As the Oilers limp their way into the end of October, one has to wonder how much longer this can possibly last. Something has to give. Either the percentages break and the club starts scoring or the GM breaks and starts making moves.
It’s not as if there aren’t a litany of players with rumours swirling about them. Just yesterday news broke that the Vegas Knights are allowing Vadim Shipachyov’s agent to look for a possible trade. There’s a LW/C from Russia who was a star in the KHL (Last season had 26-50-76 in 50GP) but cannot find a spot on the surprisingly decent Knights.
In Montreal there are always rumours about Alex Galchenyuk and there has never been a readiness to fully support Max Pacioretty (from this outsider’s perspective). It’s more than possible that either of these men gets moved sometime this season.
In Colorado Duchene continues to push through the distraction and lead his team offensively. Maybe they find a way to patch things up, but many of Hockey’s Insiders still believe the Avalanche will find a way to get a deal done with someone and move him.
Circling back to the Golden Knights, every game seems to increase James Neal’s value in the trade market. He just keeps killing it in a feature role with the Knights. Someone is going to pay dearly for him and that club just might be Edmonton.
So there is no shortage of offensive players who might be on the move this season and the Oilers have plenty of motivation to make a move early, considering the blunders pulled by Chiarelli this offseason.
Edmonton still has its first, which they were likely planning on moving at the deadline given their strange desire for Cap Space. They have young wingers like Caggiula, Slepyshev, and – yes – Strome that they should heavily consider moving for talent upgrades. They have more than enough AHL defenders to make noise if they want to move on a higher ticket player, but it comes at the cost of future depth. I imagine Oiler fans wouldn’t want to see the club part ways with Bear or Jones just yet.
In any event, the Oilers are about to fall into desperation to save this season if things do not turn around fast, and that means we need to watch these rumours a little more carefully.
LINEUP
The Oilers are sitting Yamamoto in this one (he’s at 7 games played) and re-uniting McDavid and Draisaitl. The 2nd line looks like someone picked names out of a hat. Jokinen returns to the 4th line with Khaira centering.
Maroon McDavid Draisaitl Lucic RNH Letestu Caggiula Strome Kassian Jokinen Khaira Slepyshev
Klefbom Larsson Nurse Russell Auvitu Benning
Talbot
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Force Fields Down? The Edmonton Oilers are 1st in 5v5 shots for per 60 minutes and 31st in 5v5 shooting percentage. Snake-bitten, squeezing the stick too hard, cursed, however you want to call it, the puck will not go in the net for them. We can only hope that the drama that unfolded in Dallas when Bishop was pulled in his last game has put a tiny fracture into his game. I say that because he is otherwise rocking a .920 save percentage and doing a good job.
2) Who Takes Control? The Oilers and the Stars are 1 and 3 in Shot Attempt percentage in the NHL this season. They are 1 and 2 in Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts). They are 3 and 2 in shot for percentage. They are 1 and 3 in scoring chance percentage. These two teams are currently among the very best when it comes to controlling 5v5 play. When it comes to the Stars, their weakest links look like Methot, Shore, and Hanzal. For the Oilers it’s Benning, Lucic, and Russell. Whichever team finds themselves chasing will be in an unfamiliar position, however.
3) Special Teams. The Oilers don’t have the worst Power Play in the NHL, but given that theirs has Connor McDavid on it, sitting 21st is unacceptable. Lucic hasn’t been firing on all cylinders this year and Draisaitl was hurt for a few games. That’s going to make the 1st unit worse. They should improve, but they miss Sekera and Eberle from the total equation. This year the 2nd unit will really need to find some unsung heroes. The PK…well…that’s not been great. One of the big issues has been that the PK save percentage is sitting at 30th in the NHL still. They are actually limiting shot attempts and scoring chances, but everything is going in. Talbot’s overall game has already improved a lot. Here’s hoping the PK save percentage rises with the overall one.
Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain time on Sportsnet West. Game On! Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy