Edmonton Oilers Gameday Reviews: Bison King and Mount Koskinen Slay Golden Knights

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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Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Mikko Koskinen stands tall as Edmonton Oilers hold off Vegas 3-2

#6 Kris Russell, 8. Blood-and-guts defender gets a 1-point bonus for breaking the NHL’s “all-time” (counted since 2005) record for blocked shots… On a road trip where the Oilers were missing three left-shot defenders, Russell stepped up with games of 23, 23 and 22 minutes and was a plus player in each of them.
#13 Jesse Puljujarvi, 8. Surely one of the reasons he was assigned to the third line was to stop the heavy bleeding that line was suffering at the defensive end. So far so good: 2 GP, 0 GA.
#18 Zach Hyman, 8 . All over the puck all night long. Scored a superb goal on a partial breakaway… Fired 6 shots on the night and controlled play time and again deep in enemy territory.
#19 Mikko Koskinen, 9. Was nothing short of fantastic in the first period when he made a handful of spectacular stops to thwart what appeared to be certain goals.
#86 Philip Broberg, 4. Led the Oilers in ice time with 23:34… By our count he was burned on a ghastly 7 Grade A chances by the home team…
#84 William Lagesson, 5. Looked much more comfortable than in Wednesday’s season debut in Arizona.
#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 5. A couple of dangerous shots, but some struggles at the other end where he made 4 mistakes on Vegas chances…
#16 Tyler Benson, 5. Slowly but surely Benson seems to be finding a toehold as an NHL player, though the offence hasn’t come yet.

BLH’s Thoughts: The complementary offense came through!!! Hyman, Pulju, Nuge!!!

I think Mikko Koskinen single-handedly pulling the Oilers off the mat after taking about five or six Mike Tyson uppercuts got into Vegas’ head. Combine that with the team being without some major pieces and having to put the majority of their defensive efforts into stopping McDavid and Draisaitl, and that left an opportunity for guys on the schneid to clear up their bill and hop off.

So, Broberg got a taste of what a real challenge looks like and to nobody’s surprise, he had some troubles. Theodore nutmegged him like it was 1982 again and had an excellent chance on net as a result. I think Pacioretty was having himself a good evening against the rookie too, but that’s how she goes when you’re 20 years old playing top-pairing minutes against the league’s best forwards. Not every night is going to go to play. Peaks and Valleys, baby. Peaks and Valleys.

I would like to say that Benson and Sceviour are doing exactly what this team needs them to do on the fourth line. They’re getting their hands dirty, making things difficult for the other team’s defensemen, and overall, being a pain in the ass. I kinda wish they had a center with some more size who exhibited the same sort of playing style and effort… I do not mind Derek Ryan, but at this point in his career I’m wondering about his durability and form.

The Athletic

The Oilers’ prospect pipeline has produced 2 call-ups on defence already this season. Who’s next?

Markus Niemelainen: If Edmonton needs a third-pairing shutdown option over the rest of the season, Niemelainen is at the top of the Bakersfield list.
Dmitri Samorukov: Samorukov is perhaps ideal for Edmonton because he has all of the things Niemelainen possesses and a mean streak that would help on nights when the physical game is on high heat.
Filip Berglund: He is 24, and the time is now for him to make the Oilers if he is to have an NHL career… Berglund is behind Niemelainen and Samorukov in the pecking order, but a recall during the season is possible.
Phil Kemp’s game (defence first) looks like the easiest to transition to the NHL, but he has played just 21 AHL games…
Mike Kesselring, who has a higher ceiling than Kemp but is less certain to reach it.
Vincent Desharnais is on an AHL contract so he’s unlikely to be recalled.
Edmonton is well stocked with defencemen, and several are knocking at the door. It’s a good problem to have, and the Oilers have time to pick the best future available to them. Expect several auditions like the one we’re seeing in Edmonton with Broberg.

BLH’s Thoughts: Who’s to say who the next defenseman to get promoted will be. I didn’t think Lagesson would get a recall this time, but there he was in Vegas last night taking care of business.

Honestly, if the Oilers are calling guys up after this current stint, won’t that mean they’ve hit the skids injury-wise again or somebody is really struggling?

I want to see Niemelainen and Samorukov in Edmonton quite badly. If anything, just to see how they handle NHL competition with their style of play. Both are RFAs at season’s end but Russell will be a UFA and Lagesson’s contract will most likely be allowed to run out. Maybe there’s a much higher chance one of them will be on the Oilers roster for the year in 2022/23.

That said, don’t discount Niemelainen or Samorukov getting the call in the playoffs should shit go south health-wise.

The Hockey Writers Rumors

One agent said that (Filip) Forsberg might look at the contracts Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansson were given and ask for something similar. It’s not believed the Predators think he’s worth that. There’s also a feeling they won’t give him a full no-move clause and that he’ll want more than a four-year deal which is the ideal length for Nashville.
In a troubling report that surfaced between the time of the penalties and the fine by the NHL DoPS is that reports surfaced Marchand made an inappropriate remark to Panarin that got him heated. Arthur Staple of The Athletic writes:

“Marchand made some Russian-centric comments toward Panarin — along the lines of “no one likes you there” while bringing up Russian President Vladimir Putin, of whom Panarin has been critical in the past. Panarin clearly had enough. Those don’t seem like fine-worthy comments, but they might not sit well with the league.”

According to Elliotte Friedman, it is expected that the Ottawa Senators will put goaltender Matt Murray on waivers after he was scratched versus the Anaheim Ducks on Friday… the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes are both rumored to be looking for goaltending help. It might be more likely both teams let him pass through waivers and then reach out to Ottawa about a potential trade where salary retention is involved.