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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**NOTICE: THIS IS A POST THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AUTO-SCHEDULED FOR THE 24TH BUT SOMEHOW MISSED BEING PUBLISHED. THEREFORE SOME OF THE CONTENT WILL SOUND OUT OF DATE BUT NOT TO ANY RIDICULOUS EXTENT. FOR THE MOST PART EVERYTHING APPLIES TODAY AS IT DID LAST WEEK.**
The Athletic
Oilers prospect Philip Broberg showing his potential — and need for improvement — in early AHL games
- In Bakersfield this season, through three games, he has two assists and has made good decisions, using his passing skills and speed to make a difference.
- Broberg’s power-play work can be considered a strength.
“I still think the game goes too fast for him right now.” – SHL commentator Mike Zanier
- Defensively, he is not being asked to do the heavy work. Broberg defended one-on-one rushes against Reign forwards well on Friday night, separating puck carrier from puck a few times, allowing his defensive partner to retrieve possession.
- Woodcroft and Manson are currently finding ways for Broberg to flourish, and that involves having the puck on his stick when he has time and space.
- Broberg has two power-play assists in three games, and it’s likely he’ll have a large total if he spends the entire season in Bakersfield. He got the early assist Friday and then barely left the ice late in the game as the Condors pushed for a tying goal that wouldn’t arrive.
- Oilers fans would be reminded of some of Broberg’s work at the Hlinka Gretzky tournament at Rogers Place in the late summer of 2018, several months before Edmonton drafted him. That speed and skill combination, intoxicating and dangerous, contributed to Ken Holland’s decision to draft the young Swede at the 2019 draft.
- Woodcroft and Manson gave the young man tremendous rope Friday night, and were rewarded with a power-play assist, a brilliant solo effort and a late flurry trying to tie the score.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve yet to watch a Condors game this season, but from the way LT is describing Broberg’s for so far, he sounds about on par with a young offensive two-way defenseman. What I mean by that is, he’s learning the ropes of the North American game and in that he’s going to have some speed wobbles in the parts of it that he’s not quite adept at yet. That said, we all know his strengths and those will shine in more favorable scenarios, like the power play.
So what Phil has to do with this season is forget about Edmonton and any promotions and do his damnedest to become a defensive stud 5v5 and an offensive wizard with the PP time Woodcroft and Manson will gift him.
I know the one thing that really bothered me in preseason was his inability to avoid the oncoming forecheckers and that speaks to the game being a little bit too fast right now as Zanier is quoted as saying.
Now, the good thing about him spending the year in the AHL is that there are lots of chippy grinders that love to lay hits on big slow defenders and Broberg can work on moving that puck faster and giving himself an extra second to decide whether or not he’s going to take the check of the opposition forward, avoid it, or get on his horse and put his escapability skill into use.
Can Philip Broberg sort out his weaknesses by the end of the AHL season while at the same time making his strengths even stronger? If he’s as good as we hope he is, the Edmonton Oilers could have another Oscar Klefbom-like defender coming up the ranks. If I were them, I’d take it slower with Broberg though.
Oilersnation
Why Evan Bouchard playing on the Top Pair is Edmonton’s best option
- Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer stated that Barrie is currently “on a short leash,” and this was indeed proven true. The following game against Vegas on Friday night, Barrie moved down to the third pair alongside Kris Russell. Evan Bouchard started the game with Darnell Nurse, and the duo posted a 100% goal share, and an 81% expected goal share together in a 5-3 victory.
- Bouchard has produced a 52% expected goal share and a 54% shot attempt share. He’s averaged roughly 14-15 minutes per game at even-strength and his most frequent linemates have been Draisaitl, Yamamoto, Koekkoek and Russell.
- Bouchard had the lowest Failed Zone Exits/60 out of Oilers defenceman last year and the 4th highest Zone Entries/60.
- One of my (only) concerns, however, is how Bouchard can be prone to shooting at an excessive rate. Bouchard is 1st on the Oilers in individual shot attempts/60.
- Bouchard is 1st for Edmonton defencemen and 3rd in the league (!) in EvolvingHockey’s xWAR (Expected Wins Above Replacement) model this season. Analytical models (like WAR and xWAR) can produce odd results in limited sample sizes, but I’d still interpret this as an encouraging sign.
- I don’t feel there’s any harm in at least giving Bouchard a shot in this position for a stretch of games to see what he can offer. I think it would result in being the best option for Edmonton as a whole since Barrie is a far more effective player when deployed on the third pair.
BLH’s Thoughts: Nothing like drawing conclusions from five games. If the next ten games go poorly, what will the articles look like then? I can only imagine. I mean, I’ve yet to read somebody qualify their position by taking into consideration Edmonton’s quality of competition in their first five games.
With that out of the way, a sign of encouraging development is just that and who am I to discredit what Evan Bouchard’s shown so far. He’s played absolutely fantastic and his play has me even more excited to see what he can do over the course of the year.
It’s kinda weird to say, but one can become numb to what Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl do on a year-to-year basis. So, when other players like Puljujarvi, Hyman, Bouchard, Yamamoto, and Mike Smith shine, it’s really a breath of fresh air.
I think for myself though, I don’t want to get too jacked up too early in the year and that’s why I’ve been saying to keep the expectations in check until Edmonton’s season starts to get more competitive so that we can see if this roster is the real deal.
The Daily Goal Horn
- The Anaheim Ducks have been one of the teams longest attached to acquiring Jack Eichel. Up until now, the Sabres asking price from Anaheim likely included Trever Zegras and/or Jamie Drysdale. It is believed the ask has come down… Another piece that Anaheim can add is Max Comtois, who was recently scratched.
BLH’s Thoughts: There are some rumblings out there that the Sabres might be looking at a package from the Ducks that includes Drysdale, Comtois, Henrique, and multiple draft picks… Could you imagine a Sabres defense with Dahlin, Owen Power, and Jamie Drysdale on it?
