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!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
The Athletic
‘He’s starting from scratch’: Oilers voice their frustration over top prospect Dylan Holloway’s injury setback
- Holloway had surgery Tuesday in Edmonton to repair his left wrist, which simply wasn’t getting better. Now the Oilers and the 19-year-old, who was the team’s first-round pick from the 2020 draft, will be forced to basically wait an indeterminate amount of time and hope for the best.
“He’s starting from scratch,” Holland said. “It’s a minimum of three months and we’ll see where he’s at.”
- His first surgery took place in Chicago at the end of March, to repair a scaphoid fracture, a break in a small bone at the base of his wrist, a different procedure than the latest one.
- Holland said that scaphoid fracture only healed about 30 percent in the five and a half months.
“It’s a real unknown right now,” Holland said. “We’re going to be very slow, very cautious and very conservative, because we don’t want this to happen again.”
- Now whenever Holloway can play again, it’s a given he’ll start in Bakersfield. But it’s uncertain how long it will take for him to recover, let alone make his NHL debut.
“It’s probably going to be close to a year of no hockey if things go good. I’m optimistic that once we get a couple of months down the road, he’s going to push hard to get back as quick as possible.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I knew this was coming. The media coverage and the verbiage from Bob Stauffer and Jason Gregor was simply too strong. So, they’ve probably known for a couple weeks, if not longer, that surgery was on the table.
It’s too bad, but it’s for the best. I know the club is saying that they’re going to take things slow with Holloway on this and he could be good to go by March according to Gregor, but I wonder if it wouldn’t be even better if everybody waited until 2022-23 to get Holloway into the Edmonton Oilers lineup? Let him finish the year out in Bakersfield, get his feet back under him after about a year of not playing, then a solid offseason of training, and after that, make sure there’s spot open on Edmonton’s roster for him to lose.
I’m thinking if that is the route they choose, Holloway could come in, be an impact player, and challenge for the Calder Trophy, an award no Oiler has ever won.
The Edmonton Sun
McDavid says enforcing the NHL’s rules might actually be worth a try
- It’s an issue that reached a peak in last year’s playoffs, where McDavid didn’t draw a single penalty in 121 shifts over four games against the Winnipeg Jets. A year earlier in the four-game post-season series with Chicago, he drew one penalty over four games.
“Overall you just want to see some consistency from game to game, consistency throughout the night, period to period. That’s what everyone is striving for.”
- What frustrates offensive players, and fans of offensive hockey, are infractions that referees see and choose not to call.
“If you call each and every one, there will be lots of penalties, but if there’s lots of penalties that’s just the way it is. The rulebook is there for a reason and you want it called with integrity. If you let guys get away with certain things they’re going to keep getting away with it.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I wonder if some of the league’s lesser skilled players feel the same way? Those that might not play on their club’s special team’s units or those that make a living at getting away with uncalled infractions.
It’s easy to say for the guy who’s has more PP points than any other player in the league over the last three seasons (I think).
Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to watch an entire hockey game where five guys pass the puck around the other team’s zone waiting for a one-timer or a re-direction. That’s boring as hell.
While I think McDavid has a point of contention to pick with the league’s officiating, I do not think it would be “good for the game” if there was a constant parade to the penalty box and to add to that, Connor would be in there as much as anybody because a lot of times when he goes around somebody he puts his hand out and grabs their stick. So considering how much space he’d have if the refs were calling everything, he’d be flying around guys left and right and that hand would come out and as soon as he clasped his fingers around that defenseman’s stick, the whistle would blow and the best player in the league would be sitting for two.
Spector’s Hockey
VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Steve Carp recently wondered whether the Golden Knights were among the clubs to re-engage with the Buffalo Sabres regarding their interest in Jack Eichel. He believes they should be in the mix for the Sabres captain.
- Acquiring Eichel would probably mean moving two players from the current roster to free up the cap space for his $10 million annual average value.
- It could result in getting a third or a fourth team involved to make the dollars fit.
- The Sabres will also insist on first-round draft picks and a top prospect such as Peyton Krebs as part of the deal.
TORONTO SUN: Michael Traikos wonders how many more players the Maple Leafs could lose because of their limited salary-cap space. Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen departed this summer as free agents. Morgan Rielly could follow them out the door next summer.
- He also pointed out it wasn’t just money and term or a chance to play alongside Connor McDavid that prompted Hyman to leave the Leafs.
“After five years of post-season exits, it sounds like Hyman wanted out. Like he needed a change.”
BLH’s Thoughts: What? Hyman left Toronto to play with McDavid? Matthews and Marner weren’t enough? Hell, they’ve even got Tavares and Nylander!
That’s got to hurt… Well, hopefully Mike Bunting or Nick Ritchie have better luck with the Fab Four in T-Dot.
