We’ve all seen some gorgeous Oilers jersey concepts over the years but this from concept artist @dylannowkart (give him a follow if you dig sports concept art!) from Instagram takes the cake. I love the white aways the most and hope the Oilers would be willing to make these sharp subtle changes to their unis for next season.
Admittedly I’d be a bit pissed because I just dropped $300 on a Draisaitl away jersey but I’d probably be willing to do it again for this design. It’s bloody outstanding!
To see all of the designs (home and away) hover your mouse over the image and an arrow pointing to the right will appear. You won’t be disappointed!
By now everyone has heard the Chiarelli interview that was conducted by TSN insider Bob MacKenzie. If you have been in a coma for the last week or just haven’t gotten around to watching it yet you really should. There is some really great stuff in there. It will give a small insight into the mind of the general manager and hints at the direction that he plans to take this team.
The part of the interview that pertains to what we are discussing today is when Bobby Mac asks about Leon and Darnell making the team this fall. This is what he replied.
Chiarelli: “We have to see how they do. They are two fine prospects, with size and skill you just don’t find anywhere. I still really believe size matters in this league. We’ll see. We’re going to try Leon on the wing and we’re going to try him, he protects the puck so well, we’ll try him at both (wing and center). Darnell is so strong, he defends so well. He’s an energetic player, we have to teach him you don’t have to do six things, if you do three very well, you can do the other three later. He’s got some stuff to learn but there’s a lot to like there.”
From that we can infer that the boys are going to have a legitimate shot to make the team and they will not be sent to Bakersfield just for the sake of “development”. Prospects of their caliber have the capability of learning on the fly a lot quicker than a lesser player. I’ve already made my arguments for which way I think things will go with Darnell Nurse and that piece is available at Just Oil, a website of my own creation, but what will the team do with Leon Draisaitl?
There was a ton of talk about why Draisaitl was getting to play all three games at the recently finished Young Stars tournament out in Penticton. I seen some comments that the team didn’t Leon had shown enough in his two previous outings and others still that assumed it was because of the teams intent to let him shift to the wing for at least part of training camp. Obviously neither theory proved to be right when it was confirmed that Leon was in fact playing in the third game because of an injury Mitch Moroz suffered to his hand in the first game against the Canucks.
As close as we are now to training camp, we can expect the chatter to heat up about any player that isn’t a guaranteed lock for the NHL roster. The story for Leon will play out in its own good time and eventually we will see what the Oilers staff has decided to do with them. With that being said, who wants to wait to see what the Oilers will do? I sure as hell don’t! I want to pull on my armchair GM cap and make the decision for them.
What would I do if I was the man leading the Oilers charge back to the playoffs? Well son, pull up a chair, slap a Canucks fan and sit your ass down and listen and I’ll tel you exactly what I will do! I freely admit I am not the smartest man in the world but I can guarantee that I am very far from the dumbest as well. It doesn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to know that there are relatively few spots that are open to competition amongst the forwards group. Hall, Eberle, McDavid, Nuge and Pouliot are virtual locks for top six work with the final candidate probably being one of Teddy Purcell and Nail Yakupov.
So where does Leon fit into the picture then? If he is to make this team it will have to be in the bottom six. The only scenario that I see Leon making the team is if Todd McLellan would prefer to put Yakupov in the top six and move Purcell to the left of Anton Lander. This would allow Draisaitl to take the third line right wing position and move recently acquired Lauri Korpikoski down to the fourth line with Matt Hendricks and Mark Letestu.
This combination of forwards would give us two lines that an absolutely tear it up and a third that while not as offensively gifted as the first two lines will be a more defensively responsible trio. Add to that the fourth line that can take on the heavy work and tougher defensive zone starts and there might actually be the beginnings of a real NHL forward group.
I have no illusions of any players that are eligible for UFA status next summer being retained. Purcell, Nikitin and Scrivens among others, will all either be moved at the deadline or allowed to walk for nothing in July. This is why I say we have the beginnings of a NHL quality forward group. We all know there will be turnover between now and then but it will be minimal.
What would everyone think if the lines for opening night in St. Louis was Pouliot/Nuge/ Eberle, Hall/McDavid/Yakupov, Purcell/Lander/Draisaitl and Hendricks/Letestu/Korpikoski? Any other combination of players involved and I don’t see how Leon can possibly be on the team. If McLellan prefers to put Purcell on third line right wing then there really isn’t any room for the big German.
What do you all think? Leon on the team for October 8th or will he be leading the charge in Bakersfield to start? I want to hear from you! Leave me a comment here or get at me on Twitter, @justoil78. If you liked what you read please visit Cooke Designs and buy one of our beautiful shirts! Thanks for reading!
There are seventeen days between now and the official opening of the 2015/16 season. The young stars tournament held annually in Penticton to me are when things really start to get exciting. This is our first chance to see some of these budding young players in actual games with physical contact. More importantly this is the first time we will get to see Connor McDavid play against someone other than his own teammates in a non-contact game. While I am not discounting his 5 goal performance in the Billy Moores cup it was just a prospect game which obviously presents little in the way of a challenge for Connor.
Thinking about Penticton and all the excitement that will surround the bustling little city gets me to thinking of all the Oilers firsts that we are going to witness this coming season, both for young McJesus and the Oilers in general. The first goal of the season, the first multi-point and multi-goal games of the year. The first time we see hats rain from the sky in celebration. The first pugilistic event of the season, good or bad it’s going to happen soon enough people. The first time the boys bring home the clean sheet and how long into the season will we be forced to wait to see the boys in blue victorious? One final thought I just had, hopefully not the final one ever by the way, was will the Oilers be the first team in NHL history to have four 1st overall picks score for one team in one game? Wouldn’t that be something to see!
That’s a lot of season highlights and they could all happen within the first two to three weeks of the season if things break right finally for these boys. With all the excitement that this train of thought is giving to Oilers fans the world over it is time to make some predictions. I want to hear from as many of you as possible too. Let’s all make our best guesses o all the topics above. The prize will be nothing more than bragging rights but you will get to hold your head high knowing that you somehow pulled a guess out of your ass that actually turned out to be true. I know if I am right I plan to laud it over everyone for as long as I possibly can and if not then I will erase all trace of this conversation having taken place and vehemently deny any and all predictions.
With that being said let’s get down to business and start with the guessing.
First goal of the season/ first goal for Connor McDavid
The first goal of the season will come in St. Louis on October 8th. I think everyone knows that by now. If you don’t then what the hell man? You really need to straighten out your priorities! As you can see I added in McDavid’s first goal as well because 95% of the excitement this off-season is directly related to this amazing young man. And now for the official proclamation, (drumroll please) the player that will score the first goal of the 2015/16 season for the Edmonton Oilers will be…..
The crowd won’t obviously go wild and bras won’t rain from the sky for our very own baby Nuge when he lights the lamp midway through the first period in the Scottrade center. That will unfortunately have to wait a week until the very same Blues will visit Rexall to open the final season of the old barn. Young Connor will light the lamp for his first goal of the season in his second game as a pro. He will score a highlight reel beauty streaking off the wing to beat Rinne. Yeah I know that is a pretty detailed prediction but this is the big leagues folks and if you wanna play with the big boys its time to put on your big boy undies, yeah the ones your mom laid out will be fine, and get to guessing!
The first multi-point and multi-goal games of the season/ McDavid as well.
There is an immense amount of talent in the Oilers top six, hell there was a lot before we added Connor. The phenom just pushed us even higher. Obviously with that amount of firepower it will be a little harder to accurately predict who will be the first to register a two or more point game and a two or more goal performance. Since there is a fairly decent chance that these both don’t occur on the same night we will make separate guesstimates for both. The first player to record a multi-point game will be…
Again the award goes the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The first multi-point game of the season will in fact be the season opener in St. Louis. Nugey will contribute a goal in the first period as we already determined but he will add an assist on a Jordan Eberle third period goal as well to take the honors. Connor will have his first two point night against Dallas in the 3rd game of the season.
The first player to score more than one goal is something altogether different and I really don’t see this one going to RNH. Nuge is more of a playmaker than a sniper and because of that he will prefer to pass the puck more often than not. The winner of the award for first multi-goal game goes to….
Hallsy is still our best offensive weapon for the coming season and adding McDavid as his center is only going to take the speedster to new heights. It won’t take very long for Hall to bulge the twine on more than one occasion in a game. I’m guessing that he completes the task in Dallas against the Stars on the 13th of October. Dallas bled goals last season and with relatively the same D-corps and same starting netminder could see the trend continue this year. Dallas’ saving grace is that for as badly as they give up goals they are also able to find the back of the net more often than nearly any team in the league. Hall will score twice that night and both will be off of passes from Connor McDavid. Goals are obviously a tad bit harder to come by than assists in the NHL so it will be a little longer before Connor is able to see the red light go on twice or more in a game. Although I don’t think that he will have to wait that long and will manage to accomplish the feat in the Battle of Alberta game on the 17th of October.
First Hattrick of the season
The first time that the heavens will open up and hats will pour from the sky will be a truly glorious event to behold for the thousands in attendance and the hundreds of thousands if not millions watching on television at home. Should it occur on home ice you can guarantee a delay in the game while all the errant hats are rounded up and removed from the ice. Even on the road most other teams fans realize how special a three goal performance is and will generally litter the ice with more than a few sun blockers. How long will we be forced to wait to see this wonderous occurrence? Well if my guess is right it shouldn’t take that long at all! The first player to record a three goal game will be…
The first time that we will see hats raining from the sky will in fact by off of the stick of our young saviour Connor McDavid. Not only will the future of the franchise be the first to score a hattrick this season, which is wonderful news in itself, but he will do so in his first multi-goal game of the season too! That’s right folks. I predict that the first time we see the threepeat will be on the 17th of October live on CBC Hockey Night in Canada against the hated Flames. Calgary has been our most hated rival for virtually the entire time that the Oilers have been in the league and it usually means that the players are even more amped up to play than normal. Connor in a normal game will be a formidable player to watch but when he elevates his game to compete in the BOA he will be virtually unstoppable. Good news for Edmonton fans, not so good for Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano.
The First Fight/ Will McDavid fight?
The first fight of the season isn’t included as an important seasonal milestone as the rest we are discussing but this is still a contact sport and sooner or later tempers will flair and fists will fly. The only question is how many games it is going to take before we have a couple willing combatants? My guess for the player to drop the gloves and earn a 5 minute trip to the sin bin is going to be…
Matt Hendricks. We all know and love the guy for what he brings to this team and he seems to be a very well-respected vet by the younger guys on the team. Hendy is never going to be a dynamic offensive dynamo but what he does bring is a willingness to do all the little things and the work ethic to handle the tougher zone starts. Another great thing about Hendricks is his willingness to stand up for his teammates. He will definitely be the first guy to come to the defense of his team and I think we will see him drop his mitts if not against the Flames then on the very next night against the loathsome Vancouver Canucks. Will McDavid fight this coming season? I really doubt it, I m fairly certain he will be under fairly strict instructions to keep his gloves on and let others handle the physical violence when it is needed.
First shut-out of the season?
We have a new starting goalie this year in all likelihood. Cam Talbot is basically being gifted the job barring a horrendous camp from him or an absolutely amazing one from either Scrivens or Nillson. Smart money is that we will be seeing the ghostbuster mask belonging to Talbot in between the pipes far more often than the other two goalies combined. Even then just because you are getting the majority of the starts doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be the first to record a perfect game. The first goalie to record a shut-out this season will be…
Just kidding! There is pretty much no possible way that the first shut-out isn’t going to Cam. He is hopefully the future in goal for the Oilers and will want to establish himself as a bona fide starter sooner rather than later. My prediction is that his first one will come against the Detroit Red Wings on October 21st. Seeing as it will be only the second home game of the season after five out of the first six games are on the road should make for a very raucous crowd and a great time for Cam to show what he has to the Oilers faithful.
First win of the season?
Last season the Oilers played and lost the first five games of the season. They could only manage to earn one point out of the possible ten. A rough start to be sure but after the first five game skid the Oil managed to put together a fairly successful little streak winning the next four straight to nearly end the month of October. Edmonton only managed a 4-5-0-1 record in October last season and didn’t earn a win against a Western conference team until December 7th against Todd McLellan and his former team the San Jose Sharks. Not exactly awe-inspiring now is it. For the Oilers to show that they are a much improved team and that they will not again be the basement dwelling team that was nearly unable to beat any teams in their own conference they will need to set the tone early and what better way to do that then to walk into Scottrade Center in St. Louis on opening night and leave with their first two points of the season? That is right peeps, I am predicting that Edmonton, on the strength of the aforementioned RNH two point game, will slay the dragon right out of the gates and not only win their first game but do so against one of the big baddies from the West that they had so much trouble with in seasons past. Edmonton wins the game 3 to 1.
Will all four first overall picks score in one game?
I am not 100% positive but I am reasonably certain this would be an accomplishment that has never occurred in the NHL before. How cool would it be to see all four of these young stars light the lamp in one game? If it happened at home the roof would come off of Rexall in a quick hurry I can guarantee you that! The odds of something like this happening have to be fairly long. I can’t imagine a lot of people contacting Vegas to lay money down on a long shot like this. I completely agree that there is a better than good chance that this doesn’t happen. Not only this year but ever, but what kind of predictions would these be if I didn’t at least make a guess on the subject. My guess is that the Oilers will light up the Maple Leafs on November 30th in Toronto and show Leafs Nation exactly what they are missing by not having Connor. Couldn’t happen to a better group of fans! Leafs fans have always considered themselves the center of the hockey universe so what better place to make history than right there in the ACC.
I want to see your predictions now people. Who will score the first goal of the season? When Will Connor score his first? First multi-point and multi-goal games? For Connor? First fight, first shut-out and first win for the team? Let me know what you think in the comments. Hit me up on twitter, @cooke_rob, and send me your answers. I want to hear from you!
Be sure to check out Cooke Designs for the latest in Oilers designs and products and let me know if there is any special requests or issues that you have. If you have ordered from the store please tweet me a picture with your fresh new gear!
I hope the summer is treating all of you amazingly well!
The fine folks over at TeePublic are having a wicked sale on ALL of their t-shirts from August 12th-August 14th. Normally their t-shirts would go for $20 but right now they’re on sale for $14!
Now if you find this in bad taste, I apologize. I’m sure there’s nothing worse than getting hit up by a blog for cash but I truly think this is a glorious chance to get your hands on some really rad shirts for a VERY affordable price! Not only that but it’s a good opportunity to show your support for our wonderful little blog! And that’s good karma right there.
We’ve got over 100 current NHL superstars in 16-bit form for all those nostalgic NHL ’94 lovers out there and there’s also the Official Beer League Heroes T-Shirt! (If you don’t see your favorite player past or present just contact us on Twitter or Facebook and we’ll help you get the player you want!)
There are also many different types of apparel on sale. Tank tops, children’s shirts, hoodies, sweaters, and long sleeve shirts are available as well in an s-tonne of colors!
I’ve included a few samples below for your viewing pleasure. So please hurry on over and pick yours up today! The sale ends in 60 hours!
Thank you!
-BLH
Jaromir JagrHenrik LundqvistBeer League Heroes Official T-Shirt
I am a firm believer that for a team to be a consistent cup contender a team must have a core group of players that are kept together for as long as possible. That is a very easy statement to make without providing any additional information with it. A few questions that come up when talking about this subject are what is the core? How many players do you in include in the core? What positions make up the core? Who exactly are the core players for the Edmonton Oilers? And finally are all the pieces here?
The first question when we are examining the Oilers core is obviously what is the core? That question goes hand in hand with the question of how many players make up the core so I will answer both of those questions before we look at the Oilers group specifically. The core of a hockey team is the group of players that are most needed to be a successful NHL franchise year after year. Easy enough answer right? Well how many players does the core consist of? That is a tougher question because not all supporters of the core theory agree on how many players should be included and what positions they play. I have seen some suggest as little as five players make up the core while others, myself included think there should be a total of twelve players included.
The next question that needs to be answered is what positions does the core encompass. For me personally the positions that I include when I talk about a teams core are the top six forwards, the third line center, the top four defensemen, and the starting goalie. Simple enough right? There are plenty of other possibilities when discussing positions to include so if your don’t line up with mine it isn’t that big of a concern. Next question will take a little longer to answer, Who are the Edmonton Oilers core players?
Well if we follow the guidelines I set out above as to who is included it is fairly easy to see what players we include and where we need to add. The top six forwards are nearly set now, the only question mark being the second line right wing. By all rights that should be where Nail Yakupov slots into the line-up but until his two-way play improves significantly he can’t be relied on to a six winger. The other five slots are a given right now. Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be one of the best top two center pairings in the league in the near future so we are set there. Taylor Hall is one of the premiere left-wingers in the NHL right now and Benoit Pouliot proved last year that he is capable of being a consistent top six player on the left side. Jordan Eberle is a rock-star on the right wing right now, being as he is the only consistent offensive threat on the right side until Yak develops a little more. The third line center is being filled currently by Anton Lander and depending on what coach McLellan decides to do with Leon Draisaitl could be his slot long-term. If Leon is moved to the wing excels we could really have three scoring lines that are an actual threat to burn teams at any time. The forward group is in pretty damn good shape if I do say so myself.
The defense is still a big question mark for this team and I am positive that we don’t have four viable top four options on this team right now. Andrej Sekera and Mark Fayne will be the top pairing without a doubt in my mind. They will face the toughest competition on a nightly basis and will see a lot of time on the penalty kill for both and the power-play for Sekera. The second pairing is where things get a little hazy. Oscar Klefbom is a legitimate second pairing defenseman right now, likely a number four but will get better still, but as far as I can see there is no one on the team that can have the same said of them. Justin Schultz isn’t a top four guy on any other team in the league. He should be getting third pairing minutes at evens and first power-play unit minutes. There are other options long-term but none should be counted on to fill the role that would be required. Both Darnell Nurse and Griffin Reinhart will eventually be solid top four defenders but are not there yet. Nurse especially has the potential to be the number one defender this team has so desperately been trying to find since the mass exodus following the glorious cup run in ’06. Still having three out of four already in the line-up with Fayne hopefully holding the spot for Darnell Nurse and Reinhart nearly ready to take on full-time NHL duties things look pretty good on the backend for the first time in a decade.
The starting goalie position looks to be filled for the foreseeable future. Cam Talbot looks like the goalie of the future for the Edmonton Oilers. He is a better than good bet to be a solid starting goalie for a long time in this league. Darcy McLeod, aka @woodguy, had some excellent posts about the goalie situation both prior to the draft and after. There were four pieces total that covered the situation with Talbot, the links for all of them are here, here, here, and finally here. All excellent articles to read, especially if you are still having concerns about how the whole Talbot situation will play out. He is a legit starting goalie, or very damn close to it.
We currently have ten out of the twelve players that we need to have a complete core. The other two should hopefully be here this year sometime. Either Schultz will actually start to play defense or one of the younger guys will take his minutes and run with them. Reinhart has significant skill with the puck and a howitzer from the point. If he works on his acceleration this summer he could be a possible option to take the minutes that Schultz currently will get. Up front this season is vital to the future of Nail Yakupov with the Edmonton Oilers. Should he fail to produce on a consistent basis the management may find that his brand of chaos on ice just isn’t worth what he provides offensively. If he isn’t significantly better than he was to start last season he will be moved at some point this year in favour of a bigger and stronger Leon Draisaitl. I’m not saying Yak is a bust or even that he will be but he has the potential to be a 35 plus goal scorer in the NHL for at least a decade if he can finally put it all together and find the net more often.
Smart money is on Yakupov figuring it out and putting together a season more akin to the second half of last season than the first half. I sincerely hope the kid does put it all together because for all of his chaos he really is delightful to watch play the game. His enthusiasm is inspiring and his love for the game is contagious. I look forward to the days where we get to see the exuberant cellies from years past and the giant smile on his face that gives everyone the warm feelies.
Here’s hoping I am right and that this core group remains together for a very long time. What say you Beer Leaguers? Do you have a different theory about the core? Different players included? Let me know what you think, either here or on twitter, @cooke_rob. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the Beer League Heroes Shirt shop for all your BLH or 16-Bit Heroes shirt needs. Also stay tuned here for the launch of my own shirt design store, it will be coming very soon to a webpage near you!
