April 13, 2021 /

Edmonton Oilers Talk: It’s Up to the Players Now

We’ve got a little bit of Edmonton Oilers talk to get into this morning eh? I wanna talk about the trade deadline and some of the false narratives going around. I also want to touch on the DM that I was sent shortly after Ken Holland’s media appearances post-deadline, and I’ll touch on some of the things that are, to my knowledge, being erroneously reported about Edmonton’s activity yesterday.

False Narratives

  • By Not Trading for a Top-Six the Oilers Are Wasting Another Year of Connor and Leon’s Career

Let me get this straight, because the Edmonton Oilers didn’t trade for a LW who has two goals on the entire year they are wasting the prime years of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, is that right? Am I supposed to believe that the sky is about to fall now because Ken Holland didn’t acquire help for Edmonton’s top-six or can I carry on enjoying how since January 29th Edmonton is 22-9-2 with the roster on hand?

Can anybody tell me, aside from the roster that wins the Cup each year, who isn’t having their career wasted for another year? Does that mean their GM is incompetent? Of course not. It’s a dumb fear-driven narrative created by the analytics community.

With the current group of players (sans recently acquired Dmitri Kulikov of course), the Oilers are the 5th best team in the NHL since then with only 33 games played where the four teams ahead of them (Tampa, Carolina, Colorado, and the Islanders) all have played more games.

So forgive me if I don’t feel the same sense of despair and grief today.

The DM

I’m lead to believe that after the media circus was over with yesterday, Ken Holland sat down with his team’s stars and explained to them why he was only able to bring in help for the defense. I’m told that the players understood completely, they felt it was fair, but everyone on the call agreed that starting this summer Holland would start to take the roster to the next level.

The players are very aware of Ken Holland’s history as a GM in the NHL and they trust him to be the expert on championship team roster building. Meaning, they’re fully behind Holland.

Everybody is very excited for the summer but the focus is on a long playoff run right now.

Speculative Fan-Fictions

  • Ken Holland wasn’t trading his first-round picks this year or next.

Nope. He was willing to trade them but only on his terms and he said that. Holland said that he wasn’t trading them for a rental and from my understanding, if he was dealing one for a player with term, the team acquiring the first-rounder would have to take a bad contract back as well.

  • The Oilers weren’t in on Taylor Hall.

They were but interest cooled significantly when the Sabres asked for two first-round picks and Hall himself said he was only interested in going to Boston.

The other thing I was told was that Edmonton was in on Rakell but the Ducks wanted Edmonton to take Josh Manson too and were asking for a first round pick and a top prospect in return. Maybe that deal happens next season and the price lowers…

  • Holland could’ve used another team to create more cap space

It’s funny how short-sighted sports fans can be sometimes. Yes, the Oilers could’ve worked with the Red Wings, Blackhawks, or Sharks to try to bring in a higher paid player like the Lightning and Maple Leafs did. But who’s to say that the prices to ask them to eat salary were the same for the Oilers as they were for other teams? Also, how much money did you expect those clubs to take on for Edmonton? If It was in the millions, you can be sure that Holland wouldn’t have been paying a mid-round pick in 2022 or 2023.

But let’s say Holland did use another team to bring in a couple of players and completely emptied the LTIR cap space bank. He wouldn’t be able to move players up from the AHL or the taxi squad in case of injury now and he’d be in the same boat next trade deadline as this one. Is that what some of these Oilers fans want? More misery?

While Tampa and Toronto are gutting their future to hold onto a Cup or win their first since Andy Griffith was a thing, the Oilers are building something here. Something that will be long-lasting and keep this team a contender for the duration of Connor McDavid’s career in Edmonton and hopefully past that.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs separated themselves from the rest of the North Division with their trade deadline acquisitions.

Did they really? Is Nick Foligno the guy that is going to put the Leafs over the hump? Do we honestly think that Riley Nash, David Rittich, and Ben Hutton are players that will make such a massive difference, let alone play a game for Toronto in the post-season, that this team is now invincible? I don’t.

I get that Kyle Dubas has added a whole whack of NHL vets to try and help his young stars through the slog of playoff hockey, but how healthy will those players stay and is everybody certain that these new acquisitions will fit into the style of play Sheldon Keefe has his team playing.

What Happens Now?

We rock and f*ckin roll! I’m absolutely jacked to have Kulikov on the team. If he continues his form from New Jersey, the Oilers will have two excellent shut down defenders going into the post-season when the games get tighter than a nun’s you know what. The ability to have Darnell Nurse go on one shift, then Adam Larsson, and then Kulikov the next is very advantageous for Edmonton.

Going back to that first round draft pick. I can definitely see Holland trading down and accruing more picks in the 2nd and 3rd round. Maybe even having a chat with his old buddy Mr. Yzerman now that he has a couple of extra selections in the upcoming draft courtesy of the Washington Capitals.

There’s also some talk that Edmonton could be a team who might be able to help other team’s out with regards to the expansion draft. Some teams have too many players they want to protect and don’t want to lose for free to Seattle. The Oilers might be able to be of assistance there.

In the eyes of the media, the Oilers failed at this deadline whereas the other three teams in their division got better (Okay…) and this will result in Edmonton being an underdog no matter where they finish the season. Tack that onto the fact that there are some significant players on this club playing for a new contract and there’s a lot of internal drive on the team this year.

My opinion is that Holland is saying to his team, “It’s up to you now. I believe in your abilities and I trust you to get the job done but if we come up short, no worries. I’ve got your back this off-season.”

The off-season. That’s the big one and that’s where Holland will create the hill that this team will do battle from. Can he take this roster to the next level or will he trip over the blue line on a breakaway with all of that cap space?

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CategoriesArmchair GM Beer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL Rumors

TagsNHL NHL Rumor

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!