Projecting prospects is difficult, but I’m a glutton for punishment so I’ll wade into the murky waters. The harsh truth about watching prospects in rookie camp, or main camp, is that only a handful of them will become regular NHLers. In the 20 years I’ve been watching rookie/training camps there were some obvious choices like…
For the first time in franchise history the Edmonton Oilers have legitimate prospects at forward, defence and in goal. Even in the Stanley Cup days of the 1980s Edmonton rarely had legitimate prospects at all three positions developing at the same time in the American League. It is long overdue, but it looks like Edmonton…
The NHL regular season begins Tuesday, October 12th, with two games, followed by five on the 13th, nine games on the 14th, three on the 15th and 14 on Saturday the 16th which include Boston, Calgary, San Jose and St.Louis finally playing their first games of the season. But all the teams are still uncertain…
I’m sure you’ve heard the following statement at least a thousand times this summer: “Mike Smith won’t be as good this season. He will regress.” Quick question. Can you name the goalies who posted a .920sv% or better in 2020 and again in 2021?
Doug Wilson was named general manager of the San Jose Sharks on May 13th, 2003. In 17 seasons as GM no team has more wins and points than the Sharks. They’ve won 731 of the 1,322 games. Only Pittsburgh (727), Boston (718), Washington (712), Nashville (707) and Tampa Bay (703) have won 700+ games. (In…
It is official. NHL players will be participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics. The men’s hockey tournament will run from February 9th to the 20th. The National teams will submit their “long list” of players by October 15th and the provisional playing rosters will be announced in January, 2022. Unlike previous Olympics, there will be…
It is important to consider all the details of the salary cap when projecting who will be on the Edmonton Oilers roster. With Oscar Klefbom starting the season on Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), the Oilers will essentially have a salary cap of $85.6m, but because they are starting in LTIR, we could see some interesting…
The Pacific division will be different this year than in previous seasons. The Seattle Kraken are new in the division while the Arizona Coyotes moved to the Central division and for the first time in NHL history there will be eight teams in all four divisions. Over the next few weeks I will look at…
A source confirmed to me the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) will likely announce that fans attending games this season will need to be fully vaccinated. The OEG has been working on a strategy of how it will implement proof of vaccination and once that is established, expect the announcement.
I don’t know about you, but the past month has been sports overload. So much is going on, that I’ve found myself having to read even more just to stay on top of everything. We had the Stanley Cup, the expansion draft, the entry draft and the free agent frenzy. The NBA had the same,…
Welcome to the ninth edition of Help Me Understand. Sports, hot takes, and narratives. Some make sense, others perplex me.
This past season Connor McDavid led the NHL in 5×5 scoring and Leon Draisaitl was fourth, but despite their dominance at five-on-five the Oilers top-six wingers did not produce very much. That shouldn’t be the case this season as head coach Dave Tippett has more offensive options to choose from than he, or any Oilers…
