I wanted to talk a bit about Ken Holland’s presser but life has jumped in the way and it’s 2:30am here in Taipei. Add to that, we’re going to brave this Coronavirus thing and head to Costco in the morning to stock up. So I’m just going to keep this short before the preview.
It’s gonna be a quiet trade deadline in my opinion. I feel like Holland more or less made that known during his press conference yesterday. The timing of the injuries forced the team to call up a whole whack of players from Bakersfield and that has removed what little salary cap room he thought he had to work with. I figure he’ll try to add somebody to the bottom-6 that will make it more of a threat offensively OR someone who can clean up on the faceoff dot. It won’t be sexy and a ton of fans will be pissed off about it.
My boy Puljujarvi won’t be moving, but that’s no surprise. We’ve known that since the summer. He’s playing right now and has two points so far. One more point and he’ll be tied for the SM-Liiga scoring lead!
PULJUJARVI!!!
What a wrister!
The skating is looking A-OK!!!@nielsonTSN1260 https://t.co/hDd9pf9ecE
— B.L.H. (Edmonton Oilers Blogger) (@BeerLeagueHeroe) February 21, 2020
Three Players to Watch for the Wild
- #19 Luke Kunin – It’s taken some time for this player to emerge but this season he’s done just that and is now the team’s 2nd line center. He’s a volume shooter (118 shots this yr) in my opinion and a dangerous one at that with his 13 goals. He should come close to 20 goals this year and in this day and age, that’s a good hockey player. Man, do I miss the 80s…
- #27 Alex Galchenyuk – This guy eh? He’s had some fantastic linemates in his career and has failed to do anything with them. I want to keep an eye on him tonight because he’s going to have that fresh coat of paint on him and a little kick from the trade. He might be a threat because of that.
- #22 Kevin Fiala – Here’s Minny’s real scoring threat. This guy has six points in his last five games according to Daily Faceoff dot com. He’s second on the team in scoring this year with 39pts. He’s a very quick and darty player with very skilled hands.
Sannsynlige rekker:
Parise – Staal – Fiala
Galchenyuk – Kunin – Zuccarello
Foligno – Ek – Greenway
Donato/Rask – Koivu – HartmanSuter – Spurgeon
Brodin – Dumba
Soucy – Hunt/PaterynStalock
— Minnesota Wild Norge 🇧🇻 (@WildNorge) February 21, 2020
Three Players to Watch for the Oilers
- #15 Josh Archibald – I’m loving this player more and more with every passing game. He’s exactly what this team has needed since Matt Hendricks was let go. I’m glad the Oilers are looking to re-sign him for another couple of seasons. His heart, tenacity, and fearlessness are of the utmost importance to this team.
- #39 Alex Chiasson – It’s about that time for Chaser to pop one in. He’s been snakebitten for a while now and I feel like the hockey gods are gonna give him a goal for his efforts soon. And no, I will not be listening to those that tell me that this is par for the course for this player. I know that he scores most of his goals early in the year and fades hard as the season progresses…
- #19 Mikko Koskinen – Bill Burr’s enormous doppelganger has been playing quite well recently. If I’m not mistaken, I think he’s got a SV% hovering around .920-ish in his last five starts. I don’t expect this game to be a barn-burner, so is it not reasonable to expect his SV% to continue its pace?
No lines have been posted yet but it sounds like the Oilers are going with the same defense as the last game (Nurse/Bear, Jones/Larsson, Lagesson/Benning). No McDavid tonight but he’s been skating with the main group lately, so perhaps on the weekend we’ll see him. She’s a bit touch and go with him at the moment though. Stay tuned!
The Next Ten Games (61-70)
- vs. Minnesota Wild (28-24-7) – Edmonton is 0-2 against the Wild this year and it’s about time the Oilers beat Bill Guerin’s boys. (WIN)
- @ Los Angeles Kings (22-34-5) – I have to say, the Kings are a dangerous team right now. They have nothing to lose and can spoil a lot of teams’ seasons. The Oilers have won 2/3 this year against their old coach but Connor McDavid might be back in this one. Keep an eye out to see if anybody out of the ordinary is sitting for this one because the next day is the trade deadline. (WIN)
- @ Anaheim Ducks (24-29-7) – Last time out the Oilers put up six on Dallas Eakins’ Ducks. I expect Edmonton to equal that this time around and who knows how the roster will look as this is the game that follows the trade deadline. (WIN)
- @ Vegas Golden Knights (32-22-8) – The Golden Knights record might hover around Edmonton’s but I feel like this team is a bit better on paper plus this is the second game in a back-to-back. (LOSS)
- vs. Winnipeg Jets (32-25-5) – Big Buff sank this team when he decided he wasn’t going to play but the Jets have stuck in the race the whole season pretty much. You have to love the heart! (LOSS)
- @ Nashville Predators (29-23-7) – I think the Oilers can sweep the season series with Nashville. The Preds defense isn’t what it used to be and there seems to be a bit of a dark cloud floating over the team at the moment. Pekka Rinne has hit a wall too… (WIN)
- @ Dallas Stars (35-19-6) – Edmonton and Dallas have each won one game-a-piece against each other this season so far. This will be the rubber match and I like Dallas here. (LOSS)
- @ Chicago Blackhawks (26-26-8) – Going into Chicago to play the Blackhawks is never an easy task and the Oilers have always had a tough time winning in the Windy City. (LOSS)
- vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (30-19-3) – Edmonton is 21-8-0 at home vs. Columbus all-time. It’s hard to argue with those numbers, right? On the other hand, John Tortorella has his team right in the running for a playoff spot in the East. This game should be a war of attrition to see who comes away with the two points. (WIN)
- vs. Vegas Golden Knights (32-22-8) – I like Edmonton’s chances at home against the Golden Knights. History tells us they have a better chance at beating them in Edmonton than in Vegas. (WIN)
(Standings as of February 21st, 2020)
