Tag Archives: Hampus Lindholm

Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Pick Your Poison Anaheim

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs resumes this Thursday for the Edmonton Oilers as they’ll travel to the Pond in Anaheim to take on those nasty Ducks. I’m anticipating some old schools shenanigans from Kesler, Bieksa, and Perry and I’ll be keeping a close eye on how close those three get to Cam Talbot.

Maybe Eric Gryba gets a game in here as a deterrent.

But here’s the thing. The Ducks have no forwards to match-up with Connor McDavid so they might have their hands full trying to sort that little problem out. Check out these numbers (5×5 btw):

Over the course of the 2016/17 season, McDavid managed to score 5 goals against the Pacific Division Champs and was on the ice for 1 goal against in 85 minutes. His per 60 metrics vs. Anaheim gather from Corsica.hockey are as follows:

GF60: 3.52
GA60: 0.7
CF60: 67.55
CA60: 45.04

So if you aren’t familiar with what those numbers are telling us, and I’m not a fancy stats expert, they’re saying that When Connor McDavid is on the ice against the Anaheim Ducks at 5×5, he’ll score nearly 5X more goals for than goals will be scored against.

Ignore the PDO of 107 though as that’ll make all of this look a little bit less shiny and optimistic.

But I regress…

Now to get more specific, according to Stats.hockeyanalysis.com, Ryan Kesler spent 50:01 minutes of ice-time playing against 97, the most of any player in the league this year, but McDavid averaged over 3.59 goals for per 60 minutes and 1.2 goals against per 60 while playing against him.

What about Ryan Getzlaf? Well, Connor McDavid only lined up for a shade over 21 minutes from Anaheim’s bald-headed wonder and McDavid averaged over 5.5 goals for per 60 minutes and ZERO goals against per 60 minutes…

As for Anaheim’s other pivots:

Antoine Vermette – McDavid averaged 5.7 goals for per 60 and ZERO goals against when on the ice with the “Slasher of Refs” in just over 10 minutes of play this year.

Nate Thompson – McDavid and Thompson didn’t share the ice this year at 5×5 apparently.

But What About a Defensive Pair?

If I were Randy Carlyle, I might make sure that Cam Fowler, if he’s playing, and Hampus Lindholm are on the ice any time Connor is; as it seems they did “okay” when tasked with shutting down the 2016/17 NHL Art Ross Trophy winner.

Fowler (35:52 TOI): McDavid only had 1.76 goals for per 60 when he was playing against Fowler.
Lindholm (40:22 TOI): Connor had 2.97 goals for per 60 when on the same ice as Lindholm.

Compare that with the pair of defensemen that the San Jose Sharks just deployed to keep McDavid at bay and Anaheim might just have something. Here are Vlasic and Braun’s numbers:

Here are Vlasic and Braun’s numbers:

Vlasic (59:47 TOI): McDavid put up 5.02 GF60 on Pickles.
Braun (54:35 TOI): Connor had 5.5 GF60 while stickhandling around Justin Braun.

WOOF San Jose!

CLEVER GIRL

But here’s where Todd McLellan gets shifty.

Take a gander at Lindholm and Fowler’s per 60 metrics versus Leon Draisaitl…

Lindholm (39.43 TOI): Draisaitl racked up 3.02 GF60!
Fowler (26:57 TOI): 4.45 GF60 is what the big German tossed up on Fowler!

So Lindholm’s #s against Connor and Leon are quite similar whereas Fowler seemed to have had a much better time lining up across from McDavid than Draisaitl. I wonder if this simply comes down to a bad physical matchup?

I wonder if this simply comes down to a bad physical matchup? Fowler is probably the only Ducks defender that can keep up with McDavid but Draisaitl can just swat him away like a mosquito.

The Nuge, what do the Oilers do with him? Well, I’ll tell you what they shouldn’t do with him and that’s put him on the ice at the same time as Ryan Getzlaf.. Nuge has a GF60 of ZERO and a GA60 of 3.1 when sharing the ice with Getzlaf.

I’d make sure RNH is out there vs. Antoine Vermette if I were in charge. He wouldn’t win a lot of face-offs (if any) but in the 15 minutes Nugent-Hopkins played versus Vermette this past season, he had a GF60 of nearly 4 (3.8) and a GA60 of 0.00.

Scary stuff there between Nuge and Getzlaf but then again, Nugey didn’t have a great season this year stat-wise.

I just spouted off using a few metrics to attempt to tell you that the Oilers are in good shape versus the Ducks from an offensive point of view but let’s not fool ourselves, the Anaheim Ducks are still a good hockey team and any letting off of the gas by the Oilers here could severely dampen their chances at an appearance in the Stanley Cup final. The Oilers MUST attack the Ducks from the get go. Shock and Awe baby!!

Does Todd McLellan go the three-headed dragon route vs. the Ducks when they’re in Anaheim?

What would you do? Let us know in the comments below!

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Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL

Feeling It

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It’s a weird feeling for the Oilers to be on top of the league, isn’t it? Only two games in albeit but one should never turn down the opportunity to celebrate something, no matter the size of the victory. I’ll celebrate this no questions asked. I might pre-emptively celebrate a three-game winning streak because Buffalo is down their two main battleships.

Can anybody explain to me why the Oilers are winning despite getting their asses handed to them in the possession stats? I mean if you were to strictly read the game by the numbers you’d think the Oilers were lucky and I watched both those games, they were definitely NOT lucky. That being said, McDavid is more or less saving the Oilers’ butts whenever they get down.

NAIL-ING THE OILERS

Are you missing Taylor Hall right now? The chatter is all about Nail Yakupov and how he was so hard done by in Edmonton… I think that’s a load of bullshit too. I like Yakupov but boy-oh-boy is he playing the sympathy card right now…

I asked my source about this and I was told the Oilers did everything they could for Nail but he chose to be a “loner”. I don’t like that term but it captures the spirit pretty well.

A team or organization can only do so much to help their players/employees. Nail Yakupov wanted to come to the Canadian Hockey League and play. He played in Sarnia for two years and lived with the Galchenyuk’s if I’m not mistaken. Then he was drafted by the Oilers and did his family not come to Edmonton with him? So, what am I missing here? What is Yakupov going on about when he complains about a new country, new city, and new friends? Why is he using being away for a long time as an excuse when he went back to Russia almost every off-season? To my understanding, he’s always intimated that he wants to be in North America and would never flee to the KHL. And he’s been in St.Louis all of maybe 2 weeks and everyone in that organization is good people?

I get it if he wants to vent but he seems to be painting the Oilers organization as a whole in a bad manner whilst making people feel sorry for him and it’s a tad aggravating. Or maybe Nail has some mental issues and we should be sensitive to his situation… I’m not sure but I’m not reading that quote above in the way a lot of others are.

We live and die by the choices we make and don’t make in life…

THIS COULD BE IT!!

I need you to really think about what is happening right now in the Pacific Division and how the things I’m about to illuminate upon you could very well affect the Edmonton Oilers and their push for the playoffs in 2016/17.

  • Jonathan Quick, the LA Kings star goalie, is set to miss up to 4 months with a groin injury. Will LA be able to sustain a level of competition that would allow them to be in a position to make the playoffs without Quick? Paging the 2015/16 Montreal Canadiens!
  • Anaheim is having trouble signing their top defenseman, Hampus Lindholm, AND their goaltending is questionable as well. John Gibson is highly touted but unproven and we’ve seen enough of Jonathan Bernier to know what he brings to the table.The Ducks are going to have to make a trade in order to make room for Lindholm and his probably $5M plus contract. This means Cam Fowler, Jakub Silvferberg, and/or Andrew Cogliano could be on the outs in SoCal!Oh… And how could I forget about Randy Carlyle?
  • Calgary’s goaltending is still shaky. Did they really think they were getting an upgrade in Elliott?
  • Vancouver is shaping up to be a lottery team. I’m not sure if Ryan Miller has it in him anymore and it seems like every year we’re waiting with baited breath to see if Jakob Markstrom is going to pan out.
  • Arizona is WAY too young and again, questionable goaltending. Mike Smith goes through phases where he’s an all-star and when he’s an all-star… in the AHL. Arizona is going to have a great team someday but this year they will not be. Knowing the Oilers luck, they’ll probably give them a run for their money though.
  • San Jose… The Sharks will probably compete for the Western Conference title but Edmonton, in theory, will be able to keep up with them this year.

Those top two (LA and Anaheim) are the ones I will be keeping my eye on. Both LA and Anaheim are potentially in very compromising positions. With the easy schedule the Oilers have to start the year, they’d bloody well better take advantage of it because these points will be of the utmost importance come time when the schedule starts to get a bit tougher and the road trips get a bit longer…

All I’m saying is, don’t be surprised if we see the Oilers locked into a playoff position when the time comes due.

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

In Search of a Right Hand Man

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The Edmonton Oilers have one, count it, ONE right-handed defenseman under contract going into this summer and the trade options are becoming fewer and fewer as we get closer to the draft. Justin Faulk and Tyson Barrie have been pulled off of the shelf, Travis Hamonic wants to stay in Brooklyn now, Sami Vatanen just signed a new deal with Anaheim that makes him the highest paid blueliner on their team. So what are the Oilers left with?

DO NOT TOUCH WITH CHARA’S STICK

  • Dan Girardi (NYR) – Bad contract and the arrow are pointing south.
  • Cody Franson (BUF) – What happened to this guy? Looked to be developing into something of a beast.
  • Tom Gilbert (MTL) – Need I explain why?
  • Dennis Wideman (CGY) – The refs have been pretty inconsistent in Oilers games… Better not though.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

  • Jason Demers – 6’1″ 200lb – He’s the best of the bunch and will be no.1 UFA target on a lot of lists. Would you pay north of $5M per year for this two-way defender?
  • Luke Schenn – 6’2″ 230lb – Would offer a definite physical element and his age is preferable but his skating and mobility isn’t.
  • Zach Redmond – 6’2″ 205lb – Redmond is climbing the ranks on UFA lists everywhere. He seems to be a lesser version of Demers. Could possibly fill a third pairing role well.
  • Roman Polak – 6’0″ 230lb – Nooooo. Unless Nurse needs a sparring partner. Completely exposed in the Finals by Pittsburgh’s speed and relentless forechecking.
  • Dan Boyle – 5’11” 194lb – At 40 years old, is this the kind of player the Oilers should be targeting? I can’t see it.
  • Brian Campbell – 5’10” 192lb – He’s three years younger than Boyle but I’m not sure if he’d like to spend his twilight years playing in Edmonton. I’ve read Chicago and Florida are his preferred destinations. I don’t blame him either.

OFFER SHEETS

  • Tyson Barrie (COL) – A top point producing dman with an edge.
  • Hampus Lindholm (ANH) – Tracking to be a top pairing dman.
  • Rasmus Ristolainen (BUF) – Incredible size and offense. Bad possession numbers.
  • Radko Gudas (PHI) – A freight train on ice. Can play over the line but has some offense.
  • Jacob Trouba (WPG) – Mean MF’er. Has trailed off since being stuck behind Big Buff and Tyler Myers.
  • Connor Murphy (ARI) – Quiet and effective two-way defender.
  • Seth Jones (CLB) – Smooth skater whose offense is a tad better than his defense at this point.

I don’t go into what each brings to the rink because you’re already aware of that but players like Barrie, Lindholm, Ristolainen, Jones, and Trouba would need to be signed in the $7M plus per year range in order to have a chance and at that point the compensation would be a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd round pick. For a team whose pipeline isn’t a point of pride, I’m not sure if the offer sheet route is the best way to go.

With that being said, Radko Gudas intrigues me a lot and Philly has some nice pieces coming up through their system, most notably, Ivan Provorov. Sam Morin is towering beast of a dman and Travis Sanheim is another. I do wonder if a deal could be made here with the Flyers to acquire Gudas’ rights.

LITTLE KNOWN TRADE TARGETS

  • Josh Manson (ANH) – Dave’s son is a bit better technically than him but I don’t think he’ll even be starring in the NHL’s Hardest Shot Competition anyday. Not that it isn’t hard, I just don’t think offense is his game. Shut down defense is where he carves his niche.
  • Dougie Hamilton (CGY) – Think Calgary would move him to get to no.4?
  • Matt Dumba (MIN) – I can’t see him being worth the price. He looked lost at the World’s.
  • Anton Stralman (TB) – Would Tampa be willing to move Stralman for cap flexibility in order to be able to sign Hedman, Kucherov, Johnson, etc?
  • Kevin Bieksa (ANH) – If the Ducks do sign Hampus Lindholm, that defense is going to be very expensive. Might they be willing to eat some salary to rid themselves of Bieksa?

What do you think? What route would you like to see the Oilers take? Let me know in the comments below!

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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Breaking News, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Ducks Calling?

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Boy things are starting to move as we get closer to the draft, eh? Rumours be flying left and right! So let’s go with another quick hitter today guys! I’m going to comment on Taylor Hall, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Nail Yakupov, and trading down.

Sami Vatanen Signs!

  • So there we have it. First it was Travis Hamonic rescinding his trade request, then it was Justin Faulk being pulled off the market, after that Avs head honcho Joe Sakic said Tyson Barrie wasn’t going anywhere, and now we’re at this point. Sami Vatanen is NOW the Anaheim Ducks most paid defenseman.
  • Every major right-handed defenseman the Edmonton Oilers are pursuing is becoming unavailable IF you believe what the GMs are saying.
  • Where do the Oilers go from here?
  • Well I guess that is a plus. Edmonton can still trade for Vatanen. But what about going after Cam Fowler or Josh Manson?
  • Fowler was a name that was being tossed around a bit in trade rumours last season as the guy Ducks’ brass was less than enamoured with. He was Taylor Hall’s teammate when they won the Memorial Cup together along with Zach Kassian.
  • I guess it all depends on your definition of “High quality left winger”. Is Taylor Hall that guy? Lowetide often speaks of the Hampus Lindholm for Hall scenario but you’d have to think that if Anaheim isn’t willing to give Lindholm $6M per year, why would he give that to Hall? And Lindholm is tracking as a future no.1 defender. So I could see why the Oilers would want him but that’s the same reason the Ducks won’t be letting him go.
  • But let’s say that was a deal that happened, what would that mean for Oscar Klefbom, Brandon Davidson or Darnell Nurse? Would we see Klefbom moved to Brooklyn for Hamonic?
  • Perhaps that Pouliot package may very well still be alive. Why Pouliot though?
  • Jason Gregor reported that Pouliot was rumoured to be going to the Ducks last year at the deadline WITH Nail Yakupov before his injury scuttled that deal. One can only at least speculate talks would resume this off-season.
  • Speaking of Nail Yakupov, how many of you think that he’s already been dealt and we’re just waiting for the announcement on draft day? The rumours are becoming stronger that he’s going to Philly but I have a hard time believing that one.
  • I wonder though, could Detroit get in on him? Maybe offering towering winger Anthony Mantha? Mantha hasn’t progressed at the pace the brass in Michigan have expected after tearing up the QMJHL.
  • There’s a connection there too. Yakupov’s agent, Igor Larionov, played many a year for the wheeled wing.
  • Would Montreal take a flyer on him and pair him up with his junior centre, Alex Galchenyuk? Perhaps dangling Nikita Scherbak or Jacob de la Rose?
  • Personally I think that Chiarelli would like to get a 1st rounder and perhaps a prospect. Yak’s contract is a value one given the potential he still has and it’s only for one more season expiring at the end of the upcoming season.
  • The team that acquires Yakupov would still have him under control I believe for another three years? But don’t quote me on that. I’m not too well versed in the regard.
  • If Arizona adds to that offer that was bandied about earlier this week (the #7 and #20 overall), I think there’s a good chance we could see the #4 pick moved.
  • And if that happens, I feel that it’s Mikhail Sergachev that will be picked at #7. His junior coach was a former member of the Oilers coaching staff and rising star in the coaching fraternity, Rocky Thompson.
  • As for the no.20… I had Arizona taking University of Wisconsin forward Luke Kunin in my mock draft here.
  • You’d have to think though that Chiarelli would be tempted into taking Connor McDavid’s old junior linemate in Erie. The uber-scoring Alex Debrincat.
  • God knows that the Oilers need some depth scoring coming up through the pipeline and Debrincat would be a blessing from Mana. Adding him to Slepyshev and Caggiula.
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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors, Trades

Of Course He Did…

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Yesterday Travis Hamonic took back his trade request. I’m not surprised one bit either. I’ve been saying for some time now that fans of the Oilers should be prepared for an underwhelming summer. Now that Hamonic is off the market, I’m one step closer to being right. Not that I’m writing this to validate my assumptions and jack up the ego or anything. To be honest, I’d much rather be wrong about this one but Chiarelli’s up against the wall this summer and he’s going to have to pull off a helluva deal to get out of this predicament.

Hamonic

Something doesn’t feel right about this Hamonic situation… Check out this quote that came right after the rescinding of Hamonic’s trade request that was captured by Peter Botte of the New York Daily News:

“I love it here & want to be here & want to win a Cup here. I never wanted to leave here and couldn’t be happier to stay here.” – Travis Hamonic

He never wanted to leave and couldn’t be happier to stay there? Come again? That doesn’t sound like a person who wanted out. Arthur Staple seconded the quote on Oilers Now yesterday as well… Was there even a trade request or what? Does this have anything to do with the Islanders ownership shuffle? On July 1st, Charles Wang won’t be the majority owner anymore and it wouldn’t be irresponsible if there were major speculations going on with that whole organization.

Trade Requests

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On the note of trade requests, the players making them are not batting well. From off the top of my head Jonathan Drouin, Kerby Rychel, Travis Hamonic (apparently), and Nail Yakupov are all batting goose eggs. Which leads me to believe that Yakupov will be an Oiler for at least one more season.

Remaining Targets

So getting back to the summer of underwhelming, the remaining targets are as such:

Justin Faulk (CAR) – I don’t care how much Bob Stauffer pumps this guy’s tires. Nuge for Faulk plus because Rod Brind’Amour is tied to Nugent-Hopkins seems a read to me. Faulk is leaving Carolina like Shea Weber is leaving Nashville. Sure the ‘Canes need a top line centre but that young defense needs at least one more season to show that they’re capable of… Chopping wood and carrying water… HA! The wildcard coming out of Carolina might be the 32-year-old right-handed offenseive dman, James Wisniewski.

Tyson Barrie (COL) – I think it would be a HUGE mistake for the Avs to move this guy. But their 10th overall pick and Barrie for the Oilers’ 4th overall is a deal that appeals to me but I’m not sure how much it appeals to the Avs. There’s just as much a chance they could get a dman at #10 than #4 IF that is in fact the way they’d like to go.

Jason Demers (DAL) – He’s a solid no.4 for me with potential to be a no.3. An older less-skilled version of Travis Hamonic. A good shutdown defender but I’m very wary of paying him over $5 million dollars per year on a long-term deal. Also, I reckon the Stars will let Alex Goligoski walk and re-sign Demers. The value of the right-handed dman prevails. But the one hope or nail in the coffin to the Jason Demers to Edmonton scenario is Todd McLellan who coached him in San Jose.

Sami Vatanen/Hampus Lindholm (ANH) – These are the guys that make more sense to me despite being in the same division. Anaheim won’t be looking to add salary so that, in theory, could take Nuge and Ebs off the table. Perhaps this is an instance where Yak or Pouliot could go in a deal and of course that would depend on if McGinn and Pirri sign in Anaheim.

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Down on Nuge?

Lastly, Nuge didn’t have a great year last season and now he’s on the block… A bit premature, no? But now he’s on his way out-of-town? As we know, players do not develop in straight lines and RNH has just had his first down season but surely that is no reason to trade him and he seems to be coming up in proposals more and more recently. The team finally has depth at centre and now everyone wants to show him the door?

Unicorns?

Check out what the Penguins are doing with their unicorns… Crosby on line 1, Malkin on line 2, and Kessel on line 3… If Pittsburgh wins this year, will that be “the model” going forward? I mean if we take that and apply it to the Oilers, do you think it would be effective?

Line 1 – Pouliot/McDavid/Yakupov
Line 2 – Hall/Draisaitl/Eberle
Line 3 – Maroon/Nugent-Hopkins/Caggiula
Line 4 – Hendricks/Letestu/Pakarinen

Extra: Kassian, Lander

Caggiula is a leftie, that much is true, but surely he’ll be given every opportunity to make the roster at any position. Chiarelli did say he’ll have to learn the pro game and learn to control his emotions, so perhaps his spot will go to Kassian or Iiro or who knows, maybe Anton Slepyshev, Matty Tkachuk or Pierre-Luc Dubois will be there…

The Defense

I’m not convinced that a healthy Oilers defence needs a mindblowing upgrade. I believe it only really needs one piece. A puck mover for the second pairing. Maybe that’s Sami Vatanen but the onus should be on adding quality hockey players whether they be left-handed or right-handed. At this point, can the team afford to be picky? Davidson, Reinhart, Oesterle and Sekera all played their off sides last season.

1st Pairing – Klefbom/Sekera
2nd Pairing – Davidson/Vatanen
3rd Pairing – Nurse/Fayne

Extra: Reinhart, Gryba (If re-signed)

Can’t Give Up Now

I think the team has eaten shit for too long to just up and trade the pieces collected for being terrible for so long. They made up 40 goals in their scoring differential last year from the season previous and that was with a banged up roster and a disappearing act from Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl for the last 30 games.

This team can and will do better because it has the pieces to do it. Not only that but the young players are a year older, stronger, wiser, and healthier. Nurse will be a much better player next season as will Yak. So don’t be surprised if Chiarelli isn’t pressured into making a bad deal because he wants to see what he’s got as a whole before tinkering with it or he’s waiting to see what the salary cap landscape looks across the league before picking his spots.

If there are some deals to be made, I have to wonder if they’ll just be the type to change-up the team chemistry a bit.

“The reason why he’ll play is that his hockey sense and his GRIT and when you combine those ingredients with skill, these guys find a way to play.” – Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli on Drake Caggiula

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