The excerpt above was taken from this article and describes Colton Dach and his role as a productive NHL player. This is summer, so you’ll hear talk of him playing center, moving up to the top line, leaping tall buildings, but none of that hype is necessary. Colton Dach is good all by his lonesome. Please read this.
In 86 career NHL games, about one full season, Dach has scored 7-13-20. Those boxcars suggest “middle-six” forward as opposed to “fourth line” contributor. He averaged 10:49 per game at five-on-five in this 86 games, posting 1.16 points-60, with 19.5 hits-60.
His faceoff success (39 percent) makes him a great winger, and so does his rambunctious style. The 57 percent goal share five-on-five in Edmonton is the thriller stat, that came in 80 minutes so there’s a sample warning attached. On the other hand, his Chicago goal share five-on-five (31 percent in 566 minutes) should be reliable but the ‘Hawks aren’t a good team.
Dach will tell us who he is, but I like the player a lot. He and Trent Frederic went 4-3 goals (72 expected) in 71 minutes together late last season. The duo played well with Josh Samanski in the middle too, going 3-1 goals in 40 minutes, 62 percent expected goals.
I think this was a good acquisition and now a good signing. That and $1.50 will get you a good cup of coffee. We wait for Dach to build on a promising start in Edmonton.
On the Lowdown today, Jason Gregor will be our feature guest and we’ll chat Elks 4-1, Oilers signing Dach, World Cup and MLB’s All-Star game. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Can Trent Frederic become the player the Edmonton Oilers thought they were acquiring?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7440739/2026/07/13/trent-frederic-edmonton-oilers-stats/
One cannot play Frederic in the top six. You yourself claim he is not suited to a tough minutes shutdown line, but rather a soft minutes line, so there goes the 3rd line with Dickenson also.
So he is a 4th line winger, who cannot PK and who is paid 3X more than Dach, and 4X more than Jones. I do not think one can have two fourth line wingers who cannot PK. So Dach likely prevails, on a team where everyone is supposed to be having a role this year and contributing.
The Frederic trade will remain a disaster. The Oilers pressbox has nice comfortable seats.
The Oilers will be running three goaltenders, so that means he will be the 13th and last forward, an unplayable extra forward. So twelve forwards will have to play every game. No real internal competition.
Send him to Bakersfield and hope he asks for his contract to be cancelled.
You could easily run Dickinson on the fourth line. In fact, if Samanski is as good as I think he is, the Dach-Samanski-Frederic line could be the third line.
As for hoping to have his contract cancelled, no. Won’t happen.
He might be a fourth liner that will force the issue up to the third line and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s actually solid on the penalty kill when he isn’t in the box himself
and I don’t mean the press box.
DJ Smith runs a pressure PK all over the ice. Frederic is slow.
Frederic’s speed is back to 2023-24 levels, 72nd percentile.
Freddy is not slow
Over Frederic’s career, he’s posted a 6.12 GA/60 on the penalty kill.
This is a very strong number. For context, RNH has an 8.84 GA/60 on the PK, albeit in a much larger PK role.
As for scoring at 5 on 5, since the 20-21 season, Frederic has posted 1.33 P/60.
This is a decent number.
As for goal share at 5 on 5, Frederic has posted a 51% goals-for percentage over his career.
This is a decent number.
Prior to joining the Oilers, Frederic had posted a 54% goals-for percentage over his career.
This is a strong number.
If one were to merely ask ones self if this is a playable NHL player, I believe that one should answer yes.
Thank you for posting some numbers other than ranting about beliefs.
Numbers are not truth
That’s right – yelling at clouds is truth.
Frederic has never averaged more than 37 seconds a game on the PK. His toi on the pk is so small I don’t think the numbers tell us much at all.
It is true, Frederic has yet to be given the opportunity to be a workhorse on the penalty kill.
The statement I was responding to was that Frederic cannot kill penalties.
Prior to joining the Oilers, Frederic appeared to be a third unit penalty killer for the Bruins, where overall, he posted strong GA rates.
This indicates that he is a capable penalty killer.
My point was:
i) No previous coach has viewed Frederic as anything more than a backup penalty killer; and
ii) Penalty kills are a highly volatile game state and Frederic has played so little on the PK the GA numbers you cite don’t tell us anything meaningful. Also, if Frederic was playing PK3 he was likely seeing tired PP /PP2 more often so you would expect better GA numbers.
All this is to say: I don’t think we can say with certainty that Frederic is a capable penalty killer.
“Capable” as a descriptive term is a fairly low bar here.
Sorry, it’s hard to believe that you are making a reasonable attempt at a fair assessment if you don’t believe that posting 6.12 GA/60 as a third unit penalty killer indicates that Frederic is a capable penalty killer.
Frederic either needs time at centre or the PK. This should have been discussed with Frederic agent and Bowman at the time of the 8 year signing. Apparently K.K never received that memo along with the memo that Howard is not a scrub energy player.
Doubtful Frederic waives his NMC and/or agrees to terminate his contract.
Frederic is a responsible 2-way player that can play with Dickinson – its certainly not where I start him, I start him on a line with Dach but anticipate Frederic will earn some 3rd line reps this season – I look forward to his first heater as an Oiler, its going to be fun.
Bowman among other GMs understand movement clauses and know how to approach them. I think Holland absolutely didn’t or wouldn’t. I also think while KH is a nice man he’s not that sharp and living in Detroit affected his thinking in a way not good for his position
My post was in response to Godot who suggested they send him in the minors in an effort to try and get him to terminate his contract – he would need to waive his NMC for that first step.
Delusion
I do get stubborn on players, but the numbers in the article above suggest recovery. I’m betting it’s real.
I agree with you here.
Frederic was an 80th percentile skater his last 3 full seasons in Boston. He dropped below the 50th percentile in 2024-25 (but did have some games in the playoffs in the 80th percentile). In 2025-26 he got back up to the 70th percentile in games in April and into the 74th percentile during the playoffs.
It’s pretty easy to see that his skating affected his play and he had extreme bad luck in the playoffs (PDO of 76.9%. The goalie let in 3 goals on 13 shots). It’s not hard to project Frederic for an improved year with substantially improved counting numbers.
It’s clearly plain to see it’s a speed thing for sure and grasping injury then likeky reinjury last season -> young enough to bet further recovered solid best we chance we might see right out of gate.
I don’t understand any need to hypwr negative focus and shit on him over cheering like hell he’s 80+ percent of what he was before 1st injury. Some value added for sone of that contract wpukd be great.
If they don’t waste start of season in line circus show tryouts again and go for the wins using shorthand already best bet line combos (not mcdrai all day variety)
I hope they do put him in a position to suceed as much as reasonable.
Because stratrgically that contract to a 28 year old with his reliance of physical aspects/speed/effecrively reactive over 4th dimension time and space clairvoyance:
If they can win while make him a 20+ EVG scorer i’d be shopping that contract hoping in drunk sailor not enough options offseason surely next year sone GMs woyld jump to take him.
Not waiting and hoping the beyond 32 with already negative rel value seasons “pans out against odds”….like the least edmonton thing you can do might be possible.
We aren’t getting o’sullivan esque or other assorted past expiry date part of a buy low sell high trade sequence.
We just had a very unoiler like free agency offseason….maybe bowman is average or better at this!!
His trade protection comes off at 32 I think. Not that trade clauses matter to Bowman. Frederic has been a good all round player. High ankle sprains aren’t normally career changing especially at his age, but can be very slow to fully heal
There aren’t many guys like him in the league, especially under 4M. Might not work out but it was a solid bet. It was risky that he would recover for playoffs and he didn’t, but it was a long term play as well with Kane on the way out
Wouldn’t it be awesome if Fred dach Sam was an nhl third line because they pushed past a well performing Dickinson line.
I would imagine that it based on your many years of NHL players evaluations that NHL teams have paid you for?
I think he can get back to being an impact 3rd liner similar to his best days in Boston but he’s got to work there.
For me, I all but lock him in with Dach as the 4th line winger pair to start the season (I would have Dach play the wing, putting him at center is setting him up to fail – he’s still establishing himself as an NHL player).
The hope/expectation is that Frederic is an legit 3LW most of the season on merit.
My expectation is Freddy will be a legit 3RW, Kapanen will be a legit 2RW & Hyman will be Hyman the #1 RW. Mad Max will be the #4 RW. A thing of beauty.
Despite the numbers, Freddie looks slow. He lost all his quickness. He is thinking slow, reacting slow and his first steps are slow. To compensate he stays on top of his man and plays a decent defensive survival game.
The other part of his game, the physical component had no home in Edmonton. Edmonton doesn’t play that way and it has been a problem.
Without a role he looks to have sid into a role of time waster and watcher. A few shifts here and there and watch Leon or Connor carry the load.
Health – he stated he was 100% healthy.
Role – this can be improved, defined, reaffirmed
Value – I think we see what he brings become more valuable
Inspired – I think surrounding him with hard workers he can feed off
players lie about their health all the time.
the fact his footspeed was not up to his historical levels would suggest he was not healthy although he claimed he was. he seemed a 1/2 step behind pretty much all year.
With a defined role, a fresh season start, a new coach, and a full offseason of training and conditioning i am confident he will have a much better season.
Most NHL players will bullshit when it comes to health. They are just hardwired this way most players don’t want to lose there spot on the roster. NHL injured players get forgotten easily and shuffled out the door. That 15 minutes of fame can end in a blink of an eye.
Aging veteran players will not lie but instead tend to be overly cautious.
New guy trying to stay in the league is different.
If a veteran gets hurt enough to be taken out, he does not want to rush back. (playoffs excluded) He knows that once on the ice again he is judged by his play, not by how is playing with slight injury. His stats have no asterisk, the eye test has no empathy.
Nobody cares or remember the slight injury.
Coming back too early can cost you millions. The biggest risk is you lose your spot to an ambitious younger player who is also cheaper.
Nope. You come back only when 100% and take your job back.
“How do you fix Trent Frederic” is absolutely one of the questions that should have been posed to Babcock by the GM in the interview process.
It’s the HC’s job to deploy the player in a role that maximizes his abilities. Frederic was a good player in Boston. It’s Babcock’s responsibility now to unlock that player again as an Oiler.
Frederic has played for three NHL coaches. Two of those coaches, Cassidy and Knobber, thought Frederic was deserving of 4th line minutes.
Job one is to get the player effective again not move him up the depth chart because of his contract. If he has to find his game again on the 4th line, so be it. That’s better than him being a complete washout here.
In the NHL, you need four lines that can outscore. Prior to joining the Oilers, Trent Frederic had a very good history of outscoring.
Also, given that Kris Knoblauch is no longer an NHL head coach, and IMO, is unlikely to be one again in the near future, his usage of Frederic is moot.
I’ve noticed a theme years ago when Bowman was with the Hawks. He likes his wingers big and skilled so far every deal Bowman makes there’s usually a big-skilled winger coming back. This year is finally a Bowman year the roster turn-over is almost complete. I think people will be gushing how easily we win our division. I see Babcock and Bowman on the same page up front and don’t even get me started how much I like our 3-headed monster in net. When was the last time an Oiler coach won the Jack Adams? I’m calling it early Mike Babcock wins this prestigious award this season. Booook it…….
Sitting on the Dach of the bay.
If so, I hope everyone on the team is enjoying their water sports and getting some sun but also training hard for the upcoming season.
If Samanski is going to be the 4th line C man between Dach and Freddy, I hope he is going to come to camp 7-8 lbs heavier by adding muscle . That 6.2 frame needs to be at least 205. Those 3 would be a solid 4 th line . But I think with all the acquisitions and resigning he will be in the minors to start. Maybe they throw Freddy in the middle of Joseph and Dach. That would be a very large line ( Albeit Joseph light ( 6.1 1/2 and 190 lbs) but likes to hit) with all 3 good skaters.
Dach was fun to watch last year and can’t wait to see more. I think Babcock is going to unlock Frederic as well.
Or I hope so.
I had very low expectations for Dach as his number in Chicago were abysmal but I was pleasantly surprised.
I think we should worry less about production. It’s very situational for regular players. The guys that we wish we had repeatedly tumble on the Oilers and many recover elsewhere. I hope MB sorts out team play and floats all boats. They have a lot of capable players
Agreed. Anyone coming to the Oilers will play less minutes and less cherry minutes because McDraiBouch already fill those spots. As a result, their toi and counting numbers will likely decline, e.g., Henrique, Skinner, Arvi.
With Dach, I was more concerned about his poor micro stats and underlying numbers.
Just as it is ticking my head:
Do we have a glut of top 6 wingers with 30 goal scorer maybe upside? Do we have that who also boost chances better than almost any other winger that top 2 line being outscoring variety set?
He took a minute heating up before he was obvious to most of pundits and fanbase that his play had seemed to be taking a huge step forward.
And before injuries and whatnot caused him 1st and 3rd line duties there was further big step style offensive sorties he was adding on drai’s wing.
This guy could be a pretty important cornerstone in our top 6 if he keeps growing in confidence and working as hard as he has.
Why bury him in defensive zone minutes on a shutdown line?
It’s too only mcdraivid need be present to maximize offensive outscoring matches.
*EDITED LIKES LOL
Since the 2021-2022 NHL season there have been 13 players who have had a season where they scored >= 15 goals, >= 25 points, had >= 200 hits, and got into >= 3 fights.
1) A.J. Greer (2025-2026)
2) Brady Tkachuk (2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025)
3) Dakota Joshua (2023-2024)
4) Evander Kane (2023-2024)
5) J.T. Miller (2022-2023)
6) Marcus Foligno (2021-2022)
7) Mathieu Olivier (2024-2025, 2025-2026)
8) Nick Foligno (2024-2025)
9) Tanner Jeannot (2021-2022)
10) Tom Wilson (2021-2022, 2023-2024, 2024-2025)
11) Trent Frederic (2023-2024)
12) Vasily Podkolzin (2025-2026)
13) Will Cuylle (2025-2026)
No doubt Frederic has had a poor start to his time in Edmonton, but IMO he improved as the season progressed last year, and I personally think it’s a little premature to give up on him.
Look how many of those guys did it one season and not again. Frederic is not Brady or Tom. Far more likely his 23/24 season was the outlier.
It could be the case that his 2023-2024 season is an outlier, but at the same time, from 2022-2023 through 2024-2025, he averaged:
GP: 82 | G: 16 | A: 16 | PTS: 32 | Hits: 175 | Fights: 6 | GF%: 55.45 | xGF%: 51.68
It’s all about confidence with Frederic he has the tools necessary. Sometimes it takes a free agent a year to get comfortable and Frederic has had a long off season with a new coach. Also Frederic fights happen organically the staged fight against Olivier really messed with his confidence. This was the game K.K lost me as a fan and I bet some of the players as well.
Yeah, the lead-up to that fight with Olivier was, IMO, a little off. I think Frederic should’ve gone out and established a physical presence and made Olivier come after him rather than going out on his first shift of the game and squaring up with the best fighter in the league, who is an absolute beast with heavy hands and probably hasn’t lost a fight in the past 3 seasons.
K.K called out Frederic in the press and the fans before the game. The poor guy was getting speed fed so many rights he was begging for a left.
I’ll give him another year before I write him off. He had good possession stats last year and is hitting and shooting at about the same rate as his two good years. A consistent line could do wonders for him.
also, Olivier would be a nice realistic ceiling for Dach IMO
I agree. I think Dach can score between 12 and 18 goals while providing a physical presence.
I don’t think he’ll ever have the fighting skillset that Olivier has, but I’m not sure if any player currently playing in the NHL has the fighting skillset that Olivier has.
If I was an Oilers player I might have a discreet sit down with Colton to learn about his brothers injury status.
Looks like Kirby would like to leave the Canadians and Oilers might be able to pick up an undervalued center for 3.5 / 3 years
The risk is injury. If only they could get a real good idea of the risk here.
Knee injuries are a different beast. I had 3 major knee injuries in 4 years and operations. Right knee, all of them. Clocked 22 years since the last procedure, put a lot of mileage on it without a problem. This past spring, taking the garbage to the bin, ACL and PCL went kablooie. Seeing the surgeon and waiting on rebuild #4.
Not good to hear! Shame you didn’t have a Tkachuk in the garbage so you could at least say you hurt it doing something worthy.
So was it Knee injury for Kirby? I have no idea and i agree, even if he looks 100% there can still be risk.
Kirby certainly looks to have underperformed. I want to see something. But Blackhawks passed him on and his stats don’t exactly jump. Except top speed which is 94th percentile
Perhaps the last play here for Bowman is not a gamble on an under achiever but spend your money on certainty at the deadline.
Kirby-Colton both have the speed-muscle to take-over a series come playoff time. Would love to see Dach’s against the Tkachuk’s in the final the next 3 years.
That sounds like fun.
That is 100% not Kirby Dach’s current game or recent level of ability.
Dach has the ability to take over a series he sure did look like the best player in the play-in against us many moons ago. I do hope Bowman draft pick Kirby comes home. The Dach brothers with Frederic or Dickinson would be my go to line in the playoffs.
Dach was very good in that play-in and I presumed that is what your love-in with that player is based on. He is no longer that player, he’s a shadow of that player and he no loners has the ability to come close to taking over a series. He’s a 12F at best at this stage.
Rarely do you see/hear fans as frustrated with a player as Habs fans have been with Kirby Dach.
He’s not undervalued, he’s massively over-capped.
He has not been good for a long time and was not good at all for the Habs – the fans were extremely frustrated with his lack of impact. He is also no longer a center.
His injuries have massively lowered his ceiling.
Regarding pp1 and 2. I am not sure why giving pp2 more time is even a talking point with historically the best power play unit ever. Talk to me about having a reliable third and fourth line to play after a pp then sure. But giving pp2 more time will mean less pp goals by season end in total.
To show the difference when the big three of McD, Drai and Bouchard are on they score 12.5 goals an hour. The pp with those three off score at 4.7 goals an hour with a 8% drop in shooting % and thos is the full last 3 years at 5 v 4 pp
It would be interesting to know how many goals are scored against the oilers in the shift or two after the pp ends. I’m not sure if those numbers are available publicly?
One reason to have a pp2 is that you could have a stronger line out after the pp to go against the other teams top line.
Another reason would be to keep more people involved in the offense game which helps the overall team confidence/ chemistry.
Having the best pp in the league is great but having a top 5 pp and being able to win more games is better. In my opinion.
With Nuge likely to play 3rd line this year having the same pp as the last few years would breakup 3 lines.
I am not convinced nuge is on pp1 this year tbh. This is also the reason I used the 3 main players as the 3 that stay out the whole time.
Well first off team who scores more wins and i am just curious about options and the why. To me if the pp is the big 3 plus rotation on the other two spots is maximizing the pp. McDavid and Drai score more at pp than even strength so give them every minute there possible and cover the 5v5 after with a good third line. Its also not like those three need 5 minutes to recover from a 1:45 pp shift.
So this I can agree. All of it. I misunderstood your first comment that pp1 would be the same as the last few years.
To me adjustments need to be made on pp one on the entries especially. Teams are figuring that out. Also I don’t think changing up the pp personal will hurt the pp.
I’m still stuck trying to figure out where LT can get a good cup of coffee for $1.50!
Good article as usual LT, but you must be stuck in a time warp. That or you must tell us where on earth you are getting any cup of coffee for $1.50, let alone a good one 😁
This is my favourite commentary on coffee conundrums.
https://youtu.be/-f_dxLiuXuw?si=xN6_DeAJfIj2k_QF
Roman bath houses.
In terms of potential playoff success, I really like the possibilities of a 3rd or 4th line with Dach and a potentially resurgent Frederic on the wings.
There is so much value in a line that can consistently punish the opposition D over a long series. It has been WAY too long since the Oil have had a true banger line that can chip in offensively as well.
Bowman knows this. For all the Kane and Toews fame, those championship Hawks teams had excellent forward depth with physicality and two way excellence in the bottom 6.
I’ll never be a Babcock cheerleader, but finding a role for these type of players should be something he absolutely excels at.
I have a few goals for this edition of the Oilers.
I hope neither McDavid nor Draisaitl win a major regular season trophy. But play about 21 minutes a night, with No PK time. AND healthy at game 82 ends.
I hope RNH anchors a 2PP that averages 30 seconds of TOI. AND becomes a great 3LW.
I hope Levi, Samanski,Howard and Savoie are trusted by Babcock as we reach the playoffs.
I hope Brown, Dach, Fredrick, Podkolzin, Murphy and Jones are a physical force each team dreads playing against.
i hope DJ Smith has the best PK in the league.
Oilers fans are so funny.
So you will be disappointed if McDrai play 21 a night, don’t PK, are healthy BUT they win the Art Ross and Richard?
I would prefer that these two had an internal competition for Selke. That kind of leadership will be the difference. It doesn’t mean Ross and Richard won’t happen (Draisaitl won the Rocket whilst getting Selke mentions 2024-25); it does mean that the goalies and D aren’t getting blamed for team’s SV%.
Huh? If goalies and D do not impact sv% then what do they do?
Of course they have an impact on SV%.
But if last year showed us anything, it’s that blaming the goalies or the G&D for a terrible team stat, when the F group leadership was abandoning the D zone, will not win games. Nor does it solve the problem
One thing I believe I am in agreement with, with MB: the big boys were a big part of the problem. I am curious about whether MB’s “Yzerman moment” comment will bear fruit. If it does, the team SV% will look much better, regardless of who’s in net.
He said he hopes they do NOT win a trophy.
Yes, exactly. Why would a fan hope that their team’s star players don’t win individual awards?
All I care about is outscoring, give more than you give up.
It’s relative. If the coach finds clean air for the stars, I would expect them to outscore by more, and those against the elites don’t give it all back.
It’s a simple calculus but it includes intangibles imo. If you win the game, do I care if the other team showed more heart/truculence? Not really, but it does affect the game so I believe that effect is captured in outscoring.
I hope Brown does not dress a single game for the Oilers because he is a pylon.
I’m 40+ second PP2 unit.
Like any loss of zone or faceoff near 1 minute = total swap.
Like i ran through all that PP stuff clearly down to actual net PP conversion rstes in 30 second intervals.
The net is extreme (PPGF – SHGA)/(attempts remaining that last that long)
11 SHG -> well sub top 16 average bad side of league
3 SHG in 1st minute PP1
5 SHG in 2nd minute PP1 or in sloppy line chage
3 SHG in scraps of time against PP2 (crappy position like trying to get a rush at least in in last 29 seconds with guy coming out of box like shitty waste of any time for mentality of that unit.)
Our PP net falls out of top of league because of goals scored against it.
Below dallas and i think carolina under 25% or sonething.
Like it’s horseblinder illogical not to factor shitty coverage leaking SH goals likely directly due to excessive shift lengths.
Again that carolina ge 6 on 5 for almost a minute lesve them out there and they get scored SH against at like 1.5 minutes lomg into shift…like this is stupid.
In the 1st minute PP1 is sonething like 25% then there additional extended garbage was lije 13% maybe and if you did the net effective it was like 22.5% and i believe maybe 7% beyond that.
Like past a minute that stupid “1 pp to rule them all” is basically costing them.
Not to mention expanding logical player usage concepts….
Like south park book of mormon “dumb ditty dumb dumb”
If a second unit even hits at like a 15% effectiveness and that 8 GA drops to 3 GA like first rested minute PP1 and not backed into corner identity lacking situational transient PP2.
The team gains wins.
Like if they can’t figure this out their advanced stat department needs some assistance or a bat to smack anyone not hearing them.
***ALSO makes it harder on opposing coaches and have 2nd lined out PP cone playoffs. Like injuries happen rather than just “oksy guy X yiu are now hyman run that way exactly like every other team PK units have hard coded gameplan how can it not be best!!!”
Like another different weapon might have changed that ANH series when 1st was just gamed early….
Like build a better mousetrap in all game states FFS.
My only request is cut down on “like” to start every sentence. It hurts the reading of your post. I like your post and the effort you put in but reading it, it felt as if someone was saying “like” as a filler word constantly.
Thank you for the post, I enjoyed reading your points.
Thanks! I suck at writing technically failed every english class since grade 7. Just learned a couple years ago i actually have a weird form of dyslexia where i don’t read or understand grammar.
Like reading a passage out loud vs a grammatican not easy to tell…like grammar just is implied wherever needed correctly 95 ish% accurate. But it’s a mess. Like wildfire adhd chasing rabbit trying to get words out when too many sentences ahead in thought even speaking.
Not excusing as i appreciate any clear “stop these herpe like infections please!”
Noted better than most tips!!
— to each their own. I appreciate the cadence and his use of like gives a distinct voice
— his posts and content thoughtful.
I hope the Oilers win the Cup. I could care less how they do it at this point.
I think the can win major trophies and still do the rest…….
We know from the express words of DJ Smth they will NOT be part of the regular PK rotation.
This one I can’t get on board with. I don’t think 30 seconds is enough to off-set the very likely decrease in effectiveness of PP1 – which is shown in the numbers, year after year, every single time Nuge is out of the lineup, without exception.
Hope so and “should be”. Samanski and Savoie are both proven responsible players (well, Sammy needs to cut out the penalties) and Howard worked his ass off in that regard in the AHL – presumably he translates that work.
They should each be easy to be trusted but we’ll see.
Can we Joseph in there?
Best is aggressive but, well, you never know.
Shea and Joseph are both top PK guys, Shakir apparently is good on the PK as well and, of course, both Murphy and Dickinson, the latter of which couldn’t skate in the playoffs when the PK was terrible. There is also the potential for Janmark in the lineup.
DJ should have some the personnel to work with.
Patty Dach Supremacy is going to hit new heights come October.
19.5 hits is bonkers good physical. His physical impact, plus skating and willingness to push net front and cash i hope are given some thought as a mcdavid option.
If the kid takes a lesson from podzilla and learns that he should rareky not be moving with his feet going as fast either direction puck moving: he can do what podz was being used for up there or possibly a 3rd line version..
What i fon’t think he can do as good as podz is all situation adapt playing style have as much high end shooting and puck handling upside.
Which is why i pray babcock decides to not 1 dimension podkolzin into a role at expense of continuing his potential ceiling just to duct tape a mule skinning 3rd line.
Some GMs seem to have an MO in their ‘hockey’ trades (eg. Treliving almost always got a throw-in dman).
Stan seems to try to get a bigger forward as a throw in each trade. Jones, Poulin, Dach. It’s a meat grinder in the bottom of the lineup and guys get banged up. Dach seems to have the most upside and if he works out would well be worth the (hopefully) late first rounder with the other considerations of the trade.
If you dont have Maroon, keep swapping out to find the next one.
When the trade first happened, it was quite interesting to see all the Chicago fans lamenting the loss of Dach, even with the 1st going the other way. Big player that can skate, fight, hit and even score a little is well worth a contract 40% above the minimum. He wasn’t as effective in the playoffs due to a lower body injury but I think he’ll bounce back and he’ll be a fan favourite the next couple of years.
I wasn’t here for Maroon, nor his leaving. But one of the first things I noticed as a new fan was the wistful tone whenever his name was mentioned.
Please, tell me the tale of Patty Maroon (and why ever was he allowed to leave?).
Really cheap, durable, keep their stick on the ice and go in front for 97 to bounce pucks off his ass. He did what Lucic was supposed to do for relative pennies. A rare trade W like the Podz bet during a sea of Houses for Paperclips (eg. Eberle trade tree).
He was also a big teddy bear with his young son and that was endearing as heck.
Hyman is the elite version of this player. These guys burn bright for a few years then you keep trying to replace because they receive as much as they give (Hymans hand will shorten his career, car-wrecked by Marchment).
Thank you.
Maroon was one of the first real cheap/good additions of the McDavid era. That season, the Oilers didn’t make the playoffs and traded away Teddy Purcell and Justin Schultz for third round picks and added Patrick Maroon who was big, could skate and score sometimes for cheap. Then, he was stapled to McDavid and rang up 14 points in 16 games. Then he scored 27 goals the season after we traded Taylor Hall away and was a big part of the reason we made the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
He was a big sign of hope that the Oilers could add big scoring wingers on cheap contracts that would score 25+ goals just playing with McD. Sadly, the Oilers we not on track to make the 2018 playoffs and moved Maroon (who did not have as good of a year) and his expiring contract to NJ for a third rounder. Maroon then went on to win three straight Stanley Cups from 2019-2021 as an effective fourth liner for St Louis an Tampa Bay.
He was traded because management thought they could just add cheap scoring wingers each year and expect instant success with McDavid. The 2017-18 version of that was Ty Rattie. He scored 9 points in 14 games after a late season trade, and then followed that up with 11 points in 50 games.
Maroon has that mythical status because he represented hope at the end of the Decade of Darkness and was the proto-typical fan favourite archetype. Big, fast, cheap and could score but he also had charisma and a good personality. When TB won the second of back-to-back cups, they took a team photo where they all held up 2 fingers. Maroon held up 3 as it was his third in a row (having won with St. Louis). It was that cheeky kind of fun combined with dedication and substantial contribution from a fringe player that EDM had lacked for a really long time.
Let me add, he didn’t just fight, he backed up players. I believe in his first game he grabbed two Flyers by the scruff of their jersey and shook them around. Oilers fans were in shock. He sought out anyone messing with McDavid.
Lucic showed up but only fought in the major league more staged battles. Kassian emerged as a turtle destroying force, and they did have some other big wingers like Slepyshev.
But Marron was friends with Corey Perry and thought the game much like Perry. He knew his role and did it with a smile. Stroking Jumbo Joes beard. Im suprised we have not seen Maroon up on the panel sitting beside Kevin Bieksa.
Yeah, it really felt like the start of the big culture change that the team needed before things went off the rails again.
Maroon was an assistant coach for the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks (that the Oil drafted Rudolfs Berzkalns from) as his son was playing there but it looks like he is no longer listed on the website so he might have left because his son did.
Thank you. In these comments I can feel Oilerville’s affection for the player. I’m surprised there wasn’t an insurrection when he was traded.
The Oilers couldn’t afford the raise, that’s why he left!
Kind of but I think that lacks context – the Oilers were going to miss the playoffs and he was a pending UFA having a poor season with back issues – they sold as they should have and Maroon was no more than a fourth liner the rest of his career.
Thank you.
I his first game fought 2 guys at the same time and won!!!
At the time of the trade, I thought he was a throw-in destined for the AHL but it did not take long to realize I was wrong. He was an asset acquired in the deal and an NHL player.
He may end up being a 4W/13F in and out of the lineup but he may end up to a be an impactful bottom six player that can score a bit, provides energy and gets bangs in.
I have concern about continued injury with the style he needs to play but he’s a lock for the team and he is a fun player to watch and easy to cheer for.
I do like him with Frederic – that’s a solid 4th line wing pairing with both guys have a bit of upside but have to show it.
I have a feeling Babcock will have a good effect on players like Frederic. I might add Dach & Jones to that list. The bottom six is going to be a physical group in all three zones. Freddy will be a force with Nuge & Dickinson, while Dach & Jones will power on with Samanski in the middle.
The Dach signing, for me, means the end of the necessary business for the Oilers. There may be a top 6 forward who shakes loose from another team due to cap or other reasons, but otherwise what is out there now is not worth pursuing.
Which means we have 60 more days to imagine, scheme, dream & interpolate what opening roster & combos look like. From my perspective, I think the team is marginally improved from last season & that was a season of under performance. Which, to my optimistic bent means, next year should be pretty good to great.
I think Bowmn can identify a free agent he likes (like Roslovic a year ago) and wait for the price point to get low enough to pounce. That could happen in the next six weeks.
Agreed. Bowman has shown (or been shown?) the wisdom to wait for a useful player to drop for a good value late in the off season.
I actually wonder what the Carlsson/Gauthier contracts do to shake loose some middle 6 forwards & the cascade effect it has on other guys still out there.
Keep it to 1 year. He has been the prototypical sniper in a PF body his whole career.
Size of the fight in the dog is this player to a T.
We might see one more signing. I’m thinking Mantha will be in Edmonton to show the league what he’s worth on a one year deal.
That would be an excellent add for a low cap, if it comes to pass.
There does seem to be some noise there. I think there are 10-15 scoring wingers in a holding pattern of who goes where and for how much. I think Mantha & Tarasenko are angling for better deals while Pat Kane decides on his next move and then we see Tolvanen, Bunting, Van Riemsdyk, Perron, and Smith go on cheap deals as well.
I’m very curious where Philipp Kurashev ends up. I’d have thought a rebuilding team would have grabbed him already.
I agree with all of this except I do think (1) the org would like to add one of the few scoring forwards left but won’t overpay on it (which is good) and (2) a Stastney out trade for another depth forward may be in the books (although they are already 2 forwards too many if they run 3G)…….. unless they think Stastney will clear, which he may.