McJesus Down and Trades Upcoming? Oilers Rumblings Abound

So our Gord and Saver is out with a collarbone in half. The pessimists would say that sounds about right considering the Oilers luck and the optimists would tell you that at least it wasn’t his head or shoulder. The stats guys would have a formula to calculate the speed at which he was going and the angle of the shot forced bla bla bla bla… The old school hockey fan would say that even the best get hurt but they always come back and refer you to Bobby Orr or Mario Lemieux or more likely Wayne Gretzky.

As I was watching that play the first thing I said to myself was, “There it is.” It was too much good too fast for the Oilers. There was no way the Oilers were lucky enough to have a player of McDavid’s caliber lighting up the league like he was. Then there’s the curse going on, whether you call it the Oilers rookie curse (Hall and RNH both when down with big injuries in their rookie year) or maybe it’s the Calder curse (no Oiler has won the rookie of the year… ever). Either way it’s some serious bad luck. If you believe in luck…

McDavid WILL bounce back from this to win the Calder trophy. Special players find away to make magic and Connor McDavid is a special player. He’ll come back and pick up where he left off and it’ll be so amazing they’ll have to give him the trophy.

The other reason I’m not down on this injury as much is number 29. Leon Draisaitl has come in guns ablaze (7pts in 3gms) and I’m loving it. He’ll get moved to McDavid’s spot and according to the latest line combos he’ll also get Jordan Eberle on his other wing. You couldn’t ask for a more cherry spot for the German to succeed in.

Speaking of lineup changes, what happens to this defense when Justin Schultz comes back? The young tanks on the back end have played fairly well with the veterans sitting. Surely we wouldn’t see Gryba, Ference, AND Mark Fayne sitting in the pressbox. There’s simply too many bodies unless someone else goes on the IR which IS possible. And I don’t think you can send Nurse back now either. So somebody has to go… How about Nikita Nikitin… What?

Were you as surprised as I was when you saw the report from Bob McKenzie saying the Avs were interested in his services? Well as I was listening to Paul Almeida and Lowetide talk about the Oilers roster yesterday and how they were talking about picking up another center, it got me thinking. What about sending Anton Lander and Nikita Niktin (50% salary retained) to the Avs for center John Mitchell?

John Mitchell is 30 years old and has one more year left after this season worth $1.8 million per year. He’s a very serviceable player that can play multiple positions in the middle six. He’s a veteran player and I’m wondering if the Oilers are starting to sour on Lander’s wishy washy performances. I think the only thing hold him back might be his fancy stats. They aren’t that impressive (CF% 43.86 but Matt Duchene, who’s considered a very good hockey player, is sitting at 43.91. So take that for what it’s worth) on a less than stellar Colorado Avalanche team.

Even if a deal like that was made, what happens after Xmas when McDavid comes back? Well Someone in the top 6 has to move and I’m thinking it might be Leon. Now he doesn’t have to be traded, he could be moved to the 3C role depending on if a trade is made or if Anton Lander is still sucking the hind tit. Then they’d finally have that McDavid-Nuge-Draisaitl trio they’ve been wanting.

But do you really want Draisaitl playing with Lauri Korpikoski and Teddy Purcell? I think he needs to play with guys that can put the puck in the net, right? So hear me out… Check these line combos.

Draisaitl-McDavid-Yakupov
Hall-Nuge-Eberle
Pouliot-Hendricks-Purcell
Korpikoski-Letestu-Lander

OR

Eberle-McDavid-Yakupov
Hall-Nuge-Draisaitl
Pouliot-Lander-Purcell
Hendricks-Letestu-Korpikoski

There’s also the possibility that McLellan sticks Hendricks back up into the top 6 but I think that’s pretty far fetched unless Eberle struggles in his system. But I digress.

We know at the moment that the kids can play. They’re showing us each and every game. Combine that with the likes of Hall, Nuge, and Eberle entering their primes and we just might have a team that can take care of themselves. I still think they need some muscle up front but that’s for another blog.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Take Care!

BLH (@beerleagueheroe)

Even though Connor McDavid is out with an injury that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t find a way to stay warm and look cool at the same time. Head over to the BLH Merch Shop and take a gander and some of the Oilers themed tee and hoodie designs. There’s something there for everyone and the prices can’t be beat!

Check out Ryan Robinson’s new Oilers vlog here. He’s not a fan of Connor McDavid’s nickname and he refers to the “good book” in this one. Now I’m not a religious fellow even though I’ve spent my fair share of time in Churches (Shout out the Camrose Community Church) but I’m pretty certain that the only people that are getting pissy about the nickname are those that take life a tad too seriously. The other thing I’m pretty certain of is that if you’re spending time crusading against those that use the moniker, you’re wasting your time and life is short, there are better things to be doing. Surely the good Gord himself would say the same.

That being said Mr.Robinson does make some very valid points in his vlog Here’s the vid: