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!
The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!
If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!
Give us a follow on the socials!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
The Hockey Writers
Oilers Moving Puljujarvi to the Third Line Is Not a Demotion
- A player doesn’t go from being fed passes by the greatest player on the planet to a checking line if they’re on the way up in the world. Puljujarvi’s output matched the narrative, too: At the time, he hadn’t scored a goal in over two weeks and had only registered a couple of assists.
- On a line with quintessential third-liner Foegele, the 22-year-old McLeod, and Puljujarvi, it’s the latter who is “the man”. Rather than deferring to his star mates on the top line, Puljujarvi can now drive a line, which is valuable experience for his skillset and his confidence.
- …the Oilers want to spread out their skill, creating more balanced lines that can come at the opposition in waves, rather than putting all their stock in the first line. Puljujarvi is vital to this strategy.
- …if Puljujarvi takes up something closer to permanent residence on the third line, it probably won’t be that long before he and McDavid are reunited. Moreover, just because a player doesn’t play in the top six doesn’t mean he’s not a top-six player.
BLH’s Thoughts: Like I said before, I get why putting Pulju on the 3rd line would spread out the offense, but of course you’d only be spreading out the offense if the player being sent down wasn’t in a funk like Jesse was. Lucky for everybody involved Nic Hague, a shutdown defenseman, decided to carry the puck deep and as a result, Jesse had an open lane from his own blue line straight to the Vegas goalie and he wasn’t missing at that point.
I do think we’re missing a bit of a point here though. Kailer Yamamoto has played nearly the entire season on a line with the league’s hottest player and its most productive setup man and he’s only got 5pts… We’ve seen him score at nearly a point/game pace before, why not send him to the third line to get him going?
It’s almost insulting that Yamo would be passed over for such a privileged position, no?
Now, that sounds worse than it’s meant to be, but all I’m saying is what about Killer? I love Jesse, but he’s a 1st line player in this league now and it’s not like he wasn’t getting the chances with Connor and Hyman. He was, they just weren’t going in the net. Whereas Yamamoto hasn’t pissed a drop, be that with shots, goal-scoring or simply finding the soft ice for a scoring chance.
But maybe I’m off track here and Yamo staying on the 2nd line is the better bet. Maybe there’s a thought amongst the coaching staff that Kailer might not be able to “help” the third line like Jesse.
This is just me thinking out loud.
Lowetide.ca
- One of my guests yesterday on the Lowdown was Brian Wilde from Global Montreal. Near the end of our conversation about who will get Sam Pollock’s old office, Wilde threw out a trade idea. It involved Montreal retaining half of the Carey Price contract and Edmonton sending Dylan Holloway east.
“You’re close to winning a Cup, but you need a goalie and there’s a really good one here. If Carey Price wants to be traded, and he should because the days are going to be dark here, he’s 34. I think Carey Price should go to Edmonton and I think if (Jeff) Gorton is doing his job, he’s absorbing half of that contract’s money because obviously that deal can’t be made at $10.5M, there’s no cap room for anyone, but that deal could be made at around $5M, and some prospects can come in the way of Montreal. I think they would love Dylan Holloway here because they’re weak at center again, you guys are super strong there for a lot of years to come.” – Brian Wilde, Global Montreal (Audio Link)
BLH’s Thoughts: Well well well… Has anybody else talked about the Oilers going out and bringing in Carey Price lately?
You have to wonder if there’d be a way for the Oilers to get their hands on Josh Anderson or Brendan Gallagher too if they were willing to send their first rounder, Dylan Holloway, and Kailer Yamamoto to Montreal. Wilde mentioned the Habs should get a puck-mover while they’re at it too… I’m not advocating for this, but could Ken Holland include Tyson Barrie and Mikko Koskinen in that deal to round things out a bit? I mean, if Montreal wants to go full-rebuild, they’ll want as high-end futures as possible but also be willing to take on some bad contracts in order to facilitate the acquiring of said futures.
The Daily Goal Horn
- Jake DeBrusk asks for a trade: Three teams with known interest in DeBrusk are the Oilers, Senators, and Flames.
- Rangers interested in J.T. Miller: “The Rangers would certainly be interested in a reunion with the player they selected 15th overall in that 2011 draft, depending on the price demanded in return. He could slide onto the right side with either Kreider and Zibanejad or with Panarin or Strome. He could also go into the middle if needed.” – Larry Brooks
- Brendan Gallagher not crazy about a rebuild: One member of the Habs wasn’t thrilled with the idea. “I’ve always come in with the expectations to win. I felt like my teammates had the same goal, I felt like management had the same goal and sometimes organizations go through those things,” Brendan Gallagher said about a potential rebuild.
