One of the things we discussed Saturday morning surrounded winger Jesse Puljujarvi and what he might be able to do with some clean air against lesser competition. The ‘soft parade’ as I like to call it. Puljujarvi scored a five-on-five goal, the game winner matter of fact, against a feature pairing (Nicolas Hague-Shea Theodore) and a depth line (Janamark-Howden, with Dadanov along for the ride).
A sign of things to come? Who knows. Bottom line is Edmonton won the game, while getting fantastic goaltending from Mikko Koskinen and no goals from 97 and 29. It was an interesting evening.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: The Oilers’ prospect pipeline has produced 2 call-ups on defence this season. Who’s next?
- New DNB: What I think and what I know about the Oilers through their first 20 games
- Lowetide: How promising is the Oilers’ Russian prospect pool?
- DNB: Could Leon Draisaitl score 50 goals in 50 games?
- Lowetide: How the Oilers most pressing needs have changed since the offseason
- DNB: Tales from the days Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod, Evan Bouchard and Tyler Benson were minor league roommates
- DNB: For Emily Cave, Colby’s widow, a trip back to Boston is about memories, love and legacy
- Lowetide: Is the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl even better than we think? A look at his stunning historic comparables
- DNB: Philip Broberg’s first NHL game was as special as he’d hoped
- Lowetide: Philip Broberg is ready for his NHL audition
- Lowetide: Why Kailer Yamamoto is still on the Oilers’ No. 2 line
- Lowetide: Three auditioning Oilers who are finding their groove and hope to find their place
- Lowetide: Should the Oilers move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the 3rd line?
- DNB and Max Bultman: How Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Holland helped create ‘the Harvard of hockey management’
- Lowetide: How good is Matvey Petrov and is he on an NHL trajectory?
- Lowetide: Will Ken Holland make an early-season trade to bolster the Oilers?
- DNB: Oilers lament Connor McDavid not drawing penalties
- Jonathan Willis: How the Decade of Darkness did — and didn’t — set up the current success
- Lowetide: Why can’t the Oilers put together an effective third line?
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: SEA, NAS, NYR (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
- On the road to: DET, BOS, BUF, STL, WPG (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 2-3-0)
- At home to: WPG, CHI (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: DAL, ARI, VEG (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 2-1-0)
- Overall expected result: 8-5-0, 16 points in 13 games
- Actual November results: 9-4-0, 18 points in 13 games
- Oilers in 2021-22: 15-5-0, 30 points in 20 games
The Oilers are winning games at an electric pace and are in a good spot in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. There are concerns and it’s uncertain what areas will be solved internally over the final 62 games and what positions will be addressed via deadline trade. What is certain today is that the Oilers are picking up good vibrations and sending out excitations.
GOALTENDING
Mikko Koskinen was incredible, absolutely stellar in this game. He stopped 36 of 38 (.947) and seven of eight HDSC’s. He froze the puck more often than normal, often to give the team in front of him a chance to reset. Koskinen is now 11-2-0 on the season, .912SP and 2.89 GAA. Impressive game. Start of the first period and early second-period stop against Theodore were absolute fire.
PAIRINGS
Philip Broberg-Cody Ceci played 17:58 (all numbers five-on-five), delivering 6-12 shots, 0-1 goals and 2-7 HDSC. This pairing spent 8:51 with Leon, 8:25 with the Nuge and 7:49 with McDavid, so firepower was available but nothing rhymed. Defensively, the duo held up with enormous help from the goalie. Broberg got walked by Theodore and he was one of the Oilers trying to swat the puck out of danger on the Reilly Smith goal. Ceci and 97 had swats at the puck before Broberg had a turn, by then it was chaos incorporated. Ceci had two shots and a takeaway, plus a blocked shot. He had the puck on his stick before the Smith goal, a clock shot might have been prudent. I like this pair.
Kris Russell-Tyson Barrie played 15:24, going 6-11 shots, 1-1 goals and 1-3 HDSC. This pair was on for the Stephenson goal against, the coverage wasn’t awful and the shot came on the backhand from some range. I think the breakout could have been delayed but that was a goal that didn’t involve a major error beyond Barrie getting caught to my eye. Russell blocked three shots at five-on-five to set the all-time record, although Duncan Keith is less than 100 behind him and may play longer. Barrie had an assist, a shot, a high-danger chance and took advantage of a loose Vegas defense (they allow many chances).
William Lagesson-Evan Bouchard played 9:33, going 6-3 shots, 1-0 goals and 2-0 HDSC. This pairing could play more and I expect we’ll see Bouchard’s five-on-five time climb when Nurse and Keith return. Lagesson had a shot on goal, two blocked shots and one of those ridiculous puck over glass penalties. Bouchard delivered a stunning pass to Puljujarvi for the winning goal, the man is a treasure with the head-man pass. As noted by Daniel Nugent-Bowman during the game, Broberg-Bouchard saw some power-play time and that could become another weapon in time. Bouchard played heavy PK minutes, with Russell.
LINES
Nuge-Draisaitl-Yamamoto played 15:37, going 7-13 shots and 1-0 goals, 4-5 HDSC. This line has been losing the shot share for some time, and that added to poor scoring from the wingers has made things difficult. Massive goal by Nuge, just his second of the season. Two shots, two HDSC (damn near scored late second) and 2GV/1TK. Draisaitl had two shots, drew a penalty, 2GV/2TK, I think the biggest difference I noticed is the coach gave Ryan McLeod almost as much PP time as 29. Curious. Yamamoto had two shots, one HDSC and worked doggedly for the line. He was the prop on Nuge’s goal.
Hyman-McDavid-Kassian played 14:16, going 7-7 shots and 1-1 goals, 2-3 HDSC. I want to get mad at Kassian on the goal, because he’s never, ever in the right spot, but Barrie’s pinch and the quality of the shot were larger factors. Hyman scored a Hyman goal, willing himself to the net despite carrying 200 pounds of Vegas on his back, and scored a lovely backhand goal. I can’t express how much I love his game in words. Four shots, two HDSC, 1GV/2TK, wonderful player. McDavid had one shot, two good looks, drew a penalty and saw Brayden McNabb almost 70 percent of his five-on-five time. Kassian had an assist, a shot, a reasonable chance. I say this often, but don’t believe Kassian will be on the top line for a long time.
Foegele-McLeod-Puljujarvi played 9:10, going 4-3 shots, 1-0 goals and 1-0 HDSC. Foegele picked up an assist with a nice bit of skill and is on pace for a 32-point season. It’s been some time since Edmonton deployed a true third-line winger with that kind of production. McLeod’s speed makes such a difference, it was noticeable last night often. It seems Edmonton has addressed speed since the last Golden Knights visit two years ago, while Vegas has been getting slower. He should have drilled the JP pass in the second, instead sending a clumsy dish to Bouchard that resulted in a jailbreak. Puljujarvi is a gift, his goal an example of his sudden impact offensively. He did see the third pair (Hutton-Whitecloud) quite often, but scored against the top pairing to change things up. If Ken Holland is trying to suppress his offense by placing him on the third line (I don’t believe that btw), it isn’t going to work. He’s too dynamic. Four shots, two HDSC’s. The third line is saved! What moving JP to the third line does impact is the McDavid line. We’ll see how long this lasts.
Benson-Ryan-Sceviour played 3:49, going 2-1 shots. Benson had one shot, looks more comfortable by the game. Give him 40, Tippett! I noticed the other two men on the PK most often. Sceviour actually had a reasonable chance four-on-five, Ryan with a nice pass.
SAMORUKOV
He’s ready. So is Niemelainen. Someone is getting traded at the deadline.
The Habs landing Gordon is a massive fail for the Canucks IMO. They had weeks to sign the guy.
Very true. Massive fail for the Canucks but a big win for the Habs. Gorton is going to set things right for them so I’m kind of glad he didn’t end up with Vancouver.
Got to take care on Dec 9th when the Oilers play the Bruins. Marchand the POS at it again with a terrible, terrible slew-foot on OEL. Of course no penalty and the Bruin announcers extolling his virtues. Calling on the Kassinator to be proactive and protect our stars.
Bruins announcers are the worst.
Marchand could pull out a gun and shoot, say, McDavid–and Jack Edwards would say it was McDavid’s fault for getting in the way of the bullet and that an apology to Marchand was necessary.
On the subject of awful announcers, listening to Dustin Nielson makes me yearn for Rod Black. Not kidding.
OEL is no shrinking violet himself after nut jobbing Matt Hendricks in Phoenix a few years back. That’s when Kassian became a cult figure.
So Tulio had no points and was -2 in a 6-4 loss. He did have 13 shots on net mind you…… that won’t help the shooting percentage.
Sorry – didn’t see that post.
I’ll refrain from posting prospect boxcar updates.
Tullido held pointless in a 6-4 loss, despite getting an incredible 13 shots on goal. Also -3 on the night.
That’s many shots.
WALK OFF!
Riders win a nailbiter in ooooooovertiiiime!
On to Loserpeg!
I don’t care if it is the Flames, the Stampeders, the U of C Dinos, the Hitmen or a high school basketball team in the provincial finals, seeing Calgary lose brings joy to my heart. 😀
I love when Cassie, Hrudey, Button, Stewart etc always give Calgary a free pass where as Edmonton they try to cause descent in the rank’s going all the way back to the Glen Sather days. Fuk Calgary and their 1 Stanley Cup
To recap:
Huskies win
Oilers win
Riders win
It’s been a mighty fine…Sports Weekend.
[dons aviator shades]
[cue “Won’t Get Fooled Again”]
AJ (@GenoManager) Tweeted:
BREAKING
Sources say, changes have already been made in the #GoHabsGo front office.
Geoff Molson will address the media tmr to announce the dismissal of former #GoHabsGo GM Marc Bergevin
All signs point to Patrick Roy being introduced as new GM next week
Here. We. Go.
https://twitter.com/GenoManager/status/1464761923359199239?s=20
Roy is a crazy person. Who can be stolen from the Canadiens?
Finalist is gone before Benning. Did not have that on my bingo card
Demanding fan base and media market = proper speed of change. At least sometimes.
Ovechkin with his 19th.
Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) Tweeted:
Alex Ovechkin now has 24 5v5 points this season
Aaron Ekblad is the only other player in the league who has even been on the ice for 24 of their team’s 5v5 goals this season
https://twitter.com/DimFilipovic/status/1465059058516324356?s=20
Bergevin out and Gorton in in Montreal.
Thats a Great Move for MTL
Nice hire by the Habs. I’ve always liked Gorton.
Gorton’s record in New York as a GM is not that stellar. He replaced Sather in the summer of 2015, who retired after a President’s trophy and trip to the Conference final. The team Gorton inherited remained competitive for the next two seasons making the playoffs, but only winning one series. This was followed by 4 seasons where the only reason they made the post season once was the league’s charity to get them to the 2020 bubble, otherwise 4 seasons of futility. Of course, since the Habs are still recruiting it is likely he won’t be the permanent GM, but that GM’s boss.
This is deceptive…at best.
Gorton was tasked with rebuilding the Rangers and was widely lauded for being on track until Dolan lost patience and blew his foot off by cleaning house.
He will be perfect as POHO with a Francophone GM to take the heat.
And I’m sure the Habs will be even more patient
Sarcasm at its finest! 👏👏👏
Montreal is a different ball game the pressure is always being applied.
I maintain that Vegas is in a tough spot as a franchise. The age structure of their team means they’re in a decline. Their top forwards (exception of Eichel) are all 28+, with several the wrong side of 30. Two of their top 3 dmen are also on the wrong side of 30, and with a lot of miles on them. Nor do they really have the prospect ( farm system rated #19 by the hockey writers) or draft picks to (likely) recharge the system quickly. Don’t get me wrong – clearly a very strong team. But getting weaker, not stronger. Addition of Eichel is ballsy, but strange. I think that, given the surgery and time not playing this is likely a wasted season for him, and thus likely by extension, the Vegans. Odd trade for a team that really needs to win now.
Vegas is a preferred free agent destination … this will always skew age upwards. McCrimmon is an astute GM … no worries there.
VGK play a very structured system. They insert nobodies into the lineup yet keep on producing and winning. That team isn’t going away anytime soon.
This, and McCrimmon is not afraid to trade anyone if it makes the team better.
Anyone left without a no trade clause?
Yeah…a bunch.
Only 2 NMCs and a few M-MTCs.
Not an issue at all.
Pretty big issue if you have 79 mil tied to 17 players already next season and the cap only going up 1 mil
I’m looking forward to the Eichel $huffle – of course his ‘rehab’ might last until the final game of the season.
That said, VGK looked like they coulda used a young star last night against the top team in the West
I wish
steady as goes!
This site is addictive, you folks are TOO MUCH.
I’ll try not to spill all my guts all over the place each time.
Young Players:
Kailer Yamomoto
Ryan McLeod
Tyler Benson
Philip Broberg
Evan Bouchard
Stuart Skinner
Dimitri Samorukov
That doesn’t even include the amazing work done with the Bison King. It looked like he was put out to pasture and would never play with us again.
I don’t think I even understood what good player development was before seeing the Oilers in action over the last few years. Yup, one can argue whether each player is a “hit” or “miss” or whether they will be great or not, but it has to be an impressive list for sure. Well, at least it impresses me. LOL
DSF’s favourite source has a cryptic tweet about a Kane trade being worked on.
https://mobile.twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1465036393499934723?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Kane to the Canucks?
That will solve their issues for sure
If Kane goes to the Canucks that leaves a great one liner for Miller on the table the next time a journalist asks if anyone on the team is “buying in”.
That would require someone in Vancouver to be in charge.
Im not sure anyone is.
Seems like the current management is especially equipped to pull off an Evander Kane trade, beautiful marriage.
They should have an advisory position for a man of your repute with all things hockey.
Not even Vancouver deserves that.
Best fit … Calgary. Would fit right in with Sutter and the douche bags they have on that team.
Some real opinions to read today. Some opposite George:
Milan Lucic is a POS? Gutless and dirty? I really dont think so. Milan plays by a code that so many here and everywhere respect. He may be the least dirty on the filth called the Flames. But, he is a bull, he can hurt, and make bad decisions as we just witnessed. He deserves a suspension and fine no doubt.
Yamo not tough enough? We traded another guy like that – Eberle and didnt recover for years. I would not underestimate Yamo’s value to the team. Similar with Nuge, after the 2017 run everyone was on him about scoring, but did it matter? If it wasnt coming off his stick it was coming off someone else, he was still adding value and it all added up to wins.
Kassian is a polarizing player but again, dont underestimate his value to this team. They love him and will carry him.
Id love to see a few players added, but hesitate to swap out some for upgrades because those generally dont turn out for Edmonton.
Yams is not Eberle, I like Yams but even playing with a generational talent won’t bring his totals near what Eberle has accomplished.
No comparison totally different players Eberle has always had goal scoring hands Yamo has stone hands worse than Todd Marchant.
Eberle entered the NHL at age 20 and scored 69 18-25-43 in his rookie season (12-17-29 at 5v5).
After Yamamoto turned 20 (this is excluding his first 9 game cameo, but including his 2nd 17 game stint in the bigs), his next 69 games included 69 17-22-39 (and 13-19-32 at even strength).
Yamamoto and Eberle also scored goals at literally the same rates in junior (0.59/0.60 goals per game) in their draft and draft+1 seasons (Eberle did have a strong draft +2 while Yamamoto playing pro in his draft +2).
It seems that Yamamoto has developed late onset stone hands in his last 45 games.
Did Eberle have the best passer in the league spoon feeding all game.
He did not.
Specifically with Draisaitl, Yamamoto has scored 2.1 P/60 at 5v5 though (Draisaitl scoring 2.73 P/60 in the same minutes).
And if you look at their all strengths minutes together Yamamoto as scored 20-28-48 in 1249 minutes. That’s about a full season of minutes but only includes 49 PP minutes (Eberle played 1220 minutes in 69 games his rookie season for comparison, 176 of them on the PP).
Anyway, I’m not actually arguing Yamamoto is Eberle’s equal as a goal scorer, just your ‘Eberle always had hands/Yamamoto has stone hands’ comment.
Yamamoto and Eberle scored almost identically at the same ages in Jr, and almost identically in their early NHL careers, admittedly Yamamoto with more help.
Eberle potted 34 goals in his second year if Yamo pots that amount in any year before he retires on any team I’ll buy you and your extended family a steak dinner at the Keg or Beefeater if it’s still around.
Haha. You know (i guess) he never scored 30 again, and only topped 25 one other time.
He managed 20 flat the year he played half his time (well not quite half) on McDavid’s wing.
But yeah I’ll take you up on it if Yamamoto rediscovers his goal scorers hands.
He scored a massive 36 million dollar contract he looked so good was so dangerous every shift that second year. It is so hard to be consistent in this league the other teams figure you out that’s why so many players shrivel for a few years after a excellent year. Ex. Pettersson in Vancouver 3 goals in 22 games.
Yamamoto is a better two way player than Eberle will ever be.
Low scoring totals means a good value contract.
I keep Yamamoto around.
Playoffs are a different animal and from what I remember Leon went beast mode with a favourite of mine on his wing named Sleppy.
Drai did go beast in those playoffs with Slepy on his wing. Of course, Sleppy had 3 points in 12 games.
Kind of goes to prove the point that a winger can help the line (and the elite center) without big production (and Drai did go beast with Yamo in the past and both went beast).
Eberle is 5! inches taller and 30! pounds heavier than Yamo.
Think about that. Eberle is a small winger.
Why is Yamo having issues?
I don’t know.
Maybe it’s being swatted out of the way. Maybe it’s constantly losing puck battles because he’s trying to be physical instead of cagey, which is his only option.
But Russell is his mentor!
3 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.
if you are a teenager sized player in the NHL, your only choice is IQ speed quickness and deception.
Yamo doesn’t have separation speed.
And he is trying to be physical. Needs to use his brains.
Or package him to the Dys for Miller.
Leon needs a heavier winger to open up the ice so he can drive to the net or deliver his sweet passes. Tippett better figure this out before we get bounced in the first round again. Tippett’s stubbornness to stick a little peg in a big hole is going to cost him his job and lower the percentages of resigning Leon then his sidekick Connor.
Yamamoto is somewhere between Eberle and Gallagher, the way I see it. Feistier and more willing to stand around the net than Eberle, but less gritty and strong than Gallagher. Useful player, for sure, but hasn’t got the extremes of either of the comparables. If he had Eberle’s shot or Gallagher’s relentlessness – or both – we’d be talking Theo Fleury here.
Congrats again to Russell on being the all-time leader in blocked shots.
Only 850 more and he’ll have as many blocked shots as Gretzky has points!
Yah but does Rusty have more points than Wayne’s blocked shots?
Interesting.
They didn’t count blocked shots in Wayne’s time – do we think he had 246 in his career?
My guess would be no.
That was a great game and beating Vegas on the road should not be understated. I was also very impressed with the balance of the lines, that Tippett stuck with them and that all of them delivered! That said, the ice was tilted against us most of the night and we easily could have lost if Koskinen hadn’t been so solid.
People may find the idea of dumping Tippett silly at 15-5, but I would ask how many are fully confident going into another playoffs with him behind the bench? I am still willing to give him twenty more games to right the ship 5×5, and it would help to keep these lines as they are, but given the personal at his disposal I am losing faith. Let me illustrate:
Teams start the game tied – the most competitive and consequential game state. The coach is directly responsible for preparing his players for puck drop, as there is no game momentum to point to. Using NST, I looked at the Corsi+/- count after 10 minutes of game play over the season and came to a -27 over the season, and I think it would have been worse counting the first 5 minutes. Overall, the Oilers are +907/-887.
Balance the lines and keep them stable, Tippett. Win the 5×5 or find someone that will. End rant.
No Coach in the History of the NHL has been fired for having a 15-5 (750) record.
Ever.
Coaches are paid to win, and he is winning big time.
While Fans may like “stable” lines a good coach will have his finger on the pulse of the team and elevate players who are playing particularly well on a given game, and will demote players who are having off nights.
Tippett pepared his team very well to go up 3-0 against a very good team. I don’t need to look at Corsi’s to know that Vegas was going to storm back with an all out assault to try to win.
In some ways I feel a little bad for Vegas because the Oilers seem to have their number and may the hockey gods smile upon the Oil and let them be opponents in the playoffs soon.
Joel Quenville?
No, coaches rarely manage such a good record, but Tippett will have to improve the 5×5 play to maintain it. I think it’s interesting that it has worked a few times in the last decade for teams to change their coach midseason and won the cup. Notably, Bylsma and Sullivan were each coaching Pittsburg’s AHL team when they came up to win it all…
How do you find this? It seems like a useful feature but i just looked and don’t see how to do it.
They have the game flow graph and I just looked at where it sat halfway through the first period. You would have to stop the data to automate it, but I think you could do a lot with time stamped Corsi data.
Thanks.
I just had a look, that’s a tough thing to try to track accurately. I came up with -23, though -15 of that was the most recent game vs. Vegas. I guess that’s only -1 corsi per game at the ~10 minute mark in any case. I wonder what the penalties look like in the first 10 minutes…
Anyway, I wouldn’t be firing the coach, myself.
May I ask what you mean by preparing the players to start the game?
Are you talking about the systems and structure they will play that night given pre-scouts on the opposition? If so, yes, for sure, that’s on the coaches.
Are you talking about “motivating” or “being up for the game”, etc. If that is what you are getting at then I disagree – that is on the players themselves, to be ready to start the game. I’ve always been of that opinion but, recently, given how talked about it has been recently, I’m convinced given former players such as Rob Brown and Jason Strudwick say it be true.
Well we’re not firing the captain
San Jose to put Evander Kane on waivers with the intent of sending him to the AHL.
I wonder if there is even one team that will take a chance.
Seattle has the money. Ditto Buffalo.
It could make sense for a team like The Kraken or Sabres to re-habilitated him over the next year calendar year and trade him for value in spring 2023.
Buffalo has already been there and done that with Kane … I doubt they want to repeat the experience.
He may get Kaepernick’ed
If he gets bought out he can claim bankruptcy and start with a fresh contract with a new team willing to put up with Mr. Bling Bling.
The Evander Kane situation is totally different than Kaepernick. The consequences Kaepernick dealt with were due to the colour of his skin. The consequences Kane is facing is due to the content of his character.
Kaepernick’s consequences were also due to the content of his character…in that he has too much for the NFL establishment’s tastes.
RE: “ridiculous puck over glass penalities”
The puck over the glass penalties were brought in for the 2005-06 season as a part of numerous rule changes in an effort to speed up the game and create more offence. You may not like the rule, but it is effective in accomplishing what it was brought in to accomplish.
Is there data to support this? I haven’t seen anything reported about the length of games lately.
I agree. Eliminates the flip it over the glass to get a stoppage.
Just watch Dall vs Buff 1999 final. TEEEERRŔRIBLE
The Dude abides. 🙂
It’s the only rule that is called every time. Eliminating it is a step backwards.
Might be interesting to let the play stay alive now they have nets and all, let it bounce back to the ice and end up wherever.
Would definitely speed up the play and who knows, it could bounce into the defenders own net.
Starting to feel the same regarding icing. Lots of goals are being scored on the rush now and having an aggressive goalie flip the puck over at their blue line immediately setting up an attack could be interesting too.
Right now icing is on par with figure skate judging with the defender skaaatttiinnnng evvverrr sooo slowwwwwww to get the puck while the Goalie is turtling in the net so that not even 1 millimeter of his body is sticking out to impede a possible icing.
Then we get to watch face off’s retaken over and over 10 times and all flow is sucked out of the game.
Heck on an icing you could just pause the clock until the attacking team crosses the defenders blue line.
I can think of only one reason for Koskinen’s heroic level of play last evening.
Competition from Stewart Skinner.
I give a lot of credit to Koskinen for being a true professional and working on his game.
It seems him and Schwartz have a solid working relationship that has Koski ironing out the flaws in his game.
He still surrenders the occasional Grade-C shot, but his positioning and reaction to high-danger shots has been to my eye outstanding.
Stuart Skinner.
#GagNur
Kos is a mid-level (.910 or so) 1B starter who can win a few on his own when he’s hot and blow a few when he’s not. Over-paid by maybe a million but nothing extreme. He has been good this year and I actually like the Kos/Skinner tandem just fine. The kid needs games. So no rush for Smith to come back and maybe he never does at his age (it’s going to happen sooner or later).
Holland has done very well NOT overpaying on the UFA market for a goalie. Every year people are clamoring for the latest mid-level goalie or backup who has a good year – but never mention the guy again the next season when it becomes obvious someone else over-payed. The sole exception was Holland chasing Markstrom last year and that idea still looks OK more than a year later.
Steady as she goes and I don’t rock the goalie boat unless an unbelievable value hits the market (e.g., Fleury for less than 1st round pick).
I don’t think so. He wants to win for his team. Put yourself in his shoes. I think he wants to be the best he can be for himself.
Bottom line is Edmonton won the game … and no goals from 97 and 29.
The unicorn that is Oiler’s success without McDavid/Draisaitl factoring in the goals. Since Tippet’s arrival for 2019, in games where McDavid has been in the line up, this has happened a total of 3 times in a total of 140 games. Interesting comparison, but for the Gretzky lead Oilers between 1981 and 1988 (the 7 seasons where the Oilers were a winning team with Gretzky and had other scoring), in the 547 games Gretzky played over that stretch, the Oilers won a total of 3 games where both Gretzky and Messier were held off the score sheet. (side note – in that 547 games, Gretzky was held off the score sheet a total of 39 times – let that sink in).
By itself, the Oilers not winning much without McDavid or Draisaitl getting points is not indicative of no scoring depth. The fact is, like with Gretzky and Messier, McDavid and Draisaitl are so productive, at least one of them is likely to get a point on any given night. The real killer is the GF/GA when both are off the ice.
The Oilers seem close to a situation where the second line doesn’t get caved when McDavid and Draisailt play together. RNH is 3 GF/4 GA in 20 games w/o the big 2, but the possession has been good only hampered by a 7% shooting %.
Lines 3 and 4 continue to be the bugaboo overall this season but there is hope. In the last 12 games, McLeod/Foegele have been 4GF/3GA and all the possession numbers are positive. As well, Benson/Sceviour have had positive possession metrics together, but have yet to score so are 0GF/3GA as a tandem. It will be interesting to watch this develop over the next 10 to 20 games.
Bottom line is Edmonton won the game because Koskinen kept the score from being 4-0 in the 1st period.
Not much else matters.
There’s a reason your name abbreviated reads Ha Ha
It brings us all great joy to see your whimpering in such great pain.
Bottom line is Oilers won and you’re out to lunch.
You seem defeated.
From creating a laundry list of arbitrary criteria to discredit any Oilers win, implying that everything but the Oilers winning matters….
To this post of yours.
Sad.
You REALLY need to up your game. The final score is not the bottom line. Is there any other sport where the bottom line isn’t the score? I don’t know diddly about cricket. Maybe the score isn’t the bottom line there as well.
Well, you have to score, so, yeah.
And Lehner stopped how many breakaways to keep Vegas in the game?
Happy for Rusty who is much maligned but just keeps on doing his job (suppressing GA). He’s a good #7 these days who can raise his game for short periods (like the last few games) when injuries strike. He can’t sustain it but that’s not expected at his age or role.
I would be using Yamo as a trading chip for a bigger winger. Does Yamo and an extra LHD get you a Crouse? If we want to win we will need more functional fast size all down the lineup.
Benson can stay on 4th line LW and Scevior/Shore/Ryan are short-term solutions, but I want more size and ferociousness on that line. I want team to hate seeing our 4th line for 7-8 ES minutes a night.
Crouse would be a nice addition. Big and tough. It may even make Kass expendable
The 2022-23 first round pick ( 30th overall 🙂 ) for Lawson Crouse. Book it!
Given our window, Yamo and Crouse have more value to me than a 30th overall pick. in spring 2023.
Having said that, if we need the 1st overall as part of goalie package, then all bets are off.
I can’t imagine justifying that price for Crouse
Depending on Holloway I Smell Crouse or a similar player coming over to beef up the Oilers for the real season.
Does anyone actually believe this? Would any GM risk winning in an attempt to suppress scoring from his players in hopes of lowering the next contract value? Of course not.
Yes, I believe some believe this to be the case. Edmonton isn’t in a position to dampen his value, though. You’d need far better depth. The Lightning could do it, as a for instance.
Tampa has done this repeatedly with high picks unless they trade them away first.
As you say, depth is the key.
I believe the circumstance is a function of team building.
Given the current roster JP holds more value to Tippett if he can solidify the third line.
You’re not going to win in the playoffs without a fully formed and fully functioning third line.
Dampening JP’s value is not the objective, but it could be an unintended consequence.
Although, personally, I believe it will raise his value in the eyes of the coach and the GM. Not sure of the affect on his future AVV.
Prior to 2 games ago, Puljujarvi had played 20 minutes without McDavid and 250 minutes with him (and many of those with McDavid and Drai).
I don’t think recent deployment has anything to do with future contract concerns.
Yes. As I said earlier, this would be an issue if the Oilers had more depth and could afford to do it along with wanting to do it.
There’s danger of course, Leon Draisaitl ran Peter Chiarelli through several times with his sword because MacT sent Draisaitl back to junior at the last possible moment. Agents are funny that way.
and JP got the exact opposite treatment – sent to the AHL the day after 40 games on the NHL roster – vesting a UFA year.
Sure, by sending him back before he hit 40 games, MacTavish, while having given up the ELC slide, preserved the full term for Drai to get to UFA. The only reason MacTavish hadn’t sent him down earlier was he needed to get Draisaitl’s WHL rights traded from Prince Albert to Kelowna. Based on play, he should have gone back down sooner, so MacTavish had actually did him a favour by letting him get paid his NHL salary for half a season and then going to a good WHL team. None of that likely had any bearing on the bargaining positions of Draisaitl vs Chiarelli.
Oh. Okay.
I think a lot of rosters have the following construction.
1st fwd line pairing Hyman McDavid XXX …. An Ace and King
2nd fwd line pairing Nuge Draisaitl XXX …….An Ace and King
3rd fwd line trio Foegele McLeod JP ……Three Jacks
JP ain’t no Jack
Well he ain’t no Queen.
But for the sake of peace in the family, I stand corrected
3rd fwd line trio Foegele McLeod JP ……Two Jacks and a Bison King
Awesome, I really Tee’d that one up for you!
Sounds like Evander Kane will be place on waivers today and, presuming noone claims him (which I would imagine is the case), he’ll be assigned to the AHL.
Also, T-18 minutes until the official announcement on the Matt Murray clear – wonder if he’ll be assigned as well.
It’s incredible the drop off in Murray’s play – he’s not even 30 and was lights out when Penguins won those cups a few years back. There’s a player there if someone in Arizona or Buffalo are interested.
edit – he’s expensive, though!
I found an interesting stat on NHL.com.
I looked back starting at the 19/20 season as I feel that is when this team finally turned the corner to become a perennial playoff team.
Over that time period (147 games for the Oilers), the team with the best winning percentage in the NHL when scoring first is your Edmonton Oilers at .811%.
Perhaps when the Oilers score first it forces the other team to open up a bit and trading chances plays into the Oilers favor?
I agree with this, we saw it last night with all the breakaways, etc.
Niemelainen was monster again last night and Samorukov made a brilliant pass on the Safin goal that released the Bears….
I think it’s premature to state categorically that either of Broberg or Bouchard have really arrived yet as NHL dmen, let alone top 4s. Tough competition, granted, but I think Broberg was marked for 6 major mistakes on grade A chances against by the Cult last night. I love Bouchard with the puck, but I seem to recall that there was a game earlier this year where the cult had him at fault for 11 grade A chances against. If Barrie had a night like this, posters would be calling for his head.
HELL YES!
To all of this.
Oiler fans want their prospects to succeed so badly they project these players into roles they are clearly not ready for.
Some of the verbal gushing is almost comical at times.
That was probably his worst game of the season but if I remember correctly almost half of those mistakes were on one shift where he got caught out for a extended shift with Barrie.
Yeah, Bouchard’s play has been uneven the last while, despite us anointing him a fixture on the top pairing for the next ten years earlier in the season.
I feel that we as fans tend to look past mistakes made by younger players that we wouldn’t tolerate from a Kris Russell.
Broberg hasn’t sunk us, but I wouldn’t say he’s been completely solid either.
Encouraging signs but that’s it.
When it comes to Samurokov, is he going to be an NHL defender? Even guys like Jones were lighting up the AHL at 22. He has to displace Duncan Keith as well, who may play third paring for another 2-3 seasons after this contract expires.
If Samurokov is tradebait for a forward that can make a difference, it may be the right play.
With Bouchard sitting in the Hotel room playing Grand Theft Auto instead of 3rd pairing and learning his craft last year he’s basically a rookie asked to play high up the line-up.
Samorukov will be a substantial NHL defender, he has a much greater upside than Jone. Hopefully we don’t see him until after game 65 (when a playoff position is secured) though. A cup of coffee this season will go a long way for having success next year.
But, in 2021-22 there are too many NHL Defenders (whaaat?) in this organization, so he needs to play as much as possible in the AHL this year.
Samorukov is on an entry level contract. What forward do you see that could make a difference that is affordable cap wise do you see being available. Samorukov would fill the need of a physical, young cost effective left shot D for the next ten years. Young D will make mistakes as that is part of the learning and adjustment curve when you move up a level in competition. The great news is that their mistakes are not costing the team wins.
Nice post. The arrows are up, but they certainly haven’t arrived.
Treading water which is acceptable given their experience at the NHL level. Both with large upsides talent wise!
Thats why I’d rather Broberg stay in AHL to work on his game some more. But hard to complain about Brobergs game yesterday. Rookie D gets thrown out for 24 minutes against one of the best teams in the league and makes a handful of mistakes is hardly earth shattering news.
Once the vet LD are back in the lineup, Broberg should be sent down to the Bake for more seasoning. He’s showed well but he’s the only one who is waiver exempt.
Despite their flaws, Koekkoek and Russell are NHL depth d-men. A team needs at least 10 NHL caliber d-men in the regular season. No point losing one of those guys on waivers this early in the season.
Broberg will be back only if one of Keith or Nurse is out, and of course at the end of the season to be the 3rd pairing LD in the playoffs. He’s shown enough that I don’t think it’s worth spending resources to upgrade the 3rd pairing LD.
There is a huge difference between guy in his first full year in the NHL and guy that has been there and done that.
Yes Bouchard has to grow his defensive awareness! But he has all the tools and if you have been aware of this blog you would have seen that Lowetide talked about how he addressed those issues in the AHL. My guess is he will address those issues in the NHL as well. Barrie has yet to address those issues.
WC standings Nov 28/21 using points percentage shown as points over/under fake Bettman .500
Pacific
EDM 10
CGY 8
ANA 4
Central
MIN 7
COL 5
STL 4
Wildcard
DAL 3 (less gp than WPG)
VGK 3 (more RW than WPG)
Out of playoffs
WPG 3
NSH 2
SJS 1
LAK 1
CHI -4
SEA -6
VAN -7
ARI -11
EC standings Nov 28/21 using points percentage shown as points over/under fake Bettman .500
Metropolitan
CAR 12
WSH 10
NYR 9
Atlantic
FLA 10
TOR 9
TBY 8
Wildcard
CBJ 5
BOS 3 – less gp than PIT
Out of playoffs
PIT 3
NJD 2
PHI 1
DET 1
BUF -2
NYI -5
MTL -9
OTT -10
It is possible that 3 out of 4 of the following miss the Playoffs in the East.
PIT
BOS
PHILLY
NYI
Giroux on a rental!
Some of us said that this team would take the next true step 5v5 once Broberg and Samorukov were ready. Some of us said, exercise some patience because the future is soon, don’t piss away futures on things that were once shiny. Well, that time seems to be now.
Last season, you had a series of moves aimed towards placating Tippet, Barrie, and a bunch of people here who didn’t think Bear could be a top 4 D. They targeted Bear’s corner, you know! Bear can’t skate, don’t you watch the games! Keith is a bit better defensively than Barrie, but it’s a similar situation arising on left defence.
The question is, will the org do what is right? The correct move long term is a LHD core anchored by Nurse/Broberg/Samurokov, just as the correct move last season was a RHD core of Bouchard/Bear/Ceci.
The team is good and I am happy to be watching them. That said, the correct D core allows you to retain the likes of JP and KY without extreme cap gymnastics. The correct D core minimizes critical weaknesses that could be exploited in the playoffs. The correct decision here means a LHD core that is set for 5 years.
Keep in mind — it’s a hard league to win in. You want a dominant team for 7-8 years to have a chance at one cup.
It will be interesting, too, to see on which side this blog’s commentators fall on. Will we see certain posters fall on literally the opposite side of the same sword? 🙂 Poetry AND symmetry! I may disagree with some of you, but it pains me to see anyone getting impaled, much less seeing it twice.
One thing is for sure: Tippett’s say should be zero. He bungled things badly last season with the D and, on an expiring contract, should not have a significant say on the long term prospects of the club.
Well stated.
Agree 100 percent with your take on the defense, even if it comes with some growing pains.
Don’t really see Tippett as the problem though.
Agree with LHD.
I am not convinced that Yamo helps this team to Stanley, unless he is 3rd or 4th line RW.
Love his heart, but his offense is not what we hoped it would be. This team is not heavy enough for him to be a factor.
Yeah, I am increasingly worried about Yamo. He does not have enough muscle on his frame to be effective.
Yamo’s the perfect Swiss Army knife that can kill penalties play up and down the line-up when injuries happen or the team needs a spark. If your taking a run at the cup you need more muscle and better hands on the second line. Leon takes a lot of shit and abuse how nice would it be to have a winger that can dish it out.
Seriously, How many times a game does YAMO get outmuscled off a puck? 7-10? It’s so common I think we’ve become immune to it.
Yamamoto was rubbed out along the boards like a big hitting your windshield in last year’s playoffs against Winnipeg. This seems to be the case post season when the referees put the whistle away for the most part. Yamamoto has value but is undersized for the top two lines come playoffs. His versatility and penalty killing are full value on the bottom two lines.
If the D is as you state, how long until that D grouping with Bouchard, Broberg and Samurokov (and even Bear) is ready to compete for the Stanley?
I think they would be in a better position to compete this year with the current defense minus Barrie plus Bear.
And the Keith trade, and Russell signing, provides 2 years of cover to work Broberg and Samorukov into the mix.
That gives you a dcore that can compete for a cup for the next 5 years, WHILE transitioning to a younger, bigger defense.
Next season, with Sammy as 7th D
Good take. However I do like Foegele Barrie and giving up Bear to get it. 3rd line is solidifying now. GOG
He’s good but I don’t think Holly gets to make those kinds of decisions…
😉
My #1TDL target.
https://www.pensburgh.com/2021/6/20/22538023/2020-21-season-in-review-jeff-carter
I like this option. The cost would be relatively low.
Unrealistic Potential Playoff Line-up
JT Miller – 97 – 18
93 – 29 – Filip Forsberg
37 – Jeff Carter – 13
Zach Sanford – 71- Joonas Donskoi
I would only bring in a depth RHD, like Psyk at this point and no change in goal.
Cost? Players like Kassian, Yamamoto, Benson, Lagesson, Kemp, Savoie and Lavoie. All the picks over the next 3 years.
Untouchable in order of importance: JP, Bouchard, Broberg, Skinner, Holloway, Bourgault, McLeod, Samorukov and Petrov. These players will be important cost-controlled contributers over the next 5 years.
5-6 new players heading into the playoffs? Are you being serious?
Unrealistic Potential Playoff Line-up
Point being, each one would boost the line-up on their own and adding all is just aspirational (fantasy). 2 are most realistic and by game 60 the roster needs could also change, so this is also extremely premature. Just trying to start a conversation, but it appears no one is interested in my nonsense.
HH, back to you….
Jeff Carter would be a huge addition.
A 3C is the team’s biggest need IMO.
If the Oilers can get a guy that can be a difference maker on the third line, then they will really start winning the 5 on 5 battle.
First step to renting Jeff Carter, beat Pit on Wed in regulation – they are currently in a wild card spot and surging.
One of the best games I can remember from Koskinen. I wonder if part of that can be attributed to his decision to play the puck
less and freeze it more.
“The third line is saved! “
Don’t mess with success !
And don’t underestimate just how important a reliable third line is to Dave Tippett.
Worth sacrificing a little offense at the top end?
Hell Yeah!
need 2 pulli on the team. defensively responsible and a load on the forcheck
Hyman?
Holloway of the mold as well – presuming skill translation to the NHL.
ya i guess i mean on right wing!
Non-impact, too old to move the needle NCAA prospect report:
Last night Filip Engaras had a goal (OT) and an apple, 3 shots and went 12/18 on the dot. He has a 55.5% FO percentage for the season, and had middling results there in past few games, but had been around 60% for a time.
UNH have won 3 in a row and are 4-1-1 in last 6 games. Season record: 7-7-1
Engaras sits second on the team in scoring with 4 goals (2 PP) and 4 assists. He is certainly not an offensive force, but neither is UNH. His team has 25 goals this year, but he has been directly involved in at least 32% of the team scoring plays. UNH has allowed 40 goals against and only has 1 plus and one even 15 game player. Depending on where you find the info he is – 5 or – 3.
He is described as having plus skating, is a RHS, is a primary FO man and plays in all situations. He could be a potential 4C candidate in thee next couple of years, but he doesn’t get much love (he is 24 in the Spring), but what I am saying I am saying there’s a chance…..
Tracking more like an AHL deal at this point but he has maybe one more year to show a spike I would think. It’s crazy how old he is already based on when he was drafted.
He’ll be 23 in the spring, still surprisingly advanced age for a prospect.
He does seem to possess a bunch useful traits, and could certainly be a useful pro (more likely at the AHL/SHL level as dessert1111 suggests) if he can find a little more offense before he graduates. You never know though, as you say.
I don’t disagree, I just think he has enough tools in his toolbox that he might surprise…
“I want to get mad at Kassian on the goal, because he’s never, ever in the right spot”
He’s in the right spot on the 5v5 pts/60 list. No?
Kassian skates miles, he hits, he fights, and he scores.
And he’s the only forward on the team that does so.
Hell, if he played a little more defense, he be Keith friggin Tkachuk. (kidding)
And his line mates like him, they really like him. He’s bring them good vibrations.
I have been one of Kassians biggest defenders but your first sentence needs to be reworded.
Kassian CAN skate miles, he CAN hit, he CAN fight, and he CAN? score.
He just doesn’t choose to do those things very often.
Kassian can play with skill. He has good hands, can read the play and make a pass, and is very good at puck protection in the ozone.
Without the puck he is slow to engage, and he wins very few puck battles for a man his size.
p/60 5v5 can be very misleading. It counts only your contributions to scoring and tells you nothing about a player’s impact on goals against.
Kassian has a 42.86 GF% 45.03 xGF% and 9-12 gf/ga. So he is scoring but he is being outscored 5v5.
Kassian w/o Ryan is 50.00% GF% 41.79 xGF% and 6-6 gf/ga. Better results w/o Ryan but the xGF is alarming.
Kassian has 0 positional awareness and for such a big body he NEVER wins board battles, especially in the D zone.
So he’s an ideal 3-4 line player? Especially since he can play on line 1-2 with some success, albeit in short durations.
Well yes and no. Once you factor in the contract, I think Kassian has negative value. 3M should get you a quality 3rd liner, not a defensive liability.
Have you looked at the xGF% for the rest of the bottom 6?
Kassian doesn’t stick out as a problem even remotely.
” the coach gave Ryan McLeod almost as much PP time as 29. Curious. “
Curious, yes.
Rewarding good behavior and right minded play?
Instilling confidence.
Building a 3rd line and a more balanced team approach.
Bang on. McLeod just needs to learn to use his tools. But also the team needs to understand there are times when the team needs to step up their physical game. All lines need to just be a physical presence. Too many flybys and no rub outs. When defense does not have to get hit they have much more energy at the end of the game. Those rub outs and stops and starts do make a difference and teams just are not physical at all any more.
I get the flip side that it takes energy and wear and tear over a season as well as a career, but my goodness we are easy to play against many games.
I’m beginning to think you’re related to coach Tippett! 😉
The main reason McLeod and the 2nd unit got on when they did for the first PP is that McDavid and Draisaitl had already been out for 2 minutes at that point. This happened because after killing the Lagesson penalty, Tippett, as always, loaded up with them together and they played a full minute before Draisaitl drew the slashing penalty. Nothing really curious about it at all, the first unit was just tired. For the second period power play, deployment was back to 3/4 to 1/4 over the 2 minutes.
I’m not preaching balance, but the Oilers are now a ‘tough’ team to play against.
They can run n gun but there are few teams (Colorado, healthy TBL, VGK + Eichel) who can trade chances and hope to win.
They can now play decent shut-down / heavy hockey with more depth and defensive commitment – seems the lessons of Winnipeg (shades of ’83-84 Oilers- NYI) have sunk in.
Either way, this team is always going to entertain!
EDM Goal Diff 20 gp (15-5-0)
EV Only (5v5,4v4,3v3)
97 w/o 29(8-9) 47%
29 w/o 97(12-5) 71%
97&29 On(12-7) 63%
93 w/o either(3-4) 43%
71 (4-3) 57%
10 (3-13) 19%
Other(2-5) 29%
Net EV -2
Special Teams:26-8
Net ST +18
Empty Net:5-5
Net EN 0
SO/PS 2-0
Net SO/PS +2
Goal Diff +18
Thanks for pulling out the McLeod numbers. He has been a different player since his call up and glueing to Foegele.
How fitting that after all of this time you have been tracking this, the Oilers send in a McLeod to fix the 29/97 off problem. 🙂
Ahh, your clansman has debuted! Thank you, sir.
All of us at Dunvegan Castle are very pleased.
Fun fact: Edmonton lies at 53 degrees North. Dunvegan Castle (seat of the Clan M(a)cLeod sits at 57 degrees North.
Being able excel in The North is bred into our bones.
and 71 is at 57 % north.
Also worth noting, Lucic is such a POS. So happy he is not on the Oilers anymore. I found it physically painful to cheer for such a dirty and gutless player. I hope he gets suspended and I hope Demelo is ok.
Demelo knew Lucic was coming like a freight train, strange play to turn his back.
A) what was Demelo supposed to do? Stop skating and let Lucic have the puck?
B) hitting Demelo is fine. Driving Demelo’s head into the boards is not ok.
Lucic is a POS, which is exactly why Demelo should have either kept skating as opposed to attempting to turn and showing his back (more on this after) OR, put his elbow through Lucic’s face.
Players used to be taught that you never, ever have your back to a player behind you like that when near the boards. The year after I was done Midget, they started teaching elite players to turn their back to either get the guy to stop, or draw the penalty for hitting from behind. It was insane and dangerous and wrong. Many players are still paying the price for it.
Lucic deserves to be missing teeth there – and Demelo could have avoided it quite simply. So both a suspension and correcting stupidity/badly coached behavior would be right.
“they started teaching elite players to turn their back to either get the guy to stop, or draw the penalty for hitting from behind. It was insane and dangerous and wrong. “
Ass Hockey
Pretty much exactly A) If the forechecker is right on your ass you absolutely can cede the right of way…try to pin him instead of letting him murder you and tie up the puck…50/50 and hope you’ve got reinforcements coming.
Brace for Impact?
Lucic hit was illegal. He should get a game or two.
Alas, no more freight trains, only choo-choos.
I call it it ass hockey. Don’t want to get hit, face the boards and stick your ass out.
But it’s 2021 and we have McDavid and Draisatil, so choo-choos is OK with me 🙂
It totally amazes me how much ice JP covers in the course of a game. He is all over the place. With that ole tongue hanging he reminds me of a great dane in a kitchen at supper.
Pujo is a St. Bernard. Still a puppy. Hasn’t learned how to go full Stephen King yet.
😉
My revised Holland deadline wishlist:
1) A high-end forward to give Tip more flexibility and hopefully move Kassian/Yamo down the line-up. Ideally, include Kassian in the trade. Kassian is just so bad at board battles and clueless in the D zone, he is the type of player that losses playoff games.
2) A defensive-minded RHD as injury insurance. I feel less worried about LHD after seeing Broberg and Lags.
What does it cost to pick up Hertl or Forsberg?
I would think the Oilers would only acquire a top 6 winger as a pure rental given cap commitments going forward.
Hertl and Forsberg would be too high end rentals worth considering but I would imagine both would require a 1st round pick and a good prospect (Samorukov level if not higher).
I’m not sure that Holland would pay that price for a pure rental (and I’m not sure I would be on board with it either).
Top 6 scoring is not an issue for this team but, of course, adding a top 6 player strengthens the bottom six, as mentioned.
McLeod and Broberg are making the case for permanent NHL employment. I think McLeod is now a lock for the rest of the year.
He’s been really solid. Doesn’t hurt that his comp are Ryan, Turris, Sceviour and Shore either.
Agreed on all accounts. I still want to see more aggression and some physical contact from him, but he’s definitely settled in nicely.
OK I am totally thinking Buffalo Springfield when you mention “for what it’s worth”…man talk about super groups and what a farm team for newer bands!…stephen stills, richie furay, dewey martin, neil young…respect man!
Time to cash first line winger Zack Kassian for 3d line healthy scratch Jake DeBrusk!
Yes, I am being a smart as but DeBrusk is playing him self off the Bruins and possibly the NHL. I hope the young man can reset and resume his career but his services will not be highly sought after at his current price point.
Jake will most probably be a UFA this summer. Will Boston qualify him at $4.4m? I would think not.
He could be added to the Oilers as a LW, but why? Left wing looks set for a few years with Hyman, RNH, Foegele and Benson.
Assume he signs with a team where he can get playing time. Canucks?
Good call Canucks would seem a like a opportunity for him, but they way they look this year it might be a Sabres like opportunity.
We could sign him as a cheap UFA and then have Hyman move to right wing.
Holloway is also probably in the mix. Hard no to DeBrusk he is one-dimensional, he will not help push this team to the top.
Saw Jake doing the phantom backcheck on a key GA vs the Rangers on Friday & thought directly of Kassian. Not even kidding.
Jordan Eberle was/is the King of the phantom backcheck.
Also: Let me add my voice to those commenting on how entertaining this season has been so far. Full value.
A few thoughts:
I love the McLeod, Foegle, PJ line…They have tons of chemistry, and It’s great to see Jesse as the feature player on a line. When Jesse plays with McDrai there’s not enough puck to go around and he’s constantly deferring…I like this Jesse better…not to mention McLeod keeps improving…I’m sticking with my Jordan Stall comparable.
Someone made an excellent point about Broberg…saying hypothetically if he already peaked and reached his ceiling at 4 gp, he’s already covered the bet for an 8th overall selection. Soon Broberg will be nearly un-forcheckable ™ he will shake and burn so many F1s that they will start to sit back and stop forechecking him…Pronger had this effect on forecheckers, if Pronger got to the puck early enough and had a chance to take a stride the forechecker would hang back and try to contain the pass instead of attacking for fear of getting stepped around.
WTF happened to Koskinen last night? I think the competition between him and Skinner has lit a fire under his ass…I’ve never seen this version of Koskinen.
I don’t envy Ken Holland’s position right now in terms of goaltender evaluations. Skinner needs games, we need to find his “equilibrium” Koskinen is making that very difficult. At any point in the last 3 years I would have traded Koski just to dump his contract…now that it is about to expire and he is playing his best hockey there’s no way you dump him…he just might be our best goalie at this point. What to do when Smith comes back?
Koskinen with rest us a .910 goalie ! he needs a partner to be effective
He’s a .911 goalie with actual Tippett usage.
When Smith comes back, you send Skinner down. He will be called back up when Smith gets injured. Skinner will be up as a backup to Smith next year.
Yes, Skinner will have played a number of NHL games by the time Smith is back and we will have a decent idea of what we have there. He can go back to the Bake and play a number of games until he is needed again. Great situation for the Oil actually, unless he regresses.
Come and rock me.
I agree one hundred percent that this line combination is the best for Jesse since his arrival with the Oilers. He is a very good puck transporter and this is much better utilized here than when playing with McDavid. It felt to me that he had started to watch the game more on the first line and his confidence had started to ebb. Last night it was surging again and he looked to be having fun. When the Penguins were winning cups they often had Kessel on a third line that was instrumental in spreading the offence around. The only downfall to this is that Kassian weakens Connor’s line but perhaps that can be addressed with a trade or eventually Holloway will fit into the top nine.
Not only is it a contract year but he’s playing to stay in the NHL. Anyone that doesn’t believe this motivates you especially with the wife and kids depending on you doesn’t have a wife or kids depending on you.
I love your first paragraph.
Let’s hope it’s neither Sammy nor Neimelainen who get traded. Tho untested, I mark them as cost-controlled, medium to long term options for positions the squad will need to fill at a bargain.
That said I’d move the pair of them for the right deadline piece with extra cap going out.
LT. U called the JP on the 3rd line as a possible moment and it was Well done
Edm is winning games with their
#1
#2
#3 left D injured.
That just hasn’t been possible the last 15 years. Team has def turned a corner 🙂
And they didn’t even have to call up Bryan Young or Sebastian Bisallion!
Who was known as “Hot Doorknob” around here for a while? Allan Rourke? Dean Arsene? They all run together.
Haha, I don’t remember that one. Not sure I had even found Lowetide yet at that point.
Rourke was Hot Doorknob but it was a Covered In Oil name. Those buggers were brilliant.
20 games in and I see no reason to make any trades yet.
I see defense as this teams weak link, but we are getting a good look at the young guys right now, and as long as they are winning more than they are losing, Holland might as well let it play out.
From what I’ve seen so far, the biggest question marks on defense are who can play quality top 4 minutes? Can Keith, and Barrie or Bouchard, handle the tough minutes. Right now the only sure things in that top 4 are Nurse and Ceci.
Looks to me like there is enough scoring up front, McLeod seems to be handling 3C just fine, and I am happy with the play of all 3 goalies.
Agreed. With the playoffs almost a given, Oil need to use the season to suss out exactly what they have and hammer it into form. Foibles and losses and slumps and benchings and blenders – these are immaterial if the squad is ready to rock and roll by the post-season (that’s to say, these things are perhaps material to that outcome).
I see it the same way. If I’m improving any spot, it’s on D first and only with a short term solution. That said, I’d like to see where the current and injured roster players are at the deadline. Can they handle the load? Do we just need depth or a real up-the-line-up solution?
No need to make any decisions right now.
I wouldn’t be too sure Keith will be playing longer than Krusty. Kris looks engaged, and if he is healthy and happy and doesn’t mind being number 7, I can see the Oilers signing him for another year. I am sure he would like a chance for lord stanley.
I see what you’re saying, but I think it’s highly likely Keith takes over that 6/7 role once his current deal is done.
Keith should take over the 7D spot next season only because he has a contract for that year. Then it is sail on to Kelowna for him.
$5.5M cap for a 7D?
Talk to Ken soon d you have an issue with the cap hit. I was slotting players by current talent level.
As you like.
You don’t think he’s proven he’s still a capable 2LD so far this season?
I did not enjoy Kris Russell as a top 4 D. I very much enjoy Russell a #7 D.
Keith only makes $1.5M next season. If he retires will open up $9M in cap recapture. I think Katz will offer him $2M to be a WHL scout who only watches Kelowna Rockets home games
Oh my would that be great.
I assume you mean traded out to make room for these guys?
I think that’s unlikely, though Koekkoek may be waived if Broberg doesn’t falter before his return.
Or did you mean one of the young guys will be the one headed out?
Been thinking the last few days, is JT Miller getting so vocal and frustrated it’s leading to a move there?
Would they trade with us? Is Benning allowed to make a move at this point?
Benning likes MOAR BIGGAR. I wonder if they value Niemelainen?
Man JT would look good in the top 6.
For me Holloway and Samu are keepers. On the NHL team for the younger/moveable guys JP Bro and Bouch are a no go. No chance it happens but man!
Yeah Miller would look great for sure. He’ll coast a first plus though, and fitting is salary on this team would be very difficult (even though his cap # is very reasonable for what he brings).
And I think Niemelainen has next to zero trade value, whatever he real value may be at this point.
KRusty is the 7D this year. Broberg just stole KK’s lunch money. Broberg and Samarukov can move freely between Condors and Oilers without waivers. I am unsure if Niemelainen can.
Broberg should not go back to the AHL when Nurse and Keith are healthy. Play Broberg 2LD allowing Keith to move to 3LD. It could also help balance out the TOI for the 3 pairs.
Need to play Samarukov at least a few games to see what we have in this player. If he is as good, and mean, as many people are say then keep him for the future.
Waive KK and thank him for his service.
Next Season D
Left: Nurse, Broberg, Samarukov, Keith
Right: Bouchard, Ceci, Bouchard
Agree Russell is going nowhere.
We need to be patient with Broberg. Maybe he never falters, but that’s far from a sure thing. If he can avoid wobble though I agree he’ll remain in top 6 for a long time.
We’ll see how the pairs work themselves out. Good problem to have if Broberg pushes Keith down, but it’s probably premature to write that even in pencil after Broberg’s 4 NHL games.
Broberg’s comp are Rusty, Kooks and Lags. He’s better right now than Niems and Samu.
Rusty isn’t an every day guy at this point. Kooks and Lags make a lot of mistakes typically, cancels out Bro’s rookieness, and Bro has way more game than either.
I don’t see how the team is better without him. Having a bottom pair that can skate and move the puck should help the bottom six offense. Less D zone time and being able to get into the O zone more efficiently.
Keith is a warrior but keeping him more fresh will pay off at the end of the season and beyond. I would try to go as much as possible:
Nurse Barrie 25 min
Bro Ceci 20 min
Keith Bouch 15 min
When Barrie struggles flip him with Bouch. Could also flip the 2 and 3 pair based on who is having what type of game, and also play Nurse Ceci to close a game out and the like.
I agree on Broberg, but straight lines and all that.
We can’t expect him to never struggle. He may not, but if he does it’s totally fine if he heads back to Bakersfield for a stretch.
He already struggled in yesterday’s game. McCurdy, in his player grades showed Broberg with mistakes leading to 7 major scoring chances against. That is a big number for one game. Koskinen’s heroics bailed him out numerous times. He is 20 years old and has played 4 NHL games. He gets 20+ minutes right now because he is playing with Ceci, not because he is already better than Russell. In the last 4 games, Krusty is 4/1 GF/GA while Broberg is 2/5 and that is not puck luck.
Broberg is doing very well under the circumstances and would seem to have a very bright future with the Oilers, but if the defense all gets fully healthy, I think he heads back to Bakersfield. I think it is possible by the Spring after another 20+ games in the AHL, he could be back on merit alone, if he doesn’t get recalled sooner due to more injuries.
That’s a stretch, considering the underlying numbers.
I agree signs of Broberg struggling are already there, and i absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if he does end up back in Bakersfield.
As I said above though, IMO if he continues to play as he has through his first 4 games (in sum) then he’ll stay. And I think that player is an upgrade on Koekkoek at very least.
7 major scoring chances against; And yet Koskinen spoke highly of Broberg.
Now THAT is leadership.
Bouchard is giving us passes we havent seen since the short days of Ryan whitney
Broberg looks really good. I’d rather have him work on his play in the offensive zone and pp qb in Bakersfield but he looks much further along than offseason predictions
Ceci is solid
Lagesson and Russell played some good defensive hockey which is weird to see after all the games of all out offense our D has played
Koskinen had himself a game. Still should have stopped the Stephenson shot but outdueling Lehner is no small feat.
His 2nd half last year (including being 6/7D for the playoffs) really took the luster off of expectations. He actually seemed to regress year over year.
In hindsight it seems likely his World Jr injuries affected the rest of his season and made it seem like he had a long way to go.
That’s just a guess, but he’s blown those re-set expectations out of the water in Bakersfield and now in the bigs.
Broberg is chilling because he wants to stay. Once he stays then he begins to his inner Niedermayer out.
There is no reason to send him back to Bakersfield.
Nurse
Keith
Broberg
Russell – extra
Koekkoek – waived/assigned
I’m not so sure that Holland will waive Koekkoek (or Russell) and may send Broberg back down if they get to full health. I’m not saying I “agree” with that but just speculating on what may happen.
Also, when Nurse is activated, Lagesson would need to re-clear waivers in order to go back to Bakersfield. I’m not sure if that would be a factor or not when making the roster space for Nurse.
I don’t know, Koekkoek has been pretty bad and Tip does not play him when he is in the line-up. He might get waived.