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Edmonton Oilers Sunday Ramblings: Positives and Negatives

By Kris Hansen

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Rough week for the Oilers. Of four games, they lost three and won a surprising win against Anaheim. They were competitive enough, save for that stinker against Arizona.

It’s frustrating because this team can hang with the top teams like Chicago, Anaheim and Los Angeles but they keep making these stupid mistakes and it’s repetitive. They could have won that game last night against the Kings, despite not having their top two centers.

They are 1-4 post McDavid injury and that’s not a shocker to me. I figured the team would be struggling when you lose arguably your top player on the team. Moral victories stink but they are there.

Positives

The positives with the Edmonton Oilers right now are pretty easy to see.

  1. They are competing in games. Last year when injuries struck, there was a lot of lifeless hockey under Dallas Eakins. I can’t say that’s happening with Todd McLellan at the helm. Last nights game was a prime example: No McDavid. No Nugent-Hopkins. No Schultz. No Klinkhammer. No Korpikoski. Yet, they still only lost by a goal. They are showing some resiliency and I think something will have to give if they keep playing well enough.

2. Draisaitl and Hall are driving the offence. Hey, all you people who wanted to trade Taylor Hall, where are you now? He’s only fourth in league scoring with 20 points, six points behind league leader Patrick Kane. Oh, he causes too many turnovers, oh he’s has fabled character problems. I’ll take production over these flaws any day. He’s producing like the elite talent that people know he is. He’s one of the best Left Wings in the game today. Let’s pray that he remains healthy. Draisaitl on the other hand: whoa. What a beast. 13 points in 8 games. So much for ruining him from last year. One thing I’ve noticed with Draisaitl is that he scores some rather timely goals when it is needed the most. I can’t say I expect him to keep up that Points Per Game average but he’s playing superbly. No way he gets sent down.

3. Quietly, Sekera and Klefbom are putting up points. Klefbom, a guy who had question marks surrounding his offence, currently has 10 points in 18 games. That’s a 46 point pace. Again, can’t be expecting that, but for someone I had pegged to get around 20 points this year, it’s a revelation that Klefbom is producing some points. He was struggling at the start of the season but seems to be turning it around and quite impressively so. Another guy turning it around is Andrej Sekera, with 8 points in 18 games, on pace for 36 points which I think is much more reasonable to accomplish compared to Klefbom. Sekera has struggled mightily and still has some brain farts, but he is slowly and surely looking more confident and effective. He will never be a fan favourite because he’s not physical enough but that’s alright. He’s looked great with Darnell Nurse.

4. The Youthful Blueline . I like the Left Side of the blue line a lot. Klefbom as mentioned has been spectacular. Nurse? Nurse is the mean SOB that this team has been missing since Sheldon Souray left. Like Draisaitl I see no way that he gets sent down to the minors. He’s fast, physical, mean. I loved it when he stood up to Ryan Getzlaf. Not even flinching or backing down. Reinhart, even though he had some struggles last night, has looked good. I do wish that Reinhart gets separated from Gryba and quickly. Gryba is holding him back.

Negatives

  1. Goaltending. Goaltending is ridiculous in Edmonton and I’m starting to feel bad for Cam Talbot. In 12 games this season, Talbot has some putrid stats: 3.09 Goals Against Average and a .890 Save Percentage. That said, it’s twelve games and people are “done with him”. I find this to be so typical when it comes to goalies. This is a city that runs goalies out like a used pair of underwear. Has Talbot struggled? I’m not denying it as there is no doubt about it. He lets in these weird stinkers in the first minute and it kills the team. Is 12 games enough to say you’re done with him? In my opinion, no. He deserves a shot at turning it around. Talbot has never put up less than a .900 save percentage since his days at the U of Alabama-Huntsville way back in 2007-2008. Give him a chance to redeem himself before we run him out of town.
  2. Anton Lander. Gets his own category because he has been the worst Oiler this season. Easily. Lets see: 18 games in, not a single damn point. Is he playing fourth line minutes? Not exactly. He’s been on the Power Play and still produces nothing. Yesterday could have been his worst game of his career: two stupid untimely offensive zone penalties while you are trailing or tied is unacceptable. I don’t see Lander finishing the season in Edmonton. The only thing he brings is face-offs but that’s it. I could get playing under Dallas Eakins but there has to be some of it on the player. I was a huge supporter of the guy and wanted to see him develop but I’m starting to think it’s time to sever ties here.
  3. Vets on the Back End: Need to be better. Sekera is slowly turning it around but Eric Gryba handles the puck like a live grenade. Sure, he can block shots, throw the occasional big hit, but last night he looked utterly confused on two goals that were his fault. Andrew Ference is not an answer at all. Mark Fayne was a healthy scratch for three games and with good reason, although he did look fine yesterday. I worry about Fayne being trade bait as I still think he’s a good defence man but he has struggled badly this season.
  4. Moral Victories gives us no points. Look. I love looking at positives and not being blown out every game but there has to be something that starts to give. If it’s frustrating for us fans watching this, imagine how it would be for the players and management. I’d have to believe that Peter Chiarelli is going to make a move here soon, but that’s based on nothing more than a gut feeling.

The Week Ahead

There’s only two games for the Oilers and both take place at Rexall place: Chicago visits on Wednesday and the Devils visit on Friday.

It’s a nice three day break for a team that is ravaged by a flu bug and dealing with injuries.

More from Oil On Whyte

They are, I can’t believe I’ll say it, visually better on the ice, but it still hasn’t shown on the standings. Something has to give.

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