Tag Archives: Anders Nilsson

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G28 Oilers VS Sabres: Am I Dreaming?

Things are starting to look up for the Edmonton Oilers. A HUGE 4-2 win and all the lines are rolling, the goaltending is outstanding, and the defence is starting to come together. Last week whilst recording The Oilers Rig’s podcast with Alex Thomas, Mr.Thomas predicted the Oilers would go 0-3-0. I think I predicted 2-1-0. Boston, Dallas and Buffalo were not the teams I expected the Oilers to beat. Were they the teams anybody expected the 30th place team to beat?

Eberle starting to heat up? Photo courtesy of Andy Devlin.

Did anyone hear the guy who wanted Luke Gazdic put on the 2nd line with Nuge and Eberle back in Toronto on Overtime Openline? LOL. That’s one I haven’t heard yet. The caller then went on to compare Gazdic to Semenko and RNH/Eberle to 99 and 17… Crikey!

But speaking of great lines, how about Hall, Draisaitl, and Purcell? They were cutting through the Sabres defence like a hot knife through butter. Right off the bat on the first shift they set the tone for the rest of the game. Hall and Purcell came away from this game with 2 pts and Leon with 1pt. It’d be a good time to put Purcell on your fantasy team, he scores in bunches.

And the RNH, Eberle, Khaira line was firing on all cylinders as well. If Nuge was the red wine and Eberle was the mocha pots de creme, then Khaira is the 72oz steak. This rookie is providing, what I believe, the perfect complimentary attributes to 93 and 14. I’ve been hoping the Oilers would go out and find somebody who could crash and bang, protect the puck, and provide some toughness to the top 6. Every passing game that Jujhar Khaira plays is another feather in his cap. Other teams are noticing him too. Did you see Adam McQuaid turn down a fight with him the other night when Boston was in town…

If we’re going to talk about tough hockey players how about Luke Gazdic scoring (he’s got more goals than Anton Lander now…) and Darnell Nurse leading both teams with 6 hits, one of those being an absolute face mashing of Rasmus Ristolainen behind the Oilers net. It was also great to see Taylor Hall and Nurse letting Evander Kane know half way through the third that his antics weren’t being appreciated after the Sabre dumped Reggie Sekera in the Oilers’ zone.

The goal that Nuge’s line produced was pure genius. The way that Khaira received the puck on the boards and then worked it down to the corner along the boards so he could feed it to RNH behind the net only to have it intercepted by the Sabres dman but then Ninja Nuge swiped it from under the defenders nose and so deftly put it on a tee for the waiting Eberle. Good Lord! Check it out!

I think tonight was the first time I’ve actively noticed each member of the Edmonton defense getting nearly identical TOI numbers. Check it out:

Sekera – 18:29
Schultz – 17:26
Nurse – 22:01
Gryba – 19:45
Klefbom – 22:14
Davidson – 20:11

It’s relieving to see Jultz getting the least amount of ice-time after all these years. He’s gone by next season. I don’t see how he’s any better an option than someone $3 million dollars cheaper. He just lacks the defensive awareness required to be a $5 million dollar defenseman. If he was laying guys out or even had a hint of what Jeff Petry brought to the rink, I think I’d give him more consideration. But at this point I’m walking away from him if he’s asking for more than $3.5M per year.

If you’re a stats guy, check out the fancies from tonight’s game from Walter Foddis and G.Money.

Looks pretty good in Edmonton’s favor doesn’t it. Just wait until you see the charts from Oilers Nerd Alert. You can see his full game review here.

That’s some domination on the Oilers part! I don’t reckon the boys have been this overpowering since that 5-1 drubbing of New Jersey last month. Now let’s look at the forwards and defence.

So we can see here that the Oilers top line was as we seen them. Uncontainable. Nuge’s line had a good night and the 4th line did fairly well too. But the 3rd line of Hendricks, Letestu and Korpikoski ate shit. From all of the reports I’m reading online, it’s Korpi-K that’s bringing down his linemates. I can’t honestly see what he’s doing right or wrong on the ice. He just is. He exists but doesn’t do a whole lot. And to think the Oilers dealt a VERY good face-off man for him…

So there’s our defense. Who’d would’ve guessed that Davidson and Gryba would be the best pairing out of the three? Not I. Apart from getting burnt by Eichel, I think that Gryba wasn’t too shabby out there. I’m not sure if Klefbom and Jultz were happy with their evenings, they seemed pretty blugh out there for me.

Overall it’s hard not to be absolutely stoked that the Oilers are sitting three points out of the playoffs but we should be measured in our stokedness. As we are experiencing at the moment, things can change in the flash of an eye. Last week everyone and their dog were ready to mortgage off Nuge and Eberle because the Oilers were sitting in the NHL’s basement… Again. Now they wouldn’t trade them for anything because the Oilers are THAT close to the playoffs.

Thank Nilsson!

Next up the Sharks are coming to town. Hmmm. Is it easier to say that the Oilers will lose because of the perceived notion that San Jose is a better team or the Oilers will win because the team is on fire? The truth? It’s not easy but I’ll say the Oilers win again and we’ll call it McLellan’s Revenge!

Take it easy folks!

BLH

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, NHL

BLH Post Gamer G27 Oilers VS Stars: Anders the Defiant!

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F-me! What a game by Anders Nilsson! Photo Courtesy of Andy Devlin.

Can you believe what we’re seeing? A goalie that is keeping the Edmonton Oilers in hockey games! Not only that but he’s stealing them for the Oilers too! Are we witnessing the rise of the next great netminder or is this just a guy who’s on a hot streak or was it a matter of playing a team that was on their third game in four nights? Who cares to be honest? The Oilers got the two points, are out of the basement and are .500 in their last ten games. WOOHOO!

After the game Oilers Head Coach Todd McLellan said something to the effect that if Anders Nilsson doesn’t play as good as he did that the Oilers would’ve been left in the dust. Isn’t that the truth?

That first period was a dog’s breakfast. The Oilers were outshot 14-8 and who knows where this game would’ve gone had Jujhar Khaira not knocked that clearing attempt down and dinked it over to Taylor Hall so he could make Patrick Nemeth and a sprawling Uncle Niemi look foolish. Check it out below:

What a beauty. You don’t necessarily appreciate that goal for what it is until you watch it a couple of times. Woof! Unfortunately that was the only thing worth pointing out in the 1st period for the Oilers. The E-Town entertainers did have a couple of chances on the power play but couldn’t manage to find much more than a post. Let’s move on to the second.

The Oilers closed the gap a tad in the middle frame but Dallas was still pouring it on. One thing that was pretty noticeable off the bat was Jujhar Khaira sticking on that top line with Hall and Draisaitl. Khaira did stay there, he had shifts moving up and down the lineup for the rest of the game.

We’ve seen McLellan successfully put a more physical type of player with 4 and 29 a bit earlier in the year when Matt Hendricks was put up there and then Rob Klinkhammer. They opened up some more room in the offensive zone and allowed Hall and Drai the maneuverability they needed to create more chances. Of course, Hendy and Col. Klink were injured not long after, so let’s hope Thorny can stay consistent and healthy. If he can do that then we’ve most likely seen the last of Luke Gazdic. Khaira is simply a better option in the team’s bottom six.

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Dallas managed to find a way to score just before the end of the second as Mattias Janmark (this guy looks pretty crafty btw) easily made Mark Fayne look like a pylon on his way to tapping in a fat juicy rebound. The Oilers need to stop letting these goals in so late in periods. It’s a real buzz killer. I think Fayne only had two more shifts after this one… Coach McLellan was not happy with Fayne’s performance and he wasn’t wrong. He got walked 2 minutes into the game and was just having a terrible day at the office.

Speaking of bad days, how about Eberle fluffing that 2v1 at the end of the second period? Woof! If Eberle doesn’t score in OT, is he still on the tongues of the rumor mongers? The way I see it, he’s gone anyhow because I don’t see how a couple SO goals and an OT winner would put you back in the good graces of the new GM and coach. He’s got a history of production and one 5 game stretch won’t ruin that. His problem is that he doesn’t fit into McLellan’s system. I believe the Oilers coach likes his wingers tenacious and willing to sacrifice their bodies in the name of success.

A minute into the third and you already know how the rest of the period is going to go. The Oilers were forced to clinch their sphincters and hold on for dear life. The Stars peppered Anders Nilsson 15 times in that period but failed to turn on the red light. Contrast that with the Oilers, who only served up a paltry 4 shots and you can clearly see how important Anders Nilsson was to the boys in orange and blue.

Some might say the Oilers stuck with the Stars but if you watched the game it was painfully obvious that Dallas was the superior team. They were tired and couldn’t capitalize on their chances. But as I said earlier, I don’t give hoot how the Oilers get their points, just as long as they get them.

I’m going to leave you here but If you need a clearer view of how bad the Oilers were outplayed, take a look at this chart from OilersNerdAlert and the quote following the chart from Walter Foddis.

Take Care!

BLH

Hey Connor! Check this out! Whoa… Click the pic to head over to G.Money’s site and read his take on the game.

Nilsson made these wins possible against Boston and Dallas. These have been two of their worst defensive games of the season. The special teams in both games–as measured by shot attempts (the best predictors of goal-differential on special teams)–have been very weak. Winning like this is unsustainable.

Fayne was held off the ice tonight. McLellan didn’t like what he was seeing. Fayne’s Dangerous Fenwick Against (DFA) gave numbers to that performance with the lowest DFA to date: 170 (>40 is bad). Gryba and Schultz were crushed in DFA last game.

Not sure what’s happening with Fayne, but for the team in general, I don’t think these weak performances are an effort issue; it’s our roster. The injury bug is hurting us big time. Remember when we had a decent 2L of McDavid, Yak, Pouliot? All out with injury. Our best 4L possession forward (Klinkhammer), & our best 5/6 D-man (Davidson) are also out. Whose in? Our 2 worst forwards–Korpikoski & Gazdic–are stinking up the joint on the bottom-6.

Don’t be fooled by the wins. If not for Nilsson, the scores would reflect how badly the team is performing. Not being negative; just keeping it real.

On the positive side, I love Eberle’s reaction to scoring in OT. Getting goals will help his confidence. You know the team is going to need more of them! – Walter Foddis

Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oilers Post Game Report, Madison Moroz, NHL

BLH Post Gamer:G3-Edmonton Oilers Vs Dallas Stars

 

Well tonight was interesting. I was definitely in a glass case of emotion as a fan and I can only imagine how everyone else felt. The Oilers didn’t come out too strong in the first, the shot count can be misconstrued as it was pointed out a lot how much the Dallas Stars just put the puck on net from anywhere; with the naked eye you could see a good high percentage of the shots weren’t high quality.

The defence was keeping a lot of shots to the outside and blocked 25 shots tonight. The boys on the back end were actually doing an average job of blocking off the shooting lanes but the Stars were just throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Nilsson tonight; who let in 2 softies, but absolutely stood on his head making 48 saves on 51 shots. It’s nice to see the Oilers get solid goaltending in net for once.

The boys in white came out rocking in the second though with much more energy, keeping pace in the period with the Stars in shots only being outshot 14-13. They got a much needed boost with two quick goals from Oscar Klefbom and Connor McDavid, who finally broke the goose egg with his first career NHL goal. They didn’t look back from that point, sustaining pressure, winning puck battles, making the smart and simple plays first, and sticking to the game plan.

Everyone seemed to have a nice kick of energy and we had hope could pull off a win. Then the third period started and my emotions were going all over the place, a lot of screaming and yelling at the TV. The Oil just didn’t appear to have the fire they came out with in the second and then they took a bad penalty and that deflated any sort of momentum they had built to that point.

I knew once Yakupov missed on that breakaway something bad was going to happen, I just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

You can only be outplayed and out shot for so long till another one goes in, killing all momentum and crushing my hopes and dreams for a win. I was on an emotional roller coaster tonight, but I was again pleased that this team efforts level is much better then its ever been the last 3 years, so there’s a positive right?

 

The Three Beer League Heroes tonight are:

1.Jason Spezza- He played a fantastic game tonight, he was all over the offensive zone, played great defensively and had a hat-trick for his first 3 goals of the season, he was by the far best player on the ice and well deserving of the first Hero.

2. Anders Nilsson– What can you say about a performance like that, he let in 2 softies in my opinion, but he battled hard for the full 60 minutes, made 48 saves tonight and stood on his head giving Edmonton a chance to stay in this game and he did just that. Thoroughly impressed with his compete level, something I don’t remember seeing with the Islanders.

3.Connor Mcdavid- Who else deserves this, after two LONG grueling games scores his first NHL goal, like 2 other phenom’s in Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky. He still played a solid game and looks mature beyond his years, he’s only getting better as each game passes and more comfortable, tonight was the first night of him picking up some steam.

Tonight’s Golden Plunger Award goes to…..

Anton Lander. It never pleases me to give this award out especially to a guy who’s been working his tail off and earning his job every night. It’s not that he played horrible, it’s that he just didn’t make use out of any of his minutes he had out there, almost a third of them were shorthanded and he appeared to be benched in the third period. So the coaching staff saw something they didn’t like out of him tonight. He just didn’t have that pep, that puck prowess he usually has when he’s out there, winning puck battles and just being strong on the puck like he normally is.

Side note: Anton Slepyshev only played 5:27 tonight.

Overall with tonight’s loss, I was happy to see that we could battle back and square the game up and get some momentum from two of the players we need to step up in times of need. Still frustrated after the fact that they just didn’t have their legs tonight, and couldn’t keep a consistent flow of momentum going. Taylor hall wasn’t himself and you could see was not 100%.

The only positive out of the offence tonight was the Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov line, who have some found good chemistry and I’m hoping they’re kept together to capitalize on this blossoming chemistry. No moral victories tonight, this was a loser’s loss because the Oilers simply weren’t the better team out there tonight.

I’ll say it again, the effort out of this team is still far more improved then what we are accustomed to and much better body language on the bench, especially from the Oilers emotional leader in Hall.

Next game is against the St. Louis Blues at the home opener on Thursday night. The Oilers have to come out crashing and full of life in this game if they want to stand a chance, they can’t surrender the same amount of shots as they did tonight and get away with it again. They have to tighten up defensively and start throwing more pucks on net, start shooting and start the crashing, its going to be the only way they can penetrate the Blues defensive system. Shots and speed, utilize the fact that they’re the quicker team and start creating breakdowns in their zone.

Thanks for reading feel free to let me know what you think @madi39 or in the comment section below!

 

Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Corey Mitchell, Edmonton Oilers, Rob Cooke, Sunday Night Pint, Zach Laing

BLH Sunday Night Pint #10

Welcome to the TENTH edition of the BLH Sunday Night Pint! This evening we have Zach Laing (@loweded), Rob Cooke (@Just Oil78), and Corey Mitchel (@corn_cwm) with us to talk about what is now old news, specifically what was the 3-headed monster in net. We’re also going to touch on how the boys would make the team “heavier” in the words of Peter Chiarelli and our final thoughts as the preseason closes out. So let’s get started shall we?

1. What Will Come of This Three-Headed Monster In Net?

ZL: Yikes. This is a extremely tough call. All three of the goaltenders have played very well up until this point in the preseason. Jeff Marek of Sportsnet has been saying for sometime now that he feels Ben Scrivens will end up being the starting goaltender for Edmonton. Marek is uncertain of Talbot, and thinks Scrivens has enough fight to earn that starter spot. Given that Anders Nilsson doesn’t need to clear waivers in order to be sent down, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get sent down. Talbot and Scrivens will be able to push each other moving forward, and Nilsson could be called up if an injury occurs.

CM: Oh, the three headed goalie monster. Remember the classic Conklin-Morrison-Markannen conflict? We don’t need another one of those. Looking at things, my guess is that it’s going to be between Scrivens and Nilsson in regards to a goalie move. Looking at what Chiarelli was willing to give up for Talbot, he didn’t make that move just to put Talbot on waivers. Talbot will be on the team to start the season. There’s a very real chance that, as ideal as it may not be, the Oilers start the year with three goalies. Hopefully that isn’t the case. If you aren’t starting the year with a bonafide starter, then you start the year with two guys capable of battling it out for the job. I expect that at some point before the season starts, we see one of Scrivens or Nilsson on waivers. If it’s me, I move away from Scrivens, simply because he was here prior to Chiarelli, who added two guys for his net.

RC: Obviously the choice comes down to Nilsson or Scrivens. No chance that Peter Chiarelli brought in Talbot to only send him to the minors. He is the starter and won’t be going anywhere this season. This should be an open and shut case of which netminder has performed better to this point in the season. If that is the case, then Anders Nilsson is our back-up goalie and we can say good-bye to the Professor now.

Unfortunately play this fall isn’t the only thing to consider when McLellan and Chiarelli are deciding between the two. There are a couple things that bear consideration before a decision is reached. Experience in the NHL will definitely be a factor. Between Talbot and Nilsson the Oilers would have 80 games of NHL experience. Scrivens has over 100 games by himself. Another item to note is the waiver requirements for the two. Scrivens will require to clear waivers before he could be reassigned and Nilsson would not. Not that I see any team claiming Ben even if he is waived but you get the point. If I have to guess, which is the point of the question it would appear, I would say that Chiarelli is trying to move out Scrivens and his 2.3 million dollar cap but barring a trade I think we see Scrivens as the back-up in hopes that his play rebounds and teams come calling.

BLH: Well I have the distinct advantage of answering this question after the news came out about Ben Scrivens’ demotion. But had you asked me before hand I would’ve said the would keep Scrivens because it would’ve cost to much to move him AND Nikitin to the minors but that’s exactly what they’ve done. What will they do with all that cash tied up in Bakersfield? It’s definitely Chia’s and McLellan’s team now and the die has been cast. It’s their way or the highway.

2. How Would You Make the Oilers a “Heavier” Team?

ZL: In order for the Oilers to become “heavier”, the team needs to play a tougher style of game. When I think of heavy teams to play against, I think of teams like the LA Kings when they recently won their Stanley Cups. They play a game driven by strong fore-checking and lots of physical play which forces other teams off of the puck, allowing them to get good scoring chances. The Oilers need to play a game that is driven by the strong fore-check in order to create better scoring opportunities. I think at this point in the preseason, we have seen under McLellan’s system a much stronger fore-check and thus the Oilers have had greater scoring opportunities.

CM: As many people have talked about, it looks like the “enforcer” role is all but done with. So how does this team get heavier? Well, you aren’t about to go out and add a guy to your roster that’s going to play 4-6 minutes a game, and really have little effect on things. The Oilers have Luke Gazdic still, although he may not get too many games this year. The addition of Eric Gryba address things a bit as well, although he could see limited time, much like Gazdic. That being said, you don’t need to be “heavy” to play “heavy”. At this point, it’s going to take another slight culture change. This team has gone from blue collar, hard working, to high skill and speed. Now they need to add that heavy aspect as well. In short, what I’m trying to say is, the players the Oilers have need to learn to play heavy, even if that means taking a bad penalty here or there to establish that the Oilers aren’t going to get pushed around this season.

RC: This is a little bit of a misleading question. You would have had to watched the MacKenzie interview to understand what Peter really means by heaviness. He doesn’t mean heavier players necessarily. What he means is that he wants the team to play a more physical style. He wants his team to be dogged in their pursuit of the puck and to be willing to go into the dirty areas and come out with the puck. I for one do not see the Oilers as being able to play that style of game. The bottom six may be able to and with Pouliot and potentially Slepyshev on the top two lines it would give some of what Chiarelli is asking for. The skilled guys in the top six have never played that style and I don’t know that they ever will be really effective at it. Adding some grit and toughness to the top six is the only route I can see the team going at this stage.

BLH: Well personally I think Chiarelli will take a shot at either Milan Lucic or Kyle Okposo over the course of the season. They would add an element that the Oilers do not have. A guy who can score, hit, and open up the ice for the skillers. I read that Jordan Staal has been linked to the Oilers too. Not sure how reliable that is though. Surely the Canes would like to hold on to the younger Staal, what about the older one though?

With that said, the Oilers have been planning on this for some time. The additions of Anton Slepyshev and Leon Draisaitl, Lauri Korpikoski, and Mark Letestu show us the kind of forward the Oilers are looking to gravitate to. Griffin Reinhart and Eric Gryba on defence are also some big boys who can play a mean game but the sacrifice being how bad they’re going to get caught out on the road when the other team has last change.

3. Your Thoughts on the Oilers 2015/16 Preseason.

ZL: So far, I’m impressed. Our training camp has been much improved under McLellan and granted this is just preseason, the players seem to be responding well to his coaching. I mean, we are 6-1 in the 7 games we have played leading up to the season opener on Thursday. All of the comments have been very positive from the players and from McLellan himself. It will be interesting to see how the team performs through the first 20 games, and then the last 60. Everyone remembers how last season started, so let’s hope this year is much different.

CM: I think the Oilers are exactly what I thought they would be after the offseason. High skill on the front, big questions on the back. McDavid has been an absolute joy, and I can’t wait to watch him as the season starts. Draisaitl has been a very pleasant surprise for me personally., I had him pegged to start the year in the AHL, but he has totally earned the right to start the year on that top line with Hall and McDavid. Reinhart has also been a nice story, and I hope the preseason helped to show everyone who thought the Oilers paid too much for him, that they were mistaken. But the preseason is what it is, and means zero in the grand scheme of things. Let’s drop the puck on this season, and go from there.

RC: I like what I have seen from most of the players so far this season with some very obvious exceptions. McDavid appears as advertised, his speed off the wing is truly amazing to behold. Leon is showing that he is ready for full-time NHL action this season. Slepyshev has been a very nice surprise this fall. We knew he had some offensive ability but I don’t think anyone could have predicted just how good this young man was going to be coming from the bigger ice of the KHL. Anders Nilsson has been perfect so far in 120 minutes of game action and appears poised for a decent NHL career. Justin Schultz has been far superior to his previous seasons and on most nights has been the best defenseman on the team. Andrej Sekera seems to come as advertised. Aside from a couple defensive lapses against the Canucks on Thursday he has played fairly well in a very small sample size. Those are some of the positives.

The negatives are just as obvious as the positives. Andrew Ference has shown that he does not have enough left in the tank to compete with the younger faster players in the NHL. Captain or not, it is time for Andy to hang up the skates in my opinion. The other player that has proven to be a really bad choice for the opening night roster is Nikita Nikitin. Last season he was apparently injured for the majority of the year and that supposedly affected his performance greatly. Well then the guy must still be injured because I have seen no improvement what so ever from last year. He is too slow, can’t seem to make a pass exiting the defensive zone and more often than not his bomb from the point is finding the end boards instead of the net.

BLH: I’ll tell you what. Every year I am stoked because there’s a new crop of players and a new season is upon us but as we can all tell this isn’t just any season coming up. The new players have come to play this year and there’s no doubt in any of them. But the story of the preseason for me is what looks like the re-emergence of Nail Yakupov and, from my eye at least, the failing experiment that is Taylor Hall and Connor McDavid.

Yakupov looks to have his swagger back. He’s working hard, he’s shooting again, and it just looks like he’s loving hockey like he used to. As for Hall, he’s my whipping boy, so anything he does wrong gets magnified and anything he does right goes unnoticed because that’s what should be happening. But he looks way behind McDavid in terms of on-ice thought processes. Draisaitl looked better on 97’s wing to be honest. So we’ll have to keep an eye on this one.

BONUS: Who’s Your Favorite Captain of All-Time?

ZL: I am a big fan of Mark Messier. After Wayne Gretzky left, Moose stepped in and took the team to a Stanley Cup Championship. He helped prove to everyone that the Oilers could do it without Wayne, and they did just that. Considering he has an NHL award named after him – the Mark Messier Leadership Award – as well as the fact that he is the only player to Captain two teams to a Stanley Cup Champion.

CM: Do I get crucified if I don’t say Messier? Because I’m going totally bias here, and I’m saying Mario Lemieux. The sexy picks might be a Mark Messier or a Jonathan Toews, but the question is “favorite captain”. I can’t help it if my all time favorite player was a captain. Also, second best player of all time, and lead the Pens to back to back Cups. Just saying.

RC: How anyone could say anyone other than Mark Messier is beyond me. I mean come on the guy has an award named after him! The Mark Messier leadership award is named that way because of the respect that anyone that has ever played against or watched the man play the game. He led the right way. He was a fierce competitor and demanded the same from all his teammates. If you gave less than your all then you had Moose to deal with in the locker room! There hasn’t been many players in the league that were as widely respected and feared as Mess. He earned and deserves the award that bears his name and there should be no question as to who is the greatest NHL captain of all-time!

BLH: My Favorite captain of all-time (which is basically code for the time I’ve been alive) would be Wendel Clark. About the time I started following hockey more closely was when the Leafs were having those runs in the 90s. He played that old brand of Canadian hockey. Tough and fearless and a wrist shot that hasn’t been matched by many. And how could you not respect the handlebar mustache? Mario Lemieux was my favorite player but I’m not sure he was my favorite captain. Maybe in the 2002 Olympics is when he really shone as a captain. I think Steve Yzerman could be nominated too for how he went from highly skilled 100pt per season player to elite defensive center after numerous knee surgeries.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below with your thoughts on this week’s SNP topics!

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Take Care!

BLH

 

Corey Mitchell, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Prospects

Prospect Profile: It’s Showtime

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Welcome to Prospect Profile, my eight part series looking at the players in the Oilers system. Over the course of the summer, I will present a new group of players each week, leading into the prospect camp this September. For the purpose of these features, my definition for a player to be deemed a prospect is less than 100 NHL games, and no older than 25 years old.

Part One will focus on five players that I feel have the most legitimate shot of making the opening night roster this season, although there may be one or two players exempt from this grouping, based on upcoming Profiles.

Connor McDavid
The Oilers have had 1st Overall picks before. The excitement generated in 2010 when Taylor Hall became the very first Number 1 in Oilers history is something I remember very well. But this year was something different altogether. Over the last two seasons, everyone in the hockey world has been privy to the knowledge that Connor McDavid was going to be a superstar at the level of Sidney Crosby. But as the 2014-15 Oilers season began, the team and the fans were at a level of optimism that they hadn’t been at for some time. While everyone agreed it would be nice to somehow end up with that 1st pick, no one expected it. Fast forward to the NHL Draft Lottery, and the hockey gods smiled upon Oil Country that day.

Connor McDavid is now property of the Oilers, having officially signed his ELC during development camp. Already, the atmosphere in the city is electric. McDavid is hands down playing, and excelling in Edmonton this season. He could, and should, finally be the catalyst to break the Oilers out of the perennial funk they’ve found themselves in.

While he didn’t finish his OHL career with either a Memorial Cup or even an OHL Championship, McDavid’s accomplishments last year alone are astounding. The highlight being finally helping Canada reclaim World Junior supremacy, McDavid also walked away with a bevy of individual awards, most notably his second CHL Scholastic Player of the Year, which he also won in 2014, and the CHL Player of the Year award.

As good as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been, and continues to be, Connor McDavid is the new top center for the Oilers. Already on social media, fans are dreaming up fantasy line ups, discussing who to play with McDavid. He’s changed the entire dynamic of the team without playing a game, and given a long suffering fan base something they need and deserve; hope.

Darnell Nurse
Picked 7th in 2013, Darnell Nurse looks to be poised to crack the Oilers roster heading into this season. Nurse had an absolutely tremendous year with Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL, proving that sending him back to junior after making the Oilers out of camp was a very wise decision. Nurse dominated all season, leading his Soo Greyhounds into the OHL playoffs, and an extremely entertaining series against Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters. Prior to that, Nurse was on the same Canadian junior team as McDavid, and was a pivotal member of that blue line, taking on more of a shut down role playing against the top players in the world.

As I mentioned earlier, Nurse did make the Oilers out of camp last season, albeit for two games before returning to junior. However, that was a defense corps that looked very different from the one Peter Chiarelli has assembled this offseason. The additions of Andrej Sekera and Eric Gryba this summer brings in two more experienced NHL players. That, along with added competition in Griffin Reinhart and the recently re-signed Brandon Davidson is going to make the Oilers a very hard team to make on the back end, although there could still be moves made before the start of the season that may open a spot or two. I’m hoping if it comes down to Nurse and say, Davidson for that seventh spot, Davidson gets it. Nurse is only going to benefit from playing. I would much rather see Darnell Nurse as a staple on the blue line in Bakersfield, eating huge minutes in all situations, instead of healthy scratched most of the year.

That being said, as beneficial as starting the year in the AHL would be for Nurse, I don’t expect him to be there long, and definitely not after Christmas. He’s ready for the NHL now, and I expect he’s going to be a key figure for the Oilers for many, many years.

Leon Draisaitl
This is a player who, I feel, the Oilers handled in all the wrong ways last season. My personal feeling is Draisaitl should not have played one NHL game last season, let alone 37. That’s not a knock against him in anyway. I think given some time to develop and adjust to the pro game in the AHL, Draisaitl is going to evolve into a very, very good NHL player. He has the size and he thinks the game well. But he’s lacking speed. And that was something that should have been evident last year in training camp. Unfortunately, Craig MacTavish felt comfortable with what he had down the middle, and ended up burning the 1st year of Draisaitl’s ELC.

Now, I understand the situation the Oilers found themselves in, not wanting to send Draisaitl to a Prince Albert team that was going to be at the bottom of the WHL. I’m of the opinion that a trade could have been worked out earlier, even if it meant Draisaitl playing a few months with the PA Raiders. Also, I don’t recall Jordan Eberle suffering that much playing for a non-playoff team in Regina. The story also eventually came out that it was the Oilers who determined Draisaitl would not be representing Germany at the World Juniors last season. Again, a situation in which there may or may not have been a large amount of success to be had, but representing his country again would have at least given Draisaitl some confidence. And it’s not as though he was making a difference for the Oilers at the time.

But, be that as it may, Draisaitl excelled once he finally did make it back to the WHL, with the Kelowna Rockets. He helped the Rockets secure a berth in the Memorial Cup by capturing the WHL Championship, being named playoff MVP in the process. And although he came up short in the Memorial Cup championship game, Draisaitl walked away from the tournament with both the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the leading scorer of the tournament, but also Memorial Cup MVP.

Much like Nurse, there is a very good chance Draisaitl makes the Oilers out of camp this year again. Also like Nurse, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him starting the year in Bakersfield. With both McDavid and Mark Letestu filling in the middle along with Nugent-Hopkins and Anton Lander, there’s been talk of moving Draisaitl to the wing, which I think would be a very beneficial move.

Anders Nilsson
The battle of the goalies at training camp should be interesting. Ben Scrivens was not good last year, and Viktor Fasth has moved on to the KHL. This off season saw Chiarelli bring in Cam Talbot, who many are pegging as the new number one. If that is the case, then the back up position is going to be between Scrivens, and Anders Nilsson, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, and quickly signed a one-way deal with the Oilers. However, Nilsson signing a one-way deal makes me wonder if Scrivens is being shopped. Nilsson looks to be a capable back up to Talbot, having posted some very nice numbers last year with Kazan Ak-Bars of the KHL.

That being said, last season was the only year he posted a GAA under 2.00, seeing previous action with the Bridgeport Tigers of the AHL, and a handful of games with the Islanders, who drafted him in 2009. This could be the restart he needs. My thought is he was brought in by Chiarelli fully expecting to be the back up to Talbot. Sending him down to the minors doesn’t benefit Nilsson at all, and if anything, hampers the development of Laurent Brossoit, who should be the starter in Bakersfield next year.

Tyler Pitlick
My opinion is that this is Pitlick’s last chance to prove he belongs with the big club. Although he’s suffered through injuries, he looked to be on the right track last year, scoring a couple of goals before injuries ended his season. Pitlick brings just what the Oilers need in their bottom six, which is physicality and an ability to chip in some goals. His 62 points in his only year of junior hockey with Medicine Hat is proof of that.

Pitlick could be in tough to secure a spot in the bottom six. Rob Klinkhammer and Matt Hendricks are both stalwarts for the Oilers, and the addition of Lauri Korpikoski accounts for 3 of the 4 winger positions available. Factor in that the Oilers will have to find a spot for top six players like Teddy Purcell and Nail Yakupov, and the log jam gets even worse. For Pitlick though, he may be able to come into camp, and impress enough to force out a Luke Gazdic, or at least secure some playing time as an interchangeable 13th forward.

The biggest struggle for Pitlick is going to be staying healthy. A knee injury in the 2013-14 season limited him to 49 games split between the Oilers and the Oklahoma City Barons, while a lacerated spleen resulted in Pitlick missing all but a combined 31 games. When healthy though, Pitlick has shown he can be an effective player at the AHL level. That’s something he’ll need to try and carry over to the NHL level.