The Oilers are dealing with demons early this season, and it seems endless maladies will arrive daily. On the other hand, wizards and giants walk among us, and this season has an air of “special” that cannot be denied. On a night when the Edmonton Elks exorcised a decade of demons on the gridiron, the Oilers won another game via the Glimmer Twins (with some help) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was injured enough to miss most of the contest. Le sigh.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
On the road: NYR, NJD (Expected 1-1-0) 1-0-1
At home to: ANA, VAN, NYR, PHI (Expected 3-1-0) 1-1-0
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 2-1-1)
Actual Record: 12-3-3, 27 points in 18 games
The Oilers could bank 30 points in 20 games. Vegas Golden Knights are flying, but three points back of Edmonton. In the Bettman NHL, it’s so hard to close on a team. Takes forever. These early wins will be valuable during the down stretches to come.
Formenton-Dickinson-Joseph 9:01, 4-4 shots, 1-0 goals 69X
Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl 8:09, 5-2 shots, 1-0 goals 51X
Jones-Michaels-Frederic 4:49, 2-2 shots, 58X
Hyman-Nuge-Kapanen 4:07, 3-1 shots, 0-1 goals, 30X
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen 3:40, 1-2 shots 1X
Hyman-McDavid-Draisaitl 3:19, 2-0 shots, 100X
The Dickinson line had a good night. I know it’s the Canucks, but I’ll take it. The trio hasn’t been together long (just 47 minutes) but are now 2-0 goals and the expected share has increased to 41. We don’t know if the trio will be competitive against good teams, but it’s a start.
Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl is Mur-diddly-urder’s Row as a hockey line. In 18 games, the line has 35 goals (including all game states). McDavid’s passing is other-wordly, he is on pace for 172 assists. Vasily Podkolzin is on pace for over 40 goals, although I see Zach Hyman got a few turns with the Glimmer Twins. My guess is Hyman finds a home on the Nuge line until Matt Savoie returns and we could see a major shuffle at that time. Babcock is stuborn in keeping lines together though. Stubborn isn’t always a bad thing.
The Michaels line had a good night, but (as was the case for Dickinson’s trio) we have to allow for the weak opponent on the evening. In 125 minutes at five-on-five, Frederic is 50 percent goal share. His line doesn’t score and has been able to keep opponents away as well. Jones is 0-4, Micharls is 5-11, Mathieu Joseph is 8-12.
Ekholm-Bouchard 15:25, 6-3 shots, 1-0 goals, 54X
Shea-Murphy 15:21, 7-5 shots, 0-1 goals, 50X
Mukhamadullin-Emberson 11:19, 9-5 shots, 1-0 goals 81X
Devon Levi 14/15 five-on-five (.933); 20-22 all strengths (.909)
I liked the defense on the night, again Vancouver is not a strong team but we have to give credit for good performances. I thought Devon Levi made some impressive stops late when the game was in the balance. Evan Bouchard is a wonder, Mattias Ekholm too. I like Ryan Shea. I’m not sure the rest of this group are in the right places.
CONDORS
Bakersfield played well, but the team can’t score goals. So 32 stops for Nathan Day was good for a regulation 1-0 loss. Mat Tompkins is back down on the farm, but goaltending isn’t the issue for the Condors. Need some skill. Atro Leppanen should clear at noon today, and I do think Max Jones will be in California when Matt Savoie returns.
What has changed in the Edmonton Oilers’ goaltending procurement?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7763869/2026/11/08/edmonton-oilers-goaltending-stats-procurement/
With the cowardly statement put out by Sunny Mehta and the NJ Devils organization saying they are not going to let Hellebuyck play in Winnipeg, we’re all going to hear Gretzky’s “Mickey Mouse” characterization of that team repeated anew.
Helle bok bok ba-bawk is going to have to face the music eventually unless he sits out all games in Winnipeg until the end of his career.
The countless failed Jets’ playoff runs… most people can take this as definitive proof that it was their former star goalie wilting year after year. Cause it sure looks like he’s running scared from a regular season game against his former team. It’s okay though. If he sits on the bench, that half of the arena will be able to see the yellow streak running down his back.
Gary is going to be SO pissed. Sunny makes news that will overshadow the HOF induction ceremony tomorrow night. Stay clear of the causeway, Sunny! -)
Helle-of-a-coward.
So…how are we feeling about the “no time change” after the first week?
I’m fine with it. But it was asinine to have a game IN Edmonton start at 9. The double header is not that sacrosanct as to not overlap a game an hour.
As someone living in BC with construction projects that are managed in both provinces, a bit of a pain due to Microsoft not picking up the meetings in outlook. I am currently on Yukon time to make it all work out.
Overall, I’m indifferent. Kind of weird that if I take the ferry south to Washington its a diff time zone tho haha.
But whatever
OMG! I hadn’t realized that Washington is 1 hour behind. I can see the US from my balcony … I could kayak over there and go back in time.
Yes you can, Neo. Don’t let the machines let you down.
I prefer the light in the evening.
Unsurprisingly, Leppänen cleared waivers and has been assigned to Bakersfield.
Summarizing!
Harvey scored on the PP (assisted by Robinson) for his 4th goal of the season. He was named 2nd star for his efforts.
Prospecting takes a break until Tiw’s Day.
Are we at the point now where we can start to consider the Oilers’ goaltending as a strength, not a question mark?
After a shaky start, Jarry is looking more like his good days in Pitt. Levi is emerging as a legit starter and may actually be the presumptive number one already. And they have the Stanley Cup winning tender from last season on the IR.
Goaltending has been the number one issue in taking this team over the top. With that in mind, it’s pretty encouraging what we are seeing of late.
I really like our tending so far. Mostly it is in watching Levi play. Jarry has def turned it around and been solid as well. I like the confidence, shooter challenging, fight to track, puck handling and ability to make a clutch reflex save Levi brings. I like the J Quick and Cujo comparison further down in the comments, I will add Fleury to it for me, a few times I have said that to myself when he made a clutch/athletic save.
Team play and Structure is definitely involved in this as well but Levi for me looks legit, he can play. I feel like he is stealing some goals.
We def need a scoring forward and another top 5 D, higher the better.
This team could be a load. It is now at times but they are playing with fire relying on 3/4 players.
The NHL is not the only league with officiating issues. The NFL games in the early window today have been flag fests that are actively suppressing offense. And this is after the league already instructed them to stop calling so many damn penalties.
Whatever happened to DSF and OP? Are they banned? Siberian Gulag? Picked another team to pester (in DSF’s case)?
I wish there was a section of this site called the wall of shame where we could see who was banned or put in timeout.
You mean like a penalty box?
Are you missing OP’s 20+ “Everything is Awesome!!” posts per day?
Yes
A while ago LT threatened to ban the two of them if they talked to each other, maybe he finally followed through.
I feel like it might have something to do with Reja who has also gone missing. OP constantly trashed Reja’s opinion on everything like he does to everyone that doesn’t agree with his expert takes. Maybe Reja finally snapped and told him to GFHS?
Honestly, OP was overrunning the site unfortunately.
It’s one thing to give an opinion, it’s another when 50% of the posts are one member, and overrides a natural or organic conversation.
It felt like lowetide was no longer the host, as there was just too much volume from OP.
HH was the yang, OP was the yin.
Nice to see the comments flow again
Agreed, much better without one poster trying to show how smart he is. I can get my Condor’s information from Curlock and Holt. Both are very good and provide great updates on the farm team
I just felt with the consistent bombardment of comments, quantity overrode the quality.
Having updates on his thoughts on stauffer interviews 5-10 comments deep rather then just giving his input on one comment was wild.
Just reposting tweet updates quite a bit wasn’t quality.
If someone is going to take up that much bandwidth, they should pay for their own site. That way, if folks want to interact with him, they can.
I actually didn’t mind DSF in his various iterations. He actually does know some things about hockey and every board needs someone to rile up the masses. It’s a necessary function in online spaces. His sophistry got old at times, but I found him easy to tune out. Plus, it’s nice to have a common enemy. Brings the community closer.
Reja was annoying.
Agree;
DSF was a dick sometimes, had some wild opinions, but he just let it roll. I agree, it was wild but it was up to you to engage, he didn’t double down – you got what you got.
When OP started going back and forth with lowetide the last 4 weeks it was an eye opener. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Im shocked at how patient LT is, but good on him for his attributes.
Keep in mind, LT is patient and to that point, DSF made a LOT of posts where he got angry and doubled down and even tried doxxing people like OP.
I always felt like people who liked DSF either didn’t read enough DSF posts or didn’t get a chance to read the posts that were removed.
I for sure wasn’t active enough to see the posts that were removed.
Ill be honest – DSF seemed to hate the Oilers. What did the decade of darkness do to him? Haha
I can’t remember whether it was OP or DSF that Bag of Pucks wanted to meet at a barn near Sylvan Lake and duke it out in a fist fight. Good times 😂
It was crazy coming here, and half the comments (on an 80+ comment day) were OP. Then I’d go to oilersnation and he would have 3 or 4 posts there. And then I’d pop on the athletic and he’d have posts there too! Guy needs an outlet that isn’t just clogging up the whole oilogosphere.
DSF is what he is, but when everyone is taking the bait it also ends up derailing basically every conversation.
I’ve noticed a wider variety of posters here lately, some new and some old, and it’s refreshing.
I did not realize that. That is insane.
I would assume Oilers Nation would want someone to churn out an article every day or so for them – unsure of why he doesn’t go down that route.
That being said, having opinions on podcasts, radio, and posted blog articles is much easier then being the creator of such content.
I’d be curious how he’d take people picking his articles apart, or have his own OP commenter.
Once again, applause for LT for doing this blog. Every. damn. day. It must be time consuming. Unless, of course, he is a wizard. TBD.
The thing with OP in my opinion wasn’t just the pure volume of his posting but he didn’t add any real value, he was great at regurgitating other people’s work and homogonizing Condors stats for those of us that can’t be bothered because we don’t care enough, but very rarely do I recall him offering anything original(the irony, lol)…which was fine, but man did he have a grandiose narcissist view of himself that manifested in condescension toward others.
Correct.
I think it was a multitude of reasons; all of the posts on this topic have some sort of truth, but as there were so many posts from OP, its hard to nail down exactly what was actual basis and research vs just copy/paste with comments.
Drove me nuts when someone was posting an item and his response was “I already talked about that in the posts below”. Bad look – this blog is for everyone, not your comment section to run.
I whole heartedy disagree. Yes he does know stuff, but his opinions and comments are completely disingenuous. He has a clear and obvious agenda for some reason, which renders the value of his contributions to mostly just inflammatory garble that you can’t engage with because the other side isn’t being honest.
He easily could be a valuable contributor to any blog, he chooses not to be, and shambles decorum in his wake.
Yeah, there were times when DSF could add something to the the conversation. He is knowledgable.
But there were times where his logic twisted into a pretzel due to his dislike for the Oilers. Seem to remember at one point he mentioned that someone on the team (Messier?) upset him and he never forgave the Oilers for that and he never could get over it even though the perpetrator(s) were long gone.
Nothing in life his worth that.
Very, very seldom that DSF/HH/etc added anything of value. In the end I think Reja’s idiocy (making the same point day after day after day while refusing to recognize his opinions had been acknowledged or refuted). OP was very patient with Reja’s insults and jabs and intentional obtuseness (a word?). Eventually it broke OP and his posting volume went off the deep end.
I said that his sophistry got old, but he was skilled at it.
Why anyone would spend as much time as he did arguing online with fans of a team he didn’t like is beyond me. The world contains multitudes.
This is still a good spot on the interwebs thanks to our gracious host. It’s not the same as it was 20 years ago, but neither is anything else.
I miss the regular Pouzar.
He posted when wheatnoil, woodguy, Willis ( forgot the solid collective of that time).
I have been enjoying the blog tho.
Still can’t believe LT rips this everyday for free. Insane.
Here’s a funny story.
So regular “Pouzar” used to post here back in the day. He was an excellent poster and him and I used to have many good chats here.
Would it have been what 2018 when Original Pouzar shows up here? I had thought it was rather presumptuous to use that name when “Pouzar” had been here for like the past ten years or so prior.
So I took issue with it. Then OP defended it by saying he had used the name Pouzar on some message board I had never heard of…
Regular “Pouzar” show up and he actually couldn’t care less. Cool guy. Unfortunately he has mostly disappeared since then, but has popped in a few times.
Last night, someone made a post that really hit home.
In the old days, we used to have debates here in a range of topics… hockey analytics, fine scotch, investment strategies, whether Rita Hayworth or Grace Kelly was more beautiful….
Now we got folks discussing pre-game nap strategies so they can stay up to watch the game.
Father Time, as they say, is undefeated.
Pretty wild to double down and call yourself the “original”.
“In the old days, we used to have debates here in a range of topics… hockey analytics, fine scotch, investment strategies, whether Rita Hayworth or Grace Kelly was more beautiful….”
Damn. This is so true. Keep in mind, I didnt start reading until ~2015ish
He was Original Pouzar on Copper & Blue.
I maybe have forgotten that detail, and I definitely knew of that blog started by young Willis.
However, I definitely recall him mentioning some Oilers message board that even I hadn’t heard of.
The biggest downside to LTs success was that Scarlet Johanssen and Michelle Jenneke could no longer be featured at the top of the articles. I understand why, but it gave this place a bit of old timey swagger, like chatting with a bunch of buddies half-corked at the bar. That said, I too struggle to stay up past 9, so it’s probably ok if everyone grows up a little.
I questioned this as well. His response was just so presumptuous. Like other interactions, he just totally dismisses everyone else’s ideas and repeats his own ad nauseum. As if getting the last word was the end all and be all of every interaction.
I actually tested a theory a couple years ago that he always had to get the last word. When the Oilers put Raffy Lavoie on waivers, then reclaimed him, and lost him a second time, I used this as an example of poor asset management. Of course OP slammed my opinion as rediculous so I decided to see if I could actually get the last word in on this guy. So for a couple of weeks we went back and forth on it. Both repeating our opinions over and over, neither one introducing new information. If my last comment was late at night, by morning he’d have another comment waiting for me. This went on for a week or two until I just couldn’t take it anymore and gave up. You literally could never get the last word in on him. Mission impossible, lol
As Borat once said “you will never get this”
Those were the days…
I remember this and brought up the same thing. Hard to like a guy that does this. Sure enough that was never going to happen anyway…
Isn’t DSF/HH reincarnated as Desperado?
It definitely has a familiar piss in the pool hot gaslit takes sensed.
See St. kulak
I remember a comment from Fibonacci that he was fighting cancer. I can’t find the comment. Maybe the wires are crossed there. But it keeps coming to mind when people are asking where he is.
DSF/HH/Fib was good for laughs. The comment section is a little less entertaining without our resident troll.
That said I don’t miss his Twitter feed.
Absolutely agree !
I don’t know or care but love that I don’t have to scroll past hundreds of posts a day. Hope we’re not jinxing it.
Babcock and Bowman have been blessed in that they have had the opportunity to assess almost every player at multiple positions, and to do so while still winning.
Last night though, Vancouver is just not a good team, yet they are good enough to beat the Oilers if you take away the top line.
The rest not good enough. Bottom six had absolutely zero idea how to create any offence, so used to dump and chase and change.
Still some talent marbled around for sure , it’s not horrible, team still has enough ingredients.
But overall if you are going to proceed as a one line team plus the rest of this group as they stand, playing this system, they will only go as far as the top talent can carry them. The whole purpose of this season was to build a team and avoid that exact scenario.
Going forward like this, without change, it will not be enough.
Last night was not a great game for the team but to what you are saying, Dickinson scored, Nuge and Dach were out (and that second line has been consistently creating offence), and Savoie and Howard are still out. I don’t think it is as dire as you make it seem.
is there any official or unofficial news on the wounded.
RNH,
Issac
Savoie
Anderson
are they skating is there time lines??
Nuge- no news yet, hit in the face (I think) by puck
Isaac- nothing lately- initial reports were “not as bad as it looked”…I think the timeline was “a couple weeks”….that was a week ago
Savoie- Jack mentioned on the broadcast last night “a couple of weeks”…Stauffer mentioned later end of November/ early Dec…so we’re probably in the 30 day window
Anderson-nada lately
You forgot OP, HH and Reja.
Appears Chicago is getting frustrated with the losing. Their defense looks terrible. Is there a world where they might take Walman off our hands? Talented veteran dman to show their kids the ropes. Maybe Edmonton takes Donato or Smith back. Is this a win/win?
Chicago already did the “talented veteran dman to show their kids the ropes” when they traded for Byram this summer, and then signed him to a foolish contract that helped to drive up salaries across the NHL.
Donato and Smith are just more of the same type of bottom 6’ers that we already have.
If the Oilers are going to go hunting for a forward, then they need to aim higher and get a legit top-6 forward. Size also matters … something the Hawks are learning (seriously, their forward corps is so tiny, aside from Bertuzzi, it’s no wonder that team can’t compete). So someone like Rakell from Pittsburg (if the Pens decide to deal him this year), or Tippett from Philly.
That said, I think a trade for someone undervalued like Voronkov from the BJs would be more in keeping with the types of moves that Bowman has been successful with.
I’m not so sure the top six is where the problems are. Though I suppose if they were to go big game hunting using whatever assets other teams might be interested in, the trickle down effect to the bottom six could suffice. Or they could just find another under valued Podkolzin type to bolster the bottom six for a sensable cost and go from there. Which is more like how Bowman likes to operate .
The goal of a Walman trade would be to dump his contract. I wouldn’t expect much if anything for a return. Taking one of their older, underperforming forwards was just a way to entice them to bite. Walman’s cap space would be the only return I’d expect. Sad, seeing as we gave up a first round pick for him not too long ago
It’s a clever idea to rid ourselves of a bad contract and we have two very bad ones.
I would package Howard with Walman to Chicago for a gift certificate to Morton’s.
I approve of this usage.
Howard has a legit top 6 and PP2 at least place on a team like that.
And with all the injuries we’ve had it is absolutely absurd to assume there is/was a better time for howard to get some honest sustained reps on our 1st version of a 3rd line that was getting 2nd line minutes.
Like howard xxxx kapanen for 5 games at least or whatever.
Savoie returning makes it even less likely.
Mcludicrous
Dr drai
Ghost face Podzilla
Nuge jack city
Kapinem
Mos Dach
Red hyman
Is 7 MC’s for 6 headliner mics.
Savy is in mix when up to speed as well.
Dickinson surely ends up “3C” and that Babs surely wants defense savy, speed and heavy
Howard has speed but is not nor likely ever will be 3rd line with pk utility.
Hyman nuge kap (babcock likes kapinen IMO)
Leaves
dach dickinson savoie as a 3rd line all have been pk’ing and seem to be 200ft quality decent.
Howard is goose cooked in a duck pond as he is not of any sensible use on 4th line ice titled to dzone.
Again i’m probably minority but both howard and walman were my top pieces to trade at last years deadline. Nothing has happened since that makes me see different besides degrading potential percieved value to market on both of them.
Been forever since i can recall this team selling high on pretty much anything. We are the poop end of stick that gets POS or whomever strome returned tupe asset depteciator and exchange market.
Agree, though if Howard was attached to, I wouldn’t want one of their bad contracts in return. Bowman has dealt with Chicago a couple of times recently. Maybe he could get something done
Great day of sports yesterday. So glad the Elks are back. With all the talk about the roster I was curious where the Oiler players land in EV Scoring. Other than the top 3 Joseph is 4th at #135 in the league. Podz is below him. Most of the players above play bigger roles than Joseph so he’s doing well
7 of the top 10 teams in 5v5 scoring are in the East. The Avs Kraken and the Oilers (#10) made it in. The Canes 56 and Avs 54 lead the way, Oilers 39. Health would certainly help this, something to keep an eye on
excluding both of their first games, Jarry is a .934 save % at 5v5 and Levi is .932. That’s the last 7 games for each.
I was about to say skinner would likely still be here and fine if they changed defensive system to one that was more complimentary of positional goslies but unless something has drastically changed in defense systems used by the jets he’s getting lit up in way that suggests he’ll soon be on a short term contract back up goalie style role until one season he unceremouniously clears waivers and is hack riding AHL buses as 3rd string option.
I was quite impressed with tomkins actually.
Like guy permanently has bottom of net completely berlin walled shut. Relatively quick adusts position often with even resetting to standing while laterally moving. But also up quick and back down to wall again.
Like was suprised at how athletic he is in mainting limited open net at proper angle to shooters positionally.
Clearly reflexes not best and rebound control control doesn’t seem much priority given style but honestly suprised he hasn’t sustained a nhl roster backup job.
Like he could adin hill a playoffs gor some solid defensive team quite easily was my thoughts.
Jets have had challenges with their defensive game, especially with Morrisey out since early October, and having to rely on a couple players who probably should still be in the AHL. They are starting to gel again. Always more to other teams stories than just looking at stats.
That’s what i said. Just traditionally even hellybackups are well above average looking with the team for a solid amount of years.
It’s good to look at both.
Do tell! What do you propose? If Murphy is to be bumped off the 2nd pairing, what does the 2nd pairing look like? What happens with Emberson?
Shea-Bouchard
Ekholm-Murphy
Shak-Emberson
Walman
Bump Ekholm’s minutes down.
Keep Walman in the pressbox until he asks for a trade, then send him to LA for Doughty or to Pittsburg for Karlsson before/at the trade deadline, after which they can run:
Ekholm-Bouchard
Shea-Doughty or Karlsson
Shak-Murphy
Emberson
Murphy had some excellent defensive reads and blocks. Wow. I know you are not suggesting dump him, but my generic comment he’s one of those guys that easy to under appreciate.
I’m suggesting that that might be what LT is thinking, given his comments that I quoted.
I didn’t endorse Murphy to 3RD with Emberson sitting.
Hello everyone!
I joined a photography contest as a joke and have done much better than I thought was possible.
It is all started based on silly pictures of my dog Django (RIP) that passed away a few years ago. The main picture is him being oblivious to a big cat floof on his nose but there’s other pictures of him and other things as well.
If anyone is willing to vote (completely free daily vote and takes about 10 seconds) I’d greatly appreciate it.
Somehow I have made it to the 5th round and I am in 1st place. I have almost no social media presence so I am just trying to find ways to build a little bit of support. If you know anyone willing to follow and support as well, I’d greatly appreciate it. Here is the link:
https://photography.maxim.com/t/Q6UWDVGQ
Come here daily and love the community. Thanks for allowing me to post again Lowetide!
Freddy and Walman are in Babs doghouse. Doubt they ever get out.
Michaels needs to go to the minors when Savoie and Howard return.
Jones can go away as well. The Swede hasn’t done anything and Formenton is bad right now.
Samanski finally scored last night. Would really like to see him back.
Be nice to pry O’Reilly out of Nashville to run that 2nd line with Nuge and Hyman on the wings, unless Babs is moving Hyman up and Pods down as he did last night for the latter part of the game.
O’Reilly now with 17 points in 17 games would be a great get.
A 3rd line of
Savoie ( will need time to get back to last years game) / Dickenson/ Dach would be great
People keep suggesting O’Reilly as an option but I don’t really see what assets the Oilers have, that Nashville wants, to get a deal done. Maybe Howard plus a prospect, but then Edmonton is right back to having almost nothing coming through the pipeline in terms of youngsters.
I don’t see how Nashville accepts Walman or Frederic as the centrepiece because both have provided below replacement level play for long enough for it to be a concern.
My answer is same as it was in offseason:
NOEL ACCIARI is the right man for the job.
~35% OZStarts
~2:45 min/gm PK
~55% FO
~4 block shots/60
~11+, hits/60
And by edge stats like may not skate fast but even strength in his 10 min/gm skates his arse off to degree he is 52nd percentile as far as total miles. 4th line above average distance skated….like no quit on this guy.
RHC 5’11” 204 lbs shutdown brick who knows how to keep home plate clear.
Like the tony the tank version of derek ryan IMO.
Nashville is winning games right now and appear to be a team that can contend for the playoffs. In that scenario, I don’t think O’Reilly becomes available this season.
I’d like to see a Walman-Shea pairing and maybe slide Murphy down to the third pair. I’m not sure that Walman is being utilized properly on the third pair. If it works, it might get Walman contibuting more and in a better head space, while Murphy’s game is better suited for the third pair. It might be worth a try anyway.
Micheals has the coaches trust and Samanski doesn’t, that’s all I have to say about that.
But yeah, wouldn’t O’Reilly be great and I wish Savoie & Howard were the same size as Hallander & Formenton. Although I have to say I look forward to seeing Savoie back on the ice , he has the ability to contibute in a positive fashion.
Walman’s foot speed is off in a material way. Frederic’s speed is back but he isn’t making things happen. A skill center would help, but he might not get the chance.
Frederic’s speed might be back, but he left his hockey IQ back in Boston.
Frederic does not go to the right places on the ice, which for a winger his size, should be to plant himself in front of the net and cause chaos. In the corners, he doesn’t separate man from puck either. He may be physical, but that doesn’t equate to winning puck battles, in the way that Hyman or Dach do.
He’s JFJ … another Vanilla Coke machine that’s going to be in the pressbox eating popcorn all season long. He’ll get dusted off once in a while to play on the 4th line whenever the injury bug bites, or when Babcock wants to send a message to one of the forwards in the bottom 6.
I know I’m stone alone and he may never get it back, but Frederic was a fine player. Since we have many years to watch him, I’m hopeful he gets some of that game back. It’s is, increasingly, a dim hope however.
How much of frederic’s best had to do with highest end quality 3rd line players he was fortunate to be able to play along side in boston?
3C’s getting paid 5 million plus and worth it along with one clear really solid 200 ft winger on other side for the best of his best seems to suggest pretty babysat when he was at his peak.
Like it or no:
2 of bowman’s smartest man in room premature extensions for injured players have been his biggest outright blunders. Like that contract should have been podkolzin’s if watching games and forward projections were in play fairly…
Hopefully the whiteboard in the brain storming room has a big permanent red sharpie bullet point:
->ONCE SCORED 20 OR MORE GOALS IN A SEASON ISN’T WORTH AS MUCH AS ANYONE MIGHT WISH.
Best of trent
2022-23 -> 16 ESG, 13.79% SH
2023-24 -> 15 ESG, 13.39% SH
Magpie -> 13-19% in his glory years
I’m curious, who was he playing with on the Bruins?
He was getting zoomed by Charlie Coyle.
Fair question. I will actually try to fully digout a bit clearer in case i am off base.
2023-24: EV scoring all line combos over 10 min*..
With Charlie Coyle (Total: 227.3 min | 13 GF / 2 GA)
Without Charlie Coyle (Total: 511.1 min | 27 GF / 20 GA)
121 min (JVR – Geekie – Frederic): 3 GF / 7 GA (30.0%)
105 min (Non-Coyle mixed & match): 7 GF / 5 GA (58.0%)
79.2 min (Lauko – Geekie – Frederic): 4 GF / 0 GA (100%)
60.9 min (Heinen – Geekie – Frederic): 5 GF / 2 GA (71.4%)
39 min (Poitras – Frederic – Geekie): 1 GF / 2 GA (33.3%)
36 min (JVR – Frederic – Heinen): 3 GF / 2 GA (60.0%)
29 min (JVR – Frederic – Poitras): 1 GF / 2 GA (33.3%)
22 min (DeBrusk – Boqvist – Frederic): 0 GF / 0 GA (0%)
19 min (Heinen – Frederic – Poitras): 3 GF / 0 GA (100%)
Now this isn’t perfect i just tried to pull through moneypuck
By nat stat
2023-24 EVS
1025 min
15G, 21A (13.39 SH%)
CF 46%, GF 55%, xGF 50%
GF/60 2.69, GA/60 2.16
46 GF, 37 GA = +9
So there is a large amount of mudblood mixed nuts lines missing if moneypuck and nat stat legit line up somewhat accurate. And that block is garbage
With Charlie Coyle (227.3 TOI)
-> GF/60 3.43, GA/60 0.53, +11
Without Charlie Coyle (511.1 TOI)
-> GF/70 3.17, GA/60 2.35, +7
Mystery block 1025 min – 227.3 – 511.1 = 286.6 min
+18 drops to +9
GF/60 crashes from 3 25 to 2.69 for all minutes…
GA/60 crashes from 1.79 to 2.16
Like crashing to earth metoric style when he’s on ice with variety of guys in blender surely not line driver or keep boat afloat primary IMO.
Trent frederic fair to say is a player who with the right usage with a very north south style role was and possibly can be effective if given consistent linemates and not center i’m sure likely addable.
I’ll do just bigger gist version of previous year as that is enough for my brain not to fear too off base worth digging too much deeper to double check.
2022-23
With Charlie Coyle (589.0 min | 29 GF / 15 GA)
Without Charlie Coyle (69.0 min | 5 GF / 1 GA)
30.0 min (Foligno – Greer – Frederic): 3 GF / 0 GA (100% GF)
23.0 min (Greer – Frederic – Lauko): 1 GF / 1 GA (50.0% GF)
16.0 min (Nosek – Frederic – Smith): 1 GF / 0 GA (100% GF)
2022-23 natural stat EVS
884 min
16G, 13A (13.75 SH%)
CF 49%, GF 67 %, xGF 54.6%
GF/60 3.19, GA/60 1.56
47 GF, 23 GA = +24
With coyle (589 min)
-> GF/60 2.95, GA/60 1.53, +14
Without coyle (69 min)
->GF/60 4.35, GA/60 0.87, +4
Mystery block 884 min-589-69 =
226 min
+18 increases to +24 …+6
GF/60 -> 3.1 cum increases to 3.19
GA/70 -> 1.46 cum to 1.56
These numbers are all insane regardless…maybe i owe you an apology LT but this is magic boston year and he has a PDO of 1.051.
Still coyle definitely to me seems to be a pretty big factor. Which makes sense as well. Like his with higher grade center minutes in edmonton are playing with very unique not north south type magic unicorns.
The fact that coyle comsistently improves middle 6 level players outscoring effects when i was looking at him for best trade target still has me comfortable in narrative of frederic swimming in deep end and looking good was in large part aided by a life jacket floats all center.
The ebb and flow of the depth lines makes a lot more sense when you look at the teams they struggled with and succeeded against. Admittedly I was ramping up my pain mgmt as the game wore on last night, but I didn’t think the Nucks played like a 3 wins in 18 games team and their goaler showed well.
Gord speed baby Nuge!
Canucks really took it to them in the final 4 minutes and at times out worked the Oilers.
If not for Levi the result might have been different. Mind you wtithout Nuge for 2/3rds of the games the lines were disrupted from their normal efficiency.
Over all it was an amaZing day for Edmonton sports fans.
Yes this rotation of players in/out with injuries has Mr. Jones stuck in my head like an ear worm. No better way for Babs to get to know the entire roster I guess, but it’s frustrating from this side of the remote control.
Jones equals Frederic in much the same way as Formenton equals Hallander.
It takes all kinds.
Bowman has been a pretty active GM. I wouldn’t be surprised to 2 or 3 of Jones, Frederic, Formenton or Hallander are somewhere else by the end of the season. By now, it should be clear which guys are players that Babcock can use, and which ones are not a fit. I’d expect Bowman is looking around the league for trades.
Can any of the people knowledgeable about goalies help me interpret what I’m seeing with Levi?
I’m seeing a keeper without great size, but one that reads the play well and blocks the bottom half of the net. Last night his low center of gravity and sliding for lateral movement kept reminding me of Bobrovski and Wolf. It’s nothing short of impressive. He glides around the crease kinda like Sheshterkin too. Incredibly different from what we have seen here the last 20 years
What is consensus for the potential ceiling for this guy? Will he go as far as the structure in front of him will allow?
He was excellent last night, Mervallainen also played well. I’m actually surprised how poor the canucks record is, they played a decent game last night, and with decent goaltending like that ou’d think they’d ek out more wins. Maybe just lack the finishing. But Levi made some fine saves too, it could have been a different game.
I see everything you are seeing also, but trying to keep in mind it is (1) a small sample size (2) the rest of the league will be watching him more closely to get more of a book on him – like they have done with Wolf recently (3) the structure has been better than what has supported previous Oiler goalies, but that can change quickly, especially if there are more injuries and (4) he is young and inexperienced so he is still going to make mistakes and have ups and downs. For right now there are a lot of positives, he seems to have a great mindset and attitude and he certainly deserves this shot he’s been getting.
I’ve been fortunate enough to cross paths with a few goalie experts and asked a similar question.
As I understand it now, is 15-20 years ago the goalie position started to change drastically to bigger and bigger goalies that could see over the net front screens and simply block pucks. Skinner/ koskinen. More recently there has been a shift to more fly by screens (first Vancouver goal last nite) and much focus on cross seem passes before goals. (Ekholm goal)
( royal road passes)
There is a shift now to a more athletic style that can up-down side-side quicker as a result there is room for smaller goalies again. Levi/ wolf.
I like the excitement of the athletic style.
I see a Jonathan Quick comparable. Quick was so good down low. He was athletic and.. quick 😏 side to side
Baby Cujo
He was very aggressive at playing the puck last night … he makes good decisions with it and was helping to keep his D-men out of tight spots (good on-ice communication). Skinner was just awful at this.
He comes out aggressively to challenge shooters and doesn’t sit back in his crease the way we saw with Skinner or Pickard. His skating and agility is really noticeable.
His glove is Cujo-like.
He gets beat high, but it takes perfectly placed shots or tipped shots to beat him. I can live with that, but the Oilers will have to be mindful about getting big D-men who are aggressive at keeping the opposition out of his crease.
He looks like a keeper.
Prospectron!
The spotlight shines on the House of Windsor and the Oilers twain what dwells within.
Andrew Robinson’s soupless outing yestergame slipped him under a point/game for the season but he was named 2nd star. He has 11-2-8-10.
Caden Harvey is enjoying a breakout season even though he’s scored just once since opening night. With 15-3-13-16, he is on pace to double last season’s output (34 in 68 GP). He’d appear to be a William Nicholl-like pick, i.e., buried on a deep team his draft season and then flourishing with more ice time and responsibility.
Both Spitfires are NCAA-bound next season as Robinson is off to Providence while Harvey is committed to Penn State.
Both get the chance to pad their stats when the puck drops at 1 p.m. Vegreville time.
Missed the news – why was Dach out? Flu?
Indeed it was. Also referred to as “the sniffles” in the post game locker room clip with them handing out the awards.
Hope he returns next game on a line with Dickinson & Joseph.
LT — let me be the first today to say: thank you, really appreciate what you do. Four observations to get the convo going.
1. McDavid: averaging more ice time this season then at ANY time in his career. Is Glimmer Twins riding a league average d-corp, league-worst bottom six, and “good” (see my next point) goaltending a ticket to Stanley?
2. The Oilers, now completing 20% of the season, are sitting at the 8th best 5×5 save percentage in the league according to NST.
3. Scorching powerplay, not so scorching PK.
4. Checking up on Mr. Nurse, looks like the Sharks have him eating ice time, running the PK, heavy d-zone starts, and… not a lot to show for it. Poor posession stats, GF%… reminiscent of Nurse on a younger Oilers squad. There was some speculation that Nurse would see a two-way role in SJS and that’s just not the case.
I just checked the 5v5 save percentages based on your comment and was surprised to see Jarry at .923. If I filter for 300 mins + (~8 games+), Jarry is 10th in the NHL for 5v5 save % and Levi is 20th at .902. Pretty amazing to see both guys doing so well. And kudos to the Babcock system as well obviously.