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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The Athletic
Seven Oilers surprises so far in 2021-22, from Jesse Puljujarvi’s star turn to Kailer Yamamoto’s scoring woes
- Puljujarvi’s star turn
Just seven games into 2021-22, Puljujarvi is set to crush last year’s scoring numbers. He had 21 even-strength points in 55 games a season ago; in just seven games this year, he’s already picked up eight points at even strength.
- Kassian’s rebirth as a third-line force
Kassian has been an integral part of a highly functional third line next to Derek Ryan and Warren Foegele. His on-ice scoring chance and high-danger chance metrics are both above 50 percent on a unit that has delivered good secondary scoring and held its own possession-wise.
- Bouchard as a top-pairing defenceman
Bouchard’s average time on ice so far is 21:16 per night, second among Oilers defencemen and tops among right-side defenders. A lot of people thought he might be capable of playing those kinds of minutes as the year went on, but doing so in his first full NHL campaign is something else entirely.
- The even-more-lethal power play
Seven games into 2021-22, the Oilers have scored 10 goals at five-on-four in just 29 minutes of play. Not only do they lead the NHL in five-on-four goals, but the Oilers have done so while ranking 27th in the league in minutes played at five-on-four. Their per-minute or per-hour goal clip right now is double what it was last season.
- Dominance in the faceoff circle
Last season, the Oilers won 50 percent of their draws; in 2019-20, it was just 49 percent. This season the number is 54 percent… The addition of Derek Ryan has certainly helped (he’s winning 56 percent of his draws, right in line with his career average of 55 percent)… McDavid, who has never topped 50 percent in the faceoff circle, has won 43 of 75 draws this year, for a win rate of 57 percent. That’s the best among Oilers taking at least 25 faceoffs.
- Unsung goalies with impressive records
Koskinen was pressed into service when Smith got hurt and has carried the load admirably, winning four of five games with a .934 save percentage… A lot of factors have gone into Edmonton’s 6-1-0 record, but goaltending is among the biggest.
- Kailer Yamamoto’s struggles
The most remarkable thing about Yamamoto’s power outage is that he’s been getting real opportunities. His most common linemate has been Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (who is leading the league with 10 assists and is averaging a respectable 1.84 points per hour at five-on-five), and his second-most common has been Draisaitl (2.61 points/hour). Despite this, Edmonton is scoring just 1.3 goals per hour when Yamamoto is on the ice.
BLH’s Thoughts: The next five or so game are going to be key for Killer. If he can start to chip in on the scoresheet, that’ll give him some extra time? But isn’t it interesting that like Ethan Bear last year, Yamo was pretty late in signing his new deal and his year has not started out well…
Folks talked about this as we were waiting to hear on if he’d signed that contract or not. I know personally I was thinking that if he doesn’t smarten up, he’s going to end up in the same boat as Bear and that’s still a very real possibility considering how serious this management team is about being not just a perennial playoff contender, but a Stanley Cup contender too…
Now think about it, that boat that Ethan Bear is in, it’s taken all parties involved on quite the cruise. So, that’s not a put down for Killer. He’s simply in the unfortunate position of playing for a Ken Holland team and that means young guys aren’t untouchable.
Oilersnation
Monday Mailbag – Month One Recap
- Are the Oil better at “analytics” than some have been giving them credit for?
“Many teams today pay SportLogiq for their data, so there are different ways to get information. I can’t say for certain how good they are at analytics, but I think the suggestions they don’t care about them are incorrect.” – Gregor
- What do the Oilers need to do to improve at 5v5?
“The Oilers need to make sure they keep getting depth scoring and that the guys that make things happen on the PP are also getting it done at even strength. More importantly, though, is having consistent depth scoring beyond Connor and Leon.” – Baggedmilk
- If you were going to put toughness, skill, chemistry, coaching into a percentage out of 100 in terms of importance, how much would each objective get in your ideal team makeup.
“70% skill, 15% coaching, 10% chemistry, and 5% toughness.” – Yaremchuk
BLH’s Thoughts: Because the team doesn’t have an “Analytics Star” under contract and there’s no dedicated page on their website, there’s an overreaching thought that the Oilers don’t use analytics and that’s blatantly false. I’ve reported here that it’s my understanding that the pro scouts have been using advanced metrics to judge their players well before Ken Holland and Dave Tippett Arrived. Believe me or not, that’s up to you.
The Hockey Writers Rumors
- While he was an early favorite to win the Calder Trophy, (Cole) Caufield has struggled out of the gate this season with only one point in 10 games. He’s lacking confidence and the Montreal Canadiens are hoping he’ll find it in the AHL because been re-assigned to the Laval Rocket of the AHL.
- As per Steve Simmons of the Toronto/Ottawa Sun the search for a new general manager is underway in Chicago and Eddie Olczyk appears to be among the top candidates for the job. Simmons adds that Kevin Weekes is another candidate getting serious consideration.
- The more Kailer Yamamoto struggles, the less likely he stays long-term with the Edmonton Oilers. With rumblings the Oilers are keeping an eye on the goaltending market and with the leash getting shorter for Yamamoto who hasn’t produced this season offensively, the forward could see himself either demoted or traded.
- Despite the fact his production has started to pick up and Tarasenko likes a bit like the Tarasenko of old, speculation is that he’s still looking to be traded.
