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Around the Oilogosphere – April 26th Edition – Oilers Getting Geared up for Filthy Bruce? Looking for Hendrix v2.0, Draft Lottery Scenarios, and NEW NHL Trade Rumors!

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COACHING

Are we at the point to where it’s safe to say that the Oilers will be hiring Trent Yawney as one of the new assistant coaches for next season? I’d put the odds in favor of yes just simply due to his previous working/playing relationship with current head coach Todd McLellan.

But I’ve got a new theory I want to throw out there. I believe it was Bob Stauffer throwing out Paul MacLean’s name recently in a minor rant on the status of the Oilers’ head coaching evaluation. If I’m not mistaken BS was mentioning hiring assistant coaches who’ve had experience as head coaches in the past (Like Yawney with the Blackhawks and MacLean with the Senators) and this triggered a thought in my head and it has something to do with this article’s featured image.

Paul MacLean worked with Todd McLellan in Detroit under Mike Babcock, Trent Yawney worked under Todd McLellan for 3 seasons in San Jose alongside Jay Woodcroft. So we can establish a connection there.

But there’s another connection.

Yawney and MacLean both worked under Bruce Boudreau in Anaheim for 1 season during the 2015/16 season. The Ducks were 1st in the Pacific and 3rd in the Western Conference. They lost out in the 1st round that year to the Predators.

Minnesota recently fired their GM and generally, a new GM wants to hire his own coach. Is Boudreau on thin ice in Minny? Could he be let go in favor of somebody with fresh ideas?

Would the Oilers hire MacLean and Yawney this year as safety guards in case the season got off to a slow start? Meaning if the Oilers wanted to fire Todd McLellan they’d have two qualified coaches already on the bench to take over and maybe Boudreau doesn’t get his pink slip this year but next, then he just slides on over to Edmonton and into a familiar working environment.

Stauffer has been talking about Boudreau as of recent on Oilers Now…

GETTING SOME GLUE INTO THE LINEUP

This from Darren Dreger during his appearance on a Buffalo WGR 550 show called, The Instigators,

You look at the Edmonton Oilers and how they missed a glue guy in that dressing room like Matty Hendricks.

I see Matt Calvert being somewhat similar in terms of what he brings. He’s healthier, so physically speaking he’s going to be able to contribute on a higher level than maybe Matt Hendricks can.

There’s going to be a strong market for Matt Calvert. He’s going to get paid. He’s going to get a decent increase in his salary. And if he’s not good enough for John Tortorella, off the top of my head I can probably name 15 teams that would have an interest in the type of game that Matt Calvert brings to the table.

Now those are 3 separate quotes from the same appearance but I ordered them in the way displayed on purpose.

Matt Calvert is a player that the Oilers should absolutely stay away from. He’s never healthy for one (averages about 50-55 games a year), he’s only good for about 25 pts a year for two, and if he’s getting more than Zack Kassian, that’s a problem, for three.

Dreger compares him to Hendricks and that’s madness in my opinion.

From a points perspective, maybe Hendricks and Calvert are in the same ballpark but nowhere else are they comparable on the ice…

We know that Matt Hendricks is a guy that’ll go through a brick wall for his teammates and often tries, right. I think part of Aaron Ekblad is still stuck behind the net from that time he wall-papered him in Edmonton. Hendrick’s 123 hits in 60 games whilst averaging just over 9 minutes a game puts Calvert to shame. The Columbus Blue Jacket was getting a bit more than 13 minutes TOI/gp this season and could only manage 61 hits and 24pts in 69 games. Calvert had 1 fight this year, Hendricks had 5.

I can’t speak to what Calvert is like off the ice but that’s only half the battle. You can be a good guy in the dressing room (good guy, tries hard) but if you want guys to follow your lead, you have to show it on the ice too and I’ve never heard Matt Calvert’s name in the same sentence as the words “glue guy” until now.

He’s simply not gritty enough. He doesn’t block enough shots. He doesn’t do enough of the little things and the more I think about it, it sounds like Dreger is doing Calvert a favor by putting his name out there in the same vein as Hendricks to try and drive up some interest…

Besides, the Oilers have Drake Caggiula, who in my mind is already on his way to becoming a grittier Matt Calvert-type anyhow. The Drake had 12 goals, 20 pts and was 2nd on the team in hits with 147.

But if the Oilers WERE looking to add some energy to their bottom 6 via the UFA market to push the skilled guys up the line-up, what about these fellas? Not only are they cheap but they’re fast skaters and disciplined.

Tim Schaller – C/W – (BOS) – 12g, 10a, 132 hits and played 82 games this year. (775k)
Tommy Wingels – W – (BOS/CHI) – 179 hits but only 45 PIMs w/17pts. (750k)
Lance Bouma – W – (CHI) – 132 hits in 53gp and only 36 PIMs. ($1M)

If you want to move the price point up a bit, there are players like Jay Beagle (would be great for the PK), Antoine Roussel (mega-pest!), and Blake Comeau (another great character option for the PK).

Personally, I don’t have any problems with the Oilers NOT adding an energy player to the bottom 6 of their lineup and I don’t think that hitting necessarily means energy either. Watching Tampa Bay and seeing their speedy forwards zip up and down the lineup also adds energy.

At the moment, this is how the Oilers bottom six appears:

Lucic-Strome-Puljujarvi
Caggiula-Khaira-Kassian

Slepy I don’t think is returning so I didn’t pencil him in there.

What I think we’ll see come opening night is this bottom six:

Khaira-Strome-Aberg
Caggiula-New Guy-Kassian

You know Lucic and Puljujarvi are moving up. I’m not 100% on Aberg and I would like to see Kassian in that 3LW role because I think he’s got the skill to play there but not the trust from the coach. But that 4th line has the real potential to be your traditional buzzsaw line, right? Lots of grit and speed there.

If the Oilers could sign/trade for a player or two, I’d like them to emulate the Vegas franchise a bit there and go for speed, tenacity, and experience.

My options: Derek Ryan or Jay Beagle. Both affordable, RH’d, and experienced. And if I had my way, I’d sign them both and sort things out after. Maybe move Strome to the wing and make Aberg the 13th forward.

OILERS NEWS

Kris Russell no longer welcome in Edmonton? Huh?! – it’s the age of the Twitter mob, and if a dedicated mob of zealots makes a big enough and angry enough noise, it can quite easily down out the more reasonable majority.

What a Draft Lottery win would do for the Edmonton Oilers – No organization has been gifted more No. 1 overall picks for Edmonton, and it is fair to question the culture that this has produced.

What to expect when you’re expecting to win the draft lottery – Here’s Lowetide’s latest mock if the Oilers finish No. 9.

Will Edmonton Oilers retain Todd McLellan as coach? It’s not a sure thing after the meltdown of 2017-18 – Is Todd McLellan a bad coach, or is he a good coach who had a bad year?

Oilers Goaltending Depth Chart for 2018-19 – The recent rumors around the Edmonton Oilers potentially signing Mikko Koskinen brings forward some interesting questions about the goaltending depth chart heading into 2018-19.

NHL RUMORS

Central Division Offseason Primer: No. of Contracts, Cap Hit, Draft Picks, UFAs and RFAs

Dreger | There will be strong market for Calvert

NHL Rumors: Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues

NHL Rumors: John Tavares – Isles, Leafs, Sharks, Knights and Avs

Friedman looks ahead to NHL draft lottery

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Around the Oilogosphere – April 7th Edition – Tragedy Strikes Humboldt, Congrats on 10 years Oilersnation, Friedman on Tavares/Karlsson, and NHL Rumors!

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I never want to start out my Oilers posts with bad news but today it’s simply unavoidable. I’m sure you’ve heard but yesterday we lost some really special people in a car accident in between Tisdale and Nipawin, Saskatchewan. I don’t know all of the details and frankly, I’m not sure I want to. The number of lives lost is staggering. It’s a dark time for a lot of families right now and the words I’m reaching for to describe how helpless I feel won’t help but I hope they know they have the unending support of the entire hockey community.

I’m not really sure why my heart feels as heavy as it does. I don’t have any ties to the team or the players or the league. I live on a small island off the coast of China but there’s a small town just east of the accident site called Arborfield and that is where my mother’s side of the family grew up. We went there a few times when I was a little boy. Maybe that has something to do with it or possibly just the fact that as writers or fans of hockey when something like this happens, it hits us all.

Either way, that’s not important. What’s important is that the families of the victims, the billets, the people close to the hockey team, they get the support that they require. I understand that there’s a Go Fund Me that has been started and if you can afford to donate, it’s more than a worthy cause.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – The Humboldt Broncos Tragedy: This wasn’t supposed to happen. Again. – One chilly January day while playing in a Midget tournament in Saskatoon, my Dad pulled me aside, just after I had gotten off the ice…

The Cult of Hockey – Excellent advice to NHL players from Jason Strudwick: ” I don’t think players should be on social media” – Whether you’re the best player in the league or the worst player, you’re going to find something that rattles you…

Edmonton Sun – Ryan Smyth greatly appreciated Sedins on his NHL farewell – “I don’t see them crying like I was,” laughed the former Edmonton Oiler winger who played his 1,270th and last NHL game against the Sedins when the Canucks were here April 12, 2014. The Sedins made sure every Vancouver player shook Smyth’s hand before he took one last sobbing lap around the rink.

Sportsnet – Golden Knights are playoff contenders the Oilers were supposed to be – How much money could you have won back in October if you’d have wagered that, in this April 5, Game 81 meeting between the Stanley Cup-favoured Edmonton Oilers and the tomato can expansion Golden Knights, that the latter would be the team prepping for the playoffs, and the former sending players to the world championships?

Oilersnation – 10 Years: Nation Rising – I had no idea what I was in for as I drove to Earl’s restaurant on 170th Street and 100th Ave. in late February of 2008 for a lunch meeting with three guys I’d never met to talk about getting involved with a website that I’d never heard of…

Oilersnation – Cam Talbot expects to rebound next season – After yesterday’s practice, Cam Talbot spoke to the media about the season that was, where things went wrong, and what to expect from the goaltender heading into next season…

NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Sportsnet – 31 Thoughts: Expect Canucks to be Aggressive in Post-Sedins Era

Friedman | Islanders must still convince Tavares they can win

Friedman believes Karlsson has played last game for Senators

NHL Rumors: Oilers, Kovalchuk, Knights, Senators, Sabres and Maple Leafs

NHL Rumors: Carlson, Voynov, Canucks and Stars

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Around the Oilogosphere – April 2nd Edition – Lucic’s Numbers During His Slump, Determining the Hart Winner, A Partner for Leon, Firing McLellan, and NHL Rumors

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I can’t say I’m ever happy when the Oilers lose, maybe the year when everyone was tanking for McDavid, but certainly not when the Oilers are playing the Calgary Shames. I will say this though, from the 2nd period on, that was a good hockey game and for me, that’s all I can really ask for.

But the man who has drawn the most focus from that installment of the Battle of Alberta was Milan Lucic. He had a couple of chances to score, he was hitting, he was backchecking, and best of all he was stirring the pot baby!

I loved what Milan Lucic did there. He has had a VERY tough season on the scoresheet and there are a lot of people saying he’s finished as an NHLer (at age 29, give your head a shake if you’re one of those people) but the worst thing that I heard after the game last night was this from Rob Soria;

Now, Rob is one of the more experienced writers who blogs about the Oilers and he’s a pretty decent guy on the whole but maybe we should take hitting right out of the game too. We wouldn’t want to offend anyone.

Either way, it’s a BS comment, in my opinion, given that Mike Smith is the biggest a**hole goalie in the league and deserves everything that he gets.

As for Milan Lucic, I did some digging about and was quite surprised with some of my findings.

I went to naturalstattrick.com and set up some filters (5×5, 500 min TOI, forwards only, 12/23 to 3/31) and simply got his numbers for the duration of his slump.

In that time frame, did you know that he has the best CF% on the team (51%)? Did you know he has the 4th best Shots For/60, Fenwick For/60, and Scoring Chances Against/60 on the team? His Scoring Chances For % is #1 on the team and his High-Danger Changes For % is #2.

Now if we expand the focus to league-wide in that same time frame (using the same filters) we’ll find that Lucic still rates highly. I put some comparables (184 skaters) in brackets behind his league rank to give you an idea of who his peers are in each category)

CF/60 – #62 (Malkin, Couture, Wheeler)
CA/60 – #95 (Cogliano, P.Kane, Toews)
CF% – #88 (Ovechkin, Johansen, Hall)
FF/60 – #55 (E.Kane, Backstrom, Benn)
FA/60 – #56 (O’Reilly, Panarin, Marchessault)
FF% – #52 (W.Karlsson, Getzlaf, McDavid)

SF/60 – #55 (P.Kane, Benn, Konecny)
SA/60 – #102 (Panarin, Stepan, Draisaitl)
SF% – #87 (Trocheck, O’Reilly, Eberle)

SCF/60 – #46 (Ehlers, Kadri, Oshie)
SCA/60 – #123 (P.Kane, Marner, Toews)
SCF% – #85 (Kopitar, McDavid, Laine)

HDCF/60 – #14!!! (JVR, Rakell, Eberle)
HDCA/60 – #129 (Tatar, Jenner, MacKinnon)
HDCF% – #53 (Kucherov, Zuccarello, Hall)

Those are the good numbers. Where Lucic is struggling is in the goal metrics but that’s nothing new. In fact, that’s where Chia-haters and anti-Lucic folks go to dine heartily.

GF/60 – #174 (Drouin, Sobotka, Strome)
GA/60 – #164 (Barzal, Kucherov, Monahan)
GF% – #180 (P.Kane, Anders Lee, Josh Bailey)

Lastly, I want to point out that his PDO is .954 and that’s good for 180/184 skaters. What do we hear about players that have low PDOs? Eventually things will regress to the mean. But we don’t hear that about a 29-yr-old Milan Lucic, do we? We are told that because of his style of play (one that has yet to force him out injured for any period of time) he’s more likely to be in decline than other players his age that are experiencing this kind of slump. (stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com)

I suppose that DOES sound good if you were against the signing in the first place or you don’t like players like Milan Lucic. I imagine you’d want to see him fail because for some narcissistic reason because in your world that means you were right… And being right trumps everything in the short term.

I can’t wait until next season…

So I can see why the coach would want to put Lucic out there when the team needs a goal. Now, where he asks Lucic to go on the ice and what he tells him to do, that’s a different story.

Regardless, at the end of the day, Milan Lucic must find a way to be a difference maker on the ice. Be that with a hit, a fight, using his body to win a board battle or create room on the ice for a linemate, a shot, pass, or even a goal; it’s up to Lucic to find a way.

I would like to urge you to forget about his salary though. It is what it is and now it’s on the coach to find a place for him to be as impactful as possible. If that is the 3rd line, so be it. If that is on the 4th line, so be it. You have to get rid of his idea that there are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines. Every coach will tell you that whatever line is running onhot on a given night, that’s the top line.

I’m sure Ryan Callahan and David Backes don’t take as much shit as Lucic does making what they make and producing what they produce. Just like Lucic didn’t take as much crap last year when the Oilers were in the playoffs.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – Connor McDavid, Claude Giroux, Nathan MacKinnon Rank Highest for Individual Achievement in NHL This Year – It’s no easy matter to determine which player deserves to be the National Hockey League’s Hart Trophy winner, the award given to the player deemed to be most valuable to his team in the regular season each year.

The Hockey Writers – Will the Oilers Really Fire McLellan? – With the season all but over and the Oilers about to head golfing for the summer, the organization is rumored to be taking a good, long look at the roster, the coaching staff, the management and other areas that let the team down this season. No doubt, there will be people who lose their jobs. Is one of those people the head coach?

Edmonton Sun – Puljujarvi’s Progress a Slow Process – He hasn’t caught up to the pace of the game on a consistent basis so his skills can take over naturally. And until he does, there will be nights like Saturday against the Flames where the 19-year-old Edmonton Oilers winger gets 13 uneventful minutes.

The Oil Knight – Oshawa/Niagara Series Recap – t was a very chippy series with plenty of penalties and where 2 players were suspended. Oshawa did their best to try and punish the Ice Dogs physically but Niagara did a great job after that first game of just settling down and playing their game and letting their skill take over.

Oilersnation – Finding a Partner for Leon Draisaitl – Could the team still use a skilled volume shooter to ride shotgun on their top-line? Sure, but you could argue that a more glaring need is finding a competent line mate for Leon Draisaitl who, if all stays the same, will be centering the teams second unit next season.

Oilersnation – Oilers Prospect Update: Benson and Hebig are No Joke 

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NHL RUMORS

NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks

NHL Rumors: John Tavares and the New York Islanders

NHL Rumors: St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders

NHL Rumors: Capitals, Islanders, Rangers, and Canadiens

 

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Around the Oilogosphere – March 30th Edition – Button on Puljujarvi, Friday Fights, the McBlender, McKenzie on Tavares, and the RUMORS!

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A lot of talk about the Oilers and Milan Lucic tonight and rightfully so I imagine. The big $6M winger is having a poor back end to the season, no poorer than David Backes, Rick Nash, Brandon Saad, or Nick Foligno’s full year mind you but that’s beside the point for some Oilers fans.

Not a peep did we hear from this faction of the Oilers fanbase while Milan was playing well before Christmas. But since then I don’t know if I’ve heard one good thing said about Lucic from the folks who are feeling like this is “justified criticism”.

I will take this time to remind you to be careful about what you say online. You might believe that the players don’t read the socials or the blogs but you’re wrong. They do and the people around them do. These are humans and words affect them.

I mean this is a player on your favorite team (assumingly) and you want to talk trash about him? There’s a fine line that’s being walked when you take that route. And all of this for 3 months of slumping? Something tells me this kind of criticism has less to do with the player and more to do with the GM.

“Daddy, why won’t good players come play in Edmonton”

“Well son, it’s because there’s a portion of the fanbase that is a relentless tire fire if the team isn’t winning and even then you’re lucky to get a peep or positivity out of them. Oh and it’s cold in Edmonton and the team has to do a lot of traveling when they go out on the road compared to teams in the Eastern Conference.”

And one more thing, this is more specific to Lucic, take the time to think about what he’s gone through since choosing to come to the Oilers. Take the time to read about his father’s tragedy. 

Depression is no joke and about 40% of people who have it pass it down. The other 60% is dependent on other circumstances like the environment a person lives in and I can assure you the environment for a professional athlete can be a toxic one.

Lay off Lucic. He knows how his year has gone and you’re not being helpful or original for that matter by bringing it up constantly. Try being more helpful instead of kicking him when he’s down and putting your boots on his neck. Think about how you’d like to be treated if you were having a tough time doing the thing you loved.

OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – Craig Button blasts Edmonton Oilers for failure to properly develop Jesse Puljujarvi – This in from Craig Button, talking to Jason Gregor of TSN1260 radio about the Edmonton Oilers handling — or mishandling — of Jesse Puljujarvi.

The Cult of Hockey – It’s Worth it For the Edmonton Oilers Not to Tank, But There’s a High Price Attached – True fans want their team to win, but they also sometimes put on that general manager’s hat where they carefully assess the value of draft picks.

Oilersnation – The McBlender – I think most people who watch the Oilers this season have been frustrated or confused by the amount of line juggling we’ve seen from Head Coach Todd McLellan.

Lowetide – Union City Blue – As upset as one might be about last night’s game, and it was the 44th loss so you should be used to it by now, this club had their chances.

Beer League Heroes – It Was a Hockey Trade – In the end, though the simple fact was we needed a right-handed top pair defenceman very badly. The off-ice stuff might have made it easier to justify the supposed low return. Maybe other NHL GMs heard things from friends of friends of friends like we all have. Quite frankly it’s naive to think they didn’t. Even without the noise Hall wouldn’t fetch a Subban, Seth Jones, Karlsson, etc etc. That’s just dreaming.

NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Fan Rag Sports – McKenzie Shares Gut Feeling on Tavares Free Agency Potential – The John Tavares free agency storyline has been unfolding for years now, but with only months to go until the franchise center can leave the only NHL team for which he’s played there is seemingly more and more momentum to that very notion.

Fan Rag Sports – Friedman explores dynamic between Islanders and Tavares – The John Tavares free agency storyline has been unfolding for years now, but with only months to go until the franchise center can leave the only NHL team for which he’s played there is seemingly more and more momentum to that very notion.

NHL Rumors: 2018 NHL Free Agents: Scraping The Barrel

NHL Rumors: Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers

NHL Rumors: Datsyuk, Peters, Holland, Brickley, Panthers and Blackhawks

NHL Rumors: Kings and Dergachyov … Where John Tavares Could End Up

NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs, Canucks and Hurricanes

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Around the Oilogosphere – March 27th Edition – McDavid Hart Debates, 31 Thoughts, The Oilers Biggest Need, and Plenty of NHL Rumors!

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I think we could all use a night off from the Oilers after watching them sh*t the bed against the Blue Jackets last night. Good grief! What in Sam’s Hell was that? Can’t blame it on fatigue. Can we blame it on coaching? I mean I have no idea why McLellan was deploying his lines the way he was. Maybe he didn’t have a choice since the whole team was stinking up the joint, just let the lines roll baby…

But that shouldn’t have mattered anyhow. The Blue Jackets came to the rink prepared to outwork the Oilers and that they did. The Oilers could use a few more players like Boone Jenner on their roster in my opinion. Players who are willing to do what it takes night in and night out.

I did see that Jesse Puljujarvi has been in the conversations today though. I don’t get it with pundits and fans when they talk about Pulju. They all want him to be this 19-year-old Finnish Jari Kurri and right now too. Even when you listen to Stauffer, who says he loves the kid, talk about him, he stumbles over his words. Says things like Jesse comes from a “rural” part of Finland when defending him on his show. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

I reckon there are a lot of folk who are concerned that if our Grinnin’ Finn doesn’t start to pick it up here that he’ll be moved. It’s stark reality too given Peter Chiarelli’s transaction background but there’s a player here. Let’s give him the time to properly marinate.

There was once a time when 1st round draft picks didn’t make their team in their first, second, or third camp even. Hell, most of the time they had to go to the AHL to earn their stripes and then they’d get the call and it wasn’t straight to the top 6 either, it was bottom 6 and earn your way to the top lines and PP.

Now I’m not saying JP hasn’t earned it or that is even a thing now but Jesse Puljujarvi is in the best spot for him at this time in his development. 3rd line TOI against 3rd line opposition with two players who have been in the league quite some time.

So there’s absolutely no need to rush him in the final 12 games (5 games now) of the season. All the team needs to ask him to do is relax and work on some specific instructions. Then in the offseason, maybe go home to Finland for half and then come back to North America for half and train with someone like Gary Roberts and/or Adam Oates.

We’re going to see a drastically different player, for the good, next season and by the time Puljujarvi is 21, we’re going to have an outstanding winger because the team was patient with him and brought him along slowly.

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OILERS NEWS

The Cult of Hockey – McDavid is Taking His Game to the Next Level – Remember when Connor McDavid was having trouble putting the biscuit in the basket? It was just a couple of months ago that the Edmonton Oilers phenom went through a drought, scoring just once in 13 games leading into the All-Star break.

The Cult of Hockey – Various Hockey Analysts on McDavid and the Hart Trophy –  A number of NHL hockey writers say they will downgrade or eliminate Connor McDavid from contention to win the Hart Trophy for the league’s most valuable player because his Edmonton Oilers will fail to make the playoffs.

Oilersnation – Brownlee on the McDavid/Hart Trophy Debate – Whether an MVP candidate’s team makes the playoffs or not and how much weight that carries – is front and centre in the Hart Trophy debate right now. That’s understandable. What I don’t get is that some media people who have a vote don’t think McDavid even belongs in the top five on the PHWA ballot.

Oilersnation – The Oilers Biggest Need – The Edmonton Oilers have five games left and then the offseason begins. Roster moves don’t happen until June, but some coaches and general managers go, college free agents sign and the lottery balls are drawn to see who gets the first three picks in the draft. What is the Oilers’ biggest need going into the summer?

Oilersnation – The NHL Draft Lottery Odds Have Changed – The Edmonton Oilers are seasoned veterans of winning the draft lottery and they will be in consideration for the top pick yet again this year. Not a single person among us, media included (no matter how hard they try to revise history) believed that the team would be this bad this year.

Oilersnation – Cam Talbot’s Next Contract – How do you handle Talbot’s next contract? He’s signed for one more year before he can hit the open market. At this point last year, it seemed like a no-brainer he should be inked long-term. But is that still the case after this year’s showing?

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NHL NEWS AND RUMORS

Sportsnet – 31 Thoughts from Elliotte Friedman: Stan Bowman Believes More Cup Runs Possible for Blackhawks

Fan Rag Sports – McKenzie | Rangers open for business on trade front 

Fan Rag Sports – McKenzie | Capitals face cap crunch with Carlson

Fan Rag Sports – LeBrun on Futures of Tavares and Pacioretty

Fan Rag Sports – NHL GM offer sheet forecast timeline nears

NHL Rumors: Coyotes and Hickey … Blackhawks and Quenneville … Senators and Duchene

NHL Rumors: Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs

NHL Rumors: The Montreal Canadiens Are Facing A Crucial Off-Season

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