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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Cult of Hockey
Player grades, Games 1-10: Surreal special teams power Oilers to record start
BLH’s Thoughts: After ten games, I don’t think we’re going to learn all that much from these post-game scores. Some players will have had their good games greatly outweighed by their bad ones and vice versa, thusly affecting their overall result.
The divide between the top five forwards and the rest of the that group is stark, to say the least. That’s going to be an area of improvement this month as Edmonton’s schedule picks up in a big way.
Oilersnation
The Oilers need to improve at even-strength in order to be a legitimate contender
- Offensively at even-strength, Edmonton’s controlled entry percentage is 29th in the league. You’d think these guys would be skating in at ease, but that’s not the case. They’re having to dump the puck in at a higher rate.
- Their ability to dump, forecheck, and prevent exits is average in the league ranks at 15th. Also, their ability to make passes to the slot and get those shots off from the slot is average and below average, at 19th and 16th.
- I always look at determination and grit. How are your 50-50 puck battles? Right now, it’s average at 15th in the league. So, for me, offence at even-strength when you get to those meaningful games in March and April, these areas need to be better.
- The Oilers are 30th in the league at entry denial success. When teams have to dump the puck in, they’re not breaking out enough, as they’re 29th in the league at exits after dump-ins.
- They’re ranked 20th in terms of passes to the slot against and the amount of those passes that become slot shots, the Oilers rank 18th. And, again, 50-50 puck battles, they rank 15th in the league.
- Special teams can get you into the playoffs and then it’s your even-strength play that really determines how far you go.
BLH’s Thoughts: Edmonton isn’t gaining zone entry at ease because the other team’s defensive plans are built around stopping controlled entries. The Oilers have the forwards who can beat the other team’s defenders to pucks in a chip and chase format too.
As for the Oiler’s poor d-zone entry denial percentage, I wonder if that’s not part of the game plan considering the personnel they’re deploying on defense. It’s not like they have a lot of shutdown defenders on the roster. Nurse and Ceci are their two best in that regard and the likes of Russell, Keith, Barrie, and Bouchard seem to take a more passive stance at their own blueline with a focus on boxing the puck carrier to the outside from my eye. Maybe the D is hoping for a turnover deeper in their zone in order to trap as many of their opponents as possible and hit them on the counter-attack?
I am a little bit perplexed by the club’s puck battle rankings… The 2nd and 3rd lines are built for the muck. It’s weird that the team is sitting middle of the pack here.
Salvador isn’t wrong though. McDavid’s got to get his boys to crank up the offense 5v5 because in the post-season, the refs are going to put the whistles away and the powerplay won’t be saving Edmonton’s butts then.
Spector’s Hockey
THE ATHLETIC: In a recent mailbag segment, Ian Mendes was asked why the Ottawa Senators sent promising defenseman Erik Brannstrom to their AHL affiliate to start the season. He felt it was done because he was waiver-exempt and they needed to move a body.
THE DENVER POST: Mike Chambers believes the strong performance by rookie defenseman Bowen Byram might explain why the Colorado Avalanche were among the suitors for Jack Eichel before the Buffalo Sabres traded the 25-year-old center to the Vegas Golden Knights.
- He also speculated the Avs likely would’ve offered up defenseman Samuel Girard plus a top prospect or two and draft picks for Eichel but the Sabres likely would’ve wanted more.
