There’s a flurry of action, perceived and real, around the Edmonton Oilers in the last 48 hours. The team reached its tipping point with the media and fans after the 7-1 mess and now things are headed downhill and picking up steam. Here’s frustration from the fans, the players, the coaching staff, and when that frustration level hits the management there will be significant changes.
The Oilers called up Oscar Klefbom yesterday after putting Benoit Pouliot on IR. Klefbom is 9GP, 1-7-8 with the Barons and clearly their best defenseman this year. That said, the team already has Keith Aulie up with them and Oscar will make 8 Defensemen on the roster. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to pull Klefbom out of situations where he will be playing big minutes just to plunk him down in the pressbox so it is perhaps an indication of something else to come.
THE MOST LIKELY
The most likely scenario is that the Oilers are going to sit a player like Justin Schultz. Jultz was terrible on the 1st Seguin goal in Dallas and has been struggling with his defensive responsibilities all year. He can move the puck when he has it in open space, but he collapses under regular forechecking pressure and, as Rod Phillips put it on twitter, “plays without any defensive awareness.… This is a player who needs to probably sit out a game and see what it all looks like from the press box.
Eakins benched him for a significant portion of the 2nd period against Dallas and he deserved it. His decision to abandon the play to lazily skate to the bench for a long change while the puck was shallow in Dallas’ zone and they were clearly going to regain possession immediately was inexcusable. Just situationally that shouldn’t happen in the NHL. But to do it with the NHL’s 3rd leading scorer (number 1 in goals) standing behind you at the blueline completely unattended is insane. Marincin was keeping Benn in check on the left side and when he looks to the right his partner is standing on the ice in front of the Oilers bench watching Seguin on a breakaway.
Oscar Klefbom’s callup probably signifies that Jultz will be watching this one from above, though with the Oilers you never know. Just an FYI, the last two games Justin Schultz played have been for the 2 of the 3 lowest TOI totals in his career.
THE MOST INTERESTING
Less likely, but more interesting, is the potential that the Oilers might be on the verge of making a deal involving a defenseman. The fact is they already have Keith Aulie up with them and replacing the 16 minutes that Schultz has played in the last 2 games should be something he can do. Obviously someone else would take the PP minutes. The Oilers don’t really NEED Oscar Klefbom right now, unless perhaps there’s a move on the horizon.
Word from the big sports outlets is that Edmonton may have soured on Justin Schultz (finally) and he could be on the trading block. There is lots of speculation as to the Oilers making deals out there and there might be some good fits. The big one from the other day was David Perron for Artem Anisimov, but it might make more sense for the Oil to use a scoring winger to acquire a defenseman and a defenseman to acquire a Center.
Follow my train of thought with me for a minute. Would it perhaps make more sense to target a player like Brayden Schenn in Philadelphia with an Offensive Defenseman like Justin Schultz and then go after a defenseman with a David Perron or, dare I suggest, a Jordan Eberle? The Flyers want defensemen, the Oilers have 1 that might be on the market in Justin Schultz whose contract expires but who will remain under club control.
Is there a deal for a defenseman in the works? If there was then calling up Oscar Klefbom is the next logical step.
LINEUP
Luke Gazdic came in and played less than 4 minutes against the Stars. That will happen to fighters when the team is losing. I didn’t seem him play overly bad, I just didn’t really see him play at all. That might not be the worst thing considering how difficult it is to find ice time for all the players who probably need it to be successful. The coach can sub in Hall, Yakupov, Eberle, or Hendricks on that line to get them more minutes or stabilize them defensively. It’s a situation I hadn’t thought of in which the team might be better off with 1 less skilled forward. Then again, how things work on paper and how they work in reality are two different things. In either case, Gazdic is out and Joensuu is in. Word is the Oilers are sitting Schultz AND Marincin in the Pressbox tonight. What did Marincin do?
Hall RNH Eberle Yak Arco Purcell Perron Draisaitl Joensuu Hendricks Gordon Pinizzotto
Klefbom Petry Aulie Ference Nikitin Fayne
Picture Of A Goalie
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Blended Fresh. More than half the lineup is playing with someone different tonight. Aulie and Ference, Klefbom with Petry, the middle lines are garbled. This is either a great idea that will force everyone to be sharp and get their legs going or the Juggernaut Predators will pick apart every hesitation these guys have on the ice. What’s the worst that can happen?
2) Learn From Mistakes. This is the thing that is killing the Oilers. They refuse to learn from basic mistakes that keep happening over and over again. Where is the accountability from themselves? Nobody plays a perfect game, but major and completely avoidable errors need to be cut out of the game. It finally looks like Dallas Eakins is about to change his teaching method. Let’s see if the players can figure it out.
3) Keep An Eye On Filip. Filip Forsberg (who was once traded for Martin Erat) has 22 points in 21 games for the Preds and leads them in scoring. I still cant believe he was available in a trade and the Capitals are complete idiots for doing it. I’m sure absolutely NO other GMs thought he was available because if they had then surely they could have gotten somebody good for him. Anyway, as much as I think +/- is a garbage stat, I think it’s worth noting that he is +18 for the Preds and the next closest player on the team is +9. Whatever wave he is riding at evens he needs to stay on and the Oilers need to be aware of. You know, like how they should have been aware when Seguin was on the ice.
Puck drops tonight at 6:08PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet 360. Game On!
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