Three years ago Connor McDavid chose to live with Taylor Hall during McDavid’s rookie season in Edmonton. Both were #1 overall picks, and McDavid felt comfortable residing with Hall and Luke Gazdic. Gazdic did most of the cooking, and the trio got to know each other off and on the ice.
Nine months later Hall was traded to the New Jersey Devils.
Twelve months later McDavid won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.
Then twelve months after that, Hall won the Hart trophy.
Things can change quickly in the NHL.
McDavid and the Oilers made the playoffs in 2017, but plummeted down the standings last season.
Hall and his Devils struggled in 2017, but rebounded with a playoff berth last year. Hall was openly upset about the trade, but as in most cases, time heals all wounds and he has moved on and is enjoying his time in New Jersey. McDavid was very frustrated last April, due to missing the playoffs, not the trade, but he too is excited and optimistic the Oilers will be better this year.
Some will argue Hall wouldn’t have won the Hart if he played in Edmonton, and there probably is truth to that, but he had been a point-a-game player twice in Edmonton before scoring 93 points last season. He could drive a line, and of course, so can McDavid, at an even higher rate. Many will wonder what could have been had Hall stayed and played on a line with Leon Draisaitl, while McDavid was flanked by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
No one will know how it would have played out, but those four would have created a lot of excitement.
Hall and McDavid are still creating excitement, just on different teams, and they will faceoff tonight in Sweden (this morning in Edmonton).
If McDavid wins the Hart this season he’ll become the sixth player to win the Hart, lose it, and win it again the following season.
Eddie Shore won it in 1933, Aurele Joliat won in 1934 and then Shore won it again in 1935. Shore also won it in 1936 and 1938 with Babe Siebert winning in 1937.
Gordie Howe won in 1958 and 1960, with Andy Bathgate winning it in between.
Bobby Clarke won in 1973 and 1975 while Phil Esposito took home the hardware in 1974.
Wayne Gretzky won in 1987 and 1989 with Mario Lemieux winning in 1988.
And Mark Messier won in 1990 and 1992 with the Oilers and Rangers respectively, while Brett Hull won it in 1991.
McDavid is stronger. He looks quicker and many are expecting big things from him. Hall is in the same boat.
Neither team is a lock to make the playoffs, but both clubs are confident they can return to the postseason and their quest begins today.
LINEUP…
Oilers
RNH-McDavid-Rattie
Lucic-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Khaira-Strome-Puljujarvi
Reider-Brodziak-Kassian
Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Benning
Russell-Bouchard
Talbot
The Oilers sent Ethan Bear to the minors to activate Kris Russell. I think Bear has outplayed Evan Bouchard, but if the Oilers reassign Bouchard they can’t recall him from junior, whereas Bear can be sent down, and recalled once they send Bouchard to junior. I don’t love this plan, and while I understand why they did it, I’d rather play the players who are playing the best. For me, Bear is better defensively, which isn’t a surprise considering he is older and more experienced. The gap isn’t huge, but I have seen one. I expect Bouchard to be back in junior before he plays ten games, so this isn’t a big deal, but I believe Bear played well enough to be in the opening night lineup.
I’ll be curious to see how long Yamamoto and Rieder stay on their respective lines. After a slow start to preseason, Rieder has looked very good the past three games and I won’t be surprised if he moves up.
Devils
Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Johansson-Zacha-Noesen
Wood-Zajac-Quenneville
Boyle-Coleman-Dea
Mueller-Vatanen
Greene-Severson
Butcher-Lovejoy
Kinkaid
Jesper Bratt took a puck in the face on Thursday and is out with a broken jaw. Edmonton product John Quenneville will play his 15th NHL game. He played 12 in 2017 and two last season. The 30th pick in 2014 hasn’t been a regular yet, because of his conditioning, or lack thereof, not his skill. “John is a very strong prospect,” said Devils head coach John Hynes. “He is extremely competitive with good hockey sense, but the thing that’s held him back was his conditioning. If he wasn’t going to be in top physical shape, he wasn’t giving himself a chance to make the team. He’s had to learn what it takes to be a pro and credit to him for taking our advice.” said Hynes.
Quenneville came to camp in the best shape of his young career and he’s earned himself a spot in the opening night lineup. Good for him.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…
Hall willed the Devils to the playoffs last season so it’s tough to imagine how much better a 39-goal scorer could get, but coming into camp he said his shot had improved as well as his release.
This will no doubt be an emotional meeting for Hall, who once harbored resentment for the Oilers after he was traded for defenseman Adam Larsson. But the one-for-one trade changed the course of the Devils and the winger has now let go of his anger and moved on to embrace his life and the culture of the club in New Jersey.
TONIGHT…
GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers open the season with a rare road victory, only the fourth in franchise history, and they defeat the Devils 4-2.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid scores his first career goal v. the Devils. He has eight assists in five games, but pots his first goal tonight.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oscar Klefbom has never scored in his first game of a new season, but he loves playing the Devils. He has three goals and five points in six career games. Klefbom is fired up to play in his home country and scores his first goal of the season. His first goal of last season, in game #12, also came against the Devils.
Another installment in the upcoming Aquila documentary series “Wasting McDavid”
So if we want Chia gone, and probably Todd too, this is a good result, no? Lol
Trying to find the silver lining here. /shrugs
Looks like it is going to be a long disappointing season once again . Coaching changes may have worsened the Oilers ? Condors doing well with their new coaching .
nope if the Oilers don’t win this season then it’s on THEM and not the coaches, who get blamed over and over again. i would say if we have another so-so season that we should do more turnover on the defence, whether that’s adding Bouchard and Bear full time and deleting Russell and Benning, or doing that and trading for a high end d-man if we can find one. also, while Talbot made his fair share of good saves, he also didn’t look like he was all in the game mentally and i would be hesitant to sign this guy long term unless he can play like he did during out 100+ point season. my 2 cents.
It is on the GM. This group of players showed they couldn’t get it done last season.
It’s coaching. This team played awful. They didn’t know how to handle the aggressive forecheck. The forwards didn’t support the defence at all. It was coaching. Period.
I agree either coaching or players. But its only one game. Need to see how game 2 looks before jumpijg to conclusions. If things are going bad how about firing Todd and hiring Doug Weight?
Every team forechecks us to death because our D is our biggest weakness.
it’s one game
and the same from the last ten year
Letting this marinate until next Thursday is going to be painful!
Why does it seem like we always get royally screwed with the schedule?? Wasn’t last year weird too with our bye week coming at an odd time?
Yea…or as per Oilersnation…the oilers have the easiest NHL schedule in the entire league!
https://oilersnation.com/2018/07/10/the-oilers-have-the-easiest-schedule-in-the-league-next-year/
Haha yeah what a joke eh, October is ruthless. This was the easiest team on the schedule!
Person who trashed this must be the NHL schedule maker. Glad you could visit our forum! Now fix it dummy!
New Jersey found a way to win. They were playing in a different time zone too. Always boatloads of excuses with this organization/team.
No one is making excuses man, team isn’t good enough period. No excuses for this one. Same guys who struggled last year begin the season the same way. Most fans can see that by now. Strome, Benning, Drake (didnt play), Brodziack, Reider, Kassian. These guys don’t crack any other NHL squad. Hell they probably barely crack and AHL squad.
Last year they played a near perfect game in the opener and then stunk the rest of the year. This year they stunk in the opener ……
A guy can dream ya know.
I was thinking the EXACT same thing but couldn’t word it as well as you did!
So you’re saying there’s a chance…
Thanks for the chat guys! Reading and interacting with the comments here was more entertaining than the game itself!!
Have a good weekend all! Let’s not let these duds ruin our days. Cheers
Cheers mate. It’s only the 1st games. Lots of time left to iron out the kinks.
I remember this said last season too. With basically the same group.
I looked it up and the swedish word for fart noise is “fisostjud”…
Those Swedes have a word for everything.
Damn rak
Looch was awful. In no mans land for the first goal and the 5th goal. Just looked slow out there. McDavid did all the work again.
Benning isn’t a top 4 D and Bouchard should be back in Junior.
What was Talbot thinking.
Omg what was Shannon Talking about.
Hey Todd let me ask you. “ who are you” “who are we”. Yup great coaching Todd. Hey Todd here is one “ who the f*ck do you think you are?
What game were you watching? Lucic was probably the best Oilers player tonight. Made some great passes, got hitting, and barely looked out of place. Oh and he got 2 points as well. But sure, anything to keep the Lucic hate-Train a rolling
Not sure I would call him the best oiler tonight, but he looked better than he has in a long time. He looked better than most of his teammates, but that doesn’t say much considering how bad some of them played. Even Connor looked pretty ordinary other than one or two plays tonight. Thats how bad the Oilers are, unless Connor plays amazing we dont have much else. Nurse a solid -3 on the night! Gonna earn a big payday that way!
What are you talking about, Looch is on pace for 82 goals and 164pts ?
Season will be lost unless Chia finds a way to fill the voids we have on the backend. D was brutal all night. Talbot was ok, but not great.
No Sekera. No win. Hmmm. Feels like 2017 again. Time to be realistic. Fix the f@@king d
First void that needs to be filled is the GM role. Chia is a loser.
I’m still not convinced on the argument to have kept Benning over Brandon Davidson. Okay Benning had the stronger offensive upside but right now I’d be happy to keep the puck out. Usual struggles in our own end. Sigh….
I’m a little disappointed that the Nuge Rattie McDavid didn’t light it up like they did in the pre-season.
Because they weren’t playing against AHL level players anymore.
After this performance I am not convinced many of the Oilers D-Men are bonafide top-4 guys. Some even questionable if they are NHL calibre!
Lucic best fitted Oiler on our team this season , with only 8 % body fat and 230 Lbs. . Looks ready for a solid season . Maybe he should even be considered for first line early if Ratti continues to flounder as perhaps even Draisaitl for more time if Hopkins not producing well enough on first line ? Maybe a first and second line switchup ?
On the bright side, Hall looks like a bonafide star… oh, wait!!! Nevermind
No the bright side is that no Oilers have broken faces after their first game.
i find it funny that a poster with the Flames Tkachuk jersey for a picture is trash talking Oiler fans about Hall when the Lames crapped the bed good to an inferior team in Vancouver for their season opener !
Looking forward to watching another Flames egg tonight. Misery loves company and that was a miserable first game. I am happy for Looch though. 2p must have felt good after a hard summer. Not as good as a win, but still….
Who is the first pick in 2019? PC you are the worst GM in NHL. I believe it is time to change. McDavid deserves a team
Oilers defence was awful tonight, but they got zero support from their forwards. This is on the coaching staff.
A few thoughts
– jersey d just feasted on pinches all game
– unless the Oilers d can make one play and a good first pass vs the shoot around the boards to have winger get pasted into the boards this team will struggle
– Talbot sub-900 will be an issue as well two very soft goals and one in the first minute (i saw this about 30 times last year)
– McDavid was flying as per usual wish we would have shot more in PP as NJD was fine to almost play a triangle and 1 in Mcdavid.
It’s only 1 Game but a lot of issues and many from last year.
The Oilers MUST go all in on Bobrovski in the offseason. Cam Talbot is not a starting goalie. Sad