This is where it all began. The late summer 2015 rookie game versus the Canucks. I remember it like yesterday, future Oilers forward Jake Virtanen spent the night being a douche nozzle. Despite the asshattery from the Van City side, no one could miss the building rock and roll hockey storm.
The Glimmer Twins found the sound and started a 10-year journey that brings us here. I think Darnell Nurse is playing some of the best hockey of his career with the puck right now. I think the five-on-five scoring and outscoring is fan-bloody-tastic in the last 20 games (or so). I don’t know where this is headed, but I know a possible destination. For now, for today, that’s more than enough. The feel of this team currently is enough for this old man to get a little melancholy about that September game in British Columbia all those years ago. Bless you boys, do it again and do it for the first time. Let’s go.
The Athletic article today is about a trade for Brad Marchand at the deadline. It’s an idea worth contemplating. Article is here.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN JANUARY
- At home to: ANA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: SEA, BOS, PIT, CHI (Expected 2-1-1) (Actual 3-1-0)
- At home to: LAK (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- On the road to: MIN, COL, VAN (Expected 1-1-1) (Actual 2-1-0)
- At home to: WAS, VAN, BUF, SEA, DET (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 3-1-0)
- Overall expected results: 8-4-2, 18 points in 14 games
- January result: 10-3-0
- Oilers in 2024-25: 32-15-3, 67 points in 50 games
I genuinely thought my prediction was aggressive. Serioously. The Oilers three losses are sprinkled throughout the month, and in some cases the L’s are innocent (with an explanation) due to fatigue and scheduling. For the month, Stuart Skinner’s five-on-five save percentage is .917 and Calvin Pickard is at .911. Will we see a goalie trade? I know some of you would like to see one, and maybe Stan Bowman feels the same way. We wait.
BRANDON SAAD
Rumors have the Oilers in hot pursuit of this brand new free agent, and it does fit with Stan Bowman’s modus operandi since joining Edmonton. Free veteran player, cost only a humble cap number, and give ’em enough rope. I don’t see anything especially wrong with this idea, similar to the John Klingberg Experience. I suspect this isn’t good news for Jeff Skinner or Kasperi Kapanen, but that’s unkown at this time. What we do know is that Bowman is damned aggressive in this area of procurement. I’d go Marchand, but it would be some dear assets out.
The Lowdown hits at noon, Sports 1440. Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation will help us tee up the game against the Detroit Wheels, and we’ll also hear from the other side. Declan Krueger’s Declanations will focus on NCAA basketball, we’ll talk about the Canadians who are doing well down south. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
DETROIT CITY
The Red Wings of my youth were old men. Gordie Howe was old, Alex Delvecchio was old as the hills and twice as dusty, but they were flat out famous and had enjoyed a strong run over the previous 20 (or so) seasons. From 1970 through 1983, they made the playoffs only once. From 1984 through 2016, they missed the playoffs twice and won 4 Stanleys. The golden era of Detroit hockey was 1950 to 1955, when the Red Wings won 4 Stanleys. The 1997-2008 decade-ish in Detroit was also Golden. Since 2016, the team has been an absolute mess. The team arrives tonight on the fringe of a playoff spot, and a record of 6-3-1 in the last 10 games. Detroit has won three in a row.
If the Oilers sign Saad and win the cup with Saad, Kling and Kane in the line up, do you think teams will start trying copying the Oilers patented scrap heap talent procurement strategy?
According to legend the Oil are out
Am really looking forward to seeing the Red Wings.
Now that the Oilers are true contenders, am preferring to see the games when they play excellent, or in Detroit’s case genuine up and coming teams.
Gone are the days when Oilers v plodding, St Louis style teams do much for me.
I will accept only one Utah team name.
The Utah Phoenix.
It works on so many levels that Bettman would never allow it.
“Polygamists” has a certain appeal.
I was thinking saints, but Spruce Grove might object.
Soakers.
Too on the nose. I prefer the Utah Big Love.
Off a post from yesterday…
@utahhockeyclub
Hey Utah hockey fans! We listened to your feedback and dug into all the Qualtrics data from last night’s survey. For the team name, it’s clear that Outlaws should be in the mix instead of Wasatch, so we’re swapping it out.
Surveys will continue at the arena Friday, Sunday and Tuesday for you to vote for the options Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club, and Utah Outlaws.
Excited to see the votes roll in!
3:50 PM · Jan 30, 2025
Presumably they’d introduce a new logo for Outlaws (Mammoth is a mammoth, obvs, and Utah HC/Wasatch was to feature the mythical ‘non-Yeti Yeti’ creature). Good on them for pivoting so quickly.
No dog in the fight, but pick a two syllable name, please! It hurts my ears hearing fans trying to make the “Let’s go TEAM NAME” chant work when it’s a single syllable.
Outlaws is easily the best now.
I like the Outlaw name but I do wonder if that may trigger some people.
Anything triggers some people.
Bah! Humbug! Outlaws is best choice by far!
I miss the days when people weren’t offended by every little thing. It’s creating a society that makes people uncomfortable to even speak with other people. Nothing is safe. One mis-spoken word can villainize you, or to the extreme, may even destroy your life.
anyone else notice how Lisa’s dress is changing color like a turning signal?
Headline shocker of the day: Crosby names Captain of Team Canada! Who saw that coming???? Certainly not the decision Bobby Clarke would have made, is it? (Some of you may too young to get the reference).
McDavid and Makar named alternate captains.
Really, there was essentially zero chance that anyone else was going to be (or should have been) named captain.
It could be different for the Olympics – one tournament at a time.
Perhaps my sarcasm wasn’t clear enough with all the hyperbole. Besides the word ‘Shocker’, the exclamation point and the 4 question marks, I thought the veiled reference to Clarke naming Lindros captain in 1994 would make the point.
Think Claud Rains as Inspector Renault in “Casablanca”: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”
Perhaps you’re not used to the level of pedantry by some around here.
My post was simply providing my thoughts on the subject – not disputing anything in yours including the use of “shocker”.
So are Toews and Saad coming to Edmonton on $1 milllion AAV contracts?
St. Louis is really only a one centre team. Schenn, like Henrique, is really a 3rd line centre at best. Holloway and Kyrou are carrying him at the moment.
Saad wasn’t playing well enough to play with Thomas, and he could not elevate his linemates on the 2nd or 3rd line. Holloway took the 2nd line LW spot from him, and Bolduc outplayed him for a 3rd line spot. And are the future.
St. Louis wants to play younger players and they like their 4th line guys. Texier is going to get more ice time. And if St. Louis continues falling away from the playoff pack, Devorsky will get his first NHL trial after the trade deadline, likely between Holloway and Kyrou.
St. Louis’s biggest deficiency all year has been a 2nd line centre, but Armstrong did not want to acquire one because Devorsky is close. Thomas and Buchnevich having relatively poor seasons has skewered Armstrong’s plans. And Binnington has been inconsistent.
Toews is not returning to the NHL this year – any potential return is a next season thig.
Boqvist on waivers. Probably a San Jose or Chi claim (why not), but would prefer him over JK or at least Stetcher at league min. Give the 24 year old 20 games with Coffey and he could be found money.
As they said with Klingberg, why not? No way he gets to us but put in the claim anyway.
That would be an interesting reclamation project.
Boqvist is weak defensively, and has Bouchard and now Klingberg ahead of him for pp time.
Stecher is a better option than young Boq.
Thank Gord that at the 2018 draft NYR and Chicago drafted Kravtsov and Boqvist instead of Evan Bouchard.
Yeah, Kravtsov and Boqvist and Kotkaniemi going off the board meant that we were guaranteed one of Bouchard, Dobson, or Wahlstrom. I was thrilled.
And we picked the right one. (Dobson would have been OK too. But Wahlstrom?)
He’s a Bowman draft pick I would be shocked if Bowman passes him up at his near league minimum salary. With Holland gutting our system and with our top heavy salary cap Bowman needs to find value contracts.
If the Oilers were to claim him, he almost certainly can’t go to Bakersfield. Florida would just reclaim him and send him to their farm team. Also, there is no likely job available for him on the Oilers right now. If Bowman likes him, he can see about signing him as a free agent in the summer.
Yes your right there’s already already enough players for the seats available on the big club especially with the Klingberg signing.
Curious why you’d prefer Boqvist over JK?
JK has no hips.
Boqvist is 24 and has only played for the declined Hawks and Columbus.
He’s never had Paul Coffey or a good hockey team. We don’t play a physical game like Florida demands.
If you say AB isn’t physical, neither is JK.
Higher upside, same cost. Not a landslide preference.
The beautiful thing about Bouch is he’s 6’3 and approaching 200 lbs and he has some bark, when he wants to
The NHL has a way of eliminating small mild talent especially when the chips are down. Talent isn’t what is really in short supply, it’s NHL talent
I didnt mention Bouch at all so cheers.
He did a great job of eating a crosscheck with no response tho.
So you’re right. Bark. No bite.
Excited to see Klingberg in the lineup.
I’m probably drinking the koolaid, sure, but with his verbal regarding him being pain free for the first time in years and years and better mobility in the hip area, I am cautiously optimistic about his ability to handle 2RD. A puck moving/good skating partner for Nurse.
I know he struggled big time the last few years defensively but he has a history of being a fine 2-way d-man with the offensive upside, prior to the hips becoming debilitating.
We’ll see where we get to, maybe he’s nothing more then a depth 6/7 or, maybe, just maybe, he can be a legit 2RD.
We start to find out tonight!
Coach says Klingberg’s minutes will be managed tonight and he’ll probably see multiple different partners.
This move may be anywhere from a swing and miss to a possible home-run. I know, I know I need to fuel my expectations for the first little while yet I’m super excited to see another puck moving skilled defender play with the best Oiler forward group since the mid-eighties.
1) This season is probably the most hockey (Oilers and other teams) I’ve watched in years, and one thing I keep thinking whenever I watch a non-Oilers game: getting to watch 97 and 29 (almost) every 2 nights is such a privilege. While I’ll be gutted by another season ending in anything other than a cup, it’s easy to forget just how exciting those two players make this team on a night-in, night-out basis. Even watching teams with other stars (Avs, Leafs, VGK), the talent of 97 and 29 makes watching the Oilers fun.
2) Saad @ the league minimum or therabouts would be a great addition. No acquisition cost, and those players can turn into found money. Very little downside, worst case scenario he or Kapanen end up on waivers.
3) Looking at that lineup above makes me miss Slepyshev. Flawed/limited player but I always thought he could have had an NHL career if he wanted it, joining the ranks of Hartikainen et al.
4) Two of my “favorite” Oilers moments involve the Red Wings: A) Hemsky’s tying and winning goals in 2006 G6 against detroit, and B) “The Shift” – Taylor Chorney and Jason Strudwick being stuck in their own end, unable to advance the puck past center ice for about 3.5 minutes against Detroit during a regular season game in the early years of the DoD.
I’ve watched more than a few Vegas games due to a fun rivalry with a friend.
They are fairly deep, no doubt, but most of the play driving is Jack Eichel. He has had an incredible season while the rest of the team has mostly been a benefit to playing with him. Dorofeyev, Howden, Kolesar are all having good to career years, but that’s not saying a tonne. Hertl got hot but has been overall a net negative on the team.
Theodore is the goods, Paul Bunyan keeps doing his thing.
Eichel is the straw, I would suggest on eye test alone he has been carrying that team for quite some time this year. We have 2 guys doing it and the best one has not been his transcendent self yet imo.
It makes sense Eichel should be the best player, but i would suggest he’s had to carry the team far more than the Glimmer twins. Even if they play backup goalies over 50% of the time.
You’re ignoring the contributions of Mark Stone.
Yes, he was out with injury but has scored 1.24 P/GP with a goal differential of 64.60%…the best of his career.
No I’m not. Stone stands in front of the net on the PP. Barbashev has been more productive at ES (and guess who’s line he’s on). He’s a really good player.
Eichel is the man.
Yeah after years (and years) of watching other teams and having to constantly ask “Why can’t the Oilers can’t do that?!?,” it’s been a nice solid run now, multiple seasons, of watching other franchises on say the power play and wondering what the hell they think they’re doing.
Why don’t they pass it to Drai? 😉
This team and its coaching are quality.
The Glimmers are simply a wonder.
The Oilers and the Wings have identical 11-4-1 records since TMac took over as head coach. They are scoring at the same rate as the Oilers in that span, but not quite as good at preventing goals but both GF and GA are greatly improved from prior to the change.
I haven’t looked at their quality of schedule, but this is similar to when Ottawa came in when they were hot a while back.
It should be a good game.
I’ll say this about Tmac. He’s a great addition for the Wings today. His system will improve the team and might get them to the playoffs. He’s the wrong coach if you’re looking to win the cup. But that’s not where the Wings are today.
Holy hell Ek sounds awful. I think he’s playing but he is not 100%.
Warrior, he aint Embiid or Kawhi.
Can also only conclude Nurse was mum on how hurt he was after the LA series.
If the Oilers sign Brandon Saad for $1M …
The collective of Saad, Kapanen, Klingberg, Connor Brown, and Henrique will cost the team $7.5M against the cap for 5 veteran players. Those same 5 were earning $21M just a year ago.
Adding in Jeff Skinner the total grows to $10.5M in the current season, and a whopping $30M last season.
Would have been happy to get a win against the Red Wings.
Forgotten that MacLellan had been hired and now I want the Oilers to lay a beatdown on them.
Am I petty? Yes! I still blame MacLellan for supporting the trade of Hall for Lucic. I know the actual trade was Hall/Larsson but he wanted a toughness over skill. Zero Stanley Cups later, we wasted the first 5 years of McDavid…
Lucic was Chiarelli’s guy.
No doubt he was the leader on the decision, but MacLellan would have been in on the discussions with Chiarelli before the trigger was pulled on the Hall trade and the signing. He would advise Chiarelli on his views on team need based on the prior season play (team toughness, team defense) and on his views of Hall’s role on the team.
It did seem though that MacLellan and Chiarelli were not always on the same page about how the team should be playing.
I imagine the Oilers’ entire (galaxy) brain trust took part in the Hall decision.
Now, the Eberle trade, on the other hand, probably can in large part be laid at McLellan’s feet.
TMac never had a skill like 97. It seemed like his idea was to just let him do his thing. Not alot of defensive accountability for him and he was working with spare parts for the rest of the roster (Hi Ty Rattie!)
He made stingy teams in LA. His pedigree with San Jose should’ve been better but Big Joe was already a vet when he joined. Those teams routinely underperformed in the playoffs so attribution is tough.
He’s an NHL coach that’s for sure.
Does Jake Virtanen count as a “future Oiler” for a PTO & getting cut before the end of training camp?
I’m still mad about him putting McDavid out of that Penticton tournament, & I’m sure the people who travelled there & bought tickets took a dim view of it as well. Virtanen always was an ass hat.
I was never more glad to see a guy miss a chance to make an NHL comeback. And that was before I remembered about the Penticton stuff (how do you keep all that in your brain?).
Ekholm named an assistant captain for Team Sweden. If there is any Oiler I’d like to see rest for those two weeks it’s Ek but I suspect he is all in for the tournament and excited to play.
Although the Red Wings have played well of late, I thought Yzerman was supposed to turn their fortunes around
Yzerman had awful luck with the draft. Deserved so much better, but the lottery screwed them.
Yzerman also made good bets with the mostly goalies, and had awful luck.
Then they missed the playoffs by one point because Washington scored a tie-breaking empty net goal against Philly. You can’t get more snakebitten than that.
But trading away Filip Hronek and Jake Walman? That’s fully on him.
Yzerman has made numerous terrible trades – two baffling ones (in particular Walman) listed.
Lots of smaller mistakes as well, including the Kostin/Yamamoto acquisition – Holland crushed him on that one.
Confirmed that Klingberg is in tonight.
Skinner in, Kapanen out.
Bummer, Kapanen was one of my Tim Horton’s app picks. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to rely on that McDavid guy…
How do we get Colton Parayko on this team?
Parayko or Pulock
Why?
Hes on the ice for more goals against than Evan Bouchard, to start.
Big upgrade on Stecher no? You don’t think he’s worth his contract or cost of acquiring?
Yes, an upgrade on Stecher but with his contract, nope, I have no interest in acquriing.
I looked at Saad’s PuckIQ last night and noped out of that pretty quick.
Those rels are abysmal.
Aside from 4L with Perry and Philp, what’s his role here? Is he an upgrade on Kapanen (probably) or Janmark (doubtful)? I could maybe see it worth a shot on a league minimum contract, more depth for the playoffs isn’t a bad thing.
Saad is a two-way forward that contributes on both special teams and scored 26 goals last season for the Blues, has 7 this year, which is still more than Janmark.
Saad has never been a big PK guy, but has done a bit over his career – this season and last he’s barely been used on the PK.
24-25 – negative DDF% rel, positive GF% (elites)
Career prior – positive DDF% rel 9 of 10 seasons, positive GF% 9 of 10 seasons (also focusing on elites)
I wouldn’t be so quick to throw out the idea based on a small recent sample. JMO.
Yeah that’s a fair take. I just worry about the cliff.
At league minimum it’s a worthy bet.
Those numbers for Saad are weird.
His DFF% says he’s struggling to generate good shots against Elites and mids but he still breaks even in goals for and against. His DFF% against Grits look good but he and his line mates are getting roundly outscored.
I agree with BornInAGretzkyJersey that Saad could have fallen off the aging cliff. You never know when the reflexes and read and react skills fall off to make a player sub-NHL speed.
All the more reason to give props to Derek Ryan for keeping up with the Joneses and working and grinding to stay in the league before he went back to the AHL at 38. Ryan could have retired but I think he wants to be a black ace on our cup winning team.
I was making mention of acquiring Marchand in November maybe early December, got thoroughly pummeled for it. Fingers chewed and everything.
While I don’t think it’s the ultimate all in, it would be fun.
5-2 Oilers.
It would be fun, if they move him it will be for on the fly rebuilding, so it will cost
Spend it all plus some on Crosby after he falls madly in love with McDavid at the 4 nations.
Heh heh
I would love Marchand – he’d be perfect for the playoffs. He’d be like Corey Perry, plus much stronger offense, plus much stronger defense.
If we fail to land Marchand because we traded away our 2025 first-rounder for Sam O’Reilly, I’ll be very displeased.
I don’t mind Saad, but another add that’s above league minimum is possibly gonna affect Bowman’s trade deadline plans.
if Saad is inbound, could the Oilers do the mutual contract termination thing with JSkinner?
I don’t think Skinner is going anywhere. He’s never played in the playoffs, and has a no-move clause.
If there’s a playoff team out there that would give him more ice time than what he’s seeing in Edmonton. Why wouldn’t he? He just wants to play hockey and contribute, not unlike Broberg & Holloway.
Sure, he might want to win a cup, but that’s not a given even in Edmonton.
Why would a playoff team want him?
Good question. I suppose to score goals. Apparently, he still has that ability I’m told.
As it stands Skinner will be hard pressed to get into any playoff games, especially if Kane returns.
Nuge/McDavid/Hyman
Podz/Draisaitl/Arvidsson
Kane/Henrique/Saad
Brown/(Janmark/Philp)/Perry
Skinner/Philp/Kapanen
There’s a massive logjam that from afar doesn’t appear Skinner has the compete level to work his way up. Definitely going to be some movement in the group before deadline, Skinner could do himself and team a favor by moving on.
I wonder how the Blues can just go about terminating a contract out of the blue without a valid reason.
If it’s mutual with the player, it is possible.
because the player agreed to terminated and given up the rest of what he’s due thereunder.
Any NHL contract can be terminated if both team and player agree.
I wouldn’t think that Skinner would agree to that.
Saad’s numbers are very similar to Skinners. I don’t know why this is happening to Saad, but I also don’t think the Blues will just allow Edmonton to snap him up. Maybe his game has fallen off. I’m suspicious, however I will say I would prefer Saad on this Oiler roster over Skinner. A fourth line with Saad-Philp-Perry/Kapanen might not be too bad.
There’s nothing the Blues can do to stop anyone from signing the free agent.
That’s not how mutual contract termination works, though.
STL has no influence over free agent signings by other teams.
Ok fine. So why are they terminating his contract?
It’s mutual, what is it does he no longer want to play hockey? There has to be more to this.
Lack of production, especially relative to cap hit.
He agreed because it gives him a chance to sign another contract and play in the NHL versus the AHL.
Apparently, he has no interest in playing in the AHL. That is why this is happening and since no team will claim his current contract off waivers. it’s an interesting scenario. Since he has ties with Bowman there’s speculation he might sign in Edmonton. Makes sense I suppose. He certainly might be able to bolster the bottom six. Have a looksee and find out, I guess.
It’s a strange thing in hockey how media and fans think that because two people know each other or are from the same town they will make life altering career choices with financial sacrifices to be on the same team. Not a single person from my hometown, and very few from my career (can count on less than all fingers on one hand) would have any influence in what I put in a sandwich, let alone major life, financial, and career decisions.
The games people play.
A mutual termination of the contract means that the team and the player both agree to cancel the remainder of the contract and all the money would have been owed to Saad for the rest of the season.
If they didn’t go this route, Saad would have had to accept a demotion to the AHL, while still getting paid his NHL salary. As a long tenured veteran, the Blues gave him an out to go to any other team and get him off their cap and their bottom line.
Very good and since he has no interest in playing for their AHL affiliate they mutually came to this agreement. Saad loses his contract for the remainder of the year but can sign with a team of his choosing. Works for both sides because he’s off the books for St. Louis. So glad you understand.
on Friday he can sign with pretty much anybody, i believe
Saad may choose VGK or some Florida team.
Saad will be a free agent, unrestricted. No more ties to the Blues.
I’ve watched a lot of Blues games this year and Saad has been invisible in most of them. Maybe a change of scenery jumpstarts him, but I don’t think he’s an improvement over what the Oilers currently have.
I looked at NST and his numbers are not good and lag. Bowman knows him, but that was a long time ago. There’s no guarantee he’s more reliable than Skinner or Kap, and he’s far from top 6, isn’t a shooter, and no where near as fast as Kap. I think think speed is a huge help in playoffs to push the other guys back
Good point
The Oilers will have 5 million not prorated at the TD ..that’s pretty pretty good
I’m no capologist, but I think Klingberg is eating into that now by about $800,000, and any amount over league minimum for Saad (or anyone really) will also reduce that amount. I was surprised they agreed to pay Kingberg $1.7M with all the efforts to accrue space/LTIR management they have been talking about all year.
Klingberg is eating in to it by apx $100K.
The Oilers have just over $5MM of LTIR room left.
The Oilers essentially used up all of their normal course accrued cap space with the Klingberg signing and have pretty much all of their LTIR space left (of course, presuming Kane is not being activated during the regular season).
Why exactly did Saab terminate is contract with still a year left on it? Kane is the only one that comes to mind but that was done for basically financial reasons. I don’t think anyone has that with so much owing the following year. I know players have terminated their contracts because they’re stepping away from the game but is this a unique case?
From the articles I’ve read, he would prefer to end the contract and take less money on a new contract with another team to continue playing out the season in the NHL. His additional year remaining and his high cap hit was preventing another team from claiming him on waivers and a trade wasn’t attractive to other teams for that reason either. The Blues would have paid him to play in the AHL, but he doesn’t want to play in the AHL. Basically no one wanted to pay him at the current price & term. So now it is a mutual contract termination, he has a better chance of being signed to a lower priced contract by an NHL team to finish the season, and the Blues save $ and cap hit. It doesn’t happen often because most players don’t want to walk away from the money. Sounds like he just wants to play in the NHL, realized his contract was a limiting factor and chose a new opportunity to play in the NHL over the money owed to play in the AHL and a subsequent buy out in the summer.
We as fans often talk about how much money these players make over the course of their careers, maybe this is a case where he just wants to play and is happier to just walk away from the old contract for a fresh start, even if it means less money on a new contract. You know, love of the game and all.
Kane had a major falling out with the Sharks, got suspended by the team, both sides wanted to move on.
Not a whisper of a problem with Saad, until boom.
I don’t know the exact praticulars and how bankruptcy laws work especially in the state of California but to me Kane was financially driven to terminate his contract with San Jose who were all in on the termination. Saad seems to be doing it for a non-guaranteed opportunity to play the rest of this year and next year on a team that wants him. That’s over 6 million dollars vs ? he’s foregoing which like I said seems to be a unique case.
That’s not the full story and the rest is important to understand the differences between Kane’s and Saad’s situations.
The Sharks first suspended Kane, then unilaterally terminated his contract for cause (for their belief that Kane had violated the terms of his contract) initially with the league’s blessing. Kane, who may have wanted to move on in his mind, did not want his contract terminated and with the help of the NHLPA filed for arbitration saying that the Sharks did not have grounds to terminate his contract.
While the appeal was ongoing, he was able to sign with the Oilers for the remainder of that season and play. Once he resigned with the Oilers in the off season, he, the Sharks and the league settled the dispute, and since most of his lost wages from the terminated from the contract were replaced by the new contract from the Oilers, the Sharks were left with a modest cap penalty applied retroactively to the prior season, since the had the cap space. Had Kane never resigned, if the Sharks lost the arbitration, they may have had to shell out a lot more and had a bigger cap hit.
The Sharks and Kane were in full disagreement, the Blues and Saad are in full agreement.
Saad should be taking the place of one of the less offensively gifted forwards if he is signed, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be how NHL coaches work.
Coaches like defensive responsible players that can’t score the odd goal.
CAN.
Methinks Oilers are going to split the next 2 games…
Wings are on a big comeback coached by former coach McLellan…
Maple Leafs are always trouble for the Oilers.
I would naturally have preferred to predict(and get) a sweep.
Maybe those challenges will help them dial in again. They have a big opportunity here, and if they some help from the other games tonight, they might set themselves up for not having to be so frantic at season end
There are 6 teams that are hot and challenging for top ranking. The Oil sit 4 pts back of the Jets and Caps, and have a game or two on hand on three of them
6 challenging, 5 hot, the Knights aren’t playing well, but never count them out it seems
6 points back of each, Oilers and Caps have played 50 games, Jets have played 52.
Yes thanks. I have a malady so evil I can’t think straight, and it doesn’t want to give up like they usually do. Hope I can stay awake later
Prospectron!
An OHL quintet is on today’s docket.
Barrie (Akey, Wakely) @ 5 p.m.
Peterborough (Stonehouse) @ 5 p.m.
Flint (Day, Clattenburg) @ 5 p.m.
All times are the same time and are also Cynthia time.
The Peterborough Stonehouse? I spent a month there one night.