Tag Archives: Leon Draisaitl

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

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers: Spector and Stauffer on Philip Broberg Plus More!

Yesterday, the best player in the NHL, Leon Draisaitl, was named as one of the three Hart Trophy finalists along with the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon. Great news but expected news nonetheless.

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Now we can expect to hear the analytics community really ramp things up in support of Artemi Panarin as this year’s winner. The basis of their argument to really simplify it is that the best player in the NHL should not only be great offensively but defensively as well and to that, I ask that community, how many minutes did Panarin play on the penalty kill this year? Because that is really a defining factor in determining who is simply a one-way player and who is considered a two-way one.

Here’s the answer,

5:03 (source)

How many did Leon Draisaitl play? 69:04…

Geez, it doesn’t look like Artemi’s coach trusted him enough on the defensive side of the game to put him in the most defensively challenging scenarios. Well, maybe it was because he was bloody trash on the PK as indicated by his -7.92 GA/60 (rel) and -8 xGA/60 (rel) during that time…

Sure, Leon might be a minus player at all strengths but if I recall correctly, isn’t he +5 at 5×5? My math could be off mind you.

Look, here’s the deal. Since 2005 only three players have won the Hart without having

  • A 10+ difference in goals
  • A 10+ difference in assists
  • A 10+ difference in total points

between the leader and the player in second place in these categories.

Those three players were Taylor Hall (2018), Corey Perry (2011), and Sidney Crosby (2007)

So Leon has a 15 point lead on Panarin and a 17 point lead on MacKinnon, a 16 goal lead on Panarin and a 13 goal lead on MacKinnon, and only a 4 assist lead on Panarin and a 9 assist lead on MacKinnon.

**Mini Rant Alert**

But some are happy to simply say Draisaitl’s a -7 and throw the rest of the context out. I mean, for Pete’s sake, Panarin needed a GD pandemic to take place for the Rangers to even be in a potential playoff spot and for him to be considered for the trophy. It’s not like Shesterkin didn’t come in and save their butts from being a lottery team… Similar to when the Devils’ backup goalie, Keith Kincaid I think his name is, did his best Marty Brodeur impression and got NJ into the playoffs (barely) and Hall winning the Hart as a result even though McDavid had ten more points than him.

Then there are guys like Bruins beat writer Joe Haggerty, who know +/- is a BS stat to use in this argument, but still use it! It’s dumb and everybody knows it unless they need to use it to support their side of an already failed argument…

If Leon doesn’t win it and Panarin does, it won’t be because the German had a dash seven on his stat line… Now, if MacKinnon wins it, I won’t be too hard done by there.

**Fin**

Spector and Stauffer on Broberg

Yesterday morning Sportsnet’s Mark Spector and host of Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer, went over how good Philip Broberg has looked at camp and why Spector penned an article detailing how he thought Broberg has passed Evan Bouchard on the Oilers depth chart.

If you want to listen to it, I’ll put up the audio at the very bottom of the page.

MS: a  lot of fans who are fans of Evan Bouchard thought it was crazy to say that Broberg, after a week of camp, has passed him (Bouchard) by on the Oilers depth chart. I guess we should define depth chart, are we talking about going into these playoffs? Are we talking about the big list behind Ken Holland’s desk in his office? But I’ll tell you one thing, right now, at this camp, for these playoffs, Philip Broberg is closer to playing in an NHL game, in my opinion than is Evan Bouchard.

Evan Bouchard skated this morning and they put him in the ‘B’ group with Tyler Benson and Marody and Broberg is getting time on the ice with Klefbom. I’m not saying he’s taking Larsson’s job, that’s not what I’m saying, but he is in a position to be a player here in these playoffs. He’s still no. 8, let’s say the 8th guy but in my opinion, he’s passed Bouchard and he’s passed Lagesson.

BS: And you know his teammates know it. They’re watching what’s going on because what’s the old saying Spec? Who are always the first to know?

MS: The players know, right? When they were all hootin’ and hollerin’ the other day when he made that play, they were watching and they know. The players know, they know, and you can’t fool the players. They’re very impressed with what this kid’s doing.

BS: Mark, this might sound stupid to some of the listeners but some defensemen aren’t actually that fast in terms of when they skate forward. They’re so good skating backward and they’ve got great lateral movement and that sort of thing but they’re not always super explosive at skating forward. This guy EXPLODES on you and it’s the ranginess.

I think Scott Wheeler from the Athletic compared Broberg to John Klingberg, I don’t see that because Klingberg is really an elite offensive defenseman that can really walk the line. When I think of Broberg I think more of an upgraded Noah Hanifin. Like Hanifin can really skate too but hasn’t reached the offensive potential some people thought when he was a top-5 pick. Maybe there’s a chance that could happen with Broberg?

MS: That’s what we don’t know. Young players never ascend in a straight line, right Bob? It’s a bit of a mountainous graph as a player gets better, takes a step back, gets better. So what do we know about Broberg? Well, we saw him at the Hlinka two years ago, his stride stood right out. I mean of all the guys at that tournament, there’s one guy I left that tournament thinking, “Whoa man! Who’s number four for Sweden? Can number four ever skate?!” and you watch him out here and he just has a superior superior stride. He’s an NHL skater right now.

So for a defenseman, defensemen that can skate are defensemen that are going to play a long time and this kid can really skate. Where will the offense go, Bob? Well, we saw him blitz around Russell on that rush you talked about, uh, how’s his shot going to be? I haven’t really had a chance to see him unload much. We know Bouchard has an excellent shot from the right point. We’ll see all that stuff, the kid’s 19! You think of Leon Draisaitl when he was 19 and how he looks today. So I don’t know where he’s going to go, I just know that what I see so far has NHL defenseman written all over it.

BS: Well, it’s impacted how key people think based on the quotes. I mean we ran Dave Tippett’s stuff and he’s like, “We could play him at left defense, we could play him at right defense, we could put him at left-wing, we could put him at right-wing, we could put him at center.” it’s like just the way he was talking, that’s the head coach talking and he’s a guy that’s not overly effusive in his praise at times for young players, right? But that’s how good Broberg has been.

He’s a transporter and Bouchard is a transitioner and ya know what? There’s room for both long-term in the top-four and if these guys both, I’m not even saying these guys are going to be top-two, I’m just saying if you have four legitimate top-four defensemen, you can live with that. And the Oilers have got Ethan Bear, who’s looked very good, Mark. They got Klefbom and they’ve got Nurse. Those guys are still signed long-term. So you add these two guys into the mix, not including Larsson because they’re going to have to re-up him here after another year, but they’ve got the makings of a pretty good defense, Mark.

BLH’s Comments: A player is ready when a player is ready. Ask any person in professional hockey. he could be 18-years-old or he could be 27. In a league where skating is of the utmost importance, Broberg already shines. My concern is that if he’s going to be screaming down the wing and cutting to the middle, how long until he gets his bell rung or something else happens to him?

By 2020/21, the Oilers defense could look like this,

Klefbom/Larsson
Nurse/Bear
Broberg/Bouchard
Jones

Puck Racism

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Edmonton Oilers GM1 Game Grades: What a Difference a Goaltender Makes

Prior to last night’s Oilers/Canucks game, I’d predicted that Vancouver would come away with the two points in overtime or a shootout. Well, we were a few inches away from at least heading to an extra frame as Alex Edler dinged one off of the iron in the closing seconds of the game.

It’s good to be wrong sometimes.

Speaking of folks being wrong…

Yeah, I have no idea why the Oilers would have Zack Kassian in the top-6 either… What kind of NHL coach would put him up there when they had a chance to claim Daniel Sprong or Josh Ho-Sang off of waivers for free?…

I heard that the in-game experience was a bit better. Is it true that they were parachuting pizzas down from the roof? I was pretty impressed with the pre-game introductions. If you were at the game, let us know how you felt about the whole thing!

Early on in this game, it wasn’t McDavid’s line that was terrorizing the Vancouver defense, it was the line of Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zack Kassian. They were absolute in their dominance until the adrenaline wore off… Even then they were still pretty good.

 What I was really looking forward to was observing how the Oilers new shut-down pairing of Adam Larsson and Darnell Nurse would fare… They did not fare well… At all. The shot attempts were 7 for and 26 against 5×5… Tough tough first outing for the pair. Can we just do the right thing and get Adam and Oscar back together, please? I’d also like to see these boys utilize the middle of the ice a bit more instead of the boards and glass.

Not to sound ungrateful or to throw water on an Oilers victory, but I didn’t think they played a good game. A couple of players had outstanding games whereas the majority of them did not. My feeling is that thanks to some heroic goaltending from 37-year-old Mike Smith and an MVP performance from Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers got away with one. If your eyes don’t’ agree with mine, maybe the analytics will help out.

The shot attempts were 71 for Vancouver (Tanner Pearson had 13 of them!) and 44 for the Oilers… Isn’t it a great thing that the game of hockey is so chaotic and that luck is an actual thing?

Good news and bad news on the special teams front! The good news is that the PK was 100% on the night, the bad news is that the PP went 0/2. I found that the Oilers had a tough time gaining entry into Vancouver’s zone and when they did, getting set up was an issue.

It’s only one game though and I like to break seasons down into 10-game game increments. The first one is going to go like this for the Oilers,

  • Vancouver (h): I predicted a loss. WIN
  • Los Angeles (h): I like the Oilers chances here against their former coach. (WIN)
  • NYI (a): The Islanders are a tough squad. Skill and grit in excess. (LOSS)
  • NJ (a): This game will feature FIVE former first overall picks… Should be exciting! (WIN)
  • NYR (a): The Rags are gonna be good soon, but I like the Oilers here. (WIN)
  • Chicago (a): I’ll take Edmonton’s young superstars vs. Chicago’s aging ones. (WIN)
  • Philadelphia (h): The Flyers are always a difficult team to beat and now they’ve got Hart. (LOSS)
  • Detroit (h): Ken Holland’s first game against his old team. DET’s defense is horrid though. (WIN)
  • Winnipeg (a): I’m a huge fan of WPG’s fwd core. I’ll take the Jets here. (LOSS)
  • Minnesota (a): What are the Wild anyhow? They don’t impress me. (WIN)

So if the Oilers can come out of the first ten matchups with seven wins. I’ll be mightily impressed. More realistically, since I’m pretty shat at game predictions, coming out of that stretch batting .500 sounds about right.

The way I’m going to try to do my game grades this year is that I will give each player a score between one and five but no threes so as to eliminate any fence-sitting. The scores would mean something along these lines,

  • 1 – Horrid effort, made an impact on the game negatively
  • 2 – Could’ve been better, didn’t make much of an impact
  • 4 – Above average, decent effort and impacted the game positively
  • 5 – Outstanding game, was a major difference-maker

These are your game grades,

Adam Larsson – 2 – Granted he only played 2 minutes with Klefbom, the pair’s CF% was 100%. That same stat with Darnell Nurse was 17.95%. Not good. A failed zone entry saw the puck go the other way for a JT Miller breakaway but good thing Mike Smith was there to stop it. Adam probably got the hairdryer during the intermission after that… That shot he blocked was something… Boy, did that look like it hurt. Gotta respect the balls on this guy, he stayed on the ice after that and continued to defend his net.

Alex Chiasson – 2 – Was this guy snakebitten tonight or what? THREE golden chances I counted where he was set up only to whiff on the puck or have the shot saved. Chiasson shows up out of nowhere at times, doesn’t he? He tried to run over Brandon Sutter but got the worst of it.

Colby Cave – 2 – Solid on the dot (50%) but a pretty invisible night for the Saskatchewan boy. Took an unnecessary penalty in the 2nd I feel.

Connor McDavid – 4 – That goal was pure magic, wasn’t it? Apart from that though, it was a slow game for the best player in the league. Did well to draw a penalty in the first, but never really got going until the end there. Was 64% on faceoffs.

Darnell Nurse – 2 – The best it got for Nurse on the evening was 52 seconds with Matt Benning when the Oilers had two shot attempts to Vancouver’s one. Next best CF% was 25% during his three and a half minutes with Ethan Bear (a rookie)… Darnell had better shape up, it’s a contract year baby! I suppose it wasn’t ALL bad for him, he did have a secondary assist and he wallpapered Micheal Ferland as well.

Ethan Bear – 4 – How calm and cool is this guy? He is so good at getting the puck moving the right way. On numerous occasions, he received a pass and within the blink of an eye, the puck was already going up the ice to a forward. Nothing phases him and I love it!

Gaetan Haas – I can’t give this guy a grade. He only played two measly minutes. And with his family all the way from Europe in the stands no less… However, during his shift in the first period, I thought he was where he needed to be and executed a lovely zone exit. You’d have like to have had him win the faceoff in his own zone on that shift though. If Tippett isn’t going to play him, send him to Bakersfield or put him in the press box and give Patty “The Danish Love Muscle” Russell some TOI.

James Neal – 2 – LOVED the big hit on Edler early on and I think he had a really solid game. Only two shots but had four hits and was excellent on the forecheck. He didn’t cost his team just by being on the ice which can’t be said for the guy he was traded for.

Joakim Nygard – 2 – Threw a massive hit in the 3rd on Edler to separate the puck from Vancouver’s greybeard. He also had a lovely scoring chance early in the 2nd when James Neal sent him on a partial breakaway. I loved his forechecking! His speed really causes problems for defensemen. Got to know the timekeeper well during his two (I think) stints in the box serving the too many men on the ice penalties that Edmonton took.

Josh Archibald – 2 – To be frank, I didn’t notice him too much. The odd time he showcased his speed but really was ineffective to the eye in my opinion.

Jujhar Khaira – 2 – One little rush and dangle in the initial frame of the game but didn’t have the game I was hoping he would. JJ put his team in a spot of bother on more than one occasion with poor puck decisions. There’s so much potential there with this guy, but time is running out on him. He’s got to get things sorted. Hopefully, this was just a case of early-season jitters.

Kris Russell – 2 – Might’ve been at fault on the Canucks’ first goal. I think it’s possible it glanced off of him as he tried to block the shot. Rusty had one play where his patented starfish paid off later on in the game as he stifled a pass from the corner. The guy works his ass off, what can you say?

Leon Draisaitl – 5 – 27 minutes… Are you kidding me? I’d say about ten of those were Haas’, but when “Das Maultier” is in a groove, you give him all the time he needs. Great job to be in the right place at the right time, not only for his goal but the shot that hit the post too. He’s just swatting guys off of him like they’re mosquitos now too eh? I mean how strong is this guy?

Markus Granlund – 2 – What are we gonna do with this guy? Is he hurt or something? All of the preseason and now the first game of the regular season and he’s yet to show up.

Matthew Benning – 4 – How is it that this guy can sh*t the bed during training camp, have everyone on his case, and then in the first regular season game put up two assists and be on the ice for all three goals? Is he good, lucky, or both?

Mike Smith – 5 – THAT is how you want to start your season with a new club. His ability to handle the puck was a difference-maker on the evening. The Canucks’ big gunners had no answer for him (or his posts). I’d roll with him again on Saturday. Saved Nurse’s and Larsson’s butts on more than one instance, most notably JT Miller’s breakaway.

Oscar Klefbom – 4 – A VERY solid game for Klef. He was one of the only players who consistently played well throughout the whole game. In the first period, there was a specific shift where a Canucks’ shot rebounded into the corner and Klef gathered it, seen he was under pressure and bulldozed through a forecheck with a pivot and a push, then with the silkiest of mitts sauced it backhand over the back of the net (between Bear and Ferland) to Zack Kassian to exited the zone under control.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 4 – A rare dominating night on the dot (75%). Twice he set up Alex Chiasson beautifully and Chasser couldn’t bury either of them.

Zack Kassian – 4 – What great vision he had to tap that puck over to Leon for his goal and to find him for another grade A chance that hit the post. He hit Klefbom with a lovely cross-ice pass later on in the period as well that Oscar failed to capitalize on. Then the velocity on the shot for his own goal. WOWZAS! Kass can really rip a wrister. He was his usual tenacious self throughout the game for the most part. One notable hit was when he ran over Troy Stetcher behind the Oilers net around the middle of the 1st period.

The next game up is on Saturday when Todd McLellan returns to town with the LA Kings. Can the Oilers make it two in a row? We’ll see!

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Edmonton Oilers: According to Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi is a Guy the Oilers Could Use a Lot

Edmonton Oilers assistant captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was recently in Chicago for the annual NHL Media Day and Rory Boylen from Sportsnet had a chance to catch up with him and ask him about a teammate of his, Jesse Puljujarvi.

Now, I’m not going to past the whole article here, you can head to Sportsnet and read it for yourself, but I am going to take the opportunity to briefly speak on one of the quotes that I find very interesting.

“It’s too bad to see it going down this path because I think he’d be a great guy for us and a guy we could use a lot.”

Well well well. This is the kind of thing a leader says about a teammate, whether that teammate is in camp or not. RNH puts himself in Jesse’s shoes in that interview and empathizes with the big Finn. If you click the link above and read everything, Nuge even compliments Jesse and speaks to his strengths and his challenges as a peer. You don’t get the feeling it’s an “us” versus “them” thing reading Nuge’s quotes whereas, with Leon, things are very different.

“I don’t think I’m the right guy to comment on it.”

And this is what I’m talking about when I criticize the team for not having enough veteran leaders on the roster. One on hand, you’ve got Nuge who confronts the topic head-on and speaks diplomatically about the subject, even going as far as to throw support Puljujarvi’s way unprompted. Then, on the other hand, you’ve got a young superstar trying to avoid the topic at all costs and speaking haphazardly about Puljujarvi and his situation.

There’s a clear reason that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wears an “A” on his chest and Leon Draisaitl does not.

Yesterday, during Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer and the Cult of Hockey’s David Staples were talking about how and when the public perception of Puljujarvi changed over the summer. Stauffer had commented that there was a tweet that had mentioned something to the effect that those working for the Oilers must be so upset to see Pulju doing so well right now and Stauffer said in so many words that wasn’t the case. Those watching Jesse’s performances would be elated to see him dominating. But I have a problem with that, I think it’s a self-serving attitude. I don’t think they’re happy for Puljujarvi at all. They’re thinking that if he plays well, the return on a trade will be better. Quite selfish thinking if you ask me.

There was also conversation regarding when the tone surrounding Jesse changed. Stapes said that they did a poll in June I believe where the question was, “Would you welcome Jesse Puljujarvi back to the Oilers?” and over 70% of the ppl voting said yes. After Karpat started playing in the Champions Hockey League with Pulju in its roster, Staples ran the poll again and this time only around 53% voted yes. That’s a pretty significant drop-off, but what I’d like to know is if we didn’t have weekly comments on Puljujarvi’s English  and whether or not he was attending his classes, poorly translated quotes from Finland, or snide comments about his work ethic and intelligence over the summer, would the second poll have looked that much different from the first? I don’t think it would’ve. But it’s a good thing we had that coverage, right? What better motivation for Jesse than that?

What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments below please!

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Edmonton Oilers: BLH’s All-Decade Oilers Teams + Why the Brassard Deal Fell Through

By the time Chris Johnston reported the Edmonton Oilers were out of the “Derick Brassard Sweepstakes” I had read no fewer than three tweets from reputable sources that he was on his way to Edmonton.

  • Georges Laraque – Former Oiler and Radio Host in Montreal
  • Kevin Weekes – Former NHL Goalie and Hockey Analyst for ESPN, NHL Network, and NHL.com
  • Dan Kingerski – NHL Home Ice and Sportsnet Hockey Tonight, www.pittsburghhockeynow.com

Nobody said anything when those gentlemen sent their tweets out. The Edmonton media might’ve still been trying to figure out Google Translate maybe. It’s hard, I know.

Then early yesterday morning all of a sudden it was BAM-BAM-BAM. Jim Matheson (Edmonton Journal/Sun) sends a tweet out, then Kurt Leavins (Cult of Hockey), and then Bob Stauffer (Oilers play by play). All really close to each other.

(That’s a pretty good indicator that all three of those fellas talked to the same source by the way…)

Anyways, not long after the three musketeers put their info out, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston sent his tweet out saying that the Oilers were out and then shortly thereafter Andrew Gross (Isles beat writer) said that the Islanders would be picking him up.

At the end of the day, I do believe Edmonton was VERY close to signing him, hence the silence from the Edmonton media, but the deal hinged on another offer. So the Islanders upped their ante, Brassard signs in Long Island for the year at $1.2M and he adds another Eastern Conference clubs to his name (PIT, NYR, FLA, OTT). I couldn’t be happier for it as he was absolutely horrid last season and there’s no indication that he’s going to get any better. Good looking kid though, I hope he proves me wrong. As it is, he would’ve been surplus to requirements in Edmonton and the Oilers need that cap room.

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BLH’s All-Decade Oilers Teams

Over at ESPN they are doing some fun “All-Decade” stuff and I thought that I’d like to do something like that as well. So I’m going to give you my first and second All-Decade Edmonton Oilers teams.

(I’m going with traditional lefty/righty on defense by the way.)

First Team

LW – Leon Draisaitl: 351gp 125g 187a 312pts
C – Connor McDavid: 287gp 128g 244a 372pts
RW – Jordan Eberle: 507gp 165g 217a 382pts
LD – Oscar Klefbom: 316gp 29g 93a 122pts
RD – Justin Schultz: 248gp 28g 73a 101pts
G – Cam Talbot: 227gp 104w 95l 912sv% 2.74gaa

I know what you’re thinking… “Where’s Taylor Hall?”

Well, as far as I’m concerned, Leon Draisaitl has meant more to the Oilers during this decade than Taylor Hall. From a statistical POV, they’re quite similar. Hall scored 328pts in 381 games and Leon has scored 312pts in 351 games. I simply give the edge to Leon because he’s done it from two positions. Plus, let’s be honest here, Draisaitl can play with McDavid, whereas Taylor couldn’t.

I don’t think we can argue McDavid, Eberle, and Klefbom being on the first team. They’ve definitely been the best Oilers at those positions over the decade. Maybe health plays a factor with Klefbom but even then, when he’s gone out with injury, the team has fallen apart without him. He’s a minute-munching animal that really has no equal in this exercise.

Some of you might be wondering about Darnell Nurse as opposed to Justin Schultz but once again, if we go to the stat sheet, Jultz was head and shoulders (and always will be) better than Doc offensively. Was he a tire fire in his own end? Yes, of epic proportions, but the Oilers have missed his puck-moving abilities more than ever since they dealt him to Pittsburgh.

It’s Talbot over Dubnyk between the pipes easily. 12 shutouts in 227 games vs. 8 for Dubie? The gap isn’t substantial but without Talbot, the Oilers would’ve never gotten close to the playoffs when they made it.

Second Team

LW – Taylor Hall: 381gp 132g 196a 328pts
C – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 539gp 147g 235a 382pts
RW – Dustin Penner: 144gp 53g 49a 102pts
LD – Ryan Whitney: 139gp 12g 49a 71pts
RD – Jeff Petry: 295gp 17g 57a 74pts
G – Devan Dubnyk: 171gp 61w 76l .910sv% 2.88gaa

Hall, Nuge, and Dubnyk are locks here, but the debate starts everywhere else. Unless you want to argue that David Perron should be in over Hall or Sam Gagner deserves to be there instead of Nugent-Hopkins. I don’t think there’s anyone out there that would have Khabibulin or Scrivens over Dubnyk, right?

Dustin Penner comes in ahead of Ales Hemsky and Nail Yakupov because I feel like he was a better player and a more effective one than Hemmer or Yak. He had similar goal totals (53) but he did it in a much shorter time frame (144 games).

On defense, I went with Ryan Whitney over Darnell Nurse because Whits was simply the better defenseman plus he could make a pass. Whitney scored nearly as many points as Nurse did in about 140 games less. It’s too bad for that bum ankle but his 0.51 pts/game is the best amongst all Oilers defenders in that decade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkpb6d1SagM

As for right-defense, it’s Jeff Petry all day for me. I considered Andrej Sekera here but since I’m going the traditional righty/lefty pairings, I can’t use him. Jeff Petry was a massive talent for the Oilers before they sent him packing to Montreal. He was big, physical, could shoot the pill, make a pass and he was consistent. Petry played nearly 300 games for the Oilers in the last decade, but he, like many others before him and after, was a victim of circumstance. He’s shone for the Habs since he left and been a top defender for them.

Who is on your All-Decade Edmonton Oilers team? Let us know in the comments below!

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Edmonton Oilers: Practise Cancelled, Team Meeting Instead! Has a Big Deal Been Completed Including Leon Draisaitl or is Chiarelli Out? Both?

Big news coming out of the Edmonton Oilers camp this morning. Their practice has been canceled and a team meeting involving the coaches, management and upper management has been called. There’ll be a media avail after.

Speculation is rife that the team has fired Peter Chiarelli but I got word from a source that the Oilers have been shopping Leon Draisaitl heavily. Here’s what I was told,

  • Nicholson said last night he wants moves.
  • Leon is a lazy player away from connor. I think they need to move Leon for a pp d man. My personal opinion.
  • Leon does not drive his own line. He gets paid 8.5 million a year to get carried by McDavid. That is extremely wrong. I don’t care how many points he has. Connor has helped him get 85% of those. Leon needs to start leading his own line, or if I was GM, I would move him.

  • It was the playoff run that got him paid. I’m sorry but in my humble honest opinion, Leon Draisaitl is massively overpaid. Away from Connor, he is a 60 65 point player. He is lazy, he doesn’t back heck very well. He dusts the puck off. And his shoulders slump. He SHOULD be getting 5.5 6 at MAX. No where near 8.5. You’re telling me he’s better than Tarasenko based on Cap hits? Not a chance. I’d rather have Tarasenko.

  • Well even last night, away from 97, he was lazy. He only got his points when connor or nuge was on the ice with him.

So that’s quite the scathing opinion, eh? What do you think? There’s also some rumor going around the hockey world that Leon gets a bit pissy when he’s playing away from Connor and it’s making the coaches/brass irate because it’s messing up the balance of the roster.

I was going to write a post about the Oilers trading Leon based on this knowledge anyhow. Maybe I’ll expand later if this doesn’t actually go down.

Add to this that Ty Rattie and Ryan Spooner are on waivers and something has to be going down today.

Click the image above and get this sweet Leon’s parody shirt!

The Latest on Peter Chiarelli:

  • I’ve been told that Peter is not at the office today. Sounds like his time is done.

Well, it’s looking like the day is shaping up to be an eventful one in Edmonton…

Like I said in the preface above though. Anything can change. So don’t be surprised if it does.

Click the pic and grab a 16-bit McDavid tee!
A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!
Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!
F*ck those guys! Click the link and grab one of these beauty shirts!