The time has come! The march to Lord Stanley’s cup will begin tomorrow bright and early and I am JACKED! Unfortunately not jacked enough to wake up at 3am and watch the game live, but excited nevertheless.
My friends over on Instagram, Oilers Access, did up this really cool pump-up video below. So please check it out and then head to their Twitter and IG accounts and give them a follow! If you’re a true Oilers fan, you really need do it!
Prediction Time!
I wanna make this quick! So let’s go!
Western Conference Play-Ins
- EDM/CHI – Oilers in 3
Say what you will about Toews and Kane and all their depth skill/scoring, the return of Corey Crawford, and their record against the Oilers this year. It doesn’t mean anything because their defense is horrid and Edmonton will win any track meet you want to start. Also, Edmonton has the two best centers in the league, their defense is starving, and the goaltending is finally consistent and solid.
- NSH/ARI – Coyotes in 4
The Predators underachieving forwards and putrid goaltending (sorry Cait!) won’t be able to overcome an upstart Coyotes team lead by Taylor Hall and Clayton Keller. I like Arizona’s chances for this round but not for any longer. We can’t forget about Darcy Kuemper either… Pretty good netminder he is, no?
- VAN/MIN – Canucks in 4
Pettersson, Boeser, Hughes, and Horvat are going to make quick work of the Wild. If Markstrom can stay healthy that is. Minnesota is another team that was poised to make a run for Alexis Lafreniere before the pause, so how could they possibly be in a position, roster-wise, to make a run for the Cup? Vancouver is the better team, hands down.
- CGY/WPG – Jets in 3
The Flames will get annihilated by Winnipeg’s forward depth and the goaltending. Calgary simply doesn’t have enough to keep up with the Jets. It would take an epic meltdown from Connor Hellebuyck and monster performances from Gaudreau, Monahan, and Tkachuk for the Flames to even come close.
Seedings: 1. Colorado 2. St.Louis 3. Vegas 4. Dallas
Eastern Conference Play-Ins
- PIT/MTL – Pittsburgh in 3
I’m a tad skeptical with the Penguins’ goalies and defense but their forward group is one of the deepest in this year’s playoffs. Montreal has Carey Price and we’ve seen hot goaltending eliminate some really good teams in the past, but I can’t really see that being the case this year. Pittsburgh has simply better depth all over the ice and one of the hardest working captains of all-time leading them.
- CAR/NYR – Rangers in 5
The Hurricanes are missing their top-two defenders to start the series and they’re going up against a team that features Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, Tony DeAngelo, and Adam Fox. Not to mention Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko. I know that Carolina’s forwards are quite deep but when it comes down to brass tacks, New York’s goalies are better I feel. Mrazek/Reimer vs. Shesterkin/Georgiev isn’t even a contest for me and even then there’s Henrik Lundqvist.
- NYI/FLA – Islanders in 5
Weird series to look at. I think it’s going to be a grind. It’s really hard for me to bet against Sasha Barkov and Aaron Ekblad but I’m not convinced they have the work ethic necessary to put the Islanders away. They’ve got the skill, no doubt about that, but the Islanders have a deeper group of forwards who are willing to block shots in the nude to get the win. Plus, where is Sergei Bobrovsky’s head at? He could take over a series on his own, but he’s been shite all year…
- TOR/CLB – Blue Jackets in 5
Skill vs. Will baby! Can Torts’ foot soldiers outwork the Maple Leafs’ nuclear line? I say, yes! I still don’t think Toronto’s roster mix is right and I really feel that Columbus’s defense is better too. The pressure is on Toronto here, not the Blue Jackets and I wonder if those young Leafs can overcome that mental pressure. If they can, they could be a very dangerous team in the next round.
Seedings: 1. Washington 2. Tampa 3. Philadelphia 4. Boston
Would You Make This Trade?
Today on Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer was talking with Uber hockey insider and the next coming of Grizzly Adams, Elliotte Friedman, and Stauffer said this,
“Would you trade Jesse Puljujarvi for Jake Virtanen?”
To which the bearded wonder replied, “Yes.”
So I ask you, would you make that trade? It’s becoming clearer by the day that talks between the Oilers and Puljujarvi’s camp are becoming more frequent as well as more cordial to the point to where we’re most likely just waiting to hear that a contract has been signed.
As for Virtanen, it’s pretty obvious that the Canucks head coach Travis Green and him do not see eye-to-eye. He sat him for Vancouver’s exhibition game against Winnipeg the other night… That’s not good for a player coming off of a year where he put up career-highs (18g 18a).
From Edmonton’s perspective, is this a player that would benefit the team?
Well, here are some of the pros,
- He’s big, fast, and mean.
- He’s just entering the prime of his career at 24 years old.
- He has a laser of a shot as shown by his 18 goals last season.
- His traditional stats are trending up.
- He’s not going to cost a lot on his next deal.
Virtanen is an RFA when the season closes and he’s currently on a deal that sets the Canucks back $1.25M per year. Even if he were to double his salary on his next contract, it would still be quite affordable.
What about the other side of the coin with him though?
- He cares not for the other end of the ice so much.
- He can be undisciplined at times.
- He’s not good along the boards or breaking the puck out of his own zone.
- When played with highly skilled players (Pettersson,Miller), he’s a drag.
- Off the ice… He’s had a few adventures recently.
To me, he sounds like a young Scottie Upshall. This is a player that is finally finding his way in the league and he may very well peak out at a 40pt middle-six winger.
So you have to ask yourself, how high do you see the ceiling of Jesse Puljujarvi?
For me, I think I’d rather have Puljujarvi but I’ve always been a fan of Virtanen. He’s got a good mix of old school in his game that makes him an enjoyable player to watch. One major problem with him going to Edmonton, for me, though, is that I’m not sure if he can play the LW and at this point, that’s probably where the Oilers are going to have an opening. Jesse can play his off side, no question.
