Yesterday, Ken Holland sat down with Radio Analyst and host of Oilers Now Bob Stauffer to discuss his thoughts on the Oilers play through the first 25 games of the season, as well as his plans moving forward.
First, no surprise, Holland first gave credit to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and the near historic work that they have put in early on. Immediately after that, Holland went in to speaking about the crucial role that Dave Tippett has played with this team and I have to agree.
Tippett clearly has the whole team bought into his style of play and it's tough to argue with many of the roster decisions he has made so far this season. Likely the biggest and most integral thing Tippett has brought to the team, is how he encourages his defensemen to activate into the play and be more aggressive, both in their own zone as well as chipping in in the offensive end. Having players like Klefbom, Jones, Bear, and Nurse has clearly made that easier to implement.
Next Holland brought up another obvious, the success of the PK and PP. Edmonton is sitting 1st in the league with a PP% of 32.43% and 2nd with a PK% of 86.75%. Holland correctly articulated the importance of not only having a strong powerplay, but then in return not immediately giving up a goal on the following PK.
Over the middle of the interview, Holland spoke more about his known philosophy about leaving players to "over ripen" in the AHL. Holland discussed how he wants his young players playing in the big moments of games and if they won't do that in the NHL, than there is no point calling them up.
Bear and Jones so far fit this description perfectly, neither were players who sat when they were called up to Edmonton, and immediately jumped into top 4 roles with the team. Persson started out the season as that player but as it became clear the coach lost confidence in him and would not put him out in those situations, he was sent back down to the AHL.
The only curious case was when the team called up William Lagesson, only to have him sit and not playing for a couple weeks before sending him back down.
From here Stauffer asked whether or not Holland was prepared to move some defensive prospects or other options before the deadline for more forward depth, ie, a 3rd line centre or top 6 winger.
First Holland gave an update on the Puljujarvi situation. For those who don't know, if Puljujarvi is not signed by December 1st he is not eligible to play in the NHL this season. JP himself has already stated he will play the entire season in Europe and it's unlikely we see him moved before then.
Holland stated he had talked to some teams this week regarded Jesse, but clearly the value being offered is still not enough for Ken. I applaud how the Oilers GM has handled this whole situation, not selling for less than he needs to on the player. JP will likely be moved sometime in the summer, likely closer to the draft.
Lastly Holland essentially told Stauffer the team is likely at least a couple months from making a move to improve the team, which as much as I disagree with it, makes a degree of sense.
First off, most teams aren't making big moves right now. No team wants to give up right now, regardless of their position in the standings. Hockey is a business and sending a message to fans this early that the season is over does have an impact on each teams bottom line.
Second, the Edmonton Oilers sit 1st in the entire Western Conference and 1st in their own division. If the team was struggling a move might be made but right now the team is getting results, allowing the GM to move that pin further and further down.
In the last couple weeks, Edmonton has started to see more production from the bottom 6 with players like Khaira and Granlund providing scoring at key times. There are still some massive holes that exist, but the closer Holland can wait to the deadline, the more value he will be able to get for the assets he currently has in place.
Prior to any type of trade being made, I would like to see Holland call up Tyler Benson soon. Benson has 5 goals in the month of November and is being heralded by his coaches right now for his work ethic. No player has yet to fully grab onto the second winger spot in the top 6 next to RNH and James Neal.
Originally, during training camp, Holland stated he wouldn't want to call up players until the end of November at the earliest. We are quickly approaching that point and before the team does decide to trade any assets to fill a hole, they need to put Benson into some NHL games and see what he can do.
Thanks for reading!