Edmonton Oilers Game 1: Canucks @ Oilers – Three Players to Watch

Alas! Our summer-long journey has finally come to a close. We’ve battled through speculation on a new GM, a new head coach, countless free-agents, the status of Connor McDavid’s knee, and of course, Jesse Puljujarvi. But none of that matters now because this evening, Dave Tippett will take his troops into battle with the Vancouver Canucks.

Prediction time! Awards Edition!

Hart – Connor McDavid
Art Ross – Connor McDavid
Norris – Morgan Rielly
Vezina – Andrei Vasilevskiy
Calder – Kaapo Kakko

Rebound Player – Evgeni Malkin
Disappointing Player – Justin Faulk

Three Players to Watch for the Canucks

It didn’t take long for Jim Benning to bring Vancouver back from the brink of disaster. I kind of dig what he’s done with this roster as they are going to be a pain in the ass to play night in and night out IF they can stay healthy. Adding players like JT Miller, Michael Ferland, and Tyler Myers to a team that already includes IR VIPs like Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, and Sven Baertschi could be a recipe for disaster in the event an injury bug wipes them all out. It’s already marginally started with Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes…

JT Miller – A hard-nosed two-way forward who loves to get in the opposition’s grill. The Oilers have had interest in this guy for years.
Michael Ferland – Built like a brick outhouse. He’s tough as nails and can score a goal. How will he fare playing alongside the likes of Brock Boeser or Elias Pettersson? How quick will he introduce himself to Zack Kassian or Darnell Nurse?
Tyler Myers – One of the best skating big men in league history. Has a big shot and will anchor the Canucks top-pairing with long-time Canuck Alex Edler. This is a player who can keep up with Connor and I expect that they’ll see a lot of each other when the puck drops.

Honorable Mention: Quinn Hughes is going to challenge for the Calder Trophy this season. He’s like a fourth forward out there and he’s already one of the best skaters in the league. Very smart player with skills to thrill!

Three Players To Watch for the Oilers

Out of the fourteen (!) games that the Oilers will play this month, ten of them will be against teams that didn’t make the playoffs last season. So I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that Ken Holland’s team needs to absolutely take advantage of this gift from the hockey gods. What will be interesting to observe is if this team’s mindset has changed over the summer? In the past, the Oilers have failed to exploit such errors in the code. So we will see… Starting tonight.

Mike Smith – Hated him when he was on other teams but I love that he’s on mine now. Not many netminders can handle the puck as Smith can. That skill alone might be a game-breaker for the Oilers. That said, he’s got to stop the puck too. So I’m hoping he can channel the Mike Smith that took the starters’ job from David Rittich at the end of last season and kept them in the games versus Colorado in the first round.
Joakim Nygard – If the lines stay as they were yesterday, The Swift Swede will be flanking the greatest player in the world. Better players have tried and failed in the past, but I’ve got some faith in this fella. He drives to the net and he likes to get mucky. On the other wing will be James Neal, so all Nygard and McDavid have to do is get the puck to him and bingo bango, Bob’s your uncle!
Darnell Nurse – Jim Playfair’s Frankenstein project officially starts tonight when he’ll trot out Nurse and Adam Larsson in a shutdown role. With a shiny new ‘A’ on his chest, Nurse’s work will be cut out for him. I would’ve given the letter to Klefbom personally, but that’s a story for another blog. What I want to see from Darnell is some snarl in his game tonight. Lay some benders out and no more letting the opposition take advantage of his team’s stars. It’s time to really embrace the role of shutdown defender and team policeman.

Honorable Mention: One player for the Oilers that always seems to do well against the Canucks is Jujhar Khaira. It wouldn’t shock me if he had a really nice game tonight. With his size, power, and hands; if Tippett is line-matching and has JJ’s line out vs. one of Vancouver’s bottom-six, my feeling is that he’ll be a dominant force in that scenario.

These two teams are pretty evenly matched in my opinion. I think they’ll be battling for the same playoff spot this season and it’s tough to pick a winner here. I say it’ll come down to who has the better goalie and who’s willing to work the hardest. It pains me to say it, but maybe Vancouver takes game one in OT or a shootout.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below and Let’s Go Oilers!