So there we have it. The Edmonton Oilers, in their own hub, got their asses handed to them by a team that was closer to winning the 1st overall pick than a playoff date with the Dallas Stars prior to the pause… It’s not good, I’d tell ya that much, but you already know.
So for this post, I’m just going to lay out some of my own observations since the end of game four. Feel free to leave some comments at the end!
- Goaltending… Yikes.
The Oilers needed it and didn’t get enough of it. I mean, the series as a whole was a sh*t show from a netminding perspective but in the final game it was Corey Crawford, a goalie who didn’t even have a training camp, who showed up when things were most important.
I’m not going to say that I didn’t support Mikko Koskinen getting the start on Friday, but I do wonder now if the competitive nature that Mike Smith brings to the table might’ve been a better game plan as far as the nets go?
- Defense… Where hath thou gone?
This one completely baffles me. At the onset of training camp, the Oilers had Klefbom, Larsson, Nurse, Bear, Russell, Benning, Jones, Broberg, Lagesson, and Bouchard. How much more quality depth did the team need? We’d soon find out…
Adam Larsson’s back flares up, Oscar Klefbom plays so poorly that he gets his TOI cut, and Darnell Nurse decides he’s got to start doing more, so his game goes to shi*t.
The best pair of defenders on the team were 3rd pairing shot-blocking specialist Kris Russell and rookie defender Ethan Bear! I’d argue that respective to the amount of ice-time he received, Matt Benning also played better.
How does that even happen? In my experience watching Oscar, the only times he’s struggled are when he’s been dealing with an injury. So, was he hurt because he certainly wasn’t playing like the player we know he is. If he is playing at his peak, Nurse doesn’t try to overcompensate and the defense doesn’t become as unbalanced as it did…
- Forwards… What were you waiting for and where was the fire?
Aside from the big boys, Alex Chiasson, and James Neal; this group of forwards lacked the necessary dedication and intensity to win this series.
Connor, Leon, and Nuge did their best to drag this team into the next round and James Neal and Alex Chiasson were all in, but everybody else was happy to go home early it seems.
Kailer Yamamoto, the near-point-per-game rookie, was in over his head. Andreas Athanasiou showed us what he could do for a game and then reverted back into his shell. Tyler Ennis, God bless his soul, had his leg fractured in a collision with the new owner of the Edmonton Oilers, Kirby Dach, so that left a big hole AA couldn’t fill. Riley Sheahan, save for his epic beard, was a shadow of himself. Josh Archibald was pretty average but at least he was laying out the body. JJ Khaira also had glimpses of above-average hockey but couldn’t get it all together.
Lastly, Zack Kassian. WTF happened to this guy? Did he get dinged up in that tilt vs. Calgary before the playins started? He was a non-factor in this series when he should’ve been the main factor. Some have suggested his play was a quiet protest for being demoted but I’m not sure about that. He was pretty poor in game one and Tippett going with Archibald instead of him in game two is a well that’s been visited before. Or did he simply want to be home with his young family instead of in the bubble?
- Mental maturity problems?
The Oilers had a lot of chances to close out the fourth game. Posts were hit, open nets were missed, and chances were squandered. Why? The skill level of this team hasn’t been this high for decades! There’s no reason that this 5th ranked team should’ve lost to the 12th ranked team unless the mental maturity of the team is still a work in progress.
That said, this whole post-season is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Normally, teams would be coming right off a regular season and in the flow. This year they got a 4-month break and then were expected to get right back into thick of things in a do-or-die summer hockey tournament. So I can’t blame them too much. I wanted them to win but that’s just my ego needing the satisfaction and in the grand scheme of things, how much does it really matter. The thing I’m more pissed about is not having a whole lot of Oilers content to produce until December…
- Who are you cheering for now?
In the East, I’m going to hop on the Hurricanes bandwagon. I love Svechnikov and Aho. I might also cheer for Columbus if they can beat Toronto. Philly is looking good eh?… Woof! They could do some damage if their goaltending holds up.
In the West, It’s probably Vegas or Colorado. I don’t really dig any of the other teams and those two clubs are insanely entertaining to watch.
- The draft lottery
Wouldn’t it be a right kick to the knackers if Edmonton won the first overall pick for the fifth time in ten years? The league couldn’t complain about it because they’re the ones that came up with this magical plan…
No, I wouldn’t trade it. Lafreniere is set to be an all-star winger from the get-go I feel. He’s like a Canadian Ovechkin in that he’s a physical sniper with elite skating and stickhandling. His vision is otherworldly and he brings a Messier-like intensity to the game. Talk about the perfect wingman for Connor?… Plus there’s this thing called a salary cap, so a trade is out of the question.
What’s the Plan Now?
Look, there are two ways to look at this, how would I do it and how will Ken Holland do it?
First off, the team needs to shed some salary.
- As well as Kris Russell has played, I would attempt to move him before even considering buyouts.
- I like Adam Larsson but would explore the market on him. Which means Ethan Bear is probably the new no.1 RHD next year.
- I wouldn’t be shy to take calls on Darnell Nurse but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to move him either. He’s not a bad defenseman but he had a bad post-season, it happens. He’s a solid no.4 defender that really needs a veteran partner to calm him down from time to time. However, the clock is ticking on him to either improve his puck-moving ability and to decrease the number of defensive lapses in his game OR for the Oilers to trade him. $5.5M is a solid chunk of cash that could be used elsewhere.
- I would NOT move Alex Chiasson or James Neal unless the return was overwhelmingly good. Nor would I buy them out. They play important roles on this team on AND off the ice.
- I’d probably say thank you and goodbye to the current UFAs on the club aside from Patrick Russell. So Sheahan, Ennis, Green, and Smith would be playing elsewhere UNLESS they’d come back on team-friendly deals and I don’t think that’s something they’d entertain at this point in their careers.
Edmonton could give themselves some breathing room by moving a single defenseman for picks. That said, here’s what I’d look to add to the club.
- I would try to bring in some players who exhibit a bit more “give-a-sh*t” in their games. Maybe target someone off of the Columbus Blue Jackets as they seem to work ridiculously hard.
- I would also try to find at least one player who is a pest that can draw other players into penalties while himself staying out of the box. I like Brendan Lemieux a lot here. I also wonder about Jordan Greenway out of Minnesota. That guy seems to piss a lot of guys off and he looks to be a decent middle-6 player.
- I think the team needs a right-shot center who has a career faceoff winning percentage above 51%.
- This club needs a goalie for the long-term and there are some real nice looking goalies who are set to hit the market. Matt Murray (PIT), Alexander Georgiev (NYR), and Robin Lehner (VGK) would be the targets I like there.
- A veteran right-shot defender who has a lot of post-season experience to potentially partner up with Darnell Nurse is something this team could use. What’s Dustin Byfuglien doing these days?
What would Ken Holland likely do?
I think he’d look to add more veterans to the squad. That’s his M.O. for sure. I don’t think he’ll shake up the roster in any massive way and any prospects looking to make the team next season will have to blow the doors off at training camp and even then there’s no guarantee. So I say short-term veteran additions in key spots like 3C, defense, and goaltending.
Here are some possible names he could pursue via trade or free agency:
- Braden Holtby (WAS)
- Mike Hoffman/Evgeni Dadonov/Erik Haula (FLA)
- Luke Glendening (DET)
- Kevin Shattenkirk (TB)
So now we have another 4 months to speculate on the Oilers roster going into 20/21 and with that we have to keep in mind that there’s an expansion draft coming. Do you think any Oilers will get loaned to a European club before camps open up in December? Will Jesse Puljujarvi make it to said camp? Will the Oilers make some news at the draft with some trades?
We wait.
