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Oilers Trade Jokinen for Cammalleri

November 15, 2017, 1:46 PM ET [155 Comments]
Matt Henderson
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In addition to completely destroying the Golden Knights last night, the Oilers also made a trade just hours before the game. They sent out forward Jussi Jokinen in exchange for Mike Cammalleri.

This trade is one that highlights once again the impact that low on-ice shooting and/or save percentages will have on perceptions of certain players. Jokinen was among the lowest forwards on the team in terms of PDO, but had some of the absolute best rates for shots and attempts against on the entire team.

When we review the team’s performance while Jokinen was on the ice, it’s hard to conclude that they were hurt in any way EXCEPT for that little, super minor, issue about never scoring any goals. Ok. That’s an exaggeration. The Oilers scored *1* goal on 86 shots 5v5 while Jussi Jokinen was on the ice. Jokinen wasn’t the one who scored it. He had exactly 0 points in 5v5 play.

The fact that he hadn’t scored was highly irregular. As you can imagine a shooting percentage of 0% is not expected to remain through the course of the year. Just like last year Benoit Pouliot couldn’t score at all but this season he has 6 goals already, Jokinen’s luck was bound to change.

That said, the team has been desperate for a player who can score and Cammalleri has been that player for the majority of his career. He may displace Drake Caggiula on the 3rd line or perhaps force him to the right side permanently.

The top 9 as of today likely resembles this:

Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
Lucic RNH Puljujarvi
Cammalleri Strome Caggiula

There might be some inkling to try Cammi in Lucic’s spot on the 2nd line, but I’m not ready to make that assumption on day one of his Oiler career. However, I am willing to bet that Cammalleri breaks into the Oiler 2nd Power Play Unit. If the team is serious about increasing its scoring then he should be in Caggiula’s spot.

Where the addition of Cammalleri concerns me the most is defensively. Jokinen, for whatever problems you want to accuse him of, was incredible defensively. Cammalleri was easily the worst the King player defensively. This bears out in shot attempts and shots against while he was on the ice. I’m not saying Kris Russell-like, but…not far off this particular season in LA. I have concerns about whether those struggles will travel with him to Edmonton or not. The good news is that as a member of the Devils last season he was middle of the pack on that team.

It's not set in stone that Cammalleri will be leaking shots against like crazy. What we should be able to count on from him is more ability to score individually. Given that the Oilers are a decent possession team overall, it makes sense that they would feel comfortable trading possession for striking ability.

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