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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

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Oilersnation

Ken Holland used all of his cap room and the Oilers still have the same problems

• He (Holland) wanted to bring in a dynamic difference-maker in the top-six. He wanted to solidify the third line centre role and add more depth to the bottom-six, and the Oilers needed more depth on their backend, too.
• He didn’t get Duncan Keith for free, but gave up Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick to take on the full two-year, $5.5-million cap hit he had. This was to help solidify the left-side.
• He re-signed Mike Smith to a two-year, $2.2-million deal. This was to solidify the goaltending spot.
• Weeks later, he moved Ethan Bear for Warren Foegele on the opening day of free agency. This was to address bottom-six depth.
• He signed Derek Ryan to a two-year, $1.25-million deal. This was to solidify the 3C role and add bottom-six depth.
• Edmonton started the year 9-1 posting a +17 goal differential looking like an absolute wagon. Since then, the wheels have fallen off entirely. In the 16 games since, the Oilers have gone 7-9 and a -6 goal differential.
• Smith has been injured virtually all season, Keith has looked average at best (and I think that’s generous) while Ryan has look like nothing as advertised.
• Things have not improved in Edmonton in terms of the depth of their roster. Even the additions of Hyman, Foegele and Ryan, on top of the emergence of Jesse Puljujarvi, haven’t been able to fill the void that’s been the Oilers depth.
• Some of this falls on the feet of Dave Tippett. He is, after all, the one tasked with not only deploying players in positions to succeed but getting the most out of them. I don’t know if he’s doing a great job of either.

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, the one thing that fans fail to realize is that not everything goes to plan. Do you think the Calgary Flames expected to shit the bed last year when they were trending up? How many of you had the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks competing for a playoff spot this year? Who saw the New York Rangers being this good so early in their “rebuild”? I mean, the Rangers have their key free agent signing, Barclay Goodrow, centering their 4th line right now. Imagine if Holland was deploying Zach Hyman on the 4th line, everybody in the Oilers media and blogosphere would be screaming to the high-heavens. 

Shit happens, life goes on.

We’re 25 games into the year and things are not looking great for Edmonton and with the amount of new additions to key spots, maybe it takes some time for the new guys to find their stride which can be tough to do if injuries come into play.

The good news is we’ve got 55-odd games left to play here and that’s plenty of time for the team to get healthy and pick up the pace, Picante. 

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

The Athletic

Oilers prospect Carter Savoie’s comparables and why he wasn’t selected for the world juniors

• So far this season, Savoie is in some rare air in terms of age-19 college scoring. Kyle Connor aside, no one is close in goals per game over the last decade and that’s a good thing.
• In October, Daniel Nugent-Bowman wrote about Savoie and his scoring ability for The Athletic. Among the key revelations were Savoie’s devotion to conditioning and nutrition. He is now stronger, quicker and a better skater and those improvements are showing up on the scoresheet nightly.
• Local players who went the NCAA route and then played for the Oilers include Geoff Smith, Brad Werenka, Mike Comrie and Fernando Pisani.
• Savoie’s comparables at this point in his career are both impressive (Jakob Silfverberg) and shy (Tyler Pitlick, Pierre Dagenais) of what the Oilers hope the young player will eventually deliver in the NHL.

BLH’s Thoughts: Savoie is not a big guy and he’ll need linemates with size, playmaking, and puck protection skills for him to be able to thrive at the professional level. That’s what they’re saying about Cole Caufield in Montreal and I believe he and Savoie are similar styled players. 

He can score a goal, but the NHL is a different beast for a little guy. I’m thinking at the very best, he should emulate Cam Atkinson and try his damnedest to clone his game.

Drafted in the 6th round, Atkinson, 5’8″ 176lbs, is a multiple 20-goal scorer, he’s got a stocky build but quick at the same time, and he’s a constant threat on the ice. This year he’s got 9g in 26 games for a struggling Flyers team, so another 20g season is on the docket for him. I mean, if you look at his stats, he’s never played a season where he wasn’t on pace for 20 in the years he didn’t reach that mark…

That’s the mark of a pure goal scorer and I’m of the belief that Carter Savoie is also of this vintage. He’ll be in Bakersfield in 2022, book it. 

https://youtu.be/Gka8nBZubsw?t=6

The Fourth Period

• The Fourth Period: List of the top 20 players that could be traded by the March 21st NHL trade deadline.

1. Evander Kane – LW – San Jose Sharks
2. Jake DeBrusk – LW – Boston Bruins
3. Dylan Strome – C/LW – Chicago Blackhawks
4. Ben Chiarot – LD – Montreal Canadiens
5. Anton Khudobin – G – Dallas Stars
6. Phil Kessel – RW – Arizona Coyotes
7. Calvin de Haan – LD/RD – Chicago Blackhawks
8. Travis Dermott – LD – Toronto Malpe Leafs
9. Joonas Korpisalo – G – Columbus Blue Jackets
10. J.T. Miller – LW – Vancouver Canucks
11. Reilly Smith – RW – Vegas Golden Knights
12. Travis Boyd – C – Arizona Coyotes
13. Alexandar Georgiev – G – New York Rangers
14. Anton Stralman – RD – Arizona Coyotes
15. Brett Kulak – LD – Montreal Canadiens
16. Rickard Rakell – RW/LW – Anaheim Ducks
17. P.K. Subban – RD – New Jersey Devils
18. Vitali Kravtsov – RW – New York Rangers
19. Vladimir Tarasenko – RW – St. Louis Blues
20. Marc-Andre Fleury – G – Chicago Blackhawks

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
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• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

The Hockey Writers

5 Troubling Stats From Oilers’ 5 Game Losing Streak

• Edmonton has surrendered the first goal in 14 of its last 17 games, going back to Nov. 5, which is two moreover that stretch than the next closest team, the Arizona Coyotes, who sit at the very bottom of the overall NHL standings.
• The Oilers have not held the lead for even as much as a single second during their losing streak. Over those 300 minutes of hockey, Edmonton has been tied for 44:01 (15 percent of the time) and trailed for 255:59 (85 percent).
• In the last four games, Draisatil has gone without a point three times, while McDavid has been pointless twice. In two of those games (against Carolina and Los Angeles), both players failed to record a goal or an assist.
• In the last four games, Edmonton has just five goals total and scored more than one goal only once. This after the Oilers had scored at least twice in 21 of their first 22 games.
• Edmonton has since gone 2/14 (14.3 percent) with the man-advantage and a ghastly 6/12 (50 percent) on the PK in losing four in a row at Rogers Place. After being scored on while shorthanded in only six of their first 22 outings, the Oilers have allowed at least one power-play goal in four consecutive games.

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, I know it’s shocking to find this out, but when a team is mired in a 5-game losing streak, they tend not to produce at the rate of a team on a 5-game winning streak. In fact, more often than not, on the stat sheets they’ll look like like a lottery team… 

So none of that information above should be a shock to anybody. 

Oilersnation

Random Thoughts: The Losing Streak, Firing Dave Tippett, Brendan Perlini, and more

• But as much as the lack of goal-scoring is undoubtedly an issue, the bigger problem I have is that the Oilers aren’t playing with any passion or grit in their game…
• …something needs to change immediately before the Oilers piss away all of the goodwill they built for themselves with the 9-1 start to the year.
• …even if Tippett does get fired, who would Holland choose as the replacement? While I think that Jay Woodcroft probably deserves a look based on his work down on the farm, I just wouldn’t bet against Holland going back to the well and bringing in a guy that’s been recycled and spit out at least a time or two at the NHL level. Would it be an upgrade to bring in Mike Babcock? Torts? Some other variation of the same 10 names we’ve seen over and over again?
• Brendan Perlini hit the waiver wire Tuesday morning to clear space for Devin Shore… seeing his name on the waiver wire was almost a little bit sad because of the high hopes we had for the guy after he lit up the pre-season like the second coming of Ty Rattie.

BLH’s Thoughts: For what it’s worth, the goodwill of that 9-1-0 start has already been pissed away considering the team has gone from first in the conference to clinging to a wildcard spot in a matter of a weeks. 

To put it in perspective, should the Oilers lose to Toronto on Tuesday and Vegas, Winnipeg, and/or San Jose beat their opponents, the Oilers could drop to tenth in the Western Conference… Maybe instead of getting jacked up to go to the Winter Olympics in China, the boys should take the time to recover from Tippett’s early season whippings…

Tell ya what, the Oilers “give a shit” meter has been much higher against the better teams than the shite ones. So I don’t know what games baggedmilk has been watching recently, but the only thing missing from Edmonton’s last three performances has been the goals and in my mind, once the IR becomes a little less congested, a full roster with that kind of effort will be rewarded with goals. 

Are we sure Woodcroft is the next great coach to graduate out of the AHL? Do you get that Jon Cooper feel from him? Bakersfield isn’t hitting it out of the park this year either but considering their starting goalie, their best dmen are in Edmonton and the fact that only their AHL vets are scoring, I suppose one could understand the struggles. 

I reckon when Holland decides on his next bench boss, he’ll be looking for candidates that have coached a team to the Cup final or won an NHL championship. I still have a feeling Joel Quenneville’s name will come up when the time comes but Mike Babcock and John Tortorella have Cups on their resume’s too… 

The Daily Goal Horn

• “In addition to Strome, there is a defenseman on this club who’s in the final year of his contract in Calvin de Haan,” Pagnotta said. “For teams looking to shore up their blueline and bring in somebody that can stabilize that backend, Calvin de Haan is going to be a player that a lot of teams are going to be looking at closer to that deadline.”
• Apparently, the Stars are looking to move 2020 playoff hero Anton Khudobin instead. That will keep Holtby with the young, Jake Oettinger.
• Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek noted Toffoli, Gallagher, Mike Hoffman, and Ben Chariot as all top candidates to be traded by Montreal.

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

Lowetide.ca

• The Oilers will stay the course, there’s nothing in the minors that can help and there’s no obvious trade to be made. The goaltending is my primary area to look at, although another scoring winger would seem to be a rising need. We don’t know how close Keith and Mike Smith are to returning, and Holland (plus Tippett) will want to see the entire team back together before proceeding with a move.
• Where will Edmonton be in the standings at that time? Don’t know. I do know they have played well enough to earn points in this losing streak, and that panic is the worst possible move from here.
• I would stay the course. I know that is the least popular opinion on the internet today. I’m a stubborn kind of fellow, that comes in handy at moments like this one.

BLH’s Thoughts: The Oilers are going to have to dig themselves out of this rut. The GM doesn’t fire coaches and trade prices will have doubled, so Holland won’t be trading his way out. 

With the impending returns of Mike Smith and Duncan Keith, you have to think their addition to the playing roster will provide some more juice. 

Also, Ken Holland still hasn’t really seen the roster he built this summer for any length of time because of those injuries and therefore he may just want to do that before heading into the trade market. 

But LT is right, the market is down and selling low would be the worst thing to do considering the potential for this team is still very high. 

Oilersnation

Off the Top of My Head

• … it’s now 19 games with no sniff for Foegele as the Hurricanes beat the suddenly wooden-handed Oilers 3-1.
• Leaning on Draisaitl and McDavid so much is a chicken-and-egg thing. Lack of scoring from the rest of the line-up and playing from behind, as the Oilers have done far too often, means Draisaitl and McDavid play more.
• McDavid is painting the most positive picture possible. Shuffling the same non-productive players into different spots in the line-up isn’t going to make a difference. If this continues, it’s over to you, Ken Holland.

BLH’s Thoughts: Exhaustion could be one reason why the PP is suffering. When you’re tired you’re more likely to make the safe play instead of the creative more unpredictable (riskier) one. 

The other day I talked about players feeling trusted by the coaches and how that goes a long way with how they perform and ya know, it’s weird, since Tippett has been starting the games with his 3rd line, there’s been more jump in the team’s forecheck. Foegele’s been part of that re-emergence and we all know that if you keep driving the blue paint and putting yourself out there, a goal will surely follow. 

Holland plays the long game ppl. He won’t be pressured into making a trade right now, in my opinion, and he’s rarely made any trades before the month of the trade deadline in his GM career.

So you can say, “Over to you Holland.” as much as you want, but history tells us that the coach is likely to stay and the players will be tasked with finding a way out of their funk. Smith and Keith returning should help with that… “Should” being the key word.

The Hockey Writer Rumors

• Friedman mentioned that GM Ken Holland wants to show McDavid and Draisaitl they’re going for it this season and when asked about the deadline on After Hours, Holland said they’ve got to win some games first, but he’d really like to be in a position to be a buyer.
• While a number of candidates have been mentioned in connection to the Canucks’ open GM position — current Seattle Kraken assistant GM Jason Botterill is one — another name that was mentioned by Friedman is Patrick Allvin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Friedman said, “One dark horse name to keep an eye on is Patrick Allvin from Pittsburgh. He worked with Rutherford with the Penguins and was the interim GM after left and before Ron Hextall took over.”
• Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that news from the NHL that the salary cap is likely to jump again just ahead of the 2024-25 NHL season is good news for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks. While the cap is only expected to increase by $1 million next season, the big jump comes after the escrow debt is paid off by the players which is projected to be just ahead of the 2024-25 NHL season.

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

Oilersnation

Edmonton Oilers targeting goaltending, left-defence and a third-line centre in trade

• According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers are reportedly preparing to target goaltending, the left-side of the defence and a third-line centre in a trade.
• Friedman noted that the Oilers and Ken Holland wanted to send a message to stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that they are willing to go all-in after what was a red hot start to the season.
• The team has money tied up in some underperforming players like Tyson Barrie and Zack Kassian, amongst others, and one has to wonder if they are players that could be dealt to fill some other holes.
• In terms of goaltending, Koskinen and his $4.5-million cap hit could theoretically be moved to generate some cap space if a goaltender was coming back the other way.

BLH’s Thoughts: Look, I don’t think there’s a lot to say right now. Obviously Holland is looking but with every loss, the price goes up. Nobody is going to do him a favor. In fact, he’s probably going to have to do somebody else one. 

But for fun, I’ll list my three preferred trade targets and if you want, you can tell me your three on Twitter @beerleagueheroe.

• Ben Chiarot (MTL), LD – the team is desperate for somebody who can shut things down from the left side and push Duncan Keith down to the third pair.
• Marc-Andre Fleury (CHI), G – If Holland is going to go out and find himself a goalie, he might as well grab the best one available. Hopefully Edmonton’s little bump in the road and Chicago’s resurgence under Derek King wouldn’t hinder the sell job Ken Holland wound need to make to convince MAF to go to Edmonton. 
• Radek Faksa (DAL), C – This Czech center has a 57.7% win rate on the dot. He’s a defense-first center and when he’s shooting at his career avg (10%), he’s good for ten or more goals a year and he’s only 27yrs old. 

All three players have been to the Stanley Cup final in the last five years if I’m not mistaken. 

This is my wish list, don’t ask me how Holland would even attempt to get it done. But it is what it is. 

Cult of Hockey

Dave Tippett staying the course with Edmonton Oilers’ line combos despite diminishing offensive returns

• It’s gotten so bad in recent times that half way through their season-long 6-game home stand the Oil haven’t scored as many as 5 goals in total. In 180 minutes before the home faithful, the Oilers have mustered a mere 4 goals, just 1 of them at even strength. That’s… not good.
• The actual bottom six? It’s not pretty, folks.
  • Zack Kassian, 4 goals on the season (21 GP), and just 1 in his last 17 games — that coming when he was briefly put on McDavid’s wing
  • Ryan McLeod, 3 goals on the season (17 GP), no points in his last 7 games
  • Warren Foegele, 2 goals on the season (25 GP) and none in his last 18 GP
  • Derek Ryan, 1 goal on the season (22 GP) and not a single point in his last 20 games
  • Devin Shore, 1 goal all season (10 GP)
  • Kyle Turris, 1 goal all season (15 GP)
  • Colton Sceviour, Tyler Benson and Brendan Perlini, 0 goals and just 1 point in a combined 40 games.

BLH’s Thoughts: Now, when you look at that group of NHLers, which one(s) should we be expecting to score goals aside from Warren Foegele? Not a lot of snipers on that list, are there? So, should we blame them? Have we looked at goals from the blueline yet? Darnell Nurse is on pace for 4 goals, he has one currently… 

The whole apple is rotten right now people! From the core on out. Except for Puljujarvi. That guy is a saint and anybody who thinks differently is probably going to Hell when they die. A special kind of Hell too where they have to block Puljujarvi’s slapshots in the nude for eternity.

Whoa! Harsh… I gotta relax… 

Anyways, the cavalry ain’t coming before Christmas, so we’re just going to have to wait for the apple tree to grow us some better apples. Whatever that means. 

Well, the good news is that the run and gun Toronto Maple Leafs are up next. Maybe they’ll try to go toe-to-toe with the Oilers and maybe Jack Campbell will have a bad night… This is where we’re at folks, we’re hoping the other team shits the bed so the Oilers can win a game… Not good. And the only way Dave Tippett is getting the axe is if Darryl Katz walks into Ken Holland’s office and tells him to. 

Spector’s Hockey

• CALGARY HOCKEY NOW: Steve Macfarland wondered if Jake DeBrusk will flourish with another team in the same way Sam Bennett’s has since the Calgary Flames traded him to the Florida Panthers last season.
• PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dan Kingerski reports Ryan Bowness, the Penguins Director of Pro Scouting, attended Evander Kane’s first game with the AHL’s San Jose Barracudas on Saturday. Scouts from the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars were also in attendance.
• VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Owen Krepps recently suggested moving Evgenii Dadonov would make the most sense for the Vegas Golden Knights to free up sufficient salary-cap space when Jack Eichel returns to action in February.

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

Edmonton Sun

Oilers can’t chase down Hurricanes in 3-1 loss

• The Hurricanes didn’t overwhelm the Oilers but they were faster, more opportunistic and Freddie Andersen was better than Koskinen, who made a series of big stops but looked like he wanted Niederreiter’s back (off his arm), and the last one by Aho was a freak play.
• Tippett shook the lines up when they dug themselves the 2-0 hole, putting Ryan McLeod in the 2C hole when Leon Draisaitl moved onto Connor McDavid’s line, and slid Nugent-Hopkins in with the third-line bangers Foegele and Zack Kassian.
• McDavid, who played just 11:30 in the first two periods, got a whopping 10:36 in the third, two fewer seconds than Draisaitl.
• Hyman appeared to hurt his right shoulder when hit by Brady Skjei late in the third.
• Bear got nice video tribute and a standing ovation from the crowd, with Bear choking back tears as he sat on the bench early in the first period.
• Keith, unavailable since Nov. 23, missed his eighth straight game, but he did skate with main group Saturday morning and was moving well. Bet on him playing Tuesday when Maple Leafs are here.
• Goalie Mike Smith also took shots Saturday, but his return is still up in the air.
• Kyle Turris and Tyler Benson were the Oiler forward scratches.

BLH’s Thoughts: It would be a shame if Hyman went down with the same injury as Kris Russell. A couple weeks without that kind of work ethic would be very noticeable, but at the same time, maybe Warren Foegele would get a promotion. 

I had one friend say to me that he thinks the Oilers miss Keith’s demand for on-ice accountability. I suppose we’ll see when he returns to the lineup. 

It was good to see Bear back in Edmonton, but he had a pretty shit night on the stats sheet in his ten minutes of ice time 5v5,

CF% Rel: -16.18
FF% Rel: -23.81
GF% Rel: -100
xGF% Rel: -42.44
SCF% Rel: -16.71
HDCF% Rel: -48.48

He was under the weather too. So we’ll cut him some slack this time.

Warren Foegele, on the other hand, had himself an excellent night. 

CF% Rel: 13.26
FF% Rel: 14.58
GF% Rel: 100
xGF% Rel: 16.43
SCF% Rel: 5.61
SF% Rel: 8.08

So that trade looks pretty good for Ken Holland from that small sample size.

These last three games I’ve come away disappointed that Edmonton couldn’t muster up more offense but I haven’t been angry about the efforts. The Oilers have been in the games more or less and as I’ve said before, if the work ethic is there, the fans will understand (to an extent). If they take nights off, the fans will light the arena on fire. 

That said, five loses in a row and four of those being on home ice, the Oilers did leave the ice to a chorus of boos last night… I’m surprised nobody was chanting, “WE WANT SIX! WE WANT SIX!”

https://twitter.com/BeerLeagueHeroe/status/1469904860187602944

Oilersnation

Make it five straight losses as Oilers fall 3-1 to the Hurricanes

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pulled the Oilers back to within a single goal (2-1) with a quick snapshot inside the post after Jesse Puljujarvi hit him with a stretch pass that put him in alone on a chance he buried cleanly.
• Had it not been for Kostco, especially in the second period, this game could have easily been out of reach long before the final buzzer sounded and I wanted to give him some props for the effort. Bust his balls all you want for the third goal, but there is no doubt in my mind that he was one of the best Oilers tonight.
• Markus Niemelainen was credited with 10 hits…
• The Oilers have given up the first goal in 14 of their last 17 games.
• I don’t have the exact number for how many times the Oilers passed up a quality chance to shoot the puck but whatever the number is is way too high.
• Make that five games in a row where Kailer Yamamoto doesn’t have a shot on net.
• Make it 10 straight games without a goal from the fourth line.

BLH’s Thoughts: That pass from Jesse to Nuge was almost a carbon copy of the one he got from RNH earlier in the year. Sublime!

I don’t think Koskinen was the problem last night either. He had a really decent evening aside from two goals that were more or less out of his control. You’d have liked him to have one of those shots but it is what it is and the Oilers had at least FIVE clear chances to score, three of those wide open nets where an Oilers skater failed to even hit the net. So Mikko did his job, can that same be said for the guys responsible for scoring the goals?

I think we it would be unfair to ignore the performance by Frederik Andersen. He still has Edmonton’s number and it’s very irritating. 

The Hockey Writers Rumors

• Previous reports by insiders suggested the Flyers were going to be cautious about how much money that would have tied up in their coaching staff because they’re still being forced to pay Alain Vigneault $5 million for the next two seasons. Word was they weren’t going to go after an expensive option.
• According to Steve Greeley of Daily Faceoff, there’s some talk that the New York Rangers might be thinking about tacking on an extra year to a contract extension offer in an attempt to get Ryan Strome’s annual average salary down a little bit.
  • Greeley says the Rangers might be looking at Charlie Coyle (six years at $5.25 million) and Phillip Danault (six years at $5.5 million) as comparables but Strome’s agents are likely thinking more in the area of Brayden Schenn’s eight years at $6.5 million and Kevin Hayes’ seven years at $7.14 million.
• He (Jeff Marek) says, “Much like (Brendan) Gallagher, if the Habs go the teardown and rebuild model, does (Tyler) Toffoli want to be part of it at this stage of his career? This is not what he signed up for when he joined the Habs.”