It seems possible that Nail Yakupov is in his final days as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. It’s far from a certainty that the first overall pick in the 2012 Draft is shipped off down the line, but if he were to be moved at this year’s trade deadline it also wouldn’t be a…
The debate over whether the Edmonton Oilers should trade away pending free agent Eric Gryba would appear to be over. On Wednesday, the team announced that Gryba would miss a month after suffering a knee injury, and while he’ll still be back before the playoffs it’s doubtful another NHL team wants to bring in a…
Back in mid-December, we discussed in general terms whether the Oilers should be buyers, sellers, or pursue some sort of hybrid approach at this year’s trade deadline. We’re now almost exactly a month away from deadline day. Since last year the trading started in earnest at right around this point it’s worth considering in more…
Faced with the second half of back-to-back games on Tuesday night, Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan decided to give backup goalie Anders Nilsson a start. Nilsson was shelled, allowing five goals on 30 shots; it was the eighth consecutive game in which his save percentage came in under 0.900. In this week’s WWYDW, we…
It has been a crazy day in the NHL, though not with respect to the Edmonton Oilers. Watching Seth Jones get dealt to Columbus got me thinking about the possibility of the Oilers addressing their own problems on right defence. In this edition of What Would You Do Wednesday, we ask whether from an Oilers…
It’s been a while since we’ve looked at a hypothetical trade here on What Would You Do Wednesday, so let’s try a somewhat plausible one. Nashville needs a top centre, and Edmonton needs help on the right side of its defence. These are dots that have been connected over and over again by fans and…
The Edmonton Oilers enter the Christmas break with an uncertain situation in net. Cam Talbot, brought in to start for the team, struggled for a while and lost the job but has been better recently. Anders Nilsson, his ostensible backup, stole the job with hot play but has cooled off dramatically since. In this week’s…
It’s a little early to talk about the trade deadline this season, but not ridiculously so. The NHL’s holiday trade freeze kicks in on December 19 and lifts on December 28; historically teams become more active on the trade front once the holidays are passed. This year there’s a two-month window between the lifting of…
Edmonton’s crop of young defencemen is pretty impressive. Darnell Nurse is having an impact as a rookie, Oscar Klefbom is back to being a tent-pole player after a tough start to the year, and Brandon Davidson has been shockingly good. Griffin Reinhart is in the minors at the moment, but he’ll certainly be back. The…
Edmonton’s depth at centre is not good at the moment. With Connor McDavid on the shelf long-term, Edmonton has been employing all of Mark Letestu, Anton Lander and Andrew Miller at centre; that trio has now combined for 42 games but not a single even-strength point. With that in mind, does it make sense for…
The Edmonton Oilers have used nine defencemen already this season, but unfortunately for the club the old pattern of having quantity but not quality is producing similar results as it has in previous years. In today’s edition of WWYDW, we ask which defencemen our readers would be inclined to keep for next season, and which…
Confirmation came Wednesday morning of Oilers’ fans worst fears. Connor McDavid, who has so spectacularly lived up to incredible hype in the early part of his NHL career, is going to miss months after breaking his collarbone. In this week’s edition of What Would You Do Wednesday, we ask how Todd McLellan should proceed from…
