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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Lowetide.ca
- Broberg is available for recall and playing very well in the minors, his even-strength goal differential is best on the team and he leads defensemen in points.
- Denezhkin is undersized but has two-way ability and is worth a contract, team history suggests he won’t be signed but I’d love to see him in Bakersfield for a year.
- Lavoie is on a nice run (6-3-9 in his last 10 games, with 41 shots) currently and is more aware defensively, but doesn’t turn over pucks or draw penalties (Holloway routinely does both).
- Ilya Konovalov (not listed above) started slowly but found the range and has a .943 save percentage in his last four games.
- I don’t really know how to project Carter Savoie, because his season is elite level and that doesn’t happen often for a guy selected No. 100 overall in the draft.
- Tyler Tullio is having a fine season and absolutely projects as a player who will get a full NHL shot after some time in the AHL.
- Dylan Holloway is finishing off his resume in the minors, drawing penalties about as often as he takes a breath.
- Maxim Berezhkin looks like he’s going to have an NHL career, Oilers drafted a Russian giant with real skill. Now they have to sign him and get him to North America but his impact MHL season (8-17-25 in 15 games) and the fact he’s good enough to play 30 KHL games (1-1-2 in limited minutes) tell us he has a North American career if he wants it.
- Matvey Petrov is a signed Russian who set a blistering early pace in his first OHL season and has continued to deliver through 38 games (26-35-61). He’s a sixth-round home run from here, and the only downbeat is he’s too young (19 in March) to project to the NHL next season.
BLH’s Thoughts: I hope that Ken Holland can usher in a Russian era for the Oilers. It’s a massive market the Oilers could really take advantage of, but for whatever reason, haven’t been able to consistently. Of the four fellas they’ve got in their system, my hopes are a tad higher for Petrov and Konovalov considering that they’re already over in North America playing regular roles for their clubs. Denezhkin’s size will probably prevent him from taking the leap and if Berezhkin is going to go, I would think it’d be as an older player once he’s established that he’s part of the upper echelon of forwards in the KHL.
With Lavoie, I would keep him in the AHL for another year. I like that he’s on a good little run here and it appears that he’s got a good grasp on the level of hockey in the AHL, but even so, my preference would be to see him as too good for that level before graduating him to Edmonton. He’s beginning to look like a proper NHLer on the ice though, so, fingers crossed.
Savoie is going to be an interesting case. He’s made a career of finding the soft ice and having elite finish at every level despite having a less than stellar work rate and average boots. Reckon he’s that efficient of a hockey player that it simply appears he’s not busting his ass out there? That might be a tall order considering he started one of his games on the third line this past weekend. I mean, a good player can fool the fans, but they won’t be able to fool the coaches. Who knows though? Brett Hull rarely knew the name of any of the goalies he played with, he drove his coaches nuts, and his skating was not great, yet, he’s a HOFer.
Ty Tullio… Josh Archibald (the hockey player) or possibly the next Andrew Mangiapane?
With the way that Broberg is skating in Bakersfield, it would shock me if the Oilers aren’t saving a place for him on the big club next season. I guess we’ll know if the rhetoric coming out of the club in the off-season is really positive like it was for Evan Bouchard this past summer. I would have him down in Bakersfield for another 20-40 games next season so I could see what Markus Niemelainen or Dmitri Samorukov could do in Edmonton (if they’re not traded before then), but that’s just my preference. That said, if he’s ready to take the next step, he’ll let us know.
Oilersnation
Random Thoughts: Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, NHL skills competition, and more
- Kane is already providing the offensive touch the team was hoping he would, and he’s also showing that he’s willing to play with some bite that is sorely lacking in this lineup… I’m hopeful we’ll be able to see this move as a positive story over the back half of the season.
- Now that he’s back and healthy again, I want to see RNH build upon what was a strong week for him production-wise and turn it into a second half that helps his team get back to where they need to be.
BLH’s Thoughts: Kane was running on adrenaline before the all-star break. Let’s see how he does for the rest of the season now that it’s a game every other day. I’m impressed with his production and work ethic so far, mind you. The big question will be whether or not Kane will be an Oiler in 2022/23 should everything go to plan for the two parties.
Nuge was bound to bounce back from that tough start, wasn’t he? And this emerging partnership with Zach Hyman is very intriguing. I wonder if Zack Kassian is the right guy for that line or will Hyman get flipped to his strong side when Dylan Holloway is called up OR if Warren Foegele might be better off with Nuge and Hyman with Holly heading up to Leon’s line?
Shit’s about to get real in Edmonton and the boys had better hope they didn’t lose their mojo during the break. They need all of it to see the team through to the trade deadline here.
Spector’s Hockey
- PHILLY.COM: Giana Han, Olivia Reiner and Gus Elvin recently broke down the Philadelphia Flyers roster. In their opinion, this club needs to do more than retool its roster but that could depend on what happens with captain Claude Giroux… The Flyers would likely recoup a first-round pick and a top prospect for him.
- Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Oskar Lindblom have had ups and downs over the past two seasons. They’re signed beyond this season and while they could be traded their youth and potential suggests they’ll be retained.
- THE ATHLETIC: Jeremy Rutherford was asked if St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko still wants to be traded in a recent mailbag segment. His understanding of the situation is it will be addressed in the offseason. It’s believed his request still stands but it makes little sense trading him now as he and the team are playing well.
- He indicated the Blues have scouted Montreal Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot and Anaheim Ducks blueliner Hampus Lindholm.
- THE ATHLETIC: Fluto Shinzawa believes the Boston Bruins’ most pressing need is for a second-line center for this season and perhaps beyond… Other teams have shown an interest in Studnick and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, though there are questions about the latter’s ceiling and if he’s playoff ready.
- SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman looked at the “to-do list” of new Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek. He believes winger Rickard Rakell is the most likely of the Anaheim Ducks’ three notable pending UFAs to get traded.
- Josh Manson would also draw interest if they shop him. He’s been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs but Friedman reports the Leafs are one of the teams on his no-trade list.
BLH’s Thoughts: If Manson’s not going to Toronto, I would suspect Oilers fans can kiss their hopes of him agreeing to come to Edmonton goodbye. I wonder what it would cost to get Konecny out of Philly. He’s got some real bite to his game that I feel the Oilers could use.
