Edmonton Oilers Talk: Carey Price, McLeod Saving the Third Line, and Five Lefty Dmen on the Market Right Now

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!

Edmonton Sun

OILERS NOTES: Broberg’s ability to play both sides on D will really help at NHL level

As a guy who started as an amateur scout in Detroit, Holland admits the main idea with drafting defencemen in junior is how they move with the puck. It was why they liked Broberg.
Going to Bakersfield was absolutely necessary, in Holland’s eyes, with the smaller rink.

“When I saw him with Bakersfield, he wasn’t putting himself in vulnerable situations where the other team could tee off on him. My message when he went down was work from the blue line back, defend first and make a good first pass. He didn’t have to carry the puck. The entry for young defencemen into the NHL is absolutely playing simple and safe. Not dancing around,” he said.

Rumours of Oilers goalie Mike Smith needing surgery are totally false. He has a nagging leg problem and has missed over a month but surgery isn’t the answer. It needs time to heal. Maybe he’s back by mid-December, or another 11 games.

BLH’s Thoughts: On the radio yesterday, Jason Gregor and Ryan Rishaug were talking about the Oilers going out and grabbing a guy like Braden Holtby.

I don’t think they need to do that. Even if Smith is out until mid-December, the Oilers have three goalies signed who can play and all it costs them is roster spot and their contract.

Getting out there and being active in the trade market changes all of that and ideally in that scenario you’re looking for an upgrade. So, the question is, what team is going to trade you an in-form netminder right now? Is Ken Holland going to risk doing business with Steve Yzerman or the Blackhawks this year? He’s had some tough luck winning trades with those two teams.

Longshot idea, I think if Ken Holland is going to swing for the fences, he’s got to go after Carey Price in Montreal. Not sure how he’d make the money work there considering the Habs would need to retain about $15M to $20M in salary, but if he could come out of a trade like that with a Price/Skinner tandem heading into this year’s post-season with Smith on LTIR, that would be hard to complain about.

Lowetide.ca

OILERS AT EVEN STRENGTH, BY CENTER

I use the centermen as proxy (42-44 goals at even strength) but it isn’t possible to get it exactly right without tweaking. So, I give McDavid all the goals with and without Draisaitl, but Draisaitl only gets the non-McDavid goals. I think that’s fair, you might not like it and I invite any and all input. I’m most interested in being fair, although the goal that went in when Nuge was between Kassian and Foegele is an orphan. Here we go:

Connor McDavid 20-16 (55 percent)
Leon Draisaitl 11-5 (69 percent)
Ryan McLeod 3-3 (50 percent)
Derek Ryan 3-13 (19 percent)
Devin Shore 2-5 (29 percent)
Colton Sceviour 1-2 (33 percent)
Orphans 2-0

The great thing about this situation (and it doesn’t really come through here) is the strong showing recently. Since November 1, the McDavid line has played 88 minutes, 5-2 goals, 53.3 shot share and 59.3 expected-goal share. Draisaitl’s trio is 86 minutes, 7-5 goals, 44 percent shot share and 40 percent expected goals. The McLeod line is 53 minutes, 3-3 goals, 53 percent shot share and 49 percent expected goals.
Since November 1, that’s 15-10 goals at even strength for the top three lines this month. That’s a positive. The only wobble is Leon’s line in shots and expected goals.

BLH’s Thoughts: Ryan McLeod’s heater couldn’t come at a better time, eh? He looks very confident at the moment (anybody else see him attempt the 1v3 McDavid against the Stars last night?) and who would’ve picked him as a stud on draw? I never thought that would be something he’d excel at, but here we are with him owning a 53.6 FO%.

Now, Derek Ryan on the other hand… Woof! Aside from winning faceoffs, he’s in Kyle Turris territory right now and I’m not talking about 2021-22 Kyle Turris, I’m talking about the one from last season…

The Daily Goal Horn

One player the Canucks could move that would not set them back a decade is 28 year-old forward J.T. Miller… Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province indicated the Wild are interested in acquiring Miller.

“In a Miller acquisition, the Wild would likely dangle winger Kevin Fiala, 25, who has had ample opportunity to score, but has just three goals despite 58 shots — which speaks to his minuscule 5.1 shooting percentage. He’s also in the final year of a contract that carries a US $5.1-million salary cap hit.” – Kuzma

Here’s a brief list of five blue-liners that are likely on the market and available to be had before the trade deadline.
- John Klingberg, DAL
- Mark Giordano, SEA
- Ben Chariot, MTL
- Anton Stralman, AZ
- Marco Scandella, STL

BLH’s Thoughts: Edmonton could use a couple of those names right now with Darnell Nurse out and Duncan Keith’s health in quesiton after he left the game in Dallas… FWIW, John Klingberg was fantastic against Edmonton last night.