Edmonton Oilers Talk: Do the Oilers have the 5th Worst Goaltending in the NHL?

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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The Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers had 8th best goalies in NHL last year, but ESPN ranks them 5th worst in league.

This in from ESPN’s provocative writer Greg Wyshynski, his ranking of goaltender tandems in the NHL this year, with the Edmonton tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen ranked 27th out of 32.

“Every goaltending expert we spoke with for this ranking remains baffled by the Oilers. Baffled that this duo is back for a third straight season. Baffled that they’re actually not that bad — a .910 team save percentage in the offensively explosive North Division in 2020-21, good for 8th in the league. Baffled at how Smith, now 39 years old, continues to defy the odds with performances like his .923 save percentage and 21-6-2 record last season. But at least one expert thinks the magic is going to run out. ‘I expect a significant regression for them,’ he said.” – Wyshynski

A number of team’s finished lower than the Oilers at .910 in save percentage last year, made no changes in net, but ESPN now ranks them higher than Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen.
But along with finishing 8th in save percentage last year, the Oilers tandem of Smith and Koskinen finished 14th overall in 2019-20, with a .906 save percentage. It’s possible their results could crash to 28th, but I don’t think that’s a great bet.
The 28th team in 2019-20 had a .898 save percentage. The 28th team last year was at .895. Again, it’s possible that Smith and Koskinen could utterly crater and end up with an .895 save percentage.
…the odd thing about goalies on the aging curve is that the ones who are still good at age 38 can often be good for a few years, as seen with Dominik Hasek, who was a strong goalie until age 42, Jaques Plante, good until 43, George Hainsworth, good until 42, Gump Worsley, good until 42, and Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour, good until 41.

BLH’s Thoughts: Puck Daddy LOVES to troll the Oilers fanbase. He finds a way to get under the skin of the supporters every year and this year is obviously no different.

That being said, I’ve also heard from sources connected to high-up league execs that when Holland re-signed Mike Smith there was a collective laughter let out. They were asking themselves, “Why?!” and if I’m being honest, I was asking that same question.

As fans, all we can do is sit back and trust the Edmonton’s netminders worked their asses off this summer and are properly motivated to prove their critics wrong. I like that the Oilers’ defense is more experienced now and I feel like that could go a long way in helping keep the puck out of the net. Hopefully it helps Smith and Koskinen stay healthy this year too.

The Hockey Writers

Oilers’ 3 Bold Predictions for the 2021-22 Season

Yamamoto Will Bounce Back
Edmonton Will Have at Least Six 20-Goal Scorers
McDavid Will Set a New Career High in Points

BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think that Yamo will have the kind of rebound some are thinking he will and the reason for that is that I don’t think he’s a top-six goal scorer and most of his points will come via Leon Draisaitl’s boat oar of a hockey blade.

The writer reckons that since McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, RNH, and Turris have all scored 20 in the past and Nurse and Pulju have come very close, it’s only reasonable to predict that the club will finish the season with six players with 20 ginos or more.

My feeling is that barring injury, the team will have at least six (if not more) who’ll hit that mark. I think McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH, Puljujarvi, and Hyman are guaranteed 20 and pick one out of Nurse, Barrie, or Foegele to be the other to hit the Venti.

If Connor hit 150 points this year, it wouldn’t phase me in the least. I wonder if he busts through the stratosphere this year and challenges some of Gretzky’s old marks soon though.

The Daily Goal Horn

Ottawa Sun – It’s believed the Senators have tabled an eight-year, $64-million deal to Tkachuk’s camp and remain focused on trying to get him signed to a long-term deal. That’s the same contract signed by Ottawa defenceman ThomasChabot that will pay him $8 million per season. The indications are the Senators and Tkachuk aren’t that far apart in terms of dollars.

“There are some teams that feel the same way Buffalo does about the surgery (getting a fusion). There are teams legitimately interested in trading for Eichel, who feel they don’t have all the information. How can you make the best possible offer for Jack Eichel without knowing exactly what all the doctors are saying? My goal to end the log jam is that teams can see his records.” – Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbMLmk_bOD0