Ten Beers In…

It all started with an 0 and 4 run, the boys were in the games for the most part and the team looked a different animal. Then came the 3 game winning streak with wins over divisional rivals Calgary and Vancouver. And now we’re on another streak…

Winless in their last 3 games the Oilers are now sitting at 3-7-0 in their first 10 games. And that is what we’re going to talk about today. We’ve got 82 bottles of beer on the wall and we’ve taken 10 down, 72 bottles of beer remain.

Blurred Storylines

• Connor McDavid and the re-emergence of Nail Yakupov: It’s funny what happens when you put two pieces of the puzzle together and they fit. At the beginning of the year we all thought that Taylor Hall would be the one that would benefit most from Connor McDavid but we soon found out that having 4 and 97 together wasn’t the right combination.
  The pairing combined with Benoit Pouliot has racked up 25 points in 10 games. McDavid leads then with 5g and 5a and is coming into the league as a point per game player. Amazing!The ConYak Connection is tearing this league up right now and ever since being put together they’ve been on a streak of their own. As it stands I believe their up to 6 games straight with a point. Who woulda thunk it?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj2cjxlgxjwNow I imagine there are a few blowhards that did but I certainly did not. After watching Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, and Yakupov NOT take the bull by the horns I was a little numb to what to expect from Oilers rookie. I’m not numb anymore, McDavid has the cure! Connor McDavid is providing the adequate amount of cowbell for my version of “Fear the Reaper”.

• The Return of Hall: Now we can’t assume that just because Taylor Hall was moved from McDavid’s wing that he’s been poor. He hasn’t. He’s been great playing with Nuge! He’s been shooting the lights out and has nearly double the shots taken (40) than the next guy (25).In the past I’ve used my medium to blast Hall on more than enough occasions and in my opinion rightfully so. He was immature and he wasn’t living up to his billing in my eyes. Sure he had a couple good seasons (this happens with players from time to time) but he was also getting injured a lot. Well this season he’s turned it around and I’m stoked! He’s playing exactly as I envisioned he should be. Driving the game when the puck’s on his stick, playing physical, and staying healthy. 8 pts in 10 games is right about where he should be and I hope he keeps it going!
• Death Row on the Right Wing: First it was Jordan Eberle, then Matt Hendricks, Now it is Rob Klinkhammer. That’s some serious voodoo right there fellas! Nobody can stay healthy on that wing but I love the personnel that is being put there and it opens up the possibility that maybe, and we all fear this, Jordan Eberle could be the expendable one that might be used to acquire a defenseman.Physical, tenacious, and fearless. Those are the qualities of a player that is excelling in this role with Taylor Hall and Nugent-Hopkins. Is it possible to find a younger player with those attributes? Someone with a bit more cotton in their mitts and a little less stone? Can Ebs survive the role assigned to him. I have no doubt that he can score but he’s coming off a shoulder injury and to say that teams won’t be targeting him physically would be an understatement.
• Goaltending: In Cam we Trust! Anders the Giant to the rescue! Or at least that was how it seemed going into the season. It still feels that way a little bit but maybe the bloom is off the rose a bit. Talbot is definitely the guy we’ve been looking for so far. He’s come up with timely saves and nothing seems to faze him so far. I like the stability he’s providing and the confidence he’s instilling in the team with his performances.Nilsson didn’t give up a goal in the preseason and that had everyone raving, myself included. But the regular season is a different beast altogether. He’s been lit up a couple times but in those games he didn’t have much of a chance either. The teams he was forced to suit up against are perennial offensive powerhouses and the Oilers defence shat the bed both times. I have faith in Nilsson and am hoping that he gets another chance to show his worth. Surely he will.
• Defence: Oh boy!!! This is a sore spot. The bruised part of the shiny red apple. The mold on the bread. Goodness me there needs to be some change here. The flavor of the day here with this group is brain farts and giveaways. Some close games have been snatched from the Oilers grasp because one of their defencemen had a momentary loss of brain functions and this is something the team is going to need to address. We were under the impression that the signing of Andrej Sekera would shore things up a bit but natta! That’s not totally true, he’s coming around after ten games. I can’t wait to revisit this after 20 games.Mark Fayne is under contract for two more years at $4.5 million… It’s possible he will be Nikitin 2.0 unless Andy Greene can be acquired or cloned. Lots of teams are looking for blueliners right now and one has to wonder if Chiarelli can move Fayne and eat some contract in order to facilitate such a move. Then again, what GM would want a guy that is struggling as much as Fayne is?I will say though that Eric Gryba has been a nice add. I like his style. Very physical and sound defensively but I would like to see a bit more speed from him. Darnell Nurse has played one game and I imagine it was all on adrenaline so it’s tough to analyze his performance but I’m liking what he brings to the table. Also, if he’s going to do Paul Coffey impressions on a game-by-game basis, I hope they all end with clappers top cheese.
• Todd McLellan’s style is breath of fresh air. It’s hard, fast, and very entertaining to watch. I think with a bit of tinkering to the playing staff, we could see the very start of the NHL’s next dynamo. It really has re-energized this team. There’s a renewed sense of optimism that you can see right away. Now whether that has to do with the team maturing as a group, the McDavid Effect, the coaching, or a combination of all of them is left to debate but it’s all a bit of okay in my books.

The Numbers

At the time of writing these are some stats that stand out a bit for me:

• The PK was #1 for a time but now it’s down to #15 and the PP sits at the same spot.
• The team is 28th in shots/gp… Yikes!
• #10 in shots against/gp
• #3 in goals allowed in period 1 and period 3… WOOF!
• #2 in blocks. HOORAY!
• #6 in giveaways… BOO!
• #3 in takeaways… YEAH!

Team Leaders in TOI:

• Justin Schultz – 21:46
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 20:51
• Taylor Hall – 20:48

Top Three in Points:

• Connor McDavid – 5g 5a 10pts
• Nail Yakupov – 2g 7a 9 pts
• Taylor Hall – 4g 4a 8pts

Top Three in Hits:

Rob Klinkhammer – 25
Eric Gryba – 14
Taylor Hall – 13

Top Three in Blocks

Oscar Klefbom – 23
Eric Gryba – 20
Andrej Sekera – 17

After Ten Games What is This Team Lacking?

Well off the bat we can say the defence needs an upgrade. The giveaways are becoming far to regular to ignore. The Oilers are in dire need of a powerhouse top pairing Dman. Say Dustin Byfuglien for instance. This is a guy that would transform the back end with his skating, hitting, shooting and intimidation. He’s this generation’s version of Chris Pronger. Ruthless. The Oilers need that. I believe the Oilers could have that in Darnell Nurse but we can’t be certain as to when he will arrive to take that mantle. He’s on the big team already but when will he become the physical force we expect him to be.

The Prorated Record

3-7-0 prorated over the season is 25-52-0… That’s 50 points… That’s Auston Matthews range… Perspective is a bitch.

The Next Ten Games

We’ve got Mtl, Cgy, Phi, Pit, Chi (2), Anh, Ari, LA, and NJ coming up in the next block of ten games. As you can see above with the prorated record that the Oilers are already in a bit of bother. They need to win if this season is to be considered progress. Now of those ten games I can see them winning maybe… MAYBE five of them.

The Habs I’ll say is loss. The Flames are flaming… That should be a win. The Flyers are a crapshoot, so I’m 50/50 on them. Pittsburgh though… Hmmm, I think they could pull one out versus the Pens. The Oilers usually play well against the Hawks but their the Hawks so I’ll say a win and a loss there. Anh can’t score but Edmonton has trouble with their size and game. Who knows? Maybe they’ll have a new coach by then and they’ll be on that new coaching honeymoon. I’ll say loss. Arizona will be a fun game and I think the boys can take that one. The Kings have already shown us what they can do but their not invincible. Close game but loss. And lastly, the Devils are a team I expect the Oilers to beat.

So to recap:

Mtl-L (Two words: Subban/Price.)
Cgy-W (Down down down that ring of fire, that ring of fire.)
Phi-? (Will this be the dangerous Flyers or the clumsy Flyers?)
Pit-W (Their defense is not well this year)
Chi-WL (We’re good for at least one hammering from the Hawks right?)
Anh-L (When Ducks fly together… Ah you know the movie)
Ari-W (Domi Vs. McDavid Round 1)
LA-L (They’ll have learned from their mistakes)
NJ-W (Who’s on this team anyhow?)

So that’s .500 hockey there and it would put their record around 8-12-0 (PR=32-49-0 64pts). I’m not statistician obviously but it’s my armchair GM way of looking at the team’s progress. And I hope we see more progress at the 20 gamer mark! Until then! Take care!

BLH
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