As far as first impressions go, it is next to impossible to not like what we have seen from Patrick Maroon during his first two games as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. In the span of just over 24 hours, the hulking American winger made his presence felt both from a physical standpoint and on the scoresheet. Outside of getting tagged with a ridiculous uppercut during an energetic tilt with Columbus Blue Jackets heavyweight Jared Boll, not much has gone wrong for the former Anaheim Ducks winger since arriving in the Alberta capital.
As much as the NHL would love to see a rivalry form between Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel over the next decade, there is an extremely good chance that nothing of the sort will ever materialize. Contrary to popular belief, the reason hockey fans will not be treated to another “Sidney Crosby vs Alexander Ovechkin” styled showdown over the foreseeable has little to do with the fact the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers play in different conferences…and everything to do with how good a player No. 97 is going to be.
So what gives? While it has yet to be made official it appears as though Hockey Canada has decided to leave Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban off their list of 16 players they will announce as locks to represent Team Canada at this summer’s much-anticipated World Cup of Hockey. Sorry but with all due respect to general manager Doug Armstrong and the rest of Canada’s brain trust, not including the flamboyant and absurdly talented rearguard on that list would be an absolute farce.
While yesterday’s NHL Trade Deadline failed to deliver the punch hockey fans across North America were hoping for, it was still a very interesting day in the world of the Edmonton Oilers. After moving his only two real trading chips in Teddy Purcell and Justin Schultz over the weekend, chances were pretty good that Peter Chiarelli would do nothing more than a bit of tweaking to his roster prior to the 1 p.m. local cutoff.
