Seeing What You’ve Got So You’re Not Doing Trial and Error in May

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The Athletic

Oilers turn to Markus Niemelainen with blue line hit by injuries and COVID-19 protocol

Niemelainen, 23, became the third defenceman summoned from the minors in November.
Niemelainen was chosen to replace Ceci ahead of fellow lefthanded prospect Dmitri Samorukov for two reasons, Holland said.
- Firstly, Niemelainen has played well.
- Secondly, Samorukov is just getting up to speed again after he sustained a shoulder injury in January that cut last season short and then broke his jaw in a rookie game in September.
Holland likes having a big defenceman corps and Niemelainen is listed at 6-foot-5 and 203 pounds.
The Oilers have four lefthanders on the roster, meaning one of them will have to play on the right. Russell has done that in the NHL. Broberg has experience there, too.

“Down the road when you have injuries and there are big games, your coaches have tried them, and they’ve been in that situation. If you have no injuries, all of a sudden you’re in Game 2 of the playoffs and you have a couple guys out, you’re doing trial and error in May.” – Ken Holland, Oilers GM

BLH’s Thoughts: The quote at the end here makes a ton of sense. To know what you’ve got this far ahead of the trade deadline will do nothing but help Ken Holland and his group with their plans for March regarding which players to target for acquisition or if they should bother at all because they depth they’ve got is suffice.

The trade chatter over the past week to ten days with Edmonton has been about them going out and grabbing a Ben Chiarot-like player and if Niemelainen can be that guy, that’ll save Holland time and assets. If Stu Skinner can outplay Marc-Andre Fleury or Carey Price, why would Edmonton go out and spend futures on those future hall-of-famers right now?

An argument can be made that despite having great depth in the AHL that the Oilers should go ahead and prioritize experience at this year’s deadline, and if you’ve been visiting this site consistently in the past, you’ll know that I love having extra experienced players on my teams.

Conversely, I really value good depth in the minor league system too. So it’s a bit of a catch-22 for me… That said, Holland has never had problems moving youngsters for proven vets in the past…

I think, in the end, Niemelainen and Samorukov aren’t teenagers, therefor they might hold different value for the Oilers. These are a couple of defensemen who’ve paid their dues and are ready to go… So, things could go either way when it comes to trades.

I suppose the best advice would be to buckle up and enjoy the ride. Niemelainen is a wrecking ball. A 6’5″ 210lbs Finnish Rhino who destroys everything he hits.

Oilersnation

20 takes at the 20 game mark

1 – This is a resilient team.

It’s been very impressive to see the way this team has been able to just roll through their injury issues. It’s one thing to be missing two or three players at some point this year but the fact that they’ve continued to rack up wins despite missing their starting goalie and THE ENTIRE LEFT SIDE OF THEIR BLUELINE has been great to see.

2 – This team doesn’t quit on games

With the Oiler’s dynamic top-six, no lead is safe for the opposition and they now have a few really great comeback wins under their belts. That night against the Rangers is still something I think about. The crowd was unreal.

3 – Draisaitl might hit 60 goals

Before the season started, I was hesitant to take the over on Leon Draisaitl’s goal prop for the season, which was set at 46.5. Well, I was very wrong.

4 – 150 seems like a good mark for McDavid

I believed that 150 points was possible for Connor McDavid and through 20 games, he’s currently on pace for 148.

5 – I didn’t learn it, but the powerplay confirmed that it’s unreal

The powerplay has been absolutely dynamite sitting at a league-best 37.7%, a whopping 8.4% better than any other team in the league. I still believe that they could finish around 40% and they should set the NHL record for best single-season PP%.

6 – Cody Ceci has been sneaky good

So far this season, he’s been on the ice for 346 even strength minutes and while he’s been outscored 18-15, that’s mainly a product of him having to face a lot of tough matchups.

7 – Maybe I should have been higher on Stuart Skinner

He’s given them a shot to win in every single game he’s appeared in and his .928 save percentage is well above the league average of .913.

8 – How about Mikko?

His bounce-back night got his save percentage on the year back up to .912. You have to be happy with how the big Finn has played this season… His record on the year is now a staggering 11-2-0.

9 – Maybe they don’t need a goalie

I’m confident enough in some duo of Smith, Skinner, or Koskinen being able to get the job done.

10 – No concerns about Evan Bouchard

He’s been their best puck-moving defenseman and while yes, there have been a few short rough patches, he’s been a solid top-four defenseman for them for the bulk of this season.

BLH’s Thoughts: There are ten more of these that I couldn’t be bothered adding, so you’ll have to head over to Yaremchuk’s post at Oilersnation to read the rest. Link’s at the top of this section. He talks about Puljujarvi’s next deal, whether or not Broberg’s played his last game for Bakersfield, if Dylan Holloway is the answer or if the club should go out and trade for a forward. So yeah, click that link up above and check it out if you want to read some more juicy stuff.

Spector’s Hockey

MONTREAL GAZETTE: Stu Cowan reports Canadiens president and co-owner Geoff Molson didn’t rule out the possibility of a rebuild if that’s what is recommended by the new executive VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and whoever the club’s next GM might be.
NBC SPORTS BOSTON: Nick Goss cited a report by TSN’s Ryan Rishaug indicating Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk has requested a trade. The 25-year-old winger has struggled with his offensive consistency in recent seasons.
THE ATHLETIC: Pierre LeBrun reported Evander Kane’s agent, Dan Milstein, has been given permission by the San Jose Sharks to speak with other NHL clubs about a possible trade. He added several teams have expressed a certain level of interest in the 30-year-old winger.