Just one minor rant before getting into this weeks 31 Thoughts podcast and what Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman were saying about the Oilers.
All throughout the Taylor Hall era of the Oilers (or as others call it, the Decade of Darkness), I watched those teams get pushed around and nothing was done about it even though the team had tough guys/enforcers on the roster and you might say I’m old-fashioned or a flat-earther because I believe in physical retribution but the NHL’s star attraction was the target of cheap shots from the Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks most recently.
**Bloggers and fans will scoff at what I’m going to say next but journalists who cover sports teams and ex-players won’t. They know exactly what I’m talking about.
Now we’ve learned over time that there was a split in the dressing room back then and the players weren’t willing to stick up for each other because of the cliques that were formed in that room. Is that what is going on now?**
What are Zack Kassian, Milan Lucic, Darnell Nurse, and JJ Khaira doing?
I’ll give credit to Khaira and Nurse because at least they gone ahead and dropped the gloves in the last 10 days but what kind of excuses do Kassian and Lucic have?
My whole thing with these kinds of players is that they have something to offer when they’re not scoring goals, their braveness and willingness to do the things that others are not. I mean if this is the way the NHL is going, then all of those players who say they’ll battle for their teammates and don’t, they can hit the road. I’d rather the Oilers sign a bunch of rat finks like Burrows or Clutterbuck if that’s the case. Hell, bring back Raffi Torres!
I don’t see anybody hitting out there anymore or if they do it’s a glance or a coasting into a player as if they’re sorry for touching the guy. What happened to these players? Are they playing through something? If so, why haven’t they had it repaired if they’ve been playing through it for the entire season?
If Lucic and Kassian can’t play the game that made them successful in Edmonton, then they should be moved out for players who can. Michael Haley does nothing but hit and fight and he’s not hurting the Florida Panthers in their fight for a playoff spot. He’s cheap too.
Listen, all I want is some fire and emotion during the games and this isn’t an Oilers-centric problem I don’t believe. I think it’s league-wide and that’s a shame because if this is the direction the NHL is going, I’ll probably stop watching it at some point and convert to junior games or minor league games where things are a bit more unpredictable.
This is going to be a story until the draft, no doubt about it. That being said, Oilers fans shouldn’t be getting their hopes up because the Senators were talking to both the Flames and the Sharks at the deadline regarding Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan. I think we can toss Vegas into that mix too.
On this week’s 31 Thoughts podcast, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman had some interesting comments regarding RNH and Klefbom…
Marek: Who is most likely to go out of Edmonton, Klefbom or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?
Friedman: It’s a tough one because both players play valuable positions. One’s a center and one’s a D, what is everyone looking for? Center and D.
I think they both have an attractiveness about them.
The only reason I’d say Klefbom more likely is that I think if you look at them they’ve got Nurse, they’ve got Sekera, they’ve got Larsson, they’ve got Russell signed. I think they feel they’ve probably got enough D that they can get by.
Marek: It’s a D heavy draft, they’ll take a D most likely.
Friedman: If they can get Draisaitl and McDavid comfortable playing apart, you probably don’t have the luxury of keeping Nugent-Hopkins’ cap number but if you really want to play them together, you probably need Nugent-Hopkins.
Like, I think they have to convince those two guys (McDavid/Draisaitl) to play apart. I really do. You look at Pittsburgh, the team we watched in Toronto on the weekend, why do they win Stanley Cups? Because they’ve got Crosby on one line, Malkin on one line, and Kessel on another line with Brassard.
I think ultimately those two guys (97/29) are going to have to play apart and for that reason, Nugent-Hopkins might not be a luxury you can afford under the cap?
So what I’m gathering from that is if the Oilers keep Todd Mclellan, there’s a possibility that he finds himself back up on that top line with Connor McDavid more often than not. Something Ryan Rishaug has spoken to this week on the Jason Gregor show. And in turn that’ll mean Klefbom goes because the Oilers will need RNH to man the 2nd line centre position.
But if the Oilers decide to go with a different coach I believe that will spell the end of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ spell with the Oilers because Peter Chiarelli believes having RNH on the 3rd line making $6M a year isn’t fiscally smart.
And another thing we have to take into consideration is the draft?
Right now the Oilers are sitting in 7th spot and their chances at the 1st overall pick are 6.7%. They’re chances at a top 3 selection are 20.9%. (according to tankathon.com)
So if they win the lottery and move up to no.1, they’ll take Dahlin and that means goodbye Oscar. If they move up into the top 3 but not no.1, that means they’ll be taking a winger, goodbye RNH. If they stay where they are at no.7, I would venture to guess they trade the pick outright in a deal for a winger or a dman OR they trade down because the middle of the pack in this year’s draft doesn’t offer much separation in terms of talent.
Lastly, they could sit on the roster and do nothing because RNH and Klefbom are still great young players and they’re signed long-term. They’ll both be healthy going into next year and really, all the Oilers need to do is tinker a bit on the wing and back end.
Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!
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Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman spoke about the Edmonton Oilers in their latest podcast (check it out here) from March 8th and it’s a nice 9-minute segment dedicated to the Oilers and their woes.
I want to transcribe some of it here for you today and comment on some of the things they say but if you’re the impatient type and simply want to hear the segment first, scroll down to the bottom and you can listen to it.
JM= Jeff Marek
EF= Elliotte Friedman
OSCAR KLEFBOM
JM: Elliotte, Oscar Klefbom and the idea that they may be playing him simply to showcase him despite him being a little bit banged up.
EF: I think a lot banged up. I’ve wrote a couple of times this year that Kesler is being held up by duct tape and a couple of guys reached out to me and said Klefbom is too.
I’ve written a couple of times here too and I don’t understand why he’s playing. Like, I get guys want to play and you want to wait until someone is officially eliminated but he’s clearly hurting and there’s no logical reason for it. And finally someone said to me, you know what could be going on here?
They’re going to make a move here.
JM: How can it be a showcase if he’s injured? He’s not going to show well.
EF: Well I think people understand what he was
JM: So do you need to see him now? That’s the point I don’t get. If you’re running him out there hurt, what’s the value there for anybody? Certainly not for Klefbom, not for the Oilers.
EF: You know what? Honestly Jeff, there’s so many questions about this thing that I have. I can’t answer this question. But the fact is that I think that teams are scouting him, I think people were looking at him and I think they got to sign Darnell Nurse, who’s had a really good year and I think Klefbom has value. He had a great year last year, he scored 12 goals, he’s got a good contract. I do think people are looking at him.
Oh, Oscar is definitely on the block and I do expect him to be dealt this summer because Chiarelli likes Ryan Nugent-Hopkins more and sees more value there. Also, the depth on the left side defense is a helluva lot deeper than down the middle.
My theory on why other teams don’t care if he plays is that his shoulder injury has been disclosed and it can’t get any worse by playing with it. As Friedman said above, they know what they could be getting in Klefbom and are willing to roll the dice.
I think another thing that is starting to get out is there might be a disagreement between player and team as to whether or not to get the procedure done now.
Players want to play (Pat Maroon, Cam Talbot, and Adam Larsson all come to mind this season for playing hurt), they don’t want to abandon their teammates, and it’s my belief that Klefbom is probably feeling a tad guilty and playing through his injury because back in 2015 he was in and out of the lineup, unsure when he was going to be able to come back. He might’ve got some flack from teammates or other staff for not getting back into the lineup.
I just reckon he’d prefer to play the year out and get that respect from his teammates. Of course, they’d understand if he chose to go under the knife but it’s his call, right?
WHAT HAPPENS TO EDMONTON IN THE OFF-SEASON?
JM: What happens to Edmonton in the off-season?
EF: You know, that’s a great question. I watched, I didn’t see Saturday night because I was in Maryland, but I watched the interview (Bob Nicholson one) with David (Ambder) and Cassie (Campbell-Pascal)…
*cuts to interview*
EF: You know I thought Nicholson was dropping a lot of hints there and you got the sense he wanted to say a bit more but he was holding himself back.
He (Nicholson) has a long history with Cassie and I think he wanted to say some more stuff but the thing that struck me was that they’re going to make changes but they’re not going to make changes for the sake of doing it.
He said ‘we fire a lot of people here’ and I think he would prefer to keep Peter and Todd. That’s the sense I got but I think that may be decided by who else is available.
Like what if Barry Trotz (WAS) is available? What if Joel Quenneville (CHI) is available?
And the other thing too is, I don’t know who really is making the final call here?
JM: By way of title it should be Peter Chiarelli.
EF: Or Bob (Nicholson) or the owner (Daryl Katz).
JM: Didn’t the owner want a coaching move during the season? Wasn’t it after that Dallas game?
EF: There’s been some rumbling about that. This year you’re talking about?
JM: This year. Yeah. And Wayne Gretzky was on the road trip.
EF: There’s been a rumor about that. I don’t know if it’s true though. Daryl Katz doesn’t come out that much. It’s hard to check that kind of thing.
JM: Any time I talk to anyone there it’s ‘Katz is fuming. Katz is fuming about this season.’
EF: I agree with that. Someone told me last year they were the highest revenue team in the NHL and they’re not going to be that way this year. Because that arena is such a cash cow.
They’re not going to be there this year (no.1 in revenue) and I do believe that Daryl is upset but who’s making the call? Is it Katz? Is it Nicholson? Is it Chiarelli? Is it Wayne Gretzky? Is it somebody else? Like, nobody seems to have the answer to that.
Now, I’m not exactly sure which Dallas game that is but I’m going to go ahead and assume it was the one they lost 5-1. A matinee game back at the beginning of January.
Don’t you remember? That was the game where Stauffer didn’t do his customary post-game tweet and things got VERY quiet. I wrote herethat there was a meeting to discuss the futures of McLellan and Chiarelli and it wasn’t too long after that Chiarelli did a couple of media interviews to discuss the state of the franchise and that’s when Todd McLellan got his dreaded vote of confidence.
If the Capitals get booted in the first round this year, Trotz is out. If I’m not mistaken, he was on Oilers Now last week and he was saying there’s something off about that team and Trotz… So take that for what it is.
Is there a better coach than Joel Quenneville to take over the Oilers? He knows exactly how it is coaching a team with two teenage superstars and building a winning team around those players.
But I do get where Friedman is coming from. Nobody is really sure who’s at the wheel of this cheese wagon. I mean Coffey was brought in by Gretzky, right?
SPEAKING OF COFFEY
JM: And what’s Paul Coffey’s role here?
EF: My guess is that he ends up coaching but I don’t know if that’s head coach or assistant coach.
JM: He’s scouting in Ontario.
EF: I heard that, could he be a GM? I’ve been told he’s got no desire to be GM. I think he wants to coach.
GM! HA!
If Coffey wants to be a head coach, he’s got all the right people in place to make that happen in Edmonton but that idea, at best, is a terrible one. That said, IF he puts in the reps as an assistant coach and is promoted from there, I think most could get on board with that because he’s earned it.
Who is he scouting in Ontario? Ryan Merkley? They share some playing attributes.
I mean if he’s scouting kids for the upcoming draft, then there’s a good chance he’ll have an official title by the start of next season and watch where he’s sitting at the draft or possibly the draft lottery.
THE TURN AROUND
JM: How close do you think they are to turning it around? Knowing the composition of this team.
EF: They’re not as bad as they’re playing this year. I refuse to believe that.
JM: They need wingers.
EF: They need wingers but that should be, in theory, the easiest thing to find. Now, I will say this, I think one of the things they’re going to have to figure out is how to convince Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that they shouldn’t play together.
JM: They want to play together. They want to be on the same line.
EF: Ya but I think that’s gotta change. You’ve got to show them Pittsburgh and say ‘Guys, why did they win two Stanley Cups back-to-back? Because they got Crosby on one and Malkin on another and you get someone like Kessel and he plays on a 3rd’.
JM: Yzerman, Federov. Keep going.
EF: You gotta. Those guys have to learn that they can’t play together. Maybe in certain situations. Crosby and Malkin play together on the PP. Maybe you put them together on a line here and there but generally, they got to play apart.
I 100% agree here. The Oilers are by no means this bad. Their 5×5 scoring tells us all we need to know not to mention IF they had some goaltending and special teams, they’d be a 100pt team again and that’s without Eberle or Hall or Pouliot or Mark Fayne.
I grew up being spoiled with the Jagr, Lemieux, Francis line in Pittsburgh but they didn’t always play together either but when they did, the Pens were almost guaranteed to score. A line like that today would be like having McDavid with Laine and Bergeron… Ridiculous, right?
WHAT ELSE?
JM: They need a save and you’re hoping this is just the outlier year for the netminder and he comes back like he did last season.
EF: Yeah but look, I agree with you. Talbot had a rough year but if you look at their team this year, you know, Larsson was worse than last year, Klefbom, because of the injury, was worse than last year, Sekera, who was a pretty big player for them was out for half of the year.
Sometimes you have to bet on our guys aren’t going to be that bad again. Things are going to be better next year.
JM: But you’re not going to go into next season with the same lineup.
EF: No no. That’s why I wonder about the Klefbom thing.
JM: Then again, the idea of we’re not going to make changes for the sake of making changes is- You’ve got a fanbase that’s torches at the castle gate right now. That volcano needs a virgin.
Two things here,
There will be sacrifice but how many, we don’t know.
How could you NOT call this year an outlier will all the f*cked up stats and EVERYBODY but 4 players regressing this year?
Is it possible to have two outlier seasons in a row? Obviously, last year was one and this year is another.
Since the Oilers went away from hiring within the OBC it’s been some sort of episode from Black Mirror or something.
yr 1 – everyone is hurt
yr 2 – nobody is hurt, 100+ pt season but season ended on a bad call
yr 3 – 75% of roster regresses plus injuries, plus players’ dads dying, plus worst home PK in NHL history, plus PP eating sh*t
I’m really on the fence with firing the main men and making a huge trade. Terry Jones said it before me, if you fire those men you take the onus off of the players and they need to be held responsible as well, no matter how noble their actions may be.
Book this though, Talbot, Montoya (IF he’s with the Oilers parent club and not in the minors), and Puljujarvi will have great years as they’ll be going into their contract years. I think it was Lowetide who said to keep Pulju away from McDavid so that the Oilers don’t run into another Leon Draisaitl situation and I’m not sure I agree with that. Good players are good players and should be paid as such.
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This supposed lack of speed isn’t a concern for the Edmonton Oilers and I’m not just saying that because they’ve got the fastest player the game has ever seen playing on it. I’m saying that because when I look at the standings of the Pacific division I see three of the oldest, biggest, slowest teams in the NHL plodding their way to ANOTHER playoff appearance.
San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles still use heavy hockey to win games. Argue that heavy hockey is dead all you want to but it’s very much alive and until Getzlaf, Perry, Kesler, Thornton, Vlasic, Kopitar, Doughty, etc. have gone elsewhere or retired, it will continue.
I know you’re thinking about Vegas right now but let’s be real. Their success is a mirage. they will not be repeating that success next year unless they decide to trade for more players on contract years. Next year that chip on their shoulder will be gone. They’ll no longer be the “rejects” who have something to show their former GMs, they’ll be the prey instead of the hunter.
I think the definition of speed is rarely defined when pundits and bloggers write about it too.
They’re not talking about end-to-end speed, they’re talking about fast jitterbug-like players who can get in on the forecheck and are smart with the puck and make the right play without needed 3-5 seconds to get it done. You’re seeing that sort of puck-moving with Ethan Bear during his audition right now. He gets the puck, moves it. Gets the puck, moves it. He doesn’t wait about, he gets rid of it and usually, the pass is right on the tape. Perfecto!
**Quick sidenote: I don’t remember who brought it up but one of the MSM on the radio/podcasts offered this hypothetical, what if Ethan Bear was the one being showcased and not Oscar Klefbom?**
And I’ll reiterate this once again. Speed is the flavor of the day folks. The coaches will find a way to counter it, they always do. Watch, we’ll see a positioning revolution where the term “defensive specialist” will come into play. You’ll have players who can keep up with McDavid and Matthews but are mind-blowingly good at defense.
The game evolves on its own. You’ll get fathers teaching their sons to be the anti-McDavid. To be the player who goes out and shuts down the other team’s best player because in minor hockey there’s always a ringer and if you shut that player down, you shut their team down and that player will get noticed. Especially with the current onus on players to be the next Jonathan Toews.
Could you imagine a player as physically gifted as a Connor McDavid but as defensively talented as Patrice Bergeron?
I believe smart intelligent clever hockey players will be the future of hockey. High hockey IQ will be a requisite in the near future.
That said, the Oilers must absolutely upgrade their wings and their defense. There’s no question there. They might need to upgrade their goaltending too. But how do they propose doing it and how much of an upgrade is truly required?
Who do they move out to upgrade on the wing though after a year like this? Is Pat Maroon considered an upgrade? The Oilers had interest in Austin Czarnik, a zippy winger that plays for the Bruins, around the deadline; would he be an upgrade? He’s an RFA this summer.
One reason I’m not concerned to very much about the Oilers wings is that Puljujarvi will be another year older and I see him starting to take control again on that 3rd line. We’ve got Kailer Yamamoto coming. Be that from the start of next season (I hope not) or 30 games in (I hope so), he’ll be helpful from the skill and IQ area. If Slepyshev re-signs, that’s more skill in the bottom 6. Pontus Aberg looks to be more middle-6 but his speed and a little more comfort in the new system will be key next season.
What if the Oilers add Brady Tkachuk, Filip Zadina, or Andrei Svechnikov this summer? How would that change the perception of the Oilers lack of speed and skill on the wings?
It’ll change it drastically.
Might we see Zack Kassian moved or Drake Caggiula? Have we seen their PK TOI cut down lately? I feel like they haven’t been killing penalties recently. And I ask about those two specific players because Kassian’s contract seems to be a tad heavy for his role and Caggiula can’t put two good games together.
*Sidenote #2: Man, if Caggiula and Pakarinen could just alternate games, I think they’d look a helluva lot better. To me, as least, they can’t put a run of good games together and are way more impactful after a healthy scratch. Do you agree?*
Jason Gregor wrote an intriguing article over at OilersNation (about the only writer apart from Paige that I read from them these days) and it tells that the wings aren’t the problem, the defense is.
I took away a couple of very telling points that should tell us what direction the Oilers are pointed.
The Oilers are tied for 10th in 5×5 goals. They have 130 5×5 goals in 66 games (1.97 goals/game). Last year the Oilers were tied for eighth in 5×5 goals for with 166 in 82 games (2.0 goals/game).
They are basically scoring at the same rate despite Milan Lucic not scoring for 29 games, Oscar Klefbom going 33 without a goal and losing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was their leading goal scorer when he was injured on January 13th, for 18 games.
The Oilers have 109 5×5 goals from their top-nine forward goal scorers (McDavid, Draisaitl and RNH have 52), while the Pittsburgh Penguins have 102 5×5 goals from their top-nine forward goals scorers (Malkin, Kessel and Crosby have 56 goals).
Wh-What?!
These sort of numbers are free to the public. These aren’t cooked up or obtained from some “black box” analytics company but to me, EVERYONE is ignoring this.
So, IF the Oilers come back to the surface a bit next season and their special teams recovers, Talbot plays like we know he can, Lucic scores like he was before Christmas, Puljujarvi takes another step… You get the point, right?
This season WILL be the aberration, not the 103pt one.
And of course the 5×5 team defence is a concern. Last season they allowed 140 goals at 5×5, ninth fewest in the NHL, but this year they are 27th. They’ve already allowed 141. Cam Talbot hasn’t been as sharp, but the defensive zone breakdowns have been more noticeable this year. The Oilers have reverted back to being a trainwreck in their own end — too many errant passes, too many wrong reads, and turning the puck over too often.
Does a healthy Talbot, Sekera, Klefbom, and Larsson change that?
I mean, those are the 4 MOST important players on the Oilers back-end and if they’re not healthy, they’re not able to do their jobs at 100% and that, in turn, results in corner-cutting. Which helps nobody.
The powerplay started well, going 21.4% in their first 20 games, but since then it’s been a mess. The PK was terrible for the final 68 games last season, 78%, and got even worst this season.
This falls squarely at the feet of the coaches and there’ll be no mulligan’s for them this summer. The special teams is the hill they chose to die on and die on it they will.
So, my theory is that Paul Coffey was brought in by Gretzky to get the skinny on the dressing room. He’s hanging around the team more and getting a feel for how the players are feeling about the coaching staff AND he’s helping with the powerplay. Of course.
The players respect Coffey and I think it’s Gretzky’s hope that they feel comfortable enough around him to tell him what’s going on in that dressing room. Gretzky is slowly working his hands into the team and I’d be willing to be that whatever changes come this summer will be run through him.
Going back to the idea of upgrading, the defense does need it but I feel like it’d be a lot easier to deal from the top and upgrade from there because those will be the players that other teams will want, right?
Lowetide says that you get good players and you keep good players. But what if I want better players? Can I do that by dealing my average players?
If Oscar is dealt, I hope they make it a right proper hockey trade and bring back something the team needs like a PP specialist, something Klefbom is not by virtue of his 4 goals in 450 min on the PP (that’s career!). He shoots a lot but rarely is a threat from the blueline on the PP.
Krug, Spurgeon, Dumba (!), Faulk, Barrie, Gostisbehere, Ristolainen, Oliver Ekman-Larsson etc. These are all the types of players we should be hoping for this summer.
When Klefbom is on, he’s on. The problem with that is that he’s only had one season where he’s been… on. He’s most known for not being healthy, right? He’s played nearly 300 games (think around 250 if we’re nitpicking) and we’re most likely seeing true value in the Swedish dman. At worst he’s a no.4 and at best he’s a no.2 I reckon and there’s no shame in any of that but the Oilers are in a pickle, self-made pickle, and value is going to have to go out for some to come in.
Chiarelli’s record is spotty at best when it comes to these trades and I have no problem saying that.
If he decides to sit on this roster and see what he’s got 20 games in, I don’t think I’d have too much of a problem with that but if things go wrong, it’ll cost him his job. But if a slow moving Oscar Klefbom is the ONLY problem on D next season, the Oilers could handle it.
I’m of the belief that Gretzky expects a splash this summer, hence the Klefbom/RNH rumors and now the word is that their 1st round pick WILL be in play depending on where they land in the lottery and Lowetide is (has been) throwing out Puljujarvi’s name recently.
I don’t see Pulju being moved, he’s only 19 and McLellan is finally using him in the right role (3rd line plus 2nd PP unit) and I think Chiarelli is a huge fan. How it took McLellan the entire season to figure that out is beyond me. It seems this year he’s been late to the ball on damned near everything.
I don’t know if they can outright trade that pick for a player with the way the sit under the cap but it could give them a “get out of jail free” card if they want out from under a large contract be it Lucic’s or Sekera’s or Russell’s as unfortunate as that is depending on how you feel about those players.
What about sending Lucic and the Oilers 1st rounder this year to Ottawa for Mike Hoffman and the 1st rounder Ottawa got in the Brassard trade from Pittsburgh?
Edmonton wouldn’t be able to add a potential “impact” player in the back end of the 1st round but they’d get some cap relief and an upgrade on wing plus they’d still be able to add to the pipeline.
I reckon Gretzky sees value in those players (Lucic, Russell, Sekera) though.
Speaking of prospects, my boy Sean Ryan (@theoilknight) has been doing up some pretty Oilers-centered draft guides over on his site. To date, he’s finished the OHL and the WHL and next up is the QMJHL! Check them out because they’re about as deep and informative as you can find for free these days.
Here’s a taste of Sean’s report:
Ty Smith(Top 15 overall) – LHD. Smith is a smart, fast, puck moving defenceman with great offensive instincts & leadership qualities. That makes him an extremely coveted player. He can Quarterback a Powerplay by using his low, hard, accurate shot that seems to get through more often than not and has tremendous passing and vision to set up his teammates. Defensively, despite a smaller frame he holds his own. He seems to make good reads & is physical when he needs to be. Like most 18 yr olds he could use more consistency and needs to get stronger but compared to his peers he appears to excel. Great at skating the puck right out his zone and is capable of those long stretch passes. He would be a dream pick for the Oilers at #7 if he were a Right shot D. Even so, he appears to be a great fit for Edmonton I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he does ended up being their guy come draft day.
Oh and another friend of the blog, Mike from The Oilers Live Podcast has another pod out with Oil on Whyte writer Eric Friesen. Check it out below!
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I’ve been sitting on a blog for a couple of days now waiting for the right time to publish it because new information keeps popping up. Add to that tonight’s game is quite important for the Oilers and the Islanders, both teams who most likely won’t make the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs but are a couple of the most exciting teams in the NHL.
OSCAR KLEFBOM
The other day on Lowetide’s show Woodguy talked about how you don’t deal off the top of the deck when referring to trading Oscar Klefbom. He said that Darnell Nurse is almost there with regards to being the top LHD on the team but not quite yet. Alex Thomas reminded us that defensemen don’t develop in straight lines when he talked about Nurse and trading Klefbom here. I’d argue that Nurse’s developmental path has been pretty straight though.
But the best argument I found in this discussion came from David Staples because he talked about both sides of the coin.
Then you’ve got the bloggers who are running around crying bloody murderbefore a trade even happens!
Why would the Oilers let Klefbom play if he’s injured? More on that below but to add to that, perhaps they’re not worried about him playing for the Oilers next season and the team’s talking to Edmonton (Tampa before McDonagh was acquired and Boston) aren’t worried about it either.
Every wondered why Klefbom didn’t get a clause in his new contract?…
So, here’s the deal with Klefbom. He can shoot but he’s always injured. Bob Stauffer talked about him even dealing with something during last year’s amazing run. He hasn’t spent ONE season in his professional career (or amateur one) healthy. He’s playing through an upper-body ailment this year that doctors reckon won’t get worse if he plays with it. So the Oilers are sticking him with needles and sending him out there.
This. Is. A. Problem.
Now, it wouldn’t be a problem IF he put up offense other places OR if he was a defensive stalwart.
4 PP goals in his ENTIRE career and we’ve got him pegged as the Oilers PP savior. That’s over 450 minutes played on the powerplay and he’s scoring a goal every 100 minutes-ish.
I’ve said in the past that Klefbom is the guy for the powerplay, so I’m just as guilty as everyone else who has believed that but 4 PP goals in nearly 4 seasons? That’s not acceptable at all.
He does own the #8 spot for shots on the powerplay this year for dmen with 49 but that’s not what the Oilers really need is it?
They need a guy who is a proven PP specialist which brings me to the next point.
Torey Krug is a player the Oilers have been watching. THIS is a player who produces with the man advantage (and 5×5). He makes $5.25M per year until 2019/20 and the final two years of that deal include a modified NTC. That screams out that he’ll be traded this summer.
There are ZERO question marks when it comes to Torey Krug and on-ice production and there’s a previous relationship with Chiarelli.
THAT is how you trade from the top of the deck.
JORDAN EBERLE
The day a person close to the Oilers from the Decade of Darkness and the Chiarelli-era writes a book is the day we’ll learn about all of the “off-the-record” trade requests…
Eberle said it himself, “It was just time for a change” and who can blame the guy? He’d been part of trade rumors for 3 or 4 years previous to last summer. Yakupov basically did it through his agent…
Now I’ve heard that Chiarelli wasn’t even looking at Strome when he was in talks with Garth Snow and that he was actually looking at a couple of defensemen on the Isles but Snow was having none of that and for these reasons:
Cap hit
Playoff performance
The risk of Eberle not bouncing back from a poor season
I can’t confirm who the dmen were that Chiarelli was asking about but my own feeling is that Calvin De Haan and Thomas Hickey might’ve been the ask. And that just seems crazy to me as the Oilers had enough left-handers as it was… Why ask for more?
RANDOM THOUGHTS
How different would things have been had Tambo given RNH, Hall, and Eberle proper contracts? Did Eberle and RNH really deserve $6M at that time? Did Hall?
Carolina is about to be open for business, so if there’s a RH’d defenseman a team wants, perhaps this summer is the time to get one. (*Cough* Faulk *Cough*)
If you’re one of those who believes the Old Boys Club in Edmonton has still got their hands in on things, I’m here to tell you that you’re right AND wrong.
MacTavish and Howson are scouts, so not much there but opinions on players. The guys you should keep an eye on are Paul Coffey (possible asst. coach next season) and minority owner Wayne Gretzky…
If there was ever a trade partner for the Oilers with regards to Milan Lucic, the Canucks would be at the front of the line.
Knowing the above, do you think that the Canucks would take a run at Pat Maroon?
Oliver Ekman-Larsson talk is real. That’s another guy with a proven track record of offense… Dealing from the top of the deck 🙂
I wonder how long Bob Nicholson is for his current position and might he desire a return to the international hockey scene with the 2020 Winter Olympics coming up and question marks regarding NHL involvement.
The Oilers’ AHL coach seems like he’s on borrowed time. I guess Chiarelli has had to make some “visits” to Bakersfield to “ask” the coach to play the younger players more…
Speaking of coaching…
I’ve heard from two completely different sources that there’s a problem in the room and it’s got nothing to do with the players…
Perhaps Todd has lost the dressing room? Is that an indictment on the players and their character or is it just a sign of the times? Does that speak poorly to Connor McDavid’s leadership? What does it say for the veterans on the team?
Would the Oilers be better off under Joel Quenneville or Barry Trotz? Could we see Paul Coffey behind the bench or in the coach’s box above the ice next season? Is Ian Herbers going to get a promotion?
Why hasn’t Todd McLellan been able to do better with this team? I can only think back to the days where Dave Tippett was coaching Phoenix… Those rosters were questionable at best and got a helluva lot more out of them.
The last comment on this blog will be thus:
The Oilers first round pick is in play if it lands outside of the top 3
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During last night’s Oilers/Sharks game I was pleased as punch to see Edmonton kicking the snot out of San Jose in the 1st period. I thought we might have something here… And then the hit.
Look, the play was moving quickly but that’s no excuse to the clown in stripes with his eyes fixated right on the play in question. It’s no wonder the NHL’s stars are openly mocking the refs and throwing their equipment at them on the ice. It’s BS.
The other thing that was BS was the lack of a response from the Oilers after the incident occurred. Where was Matt Benning’s backup? At least one of Klefbom, Draisaitl, Rattie, or Cammalleri could’ve bull rushed Kane…
I remember a lot of this during Taylor Hall’s days as the de-facto “leader” of the Oilers. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. To me, it displays a lack of togetherness on the club despite what I’ve been told by those I’ve talked to who are VERY close to the players.
Just quick I want to talk about the goals that came after the Kane incident.
First off, it’s a team game and so everybody can take a slice of the blame pie but did Cam Talbot have a chance on any of the remaining goals?
Sharks 2nd goal from Braun was tipped by Lucic.
Sharks 3rd goal went off of Sekera’s leg.
Sharks 4th goal was a roof daddy special but Talbot was out of position anticipating the pass across.
Maybe the 4th goal Talbot could’ve done a better job but I have a hard time faulting him for the first two. I’d say get outta the way Milan on #2 and Leon, you gotta do a better job containing Meier so he doesn’t walk out and get a clean chance on net for goal #3.
If really feels like the other teams are scoring at least 1 flukey goal a game vs. Edmonton this year. I think the Oilers should fire Peter Chiarelli because of that… What?!
Milan Lucic is leading the team in posts hit this year, right? How much would have that turned the course of the game had he scored on that wide open cage?
Anyways, that game is over. Now to look forward to the remaining 19…
This is what I want to see from the Oilers to play out the season:
Keep Leon and Connor away unless it’s an absolute imperative that they must be reunited.
Put Nuge on Connor’s LW because we need to see what Strome and Khaira can do down the middle. If all three perform well in their given assignments, that will do a few things:
It’ll give the Oilers a scoring LW instead of having to trade out for one.
It’ll give the Oilers their bottom-6 centres.
It’ll give the Oilers a chance to simply focus on re-signing players instead of having to focus on acquiring new ones.
Good, consistent performances from the players who are underperforming this year. Those include:
Matt Benning
Drake Caggiula
Oscar Klefbom
Zack Kassian
For Puljujarvi to go on a nice scoring run to show everyone there’s a player there. Maybe the addition of Pontus Aberg helps that?
Connor McDavid’s march to the Art Ross should be fascinating as well
But don’t discount Leon Draisaitl’s ongoing assault on the scoring charts. Can he make it into the top ten despite having an “off” year?
Funny thing with Jesse, he’s “only” scored 11 goals and 14 assists in 74 games to date but did you know that by the time Phil Kessel had played 70 games, he only had 11 goals? Did you know Jakob Voracek only scored 9 goals in his first 80 games or that Matt Tkachuk had only 13 goals by game 76. Even Marian Hossa took more than 66 games to score 15 goals.
This is a 19-year-old man-child growing up in front of our eyes. He’s not McDavid and he’s not Leon but he’s going to be a force for this team someday. Book it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0H7LfylDeY
Bloody kid almost fluffed it too… I wonder when he’s going to do something about that twig of his… Seems like it’s more a hindrance than a tool of scoring destruction. Good to see the Grinnin’ Finn smiling again though!
Now sometimes I make the mistake of heading over to Hockeybuzz to read Matt Henderson’s BS and something usually sets me off. Well, today it happened.
In addition to questionable standard scoring stats, Aberg has been challenged to maintain decent possession numbers relative to his team. He was at the bottom of Nashville’s forward group in Corsi, Fenwick, Shots, and Scoring Chances. All the shot metrics. All of them!
What Henderson didn’t tell you is that Pontus Aberg was near the top of Nashville’s team (and the whole league for that matter) for goals for % (GF%) and high-danger goals for % (HDGF%).
Even higher than Connor McDavid has for Edmonton.
Aberg’s GF% was 62.96% (6th best LWer in the NHL) and his HDGF% was 69.23% (4th best LWer in the NHL). Those numbers are for LWs who played more than 390 minutes and at 5×5 and they’re courtesy of naturalhattrick.com.
If I’m correct, what this means is that when Aberg’s line was on the ice nearly 63% of the goals were scored by his team and nearly 70% of the high-danger chances were converted into a goal for.
And I’m not sure if Matty-Boy has noticed but the increased possession totals haven’t helped the team score goals let alone win games. As illustrated by the Minnesota Wild being 30th in the league in CF% and Chicago being 3rd.
It’s fine to be good in the shooting metrics but you can’t base your opinion of a player simply on shooting stats.
And one more number to help everyone feel better about the addition of Pontus Aberg. His sv% is 3rd in the NHL at 95.52% and what that tells us is the other team has a helluva time scoring when his line is on the ice.
Now I know that taking a player who’s played not even 60 games and trying to pump his tires isn’t the best use of statistics but it goes the other way too when you’re criticizing a player. His possession numbers are horrid, it’s easy to see that but… #smallsamplesize
So I’ll add Pontus Aberg’s impact in the final 19 games as one of the things I’m looking forward to watching.
Lastly, I was listening to yesterday’s Oilers Now and a few things jumped out at me.
Chiarelli had minimal offers coming in.
This coincides with what the Oilers GM said at his presser, that the market was pretty dry. Stauffer also said that Boston trading for Rick Nash hurt Maroon’s trade value and the return Vancouver got for Tomas Vanek killed it.
Was Peter Chiarelli aggressive enough at the deadline? Nobody can be sure but pushing on a closed door is a good way to get shot.
Stauffer said he knows for a fact that Tampa was “bird dogging” Maroon because of the questions he was being asked by other scouts AND seeing Tampa Bay’s AGM Pat Verbeek at the Oilers games.
This is interesting because the pundits said there was ZERO interest in Maroon from Tampa…
Stauffer also said there was action on Strome.
I’d keep an eye on this. Strome is still a young player and one that can toss up 15 or more goals a year. Could he be sacrificed to bring in an older player at the same price point? I guess that depends on how his final 19 games go, right?
I’ve come to really like Strome. He’s finally finding his stride in Edmonton and his work on the PK since going there full-time has been quite good.
Stauffer and Spector asked each other, would you do Klefbom for Barrie or RNH for Barrie?
Both said yes to offer A and no to offer B and I’m in agreeance.
I believe that a lateral move here wouldn’t hurt the team. To me, Oscar Klefbom is a solid 2-way defender but he’s the one with the value and he plays in a position that is a point of organizational strength for the Oilers. His contract is good, his age is good but he’s not making the impact that this team needs.
So if the Oilers could get Barrie for Klefbom, do it. If the Avs insist on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers must insist on Barrie and the 1st round pick that Colorado obtained from Ottawa in the Duchene deal because that could very well turn into Jack Hughes aka Pat Kane v2 minus the dirtbaggedness.
Chiarelli also mentioned adding speed to his team, more spcifically w/regards to moving the puck.
I assume Chiarelli is talking about his defenders.
This has been one of my major pet peeves this season. Slow puck moving from the defense and I’m surprised that the coaches haven’t altered their gameplans because of it. Have the forwards come down and gather the puck if the defenders can’t pass it fast enough or rush it up the ice.
Whatever he does, it’s sure to divide the fanbase even further. lol
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