Edmonton Oilers Talk: Winning the Pacific, One-Timers, and Holland’s Clapback at the Keith/Ceci Critics

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!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

Edmonton Sun

OILERS NOTES: McDavid would love to shoot like Draisaitl’s one-timer

He’s been practising throughout camp so he can score from range like Leon Draisaitl, who may have the best one-timer in hockey, consistently hammering shots past goalies, often short side with no visible room to put the puck.

“I don’t think he’s ever scored a one-time goal and that’s one area he’s excited to get better at. He’s improved at it,” said goalie Mike Smith.

(Scotty) Bowman is also a Duncan Keith fan from working with the Hawks as an advisor. He doesn’t buy the analytics critics about a severe drop-off in his ability at 38.

“The Hawks had to rebuild and it was tough on those guys who had a lot of success in Chicago. Duncan probably played a bit too much. He’s ready now to kill penalties and play against other good players. It’ll be refreshing for him going to the Oilers. I’ve always liked him. I think he’s a good bounce-back guy. His skating and conditioning won’t be an issue,” said Bowman.

Turris, who cleared waivers Monday, didn’t practise Tuesday but Tippett expects him to play against Vancouver.
Zack Kassian was with third-liners Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan Tuesday, getting the green light to give it a shot at practice after being in concussion protocol after his bare head hit the ice in a scrap with Canucks forward Zack McEwen last Thursday.
Devin Shore tweaked something at Monday’s practice and wasn’t on the ice Tuesday with Ryan McLeod taking Shore’s fourth line centre spot.

BLH’s Thoughts: Ya know, I don’t really see the point in McDavid adding a one-timer to his toolbox. I get it that you can’t have enough weapons in the armory, but there’s a part of me that is concerned about the wear and tear one-timers could have on his arms and shoulders.

I suppose the other thing is he’s more dangerous when he’s using his no.1 asset, his speed. I’m talking about his hands though in this instance, not his boots. When he’s 1v1 with an opposition defender dribbling that puck back and forth he has the advantage of unpredictability. His opponent has no idea when he’s going to release the puck on the net and my belief is that he should keep it that way.

If the greatest coach in NHL history has no problem with Duncan Keith’s form, I’m not going to either. I reckon a lot of people are going to have egg on their face at the end of the 2021-22 NHL season…

Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland urges that fans have patience in judging Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci

Holland told Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer that it took Tyson Barrie six regular games last season to fit into his new team last year.
- “You go to a new team and all of a sudden there are these expectations, and you don’t know anybody,” Holland said of Keith and Ceci. “I think you got to give veterans, I’m not talking you give them 20 or 30 or 40 games, but I think you got to give them training camp and give them five, six, seven games to figure out the team, where they fit, and get comfortable with everything.”
With the NHL’s crackdown on cross-checking, Holland noted things will change for the way players are allowed to defend and this could be to the advantage of puck-moving d-men.
It’s going to be extremely difficult for fans who have already taken an extremely strong stand on Keith and Ceci to fairly judge these players. The evaluation of such fans and pundits will be crippled by confirmation bias.
Another common error in evaluation is to see the player’s performance through the lens of what he’s paid or what it took to acquire him. Those issues should be used to judge the GM, not the player. His performance is what it is, no matter if he’s over-paid or under-paid, if he cost too much or was brought in for nothing.

BLH’s Thoughts: Refer to the previous segment for my thoughts on Keith.

As for Ceci, he’s the one who’ll need the month to get acclimated to Edmonton’s style of play and his new d-partner. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until I’m forced not to.

Oilersnation

Oilers Will End 34-Year Drought

It has been 34 years since the Oilers finished first in their division.
Edmonton currently owns the longest division-winning drought in the NHL. Followed by the New York Islanders who haven’t led their division since 1988.
Since January 1st, 2020 (85 NHL games) the Oilers are 51-27-7. They are eighth in points and ninth in points%. They have scored the fourth most goals in the NHL (3.33/game) and allowed the ninth fewest goals/game (2.78). They have been trending upwards for the past few regular seasons.
They have the two most productive offensive players in the NHL.
Edmonton finished seventh in goals scored last season, despite very little depth scoring from their forwards (at 5×5) after McDavid and Draisaitl.
Last season Edmonton received a total of 59 goals at 5×5 from forwards not named Draisaitl and McDavid. The 3rd-12th forwards will produce more this season, while McDavid and Draisaitl will continue to be productive.
The power play will remain one of the best in the NHL.
The Oilers were seventh in team Sv% last season and since January 1st, 2020 they are sixth. Over their past 87 games Mike Smith (51 GP) has a .918Sv% overall and .920 at 5×5. Mikko Koskinen (38 GP) has a .909Sv% overall and .918 at 5×5.
Edmonton will possess the puck more this season because they have better puck retrievers in Hyman and Foegele.
I believe Edmonton’s overall defence corps is better than last year. Duncan Keith is an upgrade in the second pair over Caleb Jones and while Cody Ceci isn’t as physical as Adam Larsson, he moves the puck better and as a pair I’d take Keith-Ceci over Jones-Larsson.
Edmonton won 35 of 56 games last season, which was a 51-win pace over a full season.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ve been saying all preseason that I think this year is as good as any for the Edmonton Oilers to win the Pacific.

Vegas had its heart and identity ripped out by their own GM when he traded Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Reaves this summer. They don’t have a top-six center on the club and their defense isn’t getting any younger or any faster…

Who else is going to compete with Edmonton for top spot in the division?