Edmonton overall played a solid game against the Penguins. Unfortunately a few lapses in judgement resulted in the puck going in the back of their net. For a good team, games like that are going to happen and it is easy for them to shrug it off and move on to the next game. For a fragile team like Edmonton, it is another story, and the team now goes into Carolina hoping to avoid another 3 game losing streak.

It's time for another Episode of, In No Particular Order.

Andrej Sekera Returns... And That Causes Problems

Andrej Sekera has just completed his 3 game stint with the Bakersfield Condors. Through those games he had one assist, was a +6 and recorded 2 penalty minutes. Reports have come out from those who have scouted him, with them all speaking about how Sekera looks more mobile than he ever did when he returned in 2017/2018. That is great news for fans, but there is still a massive difference between playing in the AHL, and the NHL, especially when the Condors are playing the way they are.

There has been discussions on whether or not the Oilers will try to request an additional 2 game conditioning stint, which is something that both the player, as well as the NHL would have to agree on. Sekera himself has been very vocal on wanting to play in the AHL to get his legs back under him but that is not the main reason the Oilers would want to do this.

Sekera returning to the lineup, means that the Oilers need to clear at least 2 million dollars in order to remain cap-compliant. It has been widely reported over the past couple of weeks that the Oilers have been looking for ways to move both Petrovic and Manning... making those trades to continue to make absolutely zero sense.

Manning and Petrovic have combined for a total of 19 games, 2 points, a-8 and 2,2 million dollars in cap space. It is understandable that the Oilers wanted to add some additional bodies to help out the defence while Klefbom was out but instead of finding a smart waiver wire pick up that would cost no assets, or a player that could easily be buried in the minors, Edmonton ended up losing two valuable assets (Caggiula and a 3rd round pick) for two expensive bench-warmers, one of whom is still on the books for next season.

When Andrej Sekera returns I would run the lineup like this:

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Russell
Sekera-Gravel

This year I have liked Kevin Gravel more than Matt Benning. On a third pairing, Gravel is the better player at making the simple play and playing non-event hockey. Benning has more offensive upside but plays a much more erratic game. Having Sekera with Gravel would allow Andrej to be able to focus on his own game, without having to worry about covering his partners mistakes.

Talbot to Philly?

As I was writing this, preparing to discuss what the Oilers could do to move cap space out for Sekera, news about a potential Talbot to Philly deal floated across my feed. This is an option that has been raised by fans before and it makes sense. The Oilers would likely be acquiring Brian Elliot in a deal which would save the Oilers roughly 2 million in cap space, plus Elliot is a free agent at the end of this season. In return the Flyers get a veteran goalie who has a relationship already with young phenom, Carter Hart.

Something Fishy About Jesse Puljujarvi

The Puljujarvi saga continues to make absolutely zero sense. After the Chiarelli firing, one thing Bob Nicholson stressed was the need to better develop prospects. Later that day Kailer Yamamoto was sent down to the AHL and Jesse Puljujarvi remained on the NHL roster.

It is a common statement by fans of other teams that the Oilers ruin players, however that really has not been the case. Hall was a brilliant player who consistently was the highest producing player during his tenure with the Oilers. Jordan Eberle averaged 25 goals a season with the Oilers, Ryan Nugent Hopkins started as a strong offensive talent and has shifted to be one of the better two way players in the game, Oscar Klefbom is a top pairing defenceman, Sam Gagner averaged more than 40 points for 5 straight seasons.

As far as first round picks go, the Oilers have produced high calibre NHL players; their issue continues to be surrounding those players with a strong supporting cast.

I see only two examples of potentially ruining players.

The first is Nail Yakupov, who in his first season with the Oilers produced 31 points (17-14-31) in the shortened 48 game 2012-2013 season. Then along came Dallas Eakins who decided that Yak wasn't defensive enough, and started to play him down on the third and fourth lines and shockingly, his offense fell off. Yakupov was an imperfect player with reports out that he was not willing to improve the areas he struggled in. Having said that, the team did a poor job encouraging what made him a #1 draft pick and finding other ways to address his deficiencies.

The player the Oilers are absolutely ruining though is Jesse Puljujarvi.

It's hard to believe that Puljujarvi has been with the Oilers for three seasons now. In his first season, he was sent down to the AHL after being on the NHL roster for 40 games, but only playing 28. He was not ready as an 18 year old which is understandable as very few players are, and even less who have not adjusted to the North American game.

Since then a pattern has emerged with the "development" of Puljujarvi.

1) Has a decent pre-season
2) Starts him in the NHL promising consistency
3) Immediately switch up his linemates when production isn't happening
4) Play him increasingly less, eventually having him on a 4th line or scratched
5) Send him to the AHL
6) Allow him to start producing and regain some confidence
7) Two weeks later recall him.
8) Repeat Steps 2-7

The Condors are currently on a 13 game winning streak, resulting in them also being first in the Pacific Division. Jay Woodcroft has done a fantastic job with this group, and is using a system which supposedly should mirror what the Oilers are doing at the NHL level. It makes absolute sense for Puljujarvi to be a part of that group, earn some real playoff experience with that team, and produce in a top 6 role with a hot team.

There are 3 reasons this isn't happening.

1) The Oilers management group continues to have no idea what they are doing.

2) The Oilers are trying to trade Puljujarvi and think the only way they can is to keep throwing him into the deep end of the NHL and hope he magically figures things out.

Then there is the third option which is the most concerning.

3) Something has been agreed upon between Puljujarvi, his agent, and the Oilers that they cannot send him down to the AHL.

This is an issue on a plethora of levels. First off if this is something Puljujarvi wants, than it is on him for being stubborn and not taking the proper steps to improve his game; even if that involves taking a smaller paycheck for a time.

Second if this is indeed the case (and I have no proof this is the fact) than it is another failure of the Oilers management group for allowing such a deal to happen. They cannot be walked on like that by agents or players. At the time, Chiarelli needed to say they would try and keep Puljujarvi in the NHL, but if he is not holding his end up the deal up they would send him down to help make him a better player.

Thanks for reading.

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