What the Pundits are Saying about Edmonton’s Final Preseason Win over Vancouver

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!

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Oilersnation

GDB -8.0 Wrap Up: Oilers wrap up their pre-season with a 3-2 win that came down to the wire

It’s Brendan Perlini’s world and we’re all just living in it. Final Score: 3-2 Oilers
Evan Bouchard opened the scoring with a clapper from the point and as I was watching the replay, all I could think about was how I hope he shoots the puck 2000 times this year.
Mikko Koskinen played the first half of the game and I was just hoping for him to be steady between the pipes and make the stops you’d want him to make. And as hoped, the giant Finn delivered with some big saves, some lucky saves, and handled everything the Canucks threw his way before making way for Stuart Skinner.
For the first time in a while, it feels like we’ve got some hope between the pipes and I’m very much hoping Skinner will be a big part of that.
We heard a lot about Hyman’s work ethic before we got here and there are already all kinds of examples you can pull that seem to back that up.
Tyler Benson coughed up the puck on the Canucks’ first goal with a pretty tough giveaway and I wonder if that will be the dagger that sends him to Bakersfield for a while.
Cody Ceci is new here and I’m absolutely going to give him some time to settle in, but the guy makes me nervous.

BLH’s Thoughts: I remember thinking at one point that this game was going terrible for both teams. There were long stretches where each club couldn’t get any sustained momentum started in either zone and it was just a slough of broken plays going back and forth.

I hope Brendan Perlini’s Lamborghini didn’t use up all of its fuel in the preseason…

I was stoked to see Killer get a shortie. I’ve been saying for some time now that he’s got the chops to be an elite penalty killer and that Gino shows just how dangerous he is. Hopefully the ketchup starts to flow now.

With every viewing of Ceci and Keith, I feel more comfortable. CC doesn’t move the puck as fast as his d-partner and that leads him to get caught out by a more aggressive forecheck. That said, I’m hoping that Keith learns this and chooses not to put his teammate in tough situations as we go forward.

Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Even without their their big guns, Edmonton Oilers find a way to edge Canucks

#2 Duncan Keith, 6. Played 25:06 including 4:45 on the penalty kill, both team highs. More good than bad to my eyes.
#5 Cody Ceci, 6. He played 24:59, just 7 seconds fewer than Keith, as the two were joined at the hip for all but 2 of those minutes in all situations… He showed some veteran smarts at times and was solid on the PK. Made one very nice move deep in the o-zone to set up RNH at the lip of the crease.
#16 Tyler Benson, 5. Had a very tough sequence on the first Vancouver goal, when he first made a bad decision to try a cute play through the defensive slot rather than up the boards and out, then executed it poorly, then was unable to cut out a subsequent pass through his area.
#42 Brendan Perlini, 7. His aggressive forecheck of Luke Schenn led to a Vancouver turnover, then he went to net to finish off a pretty 3-way passing play.
#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 7. After drawing the penalty that led to the opening powerplay goal, he broke a long personal drought, finishing Ryan’s fine pass with a drop-dead-gorgeous deke and roof job on the penalty kill.
#71 Ryan McLeod, 6. His best showing in what has been a quiet preseason, skating well, moving the disc sharply and providing good puck support.
#84 William Lagesson, 5. A much better outing than his previous appearance, when he was chasing the puck too high in the defensive zone. On this night he stuck closer to home and won his share of battles. Drew a penalty.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. A rare turn at 1C in his old stomping grounds, and a fairly creditable showing… Had a pair of excellent steals on the backtrack in the third period.

BLH’s Thoughts: Benson had two plays that stood out for me, the giveaway that lead to Vancouver’s first goal and he absolutely thumped somebody on the near boards in the third. Aside from that, he doesn’t look like an NHLer right now and I’m not even sure he’ll get claimed if he goes on waivers now since every GM in the league has seen him.

I was really impressed by Stu Skinner.. Again! The kid is really coming around. Maybe, just maybe we might be able to put the annual goaltending rumors to rest going forward. “Time will tell on that front.” as they say in Edmonton…

I did not mind William Lagesson’s performance. He was solid and he’s looked better and better with each game this preseason. That said, I’m not sure he’s brought enough to keep him on the roster.

Sportsnet

Oilers notebook: Sceviour, Perlini bolster stocks vs. Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers closed out a 6-1-1 preseason with a 3-2 win at Vancouver, icing a team without their best two players and their top defensive pairing, yet still managing to win comfortably, building a 3-0 lead that lasted until the final minutes.
While Perlini scored a goal, it was the pass from Sceviour that really stood out. He drew the checkers to him, then threw a puck back into the high slot to a wide open Perlini, who buried his sixth goal in six pre-season games.
The Oilers are light on right wing, with Josh Archibald (myocarditis) out long term, and Zack Kassian in concussion protocol. That should open the door for Sceviour to get a contract.
Perlini is a fourth-line left winger all day long on this team, behind Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Warren Foegele. But you’ve got to admit, he did outscore every one of those guys in the pre-season, potting his sixth in six pre-season games off a lovely pass from Colton Sceviour in the second period.
Stuart Skinner played the final 40 minutes between the pipes and looked very much like a goalie who could come up from Bakersfield and back up capably, if need be.
Bouchard scored on a slapper from the point. He just has one of those heavy shots, like Sheldon Souray.
Yamamoto scored his first goal of the pre-season, a lovely roof job off a shorthanded pass from Derek Ryan.
Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci enjoyed their best preseason outing… They killed nearly five minutes in penalties. “They’ll be a real solid pair for us,” said Tippett.

BLH’s Thoughts: Evan Bouchard’s skating has really come along. He’s a very smooth operator and with that shot? Good Lord… What a shot! People compare it to Sheldon Souray’s but that’s got Al MacInnis written all over it. Just wait until he’s 25 and has beefed up… He’s might just end some careers with it.

Colton Sceviour is going to get himself a two-way contract at the very least after what he’s shown and considering the spots that have opened up on Edmonton’s RW due to the absences of Zack Kassian and Josh Archibald.

What we don’t know is if that rumored deal Bob Stauffer threw out there earlier this week (Brett Connolly @50% retained for Turris or Archibald) will go down.

There’s some chatter that tomorrow will be very busy on the waiver wire and it’s possible that the Oilers could claim a couple of bodies and lose a couple of them.