For the love of Pete, I hope this works. My mac mini has been on the fritz for a good week or so now and has been preventing me from getting anything done which includes writing blogs about the Edmonton Oilers. That said, time away from writing and sitting in front of a computer screen allowed me the opportunity to focus on other things, like my lifelong passion for extreme ironing. You’d think ironing some clothes on the side of a cliff would be the dangerous part but it’s not. It’s the finding a place to plug the thing in that kills most…
So anyway, I apologize for leaving my regular readership hanging. I don’t think I’m out of the woods yet with the computer, but I’ll do my best in the meantime.
BAKERSFIELD UPDATE
Tomas Jurco made an immediate impact upon arriving in Bakersfield. He contributed to the Condors win over San Jose with two assists as he played on a line with Colby Cave and Kailer Yamamoto.
Over the last week, Bakersfield Condors left winger Tyler Benson had his first two-goal game in the AHL and then last night, he had his first three-goal game. He’s really starting to heat up and I’m thinking if he continues this sort of play, it won’t be long until he’s with the Oilers. Especially if players like Markus Granlund, Jujhar Khaira, and Patrick Russell continue to play as inconsistent as they have been.
Benson will have competition for that recall though as Kailer Yamamoto continues to play well for the Condors. Now, Yamo has a few desireable traits that the Oilers could use. Speed, a high work ethic, he’s fearless, he’s a great puckhandler, and he’s good along the boards and in the corner. When you put all of those together and combine that with his size, you might just have the perfect secret weapon for a team like the Oilers in that, at the moment, he’s drawing penalties at over one per game. Whereas players like McDavid and Draisaitl couldn’t pay the refs enough to call an infraction against them.
Kirill Maksimov tallied two assists against the San Jose Barracuda as well. I’ve been wondering when he’d show up. He’s been largely invisible this season whilst acclimatizing to the AHL. I do wonder how he’d do with a more skilled centerman to play alongside. No disrespect to Luke Esposito, but there’s a stark difference between him and say, Cooper Marody.
Caleb Jones is also performing very well (up to 10pts in 13 games) and he’s definitely in the mix for a call-up at some point. I would imagine that any recall to the big club will be predicated on Ken Holland moving a body or two and/or an unfortunate injury.
What I’m sort of dreaming of is the Oilers making the playoffs and then deploying a new “Kid Line” of Benson-McLeod-Yamamoto to wreak havoc on NHL defenses. I don’t know how that would compare to the Graves-Murphy-Gelinas line from back in 1990 though. A different time it was, but I do know that the 2019/20 version would feature speed, both offensive and defensive acumen, an innate ability to draw penalties, and an inner-drive that perhaps no other line on the team might have, save for the no.1 line. Someday it might be the perfect 3rd line for the Oilers.
The Next Ten Games
The first ten games of the 2019/20 season went quite well for the Oilers, more so at the start than the end, mind you. I predicted they’d go 6-4-0 and they ended up going 7-2-1. It’s not going to be as easy in these ten games, but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if they did better than anticipated.
10/24 Washington: 7-2-2 (h) – I like Washington here. Too much depth and firepower (LOSS) WIN
10/27 Florida: 4-2-3 (h) – If Barkov is still out, I’ll take the Oilers. (WIN) LOSS
10/28 Detroit: 3-7-0 (a) – It was a tough go in their first meeting, but I reckon Edmonton turns it up in Detroit for their GM. The first game in a B2B for the Oilers. (WIN) LOSS
10/29 Columbus: 4-3-2 (a) – Edmonton has had trouble with tough-checking teams so far but Columbus’ goaltending doesn’t impress me. The second game of the B2B for Edmonton. (WIN) WIN
11/2 Pittsburgh: 6-5-0 (a) – Crosby and co. are an intimidating bunch. I’ll go with a shootout loss here. (S/O LOSS) WIN
11/4 Arizona: 5-2-1 (h) – Coyotes are a lot deeper than years previous. (LOSS) LOSS
11/6 St. Louis: 4-2-3 (h) – The champs will give the Oilers are really hard time. However, the Blues will be on the latter half of a B2B. (LOSS) LOSS
11/8 New Jersey: 2-4-2 (h) – New Jersey’s defense and goaltending just isn’t coming together. The Devils will be playing the 2nd game of a B2B as well. (WIN) WIN
11/10 Anaheim: 6-4-0 (a) – John Gibson has been amazing and this team is rallying behind Dallas Eakins. These games are usually very intense and this one shouldn’t be any different. (WIN)
11/12 San Jose: 3-5-1 (a) – Martin Jones has completely lost the plot and Vlasic is coming up in trade rumors now? (WIN)
*Records as of October 24th, 2019.
Three Players to Watch for the Ducks
- #67 Rickard Rakell – It feels like this guy is always scoring against the Oilers and he’s only scored once on fifteen shots in the last five games… He’s probably due. The guy is an absolute goal-scoring predator.
- #53 Maxime Comtois – A star for Team Canada at the World Juniors, Comtois is an emerging power forward who can put the puck in the net. He’s got a real bite to his game like a larger David Perron. So he’ll fit right into Anaheim’s roster.
- #34 Sam Steel – Anaheim’s no.1 prospect has six points so far this season (all assists) and he’ll be looking for his first goal on the campaign. He’s a future top-6 pivot for the Ducks and by all accounts, he’s well on his way to achieving that. Steel is a very smart and skilled two-way center with outstandingly silky soft hands. The kid can make a play and anyone who watched him tear up the WHL for Regina knows this.
Here are Anaheim’s lines as they featured in their loss to Minnesota most recently. Of course, these are subject to change.
Comtois-Getzlaf-Terry
Rakell-Steel-Silfverberg
Ritchie-Henrique-Kase
Jones-Grant-Rowney
Lindholm-Gudbranson
Del Zotto-Fowler
Larsson-Holzer
Gibson
Three Players To Watch for the Oilers
- Gaetan Haas – Du Haas is on a bit of a roll here since getting recalled. Everyone was screaming for secondary scoring… Well, here it is. The speed and recklessness that he’s brought to the Oilers bottom-six has been refreshing but I am concerned with how healthy he might remain playing this style.
- Leon Draisaitl – The Cologne Crusher has four goals and four assists in as many games previous as you or I may have fingers on one hand or toes on one foot. To add to that, he tends to up his intensity vs. the Ducks.
- Alex Chiasson – He’s got a taste and he has a history of scoring in bunches similar to his linemate, James Neal. Let’s hope his goal in the last game vs. New Jersey is the start of a very good November.
The Oilers lines haven’t been posted yet but this is what they ran vs. New Jersey and were pretty successful with it. I can’t say whether or not there’s be changes unless Nygard is activated. So, in theory, this is what you can expect against Anaheim.
Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Neal-RNH-Chiasson
Khaira-Sheahan-Archibald
Granlund-Haas-P. Russell
Nurse-Bear
Klefbom-Persson
K.Russell-Benning
Koskinen
