Better Safe Than Sorry (Updated)

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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Lowetide.ca

IRRATIONAL HATRED AND YOUR TEAM’S DRAFTING

If you look around the league, most of the scoring leaderboards are populated by top-10 overall selections. Oh sure Brad Marchand beat the odds, but guys like Alex DeBrincat are rare. That’s one reason Kailer Yamamoto represents a draft victory, a change in long held bias, and the season to come is an important one for him.
Lots of media reports about Holloway’s hand/thumb injury and how things might impact. Previous drafts tell us that player and organization have to be careful, there’s a laundry list (led by Doug Lynch) of prospects getting derailed by it.
On the other hand, the Holland Oilers did the same thing with Kailer Yamamoto in the summer/fall of 2019 (he didn’t play any preseason games, first time he dressed came in Bakersfield on October 4, 2019). We could see the same kind of handling with Holloway. Better safe than sorry.

BLH’s Thoughts: Better safe than sorry? I think that’s how every prospect should be handled, don’t you? I want Dylan Holloway to be an impact NHLer when he arrives and that means he should be more physically and mentally mature. He should start the year in Bakersfield and I think he should play the whole year there and come up to Edmonton next season because “better safe than sorry”. He’s not the only one either, Philip Broberg, Dmitri Samorukov, Rafa Lavoie, Ilya Konovalov, they all should be slow-brewed for another year or two before beginning their NHL careers in Edmonton.

I mean, wouldn’t you rather have your prospects in a position to be impact players upon arrival as opposed to having to struggle alongside them as they find their feet at that level?

Can you imagine how much better the Edmonton Oilers would’ve been in the decade of darkness had they simply embraced a more risk averse player development strategy?

Oil on Whyte

Parallels to the New York Islanders

1. Both originated in some fashion from the WHA (World Hockey Association)

The Oilers were one of the four teams that were moved over to the NHL after the WHA went broke – the rest being the Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques.
… the Islanders were an expansion team that came into the league in 1972, and although they didn’t come directly from the WHA like the Oilers did, they came in response to the threat of a WHA expansion team after the WHA had plans to place it’s New York Team there (they were going to call it the Raiders).

2. Both franchises were the last two NHL dynasties

Unless you consider the Detroit Red Wings winning three cups in six years – which frankly I don’t – as a dynasty then the Islanders and the Oilers were the last two great NHL dynasties.
The Islanders won five straight cups between 1979-1983, losing to the Oilers in the 1984 Cup finals, which at the time unbeknownst to anyone else was a passing of the torch. The Oilers, after winning in ’84, would go on to win in ’85, ’87, ’88, and 1990. Five cups in seven years.

3. Both franchises have suffered from ownership issues in recent years

The New York Islanders have arguably had two bad owners. The first one was John Spano, a guy who owned the Islanders briefly for about nine months, he ended up going to prison for fraud after it was revealed he intentionally and grossly overestimated his net worth in his paperwork filed with the NHL.
The second one was subsequent owner Charles Wang, who consistently went through many GM changes due to the fact that he insisted on meddling in their jobs, and history has shown us that hands-on owners in the NHL never work out.
For the Oilers, their bad owner was their first one – Peter Pocklington.
…long story short due to a combination of things both within and outside of his control, his business empire started crumbling in the late 80s and early 90s. In his early years in business, he seemed to be ethical, conducting business on the level, but as time went on greed seemed to take over in his decision making.

4. Both franchises at one point had the two oldest arenas in the league, only to secure new ones or have them open soon.

The Oilers got the downtown arena they’d been crying out for for years in 2016 when Rogers Place opened…
The Islander’s new arena is slated to open this November, six weeks into the NHL season…

5. Lots of players have suited up for both teams

The Oilers have traded away lots of players to Long Island, and have managed to snag some sweet trades from there as well. Among the notable players who have played for both teams through direct signings or trades – Jordan Eberle, Tommy Salo (thanks, mad Mike), Robert Nilsson, and Janne Niinimaa.

6. Both teams are currently playoff contenders

The Islanders have been this for much longer than the Oilers have, but at this point, I’d say both teams are currently capable of winning a playoff series.

BLH’s Thoughts: Given that the Islanders have been to the conference finals two seasons in a row only to lose to the Stanley Cup winners and prior to that they were eliminated in the second round, I also think they are capable of winning a playoff series…

But seriously, if Ken Holland can construct a team that is capable of doing that sort of damage in the post-season, I reckon it’s only a matter of time until Connor McDavid is hoisting the Cup. No disrespect to Mikko Koskinen or Mike Smith, Edmonton’s netminding could be what is holding them back right now. It’s simply not as good as the Islanders’.

Various NHL Rumors

NHLRumors.com

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Ottawa Senators RFA forward Logan Brown hasn’t signed the Senators qualifying offer and hopes to be traded. Things haven’t worked out well of late for Brown and the Senators and it may be best if both sides move on.

Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic: Have the sense that if the Capitals were going to trade Evgeny Kuznetsov this offseason they would have done so by now.

NHLTradeRumors .me

Jake Gardiner is going to have hip surgery. Due to this, he will be placed on long-term injured reserve by the Carolina Hurricanes. He will now be out for at least the beginning of the season.

NHLTradeRumor.com

Shawn Simpson of TSN 1200 reports frustration has set in with the Brady Tkachuk camp. Brady is trying to stay positive, but doesn’t understand why it’s taking so long. I asked what has been offered, and it was termed they have not received a legitimate offer from the Sens… An offer sheet is always possible.

Nicolas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com reports the Golden Knights still need a No. 1 center… Vegas will likely start the season with the lineup projected below and likely make a move for a #1 center at some point during the season or at the 2022 NHL trade deadline.