“Some of this falls on the feet of Dave Tippett.” Says Laing

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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Oilersnation

Ken Holland used all of his cap room and the Oilers still have the same problems

He (Holland) wanted to bring in a dynamic difference-maker in the top-six. He wanted to solidify the third line centre role and add more depth to the bottom-six, and the Oilers needed more depth on their backend, too.
He didn’t get Duncan Keith for free, but gave up Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick to take on the full two-year, $5.5-million cap hit he had. This was to help solidify the left-side.
He re-signed Mike Smith to a two-year, $2.2-million deal. This was to solidify the goaltending spot.
Weeks later, he moved Ethan Bear for Warren Foegele on the opening day of free agency. This was to address bottom-six depth.
He signed Derek Ryan to a two-year, $1.25-million deal. This was to solidify the 3C role and add bottom-six depth.
Edmonton started the year 9-1 posting a +17 goal differential looking like an absolute wagon. Since then, the wheels have fallen off entirely. In the 16 games since, the Oilers have gone 7-9 and a -6 goal differential.
Smith has been injured virtually all season, Keith has looked average at best (and I think that’s generous) while Ryan has look like nothing as advertised.
Things have not improved in Edmonton in terms of the depth of their roster. Even the additions of Hyman, Foegele and Ryan, on top of the emergence of Jesse Puljujarvi, haven’t been able to fill the void that’s been the Oilers depth.
Some of this falls on the feet of Dave Tippett. He is, after all, the one tasked with not only deploying players in positions to succeed but getting the most out of them. I don’t know if he’s doing a great job of either.

BLH’s Thoughts: Well, the one thing that fans fail to realize is that not everything goes to plan. Do you think the Calgary Flames expected to shit the bed last year when they were trending up? How many of you had the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks competing for a playoff spot this year? Who saw the New York Rangers being this good so early in their “rebuild”? I mean, the Rangers have their key free agent signing, Barclay Goodrow, centering their 4th line right now. Imagine if Holland was deploying Zach Hyman on the 4th line, everybody in the Oilers media and blogosphere would be screaming to the high-heavens.

Shit happens, life goes on.

We’re 25 games into the year and things are not looking great for Edmonton and with the amount of new additions to key spots, maybe it takes some time for the new guys to find their stride which can be tough to do if injuries come into play.

The good news is we’ve got 55-odd games left to play here and that’s plenty of time for the team to get healthy and pick up the pace, Picante.

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

The Athletic

Oilers prospect Carter Savoie’s comparables and why he wasn’t selected for the world juniors

So far this season, Savoie is in some rare air in terms of age-19 college scoring. Kyle Connor aside, no one is close in goals per game over the last decade and that’s a good thing.
In October, Daniel Nugent-Bowman wrote about Savoie and his scoring ability for The Athletic. Among the key revelations were Savoie’s devotion to conditioning and nutrition. He is now stronger, quicker and a better skater and those improvements are showing up on the scoresheet nightly.
Local players who went the NCAA route and then played for the Oilers include Geoff Smith, Brad Werenka, Mike Comrie and Fernando Pisani.
Savoie’s comparables at this point in his career are both impressive (Jakob Silfverberg) and shy (Tyler Pitlick, Pierre Dagenais) of what the Oilers hope the young player will eventually deliver in the NHL.

BLH’s Thoughts: Savoie is not a big guy and he’ll need linemates with size, playmaking, and puck protection skills for him to be able to thrive at the professional level. That’s what they’re saying about Cole Caufield in Montreal and I believe he and Savoie are similar styled players.

He can score a goal, but the NHL is a different beast for a little guy. I’m thinking at the very best, he should emulate Cam Atkinson and try his damnedest to clone his game.

Drafted in the 6th round, Atkinson, 5’8″ 176lbs, is a multiple 20-goal scorer, he’s got a stocky build but quick at the same time, and he’s a constant threat on the ice. This year he’s got 9g in 26 games for a struggling Flyers team, so another 20g season is on the docket for him. I mean, if you look at his stats, he’s never played a season where he wasn’t on pace for 20 in the years he didn’t reach that mark…

That’s the mark of a pure goal scorer and I’m of the belief that Carter Savoie is also of this vintage. He’ll be in Bakersfield in 2022, book it.

https://youtu.be/Gka8nBZubsw?t=6

The Fourth Period

The Fourth Period: List of the top 20 players that could be traded by the March 21st NHL trade deadline.

1. Evander Kane – LW – San Jose Sharks
2. Jake DeBrusk – LW – Boston Bruins
3. Dylan Strome – C/LW – Chicago Blackhawks
4. Ben Chiarot – LD – Montreal Canadiens
5. Anton Khudobin – G – Dallas Stars
6. Phil Kessel – RW – Arizona Coyotes
7. Calvin de Haan – LD/RD – Chicago Blackhawks
8. Travis Dermott – LD – Toronto Malpe Leafs
9. Joonas Korpisalo – G – Columbus Blue Jackets
10. J.T. Miller – LW – Vancouver Canucks
11. Reilly Smith – RW – Vegas Golden Knights
12. Travis Boyd – C – Arizona Coyotes
13. Alexandar Georgiev – G – New York Rangers
14. Anton Stralman – RD – Arizona Coyotes
15. Brett Kulak – LD – Montreal Canadiens
16. Rickard Rakell – RW/LW – Anaheim Ducks
17. P.K. Subban – RD – New Jersey Devils
18. Vitali Kravtsov – RW – New York Rangers
19. Vladimir Tarasenko – RW – St. Louis Blues
20. Marc-Andre Fleury – G – Chicago Blackhawks