I think we have to ask the question. What is the number one priority for the Edmonton Oilers this season? Is it winning the Stanley Cup? Or is it convincing Connor McDavid to stay for another contract? It’s something we should address closer to summer 2027, but the deployment of the forwards dovetails perfectly into having the conversation. So, let’s have a look.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN OCTOBER
- At home to: Vancouver (Expected 1-0) Actual 0-0-1
- On the road: Vancouver (Expected 1-0) Actual 1-0-0
- At home to: Seattle (Expected 1-0)
- On the road to: Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles (1-1-1)
- At home to: Mammoth (1-0)
- On the road to: Mammoth (0-1)
- At home to: Minnesota, Carolina, Toronto, Detroit, Calgary (3-2)
- On the road to: New York Islanders (1-0)
- Expected Record: 9-4-1, 19 points in 14 games
- Actual Record: 1-0-1, three points in two games
LINES
- Draisiatl-McDavid=Podkolzin 12:04, 9-2 shots, 3-0 goals, 60X
- Formenton-Michaels-Joseph 10:30, 4-4 shots, 1-2 goals, 41X
- Jones-Dach-Kapanen 8:58, 3-5 shots, 0-3 goals, 14X
- Howard-Samanski-Frederic 6:34, 2-4 shots, 1-1 goals, 39X
The numbers here are stark and were predicted. McDavid line 3-0 goals (all numbers five-on-five), the other three lines 2-6 goals. Who knew? The top line is cherry, You knew it would be. Vasily Podkolzin is fantastic.
The second line has a rookie center, a winger who played in Switzerland the last three seasons and a slower (33kmh max speed), veteran winger as the third.
The third unit was the worst in the group. Colton Dach is a good young player but he isn’t a center. Babcock wants him in the middle because he is big, rambunctious and does have an idea about how to impact the game. I don’t know if he can play center eventually, but its not a strength at this time. Max Jones is 0-4 goals at five-on-five so far this season, and sinking. Kasperi Kapanen is 1-1 goals with Leon, 0-4 without Leon. Same as it ever was.
The fourth line showed some positives, meaning we probably won’t see it again. Trent Frederic’s max speed was 88th percentile and he scored a goal. It was assisted by Ike Howard who won the point while doing useful things. I like Josh Samanski plenty, but he played just 8:40 last night. Babcock doesn’t like his sideburns.
I believe it is fair to ask the question: Is Babcock truly convinced this is the best way forward? Or does he need time to ponder the four wingers who might play alongside 97-29 at center? If this idea is to deploy your team with the best possible result in mind, splitting the Glimmer Twins is the play.
- Shea-Murphy 14:43, 6-4 shots, 2-1 goals, 42X
- Ekholm-Bouchard 12:06, 8-0 shots, 2-0 goals, 71X
- Walman-Mukhamadullin 7:10, 2-5 shots, 0-3 goals, 18X
- Ekholm-Murphy 4:03, 0-3 shots, 0-1 goals, 25X
- Shea-Bouchard 2:13, 2-1 shots, 1-0 goals, 57X
- Devon Levi 15 of 22, .682 save percentage
The Ekholm-Bouchard pairing is money, but played mostly with McDavid-Draisaitl. That’s the correct call, but I think the star of this stats pack is Shea-Murphy. The duo played 14:06 away from McDavid and finished 1-1 goals, and 4-4 shots. Expected goals were 36 percent but that’s an encouraging line on a night when things went to hell. As for Devon Levi, he was singing Lonely Boy for the first half of the game and Blitzkrieg Bop for the second half of the game. I have zero idea how one would evaluate his performance credibly.
On the Lowdown today, we are going to ask the question: what is the priority for the Edmonton Oilers at this time? Janson Duench (12:40) from The Athletic and Steve Lansky (1pm) from Inside the Truck are the feature guests and your input is welcome. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
I think it’s possible to hold two things in truth at the same time.
1) the Optimal Oilers may have McD/Drai on separate lines.
2) McD/Drai on separate lines eats up 1/2 the games 5v5 ice time.
Im ok with experimenting with lines has a purpose. Finding guys roles, getting them gassed up and having them fill said roles is a noble purpose. Especially when you lose 4 regular forwards coming out of camp. Several guys know their time here is short.
Part of me also wonders just what type of season a McDraiBouch line could put together after a long summer. A lot of commentators vehemently against it this year were very positive about the MacKinnon-Necas-Makar line last year. I think our guys are better.
Summarizing!
Cameron made 34 stops (94.4 SV%) in a 5-2 win.
Lewandowski, Fischer and Robinson each picked up a helper.
Harvey, Berzkalns, Barnett, Park and Wakely were not resoupients.
Desharnais played over 20 minutes for the Capitals tonight. It looks like he has snagged a gig as Cole Hutson’s D partner.
Jeff Jackson’s July 1st will live in infamy.
Everybody in Edmonton and his dog knows that Edmonton must split up Connor and Leon 5×5 to be a contender EXCEPT for the coach. Go figure
EXCEPT several coaches. For me I understand allowing more minutes for other players when the wonder boys are together.
However I’d counter with having the two split up drags more players to higher levels. If Howard and Kap can play on the top two lines with either Mcd or dria four wingers likely get to 20 plus goals.
Is Brind’Amour job in jeopardy with the Caps owing them 5-2. Is Hellebuych going to a soft spot that has assets to wake up Cheveldayoff with him pulling the trigger. I would rather see Hellebuych ( Carolina) go anywhere but Florida-Vegas
Brind’Amour was wildly popular before the Stanley. Even if Dundun wanted to fire him (for whatever reason) it’s at least a year away.
Him and mr St Louis could be the best player coaches, if not on the rank for coaches in the NHL.
Good thing it wasn’t the Oilers playing the Caps. Imagine how that would have been in the absence of any defensive structure or goaltending
Anyone watching the Wings/Rangers game? Larkin was boo’d when he was introduced and he is getting boo’d every time he touches the puck. Someone with a Larkin jersey was just escorted out of the building.
I have a feeling the fans aren’t happy with him.
I was watching it and was aware of the boos, but he didn’t play.
https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20262027/RO020017.HTM
You’re right – I turned it on and noticed a lot of repeated boo’ing when the Red Wings had possesion and assumed it was Larkin. Sounds like it was fan commotion over someone with a Larkin jersey.
I think the crowd was chanting ‘sell the team’ and there were other chants too, so I think Larkin may have been mentioned by the crowd. The commentators were certainly talking about it.
I was hoping for double digit SH 10-11 goals I now think it’s possible we get 15 plus SHG Keep pushing D.J and Babcock SH goals are where you steal games.
Anyone with a Skinner update?
Jets haven’t played a game. What do you want to know?
Stopped 8 of 10, .800.
It’s broadly reported the team owner lead the decision to hire the head coach.
The owner making General Manager of hockey operations decisions is a significant item in the the Oilers 2026/2027 season, in my opinion.
I’m watching with interest how it turns out.
Owners do have a vested interest. I’ll take this over the mid 90’s where we were almost sold on a few occasions with no money to sign our good players. Everyday you would get the Sun at 7/11at 5:09am to 5:15am and hope the front page wasn’t Oilers sold to Houston Shysters.
I understand your sentiment but its not one or the other. Many owners financially support their team and have the humility and wisdom to hire hockey people to make hockey decisions.
Oh there’s been plenty of personnel head scratchers to support assumptions of a non hockey mind influencing on ice decisions.
Batman is 65 and probably low on patience after watching many management decisions not pan out. So somewhat cant blame the guy thinking I’m paying guys 5M+ to F up, I may as well do this myself
Or, the reason several coaches continue to play 97 and 29 together despite this not being the optimal roster deployment is influence of the owner on decisions impacting 97 & 29?
Yes that is a plausible example of outside influence. If he keeps winning scoring titles here he’ll stay right? He shouldn’t have to drive a line and make his team mates better – yes boss
~ So when does pre-season end? Asking for a friend. ~
Game 10 is where the boys play the system to Babcock liking.
The short pre-season has produced some ragged games around the league. Pittsburgh spanked Philly 7-0, the Utes blanked the Hawks 6-0, Colorado hung 8 goals on LA.
Sure, we need to tighten up fast. But we’re not alone.
I’m not sitting Jake Walman at this point but Emberson and Stastney were 8-5 goals (and near 53% expected goals) in about 225 minutes last season…….
Walman needs a few games to get his game more fluid. It’s way too early to push the panic button. Jake is trying to hard needs to relax and play hockey.
I like that Walman was benched in the latter part of the 2nd and I think early 3rd. That at least sends a message.
Today’s was a scheduled day off for the team but they practiced. Doesn’t sound like any sort of “punishment type practice” just wanted to get on the ice and work on certain things.
Rishaug called it a “snappy practice” only 15-20 minutes for some.
Kapanen has been skating well and made some wonderful offensive plays but he’s been just brutal defensively so far – worst defensive forward on the team (which he also was down he stretch after being claimed – not last season).
Since the 2024-25 season:
Kapanen with Leon 18-12 goals in 313 five-on-five minutes
Kapanen w/o Leon 25-48 goals in 869 five-on-five minutes
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20262027&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=EDM&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2026-09-29&td=2027-04-10&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8477953&p2=8477934&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0
The makings of a good second line.
The owner hired the Coach, my friend. Doesn’t often end well.
That is insane
Podz-Drai-Kap is such an obvious second line. A mucker, a driver, a skilled but flawed finisher. It maximizes each of their talents and helps to mask their weaknesses.
Likewise, Savoie-McD-Hyman is an obvious first line when healthy. Howard can be substituted for Savoie for now, and substituted for Kappy every 10 games when Kap gets lazy.
The Kap goes to the third line, where Nuge can feed him, and Dickinson can cover the defense.
Dach-Samanski-Fred rekindles the 4th line magic until if/when they can’t. Then you find room for Michaels/Joseph/Jones.
I also will say that it is hard to say that the bottom 9 forwards (that’s what they are) should be shot into the sun because they are generally playing above their depth. Perhaps that was why the 4th line didn’t get caved as much, because it was played as such?
3rd pair D the big worry that can be fixed. Thanks LT for the perspective on the 2nd pair, makes me feel a bit better. I have been seeing Shea lacking compete as well. It’s a stark contrast from Nurse, who played harder but not necessarily smarter
Babs knows that Kirby and Colton are not the same person, right?
When your team is banged up, you keep Cs at C and play a simple game, no? Maybe I’m just too conservative.
There was no reason to get trapped into run and gun with a 5-0 lead. There was also no reason to keep Draisaitl and McDavid on the same line in the current state with a 5-0 lead. Granted, those line combos got them there, but surely with an 8-2 lead and 2 goals against on 5 shots you settle the horses and move the big boys apart, no?
I would suggest that when a team is as dominant as they were after the 1st and after the 2nd as the Oilers were last night there is a very reasonable argument to not change what is working.
I would suggest that nhl coaches need to have better foresight than us fans.
There were signs in the later half of period 2 that territorial play was shifting. It does take some gonads to make changes when winning. Safe to presume better balanced lines would have helped the 3rd D pair. Some actual centers would have as well. Players on D side of pucks below their own hashes was mia in the 3rd. One could presume this was not prioritized in the 3rd period game plan based on the evidence
Are we concerned about our goaltending situation, yet?
Yet? I think we have always been concerned with the goalie-ing.
I think most true Oilers fans are worried about goaltending all the time.
I am sure Bowman has a good trade up his sleeve to acquire a veteran goalie who may or may not have been on waivers recently.
There is no retention on the trade…
I actually dreamt last night that we signed Connor Ingram out of retirement.
I had a dream last night that Brock Lesnar was wearing the same shirt as me and when I pointed it out to him I realized at that time that his shirt was actually different. He noticed the difference as well and looked at me like I was a fool.
Two questions marks and a decent starter made out of glass. I think concerns are warranted.
After the dominant preseason 5GA in 4 games the flood gates opened on Jarry and Levi. I would start Levi let’s see what this kid is made of.
I personally give any player, including goaltenders, more than one game before I make determinations.
I look forward to a solid tending performance on Saturday.
Connor Hellebuyck.
I will not stop beating the drum for him. If he’s willing to come here, he changes the entire way the team plays. The analogy isn’t perfect, but it would almost be like how the team changed when Chris Pronger came aboard.
Caught the Lowetide show today for the first time in a long time. I really enjoyed the group discussion, it was podcast esq and everyone is very relaxed with one another. I will be tuning in again!
The nice thing about Nurse playing for another team is that he can cross check Matthew Tkachuk in the back of the head without the Oilers getting a penalty for it.
His mistake when deciding to do stuff like that was always only doing it half way.
Yep Nurse recieved half his penalties on borderline garbage calls. If Nurse and Ekbald had reversed teams the last 5 years Nurse would be a god in Florida and we would be complaining how Ekbald took the same stupid penalties over and over. Nurse and Kane both had a sign in their backs in Edmonton we just different have a Coach or G.M to stand up to the league. The 1 game suspension on Pietrangelo was the ugliest lumberjack slash since Bobby Clarke on Valeri Kharlamov
Donald Brashear might have a word with you, regarding the handiwork of one Marty McSorley.
I accept the fact that +- is an old stat and does not give a complete picture.
Oilers have been the have and have nots for a decade now but the last two games show that in spades. Oilers players are both top and bottom 3 in the entire league for +-.
Easy coaching decisions to follow: replace the green jacket leafers with anyone else on the roster or farm – it probably won’t be worse and I would guess better.
My buddy at work is from Trawna, and he says the one glaring aspect of Blabcock’s time there was his stubborn usage of certain players.
Somebody get me a Dachtor!
Fair point, but doesn’t that describe every coach ever? They are all stubborn to a fault at times
Is Joseph really as slow as everyone is saying? I didn’t really drill down or anything, but I thought he was going to be a lanky, physical player with some at least average wheels. If he’s a turtle, he doesn’t bring much else does he? If this is the case, I could live with Godot’s idea of running Howard-Samanski-Hutson as a line until it’s not a good idea anymore.
Am I the only one who feels like the tension is way higher this year than past years?
Godot wants Joseph running alongside McDavid.
I’m not on board with all his ideas. LOL!!
Only with the current availability of players.
Joseph’s max skating speed has been low through two games but he has a long history of being between 80th and 85th percentile so, unless his skating has just fallen off a cliff, its likely a blip.
That’s the range I assumed when he signed.
Max skating speed is over rated imo.
Apparently Frederich is 80% plus percentile yet when you watch the games he’s late to most plays and too often standing still with poor first few strides and agility
Frederic has been a positive player this season for me.
He was slow in Game 1, outstanding in Game 2. It’s early in the season, but those max speed shifts in Vancouver are heartening. I know most who read and post on this blog have long decided on Frederic, and a betting man would side with them. I’m hoping Frederic and do now what he did in Boston. I’ll leave a light on just in case.
Nuge and Hyman out. Goalies sucking slough water. Bottom 6 is a jigsaw puzzle. It really is the perfect storm to put the new HC’s feet to the fire.
Either the Oil overcome these challenges and rise to the occasion OR Babcock is unmasked as an imposter. Folks, I call that a win/win.
Take 3 of 6 top six forward out with injury of any team and they would be happy with 3 points in two games. The high pace preseason finally has Bouchard-Connor-Leon bursting out of the gate. What score will make you happy next game against Seattle? It as to be a realistic score nothing like 9-1. Will 4-1 slow down the firing chants of the big meanie Babcock.
You realize they were playing arguably the worst team in the league and they lost one and could have lost the other, right?
The goal is to build a legitimate Cup contender, not rack up stats against the league’s weak sisters.
To your question, what will it take for the Babcock groupies to put down the Koolaid. A loss to Calgary? Missing the playoffs? Existential extinction event?
First couple of weeks can be a toss-up especially with newer bodies. I believe Babcock is loading up because he feels it’s the best way to get points and store them in the bank like Vegas always does early. We controlled the 1st game as well as the second. I think it was a case of the bottom six trying too hard impressing the new boss. It’s a marathon season as long as the D is clinking the last 50 games I’ll take these crazy early season wins.
True story. I cheer for the Philadelphia Eagles and I’m also a dog lover. So you can imagine my chagrin when the Eagles decided to employ Michael Vick as their quarterback. It was during this time that I realized that I can root for a team as a collective without rooting for a particular individual associated with that team. It’s a compartmentalization I find useful with the Oilers now. In short, it’s entirely possible for a segment of this fanbase to root for the Oilers while being completely uninvested in Mike Babcock’s journey. And there are many Oiler fans that feel this way.
To be fair, the situations aren’t entirely comparable. Michael Vick apologized for his actions, expressed contrition to the team’s fans, and volunteered with humane society organizations during his stay at Philly. As far as Mike Babcock’s apology, a person probably shouldn’t hold their breath waiting on that one.
Anyone that would engage in electrocuting-drowning-hanging of dogs is not a fixable human thing. Have fun cheering for the Eagles.
Thanks, I will! The Michael Vick detour aside, they are a first class organization that makes me proud to be their fan. Jeffrey Lurie is one of the best owners in professional sports.
— it’s amazing that a decade ago we had the Steve Austin’s and 3-4 non NHLers and 2-3 forwards in slots set up to fail (either too high or wrong position or wrong job description vs their actual skills)
— Today we have McDrai and a winger decidedly next level vs the Austin’s but:
— Non-NHLers on legit team/ last roster spot / callups IMO: Formenton-Michaels, Joseph, Jones, Fred
— Slotted wrong\setup for failure : Howard is ill suited for 4th line checker, Dach is not a C Kap needs a real C to be effective
— Maybe Sam is a replacement level C on 4th line which is fine
— so we are 8 forwards who don’t fit right.
— Perhaps Nuge Dickinson Hyman Savoie improve considerably everyone’s slotting.
— This is after game 2 an available lineup akin to a team that has drafted well after sucking for some time: an elite few players that are a core and needs years to fill out roster so has plugs
— And all time worst B2B goalie starts for oilers in first 2 games, it’s not even close: 13 goals against, 7 higher than expected
and, yes, 3 points out of a possible 4.
— your better than that
— against the worst team last year, one of the few with the same type roster on non NHLers
— intill everyone healthy going to need small sample size variance luck and individual performances
— surely you don’t believe that 3 points in 2 games means this is a legit roster ?
Howard also scored a point in a 4th line role and made himself quite useful in the ice time he had.
Kinger didn’t mention the points – Kinger seems to be comparing the lack of depth we had during the DOD, and the lack of depth now.
Since McDavid was drafted,
The Oilers used a first round pick in a deep draft to get Griffin.
The Oilers used a top 5 pick to draft JP, which turned into nothing.
The Oilers traded away Hall and Eberle for a defense-first defenseman and essentially nothing.
The Oilers passed on picking an amazing goalscorer in Debrincat.
The Oilers turned top 6 winger Holloway into a 3rd round pick.
The Oilers used real money to sign Dickenson as a 3rd line Center, even though he’s on the wrong side of 30 and has missed roughly 20 games in each of the past 2 seasons. And now he’s injured so nobody should be surprised.
The Oilers have had a decade to shore up forward depth, but while they’re used a lot of draft capital and thrown around a lot of money, there seems to be ~ 7 forwards (3 of whom are injured) in a position to succeed. It’s just not anywhere good enough if we want to win a cup.
OP: In direct response to your comment, does it feel great that for the Oilers to get 3 out of a possible 4 points against the Vancouver Canucks, it took Bouchard and McDrai scoring 19 points? Does it feel good to you that the Canucks put 13 goals against us in those two games (compared to our 14 goals against them)? Those guys are rebuilding – based on summer verbal, we were supposed to be dreaming of Stanley this year.
Edit: I said 3 of the players in position to succeed are injured, but that’s because I’m not convinced Dickenson is a really good 3rd line centre, vs. being a 4th line centre. Your mileage may vary.
Points matter I don’t know why everyone is in a tizzy. This is the NHL there are no sure things.
It’s the start the year most teams play loose. Players and goalies need 10 games to get the rhythm going. I could care less how we win but I do like the high scoring games myself. Here’s for a 7-4 win on Saturday with Bouchard-Connor-Leon-Podkolzin all getting 3 points. How many fan bases would kill to have the top 4 point getters on their squad 2 games into the year. It’ll take Calgary 5 games to score as many points as Bouchard has his first 2 games.
If I were GM for a day, I would call up Marjala and send down Jones. Especially if you’re dead set on playing the Glimmer twins together. To me it’s a perfect fit of Marjala being best served as a top 6 C and the Oilers desperately needing a skilled and natural C right now.
No kidding. There is no reason to have ~ eight 4th liners in the lineup. Except maybe the cap. I don’t know. But Jones is useless when we have Joseph, Freddi, Formenton etc. that do the same thing and are better. Bring up some skill in either Marjala or Hutson.
Hudson or Marjala would be better than Jones.
yes.
Drop the entire 3rd pairing for a game, Muk should never play another game on his off hand again.
Going back to Jarry is unfortunately the move to make as Levi’s debut was an absolute stinker. They probably have a better option on the farm.
Howard/McDavid/Kapanen
Podz/Draisaitl/Hutson
Dach/Michaels/Frederic
Formenton/Samanski/Joseph
Drop Jones who should of jumped Schenn, call up Hutson see if he can do anything.
Ek/Bouch.. breaking them up should be a non starter.
Shea/Murphy.. Murphy is probably a 3rd pairing defender at this point.
Stastney/Emberson.. I can’t* fault any forward for being on the ice with Walman/Murphy, thats a trainwreck.
Nice to see folks realizing Michael’s is a player.
No offense ,I just hope Babcock comes up with something better.
Cool.
Close for now. But Kapanen and Leon is a thing.
92-29-42 (and this is the 1st line, not second)
53-97-23 (23 is Hutson)
34-81-26
46-43-64
Joseph down. Frederic on popcorn duty. Jones is first out of the lineup and down when players return.
I’d be moving money out and signing Tarasenko, Laine or Perron right now. All have things this team needs.
I imagine Kap would bring the same game with McDavid, Im hesitant to staple two essential rookies with McDavid. McDavid is in 110% passing mode while Kap never hesitates to let it rip.
Podz/Drai is a thing and I imagine they can provide shelter for a rookie is my thoughts on it.
Frederic was serviceable last night and is a thing when paired with Dach.
Im not signing any of those players for more then a million, saving as much available cap as they can for a legit addition is my goal with that.
Kapanen was terrible defensively last night with Jones and Dach – he made some great offensive plays but Kapanen was a material part of the third period pain for that line.
I agree with Godot that he should be with Drai full time until further notice.
Frederic was fine in the off-season (physical, responsible, getting ready for the season) and has been good both games and scored a goal. Why would he be at risk of sitting?
Hutson to play with McDavid and Howard? Good god – Hutson is weaker on the puck and worse defneisly than Howard – do people understand that he is not a good 2-way player?
Marjala up for Jones is the only forward move I’d made at this point.
My basic thoughts are we need Emberson in, Makhadullin out, Dach should be moved to the wing, Max Jones should be out, recall Hutson till we get more healthy bodies. We probably need to give the goalies a few more games but after that we have 10 more goalies in the system I’m not opposed to auditioning goalies like this is Slash’s Snakepit until one of thrm doesn’t suck.
Playing devil’s advocate, maybe they’re playing 97 & 29 together to actually improve consistency in linemates across the lineup. Past coaches have all tried putting them on separate lines but the minute the team needs a goal they’re back together, causing chaos for the other lines and rendering them effectively useless.
Obviously injuries right now are throwing a wrench in things. But if you want more depth scoring, and you know you’re eventually going to have to load up the top line anyways, then letting our depth have more consistent linemates isn’t the worst idea in the world. So I can see the logic in this as a long term strategy.
Now whether it works is another story…
All things considered they seem to have stuck with winger combos more than anything.
I would run Podkolzin Draisaitl and Kapanen, because it makes Kapanen an effective NHL player instead of an ineffective one. So it creates one more competent forward.
I would tell McDavid to choose the two guys he wants from the rest. Probably Formenton Joseph.
Dach Michaels Frederic
Howard Samanski Hutson
Sent Jones down.
Stastney and Emberson over Walman and Mukhamadulin.
Running the games best player between two forth liners on their best day…
When Stastney messes up, then Walman can get another chance.
Mike Grier apparently knows hockey. He dumped both Walman and Mukhamadulin on the Oilers. And I guess Emberson too. Emberson is the Mattias Janmark of defensemen. A threshold level #6D, like Janmark is a threshold level #12F.
Where are you on Bouchard these days?
Does he still suck?
Same as always. Evan Bouchard is Larry Murphy.
Murphy highest point total in one season was 85 Bouchard had 95 points last year. Murphy was a top 5 career leading scoring D-Man off all-time you throw his name around like it was chopped liver. Besides Orr-Coffey the highest point total by a D-man was MacInnes 103 points Leetch 102 Potvin 101 and Karlsson 101. With the extra 2 games Bouchard is tracking for a 100 point season that is so rare. How much would Bouchard be ahead if Holland didn’t block him with Barrie early on. Bouchard is 26 he hasn’t even hit his peak for a bigger D-men compared to Hughes-Hutson types. Sometimes you need to cut bait Bouchard was one hell of a pick.
I was thinking the same thing about Grier. Did we fall victim to the pump and dump???
On Walman probably. Emberson has been a great pickup and was cheap. Shakir was an asset but not a very valuable one – to get even anything back on Nurse was amazing
Not much I agree with here beyond demoting Jones and recalling Hutson.
Kapanen made some great offensive plays last night but he was GOD AWFUL defensively – maybe the worst forward on the team give or take Jones/Dach.
If they were calling up a forward to replace Jones, I go with Marjala over Hutson. Lets not forget, Hutson is not a good defensive player.
These two choice are not mutually exclusive. Winning the Stanley Cup is the best way to convince McDavid to stay.
Then what is the coaching staff seeing in lines 2-4 that I am not seeing? Sincere question.
I can’t answer that, otherwise I would be behind the bench.
I wonder if Babcock is trying to see which players can and will step up without one of McDrai holding their hand.
Feels like P Quinn trying to make JF Jacques a player based on body type
This is the correct answer
They’re still trying to figure things out, with all the injuries, that they don’t want to use as an excuse. The players don’t need a crutch.
I think Babcock is using this opportunity to see who can play and who can’t. But perhaps that is giving him too much credit. Anyway, 2 games in and we know that Jones is an AHL’er, Dach is not a centre and probably should be 13F. Shakir should be 7D or 8D. Babcock needs to take this opportunity to give Howard and Samanski a fair shake.
Prospectrum!
The NCAA season commences, though in exhibition form for some. Two teams what house NAmateurs enter the season in the Top 20 rankings: Michigan at 2, and Western Michigan at 8. (St. Thomas also received votes but just missed the cut.)
The CHL’ers are off to a flying start as Lewandowski has put up a GWG and an assist in each of his first two games back from camp. Harvey has already had a 2-goal game while Robinson turned in a 1+1, 1st-star performance yesternight.
Meanwhile in the USHL, Berzkalns was held off the scoresheet in his season debut. Cameron has played in two games with a 2.57 GAA and 89.6 SV%.
Muskegon (Berzkalns) @ 5 p.m.
Notre Dame (Fischer) @ 5 p.m.
UMass-Lowell (Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
Michigan (Barnett, Park) @ 5 p.m.
Windsor (Robinson, Harvey) @ 5 p.m.
Sioux Falls (Cameron) @ 6 p.m.
Saskatoon (Lewandowski) @ 7 p.m.
All times, at all times, are Edwand time.
Number One in the League Gentlemen. WAAAWHOOOO
I know it’s only 2 games, but I think it’s already time to have a serious discussion about Jake Walman.
He does not look like an serviceable NHL defenseman through the first 2 games, and at 7 x 7, he is the new albatross on the books. More unforced errors by Oiler management. Will it ever end?
Thing is, Walman WAS good once, as recently as a year ago, so something has happened injury-wise or personally. It’s on the coaching staff to get him unlocked and a more experienced partner would help.
I think they *may* have been better off keeping Nurse and trading Walman, but partly because Nurse’s contract ends in 4 years, not in 7.
But then again, they would have been better off keeping Broberg (and keeping the 1st round pick they used to acquire Walman) and signing a younger, faster, and better D-man to pair with Bouchard over the next decade.
But…
Walman seems (to my defective eyes) pretty darn good in playoffs. So even if he’s kind of disappointing in the regular season (and there’s every chance he turns it around between games 3 and 84), he should be really good when we need him the most.
They could still trade Walman.
I recall Walman being good in the playoffs when the Oilers acquired him, but I do not recall him being anything special in last years playoffs. Was he?
BOUCHARD on pace for 336 points ….
I think he can do it ….
They’d still complain about his defence as they give Makar the Norris.
He still won’t win the Norris only the scoring title
Art Ross, Rocket Richard, leading plus minus but no Norris for you Bouchard.
Count me among those that didn’t understand the deployment last night but, at the same time, the team was utterly dominant through 40 minutes night. Shots were 15-2 after the first period (and one Canuck shot was from center) and the score 4-0.
We can question motives and premise but there no arguing that it didn’t 100% work though 20 and 40 minutes.
Yup, it was really just a couple of forwards (Jones/Dach) and the third pairing that killed the team in the third period.
I have said that I won’t make any sweeping judgements on any player based off a game or two so I need to stick to that with Dach but him at center seemed far fetched to start with and its simple not working. Babcock will likely give it some more track but, eventually, unless there is a change in arrows, he’ll move off.
Jones shouldn’t have been on the opening roster and its hard to imagine he’ll survive once some players come off IR.
OP, they damn near lost to the Vancouver Canucks in a rebuild after building a six-goal lead. The coach didn’t check down to a more balanced group of lines. I think there’s reason to question why.
For sure LT.
I honestly think the preseason was too short for Babcock. He is relearning things we know and trying shit out.
I have this nagging feeling he’s trying to force Dach to be a centre for the second line – it’s not working out very well!
They didn’t “damn near lose”, in my opinion. The Oilers had a multi-goal lead for the last 45 minutes of the game.
If we want to absolutely lambast them for giving up the massive lead (which they never fully did, it never got closer than two) then the should be given just as much praise for getting that lead – which is what I did.
As Babcock said to the media and the team after, as bad as they were for 20 minutes (and it was a handful of what should be bottom of the roster players and Walman), they were that good for 40.
The lineup as deployed was utterly dominant through 40 – why would they check down from dominance without hindsight and revisionist history?
I refuse to focus on who the opponent was. Bottom feeding teams beat top teams in this league many times each season, the even blow them out. Any win is this league needs to be cherished.
Utterly dominant though 40 describes this team for years.
.750 points percentage – given the players not available, and two of them essentially last minute (post-camp) – I take that and I don’t care who they were playing.
3 out of 4 points when missing an entire 2nd line is great regardless of who it was against.
Over 2 games the Oilers gave up 13 goals against a bottom feeder. That matters, it matters a lot.
No it doesnt, this team has been dominated through 40 only to show up in the 3rd and salvage as the regular season has never been important to them.
One line was utterly dominant. As long as they bank points, I’m not concerned, but there is no evidence that Dach is a good centre and there is evidence that he could be an effective winger. Hutson, Marjala, maybe Tralmaks have more to offer than the multitude of 4th liners in the lineup. We don’t have to blow it all up but Babcock is making decisions that don’t make short or long term sense, so why bother?
Oh, and I know we got Mak for Nurse, but no more sunk cost fallacy. Emberson has been effective in the role, give him the role with Walman and if Walman sucks go to Stastney or Carfagna. Why wait? There will be injuries later and Mak can have another shot then.
I wonder for the Seattle game if they would consider splitting 97-29, and running 97, 29, Michaels, Samanski down the middle? That gives 4 lines with good centres.
No idea what Babcock favors, but I’d love to see
Howard-97-Formenton (I know, I know, but speed!)
92-29-42
Jones-Michaels-Joseph (the Welsh line)
Dach-Samanski-Frederic (bash brothers)
Plus I’d split Bouchard and Ekholm, run Emberson, something like this
Shea-2
Ek-Murphy
Walman-Emberson
Jarry starts.
I know I don’t have a hope of seeing this, but at least I can make my preference known prior to game day, and be accountable for my choices too.
I wasn’t fortunate enough to watch the first 30-40 minutes last night, so for me it was astonishing. That third defense pair was atrocious. I think we should see Stastney & Emberson step in. Babcock has plenty of video to watch and I trust he will come up with a better alignment for his limited forward group in time for thenext game against the Kraken.
I’m not quite as critical of Walman as others here. I think Statsney has some warts, which do not mesh well with Emberson. I’d be hesitant to dress him while the team is this depleted.
Stastney & Emberson played together in College as a pair. So there’s familiarity.
I was not convinced of their ability together last year.
Emberson and Stastney were 8-5 goals (and near 53% expected goals) in about 225 minutes last season…….
Technique wise, there was a lot to be concerned about with Levi last night.
It feels strange to call a 6′ 187lb goaltender undersized but that’s where we are in today’s NHL
So how does the smaller tender thrive? The short answer is they have to work harder to take away the top of the net. That means aggressively playing your angles to give yourself more size via your positioning and being extremely proactive with your glove and blocker on shots heading for the corners.
What I saw last night was reminiscent of Skinner at his nadir. Too far back in his net trying to make saves with small shoulder and elbow movements. It’s the “I’ll let the puck hit me instead of saving it” style of goaltending.
Now, some people will say, the shooters were hitting the corners. Yeah, that’s the NHL. They can do that with regularity. If your strategy as a goalie is “I’ll give them the corners if they can hit them. Congrats you’ve landed on a sure fire strategy for riding the bus in the A.
Fortunately this club has a lot of good tape on two smaller goaltenders (Fuhr and Cujo) who excelled with aggressive angles, superior reflexes, and an active glove hand. They may need to upscale those clips to HD but its worth the effort if they see something in this young tender.
Obviously, there is significant consternation about the defence and goaltending this morning.
I re-watched all of the goals against, and thought I would share my analysis.
GA 1- A knuckler handcuffs Walman, who rightly doesn’t pass it over to Muks backhand (RH shot partner please!), but just chucks it to the half wall instead over (not great). Dach leaves the middle open to pressure Wally’s man (NHL Centre please! This is an extremely poor play by Dach). Not much chance for Lev here, in my opinion.
G2 – It’s a really nice shot by Boeser, who has too much time and space. Would I like a save here? Maybe. But it was a nice shot.
G3 – Very bad rebound by Levi. But, the skaters in front of him need to continue to work, and not glide out the period. This one is on Levi.
G4 – Jones blocks a shot and now has time and space, but instead, he attempts a shitty chip to Kappy, who is flying the zone (this sequence demonstrates why both of these guys have been waived by NHL teams). Now the Canucks have a 5 on 3, Muk fronts Levi without clearing the blue (reminded me of Nurse), the Canucks score. Terrible play here all around. I can’t hang blame on Levi here.
G5 – Extremely tough bounce here, But the play is put in motion by a shitty backhand attempt up the half wall by Muk where he turns it over. None of Dach, Jones, or Kappy are defending.
G6- PP goal. Ekky broke his stick, McDavid is giving his stick to Ekky, leaving a passing lane wide open to EP40. Not much chance here for Levi.
G7 – Formenton drifts to the middle, but then Michaels doesn’t go to Formenton’s spot, but back to his spot in the middle. Formenton doesn’t move back to his spot *Oleksiak is wide open now* and the puck hits a skate and bounces right to Oleksiak. Not much chance for Levi other than it being Oleksiak shooting, it was a nice shot.
Takeaways:
1) Mukhamadullin really struggled, he should come out next game and Emberson should go in.
2) The Jones-Dach-Kapanen line should not continue to play together. Dach is not an NHL centre and playing him between two players who struggle with decision making and handling the puck is a terrible idea. I do like Dach on the wing, and he is much better setup for success out there.
3) Although Levi was not good, I don’t think he played that poorly. I would grade his performance above Jarry’s (doesn’t say much) – But as LT says, YMMV.
Goalies aside, I’m impressed with this group so far. Last season the team could never start the game on time. Night and day so far, as the team has been incredible to start games. Closing out games will come if the goalies can find their footing and the third pairing can be sorted out. We’re missing two top 6 forwards and the third line C. The forward lines will sort themselves out once those guys get back. In the meantime, Babs gets a long look at the guys vying for jobs in the bottom 6.
*3 top 6 forwards, appreciate your take, though – it’s not all panic stations yet
Savoie I see as a top 9 guy; not sure he’s established himself the way Nuge and Hyman have. But yes, he’s missed in this lineup for sure.
We’re also missing our starting goalie who’s out till December.
Good game.
Podz missed out on another two goals by inches, one a post and another a near miss in front. He has arrived as not only a top 6 player, but an impactful one with a high end defensive game to match. Perfect top line winger on this team.
Happy for Frederic; he is continuing a strong run of play from the last third or so of last season (perhaps excluding playoffs). Certainly looks like an impactful third liner.
Michaels looks legit. I actually liked Samanski’s game as well. This is a great problem to have — surplus centers with a clue defensively.
Looking forward to the adjustments the coaching staff makes. It seems like Jones and Mukhamadullin are vulnerable. I’m optimistic Walman will find his game.
There’s no way Dach can be trusted to play C IMO. He is a winger. I don’t mind the experiment but you can’t go on much further with it.
The team has real depth for the first time since Holloway and Broberg were here. Maybe more so, once the injured are back. Time to use load management and get everyone involved.
Bouchard Ekholm may be the best pairing in the NHL. Wow. Bouch is going super nova and the Old Man still has a ton of game.
Continued emergence of Podz, Frederic bouncing back, Bouch making claim to the throne, and finding a gem in Owen Michaels are great stories so far. Even if this is based on games against the Canucks.
Hopefully Wally can find his game away from Muk.
Again, this is on Bowman.
You keep playing “low quality”, ( garbager if one wants to more metaphorical), and inevitably it asserts itself.
Especially in goaltending.
We can now place Walman as another monumental blunder by Bowman, .Regardless of his occasional slap shot, he is grossly overpaid and mostly chaos. Full displays last night.
But the idea of playing the likes of Jones, Joseph, Dach Frederic, Samanski and getting even break even reulsts defies any reason.
Add Walman And Mukhamadullin to that list. ( they both played less than 13 minutes and were – 4). Contemplate that.
And the Oilers have goalies that cannot play at the NHL level. Full stop.
Like the people that run the Toronto Blue Jays, firings of those that are a accountable for their respective rosters is obviously overdue.
It is 9:30 am Friday morning – Bowman is still employed.
Blah, blah, blah.
Wah, wah, wah.
Have you ever though about finding another team to whine, moan, bitch and complain about?
Onerous and tiresome.
New ideas for your next handle: Oneroso y tedioso.
Shine on you crazy diamond
I too understood Steve Yzerman’s position on Walman last night. However, Makhadullin was a tire fire so in all fairness we should probably give Walman a try with Emberson before gathering the torches and pitchforks.
Yes, he is making Tristan Luneau money now!
“Is it winning the Stanley Cup? Or is it convincing Connor McDavid to stay for another contract?”
If those 2 things aren’t the same, then we’re doomed for sure. Isn’t the best case for giving Connor a reason to stick around showing that our focus is winning Stanley and nothing else?
I also don’t agree with this notion that playing Draisaitl and McDavid on the same line can’t work. It can’t really be that black and white, right?
The new coaches, from very early on, talked about them being together or separate may depend on other factors such as opponent and whether or not they were on the road or at home. To me, that’s absolutely the right approach to the question of 97-29 being together. In some situations it’s better, and in others it’s not. We’ve all watched this team win and lose plenty of games doing both, so clearly both ways can work.
Would they have played that top line as a trio if they were facing someone else? If the game was in Edmonton, would that have been the lineup? Are we a 1 line team with the available personnel when we load up the top line? Is that better than splitting them and being a zero line team? Does that make us easier to plan for or harder? Every coach talks about focusing on their game plan and playing “their game”. When you know you have to put someone on the ice against 97-29 for a 1/3 of the game, how can you not be concerned with that? Against a rookie NHL coach, which is the better play? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions btw.
Well I’ve learned when you make a comment and edit once to correct a number, and then edit twice to fix up the spacing that was messed up during the first edit, it gets flagged as spam and needs approval. Oh well, hopefully it shows up eventually!
You can also get shadow-banned some how and have your comments need review for over a year.
That isn’t shadow banned, that is banned. And sometimes I forget to reinstate. Best to not get banned.
And by the way, Kellen is not banned.
I went to bed after the 1st thinking they were in pretty good shape at 4-0, but a little concerned Levi had only faced 2 SOG and hadn’t really been able to “get into the game”.
He will always remember his first game as an Oiler: a win, ugly numbers, a bit of “Lonely end of the rink” and a lot of “I’m on Fire”. It’s a good test for him and the team to be better his next game.
Since I haven’t watched the rest of the game yet, I only have a few other thoughts:
If you win ugly, then I like the numbers 9 & 7 as an Oiler fan. I usually prefer them as a save percentage but I’ll take them on a jersey and as a one-off (hopefully) on a scoreboard with my team being the ‘9’
I’ll look back at these 2 games and be grateful for them as the scoring races wind down.
It’s a bonus when you can get 3 points out of your 2 “extra pre-season” games. Let the regular 82 game season begin!
Don’t watch the rest of the game. All things considered 3 points out of a possible 4 isn’t that bad. But………..
It was a Tale of Two Cities to be sure.
The D too. Shea, Ek, Bouch looking great.
Walman, Shakir, and Murphy not so much.
It’s hard to critique the forwards too much with the injuries. The deployment remains perplexing.
I remain very concerned about the goaltending.
Im not a fan of Stastney, but right now a full change of Walman and Shakir for Stastney and Emberson is needed.
“If this idea is to deploy your team with the best possible result in mind, splitting the Glimmer Twins is the play.” Who knew!
Not Babcock and DJ Smith after watching game tape all summer. Like God, they work in mysterious ways.
Owen Freaking Michaels…..
Like what the hell?
Is this a real 3C out of nowhere?
One thing at a time but Babcock is absolutely raving about him – for what its worth.
Stauff has alluded to the org knowing for a few years that they would be signing this guy and it was part of the reason they were comfortable trading O’Reily – thinking they had a right shot 3C replacement.
I dont know about that but I’m eating ALOT of crow on my initial thoughts on this player and I’m here to see where this goes.
Maybe, just maybe, its the Oilers turn to find a real player out of absolutely nowhere?
Babcock found his Tyler Bozak.
That would be an amazing outcome.
He is getting in good spots for sure.
Seems like a very mature young man. Calm. Hard working. He will do well.
It would be something to see all of Samanski, Howard, and Michaels hit. That is some serious depth to add to Podz and Savoie, who are also popping.
I thought that “player out of absolutely nowhere” was Samanski.
I guess we’ve already moved on. Next!
Im not disagreeing with you OP, nor taking a shot, just pointing out how fickle these things can be.
I think Samanski should be playing every day and has legit upside as a 3C/4C if given the proper reps.
At the same time, Owen Michaels has come in and played two strong games in his first two games as a professional hockey player and scored his first NHL goal last night.
Thought it could be nice to have post solely about him is a pure positive light.
I like to see this.
training camp is extended didnt yall here?
I think Emberson is the better choice over Makahamadullin at this point. He can even help buoy a rough early season start by Walman, rather than Walman trying to do that for someone else.
I’ve been firmly on team Emberson from the start, considering his skating, passing and retrieval skills. I think it is a mistake for the coaches to overlook that.
Agreed.
Walman – Emberson
or
Shakir – Emberson has to be tried.
Getting Emberson in is likely the easiest no-brainer lineup decision.
I know he didn’t have a great camp but he was just at 2.0 GA/60 last season as 3RD – he’s good at that position.
Now, taking out Walman vs. Shakir vs. both could all be discussed.
For the latter, Stastney/Emberson were good last year – I don’t see that happening.
For me, Walman has already been “held accountable” – he got benched, and for a legit period of time. He is an important player on this roster, I keep him in from tomorrow.
The league is always sloppy early and, this year, with a 13 day training camp and 2 exhibition games for vets, it was going to be moreso.
The Oilers are right in there, sloppy as hell, with a new coaching staff, completely revamped systems and missing 3 top 6 forwards plus their 4C. Not to mention, two of those top six forwards just dropped at the end of camp/after game 1 – its not like they had time to plan and work on adjustments.
The team had 3 of 4 points and those are real and banked. Yes, it’s the Canucks but any team can beat any other team on any night in this league. Do not ever apologize for points.
Let’s not forget, the team absolutely dominated through 40 minutes, like massive dominated. Some score effects early in the third and, ya, they cratered under the momentum but they were so good through 40 that they won the game.
Am I enthused with last night’s game? Of course not. Am I concerned about the tending? Of course but I am not closing the book on any player after 1 game in September/October 1.
My main concern is Jake Walman. They need this player to play near the top of his game and he has been far from it. Walman/Shakir were AWFUL last night. Walman got benched for a while and, while I can make an argument to sit both, and Stastney/Emberson were actually good last year, I simply make the Shakir for Emberson swap for now. Lets not forget, Emberson was a vey solid 3RD last season.
Evan Bouchard is the best d-man in the league.
Jones and Dach were not good last night – it was really them and the third pairing (and Levi I guess).
Pretty easy decision to put Emberson back in and see if it helps Walman get back on track. If it doesn’t next D up (Stastney) Not a lot of forward options right now with all the injuries. Jones has to be first guy out. After that take your pick- Formenton, Joseph, Frederic, Micheals, Howard and Samanski. Unfortunately Samanski likely to be first guy out which would be a shame. Have no idea what you do with goaltending???
Were Walman’s and Shakir’s most common linemates the Jones-Dach-Kap trio?
I saw Walman bad last night, how could one not, but when a specific pairing and a specific forward line are all deep in contention for the green jacket, makes me think that as bad as the results were overall, perhaps it was mostly just one of the four units.
Also, Walman was bad, but Shakir wasn’t even in picture. Not sure which is worse.
Walman has been bad, awful. He wasn’t good last season either. But we also have to admit that he is playing mostly with poor quality forwards.
Were Walman’s and Shakir’s most common linemates the Jones-Dach-Kap trio?
Just checked and yes it was – about 5 minutes with that trio and then 3 minutes with Frederic/HOward (with positive results).
I checked for Walman, not Shakir.
I wonder if Walman is unhappy about being religated to the third pair? I suppose he should be, but Shea looked good with Murphy and Walman needs to be better.
Tough love.
I would hope he would be unhappy but he’s been outplayed by Shea, he knows that I’m sure and I would expect he uses that positivel by getting to work and competing better