This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!
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Oilersnation (Lewis)
ON’s 2021 Prospects Countdown – No. 7: Ryan McLeod
- The thing with McLeod is that he has all of the skills you want in a hockey player. He’s big, strong, and physical, he skates incredibly well, and he has good hockey sense, especially in terms of playing a smart defensive game. That physical skillset all points to McLeod having two-way, second-line centre upside, but his ho-hum production at every level suggested otherwise.
- That changed in 2021 when McLeod produced well in Switzerland, a very good Euro league, and then put up a point-per-game in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors.
- …it’s already fairly clear that McLeod can swim as a fourth-line pivot at the NHL level. The question is whether he can continue to climb up the depth chart and become more than that.
BLH’s Thoughts: There’s nothing more pleasing that watching a hockey player who skates so well with zero effort. Paul Coffey did it for a couple of decades for a plethora of NHL teams and now we’ve got Ryan McLeod to watch for another 10 years or so, hopefully.
For me, I’m not as concerned about how productive he is this early in his career. I would like him to become one of Edmonton’s best defensive forwards first and then as he grows, the points will come, I’m sure of that.
McLeod’s speed and hands alone should have him on Dave Tippett’s penalty kill this year, no? Anybody else getting Michael Grabner vibes? I’m just saying, he could be an offensive threat in defensive scenarios and how many players can you say that about on the Oilers?
Edmonton Sun (Matheson)
OILERS NOTES: McDavid knows there is vaccination dynamic at play in NHL
- The NHL says 90 to 95 per cent of their rank-and-file will be vaccinated by the start of the season Oct. 12 but there might still be some outliers.
- If an unvaccinated player tests positive for Covid, they will be suspended without pay (by the day). If a player gets Covid and is vaccinated, they will be treated as if they had damaged their knee or broke a hand; it will be a hockey injury injury and they will be paid.
“It’s a tough question. Every one has to do as they please but with every decision there’s a consequence,” said McDavid
- Part of being at the Olympics is being able to mingle with other athletes in other sports, but that probably won’t be the case in February in China.
This ‘n That:
- Even though the Oilers have eight defencemen with NHL experience signed, chances are they will bring in one player on a training camp PTO contract with right-shot D Michael Stone (Calgary) or Jason Demers (Arizona) most likely candidates.
- Tyler Tullio, the Josh Archibald-type winger drafted in the fifth round in 2020, signed a three-year entry level. He was just named captain of the Oshawa Generals.
- Predators goalie Juuse Saros is the slam-dunk starter for Finland in the Olympics but there’s no reason Oiler Mikko Koskinen can’t be back-up.
BLH’s Thoughts: Ty Tullio is going to be a very intriguing prospect to follow this season. I think I’ve given him the short end of the stick a little bit so far since I’ve not seen a lot of footage of him play. What does Edmonton have on their hands in this player? Another Theo Fleury or is he more of a Paul Byron? The upcoming rookie camp should give us a few more clues as to who this player is.
It’s a bit of a kick in the nuts for the NHLers to have to fly all the way to China to play in the Olympics only to be locked down in their hotel rooms the whole time, no?
Are there still pro-pandemic NHLers planning to play next season? Good luck with that…
NHLTradeRumors.me
Arizona Coyotes Set Asking Price For Jakob Chychrun
- According to The Fourth Period, Arizona is asking for two first-round picks for defenseman Jakob Chychrun. This was revealed on The NHL Network.
Montreal Canadiens Made Trade Offers to Multiple Teams
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet confirmed the team spoke with the Calgary Flames about Sean Monahan, San Jose Sharks about Tomas Hertl (which we reported on Sep.3), and the Washington Capitals about Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Rumor: Maple Leafs Considering Adding Players on Professional Tryouts
- The team already has Josh Ho-Sang coming to training camp on a tryout, meanwhile there’s been rumblings they’ve tried to get Tyler Bozak, James Neal and Erik Gudbranson to agree to come to camp. As of right now it appears all three veterans are holding out for a potential one-year contract.
Rumor: Vancouver Canucks Worried About Offer Sheet
- The Vancouver Canucks have watched the NHL drama unfold over the past few weeks, and according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Canucks management has legitimate concern about a team offer-sheeting young star Elias Pettersson.
- At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any team willing or able to make the move. The Canucks are in a bit of trouble because they need to not only pay Pettersson, but also young defenseman Quinn Hughes.
