Monthly Archives: November 2017

Beer League Hero, Breaking News, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Oilers Looking For a New General Manager AND Head Coach?

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What a loss that was for the Oilers eh? That loss reminded me of a time when jerseys were being tossed on the ice and bag-wearing fans were-a-raging! I seen some positives in that game but not enough. The team looks very uninspired and I don’t expect players like Drake Caggiula, Pat Maroon, or even Zack Kassian to survive the possible upcoming purge.

Disclaimer: As I say nearly every time I post something I’ve been passed along, you do not have to believe me. Everyone claims to know somebody connected to a professional hockey team in Canada. I just happen to as well. I can’t tell you who the sources are (of course) but I trust them and I’m not afraid to tell you because it’s no skin off of my back. Apart from all of that, it’s good entertainment and excellent water cooler talk. I’m not McKenzie, Dreger, Friedman, or LeBrun nor do I want to be. I just like sharing what I’ve been told. 

So immediately after the game, I was given this text from one of my sources within the club,

“The Oilers brass is going to be having talks with both Darryl Sutter and Dave Tippett.”

WHOA!

I mean, the players have looked very uninspired but is firing the coach the answer. McLellan throws himself under the bus every night the Oilers lose but is he doing it too much? I would have no problem if he flat out said his players played like shit and need to get their games together or someone is going to sit. Nobody gets sat in the press box anymore and that used to be how you sent a message to a player that wasn’t “getting it”.

I’ve talked about Darryl Sutter in the past and Dave Tippett in Twitter conversations and IF the Oilers were to let McLellan and his staff go, I wouldn’t have any problems with either of these men being hired but one does have to ask if Sutter is past his best-before date.

What do you think? Personally I’d like to toss Todd Nelson’s name out there.

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A few minutes later I was sent this message,

“Peter Chiarelli is also on the hot seat”.

Hmmm, big if true. I mean is the Oilers’ brass bowing to the pressure of a rabid Oilers fanbase right now?

The Oilers went from a 70pt team to a team that amassed over 100pts last season. Both Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli were up for major awards and 21 games into the next season and they’re both being reviewed now?

I still wonder how you can blame Chiarelli for players who are slumping like Klefbom and Talbot. Does Chiarelli get equal praise for the resurgence of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the emergence of Darnell Nurse? It’s BS that he’s getting piled on like this for things that are out of his control. Do you really think that having Eberle and Pouliot on the team would prevent other players from slumping? Come on, use your head.

Now, THAT being said, Peter Chiarelli did have a reputation of not being afraid to move young players before he was hired in Edmonton and we know what he’s done so far because there were others who couldn’t or wouldn’t move any of the young players in an attempt to kick-start the team. As soon as Chiarelli moves one, the teams luck changes. Weird.

Chiarelli has built this team to compete in the Pacific and to date, the Oilers have played Pacific division teams a grand total of THREE TIMES!!! Going forward every game vs. the Pacific teams is a 4pt game. The bad news is they will only play Pacific division teams 3 times between now and January 2nd…

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On an individual basis, it’s my belief that the men in charge are unhappy with the underperforming Matt Benning, Drake Caggiula, and the newly acquired Ryan Strome.

My retort to that is that Benning/Caggiula are suffering from a sophomore slump and Ryan Strome has been stapled to the 3rd line since the second game of the preseason. What kind of expectations did they have for him if they were going to play him there, I mean he’s got 8pts from there and I’d say that’s pretty decent considering the Oilers record.

I do have to wonder if Darryl Katz would ok these moves as Chiarelli and McLellan are on some serious tickets and if I’m not mistaken they’ve got 2 years left on their contracts and both are over $4M per year…

What are your thoughts? Should the GM get another trade? Should he axe McLellan and try to spark something? Or should Bob Nicholson step in and go scorched Earth? Let us know in the comments below!

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

Oilers Featuring Prominently in Trade Rumors

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Last week it was Friedman and McKenzie mentioning the Oilers, now the word is leaking out of Columbus and Montreal and so far we’ve got the names of Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray, David Savard, and Carey Price being connected to Edmonton. Oh! And don’t forget about Oliver Ekman-Larsson not that he’s more or less put his name out there.

What I want to know is where do the Oilers REALLY need to upgrade their roster? So let’s look at said roster.

But before we get into that I want to thank all of the folks on Twitter who attempted to debate me re: Peter Chiarelli’s job so far. It was fun, easier than I expected. I hope we can do it again soon.

The roster…

Left Wing Centre Right Wing
Pat Maroon Connor McDavid Drake Caggiula
Milan Lucic Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Leon Draisaitl
Mike Cammalleri Ryan Strome Jesse Puljujarvi
Jujhar Khaira Mark Letestu Zack Kassian

Scratches: Brad Malone, Iiro Pakarinen
IR: Slepyshev

Left Defense Right Defense
Darnell Nurse Adam Larsson
Oscar Klefbom Matt Benning
Kris Russell Eric Gryba

Scratches: Yohann Auvitu
IR: Andrej Sekera

Then obviously we’ve got Cam Talbot and Laurent Brossoit minding the net.

https://twitter.com/dstaples/status/932770633435422720

Are there problems with this roster, yes. Is it worse than the one that played in game 7 of the 2nd round of the playoffs, I say no and I say that because most people think that Eberle was a factor in the Oilers getting to the 2nd round. He was not. At all. Others will suggest Sekera and I will say to that Darnell Nurse. Wanna throw Pouliot at me, I’ll toss Strome back at you with fewer o-zone penalties.

The problems with the team are that injuries have crept back into the picture, subpar goaltending has snuck its way into our view, slow starts as well. Now if there’s a GM in the entire world that could see all of that happening in the summer, hire that MFer because all of your woes are solved!

Speaking of woes being solved…

Within a month, Andrej Sekera will be back and from there I believe that we’ll see him paired back up with Russell which means one of Eric Gryba or Yohann Auvitu will be playing elsewhere. I’d put my money on Auvitu being that guy. So there won’t be the urgency to add to that group, upgrade maybe, but not add I do not believe.

Who would be the upgrades?

Well, that depends on how far you’re willing to go and how much you’re willing to spend. Are you willing to trade Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins? If so, you might get an Oliver Ekman-Larsson or, god willing, an Erik Karlsson (Is this any more blue-skying than Stu Cowan suggesting Draisaitl for Carey Price?). But I have a hard time believing that the Coyotes and Senators would be okay trading away their best players and if we’re being honest, the Oilers desperately need an offensive stud on their back end. They’ve got the defensive ones in Nurse and Larsson, right? My only caveat would be that this stud be a tad older or Aaron Ekblad.

That’s the defense, how about the offense?

I’m getting very concerned with Pat Maroon. He is having a very tough go right now and no matter the amount of after-whistle scrums he gets into is kickstarting his scoring. I love his willingness to get in there and show that grit and desire but we need him to do that,

a) without taking a penalty
b) while the play is going on in front of the net

Meaning he needs to sit has huge glorious ass in the opposition goaltenders face so that he can smell what Patty ate last week.

But if he’s unwilling or cannot do that then I’d have no qualms sending him in a package to Buffalo for Evander Kane.

Kane has the speed, he has the shot, he’s got the toughness and willingness to play physical, so he sounds like a good fit. Attitude aside, I’m sure if that became an issue he and Lucic could throw on the boxing gloves and go a couple of rounds.

As for Columbus, I reckon they’re looking for someone to take either Jack Johnson off of their hands or Ryan Murray or both but they want a centre.

Would the Oilers move away from Ryan Strome so soon? He’s starting to look comfortable in his role now at 3C but Leon Draisaitl is getting itchy and my feeling is that he wants his own line, stat!

Or would you take the plunge and try to fill two holes with one bird in RNH? Meaning you insist on RHers David Savard and Josh Anderson being the return for the former 1st overall pick.

I’m not as afraid of taking on Jack Johnson as some are. He’s found a way to stay employed all of these years even though he’s apparently the worst defensman in the league. He’s right-handed but he offers no offence. And that’s a problem but neither does Ryan Murray. Johnson is very agitating though. Almost at a Phaneuf-like level. With the Oilers needed to draw a few more penalties, how bad could this dman on an expiring contract be?

Finally to the Montreal Canadiens…

The contract of Carey Price concerns me (slightly). $10.5M starting at age 31 for 8 years? He’s already started to break down. I know, he’s the best goalie in the league… When he plays. I don’t like that kind of uncertainty.

But guys like Brendan Gallagher, Andrew Shaw and Max Pacioretty get me giddy. As I said above, the Oilers could use some agitation on their roster and Shaw is right up there as one of the most irritating players in the league. He’s a righty and a centre. Not only that but he can be trusted on the PK. Gally is an Edmonton boy too. Loved the team growing up and surely is losing his shit playing over in Montreal.

Max Pacioretty is one of the league’s most consistent scorers in recent memory. He’s only scored less than 30 goals four times in his career. His first two seasons he had 3 goals each. The next year was 14 and then in 2012, he had 15. He is a player the Oilers NEED!

But we’ll have to wait until the Habs lose some more before they start getting really desperate, right? Does Marc Bergevin get the axe before one more trade or vice versa? The Canadiens need a no.1 center and RNH could be that guy because they really shouldn’t have Jonathan Drouin or Philip Danault in that spot.

Would you do Nuge for Pacioretty straight across? Or would you look to make it bigger and shore up the right wing a bit more by asking for Shaw and tossing in Maroon or a defenseman.

Sooner or later the Habs lengthy IR list is going to shrink and those players are going to need a place to play. Ales Hemsky, Arturri Lehkonen, Nikita Scherbak, Noah Juulsen, and Carey Price are all going to return and that means Nicolas Deslauriers, Charles Hudon, Jacob De La Rose, and Byron Froese will be sent to Laval or traded.

Is Montreal a team the Oilers could finally take advantage of? They’ve got $8M of cap space to deal in…

Have I missed anything? I’m just spit-balling here folks but feel free to let me know in the comments below what you think about these trade rumours.

Links:

Elliotte Friedman
Bob McKenzie
Pierre LeBrun
Stu Cowan

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#FireTheMall: Bring on the Oilers’ Decade of Darkness v2.0 I Guess

The sky is falling in the Oilogosphere!!! Emotions are running wild brotha!

Peter Chiarelli went on the record yesterday saying he’s “Generally disappointed” with how the Oilers are sitting in the standings at the moment. What do you reckon he’s going on about? Does it mean that he expected a regression in the standings but perhaps not to this extent? And what does THAT even mean? November wasn’t a great month for the Oilers last year was it and October was a bad year this year but the boys are close to .500 for this November…

Moral of the story: Progression rarely goes in a straight line…

But here a portion of the Oilers fanbase are crying to anybody that will listen that the GM and coach that took this team out of the decade of darkness are putting us back in.

Give your heads a shake if this is your attitude. Seriously, it’s crybaby bullshit!

There are 61 games left in the year for Edmonton and all the Oilers have to do is find a way to be in the top three in the Pacific division by regular season’s end. I mean do you really think that the Vegas Golden Knights are going to be in 2nd place in the Pacific in March? Or are the Vancouver Canucks going to end up with a better record than the Oilers? Will the LA Kings be able to sustain their current pace? And as If Mike Smith is going to be able to stay healthy long enough to see Calgary into the post-season.

Now, I will admit that the Oilers could’ve done without the following:

  • Poor starts from Klefbom and Benning
  • Playing 10 games vs the Metro division (more Eastern conference matchups are a coming…)
  • Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle lighting it up in the oh so important months of October and November in light of the Oilers bottom 6 not doing its share of the scoring.
  • The special teams going to shit for the 2nd year in a row early on.

That said, the Oilers are showing to be a much better team in the fancies but simply not getting the bounces (according to chart master Sean Tierney). I find it funny that the more vocal fancy stat guys have gone quiet since the Oilers are showing well there but not so much in the traditional stats. Do they just appear when they feel the need to slag the team or am I missing something? I mean it’s completely possible that I’m missing their work too. I reckon Sean Tierney is the only one that has been in the Oilers corner from that community to date but like I said, there’s probably somebody else that I’ve just glossed over.

Speaking of traditional stats, Woodguy has mentioned this recently but the Oilers are without 3 of their top 5 goal scorers from last season at the 18 game mark (he used the 20 game mark). Jordan Eberle, Tyler Pitlick, and Benoit Pouliot.

This is a very fair comment from Darcy but I wonder, have the Oilers picked up the slack in those players’ absence?

They have.

The trio or Eberle/Pouliot/Pitlick combined for 13 goals only. Nuge and Strome alone are at 11 goals. Toss in say Adam Larsson (a stay-at-home defender) and you’ve equaled the departed trio. VOILA! Magic!

In fact, the top ten from last year compared to the top ten from this season is only a goal better… ONE GOAL BETTER!!!

Not only that but the team isn’t the worst scoring team in the NHL anymore, that distinction belongs to Benoit Pouliot’s Buffalo Sabres.

I’m not sure why McLeod decided to use that stat as a point of concern though. It’s far too easy to refute it and that’s not Woodguy’s style.

The players have to be held accountable as well and I think it’s f*cking mad that people are calling for McLellan’s head (I have been questioning his decisions lately too but still, I don’t want him fired) or blaming Chiarelli for this.

BLAMING HIM FOR WHAT for that matter?

 

Shoring up the defense because Anton Belov and Nikita Nikitin weren’t the answers? Adding size because the team needed to get bigger in the Pacific division in order to compete? Adding players who weren’t jaded by years of losing to spark that dressing room a bit? Did Bob Nicholson really do that poor of a job when he selected Peter Chiarelli to turn the team around?

Did Chiarelli really sacrifice scoring though? Hall had 20 goals last year, Milan Lucic had 23… Looks like scoring got better there. Eberle has 7 goals this year, RNH has 8 so far. Nope! Seems like everything is all honky dory replacing those goals.

Honestly people!

And even though Darnell Nurse’s name has been popping up in trade rumors since Chiarelli was hired, he’s refused to trade the stud and now I think it’s safe to say that Darnell Nurse is a top-4 defenceman. I think Nurse has done a fine job at minding the shop while Sekera has been out. In fact, we might have the best young shutdown pairing in the NHL with Larsson and Nurse. If not, then the meanest for sure!

As for the team, the Oilers have to jump four teams in the Pacific to make it into a playoff spot today. They need a grand total of 5 points… FIVE!!! Four to be on par.

“Well, American Thanksgiving is coming and that’s the date in which you have to be in a playoff spot in order to have the best chances of playing post-season hockey… Dar…” 

There is actual evidence for the above statement so I don’t have issues with that but it’s the black or white nature fans make of it that pisses me off. As if a team couldn’t make the playoffs if they didn’t fall within the parameters of the comment is ludicrous.

Every year one or two teams do it just as every year one or two teams are terrible right from the get-go and one or two teams are unbeatable (figuratively speaking) for the whole year.

Going into the Dallas game I’m feeling very optimistic. I think it’ll be a low-scoring game because that’s how the Oilers play it on the road and Hitchcock teams hate offense. The Stars are riding a wonderful 3-game losing streak and a win versus them would close the gap on the aforementioned playoff spot. To add to that optimism, I’ve heard that the Stars are starting Kari Lehtonen. HOORAY!

To make things clear, I don’t believe that every fan should have the same point of view, that’d be boring. But I do believe that if you support a team, that you do some whole-heartedly and to me, that means every aspect of the team including the playing staff, the coaches, and the GM. Criticism is absolutely fine until it turns into you thinking you could do a better job than the person being critiqued can.

You know, Even when the Oilers were in the Decade of Darkness and I couldn’t stand watching Taylor Hall turn the puck over time and time again or not stick up for a teammate, when Jordan Eberle couldn’t buy a goal or when Justin Schultz would Jultz. I wanted them all out and I cursed the living daylights out of them but I still cheered when they scored because it meant something good for my team.

I’m sure that’s where most of the fans’ hearts are but a fan supports his/her team and everything about it because things could be worse… A lot worse… Like Buffalo Sabres worse…

Rant over. Fin!

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Oilers/Blues: Five Things We Learned After Game 19

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The Oilers have just lost 4-1 to the Western Conference-leading St.Louis Blues and I’d say I’m feeling a bit shortchanged…

The first period was perfect. It was intense and it was physical and it was all I could ask for apart from a few more goals. Another plus to the game was that Tarasenko didn’t score but after the first 20 minutes, the game went to shit for the Oilers.

I’d like to see the boys do something about being kept to the outside and being forced to play a perimeter game. Who is getting open for a shot in the offensive zone while Leon and Connor or Leon and Maroon are playing keep away along the boards? Is it time to move away from Patty on that first line LW?

Five Things We Learned

  1. Todd McLellan’s coaching decisions continue to baffle me.

    Jesse Puljujarvi was the best player on the ice tonight and for some reason, Todd McLellan decided that he wasn’t playing good enough to be on the 2nd line and demoted him to the bottom 6.

    WHAT THE F*CK TODD?!

    Puljujarvi had 3 shots and 4 hits (including a massive one on Jaskin) in 13 minutes of TOI.

    *Update: McLellan says that it wasn’t a demotion to be moved off of Nuge’s line. That 2nd line wasn’t going. I’m less angry knowing that.*

  2. Would someone put Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in touch with Jordan Eberle’s shooting coach?

    They might not hit the net but at least they’d be shooting, right?

    I just want to get into Connor’s head and see what he’s thinking when he decides to pass the puck instead of shooting it. This evening we know his decision to pass cost the team a goal against at least one time.

  3. Don’t worry too much about #2

    Leon’s disappearing act has become an annual thing. Watch, once he starts putting up the points, they’ll start coming in bunches. Remember how dry he went before the playoffs last year?

    As for Connor, he seems to be tossing up more multi-point games than consecutive games with points scored.

  4. Get Letestu off of the PP

    He’s done nothing to add to the power play this season so far. The rest of the league has caught on to the Oilers plan of attack with the man advantage. Get Cammalleri over there or even better put Puljujarvi on it.

  5. Mike Cammalleri will make a difference on that 3rd line and the PP

    Safe to say that for 35 years old, he can still move unlike the 34-year-old Jussi Jokinen. I liked what I saw from Camma tonight. He was engaged and got himself into the game with a couple of shots. Not only that but when he got hit from behind, the team jumped in to stick up for him.

    I wonder if we see him move up the lineup sooner than later. One game should never be used to judge but it’s something to build off of for him.

Is it time to get out the McBlender on the forwards? It looks like the players are far too comfortable right now and nobody is saying that they have to stay that way but the only offensive spark I’ve seen due to a roster change this season was Puljujarvi being called up.

Let’s try something like this for a game or two:

Maroon – McDavid – Caggiula
Cammalleri – Draisaitl – Puljujarvi
Lucic – RNH – Strome
Khaira – Letestu – Kassian

I liked Caggiula’s energy tonight but I hated the button hooks back into the Oilers zone in the 3rd period when the team was going for a goal. I think that Maroon, McDavid, and Caggiula had some success in the playoffs too. As for that 2nd line, Draisaitl would be flanked by two GREAT shooters so why not? I haven’t been too happy with Lucic’s performances but that’s how it goes with Milan. That said, putting him with RNH and Strome as the 3rd line shouldn’t hurt and we all know that Khaira, Letestu, and Kassian aren’t getting more than 9 minutes a night unless the Oilers are leading the parade to the penalty box.

I don’t know what to do with the defencemen. I really think that Benning is playing above his level and would be better suited on the 3rd pairing but as I’ve said in the past, Russell, Gryba, and Auvitu aren’t playing any better. That being said, if I had to, I’d probably choose Russell to move up to play with Oscar and have Benning paired up with Gryba.

COME BACK SOONER ANDREJ!!!

The Dallas Stars are next up and I’d have no problem starting Laurent Brossoit. I watched the last time they played and remember Radulov and Seguin being on their game whilst Benn was off of his. Let’s hope that they’re all off of their games and the Oilers win a good blue-collar game. I’d love nothing more versus a Ken Hitchcock-coached team 🙂

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Friedman Wonders If Edmonton and Toronto Could Be Trade Partners

“There’s no question the Oilers have been looking for offense and some speed,” noted Friedman. “Cammalleri is a quick guy and he’s got some speed. It’s not a surprise to me that they would make a move. I was wondering if they were going to look – I think I said it on your air last week – I was wondering if they would look at Toronto’s guys, like a Soshnikov or a Leivo.” – source

That quote comes from Friedman’s appearance on Sportsnet 360 on the same day the Cammalleri/Jokinen trade was broken and I’m pretty certain Friedman hates being “radio-ed” as Bob McKenzie calls it but if that’s the case, why would he bring those names up on such a big stage?

I think it’s because the Maple Leafs are shopping both Leivo and Soshnikov and what better way to do it than through one of the best channels in hockey.

Now, I have ZERO problems with either player.

I think that Soshnikov is a waterbug out there who isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty. He’s got the speed the Oilers could use and I think there’s some offense there too. He’s scored 12 pts in 14 games for the Maple Leafs AHL squad so far. I’ve loved watching him from the first time I seen him play. He’s a guy that can float throughout the lineup too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey1TCaH0W7Q

As for Josh Leivo, he’s too good for the minors and in 13 games last season, he scored 10 points for Toronto. He’s a big-bodied player at 6’2″ 210lbs who can move and has a history of contributing on the scoresheet.

At the moment, Toronto has Soshnikov on the 4th line RW and Leivo in the press box which surprises me because Dominic Moore and Matt Martin aren’t exactly lighting it up but to their defense, the rest of the team is playing (and scoring) well and it’s not like they would succeed in a higher role in the lineup.

Both players are RFAs at season’s end which means they are exactly the right kind of player for Peter Chiarelli. He loves him an RFA.

As far as I’ve heard, the Leafs are looking for defense at the NHL level and I’m not exactly sure which player off of the Oilers they’d accept that the Oilers would be willing to move. Is Kris Russell that guy? I mean Dion Phaneuf was a Maple Leaf player and captain for years but is Russell an upgrade on Borgman or Carrick?

Why’d they sign Polak?

Just for those asking, there’s zero chance that the Oilers trade Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, or Adam Larsson.

But looking at the Maple Leafs’ cap situation, they have ZERO cap space. Literally none. So perhaps picks and prospects would do it? But then you have to think about both teams 50-man lists. Edmonton is at 48 and Toronto is at 49…

Either team adding would need to be very careful in how they do it so that they don’t handcuff themselves for any potential trade deadline moves.

Either way, I like the way Friedman is thinking and I would welcome both Soshnikov and Leivo on the Edmonton Oilers as both players seem to be stuck in limbo on a deep Toronto Maple Leafs team.

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