Alright, lets just get this out of the way first: the Oilers continued to stink as they went 0-3-0. They had good efforts against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings but were absolutely putrid in the game against Ottawa.
It’s tough to give stars of the week when the entire team sucked, but there are some glimmers of hope.
Edmonton Oilers Three Stars:
3. Jordan Eberle. Eberle had two goals in three games this week, considering how the Oilers are once again, finding it hard to score goals, it’s a nice change to see Eberle stepping up. Sure, he looked lazy on some defensive plays, but Eberle is the best pure goal scorer on the team. He looks good with Connor McDavid. While I think that he’s the most likely to be dealt, I’m see why people are so leery of trading away number 14.
2. Cam Talbot. After posting, and while concerning, sub .900 save percentages in three games straight, Talbot was strong in games against Anaheim and Los Angeles, giving the Oilers a chance to win in those games. Sometimes you need the goalie to stand on his head and Talbot was doing that despite the losses. In the last three games, he averaged .920 save percentage.
1.Brandon Davidson. Hey, Upper Deck. Why does Brandon Davidson not have a Young Gun Rookie Card? Besides Connor McDavid, Davidson has been the best Oiler rookie. He’s so damn calm in his own zone and had an impressive hit against Jake Muzzin of the Los Angeles Kings. He’s a shining example of a rightfully questionable development system: a 6th round pick in 2010 who’s fought cancer, you can’t help but cheer for the young man. There are rumblings that people want him to get a contract extension, but who knows about the price this point.
Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors and News.
It’s that time of the season, one of my favorites: TRADE DEADLINE SEASON!
Then we had Teddy Purcell go to Florida for a 2016 3rd round draft pick.
Also, yesterday Peter Chiarelli had a Press Conference yesterday regarding the trades. I did a post at our friendly neighbors, theoilersrig, recaping the conference.
Rumor wise: The Oilers are interested in Florida Panthers Left Winger, Brandon Pirri.
Also, there was a great article about Wayne Gretzky commenting on Connor McDavid being ready to be the next Edmonton Oilers Captain.
Word is, Oilers had already talked about Teddy Purcell for Brandon Pirri before his ankle injury. So EDM could be landing spot. #FlaPanthers
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) February 28, 2016
Around the NHL:
Hold on to your butts, because there were plenty of trades these last couple days.
One of the biggest trade chips, Andrew Ladd was moved to Chicago for Marko Dano, a 2016 first rounder and a conditional 3rd rounder. Also included to Chicago was Matt Fraser and Jay Harrison.
Chicago wasn’t finished. They flipped Rob Scuderi to Los Angeles for Christian Ehrhoff. and then traded Phillip Danault and a 2018 2nd round pick to Montreal for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann.
San Jose made a spalsh by acquiring James Reimer and Jeremy Morin from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Alex Stalock, Ben Smith and a conditional 4th round pick in 2018. This was the second trade in the week between the two teams as Toronto moved Roman Polak and Nick Spalling to San Jose for two second round picks (in 2017 and 2018) and Raffi Torres.
The Panthers made three moves as well: First they acquired Jiri Hudler for a 2016 2nd round pick and a 2018 4th round pick, picked up Teddy Purcell for a 2016 third round pick and Jakub Kindl for a 6th round pick in 2017.
The Penguins as mentioned above, acquired Justin Schultz from the Edmonton Oilers for a third round pick in 2016.
Highlights
Blake Wheeler was interviewed about the trade of their captain, Andrew Ladd
Here were the top NHL moments from last night
Rakell scored a beauty against the Oilers on Friday night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrCHGjeDdto
The Week Ahead:
The Oilers have three games, including one tonight at 7:30 against the New York Islanders.
Next they have a three game road trip including the first McDavid vs Eichel showdown in Buffalo on Tuesday, A visit to Philadelphia on Thursday and finally facing the Blue Jackets on Friday.
And of course, tomorrow is the NHL tradedeadline. I know I’ll be glued for updates.
That’s the week that was, follow me on Twitter for some really stunning insight (okay, maybe some insight, not truly stunning). Have a great week guys!
