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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The Hockey Writers
Oilers After 11 Games: McDavid, Draisaitl, Offseason Additions, Goaltending
- Edmonton’s power play is, simply put, deadly. It was sitting at 50% going into Tuesday’s game against Detroit and now sits at 46.9% after going 0-2 versus the Red Wings.
- Depending on how much you read into shots per game as an indicator of a team’s success, the Oilers need to cut down the shots allowed. It’s been an issue all season…
- If you looked at the leaderboard in the NHL and didn’t follow the Oilers as much as diehard fans do, it would be hard to argue against the idea that this team still revolves around McDavid and Draisaitl.
- The really positive news though is how much the rest of the roster is helping out. Nugent-Hopkins still leads the league in assists with 14 and Puljujarvi is in the top 35 in NHL goal-scoring with six goals. Hyman is in the Top 20 with seven…
- Warren Foegele looks like a great top-nine add, Derek Ryan has fit like a glove at center, while Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci haven’t been nearly the disaster some fans expected based on their advanced analytics.
- Mikko Koskinen has played extremely well considering how poor last season went for him and if Mike Smith wasn’t injured early, there might not be a conversation about the netminding right now. Even Skinner looked strong making multiple saves despite an ugly turnover on Detroit’s third goal of the game.
BLH’s Thoughts: I think after 11 games, anybody could find the cracks in any roster, but at the end of they day, the Oilers have a 9-2-0 record. The big question is, will they continue to build on that or will the cracks mentioned above keep getting bigger?
It’s a really good time for some characters to step up and earn their keep considering Kassian will be out for some time and some vets are struggling. Ryan McLeod, Stuart Skinner, Brendan Perlini… These are some names that come to mind.
Oilersnation
Start Me Up
- Playing from behind is more often than not a loser’s game even with the best two players in the NHL in your line-up and a power play that’s scoring goals at a historic clip.
- Outplayed and outshot early, the Oilers played catch-up again, this time falling behind 3-0 in a 4-2 loss on a night they stood around far too often in the opening 40 minutes. In the process, they wasted a really good start by Stuart Skinner…
- For a guy who sat around for seven games after being recalled from Bakersfield Oct. 20, Skinner looked very sharp early, but he didn’t get much help… The lone hiccup from Skinner, making just his second NHL start, came when he fumbled the puck behind the net on the 3-0 goal by Dylan Larkin.
“Believe it or not, I’ve made a worse play before in my career and we ended up winning the game. I just looked back to that, and there’s always a chance to come back in a game. We almost got it.” – Skinner
“We dug ourselves a hole again. I liked our response. I liked our third period. We definitely had enough chances to tie the game, but you can’t keep digging yourself that type of hole.” – McDavid
BLH’s Thoughts: The Oilers are going to play Boston tonight and that is a team that will punish you five different shades of purple if you’re not on your game. The Bruins are a four line team backstopped by a couple of young netminders, but I’d say their defense is the ultimate weakness.
Trent Frederic will be out but Nick Foligno is coming back from injury and Linus Ullmark will be tending net for Boston according to DFO.
Will Edmonton play to the level of their opponents, above it, or shit the bed and take another L? I’m very curious to see if this team has what it takes to rise to the level of the Bruins.
NHLRumors.com
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: The emergence of 20-year old defenseman Bowen Byram has made 23-year old defenseman Samuel Girard expendable.
- Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Justin Holl is believed to be available and could be just what the Pittsburgh Penguins need… Darren Dreger has said someone would have to overpay to get Holl, where James Mirtle has been told by a team that the price for Holl wasn’t that high.
- Adam Proteau of The Hockey News: Chicago Blackhawks interim GM Kyle Davidson should have all options on the table as they look to reshape their roster. This could include Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
