Pulju’s Overshadowed Performance, Leon’s Hunt for the Elusive 50/50, and the Latest NHL Rumors

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Lowetide.ca

PULJUJARVI

The big man is on the third line, but I don’t feel it will be for a long time. It’s tough to play on a line where two of the three players are elite, and Zack Kassian’s defensive acumen (or lack thereof) will eventually force a trip down the depth chart. Years of blown coverages tell me so, and Kassian, at 30, is what he is. He has value, but isn’t a long-term solution for the No. 1 line.
On the other hand, I’ve been curious to see if JP could drive a line from the wing. It’s rare, recent examples are Taylor Hall, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone. The Oilers were 5-1 shots at five-on-five when Puljujarvi was on the ice, 1-0 HDSC and he had a fantastic chance on the power play.
Dave Tippett moved Kassian to the top line against the Coyotes and Kassian had a big night. If he can play on the top line without making mistakes Saturday, perhaps the Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian line has legs. History tells us it is a fleeting thing. It does give us a chance to see what Puljujarvi can bring, and last night was impressive if somewhat overshadowed.

BLH’s Thoughts: Vegas is up next for the Oilers and they are more than a one line team. Reckon it would behoove the Oilers coaching staff to comprise a plan that might spread out the offense a little bit on their own team seeing as the club’s GM went out and made it a point to find players to increase Edmonton’s forward depth?

The Athletic

Could Leon Draisaitl score 50 goals in 50 games?

When Draisaitl plays centre, Gulutzan likens him to former Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk or Kings captain Anze Kopitar — two-way forces and Selke Trophy winners for their defensive prowess in their primes.

“When he’s on the wing, he’s Ovie,” said the coach, referring to Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time.” – Glen Gulutzan, Oilers asst. coach

Only one Oiler reached 20 goals faster and that was Wayne Gretzky in 1983-84 — a season in which he hit the 50-goal mark in 42 games, had 61 tallies in 50 games, and finished the campaign by scoring 87 times.
The NHL only recognizes the accomplishment if a player turns the trick in his team’s first 50 games. Time missed isn’t given any consideration.
By the time Draisaitl could be zeroing in on the deed, it would be 26 years in an unofficial capacity and 30 years since (Brett) Hull did it for real.
Draisaitl leads the NHL with 40 points, four more than McDavid. The last players to get 40 points in their team’s first 19 games were Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m trying to wrap my head around somebody from my generation who was the ultimate duel threat like Leon is. With the way that Draisaitl is running the scoring charts, maybe Mario Lemieux and Jagr are the only true comps in both playing style and production-wise.

Either way, what our German superstar is doing is out of this world. In fact, this whole season across the entire league is nuts. Did you see that Ovechkin has 33pts in 20 games and is scoring goals like he did in his early 20s and what in Sam’s Hell is Nazem Kadri doing sitting at 4th in league scoring? Detroit’s super rookie Lucas Raymond has 20pts in 21 games and nobody is talking about Tony DeAngelo’s resurgence as he’s racked up 17pts in 18 games.

Spector’s Hockey

THE ATHLETIC: With trade rumors swirling about the Vancouver Canucks, Thomas Drance looked at which players are likely to become trade candidates if management decides to shake things up or being overhauling the roster.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Matthew DeFranks recently observed promising goaltender Jake Oettinger is giving Stars management something to think about… With three goalies on the roster, the Stars don’t have enough cap space to call up any extra forwards or defensemen. DeFranks indicated they could trade Holtby ($2 million) or Khudobin ($3.33 million)…