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
Somehow, Oilers ace-of-all-trades Leon Draisaitl has raised his game to a new level
- How hot has he been? Already he has four 2-goal games to his credit, and five contests with 3 or more points.
- But it’s not just at the offensive end of the sheet that Leon has been getting the job done. At 5-on-5 he’s been on the ice for 11 goals for, just 2 against for a remarkable 85% goal share.
- At even strength (including empty net scenarios both ways) he’s 15-4; and in all situations including time on both special teams he’s been on for an astonishing 26 goals for, just 4 against. 26 to 4! When he’s on the bench, the Oil have scored 12 and allowed 19.
- …his 29% shooting percentage to this early point may not be sustainable, but he has consistently been around the 20% mark in each of the past three seasons, scoring 133 goals in 218 games since the start of 2018-19. That’s tied with the peerless Ovechkin for most in the NHL over that extended span of 3+ seasons.
- As for points, Draisaitl is a solid second in the league over that span, within shouting distance of McDavid and nearly 50 points clear of any other NHLer. Here’s the short list of all players who have been within 100 points of Drai over this highly productive stage of his career.
- Not only is he both an elite shooter and passer, his ability to play all forward positions and in all manpower situations, to cover off the role of faceoff mule and to chip in crucial defensive minutes and all end-game scenarios including goalie-out (at either end) or 3v3 overtime, makes him something of an ace-of-all-trades for the Oilers.
BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve seen plenty of dynamic duos over the years in my day, Forsberg/Sakic, Yzerman/Federov, Lemieux/Jagr, Gretzky/Kurri, Selanne/Kariya, Hull/Oates, Toews/Kane, and Crosby/Malkin, just to name a few, but with how McDavid and Draisaitl are performing right now, I’m curious if history is being made in front of our eyes.
See, the Oilers have the ability to run Leon and Connor together for the entire year if they so chose because Ken Holland signed Zach Hyman this summer and he’s causing absolute havoc in the offensive zone cycling with Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. If I was a betting man, I’d bet that Leon and Connor will put up more points together than apart… That line with Puljujarvi is basically a power play line considering that 29 and 97 are the equivalent of 1.5 players.
Maybe I’m still on a high from watching last night’s victory and Edmonton’s start to the year though… Time will tell.
The Athletic
Is this Connor McDavid’s peak season, and how good could it be?
- If we collect the four greatest scoring seasons by centres (using their peak offensive years) and place them next to McDavid’s 2021-22, it creates an interesting comparison for McDavid’s start:
| PLAYER | YEAR | PTS/GP | TEAM GOALS/GP |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wayne Gretzky
|
1985-86
|
2.69
|
5.33
|
|
Mario Lemieux
|
1988-89
|
2.62
|
4.34
|
|
Connor McDavid
|
2021-22
|
2.11
|
4.22
|
|
Phil Esposito
|
1970-71
|
1.95
|
5.12
|
|
Steve Yzerman
|
1988-89
|
1.94
|
3.91
|
- McDavid has four power-play goals already this season; his career high in a full year is 11 and is already in jeopardy. He also leads the league in shots (44), and his output compares well with the men he is chasing for greatest offensive season for a centre.
- Oilers fans well know that power plays can dry up at times over a long season or in the postseason. Edmonton’s current penalties drawn per game (3.11) rank No. 19 among the 32 NHL teams at this time… but what if the referees call penalties based on the score?
- What if the penalties drawn per game are reduced to 2.82, as they were for Edmonton in 2019-20?
- If McDavid threatens an all-time record, gets close to the giants of the game (Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in the 1980s), will there be a further tightening of the Oilers power-play chances? Will his numbers this season fall short because the officials fail to call the rulebook?
- The McDavid-Draisaitl connection is powerful and has a great deal of success on the power play and (over the year) even-strength four-on-four minutes. The connection is strong, over 60 percent in 2021-22.
- He’s ahead of Phil Esposito and Steve Yzerman and it’s a long way to Lemieux and Gretzky. In a career that boasts an annual chase for some amazing record or another, this one (points per game by an elite centre in his prime season) is truly rare air.
- McDavid is on a path few in the game’s history have managed, with an assist from Draisaitl that could deliver a season for the ages.
BLH’s Thoughts: If you take last night’s game as an indication as to how the refs will be calling the infractions against McDavid, then we’ll probably see the officials playing a fairly big hand in how many points Connor accrues by year end and that is a sad state of affairs.
https://twitter.com/Isuckatpicking/status/1456810812652212233
Spector’s Hockey
SPORTSNET: Luke Fox cited Elliotte Friedman and Nick Kypreos reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have let the rest of the league know Travis Dermott or Justin Holl are available for the right price. Fox speculates that price is either “an upper-mid-round draft pick” or “perhaps a rugged d-man with less term on his contract.”
TORONTO SUN: Michael Traikos reports agent Kurt Overhardt, who represents Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell, denied reports contract extension talks are underway with his client. “Whoever said we’re talking is full of crap,” said Overhardt.
THE ATHLETIC: Aaron Portzline recently reported trade chatter was increasing about Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo. He said there were whispers around the league claiming Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was fielding calls for the 27-year-old netminder.
