One Thing Oilers Fans Should Keep an Eye on as the Preseason Comes to a Close

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Monday Mailbag – Lessons from Dave Tippett’s first two seasons as head coach

Which player needs to rebound the most to have the greatest impact on the team?

I will say it’s definitely one of Kailer Yamamoto or Zack Kassian. If one of them takes a step forward and becomes a near 20-goal guy for this team then their forward group will only get that much more dangerous. – Yaremchuk

BLH’s Thoughts: Mikko Koskinen. How can anybody not say the goalie who had a really tough year last season? Plus he’s so integral to Edmonton’s success seeing as he’s the club’s last line of defense. He needs to be fantastic for the Oilers this year.

We’re heading into Dave Tippett’s third season as the Oilers head coach. What has he done well over the first couple of years, and what would you like to see him change or improve on?

I think Tippett has done a good job of providing structure on the special teams, something that was sorely lacking over the years but has certainly improved of late. On the down side, I think he goes back to the well too often in terms of leaning on veteran players even if there could be better options available. – Baggedmilk

BLH’s Thoughts: The PK. Is there anything left to say? The Oilers’ PP was never a massive problem because they had 97 and 29, but the penalty kill’s been a spot of bother for a long time.

Tippett makes some very questionable decisions in really key moments that annoy the hell out of me. Running 4 dmen in that mega OT game against Winnipeg… Not reuniting 93/29/56 against Chicago a couple years back in the play-ins…

Personally, I think this is his last year behind the bench. He’s been pretty quiet about things in that regard when asked and I do wonder if the club is really looking at promoting Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson for 2022-23.

Who is the second-best player in the NHL? Draisaitl or MacKinnon?

I’d argue Andrei Vasilevskiy is in the conversation. He is unreal. – Gregor

BLH’s Thoughts: I think you have to ask yourself, who would you pick if you had the 2nd pick in a league-wide draft. Victor Hedman would be hard to pass up…

What issue/need do you feel the Oilers management team did not address this off-season, that will impact the team the most?

Goaltending. This duo has been good enough to get Edmonton into the playoffs in back-to-back years but it isn’t one I have much faith in. I suspect Smith will be worse this year than last as the season is the normal length and I suspect Koskinen will bounce back as his struggles likely had a lot to do with playing every single game for the first month of 2021

BLH’s Thoughts: Most polled said goaltending, but I wonder if not replacing Adam Larsson will impact the team the most. They’ve got one cycle-breaker on this team and it’s Darnell Nurse… The rest of the group are two-way puck-movers or in Kris Russell’s case, a shot-blocker.

For what it’s worth, Jason Demers isn’t really a cycle-breaker per se… Just more defensively inclined with less bite to his game and not a good fighter…

The Athletic

A set roster? Oilers training camp gone wild? Expect the unexpected

Is everyone vaccinated? The one position the new rules could leave a team vulnerable on game day is in net. There may also be restrictions on flying across the border…
…general manager Ken Holland is in search of a defenceman on a PTO, preferably a righty.
- That right-handed defenceman is likely to be someone who can kill penalties. That’s important, because the only blue who kills penalty and shoots right is Cody Ceci, leaving all three lefties dressed every night to handle the PK.
- If Edmonton invites Jason Demers to training camp (there are rumours), the club will be bringing in an experienced player in all areas. On the penalty kill, he has been relied on for over a decade and fits Holland’s veteran-laden roster.
At even strength, Tippett and his staff like to run pairs and it’s likely McDavid will line up with Hyman through the early portion of the season. Kassian is getting a push from several of the rights-holding media as a possibility on right wing, that’s something to keep track of as the preseason games dwindle.
- The second line might be a good landing spot for Puljujarvi, he and Draisaitl are two big men with great skill.
- If Nugent-Hopkins is on the wing, he may land with either McDavid (Hyman on right wing) or with Draisaitl (eventually with Yamamoto).
Expect to read stories about some of these names having worked out all summer running up the side of mountains and lifting jeeps over their heads. It’s an annual rite of training camp for someone to get written up for strong work in the offseason. Nothing wrong with that, although it doesn’t always convert into on-ice success. The early favourite for this honour is Kyle Turris, although there have been positive whispers about Tyler Benson, too.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve been saying the whole summer that I don’t think Turris’ problem was conditioning… He’s simply aged out probably. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything to offer to the team, but Oilers fans watched this kind of scenario play out with Sam Gagner. Can Turris change his playing style to become a more effective 4th liner like Gagner did? It’ll probably help his cause if he does…

Yesterday morning on his radio show, Bob Stauffer was going on about Benson getting an extended run on the clubs 4th line to start the year but it sounded more like he was making a pitch for the player as opposed to relaying inside information though.

That point about the goaltenders is a valid one. For some reason, after nearly two years of this stupid pandemic, there are folks in North America that still don’t get it and that’s one of the reasons I think the NHL should expand the rosters.

I completely overlooked the fact that the Oilers have only one right-shot defender that has a history of being used on the penalty kill, so bringing Jason Demers in to sub in from time to time makes sense. That said, Coach Tippett is on record as saying that Evan Bouchard is probably going to get some time on the PK plus they’ve got Kris Russell and he plays both sides.

More from Stauffer, he also mentioned that he thinks Zack Kassian is going to get a strong look in the Oilers top-9, if not the top-6. He cited ending last year on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and offered up the idea of Leon getting sent back up to the first line with McDavid and Puljujarvi whilst having Hyman link up with Nuge and Kass on the second.

NHLTradeRumors.me

Washington Capitals: 2 Trade Rumors Following the Team

Evgeny Kuznetsov to the St Louis Blues

One team that’s been linked has been the Blues, for Vladimir Tarasenko. Both teams appear headed to have their forward start the season on their current team, but keep an eye on these two clubs.

TJ Oshie to the Seattle Kraken

Oshie has reiterated he would love to finish his career with the Capitals, however the Mount Vernon, Washington native has been linked to the near by Kraken. If the Capitals struggle this season, which seems unlikely at the moment, Oshie’s name will once again be out there.

2 Potential Trade Destinations for Maple Leafs’ Mikheyev

LA Kings – The Maple Leafs and Kings are no strangers to trades, and more specifically involving depth wingers… The soon-to-be 27-year-old works hard, can move up and down the lineup and he could very well end up finishing the season in California.
Calgary Flames – The Flames know Mikheyev very well and have interest in the Maple Leafs forward. Calgary is looking for more depth up front and could be a good match for Toronto.

Florida Panthers: 2 Trade Rumors Following the Team

Evgeni Malkin on the Team’s Radar

If the Pittsburgh Penguins falter this season, expect the trade speculation surrounding Evgeni Malkin to pick up drastically and the Panthers will be sitting there waiting with open arms.

Defenseman Trade Coming Soon

The team is set in goal, they are set up front, but have some work to do on their back end. This will be a band-aid solution, and expect a serious trade this season from the Panthers and it will include a defenseman heading to the sunshine state.