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G27 Oilers vs Flames: About Russell And That Goal |
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I’ve taken a few days to process what happened against Toronto.
I have some thoughts.
Let’s open with this statement: Kris Russell’s play in that game (and his play overall) is more complicated to describe than “He was having a good game and got unlucky at the end.” The pablum serving reporters who spent the last 48 hours defending Russell through folksy tales of rodeos and clowns and all sorts of nonsense are avoiding the truth at all costs.
Kris Russell was extended to the tune of 16 million dollars over 4 years this past summer on the day after the club cleared cap space by trading Eberle for Strome. The implication that the cap dollars saved by downgrading from Eberle to Strome were then used to pay for Russell is actively being denied by the likes of Jim Matheson and those whose job it is to cover the team. It’s simply what happened.
In order to be of value to the Oilers at that cap hit, he has to play a similar role and have a similar contribution to the club as Sekera, Larsson, and Klefbom. These are Edmonton’s other top 4 defenders. They come in all different shapes, sizes, and skill sets, but they all impact the game positively. If you’re paying for a top 4 defender then you better be getting a top 4 defender.
Kris Russell is not a top 4 defender, at least not under any ideal conditions. Even with Sekera out for the first 2 months, Kris Russell has been relegated to the 3rd pairing. He is 5th in TOI/game on Edmonton’s blueline, having been pushed out of the top 4 by the very foreseeable development of Benning and Nurse. On this current roster, if healthy, Russell is a number 6, and that’s just using the coach’s evaluation of the player as expressed through ice time.
Russell’s problems as an NHL defender have been well documented. He’s a free pass to opposing forwards, his outlet passing is problematic, and he panics when pressured in his own zone. He blocks shots at an unprecedented rate largely because he creates situations on the ice where the opposition is shooting the puck more than they do against other defenders. None of this is new information.
What Russell RARELY got to show last season when he was miscast as a top 4 defender, was what little positive skills he possesses. Playing against greater quality of competition and more minutes than he could handle, Russell spent MUCH more time outside of the offensive zone than any other Oiler defender in 2016-2017. And while the Oilers still spend *less* time shooting at the opposition with Russell this year compared to other D, it’s still a 22% increase than it was a year ago (62 attempts for per hour vs 50 per hour).
So Russell has largely been sheltered in ice time more than ever in his Oiler career AND with Sekera hurt, there was been room for him on the power play as well until Benning rounded into form. This has allowed Russell’s offensive game to come out. He’s leading Edmonton’s blueline in scoring! He had 13 points in 68 games last year and has 11 in 26 this year.
In that game against the Leafs, Kris Russell was every bit the defensive liability he has been his entire NHL career, but he was also having himself a great game from the offensive blueline in. He had been beat a few times physically and via positioning to create several grade A chances against. At one point he had to perform a football style tackle to end a chance that was his fault to begin with. However, at the other end of the rink, he made some truly inspired plays, like the slap-pass to the side of the net setting up McDavid’s deflection goal.
He played 24 minutes on the night because Larsson was hurt. Larsson has since been placed on the IR. The team was without good options on the right side because Gryba was playing a particularly stupid game and had been stapled to the bench. Of course he shouldn’t have been out there with a minute left. You don’t put your worst defensive defender out with a minute to go. But what choices were left? A fresh Gryba?
So he gets thrown out there and a puck battle develops in the most dangerous portion of the ice for Edmonton. Kris Russell takes two swipes at the puck and misses both times. At this point the apologists who aren’t interested in the truth will tell you “Bad Luck” takes over Russell’s body and forces him to hammer the puck 5-hole past Laurent Brossoit. Russell didn’t play the body of the opposition forward. He didn’t use his body position (he was between the puck and the opposition forward) to create any time for himself. If Tom Gilbert had made that play Mark Spector would have ripped him to shreds for making a soft and panicked play instead of the smart one.
When you pay 4 million dollars to a defender you expect that he can handle those situations, with the season on the line. Whatever good was happening in the game was undone. He had a good offensive game. He was even 2nd on the blueline in shot attempt percentage that game. He also choked in the most critical time of the game and put a nail deep into the coffin of this season. It was a bad play that ended in an even worse result from a player who is particularly bad in his own end of the ice.
I don’t care about rodeos. I don’t care about blocked shots. It makes no difference to me whether his father was tough as nails or salt of the earth. I’m happy his teammates rallied around him and say wonderful things about a guy who had to be feeling incredibly low. That’s what good people do. They make the people they care about feel better.
Russell was brutal in his own zone. Had a great game in the offensive zone. And cost the team in the standings. Bad luck was Adam Larsson getting hurt and forcing a poor player into situations he couldn’t handle. Bad luck did not force Russell to take a slapshot on his own net from 15 feet out.
LINEUP
The Oil have recalled Stanton in light of Larsson being placed on the IR
Lucic McDavid Puljujarvi
Maroon RNH Slepyshev
Caggiula Draisiatl Strome
Khaira Letestu Kassian
Klefbom Benning
Nurse Russell
Auvitu Gryba
Brossoit
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Pride. This is pretty much all the Oilers have to play for now, so it has to be enough. Edmonton is so far out of the playoff race that they would need to start playing like the best team in the NHL if they want to salvage the year. With the injuries they have right now, that’s a miracle. They have to play for each other and for the right to look in the mirror and not be ashamed of the face looking back at them. That’s pretty much it.
2) Khaira Rising. One player who has impressed me more than I expected has been Jujhar Khaira. This is a guy who has learned how to use his size and play the professional game after a very gradual progression through the American Hockey League. He has 6 points in 13 games this season and is the team leader in shot attempt percentage and scoring chance percentage. He’s using his size to separate players from the puck, to make room for himself with the puck, and then his head to put the puck in the right areas.
3) Battle of Alberta. I hate the Flames. I really do. I don’t want them to do well under any circumstances and they sit in a Wild Card spot today. It bothers me on a personal level that Gaudreau is doing well this season. I think it’s awful that Backlund continues to be one of the most underrated players in the game – not because he should be a bigger name but because it means he’s good at his job. The only solace I have is that Hamonic has been a disaster as a Flame. It looks like his downturn was more than a blip on the radar that was going to bounce back to solid play. It’s probably the only bullet Edmonton has dodged this year.
Puck drops tonight at 8PM Mountain Time on HNiC. Game On!
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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