Midweek Oilers Randoms

It wasn’t exactly pretty, but the Edmonton Oilers took care of business last night and claimed two points. Their 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes improved the club to 3-1 and sent a message that this isn’t the same old same old.

Cam Talbot was Edmonton’s best player, some say he stole that game, which was a nice change of pace from Sunday night. I also thought that Edmonton’s defensive group, mainly Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson, all bounced back and played really strong games in the victory.

That was a gutsy performance by the Oilers and it led to two more points. In a year where a good start is absolutely key, last night was a really nice step forward. I wrote about it on Monday, but the Oilers passed their first test of the season.

Kris Russell Impressing:

When I wrote about Kris Russell during the off-season targets series (here), I was not sold on him as an option for the Edmonton Oilers. The advanced stats, quite frankly, did not paint a pretty picture and I did not see him good back in the postseason with Dallas. In fact, I thought he was the Stars’ worst defender during their series with St. Louis.

That said, through four games, I’ve been really impressed with Kris Russell. He’s made some really strong defensive plays to thwart opposition chances, and he’s clogged up shooting lanes more than any Oiler defender has since Steve Staios was patrolling the blueline. He’s been very effective through four games and he’s been a strong partner for Andrej Sekera.

Now, I know Russell has a very high PDO (107.5) and his corsi percentage is not overly good (47.7), but he’s passed the eye test with flying colors to this point in the season.

I know there is a chance that what Russell is giving this club right now will not last, but so far he’s been a good player and has effectively filled a top-four spot of the defensive depth chart.

If he keeps making solid reads in the defensive zone and keeps blocking shot attempts while transitioning the puck successfully, then he’ll be a quality piece for Edmonton throughout the course of this season, I truly believe that.

I think advanced stats are a HUGE part of player evaluation today, there really isn’t a way to deny that, BUT I truly think that the eye test and intangibles also play a factor. Some of Russell’s best traits simply can’t be measured.

The way I look at it? Russell has been an outlier just as Alex Semin, who was an advanced stats darling that quite frankly didn’t belong in the NHL, was.

Condors Flying:

Bakersfield opened it’s AHL season last night with a 4-1 victory over the Manitoba Moose in Winnipeg. Jujhar Khaira, who was sent out of Oilers’ camp a lot earlier than I figured, had two goals last night while playing on the top-line. If Khaira can take another step forward offensively in the AHL this season, he’d be in good position to make a push for the NHL. I think we’ll see him for a number of games this year.

Also worth noting? With Laurent Brossoit in Edmonton, Nick Ellis was the starting goaltender over Eetu Laurikainen. Ellis made 30 saves on the night while facing 31 shots and played quite well from what I’ve read. After a strong NCAA season last year, I’ll be interested in seeing how Ellis adapts to the AHL. He could be another solid goaltending prospect for a club that has lacked those for quite some time.

David Musil, by the way, did not play for the Condors last night in Winnipeg. As far as I can tell, he’s not injured right now, so that’s a bad sign for the AHL veteran. Musil didn’t get an NHL look last year so it’s quite possible he has fallen out of favor with the organization.

The Condors and Moose will go at it again on Thursday night in Winnipeg.

Return Of The Yak:

Tomorrow night will be Nail Yakupov’s first visit to Edmonton since being traded just around two weeks ago. Unless Yakupov gets moved again, it’ll be the only meeting between the sides in Edmonton this season. I’m interested in the reaction Yakupov gets tomorrow night because he was such a polarizing figure.

I thought it was time to move him, but I certainly liked Yakupov and hope he does well with the Blues. Will Oiler fans applaud the young Russian, or will a former beacon of hope be booed? Will the Oilers even acknowledge his return to Edmonton?

At practice today, Yakupov skated on St. Louis’ top line with Paul Stastny and Robby Fabbri. Ken Hitchcock is certainly putting Yakupov in a position to succeed in what will no doubt be an emotional night for the former Oiler.