“It isn’t a good sign for a coach when he starts to get criticism on the team’s state-controlled media program…” Says Lewis

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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The Cult of Hockey

Shots fired! Edmonton Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen claps back at his many critics

”It’s not nice being thrown under the bus. I have to be better but at the same time we scored seven goals in my last six losses. I can’t score goals. It’s not always up to the goalkeeper alone to win or lose. The whole team needs to play better in the future.” – Koskinen
Koskinen had one good year in Edmonton, with a .917 save percentage in 2019-20, but he’s otherwise struggled to play consistently sound hockey.
Indeed, he would not be here in Edmonton this year if he did not have one final year remaining on his $4.5 million per contract. Both he and the team are stuck for now.
I expected Oilers GM Ken Holland might already have moved to send Koskinen to Bakersfield and recall goalie Stuart Skinner.
There are not a lot of obvious goalies to be had in the NHL market, but Marc-Andre Fleury in Chicago, a team out of the playoff race, is one that the Oilers might consider.
It’s clear Edmonton can’t count on Mike Smith being healthy, can’t count on Koskinen to play well and can’t count on the rookie Skinner.
Another goalie is needed and the sooner Edmonton can pull off a deal that makes sense, the better for the team.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m fully on Team Koskinen here. He was well within his rights to clap back at his critics after all the abuse he’s taken.

All he’s done since joining Edmonton is do what’s been asked of him regardless of how tall the task was. He goes out, busts his ass, does what he’s told, and at the end of the day if he’s overworked because his coach won’t manage his TOI correctly and he makes some bad decisions that cost his team a goal, how’s that solely his fault?

I think something that is lost on everybody is that Mikko is not a starting goalie and that’s not new information. The club is expecting him to be one, playing him like one and then throwing a hissy fit when his performances don’t line up with one. It’s the equivalent of asking a cat to fly. You can put some paper wings on Fluffy and toss him off the roof, but you’ll be down a cat and up a big mess to clean up. So who’s really to blame? The coach, the GM, or Koskinen?

Notice that Tippett was a bit softer with his words after the loss to T.O. because Smitty was in net?… Odd, don’t you think?

If I had to guess, I think that Mikko’s going to be heading to Woodcroft Island for a spell and Stu Skinner will be coming up in his stead and that will be the move Holland makes until the trade deadline unless Smith has to go back on the IR.

I imagine Edmonton will have their irons in the fire with a lot of goalies, but they’ve not got a lot of money to spend to grab one, especially a rental. They need a no.1 starting in 2022 that they can rely on for at least four years and impressive enough to convince 97 and 29 to sign another contract to stay in Edmonton.

Oilersnation

Is a coaching change on the horizon for the Oilers? Reports are mixed about Dave Tippett’s future

On Tuesday’s edition of Oilers Now, Bob Stauffer and Mark Spector spoke about Tippett and the article that the latter wrote for Sportsnet defending Edmonton’s head coach a few days ago.
Spector doubled down and said that firing the coach isn’t the solution but acknowledged that it’s a possibility.
Stauffer then went on to talk about the team’s impending break and how it naturally gives Holland a chance to make a change. He was also critical of Tippett’s inability to get anything out of the team’s bottom-six and how they appear very easy to play against.
It isn’t a good sign for a coach when he starts to get criticism on the team’s state-controlled media program, which functions largely as a vessel to soothe the fanbase.

BLH’s Thoughts: When Stauffer is upset with someone in Edmonton’s organization, he finds a way to let the listeners know. He did it with Chiarelli on a number of occasions as well and now he’s doing it with Tippett. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s getting pissy about Bouchard not getting a bigger push because he’s been bringing up Evan’s 5v5 scoring numbers up a lot lately.

So, let’s go through Edmonton’s bottom-six and you tell me who you’d expect to make life difficult for the other team.

Derek Ryan? Nope.

Ryan McLeod? Nope.

Kyle Turris? Is this a joke?

Zack Kassian? It’s possible, but you never know with him these days.

Devin Shore? He’ll grind but is that enough?

Tyler Benson? Started the year well, but his physicality as slowed down.

Brendan Perlini? Ha! Sorry, try again.

Colton Sceviour? BINGO!!! We’ve got ONE!

If Josh Archibald was available, the club would have TWO dedicated energy grinders in their bottom-six. But where are the guys that will drag the other team into the fight? Your Brendan Lemieuxs and Ryan Lombergs, Zack MacEwans, and Corey Perrys (he’s got 19pts this year!!!)?

When a game just isn’t going your way, there are methods to flip the switch a bit and generally that involves somebody going out of their way to be an asshole on the ice. The Oilers don’t have any pricks on their team anymore… Nobody to be proactive. The entire roster is reactive at this point and the rest of the league knows it…

Spector’s Hockey

NEW YORK POST: Ethan Sears cited ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes suggesting the Rangers could use another top-six winger. He suggested the Canadiens’ Tyler Toffoli as a possibility.
THE ATHLETIC: Ryan S. Clark believes the Seattle Kraken could be in a good position to use the March 21 trade deadline to their advantage. They have six players on expiring contracts, including Mark Giordano, Calle Jarnkrok and Marcus Johansson.
THE ATHLETIC: Arthur Staple looked at possible rental defense options for the New York Rangers. The most expensive would be the Canadien’s Ben Chiarot but Staple is skeptical that their newly install hockey ops VP Jeff Gorton would be interested in helping the club that spectacularly dumped him last May.