RNH Sighting

In the eyes of many a hockey observer, Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins seemed poised for a bounce back season in 2016-17. After a rather disappointing campaign in 2015-16, it seemed almost like a foregone conclusion that the former first overall selection would put together a solid season playing second fiddle to Connor McDavid. While there is still plenty of hockey to be played, the opening two months of the season have not been kind to the Burnaby native.

Opportunity Awaits Leon Draisaitl

It may have taken longer than yours truly was hoping but it looks as though the Edmonton Oilers have finally come to their senses and shifted Leon Draisaitl over to the wing. To be fair, it appeared as though Todd McLellan was leaning towards doing just that during training camp but an ill-timed injury to Drake Caggiula forced his hand and put the move on hold. While the duo of Connor McDavid and Cam Talbot carried much of the load early on, that was never going to be a viable long-term solution and everyone knew it.

Another Oilers Misstep

With three games left to go on their November schedule, the Edmonton Oilersseemed poised to close out what had been an inconsistent month of play on a positive note. After coming from behind to beat the Colorado Avalanche last week, Todd McLellan’s side had to grab just three points from their remaining games in order to finish the month with a .500 record. While not the most difficult of asks, it was one this group was unable to follow through on and it could come back to haunt them in early April.

Home Ice Power Outage

As disappointing as losing both ends of a home and home set with the Arizona Coyotes over the weekend might have been for the Edmonton Oilers and their fans, the greater concern appears to be this team’s inability to take care of business in their new shiny home. After years of being unable to gain any meaningful traction over at Rexall Place, the hope was the 2016-17 edition of the Orange and Blue would finally be able to take advantage of playing on their home sheet of ice.