Edmonton Oilers Talk: “A more-established third-line centre is believed to be on the wish list.” Says Athletic Scribe

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The Athletic

What I think and what I know about the Oilers through their first 20 games

What I think: Philip Broberg is an NHL defenceman.
- His minutes have increased every game to the point where he was trusted enough to lead the team in ice time (23:34) in Las Vegas… Broberg hasn’t even skated for 74 minutes at five-on-five, but the early returns have been solid. He leads the Oilers with a 58.2 Corsi for percentage in that capacity…
What I know: Philip Broberg has the potential to cause even more headaches for management.
- The Oilers can’t have Broberg and Dylan Holloway on the roster at the same time without incurring salary-cap penalties. I wrote about this heading into the season.
What I think: Ryan McLeod isn’t going back to the minors anytime soon.
- Chipping in offensively is one thing. Being a more complete player is another. McLeod is doing that right now.
What I know: Even if McLeod is an Oiler and a top-nine forward right now, that doesn’t mean upgrades won’t be sought out before the trade deadline.
- McLeod has played more than 10 minutes in six straight games and seven of the past eight. Yet, his average ice time is up to only 9:48. A more-established third-line centre is believed to be on the wish list.
What I think: Leon Draisaitl has a real shot at scoring 50 goals in 50 games.
- Between his prowess on the power play, where he has 10 goals, and his ability to centre his own line and star with McDavid, there’s reason to think he just could do what no one’s done in three decades.
What I know: It’ll come down to the wire. It always does unless you’re Wayne Gretzky.
What I think: The Oilers have good enough regular-season goaltending, with or without Mike Smith.
- Mikko Koskinen has been far from perfect, but he’s saved some of his best performances — Oct. 30 at Vancouver, Nov. 14 at St. Louis and Saturday in Vegas — for when the Oilers really needed them. Same goes for Stuart Skinner, particularly against the Jets last week.
What I know: That’s not a good enough recipe for the playoffs.
- Not ever, but especially not this year. The Oilers are trying to do everything they can to win. Reinforcing the crease remains an area of focus before the deadline.

BLH’s Thoughts: Okay, let’s pump the brakes on some of this for a minute

If the Oilers have Smith, Skinner, and Koskinen healthy going into the trade deadline and considering which teams are already on the outside looking in, who are they going to trade for and why?

Vancouver isn’t moving Thatcher Demko, NJ Isn’t trading MacKenzie Blackwood, the Flyers aren’t trading Carter Hart, and do you really want a goalie out of Long Island, Buffalo, or Arizona?

Maybe they consider bringing in Fleury out of Chicago, but they’re flying right now and there’s no guarantee the Blackhawks will be trading Flower. Same goes with Dallas and their four-headed dragon (Bishop, Holtby, Khudobin, Oettinger).

I do see the team bringing in another right-shot center if possible, but not to replace Ryan McLeod. More than likely it’ll be someone who can play wing and act as cover for Derek Ryan primarily given he’s already running into health problems.

How much would it cost to bring in JT Miller from Vancouver?

Re: Broberg – Peaks and valleys and small sample sizes folks. Evan Bouchard was running the top-pairing for a time earlier in the year and now he’s struggling to get off of the third pair.

The swift skating Swede doesn’t require waivers to be sent down to Bakersfield and I would imagine the Oilers will take advantage of that when Nurse and Koekkoek return seeing how it’s a lot easier to send him back to the AHL as opposed to trading one of Russell, Koekkoek, or Lagesson.

Edmonton Sun

Edmonton Oilers putting killer instinct to good use

The No.1 rule in Vegas is to quit while you are ahead, but cashing in their points and going home in the middle of Saturday’s game was not an option for the Edmonton Oilers.
When things get tight, and momentum is swinging the other way, the Oilers don’t get rattled like they used to. Instead of waiting for something bad to happen, they defend well and push back.
They’ve outscored their opponents 29-21 in the third period this season, their best ratio of any period, and seem quite at home when the stress levels are in the red.
It’s four games now that the Oilers have been without Darnell Nurse and Slater Koekkoek, and two games without Duncan Keith, and they are surprising 3-1.
Philip Broberg is playing a big part in that, taking on the kind of ice time and responsibilities that you should never expect from a 20-year-old defenceman who has been in the NHL for only a week. But he logged more time than any other Oiler in Edmonton’s win in Vegas.
Tippett has Jesse Puljujarvi on the third line with Ryan McLeod, not as a demotion but rather an opportunity for a pair of big, fast and skilled young players to forge something good.

BLH’s Thoughts: It is kind of interesting to see Connor McDavid saddled with two high-end grinders while Puljujarvi heads up a very impressive third line.

I do have to say that I love when Jesse gets the freedom to play his way and he swoops into the Oilers zone to collect a pass from the defensemen and rips through the neutral zone full speed ahead. He’s such a graceful skater when he’s in the zone.

Can you imagine how exciting playoff games will be if the Oilers carry on this habit of outscoring their opponents in the third period? Jack Michaels would be in my thoughts…

Spector’s Hockey

NEW YORK POST: Larry Brooks reports of “credible chatter” claiming an Eastern Conference team could be interested in acquiring Evander Kane from the San Jose Sharks after the 30-year-old winger’s 21-game suspension for violating NHL COVID protocols ends on Nov. 30.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: Sheng Peng speculated over which Eastern club would be interested in taking Kane off the Sharks’ hands.
- One could be the Carolina Hurricanes given their offseason signing of Tony DeAngelo despite his recent history of disciplinary issues. It could be a “culture-strong” franchise like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals or Pittsburgh Penguins with veteran leadership that Kane would immediately respect. Peng also wondered if the Florida Panthers might be interested given Joe Thornton’s close relationship with Kane when Thornton was still with the Sharks.
SPORTSNET: Jeff Marek reports several teams have contacted the Dallas Stars inquiring about John Klingberg. One team interested in the 27-year-old defenseman is the Carolina Hurricanes.
Harman Dayal recently indicated his belief the Canucks aren’t actively shopping forward J.T. Miller, especially if the club remains in “win-now” mode. His versatility and physical style provides them with some much-needed flexibility and bite.