Here’s the latest from Edmonton Oilers training camp day two if you haven’t had a chance to catch up! We’re going to hit on Pulju, the Kassassin, JJ Khaira, and check out what TSN’s Frank Seravalli was saying to Dustin Nielson on his show yesterday morning! Plus there’s a sweet clip from the Oilers YouTube channel with some highlights from the day’s practice at the end of the post here.
Jesse Puljujarvi
Word is, he’s flying and in fantastic shape AND his English is better. Most importantly, Coach Tippett is pleased as punch so far,
“He’s a monster of a man,” Oilers Head Coach Dave Tippett said. “I love that he’s smiling. He looks like he loves to play and has high skill for a big man.”
“There were a lot of comments about how good Jesse looks on the ice and how happy he is,” said the Oilers coach. “He’s engaging with his teammates, so it’s a good first step.”
“He looked pretty good for his first day.” (source)
I guess Yessa is looking like a man reborn and is ready to show the world why he was drafted 4th overall back in 2016 and why he was so highly touted for that draft after winning MVP honors at the 2016 World Juniors.
Zack Kassian
Kass knows expectations couldn’t be higher for him given his disappearing act last season in the play-ins, but it’s not only that, he’ll have multiple right-wings gunning for his spot on McDavid’s right-wing including the aforementioned Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto. I’d argue Josh Archibald could see time there as well as James Neal and Alex Chiasson.
This is what Connor’s bodyguard had to say after practice yesterday,
“For me to stay there and be productive, I’ve got to be physical, I’ve got to be skating,” he said. “But I’ve got to play between the lines and I’ve got to make plays. It’s that simple: playing with him you’ve got to get him the puck at the right times, and do your part to make sure we’re clicking not only as a line but as a team.” (source)
Maybe it’s just a tick of mine or something, but I’d love for Kassian to re-word his phrasing here. I’d prefer him to say “I’m going to…” instead of “I’ve got to”. I feel like it would put some more ownership on himself. The way he’s saying it, in my opinion, is as if he doesn’t do those things the consequences won’t be all that bad.
Jujhar Khaira
It’s do or die for JJ this season, isn’t it? Is it? I mean, I feel like we’ve been saying that every season for like five years but the guy keeps on finding a way to stay on the team and in the lineup. It won’t hurt him that the coach values his contributions to Edmonton’s penalty kill, but with the likes of Gaetan Haas, Ryan McLeod, and possibly Devin Shore, who’s arguably a better (and cheaper) player; this might really be the year that it really is do or die for JJ.
Sportsnet’s Mark Spector more or less said the same thing in his latest post,
“Khaira was part of an Oilers bottom six that got caved in at five-on-five last season. He knows there’s a job here for him, but he also knows the Oilers are deeper at forward — especially bottom six guys — this season.”
Frank Seravalli
TSN’s Philadelphia-based NHL insider Frank Seravalli was on the Dustin Nielson Show yesterday morning and Nielson asked him which does he put more weight into, the Oilers’ successful regular season last year or the debacle that took place during the series vs. Chicago.
“I probably put more weight on the post-season and I know that logically you’d look at it and say that you shouldn’t because sample size and all of that. You’re talking about four games and it’s not a complete picture, it’s a tiny picture to any team, but given the opponent that they played and given the opportunity that they had in their own city playing in their own arena even though it was without fans, it was somewhat familiar confines; and you can’t find a way to really resemble anything that you had in the regular season?
Look, I know that’s playoff and return-to-play unlike any other but they had so much time off from March until to July when training camps go rolling again and it’s hard to pick back up where you left off, but in some ways the team that we saw in the post-season was the team we’d seen in previous years going back before last regular season.
There’s so much that remains to be seen and that’s what’s so exciting. If the Oilers come back and be closer to what that team was in the regular season, they’re going to easily be a playoff team in this North Division even with how difficult it is.
It’s funny, even though Seravalli knows it’s wrong to go with the take because it doesn’t hold much water, he does it anyhow and then he tries to save face at the end… Because never has a team, Stanley Cup contender or otherwise, ever had a bad week…
Here’s the thing, the goaltending on the Oilers is almost completely dependent on the defense to keep the pucks to the outside and away from the home-plate. Koskinen and Smith are not the kind of netminders who are known for stealing a game for their teams. They are average goalies, I feel, who, if they have a strong team defence in front of them, can provide enough stability between the pipes that their coach and GM don’t need to worry about them.
Case in point, the play-ins vs. Chicago when the Oilers defence kinda shit the bed.
If there’s a year where Edmonton decides it’s time to become an elite defensive hockey team, this would be it, folks! They’ve got the coaching staff in place, but do they have the playing personnel?
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