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Oil on Whyte
Edmonton Oilers Weeks 3 and 4: What’s Working and What’s Not?
- Humming along to the tune of a 4-3 split in goal share and 57.3% chance share (63.3% xGF, as well), the pairing (Nurse/Bouchard) is performing at the level you’d hope for from your top pairing across all aspects of the game.
- Drai has been on the ice for 8 goals while conceding just 2 and has acted as the catalyst for the success of both his linemates and the team. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was the captain! Dominant performances, key plays in key game-situations, unselfish plays to help struggling teammates, off-ice interviews that seem to set the tone for the team- he’s doing it all.
- Hyman’s efforts are paying dividends. He’s been a tone-setter with fast, aggressive, and responsible play and is helping control the flow of play when he’s out there. With a 4-2 goal split and a dominant 67% chance share, he’s showing much of the same skillset that made him a major UFA target.
- Any discussion of the team’s success would be incomplete without a reflection on Koskinen’s play. While he still has his weaknesses, he has done well to give his team a chance to win on most nights by posting 5 wins, a 91.0% save percentage and allowing 17 goals over the past 6 games.
- In a complete inversion to the first 2 weeks of the season, the 3rd line is struggling. The trio of Foegele, Ryan, and Kassian has been outscored 1-5 and has been caved in chance-wise (15-21 SCF, 28.5% xGF).
- A tale as old as time. No matter who the Oilers roll out on their 4th line, they can’t seem to avoid being man-handled.
- …the team isn’t as dominant at 5-on-5 as they need to be in order to be considered a truly top-flight team.
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, all we needed was to play ten games to see some of the cracks start to appear in Edmonton’s armor. That said, a record of 9-1-0 has to tell us that the weaknesses on this club are being overshadowed by the strengths by quite a margin. However, this month is gonna be a busy one and it wouldn’t shock me one bit if the Oilers got their asses handed to them a couple of times. Then again, if they win all their games and get pumped for six in a couple of others, who gives a shit?
I will say this though, as mediocre as the third line may look on some nights, it’s a powder keg waiting to go off every time it hits the ice all the have to do is saw off the competition and not be a source of concern defensively.
As for the 4th line, there were seasons where this year’s trio would be Edmonton’s 2nd line. So as bad as these guys may be or may seem to be, I’m fine with them considering how much TOI they actually get. Could Perlini, Benson, Shore, and Turris be better? Of course, but honestly, what kind of expectations do you have for an NHL clubs 4th line?
Lowetide.ca
- Raphael Lavoie is moving his feet, Philip Broberg is being trusted in big moments, Ryan McLeod’s exits and entries are splendid and plentiful.
- Last night, I liked Ilya Konovalov in net very much and thought Markus Niemelainen earned an NHL recall based on his play across the entire sheet of ice.
- There’s skill to the sky at the top of this roster. Dave Tippett is playing the hell out of it, with Nurse, Draisaitl, McDavid, Bouchard and Nuge all over 20 minutes a night. I think there’s room for Puljujarvi and Hyman to increase minutes, perhaps that’s the next development.
- The Oilers are 9-1-0, best start ever. That was a memorable night, the kind of game that will be recalled for years and years. The Rangers are one of those teams, they bring out the best, and last night was no exception.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Condors got outscored 9-5 this weekend as they played San Diego and Ontario. Konovalov had a really nice game in the first tilt but got pulled 25 minutes into the second game as Jay Woodcroft decided to start the Russian rookie in back-to-back games for some odd reason.
Lavoie needs to rediscover that itchy trigger finger that made him such a prolific goal scorer in junior. He only had four shots over the weekend. I mean, to put it in perspective a bit, William Lagesson had six shots and he’s a defenseman! Three assists in nine AHL games? That’s not going to cut it if he plans to make the Oilers someday.
On a positive note, Ryan McLeod got two more points and it sounds like he’ll be getting a recall since Devin Shore picked up a knock the other night.
At the end of the day these young players are going to go through massive peaks and valleys until they learn how to be professional hockey players and this Bakersfield roster is really fluid considering how many defensemen they’re running. All we, as fans, should be worried about is that the important prospects are getting the time on ice and puck touches. Team results are important but the AHL is a developmental league…
The Daily Goal Horn
- Phil Kessel top Trade Bait target… Kessel will be a UFA this summer and has a cap hit of $6.8M. Someone in need of scoring on the right wing will come knocking soon. I hear there’s a team in NY that might fit the bill.
- Per Luke Fox of Sportsnet, he relays recent reporting that Travis Dermott or Justin Holl are on the block.
- When he returns Vegas will be pressed to make a trade for cap reasons to fit Eichel in… Vegas is going to need to clear out salary in order to make this work and one player that could be moved is Reilly Smith. The 30 year-old is in the final year of his contract with a $5 million cap hit. He’s a perfect rental.
