Edmonton Oilers Playoff Talk: “There’s no way Archibald should have outplayed Puljujarvi…”

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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Lowetide

Darnell Nurse is hurt, to the point where Jay Woodcroft is going to need to move him down the depth chart. Brett Kulak can move up, he’s not as physical but he can fly. Edmonton needs speed against the top lines.
The Oilers got screwed by the offside call last night. It was a ridiculous call. You are allowed to be angry about it. You can also look forward to a make-up call later in the series.
The Oilers can win this series. The club needs to tighten up, and find out if Mike Smith’s fever streak is over, but this team can outscore damn near anything.

BLH’s Thoughts: Is it me or did the day after game one of the Calgary series sound just like this sans the goal controversy? I think in that game everyone was mad because Tkachuk got to come out of the box, not Kylington, after a post-whistle scrum and he went ahead and scored a key goal.

I feel like Woodcroft takes a game to get a feel for the other team and the drops the hammer like Ivan Drago’s trainer in Rocky 4. He’s done it in the two previous series and it wouldn’t shock me at all if tonight’s game looked very different.

The Oilers aren’t going to get a make-up call later in the series that will have the same levity as that Makar call in game one. That was the hockey gods or the Peterborough Mafia or the league evening things up from that Blake Coleman goal that was called back in game five vs. the Flames. The men (man) in charge decided that they were going to call the letter of the law for once instead of going with the spirit of it. It will come back and bite them in the ass now that everybody knows you don’t need to have textbook “possession” of the puck when crossing the blue line in the event that you’ve got a teammate in an offside position. As long as he tags up, all is good. Watch now, there will be set plays built of of this. It would’ve been better for the league to own up to the bad call and say they made a mistake…

Oilers fans and media need to stop dissecting the play, stop complaining (good luck), and move on. Edmonton got their call against Calgary and now they’re the victims of a call against them. It happens.

As for Nurse, I distinctly remember him coming back in game two against Calgary and him being very good. I wouldn’t expect anything less tonight.

With regards to curtailing Nurse’s TOI and giving it to Kulak. I fully support that idea. I’d rather have Darnell play very good in the limited minutes he’s given than him get beat time and time again because the coaching staff feels what he can give is better than anybody else on the roster. The fact of the matter is, his upper body is compromised and his whole game and what he does well requires the use of said upper body. Bob Stauffer has intimated that it’s something that will require surgery in the off-season and if that’s really the case, it’s time to elevate others like Kulak.

Would I sit Nurse and go 11-7, I don’t know. I’m not 100% certain that Philip Broberg or Kris Russell would be any better than a banged up Darnell. Philly would be able to keep up with the Avs quick skaters and he’s big enough to handle them but he’s still very green and there’d be brain farts. Rusty will block a ton of shots and hit dudes, but the wingers would have to get ready for a steady diet of passes off the glass.

Now, it is only game two, so if there’s a time to experiment, it’s probably now before the series gets out of hand.

One has to wonder if there’s an opportunity to stifle Colorado’s zone entries by inserting Markus Niemelainen? If you let the Avs walk right into your house without ringing the doorbell first, they’re going to drink your beer, hide your TV remote, piss all over the toilet seat, and leave the fridge open all whilst tracking their muddy feet everywhere. Maybe it’s time to add a watch dog to the family home.

All I know is that each time the Oilers have gotten shellacked, they’ve come back stronger than ever and the Avalanche are ripe for payback. I expect Edmonton to win tonight but there’s a part of me that is saying the Avs to way too good too…

In Woody I trust.

The Athletic

Why the Oilers should play Dylan Holloway against the Avalanche

There’s no indication the Oilers will do it. In fact, I’ve been told it won’t happen two different times during the playoffs.
…he could do no worse than the fourth-line wing options that continue to be trotted out there, namely Josh Archibald.
…they could use the influx of pace lower down in the lineup against the Avalanche, even though the coach might disagree.
The Oilers aren’t likely to be able to dictate the terms of the game on their opponent this time, at least the way they’re constructed now.
The shame about the situation is that Holloway would likely have been a regular by now had he not been hampered by two injuries.
…no one can know for sure what he can bring to the ice at the NHL level. That it’s the playoffs now only heightens those concerns.
Barring a change in philosophy, I’m told there would need to be multiple injuries before the Oilers considered inserting Holloway into the lineup for a playoff game.
The Oilers need a boost. Between Holloway, Brassard, Devin Shore and Brad Malone, I know who I’d look to change the mix up front.
Though the fourth line finally scored a goal last night… It’s been outscored 6-1 in the postseason and also been caved in from a possession standpoint.
There’s no way Archibald should have outplayed Puljujarvi by 79 seconds at five-on-five in the series opener.
Archibald had the fourth-worst expected goals percentage (34 percent) on the team in Game 1, per Natural Stat Trick.

BLH’s Thoughts: Jesus… DNB should’ve titled this post, “Why I Hate Josh Archibald and How I Don’t Understand Roster Dynamics in the Post-Season.”

The reality of the situation is DNB hasn’t been a fan of Archibald for some time here and he’s been very much for the promotion of Dylan Holloway all year.

(Quotes are from a mail-bag article posted on 4/9/22)

“It’s hard to envision how he’s going to have an impactful role down the stretch and in the playoffs.” – DNB on Archibald

Yikes… Why was it hard to envision? Everybody knows what kind of player Josh Archibald is and what his importance to the team was (is).

“…a team source told me recently that it’s very likely we’ll see Holloway get an audition with the big club before the end of the season.”

Probably time to get a new source…

“…while Holloway playing for the Oilers is not set in stone, expect it to happen.”

Nailed another one! I’m probably being a tad harsh on DNB here because everybody in the business of breaking NHL news knows that anything can happen at any time and that things change all of the time.

“The other thing I was told is Holloway would almost certainly start his Oilers career on the third line. The organization is trying to find that happy medium between not putting too much pressure on the 2020 first-round pick while putting him in a position to exhibit his skills and make an impact.”

So If that’s the case and it remains true, which 3rd liner should be sat for a rookie?

I don’t know, I get why folks are asking for Holloway to come in at the expense of Josh Archibald, but at the same time I feel like nobody is pointing out anything substantial with regards to their belief that Archie is playing poor. Do you know what I mean? Nobody (that I’ve noticed) is posting clips of him turning the puck over and that mistake resulting in a goal against. I’ve not seen anybody online show me a specific example of Archibald hitting a guy and taking himself out of a play that ended with the puck in Edmonton’s net and that’s a huge problem. So at this point we’re just talking about +/- basically and I’m of the belief that the post-season is too small of a time frame to put a lot of importance in the publicly available fancies anyhow. That leaves us with what to rely on? The eye-test? History?

Would I like to see a Holloway/McLeod/Puljujarvi line right now? Hell Yes! I think that would be dynamite and if everything pans out, maybe something we could expect next season! But with that, I’m disregarding the importance of Warren Foegele’s presence alongside Cloudy and Pulju as well as Archie and Kass’ role on the 4th line. We haven’t even mentioned Derek Ryan and how key he is when it comes to being a right-shot faceoff specialist.

Quick one on Jesse. He’s my man, you know that, but at the same time when he gets the puck in stride, his feet stop moving. He’s at his best (right now) when the puck is down low or along the wall. I like that he’s hitting and blocking shots too, but on a line with McLeod and Foegele, he’s supposed to be the offensive presence and for whatever reason that monkey on his back is choking him out. I’m concerned. The club needs some point production from him and he’s not providing it but on the other hand, does he need to if while he’s on the ice everything is tilted in Edmonton’s favor?

Anyway…

Bottom line, there are vets ahead of Holloway on the depth chart and the 4th line provides a certain style of play that the coaching staff values. Those that disagree with that only have to wait until the summer when Holland moves Kassian and Archibald signs in the US. That said, they may be disappointed when he brings in cheaper versions of them and forces Holloway and Broberg to earn their spot on the team.

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey

Sara Civian suggested Waddell explore the “elite goal scorer” market this summer. She pointed out the Hurricanes lacked a scorer in the top-20 this season despite being among the NHL’s best teams.
Jim Thomas reports Blues GM Doug Armstrong doesn’t believe his roster needs major changes… Armstrong acknowledged the salary cap will affect efforts to re-sign key UFAs David Perron, Ville Husso and Nick Leddy.

NHLRumors.com

“Every team that didn’t win the first round, that felt like they should’ve won the first round, has to be looking at a piece like J.T. Miller… Look at Florida. I’ve mentioned a couple of teams that didn’t get out of the first round but the Florida Panthers have to be reeling after getting swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning.” – Darren Dreger
Jimmy Murphy of Montreal Hockey NOW: Talk has been going on for some time but Eric Girard has sparked speculation a Quebec franchise is at least being discussed.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Again, Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators have been in the news. Would Dorion consider moving the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft?