Here we are at game three of the 2018/19 season and we’re already into “Must-Win” territory. Is that f*cking insane or what?
The Oilers have lost both of their games so far to teams who are playing very well to start the year. Fair play to Boston and New Jersey could be said and bad luck to Edmonton could also be said.
The New Jersey game was a travesty of an effort but the Boston game was near completely opposite in terms of the compete level and I think Edmonton simply had poor puck luck. Here’s what I mean,
- Goal #2 for Boston bounces off of Caggiula’s leg through Benning and Talbot – FLUKE
- RNH hits a post on the PP – Bad Luck
- RNH hits another post in the 3rd where the puck straddles the goalline – More Bad Luck
In a league where one goal can be the difference between 2pts or no points at all, those three examples gone the other way might’ve meant a 1-1-0 start for the Oilers, not a 0-2-0 start.
Yet, as I awoke today I read that the Oilers are in this “Must-Win” situation and I can agree with it to an extent. The New York Rangers are the least likely team to beat the Oilers this month but usually when Edmonton meets an opponent like that, it’s a closer game than not.
But let’s look at the teams Edmonton will play this month because I think there are flaws in their rosters that the Oilers could bring to light.
- New York Rangers – New coach, new systems/philosophies, young defense that is vulnerable.
- Winnipeg Jets – Win the bottom-6 battle. Jets are starting slow w/4pts in 4 games.
- Boston Bruins – 1 line team. Shut it down for better success. Slow defence.
- Nashville Predators (2x) – Yikes. Hope that their goalie shites the bed?
- Pittsburgh Penguins – Pray that Matt Murray is still out by then?
- Washington Capitals – Win the special teams battle.
- Chicago Blackhawks – Get McDavid on the ice every time Manning is out there.
- Minnesota Wild – Take advantage of the Wild’s aging slower roster.
Personally, I think it’s as possible the Oilers could win 5 out of the 9 games here. The Rangers, Wild, Blackhawks, Jets, and Bruins are all teams I could envision Edmonton taking 2 pts from.
The line in the sand sits at 5-5-1 or false .500. Right now the Oilers are 0-2-0, so that means they need to go 5-3-1 for the rest of the month. So here’s to hoping they take some of the monsters they’re about to play to OT a couple of times.
Losing to New York will only pour gas on the fire though…
Will the Oilers Fire McLellan and/or Chiarelli This Month?
I talked to a friend of mine who used to work with OEG and she said that she’d talked to some people who are still working there and when they went to work today (Friday), it was like walking into a morgue.
Then you have Uber insider Elliotte Friedman saying on Calgary radio and then again on Oilers Now on Friday that it’s tense in Edmonton and everyone is feeling it.
I have said before that I wouldn’t be surprised if the Oilers let McLellan go in October and that’s not a new sentiment online. It’s a pretty quaint scenario actually because the Oilers’ schedule gets a bit easier after this month and if they find a way to turn things around, McLellan can be blamed and the new coach praised.
Now should he be fired? I think it’s probably time to at least consider some new blood and I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment but there will be some who think that we’re only 2 games into an 82-game season and this kind of talk is silly. To them, I’d say that they are right except the performances and results are simply a continuation of last season.
There will also be those who think that Katz won’t fire McLellan because he’s got term left on his deal. In the past, I would share those sentiments but we must not forget that after the game in Dallas last year, Katz wanted a coaching change. And it’s probably not a coincidence that Bovada has McLellan as the odds-on favorite to be the first coach axed.
Gregor reported on his show Friday that the players told McLellan in their exit interviews last year that they line shuffling was something that got to them and now he’s also said that Manny Viveiros isn’t running the PP, a job he was brought in to do. McLellan hasn’t really integrated Chiarelli’s new signings into the roster as best as he could either and don’t forget Chiarelli axed McLellan’s long-time assistants over the summer.
Look at that picture closely. I have never attended an NHL practice so maybe this is completely normal but when the coach is speaking don’t you normally look at him? I see more than one player in that pic gazing at the ice and that possibly says something about how the players are taking the coach’s directions. Then again, maybe the players are being lit into. In that case, nobody wants to make eye contact with the aggressor.
Is McLellan’s ego getting in the way? Is he keeping the lines the way they are, like Yamamoto on the 2nd line and Pulju on the 3rd or the d-pairings or the all-lefty PP unit for example, in spite?
See, I’ve always been confused by McLellan’s “earn it” philosophy. Like, how has Matt Benning earned it? Does his play in the first two games of the year tell us that Benning is ready for the season or does it tell us that maybe he should take a game or two to watch from the press box and Jason Garrison given a chance to show what he’s got?
When asked about Puljujarvi, Craig Button echoed that feeling on Gregor’s Friday show.
Strudwick: I believe that Jesse Puljujarvi is where he should be and if he wants to move up he has to earn that, do you see that as well Craig?
Button: In the same breath, has Kailer Yamamoto earned it?
Later on in the conversation Button had this to say,
Yamamoto and Puljujarvi are similar ages, 98 borns. Yamamoto’s resume isn’t even close to Puljujarvi’s.
Can’t argue with that, can you? The other thing that Jesse has that Yamamoto doesn’t is a shot. Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to give Leon on his right-wing? Someone who can shoot the pill? Yamamoto doesn’t have an NHL-level shot. Yet.
But for some reason, this coaching staff are fully on-board Yamamoto Airlines and have given Puljujarvi the middle seat between the McCrary Twins.
Of course, Button goes on to say how poorly the Oilers have handled Puljujarvi since they drafted him and even mentions him in the same breath as Markus Naslund in the event of a trade. The second person to make such comparison, first being Bob Stauffer earlier in the day.
If you’re not sure about the reference, Markus Naslund was a promising player for the Pittsburgh Penguins but was taking a bit longer to realize his potential. Pittsburgh got impatient and dealt him to the Vancouver Canucks, where he realized his potential to say the least, for a tough guy by the name of Alex Stojanov. The rest is history.
So what I mean by that is, Yamamoto can play a grinding game because he’s got that mindset instilled into him from playing as the smallest guy on the ice his whole life and having bigger players roughing him up but he can also play a skilled game to compliment top-6 centers. Pulju needs to have skilled linemates who see the ice like him, who’ll give him the puck in stride, and the only place we find those players on the Edmonton roster is in the top-6.Tell me if I’m out to lunch here with this next thought. I see Kailer Yamamoto as the kind of player that you can basically plug and play with many different kinds of linemates and that’s awesome to have that sort of versatility whereas Jesse Puljujarvi needs to play with players of skill.
So Puljujarvi has gone to the minors and played significant amounts of time there in his first two seasons and now he’s getting his first taste of full-time NHL hockey. I’d say he’s “earned it”, no?
How much time has Kailer Yamamoto spent in the minors? Why doesn’t he have to climb the ladder as Jesse did? What is he doing that is so much better than Pulju that he’s not required to go the same route? Draisaitl spent time in the AHL as did Nurse, and Klefbom. It just doesn’t make sense to me other than perhaps they’re waiting for Chiasson to be ready to go before sending Kailer down.
This is the one roster management question I have that bugs the shite out of me. If the Oilers give Jesse the same amount of time with Leon and Milan as they do with Kailer, I can same with near certainty that Pulju will outscore Yamo.
But it all comes back to McLellan, is he listening to his players and doing as they wish or is he just being obtuse?
As for Chiarelli, man has he screwed the pooch the last two off-seasons. Not that he’s been helped by the injury to Sekera this summer but I think he’s safe in that he’s employed not only as general manager but also president of hockey operations. So the Oilers might just remove the GM tag from him and scoot him upstairs.
In my opinion, the playoffs are the only thing saving the jobs of the coaching staff and the management staff this season IF they survive the opening month. It would make the most sense to make the changes in October IF the organization was looking to salvage the season.
