My grandmother’s couch was covered in the plastic it was delivered in for years. It had been Scotchgarded too but that went untested since there was no way anything potentially staining would ever touch the undisturbed pastel green fabric of the loveseat. I didn’t understand why she insisted on keeping the couch in pristine condition at the expense of its usability and aesthetic appeal, but it wasn’t my call. The same applies to the Oilers’ decision to keep McDavid out of the 3rd game in the Young Stars tournament.
The Oil are going to keep McDavid in the bubblewrap he arrived in for at least a couple days longer. He apparently has no injury and the team claims to have even liked that he got hit by Virtanen in Game 1, but their decisions say otherwise. I can’t say for sure, but they are acting as if they are afraid of prospects trying to make a name for themselves by taking out McDavid. There’s plenty of reasons to justify the decision though. There’s the fact that Connor McDavid has absolutely nothing to prove at this tournament. He’s going to be an Oiler. Everybody knows that. They played him in one game, he showed the offensive ability he was expected to have so there’s no need to risk him further.
Still, I can’t help but think the Oilers are being a little too much like helicopter parents here. He’s a hockey player. He should be playing hockey.
THE GM
Bob McKenzie did a 30 minute interview with Peter Chiarelli over the weekend that Oiler fans should absolutely watch in its entirety. Chiarelli was about as open as we’ve seen him so far. He still held some things back, but it was a pretty good glimpse into his mindset. Here are some of the takeaways that I got from the interview.
1) He is still not very familiar with the team and the early part of the season is going to be spent getting to know his roster. From the interview I think he has a pretty good idea of what the team is about, but not enough to have formed solid opinions on several key players.
2) His handling of the Justin Schultz question leads me to believe he really isn’t sold on this player at all. When he discusses what he can do well absolutely none of the things he says are about his defending. He also mentions the word “Rover… and how to him that’s kind of a negative. I think Schultz is more of a Rover than a Defenseman. If Schultz hasn’t improved in his own end then I don’t think it will take long for Chiarelli to find a strong opinion of number 19.
3) He pretty much forgot that Mark Fayne existed. When discussing his potential top 4 he had Nikitin and Gryba battling for the spot ahead of Fayne, who he didn’t even mention at all. Maybe he just forgot. Maybe it’s easier to remember the guy you traded for and the massive problem you’ve inherited. Could be nothing. I hope it’s nothing.
4) His lowball estimation of what will be a good season for McDavid is hopelessly bad. A 20-20-40 season for the most celebrated 18 year old in a decade is atrocious. Hall, Nuge, and Yak (pro-rated) were all better than that. I know what he’s doing. He’s setting a number that is completely attainable. But that’s like going to gym class and being told you can pass if you just complete 1 pull up. The only kid that’s going to fail will be Sam Bennett. Without attaching a number I would have expected him to say that McDavid should aim to be as good as any rookie from last season. That’s his goal. He should still crush that.
5) The relationship between Chiarelli and MacT is still awkward. How could it not be.
6) When asked about leadership and the Captaincy, the new GM did not say “Andrew Ference is the Captain of the Edmonton Oilers.… He talked about how he and Ference have a good relationship and can be frank with each other. He said that he and Ference have had conversations about the Captaincy. He also said they would go into camp/preseason and figure it out. That, to me, sounds like there is a non-zero chance that the Oilers could still have a new Captain this season.
LINEUP
Well, I know that McDavid shouldn’t be in the lineup unless someone else get a case of food poisoning. Beyond that I’m not sure what to expect so let’s put almost the same lineup as Saturday night in again and see how it goes. I would expect Laurikainen to start.
UPDATE
Reid Wilkins tells us that all 3 big Oiler prospects is sitting this one out. Oof.
Winquist Loiseau Slepyshev Rankin Platzer Sanford Roy Soy Chase Christoffer Linaker Bukarts
Betker Leveille Waltz Bear Jones Davis
Laurikainen
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Better Starts. In Both games the Oilers started out of the gate pretty poorly. The Flames in particular looked like they were going to beat Edmonton into a fine pulp but from the 2nd period on that switched around. (Speaking of beating something into a fine pulp, how about the Nurse fight? I counted 8-9 straight head shots from Nurse.) In any event, a better start is in order.
2) Dr Drai. Leon Draisaitl is having a really good tournament. All the things he does well are on display. His ability to protect the puck in the offensive zone is fantastic. It also ties in with his ability to make passes from his backhand. I can’t stress enough how deceptive that makes him as a player. That was highlighted on the play where he was in the corner with the puck and made a hard tape-to-tape backhand pass to Winquist who was alone in the slot. Goalies and defending players are taught to read plays as they happen, being able to make plays that 95% of the other players on the ice cannot means those reads are going to be off a lot. I love watching him play.
The Grand Winquisitor. Winquist is a 22 year old winger on an AHL contract but this tournament has seen him step in as a scorer. His final 2 WHL seasons were 51 points in 51 games and 93 points in 67 games. He has skill. Last season he has 23 points in 18 ECHL games as a rookie pro then in the AHL he added 19 points in 46 games. Today he tries to establish himself as being worthy of an NHL ELC.
3) Something to Prove. The Oilers have scored 14 goals in 2 games and the Jets have scored 2 goals in 2 games. While Edmonton might not have anything else to prove as a team, the young Jets do. They came into this tournament as one of the most lauded teams and it has been a disaster for them. They still have some very talented players. Edmonton has several players who are still trying to prove they are legitimate NHL prospects and they need to tap into that because I expect the Jets are going to come out flying.
The puck drops this afternoon at 12:30PM on the Oilers Website. Game On!
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