What a wild week for Canadian hockey. The Edmonton Oilers won their series against the Los Angeles Kings in easy fashion. The Vancouver Canucks were stretched more than expected in a win over the Nashville Predators. The Toronto Maple Leafs had it, and lost it, against the Boston Bruins.
So my friends, it’s the Canucks versus Oilers and the winner goes to the final four. It’s cool to know one of the Canadian clubs will make it that far, and I do think this is going to be an epic series.
The Oilers have enjoyed plenty of time off and now know that it’s Wednesday for Game 1 and the second game goes Friday. Important to at least split on the road in the first two, and looking at the Canucks roster one suspects a nasty, deep second round.
I wrote about the club’s possible deployment of Connor McDavid’s line in my piece for The Athletic today. It is here. I hope you read it, some fascinating tweaks by coach Kris Knoblauch and I expect more to follow in this series.
One of the most impressive wrinkles the coaching staff brought to the Los Angeles series was some slight of hand on the power play. Small changes in approach can catch the opposition off guard and lead to easy street in important game situations. An example is the power play, and an earlier one from Knoblauch’s staff (back in the late fall, when he arrived) was using the middle of the ice (high slot) as an outlet avenue.
So, for this Oilers team, with significant time off, I wonder if we’ll see some tweaks. The Canucks have to be abundantly confident about playing Edmonton, as Vancouver rolled over them during the regular season.
How would a brilliant coach use that as a tactical advantage? My guess is show the other guy a new look, and I suspect the team Rick Tocchet is preparing for doesn’t exist as he knows it.
My guess is that we see the fastest possible Oilers lineup and, unlike the LA series, a blistering workload for the glimmer twins. Certainly in the early stages of the series, I would expect the fourth line minutes to be reduced even more than we saw against LAK. Sam Carrick was down to 7:25 at five-on-five after averaging 9:47 for the regular year.
As for matchups and specifics, my thoughts are in The Athletic article. I’ll be on the Lowdown today with Jason Gregor talking Oilers and Leafs, plus Momma MMA with Declan Krueger. You can reach me at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section or on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. Question: Would you like to see an updated 2024 Lowetide draft list later this week?
New for The Athletic: How will Oilers deploy the Connor McDavid line against Canucks?
https://theathletic.com/5473083/2024/05/06/oilers-connor-mcdavid-canucks-line/
Summarizing!
The bad news: Stefan did not procure soup despite four SOG.
The good news (sorry, Coach Who Is Crazy): Portland won 2-1 in double OT, winning the series in six and advancing to the WHL final. They will meet the winner of Moose Jaw and Saskatoon, whose Game 7 is Tuesday night.
Prospecting takes a few days off.
Seriously, has there ever been a team quite like these 2018-24 Maple Leafs?
It’s just like as if the Lowe+MacT Steve Austin Oilers were held together, and treated like gods lmao
@RobTheHockeyGuy
As expected, Sportsnet has announced the Canucks and Oilers series gets their top national broadcast crew: Chris Cuthbert, Craig Simpson, Scott Oake.
So very thankful further classic 2024 moments will have a proper TV call.
It will indeed be a relief however the series turns out.
Cuthbert and Oake work for me; Simpson is fine for me him or Louis is a wash,
Don’t mind Singh in January but I don’t think he has the chops for the big games. His tone doesn’t fluctuate with the play, its really odd. Whatever anyone says about Jack, he has a knack for crescendo and it lends itself to the big moments. Cuthbert has more restraint but paints a similar picture. Singh has got to start looking at the ref if he doesn’t know why the play is called. “A whistle here…” Glove pass, dude. It was a glove pass.
O Canada was commissioned for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society in 1880. The maple leaf was the original symbol of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society in 1834. So we have contributions to symbols of Canadian nationalism from an organization dedicated to Quebec sovereignty.
There is an episode of 32 Thoughts where Jeff Marek flaps his gums trying to figure out why there’s a beaver on top of the Vezina trophy. The reason (despite the one eventually provided) is that the beaver was also a symbol of Quebec sovereignty and nationalism, as it honors Vezina.
Vezina was from Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, which is a region with a large beaver population and a region where the beaver was symbolic. Vezina was devout, and a symbol of French Catholic resolve to the Quebecois. Hundreds of masses were held in his honour when he passed.
Great post.
And I must add that in the spirit of our little beaver friends, that lake region has several little forestry and mining towns that were known for having a population of 7 women for every man. I visited once and will never forget it. 😀
Where did all the men go?
Were the women really ugly?
War can have the effect of culling most of the men from any particular town.
So, you’re suggesting the excess of beavers was a Canadian Heritage Moment?
I always wondered as an Alberta boy how the whale Canada’s so-called symbols were not to be found in the west, only Ontario and Quebec.
As far as I knew there were no maple trees and hence no maple leafs which more or less helped spoil the Canadian experience for me.
At the time I had an American grandmother, who brainwashed me toward liking America and everything about it. So this might have played a large part.
“I always wondered as an Alberta boy how the whale Canada’s so-called symbols were not to be found in the west, only Ontario and Quebec.”
Yes I had a similar experience with the maple leaf and didn’t fully appreciate the tree and its role in that part of the world until attending a sugar shack.
The beaver is more ubiquitous geographically. And was also an early popular symbol and first postage stamp in Canada. But for some reason the imagery doesn’t seem to have stuck to an NHL team. Although we have had the Edmonton Trappers.
Did not the demand for beaver pelts from Europe drive the westward exploration of Canada, that and the search for the Northwest Passage?
Tracing one warm line…
While it is a great symbol that we have now adopted, Diefenbaker wasn’t keen on it in the beginning.
— One of my “pet peeves” is the singing of the National Anthems in North American professional sports leagues.
— I started exploring this when there was the kerfuffle in NFL about players taking a knee to protest.
— Professional leagues in the rest of the world don’t do this. It would seem absurd for a premiership game to have fans stand to play anthems.
— My take is I’m paying my hard earned money to watch a for profit entertainment, owned by either billionaires or for profit conglomerates, mostly in regional tax-subsidized arenas. The players are paid fortunes, from many countries. I’m paying a tidy sum to have a few drinks and be entertained.
— There is nothing Patriotic about a professional sports team, comprised of for hire players from a bunch of nations.
— It’s just propaganda, and in the case of NFL actually paid propaganda by various government agencies to promote.
— I don’t like propaganda. In hockey it started after WW2. Having done research on it: I grow increasingly resentful of having to go through it. Professional sport is a community thing : not a reason to sing national anthems
— Sure for Olympic or national sporting events. It would be absurd to play anthems before watching opera or seeing a movie (also for profit endeavours).
— The premiership games I’ve been to the home fans sing “local sings”. Way more appropriate (and special for the fans)
The most signing I’ve ever heard was in Celtic Stadium in Glasgow. It was the Scottish national team vs the Faroe Islands. Scotland won and the Rangers and Celtics fans were wearing white and blue and singing the Proclaimers and Loch Lomand. Everyone was so happy. The Scottish national team doesn’t win much and those two groups rarely have cause to celebrate together.
Not forgetting the generally obese windbags trundled out to sing these turgid ditties.
The whole effect is a fake display of solidarity in an era where…lol
— no surprise that you would see this through the same lense as I do Hunter….
I disagree and agree.
Let me explain. Singing of the anthems is something that should be done far more in my opinion. We used to have national pride. Ive actually always admired that many Americans actually value their nation where as i find many canadians seem to have zero national pride.
Historically, pride in ones nation is a very valuable thing for the betterment of the people as a whole (sorry i dont have the source materials at hand). I understand this can be counter argued though as well – so take it more as my opinion based on my research and knowledge.
So i would argue the opposite.
Why do we so INFREQUENTLY sing the athem now? Used to do it in school weekly…
I get your argument. Mine is that rather we should be having it done more at more events. Rather than less.
We have more land acknowledgements than acknowledgement of honoring our nation, which in turn honors the men and woman who had built it or fought for it.
Not to get into a more political debate. (I suspect that really is where this thought train would trend to though).
Summary. I would like to see it played and sung far more. Not less. Any profit organization that encourages or does it is a positive in my view.
— I agree with the premise that singing the national anthem ought to be encouraged and promoted. I love going to my kids schools and hearing them sing it at assemblies.
— Same for at our local community fair that we run each year the first Saturday in June by way of example : we get the local school band to play and everyone signs : it’s awesome.
— I’ve become increasingly wary of the expropriation of this though by for profit corporations (who aren’t patriotic).
— Come up with cool team songs : some of the ones I’ve heard at premiership games are awesome (as is the great chants they sing all game).
I’m happy to sing the anthem for as long as I’m allowed. For most people it’s their only experience of communal music making. It is a form of propaganda, which is important for social cohesion in a mass society. We need social cohesion more than ever.
If you don’t love this, you’re effin broken as far as I’m concerned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFKXJ091Ed4
— yeah that is awesome (The Star Spangled Banner just an awesome anthem)
— The Superbowl is one of those patriotic events that gathers most of America, a single event that is the culmination of a total year and a big celebration.
— I wouldn’t be opposed to playing anthem in Stanly Cup finals I guess: as it is a collective celebration (but not nearly as embedded in Canada as the Super Bowl in US).
— I also don’t like Bell and their “let’s Talk” to sell more cable, or Tim Hortons telling me having their coffee is “Canadian” so I’m probably more sensitive than most to my perception of what I see is the hypocrisy of corporations wrapping themselves in things to appear patriotic or compassionate. Amd I’m as big a capitalist as there is.
I’m old enough to remember when the national anthem was sung before movies in the theatre.
I expect it was remnant of WW 2
— hopefully hockey will follow the movie industry… (except the Stanley Cup).
— They only started playing the anthem after WW2 in hockey.
— I recognize I’m in the small minority: most love signing the national anthem and listen politely to the US one pre-game. It may be a collectivism: I believe it’s a way to “trick” consumers into thinking “hey I blew huge cash and everyone getting rich off my back but at least we get to sing OH Canada and feel like it’s a bigger deal”. Thanks for your money, and your patriotism.
It’s a dreaded anachronism to my mind.
Most just grin and bear it and likely wouldn’t even notice its absense.
.
i don’t mind it. We got Paul Lorieau in ’06 and Joey singing his heart out.
Occasionally you get some magic like this:
https://youtu.be/RZ9WdCunvy8?si=a1UZkG79M6rJ5R7g
What I find annoying is certain fanbases yelling a word during the anthem (“Red!”, “Stars!” etc).
Hockey is a game of traditions and superstitions, there’s a reason why everything is done and the stewards of the game are loath to change.
As a school kid of the 60’s and 70’s we sang the national anthem at the start of every school day so the old guys running things sang the anthem thousands of times.
Old habits die hard.
Once a week we sang God Save the Queen instead.
I want to say we recited the Lords Prayer fairly regularly too, if not daily.
One of my friends was a lucky guy who was a Jehovah’s Witness and his parents got him exempted from it.
This was in the Public School system as well, Catholics were way stricter.
And every public building in the country had a large framed portrait of the Queen.
The last to go was likely the old Winnipeg Arena where Liz watched thousands of games.
“I want to say we recited the Lords Prayer fairly regularly too, if not daily.” We did the same in Catholic school. Never sang God save the Queen.
100% agree with this. I stand there and put up with it because I choose my battles but I generally feel put off by being told to stand in a group and do something nationalistic. For some of us, that’s pretty off putting.
It’s just so …. performative? Do people stand at home and sing? Do people still buy their nachos if they haven’t made it to their seat?
It’s never the overt expressions of nationalism or militarism that get criticized for being too political for sport. It would be lovely if it ended.
It seems the main cause of disdain for national anthems is having unwanted nationalism shoved down our throats before games, correct?
Nobody seems to have an opinion on the non-stop political propaganda shoved down our throats the entire duration of a sporting event. I no longer watch anything before the face-off (including anthems and insufferable social-cause presentations), between periods (looking at you, Gene), or watch commercials.
Not saying I support or don’t support any of the causes” just sick of them being shoved down my throat.
as someone once said; “Shut up and sing.”
During the anthems I watch the players and wonder what the Swedes, Russians, Czechs, Finnish, Americans, Germans, Canadians think when anthems not of their countries are sung. How meaningful is it for them? Olympics and World Championships seem much more appropriate.
I like this idea and McLeod/Holloway could be part of it.
Sam Carrick was there in case Kings decided to goon it up. Doubt we see him next round
One of my favourite moments of the last series occurred when the Kings started cheating to defend the backdoor play that the Oilers were exploiting on the powerplay.
97 recognizes this, realizes that he has a free lane to the net, and shoots short side, eventually banging in the rebound. That is such a fantastic adaptation!
It is truly amazing how strategically minded our PP unit is. There is some bias on behalf of us as diehard Oiler fans who have an enormous data set to analyse compared to other teams, but given we have had the same 5 player each with their own role and purpose/skillset and we know what set plays are likely to unfold given who we are playing and what the PK formation is, it’s hard to not look at this as the best PP unit potentially ever. Never before have I looked at a PP unit operating like a proactive football offensive team, with maybe 20+ plays, rather than the reactive model of constantly changing strategies based off of player availability and what is happening on the ice in that PP moment.
https://x.com/NHLRussell/status/1787578865529004079
“Russell Morgan
@NHLRussell
Rob Blake confirms there is no interest in a buy-out for Pierre-Luc Dubois.”
Beautiful. I want this tweet printed and framed on my wall.
Haha!!
Nothing like being given a way out of a bad mistake and turning it down.
He can just buy him out next summer for only double the price
Hey boss I gave this guy a 80 million contract. But in hindsight he does suck so I’m giving him 80 million to go away.
Something no GM wants to discuss ever.
I would think there is great interest in replacing Rob Blake.
Apparently Luc Robitaille was heavily involved in the Dubois acquisition.
Robitaille “I don’t know what to tell you, Rob. This guy named HH was gushing over him online. I thought he just needed a change in scenery and some new wingers.”
LOL – (Un)lucky Luke should have asked us about the HH curse…
But the truth is the Oilers and their playoff wins were living rent-free in the Kings’ management’s heads – they had to do something but PLD is not the goods.
The issue is less the player more what they gave up for a young player struggling
Yes, according to Stauffer, Robitaille and PLD’s agent Pat Brisson are besties.
I expect its a francophone thing.
He really gave them the Peter Chiarelli treatment. They were promising once upon a time now just once again hoping they don’t fade once Kopitar and Doughty erode.
Canucks seem to be running scared – Tocchet already complaining about the Oilers ’embellishing’ in the Vcr Sun. A rookie mistake – the refs don’t like that, Rick!
Coaches who whine and create narratives, no one is worse than Cooper.
I too am confident K will give the roster and lines a new wrinkle. I mean I hope he does because VAN skated right through the Oilers this regular season.
I agree deployment should favour speed and a sense for structural play, positioning etc. For those reasons I see Janmark in and Gagner still on the pine (lucky rabbit’s foot to lace up later if things go poorly). I take Ryan over Carrick or swap as needed. Holloway’s a nice card to play wherever boots are dragging and that jives with his continued need for veteran support. I stick with the current three pair but, things go really, really wrong, Broberg presents an opportunity to really change the look.
I do not expect K to overload the glimmers, at least not if things go well early. but somehow we do kinda land there most times.
A couple of things.
The love fest for Colorado is hilarious. Instead of thinking about a run away freight train, how about acknowledging the Jets were crap for half the season and had a very piss poor 2nd half against anyone in the playoffs? I know y’all got excited about April, but that’s a mistake. Look at their whole record from December 10 onwards and take a hard look at the fancies against playoff teams. Nobody should have predicted the Jets winning that series if they did their homework.
Coach K definitely line matched the Drai Trio against Kopi’s line in Games 1-3. That suited Hiller just fine cause he got his defensive stalwart out against McD. That setup worked splendidly for the good guys cause McD absolutely throttled Danault and Drai’s line bent but didn’t break that much against Kopitar.
In Game 4 Hiller tried to get Danault some clear air so he ran Strength on Strength which also suited Coach K just fine cause he was starting to disassemble his 2nd line that kept getting out chanced by Kopitar, even if the GF/GA wasn’t “that” bad.
Its hilarious to watch the hindsight review of the 1-3-1. Everyone was all over that setup in the regular season. The Corsi Kings, running some of the best differentials in the NHL. Now? Dumbest thing L.A. ever did, truly idiotic, so bad that no other team would ever do it. Talk about a flip flop.
If folks honestly think the Kings would have matched up better playing run and gun with the Oilers you need to give your head a shake. That series was already lopsided and it would have been laughably bad for L.A. if they tried to get into a track meet.
As predicted the axe is getting sharpened in the Big Smoke. Finally the dude who actually green lit the Tavares deal is gonna get the boot and all it will have cost them is Marner and a decades worth of first round exits. Hahaha.
you need to have these bold statements made “BEFORE” the series’ started.
how are the next 4 gonna go?
Agreed. I had a really good deep dive in or around March 17-19 but it got lost in the ether. Here are two that backend that. The March 4 is pretty bang on.
SayItAin’tSo, Gretz, SayItAin’tSo!
Reply to OriginalPouzar
March 26, 2024 8:50 pm
The Jets aren’t true contenders. They’ve got popgun scoring yes but look at their offensive stats against playoff teams.
Closer to bubble more than division winner.
SayItAin’tSo, Gretz, SayItAin’tSo!
Reply to Diablo
March 4, 2024 11:01 pm
You know who doesn’t believe in the Jets? Their fans. Lines up with own limited views. I love hockey, I love watching hockey but I’ll watch literally any other team. Gonna try and nip that aversion in the next few weeks but they play a godawful, horrible for the sport brand and if their own fans aren’t coming out to watch I doubt they can sustain it themselves.
I mean the same week where you’re clear cut leading the division you need Gary to come and try to amp the fanbase up? Reminds me of what happened in Ottawa around 2017. Fanbase is losing faith in the style. Not good, not good at all. Ok but now to the point.
The Jets backend isn’t what it seems. Sorry, nope, nah, Neal Pionk ain’t 2nd pairing on a winner nope, especially not with (checks notes), Brendan Dillon (who???). That whole backend sans Morissey is on the wrong side of the HD fancies ledger and everyone is running a PDO Pony (them HD goals for are early season Nucks level…). Not shocking though cause that entire forward group is all batting too high up.
Schiefele will get absolutely destroyed by the Glimmer Twins nevermind dudes like Monahan, Vilardi and Iaffollo who aren’t suited for Elite Comp.
In a single game yea they can win. In a series? Against a team like the Oil that can play quite violent when they want to? I don’t see it. In fact I bet they regress and when it happens it’ll be close to a Kings level face plant in short order.
This is a quick numbers scan. I’ll try and watch them a bit the next few weeks and will report back.
SayItAin’tSo, Gretz, SayItAin’tSo!
Reply to McSorley33
March 26, 2024 10:40 am
Hellybuck is a .500 goalie since the ASG. He’s getting tired and the Jets top six has a habit of getting their heads kicked in by playoff teams.
Easiest out the Western Conference.
well done. Seems like you had the Jets figured out!
So Edmonton in 6 against Van? that’s my guess 🙂
Merci.
Still mulling the numbers and reviews from earlier this year. I see myself a PDO pony, trying to talk myself out of the obvious.
Oilers are going to absolutely wreck them.
4-0 and the GF/GA gonna land in the 20-5 category.
If the Oilers leave guys open in front and aren’t protecting the low high from behind the net there will be problems. With the Kings it’s always Kempe (and only often) the Dys have a few threats that way. Pettersen also has a wicked shot that’s hurt us before when he wants to use it
Last game we played them they were getting more plays set up fairly close in than the score showed
There’s some evidence the Nucks slowed down on the 5v5 scoring at the end of the regular season. Carried over into the playoffs. They aren’t fully healthy after deciding to play heavy against Nashville. Young and full of gumption. Not totally healthy and sputtering a bit in the largest game state entering the 2nd round. Where have we heard that before?
The Oilers will be instructed to play heavier against the Canucks to start. Can and should be leaned on with the 2nd and 3rd lines. Dump and chase. Hit Hughes every chance you get. If you play them heavy they’ll have a hard time getting into your zone aside from the top line.
Hughes is laboring. Petterson is hurt or he’s pouting. Lindholm line has been underwater since he arrived and his linemates score best when Miller, not Elias, is the center. That’ll be a Tocchet play to watch if you’re Coach K. Nucks 4th line got caved.
Stay out of the sin bin and the Nucks will have a tricky time maintaining momentum.
AM34’s Keefe era is looking a lot like prime Brett Hull:
89-90: 72 Goals : won 1 round
90-91: 86 Goals : won 1 round
91-92: 70 Goals : won 0 rounds
92-93: 80 Goals : won 1 round
93-94: 57 Goals : won 0 rounds
I’d say winning 1 round in the late 80s / early 90s is about equivalent to making the playoffs and not winning anything in the cap era. Very similar regular season scoring prowess, very little to show for it when it matters.
Matthews is one of the last guys I would blame. I would start at the Top with Shanahan and formerly Dubas. Treliving just added dung to the pile as a bonus
More than enough to go around but I think Leafs fans have it surrounded: Mathews / Nylander keep, anything else is gonzo.
Brad Treliving should be part of the gutting. he didn’t make one move that was smart this year. Every signing was dumber than dumb. If there is one highlight its Domi.
After that $11.5 x 8 for Nylander is Huberdeau level bad. The Matthews contract is dumb for how short it is. Multi-years for Kampf, Reaves and then single year deals in the mind-boggling bad range for Bertuzzi (Hyman makes less…) and Klingberg while banking on Samsonov.
You’re gonna keep a guy who does that? Absolutely not, laughably bad. Fire him yesterday.
Whoever ends up as Ringmaster of the circus is actually in decent shape to quickly rebuild that roster.
Many observers are expecting a Mitch Marner trade which would free up $11 million in cap space.
With TJ Brodie and Jake Muzzin coming off the cap, that’s another $10.6 million.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi are on expiring deals and represent another $8.5 in cap savings. Add to that Samsonov’s $3.5 million and that’s a very healthy war chest.
If you assume Marner nets a very good return, as he he should after scoring 85 points, they should be in good shape.
And, with the Tavares and $11 million expiring in a year, they don’t need to be shy.
I don’t think Marner gets a very good return. He’s a good but flawed player and that cap hit is a whopper.
The knives are out for the guy who’s led the team in scoring half the years he’s been on said team. Kid who grew up during a solid run for the London Knights. A junior franchise that Shanahan repeatedly showed his disdain for despite their on ice results. A grad from that program received a prickly welcome from Brad and walked his way to Florida “after” his final contract year. Brad panicked into signing the worst contract in the NHL.
More smartest person in the room stuff.
Mitch Marner is miles better than William Nylander. Every Leafs fan knew what they felt when they heard the Nylander extension in January. Treliving has backed the wrong horse again.
He probably got the Matthews signing right. But he’s been on the wrong side of Tkachuk, Gaudreau, Huberdeau, Kadri and Nylander so far. I’d count the signings of Kampf, Reeves and Klingberg as bizarre, horribly bad, but not star level misses.
How he got this job and the fact that he hasn’t been fired yet surprises me.
I feel like Leafs fans are finally waking up to what everyone has been saying: core is soft and will never win. Abused party always the last to acknowledge.
Who had the mandate to fire him?
Shanahan needs to go first surely?
What a mess I love it.
Are you sure they’ll be in good shape? Muzzin is part of their LTIR pool so technically in the land of putting them way over the cap this year, along with Murray and Klingberg. All 3 of those cats are UFAs next year.
In fact, looking at the numbers for next year they’ll have:
$55.6 mill in forwards (10)
$12.8 mill in defence (5)
$766k in goal (only Woll)
I don’t know why that posted early, but anyhoo, I shall continue.
Total Cap Spend of $69.169 mill. Gives them space of $18.5 mill (approx).
They have to split that $18.5 mill across a goalie (granted, they could go cheap here seeing as Woll looks like their Skinner), 3 defenders, and 3 forwards.
Given that the of the defenders they have signed are:
Rielly, McCabe, Timmis, Webber, Benoit, you have to think they’re going to be looking for some better support than bottom the the barrel players.
Sure, I guess trading out Marner would allow them to bring back Domi and Bertuzzi on similar deals. I’m not sure that makes them better though.
Maybe they could bring in Tanev on a one year, and try and get some more bits out Calgary that are loyal to Treliving?
I’d be wanting to ditch Tavares but there’s no way anyone is eating even half that contract without significant picks being sent along with him. On that note, Toronto are really thin on the old draft picks as well.
Cap Friendly has them with $18.5 million cap space with a 16 man roster.
Remove Marner and that becomes $29.5
They would need to find:
2RW (Nylander can easily play1RW) ($6M)
2LW ($6M)
1RD (Brandon Montour?) ($7M)
1BG ($2M)
That leaves about $8.5M to fill out the bottom 6 and absorb what assets come back in the Marner trade which may or may not return a 1RD.
Your mention of Calgary is interesting.
I would try to pry Rasmus Andersson (4.5M cap hit) out of Calgary in a Marner trade although Marner has a say in his destination.
Freeing up cap room for Treliving will not be a good thing. The guy is Benning / Chiarelli bad at his job. There is zero hope for the Leafs with Treliving running the shots
I anticipate the housecleaning will be thorough.
Friedman suggesting this morning they will eliminate the POHO position now filled by Shanahan which could well trigger both Treleving and Keefe being skidded.
MLSE has no shortage on cash to pay out these guys.
I know you have all this money, but you cant just build a team buy spending it all at once. It takes time, and times a wasting….
How long did it take Vegas?
It just requires a very smart GM and cap space.
I would think if Eric Tulski was GM (and that might happen) it would take two seasons once Tavares cap hit is off the books, for the Leafs to build a serious contender.
For someone anointed as the greatest goal scorer in the world, he sure didn’t score many goals in the playoffs.
Yeah, Dubas’ fault, for sure.
Tavares contract still hurting them. What a terrible idea for a team with a full house always
Tavares was a overpay but it was the only way to grab him in there window of opportunity. The Leafs lost in game 7 OT with 2 of there best places MIA for half of the series. They have a good team just couldn’t score 1 goal. The piling on by Leafs fans is understandable and I’m not saying it’s you but when it’s coming from Oiler fans I find it comical. The Leafs play in a different conference I don’t get the hate for them
Sounds like that Stars on Ice event that was scheduled for Sunday afternoon has been moved to Sat night.
Here is hoping that means the Oilers game will be early than 8pm, they should be able to do 6pm on a Sunday, right?
That would likely depend on whether or not the U.S. networks wants the FLA/BOS game in prime time.
The Boston TV market is massive in the NE U.S.
Yes they do. Game will be to follow. Book it.
Don’t hold your breath.
TNT and ESPN will let us know
I’m not very cultured but to me the TNT crew seems to do a fine job – the studio guys and the plat by play. Bissonette is a character. 🙂
The ESPN crew is also a delight with Ray Ferraro doing colour.
I know right ? How did ESPN pull that off.
Mucho dinero would be my guess.
I hear Charles Barkley decides what day and time the Oiler games start.
Bourgault called up today.
Not sure why he wasn’t announced with the larger group yesterday….
Nice that he wasn’t snubbed after what must have been a very trying year.
Neither Kane nor Henrique are at practice.
That is starting to get a bit concerning (at least for Henrique, I think Kane plays). Coach mentioned a few days back he expected them both on the ice before the series started and we are getting close to that.
Brown and Janmark took their spots in the top two lines.
Here is the thing, Brown took Kane’s spot and Janmark took Henrique’s spot.
For me, Brown is just a placeholder but I think Janamrk on 1LW could be something they deploy – they would have just put Gagner there and kept Janny with his regular linemates if it was a true placeholder, right?
I don’t think Henrique missed a shift down the stretch against L.A. I wonder what is ailing him as it would be a important loss. I’m really liking the calmness of his game and his threat to score in tight quarters.
He went down the tunnel in each of the last two games.
I’d be very surprised if they both didn’t play. I’m wondering if they’re planning to HS Janmark in the first game if he’s a placeholder. I think he should stay but they have options and maybe they like, say, Gagner as 4th scoring option over what Janmark brings vs the Canucks.
For me, moving Janmark to 1LW during practice is a sign of either (a) Henrique really is questionable and/or (b) they might be thinking of healthy scratching.
I don’t think there is a remote chance that Gagner comes in for a healthy Janmark or would play over either Carrick or Brown.
Gagner would be a very poor choice for lineup addition in my opinion – given the structure they are playing and its importance.
I know everyone wants to discuss the Oilers vs Canucks, and who is going to win, but it’s pretty much a waste of time. The series starts Wednesday and we’ll see what happens. Why bother with predictions?
I’m more interested in the potential off season moves, because I think this summer is going to be crucial in determining the length of the Oilers contention window.
Can the Oilers extend Draisaitl, and for how much and how long? And if they cannot, do they trade him this summer? And how does that affect the McDavid contract negotiations in the next summer?
Lots of moving parts, but assuming they extend Draisaitl, what are some other moves they can make to improve the roster on the cheap.
I hate floating trade ideas because we have no idea who is available, but here goes.
1) Trading Kulak – assuming he continues to play well through the playoffs there should be some trade value there. Would San Jose be interested? They certainly need some actual NHL defensemen. I would ask for Zetterlund, but am sure San Jose says no. I would settle for Kostin and a mid round pick.
2) Trading Lavoie – don’t know if Edmonton values him at all. If they don’t I would offer him to Montreal in exchange for Jesse Ylonen. He can’t shoot it like Lavoie, but he can skate and handle the puck. It would improve Edmontons team speed, and he may have more utility in the bottom six than Lavoie does.
So discussing the current series is a waste of time, but rehashing for the 7000th time what they might do in the summer should be front of mind? Sorry, not buying.
Bruce!
He said the series doesn’t start till Wednesday! There’s no point in talking about!
Summer trade ideas are just around the corner, must be top conversation topic.
Sarcasm obviously.
No offense to the poster, but I really agree with Bruce…I mean, why the hell are we here if we aren’t excited about what’s right smack in front of us…the result of the next series (and those potentially following) have a big GD effect on what the Oilers do in the summer. This post is just sooooo odd. I will give a huge eff about summer moves…you know…in the summer.
Friedman reporting Travis Green is a leading contender to coach the Senators.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/all-eyes-on-travis-green-for-senators-vacant-head-coaching-gig/
I’m interested to see how Vancouver’s bottom 4 D handle the Oilers forwards.
Soucy-Myers
Zadorov-Cole
They may be big but they are slow and below average puck movers. The Oilers have a ton more skill and speed than Nashville up front. I’m glad nobody on the Oilers D is know as ‘chaos giraffe’
Myers and Zadorov are above average skaters while only Cole might be considered slow.
With the Canucks addition of Hronek, chaos giraffe large disappeared this season.
I want to characterize Zadorov as a big gronk, but he keeps surprising me with his good play. He’s going to bruise up some Oilers before this series is over.
He’s going to try to bully and he’ll be over aggressive doing it. Oilers need to bait him into a couple of penalties in which we strike.
Any prudent coach would have his RW not getting smashed by Z. He may be a good skater but nobody that size is quick. Avoid contact incoming and get him running around and increasingly frustrated. PP
Oilers have called up Borg to join the Black Aces as per their official twitter and Oilersnation.
I wonder if he got told along with the larger group of call-ups or if they made him sweat out the extra day as some sort of message.
The day delay seems odd.
It’s a message wise up 1st rounder.
I sure hope this series doesn’t go to game seven. because it will be played in Vancouver and the Canucks could possibly pull off some fluky win in OVERTIME. So, I want to see this series end in 4 games, if that doesn’t happen, then five or six.
I hope the Oilers don’t take it to game 7 just because looking at Dallas, they wrapped up their series last night but are playing the first game of round 2 tomorrow, compared to the Oilers who wrapped up their series last week and play their first game on Wednesday.
If Dallas goes to game 7 with Colorado and wins, they could be in rough shape going into round 3.
Dallas could care less; they’re moving on to the second round. If they beat Colorado in game seven; they’re moving on to the conference final.
I’m highly confidant that the players on Dallas care quite a bit and would much have preferred they finished off the Knights earlier and had more time off (and prefer their series start Wed, not Tues).
The playoffs are notoriously grueling. I’m sure every team would prefer to sweep every series and win the cup instead of going to game 7s.
If Vegas swept Dallas, I’m sure Stone’s spleen would have benefitted from some extra rest and his back would have been thankful that it didn’t have to be crosschecked like it was in game 7.
Irregardless
So admittedly I don’t watch a lot of Leafs games. Auston Matthews for the Selke? Is he that good defensively putting up 69 goals or are they just looking to find a trophy for him.
Admittedly he’s got a hell of a shot, but that’s really where it ends. He doesn’t really play a team game… hasn’t accumulated many assists (38 in regular season). I would proudly choose Leon over Austin for any award.
Jari Kurri was the best goal scoring defensive forward I’ve ever watched and he never won it. So yea I was wondering how Matthews got nominated.
I guess he added a tiny bit of PK time this year, but not much…hardly a defensive stalwart. Even more perplexing, why is he also nominated for the Lady Byng? It’s a generalization but don’t those 2 usually go to opposite types of players? It sure looks like they are working hard to get him some type of trophy….
I would imagine they tried every which way to get him onto the Hart finalist list, but realize leaving off any of McDavid, Kucherov or McKinnon would make them look foolish…
Who is “they”?
Is the implication that the Professional Hockey Writers Association as a group tried to get him a trophy.
I know Jason Gregor had Matthews 3rd or 4th on his Selke ballot – I don’t think he’s trying to get Matthews anything. Seravelli had him second, also not know for his Leaf or Matthews bias.
Maybe Matthew is indeed a very good defensive player?
Also, we know that high end production with plus 2-way play gets votes for this award.
Rick Bowness has retired from coaching.
His getting nominated and probably winning the Adams award will be a lifetime achievement victory, I myself think Tocchet should win and Kris should of won if the Oilers would have overtook the Canucks at the end of the season.
I guess Mark Stone lacerated his own spleen for nothing, huh.
He has some expleening to do. I don’t wish injury on people, but it now appears he has an actual injury…
I have zero doubt he was actually hurt, none.
In fact, as it turns out in this case, I have a feeling that he came back earlier than full health (as opposed to being healthy and the org delaying activation as they spend the LTIR reserves). He looked pretty banged up out there.
At the same time, I don’t think a player should be able to come back and “tough it out” in the first round if they weren’t able to “tough it out” for game 82.
Presented as a question of payer health and safety, I can see an argument that any player finishing the regular season on the LTIR should be ineligible for some amount of immediate postseason play – perhaps stated as x amount of days or games for example. This would have the good side effect of curtailing someone from materially “exceeding the Cap” in the postseason.
Prospectium!
The Hawks of Winter couldn’t finish the job at home, so they are forced to try their luck in PG.
James, Son of Patrik sits second in team scoring with 15 points (7+8) in 13 GP. He leads Portland in SOG with 62. His chance to add more crooked numbers comes at 8 p.m. Waseca time.
I have no children, so I was forced to adopt to just hand over the child to Ticketmaster for Game 3 tickets, along with some of my other assets.
I truly thought it’d be a Saturday HNIC game in the great city of Edmonton but here we are with the Sunday matchup. I suspect with the last two Canadian teams the TV Networks can put it on whenever and this great Country will tune in, leaving the US to get the primetime. Of course if the Leafs won you can best be sure it’s a HNIC game.
Anyway, it will be an epic series, most likely 7 games with a glimpse of hope for 6. LT is spot on, got to split the away games before Sunday’s matchup. I can’t wait, most likely the loudest game I’ll ever attend.
Let’s Go Oilers!!!
I think the primary reason its not T/T/S to start is because the Dallas building isn’t available both Wed/Friday and they don’t want the two western games on the same night and overlap.
Its disappointing but I understand it.
I’m sure you will have an amazing time on Sunday and, while you are on your way and in that arena, the day of the week won’t matter one iota.
Have a great time – excited for you.
This could certainly prove to be the case but I hope not. Of course, they will never just “roll four lines” (in particular if there are lots of special teams) but not chasing the game allows them to distribute ice time “better”. A multi-goal lead early and often would be best but likely not the case but, as long as the entire team is commiting to that structure of support then I think all four lines can play unless the team is behind by multi-goals.
Truth be told, the Nucks may have been able to prepare for the OIlers for longer than the Oilers have had to prepare for the Nucks.
As coach mentioned the other day, they have been pre-scouting both Nashville and Vancouver the entire time, scouting thier 1st round games and going over tape of regular season games. Up an till a few days ago, the Oilers were pre-scouting both whereas the Nucks were able to focus solely on the Oilers for pre-scout since mid-last week.
If the blog is missing, how are you quoting it? 🙂
It was missing when I first logged in and made my initial post.
After I posted that, and refreshed, it was there.
Not sure about the context, but the blog was missing at one point today…maybe 8:00 ish but I can’t say for sure.
Blog is missing, at least for now – I presume this comment will disappear in due course but lets give it a shot.
It really sucks that the Oilers don’t play until Wed. I’m not going to bash the league or anything – building availability is, obviously, a massive determiner and the networks have power – they pay ALOT of money (money that goes to HRR and the cap increases) and their say in scheduling is what it is.
It just sucks that the Oilers’ advantage of finishing ground 1 in 5 games is pretty much gone as they will have a full week off (too long, if anything) and the Nucks have like the perfect amount of time between games – some good rest but not too long off.
Oh Well – crush them on Wed night!
Nonsense, it just gives Edmonton more time to pre scout Vancouver and prepare to dissect
Vancouver.
Sure but, for me, I’d rather give the Nucks one less rest day but, whatever, it is what it is.