Oilers Would be Better Off Adding Gadjovich than Reaves says Gregor

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GM19: Oilers @ Devils

Who to Keep an Eye On for New Jersey

#13 Nico Hischier – Quietly turning into one of the game’s better 2-way players. I’m hearing Selke whispers already. I’ll be curious to see who he’ll be tasked with shutting down tonight, McDavid or Draisaitl. He’s got 5pts in his last five games.
#86 Jack Hughes – 13 pts in his last ten games. He has arrived and the Devs are playing at home where he’ll be more comfortable. I think there’s a good chance he gets his name on the scoresheet tonight.
#7 Dougie Hamilton – three goals and four assists in his last dozen minus two. Didn’t do much last time out but that doesn’t negate the fact that he’s one of the best scoring dman in the NHL.

Who to Keep an Eye On for Edmonton

#37 Warren Foegele – Three goals in his last five. McLovin’ is feeling it on this line with RNH and Draisaitl. He’s like a bull in a China shop and to be honest, this team needs a bit more of that.
#55 Dylan Holloway – I don’t know how much TOI he’s going to get tonight, but I have a feeling that he’ll show well tonight. No facts to that, I just feel like there’s a bit of pressure on him to start showing a but more than he has been on the offensive side of the puck and New Jersey isn’t exactly the best defensive oriented team in the league.
#2 Evan Bouchard – Tonight would be a good night to snap out of a bit of a funk for Bouch. The Devils are high-octane and they press hard though. So it will be a really tough test for him, however, if he can overcome New Jersey’s forecheck, I believe he will be rewarded.

BLH’s Thoughts: Lindy Ruff’s club is the revelation of the year. Nobody thought they’d have the record they do right now but I will go on the record and say that I feel that the Oilers will defeat them because I am of the belief that Edmonton will not take them as lightly this evening as they did when they got beat earlier in the year back home. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are going to raise their games and put this one on their backs and the win will be decisive.

Oilersnation

Monday Mailbag – Where is the Oilers depth scoring?

Has any one of the gentlemen’s pre-season expectations changed?

“I’m pretty sure I said on Oilersnation Radio that I think Dylan Holloway could get to 50 points this year. So that one will probably be wrong. Also: I wasn’t high enough on the Vegas Golden Knights. They’re looking like a damn good hockey team.” – Yaremchuk

Who do you see as the player or players that have the most pressure to get going? What isn’t working for them right now?

“Jesse Puljujarvi, Ryan McLeod, and Kailer Yamamoto need to get going. I know Yamo is hurt right now, but the point remains. We need these guys to chip in a little bit. I would have said the same for Warren Foegele but our boy is rolling right now.” – Baggedmilk

Should the Oilers look at trying a shot at Ryan Reaves?

“Would be better off adding Gadjovich from San Jose as he would cost less and has a much lower cap hit at $750K.” – Gregor

BLH’s Thoughts: I thought about Reaves when I read about him falling out in NY and I think a deal could be made for him. It wouldn’t be that hard to squeeze in $1.75M if NY retained half and you sent over Slater Koekkoek’s contract. But at the end of the day, he is 36 years old and his days as a functional NHL player are over (many thought the same of Duncan Keith too). However, if Edmonton wants a guaranteed deterrent, he’s the man and maybe he’d find a bit of renewed effort and energy with the Oilers. I do like Gregor’s suggestion of Gadjovich though. He reminds me a lot of Patrick Maroon.

Puljujarvi has the most pressure and always will have the most pressure until he’s scoring 50 goals on Connor’s wing or until he’s been traded. That said, Evan Bouchard is starting to get it from the local media and if Kailer Yamamoto comes back and is his production is still colder than a witch’s titty, he’ll start to get it too. Ryan McLeod should be getting a lot more criticism than he is but he skates fast and that tends to cause memory disfunction amongst a lot of the Oilers media.

The guy that should be getting a lot of pressure placed on his shoulders is Darnell Nurse. Love him or hate him, he’s the leader of Edmonton’s defense and at $9M+ he HAS to be performing at much higher rate than he is. If Leon Draisaitl was putting up 40pt seasons @ $8M/yr everybody would be all over him, but Nurse gets a pass? C’mon.

Pre-season expectations? For me, a better start to the year for one. More scoring from Jesse, Kailer, Foegele, McLeod, and Bouchard. Better defense obviously. But I feel like the latter three quarters of the year are going to go much better for this team and with that those that aren’t filling the net now will be then. I mean, how badly would the hockey gods hate Edmonton if those four players mentioned above couldn’t crack double-digits in the goal column? That would be some serious bad luck and I don’t believe that’s possible.

Trade Rumors

NHLtraderumors.me

After an offseason of spending, the Ottawa Senators came into the 2022-23 season with the expectation of competing for a playoff spot. However, things have been disastrous for them, as they have a 6-10-1 record and have won just two out of their last ten games. As a result, we will see them trade away some of their pending UFAs at the deadline, and Austin Watson will likely be one of them.
After winning only two out of their last 10 games, the Washington Capitals have fallen to a 7-10-3 record, and their playoff hopes are not looking too hot. Unless they turn things around quickly, they are destined to be sellers at the deadline. One player to pay attention to in this situation is Conor Sheary.
It has already been established that the San Jose Sharks are open for business. Players like Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier, James Reimer, and Mario Ferraro have been flooding the rumor mill, but another player who we should be keeping an eye on is Jaycob Megna.
After a hot start to the season, the Buffalo Sabres have, unfortunately, fallen back down to Earth. At the time of this writing, they have a 7-11-0 record and have lost eight straight games. This has made them plummet in the standings, and it appears that they will once again be sellers at the deadline. One player to keep an eye on in trade talks is Vinnie Hinostroza.
The Washington Capitals have been immensely disappointing this season, as they sport a 7-9-3 record. Due to this, they are currently seventh in the Metropolitan Division and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 season. If they do not turn things around quickly, they will be sellers at the deadline, and Garnet Hathaway will be one of their rental candidates.

BLH’s Thoughts: If the Oilers want to add a different element to their roster, there are plenty of candidates that may be hitting the block sooner or later…

I’m a huge fan of Hathaway. I think he’d be perfect for Edmonton’s bottom six because of his physicality and the fact that he lives on the PK.

Sheary has history playing with generational talents and thriving for short periods of time. He’s got some experience playing deep into the playoffs as well…

Austin Watson is a good forechecker and he’ll drop the gloves with anybody and Hinostroza is a little buzzsaw who can skate and loves to get in the grill of his opponents but more importantly, he can put the puck in the net pretty well for a career bottom sixer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtOQcfqhAzk