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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Lowetide.ca
ILYA KONOVALOV
- You never know with goalies, and hold on to your horses, but the young Russian is adjusting to the AHL. Here are his save percentage splits by month:
- October: two games, .857
- November: four games, .873
- December: three games, .941
- He may never make the NHL, but Hockey Prospecting loves him, and those numbers in December are eye popping. Something to keep in mind.
BLH’s Thoughts: Peaks and Valleys… The recent spike is nice, but I’m going to have to see more for a much much longer period of time. Good on the guy though.
Oilersnation
- Last year from February 8th to the end of the season the Oilers were fifth in GA/game at 2.44. Mike Smith returned to the lineup on February 8th and started 30 of the final 43 games. He was 21-6-2 with a.923Sv% and 2.31 GAA.
- They miss Smith’s ability to stop pucks, but also his puckhandling ability. He stops plays from developing and can help get the puck out quicker.
BLH’s Thoughts: My personal feeling is that I think the Oilers should give Stu Skinner a bit of a run here until Smith is ready. I prefer Skinner to Koskinen at this point, but if the Oilers have all three men ready to go, there’s probably a realistic scenario that sees the club run with that trio until the deadline. I say that because when Mikko is rested, he’s a capable NHL goalie. It’s just that for two years in a row Mike Smith has been hurt and Dave Tippett has run Koskinen into the ground…
Smith’s a gamer and there’s no doubt in my mind he could replicate that late season run from last year. Ken Holland would get some major brownie points from the fanbase if he could find a way to swap Koskinen and Marc-Andre Fleury though…
Daily Goal Horn
- Phil Kessel will assuredly net them a first round pick at the deadline, but it is possible he could go a little earlier?
- The Rangers, who have a glaring need at right wing keep coming up.
- “Phil Kessel would be a wild-card out of Arizona.” – Arthur Staple, The Athletic
BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers are going to make a deep run into this year’s post-season, they’re going to need depth scoring. The moment Dave Tippett throws Draisaitl on McDavid’s line because the team isn’t scoring, the Oilers might as well kiss their Stanley Cup hopes goodbye.
So with that said, it wouldn’t shock me any if the Oilers got in on Kessel. When Leon Draisaitl plays center, he’s a playmaker, and to date his wingers (Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamato) have scored maybe three or four goals at even strength and folks, that ain’t gonna cut it.
I would imagine that Ken Holland will be eyeing Philly and Montreal as well with hopes of procuring a goal-scoring winger.
