Monthly Archives: March 2017

Edmonton Oilers, Micah Kowalchuk, NHL

Guest Writer: Post Deadline Oilers by Micah Kowalchuk

**This is another guest post from former BLH contributor and a well-known and respected member of multiple Oilers Facebook groups, Micah Kowalchuk.**

As I sit here enjoying the fact the heat has gone out in my building in the balmy Saskatchewan winter…

So, we have 3 new players, Ryan Mantha, Justin Fontaine and David Desharnais..

Ryan Mantha: This is a 6’5 225lb right-shot defender who was drafted in the 4th by the Rangers, then when he didn’t sign his rights were traded to Washington, and he didn’t sign there either, and now he’s with the Oilers. He’s got 51 points in 58 games, and he’s the captain of his team.

One of the reasons he signed here is he liked the fact the Oilers let their prospects play, we can expect to see him with the Condors as soon as his junior season ends.

The knock on him is his skating, but that’s usually the knock on most players of his size. He’s also been criticized for poor positioning in the past, but that appears to be improving.

Don’t expect him on the Oilers right away, but he’ll form the core of a very good Bakersfield Condors D with Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear and others.

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Justin Fontaine: We got him in an AHL trade for Taylor Beck, who’s very good AHL season wasn’t translating to the NHL.

Fontaine played for the Wild from 2013-2016, scoring 68 points in 197 games with an average of 12 minutes ice time. He’s 5’10 174lbs, and he’s not a physical player, nor does he block a ton of shots. However, he doesn’t make many mistakes, and had a -3.2% CORSI with a 44/56 offensive and defensive zone usage.

His best season was 2014-2015 when he had 31 points in 71 games, 0% CORSI, in 12mins ice time.

For now, he’s an AHL player, but he’s an AHL player who’s proven in the past he can be a productive 3rd/4th line RW. We all know the Oilers have some question marks on the right side, and he’s being brought in because he can legitimately push for a spot.

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Desharnais I’ve already discussed, but I’ll just restate that this is a player who, as recently as last season, was a .45ppg C. He’s having a down year this year with a .32ppg season, but there’s also been a lot of flux in the Montreal lineup and he was hampered by injuries.

Although he’s a smaller player, he’s had 5 NHL seasons with over .5ppg, he’s a safe bet to be able to go back to those numbers with some quality linemates, and to move back into the 50% faceoff range he’s spent most of his career at.

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Yes, the new people are small. We have a small 3C (5’7). Now as much as people are terrified of the small people, let’s keep in mind that, as a team, the Oilers are very, very, very big these days..

Players on the Oilers under 6’0: Caggiula, Desharnais, Eberle, Letestu, Russell. We can breath in and remember that against St. Louis we put 9 guys on the ice over 210lbs.

So, what can we expect for a lineup?

To start, expect this:

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-RNH-Eberle
Slepyshev/Caggiula-Desharnais-Kassian
Hendricks-Letestu-Pakarinen

Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Nurse-Gryba/Benning

However, Stauffer is predicting for the playoffs we’ll see:

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-RNH-Eberle
Pouliot-Desharnais-Puljujarvi
Hendricks-Letestu-Kassian
(Caggiula, Slepyshev, Pakarinen spares)

Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Nurse-Benning

Ok, I can hear the screaming already. I know, I know, but I’ll explain his logic, which makes more sense once it’s laid out (he never did explain it, this is me figuring out why he said it)

Nothing one really needs to explain about the Top-6 or the Defense at all, so this will cover the Bottom-6 and the Return of Pouliot.

The 3rd line: Yes, Pouliot is there, and Puljujarvi. Why on earth would we do this?

(1) Pouliot has played 300 minutes with Desharnais in Montreal, so about 25 games. There’s some comfort there.

(2) Puljujarvi (.29ppg, 2.1% CORSI), Slepyshev (.24ppg, -3.7% CORSI), Caggiula .22ppg, -3.6% CORSI), Pakarinen (.38ppg, -9.4% CORSI), Khaira (.14ppg, 7.7% CORSI), Pouliot (.20ppg, -2.5% CORSI), Hendricks (.21ppg, -6.3% CORSI), Kassian (.28ppg, -4.5% CORSI).

Now, first thing that jumps out is Khaira’s CORSI, but small sample size and 8 minutes a game will do that, don’t overrated it too much. Second thing we see is Pakarinen is putting up some good numbers, but again, small sample size. If both of these guys keep those respective numbers going by the playoffs, expect a re-think.

For now, we know Puljujarvi can score, and his defense was underrated. The idea seems to be that he’ll be playoff ready by the end of the season, and short of Pakarinen, he had the best numbers of any of these guys.

As for Pouliot instead of Slepy or Cags, defensively (weird, I know) he is actually better, and although the scoring numbers are similar, Pouliot has proven to be a scoring forward as recently as last year.

In theory, if they can all rebound or step up, Pouliot-Desharnais-Puljujarvi can be a legitimate 3rd scoring line. There’s all the talent in the world there if it comes together, and both Pouliot and Puljujarvi have the size to support Desharnais.

At this point, Cags/Slepy haven’t proven enough in the scoring department to unseat anyone from this hypothetical 3rd line. Even if you hate Pouliot. Although, if Pakarinen keeps up his near .40ppg pace, he might take this spot instead and Puljujarvi stays in the minors. Basically, some European guy with the last initial P will be here.

On the 4th line, Khaira’s looked good, but there hasn’t been the offense there to displace Hendricks from his playoff spot. And Kassian on the right side has proven to work well with Letestu, so, yeah.

Love it or not, this is the likely playoff roster (with Pakarinen my better favorite to steal that 3RW spot)

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Finally: For the “OMFG WHY DID WE NOT GET MORE STUFF AT THE DEADLINE CROWD”

Well, we have wings. Lots of wings. Would have been nice to get a more proven wing, but when we got the 3C instead, that meant we weren’t going to bother. Why? Because we have Eberle and Draisaitl at the right wing, and a ton of options for the bottom-6. So, yes, no wingers, 3C instead, makes sense.

Defense: We got Mantha, nothing else was worth kicking tires on. If PC decides he really wants to gamble on a scoring RHD, he’ll go toss Wisniewski a few bucks. Makes sense.

So, that takes us to goaltending. People want to know, why didn’t we get a goalie??? There was Halak, Fleury, Niemi, Lehtonen, Pavelec, Mason, Neuvirth..

Setting aside salary costs, contract terms, etc.. This is why..

MA Fleury: .905
Halak: .904
Niemi: .899
Lehtonen: .900
Pavelec: .888
Neuvirth: .887
Mason: 903

Our existing backup, Laurent Brossoit, has a .910.

Basically, we didn’t get a backup goalie because the ones on the market cost too much, are all having brutal seasons (league average goaltending is .913), and quite frankly, PC looked at them and thought “I’m really not sure any of these guys are better than what I have”, and he was probably right.

Now, we may need to play LB more, so be it, but when it boils right down to it, can’t blame the guy.

And now back to the playoff stretch!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Trades

What a Colossal Waste

I’m glad I didn’t spend the day watching TSN’s and Sportsnet’s coverage of the trade deadline… Wow! What a shitshow the deadline has turned out to be. I’d suggest the NHL just go to something similar to what they have in club soccer and have windows at the beginning of the year and at the midpoint of the season but NHL teams barely make any trades in-season as it is, so that probably wouldn’t work. I mean if it wasn’t such a kick in the junk to the players, I’d be all for making it a big draft-like event where all the GMs pile into an arena where there are 31 tables set up for one weekend and it’s televised and you can see what deals are being offered and rejected. THAT would be fun to watch. Instead, we’re treated to questionable attempts at sketch comedy unless of course you have Ilya Bryzgalov… Kudos to Sportsnet for snagging that beauty!

So, who did the Oilers manage to bring in for their playoff run?

  • David Desharnais (C/W):
    Yesterday, we posted an article with a variety of reactions from local Edmonton media and bloggers here if you’d like to refresh yourself. Myself, I’m still on the fence because I haven’t made a point to watch a lot of Habs games in the past but from what I’ve gathered since Chiarelli joined the team, he likes hard-working character guys. Players who can fit into his team’s style and are excellent locker room additions. He’s got no time for egos.

    So I’m curious to see how Desharnais fits into this Oilers squad. I believe he will replace Drake Caggiula in the lineup and will most likely play a mentor-like role for Caggiula. I support this notion and the timing is just right as I feel the college kids (Benning, Caggiula) are starting to hit a wall as the season moves on.

    I believe that Desharnais will be an option for bottom-6 centre. I’m not necessarily convinced he’s a better candidate for important faceoffs than Hendricks, Letestu, or even Khaira. In my opinion, he’d look good with Benoit Pouliot on his left wing and Anton Slepyshev on his right IF he’s drawing in at centre. If he’s coming in on the left wing, then, I’d like to see him on Letestu’s wing with Kassian on the right side.

  • Justin Fontaine (RW):
    The former Bonnyville Pontiac (AJHL) has tallied 30 points in 50 games for the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack this season. In the previous three seasons, he has racked up 68 points in 197 games playing for the Minnesota Wild.

    Fontaine replaces Taylor Beck, who was having a stellar campaign for the Condors but some feel he was getting in the way of Jesse Puljujarvi’s development by taking more of his ice time be it 5×5 or on the PP. Fontaine is an excellent option for the Condors 2nd-line RW.

  • Ryan Mantha (D):
    We posted an article waaaaaaaay back in December telling you that the Oilers were looking at this hulking OHL overager and what do you know, he actually signs with the team! I’d actually been tipped off on this signing but was told to keep it on the down-low. Lucky for me at that time, there were some other factors that helped point us in the direction that hinted at Mantha signing with Edmonton.

    For me, there’s nothing wrong with this signing at all. The captain of the Niagara Ice Dogs is really starting to develop nicely is emerging as the top overage defenseman in the OHL. I like players who are leaders on their junior teams. I like big defensemen who can put up offense and in this day and age, I like right-handed defensemen. Mantha checks all of those boxes.

    Lastly, I really dig the idea of him joining the Condors once his OHL season is over. Bakersfield could use a righty who can possibly put some points up on the board.

And who left the organization?

  • Brandon Davidson
  • Taylor Beck

I’m not surprised one bit that the Oilers didn’t buck up and bring in some of the higher profile players rumored to be available. I know that they were in on some goalies but as I said over and over with Halak, the Isles just wouldn’t budge on the contract thing. If they’d decided to eat some of his salary, we might be adding his name to the list of players acquired by Edmonton.

That being said, PA Parenteau for a 6th rounder? That’s a bet I’d be willing to make. And who foresaw Andrew Ference’s contract being dangled out there? Would Radim Vrbata be an Oiler right now if Ference’s contract had been moved?

In the end, I’m stoked to have an older player available for the Oilers as they go into the final leg of this epic playoff drive. I don’t have high expectations for him though. We say that he could be a Derek Roy-like acquisition for the Oilers but don’t hold your breath. Desharnais wasn’t having a great season before he came here and now he has to acclimatize himself to a new team, a new system, a new conference, and a new city. There are a lot of roadblocks in his way but I still have faith in him to try his damnedest while he’s a member of the Edmonton Oilers.

What do you think of the 2017 NHL trade deadline for the Oilers? Did Chiarelli do enough to give these boys a chance at the 2nd round of the playoffs this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Trades

Reactions to the Desharnais/Davidson Trade

1 Comment

Brandon Davidson being traded surprised nobody but it was who he was traded for that has shocked some. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is creating quite the reputation when it comes to making deals for players that nobody, not even my sources, had expected the Oilers to have interest in.

I’m 50/50 on the deal. I don’t think Brandon Davidson is as good as some folks believe (most of those folk being of the analytic persuasion) but I also don’t think that David Desharnais was the droid Chiarelli was looking for, just the one that was there. Desharnais was def. not acquired for his talents on the dot. I really believe it was because he’s strong on the puck, good in the corners and he’ll be a good short-term mentor for Drake Caggiula. And I really dig that. Chiarelli really wants his kids to succeed and so he’s surrounding them with high-character players who play the game the right way and have the right attitude.

I actually thought that Derek Ryan was going to be the center acquired and when I talked to my source last night, I was told that the asking price was too high. An earlier round pick was the ask and that was simply too much. Bob Stauffer said as much on Oilers Now! yesterday in a segment with Mark Spector too. So it’s too bad about that.

The following reactions to the trade are those of the popular and respected media members/bloggers. Enjoy!

  • I don’t like the trade, not one bit, though that’s to be expected given I’m an Oilers fan and Davidson was one of my favorite players. That said, with Klefbom’s own offensive improvement and his relative inexperience at the NHL level, he’s a fine bet as well, as is Nurse, as is Matt Benning. The Oilers have a number of promising young d-men, which makes the trading of Davidson more palatable. But the Montreal Canadiens should be well pleased today. They have picked up a player who has constantly beaten the odds, constantly improved, and one who I believe will continue to do so on the Habs blueline. – David Staples, Cult of Hockey (source)
  • While it’s true that the Oilers were at risk of losing Davidson to the expansion draft this summer, the point of trading him so they don’t lose him for nothing was to acquire a forward worth protecting, or a prospect that would be exempt from the draft, or picks that they could use in future drafts. The goal should have been to replace Davidson with an asset that they would benefit them in the future. Instead they acquired Desharnais, who fills a need the Oilers have identified, but whose contract expires at the end of the year. So really they gave away an asset in the fear of potentially losing it, only to acquire an asset they’re going to lose for sure. – Sunil Agnihotri, The Superfan/CBC (source)
  • But fans wanted help for the power play and faceoffs, because the Ducks are going to kill the Oilers on the dot if they match up. Fans wanted a burly, shutdown centreman to take on Joe Pavelski, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews, and Desharnais isn’t that guy.

    But Chiarelli said he doesn’t see the Oilers as a potential Cup winner and has, to his credit, acted accordingly. Without rock-solid conviction, he had no business going all-in at the deadline, given that it always involves mortgaging big pieces of the future. – Dan Barnes, Edmonton Journal (source)

  • This wasn’t the kind of trade that puts a team over the top, rather one that inserts a veteran player into the Oilers forward ranks ahead of a Drake Cagguila or Jujhar Khaira, two rookies who lack the experience of the 30-year-old Desharnais. – Mark Spector, Sportsnet (source)
  • The cost on the trade is dear. Desharnais and Davidson are of similar importance in terms of their position in the lineup, with the difference being that Davidson is both cheaper and under contract longer. On the other hand, with Martin Hanzal and Brian Boyle both already off the market, there just weren’t a lot of other centre options. – Jonathan Willis, Oilers Nation (source)
  • 30-year-old David Desharnais will slot in at 3rd line center, a hole existing whenever Leon Draisaitl has lined up at wing. Desharnais is small (5’7), but plays aggressively. He is above-average in the face-off circle (50.4% over his career). He has offence on his resume (60 points in 2011-12), although an injury has limited him to just ten points in 31 games this year. He also has 38 games of playoff experience, a genuine plus. He is also a pending UFA, so there is absolutely some risk involved in acquiring him.

    Yes, Brandon Davidson is a quality kid and a solid player. He is young (25), has size, is steady in his own zone and is a decent first-pass option with the puck. But lets call a spade a spade: Davidson is also a 7-8D on a Oilers organization that is heavy with left-handed shot defenders. So, the Oilers traded from a position of strength to fill a hole. It is quite possible Davidson would have been lost in the expansion draft. The re-emergence of Griffin Reinhart in the AHL since Christmas was no doubt a factor. – Kurt Leavins, Cult of Hockey (source)

What do you think about some of the reactions to the trade? Are you a fan of the deal? Let us know in the comments below!

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