Sportsnet’s Montreal Canadiens reporter Eric Engels put out an interesting tweet recently and it perked my ears because it could have an impact on who is an Edmonton Oiler next week.
With David Schlemko close to a return, Habs have to choose between sending Mete down or trading/waiving Streit/Morrow/Davidson.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) October 11, 2017
Now look, I’m not saying that the Oilers are going to make a trade this early in the season, I think that’d be a bit of overkill, but I do wonder what happens if the defense shits the bed again on the weekend, don’t you? An in-house solution will not cut it but do you think that one of Mark Streit, Joe Morrow, or Brandon Davidson would shore up the D in exchange for a player that might score a few goals for Montreal?
An in-house solution will not cut it but do you think that one of Mark Streit, Joe Morrow, or Brandon Davidson would shore up the D in exchange for a player that might score a few goals for Montreal?
I’m not a huge fan of Joe Morrow nor am I one of Mark Streit but Brandon Davidson I fancy a bit as a player that would fit in well with the Oilers on the short-term.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has long been on the Habs’ radar and Brandon Davidson did have a nice run as an Oiler previously. Not only that but he’can play the off-side, he can skate, and he can shoot. To add to that, he’s a player on the cheap at $1.45M (RFA this summer). And from what I’ve gathered, he didn’t have a great training camp nor is he having a good start to the year.
Davidson passes the eye test with regards to his fancies as well (Ha! See what I did there).
According to PuckIQ.com, in the 2016/17 season, he had a CF/60 of 55% and a CA/60 of 51.6%. His DFF/60 was 35.9% and his DFA/60 was 35.5%.
To compare that with say Erik Karlsson, the Swede’s DFF/60 and DFA/60 were 39.9% and 39.1% respectively or perhaps a more realistic comparison, Mark Pysyk, his DFF/60 and DFA/60 were 34.3% and 34.9% respectively.
FYI: Justin Schultz was no.1 amongst dmen with 500+ minutes TOI in DFF/60 with 49.3% and no.1 for DFA/60 was Colin Miller with a 27.6% score. Who would’ve thought?
Oh! If you’re wondering what DFF and DFA are, they’re dangerous fenwick for and dangerous fenwick against. Basically, it’s a stat that accounts not only for the amount of unblocked shots but it puts a weight on where the shot is taken. Meaning a shot from your own blue line isn’t as dangerous as one from the slot. You want you DFF high and your DFA low. Read about it more here.
Nuge for Davy straight across is absurd and we know that RNH is very well liked by the Oilers brass but what about Galchenyuk and Davidson for Nuge? Gallagher and Davidson for RNH? The Habs need scoring and it looks like Nugent-Hopkins has come to play this year. I’d like to throw in that Marc Bergevin’s job looks to be hanging by a thread at the moment and he might be willing to overpay…
I’ll be honest, I’d have a tough time parting with baby Nuge right now. I think he’s playing fantastic and even though there’s some controversy going on over at RW and D, I’m not sure I would trade the former 1st overall pick, especially for a band-aid solution. Don’t get me wrong, I love Brendan Gallagher and no doubt he’d be a fan favorite in Edmonton, I’m just not sure that’d be the right deal at this point in time. Also, adding another lefty to the back-end isn’t something I’m interested in either.
But let’s say Ottawa takes Edmonton out behind the tool shed and gives the Oilers a lickin’. For you, in your opinion, Do you think that the Oilers would HAVE to do something? 1-3 to start the year can soon turn into 3-7… And then the team is playing catch up, right?
Or would you be willing to weather the storm and give the team some time to shake off the cobwebs and get their shit together?
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