Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

“I don’t think Ceci is as big of a problem as he’s made out to be…” Says One Prominent Analytics Pundit

October 7, 2021 Beer League Hero

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

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The Athletic

Edmonton Oilers 2021-22 season preview: Playoff chances, projected points, roster rankings

…this season the Oilers project to be Actually Good, rated as a borderline top five team in the league and projected to finish with 101 points.
In a weak Pacific Division, the Oilers are a near playoff lock at 88 percent and that means a pretty strong at winning the opening round and beyond.
Edmonton enters the season with a 20-to-1 shot at the Cup, the highest this model has ever been on the team.
Last season was one for the ages for McDavid, one of the most dominant single seasons in NHL history… Adjusted for era, it was tied for the eighth best scoring season ever and tied for fifth in the modern era.
By GSVA, Draisaitl is projected to be the league’s seventh most valuable player and combined with McDavid gives the Oilers an astonishing 10 wins of value combined between just two players.
The Oilers are an 81-point team without those two. Superstars matter.
To the team’s credit, the bottom six looks much improved compared to recent seasons.
Ryan and Foegele should finally be able to deliver — especially Ryan. He suppressed nearly half an expected goal per 60 relative to teammates last year which ranked third among forwards.
What hurts most, though, is the defence in front of those goalies and that’s the major difference between Edmonton and the top five teams in the league.
The problem is that the Oilers are starkly low on other options and that should’ve been higher on the priority list in this summer’s defensive makeover. That’s especially true because there’s an obvious heir apparent on the back end in Evan Bouchard who could’ve likely provided similar offensive upside while freeing up key cap space.
That leaves us with the team’s new-look second pair, expected to be the second worst in the league ahead of only Vancouver’s. To say I’m highly skeptical of Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci in a secondary role is probably an understatement.
Private data paints Keith in a brighter light as he is still quite capable at breaking the puck out…
I don’t think Ceci is as big of a problem as he’s made out to be…
Of all the teams projected to land in the league’s top 10, Edmonton’s place is among the riskiest and most volatile.

BLH’s Thoughts: Odd that the Oilers would get a somewhat positive review from one of the computer boys. Of course it’s laced with caveats, but either way, I’ll take it.

That stat on Derek Ryan is really fascinating to me. If he can have that kind of defensive impact alongside a guy who also puts up really great defensive metrics in Kailer Yamamoto, the LW on that line (Likely Foegele), will have some outstanding opportunities and not only that, but when’s the last time the Edmonton Oilers had a dedicated (and effective) shutdown line on forward?

I would like to say that we (the fans) shouldn’t focus on where the defensemen play within the lineup. Be it on the 2nd pair, 3rd pair, or the 1st, what we need to grind on is if the six blueliners as a group are doing their job. The reason I say that is because I reckon folks are going to drive themselves bonkers arguing where Keith, Ceci, Bouchard, Barrie, Koekkoek, etc. should be playing. The truth of the matter is, they can all play up and down the lineup and having that kind of roster flexibility will go a long way as the season wears on.

Am I scared that Ceci and Keith might shit the bed? Sure! I love Adam Larsson and him being gone leaves a ginormous crater on Edmonton’s blueline, but with that said, the new boys need some time to show you what they’ve got and they deserve that time.

Cult of Hockey

Analytics guys aren’t sure if Edmonton Oilers are great, but they are sure Duncan Keith isn’t

Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic, his ranking of the Edmonton Oilers as the sixth best team in the NHL, and a team projected to finish with 101 points.
Evolving Wild have the Oilers finishing with 94.8 points, good for just 13th overall in the NHL, and behind Seattle and Las Vegas in the Pacific Division.
Evolving Wild is not at all optimistic about is newcomer Duncan Keith, recently tweeting Keith is the third worst regular d-man in the NHL.
As for Keith, and Cody Ceci, get back to me after they’ve played at least five to ten games with the Oilers.
Have the analytics guys ever been wrong about an incoming player on the Oilers? Well, I remember reports that Patrick O’Sullivan, Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne were going to be good players in Edmonton, but that did not pan out. And I also recall grave doubts about Matt Hendricks, but he was an extremely useful Oilers player.
If Keith and Ceci fail to be that player, Edmonton will be hurting, though that hurt will be mitigated somewhat. Edmonton has other Top 4 options, it seems to me, namely Evan Bouchard at right defence and, if you squint hard enough and he stays healthy, Slater Koekkoek at left defence.
Even if Keith and Ceci can’t get it done, Edmonton has options on defence that will help them win.
If key players stay healthy, it’s hard to imagine this version of the Oilers won’t be the best version of the McDavid era, so 100 points should be well within their grasp.

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, let’s just start by saying the analytics community has never been wrong about anything. Ever. Valeri Nichuskhin is still a much better player than Leon Draisaitl and I’m shocked that the guys at Evolving Wild aren’t full-time NHL GMs right now.

With that out of the way, we can re-join reality and the reality is, where Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go, the Edmonton Oilers will follow. You don’t need fancy algorithms and a super computer to figure that out. The catch this year being the club is deeper than it’s been since the 90s.

Bob Stauffer made an interesting point on his radio show yesterday morning, he wondered if teams might back off on the Oilers considering how good their PP is?

For Myself, I’m wondering if this year’s Oilers powerplay becomes the best of all-time? Zach Hyman and Jesse Puljujarvi are going to draw a shitload of calls early on in the season while the refs are on this anti-cross-checking kick. It might even behoove the club to stick weaker players in the net-front position to draw even more at 5v5.

There are going to be a lot of team scared to get a one, two, or three goal lead on Edmonton for fear of the refs “managing” the game because of that powerplay…

NHLTradeRumor.com

Darren Dreger reported via twitter “Sources say the Eichel saga may be shifting. Ongoing discussions and additional access to Jack Eichel’s medical file has helped teams with trade interest clearly see his situation. Both sides are hopeful something can be worked out soon with one of the clubs in the mix.”

As for teams with interest, the New York Rangers have been linked to Jack Eichel all offseason. The Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights and Columbus Blue Jackets have also shown significant interest.

Darren Dreger was on TSN Radio and he mentioned even with a home town discount the minimum Rielly would be seeking is $8 million/ per year which the Leafs cannot fit into their salary cap.

If Toronto misses the postseason or makes an early first round exit from the playoffs, the Leafs may look at trading one of the big four. Mitch Marner or William Nylander would likely be the candidates to be traded which would free up cap space to re-sign Rielly.

The new NHL franchise in Seattle already has their AHL affiliate worked out! Click the pick and grab a Karen shirt today!

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Could the Oilers Trade Archibald or Turris to Chicago for Brett Connolly? Maybe Says Oilers Radioman

October 7, 2021 Beer League Hero

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The Score

Pacific Division betting preview: Can anyone stop the Golden Knights?

With implied odds of 73.7%, Vegas (-280) is a heavy favorite to win the Pacific. Rightfully so. They made the final four just a few months ago and by all accounts were a dominant team in the regular season… Almost the entire cast is returning, which means the Golden Knights are positioned nicely to win a poor division.
I have a hard time believing the Oilers (+550) can give the Golden Knights a run for their money. Their top six are as potent as anyone’s and they have a lethal power play, but the list of positives ends there.
Defensive play is almost certainly going to be a problem. It wasn’t a great group last season and they replaced Ethan Bear, a promising up-and-comer, and Adam Larsson, a stout in-zone defender, with Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci. The former is long past his best-before date and Ceci, simply put, is not very good.
Put that weak blue line in front of questionable goaltending and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Yes, Mike Smith was good last season. His track record in recent years isn’t, though, and the 39-year-old is a likely candidate to regress.
Mikko Koskinen isn’t capable of carrying the load if and when that happens. This team is going to have a hard time outscoring its problems, which is saying something considering the Oilers have two of the best players in the league up front.

BLH’s Thoughts: What Todd Cordell (Hockeybuzz writer?) is forgetting about Vegas is that the heart of the team was ripped out this summer when the GM, who the players are not fond of AT ALL, moved future Hall-of-Famer Marc Andre Fleury and Ryan Reaves. What is this club’s identity and can it survive the inner turmoil that’s bubbling under?

Edmonton’s record vs. Vegas according to the league’s website is 5-5-1 since the Golden Misfits joined the NHL. That doesn’t “domination” to me and this year the Oilers are added more experience, better forwards, they chose Evan Bouchard over Ethan Bear, and they’ve got an emerging Jesse Puljujarvi ready to run roughshod through anybody dumb enough to get in front of him.

Who did Vegas add? Which pieces on that club are the Oilers supposed to be afraid of? If you’re asking me, I think this is the beginning of the end for an aging Golden Knights club and just the start for an Edmonton team who just happens to have the best 1-2 center duo in the league.

Edmonton Sun

OILERS NOTES: Yamamoto out after taking hit against Calgary

Kailer Yamamoto won’t be playing against the Vancouver Canucks Thursday after the right-winger was checked by the Edmonton Oilers bench late in the Monday game against Calgary.
- possible concussion watch for Yamamoto, who has had a quiet camp.
Turris, who has been playing on the fourth line with Devin Shore and Brendan Perlini for much of camp, will take Yamamoto’s spot on the second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at centre and Zach Hyman on left-wing.
McLeod, who has played some left-wing, appears to have been beaten out by Shore as the 4C, but Shore can also play left side, so maybe they play together down the road. McLeod could use a few wow moments after a lukewarm camp.
If the Oilers don’t have Benson on their opening 23-man roster and put him waivers to send him to Bakersfield, you can expect Arizona, Detroit or Buffalo to possibly claim him.
Kris Russell will play with Evan Bouchard against the Canucks.
Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins could be the first Oiler PK pair, with Shore and maybe Warren Foegele as the second. Derek Ryan and Yamamoto would be in the picture, too.

BLH’s Thoughts: I think this is a showcase for Kyle Turris. If you were listening to Oilers Now yesterday morning and you can read between the lines, Bob Stauffer more or less made it known that the Chicago Blackhawks are shopping Brett Connolly. He threw out the idea of the Hawks retaining 50% of Connolly’s deal whilst taking back Kyle Turris or “perhaps Josh Archibald, who knows?”.

Connolly’s agent? Edmonton-based Gerry Johansson, somebody that Stauffer has a direct line to.

So it sounds to me like Johansson has reached out to Bob to get the word out that he’s looking to find a new home for his client.

Now, considering that Kailer Yamamoto is out with a possible concussion, I think there are concerns regarding his longevity. When he got started in the AHL he ran into some injury problems and now it’s happening in the NHL. Personally, I don’t think he’s cut out for top-six competition right now. He’s too small still and on numerous occasions already this preseason he’s been caught with some big hits…

If the Oilers brought in Connolly, they’d have a strong two-way 6’3″ winger who’s scored 10+ goals five times in his career with a high of 22 in 2018-19 and at $1.75M, he wouldn’t be a burden on the Oilers salary cap. Plus the analytics community couldn’t harp on Edmonton for picking him up because he hasn’t finished a year below 51% since 2012-13. Check his numbers out here.

Edmonton could move Connolly up and down the lineup as they pleased and if he performed well, the challenge of moving on from Zack Kassian next summer would be that much easier.

With all that in mind, do you trust Ken Holland to get Stan Bowman to trade him a player with retained salary included in the deal?

For what it’s worth, the Oilers have had interest in Connolly going back to the Chiarelli days.

Sportsnet (32 Thoughts)

On Eichel: there is a real push to find a solution, because Eichel’s displaced disc can’t be allowed to just sit on the nerve… No one will go on record, but there is a growing belief there are teams willing to accept Eichel’s preferred disc replacement.
It’s not Defcon 1 between Ottawa and Brady Tkachuk, but there’s a challenging philosophical disagreement. The Senators believe Tkachuk wants to be there long-term, and I don’t think they’re wrong. But Ottawa wants that commitment now and the winger is not ready to go seven or eight years.
That salary-cap prediction also played a role in Elias Pettersson’s negotiations… There is some room to manoeuvre, but the cap is scheduled to go up $1M per year until the players repay what they owe the owners. Most predications are for the summer of 2025, when we could see a big jump.
When it comes to Tomas Hertl, one of the questions San Jose must be asking itself is this: if the Sharks decide they need new blood, is anyone more capable of getting it in a trade than he is?
Early-season prediction: Montreal takes a serious run at extending Nick Suzuki sooner, rather than later. No more offer-sheet games.
I think Toronto lets things play out before making any decision on Morgan Rielly.
I don’t think money was the deciding factor in Zach Hyman’s negotiation. It was trade/no-move protection, which will be something to watch with Rielly, too.
…if there’s one player who piqued my interest, it was Calgary’s Oliver Kylington. But the Flames have a lot of defencemen, and Kylington is not waiver-exempt.
The Flames and Johnny Gaudreau are wisely going to keep contract discussions private. However, it’s not like it’s hard to figure out what will satisfy both team and player.

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Talk: Nurse’s Regression, McDavid’s Stanley Cup, and the Latest NHL Rumors!

October 7, 2021 Beer League Hero

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The Athletic

The NHL’s top 10 regression candidates for 2021-22

Darnell Nurse, LD, Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton’s No. 1 defender exploded offensively, ranking second among all blueliners with 16 goals in 56 games and finishing fifth among his peers with 23 five-on-five points, entering the summer with just one year left on his contract.
All but one of Nurse’s 16 goals came at even-strength where it’s typically quite difficult for a defender to put themselves in prime scoring positions.
No NHL defender who’s appeared in at least 1000 minutes has managed to maintain a double-digit shooting percentage over the span of the last three seasons. That spells trouble for Nurse who went from scoring on 2.9 percent of his shots in 2019-20 to 10.3 percent of his shots last season.
Nurse should continue reaping the rewards of playing more than half his five-on-five minutes alongside Connor McDavid but considering his previous career high for goals was 10, it seems reasonable to deduce his scoring rate will decline in 2021-22.

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, one thing that’s always going to be is that Nurse will play most of his 5v5 with McDavid and his shooting percentage might drop this year, but not as drastic as one might think. Maybe it’ll go down a couple of points but not to 3% and so he’ll continue to score in the double-digits well into his 30s I believe.

Whilst I agree that Darnell may have a goal-scoring regression, I wonder if his point totals stay the same or rise in 2021-22?

Bleacher Report

Will Connor McDavid Ever Win the Cup in Edmonton?

Lyle Fitzsimmons: Yes, They Can!

What’ll matter most to GM Ken Holland when it comes to this team is getting a goaltender.
There are always some available when the deadline approaches, and he’s smart and savvy enough to find the right one. Imagining Anton Khudobin in an Edmonton sweater come playoff time suddenly makes the idea that they could win in the short term a little less ridiculous.

Abbey Mastracco: Maybe, but Not This Year!

The Oilers have five seasons to figure it out before his contract expires and seemingly have the right people in place to get McDavid to the promised land, but defense and goaltending will need to be bolstered in the coming years to capitalize on having the best player in the world.

Lyle Richardson: Band-Aid Solutions Won’t Work for the Oilers or McDavid

McDavid won’t get a Cup in Edmonton if the Oilers fail to address their significant weaknesses over the remaining five years of his contract.
Stanley Cup champions tend to have a dependable starting goaltender, a strong No. 1 defenseman and scoring depth at right wing. The Oilers lack all three.

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s funny, the Oilers had a top-ten goaltending tandem last year despite Koskinen playing the first 12 or 13 games of the season when Mike Smith got hurt and folks are still complaining about Edmonton’s netminding… I’m tellin’ ya, I don’t think they’re going to be as poor as some reckon in 2021-22.

Will McDavid win a Cup with the Oilers? I think he will. The Pieces are slowly falling into place, but the club’s momentum is strong right now and the major players are young. There’s lots of time to bring Lord Stanley’s cup back to it’s rightful home.

Spector’s Hockey

OTTAWA SUN: Bruce Garrioch reports Senators head coach D.J. Smith is making plans to start the upcoming season without Brady Tkachuk. The 21-year-old left winger’s contract talks with management remain at a stalemate.

TSN: Pierre LeBrun considers Tomas Hertl an early name to watch for on this season’s trade-bait board. The 27-year-old San Jose Sharks center is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Darren Dreger believes the Arizona Coyotes’ Phil Kessel will also be on this season’s trade-bait list. He’s a UFA next summer and doesn’t appear to fit into the rebuilding Coyotes’ plans.

LeBrun believes Aleksander Barkov will be staying with the Florida Panthers for the rest of his career. There’s been a lot of talks between the 26-year-old center and the Panthers about a long-term contract extension.

BLH’s Thoughts: I wonder what happens if Kailer Yamamoto continues to struggle to get his name on the scoresheet this season? Could Ken Holland slide him into a package to bring in an established scoring RWer? It’d be a tad overkill to send him to Arizona for Kessel, but what if the Oilers could pilfer a bloated contract alongside Killer to bring in the Hot Dog Assassin?

Say what you will about Phil Kessel, he scores goals at an incredible rate and he’s only two and three seasons removed from an 80+pt and a 90+pt year from his time on the Penguins. Could Kessel be the new Brett Hull for Ken Holland 20 years later?

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Make List of Most Head-Scratching 2021 Offseason Moves

October 6, 2021 Beer League Hero

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Sportsnet

Breaking down the Oilers’ best fourth-line candidates at training camp

…the only forward jobs being contested at Edmonton Oilers training camp are on the fourth unit. That’s the bottom line.
Then there are six players — Devin Shore, Kyle Turris, Ryan McLeod, Tyler Benson, Brendan Perlini, Colton Sceviour — fighting for the last three spots, and likely five jobs overall.
On a team with Edmonton’s Top 6, skilled, swift, but not very physical, we’d prefer to see some size. Bigger players who will hit you during their scant, 12 minutes per game.

Tyler Benson

Benson simply isn’t a fourth-line player. And if he is, then your fourth line is too small and not physical enough.
Trying to make him your 4-LW isn’t only bad for the player, it’s not what this Oilers team needs out of its fourth line.

Devin Shore

He is (almost) exactly what you want on Line 4: he can play centre or wing, and take draws; he kills penalties; he is quick, and can forecheck. Plus, Shore has played 326 NHL games and is on a two-year deal making $850,000 a year.

Brendan Perlini

If you’re keeping Perlini on the team to be a goal scorer, then play him up the lineup. If you think a player who has never been strong in his own end is a fourth-line answer, we think you’ll be regretting that decision by about Dec. 1.

Kyle Turris

If you have Turris and Shore on your fourth line — a righty and a lefty for faceoffs — that’s good news. But, you’d like the other winger to have some size and aggression if possible.

Ryan McLeod

He’s a young player who will require some patience, but we see the potential reward at the end. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, though, this is another fourth-line candidate who doesn’t hit a soul.

BLH’s Thoughts: As each day passes by, the chances of Tyler Benson and Ryan McLeod getting into Edmonton’s opening night lineup become fewer and fewer. I’d even go as far as to say that the coaches have their minds made up and now the team is organizing what they want to do with the two young forwards.

Ken Holland’s always said that the young players have to come in and steal a job from one of the vets if they want to make the club and that couldn’t be more the case than this season.

The Score

5 biggest head-scratchers of the offseason

Oilers splurge for Keith

There’s no question the Oilers needed to add a blue-liner this summer. However, targeting Keith doesn’t solve any of their defensive problems, especially considering Adam Larsson joined Seattle and Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie – the club’s only other signings on the back end – are prone to surrendering a ton of chances.

BLH’s Thoughts: Nice to see the writer offer their own suggestion as to who the Oilers should’ve targeted to help solve their defensive problems.

I’ll say this, it’s clear that the club wanted to keep Larsson but the Iron Swede had some very good reasons not to stay. The plan was obviously to pair him with Keith considering Larsson and Keith’s old d-partner Brent Seabrook are identical defensemen. The hockey gods had their own ideas though and the Oilers had to pivot their defense to a more puck-moving group and we’re going to see how that works out.

Other head-scratchers included,

Flyers add Ristolainen

Hurricanes trade Nedjelkovic to Detroit

Golden Knights dump Fleury

Eichel and Sabres in Limbo

The Athletic

NHL’s Top 30 over 30: Counting down the league’s best ‘old guys’

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Brad Marchand
3. Patrice Bergeron
4. Victor Hedman
5. Marc-Andre Fleury
6. Alex Pietrangelo
7. Patrick Kane
8. Roman Josi
9. Semyon Varlamov
10. Jared Spurgeon

BLH’s Thoughts: Obviously there were 30 names on the list but I’m feeling pretty lazy today and it’s probably not fair to The Athletic to copy and paste the entire post. Hopefully, you’ve got yourself a subscription to their service and you can go check out the entire list on your own 🙂

However, I will say this, the rankings are analytics driven, so for me, not having Ovechkin, Malkin, Tavares, Giroux, Kopitar, Lee, and Wheeler in the top-ten of a list of the league’s best players over 30 years old is mystifying.

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Rumors

Edmonton Oilers Talk: “I wouldn’t expose someone else to keep Lagesson.” Says Oilers Pundit

October 6, 2021 Beer League Hero

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The Athletic

Oilers cap primer: Maxing out LTIR, how Josh Archibald complicates things and why Philip Broberg makes the cut

Archibald turns 29 on Wednesday and has one year and $1.5 million left on his contract. Barring a change, he’s ticketed for injury reserve or long-term injury reserve. Which one?
It would be most beneficial to start the season with Stalock and Archibald on IR — which they can do right now — and be as close to $4.167 million (Klefbom’s cap hit) over the cap as possible.
When they’re declaring the opening lineup, the tighter they are to being $4.167 million over the cap, the better.
If the Oilers can wait until after submitting their roster before adding Stalock and Archibald to LTIR, their respective $785,000 and $1.5 million salaries would be added to the LTIR pool established on their opening roster submission.
That means they can exceed the cap by roughly $6 million…
If Broberg isn’t part of the opening roster submission and is later recalled, and there is not $850,000 available in the performance-bonus-LTIR pool, he will count $1,713,334 ($863,334 salary plus $850,000 in bonuses) against the Oilers’ available cap space.
…if players with bonuses aren’t on the season-opening roster, their bonuses are added to their cap hit if they’re ever recalled during the season.
However, having Broberg on the roster to start the season gives the Oilers an extra $850,000 in bonus pool money.
I’m told that, as of right now, the Oilers want to be conservative on waiving players.
The smart money on defence is William Lagesson hitting the waiver wire unless the Oilers want to keep eight blueliners (nine if you include Broberg initially).
If McLeod is the player off the team to make way for Broberg, expect the demotion to be brief. Upon McLeod’s potential return, the Oilers would still have additional room in the bonus pool because his bonuses are less than Broberg’s.

BLH’s Thoughts: More or less what you’ve got to know is that there might be some paper transactions before game one of the regular season to maximize any salary cap advantages the club has. Also, William Lagesson, Tyler Benson, and Ryan McLeod might be sacrificed in one way or another.

So, don’t get your panties in a bunch if you see some questionable roster moves this week.

Oilersnation

Ten Tuesday Thoughts…

I don’t see how Seattle is going to make the playoffs. Do you?
Connor McDavid is getting more comfortable expressing his views on the game. He isn’t loud or brash, but as the league’s brightest star he is starting to voice his opinion more often… Good for him.
Playing McDavid with Leon Draisaitl for stretches in the regular season is a good idea… Edmonton has enough depth now that in the playoffs McDavid and Draisaitl should only play 10% of their 5×5 time together like Crosby and Malkin did when they went consecutive Cup Finals early in their careers.
Brendan Perlini is not Ty Rattie or Tomas Jurco. He is bigger, faster and a much more proven NHL scorer than either of those two were when they had productive preseasons with the Oilers in 2018 and 2019.
I’m curious to see how the Flames season goes. They don’t have a lot of team speed from what I’ve seen. That will be an issue in the regular season.
Tippett said the Benson-McLeod-Sceviour line will play on Thursday. I believe they need to be quite good if they hope to beat out the Perlini-Shore-Turris trio for a spot in the opening night roster.
I believe Ryan McLeod will be more impactful as the season progresses.
I asked Tippett about Bouchard’s low TOI last game and he said that won’t be the norm… Tippett said he was trying a few different things because it was preseason.
Edmonton’s giveaways and errant passes have been their Achilles heel this preseason… I’ve actually been impressed by their team defence for long stretches of games. Their forwards are much better positionally and I feel Edmonton’s blue line as a group passes the puck better than last year.
Would Lagesson have been claimed? We’ll never know, but I don’t see why they would be worried about losing him this season. Currently he’d be #8th on their depth chart, but how much better is he than Phillip Broberg, Filip Berglund, Phil Kemp or Dmitri Samorukov when he returns in four weeks? I don’t think it is much and I wouldn’t expose someone else to keep Lagesson.

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t see Seattle equaling what Vegas did. So much happened around the Golden Knights and Vegas at the time that I can’t see it ever being replicated. We can’t forget about the shooting that took place in Vegas before that season begun and there was this whole “Golden Misfits” moniker going around too, plus the club took advantage of a lot of teams via trade.

I don’t know if the Flames will make the playoffs with the current core but I do think they’re going to catch a few teams by surprise with how physical they are. My question about them is, will they move Matthew Tkachuk before it’s too late and they lose him for nothing?

If the Oilers lose Lagesson via waivers, it’s probably the best thing that the Swede could ask for because he’s not getting any TOI ahead of Russell and Koekkoek. In addition to that, he’s too good for the AHL now and the club needs to develop the young defenders they’ve got down there on the left side like Philip Broberg and Dmitri Samorukov.

Spector’s Hockey

OTTAWA SUN: Bruce Garrioch reports all eyes are on Ottawa Senators winger Brady Tkachuk… It’s believed the Senators have pitched an eight-year deal worth an annual average value of $8 million. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Friday the Tkachuk camp seeks north of $8.4 million… St. Louis broadcaster Andy Strickland said the Senators prefer a seven- or eight-year deal while Tkachuk seeks a bridge deal.

TSN: Darren Dreger talked about Morgan Rielly’s contract situation with the Toronto Maple Leafs… Asked what a hometown discount would be for Rielly, Dreger speculates it would be north of $8 million annually.

Beer League Heroes

“I don’t think Ceci is as big of a problem as he’s made out to be…” Says One Prominent Analytics Pundit

The Athletic

Edmonton Oilers 2021-22 season preview: Playoff chances, projected points, roster rankings

Cult of Hockey

Analytics guys aren’t sure if Edmonton Oilers are great, but they are sure Duncan Keith isn’t

NHLTradeRumor.com

Could the Oilers Trade Archibald or Turris to Chicago for Brett Connolly? Maybe Says Oilers Radioman

The Score

Pacific Division betting preview: Can anyone stop the Golden Knights?

Edmonton Sun

OILERS NOTES: Yamamoto out after taking hit against Calgary

Sportsnet (32 Thoughts)

Edmonton Oilers Talk: Nurse’s Regression, McDavid’s Stanley Cup, and the Latest NHL Rumors!

The Athletic

The NHL’s top 10 regression candidates for 2021-22

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Will Connor McDavid Ever Win the Cup in Edmonton?

Spector’s Hockey

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Sportsnet

Breaking down the Oilers’ best fourth-line candidates at training camp

The Score

5 biggest head-scratchers of the offseason

The Athletic

NHL’s Top 30 over 30: Counting down the league’s best ‘old guys’

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The Athletic

Oilers cap primer: Maxing out LTIR, how Josh Archibald complicates things and why Philip Broberg makes the cut

Oilersnation

Ten Tuesday Thoughts…

Spector’s Hockey

An Edmonton Oilers Blog