Yesterday NHL.com posted their 2018/19 season preview for the Edmonton Oilers and they asked three questions for the hosts, EJ Hradek and Dan Rosen, to ponder.
- Can the Oilers expect a return to form from Cam Talbot?
- Which players need to step up in Edmonton this season?
- Was Peter Chiarelli too cautious this offseason?
I’ll post the video at the end of this blog for you but first, my thoughts…
Will the Real Slim Talby Please Stand Up?
Can the Oilers expect a return to for from Cam Talbot?
I think they can. I think that IF the defense can stay healthy, they’re that much older and experienced, and it’s more or less the same group that lead them to the playoffs in 2016, right?
Last season it was apparent that Talbot was playing hurt and I’m of the belief that he was overplayed in 2016 and that carried over into 2017.
Now that Chiarelli has signed one of the KHL’s better goalies in Mikko Koskinen, I think that will give Talbot and the Oilers an opportunity to play Cam a more correct amount of games.
Talbot said it himself that last season was the outlier. He’s a career .918 SV% goalie and last season he was a .909 SV% netminder.
Talbot will bounce back but my question is, how much?
PRODUCE OR GET OUT OF THE GARDEN!
That’s such a bad joke…
Anyways, which players need to step up for the Oilers in 2018?
I think the first name that will come to the minds of Oilers fans is Milan Lucic and I do get that sentiment, I’m not sure I agree. Yes, Milan needs to step up but not in the way that a player like Jesse Puljujarvi needs to or Andrej Sekera does. Lucic simply needs to find a way NOT to get himself in a hole like he did last year. If he plays his game, he’ll be a fine 45pt-55pt LWer for the Oilers and that’s perfectly fine. He was on part for around that last season and then Christmas hit…
Pulju and Rej are going to be relied upon for some offense this year.
I’ve been following Puljujarvi all offseason and he’s looking fantastic. His skating looks better and from my Finnish sources he sounds way more confident and he knows exactly what the team expects from him this year. I just hope that McLellan and the new coaches see what they have in Jesse and use him accordingly. The kid has the talent and I’ve seen some throwing shade at his hockey IQ which is bullshit IMO. Think about it, do you know a lot of players who have poor hockey IQ who dominate the World Junior Hockey Championships at 16 and 17? Do you know any players who aren’t that clever on the ice who can play professional hockey in Finland and not look out of place?
Andrej Sekera. I’m not expecting 40pts out of the guy, but I really think he can put up 30+. That bum knee of his is healthy now and he should be back to normal. Which for him is about 33 pts. He should be the QB on the second PP unit, so I imagine he’ll put a few points up there.
Other players that will need to step up are Ty Rattie, Zack Kassian, and Drake Caggiula.
Ty Rattie because the Oilers gave him a 1-way deal on the back of 9 pts in 14 games last year playing with McDavid and Nuge. Everyone probably agrees that this guy isn’t a 1st line RWer and he’s going to need to produce right off the bat or else Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto are going to be right there ready to take his spot.
Caggiula and Kassian need to bring it because they’re making a bit more than they probably should and I can’t speak for the rest of the fanbase here but I miss the physicality they brought in 2016. Remember Caggiula feeding Cogliano’s face knuckles and Kassian sending Couture flying or taking on all comers vs. Arizona? We need more of that, please.
The coaches had better step up too. Todd McLellan is on a bit of an island now that Chiarelli gutted his coaching staff and replaced them.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to what Yawney will do with the defensemen and what Viveiros is going to do with the PP. If those two alone can get things clicking with the players, the Oilers will go hard and deep… Into the playoffs.
Haltpeter (PC>Mac)
My puns are right horrid today…
Was Chiarelli too cautious this offseason?
I don’t think so. He was the right amount of cautious in my opinion. He found a way to bring in a veteran 4th line center in Kyle Brodziak for a tidy sum, he also managed to get a very in-demand Tobias Rieder to re-join the Oilers for a paltry $2M. Those two deals alone are wins this summer for the Oilers.
He also fired 75% of his coaching staff…
That said, he might’ve given out a few more bucks than needed to his RFAs and his backup goalie but Peter is a man who goes after what he feels he needs to improve the squad and he rarely gets into bidding wars for players.
Some might say that Chiarelli kind of self-imposed this cautious offseason which you might see as a plus or a minus. My opinion is that things happen for a reason and that sometimes we don’t know that reason right away but eventually if we pay attention, we learn that reason.
What are your thoughts on NHL.com’s questions?
One more video for you though. Did you see that Alexis Lafreniere goal last night? Wowzas! You HAVE to check this out.
