’s game.
I mean, the first period was dominated by the Oilers, they gave up zero shots (and very few looks) until the last minute and left the period with an undeserved time.
Lots of slop in he 2nd period, from the tenders out, not a “great period” if one is looking for mistake free hockey but lots of good to go with the bad,
Is one expecting perfect hockey for 60 minutes, 82 games a year – my goodness, its late January, the proverbial dog days of the season – there is going be a lot of different type performances,
Yup, Logan Thompson is the clear comparable on many fronts for Ungar – here is hoping.
The lack of respect for Connor Ungar, who appears to be the best goalie in the entire Oilers system, continues.
I get that you don’t like his height and despite his superior stats, you believe the Oilers will never give him a chance in the NHL because he’s not tall enough.
The mis-spelling of his name seems quite deliberate.
His first name is not Felix, Oscar Madison.
Plenty of upset here. I thank you for pointing out the misspelling, fixed. As for the rest, I am a fan of smaller goaltenders because they are more athletic. When I talk about Ungar, I suggest the organization has shown a preference for bigger stoppers. I’ve cheered for Oilers prospects all down the line. I appreciate the correction on spelling, but respectfully suggest you’ve made a mistake in framing me as anti-Ungar.
PS, great Odd Couple reference.
Dude, the size bias is real. He is not 6’4” like Logan Thompson, so the road ahead for him is steeper & longer.
Just look at last years’ AHL only contract signee, 6’ Goalie Brett Brochu. As a 17 year old he had a 32-6 record with the London Knights. And was a 3 year starter on that prestigious OHL team.
Teams always invest in their draft picks and are always looking for seasoned veterans at all levels. Brochu out-played NCAA UFA Ryan Fanti in his first year, and looked to be poised to be re-signed last season, after arguably being this best minor league goalie in the organization.
It is likely Ungar will be resigned next season, but his competition will be veteran 6’4” Tomkins, and 6’4” & 6’5”sophomores Day and Jonsson, with 1 of 2 taller Finns potential crossing the pond.
Meanwhile, Brett Brochu is playing in the DEL for Ingolstadt. This could easily be Ungar’s fate next season, because the bias in experienced hockeymen will always be a thing, until it isn’t.
Juuse Saros is 5’11 & 180. So there’re exceptions to the bias.
Dustin Wolf appears to have made it too, and he’s a smaller goalie.
And both are draft picks of their respective current NHL clubs.
This is based on….. ?
Yup, Tomkins played 3 straight, the third coming off back to back shutout where he stole both games and was great again in the third game making over 40 saves.
Ungar has also been great, and he made 40 saves last night but lets be clear, the sample size on Ungar in the AHL is very small, Tomkins is playing just as well and he will be the guy called up if Pick is lost and there is an injury.
This team needs to fix the internal distractions. Move Mangiapane, pick two G, pressbox Freddie, play the yuts
Waive Pickard. Just do it .
Just an incredible game by Bouch but his keep-in at the blueline might have been the most impressive thing he did last night.
No offense to Mangiapane but he is accomplishing very little.
Oilers need some size and speed, I’ve been looking at a few players, I’ve targeted Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod as players of interest.
McLeod with a couple of assists last night as Buffalo defeated the Islanders 5 zip.
McLeod on pace for a 55 point season.
The Sabres now 18-3-1 in past 22…it seems like they might be for real.
Also of note, Kailer Yamamoto still hanging around…he was the 1st star with 1G and 1A as Utah beat Nashville 5-2 to extend their winning streak to 5.
Utah is not jamming Yamamoto into the top six where he does not belong, because top six players are both big and smart. They are letting him play against the dumb plugs in the bottom six, where his hockey IQ gives him an edge.
The Oilers failed Kailer. Got him beat up and battered by playing him in the wrong spot.
Dumb plugs quickly become dumber thugs. I don’t really think it matters where he plays, he’s going to get beat up. He should have gone into dentistry.
Like Matt Savoie?
I guess we’ll see? Every shift I’ve watched Yamo play I’ve been concerned for his safety and yes I worry for Savoie also. It’s a reality.
I played Rugby from a young age and learnt how to play the game the right way. But I noticed when I started playing against men I had to watch out for the psychotic idiots.
How I use to worry watching my son play indoor soccer inside hockey rinks and psychotic kids.
Psychotic adults are much worse.
Matt Savoie is not built nearly as slight at Kailer Yamamoto and, at leas when he was an Oiler, Yamo needed to play along the boards, on the inside in order to be successful – Matt Savoie will not take near as much physical contact as Yamo did.
Different player in some pretty significant ways.
Savoie has by far a better frame and toolkit for a long solid established career as a top 9 type player if you actually watch him play and can recall yamamoto.
I’ve watched both extensively.
Can’t see it.
Both susceptible to the bone crushers.
So, PPG in 28 with Drai to start his NHL career.
20G season.
But not worthy of top 6 time.
I”ve never heard that bottom six players play agains smaller opposition – that’s a new one.
Reality have proven that I was right and you were wrong when I first made that assertion that playing Yamamoto in the top six was a mistake years ago. You are now making the same argument in denial of the reality that has unfolded.
No offense is entirely the problem. Perhaps wish more offense to Mangiapane.
I don’t think i’ve ever seen a goal with 2 opposing players goal mouth & below coverage just parked there comfortably enough they have time to realize there are 2 of them and that allows one of them to pull his attempt at whacking rebound in as other guy should have it.
I think the criticism of Nurse on the McMichael goal has been a bit exaggerated.
Nurse fronted the player and blocked he point show and went down as he blocked it – the puck was under him and squeaked out – he just missed clearing it with his hand and, while he tried to recover and get up and back in to the play, McMichael was all alone to take 4 swipes at it.
Wasn’t a great play by Nurse as he could execute the clear after the block but they were down 5-4 and he tried.
— it’s a very snowy day in Toronto. Two youngest in ski lessons
— it’s growing up in Yellowknife im sure. I’m just amazed at how worried society gets when snow comes. For days in advance we get these stark warnings everything shuts down.
— For those who do choose to drive in snow (which is a normal part of Canada) is that the roads are barren. So strange the reaction to normal weather patterns. I don’t know what has caused this shift collectively.
— I love the comfort that lots of snow brings. We don’t get it often in Sourhern Ontario.
— Oiler were lucky to win that game just as they were unlucky in a few recent losses. That’s how it works. Oil gonna rake to until Olympics IMO
— Now going out to ski and then lunch at lodge. Man do I love outdoor activities in the winter in snow.
Sounds like an amazing day, enjoy!
I live in Houston for the time being
the whole city shuts down when there’s snow in the forecast
I’ve lived in Vancouver for stretches. The whole city *should* shut down at the first hint of a flake of snow. Bad tires. Poor drivers. Chaos. All for a few centimetres of beautiful, soft fluffy stuff.
Hmmm. I am now in Yucatan. If they ever had snow here, it would be a sign of the Second Coming. They would acclaim a new religious holiday.
I’ve been living in TO for a few years now. If you feel like swinging by after skiing, bring a shovel. :p
I’m from Vancouver Island, so this white bullshit that doesn’t immediately turn to awful slush is mostly unfamiliar to me. (I’m sure there’s a few Vancouver Island folks around who’ll be happy to mention the blizzard of 96. Yes I remember, I was old enough to have shovelling duties frust upon me)
Don’t remember the year…but here on the Island we had a storm that dumped 3 feet of heavy wet snow in ONE NIGHT.
It took days to shovel out and every time I cleared the driveway a city grader came along to plow the road and block the entrance.
Memories are made of this…. Now the ski hill hardly operates…
I grew up in Sidney, were you in Parksville in the 90s? Parksville isn’t that far from Sidney as the crow flies. It was probably the blizzard of 96.
Anywho, I was in Dean Park, so up a ‘mountain’ a little relative to the rest of the peninsula. We were not a priority for the snow plow so it was on the residents mostly.
When I was a boy, in the 1960s on rural central Vancouver Island, the snow would get sooooo deep… and our driveway was sooooo long, and the white stuff was sooo heavy…
I’m in Portugal for 4 weeks – right now in the Azores. Managed to be out of town the last couple years when Victoria got its annual snow day. I’ve gone over 3 years without seeing a snowflake. Starting to forget what snow looks like. I know – tough being me. 😀
Here In Parskville…it snowed for about 15 minutes in December and melted right away.
The daffodils are already poking up now.
“I don’t know what has caused this shift collectively.” It’s all about control – instilling fear.
The Nurse starfish continues to baffle. It never works and always leaves him out of position. Coaches need to get tough with him.
Finding an ideal partner for him is almost impossible. You need someone that can defend for two, cover the Ricki box, break up zone entries, move the puck up ice, and provide good offense in the o-zone. Impossible task. You need a Chris pronger. I appreciate the time he spent through the tough times for this team but will definitely cheer when he finally moves on. Once every twenty games he gets angry and gives you something and then goes back to being, well this
You would think that he’d get better with the physicality of the playoffs yet he was the worse defenseman last two runs
Nurse is simply hard to play with. He can’t read his partners when they switch. Then reacts late while his partner has to figure out what nurse is going to do. Even back tracking forwards have trouble reading nurse.
Every single partner has problems with nurse. Walman has the same issues as regula, and stetcher earlier.
He can’t play the elites. Put him on the third pair 12 – 15 minutes a nite.
Move Nurse to LW. Find a new 2RD to play with Walman. Maybe trade the farm for Adam Larsson he might waive his NMC for a couple of cracks at Stanley
He isn’t a smart player as he doesn’t process the play quick enough. But when he gets angry and plays mean, he is quite good in front and in the zone
And Walman is very much like Nurse defending the rickibox. And him playing on his off-side with Nurse is not a solution. Not sure what the game plan with having both on the roster
Move Nurse to LW
lol, I would luv to see him play a few shifts up front.
You are describing Philip Broberg. You are NOT describing Jake Walman.
I’ve defended Nurse a lot over the years but I’m kinda done. The contract isn’t on him but everything else is, including the inability to develop or mature his game.
Whatever pairings you unearth, whatever minutes you glean, whatever opposition you uncover, whatever coaching inconsistencies you declare, Nurse is the common denominator. He is the weak link. And that’s with him being more or less in his ‘prime’ as a defender. This is as good as it gets, and I don’t see a solution outside of finding a fantasy league partner to prop him up. This is it until the NMC expires.
Coach admitted that he didn’t see the deflection when he pulled Ingram.
He wasn’t on his game anyway,
It was the right move.
I agree. But I don’t see it as a punitive move so much as a strategic move. Much as relieving a pitcher is just a fact of life in the moment, rather than a judgement of player abilities.
Maybe they should have relieved Jarry with Ingram against the Pens after he let in those three 1st period goals. The strategy may have worked.
I don’t disagree – I don’t think Ingram “deserved” the yank any more than Jarry.
One difference is I think the Oilers were playing better last night than against the Pens, for whatever that might mean.
Bigger picture is that its becoming cleared that, at least for now, Knob has Jarry as 1A and Ingram as 1B with a gap.
We’ll see where we are in a month or two.
I suspect there are a LOT of things this coach doesn’t see. I am not a fan of our coaching staff.