April 26, 2020 /

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers: Holland Adding Blueliner for Bakersfield and the NHL/PA Continues to Stick Foot in Mouth

I’ll get to the rumor that the Edmonton Oilers are adding a 25-year-old defender out of Sweden in a moment, I just want to touch on the latest news regarding the return of the NHL this summer first though.

  • Three weeks does sound excessive but what if two of those weeks were 14-day quarantines due to the fact that anybody coming into Canada is supposed to head directly into a two-week isolation. I don’t know what the USA’s rules are for folks heading there are apart from free Lysol injections and a thorough light (UV?) blasting to the orifice of your choice, but I’d like to imagine that it would be something similar. Then again, who knows with that yahoo running the show.
  • Have you seen the “Stay the Puck Home” shirts being promoted on Twitter? Bardown Hockey and Hockey Helps the Homeless have teamed up and with the help of countless hockey media members and former NHL players to raise money for homeless shelters and COVID-19 which is awesome but are NHL players supposed to stay the puck home too?
  • It’d be kinda hypocritical (in a sense) if all of these media types are throwing their celebrity weight behind social distancing and yet at the same time supporting the return of the NHL. Because 30 guys on two separate hockey benches is not social distancing let alone the eight digging a puck out of the corner whilst breathing and sweating all over each other.
  • Love the idea, really. Anybody who needs help but can’t get it should be privy to as much as possible. I’m just not sure on the message really. Stay the puck home (unless there’s hockey on…?). I feel a bit dickish bringing it up like this but I am genuinely curious about it.

  • I’m to understand that at the moment Oilers GM Ken Holland is attempting to work his magic “to convince influential people of the viability of Edmonton and its facilities in the event that play can resume in some limited way.” (source)
  • So, is he trying to circumvent the rules that the province has put in place to reasonably ensure the health of its population in the name of TV money that the NHL might make or…?
  • The proposed plan at the moment is a triple-header every day, correct? Well, if hockey is back on, wouldn’t it be fair to assume that some restrictions would be lifted too? Meaning, the population or a portion of it would be heading back to work? Wouldn’t that also mean that there would be significantly fewer people available to watch the games on TV live then, therefor cutting into some of that fat cash the league expects to recoup by implementing said plan?
  • Now, let’s say no restrictions have been lifted and things are still as they are now. That would tell me that the risk of a second wave of infections is quite real and being planned for. Keeping with the hypothetical, let’s say that the NHL gets the green light and Edmonton is one of the hubs the league will be playing out of for the Pacific divisions, how many players will each team be allotted to run with? Given that playing that much hockey per day on summer ice, there will be injuries. So will each club bring their AHL team too or half of it or just 7/8 players?
  • How will players coming in from overseas be handled?
  • Can anybody explain to me what community transmission is and is that sort of thing more or less likely to happen when travel restrictions are lifted?
  • The point I’m trying to make here is that the plan is to stuff around 500 humans into a confined area in the hopes that nobody tests positive… Now check out this quote from NHLPA head, Bill Daly,

Friday night, deputy commissioner Daly told TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, “Everything depends on the facts and entire set of circumstances, but no, we do not believe that one positive test, or even multiple positive tests [would] necessarily shut the whole thing down.” (source)

  • You know how Taiwan has done so well during this pandemic? Well one of the things they’ve thrived at has been contact tracing. Basically that means if an individual has tested positive for COVID-19, they go through that person’s recent history as thoroughly as possible. Where have they been, who have they been around, etc. And they inform those that have had contact with the infected and request that they go into a 14-day quarantine. In addition to that, they keep track of quarantined folks very closely by providing them with cell phones and they call constantly. If you don’t answer, the police show up and if you’re not there and they find you out in public, you’re f*cked. Hope you love massive fines…
  • Now imagine if one or two players test positive for whatever reason, do you know how disastrous that could be? The contract tracing would be easy, it would be his entire team, the other team, the coaches, training staff, anybody that attending to his “hotel room”, any media that was within 6-ft of him… Boom! Hub shut down!
  • Or would it be? Would the NHL team be allowed to call up its AHL club to replace the infected? How far down this ridiculous rabbit hole is the league and the PA going to go in the name of “integrity” aka dolla dolla bill y’all.

  • I love hockey as much as the next person, but I love a functioning society as well and I’d much rather see the ppl who are on the brink of bankruptcy or losing their homes, cars, jobs, back to work first. That’s just me. I’m simply looking at this as an extended off-season.

Speaking of off-seasons, there’s some speculation that the Oilers will be signing a dman by the name of Theodor Lennstrom out of Sweden.

Theodor Lennstrom

  • LHD
  • 6’1″ 186lbs
  • Left shot
  • Frolunda (SHL)
  • 25-years-old

I asked my Swedish source about this player and this is what I was told,

He is more of a two way-defensman than Persson. In SHL Persson was a very offensiv minded D-man. Theodor isn’t as good offensively but better in his own zone. I don’t think he is good enough to be a regular in the NHL as of now, though. But I’m a big fan of Theodor.

Straight off, I have no idea who this guy is. There’s some speculation online that he was getting interest last year and that this year the Oilers and the NJ Devils are competing for his signature with Edmonton having the upper-hand currently.

Just from that clip above, I see a player who skates well (not amazing). He’s got some speed and he has the ability to jump into the play. He plays with quite a long stick and that seems to help him in the corners. I reckon he’s going to have the same issue Persson had and that was with the hard forecheck. In Europe, they don’t rely on an aggressive forecheck as often. Not so much in North America.

He likes to hammer the puck and his shot is not too shabby. That said, he doesn’t score a lot. I feel like he has a fast wind-up/release when he uses his slapshot. If given the time and space, he can dangle a bit. That said, I’m not so sure he’ll have the time and space if he joins the Oilers.

I know you can’t take much away from a highlight package, but I do wonder about this player’s ability to pivot both ways while skating backward. I’m also concerned that his “compete” level might be iffy for the North American crowd. How will he do clearing big power forwards from the front of the net or how will he do at stopping the cycle? Basically the meat and potatoes part of the game. I’m not saying he has to be Derian Hatcher out there, but I imagine Dave Manson will want to see some intensity.

The Oilers defense is fairly packed at the moment and so my belief is that if this signing goes through, it is one for Bakersfield as the Condors will definitely have some openings with Brandon Manning, Logan Day, William Lagesson, and Keegan Lowe all becoming free agents. So expect a fairly busy off-season and lots of announcements once the 2019/20 NHL season has concluded.

Here’s a quote from a well-known commenter from Sweden over on Lowetide’s blog,

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CategoriesBeer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

TagsEdmonton Oilers NHL Theodor Lennstrom

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!