The Edmonton Oilers scored 285 goals last season, the most the organization has scored since 1992. They averaged 3.48 goals/game in 2022 which tied them with Tampa Bay for seventh best in the NHL and had them behind Florida, Toronto, St. Louis, Colorado, Minnesota and Calgary. The offence was a strength last season, and should…
Rarely is sexual abuse covered as publicly as we’ve seen with the case(s) involving Hockey Canada. Even when former CHL head coach Graham James’ history of abuse, which spanned decades, came to light, there was no House of Commons committee. Maybe this is a sign that the hockey community, and society overall, is ready to…
It is often overlooked, mainly because it is so impossible to project, but health can be a major factor for team success. What if Victor Hedman didn’t get injured on March 30th, 2019, against Washington? He missed the final four regular season games, returned for the first two playoff games, but he was clearly injured…
The Edmonton Oilers have a salary cap crunch. Currently, they have 11 forwards, seven D-men and two goalies on the roster that add up to $74,926,000 in cap space. Add in $4,166,667 in dead cap space from Milan Lucic’s salary retention and buyouts for James Neal and Andrej Sekera, and add $896K for bonus overages…
Jesse Puljujarvi’s arbitration hearing is set for next Friday, giving Ken Holland, Bill Scott and Puljujarvi’s agent, Markus Lehto, one week to find common ground or let the arbitrator decide. We rarely see players reach arbitration. Tyler Bertuzzi did in 2020 with the Detroit Red Wings. Bertuzzi’s camp asked for $4.25m AAV, while the Red…
The Edmonton Oilers’ power play has been the best in the NHL over the past three seasons. In that span, their PP has scored on 27.6% of their man advantages. St. Louis is second at 25.1%, Toronto third at 23.9% and Tampa Bay is fourth at 23.2%. The Oilers are well ahead of every team,…
Ken Holland signed three key pieces on day one of free agency, signing Jack Campbell for five years and re-signing Brett Kulak and Evander Kane for four years. Kulak ($2.75m AAV) and Kane ($5.125m) look like excellent value contracts while Campbell is league average salary for a starting goalie. Campbell’s $5 million AAV has him…
The Edmonton Oilers needed Evander Kane’s rugged skill and Kane needed the opportunity to play with the NHL’s two best offensive players. Late last night Kane announced on his social media feeds he’d signed a four-year extension with the Edmonton Oilers. The deal carries a $5.125m AAV, which could be very team friendly if Kane…
As I’m writing this we are less than 24 hours from the start of free agency. Like every free agent frenzy a few teams will overpay a player in term and salary, the bargain deals won’t really be discussed until midway through the season and some players will reach the end of the month without…
NHL Free agency begins at 10 a.m. MT Wednesday, and players (if they opt to leave their current teams) like Johnny Gaudreau, Nazem Kadri, Evander Kane, John Klingberg, and Darcy Kuemper will command the most money at their positions. Often the top-end UFA players sign for the most money and the longest term. There are…
On July 12th, 2021, the Edmonton Oilers acquired Duncan Keith and Tim Soderlund from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Caleb Jones and a conditional 2022 draft pick. The pick was the 94th selection and Arizona (who had traded with Chicago) selected Jeremy Langlois. The Keith trade was a huge win for the Oilers.
The trade winds in Montreal have reached such a level that even my sparse follicles can feel their gusts. I can’t recall a time where so many highly productive players could be changing teams in one off-season.
