The amount of names that the Oilers are looking to add via PTO is growing by the week. Personally, I was told Scottie Upshall and Brandon Davidson will be offered an opportunity to come to Oilers camp and earn a job but the Oilers aren’t the only teams interested in those players as I’ve heard LA and Vancouver are also looking at them.
The latest name to pop up in the Oilers PTO rumor mill is that of Kevin Bieksa.
Bieksa is 37 years old today and he’s definitely a shell of his former self. He hasn’t had a decent year of hockey since 2011/12 when he was with Vancouver and they went to the Cup final. That year he had 44pts in 78gp. He’s topped 14pts once since then and even then it was a paltry 24pts.
Injuries have slowed this old warrior down almost to a halt BUT if there are any reasons I could see the Oilers having any interest in him (apart from the superman punch), they’re these:
- He’s quite decent on the PK still.
- The Oilers want a Hendricks-like player on the roster.
So yeah… The home PK was a dog’s breakfast last year until McLellan took over near the end of the year and now the Oilers are in the history books as having the worst single-season home PK in NHL history… Cool.
Let’s head to Natural Stat Trick and check out how his PK numbers look. What I’ve looked at is dmen with 100 minutes TOI on the PK last season and there are 120 defenders that fall under those parameters. I also used the relative statistics to separate him from his teammates to get an even clearer idea.
When it comes to shot suppression Bieksa probably won’t help.
- CA/60 rel – 5.98 (71/120) – Hamonic, Brodin, Slavin, Ristolainen
- FA/60 rel – 6.81 (79/120) – Better then Vlasic, Ekblad, Josi, Pietrangelo
- SA/60 rel – 2.92 (69/120) – Better than Giordano, Carlson, Doughty, Chara.
He’s about the middle of the line, not too bad for a 37-year-old.
But how about his goals against on the PK. How does he stack up there?
- GA/60 rel: -3.11 (7/120)
- HDGA/60 rel: -2.08 (10/120)
- MDGA/60 rel: -0.31 (41/120)
- LDGA/60 rel: -1.12 (27/120)
HD means high danger, MD means medium danger, and LD means low danger.
To my understanding that is simply referring to where the goals were scored on the ice be it from the net front/slot area (high danger), the half wall (medium danger), or the point (low danger).
I could be wrong on the exact scoring areas there, so don’t quote me. In fact, if I am wrong or I could be clearer, please let me know in the comments.
In 113 minutes on the PK last season, only 7 goals were scored when Bieksa was on the ice. That’s best in the NHL for defenders who played more than 100 minutes on the penalty kill.
All of that is fine and dandy except the majority of the game is played 5×5 and one has to question if Kevin Bieksa is still an NHL quality defender because his traditional stats and his advanced ones tell us he’s probably no better than a no.7 defender.
That said, Matt Hendricks was in the same boat the last two years and both Edmonton and Winnipeg found a useful role for him. So much so that Minnesota even signed him for the upcoming season.
Why do players like Hendricks get signed anyhow? It’s obvious that there are younger more talented players that could easily replace him but coaches like blue-collar lunch-bucket guys like Hendricks. Here’s why:
- They bust their asses off during practice, in their limited TOI during games, in the gym, etc.
- They do what they’re told. Simple as that.
- They act as mentors to younger players.
- They’re usually glue guys in the dressing room.
- They are the middleman between the coaches and the players.
- They’re most often than not fan favorites.
- They’re experienced and know the ins and outs of a dressing room, how to maintain good relationships, repair broken ones, and when to step away from toxic ones.
- They stick up for their teammates when others won’t.
These kinds of players are needs on teams and the analytics will tell you the opposite. They’ll say to stay far away from the Hendricks and Bieksas of the world because they’ll cost you at some point but I believe with a team like the Oilers, even if a costly mistake is made, the team is good enough to come back from it.
I’d take a team of Ryan Smyths over a team of Johnny Gaudreaus any day of the week because I’d know that my team of Smyths will be giving ‘er 110% for 60 minutes.
Getting back to Kevin Bieksa though. I’ve liked him once in his entire career and that’s when he scored to put the Blackhawks out of the playoffs in 2011. So it’s fair to say that I’m on the fence if the rumors are true that he’s considering the Oilers.
Part of me loves the idea of adding a grizzled vet who can knock anybody out with one punch. A player who is a son-of-a-bitch to play against and who won’t back down from anybody. I like veterans like Bieksa and I’m of the belief that they add more to a team than most pundits understand.
But the other part of me says, this guy is 37 years old and is slower than molasses in a league that is getting faster by the draft class.
What are your feelings on a Bieksa PTO? Let us know in the comments!
