At the beginning of the season, I thought the expectations that the team and many fans were placing on Ryan Strome were unrealistically high. He played all 82 Oiler games this year and now we have a chance to review what he accomplished and try to project moving forward.
Based on the lines from practice, the Oilers — after 80 games — have finally decided on letting Puljujarvi get another taste of the top six. I know what you’re thinking: “What if this kid blows it for the Oilers in these critical games?” I’m here to rest your mind at ease.
Listen, I don’t know if I like him because he’s a little bit wild or because his fancy stats stand out to me — it’s probably both — but I would love to see Yohann Auvitu back with the Oilers next year as their seventh defenseman.
Tuesday on Hockey Central the venerable Elliotte Friedman speculated that the Oilers were not shutting Oscar Klefbom down because they wanted to showcase him for a potential trade. Naturally, this is a terrible idea for a number of reasons. In any sane and rational world, it would be unbelievable. Because Peter Chiarelli is the Oilers’…
Milan Lucic is having a rough go of it right now. He can’t score. He isn’t being aggressive. He isn’t even adding much in the way of assists and it gets worse if we look for primary assists. He makes a ton of money. He’s signed for an eternity. And, as much as the coach…
I’ve been fighting it for a while, but sometime between the sixth and seventh goals against the Panthers it hit me like a bolt of lightning sent down from heavens: I’m ready for this tank.
Every team has one. He’s the guy that the coach seems to favor and give prime opportunities to despite a total and complete lack of evidence this person deserves it. When we were kids, it was probably the coach’s son. In the NHL, it’s a lot less likely the favored player will be related to…
I had an interaction this morning that hurt my brain and my soul a little. It was about the difference between Plus-Minus (+/-) and Goal Differential (5v5, Even Strength, and All Situations). My takeaway from the interaction was that we still have a long way to go in dispelling the awful mythology of plus-minus.
Fellow Oilersnation writer Jason Gregor wrote a piece on Kris Russell that really highlighted the positives behind Kris Russell’s play this season. As we’ve never seen eye to eye on the job Russell has done here as an Oiler, I thought it might be interesting to do a response piece. Sort of another perspective touching…
I’m pretty critical of people in positions of power. Sometimes I’m accused of being too critical, perhaps even a touch negative when it comes to the Oilers, a team that appears poised to miss the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 years. So often before I write these things I sit back and think…
So the Hockey Night in Canada panel had a conversation about one Erik Karlsson that probably has 30 teams dreaming and one locked in total dread. As per Elliotte Friedman, there is a strong possibility that the Ottawa Senators have already requested the list of teams that Karlsson will not go to in a trade…
It’s not every day that an NHL coach subtweets you in real life. I’ve been told that I live rent-free in a lot of people’s heads, but I figured these guys had thicker skin.
