February 8, 2020 /

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers GM55: Predators @ Oilers – 3P2W – How About These Cheap Deadline Upgrades?

Here come the Preds!!! Nashville is 6-4-0 in their last ten games are have won two on the trot coming into Edmonton to take on the Oilers. Conversely, the Oilers have dropped their previous two but are in questionable shape regarding their place in the playoff race.

I hope Coach Tippett’s furious rant at the end of practice yesterday pays dividends in the form of points in the standings. The Oilers cannot expect everyone else in the Pacific Division to keep losing when they do.

This is how the wildcard race in the Western Conference looks at the moment,

  1. Vancouver (55gp) – 65pts
  2. Vegas (56gp) – 63pts
  3. Edmonton (54gp) – 62pts
    ———————
  4. (WC) Arizona (56gp) – 61pts
  5. (WC) Calgary (55gp) – 60pts
    ———————
  6. Nashville (53gp) – 59pts
  7. Winnipeg (55gp) – 59pts
  8. Minnesota (54gp) – 58pts
  9. Chicago (54gp) – 58pts

Four points. That’s it. That’s all sits between the Oilers and another off-season golfing. So they’d better smarten up.

Is it safe to say the race to the 2020 NHL playoffs is as tight as it’s ever been in the West? Any extended losing streaks could result in a team landing right out of the playoff picture in short order.

https://twitter.com/GinoRedaTSN/status/1225865614125936641

Cheap Upgrades

Not exactly breaking anything shocking, TSN’s Frank Seravalli posted yesterday, “We know that the Edmonton Oilers are in the market for a third-line centre.” Then he followed this by listing off the available third-line pivots who might be available.

  • JG Pageau (OTT) – $3.1M (UFA) – Sounds like the asking price is too high here.
  • Kyle Turris (NSH) – $6M – (2024 UFA) – Nope. Too much skrilla unless NSH is eating 50% of that.
  • Chris Tierney (OTT) – $2.94M (RFA) – He’s young (25), but players making 1/3 of his salary are producing at the same rate.

The Cheapies

  • Barclay Goodrow (SJ) – 925k (2021 UFA) – Has six fewer points than Tierney and another year on his deal. He’s 6’2″ and 2015lbs and only 26 years old. He’ll eclipse his career highs this year. Too bad he’s a lefty.
  • Derek Grant (ANH) – 700k (UFA) – Has eleven goals playing a bit role for the Ducks. He’s 6’3″ 205lbs but also shoots left. His name has been connected with the Oilers most recently by Ryan Rishaug and Jim Matheson.
  • Patrick Marleau (SJ) – 700k (UFA) – I’m not sure if Marleau wants to leave San Jose in search of Lord Stanley’s Cup. Edmonton did have an interest in him before he landed in Toronto previously though… 19 points this year in 40 games and he can still skate like the wind…
  • Nate Thompson (MTL) – $1M (UFA) – Thompson is a decent veteran option if you don’t mind the complete lack of offense and there’s no doubt in my mind that the Oilers have a report on him with all the scouting they’ve been doing of the Canadiens. I think I’d probably pass on the 35-year-old though.

I think from a fan’s perspective, it would be really entertaining if Ken Holland reached into his old bag of tricks and brought in Patrick Marleau and Ilya Kovalchuk for the playoff run. What do you think?

Three Players to Watch for the Predators

  • #57 Dante Fabbro – With Ryan Ellis getting hurt this year, the Preds top pick in 2016 (16th overall) has stepped in and taken his spot admirably. You wouldn’t mistake Fabbro for Ellis ever, but this youngster is a really nice skater and puck mover. Not first pairing quality yet, but the Preds don’t have too much to work with at the moment.
  • #95 Matt Duchene – Once one of the best players in the NHL, Duchene’s star has dimmed a bit since his days with the Avalanche. Something that hasn’t stopped shining though is how fast this guy is and how good his edgework is. Any defender dumb enough to try and chase him into the corners is asking for his ankles to be broken and for him to be GIF’d and turned into a viral tweet.
  • #9 Filip Forsberg – Do you remember what he was doing the last time Edmonton faced Nashville? Forsberg was feeling awfully confident in that game trying all sorts of trick shots and he actually scored on a fugly lacrosse goal. Ever the threat that Forsberg is, the Oilers can’t be giving this guy any time and space with the puck.

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

  • #89 Sam Gagner – Sammy here will be lining up alongside Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian tonight and I don’t mind that too much in short intervals. His hands, heart, and mind are there, but his feet are certainly not and I’m cautiously optimistic about this choice by Coach Tippett. He obviously sees the need for some skill on 97’s wing that Josh Archibald wasn’t bringing, so we can only wait and see here if Gagner can bring it.
  • #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – It’s been a while since we witness a piss poor game from RNH and Leon. I’ll be looking for the Nuge to bounce back here and lead by example. Edmonton can ill afford to have its best players going into a slump right now.
  • #49 Tyler Benson – As I’ve been saying for a few weeks now, Young Benson’s skating isn’t quite NHL-ready yet and we saw that during Edmonton’s last game. Larry Fisher (The Hockey Writers), noted that Benson looked “two steps behind all game” and I’d add, if not for that chance at the end when the clock had nearly run out of time, he was outmatched everywhere on the ice and no better an option that Jujhar Khaira or Patrick Russell on the Oilers’ 4th line. That said, he has to be given the benefit of the doubt as it was his first game and I’d bet he was nervous as hell. So I’ll be watching him again tonight to see if he settles into his game or not.

The Next Ten Games (51-60)

  • vs. St. Louis Blues (31-12-8) – I’m not 100% sold that the Oilers will be focused on this game seeing as they play Calgary the next night. They have played well against the league’s best this season at times though. Can McDavid and Draisaitl beat the Blues in this one as they did at the All-Star game? (WIN) WIN
  • @ Calgary Flames (27-19-6) – If you thought last night’s game was fun with all the fights and cheap shots, this game is going to be bonkers. It always seems to be in Calgary. Losing three times to the Flames and that post-game celly by Rittich will be eating away at the Oilers. They’ll be doing their damnedest to bring home the two points. (WIN) WIN
  • @ Arizona Coyotes (26-21-5) – The Oilers put up a touchdown on the Coyotes right before their bye-week and I don’t imagine that sat well with Taylor Hall and co. That said, they’re on a bit of a slump in their last ten (4-5-1) and Edmonton is flying high as of today (6-2-2). On the other hand, just when the opportunity presents itself to the Oilers they usually take the night off. (LOSS) LOSS
  • vs. San Jose Sharks (22-26-4) – Man, this Sharks team is bad. With Vlasic, Karlsson, and Burns on the back-end no less… Can you believe the Golden Knights fired Gerard Gallant to hire San Jose’s old coach? I think this will be a scheduled win for McDavid’s boys. Watch out for shenanigans from Evander Kane and Timo Meier. (WIN) LOSS
  • vs. Nashville Predators (23-19-7) – Since the Preds hired NJ’s old coach, they haven’t been scoring much and that’s not a good sign when you go into Edmonton. Couple that with Pekka Rinne’s game falling right off of a cliff and the Oilers should be able to walk away with two points. (WIN)
  • vs. Chicago Blackhawks (24-21-6) – The Hawks are coming on as of late and I think they could pull this one off in Edmonton. Maybe Drake Caggiula does the ex-Oiler thing and scores. (LOSS)
  • @ Tampa Bay Lightning (30-15-5) – This will be a fine test for the Oilers. Tampa has found their stride at the right time and are looking very dominant. Might we see another ex-Oiler in Pat Maroon score or drop the flippers? I expect McDavid to be flying in this one. (LOSS)
  • @ Florida Panthers (28-16-5) – This match-up is going to be a fun one. The Panthers have some really fun players to watch like Huberdeau, Barkov, and the very underrated Vincent Trochek. Which Sergei Bobrovsky might we see if he gets the call though? (WIN)
  • @ Carolina Hurricanes (29-18-3) – It’s hard not to like what they’ve built in Carolina. Andrei Svechnikov is already a scoring phenom at 19-years-old and it’s hard to overlook the wonder Finns (Aho/Teravainen), right? How will this team be sans Dougie Hamilton though? Can the Oilers sweep back-to-backs again? (WIN)
  • vs. Boston Bruins (29-10-12) – Edmonton goes from one team who doesn’t lose in OT to a team that seemingly only loses in OT. The Oilers gave the Bs a pretty sound beating last time they played and we’re close to the trade deadline here so I’m not sure what the rosters will look like. I like Boston for this one though. (LOSS)

(Standings as of January 20th, 2020)

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CategoriesBeer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL

TagsEdmonton Oilers Nashville Predators NHL

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!