Well that was exciting, wasn’t it? I don’t ever recall a fanbase being so excited for 2 deals involving backup Goalies, a mid-round pick, and a 4th liner before. I kid about the magnitude of the trade, of course. I actually do feel as though the trade was significant on a couple of levels that really matter. They moved out a longtime Oiler, they made an obvious attempt to upgrade a key position, and they are continuing to change the face of the bottom 6.
The Oilers organization is big on things like tradition & History and Dubnyk had been an Oiler for almost a decade since they drafted him in 2004. The club invested a lot of time into his development. He represented not just the NHL club but also their minor league affiliates with whom he spent the majority of his early pro days. This is one of very few Oiler Goalies that the team has drafted and developed up until they became NHL players. Moving a guy who has been a mainstay with the organization is not easy. The team stuck with him through some weaker seasons in the American Hockey league, stuck with him through the 3-Headed Goalie season, and eventually appointed him their starter. He was supposed to be a success story and admitting that he wasn’t must have been difficult.
What they did do just an hour after that trade was acquire a player who has been having a significant amount of success at his position. There are no other aspects of a team that can be so greatly improved or sabotaged by the play of just 1 person than that of Goaltending. Forwards? They have 12 of them. Defense? They have 6. But just 1 solid goaltender is all a team needs to be in the game late in the 3rd period. MacTavish’s moves in season so far have been focused around the Net and he continues to show his players that he endeavors to upgrade that position. After yesterday there can be no doubt in the eyes of the Oiler skaters that their GM is trying to make them better, trying to give them what they need to win.
Yesterday’s deals also added a player whose talents aren’t replicated through the lineup. Hendricks is unlike most of the bottom 6 players in the sense that he will get tough out there. He is a bigger guy who plays a physical brand of hockey. By adding this player the Oilers will be forcing out someone else and I don’t know yet who it’s going to be but my guess will be Ryan Jones. Oilers who have been here for some time are going to start feeling uncomfortable with the competition and the direction the team wants to go because some will be left behind. The “Bottom 6… for Edmonton still lacks a physical presence outside of Gazdic and the most consistent hitter on the team (Arcobello) is the size of your average 9th grader. The writing is on the wall after yesterday. The Oilers want to change the face of their depth positions and a scary contract wont prevent them from doing just that.
LINEUPS
The Oilers are throwing the new guys right into the fire. Scrivens will be getting the start wearing #30 and Hendricks will be wearing #23 (I hope Linus doesn’t mind). When asked about the decision to start Scrivens so quickly Dallas Eakins said “I'm not sure why we would wait. We'll get him in there right away and make him feel part of the team." Makes sense to me. The Oilers went out and got themselves a Goalie so he could play, not sit on the bench. There are 38 games left, you have to think Scrivens could play at least half of those games, maybe more.
Hemsky is back in Edmonton after the swelling on his ankle reached apparently cartoonish levels. He is getting a closer look into that. This is a guy who played an entire month on a broken foot last year, so if an injury is actually keeping him out then it tends to be pretty serious. I’m hoping for the best though. The injury to Hemsky and the arrival of Hendricks make moving Smyth back to LW pretty easy. I expect we might see Hendricks also killing penalties.
Hall RNH Gagner Yak Arco Eberle Smyth Gordon Perron Gazdic Hendricks Jones
Ference J. Schultz Belov Petry N. Schultz Marincin
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Big Game From The New Guys. You often see players who come over to a new team play with a lot of energy and I expect that tonight from Scrivens and Hendricks. It’s exciting to get on a new team and only natural to want to impress your new coach and teammates.
2) Smart Starts. It only took 14 seconds for the Stars to capitalize on a Grade A defensive miscue last game. That is wildly embarrassing and completely avoidable. Ill-timed pinches and fancy stickhandling at the blueline should have no place in the 1st 20 seconds of a period.
3) Get Used To Seeing Suter. Ryan Suter averages 29.5 minutes a night. The Oilers aren’t getting matchups that they want against weaker defensemen because every other shift Suter will be out there. This is a matchup that the Hall RNH Gagner line are going to have to find a way to be successful with, and if they cant then they just wont be doing much this evening.
Puck drops tonight at 6:08PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!
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