GM Stan Bowman makes pointless trade, swapping one minor leaguer for another
This appears to be nothing more than one minor league problem child for another - just seems like change for the sake of change. Further puzzling is the fact that Ronnie Attard is a right shot D, which the Oilers already have a lot of in abundance as it is, and meanwhile Ben Gleason is a lefty which the Oilers don't have a lot of. Attard has played 29 NHL games to his name while Gleason has a mere four. That's the only upside to this trade. Early indications are the Oilers may have lost this one - Gleason has four assists for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (the Flyers farm team) while Attard has only one for Bakersfield. Both guys are 25 or over. Both players' contracts are up after this season. Neither guy seems close to an NHL roster, so it won't change the Oilers fortunes this season. For the life of me I can't figure out what the logic in this trade is....
Darnell Nurse's play is picking up
No one took more criticism than Darnell Nurse earlier on in the season. People are still obsessed with his contract, despite the fact that that has been explained many times, by me for sure. I won't rehash the reasons behind why his contract is what it is, but I will tell you that anyone who still stupidly thinks we have to trade him clearly needs to watch the two goals against Nashville he scored or the one he scored against the Rangers last night. That's a big part of why he anchors the second pairing. He is also top two on the team in PIMs, hits, and blocked shots, and plays on both special teams - look here and here if you don't believe me. If you still think he should be traded after seeing the huge and essential role he plays on this team, all I can say is you're an idiot. Oh, did I mention he's also fifth on the team in TOI?
Who's the better GM? Stan Bowman vs. Jeff Jackson
Interesting article here just now. Jeff Jackson was universally applauded for his signings of Arvidsson and Skinner, but both of those have blown up spectacularly in the team's face in the early going. Meanwhile Bowman has been able to do some cap dancing and for the most part made better decisions. Perhaps the Oilers should've gone back to making Keith Gretzky the interim GM instead of Jackson......
Mackenzie Blackwood on the Oilers radar?
If the Oilers choose to make a change in goal - and they just might as we hadn't seen a lot of good goaltending this season prior to the game against the Rangers in which Stuart Skinner looked like his old self, if only for this game.
Blackwood is an intriguing option. He's putting up average stats this year on a terrible rebuilding Sharks team, which is actually quite an accomplishment when you think about it because the lack of team defence on a rebuilding team makes the goalie a mere meat shield for everyone and he'll experience high shot counts on a nightly basis. This means if he's average on this team that's a great thing. In theory at least, if he can be average on a rebuilding team, he should be able to stand on his head on a contending team like the Oilers.....if a trade were to be made it would definitely be Calvin Pickard going the other way as he's easier to trade and the Oilers like Skinner more as a long term option. Prior to the game against the Rangers, both Pickard and Skinner were struggling this season - neither has a sv% above .900, which really sucks. But before the Oilers make this kind of change to their roster, they're probably going to give the incumbent tandem more time, and with Skinner's performance against the Rangers he's likely bought himself some time, and inadvertently bought time for Pickard too. Blackwood, meanwhile, is experiencing a career renaissance in San Jose, where he hasn't put up these kinds of numbers since he played for the Devils in 2020-21.
Oilers claim Kasperi Kapanen off waivers
With the current injury bug going around, the Oilers needed more help at forward and claimed Kasperi Kapanen off waivers. He made his debut against Minnesota a few days ago and got his first point as an Oilers against the Rangers, an assist.
Kapanen has had a rather mixed bag in his career so far. Drafted by the Pens, he was traded as a prospect to the Leafs in the Phil Kessel trade. He put up 20 goals for the Leafs in 2018-19 but has fallen off the map ever since, getting traded back to the Pens in 2020 where he underperformed, then was claimed off waivers by the Blues where he underperformed even more. The Blues then put him on waivers again, likely with the intention of sending him down the farm team, when the Oilers grabbed him. It's unlikely Kapanen is a long term solution, but never say never, stranger things have happened. He's playing next to Mcdavid and Nuge on the first line so that's a big opportunity for him.