Edmonton Oilers Rumors: “If he starts out hot, things are going to intensify in a hurry.”

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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The Hockey Writers

Oilers’ Power Play Can Reach New Levels with Hyman & Puljujarvi

It’s hard to imagine that their power play could become more dangerous than it already is, but below are two factors that can help the team reach new heights with the man advantage.

Net-Front Presence

Last season, Holland had a front row view of watching Hyman work at his craft. In a three-game miniseries, he watched his team go winless against the Maple Leafs. What Holland saw in Hyman was a pest in front of the net on the power play, and he was often in the face of Oilers’ goaltender Mike Smith.

The Ovechkin Spot

Adding Puljujarvi to the power play on a fulltime basis can take their special teams to the next level. While the net-front-presence role is an opportunity Hyman can excel at, it’s worthwhile to see how Puljujarvi would fair, if he’s put in a position to unleash his hard shot. I’d like to see him in one particular spot — taking one-timers on his off-wing on the power play.

BLH’s Thoughts: I suppose both of things make sense. Personally, I think Hyman will take over the net-front role on the first unit PP, but it’s completely within the realm of possibility that both he and Pulju could share that job as James Neal and Alex Chiasson did in the past.

Myself, I like the idea of throwing Jesse on the left wall for the one-timer, but I’m not sure the coaching staff shares my opinion. I’m wondering if they prefer Nuge’s quicker hands and feet, plus getting the puck over to him opens up a cross-seam lane to Leon now and then for a one-timer of his own. If you think about it, the Oilers have their own Ovechkin spot, it’s called the Draisaitl spot.

To put it plainly, Pulju is a better fit for the net-front because he’s bigger, stronger, has a longer reach, and makes it a helluva lot more difficult for the opposition defenders to deal with than if he were on the wing.

The Athletic

Warren Foegele Q&A

What’s the summer been like preparing to play for a new team?

I think the word that comes to my mind is ‘excitement.’ I’m super excited to join such an historic franchise in the Oilers.

Your former coach Rod Brind’Amour once called you “a perfect Carolina Hurricane.” What do you think he meant by that?

I remember when he said that. It was when I made the team. Going into that year, I wasn’t pegged to make the team. He liked the way that I played and how hard I worked. I wasn’t the first-round pick. He just thought that I earned it.

How then do you become a perfect Oiler, too?

I think I’m just going to come in here and play my game — and that’s working hard on both sides of the puck. I take a lot of pride in playing good defence and shutting down top players.

I’ve heard you’re interested in analytics. How often do you analyze your game from that perspective, and what areas are you most focused on?

I wouldn’t say I’m into analytics. I think I’m just into trying to get information to become a better player, whether that’s analytics or any part of the game.

Last season, you drew 11 penalties in a shortened year. How what’s your secret?

I don’t think there’s a secret. It’s just working so hard and moving my feet. Most of the penalties that get called against me are usually stick infractions or I’m trying to move my feet and they bring me down. That’s how I get them.

BLH’s Thoughts: That was a pretty meh interview if you ask me. The questions were a bit vanilla and Foegele’s replies were pretty stock. I didn’t glean a whole lot and the excerpts I included above were probably the best of the bunch (and it was a longer post too.), but I encourage you to head over and read the whole thing to judge for yourself IF you have a subscription to The Athletic.

The Daily Goal Horn

Rangers and Zibanejad Working on Long-Term Deal

“Individuals familiar with the situation have indicated that the parties share the mutual objective of getting something done and are earnest in trying to reach that end,” Larry Brooks wrote in his Rangers Insider
Brooks points out the Flyers 8 year deal of #1 center, Sean Couturier at $7.75 million per season could work in the Rangers favor.

Phil Kessel Trade Talk Expected to Pick Up

Arizona paid out his $5M bonus on July 1st. That means he’s only owed $1 million in actual salary which could be perfect for some teams with cap space, but are also looking to be fiscally sound.
“There were some conversations around the draft,” Elliotte Friedman said. “If he starts out hot, things are going to intensify in a hurry.”

Injured Penguins may have interest in Tyler Bozak

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby will miss a minimum of six weeks after undergoing a procedure on his left wrist Wednesday… The Pens are also without Evgeni Malkin at training camp after knee surgery with no definitive timetable to return.
That has some wondering if Tyler Bozak would be a fit with the Penguins.