The Oilers were as strong and tight as Earth, Wind & Fire in the first period, had some ‘Crazy Horse at the Fillmore I think that’s Winterlong but they can’t find the chorus’ moments in the second, and a workmanlike ‘Ramones two-year tour’ in the third period. Taken together, it was an enjoyable evening against a strong Dallas Stars team. Two points! Music! A good night in the city.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: Is Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak the odd man out this summer?
- Lowetide: Is Oilers AGM Brad Holland having an impact on trade success?
- DNB: Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl shows he’s more than Connor McDavid’s sidekick
- Lowetide: Are the Oilers carrying too much youth to win the Stanley Cup?
- DNB and Dom: Why Connor McDavid should be the unanimous Hart Trophy winner — again
- Lowetide: What to expect from the Oilers’ 2023 NHL Draft after trading first-round pick
- DNB: Blunders hurt Oilers in loss to Maple Leafs
- Lowetide: Making the call on the Edmonton Oilers’ 2023 RFAs
- DNB: The Oilers and Stuart Skinner can use their comeback over the Bruins as a springboard
- DNB: For new Oilers Mattias Ekholm and Nick Bjugstad, family matters most after a trade
- Lowetide: How unique is Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins career season?
- DNB: Connor McDavid’s importance to the Oilers keeps showing no bounds
- Lowetide: Oilers finally commit to Evan Bouchard. How much will it cost?
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers prospect Tyler Tullio is outplaying the high picks
- DNB: Why more vintage Kailer Yamamoto outings could solve Oilers’ right wing woes
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers spring signing season preview
- DNB: Why Mattias Ekholm is a big addition for an Oilers team that needs to win now
- Lowetide: Oilers’ mediocre February shows importance of protecting the puck
- DNB: Inside Brad Holland’s scouting process
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie turns a corner, now NHL-ready
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2022
WHAT TO EXPECT IN MARCH
- At home to: TOR, WPG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG, BUF, BOS, TOR (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 2-2-0)
- At home to: OTT, DAL (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- On the road to: SEA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: SJS, ARI, VGK (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: ARI, VGK (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: LAK (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- March expected result: 9-6-0, 18 points in 15 games
- March actual result: 6-2-0, 12 points in eight games
- February actual result: 4-3-4, 12 points in 11 games
- January actual result: 8-2-2, 18 points in 12 games
- December results: 7-6-2, 16 points in 15 games
- November results: 7-7-0, 14 points in 14 games
- October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
- Oilers in 2022-23: 38-23-8, 84 points in 69 games
The Oilers are rolling now, well ahead of my projection (4-4-0) and looking like a lock for top three in the Pacific. The Seattle and Vegas games are big for sure, but winning over Dallas (and Boston) sets up March for possibly the biggest month of the season.
GOAL AND DEFENSEMEN
Stuart Skinner played well, stopping all but one shot, and the goal came after two impressive stops. For me, he has been a key player for this organization over the last several weeks. His .927 five-on-five save percentage ranks No. 8 among goaltenders with 1000+ minutes in the discipline. Jake Oettinger, last night’s opponent, is .929 and No. 6 in the league. Nice company. Cam Talbot was .929 in the discipline back in 2016-17, Skinner is this year’s model and is giving Edmonton exactly what is required down the stretch. I think many people are missing this part of the Edmonton story.
Darnell Nurse-Cody Ceci drew the tough assignment (the highly productive Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski line) and won the shot share 8-4, sawed off the HDSC 3-3 and there were no goals. Both defenders had a tough time on the Stars goal, Ceci backing in too far under the Heiskanen speed, and Nurse unable to impact the rebounds in time. Nurse had two takeaways.
Mattias Ekholm had a couple of giveaways and four takeaways, he was all over the place and in a good way. Dallas is more than a one line team and this pairing had to deal with Dadanov-Benn-Johnston all night. He is such a difference maker for this team. Evan Bouchard had two assists and several golden passes. He’s coming on now. It is not my way to be an ‘I told you so’ but anyone who was down on Bouchard during the tough portion of the season had to know he’d pull out of the spin eventually. I’m happy to see it. I thought Philip Broberg made some nice passes, too. Depth is a beautiful thing. Brett Kulak and Vincent Desharnais kept things quiet and the Stars honest, Desharnais making a nice play that began the Janmark opener.
The Nurse-Ceci tandem (12:49) got more five-on-five time than Ekholm-Bouchard (12:07) but Ekholm also rolled for four clean minutes with Broberg. Ekholm-Broberg had a 92 percent expected-goal share. In the words of Keith Relf, shapes of things to come.
FORWARDS
Connor McDavid had a major impact on the game, even as his line was flattened at five-on-five. He found another gear after Jason Robertson’s dangerous knee-on-knee hit. He set his jaw and you knew it was only a matter of time until all hell broke loose. What a fantastic goal, and the assist was gorgeous, too. The captain is 57-74-131 now after 69 games. Over 82 games, with the same production, he’ll finish 68-88-156. He’s Phil Esposito, except he’s better than Phil Esposito. What a giant in this game.
Leon Draisaitl played well and his line was quality. Whereas Kane-McDavid-Yamamoto was 3-9 shots and 0-1 goals, the Nuge-Draisaitl-Foegele line was 9-2 shots and 1-0 goals. Draisaitl faced the Miro Heiskanen pairing most often, too, so full value for a great night’s work. My favourite play was the pass to McDavid for his goal. That was one sweet pass.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins best play was the pass to Warren Foegele for his counter, a completion of a brilliant Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance sequence that went 29-2-93-37 in a perfect passing display. My goodness it was sweet. If we’re continuing the 1970-71 Bruins comps, Nuge would be Fred Stanfield but also better.
Evander Kane had FIVE great chances, didn’t cash a one of them. He’s getting close, suspect he’ll get some goals in the next three games. Kailer Yamamoto had two shots and a HDSC, he should be scoring because those are good looks and he’s a 20-goal man, but when you’re in a slump nothing rhymes.
Warren Foegele finished off that fantastic passing show for the first goal of the game. He appears to be cementing a feature role on the secodn line, and I do wonder if Yamamoto slides down to the third line when Zach Hyman returns. Results matter. His 2.02 pts-60 at five-on-five is his career best, and he’s at a 52 percent goal share in the discipline.
Mattias Janmark scored twice, told the media he didn’t think it was his best game. Numbers say he’s right, but I love the fact he potted two goals and has eigtht for the year. He’s a reminder that sometimes fans hate on a guy while he’s helping (Jaroslav Pouzar an early example) and I think that means some of us have bias in this area. Older European who isn’t a sniper? Not popular while also being effective. Klim Kostin had a truly weird night, he looked like a Woolworth’s shopper who had wandered into a hockey game. Honestly, I think the only thing he did well was block a shot and even that must have hurt like hell. He was Pippi Longstocking out there, daydreaming and living his best life. Don’t get mad, she was an adorable character of good cheer and generous. She also skated in big loops and had fancy skates.
LOWETIDE AND JAMIESON
A busy day, 10-2 on TSN1260. Steve Lansky will talk Oilers and March Madness, plus innovations on TNT and why they might work well in Canada. Plus Tyler Yaremchuk will discuss the Oilers win and where they might finish, and we’ll have James Duthie on to chat hockey, basketball and since we’re just three weeks from the Masters I might bring that up, too. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. See you on the radio!
Carolina not doing so great with Puljujarvi as the team seems like it might be starting to fall apart before the playoffs.
As with the Oilers, JP gets great chances and doesn’t know how to score.
He was playing with Aho, getting a great shot to succeed btw.
He’s played with Aho and Jarvis for three games now (and PP2).
Finish media is writing about how much better he looks though – creating scoring chances and looking comfortable and better.
How many Goals and points does he have?
Kostin is an interesting player.
He makes calm, skilled, patient plays all over the ice. Maybe too confident?
You can see why he was a key all situations player for the Russian World Jr teams.
He was captain of their U17, U18, Hlinka and U20 teams as well.
Interesting.
Summarizing!
Lachance scored his 29th of the season in a 5-3 loss.
Brind’Amour was held off the scoresheet. He went 14/19 (73.7%) on draws before he received a kneeing major and game misconduct for this hit in the 2nd period.
Quinnipiac lost 2-1 in double OT, but their season might yet continue if they are selected for the Frozen Four. Their own Selection Sunday is two days hence.
oops
A hard fought game with plus tending on both sides, finally the Condors break through on the PP late in the 2nd. Benson with some good work on the wall, back to Kaldis, walks the line and over to Philip on the far half boards, back to Kaldis and over to Benson on the weak side half boards and he snaps one through a screen and in – Philp skating through the crease added an extra layer.
1-0
A) great post, good to see you back. Always appreciate your insights.
B) Kostin is an interesting animal. He seems to falter (by eye) when given more minutes up the food chain, perhaps that was due to being new to the team. I wonder if you’re able to parse any statistical data that suggest he’s ready for more minutes, or is in the proper station to be an out-scorer?
C) Shore is absolutely playing well, almost out of his mind in the last number of weeks. I was skeptical of bringing him up for reasons other than AAV, but what he’s doing has me pencilling him in on a more regular basis than Black Ace duty.
Kostin is also a former first rounder and, this season, is scoring at first line rates (4th not he team) for points and is third on the team in G/60.
I’m not saying he should be moved up or would score near the same rates with more ice – just responding to the point about Kostin scoring at 3rd line rates – I’m not sure I understand (but may be missing something).
I have seen the same
/60 rates and WOWY rates seem to favor sheltered and happenstance characters more than real contributors
Oilers list of “they should have played top 6 F/top 4 D, off statistics” is endless
khaira, davidson, JP, slep etc.
I would note that Kostin has a higher P/G rate than Yamamoto this season with lesser line mates.
Kostin was another team’s first rounder (and bust if you say). Yamamoto was NOT drafted by Holland and his draft status should matter no more or less than Kostin’s 7 years later. They were picked in the same round of the same draft.
Mike Griffith
End of a 7-game homestand for @Condors
who are going 11-7 due to injuries . Lines vs. Henderson:
Lavoie-Hamblin-Griffith
Esposito-McKegg-Bailey
Benson-Philp-Kambeitz
Savoie-x-Dove-McFalls
Kaldis-Kemp
Niemelainen-Demers
Peters-Dineen
Bernard
Pickard
One thing I noticed about Kostin that comes and goes, is his reaction time to something unexpected. When the play is moving around in a set way, like during a breakout or on an odd man rush, everything is fine. But when there’s a little chaos, like a pass into feet and he loses track of the puck, or after a big hit, he sometimes just stops and tries to figure out what needs to happen.
Guys like Ryan don’t seem to spend anytime mentally catching up to the play. It might just be hockey sense (but that’s such a broad term). When Ryan loses track of the play, he starts doing something rather than taking a moment before doing anything. And the something he chooses is usually the right thing.
I guess with ‘hockey sense’, it almost needs to be broken down into offensive instincts, defensive instincts and reaction time. Ryan’s got em all. Kostin has the offensive side of it, but can get lost on those in-between-plays.
An even more extreme example might be Tyler Benson. His play-making ability makes me think he’s got high hockey sense, but then he’ll go in for a hit and just kinda stop after. As if his work is done. There’s still hockey happening around you, don’t stop and figure it out, be ahead of the play.
And it’s more than just keeping your feet moving, Drake Caggiula keep his feet moving doing all the wrong things.
Hopefully Kostin gets there with experience and playing with guys like Ryan and Bjugstad.
—-
I enjoy seeing what player do when in doubt. When in doubt Kane shoots the puck. When in doubt Hyman drives the puck to the net. Ryan is just never in doubt. If he wants to be, Ryan’ll be a hell of a coach one day.
Projected Condors lineup looks the same – none of Tulio, Bourgault or Malone returning.
Given your track record of valuing NHL players, he probably had no other choice.
While your information regarding outside teams movements and prospects is valued;
your draculaic presentation and gravitas is so off-putting no one on this blog will ever side with you. have you ever considered, even with your hate of the oilers because kevin lowe wouldn’t pay your bar bill (or whatever happened), if you changed your presentation initiating a pathos and desire to interact with you; we as a community may respect and welcome your opinion.
Another NHL team signed one of their drafted players to an ELC……… wow!
You’re going to look real foolish when Buffalo somehow makes the playoffs and somehow both Buffalo and the Oilers make the finals, and Buffalo’s starting and backup goalies get injured and Buffalo has to call up Devon Levi!
https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/10746461-why-devon-levi-should-go-down-as-one-of-college-hockeys-greatest-goalies
Texas Flood – every time I read/hear of this song, I think of Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brilliance with a guitar. And inevitably, SRV brings me back to the man who kicked off my love of the blues…..Jeff Healey. For your Friday listening pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HmLFyvFxTc
This made my day. Thank you!
I didnt read any updates on MacLeod? Serious? How about Holloway, that has also been pretty quiet. Anyone?
All we know with McLeod is upper body. Stated day to day but we know that means little.
Holloway is projected back near the end of March and I believe the plan is to have in finish the season in the AHL – they don’t have the cap space to bring him up in any event.
I wonder if they will bring him up for the NHL playoffs before the Condors are done playing…. if that scenario plays out.
Boston has been running wide open all season, with a boost at the trade deadline for a little more energy. It will be interesting to watch. Are they tuned to just keep rolling? Or when other teams ramp it up a notch they might not be able to match?
For Oilers, I think Kane has been far from helping much this season. If he can get 100% thats a big boost. I think thats our biggest post season boost if he can get back even 80% of last years post season.
Connor, Leon, Nuge, Foegele, Ryan, they will have a playoff gear but have been playing very well. I am hoping we get huge improvement from some underperformers. Kostin reinvigorated. Yamo at full speed. Holloway a suprise, Hyman back to full badger mode.
They are obviously playing really well, but their numbers outside of Reg Wins and the points aren’t as good as their record in some key areas. Since Jan 1 from NST:
PK 2nd (this is good come playoffs)
SV% 93.99 1st
SH% 11.01 1st
PDO 1.05 Highest
PP 27th
HDCF% 12th
CF% 20th
So it looks like they are running hot as a LT balance pic. It might continue through the playoffs because they are the most consistent and organized team in structure, maybe they cool off a bit
It seems they are at that place the Oilers once were from some things I’ve read, running teams over for most of a season makes keeping the motivation level high hard, a part of the President’s Curse
Bergeron said he’s not fully recovered from his surgery, which he wasn’t expecting. They of course will be a tough match up for anybody, but aren’t a 70s Habs or Isles, or an 80s Oilers style juggernaut
Which is good
@LT love the allusion to Elvis Costello.
Bob feels Campbell will get one of ARI or SJS next week.
Makes sense.
They can’t completely glue him to the bench….needs some reps in the event Skinner is not available
But on a fairly short leash I would think.
I’m thinking the first 2-3 shots on goal will be enough to determine how long he lasts. He seems to have really embraced the idea of spotting teams 2-3 before every line has had a shift.
I realize +/- isn’t the preferred stat of choice, but since joining the Oilers Ekholm is +13.
He leads the league during that span (March 1 – present) and the next closest Oiler is Bouchard at + 5.
Great add by Holland, and just what this team needed.
Jason Gregor
@JasonGregor
·
2m
Hyman on ice. No McLeod.
Skinner will start tomorrow in Seattle.
“2 out of 3 ain’t bad” – Meatloaf
Also me when reading this post.
Dam, we will need McLeod.
The Oilers are sixth in the NHL in goal differential and 2nd in the NHL in regulation wins.
In the era of game management (keeping games close) and points for ties and extra points for OT/SO losses, these stats are material!
I find the reg wins hopeful
When they are on the same page they win games
And the goalies can stop a beach ball
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins best play was the pass to Warren Foegele for his counter, a completion of a brilliant Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance sequence that went 29-2-93-37 in a perfect passing display. My goodness it was sweet. If we’re continuing the 1970-71 Bruins comps, Nuge would be Fred Stanfield but also better.
I though Nuge may have been the best Oiler skater last night. A couple great sticks defensively, a number of skilled passes and, my goodness, did he have some great looks where he ripped it and I’m still not sure how he didn’t score twice.
Skinner’s PK save percentage is .857, tied for 41st.
We know the PK has been one of the main issues for the season, even though it can have solid games like it did last night. Is Skinner’s low PK save percentage a function of the PK overall or is it the other way around where Skinner struggling on the PK is a main reason for the poor overall performance?
For me, I don’t see a drop off in Skinner’s game down a man but I’m far from an expert on goalies.
goalie PK sv% differential from 5v5 sv% I would assume is mostly system and product of the PK unit
not sure how a goalie could be much worse on a PK than 5v5 besides maybe atrocious lateral movement or some anomaly
Hard to say. Quick glance shows Oilers gave up ~50% more HDCA when Campbell was playing over Skinner.
Is that rebounds? The org would have that info.
On the other hand “expected” goals against for Skinner is 42.04 and he’s allowed 42.
I see under “goalie” stats, NST does have rebounds, AND it does appear Skinner is giving up more rebounds. i noted this weakness in his game last season when he got his first starts, but he has also clearly been working on it.
Unfortunately NST does not give us rebound stops, so we cannot say the effect this is having. Average shot distance is closer for Skinner, but average goal distance closer for Campbell just to muddy the picture further.
Very likely the stats we have, which are dependent on large amounts of data are probably dealing with samples to small to say anything definitive
I wonder what games Campbell gets for the rest of the season.
My guess/what I would do:
Sharks on the 20th.
Yotes on the 27th.
Ducks on the 5th.
Sharks on the 13th.
Good in theory. Also in theory, Edmonton needs to win those games too.
My theory: start Campbell in the games where the Oilers have the best chance of scoring ten goals.
With Campbell in net they should be focused on being sound defensively, not running around trying to score 10 goals . Good practice with the second season looming..
I endorse this line of thinking.
Woodcroft needs to figure out why Campbell got so much goal support vs skinner earlier in the year and scale that back to win these “easy games” (BOS lost to CHI)
but Campbell needs games… before Oilers reach the WCF Campbell will need to play at least 2 games in the playoffs
Henderson on the 18th?
Coachella Valley on the 29th?
(I kid, apparently he can’t be sent down)
I would only start him in one half of each back to back. Skinner has not been overworked and needs to get in a groove before the playoffs. Also, like Bruce said, we need the points from the other games.
This
Skinner has to be well rested for the playoffs.
Skinner is 24. He is well rested 15 minutes after the game finishes. 😎
Lately there’s been talk about who we’d like to avoid in the playoffs but not enough talk that every other team would like to avoid us in the playoffs.
if it wasn’t for Campbell this team would be sitting at the top of the conference
and while Dallas can grind out games and could force us into a snooze fest. They just don’t have the speed up and down the lineup like we do
This
Dallas was not even forechecking when they were down 2 goals.
Absolutely! No team wants to face McDavid and Co. in the playoffs if they can avoid it. You can bet LA would rather play the Krackheads than the Oilers in RD1 and hope that someone else beats the Oilers.
I predict a part 2 or the conference final from last year but with a different outcome (Oilers in 5).
I’m hoping someone else eliminates LA in the first round, not because I don’t think the Oilers can, but because I’m certain there will be a cost attached to it that will multiply the odds against us the rest of the way. Filthy team.
Exactly my feeling and also Korpisalo was excellent against Edmonton twice.
And their awful PK — in the playoff last season I mean — meant they didn’t get called on their filthy play.
The officials didn’t want to “decide the game” by calling a majority of the King’s infractions as the likelihood of the Oilers scoring was just too damn high.
Of course, they had to call a similar number of Oiler penalties.
The result?
The Kings could be twice as dirty twice as often and get called half as much as the Oilers. Leon gets injured and Ron MacLean gets to wax poetic on what a great job being done by the on ice officials.
Game like 3 or 4 was insane. They kept calling ticky tack shit on edmonton and nothing on kings. It was like 5 pp in a row and maybe 1 was a clear penalty with at least equal other way if consistent instead of score effects remotely dictated anything.
Not really concerned if LA is opponent.
Would prefer if 2nd round wasn’t between winner of like Vegas vs Colorado…ideally Winnipeg or Seattle is wildcard for this pool.
LT, your recap of Kostin had me dying 😂, spot on thanks for the laugh.
I only remember one nice dzone to ozone carry from him, but it got turned over IIRC. Got some insight in perhaps his warts last night.
If we play L.A in the Playoffs with the added heaviness of Vincent, Ekholm, Kostin and Bjugstad we should be able to dole out just as much as we recieve. If Lavoie keeps producing in Bakersfield his 6’ 4” frame deserves games down the stretch with the big club as well.
Fiala, Arvidsson, Lizotte, the Kings aren’t the heavy team they used to be.
1st line:
Kopitar 6’3” 225
Byfield 6’5” 220
Kempe 6’2” 200
Now the rest
Lol – if Byfield is on their first line then the Oilers will walk over the Kings in 4. You keep plugging Byfield here, but all I see is another huge bust.
Giant Yamamoto
Byfield turned 20 a few days before the season started.
What was Yamamoto doing in his 20 year old season?
Really?
How many Kings games have you actually watched?
Dom at the Athletic dealt with this a couple of days ago when looking at the Kopitar-Kempe-Byfield line.
The trio has really sparked the Kings’ ascent, outscoring teams 22-8 while earning 53.4 percent of the expected goals. That plus-14 goal differential ranks fourth in the league behind Dallas’ top line, Toronto’s top line and Boston’s second line. Good company.
https://theathletic.com/4315078/2023/03/16/16-stats-kings-bruins-jared-spurgeon/?source=user_shared_article
I hope you didn’t throw out your jersey after last season ….
Vilardi 6’3” 220
Kaliyev 6’2” 210
Danault 6’1” 200
Kupari 6’2” 200
Lemieux 6’1” 215
They were a little shy on D but added Gavrikov who is 6’3” 220 while Doughty is no shrinking violet at 6’1” 210 while Edler is 6’4” 210
Lots of beef.
Lemieux plays for the Flyers…
They traded a very useful agitator in Lemieux to the Flyers for a pugilist that will almost certainly not play any meaningful minutes in the playoffs.
Too many forwards.
This is a good reminder to fact check everything HH posts.
I remember during the COVID season he made up win/loss records for teams so it would help push his narrative at the time.
Lemieux is a Flyer now
Byfield doesn’t have his man strength yet. In games I’ve watched he gets pushed around a lot despite his size.
Yep..still growing into that huge body.
He should be quite a load when he’s 25.
Kopitar gushes about his potential and is a great role model.
He hasn’t developed very fast but a lot of bigger players are similar. He’s actually not far off Leon’s trajectory. Not sure if he’s got that level in him, but he’ll be a good player when he figures it out.
More from Dom’s article:
It seems like Byfield is finally starting to figure things out at the NHL level, but there are still some red flags that give pause.
His on-ice shooting percentage since the call-up is 12.4 percent, a mark that would rank in the league’s top 15 and is prone to regression. He’s earning a point on just 54 percent of goals at five-on-five which suggests his linemates are doing a lot of the heavy lifting. And he’s only scored 0.16 goals-per-60 despite generating 0.71 expected goals-per-60.
Byfield has been good and it’s nice he’s found a home on the top line — but there’s still work to be done until he’s a legitimate top-six forward. It’ll come.
Pfft – Byfield has 3 goals this season … while getting cherry minutes with Kopitar. The guy taken after him in his draft year has 34.
Bust.
This is like the Jesse vs Tkachuk debate that looks so quaint now … one guy is putting up all star numbers while the other guys fanbase is talking about when he gets his “man-strength then lookout” and how other players on his team “gush about his potential.”
HH – in the here and now of this coming playoff season, Byfield is a complete non-factor. They should’ve take Stutzle.
What happened to your whole elite players are elite early shtick?
or does that only apply to the Oil?
Unfortunately it seems I need to remind you constantly that I said elite defensemen arrive early…and they continue to so.
And having just turned 20, losing a development year to Covid and breaking his ankle, it is still early for Byfield.
He is almost a full year younger than Holloway and finds himself playing on the top line for the hottest team in hockey.
Don’t know if he will be elite, but he is doing just fine all things considered.
So Clarke is a bust?
Oh, I don’t think so.
He too missed almost a full year of development time to Covid since the OHL totally shut down.
This is his 19 year old season and he has 18G 52P +32 in only 28 GP in the OHL…not bad for a defenseman,
Eh, he is 20 and playing in the OHL.
Applying the HH Principle of EDSTEUTNRWRB (Elite Defenceman Show Themselves Early Unless Their Name Rhymes With Rogan Bafferty), Clarke is above the age of eighteen and not playing in the NHL; therefore, he is a bust.
Eh…he was 19 in September and just turned 20 last month….this is his 19 year old season.
He made the team out of camp but LA has a surplus of RHD so they decided to send him back to junior.
The 4 D drafted in the top 10 of the 21 draft all promise to be impact defensemen although you probably think Luke Hughes is a bust since he went back to college.
I would much rather have Yamo over Lavoie down the stretch and up until Lavoie has enough experience not to make mistakes. There is no way he adds more than Yamo despite any size difference. Not this year.
As far as Kings go, its not the size so much as attitude and game plane. They play the shitbird style to antagonize and disrupt, this can lead to injury and cost us progress in playoffs.
Game plan they along with a few other teams have been effective neutralizing the Oil the last couple of years. This year, they still can’t stop our top 6, but if they slow them down, the bottom 6 will win it for us.
In the two games played this season, the Kings won both with a total score of 9-4.
The Oilers top 6 accounted for 2 points…a goal each by Hyman and McDavid.
The Kopitar/Danault shutdown duo is lethal.
Am not sure how much it is about heaviness with LA as that damn system. They dump pucks in, trap you in the neutral zone to force turnovers and are very effective on the counter attack in the 1st and 3rd periods.
Coming out of our own zone what happens more often than not is the play gets funneled to a spot where it’s choked off between the the bluelines. You’re forced to send it in without building up enough speed to make the LA defensemen to turn their back on the play and they easily get pucks out of their zone.
That’s what makes them hard – especially once they get a lead.
I could definitely argue that Lavoie has indeed earned a call-up if there is an opportunity.
I would ask, once again, how you propose to make this happen.
Unless McLeod is going to be out for 24 days and 10 games, minimum, which would allow for an LTIR placement (not a good result), how do you get Lavoie on the roster?
The only way is to send Broberg down and, well, given the Oilers will need to carry 7 d-men on the roster (even if they always went 12/6 in games), how do you propose he gets these games down the stretch?
Kulak is a nice luxury through the playoffs but his replacement is obvious and we can use his cap space elsewhere. Same with Yamo. Dealing one or both guys at the draft is the way to go, and then Holland picks over the UFA 2nd tier bin for bargains.
It will be interesting to see where discussions go this summer between the league & the PA regarding raising the cap more than is currently planned. More money might resuscitate the Karlsson conversation as well.
I’d rather they move Cody Ceci in the off season.
No chance Ceci is moved unless it’s in a deal bringing in a better RD. Otherwise you are starting next season with Bouchard, Desharnais and Broberg as your right side. We’d be better off finding someone to push him down to second or third pair as he would be effective and a decent price in that role.
Bouchard owns the 2RD due to age, skill set and potential imo & Desharnais sure looks like he has grabbed 3RD for himself – which brings the subject around to Karlsson once again with Ceci going the other way.
And just to be clear I think Ceci is a huge bargain for what he brings to the team but an objective viewing of the top 4 would identify 1RD as the weakest of the 4. Karlsson is a long shot but an unexpected rise in the cap might change that to ‘possible’.
That’s basically what I said – “push him down to second or third pair.” My thinking is if you get a massive upgrade like EK and Ceci isn’t included in the trade then Bouchard is your 2nd pair RD and Ceci 3rd pair. Both should continue to be on relatively decent deals and Ceci will be up at the time Bouchard gets paid, assuming he is bridged this summer.
The Oilers cannot afford to pay Ceci $3.25 M to play 3RD if they upgrade 1RD. Actually they cannot afford to pay anybody more than $1.5 M to play 3rd pair D which is why Kulak is in danger of being moved this summer.
Sorry if that wasn’t clear from my previous post but that was where I disagreed.
Depends on what they are spending on this proverbial 1RD. (Ceci has proven capable of handling these minutes, he has faced the 3rd most minutes v Elites in the league according to puckiq.com, so I’m less concerned about replacing him than you). What I mean is, you could get another guy capable of playing up and down the lineup like Scott Mayfield for (say) $3M, then you’d have three guys capable of playing top-4 locked up for roughly $10M in Ceci, Bouchard and Mayfield. That allows for roster flexibility, no weaknesses and injury cover (plus Desharnais at 7th D). Is this better than having a $6M+ 1st pairing guy, Bouchard at 2RD and a league minimum scrub at 3RD? I certainly think so.
This was all based upon the idea that the league & PA agree to pump the cap up this year bringing EK back into the conversation. As I said – it’s a long shot.
We know they need cap out. I think Holland made his upgrade in Ekholm who has term left
They can’t bring in EK’s cap now. They have Bro who can play RD. Probably Kulak has to go bcs cap. Holland will not do anything else except maybe get another cheap vet. Knowing him it will be Murray again
And they wait until Bouch or Bro take top spot RD, which I am confident will happen at some point. Ceci top 4 is cheap so he stays for now
Kulak and a forward will go
They can’t bring in EK’s cap now.
========================
Definitely a long shot but I will wait to see where they peg the cap before writing it off completely.
Definitely wouldn’t be wise to write it off entirely, agreed.
Like say the cap goes up $3M instead of $1M.
And SJ retained $3M (26.1%), making Karlsson an $8.5M cap hit.
With some reasonable-ish re-signs:
Bouchard $3M
McLeod $1.5M
Janmark $1.25M
Kostin $1M
Ryan $800k (or other)
The team could move on from 3/4 of Ceci, Kulak, Foegele, Yamamoto and run a compliant 21-man roster (again).
Or move on from 4/4 of them and they’d have about $3.3M to fill the last 3 roster spots (based on the contracts above).
For reference, the potential 21-man roster could be:
Kane-McDavid-Hyman
Nuge-Draisaitl-Yamamoto/Foegele
Holloway-McLeod-Kostin
Janmark-Ryan-Lavoie
/
Nurse-Karlsson
Ekholm-Bouchard
Broberg-Desharnais
Niemalainen
/
Skinner/Campbell
A 21-man roster again, or trading 4/4 salaried Oilers is not that appealing. But then that defense is staggering.
Anyway, you are right it would remains a long shot, even with a bit larger bump in the salary cap.
The distribution of cap as opposed to fitting a cap hit in is what I’m thinking. If they up retention to 75% then it’s more possible. I’m not sure SJ would want to do that
They already have DN and ME at 15.25M with term, Bouch getting a raise. And I wouldn’t sacrifice Bouch for Karlsson, too much impact on the future, no high picks coming anymore, and Connor has lots of track left, fingers crossed
SJS wants out of Karlsson’s cap – that’s a huge pill to swallow for any team – but with Skinner emerging there is a way forward. Campbell, Kulak and Yamo ($10.85 million) for Karlsson with no retention. Kulak is decent, Yamo has one year left, and they have to make the call if Campbell can be fixed. If the answer is yes, they need a goalie, then I can see a deal that gets both teams out of a cap fix. Funny if Campbell become the key to getting Karlsson.
You have to add back in the cap to replace traded players. Ceci would also have to go out as you need a slot, and need Des for competence and his low cap, and to me it would be short sighted to have Bouch out for cap for a guy going into his 33 YO season with a lot of risk attached
Out Ceci Kulak Campbell Yamo = 14.1M
In Karlsson = 11.5
So 2.6M in extra cap, Bouch McLeod Kostin are RFA and Bro the next season, Ryan Janmark Shore Bjug are UFA and Foegele the next season
You would have to think Karlsson (who I like a lot) is the singular difference maker to winning Cups, in the plural I would say, to do that kind of move
And the cap going up more might be 2M instead of 1M, there is a lot of money the players owe still, I can’t see a 4 or 5M increase as we know Gary
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kulak is gone in the summertime, whether the cap rises significantly or not. There just isn’t enough playing time to go around with Nurse, Ekholm and Broberg on the roster.
I’d keep Ceci irrespective of who is added at RHD. He has played the 3rd most minutes v Elites this season and has decent numbers, and that has a lot of value. Another righty would help though – Mayfield? He can play up and down the lineup too.
How would i get league wide TOI vs elites? Or would I need to just look through every team to figure it out?
1. Puckiq.com
2. Select Edmonton Oilers
3. Deselect Forwards
4. Change Edmonton Oilers drop down to All Teams (scroll to the top)
5. Select Elites from drop down
6. Hit Go.
Note that the woodmoney page is not updated daily, it has Ceci playing just 65 games so far but he has played 69.
Due to missing 4 games for Ceci, two for Dahlin and none for Seider, Ceci might possibly be 2nd in the league for TOI v Elites.
Thanks, that’s pretty straight forward. I feel like the site wasn’t always able produce a full list across the league (cut off after 20 or 30 names?), but I might also be mistaken.
Looks like Ceci was 13th last season as well. I didn’t realize his minutes were that difficult. Some good context on his mediocre results though.
I like Mayfield but he will be 31 this year and took a long time to establish himself. He’s probably going to get over-paid and Desharnais might be his equal by end of next year. Agree that you probably keep Ceci and he would be fantastic on the 2nd pair. You achieve that by obtaining a top pair RD or if Bouchard becomes a top pair RD.
It will be such an interesting summer. If Skinner shows that he real in the playoffs, then you can try include Campbell in a SJS deal for Karlsson. If SJS doesn’t want to retain salary then they will have to take on a big contract or two. We have Campbell, Kulak and Ceci to send the other way and make it cap neutral.
Ek Karlsson
Nurse Bouchard
Broberg Desharnais
The other option is to deal Kulak, bring in a 4/5 RD like Gudas and let the kids grow.
Yup. The most likely scenario involves tinkering on defence but it simply isn’t true that there is no way to trade for EK – and if the cap jumps because the PA also wants it to rise it becomes a even more of a possibility.
Mayfield plays upper 1st pairing competition, Desharnais plays a sheltered 3rd pairing role. They’re in different zip codes. Desharnais is not a reason to stay away from Mayfield, Desharnais is a reason you stay away from Gudas or Hakanpaa.
I heart Ekholm. The Oilers finally have a functional D.
Having two pairs that can handle tough minutes rather than two and a half pairs that need sheltering makes a huge difference.
💯
Jay Woodcroft on 32 thoughts. Absolutely worth the listen to. That guy is so articulate it’s always nice to hear him talk. Also alluded that Kane is still very much dealing with an injury and has been battling. That puck that skipped over his stick last night was incredibly unlucky. It’ll come.
Also was really hoping Yams scored last night as his status of whipping boy seems all but cemented now. Watch in the offseason we’ll land a top line RW and suddenly Yams will be effective to a cup team like we’re seeing with Nurse in real time.
I just don’t know how many chances Yamamoto needs, playing with this level of talent, to put the puck in the net. And he doesn’t have the fancies Jesse had on the defensive end.
He’s not a useless player but he’s not a top 6 winger in my mind.
honestly I put as much weight into “JP is keeping the puck out his net!” has 3rd line defensemen posting higher WOWY as higher ups
maybe jesse disrupted play on the defensive, but he did on the offensive way
as someone wise once said
“you need to be a threat to score”
We all already knew this, right?
This is the reason older veterans and borderline players are shy to come back too soon after injury. Their performance will be affected and even if its known they are injured, thy are still judged on their play. It can cost them a job and/or a larger contract. Players who feel safe will try to get in the line up sooner.
Warren Foegemoto sure is rocking out in that feature role.
Biggest difference I see with Connor lately is that he is applying his speed East to West more often then just North South, found a new way to mess with the opponents defenders.
That spin pass in front of the goalie towards the end of the game was just sick.
Fully agreed. Funny, that’s what people have said Bedard is elite at. So deceptive using every angle available to confound defenders and goalies. There’s no way the best player in the world stole from a kid right? Everyone is trying to steal Matthews release, why not the next one’s toolkit too. Probably not.
It’s astounding how good he is at holding onto the puck in the offensive zone. Early on he was considered to be just a rush player, at this point in his career he can do laps around the o-zone at will, and nobody can really stop him. With his vision and hands, he’s able to get some pretty good passes and shots off out of nowhere. The guy is just amazing.
As a kid, I don’t think I ever saw a Klim Kostin at Woolworth’s. It was always moms dragging their tiny kids around, like with me and my mom. But point taken, LT.
How about an hour-long loop of Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘Let’s Groove’? It’s alright, alright.
https://youtu.be/PcMbHhTXYg0
It’s going to be an interesting summer for the Hollands. They probably have to move out at least one, maybe two, 3 million dollar men just to sign their rfa’s and field a 23 man roster.
I think it will be a forward first, simply because the team has more NHL ready players at those positions. Foegele has been playing great. He definitely is beating out Yamamoto right now, but I wonder, does this make it more likely he stays? Or is this making him more tradeable for an actual asset? Either way, one of these guys has to go this summer.
The defensive depth in the minors is looking pretty thin. IF, the Oilers trade Kulak, Neimaleinin becomes the 7D and Kemp is the next man up. I don’t see any NHL options past Kemp, and that is a pretty thin depth chart to start the season. If Kulak or Ceci is traded the Oilers would have to backfill at that position. And they would have to aim higher than Ryan Murray.
Quality of #7 is dman is less important than who can step into the top 4 when needed. Kulak can do that short-term but I’m pretty sure Broberg will be able to as well within 12 months. No such option exists on the right side and that’s why I’d try scoop up a UFA like Gudas to be on our 3rd pair while Desharnais is #7 (but still on the roster).
Plenty of options on RW, and if Lavoie emerges, man it would be a scary top 6. Sure I’d like Perron for a year but the cap just might disagree.
I think the D issue also matters more late in the season and playoffs. Running youth on your bottom pair or in the pressbox a bit earlier in the season is fine if the rest of the team is strong. Given as of now we are out of LTIR to start next season, there will be opportunity to accumulate cap space for the deadline and pick up a rental or two as needed. I’d also add that in a cap environment pretty much every team has a lack of depth somewhere on the roster.
Gotta love the NHL allowing dirty hits every year on one of the top 5 players to ever play the game. Never change, you bush league, never change. They should get rid of fighting, but they should also start handing out common 10 game suspensions without pay.
Only thing the Oilers can do is win and McDavid is well aware of that.
I know there’s some growing pains with Bouch on the PP – was watching the PP goal McDavid scored last night. Great play as always between 97 & 29 but there’s also a hesitation from the Stars PK forward about the possibility of a point shot, as Bouchard goes high to the point, and that’s partially what opens up the lane for McDavid.
Obviously this is just a hypothetical exercise but I wonder if he closes more quickly on Barrie as they wouldn’t be as afraid of his shot.
Barrie has a plus shot
Agree – Barrie can shoot just fine. Accurate and gets it on net with more than enough velocity to beat NHL goalies. Bouchard’s shot has more zip behind it but he misses the net or hits the opposition shinpads more frequently. The way people talk about Bouchard’s shot, you would think he has a clapper like Sheldon Souray. I don’t see what the hype is about.
Bouchard gained a reputation as a shooting witch who could always get his shot through.
That has changed. In 2021 over 55% of his shot attempts were on goal. Last year 51%. This year? 41.8%. He’s had exactly as many shots blocked as on target (136 of each) & a further 53 blocked. (These #s are listed under NHL Extra Stats here: https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/bouchev01.html )
Last season Bouch had 205 shots on net & only 122 blocked. It’s a thing.
As for Tyson Barrie, in his 3 years in EDM he got the following % of his shot attempts on net:
2020-21: 50.2%
2021-22: 50.2%
2022-23: 50.2%
marvel at that consistency from barrie; what are the odds
Impossible, basically.
Shades of the Khris Davis batting average streak a couple of years ago. Four straight years hitting .247. Craziness
…a further 53 *missed the net
Bouchard was 2 goals off Barrie’s career high as a rookie with limited PP TOI.
That’s what I thought when they traded Barrie. Bouch is a league top point threat with his shot
Barrie has a good shot but isn’t aggressive with it and his shot isn’t the same level, Bouch can beat goalies clean, often. When he’s playing well he can also shoot dangerously with each shot type and he’s sneaky, has an unexpected release
The KKK Took My Baby Away (1-2-3-4!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez4yjw5Y94s&ab_channel=TheRamones%E2%99%AA
Winterlong! (2018 version though, can’t find a good live video from the Fillmore)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkiezAFQLTE&ab_channel=EverMoreStudios
Ekholm has almost 4 minutes more of ice time than Nurse. The Oilers play a terrific defensive game. Having Ekholm has slotted a couple down which makes us a much better team. And this isn’t a criticism of Nurse. More of a compliment to Ekholm.
Nurse played 10+ minutes against Robertson, Pavelski, Hintz, Heiskanen, no goals & wins the shot share.
Ekholm ~2 minutes vs those forwards, <5 vs. Heiskanen.
Different job descriptions. I’m just happy to have two top-four calibre LD.
Boogie Wonderland!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0&ab_channel=EarthWindandFireVEVO
Prospectiary!
All the action is stateside this day, with Skyler, Son of Rod and his Quinnipiac squadron in one of the ECAC semifinals. They oppose Colgate*, who eliminated Mazura + St. Lawrence.
Shane, Son of Scott + Youngstown wrap up a 2-game set vs. Dubuque, who has NHL progeny of their own in the form of two sons of Marty St. Louis.
Quinnipiac (Brind’Amour) @ 2 p.m.
Youngstown (Lachance) @ 6 p.m.
Both times, as usual, are Rocky Lane.
*This means they are playing vs. Colgate, rather than they are reluctant to switch from Crest or Sensodyne, etc.
I don’t oppose any brand just use the free stuff I get from the dentist – always ask for at least a couple of the free samples.
Anyways, thanks as that made for a much-needed morning chuckle.
Kostin has an agent. The Oilers have a very solid leadership group. Somebody has to be in his ear telling him how much money is there for the taking if he comes to play with purpose every night. Tough, good skater, wicked shot, can make a heady pass when he’s going. Mercurial is a real thing with some guys, I guess.
Think it’s easier said than done. Think about your job – are you always running at 100% or do you have some days that are better than others. What would you have to do to be at the top of your field/craft and stay there day after day? Don’t get me wrong, you might be there and i’m not trying to trash you. It’s just tough to stay at a peak level all the time.
These guys are performing at the top of their fields and I think it’s a challenge to get that massive performance night after night, especially when there are 23 guys on the other side trying to do the same thing.
While I agree that attaining a high level of consistent results in hard in this league, there is no excuse for reduced effort, not playing with structure, or making basic plays look hard. As a pro, you can put the work/concentration in for 12 mins a night.
I’m not being particularly critical of him. He’s young and I’m cheering for him because I love players with his set of skills.
You bet your ass when there’s money on the table I bring it in my job. I have gotten better at that as I’ve gotten older too. That’s what I’m getting at; he’s young and mercurial, but everyone involved benefits if he starts to get more consistency.
What a peculiar team those LA Kings. +20 W/L columns, +13 gf/ga columns. They’ve barely lost any games since Santa Claus and they’re still only +13. Strange.
And I believe they were in the red right through January. It felt like their bubble was about to burst but they hung in.
They were -15 at one point thanks to Cal Peterson and to a lesser degree, Jonathan Quick.
Once they dealt with goaltending, their goal differential reversed and is accumulating.
What a strange existence to spend your days being a cheerleader for 31 teams just so you can do victory laps on the fan base of 1 team. Whatever gives you purpose I guess, but I hope you find something or someone more meaningful in your life to spend your time on eventually.
Just got to let the resident troll take his perceived win. Its like letting your little brother win a video game when their controller was never even plugged in. Everyone except knows except them.
How is HH’s comment in any way trolling? danny specifically asked about the Kings. HH (correctly) answered.
Truth.
It is very odd….I am convinced many here don’t watch other teams or have any interest in what the competition is doing.
He’s cheering for Sutters old squad since his hero’s current squad was sent into mordor by the Oilers. His victory laps consists of him shitting his pants to only then crawl into a old pair of previously shitted pants. But they’re dry, so the poop doesn’t stick.
Pet peeve but shootout goals should be factored out of goal differential which the NHL doesn’t do on its standings table. LA is actually only +9 in real goal differential. Still point taken.
I always use the team stats page for “real goal” differentials. Of course it can be calculated from the standings by subtracting out the team’s shootout record from another column, but it’s a pain in the ass.
Yeah I get that. My issue is more with how fans and media often present it inclusive of shootout goals. Which is likely driven by them only going to the standings page. Now the difference may not be statistically relevant in most cases, but it still doesn’t present an accurate picture IMHO.
I answered this yesterday. Goaltending. The King’s fancies have been quality all year. They were running two goalies with terrible gsaa. Now they have solved their goaltending issues, and their goal differential is improving.
Edit: what HH said.
It’s just odd that such poor goaltending doesn’t seem to have factored in the win/loss columns much. They’re -24 in goal differential compared to the Oilers, and +2 in wins… oddity
Ah I see what you are saying.
A very unscientific scan of their schedule suggests they have been shutout/blown-out numerous times.
LA has been in 19 three point games going 10-9. Edmonton has had only 10 games going past regulation with a record of 2-8. If the NHL had a 3-2-1-0 points system like there is in international hockey (instead of having Bettman’s system which favours parity over fairness), the Oilers would be 1 point up on the Kings instead of being 5 points down.
Thanks for always posting the granular numbers, it’s interesting to see how they compare to the eye test. For instance, I thought Desharnais had one of his best games in a while and I see he got his ass handed to him in the XG. Maybe it was his work on the PK that I saw good.
The numbers match up with what I thought was an excellent game from Broberg. I thought he had a great 1st period but barely saw the ice after that until late in the 3rd.
I love Bjugstad. He’s more physical than I expected him to be and he’s a very calm, intelligent player. You don’t have to do too much when you’re enormous and he understands that.
I have to admit, when Ekholm I wasn’t sure it was the best move they could have made. Its early but damn this fella looks like just what the team needed. Love Lowetides comment about Skinner, many are so stuck on fact that Campbell hasn’t played how we hoped that we are missing the glory that is watching someone step up to a huge opportunity and absolutely kill it. Skinner is blowing my mind.
The Bouch situation is a perfect example of ‘opportunity + appropriate support = increased chances of meeting potential’.
The cascade effect of dealing Barrie and bringing in a mentor is playing out a bit quicker than I anticipated. Fun to watch.
It is cool to watch. Rarely does a single trade open up such a range of opportunity for a resident player.
Bouch moved into the void at 2RD, got a first-class mentor & partner, AND got the chance to run the powerplay. It’s like the Oilers let him out of jail.
Of course, some will merely blame Ken Holland for holding him back all this time.
2 trades.
I was referring to Barrie+ for Ekholm.
One play I saw that I would like to give credit to Kostin was when Shore was knocked down harshly on a pick play Kostin grabbed the offender but did not drop his gloves and incurred a penalty. No doubt he would of dropped his gloves if obliged, a possible sign of maturity.
Yes, I thought Kostin found a good balance between standing up for Shore and not taking a penalty. It also seemed to me like Kostin was thinking, “I didn’t quite see what happened so I don’t want to overreact and start pounding you, but I want you to know that I’m always ready to defend a teammate, you feel me?”
You don’t want to make the same mistake that Nurse did when he broke Polack’s face. Nurse just saw the aftermath and ‘assumed’ that Polack was at fault.
Oilers record rises up to 2-1-0 in the final 16 game Season in a Season redux…
After the next game vs Seattle Oilers have a pretty easy run of games coming up.
Of course Oilers have a suicidal tendency to take their collective feet off of the gas pedal.
If you think Oilers need to win at least 4 out of their next 5 games press Thumbs Up
If you think Oilers can take it easy Press Thumbs Down.
For me, I don’t think its really a decision in the short term – when Hyman is healthy and up and running, presuming he is in the top six, I think Warren Foegele is the no-bainer 6th forward over Yamamoto.
Now, I’m far from convinced that Foegele is a long term solution in the top 6 and that he can consistently play the type of hockey he has been playing over the course of a long period, let alone a season, but he’s playing the best hockey of his Oiler career and does seem to compliment Leon quite well right now.
I’m not a Yamamoto hater – I’m not one that thinks he’s too small for the NHL or that he can’t positively impact a team but, at the same time, we know he’s far from a “solidified top 6 guy”, even at the top of his game and, of course, he continues to struggle as he works his way back from injury and is likely still banged up.
I’ve been saying for a few years that, while I think he can moonlight in the top six, the Oilers will have championship level depth when Yamamoto is on the 3rd line and he can/should be able to be a highly impactful player at that position.
Now, Foegele is likely not the long term 2RW solution but, for now, its fairly clear to me that he has earned that spot.
I’m very heartened by his play as someone that was never a fan of him moving up for short stints (alway posited his game was best served in the bottom six and that is where he’s best positioned to succeed). Shit, I had this guy traded for future considerations 6 weeks ago and I’m happy for him and the team.
Of course, one night at a time.
Yamamoto could be a 4th line superstar.
As a top 6er he’s too small and has been struggling all season long.
I’d like to see him go to Seattle. They’ll love him there.
There are a lot of meatheads playing on NHL fourth lines. Not so sure Yamamoto would be much of a fit there either. Yeah, send him to Seattle to be a fourth line superstar.
Great to see Foegele playing this well. I think part of the reality is most teams need guys like Foegle and Yamo who will move up and down to fill in spots on second line when they are at the top of their game and move down when they aren’t. Simply not enough money to have the top two lines stacked in each position. I keep meaning to look up how our scoring on the top two lines looks compared to other teams.
Agreed. Yama could still be the solution as a top six RW next year, although it is looking less likely, but right now he doesn’t have anything going on. He’s not forechecking effectively and the puck is a grenade right now. Kane isn’t clicking either right now, but he gets to the right spots and has years and years of proven scoring ability.
On the Dallas goal Yam was in position to lift the goal scorer’s stick except guess what, he had one hand on his own stick.
Its notable (to me) that Yamo led the entire team in 5 on 5 ice last night.
Others have complained about his leash being long and I’ve somewhat defended the coaching staff on their deployment. I can somewhat defend last night based on Hyman and McLeod being out but, presuming Hyman is back, if he’s ready for full top 6 duty, I would suggest we are at the point where Foegele keeps his current job… for now.
Woody is trying to get the Mason going.
They all do it so much drives me nuts. I think it’s coached and it sucks. Costs a lot of battles and clears as I see it
Was a very solid team win. Be nice with Foegle playing so well on that 2nd line it can push Yammy down to the 3rd line with Janmark and Bjugstad whennHyman returns.
Evander Kane stood flat footed and just watched that guy retrieve puck and skate in on skinner down right side with no one really close.
That was an ugly defensive play
Kane has been coming off of major injury.
When firing on all cylinders he’s as impactful as anyone not named McDavid/Draisaitl.
So long as he’s healthy in the playoffs.
Ya. Kane doesn’t have much going on right now, but he’s a proven elite goal scorer. It’s just a matter of time.
Kane is clearly getting up and running and I’m sure he’ll score plenty of goal from now through June. At the same time, he is FAR from a solid defensive player and that type of play is, unfortunately, part of his repertoire.
It’s looking increasingly likely that we’ll draw LA or Vegas in the 1st round. I think those might be the two toughest outs in the conference.
However LA managed their rebuild is the way to manage a rebuild. Lesson being: never tear it all the way down.
Bring on LA.
Let’s become to LA what the 90s Stars were to us.
That’s easy to say when you have the likes of Doughty and Kopitar to help your team ride out the lean years. Without Kopitar, they would be a bottom 10 team again this year, since much of their vaunted youth has been a bust so far. They’ve also been riding a wave of luck through most of the season. I’m really hoping we get LA in the first round. LV is fine as well as they are relying on Quick maintaining his heater to have any kind of success this post-season.
Oilers should fear no team – they can and have beaten everyone, save Carolina, in the past year. A replay of ’06 SCF would be cool.
ALWAYS be wary of the Wild…
That team man. They STILL have the Oilers number. (mostly anyway)