Edmonton Oilers Talk: Domi, Holtby, Kane, Georgiev, and More!

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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Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers Head Coach Jay Woodcroft’s “special sauce”: 9 Things

Just 76 games in, this is already the 3rd highest points total for the franchise since 1987-88 (99). The Oilers won a cup that year. The 2^nd best was 2005-06 (95), when the club went to the cup final. They may still eclipse both.
Oilers 180^th over-all selection in the 2021 draft has a shot. Matvey Petrov is up to 88 points in 62 games for the North Bay Battalion of the OHL and is +31.
…it is clear veteran D-man Kris Russell is still capable of having an impact as an NHL player. He has played a meaningful on-ice role in the club’s last 2 victories.
…among Ken Holland’s moves the Evander Kane signing has had the biggest overall impact. It has allowed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to instead slot in at 3C where he can win a lot of matchups, and leave Ryan McLeod at 4C…where any young player has a better chance at success.
Puljujarvi has been far from bad. His defensive game has remained dependable. And he is doing lots right in the O-Zone. Jesse has at least one shot in 19 of his last 20 games. And he has multiple shots in 14 of those 20. To my eyes, the lone issue is that Puljujarvi appears to lack high-level finish. Just remember the long dry spell Kailer Yamamoto had in the middle of the season.
Warren Foegele is playing his best hockey as an Oiler. And now at 12 goals on the season he is just one off his career high… The “acquisition price,” Ethan Bear (who I have always been a fan of) is barely keeping his head above water as a 3^rd pairing D-man for Carolina. Bear’s TOI has fallen off from 18:59/game in his career to just 16:00 this season. At this moment in time, Bear is not a better D-man than either Tyson Barrie or Brett Kulak, the men currently occupying the Oilers bottom pairing.
The Oilers are 21-8-3 under Jay Woodcroft. As much as numerous Oilers watchers (including me) did not believe Dave Tippett was the main thing that ailed this club, it is clear the change behind the bench has had a positive impact.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m not saying these two players are equals or that they’ll follow the same path, but Kirill Maksimov in his draft +1 season with the Niagara Ice Dogs (OHL) had 80pts in 62 games and was +23 and there was lots of positive reviews with him too. Eventually though, Maksimov got to Bakersfield and for whatever reason couldn’t cut it and was released. So, the question with Petrov will be, where will his development best be served in ’22/’23? In Bakersfield where he might be a 3rd line winger or in North Bay where he’ll get big minutes but the level of play will be lower? Maksimov went back for his draft +2 season and basically leveled off… This is something the club would like to avoid I imagine.

I feel for Jesse, he’s getting some mad chances recently and they’re just not going in. All he needs is to get himself a real dirty one or a empty-netter and a massive weight will be lifted off his shoulders. He mustn’t stop going to the dangerous areas though or that funk will sink its teeth right into him and won’t let go.

That said, I think what Jess could work on this summer is his puckhandling. He’s not Seb Aho and he doesn’t have Patty Laine’s shot, but with how much his skating has improved from the start of his career to now, should he put the same effort into improving his hands (and/or his shot) as he did his boots, I reckon that he’ll see some ridiculous gains for next season.

Imagine that scenario, if that all came together, we’d be looking at a better version or Mikko Rantanen.

It’s been REAL quiet on Oilers Twitter regarding Ethan Bear for some time now… But you watch, those anti-Holland folks will pipe up if Carolina makes some noise this April/May regardless of if Bear impacts it.

I’ll say this though, when the rink shrinks for playoff hockey, who’s going to have a bigger impact within their given roles, Foegele or Bear? I’d bet my neighbor’s cat that it’ll be guys like Foegele making guy’s like Bear nightmares.

Oil on Whyte

2 More Free Agent Targets For The Edmonton Oilers

32 year old Stanley Cup Champion goaltender Braden Holtby has played 24 games with the Dallas Stars this season, and has amassed a 10-10-1 record with a 2.78GAA and a .913sv%.
I truly believe Holtby would thrive in a backup leadership role with the team. I can see Holtby costing $800k-$1.1M AAV on a 1-2 year deal.
27 year old Max Domi has put up 36 points in 65 games this season, and was picked up by the Hurricanes at the deadline with one year left on his contract.
If the Oilers bring him in, on a cheap 1-2 year deal ranging around $1.5M-$2M. He could run the 3C/4C slots and bring the much needed non existent offensive side to the Oilers bottom 6.

BLH’s Thoughts: I like the Holtby option but as I’ve said numerous times previous, Ville Husso will be the no.1 target this summer and if the Oilers do get him, they’ll find a new home for Mike Smith afterwards.

Domi would be a rad option too because he’s a hot head who plays the game hard. Plus, if I’m not mistaken, I think he’s played with McDavid before on a few occasions. If it were me, the #1 thing I’d be looking at him for is his physicality as well as some gamesmanship and if he brought some offense, great. However, don’t be shocked if he heads to Anaheim to help out the kids there at the recommendation of Domi family friend, Teemu Selanne.

I don’t know if Holland is going to make a big forward splash on the UFA market this off-season. My feeling is that he’s going to try his best to keep Evander Kane along with the current crop of RFAs (Pulju, Yamo, McLeod) and then if there’s some change left over, maybe some beef for the bottom six. Could he find the cap room to bring in Nic Deslauriers or John Hayden?

You know who is an absolute wrecking ball? Bokondji Imama. This guy has got to be one of the toughest players in pro hockey today. I’ve seen him send a few guys to the canvas over the years here.

He’s only 25 years old and he’ll be a UFA, but you have to know there’s a reason he’s not made it to the NHL full-time yet, and there’s the rub. If I’ve got it right, I would assume that any big bodied bottom sixer that is brought to Edmonton this summer will also need to be able to help out on the PK like Deslauriers can and that’s because you can’t have guys sitting on the bench for too long or they’ll get cold. Kassian used to be that guy, but alas, not so much anymore.

I’m just saying though, if the Oilers need a true policeman in the vein of a Big Georges or Semenko, Imama’s a real decent bargain priced option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoj-VVZbmCY

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey: Darren Dreger, said (Jake)Allen was a much sought-after asset leading up to last month’s trade deadline.
- Should (Carey) Price agree to accept a trade, (Marco) D’Amico believes they’ll need to find a long-term replacement. UFA options could include Ville Husso or Darcy Kuemper.
- Andy Strickland recently tweeted that Vladimir Tarasenko has “made it clear to teammates and coaches” that he wants to stay with the St. Louis Blues.
- Flames management could be forced to choose between Gaudreau or Tkachuk. However, Boylen suggests they could garner cap relief to sign both by buying out the remaining year of center Sean Monahan’s contract.
- Ben Kuzma recently reported Alex Chiasson’s resurgent performance this season is showing value to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Daily Goal Horn: There’s been plenty of rumors surrounding Georgiev, including both the Golden Knights and Oilers kicking tires on him this season.
The Hockey Writers: Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times provided a number of quotes from Blackhawks’ captain Jonathan Toews who is anything but impressed with the way his team is closing out this season. Pope wonders if it would be best for both sides to find a change of scenery next season.
- Pope mentioned that Toews has requested more sitdowns with GM Kyle Davidson on a regular basis to “know exactly what’s going on in some detail” and some are led to believe that will lead to him deciding this isn’t the best place for him to finish out his career.

BLH’s Thoughts: It’s going to be a WILD summer…