Edmonton Oilers

G79 Oilers vs Kings: McDavid, Bakersfield, and the Olympics
April 4, 2017, 2:33 PM ET [63 Comments]
Matt Henderson
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The Edmonton Oilers are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games and are the hottest team in the NHL. I would like to say that they are simply dominating teams, but the reality is that I think it’s more accurate to say Edmonton’s top line that is dominating teams. Yeah, the Oilers are good, but McDavid and Draisaitl are a level or two beyond that.

McDavid is number 1 with authority in the NHL scoring race with 78GP, 29-65-94. Draisaitl is number 8 in NHL scoring with 78GP, 28-46-74. The duo are both on 10 game point streaks. Draisaitl has 18 points in those 10 games. McDavid has 19 points. This combination is slaying the competition. Against the Ducks it was Getzlaff who was matched against them. That didn’t work out so well for the Ducks.

The Kings are not in a good place right now and I don’t think they have the horses to keep up with the Oilers IF Edmonton is on top of its game. We should be more worried about a let-down game since the Oilers have been rolling so hot for so long. It’s bound to happen eventually. What makes me hopeful is that against Anaheim the Oilers played a complete game and dominated possession. They didn’t look like a team at the tail end of a winning streak that found a way to win despite playing poorly.

There’s not a lot of news coming out of Oilerland right now except that a couple of the guys they signed (Mantha and Gambardella) have signed their PTO contracts and are joining Bakersfield right away. This happens so they can play professionally without mucking up their ELCs. Happens all the time so there’s nothing much there. We are interested in seeing how they help out Bakersfield in the final push of the season.

Jujhar Khaira has just been sent down to the AHL where he can add a lot more to the club than in the pressbox for the Oilers. It will also keep him fresh for when he eventually returns to the Oil. Khaira has been a good surprise this year. He's progressed offensively to the point where it seems he can capably deliver the goods on a 4th line NHL role. That's not a sexy statement, but it's a true one. If he can carve out an NHL career he can be a cheap addition to the Oil. I see him as a possible 13th forward or 4th line W/C for next fall.

Naturally all eyes in Bakersfield are on Puljujarvi who continues to develop. He’s performing pretty well for an 18 year old and if he had been there all year we might be talking about his call up in Edmonton. Instead, we’re talking about how much confidence he’s earned and where we see his ceiling moving forward. He has 11-14-25 in 33 games in the AHL. That’s triple the offensive production he was getting in Edmonton. The future is still plenty bright for this kid and we set our sights on what he can do in the future.

The only major news in the NHL is about their choice to pull out of the 2018 Olympics. I’m not happy about the decision and it’s for very selfish reasons. I wanted to see McDavid fly on international ice. I wanted to see him and Sid on a line together. I wanted to see him medal in the Olympics as part of his hockey resume. I’ll get to see him play Oiler games and that’s always a thrill – always – but the NHL Olympics always felt special.

Maybe there’s a chance there can be a last-minute save made by the IOC and the NHL, but I will never underestimate the NHL’s willingness to walk away from the table. I won’t call this a bluff because we’ve seen them lock out the players for an entire season. Two lockouts in a little more than a decade! When Bettman says the NHL will not participate we have to respect that he means business. If there’s a miracle at the last second then fantastic.

Players and fans are the ones losing out. The IOC will make its money. The NHL will make its money. Players and fans are the ones robbed of their fun. The NHLPA is very clearly unhappy with this call and there will be mounting pressure (especially for Russian players) to announce they will go regardless of the NHL’s choice. If this happens and they DO go, then the NHL will have a full-scale PR disaster on their hands.

I guess we’ll just keep our on the situation and the dream of McDavid playing for Team Canada’s Olympic squad tucked away somewhere safe.

LINEUP

Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
Lucic RNH Eberle
Pouliot Desharnais Kassian
Caggiula Letestu Slepyshev

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Nurse Benning

Talbot
Brossoit

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) 100. That’s right. This space which has been dedicated to McDavid’s quest to dominate the NHL will continue to do so. Deal with it. The chosen one has 94 points and 4 games remaining. The possibility of hitting the 100 point plateau is very achievable. Sure, not tonight (probably), but soon. A 3 point night is more than likely on this California road trip. I’m not suggesting that McDavid’s only goal is to reach an otherwise meaningless point total, but I am going to say that he’s been putting the exclamation points on a remarkable MVP season over these past few weeks. Whatever doubts were left by the voting class of the PHWA ought to be gone. Anyone who fails to name McDavid as the 1st place Hart candidate is objectively wrong. They probably shouldn’t even be allowed to vote on which flavor of Mountain should be permanent, never mind matters concerning the NHL.

2) Nothing Left To Lose. Ok, this time for realsies, the Kings are done. They cannot make the playoffs. This game is just one of their 4 remaining work days before a nice lengthy vacation of golfing, beaches, and Playstation. I can’t say that professional hockey teams should have pride and show up in the final week of work because I’ve watched enough non-playoff hockey to know that these guys just want to get out of the games healthy. At most there are a few guys who are on the bubble that want to make an impression before the season is done, but with an expansion draft looming it’s impossible to know if the fringe guys are trying to impress the Kings or Vegas. So outside of them, and even they might be dejected, the Kings are probably extremely susceptible to being deflated by an early goal or two. Show up early and then choke them out and watch the life drain from their eyes. Was that weird? Did I make that weird?

3) The Drake. For the majority of the season Edmonton tried to make Caggiula an NHL centre. He wasn’t a center in college but he can skate and he’s pretty smart so they needed a backup 3C if it turned out Draisiatl was actually a winger. Well, Draisaitl turned out to be a winger and that jammed Caggiula down the middle. The result wasn’t great for Caggiula’s offense but since being reverted back to the wing (after Desharnais’ arrival), Caggiula has started to find his offense again. Though he only played 8:25 against Anaheim, he’s actually been an effective scorer and has 5 points in his last 5 games. He’s a rookie with some good instincts in the offensive zone who has been playing the wrong position most of the year. I think it’s likely that he’s better than the 56GP, 6-11-17 we’ve seen this year.

Puck drops at 8:30 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!