Tag Archives: Nathan MacKinnon

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

The sales are starting to trickle in with this design and I’m going to spam the hell out of it on my website and the BLH Hockey Instagram because I feel passionate about it and I feel like Hockey is Diversity deserves the proceeds that I’ll be donating to them.

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Hockey is Diversity is a German group whose aim is to draw attention to the ethnic diversity in society, which goes beyond the sporting borders in order to sensitize people interculturally. The diversity that has long been regarded as an enrichment in sport as a melting pot of people of different ethnicities, cultures, and religions should also be transferred to society.

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Around the Oilogosphere, Beer League Hero, Edmonton Oilers, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects, Rumors

Around the Oilogosphere – April 27th Edition – McDavid Snubbed for Hart, Oilers Send Coaches Packing, Final BLH Top Ten Draft Rankings, and Many NHL Rumors!

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THE HART TROPHY DEBACLE

I think David Staples summed it up pretty well but I’ve got a couple comments to add as well.

It’s interesting how the nonsense of “your team must squeak into playoffs for its top player to win MVP” took over the narrative with hockey writers this year. It eliminated McDavid but also Malkin, Wheeler and Kucherov from serious contention.

Can we go over why each of these candidates were nominated?

Taylor Hall – Outstanding individual season. No doubt about it. But would NJ have made the playoffs without the ridiculous heater that backup goalie Keith Kincaid went on? $6M starter Cory Schneider was AWOL since Christmas and was no help during the playoffs either.

I say that without the goaltending the Devils got they would’ve had a 90pt Hall and a good shot at Rasmus Dahlin. Basically the same situation Claude Giroux is in.

Nathan MacKinnon – Here’s a guy who until the end of the season had the team on his back and took them from being a 40pt team to a playoff team but he also played on one of the best lines in the league all year. Mikko Rantanen was on fire with 70+pts! But the former 1st overall selection did fade later on and only had 1 goal in his last 10 games.

Anze Kopitar – Kopitar is THE best 2-way centre in the NHL today and what a bounce-back year for him. Not only is he a threat 5×5 and on the PP but he’s a premier penalty killer. Something that Hall and MacKinnon can’t say for themselves. But LA had an elite goaltender in Jonathan Quick and a Norris candidate in Drew Doughty to play alongside.

If it were my pick, Hall wouldn’t even be a consideration. I’d go with Kopitar over MacKinnon.

I know there’s tons missing from the argument but I don’t want this section to drag on. All three players were on teams that squeaked into the post-season and combined for a total of 3 wins. So what happened? Did their Hart Trophy mojo go away once the puck dropped in game 1 of the playoffs?

Nikita Kucherov led the league in scoring for much of the season AND was a major factor in their 1st round series vs. Hall’s Devils. Not an easy thing to do. Claude Giroux changed positions this year and still maintained his high-scoring pace. Evgeni Malkin was bossing it this year but all of that is forgotten because Hall, MacKinnon, and Kopitar just made it into the playoffs.

Lastly, Connor McDavid blew the Art Ross Competition away and was a point-per-game player even when he was sick as a dog and lost 15 pounds. If they only counted his ES scoring, he’d have been in the top-15 in league scoring. His 84 ES points had him 18 points ahead of the next person. But because the Oilers couldn’t get their PP together and they missed the playoffs, significantly I should add, he’s not considered for the Hart? Bull shizzle!

COACHING CAROUSEL

Fleming out! Bergford out! Johnson out! Herbers out! Woodcroft, pack your shite! You’re the new coach in Bakersfield.

There’s not much more to say here that you won’t read in the links below. McLellan is thrown a life preserver and Chiarelli uses his get out of jail free card on the assistants instead of the entire coaching staff.

If the rumors are true and the Oilers are indeed adding Trent Yawney and Glen Gulutzan, then I’m looking forward to the team doing a complete 180 from last year and being a top 5 in both the PP and the PK as well as making the playoffs.

Now if Woodcroft is heading to the AHL, I wonder who his assistants will be there? Also, there’s room for one more coach in Edmonton, will that be Manny Viveiros?

Chiarelli had better get the roster moves right this summer. I don’t think there’ll be a massive trade like there’s been in the previous summers but I could be wrong. Maybe they’ll deal someone out and bring in a guy like Evander Kane which would require a massive exodus of cash in order to do that. Meaning one of Lucic (very unlikely as long as Chiarelli is GM), Sekera (more likely), RNH (unlikely as long as Chiarelli/McLellan are employed in Edmonton), or Draisaitl (ain’t happening) would have to go.

BLH’S FINAL TOP TEN 2018 NHL DRAFT PROSPECTS

This is the last ranking of the year folks. Thanks for following along on the YouTube channel and I’m thinking this year’s draft is going to be some entertaining. There are some real high-end players available and I’m hoping the lottery is going throws everything for a loop again like it did last year.

However, I do reckon that the Oilers will not be picking in the top end this year and like the Puljujarvi draft, they’ll move down in the ranking probably. They’ll get a very good prospect like Joe Veleno, Joel Farabee, Rasmus Kupari, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ty Smith, maybe Noah Dobson if they’re lucky, or if the hockey gods are really feeling generous, Quinn Hughes!

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OILERS NEWS

Edmonton Oilers fire pair of assistant coaches, reassign another to AHL – Jay Woodcroft has logged more than 1,000 games as a National Hockey League assistant coach, which has a nice ring to it, but there comes a time when you take a step out of that comfort zone and run your own pro team.

The Edmonton Oilers arrive at compromise, as the club re-works its coaching staff – I also believe that Peter Chiarelli was frustrated with some (or many) aspects of how Todd handled his lineup and bench. And while Chiarelli believes McLellan is a good coach and believes in his choice to hire him, the G.M. could also see some stale and/or ineffective tactics being employed.

Chiarelli talks coaching changes – After last season went sideways, it seemed inevitable that the Oilers were going to make some kind of changes in terms of coaching or management personnel, and today we got a first look at what’s to come.

Glen Gulutzan & Trent Yawney expected to help coach Edmonton Oilers, Jay Woodcroft to Bakersfield – The last I heard from Bob Stauffer of the Oilers on this he was saying Wednesday that it was more likely the Oilers would bring in Yawney than Gulutzan.

The Edmonton Oilers need to better measure Great Expectations – And so, for Peter Chiarelli, here are a list of things that he’d be best to take a more cautious approach to, in the coming 12 months

NEW RUMORS

31 Thoughts: How different will Maple Leafs look in 2018–19?

NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs and Other Potential Coaching Movement

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

NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers – Pending UFAs, Buyout? Possible Trade Targets

NHL Rumors: Ducks, Flames, Blue Jackets, Stars, Devils, Flyers and Capitals

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Edmonton Oilers, International, Michael Sifeldeen, NHL

McJesus and the World Cup Promised Land

2 Comments

 

(I’ve got a copy of The Hockey News’ World Cup preview magazine in front of me as I write this, so if you’ve got a problem with any of the stats I’m quoting, take it up with them.) Ok, perfect. While the hockey world tries to figure out if they give a shit or not about the World Cup of Hockey, I’m sitting here looking at the rosters and immediately coming to the conclusion that Team North America is the team to beat, and then also seeing quickly after that no one who matters agrees with me. So, now, I’m going to go over a few key World Cup facts and figures here, and inject a healthy dose of bias and starry-eyed opinionated commentary to try and pull you firmly onto the Team NA bandwagon with me. Many of our more naysaying readers may be saying nay right now to Team North America’s chances of winning this tournament, and I’m going tell them, in as many words, why they’re dead wrong. Ready? Let’s do it.

Team NA is not significantly smaller or lighter than the other teams

Here are the average heights and weights of all the teams competing in this tournament:

Canada: 6’2″, 207lbs
Sweden: 6’1″, 200lbs
Finland: 6’1″, 199lbs
USA: 6’2″, 210lbs (Jesus Christ, get out of here, Byfuglien, you’re screwing up the metrics)
Russia: 6’1″, 200lbs
Czech Republic: 6’1″, 205lbs
Europe: 6’1″, 204lbs

And finally, Team North America coming in at a very respectable average height and weight of 6’2″, 200lbs. The NA boys have an inch on 5/8 teams, and weigh the same as or more than three others. This is a non-issue at these averages.

Team NA is significantly younger than any other team

The average ages of the World Cup teams:

Canada: 28.7
Sweden: 28.7
Finland: 25.9
USA: 29.0
Russia: 27.0
Europe: 29.9
Czech Republic: 27.3

And again, we have Team North America coming in at a young, but respectable, 21.7 years old on average. This is an age range where most of the players have about two-to-three years in the NHL under their belts, so they’re not green rookies, and they are at the age where their speed and reflexes will almost certainly be at or near their career high.

Team NA is Faster Than Any Other Team, and It’s Not Close

McDavid, Eichel, Larkin, Gaudreau, Droin, MacKinnon… this team is obscenely fast. Tell me how the defensive monsters on the Canadian squad like Doughty and Weber, or the Americans’
Johnson or Byfuglien are supposed to exert their power over these kids if they’re too big and slow to even keep up with them? Which leads me to the next point…

Defensive Size and Grit Won’t Matter*

It’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t a typical NHL playoff series grind, and won’t even really be reminiscent of regular season games. This is a short tournament. There won’t be significant contact, certainly no dirty plays with an NHL season about to start and a KHL season already underway, and fighting is out of the question. So where exactly do the big, intimidating bodies of the other national teams have a significant advantage over the quickness and skill of the North Americans?

*(09/10 Post-pre-tourney CAN vs USA games update: … *Except* for the CAN/USA games, apparently. Jesus.)

Plus, the Team NA Defensive Lineup is Amazing in Its Own Right

Ekblad, Ghost Bear, Jones, Murray, Parayko, Rielly, and Trouba? Are you kidding me? You’re looking at the future of NHL defence right now, and these guys haven’t even entered the prime of their careers yet. They’re dynamic and intelligent, and they can eat minutes along with the best of ’em. I’m not even kind of worried about this aspect of the team.

Don’t Worry about Team NA’s Goaltending

I laugh really, really hard and obnoxiously every time someone says the goaltending of Team North America is going to be their achilles heel. Yes, I too am super concerned about rookie-playoff-record-15-game-winning-Stanley-Cup-champion Matt Murray and All-Star Game player and Ducks’ 23-year-old bona fide starter John Gibson.

Puh-lease. These guys are killer. Obviously they’re not a Carey Price or a Henrik Lundqvist yet (I spelled The King’s name right the first time, just so you know), but what does that matter in a tiny preseason tournament? We aren’t testing these guys over the course of a 60-start season.

That’s the root of the problem with most criticism levied at this squad: it presumes the need for a bigger sample size than is necessary or warranted for the format and length of the tournament. Is anyone arguing that, historically, experience and grit wins championships? Of course not. But for the glorified preseason exhibition series the World Cup is poised to be, traditional evaluative factors don’t apply. Team North America is going to skate circles around the competition. They’re going to score ridiculous goals and come up with whacky, inventive shit that will wins them games because they’re young and fast and skilled, and that’s what’s going to matter.

In Conclusion

I wrote the bulk of this piece before the first pre-tournament games had taken place, so let me just acknowledge how wrong I was about the whole “no dirty plays, etc” bit. Clearly I underestimated the classlessness of some of the American squad (*cough*Kesler you still suck*cough*). So let me amend part of my statements to say that, for the majority of the teams, this isn’t going to be an all-out war of who can play the most boneheaded and outmoded brand of hockey.

I stand by my overall assessment that the North Americans are going to win it all based on their skill and speed, because they’re never going to have to play the Americans, because the Canadians will dispatch them before the group final round.

Where North America will win.

Because McJeez/Johnny Hockey/Eich is the most ridiculous first line I’ve ever heard of in my life and I refuse to stop fanboying. Goodnight, and may god have mercy on the rest of the world’s souls.

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Edmonton Oilers, Kosmic Burrito, NHL

Kosmic’s World Cup of Hockey Team North America Roster Prediction

March 1st 2016
Post Deadline

Well….here I am…I must have done something right, because I’m back to trip with the BLH Universe again! How’d you like Chia Pete’s first go as an Oiler at the ol’ deadline? Do you think that the Oilers made out alright? Me, I don’t really have any complaints, plus, that’s not what my post is about, haha…

As promised, this is my 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team McDavid, errr, I mean Team North America roster predictions/report. Let’s face it folks, this team belongs to the McWizard!

But first, I have to get something of my chest. I don’t even like the inclusion of the 23 and under North American and European teams. Do you really think that Mcdavid wants to be the one who scores the goal that eliminates Team Canada (hypothetically speaking)? Of course he doesn’t!! He wants to score the huge goals for Canada, and party with the big boys!! But….here we are, and that train has left the station.

Too be honest though, as an Oilers fan this team does possess a lot of Edmonton connections. First off, the GM is Peter Chiarelli, and the Head Coach is Todd Mclellan. Plus some key members of the team I might add.

So, just like my last report, we’ll start with the Goaltenders. Speaking of which, I think this is going to be the team’s weakest position. Only due to the lack of experienced ’tenders. There is USA’s John Gibson, who has won both gold and bronze at the World Juniors. Also, Jets prospect Connor Hellebuyck won bronze at the World Championships. So there is some experience there, that can’t be discounted. I do honestly believe that Gibson is on the verge of breaking out huge, and what a scene that would be if he could do it on the world stage.

Potential Goalies: John Gibson, Connor Hellebuyck, Malcolm Subban, Matt Murray, and Zach Fucale

Again, this is just my personal opinion, but you can’t ignore Gibson and Hellebuyck’s international resumes. So I see Chiarelli going with (in this order):

John Gibson – Connor Hellebuyck – Malcolm Subban

The defence is a different story….this is seriously a stacked backend ladies and gentlemen! We’re talking about names like Ekblad, Reilly, Jones, and Hanifin. That’s heavy duty. Baby’s got back! I didn’t realize just how stacked they are until I started to research this story. So let’s get on with it.

Potential Defencemen: Aaron Ekblad, Noah Hanifin, Matt Dumba, Morgan Reilly, Colton Parayko, Seth Jones, Dougie Hamilton, Connor Murphy, Jacob Trouba, Cody Ceci, Colin Miller, and Ryan Murray

Making my prediction for the defence was actually tougher than originally thought, but if I was GM, the defence would like something like this:

Seth Jones – Aaron Ekblad
Morgan Reilly – Jacob Trouba
Ryan Murray – Dougie Hamilton
Extra Skater: Matt Dumba

Ah yes, now the Mcdavid’s, I mean the McJesus’, Errg…Now for the forwards. You thought that the defence was stellar? Shit dude, you haven’t seen anything yet! We’re talking about names like 2 time Cup winner Brendan Saad, Johnny Hockey himself, and that other fellow, what”s his name, oh yeah…CONNOR MCDAVID! Honestly, this team should not be taken lightly at all. There is A LOT of potential firepower on this squad. So let’s get cracking at it.

Potential Forwards: Connor McDavid, Brendan Saad, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nathan McKinnon, Curtis Lazar, Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Sean Couturier, Ryan Strome, Sean Monahan, Alex Galchenyuk, Jonathon Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele, Jonathon Drouin, Sam Reinhart, Max Domi, Dylan Larkin, Boone Jenner, Sam Bennett, Robby Fabbri, Anthony Duclair, and Bo Horvat

See, I told you that they’re doing pretty well for themselves….so take this with a grain of salt, but here are my line predictions:

Johnny Gaudreau – Connor McDavid – Nathan McKinnon
Brandon Saad – Sean Monahan – Jack Eichel
Alex Galchenyuk – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Ryan Strome
Max Domi – Sean Couturier – Curtis Lazar
Extra Skater: Auston Matthews

As awesome as it will be for all of these kids to play together, you can’t tell me that they wouldn’t have preferred to play for their respected countries? So hopefully the next inception of the World Cup only includes countries. But regardless, the North American team is an incredibly talented squad and they’re my sleeper pick to win it all. They definitely shouldn’t be underestimated just due to their age, they have a lot of international hardware between them, plus…..McDavid.

Well folks, once again, thanks for tripping with me!! Stay tuned for my next article……an introduction to the future, the man known as Laurent Brossoit….

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