Oilers Looking at a Pair of Kraken Forwards According to Leavins

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Cult of Hockey

Misleading to over-look this metric when assessing D-men like Darnell Nurse: 9 Things

Darnell Nurse is out 2-3 weeks with a broken finger. I could see it being less.
Ethan Bear and Caleb Jones had their fans in Edmonton and for good reason. But with all due respect to both, the ceiling for Philip Broberg (who earned as assist Saturday and was very solid) and Evan Bouchard (who added 2 more assists) is higher than for the ‘team’ of Jones & Bear.
I don’t think the Oilers need to go outside the organization for it’s 3 ^rd Line… With Ryan McLeod finding his game (he scored again Saturday, his best outing yet), I think McLeod’s speed can be a difference-maker alongside Zack Kassian and Derek Foegele.
I expect Dylan Holloway to be an antidote for the Oilers 4 ^th line by the time the Olympic break is over.
Mason Appleton would be a strong add for Edmonton: A 25-year old, 6’2, 200 pound right-shot pivot, 54% on faceoffs for Winnipeg in 2021. Appleton is repped by Edmonton-based Rich Winter . While they are at it, might the Oilers add some PK depth and size with Seattle winger Nathan Bastian ? Keep an eye on both.

BLH’s Thoughts: Reckon its a coincidence that Bob Stauffer was talking about Appleton and Bastian on Oilers Now on Friday and here’s Leavins posting about it in his weekly blog? And is every player rep’d by an Edmonton-based agent now going to be connected with the team somehow? That’s almost as bad Oilers fans throwing out trade proposals including players born in the YEG area code because who wouldn’t want to play in their own backyard?

If Dylan Holloway is coming in around March, as Stauffer has suggested, one of Brendan Perlini or Tyler Benson will be heading out of town, be that to Bakersfield or elsewhere…

I’m curious, where is Holloway slated to play in future seasons with Hyman, RNH, and Warren Foegele taking up the top-3 spots at LW and McDavid, Draisaitl, and Ryan McLeod slotted 1-2-3 at centre? None of these players are that old in the sense that the Oilers could simply bide their time for some contracts to run out and slow play Holloway…

I suppose there’s a couple of scenarios to watch out for and that’s if Tippett starts playing Hyman on Draisaitl’s RW or RNH at 3C as that might be a sign the coaching staff is preparing to insert Holloway into the top-six, but those two lines are rolling right now and if the game against CHI is any indication of what kind of damage the 3rd line is capable of doing, why change any of that?

So, the former AJHL MVP is destined to spend a bit of time on the 4th line? Maybe a better idea should be for him to spend a year or two in Bakersfield and give the Oilers some time to find him a spot a little higher up the lineup, no?

Oilersnation

Off the Top of My Head

Last night’s bit of business leaves McDavid a mere 34 games back of Wayne Gretzky’s 51-game points streak to start a season (1983-84), but the numbers that matter most have the Oilers sitting at 13-4-0 atop the Pacific Division. And if you’re looking for a truly rare number, McDavid drew three penalties in this game. Yes, three.
…it’s going to be up to everybody on the Oilers’ blueline to take up the slack that comes with the absence of a player who plays so many important minutes… The good news is the schedule is light – five games in the next 14 days.
Hindsight and Twitter being what they are, it’s no surprise the loss of Nurse prompted a mention of Ethan Bear… While Bear has been paired primarily with Jaccob Slavin, who leads all Carolina D-men in ice time at 23:31, he is averaging just 18:27 – fifth on the blueline.

BLH’s Thoughts: Five games in the next two weeks? You couldn’t ask for a better schedule when your no.1 defenseman is out with a broken finger.

Ethan Bear is a fine young man and an excellent hockey player but as Leavins spoke to above, his ceiling is nowhere near that of Evan Bouchard or Philip Broberg’s. Hell, Phil Kemp may come out of the woodwork and eclipse Bear.

The Oilers had a difficult choice to make, trade one of Bouchard or Bear, it’s that simple and if you’re thinking Ken Holland was the only one behind that decision, you’re sorely mistaken because the leadership core and the coaching staff also had input on that roster decision plus there are some that believe Bear welcomed the change of scenery after the racist attacks on him following the Oilers’ loss to Winnipeg in last year’s playoffs.

Spector’s Hockey

THE ATHLETIC: Arthur Staple took note of TSN’s Darren Dreger’s recent report claiming the New York Rangers are in the market for a middle-six forward… Staple believes the Rangers can’t afford to take on players with term remaining on their contracts as new deals will be required next summer for Blais and restricted free agent Kaapo Kakko plus they’ll also require a second-line center and a backup goalie.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Jimmy Murphy wondered if the Boston Bruins might try to entice the Rangers into taking winger Jake DeBrusk off their hands.
NEW YORK POST: Speaking of the Rangers, Mollie Walker reported there haven’t been any contract extension talks between management and Ryan Strome.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: In a recent mailbag segment, Lance Lysowski was asked if the Sabres would pursue a starting goaltender via next summer’s free-agent market. He doesn’t see them going that route with promising Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the cusp of the NHL.