This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

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Lowetide.ca

ILYA KONOVALOV

• You never know with goalies, and hold on to your horses, but the young Russian is adjusting to the AHL. Here are his save percentage splits by month:
  • October: two games, .857
  • November: four games, .873
  • December: three games, .941
• He may never make the NHL, but Hockey Prospecting loves him, and those numbers in December are eye popping. Something to keep in mind.

BLH’s Thoughts: Peaks and Valleys… The recent spike is nice, but I’m going to have to see more for a much much longer period of time. Good on the guy though. 

Oilersnation

• Last year from February 8th to the end of the season the Oilers were fifth in GA/game at 2.44. Mike Smith returned to the lineup on February 8th and started 30 of the final 43 games. He was 21-6-2 with a.923Sv% and 2.31 GAA.
• They miss Smith’s ability to stop pucks, but also his puckhandling ability. He stops plays from developing and can help get the puck out quicker.

BLH’s Thoughts: My personal feeling is that I think the Oilers should give Stu Skinner a bit of a run here until Smith is ready. I prefer Skinner to Koskinen at this point, but if the Oilers have all three men ready to go, there’s probably a realistic scenario that sees the club run with that trio until the deadline. I say that because when Mikko is rested, he’s a capable NHL goalie. It’s just that for two years in a row Mike Smith has been hurt and Dave Tippett has run Koskinen into the ground… 

Smith’s a gamer and there’s no doubt in my mind he could replicate that late season run from last year. Ken Holland would get some major brownie points from the fanbase if he could find a way to swap Koskinen and Marc-Andre Fleury though… 

Daily Goal Horn

•  Phil Kessel will assuredly net them a first round pick at the deadline, but it is possible he could go a little earlier?
  • The Rangers, who have a glaring need at right wing keep coming up.
  • “Phil Kessel would be a wild-card out of Arizona.” – Arthur Staple, The Athletic

BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers are going to make a deep run into this year’s post-season, they’re going to need depth scoring. The moment Dave Tippett throws Draisaitl on McDavid’s line because the team isn’t scoring, the Oilers might as well kiss their Stanley Cup hopes goodbye. 

So with that said, it wouldn’t shock me any if the Oilers got in on Kessel. When Leon Draisaitl plays center, he’s a playmaker, and to date his wingers (Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamato) have scored maybe three or four goals at even strength and folks, that ain’t gonna cut it. 

I would imagine that Ken Holland will be eyeing Philly and Montreal as well with hopes of procuring a goal-scoring winger. 

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
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• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

Sportsnet

To end skid, Oilers make the most of Hockey Gods granting them good fortune

• Inside the first five minutes of Thursday night’s win, the Oilers allowed a two-on-one to the Columbus Blue Jackets, took a too many men on the ice penalty, and then surrendered a three-on-one.
• Skinner made his saves, and the Blue Jackets executed like a team that has two wins in its past 10 games.
• Jesse Puljujarvi scored on both ends of that early power play with goal just 46 seconds apart, and then Ryan poked home a loose puck at 11:07.
• Edmonton’s power play was awake, they had a fourth-line goal that has been almost non-existent for the past month, and they were on their way to a comfortable 5-2 win.
• Just up from a stint in the minors, Brendan Perlini found himself on a line with Ryan and Zack Kassian and decided to play like the guy who had six pre-season goals at training camp last fall.
• Kassian added an assist for the second straight game after six pointless, and Warren Foegele — playing on the top line in Zach Hyman’s absence — guided in an empty netter for his first goal in 21 games.

BLH’s Thoughts: As I was saying yesterday, I thought it would take a bad game from Edmonton’s opposition for them to snap the slump and Columbus came in and shit the bed. Their roster isn’t exactly teeming with A-grade talent these days with Laine and Boqvist out, but the Oilers have lost to lesser teams in their last ten games… To me, it looked like the BJs wanted to get this game out of the way as they lacked any real intensity whereas Glen Gulutzan’s men were on a mission to come away with the two points. 

The Oilers have a bit of breathing room between them and the 9th place Winnipeg Jets, but it’s a dog’s breakfast looking up the standings as only three points separates Edmonton from the 3rd place Nashville Predators. Minnesota sits atop the West with 40pts and Anaheim has chopped wood and carried water to 2nd with 39pts.

Seattle is up next for Edmonton! 

Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Skinner, Perlini and Puljujarvi lead Edmonton Oilers huge win over Columbus Blue Jackets

• Duncan Keith, 3 . Blew a tire leading to an early 2-on-1 against, but Skinner made up for his mistake. A moment later, the veteran made a terrible pinch leading to a 3-on-1 break, but again Skinner stood up big. Next he took an ill-advised cross-checking penalty. He settled down after that.
• Kyle Turris, 4. Too quiet a game for a forward. A few decent shot late.
• Kailer Yamamoto, 5. His hustle led to early penalty call, giving Edmonton a two-man advantage due to a major mental error by Voraceck, not leaving the ice when his helmet came off. But a quiet game otherwise.
• Leon Draisaitl, 5. He started off the game with an o-zone turnover and weak back check leading to a 5-alarm chance that could easily have had Columbus up 1-0… And he was part of the Sequence of Pain on CBJ’s second goal, losing a battle.
• Stuart Skinner, 8. Great game… He made another stop on a 5-alarmer off Voracek early in the third. He faced 16 Grade A shots in total, allowing only two goals.
• Brendan Perlini, 8. He ripped seven shots on net. Oilers out-shot CBJ 12-3 when he was on the ice. Great game for the role player.
• Derek Ryan, 7. Go to the net and good things happen for a third time. He jammed in Perlini’s outside shot for a goal, a reward for more solid play from him of late.
• Jesse “The Bison King” Puljujarvi, 8. Go to the net and good things happen, twice in a row…  He led the team with eight shots on net, four of them Grade A blasts. Excellent confidence and dexterity with the puck all night. He hit Foegele with a great stretch pass for Edmonton’s fifth goal.

BLH’s Thoughts: The unusual suspects had it going all night long, didn’t they. I was certain Skinner was going to get a shutout until Nyquist was left all alone for a tap-in in the third. But how about the bottom-six finding their scoring touch for a second game in a row? 

• Derek Ryan’s starting to look like the guy Ken Holland envisioned when he signed him this summer.
• Brendan Perlini, what was that?! Did that stint in Bakersfield really jack his confidence that much or were the Blue Jackets simply that bad when he was on the ice? Man did he have himself an evening.
• Has Kyle Turris not hit the iron two games on the trot now? I swear he’s rung a couple of shots off the post since being thrown back into the lineup.
• My favorite thing about the bloggers vs. journos battle on Oilers Twitter is when a guy like Jim Matheson or Mark Spector tweets out that Yamamoto didn’t have a shot for the 7th game in a row and it gets quote-tweeted with a comment pointing to him being 2nd on the team in drawn penalties as if that means something… The f*cking guy can’t score and he’s in the top six, FFS!
• If you’re an NHL player and you’re on the top two lines, the expectation is that you get goals and assists! It’s not like being a skilled player who can draw penalties is anything special… That’s what they do!
• For Yamo, he’s in between a rock and a hard place because if he goes to the net and sits on the edge of the blue paint, he’s going to get hurt. Some 6’5″ behemoth is simply going to fold him up like an accordion and that’s game over, but he’s not strong enough to beat NHL goalies with his shot consistently. So what do you do with the guy?
• If he’s so good defensively and players love playing with him, get him on a shutdown line with two other big bodied forwards and make him a specialist in that regard because he’s starting to develop a reputation as a guy who can’t score.
• Leon Draisati has got to be wondering what the hell he did to be saddled with two wingers who can’t score a goal if their life depended on it.
• Did you see how that hit from Foegele on Max Domi took Tie’s kid right out of the game?

Jesse… Jesse!!! Told ya… Most consistent player on the team and is now a PP threat to go along with Connor and Leon. Just got to get the QB scoring from the blue and Nuge potting one in from the left-wall and the Oilers could boast that they have a similar PP to the Capitals and you know what happens then, right? Leon is constantly left wide open because the PK unit is too paranoid to commit to covering him as they try and stop the other threats. 

https://youtu.be/2FBnPwP-7BI?t=30

The Hockey Writers Rumors

• When news broke that the Arizona Coyotes might be making Chychrun available and testing the market to see what value the team could get in a trade, one of the teams immediately connected to those rumors was the Edmonton Oilers. A number of media personalities and NHL insiders connected the dots and suggested the Oilers should be in on those conversations.
  • A left-shot defenseman has been identified as a need for the Oilers but as David Staples noted on Oilers Now Wednesday the team will only have the ability to make one big trade this season. The key will be identifying the greater need — either a defenseman, goaltender, or a third-line center.
• As per Elliotte Friedman, it doesn’t sound like the Sabres are terribly interested in goaltender Anton Khudobin. 

BLH’s Thoughts: If I were an Oilers fan and I was a draft junkie, I’d start doubling down on the kids who are slated to go in the 4th round and beyond because my feeling is that Ken Holland is going to go shopping with the picks he has in the first three rounds of not only the 2022 draft but the 2023 one as well. 

As for Chychrun’s price, it’s said to be MASSIVE, thus I wonder if what Chicago paid for Seth Jones could be used as a comparable. That return consisted of Adam Boqvist, 2021 and 2022 first round picks and a 2021 2nd round pick.

So in a sense, three first rounders and a second rounder for a $9.5M top-pairing defenseman. Surely the Coyotes would want a bit more considering Chychrun’s deal is $5M cheaper for the next three years though.

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

The Athletic

Fourth lines usually don’t matter but the Oilers’ unit is killing them

• Turris/Shore have been outscored by a combined 40-19 margin. When they’re together – as they have been for just over an hour – it’s 6-2.
• There’s no going back on the decisions to sign Shore and Turris, but that doesn’t mean they have to be in the lineup. Players show up on waivers almost every day, and it’s usually not too hard to find end-of-roster talent on the trade market.
• It’s past time for the Oilers to correct this particular error. Dumping Turris and Shore won’t magically fix all of Edmonton’s problems, but it might reduce the damage being done on a nightly basis by the fourth line.
• In fairness to the coaches, they don’t have a lot of options now. Zach Hyman was hurt in Saturday’s game against Carolina, and Ryan McLeod was placed in the COVID-19 protocol. Brendan Perlini hadn’t made it up from Bakersfield before Tuesday’s game.

BLH’s Thoughts: So, the way I see this post is that Jonathan Willis didn’t like the idea of Turris and Shore being dressed regardless of the fact that the Oilers weren’t really in a position to be choosey. 

Now that leads me to believe that this is something that’s been festering for a while or else why would you write a hit piece like this? Doesn’t it appear to be more of a shot at Oilers management and less so one at the two NHL vets?

Even though picking on Turris and Shore is low-hanging fruit considering neither has played in fair amount of time, the numbers don’t lie and I agree with the surface level judgement, Edmonton needs better bottom-sixers.

However, I will not sit here and be told that players come up on waivers everyday that would be an upgrade to some degree because that’s simply untrue. 

Riley Nash was waived from the Jets and claimed by Tampa on Dec.7th, that might be the only player Willis has an argument for, but even then, if a player of note is going to hit the waiver wire, there’s a very good chance he’s been shopped around the league first and a lot of teams would rather take the chance of seeing that player go through waivers and then make a trade anyhow.

Here’s the thing, the Oilers haven’t been in a great position to grab players off of waivers this year. So prior to Nash hitting the waiver wire, the Oilers lost out on Alex Barre-Boulet, Nathan Bastian, and Adam Gaudette because teams ahead of them snatched them up. That’s not management’s fault unless you want to give them shit for having a team so high in the standings… 

Barre-Boulet (5’10” 180lbs) hit the wire twice and was claimed by Seattle the first time and his old team, Tampa, the second time. But he’s in the same boat as Tyler Benson, an AHL star who hasn’t found his footing at the NHL level (-22.22 GF%/60). Easy to see why the Oilers wouldn’t claim him. 

So just to get back to Willis’ claim that 4th line replacements are available daily on the waiver wire, are you telling me that Jason Megna, Pontus Aberg, Kirill Semyonov, or Anatolii Golyshev should’ve been claimed by Edmonton because those are the forwards that’ve been slapped on waivers this month.

Could the Oilers go out and make a trade? 100% YES! Should they though? I wouldn’t. The other team will attempt to rake them over the coals since Edmonton is making a trade out of necessity and how many teams will be looking to move 4th liners that not only saw off the other team’s offense but produce some of their own?… 

I feel like the team just has to ride this slump out and hope the Ls don’t reach double-digits. The overall health of the team might play into this a bit but tonight when they face Columbus, a major factor will be what kind of Blue Jackets team shows up.

Without Patrik Laine and Adam Boqvist, the BJs will be at an instant disadvantage. They’re 5-9-0 on the road and 3-6-1 in their last ten games, Elvis Merzlikins is 2-2-1 with a SV% of .889 and a GAA of 3.79 in his last five starts, but they’ve got a 4th line that is firing on all cylinders. In their previous five, big Eric Robinson has 5pts in his last five, former Bruin Sean Kuraly has 4pts, and France-native Alex Texier has 6pts. 

So, we’ll see. I fully expect the Oilers to beat Columbus and the game not even being close, however, the game has not gone to script for the Oilers this year and there’s a chance they stoop to a new low.

At the very least, I’ll get to watch Pulju for another game. Love that guy! 

The Cult of Hockey

How does Mikko Koskinen wicked rollercoaster ride end? Hmm

• This year Koskinen has been that amazing goalie in a handful of games, but he’s wilted in others, all of it adding up to a .902 save percentage, not much better than his weak .899 save percentage last season, and a bit worse than his OK-ish .906 save percentage in his first year, 2918-19.
• In his first seven games of the year, he had six wins and one loss, with a .934 save percentage. 
• He won four of his next five games, but had just an .870 save percentage.
• He pulled himself up for two more games, with two wins and a .944 save percentage but in his last four games, all part of Edmonton’s six game skid, he’s had his worst run of the year, a .861 save percentage and four straight losses.
• He’s back-up material in the NHL, but not a reliable starter. This we can say now with certainty.

BLH’s Thoughts: I think the other observation is that when the team plays well, Koskinen’s not that bad, but the precedent has been set. What I mean by that is, Mike Smith is the preferred netminder by the fellas who play the game. They play with much more passion and intent when he’s in between the pipes and when Mikko’s tending net, they don’t. In fact, to me, it looks like they’re walking on egg shells when Dave Tippett calls his name. 

What I don’t get is why the coaches continue to go back to Koskinen knowing full well that he’s not 100% when they’ve got Skinner there? Give the rook the reps so that when it’s the Finn’s turn, you know you’ve got a goalie there who’s rested and most likely going to give you the best chance at two points or at the very least, you won’t have to worry about him.

The Daily Goal Horn

• There were rumors that the Islanders tried to pluck him (Jakob Chychrun) in the offseason. If the Yotes are listening, does that make them the frontrunners to land him? We will see.
• We know Phil Kessel will be the next shoe to drop as teams likely wait to get closer to the deadline to fit him in under the cap.
• “Well, enhanced protocols I think would be on the table which is more mask wearing around the league and the facilities,” LeBrun said. “How about daily testing? Since the start of the season players had been tested every three days. Could it go to daily testing with advanced measures? So, look for all of those things to potentially come to fruition here over the next few days.”

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

• Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
• Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
• Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
• Facebook: Beer League Heroes

Oilersnation

How hard should the Edmonton Oilers pursue Jakob Chychrun?

• Theoretically, the Oilers could look at a deal surrounding Kailer Yamamoto, Zack Kassian, this year’s first as well as next years. This evens out the money in the deal, and the second first-round pick would, in part, allow the Coyotes to more comfortably take on the remaining years of Kassian’s deal.

BLH’s Thoughts: What? I get that they’ve got to even up the money somewhere, but why in the world would the Coyotes agree to accept Zack Kassian or a struggling Kailer Yamamoto? 

“Hi, Bill Armstrong, Ken Holland here. I’ve got some hard working right-wingers I’d like to move and I’m willing to include a couple of first rounders if you’ll give me your franchise player. What do you say?… Hello… Hello… Did I mention they work hard? Bill? Are you there? Are you laughing? Look, I can hear Doan making fun of me… Fine. Goodbye.” 

That’s how that conversation goes if you’re wondering.

On Oilers Now yesterday morning a texter sent in a proposal of Broberg, Yamamoto, the 2022 first rounder, a 2023 second rounder for Chychrun and Lawson Crouse.

Bob Stauffer said another prospect would need to be included and other deals would have to be made to open up around $6M in salary cap room and that lead to this interesting comment from Stauffer,

“You’d have to make some other moves. They might have to make some other moves come the offseason anyhow with a couple players. Maybe a right wing and a right shot D.”

Bobby’s stirring the pot!!! Reckon he’s talking about Kassian and Barrie? I do… Kassian’s in dire need of a change of scenery and Bouchard’s going to get Barrie’s PP time sooner than later… Especially if he keeps outproducing him 5v5.

Oilersnation

Help Me Understand: NHL, Hot Takes and More

• I don’t understand how Kailer Yamamoto has no shots on goal in the past six games. He isn’t the sole reason the team is struggling, far from it, but that stat line is truly remarkable.
  • It is more realistic to see him moved down the lineup in hopes he finds some more consistency, rather than trade him at his lowest value.
• Help me understand why some believe so strongly in the public xGF%  models as well as WAR and GAR? I spoke to three different NHL analytics people, and they referred to those stats as “Twitterlytics.”
  • Keep in mind that the public xGF models don’t account for pre-shot puck movement or where the goalie is. Wouldn’t that mean the data is lacking some important information?
• Help me understand how anyone could think Philip Broberg or any of the other young left defence are better than Duncan Keith right now? And some still think Caleb Jones does more.
• You know your psyche is fragile when you play well, but continue to lose. I can’t understand how the Oilers can be 16-1 when leading (9-0) or tied (7-1) after the first period, but are 0-10 when trailing after 20 minutes. Being down one goal shouldn’t cause you to have to completely alter your style of play, should it?
• Help me understand how a team can lose six games in a row, the last five at home, and with the game out of hand in the third period show no anger or emotion.

BLH’s Thoughts: The first three points there are Edmonton’s fanbase in a nutshell. What can you do though? It is what it is. Anybody will find anything to support their bias. 

Is the Oilers style of play being completely altered once they go down a goal? Maybe I’m not catching the gameplay change, but the last three games against CAR, BOS, and TOR, I’ve seen a pretty consistent effort save for a few instances where the other team has trapped Edmonton in their own zone for an extended stretch. The work ethic has been improved since the LA game, in my opinion, they’re just squeezing the sticks too hard right now and as long as they keep working at it and going to the tough areas, the levy will break at some point. 

It would be unfair to dismiss the other team’s netminders too though. Cam Talbot has been very good this year, Linus Ullmark had himself a night, and Jack Campbell is another guy who’s been performing well this year.

The Hockey Writers Rumors

• As per Elliotte Friedman, the Coyotes are reportedly gauging the market on defenseman Jakob Chychrun, but the ask is unsurprisingly massive. Arizona GM Bill Armstrong refused to comment when asked, “but that doesn’t mean opponents are running away.”
• Pierre LeBrun writes, “Teams have kicked tires on Khudobin so the Stars do have some interest out there. But obviously, teams would rather trade for him and have Dallas eat some of the salary or take a contract back. In meantime, Khudobin will go play some AHL games.”