Monday Mailbag – Who Are the Unsung Heroes?

If you’re reading during the daylight then there’s a good chance that you’re using this mailbag as a means to kill company time, and for that I salute you. This week we take a look at All-Star Breaks, the heavy road schedule in February, the unsung heroes, and more. If you have a question you can always email me or hit me up on Twitter and I will slot you into the queue as quickly as possible. Until then, enjoy the free learning opportunity. 

Ideally, you would have space between the All-Star break and the five-day break, but it probably helps some of the injuries like Darnell Nurse. I don’t have a strong opinion either way, but would be interested in how the players feel about it after the season (where it might have better fit, if anywhere).

I don’t see it as much of a factor either way. It is really is a four-day break because they can practice Friday afternoon, and I’m guessing McLellan takes advantage of it. Also the main advantage I see is McDavid gets four days off. He didn’t get an All Star break and I suspect he might be a bit fatigued, so the break is perfect for him and it should help the team. 

I guess it doesn’t matter what I think because it just is the way it is, but I’ll choose to look at the positives. Edmonton is a little dinged up and the All-Star break plus this five day break gives the club a chance to heal more. Benning, Russell, Khaira, and likely a half dozen others we don’t even know about can use the break.

It’s fine, Lots of road games this month so I don’t see time off as a negative.

I think we’ve already seen some of the impact, when they had to play 26 games in a pan of just 48 days between October 26 and December 13. They went 10-11-5 over that run. Otherwise, they’re 19-7-3. We’ll see the rest of it in the last month of the season when they play 16 games in 30 days to close out the year. I don’t think there’s any question that the compacted schedule has hurt the Oilers, and having their two big breaks so close together won’t help matters – with the exception of Connor McDavid, who didn’t get an All-Star break and now gets some much deserved rest.

The All-Star break was enough to get the boys back on their heels. I feel like the bye week will be disastrous. It’s just tough timing for everything. But at the same time, if the Oilers were 0-6-1 before this bye week I would be thanking the hockey gods for that the break is finally here.

Every team gets the mandated break and some point and it was just a coincidence that the Oilers’ break came this close to the ASG. I’m not blaming the break per se but it is alarming how the offense seems to have dried up since coming back. Who knows what that’s all about but the Oilers need to get more than the one line firing again. 

I will say 4-5-3, 11 points in 12 games. You are right, this is going to be a tough month.

Six wins would be a solid month.

I’ll be happy with eight wins and four losses, but in all reality, anything above .500 will be acceptable.

Passable is half the available points, so 12 points is OK. Actually, 12 is better than OK with the start they’ve had to February.

They’re now 1-2-0 to start the month. Arizona, Philadelphia (home) and Tampa Bay (away) are the easiest games on the slate. Two games against Chicago (home and away), and away games against Washington, St. Louis and Nashville will all be tough, as will playing a rested Florida team in the back half of a back-to-back. Call the three easier games wins, the Florida game a loss and split the other five down the middle (a 2-2-1 record) and Edmonton would finish the month 7-6-1, which would be really solid. That’s what I’d be looking at if I were setting a February goal for the team today.

Honestly, I would be happy with a .500 record through it, especially after watching the first three in February. Knowing our road record, I would love to come out 8-4, but we will see.

They need to be at .500 or better. The Oilers have a solid road record this year and they need to continue to build on that. Every team has 41 road games and I hope the Oilers can use that time to bond, or grow the team culture, or something like that. This is a big month. 

Matt Benning has been a real Godsend, possibly the best story of the year before getting hurt on the weekend. The defense overall has been improved this year, suspect credit has to go to the entire group. Zack Kassian has impressed me, too, as well as Tyler Pitlick until his injury.

Mark Letestu had scored some big goals and does many little things well. The entire defence core has been a major improvement. The Oilers are top-ten in goals against. That is a massive improvement.

I think Sekera and Klefbom are more impactful than they get credit for. I also think RNH has been playing a critical role for the Oil all year long on what is effectively been a shutdown role. His offense has been down, but his importance is still quite high.

Kris Russell has been very good. Likewise Andrej Sekera and Mark Letestu.

Andrej Sekera. I wrote about him at length on Tuesday, and he’s been Mr. Everything for an Oilers team taking a by-committee approach to defence.

A lot of guys have. First thought that came to mind is Mark Letestu. His faceoff work is stellar as always and has been killing it on the powerplay. Gotta love Zack Kassian also.

I’m really liking the progression on guys like Anton Slepyshev. He seems to be getting better and better as the season goes along. I also really like Matt Benning (#PrayForBenning) because he’s been found money on the year. I like Kassian mixing it up and causing a ruckus. Lots of guys have stepped up this year, but they still need more. 

If anything, I think it may mean PC doubles his efforts to trade Benoit Pouliot, even if he has to overpay. Edmonton will need to clear the decks and then some in order to sign everyone and add sufficient help. It may also mean a fourth line filled with inexpensive contracts like Jujhar Khaira.

It should help them. They aren’t close to the cap this year, and only Draisaitl should be getting a significant raise. Many teams close to the cap have bigger issues than the Oilers, and that could give Chiarelli more flexibility when making a trade or signing a UFA.

My guess is they’ve been planning for a flat cap all along. How things go in expansion will play a big role in their plans. My guess is they want to replace Pouliot with a cheaper option, Ference goes off the books, they’ll try to give Fayne away (probably to Vegas then anyone else if that fails). They might even choose to buy out one of those players. 

If it stays at $73 million we could see the Oilers offer Leon Draisaitl a bridge deal rather than commit to big dollars and a longer term right now. He’s by far the most noteworthy of the team’s RFAs. I also wonder how the flat cap might impact any deal with Kris Russell. Will he take fewer dollars or less term to stay if things are tight? I doubt it. Can the Oilers offload Benoit Pouliot to save money? There are a few variables here.

I don’t think it will hurt them. I expect the team was already looking at signing Leon Draisaitl to a bridge rather than long-term deal, and the flat cap will only encourage that kind of thinking, but it was already a defensible position. I broke down the contract math on Friday, shortly after word came that there wouldn’t be growth in the cap.

Of course there’s a flat cap next season. As if we need another thing to worry about! The first thing that comes to mind is the Draisaitl contract.  We’ll probably be leaning to give him a bridge deal or sign him big.

Every dollar matters in the Connor McDavid era and I’d expect Chiarelli to try and shed some salary. Mark Fayne, maybe Eberle, Pouliot… Those guys don’t seem to be in the plans and are taking up nearly $14 million on the books. That’s a huge chunk of the McDavid/Draisaitl extensions right there.

5) Sasha asks – Before the All-Star Game the NHL announced their Top 100 players ever. Of those players, who would you like to sit down and have a drink or chat with? If you’ve already met that person can you please share the story. 

I met a few of the Oilers back in the day, nothing massive but still a pretty cool experience. I would love to have a beer with Bobby Orr, and ask him one thousand questions. I bet a lot of Canadians my age feel the same.

I’ve been blessed to speak with many of them outside of a regular interview. Sitting with Gordie Howe a few years ago was fantastic. I sat beside him at the Alzheimers luncheon. Even with his health deteriorating he was still incredibly genuine and polite. He had a wonderful sense of humour, and the respect other former NHL players showed him when they interacted was amazing to watch.

If I’m being totally honest, I’ve never really wanted to sit down and talk with too many hockey players. Not even the best ever. I doubt we have a lot in common to chat about haha. I think I’d be most interested in hearing stories from guys who played in the 60’s and 70’s. I wouldn’t mind sitting in on conversations between Lemieux and Gretzky too. I probably wouldn’t say much.

I’ve met, talked with or interviewed just over half the players on the list. Bobby Hull sticks out for me. When we chatted in Dallas one night in 2000 or 2001 (he was there to watch Brett play) it was the first time I’d seen him in person since I was like, 13 years old. The Chicago Blackhawks were in Vancouver to play the Canucks and Hull, Stan Mikita and Jerry Korab came out to a suburban rink in Coquitlam to watch a senior game. I sat right beside Hull and even shook his hand before security shooed us away. I remember he had a grip like a bear and he wore a gold band on the forefinger of his right hand. I never forgot that. When I told him the story that night in Dallas he laughed and shook my hand again with that same grip.

Eddie Shore. Shore died before I was born, but I’ve always been fascinated by his career. It’s his viciousness or his bizarre run as an AHL owner that gets attention but he’s legitimately in the conversation as one of the two or three best defencemen of all-time, too. He’d have a pretty unique perspective on the modern game and would be able to tell you things about his era that have been entirely forgotten.

Jaromir Jagr will always be a favourite even though he’s still active. I’d say someone like Marty Brodeur as well, and obviously the Great One.

I’d love to sit down and have a beer with Jaromir Jagr. The guy is a legend, a ladies man, a flow champ — what’s not to like? I bet Jaromir Jagr has the kind of stories that could keep you engaged for hours on end and that’s the guy I’d like to party with. And, obviously, I’d want to party with Wayne. There’s still time.

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