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NHL Notebook: Seattle Kraken hosting Brandon Tanev bobblehead giveaway and Edmonton Oilers goalie Jack Campbell listed among the NHL’s biggest disappointments this season

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Photo credit:nhl.com
Zach Laing
8 months ago
The Seattle Kraken has leaned right into having fun and will be giving Brandon Tanev his own bobblehead night.
Set to take place on Thursday night, the first 10,000 fans at Climate Pledge Arena will head home with a bobblehead of Tanev’s famous headshot.
I’m so here for this. In fact, I think this is something that more NHL teams should be doing. It’s really about incentivizing the fans to keep coming back to the arena.
Look at Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, for example. In opening month, April, the team is doing three giveaways: bobble head nights for Vladimir Guerrro Jr. and one for Jordan Romano and Danny Jansen, then they’re doing a replica jersey giveaway to the first 15,000 fans. Multiple giveaways are happening every single month for the Blue Jays.
Why aren’t the Edmonton Oilers doing the same? It’s largely about generating hype and excitement. Why not have bobblehead nights for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl? Why not do replica jersey giveaways? This is easy public relations for the Oilers.

Campbell among biggest disappointments…

The Athletic’s Harman Dayal dove into some of the biggest disappointments around the NHL this season, and had Oilers goalie Jack Campbell named as of them.
Here’s what Dayal wrote: 
After streaky, inconsistent play from Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen, one of the Oilers’ top offseason priorities was upgrading in net. It was a challenging time to be shopping for goalie help because there was a surplus of teams in need of upgrades and a shortage of quality goaltenders. Edmonton decided to be aggressive regardless, signing Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25-million contract.
Less than a year in, many look at it as one of the riskiest contracts in the league.
Campbell’s -22.5 goals above expected according to Evolving-Hockey’s model ranks third-to-last in the NHL, ahead of only Spencer Martin and Elvis Merzlikins.
Edmonton’s been bailed out by the emergence of Stuart Skinner. Skinner’s notched a .912 save percentage and saved 11.5 goals above expected. Credit the Oilers for quickly signing him to an extension with a $2.6 million cap hit for the next three years after this one — it ensures they’ll at least have some cost certainty and a probable bargain to offset the inefficient value of Campbell’s deal.
One reason for hope is that Campbell’s overcome tremendous adversity in his career before. He knows what it’s like to have sky-high expectations, fail and then bounce back — that’s what happened when he was drafted No.11 by the Stars, struggled in the minors for years and then rebuilt his stock in Toronto. Hopefully, that resilience can come in handy.
Among the other biggest disappointments: Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau and goalie Jacob Markstrom, St. Louis Blues defenceman Colton Parayko, and Vancouver Canucks defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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