The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves in an untenable position this week. The 2017 Stanley Cup champions had a choice to make. They could tour the White House and meet the President of the United States, as previous winners have done, thereby enraging his many vocal detractors. Alternatively, they could skip the event, provoking the same…
2016-17 Edmonton Oilers: No. 98 RW Jesse Puljujarvi The standard line is that it has been a frustrating year for Jesse Puljujarvi, and that’s undeniably true. Perspective matters a lot here, though. One way of looking at Puljujarvi’s season is through the lens of draft position. He was the fourth overall pick in 2016 and…
2016-17 Edmonton Oilers: No. 97 C Connor McDavid Connor McDavid is 20 years old. He’s coming off a season in which he led the National Hockey League in scoring and was named its most valuable player by both the media and his fellow players. And he’s now under contract to the Edmonton Oilers until 2026….
We’re now deep into the bargain bin section of summer free agency, the point where players are starting to accept tryout offers because there just aren’t that many guaranteed contracts on offer. In this week’s What Would You Do Wednesday, we ask which free agents still out there might be good fits for the Oilers….
2016-17 Edmonton Oilers: No. 93 C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Looking at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ 2016-17 season, I was reminded of his draft year, and more specifically of the debate as to whether the Edmonton Oilers should take him with the first overall selection in 2011. At that time, one of the key analytics concerns about Nugent-Hopkins was…
2016-17 Edmonton Oilers: No. 83 RD Matt Benning Matt Benning surpassed expectations last season. The former sixth-round pick of the Boston Bruins signed with the Oilers last August. It was a match which made sense on a lot of levels. Benning was from Edmonton originally, Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli was running the Bruins when Boston…
Today’s edition of What Would You Do Wednesday is without question an odd one: If you could transport one 1990’s Edmonton Oiler to the modern day team, which one would you pick? First, there are some ground rules. The seasons covered by this question run from 1990-91 to 1999-2000. That knocks most of the great…
Last week, the Edmonton Oilers re-signed Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year contract, thereby (probably) finalizing their roster for next season and giving us a good idea of what they’ll look like beyond that. The salary cap situation going forward is going to be difficult, but if the Oilers plot their decisions carefully it should be…
Let’s imagine, for a moment, a spectacularly unlikely hypothetical situation: The Los Angeles Kings crater next season. Further, the Kings determine that between their older core, their salary cap problems and their poor performance both during and post-Darryl Sutter, the timing is right for a rebuild. As a result, they determine to shop Drew Doughty…
There’s a reason Kailer Yamamoto is getting so much attention in Edmonton, beyond the fact that it’s August and he was a first-round pick. The truth is that the Oilers don’t have many other forward prospects worth getting excited about. Certainly the AHL level is a bit of a wasteland. Of the team’s top-five scorers…
2016-17 Edmonton Oilers: No. 82 LD Jordan Oesterle After three seasons of toiling in the minors, it looks like Jordan Oesterle could be about to become a full-time NHL defenceman. The only problem, at least from an Edmonton Oilers perspective, is the team he’s set to make that transition with: The Chicago Blackhawks. Oesterle signed…
2016-17 Edmonton Oilers: No. 79 LD Dillon Simpson One of the difficulties in dealing with prospects is that people feel compelled to hedge their bets. It’s an understandable impulse; young players can be unpredictable, and the right combination of circumstances and personal growth can lead to rapid development, even from players who were undrafted or…
