Every GM in the league has read the email by now: Peter Chiarelli has made Anton Slepyshev available in a trade. Pretty soon Edmonton’s troubles will be over.
Anton Slepyshev is an interesting case, like trading Eberle and signing Draisaitl for $8.5M, of overvaluing playoff performance and extrapolating forward using a very small sample size. The former 3rd round pick of the 2013 draft (his 2nd eligible season) played extremely well in last year’s playoffs. He was confident, used his size, and possesses a lively shot.
Sleppy picked up 3 goals in the 12 playoff appearances he made, which translates to a 20 goal pace over an 82 game season. Unfortunately, that ignores the fact that Slepyshev had just 10 points in 41 games a year ago. He started the new season with an injury right before training camp that kept him out of the mix for top 9 positions and now has just 1-2-3 in 18GP this season.
In total, Anton Slepyshev has 5-9-14 in 70 NHL games. He’s 23 years old, 6’2…, and 220 pounds. I think he has a useful tool in his shot, but he hasn’t been able to shoot as frequently as he should. He is 16th of 18 Oiler forwards in 5v5 Shots per 60 minutes (6.2 Sh/60). Maybe his lower body injury has kept him from reaching the speed that he needs to get into open areas. I’m not sure. Last year he was 7th on the Oiler forward group with 7.4 Sh/60 so it’s definitely lower than it had been.
What would the Oilers expect for Anton Slepyshev? That, I cannot say. Apparently Elliotte Friedman had mentioned on Calgary Radio that Chiarelli was willing to move Drake Caggiula in a Hoffman deal, but not in other deals. So it’s hard to gauge what he thinks is value for a player of equal value. I would assume that the league-wide email means he can be had for relative inexpensive asking price.
LINEUP
Maroon McDavid Draisaitl Lucic RNH Puljujarvi Khaira Strome Cammalleri Caggiula Letestu Kassian
Klefbom Russell Nurse Larsson Sekera Benning
Talbot OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Losing When You Play Well. They say of every losing streak that before you come out of it you are going to lose games you should have won. The Oilers lost their last game and it’s been so long that I’m beginning to forget what winning looks like, but they out-played the Predators. They out-possessed them. They out-chanced them. They forced the D to take penalties (that the Refs didn’t bother calling). It was all there. So if they can get a consistent effort out against the Coyotes there’s a decent chance of pulling out the win.
2) Rudderless Ship. This point isn’t actually about the Oilers, despite the title. The Arizona Coyotes just traded away Anthony Duclair after the winger and the team decided that it was time to move on from each other. Duclair was 4th on the team in points per game. He was tied for 1st on the team in 5v5 Points per game this season. With Duclair out, one begins to winder what the state of the team as a whole is like and if there’s room for the club to give up on its season this early.
3) A Forward Not Named Connor Scores. I love Connor McDavid as a player and probably more than I should in general, and I hope he scored a hat trick tonight, but the Oil need their non-McDavid forwards to start producing. In the last 6 games the only non-McDavid goal was from Draisaitl…assisted by McDavid. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines need to show up if this streak is going to die.
Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!
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