Edmonton Oilers Talk: Koskinen’s Hot Play Delaying Inevitable Trade?

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Cult of Hockey

Player grades: Draisaitl, Koskinen lead the way as sloppy Oilers slide by Seattle

#2 Duncan Keith, 7. Achieved a significant milestone with his 1200th career game and celebrated in style, scoring his first goal as an Oiler when he joined the play to tap home Draisaitl’s semi-accidental feed from close range.
#10 Derek Ryan, 4. His line generated very little offensively — just 1 shot on net in 12 minutes — while Ryan himself didn’t even have an attempt.
#16 Tyler Benson, 4. A second straight quiet game beside Shore and Turris.
#19 Mikko Koskinen, 8. A huge reason why the Oilers won this game going away. His save percentage doesn’t tell the whole story as he faced 17 Grade A looks, a very high number.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 4. His least effective game of the season by some margin.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 9. Soared into a tie for the NHL scoring lead with 2-2-4, putting him in a dead heat with teammate McDavid at 7-10-17 through just 8 games.
#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 7. Finally broke out of a season-long scoring drought by netting his first of the season to put the game on ice.
#75 Evan Bouchard, 4. Off his game on this night with some soft coverage and scattergun passes.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Played a strong two-way game, highlighted by yet another assist: a fabulous aerial pass through a narrow seam that came down right on Hyman’s tape and resulted in the 2-1.

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, Bob Stauffer almost called TWO long-shots on his show yesterday morning. For those of you who didn’t hear, he said that in the next three games the Oilers were going to break out and score six goals in one game and that Killer Yamamoto was going to bust that slump of his.

Overall, the game as not the most eye-pleasing. The refs had quite the evening, I’d say. I think Seattle got the benefit of the doubt far more often than the Oilers and I was a tad shocked that the Kraken could keep Edmonton’s shots to such a low total throughout the first two periods (12), but I suppose it doesn’t matter when the Oilers are scoring like they were last night.

Is it just me or have 2nd periods been poor for Tippett’s men this year?

Poor game from Edmonton’s top pairing. Nurse and Bouchard on more than one occasion left their posts to chase a guy behind the net only to leave a Seattle attacker all alone for a scoring chance. Lucky for them, Koskinen was there to save their asses. Mikko will be eating well this week since Darnell and Evan will be buying him dinner until the next game.

That pass from Shore to Turris for the vet’s goal was a thing of beauty, wasn’t it? Giordano and Eberle were caught puck watching with ladder legs… lol! Good for Kyle! He’s playing much better this year than last.

There’s been lots of talk of Edmonton looking at Marc-Andre Fleury and John Gibson lately. What I’d say to that is it’s not coming from anybody reputable so far. The names came up in a Jonathan Willis (analytics blogger) mailbag post at The Athletic recently and Daniel Nugent-Bowman has also commented on it, but from what I’m told, as long as the club’s netminding is playing well, there’s no rush to make a trade for another goalie.

That said, Mike Smith’s been off here for over a week and the games are going to come fast and furious in November. If he stumbles and Mikko stays hot, maybe something comes up. However, Ken Holland rarely makes trades early in the year. He makes most of his moves around the deadline (which is a tad later this season thanks to the Winter Olympics) and he makes them in the offseason.

So any goaltending rumors that don’t come out of Friedman’s mouth or Seravalli’s or even Brian Lawton’s, it might just be coming out of the fanbase since those names have been connected to Edmonton in the past.

Oil on Whyte

Five Thoughts At The End Of October

1. Connor McDavid Continues To Impress

McDavid is scoring goals and creating offense in soo many different ways, and with offseason additions like Zach Hyman, there is no telling how many points he will be put in 2021-22.

2. Koskinen Answers The Call

While talking about some different goaltenders who could start is key, Koskinen is easing the pressure off to make a move.

3. Division Favorite?

As of now, despite the great start from the Flames, the Oilers are the favorite in the Pacific Division. With Vegas struggling out of the gate, Edmonton definitely is the top contender from the division.

4. Surprises

Jesse Puljujarvi’s great start was not expected, but he was not the only great start from the season. Kassian and Foegele have nine points combined, and the defence has looked pretty good during some key moments for this team.

5. Bring On November

The Oilers are ready for a grind this season… There are a lot of tough opponents left to come with 13 games during November…

BLH’s Thoughts: Ya know what I think is happening? I reckon that a lot of the things that pundits were questioning about the team are covering their bets. The third line, Kassian’s resurgence, Puljujarvi’s continued trend up, RNH’s bounce back, Bouchard covering Bear’s absence, Ceci/Keith consistently being solid, the netminding being very good, just to name a few.

That said, November is here and the schedule is TIGHT! Edmonton plays about once every two days with two pairs of back-to-backs. They have a 3-day break from the 5th to the 7th, a 2-day break on the 21st and 22nd, and then to end the month they take another 3-day rest from the 28th to the 30th.

With a schedule like that, the average Oilers fan has to wonder when Mike Smith will be ready to come back because his team is going to need him and they’re going to need him in the same form as he was in before he took that knock when Devin Shore fell on top of him. Boston, St. Louis, and Winnipeg (x2) will not be easy opponents.

Spector’s Hockey

VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Owen Krepps cites recent rumors claiming the Vegas Golden Knights are closing in on acquiring Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres.

“It’s believed the Sabres’ asking price is “at least four pieces, including a first-round pick, top prospect, top-six forward, and NHL defenseman under 25-year-old old.”
Krepps suggested it could cost the Golden Knights one, maybe two first-round picks, with their 2022 first-rounder certain to go to the Sabres. Shea Theodore or Nic Hague could fit the bill as the under-25 defenseman.
Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch make sense one of the forwards, with Tuch best fitting the description for a top-six forward in the right age group.

THE ATHLETIC: In a recent mailbag segment, Daniel Nugent-Bowman was asked if the Edmonton Oilers will stick with their goaltending tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen for the playoffs or if general manager Ken Holland will seek a netminder before the trade deadline.

Holland says he believes in his goaltending. However, Nugent-Bowman pointed out the Oilers GM attempted to sign Jacob Markstrom in 2020 and tried to acquire Darcy Kuemper from the Arizona Coyotes before the Colorado Avalanche got him. He thinks Holland could consider an upgrade.