Monthly Archives: November 2016

Edmonton Oilers, Eric Friesen, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Coyotes’ Michael Stone Would Fit Well With Oilers

michael-stone

According to Hockey Hall of Fame writer for the Edmonton Journal Jim Matheson, Arizona Coyotes defenceman Michael Stone is reportedly on the trade market. Matheson, who you can follow on Twitter @NHLbyMatty, tweeted on Friday: “Coyotes offensive D Michael Stone is apparently available. UFA in July. Would Edm be interested? Big shot”.

Though we are only 19 games into the 2016-17 season, I have no hesitation in saying this is the most talented as well as most balanced Edmonton Oilers team since 2005-06 when they went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Oilers are still a few pieces away from becoming a top tier team in the league, most importantly a right-shot offensive defenceman who can be a difference maker on the powerplay. And Stone could be that guy.

The Oilers acquired Adam Larsson in the off-season (for a moment let’s forget about who they traded for him) to be a right-shot top pairing defender who can shutdown the opposition’s best forwards. And after almost a quarter of the season, I think he’s done an excellent job in his role and has been a stabilizing presence on the Oilers’ blueline. That said, he’s not going to see his name of the score sheet often. He has produced just three points in 19 games as an Oiler (0.16 points per game), which is below his career (0.25). Larsson’s numbers will likely improve as the season goes on and he gets more comfortable in his new home, but we shouldn’t expect him to develop into a powerplay weapon for the Oilers, either.

GM Peter Chiarelli worked the phones all summer to try and acquire another top four defenceman with a powerful point shot, but ultimately he wasn’t able acquire one. In early July, the Oilers were in the hunt for RFA defenceman Tyson Barrie who was reportedly frustrated with his qualifying offer from the Colorado Avalanche and wanted out, but the asking price was reportedly too high. Stone was another name the Oilers were rumoured to be pursuing, but nothing ever came of it. Still, he’s a player I’ve thought the Oilers should try to bring in if there isn’t a better option out there in free agency or on the trade market.

Stone was selected by the Coyotes in the third round (69th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft from the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. Stone played four seasons with the Hitmen, notching 52 goals and 181 points in 264 career WHL games. Stone served as team captain in his final year of major junior led the Hitmen to the 2010 WHL championship. Over the last six seasons, Stone has split time between the NHL and AHL, tallying 23 goals and 90 points in 287 career NHL games all with the Coyotes. The 6-foot-3, 210 pound defenceman has good size, can be a physical presence and possesses a cannon for point shot.

If the Oilers were to trade for Stone, Matthew Benning would likely be assigned to Bakersfield, which probably wouldn’t be the worst thing for his development, even though he hasn’t looked out of place through his first 10 games in the NHL. Given Stone’s skill set, it’s possible that he could play on the second or third pairing and first powerplay unit in Edmonton. Right now, the Oilers’ powerplay runs entirely through Connor McDavid and because the opposing penalty killers know Edmonton doesn’t have a big shot from the point to worry about, they are able to collapse down low and clog up the middle of the ice. If the Oilers had a guy like Stone would who can absolutely fire the puck, the opposition would have to focus more on him, which would open up more time and space for McDavid to work his magic and increase the team’s overall powerplay efficiency.

This is how I would envision the Oilers defensive pairings would look:

Klefbom-Larsson

Sekera-Russell

Nurse-Stone

*Gryba

The question now becomes what would it cost the Oilers to acquire Stone? I don’t see the Oilers wanting to give up a player like Jordan Eberle or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the Coyotes for Stone. The 26-year-old Winnipeg, Manitoba native is on a one-year deal worth $4 million and can become a UFA on July 1, so if Chiarelli doesn’t like the asking price he can take a shot at him next off-season when he will have more flexibility to sign free-agents with Andrew Ference‘s contract off the books. There’s also the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft in June and the Oilers would have to protect Stone if they did a trade and sign, which could be problematic for them with their internal list likely already complete. It’s been well documented that the Coyotes’ new GM John Chayka is an analytics expert and we all know how much the analytics community loves Benoit Pouliot, so maybe there’s a trade to be made there? Pouliot is capable of playing in a top six role and providing and some physicality as well, but he has struggled mightily this year and I think most Oilers fans wouldn’t be overly upset to see him go. One thing is for certain, the Oilers need to add an offensive defenceman. Stone is just one option for them, but if this still team is still in the playoff picture at the trade deadline, Chiarelli might pull the trigger.

Feel free to leave a comment if you think the Oilers should go after Stone or not. And if so, what you think it might cost Edmonton to acquire him. You can also follow me on Twitter @EricJFriesen. Thanks for reading my blog!

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Fancy Stats, NHL

Matt Benning: The Oilers’ Best Defenseman… Really? Maybe. #SmallSampleSize

Before we get into the meat of this beast I’d like to preface it by letting you know that you don’t have to believe what you’re about to read and you should probably do yourself a favor and check out the data for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

  • corsica.hockey (here)
  • stats.hockeyanalysis.com (here)

Also… #SmallSampleSize

The Oilers have a handful of very nice young dmen patrolling their blue line this season. Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, Andrej Sekera, Eric Gryba, Kris Russell, and most notably Adam Larsson but has Matt Benning been the best of the bunch since being called up on the 21st of October?

Let’s toss some numbers out there to gander upon.

For this part, I enlisted the help of our in-house stats guru, G-Money (@oilersnerdalert) and asked him this:

If you were to take a handful of stats from corsica.hockey in search of the best dman on the Oilers, which stats would you take?

To which G-Money replied:

First and foremost would be the ‘against’ metrics: CA (raw shot attempts), FA (unblocked shot attempts), and xGA (expected goals against).  I like them as rates, so you adjust for ice time.  CA/60 etc. To my mind, that’s a primary marker. 

Secondary are the balanced metrics e.g. CF%/FF%/xGF%, since a high ‘against’ number can be offset if the defender also creates a lot.  And either way, you want those to be above 50% if you can, and if you can’t, at least the “Rel” version to be positive so he’s showing better than his team. 

And of course, the WoodMoneys! Which show you how the numbers break down vs comp. I have the numbers generating for this season so I can supply you with those if you like, though the sample sizes are still smaller than I’d like.

So… We are here and here we are. The numbas!!

Matt Benning (9gp 0g 2a 2pts +3)

CA 101 (1)
FA 74 (1)
xGA 4.41 (1)
CA/60 47.53 (1)
FA/60 34.82 (1)
xGA/60 2.08 (1)
CF% 57.2% (1)
FF% 34.82% (1)
xGF% 60.4%(1)

Stats courtesy of Corsica.Hockey.

Benning’s rank within the Oilers defense is the number in brackets.

We still need to remember that he has only played a handful of games and according to Corsica.Hockey, he’s only been on the ice for 127 minutes. The next player with the least amount of regular ice time is Kris Russell and he is last in most of the categories above… Could that be due to missing training camp? Who knows?…

So apart from that FF% (which we want over 50%), we find Benning at the top of every major statistic G-Money has instructed us to use in our search to determine the Oilers best dman.

But how about to our eye?

For me, his best game was the last one versus the Kings and that’s probably because he was smashing bodies left and right and didn’t make any major mistakes.

I like what Bruce McCurdy had to say about that performance in the Cult of Hockey’s post-gamer:

#83 Matt Benning, 6. Joined the back end hitting spree with his most physical game as an Oiler. Really cranked a couple of guys, even as one booming hit took him out of position to enable the Nolan breakaway that his partner Sekera thwarted. Later crushed Kings banger Kyle Clifford with a solid wallop. Excellent shot and scoring chance shares, and the only Oiler to post a +2 on the night.

WoodMoney

G-Money introduced us to Dangerous Fenwick last year and that is basically the Fenwick stat (unblocked shots for/against) but it takes into consideration where the shot was released. Read more about it HERE.

What WoodMoney does is it calculates a player’s fancy stats versus different “calibers” of player. Elite, Middle, and Gritensity. Read more about that HERE.

I just want to focus on Benning’s Dangerous Fenwick For/Against (DFF/DFA) here because I feel like we’ve already gone over the other fancies above. Also, these numbers are good up to last Thursday.

Stat Elite Middle Gritensity
DFF 16.9 (7) 50.3 (6) 28.7 (6)
DFA 17.4 (1) 39.6 (1) 12.6 (1)
DFF% 49.3 (1) 56 (7) 69.5 (1)
DFF/60 32.1 (6) 55.3 (1) 66.7 (1)
DFA/60 33 (1) 43.6 (6) 29.3 (1)
TOI 31.37 54:32 25.50

Again, numbers in brackets are where Benning ranks within the Oilers defense. That defense being Klefbom, Larsson, Nurse, Sekera, Gryba, Russell, and Benning himself.

So my understanding is that for the “against” numbers, we want that to be as low as possible and the “for” numbers to be as high as possible. Naturally. what I’m reading in Benning’s numbers here is that

Now, what I’m reading in Benning’s numbers:

  • Versus “Elite” competition, he struggles… As he should.
  • Versus “Middle” competition he does better
  • Versus “Gritensity” competition he does worse than versus “Middle”…

I think that since the rookie has been playing the majority of his hockey versus “Middle” competition, the numbers are less up-and-down. I mean look at his DFA. Very low versus “Elite” and “Gritensity” but much higher versus “Middle”…

If you can’t tell, I’m not all that versed in the fancies and reading G-Money’s numbers is like having a driving wheel in my zipper… It’s driving me nuts.

Look, I could be reading all of these numbers all wrong. I could be jumping the gun too because Benning has only played such a low number of games. But can we take into consideration that he basically came on when the Oilers losing streak started (It’s all HIS fault!! BURN THE WITCH!!) and the fact that he’s putting up these kinds of numbers is pretty bloody rad! One only wishes he could have a cannon of a slapshot and was putting up Weber-like numbers…

I know that Russell and Gryba are coming back but I’d be hard pressed to send this guy back to Bakersfield with the way he’s playing right now. Benning is a right-handed defender (something the Oilers need), he can skate and move the puck, he can hit and I believe he’s been getting some time on the powerplay as well.

I vote he stays ON the island and maybe it’s time we shipped Gryba out. At the very least you have Benning and Nurse playing together. I know they had a shift or two against LA together and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did in that limited time. #SmallSampleSize

What do you think? If I’ve missed anything or misunderstood something, please let me know in the comments below or on the Twitter machine @beerleagueheroe!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

What In Sam’s Hell is Going On?

7 Comments

Well, the wheels are falling off of the bus and we’re veering into the ditch. Edmonton is 4-5-1 in their last ten games now but have the games really been that bad?

After every game I head over to G Money’s website and read his post-gamers because he recaps the game in a common tongue even though he’s using some mad stats to show you how the Oilers were successful or not. You can check that site out HERE.

I want to quote what he said in his latest game review because I think what he says is something as fans we lose touch with when the Oilers are winning AND most of all when they are losing. And honestly, if any fan in this generation knew a thing or two about losing, wouldn’t it be Oilers fans?

You know, one of the things I try to do here and on Twitter is provide a level, objective assessment of every game. (Sometimes I fail because I am first and foremost a fan.)

One of the things you have to try and do to make that happen is, believe it or not, ignore the score. The score in any one game is affected by all kinds of weird and wacky things. In the short term, it can and does diverge – sometimes widely – from the underlying process. All the time.

Over the long term, though, the score and the scores do tend to align strongly with the underlying process.

It’s the process that matters in the big picture. That’s what we’re trying to measure with all these stupid fancystats.

When it comes to process, the Oilers had unsustainably good sh% & chances vs shots conversion (that is to say, they were converting their poor shot rates to dangerous chances at an unsustainably high pace) early in the season. (And I went on record and said so).

Right now, as painful as this streak of losses is (and losses tend to be more painful than wins), the situation is just the opposite. The Oilers are having unsustainably bad sh% & chances vs shots conversion (that is to say, they are converting excellent shot rates to dangerous chances at an unsustainably low pace) lately. They’re missing wide open nets, multiple times a game.

Just as the good streak inevitably ended, so too will this bad streak, and probably soon. (I’m going on record in saying so).

The Oilers were nowhere near as good as the early winning streak said we were.

The Oiler are nowhere near as bad as this recent losing streak says we are.

Seriously. We’ve been through 10 years now where the underlying numbers have confirmed that this team was complete and utter sh*t.

This year, we are not sh*t! At long last! The underlying process now – even with the woeful effort in the third period in this game, and it really was abysmal – is noticeably better than it has been in the past. It is what will drive the longer term results.

If you check out G’s site and read the review of the Ducks game from yesterday, you HAVE to check out the shot charts… It’s unreal! The Oilers should’ve won that game but they couldn’t capitalize no their chances and they couldn’t stop  Anaheim from scoring on theirs… Riz-diculous I say!

IMAGINE IF WE HAD…

The Hall-ogists are coming out now in full force now that the 2ndary scoring has dried up a bit. So, I wanted to take a look at how Hall, Lucic, Demers, and Larsson are doing this year via stats.hockeyanalysis.com and compare them.

My findings (5×5, 50 minutes minimum) are thus:

Name TOI Pts/60 Shots/60 CF% CF60 RelTM  CA60  RelTM
Lucic 246 .97 5.11 53 3.19 -1.27
Hall 220 1.64 7.6 51.3 5.78 2.38
Demers 244 .74 3.19 54.5 6.88 -2.15
Larsson 301 .40 3.38 51.4 2.37 1.88

So by all accounts and no surprises, Hall is dominating Lucic on almost every level here. That is Taylor Hall’s M.O. and his job really but Milan Lucic wasn’t a 1st overall pick either. Hall absolutely should be putting up massive offensive numbers and the fact that he still isn’t has to be a helluva lot more thought provoking than how he compares to Lucic’s production so far.

Sure, they make the same amount of money but they’ve also accrued the same amount of goals this year (5). Maybe we should compare Pat Maroon’s production to Hall’s because that’s who is playing in Taylor’s spot right now.

When you think about it, who should really be in a position to make the playoffs more at this point, Edmonton or New Jersey?

As for Demers vs. Larsson, do we need to take into account that they are very different styles of dman or should we leave that out? In any event, Demers takes the cake in stats like CF%, CA60 RelTM, and Pts/60. Whereas Larrson has the edge in TOI, Shots/60, and CA60 RelTM. I really want to call that one a draw.

As G Money says above, the boys are in an unsustainable funk but are bound to beat it. I don’t subscribe to the idea that if the Oilers had Hall and Demers instead of Lucic and Larsson that they’d be winning these games. It’s possible but I’ve seen too many years of Hall dropping off of the face of the earth when the team needed him most to believe that he’d shed that skin and things would be different.

THE SKID

How can the Oilers get off this path of mediocrity?

  • Give Cam Talbot a bloody rest!!
    • The guy just had twins and he’s on pace to play 77 games. Grant Fuhr he is not!!
  • Stop with the McBlender.
    • It’s telling me that the coaching staff has no idea what to do with their roster and if the head of the ship has no discerning clue as to the direction his ship should be going, that’s a yellow flag.
    • If Toddy Mac wants to double shift McDavid, do it. But be consistent with the lines.

I was really enjoying watching Tyler Pitlick up with McDavid and we do know that Jordan Eberle has had success with Nugent-Hopkins in the past… Draisaitl-Lucic-Kassian was looking sexy too!

I feel for Anton Slepyshev. He’s been super impressive to my eye this year and he can’t catch a break. I’ve loved his intensity and ability to get that puck on the net. When does he get a chance with 97? I know he took some shifts with 93 and didn’t look completely out of place. So when the team is losing consistently like this, what’s the hurt in trying Ol’ Slepy on the 1st line? We did it with “Lance” and that worked out OK.

Now I’m not saying that Pitlick, Slepyshev, and Kassian should spend an extended amount of time in the “top 6” but they add a fresh and youthful element to it from time to time. Jesse Puljujarvi has been getting better and better but, to me, Slepyshev, Pitlick, and Kassian have given me more to think about whilst watching them.

What do you think? What should the Oilers do? Let us know in the comments below!

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Brennen York, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

The York Report: November Edition

We’re just over a quarter way through the junior hockey season, and the tiers of prospects are sorting themselves out. With Nolan Patrick and Timothy Liljegren suffering injuries early on this year, I couldn’t justify swapping Liljegren with Patrick or Vilardi simply because it wouldn’t make sense. I do think Vilardi begins his push for the top spot and will likely end up going there when it’s all said and done, but we’ll see how things play out. Outside of the top three, Nico Hischier has been dominant and is currently tied for second in QMJHL scoring with 34 points. Callan Foote isn’t necessarily falling, but it’s pretty clear he’s not the guy to puch for a top five spot unless he has a great end to the season. Owen Tippett has been scoring at a very good pace, recording 16 goals in only 19 games. Tippett isn’t the only Steelhead impressing early as Nicolas Hague has been a strong producer from the back end, and at 6’6 he could be a big riser by draft day.

 

Tier One

1. Timothy Liljegren (RD) – Rogle BK (SHL)
2. Nolan Patrick (C) – Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3. Gabe Vilardi (C) – Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Tier Two

4. Casey Mittelstadt (C) – Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
5. Owen Tippett (RW) – Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
6. Max Comtois (C/LW) – Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
7. Kristian Vesalainen (LW) – Frolunda HC (SHL)
8. Kailer Yamamoto (LW/C) – Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
9. Nic Hague (LD) – Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)
10. Eeli Tolvanen (LW) – Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
11. Klim Kostin (RW) – Dynamo Balashikha (VHL)

Tier Three

12. Lias Andersson (LW/C) – HV71 (SHL)
13. Michael Rasmussen (C) – Tri City Americans (WHL)
14. Callan Foote (RD) – Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
15. Elias Pettersson (C) – Timra IK (Allsvenskan)
16. Ryan Poehling (C) St. Cloud St. University (NCAA)
17. Nico Hischier (RW) – Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Tier Four

18. Nikita Popugayev (RW) – Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
19. Martin Necas (LW) – HC Kometa Brno (Czech)
20. Cale Makar (RD) – Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
21. Shane Bowers (C) – Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)
22. Scott Reedy (C) – U.S. National U18 Team (USDP)
23. Urho Vaakanainen (LD) – JYP (Liiga)

Tier Five

24. Jake Oettinger (G) – Boston University (NCAA)
25. Luke Martin (RD) – University of Michigan (NCAA)
26. Erik Brannstrom (LD) – HV71 (SHL)
27. Sasha Chmelevski (C) – Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
28. Marcus Davidsson (C) – Djurgardens IF (SHL)
29. Matthew Strome (LW) – Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
30. Jesper Boqvist (RW) – Brynas IF (SHL)
31. Samuel Bucek (LW) – Shawinigan Cateractes (QMJHL)

 

Notes

 

Philipp Grubauer

 

Since being drafted in 2010, Philipp Grubauer has been one of the more consistent young goalies in both the NHL and AHL. Through 45 career NHL games, Grubauer has yet to finish below a .915 save percentage. The majority of Grubauer’s professional time has been spent in Hershey, where he played 105 games and recorded a .919 save percentage throughout his AHL career. Due to the fact Brayden Holtby won’t be giving up the crease anytime soon, it’s possible we see Grubauer on the move to Las Vegas during the expansion draft as the Caps will be unable to protect his rights.

 

Nikita Soshnikov
Getting a scouts attention is one thing, but being able to hold that attention throughout the course of a 60 minute game is something else entirely. Nikita Soshnikov is one of those rare cases. Perhaps I saw him on a good night, but the consistent intensity he brought on a shift to shift basis is something that few players are able to do, and is something that all aspiring hockey players should look to add to their arsenal. The 23 year old winger plays a very quick* game, and given the speed and puck skills he possesses, Id bet he becomes a 40-50 point player in the very near future. Soshnikov currently sits with one goal and one assist through five NHL games.

Quick* Game: The term can be interpreted differently, so when I say a player plays a “quick game” what I’m describing is a combination of foot speed, intensity, and quick hands. Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski are great examples of what it means to possess a quick game or quick style.
Brayden Gorda

The Edmonton Oil King blue liner recently fell out of our top 30 rankings, however after a fairly strong start in November, you will likely see him back next month. We had high expectations for Brayden heading into the season after a strong outing at the U18 camp this summer, however he struggled in nearly every aspect of the game through the first quarter of the schedule. Though he still has much to work on, Gorda has been better in November, showing the promise we saw towards the end of last season and into the summer. What I didn’t like about his game when he was struggling was the lack of intensity and awareness he showed, especially in the defensive zone. He also seemed timid at times, opting to make difficult passes over rushing the puck, something he can do very well.

Jake Virtanen

 

After completing two games in Utica, Jake Virtanen still sits with only one point in 12 games this season. He was rushed to the NHL far too early, and should have been left in the WHL during the 2015/16 season. Jake Virtanen is not a “bust”, rather a victim of poor management, something that may hurt him in the long run. Virtanen brings a lot to the table including speed, size, and an innate offensive IQ, and if I were to put some money on the line I would bet he becomes an effective top six forward down the line. Due to his perceived declining value, I believe Jake Virtanen would provide excellent value to any team willing to trade a first round pick plus for his services if the opportunity came up. We’ve seen stranger things happen in Vancouver.

 

Leafs Trio

 

The Leafs top three scorers are under 20 years old and it seems as though the rebuild will be over within the next two years. It’s not just that they’re putting up points, but they’re putting up dominant shifts against strong competition. With the trio leading the way offensively (which is unbelievable), as well as Morgan Rielly on the back end and Freddy Andersen between the pipes, the Leafs have a strong base which they will continue to build off of. Heading into the draft the team should have their eyes set on Timothy Liljegren as they have been unable to bring in a top flight right handed defenceman, and as we’ve seen in Edmonton that position is extremely valuable. They’re a fun team to follow simply because they built this squad from scratch and it will be exciting to see where they are five years down the road.

 

WHL Scoring

 

I said Sam Steel would break out offensively this year and he’s done just that. Steel currently leads the WHL with 16 goals and 18 assists through only 15 games. Anaheim got an excellent player and really it’s not a surprise if you’ve ever had the chance to watch him play. Behind Sam sits four draft eligible prospects in Mason Shaw, Cody Glass, Kailer Yamamoto, and Nikita Popugayev, with draft eligibles Michael Rasmussen and Skyler McKenzie in the eight and nine spot, making it six draft eligibles in the top ten. The most impressive point producer within the group of six is Cody Glass, who after what I believed was a rough outing at the U18 camp, bounced back in a major way. The goal scoring ability of Glass has really helped Skyler McKenzie in terms of draft stock as the two have been a dynamic tandem for the Winterhawks. Also impressing early on in the WHL season is Regina’s import draft pick and Sens prospect Filip Ahl who currently has 24 points in 17 games. Oil Kings defenceman Aaron Irving leads the Kings in scoring with 23 points and may very well be a player who is moved near the deadline for picks, and may end up signing an ELC like Macoy Erkamps did last season.

 

Ramblings

 

Carolina is an interesting team to follow. They always seem to stay competitive even if their team on paper looks like a team contending for the first overall pick. They have a strong defensive group coming up, and the Aho/Teravainen duo may carry them far in the future.

Tanner Kaspick (STL) and Michael Spacek (WPG) are two of the best players in the WHL and fall in the category of underrated prospects. Both have a future in the NHL, however I think it’s Kaspick who has the longer career.

 

Thanks for reading. If you have any inquiries please email me at york.brennen@gmail.com

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors, Trades

Hamilton Rumour Update + G16 vs. New York

Earlier today I posted that the Oilers are in the mix for Calgary Flames struggling defenceman Dougie Hamilton. Well, I dug in a bit more with my source and the thought is that the Oilers are looking to send Calgary a package that would include Edmonton’s 2017 1st rounder, Benoit Pouliot, and Griffin Reinhart in return for the defenseman and Lance Bouma.

Now, to me, that all sounds pretty convenient right? Pouliot, when on his game, is a very valuable piece for the Oilers. A big body with great technical skill and strength but he can’t seem to shake off some bad mojo or something. With the penalties at the beginning of the year and that horrid own goal vs. PIT… Chia has traded him before, so I’m not surprised that he might be part of ANY deal the Oilers are putting together in their attempt to upgrade the D.

Griffin Reinhart, hurt at the moment with a back ailment, is someone I think that Chiarelli is looking to get away from as fast as possible. Those boots are simply not getting any faster and Griff is getting passed over at an alarming rate by Edmonton’s other, less prominent, prospects. Matt Benning and Dillon Simpson being two of the most recent ones but Jordan Oesterle is another that got some time ahead of Reinhart.

The Oilers 1st rounder will be in play every year as long as they are contending for a playoff spot. The team has found itself in a bit of a funk lately and, in my opinion, Chia is desperate to find that PP QB. Hamilton would be that guy, no?

**STATS**

(Man I hope I get these right, sometimes I fear that I’m reading these numbers all wrong…)

Dougie Hamilton, in his NHL career to date, has only played a shade over 560 minutes of PP time according to stats.hockeyanalysis.com over the past 5 seasons (2012-2016). He’s scored at a clip of 4.15 p/60 in that time frame at 5v4 and is ranked 30th AHEAD of PK Subban (31st), Duncan Keith (35th), and Roman Josi (54th). The highest current Oiler on that list is Oscar Klefbom at 58th with a 3.65 p/60 at 5v4.

Also, in that time frame, Hamilton is ranked 10th in the NHL for shots/60 with 14.90!!! Closest current Oiler, Oscar Klefbom at 53rd w/ 11.69 shots/60 with the 5v4 man advantage.

So if you’re that guy that says, “No f*cking way man! Hamilton is playing like shit this year. I’d rather have Justin Schultz than Dougie Hamilton and his inflated contract…”, don’t stop eating the yellow snow.

The Oilers could really use a guy like Doug Hamilton. Don’t forget, he’s coming off of back to back 40+ point seasons and he’s playing for the woeful Calgary Flames… They need his contract off the books as it’s bad for them but it’s decent for us IF that rumored return is true.

With all of that being said, do you, as an Oilers fan, think that a package of Benoit Pouliot, Griffin Reinhart, and a 1st round pick for Hamilton and Bouma is better that what other teams might be offering? I have a hard time believing so.

Bring me the Nakladal, right?…

The Rags

Expect the unexpected, right? That’s what I’ve been preaching so far this season and I’m going to go with it again. I say the Oilers are going to win this one tonight. I think they’re going to buckle down that defense and put a stranglehold on the Rangers offense much the way Conor McGregor did to Eddie Alvarez the last night.

*Just as an aside, the best part of that fight was at the end when everyone thought he was going to apologize for being a dick to all the fighters. I wonder if we’ll see him leave the UFC altogether and head to WWE?*

The Oilers only task is to not let in any goals in the first 5 minutes nor the last 2 minutes… And Lucic had better smash someone tonight, the fans want to be entertained 🙂

What do you think about the Hamilton rumour? Let me know in the comments below!

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