The Edmonton Oilers were fairly active in free agency, signing Kyle Turris, Tyson Barrie, Mike Smith, Anton Forsberg, Tyler Ennis, Dominik Kahun, Slater Koekoek and Devin Shore. How are the Oilers’ 2020 free-agent crop performing with almost ten percent of the season underway?
The recent success Leon Draisaitl’s had with Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gives the Oilers a one-two punch they haven’t had in McDavid’s career before (though, that trio won’t be together tonight). Ken Holland added wingers Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Ennis at the trade deadline. Can the Edmonton Oilers create a scary group of forwards…
The Edmonton Oilers are through 80 percent of their games in the 2019-20 season. Their 36-23-8 record is very solid and leaves them on track to make the playoffs for the second time in 14 years. I last wrote about which Oilers were trending up or down at the 40-percent mark. Let’s check in which Oilers…
As far as big stories on defence go, Ethan Bear takes most of the spotlight in 2019-20. Bear is averaging almost 22 minutes a game and has five goals and 21 points playing in a top-four role with Darnell Nurse. Bear is logging big minutes and the Oilers do well with him on the ice…
When news came out that Connor McDavid would miss up to two or three weeks with a sore knee, many thought McDavid’s absence would be the end of the Edmonton Oilers’ season. The Oilers haven’t fared well with their generational centre on the bench, it would make sense they’d do even worse without him dressing…
Jesse Puljujarvi wanted a trade from the Edmonton Oilers and he will still probably get one, perhaps as a piece to land an upgrade up front before the trade deadline, but for now he remains with Karpat in Finland. Puljujarvi is a point-per-game player with 18 goals and 26 assists in 2019-20. He leads the…
Fourth Battle of Alberta of the season! Oh my. Now that the Zack Kassian and Matthew Tkachuk stuff is settled it’s time for “did Mark Giordano try to destroy Connor McDavid’s knee again” drama. Calgary’s general manager, Brad Treliving, came out in defence of his captain, calling it “complete garbage” that Giordano would try and…
How about facing the defending Stanley Cup Champions for a test? A 2-0 start too? Sure, why not! Leon Draisaitl and Caleb Jones score early to give the Oilers a nice lead against a good St. Louis team. Never in doubt! The Oilers came out flying in the first period. Outshooting the Blues 13-3 and…
The Edmonton Oilers have a lot of players who are really good on one side of the puck and less good on the other side. The Oilers don’t have that veteran two-way guy that plays well defensively but is also skilled enough to play higher than the bottom six. If you squint, maybe Ryan Nugent-Hopkins…
How is this the first Battle of Alberta of the season? The Oilers awake from their post-holidays slumber to face the Calgary Flames for the first time this season. It’s strange to have the first Battle of Alberta so late in the season, but these games are even more important with both teams in the…
Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith performed well in a platoon capacity to start the season. Splitting games in both October and November, Koskinen and Smith were excellent early on. While Smith’s November wasn’t as strong, Koskinen continuing his strong play. Smith only had three games above a .870 save percentage in his seven appearances in…
Ilya Kovalchuk scored 43 points in 81 games over two seasons with Los Angeles. That’s a respectable total. Not for the $6.25 million the Kings were paying Kovalchuk, but that’s no longer the problem for other teams with Kovalchuk on waivers for contract termination purposes.
