Edmonton Oilers Talk: Does Holland Need to Say Something Re: Uncalled Penalties on McDavid?

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The Daily Faceoff

Explaining why Connor McDavid rarely draws penalties

Frank Seravalli and Steve Greeley asked former NHL referee Tim Peel to break down some clips (noting multiple missed calls) and offer his thoughts on what’s happening:

Greeley: “When you look at these (penalty statistics), does it add up that Connor McDavid isn’t drawing more calls?”
Peel: “No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t make any sense at all. I don’t understand how he’s 135th in the league in penalties drawn when he’s the best player in the league and has the puck on his stick more than probably most players in the league… I remember when I refereed him — Connor McDavid isn’t one to embellish plays. The penalties that are against him should stick out because he’s such a talented player.”
Seravalli: “So Tim, why don’t we see more calls?”
Peel: “I think the first step would be for Kenny Holland to have a discussion with (NHL director of officiating) Stephen (Walkom). As the GM of the team, it’s not really the coaches place and get Stephen to explain why these calls aren’t being made. Then, if Kenny can bring Stephen clips like this that show Connor not getting calls, then it’s Stephen’s job to talk to the officials and pass it down by email or by sending clips like this out to make them aware of what’s going on in the league, and also keeping our guys on standard with tripping.”

BLH’s Thoughts: Is Tim Peel the guy Oilers fans should be listening to with regards to calls on McDavid? If I recall correctly, Peel didn’t exactly call his greatest games when he was officiating a game involving Edmonton… I mean his answer to Seravalli’s question wasn’t all that helpful.

“Take it up with the boss and hopefully we’ll fix it for the next game!”

Right…

See, I don’t buy that McDavid is too fast for the refs that Bob Stauffer likes to toss out there because they’re not watching 97 for the call, they’re watching the other guy who’s breaking the rules to slow Connor down and I can 100% guarantee you that guy is WAY slower than the Oilers’ captain.

Connor’s got to talk to the refs on the ice a bit more. That’s the solution. The refs nowadays are a bit anti-social in that manner, but McDavid should force the issue a bit. I don’t think you’ll find him embarrassing any officials these days and it takes a ton to get him riled up, so why not just get in a word during a commercial break. Then he can take what the ref said to him to Holland and from there do what Peel said.

If things get too bad, there’s always a post-game rant from the GM ala Wayne Gretzky at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The Cult of Hockey

Guess who? Edmonton Oilers centre finding his MVP form once again

He’s a two-way force at even strength like no other on his team right now. He’s bossing the game both in the d-zone and the face-off circle, where he’s got a 56 per cent winning percentage.
One other signal of Drai’s re-emergence as an early favourite for the Hart Trophy this season is his plus-minus on Grade A shots at even strength… When he won the Hart in 2019, he was +1.6 Grade A shots per game at even strength (15 min. es playing time). He’s at +1.6 again this year.
This year he’s bumped up his offence a bit from last year to 2.3 major contributions to Grade A shots per game, but he’s really clamped down in the d-zone. That’s the big difference. He has cut his major mistakes on Grade A shots against from 1.1 per game last season to just 0.7 per game this year, a great number for a centre who faces tough competition
It seems that having him centre his own line — as opposed to playing musical chairs at centre in the d-zone on a line with McDavid — could be bringing a focus and clarity to Draisaitl’s mission and lifting his defensive efficiency.

BLH’s Thoughts: When’s the last time you can remember a team having two league MVPs on their club? For me, it’s the Penguins of the 1990s when they had Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr and those two were as unstoppable as Leon and Connor are today. An argument might be made for Yzerman and Fedorov around that time as well.

Crazy thing is, Draisaitl is doing it as a two-way center where as Lemieux and Jagr were 100% offense only.

We’re living in special times folks…

Spector’s Hockey

ESPN: Emily Kaplan reports sources claim the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights are the sole finalists in the bidding for Jack Eichel.

CALGARY HOCKEY NOW: Steve Macfarland noted the Sabres asking price was set months ago consisting of at least four assets not including those that would have to go the other way for salary-cap purposes. He believes the Flames would have to part with a first-round pick, a top prospect and two young roster players, preferably a forward and defenseman under 25.

CALGARY SUN: Kristen Anderson also weighed in on the cost for the Flames to acquire Eichel. She pointed out the Flames have just over $1 million in cap space, meaning they must shed salary in addition to perhaps parting with younger players like Valimaki, speedy winger Dillon Dube and promising prospect Jakob Pelletier as part of the deal.

BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Jimmy Murphy reports the Boston Bruins likely won’t be involved in any Eichel trade. He cites a well-placed source saying the Bruins are trying to improve their roster but haven’t been involved in the Eichel trade sweepstakes for a while.

**UPDATE: Jack Eichel has been traded with a third rounder in 2023 to the Vegas Golden Knights for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Vegas’ first round pick in 2022 and their 3rd round pick in 2023. **UPDATE**