Heading into the 2019-20 season, the Edmonton Oilers chances of returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs laid at the feet of two men. Ultimately, the play of Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith would determine how things play out and through the team’s first 57 games that is exactly what has occurred.
Though neither one’s been spectacular, both have been good enough and in the end, that was what was going to be required to give this group a legitimate shot at playing games into mid-April. There are those who would argue one has been much better than the other that would be a bit of stretch.
The Oilers Unsexy Tandem
Anyone who’s watched the vast majority of the Oilers games this season and viewed the play of their netminders in an objective manner will tell you there hasn’t been a much to choose between the two. Koskinen has arguably been the better of the two but by the narrowest of margins, which speaks volumes.
To suggest either one has been above average would be a stretch and even the most traditional of goaltending counting stats suggest that is, in fact, the case. The numbers speak for themselves but at the end of a day on a team that employs the league’s two leading scorers and plays in one of its weakest divisions, all that was required was the Oilers goaltending to not be a complete and utter disaster.
To their credit, both men have stolen points in the standings and while they’ve coughed up a few along the way, it has been nowhere near as bad as some envisioned. Though the tandem of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl has given Edmonton a shot at banking wins on a nightly basis, with a roster as unbalanced as this one, having a goalie stand on his head from time to time was a necessity.
McDavid and Draisaitl Need Help
There have certainly been bright spots along the way, most notably the play of rookies Ethan Bear and Kailer Yamamoto, but don’t kid yourself. The Oilers have been carried all season long by their two best players and while some would have you believe that isn’t sustainable over the course of an entire 82-game campaign, if healthy, it is more than doable in today’s watered-down NHL.
Unfortunately, an apparent quad injury has forced McDavid out of the lineup for at very least a couple of weeks and could severely damage Edmonton’s chance down the stretch. In other words, now would be the perfect time for one or both of these netminders to go on a run and help carry the load until their captain returns.
As of this moment, Dave Tippett seems to think Smith is the guy with the hot-hand and has had him start the Oilers last three games. However, if the first two-thirds of the season has told us nothing else, it is that neither of these goalies can go long stretch carrying a heavy workload. Koskinen has never shown capable of doing it and mere weeks away from his 38th birthday, Smith is well past his best before date.
Tippett Needs to Tread Carefully
This has to continue to be a joint effort and Tippett will need to find that perfect mix in getting both goaltenders regular duty, while still turning to the guy he feels most comfortable going with against certain opponents. Not an easy task by any means and in a situation like this, the chance of both players going south at the same time is a real possibility.
Add the recent seven-game suspension the league handed Zack Kassian to the McDavid injury and the Oilers forward ranks are about as paper-thin as it gets. Now could Draisaitl will this team to some wins and/or loser points over the coming weeks? You bet but in order for Edmonton to stay comfortably in a playoff position during that time period, it’ll be up to Koskinen and Smith to ensure it happens.
Far from an ideal situation but this is the hand the Edmonton Oilers have been dealt and outside of a surprise trade from Ken Holland, which seems unlikely, it's sink or swim time. While we may have arrived here in a manner not exactly everyone saw coming, it’ll still about the goaltending and that was always going to be the deciding factor…no matter how it ultimately ends up playing out.
With their perfect record no longer being a talking point, the Edmonton Oilers can officially settle into the 2019-20 campaign. Five wins in six games has re-invigorated fans across Oil Country and for the first time in ages, there is a sense of positivity creeping into the equation among the masses. It’s still early but it’s become abundantly clear the duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will keep them in the fight all season long.
Be it tonight against the New York Islanders or in a couple of days from now when the Edmonton Oilers pay a visit to the New Jersey Devils, Mikko Koskinen will get a chance to start his first game of the 2019-20 campaign. No matter which one he winds up playing, it is apparent the towering guardian is going to have to hit the ground running in order to win over Dave Tippett’s trust and earn regular playing time.
It hasn’t always been pretty but grading victories is not something the 2019-20 Edmonton Oilers can concern themselves with. Two games, two wins and both coming by the narrowest of margins. As expected, the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl has done the so-called heavy lifting but the emergence of some secondary scoring has been a welcome addition to the equation.
If he could, James Neal would like nothing more than to erase last season from the history books. Unfortunately, that isn’t how things work, not even for a ten-time 20-goal scorer. Like it or not, he now has something to prove and the Edmonton Oilers are banking on the 32-year-old pulling out all the stops in hopes of silencing his critics.
With the Edmonton Oilers pre-season schedule officially over, the time for Ken Holland and Dave Tippett to decide who will be part of the equation in Wednesday’s season opener has arrived. Chances are both will lean towards a more experienced lineup but lets us hope that won’t be deciding factor in determining who ultimately makes the roster to start the 2019-20 campaign.
After spending the past ten seasons on a variety of different teams in the KHL, Anton Burdasov has decided to take a crack at trying to land his dream gig…playing in the NHL. Though the hope of securing a one-way deal from an organization did not come to fruition, the Russian winger signed a PTO with the Edmonton Oilers earlier this week. A surprise to some but from the player’s perspective, it was likely an easy decision to make.
Of all the young defencemen in the Edmonton Oilers system, Ethan Bear has become a forgotten man of sorts. Be it the free-agent signing of Joel Persson, highly-touted prospects Evan Bouchard and Dmitri Samorukov or AHL holdovers Caleb Jones and William Lagesson, the list of blueliners looking to stick with the big club is a lengthy one. A crowded bunch to be sure but the 22-year old seems ready for the challenge.
You have to give him credit. On the day the Edmonton Oilers announced Dave Tippett as their new head coach, many in the mainstream media were asking if he’d be bringing his defence-first system to the Alberta capital. Instead of stating the obvious, the Moosomin native suggested he wasn’t that kind of coach at all and in fact, used whatever system worked best with the pieces he had at his disposal.
It’s been just over three years since an article appeared in this very spot suggesting the Edmonton Oilers might have stolen Tyler Benson with 32nd pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. While they and every other organization not named the Chicago Blackhawks missed the boat on Alex DeBrincat, the former Vancouver Giants standout seems poised to take a run at becoming an NHL regular this fall.
Following what was yet another disappointing campaign for the Edmonton Oilers, it should have surprised no one to see Ken Holland waste little time in tinkering with the club’s roster. Though one can argue with certain moves that were made along the blue line and between the pipes, the collection of forwards on the roster is improved. Now the question becomes, will it be enough?
Isn’t it funny how things can go so wrong over the course of three short years? The date was June 24, 2016, and the setting was the NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo. It was on that day the Edmonton Oilers were handed the good fortune of having Jesse Puljujarvi fall into their lap at the No. 4 position in the draft. Well, so much for predictions and those sort of things.
Of all the issues that have hampered the Edmonton Oilers in recent years, perhaps the most perplexing has been their continued struggles on the penalty kill. Over the better part of the past three seasons, they have been among the league’s worst when shorthanded. Ken Holland is banking on that trend not continuing in 2019-20, thanks in part to the additions of wingers Josh Archibald and Markus Granlund.
We are roughly four weeks into NHL free agency and defenceman Jake Gardiner is still without a home. Be it concern surrounding his health and/or the want for a contract at a healthy number with term, something is up with the former Toronto Maple Leafs rearguard. With that said, this would be the perfect time for the Edmonton Oilers to try and sign the talented blueliner.
To suggest Peter Chiarelli left the Edmonton Oilers in cap purgatory and with a badly flawed roster would be kind. Ken Holland knew cleaning up said mess was part of the deal when he took the gig as the club’s general manager and that it wasn’t going to be easy. Though he still has plenty of work to do, trading Milan Lucic to the Calgary Flames for James Neal was certainly a step in the right direction.
After years of struggling to produce quality NHL defencemen, the Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of seeing that trend changing. The names we hear most often are Ethan Bear, Evan Bouchard, Caleb Jones, William Lagesson and Dmitry Samorukov. With that said, the young blueliner who could be the swingman in determining how the upcoming 2018-19 season plays out is Joel Persson.
It’s not every day that we see a team with two of the league’s top four scorers miss the playoffs but the Edmonton Oilers managed to accomplish just that in 2018-19 and by a rather comfortable margin. And yet, with as poorly constructed as their roster was, had the duo of Cam Talbot and Mikko Koskinen found a way to raise their level of play, we are likely talking about a playoff team.
So here we are. Roughly two weeks since the Edmonton Oilers bought out defenceman Andrej Sekera and the roster is no better. In fact, the argument could be made it has gone in the opposite direction. Though there is still plenty of time for general manager Ken Holland to do something prior to the start of the 2019-20 NHL season, one can’t help but wonder why the decision was made to create cap space and not use it.
With their current roster being as underwhelming as it is, the Edmonton Oilers were never going to be major players during this year’s NHL Trade Deadline. However, for an organization that is going to have to do a ton of heavy lifting over the summer, yesterday was a perfect opportunity to get a head start on things. Unfortunately, interim general manager Keith Gretzky and the rest of the organization’s higher-ups saw it differently.
To suggest the past thirteen years have been rough on the Edmonton Oilers organization is about as big of an understatement as one could make. Their record over said time period speaks for itself and has directly led to certain “narratives” surrounding the team on an on0going basis. Most notably, the perception of the “Old Boys Club” running the show but that simply hasn’t been the case since the summer of 2015.
