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.ca
- Ideally, they are the players who are occupying those roles (first line, second line, etc) but it rarely works that way. Here are the current Oilers forwards and their ranks at five-on-five per 60 among the 384 most deployed forwards in the league this season.
- Leon Draisaitl 3.05 (No. 14) First Line
- Connor McDavid 2.71 (No. 30) First Line
- Jesse Puljujarvi 2.14 (No. 80) First Line
- Zach Hyman 2.10 (No. 84) First Line
- Zack Kassian 1.95 (No. 106) Second Line
- Warren Foegele 1.70 (No. 154) Second Line
- Ryan McLeod 1.52 (No. 190) Second Line (just shy of qualifying)
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 1.41 (No. 209) Third Line
- Kailer Yamamoto 1.05 (No. 279) Third Line
- This is very good. Music!
BLH’s Thoughts: Music indeed! It makes sense though that as the Oilers grow older and get better that their numbers also grow with them. It’s a real indication, along with their place in the standings, that this team is on the up and up and if one of Connor or Leon miss some time (knock on wood), the team isn’t up shit creek without a paddle.
I will say though, do Kassian and Yamamoto deserve to be up there? They’re both producing at 4th line paces. That might be something Ken Holland needs to address this year…
I'm wondering if it would be worth Tippett's time to see what Foegele would look like on Leon's wing.
He had a lot of success playing with Jordan Staal and Drai is similar sized and style (but better, of course)
Yamo ain't pissing a drop in the top-six this year… https://t.co/ytcVnaViq2
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) December 4, 2021
Cult of Hockey
Promotion for the Bison King plus Kailer Yamamoto slips into new job that might suit him very well
- Zach Hyman and Kailer Yamamoto are the two best defensive wingers on the Edmonton Oilers. Having them with McDavid frees him up to take on more of an attacking role, as he can be more certain that one of Hyman or Yamamoto will cover for him, especially in the defensive slot where little Yamamoto is a cagey and effective defender.
- JP is one of the Oil’s top attackers. It settled down the third line to have him play there, as he’s also a decent defensive winger, but his real value to Edmonton is in a Top Six role.
- When it comes to making major contributions to Grade A shots, McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins and Puljujari are all well ahead of their pace from last season.
- Drai has gone from 4.0 major contributions to Grade A shots per game to 6.0, McD 5.4 to 6.3, RNH 2.9 to 3.5, JP 2.0 to 2.7.
BLH’s Thoughts: So, how did the line changes work for you against Seattle? They didn’t last very long, did they? Par for the course with Tippett when shit hits the fan and the Oilers find themselves chasing a game, isn’t it?
Wouldn’t it make more sense if Edmonton could deploy wave after wave of offense when they’re down a goal or two? I mean, I suppose it would help if they weren’t icing a handful of rookies on defense, but I think you get the gist of what I’m saying.
What I’m noticing is that it doesn’t matter where you put Pulju, he’s going to produce throughout. Yamamoto on the other hand… Things are still up in the air with him.
There are some whispers out there that Mike Smith could be out long-term…
We'll see if that's the case in the next month or so… #LetsGoOilers
— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) December 4, 2021
The Daily Goal Horn
- Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff recently put out his top trade targets list and ranked Tarasenko third. “He’s still hoping that the Blues will in turn honor his desire to be moved,” Seravalli writes. “His trade request from the summer has not been rescinded.”
- “Ben Chiarot, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, I spoke with a few contending teams today who value him greatly and here’s a guy who can absolutely fetch a first-round pick given the dearth of rental defensemen available,” Pierre LeBrun said on Insider Trading… Several of those contenders looking for some help on defense are potentially the Islanders, Avalanche, Leafs, and Oilers.
- With so many former quality NHL head coaches available, how long before we see a change behind the bench?
- Philadelphia’s skid has now reached three straight losses to go with being winless in their last seven… In two plus seasons as Philly’s bench boss his record is 74-53-19. That’s good for .572 points percentage, but likely not good enough if the losses keep coming. The rumor mill already has former Flyers fan favorite Rick Tocchet as AV’s successor.
- The situation is bad in Vancouver and despite (Travis) Green getting a contract extension this offseason, it doesn’t make his job any safer.
- (Todd) McLellan, 54, is entering his third season with the Los Angeles Kings. After a solid start, his Kings have faltered and are sporting a 9-9-4 record. If GM Rob Blake believes this is a playoff team now that Drew Doughty is back, could he bring in the fiery John Tortorella as a replacement? That would be interesting.
