Tag Archives: Wayne Gretzky

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31 Thoughts Part 2: Marek/Friedman on the Oilers Going Forward, the Old Boys Club, Darryl Katz, and More!

This week’s 31 Thoughts podcast was an Edmonton Oilers-Themed one and I’m going to try and transcribe the best parts of it for you here with my comments. This could be a long read, so you might want to grab a coffee, tea, beer, two-four of your favorite hard alcohol and buckle up!

EF=Elliotte Friedman
JM=Jeff Marek

Part one is here. They talk about the timing and why Peter Chiarelli had to be fired. They also speak to analytics more so in that segment. 

Here’s part two!

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Can One Happen Without the Other?

JM: Work with me on something. It seems like two different streams were running at the same time in that press conference. One, Bob Nicholson was clear that they’re not letting go of assets… But We’re going to get better. Can one happen without the other? Can they get better without moving some type of asset? You can always pick around the edges and the crust but if you’re going to do something, don’t you need to move one or two of those assets?

EF: They made it very clear they’re not interested in rebuilding and you’re not changing the coach. He’s for the rest of the year. Okay, so what are we talking about here? 

JM: Is there a magic wand you can wave over everybody to make them play better?

EF: They said, “We’re not giving up any of our young assets unless we get something we can keep.” basically. 

JM: Not for rentals but the goal is still to make the playoffs this year. So if someone comes to Keith Gretzky, “I’ve got a player that can help you get into the playoffs but he’s on an expiring contract, we would like your first round pick.”

EF: No. Unless… The only way I would say that that’s different is, if I was Keith Gretzky and I really wanted this guy, I would ask for 48 hours to talk about a contract extension. 

My first kick at the can here is that the only way they can improve drastically is by dealing one of Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and we’ve mentioned Draisaitl recently. 

But I don’t believe they’ll use their main assets to upgrade the roster. I think players like Tyler Benson, Dmitri Samorukov, Kirill Maksimov, Filip Berglund, and Ostap Safin might be used as trade fodder. 

How Do They Get There (Playoffs)?

EF: I don’t have an answer for you on that. (Laughter ensues)

Look, who are you trading? Who are you going to trade that’s going to make a difference in terms of what you get? Who on that team has serious trade value?

JM: You have an interesting asset in Cam Talbot. 

EF: Did you hear Burke? (Brian Burke: I don’t think you can move him at that salary, I just don’t think he’s movable.)

JM: Until someone gets a goalie injury.

I agree with Marek here. I think a team like Washington, who is on a mad losing streak right now, might be tempted into trading Andre Burakovsky for an upgrade for their backup position and possibly depth on defense. 

EF: It’s a tough one for Talbot right now. So who else?

JM: Evan Bouchard.

EF: I can’t see it. Can I go the Doug MacLean route, I’ll tell you what I’ve heard, I won’t tell you if it’s true. I heard there was some team that had asked about Bouchard and they (Oilers) just said no.

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Who’s Got Value?

EF: Well let’s go through, who’s got value? That you can trade and get something for. 

JM: Leon Draisaitl.

EF: Yes, you could do that. Would you do that?

JM: Depends on the return. I would trade anybody…

EF: There’s one person you’re not trading, Connor McDavid. 

JM: Even with the Hall deal. I had no problem trading Taylor Hall, you just need to get more. I had no problem moving Taylor Hall or Jordan Eberle or whatever. So long as you get more in return. Justin Schultz, need to get more for that player. So I have no problem moving anyone outside of 97 on that roster. Do you?

EF: No. I mean I look at a guy like Nurse. He looks like he really wants to be part of the solution. So show me a trade that makes sense for a guy like that. A guy that clearly looks like he wants to be part of your team. 

To me, the guys on that team that have value are, duh, McDavid but you’re not doing that. Draisaitl, Nurse, Klefbom, but I don’t think you can do that. Nugent-Hopkins, Puljujarvi, the 1st round pick, and I think Yamamoto would have value too. 

Leon and Darnell will definitely come up in more trade rumors as time passes by and that’s just because they’re young, they’re very talented, and they’ll bring back what the Oilers could be looking for, right? 

If you trade Leon, can you get a center back who is more defensively responsible like Sean Couturier and an upgrade on defense like Ivan Provorov or Shane Gostisbehere? Could Darnell Nurse net the team a desperately needed winger like Kasperi Kapanen or Jake DeBrusk?

JM: Although listening to the Bob Nicholson press Conference, do you not get the sense, because I do; that Puljujarvi is being pulled out of that discussion and they’re going to season him. Nicholson pulled out the old Ken Holland line and said “Over-ripen”. 

EF: One of the guys I’ve kinda heard they’ve had some interest in but I’m not sure if he’s actually available is Athanasiou from Detroit.

JM: See that would indicate a significant philosophical shift away from “We’re a big, heavy, strong team. We’re a fast, speedy, quick puck moving team.”

When the shift from a fast and quick team to a big heavy team happened, I was 100% all-in. I was tired of watching the team get pushed around. Things have changed but growing up the Oilers M.O. was that they were one of the best skating teams in the entire league. I would be in favor of a return to that style. 

EF: I’m not sure that, A) Detroit wants to do that. He’s still one of those guys that averages a lot of goals for the time he plays. You know the relationship between Athanasiou and the Red Wings has never been easy but Ken Holland strikes me looking at that situation and saying, “He’s still a very valuable young player and we’re not really looking to do anything if we don’t have to.” 

But let’s just say this for argument’s sake, what’s it going to cost you to get him? It’s going to cost you a lot. So, in theory, since we’re playing GM here, if you’re Edmonton would you give up one of your young pieces for him?

JM: Yes, because he is a young piece himself and he can play with McDavid and that tempo that would be frightening to the rest of the NHL. You wanna talk about backing up defenseman on the blueline, that’s how you do it.

EF: Here’s my question to you, Bob Nicholson says, “We’re not giving up our young pieces for rentals.” but he’s not a rental. So does that change the equation? Possibly. If he’s available. 

This will make my friend Joseph happy. He’s really on the Athanasiou train and I don’t blame him. But at what cost? Yamamoto? Benson? I wouldn’t support a Puljujarvi for Athanasiou trade but I could see a package that included one of the other two I just mentioned going to Detroit for him. 

I mean, if we’re dealing with Detroit, why not see if faceoff specialist Luke Glendening and blooming defensive forward Tyler Bertuzzi are available as well?

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The New Direction of the Team?

JM: I come back to the philosophical shift perhaps that we’ll see in Edmonton. The “let’s build it heavy and not get pushed around” I’m assuming is done now. I’m assuming the new direction for this team is sympathetic to what the rest of the NHL has gone through and that’s foot speed, move the puck quick, quick, quick. Up-tempo.

EF: You need guys that can play with him. The feeling is that team didn’t play fast enough, so I’m sure they will put something on that.

Now, I don’t see anything wrong with having a tough team but to me, toughness is a lot of different things. It’s not just like, “We’re big and tough and we’re going to crush you.” Toughness is also playing through…

JM: Look, Darnell Nurse is fast and he’s tough.

EF: To me, McDavid is pretty tough. He takes a lot of abuse and he just plays but there is room for toughness.

Your best team has to be everything but there’s no question that they need to play at a faster pace than they have. 

I have a theory that the league is going to over-compensate here on the small skilled guy and in a few years, there’s going to be a change of guard again but maybe not so extreme as this one has gone. A player like Quinton Byfield, who is a highly regarded prospect for the 2020 draft, is going to change the way teams look at power forwards. My thinking is, get on it now, find the good skating physical players and develop them and reap the benefits when the pivot happens. And it will happen at some point. 

Who Do You Remove?

JM: Who do you remove from this lineup to make it better and how can you?

EF: I think those names are obvious but I think the biggest question is, how can you? So do you wanna just say, “Look, we’re buying out Lucic. We know we don’t get a ton of relief. We know it’s a big waste of money but we’re doing it to make a statement.” Do you wanna do that?

JM: If you’re the next GM it’s pretty tempting. 

EF: That’s one the owner has to let you do. 

I don’t know if I’d go the buyout route, it’s really expensive and this team needs all the cap room it can get. Might it make more sense to eat 50% and trade Lucic? There’d definitely be a market for him. Especially in the Metropolitan Division… 

Darryl Katz

JM: Do you have any problem with Darryl Katz? The ultimate question is, do they have enough stability up top for this to be a successful franchise?

EF: We had a conversation a while ago about what you ask when you’re going in as a GM and my no.1 thing was the owner. I would look at Darryl Katz and I would say, he’s got a brand new building, he spends money on the team, he spent $100M on Connor McDavid, he spent a ton of money on Draisaitl. 

I don’t look at anything he’s done from a financial POV and say, “This is a problem.”

This is a guy who is unafraid to spend money on his team and at the base, I like that. 

Marek/Friedman go on to talk about the emotional investment Katz has in the team and I’m thinking that could be what’s in the water in Edmonton. Katz’s emotional investment. Maybe he needs to step away and just let his employees do their jobs without interference. 

The No.1 Question for Contending GMs

EF: The no.1 question that contenders for this GM job going in will be, “How does it work in your organization? Who reports to who? Who talks to who? Who has the say?”

I don’t think that Wayne Gretzky would do anything to prevent a GM from doing what he/she wants to do. I don’t think he would. But I think people get intimidated by him and I think also Katz listens to him. He’s Wayne Gretzky, he’s smart. And I think you have to be very secure to go into that position and say, “Okay, I know this dynamic is here and I can handle it.” Even though I think it would be Gretzky’s goal to be helpful to anyone who went in there.

Bring a guy like Mark Hunter in, who played against Wayne during the 80s. I can guarantee that he’s not intimidated by the Great One.

There’s a bit of talk going on about how much collaboration there was with Chiarelli during his tenure and I can be sure he had full autonomy until the last few months here. 

So it’s natural to suggest that the new guy should have full control but isn’t that what Chiarelli had? After all, he was the President of Hockey Operations AND the General Manager. 

The Old Boys Club

EF: I have heard that. That he (Kevin Lowe) doesn’t get in the way. MacTavish does his job, offers his opinion, tries to stay out of the way. I’ve heard there were things this year that with Gretzky that he didn’t agree with but he’s like, “It’s not my call. I’ll offer my opinion but it’s not my call.”

However, there’s no question, they all get together. They all talk. They all have opinions. 

I just think that if you’re going to go in there, you have to understand that that’s the way it is. But I don’t buy the idea that they’re interfering with these guys or preventing these guys from doing their jobs. 

Tell me how Wayne Gretzky or Craig MacTavish or Kevin Lowe or any of those guys working there prevented Peter Chiarelli from doing what he wanted to do. Give me evidence. 

JM: The only thing I’ve heard about that level of management is that they’ve talked Darryl Katz off the ledge sometimes. And Katz has wanted something to happen and Gretzky’s come in to say, “Hold on a second, pull back, big picture this one. Let’s not act emotionally.”

I can second this. From what I’ve been told, Katz has flown into Oilers games before, calling for heads only to be calmed down and convinced otherwise by either Bob Nicholson or Gretz. 

EF: I’ve heard the same thing. Darryl Katz was the guy who said we’re taking Nail Yakupov. So, you can make all the excuses you want or you can come up with things you want and I have chased this story as much as anybody else has because we always here it, “The old Oilers are preventing the new guys from winning.” But I’ve had guys swear up and down to me that they really try their best now to stay out of the way because they know how the market feels about it. 

I just think it’s a convenient excuse for fans to make up when everything else has dried up. It hasn’t helped that there’ve been more than a few reunions in recent years. So the OBC has been around a bit more often than previous to McDavid arriving. 

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The Toxicity Around the Organization

JM: What does that mean to you?

EF: It’s what we talked about. It’s the crisis of consumer confidence. Your fans don’t believe in your vision, they don’t believe in you. They’re not showing up to games. They’re not buying their renewals. You’ve made the playoffs once since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006 and they love their team. 

Like I mentioned. I don’t see this consumer crisis as THAT bad. Have you seen how many people show up to Florida Panthers games? What about games in Anaheim, Carolina, or Arizona (When Edmonton isn’t playing there)? Those are clubs where half or more of their arenas are empty for a majority of their home games. 

I don’t see this during Edmonton games at all. When’s the last time the Oilers tarped off portions of the upper deck during the regular season to try and make the arena appear more full than it actually is?

The Oilers are lucky that their fanbase has been this loyal to them. Very lucky and still very passionate.

How ridiculous was it two years ago when they went to the 2nd round of the playoffs and people were paying what, $80 to buy a ticket to stand in the concourse. They couldn’t even see the game. 

That is definitely ridiculous. Might as well hit up a nearby pub or just hang out outside the arena with a phone or a tablet and watch the game there. Save the $80. 

On the ex-Oiler thing, I have heard that they are well aware of how people feel about them and they do their jobs and they ask their opinions as they are told and they try to stay out of the way. Again, I heard that there were things that some of them didn’t like this year or last couple years and they just said, “Okay.”

The other thing that I think Wayne Gretzky has to offer is there’s only one guy that can talk to McDavid peer-to-peer and say, “I know how you’re feeling.” or “I can help you get through this feeling.” and that’s Wayne Gretzky. That, to me, is a very valuable service.

Right now, what’s Edmonton really sensitive about? Their fans when someone from Toronto steps up and says, “Well, Connor McDavid is going to be unhappy there.”

Now I don’t believe that. It’s going to take longer than this for McDavid to his patience, though I think the losing kills him. But that’s where Gretzky comes in. “I can manage you through it, I can help you with this.” and there’s probably only one guy in the world that can talk to McDavid at that level who’s an executive, and that’s the guy that is employed in the organization. 

That’s it. 35 minutes of Edmonton Oilers talk. If you missed part one, it’s right here.

What do you think about what Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman said? Let us know in the comments below!

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Oilers Owner Daryl Katz Wanted a Coaching Change Back in January According to Insider

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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 here that 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,

  1. There will be sacrifice but how many, we don’t know.
  2. 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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Speed Isn’t the Problem, Patience is.

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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.

https://twitter.com/dstaples/status/972258785724018688

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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My Experience at the 2016 Heritage Classic

The original Heritage Classic in 2003 will forever be the gold standard for outdoor NHL games, in my opinion, the 2016 event was pretty close. From the moment Elliotte Friedman broke the news on twitter on February 13 that Winnipeg would host an outdoor game in 2016-17 and Edmonton would be the opponent, I knew there was no way I was going to miss it.

About a month later, “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky announced that he was going to play for the Edmonton Oilers alumni against the Winnipeg Jets alumni prior to the regular-season game. As a lifelong Gretzky fan who never had the chance to see him play live during his legendary career, the Heritage Classic then became a once in a lifetime type event for me. I thought watching him on TV in 2003 alumni game would be the closest I would ever get to seeing him suit up in an Oilers jersey. I’m glad I was wrong. And 251 days after the event was announced, I flew to Winnipeg for the 2016 Heritage Classic.

I got to the Investors Groups Field on Saturday with one of my best friend’s Chris, who is a huge Jets fan, about an hour before the game. Just standing in line to get in the stadium, you could feel how excited all the fans were for the alumni game. Many of people my age or younger who never got to see likes of Wayne Gretzky or Dale Hawerchuk in their prime were grinning from ear-to-ear over seeing these legends take to the ice.

Once we got to our seats the atmosphere got even better. Thankfully for me, there was a good amount of Oilers fans in my section (I’ll guess around 15% of the fans were wearing orange and blue), though I never got chirped by one Jets fan the entire weekend. Tons of class by the fans in Winnipeg.

My friend warned me that Gretzky and the rest of the Oilers legends might get booed out of building after defeating the Jets in five playoff series between 1984 and 1990. However, that was not the case. In fact, Gretzky got the third loudest ovation after Hawerchuk and Teemu Selanne. Another great show of class.

The place erupted when fan-favourite Selanne scored on a penalty shot goal early in the game and seemed to louder with each goal they scored as the Jets jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period. The Oilers alumni quieted the Winnipeg fans with four straight goals in the second and third periods to take a 5-4 lead. But unfortunately for Oilers fans, the Jets alumni tied the game up late in the final frame and Selanne provided the dagger with another penalty shot goal with 3.6 seconds remaining in regulation to secure the victory for the home team.

Gretzky admittedly said, “I stink”in the post-game presser after going scoreless in the 6-5 loss, but it didn’t matter to me that. Sure, it would be great to see Gretzky score a beautiful goal or set up Jari Kurri from the behind the net for a tally, but what made it special for me was just to see my hero play live for the first time. That said, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey look like they could play. And the recently retired Ryan Smyth (my other childhood hero who I’ve been lucky enough to see play many times) was the speedster for the Oilers alumni!

Going into the day, I thought I would be upset if the Oilers lost, but I wasn’t. I can honestly say that was one of the best days of my life. Also, I tweeted out the picture you see above and it made up on the scoreboard at Investors Group Field. So that was another cool part of the day.

I’ll be the first to admit I was more excited for the alumni game than the actual regular-season game, but when I got back to the stadium on Sunday the intensity picked up. Now, two points were on the line. After a two hour delay due to sunlight (who would have thought?) the tarps finally came off the ice and we were ready to go.

The pre-game ceremony was excellent with Gretzky and Hawerchuk coming out to drop the pucks alongside Connor McDavid and Blake Wheeler. It was a brilliant way to blend the past, present, and future of these two hockey clubs. Obviously, the Oilers pulled out the win thanks to three quick goals in the second period that sucked the life out of the building for Jets fans, but I probably cheered louder than I have since the Oilers run to the Stanley Cup in 2006. It felt like a playoff game, or even like the Grey Cup since it was played in a CFL stadium. All in all, it was a great weekend of hockey for the 33,000-plus fans who can say they were there.

My original plan was to fly home to Saskatoon on Sunday night after the game, but all the flights were fully booked so I had to catch the red-eye home Monday morning. Little did I know that this would make my trip to Winnipeg even better. While I was standing with my friend in a gift shop at the airport I saw a familiar face walk by. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me at 5:30 AM, but I walked over just to be sure. It was former Oilers goalie and playoff hero Dwayne Roloson, who was the best of Edmonton’s three goalies in the alumni game. He was gracious enough with his time to give me a couple minutes to talk hockey with him and take a photo. I’ve never been so happy to miss my original flight home before. Hopefully, many of you reading this had the chance to attend the Heritage Classic as well. And if not, you will likely get another a chance in the future. With McDavid on

Hopefully, many of you reading this had the chance to attend the Heritage Classic as well. And if not, you will likely get another a chance in the future. With McDavid on team, the Oilers are bound to have more opportunities like this going forward. Although Gretzky mentioned that if there is another alumni game in the future, he likely won’t be a part of it. If this is true, I’m so thankful that I was in attendance for his last game. 50 years from now, that will be what I remember most about this weekend.

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NHL

2016 Heritage Classic Alumni Rosters

Yesterday the alumni rosters were announced for the 2016 Heritage Classic game on Oct.23rd between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets, which I will say, are on par with the jersey unveils. Meaning that the Oilers seriously missed a perfect opportunity to raise some more skrilla to pay for their new arena and that the Jets roster is left wanting. Whilst the Oilers alumni roster is always amazing and the Jets unis are f*cking gorgeous. I’ll never buy one because they belong to the Jets but great looking nonetheless. Let’s talk about it below.

Rosters courtesy of NHL.com

OILERS ALUMNI

Coaches: Glen Sather/Ron Low

Goaltenders: Bill Ranford, Dwayne Roloson

Defensemen: Paul Coffey, Randy Gregg, Charlie Huddy, *Kevin Lowe, Marty McSorley

Forwards: Glenn Anderson, Kelly Buchberger, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Ken Linseman, Blair MacDonald, *Craig MacTavish, Mark Messier, Dave Semenko, Craig Simpson, Ryan Smyth, Esa Tikkanen

Also, according to the article on NHL.com,

  • Grant Fuhr will be attending but not player.
  • Kevin Lowe will be on the bench as an assistant coach.
  • Craig MacTavish will also be on the bench as an assistant coach.

More players are expected to be added later. Personally I’m hoping to see a whole whack of ex-players like Todd Marchant, Doug Weight, Jason Arnott, Bill Guerin, Roman Hamrlik, Boris Mironov, or Curtis Joseph make an appearance on the Oilers side of the ice.

But how on Earth are the Oilers going to win this game with so many left-handed dmen?…

JETS ALUMNI

Coaches: Tom McVie, Serge Savard

Goaltenders: Bob Essensa… (Yup just Bobby here… No Pokey Reddick or Daniel Berthiaume.)

Defencemen: Dave Babych, Dave Ellett, Mike Ford, Jim Kyte, Mario Marois, Moe Mantha, Teppo Numminen, Tim Watters

Forwards: Laurie Boschman, Mike Eagles, Dale Hawerchuk, Kris King, Morris Lukowich, Andrew McBain, Brian Mullen, Teemu Selanne, Darrin Shannon, Doug Smail, Thomas Steen, Ron Wilson

Surprised Dallas Eakins didn’t get the call here. Surely there are no other reasons to play, right? He’d love to be on the ice for another Teemu Selanne shotgun goal celebration, no? I think he could Nail down catching that glove again.

But more seriously, where’s Dave Christian and Keith Tkachuk? If Dave Hunter can get a pair of skates on, Tkachuk should have no problem. Randy Carlyle how about? For the love of Christ, can I get a Phil Housley? Mark Messier was still playing in the NHL when he played in the alumni game versus the Habs back in 2003… I mean Tie Domi would at least make it interesting.

Anyways, If you’re really bored you can read our alumni roster predictions we made back in March here.

Until then we wait…

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