The Andrew Miller experiment lasted extremely shortly. He didn’t stay with Hall and RNH for more than half the game before Klinkhammer and others found themselves there. It just wasn’t a fit for what the coaching staff was looking for, obviously.
Now Iiro Pakarinen gets his chance on the NHL roster. This may be a better fit stylistically if McLellan is looking for a Hendricks replacement vs an Eberle replacement. Miller fits more of the Eberle style of skill player whereas Pakarinen is billed as more of a physical presence. He’s also a volume shooter. He’s averaging 4 shots a game in the AHL this season which rates him in the top 20 of the AHL. Because they play a strange schedule he’s still only at 4 games played, but he’s picked up 3 points in that time.
We will see how short of a leash he’s on, but it seems like McLellan doesn’t waste time blending lines. This is a reputation that’s followed him over from his time with the Sharks. It’s understandable given that the top line is missing a key piece. Right now it looks like Pakarinen wont START the game on the top line, but who knows what happens 2 shifts in.
Where I’m glad we haven’t seen it recently is with the Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov line. Dare I say, it feels like all three players on Edmonton’s 2nd line are thriving together. From where I sit, it looks like everybody has a role, knows it, and can perform it. Benoit Pouliot has built a career on keeping the puck in the offensive zone and has very underrated even strength scoring ability. Nail Yakupov is a shooter and is growing into a voracious forechecker. McDavid is…McDavid.
The last game was one of Yak’s lowest TOI totals of the year. He played fewer than 13 minutes total, but he was offensively productive and defensively responsible. The Oilers are really starting to show an understanding that offense starts in the defensive zone. Yakupov’s excellent play that ended in a brilliant McDavid goal was an example of that.
Yakupov makes a smart play to bank the puck off the boards to where he knows Pouliot will be. It’s a safe play to get the puck out that happens because he’s on the right side of the puck.
McLellan: "I believe that Yak's offense right now is coming from good defensive positioning by his linemates and by him." #yeg #Oilers
— Reid Wilkins (@ReidWilkins) October 22, 2015Yakupov’s success is a huge boost to the Oilers. Frankly, they need all of their top picks producing or playing well. The rebuild doesn’t work if the young draftees don’t pull their weight. He is the co-lead on the team in points so far with 6 in 7 games. He’s tied with his linemate McDavid.
What seems to be lost with this early season success was that Yakupov has been making significant strides ever since the Eakins era ended. He was strong and getting stronger all through the back half of the 2014-2015 season. He was among Edmonton’s best players on many nights with Todd Nelson as his Head Coach. Under Todd McLellan he is showing even greater improvement in his own zone.
Going back 40 games, Nail Yakupov has produced 27 points over that time. That’s a 55 point pace for a kid who is still not regularly playing more than 16 minutes a night. The trust will come and when it does we should not be surprised if the offense keeps coming. If he is a 55 point player or better for the next 2 seasons at 2.5 Million per year then Edmonton is getting stellar value.
LINEUP
Andrew Miller is back to the Farm and Pakarinen is up. We still might not get to see Iiro though. Reinhart wasn’t participating in the last couple practices because he’s still banged up too. We’ll see if Ference comes in first ahead of Davidson. I expect Talbot to get the start...but I would be wrong!
Hall RNH Klinkhammer Pouliot McDavid Yakupov Korpikoski Lander Purcell Gazdic Letestu Pakarinen/Slepyshev
Klefbom Schultz Sekera Fayne Ference Gryba
Nilsson
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Ovie. The problem with trying to stop Alex Ovechkin from scoring is that nobody has ever really figured out how to do it. He is truly the greatest goal scorer of his generation and I’m not convinced it’s all that close, as great as Stamkos has been. This year he has 5 goals in 5 games. He has averaged more than 5 shots per game. He’s a lethal volume shooter and his onetimer is legendary. Can he be stopped or do the Oilers simply try to take away his teammates? Good luck, Talbot.
2) Speed. What we’ve established so far through the year is that Edmonton’s attack is punctuated with speed through the neutral zone. The top two lines feature Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid, and Yakupov. The slowest among them is probably Yak and he isn’t slow. The puck moves through Hall and McDavid the best as they love to carry the puck. I anticipate Barry Trotz and the Caps will do their best to clog that space. In fact, we should expect more teams focusing on slowing those two carriers.
3) Stifling Defense. Related to the last key, the Capitals will come at the Oilers with an absolutely dominating shot prevention plan. Through their six games the Capitals are the number 1 team in the NHL at limiting opposition shots 5v5. As of now they average 22.3 Shots Against per 60 minutes. Edmonton averages 32.1 SA/60, as a reference. They are similarly highly placed in overall shot attempt differentials. By number they look like a brick wall.
Puck drops tonight at 7 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet Oilers. Game On!
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