Friday Scrimmage Recap

• @Evan Bouchard takes a penalty and team White scores 30 seconds into the powerplay. McDavid hammers home a rebound off a Barrie shot after a broken play sees the puck go back to him at the point.
• Turris ties it up for team Blue, sliding home a Puljujarvi pass. The Archibald-Turris-Puljujarvi line has looked good, and they have a nice mixture of skill, speed, size and experience. I understand the suggestions by some to have Archibald play with Khaira and Chiasson, and Ennis with Turris and Puljujarvi, but right now I prefer the mix of Archibald’s tenacity on that line.
• Pace seems a bit crisper than yesterday, but it is noticeable, and rightfully so, how there is very little contact. Some rubbing out along the boards, but aggressive forechecking is not part of these scrimmages as players ease up before making contact.
• Seth Griffith has caught my eyes both days. Very quick, smart player with good offensive instincts. I’d have him ahead of Cracknell on my taxi-squad. They are different players, as Cracknell is a bigger body who can score at the AHL level, but Griffith has been noticeable.
• It will be interesting to see the strategy Ken Holland and Dave Tippett use for the taxi-squad. Training camps for the AHL begin on the 24th. You could keep a few young guys like Benson and Bouchard on the taxi squad to start, but likely they will want them in the latter part of AHL camp before the season begins on February 5th. Unless Oilers run into injuries or COVID issues.
• Reid Wilkins with a bounce back second day. He remembered to track shots:11-8 for team Blue.

• McDavid scores an absolute beauty going bar down. He has four goals in four scrimmage periods thus far. I’ve been saying it all off-season: the fact he was able to train properly, without rehabbing his knee, the past 10 months is why I expect he will be even better this season. I think 90 points is very realistic, and pushing 100 won’t be out of the question.
• Bear takes a holding call, and White gets a great look, but Draisaitl doesn’t one time it, likely due to Russell defending in front and not wanting to hit him. Nuge takes a penalty to negate the PP.
• Ennis scores just as Bear steps on the ice, so technically it is a short-handed goal as he buries a nice pass from Khaira to make it 3-1 for team White.
• Russell and Larsson are paired up on the PK — a reason why Koekkoek was playing with Barrie today. Tippett wants his PK D pairs to get some time together. Looks like Nurse/Bear and Russell/Larsson will be the top four PK guys with Jones being the fifth.
• McDavid is flying this period. One of the perks of my job is watching these types of scrimmages just to see what he does and tries. I’ll say 90 points is the low mark for my point predictions of him this year. I know it is a lot, but he looks that good after having months of being able to train fully without rehabbing his knee like in the summer of 2019. His shot and release look quicker to me.
• Reid “slacker” Wilkins only tracked shots for one period. A shame.

• Puljujarvi is noticeably quicker in all facets of his game — skating, decisions with the puck. Amazing what confidence and being 22 compared to 18-20 will do. His open ice speed is impressive for a big man. If people have realistic expectations of him (25 points if on third line), you will be excited about his season and future.
• Tighter checking period. Not many chances in first 10 minutes.
• Seth Griffith scores his second goal in as many games to make it 3-2. Of all the bubble guys, he has stood out the most. He has 80 NHL games under his belt, and he has skill. I like his speed and he’s been involved. He could earn himself a spot on the taxi-squad potentially.
• With Stanton in the penalty box, Khaira and RNH start on PK for White. Look like those two, along with Turris/Archibald, will be the top four forwards on the PK to start the season. Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Ennis and Draisaitl look to be the others who got time and are expected to be in the opening night roster. Kassian should be a guy on the PK, but he hasn’t been able to grab that opportunity when given the chance.
• Kris Russell ties it with six minutes left. Sharp angle shot that found a hole on Smith. Give Blue credit: they have worked really hard to stay in this game, having only three lines and less NHL talent.
• For the second straight scrimmage we are going to OT. You hope this is not a pattern for the regular season. With every game being a divisional game, three point games will make it much more difficult to separate from the pack or gain ground.

• White starts with McDavid, RNH and Barrie while Blue starts with Turris, Archibald and Nurse. Nurse has a decent chance early close to the net, and then McDavid gets a backhander away about a minute in.
• Nygard/Shore come out for Blue, while Nurse can’t get off. Draisaitl, Kahun and Koekkoek come out for White. White gains the zone, Nurse breaks up the play and passes it out to Shore at centre. Nurse gets up the ice to make it a 2-on-1 and buries it home. His shift was 1:52 and he still had gas to join the rush and score the winner.
• Gutsy win for team Blue. Hard work is a great equalizer.

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