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Oilersnation
Monday Mailbag – How worried are you about Mike Smith?
Based on the press conference from last week should Kenny come out and say Edmonton’s first rounders are on the table? Wouldn’t that be a bad bargaining move for trades, announcing he’ll do anything and “hey come ask me for my first rounder?”
- “It certainly wouldn’t be smart to come out and sound desperate, but I still wouldn’t have minded if he came out and said he’s open to anything that could improve the team. It just didn’t feel like he believes that this team is a Stanley Cup contender and in his third year on the job, I don’t see how that can be an acceptable line of thinking from the GM.” – Yaremchuk
BLH’s Thoughts: So how long did we think it was going to take for Holland to clear out Chiarelli’s work and make this roster his own? Should we cut him a bit of slack considering the impact COVID has had on the league and transactions in general for Canadian teams? Can we blame him for getting submarined on the Markstrom and Kuemper deals?
For me, I love what Holland’s doing roster-wise. It’s infuriating to watch the team lose so much, but he’s not rushing anything and he’s loading up the cupboards for when it IS time to go for it. You can’t blame the guy for holding on to his assets knowing that teams are going to be circling the chum looking for a discount deal.
The other thing is, what do you want him to do? He spent to the cap improving the roster this summer and he filled holes at the request of his captain and his head coach. That cannot be changed. So what’s he to do? He can’t trade his picks for roster players because they wouldn’t fit under the cap.
Ken Holland is putting the onus on the players and the coaches to figure this out and it’s about time. These boys need to see what they’re made of and the GM is watching closely to see which players/coaches are worth his time. When’s the last time any GM did that in Edmonton? I mean, put all the pressure back on the locker room.
Like I’ve said before, this roster is the best and deepest it’s been in a ridiculously long time and it is about to get deeper as long as Holland doesn’t panic.
Simply put, the guys who play the game have to figure it out and they might miss the playoffs, but it won’t be because Ken Holland didn’t build a good enough roster.
Now watch Tippett get fired before this post goes public…
How concerned should we be that Mike Smith is injured again?
- “I’m concerned because Mikko Koskinen has already shown beyond a doubt he can’t carry the load for any length of time and Stuart Skinner has yet to prove he can — he’s got a great chance to take the crease here but that 6-4 loss to Ottawa Saturday was not a good start.” – Brownlee
BLH’s Thoughts: So what about changing something about the guys in front of the goalies? If you know that your netminding is going through a tough time, why not try some new systems in front of him? I get that the coaching wants the goalies to handle the puck more, but what about allowing the defensemen that honor and asking Mikko and Stuey to just worry about the net?
Tippett was famous for his defensive hockey prior to coming to Edmonton, where’s that about now?
Which goalie do they need to look at in the off-season? We can’t go into next year being a Smith injury away from having a Skinner/Konovalov tandem on a team that should be a contender.
- “I would look at Alexandar Georgiev if he’s available in a trade. If they can open up some money by trading Barrie or Kassian this summer, or both, then maybe you can afford to go after Darcy Kuemper in free agency as well.” – Yaremchuk
BLH’s Thoughts: So Georgiev is having a good stretch and now the boys want him back. Weird.
Kuemper has a history of being a fragile goalie. Are we sure that’s the guy the Oilers should be going after considering what the team is going through right now?
Why isn’t anybody looking at Ville Husso from the Blues?
- In nine appearances, he’s 5-2-1 with a .935 SV% and a 2.13 GAA.
- His 5v5 SV% is .937.
- His 5v5 HDSV% is first in the league amongst goalies who’ve played 400 minutes or more at .887.
The guy is 6’3″, 210lbs, 26 years old and about to become a UFA.
Now, what I will say is that he might be a tad green as he’s not yet played 30 NHL games and it could be a huge risk to make him a starter. However, he’s been put through the proper NHL developmental path, he’s at a good age, the stats are looking good, and the future contract probably wouldn’t be crushing
That being said, such a small amount of games played didn’t stop Steve Yzerman from acquiring Alex Nedjelkovic from Carolina. He’d only played 29 games prior to getting moved to Detroit. Cam Talbot only had a shade over 50 games when the Oilers got him from New York, but to the credit of the Georgiev lovers out there, he’s got 113 games played under his belt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TWzeT3Y8bA
The Athletic
Why can’t the Oilers win a trade in the Connor McDavid era?
- The urgency of the organization, combined with a baffling lack of tradeable assets, added to several managers in a row who can’t count making deals as a strength, and the lack of awareness in regard to modern evaluation tools described as analytics.
BLH’s Thoughts: Fickle fanbase much? Prior to Holland coming in you couldn’t find an Oilers supporter who wasn’t tired of all the turnover throughout the organization. Now, you can’t find one who doesn’t want everything turned over.
So the solution is… You stick with Holland until the team has a “baffling amount of tradeable assets”, then you move on to a GM who’s strength is making deals and has an eye towards analytics.
What you don’t do is turn everybody over because that starts another build.
Do you think the next GM is going to look at that roster and say, “Great! I don’t see any problems!”?
So, he’ll want his own guys and he’ll want his own coach who’ll want HIS own guys and the vicious circle continues in Edmonton…
You don’t sell on the dip… You sell on the highs…
The Hockey Writers Rumors
- According to Jeff Marek, the Dallas Stars have made a decision on the future of defenseman John Klingberg and the decision to trade the talented offensive defenseman. Marek notes that the Stars “have stepped up their efforts to trade John Klingberg, we believe very much he is getting dealt.”
- According to a report by Michael Russo of The Athletic, Eric Staal is very excited about the potential of playing in the Olympics for Team Canada, but he is really still hoping an NHL club calls and offers him an opportunity to play again this season.
- According to Arthur Staple of The Athletic, the New York Rangers are trying to add bottom-six depth to their roster, especially after news that Sammy Blais was going to be out the remainder of the season. One of the targets the Rangers have keyed in on is Canadiens winger Artturi Lehkonen.
