Corey Perry - not so fun fact
Did you know that the Oilers could've had Corey Perry before he became an NHL regular in a trade back in the 2003-04 season? It's true.
Back then Mike Comrie, a local boy who had generated a lot of buzz early on in his career, was a top-six forward for the team and was sulking because he didn't have a strong training camp back in 2003-04 so public opinion was turning against him. Wanting a trade, Comrie had elected to hold out rather than report to the team after training camp, which of course prompted then GM Kevin Lowe to trade him.
Well, Perry - who was nothing more than a prospect at this time - was actually part of a trade package from Anaheim for Comrie that would've included their first-round pick in the 2004 draft as well. It was all set to go through.....and then GM at the time Kevin Lowe stupidly asked Comrie to voluntarily return his $2.5 million signing bonus back to the Oilers (probably just Comrie and his people hurt Lowe's ego). Naturally, Comrie refused, so that trade was nixed, with Lowe later having to settle for a lesser trade from Philly which ended up being a middling prospect and two draft picks for Comrie.
If only Lowe hadn't been so stupid, we could've won what would've turned into one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Perry would go on to become one of the NHL's best power forwards, and who knows who the Oilers would've drafted with that extra first-rounder (which was ninth overall, by the way), but the Ducks drafted Ladislav Smid, who would become an Oiler through a separate trade years later. The Oilers certainly could've used Perry's talents at forward during the decade of darkness as poor drafting had left them with nothing in the tank once it came time for a rebuild. At least with Perry in the fold at the time we would've been able to cheer for something, anything, instead of lamenting cheering for one of the NHL's worst teams during that period.
Meanwhile, Comrie would go on to have issues with injuries after he was traded away, and although he would do well in a mere two healthy seasons, in which he put up 30 goals and 60 points for the "Phoenix" Coyotes in 2005-06 and 21 goals and 49 points for the New York Islanders in 2007-08, other than those two seasons he never really played much more than half the season - sometimes barely even 25% of it - after he left the Oilers, and that includes a second stint here in Edmonton in 2009-10 when he played a mere 43 games.
Oh, what might've been, huh? Well, I guess Perry benefited by winning the Cup in 2007 with Anaheim. Too bad, it's very likely he would've been a lifelong Oiler if Lowe hadn't let his ego get in the way of a good trade.
Connor McDavid gets injured, Dylan Holloway called up
That article from the Journal covers it pretty well, so there's not much more to say, other than the fact that as far as I'm concerned anyone who thinks the Oilers no longer have depth needs to have their head examined. As expected, Leon Draisaitl moved up to the top line to center Nuge and Hyman, while Adam Henrique, who spent much of the season at first-line center in Anaheim, draws in for Draisaitl at second-line center.
McDavid may draw back into the lineup against Vancouver tonight but they're going to take precautions to make sure he's shipshape for the playoffs. As the Oilers proved in the great victory over an injury-riddled Vegas Golden Knights squad, they can play just fine without McDavid, although they're not going to trade him anytime soon.
Holloway was called up to take his roster spot and slide into the third line at LW and scored a beauty goal at the end of the game.
Sam Carrick and Cody Ceci will also be out with injuries for the game tonight. This means Derek Ryan draws back in for Carrick at fourth line C and Troy Stetcher draws back in for Ceci at second pairing right D.