What if Colton Dach is an actual NHL player? I mean, not just a Klim Kostin who impresses for a fortnight, but a player who pushes up the depth chart and finds his career. What if he’s Warren Foegele? I like Dach plenty. He has three goals now in 11 games, and is playing left wing on the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins line. Huh. What a year it’s been for the Oilers already.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
On the road: NYR, NJD (Expected 1-1-0) 1-0-0
At home to: ANA, VAN, NYR, PHI (Expected 3-1-0)
On the road to: TOR, PHI, FLA, TBAY, CAR, STL (2-3-1)
At home to: VEG, SEA (1-0-1)
On the road to: SEA (1-0-0)
Expected Record: 8-5-2, 18 points in 15 games
Actual Record: 11-2-2, 24 points in 15 games
I’m several paragraphs into the daily and haven’t mentioned Connor McDavid’s goal yet. I read yesterday there is a movie theatre in the Netherlands that plans to hypnotize a select group of filmgoers and delete all memory of their favourite movie. The idea is they would get to see their favourite film for the first time again.
I wouldn’t trade my memories of McDavid for anything, and I do believe the rush I felt on first blush at 2015 Orientation Camp gets repeated nightly. Last night, over a decade into his career, and approaching 30, Connor McDavid once again blessed us with the impossible. Incredible.
- Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl 12:12, 8-3 shots, 1-0 goals 79X
- Dach-Nuge-Kapanen 11:45, 5-8 shots, 1-1 goals, 38X
- Formenton-Dickinson-Joseph 8:37, 4-1 shots, 87X
- Hallander-Michaels-Frederic 7:46, 0-5 shots, 0X
The team is buying in to the Babcock style, with aggressive forechecking and contesting every sequence. The top line is money. The second and third lines are coming into view, and I believe we’ll see a stronger Nuge line when Zach Hyman and Matt Savoie arrive. I’m not sure Dach loses his spot, though. What does that mean? It should mean a quality player joins the Dickinson line. Plus we’ll see Stan Bowman add someone, so three scoring lines is possible. Who should the Oilers add? Kucherov seems unattainable, Dmitri Voronkov? I like him, but the Oilers need more of a sure thing.
- Ekholm-Bouchard 16:57, 10-7 shots, 2-0 goals, 63X
- Shea-Murphy 15:31, 3-8 shots, 39X
- Mukhamadullin-Emberson 12:06, 5-4 shots, 66X
- Matt Tomkins 22-23, .957 (five-on-five); 27-28 .964 (overall)
The Oilers have been making it easy for the goalies, but full credit to Matt Tomkins for playing so well in his first NHL game in years. He’s 32, looks 20, and we never predict goalies into the future because who the hell knows? I love the top pair, Murphy makes me nervous and the third pair can probably take on more of the load. Jake Walman will get his chance eventually.
So far, this has been a professional road trip. The Oilers are relentless on the forecheck and aggressively pursue the puck in all zones. It’s working well. Let’s see if a team finds a counter, and how quickly the Oilers adjust.
On the Lowdown today, Jason Gregor will be our feature guest and I’m going to pursue someone qualified to talk about McDavid peaking at 29. I’m thinking Methuselah. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
Due to the emergence of the Patty Dach Supremacy, young Savoie will be starting out on the 3rd line with the task of playing himself into the top 6.
Imo Savoies best chance is to steal Podz spot, have a hard time believing Coach will like Savoie/Nuge paired up. Lots of brains but lacking beef.
Sav/McD/Dra
Pod/Nug/Hym
Dac/Dic/Kap
For(Jan)/Mic/Jos
Howard turns into trade bait? Does Walman waiver his clauses? Frederic? Could Bowman land a Forsberg?
In the event of some kind of hockey miracle were to happen and Kucherov were somehow too become an Oiler, where do you play him?
I mean, it seems kind of redundant to have him on McDs wing, absurd to play Drai , McD and Kuch as a super line, Drai as his C would seem ideal but then you’re likely splitting up the glimmer twins… good problem to have, but its interesting to think about how it would play out.
Why not play him with the glimmer twins?
The other question has to be what would the Oilers need to give to get?
I’d be very surprised if Kucherov landed in Edmonton.
But it’s fun to consider.
Two very solid team wins, everyone buying in and rowing in the same direction. Music!
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-fanatics-hometown-remix-jersey-descriptions
The Oilers Remix is amazing. Giving a thumbs up to the Jets, Devil,s Blackhawks, Preds, and Red Wings remixes too.
I’d downvote 90’s BUF, wtf CAR, puke ANA, Capt Highliner NYI, dull Flyers and casino Vegas
That rating piece is pathetically terrible. Most of it is an upside down rating. worst rated highest.
I dunno, I kinda like the Flyers and Buffalo ones, agree on the others but I’d add San Jose’s as being the worst.
I love this remix, I bought a Nuge Jersey in similar colorway 8ish years ago in the online oilers store on big discount and it’s been one of my favorite Jerseys ever, I’m looking forward to seeing them play with em’!
I know this will likely be slammed here, but in the future I think it would be neat to have a more metallic looking bronze trim (like the dressing room door) with the matching shiny helmets like the kings and kniggets have on occasion.
My definitely correct list that everyone will agree with…….
Most understood the assignment: FLA, ANA, VGK, NYI, NAS, SJS, WAS.
Lost the plot: CGY (waffle jerseys!), LAK, CAR, CBJ, MTL, OTT, PIT.
Boring: WPG, VAN, EDM, BOS, TBL, STL, NYR (you had the liberty logo RIGHT there).
Good but not fun: BUF, CHI, COL, MIN (its just Dallas with a better logo), NJD, SEA, TOR.
Bad: PHI, DET (do SOMETHING for once), UTA, DAL.
With the rise of Dach, can a third line (maybe ‘fourth’) of Savoie and Howard carry enough water to outscore?
The podz trade was a huge win.
Dach appears to be tracking to be another Podz.
What a huge win that would be.
Having Babs here to teach and develop some of these guys like Dach, Mukh, Savoie and Howard is going to be huge
Loved Bab’s quote last night: “It’s not only the GM who is responsible for depth in the lineup.”
also a fan.
When McDavid was resigning you heard of lot this is the only place he could play with an another player like Draisaitl. For me this has also shifted to Edmonton is the only place he could play with another player like Bouchard! Those tape to tapes he gives McDavid are money.
Also I know this would mess up the righty-lefty balance on defence but I wonder if Shea-Walman could eventually work. Shea is playing unreal and maybe could be that calming presence to free up Walman
I feel like Shea could do ‘okay’ with Bouch. Ek could firm up Murph. or any line you need him to firm up.
It would come down to which player is better on his off side. Walman or Shea?
Murphy reminds me of staois light on some shifts, the year before we traded him. He always acts pressured even when he’s not.
Yeah, he has not looked up to speed a lot of the time. Poor Shea having to cover for him so much.
I’d love to see Muk up with Bouch, Ek with Murphy, and the pair of Emberson and Shea. Or if Walman is back, sit Murphy, play Ek and Walman, Muk and Bouch, She and Emberson.
I must be one of the few posters here who likes what Murphy brings. He is a plodding skater, but he is solid in his own end, boxes out very well, and is physical and hard to play against. These are qualities we have been clamoring for as Oiler fans.
I also think he is a good puck mover. He won’t skate it out of trouble, but he makes a lot of smart little first passes, and he absolutely does NOT panic under pressure.
I think he’s the perfect fit with a Shea or Walman. I don’t see him as a fit with Eckholm at all. Why put your two slowest dmen on the same pair?
Perfect comparison and description. An upgrade on Murphy would be a massive win.
“I mean, not just a Klim Kostin who impresses for a fortnight, but a player who pushes up the depth chart and finds his career.”
Whoah whoah whoah… after Klim’s amazing interview with the local media and giving Jim the gears, he deserves more than “impresses for a fortnight”. He’s a legend to some of us. 😀
Would’ve turned into a player if Babcock or similar was here at the time.
Coaches and their approaches to development matter.
This team did not have quality NHL development skillsets behind the bench.
Dach is a smart hockey player. He rarely makes a mistake with the puck. He doesn’t rush passes or shots ( Actually wish he would should a bit more as he has a hard shot). He is heavy in the corners and in front of the net. He definitely is not out of place on that 2nd line wing. It bodes so well for this team when both Savoie and Hyman are in the lineup. You can drop Dach or even Savoie to the 3rd line and that line gets a huge boost no matter which guy goes down.
Nice luxury to have. The depth thus far is great and the coaching staff has gotten the entire team to buy in. It’s great.
Walman needs to get back in and playing. Yesterday’s game had Muka give away the puck in 2 situations in his own zone. Bab’s will have noticed and I would bet we see Walman back in Tom night. Now if we don’t see Walman Tom night after that, I think the Oilers should probably talk to him about a trade because Bab’s is not going to play him unless there is an injury or either Muka or Emberson absolutely throw a game.
Fun to see this team playing so good defensively.
Congrats to Tomkins. He played great
We have seen that McDavid goal at least 100 times, never gets old.
Those are definitely “pull you out of your seat” type events. Amazing every time.
And at MSG no less! I was waiting for the crowd to start chanting “We want McDavid!!”