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 Cult of Hockey (McCurdy)
NHL players return to Winter Olympics; which Edmonton Oilers might be among them?
- The agreement among the National Hockey League, the NHL Players Association, and the International Ice Hockey Federation was made official in an IIHF press release issued Friday morning.
- The agreement also means the potential Olympic debuts for some of the world’s top NHL players such as Connor McDavid (Canada), David Pastrnak (Czech Republic), Sebastian Aho (Finland), Nikita Kucherov (ROC), Victor Hedman (Sweden), Leon Draisaitl (Germany), and Auston Matthews (USA), among many other potential national team candidates.
- Which other Oilers might join them overseas? Leading candidate is surely Darnell Nurse, a five-time representative of Team Canada.
- Jesse Puljujarvi has a reasonable shot to make the Finnish national side, which may be largely dependent on his continued emergence during the opening months of the upcoming NHL season.
- The other? Zach Hyman, who would be considered a long shot based on statistics but who is in with a shot given Canada’s long history of including a smattering of role players among the superstars that typically dominate the roster.
- …the Oilers will play EIGHT consecutive road games, three before the Olympics, five after, while local ticket holders will have to cool their jets from Jan 27 to Mar 05 — over five weeks!
BLH’s Thoughts: The local media is really pushing Hyman in the “Kunitz” role for Team Canada because of his two-way ability, but I’m thinking that Mark Scheifele would be a better choice plus he can play center and has a history of producing at a much higher rate than Hyman…
A lot of folks are putting Nurse on this squad right off the bat and I’m not sure he’s a lock. Is he a better choice than Jakob Chychrun or Adam Pelech, Shea Theodore or Morgan Rielly? It’ll be a fantastic battle to witness, that’s for sure!
If you like longshots, keep an eye on the Slovakian team, I think there’s a possibility that they take some very young talented players who’re eligible for the 2022 NHL draft.
Of course, I’m hoping to see Finland reunite one of the best lines ever to hit the ice at the World Juniors, Laine-Aho-Puljujarvi!
The Hockey Writers (Swane)
Oilers’ Holloway Could Go Straight From NCAA to NHL
- Holloway’s pro debut is coming next month, it’s just a question of whether it happens in Edmonton or Bakersfield. While his primary position is center, the left-shooting Holloway is also very capable at left wing, increasing the potential spots he could fill in Edmonton’s lineup.
- It’s rare, but a handful of players in Edmonton’s NHL history have gone right from college to the Oilers without making a stop in between, and the list includes some notable names.
- Marko Tuomainen
- Mike Grier
- Dan McGillis
- Tom Poti
- Andrew Cogliano
- Drake Caggiula
- Holloway may have a better chance of cracking the bottom six at center.
- …it’s an interesting competition that includes veteran Kyle Turris, who was a healthy scratch down the stretch and in the playoffs last spring, and 21-year-old Ryan McLeod, who supplanted Turris and has shown great promise…
BLH’s Thoughts: Unless somebody gets hurt, I can’t see Holloway getting any games at the start of the year. The narrative that I’ve been hearing is that he’ll go to Bakersfield and be their no.1 center as that’s the position the organization wants to develop him at. Anything more than that and he’s worked his ass off to earn it.
Spector’s Hockey
NBC SPORTS: Adam Gretz recently pointed out two variables that could determine whether this season becomes Hertl’s last in San Jose.
- Money will be the first as Hertl could seek between $7 million and $8 million annually on his next contract.
- The other is whether he wants to stay. A recent report indicated he was believed among the players unhappy with teammate Evander Kane flouting team rules last season.
OTTAWA SUN: Ken Warren took note of the recent speculation over Hertl’s future. He believes the Senators could acquire the versatile forward with the right offer, drawing in part upon their well-stocked cupboard of prospects.
USA TODAY: Vincent Z. Mercogliano believes Hertl would be a sensible trade target for the New York Rangers.
THE ATHLETIC: In his latest mailbag segment, Tarik El-Bashir was asked whether the Washington Capitals will trade Evgeny Kuznetsov.
- He does wonder if a team interested in Jack Eichel could shift their attention to Kuznetsov if and when the Buffalo Sabres captain is traded.
