WWYDW(FE): Who goes down? Who comes up?
It was hoped that one of (or, hell, both of) Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto could take a step forward this season and fill a top-six role in the Oilers lineup.
WWYDW
A weekly feature, What Would You Do Wednesday takes a relevant topic around the team and puts the ball in the reader’s court. We break down what’s going on, ask a question, and give some insight before the commenters give their thoughts. We dump the puck into your zone and it’s up to you to carry it back up the ice with your own ideas and analysis.
WWYDW: The Goalies (short- and long-term)
Through 11 games, we’ve seen two versions of Cam Talbot and Mikko Koskinen just once. The Oilers have rolled with Cm Talbot in 10 of 11 games thus far and he’s put up a handful of good starts and some bad ones too while Koskinen has only been given one chance to play.
WWYDW: Jesse Puljujarvi
Jesse Puljujarvi is an extremely controversial player among Oilers followers. Opinions on the young Finn range from he should be on McDavid’s wing to he looks lost and needs to be in the AHL all the way to he should probably be traded for a defenceman. Now in the third year of his NHL career, I think one thing that we…
WWYDW(FE): What thing should the Oilers skate out of?
The Oilers skated out onto the ice last night for their home opener underneath a replica of the recently-finished Walterdale Bridge. It was the first time we had seen the team use a pre-game prop since the Oil Derrick days of old Skyreach Centre/Rexall Place.
WWYDW: The Blender
The Oilers had an incredibly disappointing start to their season on Saturday in Gothenburg. After flying through the pre-season, the team came out flat and got completely smothered by the Devils. It’s just one game, though, right? No need to hit the panic button, right?! It looks like Todd McLellan disagrees.
WWYDW: Bold Predictions
The wait is over. Well, almost, for us. The NHL season starts tonight, though we’ll have to wait until Saturday morning for the Oilers to kick off their 2018-19 campaign. So, while we wait for the puck to drop in Gothenburg, let’s take some time to make some bold predictions about the upcoming season.
WWYDW: Managing the goalies
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve looked at Edmonton’s forwards and defencemen and how best they can be deployed. This week, we’ll finish off by looking at Edmonton’s interesting three-headed goalie situation and the best way it can be managed.
WWYDW: Managing the blueline
Darnell Nurse! He’s signed! Though I don’t think there was really any doubt that Nurse would get a deal figured out before the start of the season, it’s nice to know that the Oilers are rolling into pre-season action at full strength. Well, mostly at full strength.
WWYDW: Managing the forwards
The pre-season is right around the corner! Unlike last season, the Oilers actually have quite a few posts up for grabs on the roster making this an interesting training camp to follow. There are a handful of players on the fringe of the roster right now plus two wingers at camp on professional tryout contracts….
WWYDW(TE): Jerseys
Okay, we’ve talked about the third jersey in the past, but since the Oilers finally introduced their alternate jersey for the 2018-19 season earlier this week, we need to bring it up again.
WWYDW(TE): How should the Oilers develop Evan Bouchard?
Evan Bouchard is stuck in purgatory. Let me back up for a second. The NHL and CHL have an incredibly flawed deal worked out that keeps Major Junior players from playing professionally in either the AHL or ECHL before they either turn 20 years old or have played four seasons in the CHL.
WWYDW(TE): More PTOs?
It’s almost September! You know what that means? Training camp is around the corner! You know what that means? Professional tryout contracts!