Edmonton Oilers Talk: “Edmonton Oilers’ interest in Kane is a sign of GM Ken Holland’s desperation.” Says Toronto-Based Writer

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Oilersnation

Oilers Season is Not Lost

It was a horrible 34 day-stretch between December 3rd to January 5th, when the Oilers went 2-9-2, got outscored 50-31 and dropped from having the best points% in the NHL down to 19th.
Edmonton won’t miss the playoffs. Despite their brutal stretch, they are still on pace for 91 points. I think 95 points will be enough to finish third in the Pacific and likely good enough to grab a wildcard spot.
Edmonton won’t have another horrible 13-game stretch. They simply aren’t that bad of a team. To reach 95 points they could go 26-17-5. Essentially win 54% of their remaining 48 games. It isn’t a massive ask.
…overall team defence, whoever is on the ice, is still a concern. It was at the start of the year, and until they show a consistent improvement in their decision making with and without the puck it will remain a concern. I do think the defensive structure should be looked at. The coaches need to see if how they’re coaching should be altered. Edmonton struggles mightily on allowing goals from in front of the net. They need to be more committed in front of the net.
The depth scoring didn’t improve overall in the past 13 games, but they managed to lower their goals against.
This team has 48 games to find some consistency and an identity. Right now they don’t have one. There is no consistency in how they play. The season isn’t lost, but it is valid to have concerns over some areas of the team.

BLH’s Thoughts: Sounds like a lot of “hope” from Gregor.

Look, the way I see it is we won’t know what we’ve got with this team until the roster Ken Holland put together this summer has played together consistently for a few months.

As dumb as it sounds, the depth of the team probably hasn’t been better for some time now and with all the prospects heading into Bakersfield this summer, it’s only going to get better.

Is it fair to say that some teams are going to lose years to COVID? I mean, no matter how well you build a team in the off-season, if it’s derailed by injury or sickness during the season, how’s that even unavoidable? Who do you blame for that?

That said, It’s not a marathon anymore for the Oilers, this is a death race to the finish and if the big boys are going to find a time to put this team on their back and run with them, that time is now.

Edmonton Sun

Mike Smith’s sore thumb has him back in limbo and not in Oilers net

“He has a partial tendon tear in his thumb. He practised (Wednesday) and it was bothering him so we decided to get some pictures taken,” said Oilers coach Dave Tippett. “He’ll miss a week to two weeks. Let’s start with a week.”
Smith, who turns 40 in March, went for an MRI, and they discovered the tendon problem.
Koskinen will likely start Saturday against Ottawa in the Oilers’ first game since Jan. 5 in Toronto, but maybe Tippett, in conversation with goalie coach Dustin Schwartz, opts for Skinner. He’s an NHL newbie but has better numbers than Koskinen.
Is there a chance Holland has been on the phone to Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello about veteran Semyon Varlamov, who has one year left at $5 million, but has taken a back seat to the younger Ilya Sorokin.
Varlamov has played nine games with a 2.77 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
Would Holland want to take on Varlamov, 33, for next season, and then see what happens with Smith, who has another year at $2 million? Of course, Skinner would be very much in the picture, too.

BLH’s Thoughts: You want to think that it’s time for Stu Skinner to take the net for a couple weeks or at least share it evenly with Koskinen, but you just never know with Tippett. He says he has no problem running out the younger goalie… I’m apt to wait and see what his actions are . his words.

As for Varlamov, Matheson made a good point about the Islanders having only played 28 games so far and they might want to hold onto their goalies until the end of the year.

My personal feeling is that maybe the team runs out the year with Smith, Skinner, and Koskinen (if he can’t be moved at the deadline), and then, this is just my idea, they move on from both Smith and Koskinen in the summer and find a good mentor for Skinner to head into 2022/23. Maybe a fella like Braden Holtby who’s only 32yrs old could sign a 3yr deal to take on that role?

This summer the Oilers could choose Holtby, Thomas Greiss, Martin Jones, Jaro Halak, Darcy Kuemper, Joonas Korpisalo, Jack Campbell, or Marc-Andre Fleury to be that guy though…

I just think with the way that Holland works and his emphasis on internal growth, Oilers fans might be waiting to get that goalie and we might hope that this is the route he goes because the last netminder he went out and overpaid to play for him was Curtis Joseph and Cujo got $8M/yr to sign with Detroit and that move never really panned out.

Spector’s Hockey

TORONTO SUN: Michael Traikos believes the Edmonton Oilers’ interest in Kane is a sign of GM Ken Holland’s desperation.
SPORTSNET: Luke Fox recently examined whether Evander Kane or Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg would be good fits with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- He rules out the former Sharks winger given the Leafs’ limited salary-cap space and the possibility of Kane disrupting a tightly-bonded dressing room.
- Rory Boylen, meanwhile, examined what it could cost a club to acquire Klingberg and the cost of a contract extension. He suggested a first-round pick and a top prospect plus more if Klingberg’s agent can work out a contract extension with an acquiring team.

BLH’s Thoughts: So, why is it a sign of desperation for the Oilers to show serious interest in Evander Kane but not for Florida, Carolina, Tampa, or any other club inquiring to his services?…