It takes a long time to rebuild, and I’m still holding out hope the Edmonton Oilers can avoid it. Selfishly, I don’t want another decade of darkness because all those draft picks take time to develop and I’m not guaranteed to be around for the good times when they mature. Please read this.
Based on numbers and the eye test, the players 25 and under who are (or I see becoming) good NHL players: Vasily Podkolzin, Matt Savoie (once healthy), Ike Howard, Josh Samanski, Colton Dach, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Devon Levi, Damien Carfagna, Samuel Jonsson, Maxim Berezkin if he ever signs.
The players under 25 I see playing a feature role for more than two seasons? Podkolzin, Savoie, Howard, Levi. I also think Jonsson and Carfagna have a chance to join that list, but historically my estimates have been generous.
I think we have to be honest about players like Quinn Hutson, Viljami Marjala and Beau Akey. I love Akey’s game, but the Oilers don’t seem to rate him, and that may mean he’s sent away at the deadline ala Mike Kesselring. By position, my favourite prospects are: G Jonsson, LD Carfagna, RD Akey, C Samanski, top winger Howard. There’s some speed and skill there. Godspeed, men.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll talk to Steve Lansky about the changing (or not changing) look of Saturday hockey broadcasts in Canada. We’ll chat Oilers and CFL, too. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
How can the Oilers tweak ice time for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7542712/2026/08/28/oilers-ice-time-connor-mcdavid-leon-draisaitl/
And so we circle back to Curtis Lazar? Cheap. Effective. Fills a hole, nicely.
What hole does Lazar fill?
He was the team’s worst PK forward last year as far as GA/60, and its not like he was playing PP1.
Samanski only played about 11 minutes on the PK if I remember correctly (checked the other day) – no goals against.
Being right shot is not worth a roster spot in my opinion.
The hole that is cheap RS PK centre who’s ok to not play regularly.
I want to see more of Samanski too (and hope he’s taking faceoff lessons in German this summer). But I’d rather bring Lazar back for cheap than chase à more expensive option that could block Sam. when he may be the eventual best fit for that hole.
but he’s not playable on the PK – at least he wasn’t last year.
You want to employ him in a role he was not capable of playing last year in turn blocking the path of Samanski to play that role -based on handedness essentially.
Last year could be an outlier, he has historically been very good on the PK. New system this year. I like Lazar as a cheap 4C option
Could be but how about that ice and reps go the guy they played over Lazar in the playoffs, who is 24 and has arrows up and did well on the PK (short sample size) in Samanski.
Sure, sign Lazar if he understands he’ll be waived an assigned until there are more injuries (I would keep Max Jones as 13F over him).
Yeah I agree, i mostly mean if they want another center option. Right now if Samanski doesnt end up being ready for 4C or they have an injury they are light on centers. We know Lazar can do it and Im sure Hed be open to going to Bako seeing as it doesn’t look like he’ll get a contract
I’ll take the other side. Babcock is going to use a second PP unit, and reduce McDavid’s and Draisaitl’s PP time, and maintain their even strength time.
Babcock believes in winning by systematic team play, not by waiting for McDavid or Draisaitl to do it.
Why do people expect Babcock NOT to be Babcock, and just do the same thing all the other Oiler coaches did?
He was not hired for show. They told us they were all in on Babcock, and on Babcock being Babcock.
Babcock is no fool. That power play is fantastic.
I think you are both right.
I do think PP2 or PP1.5 will get more time this coming year but I would not expect the best 5-man PP of all time to start coming off after 55-65 seconds, nor should they most of the time.
It is foolish to use only one power play unit.
Teams win. Individuals do not. Anything that reeks of individualism must be eradicated.
The Oilers second power play is a ghost of the top option. No sir. That’s empty calories.
Running the top unit for two minutes destroys 5×5 play. Stanley Cups are won and lost on 5×5 play.
They have Jason Dickinson’s line, a checking line, that can jump over the boards to face the next unit. The Samanski line can take a shift and then they’re back to 97 or 29 trio. I don’t think the Oilers have the horses for two good power plays.
They can do a PP1.5 where Savoie, Podz and Walman replace Nuge, Hyman and Bouchard, for example. Howard for Nuge for now.
By definition a unit, like a 5-man PP unit, is the opposite of individualism, right.
PP1 will play more than PP2 (or PP1.5, depending on how they go) but not as much as prior seasons – that would be my presumption.
I would like to know the percentage of goals our PP scores the first 55-60 seconds compared to the later45-50 seconds. In my viewing if the PP-1 gets stale the longer the PP continues. Would it help or hurt out PP-1 if we had more urgency with fresh troops coming on last 45 seconds. When Leon and Connor-Bouchard are out for say the full 2 minutes of PP-1 in 10 minutes gap it throws of their 5 and 5 timing they look sluggish after a couple failed PP . Myself I give the boys 45 seconds if the puck is iced change it up full squad Walman is the QB Howard shooters spot Podkolzin net front and with Savoie hurt maybe Kap in the Nuge spot with Savoie hurt maybe Dickinson in. I would like to see maybe the A team in after our PP-2 lapses if they are fresh from a stoppage whistle on the B team opportunity. I do hope Bab’s keeps attacking shift after shift like the Red Wings and the Leafs who were dangerous team under Bab’s the Leafs just couldn’t get by the Bruins.
The Makar contract is insanity.
What a joke. He’s not worth 75% nevermind 150% of McDavid, Draisaitl, Kucherov and MacKinnon.
Cale “my knee is sore” Makar at $20 million is almost as dumb as that Leo Carlsson contract for a 65 point player. Almost but Verbeek is his own level of stupid.
That contract has negative value.
Sakic is a dummy. What a stupid deal in an offseason where Stan the Man crushed it.
Member that time the Oilers allowed that Tool Armstrong to offer sheet Broberg (hehe Berry) and checks notes “Dylly Holloway” and it blew up the league?
4D chess baby. 4D chess.
Holy shit is that Makar contract stupid hahahahahahahahahhahahahhahaha
Cale Makar at $20 million has to be the dumbest contact ever signed.
Lets call him Alexi Makar, or Cale Mdade.
Holy Gord is that a horrible contract.
At least $35 million in negative value
I think the Makar, Carlson, and Bedard contracts make the next two seasons ultra important for the Oilers. It will be their best chance to win with McDavid and Draisaitl close to peak still. After that, McDavid’s then Bouchard’s next contracts will eat up the cap space and make it more difficult. I’d be surprised if McDavid gives the team another sweetheart deal.
The Donskov hiring suggests that there is trouble brewing in paradise already between Bowman and Babcock, and a complete lack of confidence in Chaulk’s potential as a NHL coach.
Bowman putting in place the emergency replacement.
I thought Smith was the emergency replacement?
I think you’re reading too much into. Part time coaching hire.
I think it suggests they want to have better scouting reports on their next opponent.
No, no it doesn’t.
Wow Makar just signed 8x just over 20 per
20.4
Contract grades:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7546811/2026/08/28/cale-makar-contract-nhl-record/?campaign=19619347&source=athletic_targeted_email&userId=28662
@PuckPedia
The AVs Cale Makar 8 year $20.4M Cap Hit Extension
Yr 1-3 $4M Base & 16.8M Signing Bonus
Yr 4 $12.8M & $8M SB
Yr 5 $4M & $16.8M SB
Yr 6 $3M & $16.8M SB
Yr 7 $2.8M & $16.8M SB
Yr 8 $1M & $18.8M SB
No Move Clause
Stupid contract.
I LOVE it!
Is he going to sit out anytime he feels a little bit off?
Totally worth it!
🏆 🤙🏻 🆗
Hellebuyck re-iterating his trade request.
He may well not be open to Edmonton (stupidly), but always remember:
Connor Murphy and Jason Dickenson + pocket change needs to outperform having Connor Hellebuyck on your team.
Or Frederic and Jarry.
Mix in “Jack Campbell” somewhere if you can too.
UGH.
If they won’t play mature hockey Hellebuyck won’t make the difference, he needs the D to be run around his strengths. When it doesn’t he hasn’t done very well. If the team does play a mature game the goalies should be fine. Injury is my only goalie concern, they don’t really have a known solid option at #3
Agreed. H did a heroic job to win Olympic Gold. But his WIN% in playoffs and clutch games makes him expensive roster ornament, from where I stand.
I hope someone overpays for him and the Jets build a stronger team as a result.
He saved his fluke game for us. Binnington was also sneaky good. A play over has us winning 8.5 times out of 10 games.
Pretty sure he will only go South
Probably the Panthers somehow.
In the current iteration of the league, rebuilds only get you an overpriced hockey team and a 1 or 2-year shot.
Don’t rebuild. Reload. Constantly.
The proof of that pudding may well lie in San Jose.
Mike Grier tore it down to the studs and now has another bunch of hockey studs entering the chat.
Grier was appointed GM only 4 years ago inheriting a team with Karlsson, Couture, Hertl, Meier, Sturm, Vlasic, Jones and Reimer all targeted for disposal.
He was able to amass the top prospect pipeline in the league which began to pay off last season with much, much more to come.
While his acquisitions of Nurse and Trouba are of note, neither is signed very long term and can be viewed as a bridge while Dickinson Verhoff, Lin, Pohlkamp and others marinate.
Even with Celebrini at $18.8 million (which could soon be a massive bargain) next season, the Sharks will have more than $30 million in cap space and about 10 under 25 players in the lineup.
I would suggest the “shot” will be much longer than 1-2 years while teams like the Panthers, Vegas and the Oilers tumble into obscurity.
Tulsky in Carolina faced a similar challenge and, with a cup in hand, can look at a very long run thanks to astute cap management and roster construction.
1. Laugh at obvious ommission to narrative
2. Do quick search
3. No shit sherlock is narrative funny
Avg age nhl rosters oldest to youngest…the soon rumbling into obscurity due to aging curves drum bang
1 LAK 30.75 (6’2, 203 lbs)
2. FLA 30.25 (6’2, 205 lbs)
3. VGK 30.0 (6’2, 201 lbs)
4. COL 29.96 (6’0, 194 lbs)
9. CAR 29.22 (6’1, 198 lbs)
13. EDM 28.8(6’2, 201 lbs)
The issue is that all the impact players on those teams are, or soon will be, in their 30’s.
Carolina stands out though because their most expensive contract is $9.75 million with Seth Jarvis (24), Logan Stankhoven (23) and Jackson Blake (23) already significant contributors and on sweetheart contracts and locked up for the next 6 seasons.
Is the studs double metaphor intentional in paragraph two?
Generally I’m w LMFH on the “reload, constantly.” It’s kind of what GMSB said when he arrived: refresh the roster, annually.
I’m watching SJS and Grier w interest.
I don’t think, w what GMSB has been able to do since the club lost the offer sheets, that the Oilers disappear. I think as long as McDrai and Bouch are on the team, and as long as GMSB keeps finding talent, they’re in the mix. And I don’t think the McD window is just two years. Why? As much as I question McD’s leadership chops to date, he’s taking big swings, and he has the integrity to back up those swings.
It was indeed.
Watch Nurse QB the PP while shooting like Brent Burns did whoukd just get it to the net so Celebrini-Miso-Toffoli can do the pavelski tips. Watch nurse get 17 goals 40 assists this year. I’m not kidding either.
I expect you’re right.
And don’t count out Ivar Stenberg,
He the goods and exceptional at puck possession and finding passing lanes.
Pronman has him ranked the 19th best 23 and under player in the league and he hasn’t even played a game yet.
Agreed. The draft also doesn’t always give you a stud even at 1OV. The nature of the team will change when the stars age out, but as the Canes showed you can win a Cup without one. The GM also has to be bang on the money
One has to rebuild if one has gutted the development pipeline the way the Oilers have gutted it.
If McDavid leaves in two years, the rebuild can be accelerated by trading Draisaitl and Bouchard for massive returns, which should encourage all the other NTC’s and NMC’s to be willing to move elsewhere.
Wow, Lansky going scorched earth on Lowetide’s show. Feels like Sportsnet stole money from him.
Oooo… I will make a point to listen this weekend. Thanks!
I make a point of avoiding shows that Lansky is on that day.
You would
Of course I would, he proven to be unworthy of respect after his unprofessional attack of others online that were not on the platform to protect themslves
Me too. But I do enjoy his take on media, and as I’m not fond of SN, his acidity will be appreciated.
RIP Jacques Doucet, former voice of the Expos
Highlights
— when the GM says “we aren’t talking half the season” it’s probably reasonable to expect we are talking a half season.
— old goalies with injuries (and just by any measure terrible goalies over many seasons if you value sv% as a measure of proficiency)
— Hoping that Anderson is going to help this team is indeed hoping.
— he’d be out of the league except his legacy. He’d be out of the league except his amazing small sample playoff run last year.
— I suppose for 1mm you could squint enough and kid yourself that a 3-goalie solution is good.
— but he was going to miss a lot of games and more importantly he hasn’t been an even below average goalie for many years on teams that played better D than we do.
— it’s the baseline outcome for him. At least part 1. Which was miss a lot of games. Baseline part 2 will be : “yeah he isn’t a good goalie”
Oilers were always going with Jarry-Levi tandem Andersen was just icing on the cake. Freddie is Bab’s old coach do the math Andersen was never going to be ready till midseason.
One quick look at Anderson’s playoffs stats, his amazingly small sample size last playoffs doesnt look much different then his numerous other playoff sample sizes.
He’s an above average playoff tender, you’re being dishonest imo.
Clutch goaltending. WIN%. Because goaltending is such a confidence game, these are perhaps the only important numbers, imo.
One of the knocks on Jarry (and why Penguins were happy to trade for Skinner, who boasted strong clutch and WIN% numbers) was his lack of clutch bona fides. Having Andersen in the bullpen come playoff time, as Reja likes to say, is a good thing.
I think Andersen was amazing this past playoff run, and I’m glad he has his name on the Cup now, but I do recall there was criticism about his play, allowing soft goals at clutch times with the Canes and Leafs in various early playoff exits prior to this Cup run. Some of that sticks with a goalie’s reputation unfortunately.
A great article on Donskov if you have the athletic
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2550387/2021/04/29/a-victim-of-his-own-talent-golden-knights-grateful-for-misha-donskovs-quiet-but-big-contributions/?source=emp_shared_article
Based on his resume Im guessing his role will be pre scouting other teams for strategy, analyzing video of our team and giving Babs ideas, on ice skills coach, and working as intermediary between Parkatti and Babcock. He is into the analytics apparently. A great hire, i think. Was HC at world championships so knows DJ and Bouch
Some quotes
The players were immediately drawn to Donskov. Not only his deep knowledge for the game, but his infectious enthusiasm. “He’s great,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “He’s an unreal coach, and what I love about Misha is how positive he is every day. He shows up with a smile, comes in with a fist bump. He’s an unreal guy.”
“Misha has found a real niche, for me, in working on the skill element of each individual guy and combining it with an analytics element. I think it’s the evolution of coaching staffs. They’re getting bigger and getting more position- and athlete-specific.” Kolesar
”He’s a very intellectual guy,” Kolesar said. “He watches every game, not just ours but around the league, so he’s obviously going to pick up on things that guys are doing to set them apart from others.”
Great song, by the way LT. Hadnt heard the Dolly Parton version until today when your title prompted me to listen to Neil Young’s version and I found it
if you like the harmonies of After the Goldrush as sung by Dolly, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, their Trio albums are amazing to listen to.
— this is a cool hire. Good get. Cheer for him
Spec interviewed Bowman (1) he expects Howard to be on the team and (2) Savoie will miss less time than Freddie and it probably won’t be a lot.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/stunning-rash-of-early-injuries-not-causing-oilers-gm-bowman-to-panic/
One quote:
That’s fine to do, OP. Please post a link! And for those who are reading it, please click on the link. I don’t want to cost any media clicks on articles less than 24 hours old.
Sorry:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/stunning-rash-of-early-injuries-not-causing-oilers-gm-bowman-to-panic/
This is all far and honest but that doesn’t mean there are not other prospects in the system that could impact in the Oilers lineup in due course – maybe one or more of the likes of: Barnett, Fischer, Sharp, Nicholl, Lafreriere, Berzkalns, Lewandawski, etc. make it?
No, of course, no superstars or stars there but for all we know Asher Barnett is a replacement 2nd pairing d-man in 3 years – we don’t know what we don’t know.
I don’t believe those prospects are going to be in camp. If Lafreniere is in camp, I’d be mos interested in him. I also believe Powell and Barnett have NHL chances based on intel from the smart people I talk to.
The college guys can’t come to camp but Nicholl will be there and I presume Lewandowski as well (unless he is a late commit to college).