Joined Lowetide on TSN 1260 on Monday morning to discuss the Oilers. Link is below.

Couple thoughts:

• It sounds like Schultz will be back this week, but I’m not sure where he would fit. Sekera-Nurse has been good and neither has a history playing with Schultz. Klefbom was his partner late last season and earlier this year, but they’re a hot mess in their own zone. I’d rather Klefbom stick with Fayne who has been playing a lot better as of late. I’d stick Schultz on that third pairing with Davidson, but slot him in strategically when the club is in the offensive zone and on the powerplay.
• Since Schultz left the team with a back injury, the Oilers have allowed five fewer shot attempts against per 60 (CA/60 55.7 with Schultz, 52.0 without him). I thought the team would suffer offensively, but they actually improved (47.7 CF/60 with Schultz, 53.5 without).
• Regarding Hamonic, I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t moved until the deadline when GM’s are pushing for playoff spots. He’s a great defenceman, but I don’t think the Oilers have the assets to acquire him. Long Island obviously wants a defenceman, and I can’t imagine the Oilers dealing Nurse or Klefbom. If there’s a third team involved that needs a winger, I could see the Oilers moving Eberle or Yakupov to finalize a trade. Hamonic is a great defenceman, but I don’t know if he’d be considered elite at this point. That contract though might be worth throwing in a first round pick to land.
• That loss against the Capitals definitely stings, but we’ve seen games like that before over the past few seasons. The biggest problem for the Oilers is playing the next game after a performance like that. If they can beat the Hurricanes (who are terrible this year), then I might feel better about the loss.
• The Oilers have an adjusted Corsi For % of 51.4% in the month of November, which is a big improvement from their first month (48.0%). The issue I’m seeing is that they aren’t generating enough high danger chances, and when they do get them, they’re not converting (last night was a prime example). Still a ways away from contending for a playoff spot, but the team has looked a lot better compared to the last few seasons.
• Honestly did not think Leon Draisaitl would produce at this rate. And I really didn’t think he would hold his own as a center. He’s had some outstanding games like the one against Pittsburgh, but I don’t think we need to fret about dealing away a center. Leon hasn’t established himself just yet, so RNH, who has taken on the best competition on a nightly basis, should not be expendable at this point.

Recommended links:

How hard is it to find good goaltending? – Hockey Graphs

Dreamland Whoa Whoa – Black Dog Hates Skunks

Trading the Nuge: Pump the brakes – OilersNation

Joined Lowetide this morning on TSN 1260 to discuss Talbot, some of the team’s underlying issues and what to expect in the coming week. Full audio here:

Couple of notes:

• While Talbot has struggled in his recent games, making some bad plays that have lead to losses, I don’t think it’d be wise to write him off just yet. He had a similar string of games when he took the starting position in New York, but managed to bounce back rather quickly. Goalies go through rough stretches all the time. This is why it’s become even more critical to have a solid backup, which the Oilers have in Nilsson right now.
• What irks me the most is that Talbot’s errors, plus the poor play of other individual’s recently, is diverting attention away from some of the team’s underlying issues. The club is near the bottom of the league when it comes to possession (adjusted Corsi For%), scoring chances and high danger scoring chances. Moving out a goalie or benching a center isn’t going to make a huge difference, so the team is better off finding out what tactical issues they’re having that’s allowing all of those scoring chances. Or maybe solidify your defence core.
• One more thing: If McLellan wanted to reward Nilsson for playing great against Anaheim, why not give him a break and give him the Saturday night, HNIC game in LA? Wouldn’t being named the starter against the Kings be more of a reward?
• Of all of Chiarelli’s off-season moves, the best ones have been the acquisition of Sekera (guy plays the other team’s top lines and moves the puck very well) and the goaltending which was good in October, and poor in November.
• I didn’t like the trade to acquire Reinhart, but he’s still a good prospect that has the potential to be a top four defenceman. My concern when the Oilers acquired him was that he’d be handed a lot of minutes, just because of what it cost to get him. That hasn’t happened, plus he’s been injured, so I don’t think it’s fair to make any grand statements just yet. The problem most people have is the draft picks the Oilers gave up, and the value we all put in those picks. I’ll admit, I thought the 16th and 33rd woudl fetch a very good return. And if the Oilers kept the pick, we’d all fawn over the potential propect the Oilers would get. Instead, our perceived value of the 16th and 33rd only brought in Reinhart, which really let a lot of us down. It’s hard, but throw the cost out the window when watching this kid and assessing his performance.
• Really can’t say enough about Taylor Hall. Dimitri Filipovic had a great write-up on him and the impact he’s had on the Oilers.
• Matt Henderson had a good article on Anton Lander recently questioning if he should even be in the NHL right now, based on his poor season thus far. It’s a fair point. Lander hasn’t scored a single point and hasn’t done much to solidifiy that bottom six. He did get paired with Korpikoski, who is an absolute anchor on any center he’s played with, But even with legitimate wingers in Purcell and Eberle, he hasn’t contributed a whole lot. Still pulling for the guy and I really think he finds a few points this week (if he’s in the lineup).
• If RNH is back, I think the Oilers have a legitimate chance against Chicago. The club played so well in that second period a few weeks ago, but that was only after playing like garbage for the first 20. Seriously have no idea why the Oilers get beat up that badly in the first. Maybe just start spotting the opposition a two goal lead to start every game.

Joined Lowetide this morning on TSN 1260 to discuss the loss in Chicago, the goaltending, the upcoming week and other roster-related matters. Audio below.

Couple of notes:

• I mentioned that Talbot’s first 10 games as an Oilers are similar to his start as the number one goalie in New York last season. That and additional comparables are in my latest post over at The Copper & Blue.
• My colleague at C&B, Bituman, also took a look at how the Oilers have done at limiting shot attempts this season and season’s prior. Spoiler: they haven’t been good.
• Highly recommend Matt Henderson’s article over at OilersNation that talks about the young talent we have on defence. I know the Oilers get a lot of grief about how poorly they’ve drafted defencemen, but we have some very nice pieces on the left side.
• I also looked at where the Oilers rank league-wide this season when it comes to even-strength minutes played by guys 24 and under. Oilers were 10^th in the league heading into last night.
• If you’re wondering where a good spot is to get game-by-game stats on linemates and competition, I highly recommend Natural Stat Trick and War on Ice. Last night’s game is here.

Thanks again to Lowetide for having me on. Always enjoy it.

Joined Lowetide this morning to discuss the Oilers and what to expect in the next week.

Couple notes:

• Lots of blame to go around for the loss on Saturday. My big concern was the amount of scoring changes the Oilers allowed against Calgary. It’s been happening way too often, but it’s not all on the defence.
• Sekera is going to be fine. He plays the toughest competition and is doing well. The team gets a higher proportion of shot attempts and scoring chances when he’s on the ice compared to his teammates. He’s the least of our concerns right now.
• Draisaitl has played very well over the last two games, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets sent down to Bakersfield once Eberle is back. Chiarelli talked about Leon learning the “200 ft game” as a center and how important the long-term development is for him.
• That bottom six could use help, and I’d like to see how Lander does paired with Leon. That said, I think Draisaitl should be developed as a center in the AHL, where he would get top minutes and play in all situations.
• Should be a fun couple of games this week against Philly and Pittsburgh. Both teams generate a lot of chances, but also give up a lot. Hopefully the Oilers can pull out a win and head into an extended road trip with a set lineup.

Joined Lowetide this morning on TSN 1260 to discuss the loss against the Kings and what the defence pairings might be like with Schultz potentially out of the lineup.

Couple notes:

• The Oilers did a nice job reducing the number of high danger scoring chances against the Kings last night. Definitely an improvement from the previous game against Washington. My most recent post over at The Copper & Blue looks at McLellan’s history and how the Oilers have done so far in terms of high danger chances.
• I’m a huge fan of Nurse, but I’d rather see him stew a little longer in Bakersfield instead of play limited minutes in Edmonton. Bring him up at some point, but I think it’d be wiser to call up Nikitin or Musil if they do in fact call up a defenceman. Both can slide into that right side paired with Klefbom, leaving Sekera with Fayne, and Gryba with Davidson. Not an ideal roster of defencemen, but I think we’ll have to live with it. I don’t think there’s going to be any acquisitions any time soon. Hope I’m wrong.
• Here’s what I wrote on Musil this past off-season. He’s in the last year of his contract becoming an RFA. Now might be a good time to evaluate his performance at the NHL level.
• The Oilers play a good team in Minnesota and an excellent team in Montreal this week, before hosting the Flames on HNIC. Minnesota is one of those middle of the pack clubs that the Oilers have to keep up with, but they’ll be in tough against a well-balanced roster. That second line of Koivu-Neidereitter-Zucker has been outshooting opponents regularly, so my guess is they’ll be matched with Lander’s line (which has been getting chewed up a little too often.

Might need to play this song a few times to get in a better mood now.

Joined Lowetide this morning to discuss the back-to-back road wins this weekend, as well as our current assessment of the roster. Also touched on the goaltending (which has been stellar thus far) and what we can expect in the next week with games against Detroit, Washington and LA coming up.

Couple links:

• I wrote about some of the metrics I’ll be tracking in the first 10 games over at The Copper & Blue.
• Speeds was on the show earlier. Full audio of his segment is over at SoundCloud.
• Didn’t get to mention it, but the changes McLellan made on the powerplay are hopefully going to turn things around. Willis has a great post here.
• Woodguy has a great article up on the Oilers defence. Highly, highly recommend checking it out at Because Oilers.

Joined Lowetide this morning to talk about Draisaitl, Nikitin and Scrivens heading to the minors and some of the other issues surrounding the Oilers.

A couple of notes:

• I’m fine with Leon going to Bakersfield. He’s a center and should be developed as a center at the appropriate level. The AHL is going to be great for him and his long-term development. I’m not convinced that this was a cost saving move to avoid paying out bonuses (that were quite lofty to begin with).
• The defence needs help. But I don’t expect changes until McLellan tests out this group in 15-20 regular season games.
• Nikitin might have mobility issues, but McLellan was able to work with guys that were even worse (Doug Murray, Kent Huskins). He didn’t have a perfect roster in San Jose, but he always had experienced players on defence, who were often paired with complementary players.
• Tough break for Scrivens, but such is life for goalies. There’s plenty of options for your backup spot in the AHL and overseas. I think as long as you have two good options in net, with a good goalie coach to work with, and you have a strong team-defence schema, your club should be fine. And you really don’t need to go find an aging goalie, who don’t often get better with age anyways.

Joined Lowetide this morning to talk Oilers and the latest news from training camp. Full audio below.

Couple of notes:

• Here’s how the line-up is shaping up after the latest round of cuts (lifted from LT). I think we can expect Simpson, Gernat, Pakarinen and Moroz to get sent down once they come off the injured list. Likely by the end of the week.

• How the Oilers handle Slepyshev will depend on Purcell’s injury. This might be a huge break for the young forward, but it’ll probably be in his best interest to develop in the AHL first.
• If the Oilers go with Nilsson, Scrivens should either be dealt for a pick/“future considerations” or start as the backup in Bakersfield (likely the latter). I’d prefer having Brossoit take the majority of minutes in Bakersfield and continue his development.
• I cannot see how trading away Nikitin would help the Oilers at this point unless there’s a defenceman coming back the other way. I think it’d be smarter to see how he does in McLellan’s system (that tends to get more shot attempts from the defence) before attempting to deal him away. I think we’ll see a higher proportion of shot attempts from the defence this coming season, and Nikitin probably has the most potential to contribute among the bottom 4.

Joined Lowetide this morning to discuss Oscar Klefbom’s contract, the Oilers defence pairings in training camp and the odds of Anders Nilsson making the team. Full interview is below.

Couple of notes:

The Klefbom signing involves risk, but it’s a smart, calculated bet that I think will pay off for both sides. Couple of articles that sum it up very nicely:

• The Oilers have signed Oscar Klefbom to a 7-year Contract – Copper & Blue
• Find Them Keep Them – OilersNation
• Oscar Klefbom and Trend of Betting Long and Smart on Young NHL Defenceman – Cult of Hockey

The defence is already starting to shape up but it’s still weak, in my opinion. Lots of question marks (Ference, Nikitin) and I think the players that the team invested in will get a longer leash than others. I definitely see Reinhart in the mix, with Ference potentially being in and out of the lineup. Couple of articles I wrote recently that looked at how McLellan paired players and how he handled offensive defencemen.

• Unlocking the Offensive Defenceman – The Copper & Blue
• Potential Defensive Pairings – The Copper & Blue

I think Anders Nilsson definitely has a shot at making the Oilers opening night roster. Goalies really are readily available, are have the ability to provide good to average goaltending. It also wouldn’t suprise me if Scrivens bounces back. Couple articles worth a read:

• Tracking Anders Nilsson – OilersNation
• Is Anders Nilsson a Competitor for #1 Goalie – Oil on Whyte
• Wild Card Goalie Prospect Anders Nilsson Could Crash Edmonton Oilers’ Crease Sooner Rather Than Later – Cult of Hockey

Always enjoy being on Al’s show. I just need to sharpen up my AHL geography and I’ll be good to go this season. 😉

Joined Lowetide this morning on the radio to discuss Chiarelli’s comments to Bob McKenzie and some of the issues at defence. Definitely worth reading Lowetide’s summary of Chiarelli’s interview here and here.

Couple links worth checking out:

• Jonathan WIllis has a great summary of the interview as well and highlights some of the comments from Chiarelli that pertains to Nurse and Draisaitl. [OilersNation]
• Here’s the piece I wrote on Marek Zidlicky. Still think the Oilers need some experience up front before the season begins. [Copper & Blue]
• I’ve spent some time looking at how the Sharks played under McLellan and some of the factors behind their success. My most recent piece looked at some of the coaching tactics and their “heavy hockey” style. [The SuperFan]