The second round of cuts for the Edmonton Oilers have been made and I’m not surprised by any of them. Twelve players were sent to Bakersfield this morning and this is a perfect example of how Ken Holland marinates his youngsters. If they’re not making an impact with the Oilers, they’re not playing in Edmonton. Therefore, the Condors will have a strong roster to start the year and as someone who’ll be watching as many of their games as possible, I’m okay with this.
The battle for the final center spot is theoretically down to Colby Cave and Gaetan Haas. At this point in time, I would have to give the edge to Cave right now. He’s just been that tiny bit better than Haas in nearly every aspect. That said, Haas could still come back and claim it but I think it might be an uphill battle.
For Tippett right now:
Cave > Haas
Jurco > NygardHe said he wants to give those players coming over to North America time to acclimate. But at some point, he cautioned, roster decisions need to be made.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) September 20, 2019
We’ve also got an excellent battle going on between Joakim Nygard, Tomas Jurco, Patrick Russell, and possibly Sam Gagner for the remaining open spots on forward. That being in the top-6 on the left-wing as well as the press box seats. Personally, I’ve been impressed with Jurco and Russell more so than Gagner and Nygard.
What happens if Anton Burdasov impresses?…
Then there’s that spot on defense where we have Joel Persson, Evan Bouchard, Ethan Bear, Brandon Manning, William Lagesson. I’m pretty certain that Persson has it wrapped up I’m not going to rule out a roster move or two to fit one or more of these guys into the Oilers opening night roster. Especially with the way Benning has been playing…
Three Players to Watch for the Calgary Flames
These are the projected lines for the Flames,
Mangiapane-Jankowski-Lindholm
Bennett-Backlund-Frolik
Dube-Quine-Smith-Pelly
Lomberg-Gawdin-Rinaldo
Hanifin-Hamonic
Kylington-Stone
Yelesin-Davidson
Rittich
Gillies
Andrew Mangiapane is a shifty little waterbug. Very skilled and very quick. He’ll stand out most definitely. He’s really similar to Dillon Dube but not as physical I’d say.
Oliver Kylington could be Calgary’s next great PP defenseman. He’s a smooth skater who moves the puck very well. He also has a very good shot that is quite accurate.
I’m not 100% sold on the Flames’ goaltending this season and so with that, I’m going to be keeping an eye on their starting netminder, David Rittich. His nickname is “Big Save Dave” and we’ll see if he can live up to that tonight.
Three Players to Watch for the Edmonton Oilers
It’s 2:30 am where I live as I write this and I’d like to have the full roster up for you, but I’ve got to be up in God knows how many hours with the kids and then the hockey game. So I’ll leave you with Mr. Gregor’s tweet regarding who will be playing for Edmonton tonight. My dearest apologies, I hope you understand.
Nygard-Draisaitl-Kassian
Burdasov-RNH-GagnerThe next two lines still to be determined based on a few bumps according to Tippett.
D looks like it could be:
Nurse-Larsson
Lagesson-Bouchard
Manning-BearKoskinen
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) September 20, 2019
Joakim Nygard will be flanking Leon Draisaitl and Zack Kassian. It will be a MASSIVE test for him tonight. If he can show the brass that he’s able to stay above water with two of the Oilers’ three first liners from last season, all the pressure will be on Tomas Jurco.
Anton Burdasov is in tonight! He’ll be playing on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Sam Gagner. Book on him is his skating is average but his shot could be top-ten in the NHL. I’ve been told by a source close to the club that this player is RAW… So manage your expectations accordingly.
William Lagesson has a chance to lock up the 7th dman spot this week. A good performance tonight would go a long way for him given Kris Russell’s questionable health. Rusty is skating now but you never know how these things will go. He’ll be partnered by Evan Bouchard this evening.
With the Flames dressing Lomberg, Rinaldo, Bennett, and Smith-Pelly, do you think there’ll be some rough stuff this evening? I hope so. It wouldn’t really be a Battle of Alberta without it, right?
Who will you be watching closely tonight? Let us know in the comments below!
