Tag Archives: Mark Spector

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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Armchair GM, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers: Insiders Split On When Hockey Will Return

I’ll tell ya what, this is an awesome challenge being presented to sportswriters and bloggers everywhere. On a normal day, one has something to write about be that the game msot recently played or some roster speculation, perhaps something on prospect development, or even the upcoming draft. But when there’s no hockey being played, things get quite difficult I’ve found.

I mean look at the Athletic, for example, Oilers writer Jonathan Willis has gone back to ragging on Peter Chiarelli for his latest article and this guy is one of the more talented writers out there. He simply grabbed an interview between Chiarelli and Bruce Garrioch out of Ottawa and gave his two cents on the former Oilers GM’s comments…

Luckily for me, the boys on the radio haven’t let me down.

Yesterday on Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer interviewed both John Shannon and Mark Spector (Sportsnet) and he posed the same question to both,

“What percentage possibility would we have that we would have a Stanley Cup playoffs and a Stanley Cup Champion?” 

Spec said his gut tells him there’s a lot closer to a 25% chance that this happens. He basically said that hockey is at the behest of the governments of Canada and the US and when they decide that it’s safe to congregate in groups of more than 50 people (for example), then we might see some hockey.

“I don’t like the chances, Bob. I hope I’m wrong.”

Stauffer added this,

“Mark, if we get shut down for six more weeks here and they can hit the ice (around) basically May 1st and then we’re up and running for the playoffs May 15th. That’s the only way it’s feasible and a lot of things would have to go right for that to occur here.”

Mark Spector briefly noted that hockey would suffer if it were played in August. He thought the interest would be minimal if they were playing hockey in the summer.

Really? He reckons that there isn’t going to be any interest after the game was ripped out of our hands on the brink of the post-season? You have to be kidding me… Hockey fans are nuts. They’ll watch it on the moon if they have to. In addition to that, I don’t hear anybody complaining about the u-18s going in during August or the World Cups in September…

Shannon said he thinks there’s a 75% chance.

“First of all, let’s put this in practical terms. We all believe that the next 14-15 days are the most important of COVID-19 and the spread and containment of it. if everyone does their part then in 15 days from now we’ll get a better indication and that to me is a lamen and I do believe that the people in professional sports have had a much greater dialogue and understanding of what’s going on with the virus and in reading and in talking to a few people, they’ve said that the optimal opportunity is within 45 days of the 60-day CDC ban or suggested deployment of “nothing going on” that they could be in camp. And so I truly believe within our 15-day window and then another month we’ll have a great indication that the teams can go back to practice. 

Now, do I know that the virus is going to be contained? Absolutely not, but I do believe that it will pass and I believe that what we’ve witnessed what’s going on in China recently where there’s a decline in the virus, that we’re going to be in much better shape because we’ve admitted there’s an issue right from the beginning unlike some other countries.”

I like John Shannon, but North America wasn’t one of the parts of the world that hopped on this from the beginning. I was under the impression that Canada and the USA took action quite late and are now “paying the price” if you will.

Bob said he’s 50/50 on the NHL playoffs returning and Stanley Cup being rewarded.

Now, Am I missing something here? Is somebody going to magically make this virus disappear by the end of the week? I don’t think people back home get the severity of how contagious it is and if you saw the pictures posted from a Florida beach over the weekend, I don’t think the public has an idea either.

From last night to this morning, the global confirmed cases of infection went up 30,000 people approximately and we’re not even getting started yet. How in the world does anybody think that there’s even a snowball’s chance in hell that ANYTHING gets going before July?

From what I’ve read, a couple of things have to happen in order to really get a handle on this thing. Herd immunity where there are more infected than not. In order for that to happen, the numbers would have to spike at an unbelievable rate and that would put already stressed-out health care systems at high risk for failure, or a flattening of the curve where the health authorities manage to simply slow down the infection rate to the point to where it’s manageable.

I’ve seen online that the vaccines are on the way but it’s still going to be some time before they can be produced at the level required to stunt this virus globally.

The big thing standing in the way is the lack of testing that’s taking place in some countries and once that challenge is solved, the numbers will climb even more.

I kind of thought that for normal life to resume, the risk of catching this “bug” needs to be zero to none.

If we’re being honest here, I’m preparing for the season to be scrapped. I’m just waiting for an actual confirmation or else I’d just go directly into my off-season blogging content but I can’t do that because I’d feel like an ass if I started posting those articles and then the season actually came back.

I hope that John Shannon’s optimism pays off and everybody is back to normal in two weeks, I really do. I just have a hard time coming to grips with that reality right now and I feel that until it hits North America at full power, the public there has no idea and won’t until it’s too late. I even think that Mark Spector’s 25% is too high.

What do you think? What percentage do you give it that hockey will be back, the playoffs will be played, and the Stanley Cup will be rewarded? Let us know in the comments!

If you’ve got a free moment, please head over to our Instagram account and give us a follow! We’re posting over there daily and we believe that the content is a nice escape from reality.

On the bright side, the break has allowed me to watch some old games on YouTube.

So far I’ve watched game 2 of the 1986 Smythe Division finals between Calgary and Edmonton and I’m just getting into game 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Final. The one thing that I’ve taken from both games is that there’s no doubt in my mind that Paul Coffey is the best skater of all-time. He’s completely unmatched. Connor is a close second, but he doesn’t have the grace that Coffey had.

Have you been watching any old games? If so, which ones? Do you have any suggestions?

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

Edmonton Oilers: Stauffer and Spector on Markus Lehto – “HE TRIED TO SQUEEZE KEN HOLLAND!”

In response to an interview Markus Lehto gave Sportsnet 690 in Vancouver where he said that he never said that if Jesse Puljujarvi wasn’t traded, he’d play in Europe, long-time Oilers reporter Mark Spector was a guest on the July 11th edition of Oilers Now and he and host Bob Stauffer had quite a bit to say about Lehto’s comments,

MS: Well, the lead quote in my story (on July 19th) and I reported it exactly as he (Lehto) said it was, “If he doesn’t get traded, he will play in Europe next year. He will not play in Edmonton.” 

We’ve been through this before Bob, we’ve all been in the business a long time. That was a direct quote from Markus Lehto in reference to Jesse Puljujarvi and that he said that directly to me over the phone. We’ve all been in the situation where we misunderstand someone or maybe someone says something that kind of means two things and what it appears in print it looks worse than he meant it. I’ve been through those. We correct them and we talk about them and we tend to get a phone call right away, Bob, when we mess up. And three weeks later, four almost, and all of a sudden Markus Lehto is claiming he was misquoted.

So, I would say to you, if he was misquoted my phone would’ve ran the next day. I would also say to you that I texted him this morning and I have not recieved anything back from him. I asked for a chance to have a chat and he’s not responding. This is an agent who is just a guy who said something that he’s maybe having a hard time backing up. I don’t know why he’s backing off it Bob. 

This is the part of the interview where Bob Stauffer interjects and lets us know why Lehto is backing off,

BS: Oh! I think we know why he’s backing off it! C’Mon! You know how this works here, he tried to squeeze Ken Holland! That’s what he tried to do. He sat there, looked at the timing of it (the trade demand)… When do a lot of trades get made Mark in the National Hockey League?

MS: After the draft.

BS: Right. Right after the draft. Like, on the Saturday of the draft there were a bunch of deals that went down. So, Ken Holland, that quote that came out that you had out on the Wednesday, I actually interviewed Ken Holland about two hours after that came out. I had a separate one on one interview and we discussed it.

Stauffer continues here with a bit of insider knowledge with regards to why Lehto is back peddling on his trade demand now,

BS: I had another agent say to me today, “Well, you know why he’s now saying that? Because they don’t have anything for him at the price point that he’d be qualified at in the NHL for him over in Europe. 

MS: It’s one of those situations where an agent, he took a risk, and that’s fine, that’s what agents are supposed to do and the risk has not worked out his way and that’s fine too, Bob. As a reporter, we’ve got two things here, we’ve got our objectivity and our accuracy/honest, right? I’ve been doing this 30 years. Have I ever had a player say to me, “I think you took that quote the wrong way.” Yeah! I mean 30 years of writing, I messed up a quote once in a while. Have I ever misreported a lead quote like that, that was never spoken? Not in 30 years, I have not, Bob. And I don’t intend to. 

MS: I’m okay with whatever Markus Lehto does, but when he starts saying he was misquoted, now he’s on my reputation. Now he’s saying, “Spec quoted me dishonestly.” and that’s where I come in. I wouldn’t be on your show, I wouldn’t complain about this, he can do what he wants, go get rich, I hope Jesse Puljujarvi has a 1000-game career somewhere, but start to tread on our reputation as reporters and we’ve got to step in here. He’s said exactly what he said. He said it to me and I reported it three weeks ago and at that time Markus Lehto did not stand up and say, “Hey! I didn’t say that!”, he didn’t say that for three weeks.

More from Stauffer,

BS: So what happened here is Lehto tried a power play. That’s what happened and this was rumbling since the Oilers were in Carolina, and I think we were in Carolina the first week of March. 

BS: I don’t like this course of action from the agent. I gotta tell ya. Now he’s blaming the media, he’s saying he’s being misquoted. I get it, I work for the OEG, I’m admitting the Oilers are culpable for the lack of development, but at what point is there culpability from the agent and for that matter, with the player?

MS: These are the games that are played, Bob, right? The games that are played are the agents taking care of his player and frankly, I think what happens is sometimes the agents tell the players… I’m not saying the agents are dishonest with players but they tell players what they want to hear maybe, ya know? They fill a player’s head full of all the positives and how great he is and how if anything going wrong it’s everybody else’s fauly. I don’t know if that’s what Lehto is doing with Puljujarvi, but I would suggest that… I certainly know if Jesse Puljujarvi was my son, I would say to my son to take a long look in the mirror and to separate the things that the Oilers have done wrong, and there have been some mis-steps on the Oilers part, there’s no question, but control the ones that you can control. Jesse Puljujarvi can be more successful and a better NHL player than he’s been and he can control a lot of those things regardless of what’s going on with the Oilers. He needs to focus on those things and make it appear, that it’s everyone else’s fault and that he has been hard done by.

Stauffer and Spector go on to talk about a scenario where Puljujarvi’s camp is getting squeezed because if they were going to go to KHL to play they’d probably have to be there by early August should the seasons over there start at the beginning of September. And so if they couldn’t find a way to do that, then perhaps Karpat (SM-Liiga) would be the next option down, but for sure they wouldn’t be able to cover the million or so dollars that Jesse would be getting paid in the NHL at minimum. Now that option’s out, so perhaps it’s time to revisit the Oilers and blame the media for putting words in the agent’s mouth…

You can listen to the entire interview right here.

This is a mess. Some of the local media and the fanbase are blaming Puljujarvi, some of them are blaming the Oilers, some of them are blaming the agent, and some of them are blaming everyone. The more days that transpire, the more I fall into that last category.

I feel bad for Jesse but I do agree with Spector in that he needs to grow up a bit here. It’s life hitting him square in the mouth for the first time and I’m not sure if he’s got the right people around him telling him the right things. He has to consider his actions here, right? I mean, if he gets traded and things don’t improve, all the guys that he’s traded for have to do is show up every night and work their bag off and Jesse will be forgotten and maybe that’s a good thing, maybe it’s not. Edmonton is a blue-collar town and while the fans are sick of losing, I think at the very least they’d be happy with a team that competed every night. So, if Pulju came back and performed as he did in the AHL, the fans would forgive him instantly. They forgave Zack Kassian and one could say Milan Lucic gets forgiven every time he wallpapers some guy but then he uses that up the next time he handles the puck, so it’s a bit of a rocky marriage there.

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Other Notes

  • Edmonton has yet to fill their final coaching spot on Dave Tippet’s staff and we’d heard names like Mark Lamb in the past and even Stu Barnes, but I’m wondering if it’s someone who has ties to BOTH Ken Holland and Dave Tippett. A fella like Lindy Ruff comes to mind for me.
  • Tyler Wright and Archie Henderson were brought in after Detroit decided not to retain them in an effort to upgrade the Oilers amateur and pro scouting departments. I think this is great! Some new blood and a different voice in those meetings should go a long way. Are the anti-Old Boys Club fans out there with their torches and pitchforks?
  • Former amateur (and pro) scout Mike Chiarelli is on his way to Minnesota according to Jim Matheson.
  • I’m hearing now that the chances that Milan Lucic is an Oiler at the start of training camp is down from 90% to 70%.
  • There are rumblings that a Calgary/Vancouver/Edmonton trade might go down. Is this the Lucic/Neal/Eriksson trade that was supposed to happen a month ago?
  • I’m not sure if the Oilers want to move another veteran defenseman, but Kris Russell’s name is coming up and could Calgary be interested in him should the find a way to deal TJ Brodie?
  • Keeping with the Oilers/Flames theme, some folks on the Twitter machine are proposing a Lucic/Puljujarvi for Neal/Bennett trade and I think that’d be really good for the Oilers but it does raise some questions. If JP wants top-6 TOI, how’s he going to get that in Cow Town? Their top-6 wings are sorted. How would Calgary ownership feel about cutting bait on their premier free agent signing after only one season? How would James Neal’s personality fit into the Oilers dressing room? Can Sam Bennett become the top-6 forward he was drafted to be?
  • If you’re a draft geek like me, there’s going to be an intense battle for the 1st overall pick between a very famous French prospect out of Rimouski by the name of Alexis Lafreniere and an emerging power forward called Quinton Byfield. I think Byfield is going to overtake Lafreniere because he’s 6’5″ and skates like the wing. He’s got edges like a little guy and he loves to punish the opposition physically. The other thing that is in his favor is that his birthday is in August, so that means he’s about as young as you can get for a draft prospect and he’s already near a point-per-game in the world’s best junior hockey league.

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

Edmonton Oilers Rumor: Prominent Sportsnet Journalist says the Oilers HAVE interviewed Kelly McCrimmon

We’ve been under the impression from pundits like Elliotte Friedman that the Oilers have been waiting around to interview Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon. That they haven’t yet received permission to speak to the highly sought after executive.

“As I write this, Vegas has not yet granted official permission for Edmonton to meet with McCrimmon, although an answer is expected at some point this week.” (source)

That is from the April 30th edition of 31 Thoughts. 

The next quote is via Oilers Now! It belongs to PHWA President Mark Spector. It pertains to what sort of person Kelly McCrimmon is and Spector prefaced this quote by saying, “I talked to a contract that knows McCrimmon real well and the quote I will share with you was,”

“When that interview in Edmonton ended, the guys in Edmonton probably felt like they were the ones being interviewed.” 

Just click play and you’ll hear what Spector said. Also, this came out on the same day as Friedman’s blog.

Now, I know from time to time that Spec lets things slip that shouldn’t get out from time to time, but I don’t see this as one of them. This was very much on purpose.

I also remember a couple of things blowing up on Friedman this past season that he’d reported…

So who has the right information?

My impression of the way this process was supposed to go was it was going to be airtight. No Leaks. So what’s happening here? The Sportsnet guys are putting out conflicting reports whereas the pundits over at TSN are still speculating on who the third or fourth candidate is still. Then you have Friedman and Rishaug going head to head on the Ken Holland reports…

I do think the Oilers are leaking things but don’t ask me which things are true and which are not. At this point, the news is so juicy that I reckon the reporters are grabbing onto anything and running with it.

Hockey politics is fun, isn’t it?

My belief is that Edmonton has talked to McCrimmon, be that informally or as Spector said, formally, and he is the no. 1 candidate at this point in time. Whether he wants the job, I think that’s the more pertinent question because if he doesn’t want it, Mark Hunter has interviewed twice and I would go as far as to say that it’s his job if McCrimmon passes on it.

Interesting note coming from Bob Stauffer from today’s Oilers Now! though. He said that Sean Burke could still be in the running for the GM’s position but it was his opinion that he could come into the org in more of a support role potentially. The reason for that according to Stauffer is because he’s not seen in the same light as McCrimmon and Mark Hunter.

So how would you feel about a Kelly McCrimmon/Sean Burke combo or a Mark Hunter/Sean Burke tandem?

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

Edmonton Oilers: Mark Spector’s Summer Plan for the Oilers

As depressing as it is to be talking about the Edmonton Oilers off-season plans and the draft, if you’re a fan of the team you have to be glad that the team was “in it” until the final ten games of the year. They haven’t been mathematically eliminated yet but unless they go on an undefeated streak to end the year and the teams ahead of them in the standings stumble, they’re out of it for the 12th time in 13 campaigns.

So we’ve indeed come to that time.

Mark Spector released his thoughts on what the Oilers should do this summer here and I think he offers up some ideas that are good, okay, and bat-shit crazy.

Interview people from as many organizations as you can (for the GM’s position)

I agree and yesterday I posted what Bob Nicholson had to say in the Oiler season ticket holder’s event on this. He said he had about 34 names on his list that he wants to trim down to 10-12 to interview.

All signs pointing north there.

The Oilers are a top-five revenue team in the league. We can list off the names of 15 hockey scouts whose names make hockey people nod their heads in respect. Guys whose pedigree for evaluating talent is proven, and deadly. Not one of those people work for the Edmonton Oilers.

They’re easy to find because everyone knows who they are. Guys like Craig Heisinger (Winnipeg), Vaughn Karpan (Vegas), David McNabb (Anaheim), Al Murray (Tampa), Pat Verbeek (Tampa). There are 10 more people we could name off the top of our head.

Find them. Pay them.

Once again. I concur.

It’s incumbent upon the Oilers to pluck some talented individuals away from some successful clubs and whatever the cost might be. Rumor has it that the Detroit Red Wings are planning to hire Steve Yzerman as their POHO and Pat Verbeek as their GM. That’s exactly the kind of procurement I’m talking about.

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We’ve all heard the list. We’re not in the interviews, so we won’t pick a name. But hire a bird dog — a real personnel man like Kelly McCrimmon or Mark Hunter — who knows talent. Then hire people to do the contracts, etc.

Depth in talent is the issue for Edmonton. Player evaluation skills are first, second and third on my hiring list.

I think that the team needs to make a HARD pivot here and copy the model that was used to build the Vegas Golden Knights and if that means hiring Kelly McCrimmon to do it, so be it! BUT let’s be clear, that team started with a blank slate and some of the trades they’ve made haven’t been amazing. McCrimmon won’t have that luxury in Edmonton IF he comes in. That said, he’s got the right blueprint. Can he find a way to acquire a future hall-of-fame goalie to tide the team over while the overhaul is in process?

This organization should be able to afford the best Director of Analytics, aided by four or five support staff. It’s 2019. Get after it.

The team SHOULD be hiring the best of the best at every position in the organization and that includes sports science. They’d have to spend on it mind you and they’re behind the 8-ball (as usual), so they wouldn’t have a lot of leverage in negotiations.

I like what my friend SPR has said about analytics in a thread today,

https://twitter.com/TheOilKnight/status/1108455294286233600

Take a Hard Look at the Pro Scouts:

We’d take a long, hard look at the last five years of reports from anyone who said Ryan Spooner could help. From anyone who was on-side with acquiring Brandon Manning, Nikita Nikitin, Tobias Rieder, Anton Belov, Chris Wideman, Alex Petrovic…

Sure, some of those players go years back. But if that scout is still working for me, I want to see about two things: has he been making the same mistake all the way along, and if so, why is he still working for me?

The evaluation of pro players in this organization rates out at about D-minus. That means the pro scouting staff isn’t good enough.

Edmonton needs to acquire some right-now, step-into-the-lineup players. How on earth do we expect the same people who have made mistakes for a decade to have success this summer?

Was Spector taking a shot at Craig MacTavish there?

My feeling on the pro scouts is that they can only bring in so many reports on players and if the GM on hand doesn’t take that knowledge and put it to use, then what more can they do? Or what good are the scouts if the director of pro scouting is directing them to find moar grit?

The Oilers tried to bring back Matt Hendricks at the deadline for the same reason that Winnipeg re-acquired him. He brings locker rooms together. He has the respect of the players on every team he plays for and he loves playing hockey. He’ll do anything for his teammates.

Edmonton brought in Sam Gagner for the same reasons.

So I don’t have a problem with one more year of the current crop of pro scouts but I’d like to see the Oilers tack on another five new ones with some different thinking. I don’t think that Duane Sutter will be back next year, so a new director will be heading that group up.

Pick up the NEW “Beat His Ass” shirt right now!!

Package Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and get a top pairing defenceman.

We use Nugent-Hopkins for two reasons: The Oilers already have two top-six centremen, and Nugent-Hopkins is a very good player who has excellent value. He is the Oilers’ best chip, below the two obvious ones.

Edmonton does not have a legitimate, no-doubt, top pairing defenceman on their roster. So package Nugent-Hopkins — a good second-line centre on many teams — with an Adam Larsson, or more preferably, a Kris Russell or Andrej Sekera, and make a deal.

If it’s Nugent-Hopkins and Larsson, you should get your defenceman and a serviceable winger. If it’s the Russell or Sekera model, you take the D-man, maybe a prospect, but gain in the salary that goes out the door.

I’m not against using RNH to bring in an upgrade on defense. There are teams out there that would love a player like Nuge on their roster. I don’t see him as a massive loss if the Oilers move him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a VERY good two-way pivot but he’s still not great on the faceoffs and his career high in points has come playing a good chunk of time with Connor McDavid.

The way I’d do it is if RNH were moved, the team would have to bring in a center who could float between 3rd line center and 2nd line center for those times that the coach puts Leon and Connor together.

So is that a player like Sam Reinhart? A guy who can float throughout the lineup and play every forward position? Is it a guy like Alexander Wennberg, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Brayden Schenn, or Nazim Kadri?

Jason Gregor and Ryan Rishaug brought up an interesting scenario,

RNH+Klefbom for Sam Reinhart+Rasmus Ristolainen

Personally, I’d keep Klefbom and replace him with Darnell Nurse. Then you’d have some balance on the back end. Ristolainen is a perennial 40pt/yr defenseman. He’s a massive SOB on the back end (ask Lucic), and he’s can move the puck. Reinhart will help on the PK and he’s a very versatile and high hockey IQ forward. Both are cheaper as well, now and in the future.

Buyout Milan Lucic:

Lucic asked for a trade last summer. If he asks for one again at the exit meetings, then buy him out and wave goodbye.

If he promises to spend the summer with a skills coach, shed as much weight as possible (he’s always been in great shape) and shows me that he wants to succeed in Edmonton, then give him the chance. Because a buy-out saves you about $1.4 million per season, which buys you a decent fourth-line winger.

Which Lucic already is.

Man. That’s a solid chunk of change to buy him out and I’m of the belief that the Oilers made some ground before the trade deadline on a deal to move him this summer.

I just think that the team should move on from him but in a manner that doesn’t eat up a bunch of their cap. A good GM should be able to trade him.

What I’m hearing is that this summer is gonna be a BOLD one in Edmonton but we’ve also heard that before and nothing crazy ever really happens in hockey anymore, does it?

So we wait and see… I hope that the Oilers absolutely blow the doors off this summer and create some mad drama for not only their fanbase but hockey in general.

Elias Pettersson’s nickname is “Alien”. Here’s a shirt to celebrate it! Click the image to buy one!
Click the image above and get this sweet Leon’s parody shirt!
A new season means a new design! Click the image above to get the new Pulju shirt!