2019/20 Edmonton Oilers GM63: Oilers @ Ducks – 3P2W – How Good Did Ken Holland Really Do?

That was some trade deadline for the Edmonton Oilers! Ken Holland played his cards close to his vest and made everyone think that he was going to maybe make one small move to tinker with the lineup and BAM! He comes away when all is said and done with a top-6 winger, some help in the bottom-6, as well as a veteran defender to help out with the PP while Klefbom is out. It makes me wonder where all those Oilers fans that were getting all pissy that Holland wasn’t making roster moves on their time were. Maybe they were sitting on their own hands feeling some shame…

Speaking of hands… I’ve got the BLH Instagram account all fired up! Been getting followed like crazy the last couple of days thanks to the trade deadline. If you’re on the “Gram”, head on over and follow us! I like to throw up some content over there that doesn’t reach Twitter and the website.

• Tyler Ennis, another local boy comes home to help the Oilers! He’s going to provide some skill, speed, and veteran leadership to a locker room that will need it after the departure of Sam Gagner. This is a player that can move all around the lineup where ever he is needed, he’s positionally fluid like that. I believe this stint will be an audition for a contract with the team next year as there was interest in him over this past summer but he was more interested in going to Ottawa to play for DJ Smith.
• Joel Persson was moved in a last-second deal to the Ducks for an ECHL goalie and a conditional 7th rounder. This deal was purely to move an NHL contract and get the team under the 50-man maximum as well as clear some cap space. Persson showed flashes here and there and both the NHL and AHL levels but he had trouble with keeping a consistent level of play over the course of the year. I think staying healthy was another problem.
• Keep an eye on Kailer Yamamoto tonight. He got tangled up in the corner vs. LA and his ankle might be less than 100%. If he’s a no-go this evening, it won’t shock me.

Andreas Athanasiou

I’ve got a few things to say about this fella. Of all the players acquired yesterday, Athanasiou brings me the highest level of unsureness. Not because he’s having a bad year. Edmonton played the Red Wings earlier this year and he was making the Oilers’ defense look pretty bad with his speed, so I know there’s a player there. I think the doubt is stemming from a media narrative that is attacking his two-way game and a possible personality issue (more on that below).

The former London Knight plays a similar style to Taylor Hall in that he is a zone entry machine in my opinion. He loves to carry the puck through the neutral zone and into the opposition’s end as like Hall and also McDavid. Personally, I don’t think that he is a great fit for Connor’s wing. I think he’d be a better fit for Leon Draisaitl’s but good luck convincing Coach Tippett to break that line up right now.

I asked my friend SPR (The Oil Knight) who is, as you know, a big London Knights fan (where Athanasiou played junior) and a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, if I should believe what the media is saying about AA’s lack of a two-way game and selfish play and this is what he told me,

I think it’s been way overblown. He played on Detroit with guys like Glendenning and Nielsen a lot so he had to be the driver because they weren’t. It’s not like he was playing with Mantha and Larkin. Obviously he has ridiculous speed and can push the pace but I’m confident he can adjust to whoever he’s playing with in EDM. That being said, his style does remind me a bit of Taylor Hall’s in that he does attack you with a lot of speed. Would Hall and McDavid be a fit? I’m sure they could make it work. But, Draisaitl has proven he works so well with that type (Hall, McDavid), longterm that might be better option and put Nuge with Connor instead. AA is a top 6 guy, no doubt its gonna be fun to see him with McDavid tonight but dont be shocked if eventually he ends up with Leon.

So we’re on the same wavelength there. The fact of the matter is if he scores 30 goals for the Oilers in a given season, nobody is going to care how his defensive game is or if he’s a jerk.

The other thing going around is that Athanasiou played with Larkin a lot and I decided to look into which forwards he’s played with the most at 5×5 since joining the league. I just used players that had over 200 minutes with AA if possible.

• 2015/16 (37gp 7g 5a) – Brad Richards (84:13), Gustav Nyquist (81:31)
• 2016/17 (64gp 15g 8a) – Frans Nielsen (208:36), Thomas Vanek (200:37), Dylan Larkin (198:25)
• 2017/18 (71gp 13g 14a) – Dylan Larkin (413:58), Tomas Tatar (239:30)
• 2018/19 (76gp 21g 15a) – Luke Glendening (324:07), Frans Nielsen (294:13)
• 2019/20 (46gp 6g 7a) – Valtteri Filppula (301:04)

You can come to your own conclusions but it looks to me that Athanasiou has played a lot of hockey with bottom-6 linemates. Now, is that to limit his line’s exposure defensively or were the coaches doing that thing where they put a skilled player with more defensive-minded vets to try and see if something will wear off on the kid? Something we saw countless times in Edmonton from Taylor Hall to Nail Yakupov to Jesse Puljujarvi to Linus Omark… It’s a weird habit NHL coaches have.

AA’s PDO is 0.916… That’s horrid. Ideally, you want something closer to 1.000, right? Anything down where his is tells me that it’s just not his year. Also, his SH% is hovering around 7.5% and he’s usually in double digits. To add to that his GF% rel is -11.6%. That’s… Uh…  Not great. I mean Detroit is a shitshow on an epic level this year and it’s obvious that Steve Yzerman is comfortable having a year or two like this before flipping the switch. Unfortunately, there are some good players over there that are having to sacrifice their stat lines for the greater good, Athanasiou being one of them.

One last thing, and it was something passed on to me before the Oilers traded him, that is the fear of Athanasiou’s personality clashing with a locker room that seems very tight at the moment. This is a legitimate concern but the saving grace is going to be one of the other players that Ken Holland brought in. Mike Green is going to be able to sit down with his new teammates and coaching staff and let them know everything they need to about AA. What gets him going, how he responds to certain communication tactics, any notable instances of immatureness and how to handle that. Green will be a very valuable asset in this journey with the enigmatic winger. All I can say is that I’m damned happy that it’s Dave Tippett and not Todd McLellan behind the Oilers bench right now.

Three Players to Watch for the Ducks

• #49 Max Jones – A very strong power forward with some edge to his game. Jones can be a buzzsaw out there, but he’s also got the ability to play a skill game. If he pans out, he could be a top-6 winger for years to come in Anaheim. He’s a bit old school at times. Gotta keep your head up when he’s on the ice.
• #34 Sam Steel – Highly skilled playmaking centre from Sherwood Park if I’m not mistaken. Spent all of junior tearing up the WHL for the Regina Pats and will someday be a no.2 center for the Ducks.
• #2 Brendan Guhle – Was once a highly regarded defensive product for the Sabres. Injuries have slowed down his progress but there’s still time for him to recoup his career. He’s a tough two-way defender that might be trying to model his game after Josh Manson. Time will tell if he becomes that good or better.

Expect the lines below to change given Ritchie is no longer with the team. Maybe the player he was dealt (Danton Heinen) for slides right into his spot.

Ducks warm-up lines and pairings:

Rakell-Getzlaf-Sherwood
Ritchie-Henrique-Terry
Jones-Steel-Silfverberg
Deslauriers-Shore-Rowney

Lindholm-Manson
Guhle-Del Zotto
Larsson-Holzer

Gibson

— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) February 24, 2020

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

• #28 Andreas Athanasiou – The Oilers have the three fastest players in the league right now in McDavid, Nygard, and AA. I am curious however to see how Connor and Athanasiou mesh. They both like to carry the puck with speed and we know there’s only one player on this team with the green light to do that. I figure this was why Taylor Hall was ultimately moved off of McDavid’s line back in 97’s rookie year. Just because a player is fast, doesn’t mean he’ll be a good complimentary piece to McDavid’s wing. It does give Tippett some options though if Draisaitl’s line goes cold.
• #27 Mike Green – John Shannon said that Green was brought in to run the PP and that makes sense to me. I don’t know why it’s taking so long for Coach Tippett to give the wheel to Ethan Bear but we might be waiting a little longer for the rookie defender to be the PP1 QB full-time. Is this addition akin to when Lowe acquired Jaro Spacek in 2006?
• #63 Tyler Ennis – Ennis is an older version of Killer Yamamoto with maybe a bit less tenacity in his game. Small, skilled, great hands, and adds offense to the team’s bottom-6. Now, will Ennis be Samsonov or Desharnais here?

I’m not sure how safe it is to assume this, but I think Athanasiou will go right up with McDavid immediately and Ennis could be inserted onto the Sheahan/Archibald line whereas Mike Green most likely will play on the 3rd pair with Matt Benning as his partner. It’s the first half of a back-to-back so I’m thinking Koskinen gets the start and then Smith will get Vegas tomorrow.

The Next Ten Games (61-70)

• vs. Minnesota Wild (28-24-7) – Edmonton is 0-2 against the Wild this year and it’s about time the Oilers beat Bill Guerin’s boys. (WIN) LOSS
• @ Los Angeles Kings (22-34-5) – I have to say, the Kings are a dangerous team right now. They have nothing to lose and can spoil a lot of teams’ seasons. The Oilers have won 2/3 this year against their old coach but Connor McDavid might be back in this one. Keep an eye out to see if anybody out of the ordinary is sitting for this one because the next day is the trade deadline. (WIN) WIN
• @ Anaheim Ducks (24-29-7) – Last time out the Oilers put up six on Dallas Eakins’ Ducks. I expect Edmonton to equal that this time around and who knows how the roster will look as this is the game that follows the trade deadline. (WIN)
• @ Vegas Golden Knights (32-22-8) – The Golden Knights record might hover around Edmonton’s but I feel like this team is a bit better on paper plus this is the second game in a back-to-back. (LOSS)
• vs. Winnipeg Jets (32-25-5) – Big Buff sank this team when he decided he wasn’t going to play but the Jets have stuck in the race the whole season pretty much. You have to love the heart! (LOSS)
• @ Nashville Predators (29-23-7) – I think the Oilers can sweep the season series with Nashville. The Preds defense isn’t what it used to be and there seems to be a bit of a dark cloud floating over the team at the moment. Pekka Rinne has hit a wall too… (WIN)
• @ Dallas Stars (35-19-6) – Edmonton and Dallas have each won one game-a-piece against each other this season so far. This will be the rubber match and I like Dallas here. (LOSS)
• @ Chicago Blackhawks (26-26-8) – Going into Chicago to play the Blackhawks is never an easy task and the Oilers have always had a tough time winning in the Windy City. (LOSS)
• vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (30-19-3) – Edmonton is 21-8-0 at home vs. Columbus all-time. It’s hard to argue with those numbers, right? On the other hand, John Tortorella has his team right in the running for a playoff spot in the East. This game should be a war of attrition to see who comes away with the two points. (WIN)
• vs. Vegas Golden Knights (32-22-8) – I like Edmonton’s chances at home against the Golden Knights. History tells us they have a better chance at beating them in Edmonton than in Vegas. (WIN)

(Standings as of February 21st, 2020)