Hey y’all! Welcome back for another season of Edmonton Oilers hockey! I’m BLH and I’ll be giving you the skinny on today’s game!
If you’re new here and are wondering what 3P2W means, well, it stands for Three Players to Watch and seeing I’m as lazy as I am, I figured we’d shorten it to 3P2W.
So with that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about what’s been going on lately in the Oilogospehere and then get into the player’s I’ve put under the spotlight for today’s matchup!
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Random Pontifications
“I think Columbus definitely has a lot going on out there… I think Toronto is obviously looking. I think at some point in time Carolina, if their goaltending doesn’t get better, they might have to do something because that is a team that could win the Stanley Cup. And now I’m looking at San Jose too in the sense that they’ve made it pretty clear that practically their entire blueline is available.” – Elliotte Friedman on Oilers Now (12/6/23)
- Only hours before that comment from Friedman the Blue Jackets put Adam Boqvist, Elvis Merzlikins, and Cole Sillinger on IR… Bob brought that up with Elliotte and Friedman emphatically shot down the Sillinger hint that Stauffer was throwing out. Leading me to believe that the Oilers are trying to get the young forward in a swap for Philip Broberg.
- I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Edmonton could swing a deal for all three whilst forking over Jack Campbell, Broberg, and Holloway to get Jarmo to eat some salary on Boqvist. I wouldn’t do it but that’s just me. I like Holloway far too much.
- Should we be really concerned that Broberg hasn’t developed into the guy they thought he was going to back in 2019? He’s only 22 years old for Christ’s sake and they’ve been yo-yoing him up and down instead of letting him simmer.
- On top of that, Holland traded for Ekholm AND re-upped Kulak to a multi-year deal. Where in Sam’s sweet Hell does Broberg fit into that scheme?
- Then you toss in the obligatory Oilers prospect injury(ies) and it only makes sense that when you draft a defenseman that you send him back to junior until he’s 20 or back to Europe until he’s 20, then bring him to the AHL for a season without call-ups. During his second professional season he gets a cup of tea but then spends most of the year back in the minors. Now at year three of pro hockey is when you slot him in on your 3rd pairing alongside a veteran IF everything is going swimmingly. If not, back to the minors for another year to be a stud for that team.
- You don’t f*ck around with these guys when they’re young. There’s been no consistency with Edmonton and their blue-chip prospects for years aside from bringing them up too early and breaking them.
- All that said, I like that Lavoie is being forced to come along slowly. I don’t mind that Bourgault is down in Bakersfield getting his chops. I’d like to see Xavier get more of a chance though. Colin Chaulk is coaching to win, not to develop his organization’s players and that can be quite aggravating.
- Any idea what’s the deal with Carter Savoie? Are they trying to develop him into a grinder in the bottom-six? Is he the NCAA version of Nail Yakupov now?
- Honestly, who’s running this shit show. They signed Carl Berglund out of college last year to a 2yr $1.9M deal and he’s not even at a point-per-game in the ECHL as a 23 year old!
- I’ve heard NOTHING about Jayden Grubbe since that HUGE trade with New York last May. Edmonton media was talking him up like he could be playing in the NHL this year…
- I’m just rambling now… Enjoy the game tonight. Minny’s rolling. It should be a good one. Battle of the new coaches! Hynes vs. Knobby.
- Oh, one last thing, the Wild’s defenders aren’t afraid to get in front of the puck. That’ll be something to watch in this one.
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Three Players to Watch for the Bad Guys
- #97 Kirill Kaprizov (8g 15a 23pts) – I wanted to throw Brock Faber in here because he’s a massive revelation for Minnesota but I think it would be a disservice to Kaprizov considering what a massive talent he is and how exciting he is to watch.
- #36 Mats Zuccarello (6g 21a 27pts) – Does this guy score every time the Oilers play a team he’s on? 25 points in 21 games against the Oil. 14 points in his last ten games.
- #12 Matt Boldy (5g 8a 13pts) – Has scored four of his five goals in his last five games. He’s now rounding into form with the arrival of John Hynes. FWIW, I liked him in the 2019 draft over Broberg.
Three Players to Watch for the Good Guys
- #13 Mattias Janmark (1g 4a 5pts) – All of his points have been in his last five games (three of those coming in the victory vs. Carolina) which may or may not be a coincidence seeing as Edmonton has been on a solid heater in that time. Depth scoring… Pretty important eh?
- #28 Connor Brown (0g 1a 1pt) – I think I’m just trying to will a goal into existence for him at this point. He nearly had it against the Hurricanes.
- #25 Darnell Nurse (4g 5a 9pts) – Don’t get me wrong, I hate his contract with a passion that burns hotter than the sun but putting that aside, he’s been very good for Edmonton in this stretch of winning.
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