Hey y’all! Welcome back for another season of Edmonton Oilers hockey! I’m BLH and I’ll be giving you the skinny on today’s game!

If you’re new here and are wondering what 3P2W means, well, it stands for Three Players to Watch and seeing I’m as lazy as I am, I figured we’d shorten it to 3P2W.

So with that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about what’s been going on lately in the Oilogospehere and then get into the player’s I’ve put under the spotlight for tonight’s matchup!

Random Pontifications

• Stauff says that the Oilers have targeted a bottom-six player who can play a middle-six role and that leads me to wonder who’s on his way out? It’d have to be Foegele right? They’ve been trying to move him for a couple of seasons with no luck but with the cap going up next season, maybe they’ll have an easier time. However, why would they? Especially if he plays well with Holloway and McLeod.
• Speaking of bottom-sixers, the Leafs apparently wanted to swap Sam Lafferty for Vincent Desharnais according to Elliotte Friedman. Lafferty is in the final year of a 2yr deal paying him $1.15M per.

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Three Players to Watch for the (team)

• #43 Quinn Hughes – Defensively, you’re not paying a lick of attention to this guy but offensively he can kill and team on his own. He had 70+ points last year and I think there’s a good chance he could get over 80pts this year, possibly upwards of 90 if everything breaks for him.
• 72 Anthony Beauvillier – Such a good middle-six forward. He’s quite well-rounded in my opinion and a bit of a throwback. I think a lot of people forget about him and then, BAM! He’s scored a goal or rocked somebody with a big check. He’s got some pest in his game, so we’ll see how aggravating he is tonight.
• #17 Filip Hronek – I can’t for the life of me figure out why the Red Wings dumped this guy. He’s pretty fairly priced for a top-4 dman, a quality puck mover,  and good for at least 40pts if he can stay off the IR. You gotta wonder if playing with forwards like Pettersson, Kuzmenko, Miller, and Boeser might see him hit career hights in 23/24?

I reckon the Canucks are in tough to win this one tonight. The Oilers’ depth is much better than Vancouvers but two possibilities ring out for me with regards to Rick Tocchet’s men taking the two points,

• Demko (or whoever is playing net) goalies Edmonton. The Oilers get stunned by a sharp goalie more often than you’d think.
• The Oilers shit the bed on the PK. They took quite a few penalties in preseason I noticed and with Hughes, Pettersson, and Kuzmenko running the PP, I think it’d be daft to underestimate this scenario.

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

• #55 Dylan Holloway – He’s my pick to take the biggest step forward developmentally for the Oilers this season. He’s got the speed, strength, chaos, he’s a tough SOB, shoots very well, he drives the net Glenn Anderson-style, and most importantly, this will be his second year in the NHL. If you’ve studied his career statline, he always starts slow but then picks it up in a big way after a
• #86 Philip Broberg – Broseph needs to make an impact early. I liked his skating and playmaking in the preseason and I didn’t see him put himself in danger (positionally) on his track backs. If he plays well this year it might not be enough to save him at the trade deadline, but you kind of hope Ken Holland doesn’t continue a dark dirty tradition with the Oilers. That being the club moving on from a young player right before he’s about to pop.
• #28 Connor Brown – I wasn’t impressed with Brown’s preseason. In more games than not I didn’t even notice him until the 3rd period. He’s in a pretty good position though, all he has to do is get 40pts and the signing will be a success. Personally, I’m pessimistic about him and all this talk about him and 97 rekindling their junior magic… Give me a break! I’d rather see the Oilers give McDavid a right proper goal-scoring winger at the sacrifice of somebody down the lineup.

The Oilers are already starting the year unhealthy with Ekholm, Kulak, and McLeod hardly taking part in preseason. The odds on Stuart Skinner regressing are very good as goalies who’ve been nominated for the Calder trophy almost ALWAYS eat shit the following season. So that leaves the club with the ever-reliable Jack Campbell to guide them to the post-season and I tell ya, if he’s not the leading candidate for the Ty Rattie award, I don’t know who is.

As for tonight’s game, Edmonton should be able to take this one without breaking a sweat. They’re simply out of Vancouver’s league in terms of skill, scoring depth, and team toughness.

Oh! One more thing, keep an eye on Vinnie Desharnais tonight. He’s a very good policeman on the ice and the coaches love him but his puckhandling and passing in the preseason was ECHL level… Facking brutal…

The Next Twelve Games (#2-#13)

• 10/14 vs. Canucks – I think the Oilers will take 2/2 vs. Vancouver to start the year. (W)
• 10/17 @. Predators – The Pred don’t scare me. Their roster is in shambles. Poor Jusse Saros and Roman Josi. (W)
• 10/19 @ Flyers – Their forward group looks entertaining but they’ve got nobody on defense. (W)
• 10/21 vs. Winnipeg – The Jets are always a tough out. I like their chances. (L)
• 10/24 @ Wild – Minny isn’t as good as they used to be but still very solid. (W)
• 10/26 vs. Rangers – I like NY’s defense and goaltending here. (L)
• 10/29 vs.Flames – Calgary is going to surprise a few this year. (L)
• 11/2 vs. Stars – This will be a very tight game. (W)
• 11/4 vs. Predators – Leon will continue to light the Preds up. (W)
• 11/6 @ Canucks – I’ll take Edmonton for a third time here, Alex. (W)
• 11/9 @ Sharks – I don’t even recognize half the names on SJ’s roster… (W)
• 11/11 @ Kraken – I like Seattle’s roster. Well-rounded. (L)

The date of publication on these predictions is 10/11/2023 and I stand here to say that I think the Oilers will take 16pts out of a possible 24. Let’s see how we do!