“Trade, rather than free agency, has been the more successful approach here.” Says Athletic Blogger

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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Lowetide.ca

BORDEN CHANTRY

we’ll see about Kris Russell but it sounded like the issue there was short term. I’m still sussing out the intel, but based on what Spec wrote last night Ken Holland is not only a helluva vacuum salesman but went two out of three on the Dad “what do you want from life?” talk with a trio of veterans.
Archibald appears to be the odd man out. That puts Colton Sceviour in a good spot, and I think we can assume Devin Shore is in if only for a penalty killing role.
Ryan McLeod should be on the team but will need to be productive. I just can’t see the team sending that kind of speed back to Bakersfield, he’s a creator of chaos and is first to pucks always. That leaves Turris and one of Benson or Perlini as the final addition.
Koekkoek has the inside track if he shows well in preseason. Skinner is suddenly a goalie who could play 10-15 games or more, if required, due to the news from yesterday.

BLH’s Thoughts: As I said this morning, it’s way to early to start making any sort of definitive statements with regards to the Oilers’ roster. I don’t see Skinner getting any games if the club deploys Koskinen and Smith correctly, so 10-15 games for the Condors’ starter seems optimistic in my opinion.

I will say this though, Slater Koekkoek could get a real run-out this year IF he can stay healthy. Kris Russell tweaking his neck the day before on-ice training begins doesn’t speak well to his playing future and he might just get spot duty this year if Koekkoek meshes well with Evan Bouchard on that 3rd pairing.

Oilersnation

Doctors call on Edmonton Oilers to reconsider having fans in stands

Over a dozen infectious disease doctors have called on the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames to reconsider plans of having its stands at full capacity, TSN’s Rick Westhead reported Wednesday.

“Things are so desperate,” Dr. Ilan Schwartz, an infectious disease doctor in Edmonton, told TSN. “In all of Alberta we have 340 ICU beds. We are literally 10 patients away from having to start choosing who gets treatment and who does not.”

Alberta Health Services told TSN they are comfortable with full occupancy at games given the need for vaccinations or negative COVID-19 tests.

“[The Oilers and Flames] have to be good citizens. They’re supposed to be playing for the pride of the city, not helping the city go down the drain… The message the NHL is sending is, ‘It’s okay that you can’t get your cancer surgery, but it’s not okay if fans miss a game that they can watch at home on TV. That’s just too much to ask.’”

BLH’s Thoughts: Reckon the organization might want to reconsider the negative Covid test as an option for entry to Rogers Place? Just allow those that are vaccinated to go to the games, no?

See, I don’t know all the rules that the provincial gov’t has in place. I mean, what’s the deal with restaurants right now? Can you go to a pub and watch the hockey game with a negative Covid test? Can you go to a AJHL game with one?

I just don’t get all the hullabaloo about going to an Oilers game… It’s okay, but unless you’ve got a few hundred extra dollars to blow so that you can sit a bit lower, it’s a pretty overrated experience in my opinion. I much prefer the pub if I’m going out to watch the game considering I get the commentary, cheaper and better food/drink, better chairs to sit in, and the folks around me are a bit more age appropriate.

The Athletic

The Oilers’ goalie question remains as training camp opens: How can they find a long-term solution in net?

If we take a look at the past 10 teams to win the Cup, we see some remarkable similarities in their starting goalies..
Of the 11 goalies to play significant minutes en route to the Cup in the past 10 years, all were drafted by their teams. This would, at first blush, seem to support the view that Edmonton should have drafted Wallstedt, but there are other important facts worth noting.
- On average, it takes nine years for a drafted goalie to backstop his team to a title.
- The second point here is draft position… The list is littered with later picks who made good.
- Braden Holtby, Jordan Binnington and Corey Crawford were all well-regarded prospects who fell outside the first round in their draft years.
The most interesting name on the list is Chris Osgood, because Ken Holland signed him as a free agent and later won the Cup with him.
It’s easy to look at Edmonton’s current NHL goalies and think they have no chance of going on a run, but Osgood demonstrates how even after a poor regular season a player can surprise. Smith stands out as the kind of goalie that could get hot at the right time — as he has in the past.
Trade, rather than free agency, has been the more successful approach here.
Targeting young goalies has been particularly successful: to Giguere we can add Ben Bishop, Martin Jones and of course Tuukka Rask, who was still a prospect when the Bruins stole him from Toronto.

BLH’s Thoughts: If you’ve got a subscription to The Athletic, then this was a pretty decent article from Jonathan Willis. He basically lays down three different ways the Oilers could go about finding a netminder who could backstop them to a championship.

This roster-building challenge will be the greatest of all for Ken Holland. He should probably be looking for a starter who can grow with the team so that he’s not looking for another one in a couple of seasons, right?

Chris Driedger may become available at the trade deadline from Seattle and we know that the club had interest in him.

I’m always going to wonder if John Gibson could be persuaded to take his talents to the Great White North.

Alexandar Georgiev seems to be a prickly one if you believe the candor online, but he’s at the right age and he’s 22nd in the league for save% over the last three years (.911) on a team that’s been a bottom feeder.

At any rate, I’m loathe to spend the first round pick on any player who isn’t an impact asset, but the Oilers will have to pay to get rid of Koskinen’s contract.

The other option would be to ride the year out and address the goaltending in the summer via free agency or when some different trade options potentially open up at the draft. You wouldn’t exactly be putting the team in the best position to succeed, but you wouldn’t be betting your future on a player that may not be who you think he is either.

So, we wait.