SCALDING HOT TAKES: November Edition

I’ve been waiting all month to drop another round of scalding hot takes. The wait is over; prepare to have your eyeballs scorched by a series of red hot and sometimes ridiculous takes.

It’s all Oilers this month.

Coming into this year, the high mark for Chiasson snipes in a season was 13. That’s about to change, big time. His career year came in his first full season in the league with the Stars. He already has 11 goals in just 19 games meaning he will need 15 more the final 57 games of the season to hit 26. He seems like a good fit on the Oilers first PP unit and I think he will remain there based simply on the fact that nobody is really pushing to take that job. His shooting percentage is ridiculous right now but even with that number coming back to earth I still like his chances to finish with 26 goals, a number that will probably be third highest on the team.

File this under sad but true. When the Oilers traded Eberle for Strome they were getting significant cap savings, a player who could play at both center and the wing and, unlike Eberle, he was under control at the end of his current deal. It still wasn’t a winner but I could see the reasons the deal was made.

I can’t say the same about the second Strome deal. It’s a loser of a deal that didn’t make any sense. Chiarelli moved Strome for a left-handed shot that, unlike Strome, isn’t able to kill penalties and isn’t under control when his deal expires at the end of next season. I haven’t seen one good reason this trade was made and I’m confident I never will.

Jesse Puljujarvi looks like a different player under Ken Hitchcock or should I say more accurately he looks like a different player with Todd McLellan now out of the picture. He hasn’t been amazing since Hitchcock took over but anybody who doesn’t think he isn’t playing with more confidence clearly hasn’t watched the last couple of games.

I do believe Hitchcock is prepared to leave him in that spot alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for an extended period of time and that’s something Todd McLellan refused to do.

Another reason I could see him being a top-six lock by February is due to lack of upward pressure in the lineup. Kailer Yamamoto may provide him with the biggest push, I’ve been told there is a chance that Yamo is back in Edmonton before Christmas.

The Blue jerseys are so much better than the Orange ones. Prove me wrong.

I’m not saying split them up I’m just pointing out that I think Nugent-Hopkins is more important to the Oilers top PP unit than Draisaitl is. Both players are excellent weapons to have and they each have 10 power-play points on the season but I like Nuge’s creativity on the man advantage a little bit better. The Nuge drop pass to Klefbom has been something the Oilers have been looking for quite often this season and it’s starting to pay off.

Call me crazy but I think Lucic will actually score again this season. You know what he won’t do though? Score nine more times. It’s time to face reality and realize Lucic won’t hit the ten-goal mark this season. The Brodziak Line may last together but at no point is that trio going to produce offence on a consistent basis.

I don’t care how much that line crashes and bangs the Oilers will need to find another line that can actually chip in offensively. The McDavid line is always dangerous, I like the potential surrounding Nuge right now but at some point, you will need a little bit of offence from your bottom six and it’s not coming from Brodziak’s trio. I’d like to see Rieder – Strome – Khaira as a 3B line once Rieder returns from his injury….oh wait.

This isn’t happening. Why would you trade him when his value is at an all-time low? It doesn’t make any sense. You can’t trade him without getting another goalie back and goalies on the market are only available because they are struggling. Nothing about moving Talbot makes sense.

The NHL doesn’t care about what you think when it comes to a puck crossing the line or a goaltender being interfered with or Connor McDavid being constantly hooked and held on a nightly basis. NHL officiating is a joke, it always has been a joke and it always will be a joke. You can’t do anything about it, save your breath and bitch about something more important like that turtle Tkachuk down in Calgary.

Yes, I know, what a Hot Take. Everyone knows this but the team doesn’t really do anything about it. I saw tickets for sale on Facebook this afternoon for HALF of the face value. If you were properly marketing your product in a hockey-mad market you would never see tickets available for half price. I know the Oilers don’t appear to care about this and that alone makes it look really bad on their part. You are the fans, what would you like to see this franchise do better to connect with their fans?

May I suggest they allow their players to actually join local television stations, podcasts and radio shows to show some personality so the fans can actually learn whom they are and feel a connection with them. Outside of a 15 minute window in the dressing room four or five times a week, tell me the last time you actually saw the players in the media, talking to fans, showing some personality and opening up a bit. THIS IS NOT ON THE PLAYERS, THIS IS ON THE ORGANIZATION. Not all players would enjoy this but some of them would and it will help the product locally. And just so you know this isn’t me as a show host complaining about my show, I don’t hear the players going live on Oilers Now or Inside Sports either. Don’t tell me they don’t need help locally; you could have gone to that game for 30 bucks last night.