Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland held his year-end media availability yesterday morning and that lead to a flood of articles being posted and a plethora of opinions hitting the Twitterverse from the local media.
The prevailing theme of the Q&A portion of the avail, defense. Where was it? Which players needed better forms of it? Will it be upgraded in the off-season?
I’ll have some quotes from the local Oilers media posted in this three-part series as we discuss what Holland might be thinking when he said the team needs to get “a little different, a little better, a little deeper”.
Let’s begin with the firestarter himself,
Here is how a hockey team works:
A depth player does not look at McDavid breaking wide on a defenceman and say, “Man, I have to do that too.” Because he can’t.
But when he sees McDavid employ that speed in his own zone, or going south to break up a play the way Draisaitl did that day in Raleigh, then the depth player says, “That IS something I can emulate.”When he sees Draisaitl using his ample size to muscle an opponent off a puck — retrieving that puck for himself, rather than waiting for someone to do that dirty work on his behalf — he sees a template of how Oilers players are expected to play.
When he sees the best player on the team become furious that he has been scored on, then everyone knows that the leadership group is all-in on winning team trophies, not individual ones.
Be pissed off when you get scored on. Check like you mean it.
Until the leaders play that way, the followers don’t have a chance.
When I first heard Spec talking about Leon and Connor needing to do more off the puck, I was annoyed. A couple of league MVPs shouldn’t have to pick up even more of the slack, should they? I mean they’re already carrying the offense. But the quote above makes a lot of sense to me. I didn’t see 97 or 29 really get mucky out there and sacrifice their bodies in the same way other team leaders might and he’s right, as those two go, the rest of the team does.
That said, I still wonder if that’s something that really needs to be on their resume. After all, Steve Yzerman had been in the league 13 years and his knees were a mess by the time was forced to change his style. Joe Sakic didn’t win until his team went out and traded for one of the best goalies of all-time. Alexander Ovechkin, I don’t really know if he’s even changed his style of play and he won a Cup two years ago. My favorite player of all-time, Mario Lemieux, was never mistaken for Ron Francis, yet he still won a couple of Stanleys and nobody ever went up to him and told him to take care of his defensive game first and the offense will come. Craig Patrick went out and got the players to do that for him.
Look, you can absolutely nail a guy for missing his check on key goals against but to say the whole series was lost because of those missed assignments is pretty asinine. The players that were supposed to score, scored. The players that were supposed to defend, stop the puck, and impose their will on the other team didn’t do any of that…
So it’s one of those things. Could the Oilers stars put a bit more effort into the games? Of course, everybody can. Would that rub off on the rest of the team? 100% it would. Should Ken Holland already have these kinds of players on the club so that 97 and 29 can go out and do their thing without having to worry about their defensive game getting picked apart? I would think so.
Now if that wasn’t enough on that topic, you need to listen to Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector go at each other’s throats over why Spector thought Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl didn’t do enough on the other side of the puck. You can do that below as I’ll be posting the heated debate right here!
A Little Bit Different
The Oilers are going to go into the 20/21 season a little bit different and I think that’s going to come in multiple areas of the team. Just a tinkering to this squad is all it needs… Maybe.
Terry Jones said this in his latest post,
There was a lot of reading between the lines to be done here but with Holland talking about the flat salary cap, my read was guys like Andreas Athanasiou, Mike Smith and James Neal might not be coming back and raised the possibility of moving one of his top four veteran defencemen not named Ethan Bear.
Personally, I’m not 100% convinced that Neal will be moved. As for AA, Smith, Klefbom, Larsson, and Nurse… Anything could happen there and I suspect it will. The Oilers GM said he believes in continuity but there has to be change every year…
Recently, Bob Stauffer said on his radio show, “Remember the name, Henrik Borgstrom.” and I’m lead to believe that the Finn’s time is done in Florida. We’ve seen his name in connection to that of Jesse Puljujarvi’s in the past but I’m curious about a possible Kris Russell or Andreas Athanasiou trade with the Panthers. They could be losing Mike Hoffman AND Evgeni Dadonov and will be in need of LWers. If AA can’t come to an agreement with the Oilers, I’m sure he could with the Panthers which would leave a spot open on the left side. I suspect that could be filled by Neal and then Puljujarvi could slot in on the RW. Bingo Bango, Bob’s your uncle.
Jason Gregor made these points in his latest,
In 2019 they allowed 179 goals in 82 games (2.18 GA/game).
This season they allowed 154 in 71 games (2.16 GA/game).Did they really improve defensively? Not much statistically, and they have had five of the same defenceman for the past four years.
In 2018 they allowed 2.14 goals/game at 5×5.
They averaged 2.16 the past three seasons which is exactly what they allowed this year. I’m sorry, I don’t see that as an improvement.
I think Holland has to make a change on his blueline. And I don’t think moving Benning solves the main issues. One of the other four needs to be switched out, possibly two, because there hasn’t been any improvement defensively for three years.
Edmonton’s d-zone transition game was dog shit in the play-ins and they need to find a way to improve that. I think Klefbom is fine there for the most part. He’s a 25-minute/night defender on a cherry contract, they should probably keep him. But I do get concerned about Darnell Nurse and it’s a concern I’ve had for a few years now. He’s a hammer, not a scalpel.
Nurse, normally, is a good, not great, defensive defenseman. He’s tough, he doesn’t take any prisoners, and he can hammer the pill. That said, he handles the puck like it’s a live grenade. There’s no finesse to his game nor is there any transition and your guess is as good as mine with regards to where his shot is going. He’s a puck transporter but he struggles when getting checked with the puck.
That being said, he is part of the team’s leadership core.
Adam Larsson is a top-pair shutdown defender in the NHL and those aren’t easy to find nor are they cheap to acquire. He’s quietly one of the meanest players in the league in my opinion as well. Alas, injuries seem to be creeping up on him and he’s not even 30 yet. I prefer him over Darnell in this role, but I can see a scenario where he’s traded for forward depth, Ethan Bear is moved up to the 1st pair, Matt Benning is elevated to the 2nd pair, and Evan Bouchard is inserted onto the 3rd.
Larsson to Pittsburgh for Matt Murray?
And just to circle back to Kris Russell. Surely, the Oilers are going to move him. They need that cap room and he’s only making a mill and a half next year in real money. If Edmonton and move him for a pick or a prospect that would give them the opportunity to slot Caleb Jones in.
So is THIS where the team gets a little different?
Klefbom/Bear
Nurse/Benning (Yikes)
Jones/Bouchard
Lagesson
Not ideal in my mind right now but the transition game improves theoretically and there’s also a minuscule chance Philip Broberg makes the team… Enter the “Killer Bs”… Oh, and yhey’d probably have to find another right-shot defender for depth too.
For what it’s worth, Matt Benning has one of the best GF%(rel) in the entire league over the last three seasons at 7.94 (source). It’s about time he gets a promotion IMO.
Could it get a little different in the nets?
My feeling is that if a move away from Mike Smith is what is decided, a name to keep an eye on is Alexandr Georgiev (cheaper/less experience) but the aforementioned Matt Murray’s (more expensive/2x Cup winner) name is sprouting up more often these days.
Not sure going into 20/21 with $8-10M in goalie salary is a prudent plan of action for the Oilers, but that’s just me .
By the sounds of it, Holland is giving Stuart Skinner one more year in Bakersfield to show he can be a player at the next level. Olivier Rodrigue will be joining the pro ranks next season but will that be with Bakersfield (where his father works) or in the ECHL? Holland confirmed on Oilers Now that a veteran “tweener” will could be signed to help out in the AHL.
As for the forwards, let’s take a look at who they’ve got now.
*Ennis/McDavid/Kassian
RNH/Draisaitl/Yamamoto
**Athanasiou/*Sheahan/Archibald
Neal/Khaira/Chiasson
Nygard/Haas/**Russell
*UFA
**RFA
There’s a massive swell of opinion in Edmonton that if they can’t get AA signed for a shade over $2M then they’ll be moving on from him. What a waste of picks and having to move Sam Gagner that move was, eh? I suppose it won’t be too much of a waste if Gagner comes back and the Oilers flip Athanasiou to Florida for Henrik Borgstrom though.
It wouldn’t shock me if Tyler Ennis came back for $1M on the year. I reckon Patrick Russell will be back and I’m on the fence regarding Riley Sheahan. His agent might be playing hardball with the Oilers and with the flat-cap, that’s a tough route to go. I’ll say this, if Holland can move Khaira then I think Sheahan comes back with a minor raise.
We can’t forget about Jesse Puljujarvi either. I don’t see any room for him on the right-wing though. Kassian, Yamo, Archie, Chiasson, and maybe Russell occupy the potential roster spots so far. Now, could one of them be traded? Of course. Do I expect any of them to be moved? No. I do not… So everything is kind of hinging on Athanasiou…
I read that Elliotte Friedman is saying that things have gone cold again between Pulju and the Oilers but I’m not reading much into that. I don’t think Ken Holland wants to go another year answering questions about Jesse and I don’t believe Jesse wants to go another year in Europe. If he’s not on the Oilers, maybe he’s sent to Montreal or Ottawa in exchange for draft picks or to Carolina for slick puck mover Jake Bean. What we do know for sure is that he’s signed to play for Karpat next year and that deal has an NHL-out clause.
The little bit of difference I’d like to see in the Oilers forward group is the addition of a player or two whose character and determination are never questioned. A player or two who will go through a wall so that the team can be successful. Where’s the next Ethan Moreau, Matt Hendricks, Mark Letestu, or Sam Gagner? Could Edmonton go out and pick up a Vinnie Hinostroza, Ryan Hartman, or a Sammy Blais, and what would that cost be? Puljujarvi?
From a wishing perspective, I’ve been watching Cam Atkinson (CBJ) and Anthony Beauvillier (NYI) recently and they would be dream acquisitions for the Oilers. Man! They are hard workers. Columbus and the Islanders have a couple of rosters that Mr. Holland should be watching closely. The work ethic on those clubs is sky-high.
I would also like to see one ex-superstar veteran brought in. The likes of Mikko Koivu, Joe Thornton, or Patrick Marleau. What about Dustin Byfuglien? Is his time done? Are we sure Mike Green is finished? I’m just looking for someone who is simply looking for one more shot, doesn’t expect much ice-time, and has some knowledge to pass on.
I hope Ken Holland and his team can give this team a little bit different of a look that will get them a little bit closer to Lord Stanley’s Cup.
