JUST IN: Guess who Oilers have brought back into the team.
One thing that arrived with Edmonton Oilers’ 3-1 loss to Vancouver Canucks on Saturday? Clarity.
With the loss, the Oilers’ startling bid for a Pacific Division title surely came to a close. While there remains a sliver of mathematical possibility, the Oil would need to win all 3 of their remaining games, while getting outside help in the form of 2 regulation losses by the Canucks, who will have a chance to clinch at home vs. Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
With second place in the division and home ice in the first round already assured, Edmonton is better served to treat those 3 games like a mini preseason. Final scores are far less important than personnel issues, with the major goal to keep players healthy and reasonably rested.
Expect GM Ken Holland to expand the roster to the maximum degree. 3 more call-ups are permitted, with no other restrictions to roster size as long as it remains cap compliant. Which is not remotely an issue; as of Sunday morning, PuckPedia reports that the Oilers could call up players with annual cap hits summing to $6.85 million for the season’s dwindling days. They can’t come close to that at this point. (And if you are curious, there remain exact zero dollars which can be offset against next year’s bonuses, an entirely separate calculation.)
who got the nod a week ago when Connor McDavid‘s status became in doubt. Holloway subsequently played 3 out of 3 games in a third line role, even as the existing quartet of fourth-line veterans continued to rotate in and out of the line-up.
Now that the games in hand Oil fans have been promised all season are essentially meaningless in the standings, they loom as a major inconvenience rather than any sort of advantage. The squad hosts San Jose Sharks on Monday, travels to Tempe, AZ Wednesday for the last ever game at historic Mullett Arena, then on to Denver, CO Thursday for a taste of mile-high air. 3 more games of wear and tear with some bonus air miles right at the end.
One thing that won’t be happening is the Oilers scratching and clawing for a division title over that hectic closing stretch, for the privilege of hosting wild card Nashville in the opening round starting next weekend. The Predators have just a single game left on their slate, that coming on Monday. They’ll then have 3 off days before season’s end to rest up and prepare… for the Canucks. Heh, heh.
As for the Oilers, staying healthy is the #1 objective. Resting key vets for at least 1 of the remaining games will surely be prioritized, with liberal opportunity for the likes of Holloway and rearguard Philip Broberg being a natural, and desirable, by-product.
I wrote at some length just a week ago about the challenge/opportunity facing the Oilers down the heavy closing stretch, so no need to dive quite so deep this time. In the intervening 7 days the Oilers have dealt with the unexpected loss of McDavid which crimped their style more than a little. The good news is that the injury is reported to be relatively minor, though the squad was entirely correct to take the precaution of sitting him out. In the process the captain has had the opportunity to rest up a bit and recover from general wear and tear in addition to the specific issue that knocked him out of the line-up. Or should I say, non-specific. “Lower body injury” could mean anything, up to and including an upper-body injury.
reps, each with over 10 minutes of ice time. Meanwhile Troy Stecher got inserted for the Arizona game in place of Cody Ceci.
Now the potential for more recalls also means the possibility of more rest for core players and vets.
Coach Kris Knoblauch was asked at Saturday’s post-game scrum whether his approach will change with the baked-in nature of the Oilers’ position in the standings.
“It’s definitely an opportunity to give guys a rest if it’s needed, and giving [younger] guys a little more responsibility in certain situations. Dylan [will get] an opportunity to keep on playing and show us what he’s got… Obviously Broberg will be somebody that we will consider.”
Sounds like that is indeed in the works, though not in time for Monday’s final home game. This from Jason Gregor of Sports 1440:
A little surprising to this observer that this move is not effective immediately. Should he be recalled in time for Monday night’s home finale, the Oilers would have the opportunity to rest all 3 of their regular left-shot defenders for a game. Instead, anticipate that each of Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse might get a game off; alternately, that the older Ekholm might skip the short road trip altogether while the durable Nurse completes his “perfect attendance” record for the sixth time in the last 7 seasons.
Look also for Stecher to be inserted in the line-up for at least 2 of the remaining games on the right side, perhaps all 3.
Up front? Expect a couple more call-ups on Tuesday, both likely to be forwards, even as Jack Campbell remains an intriguing option. In his popular weekly column 9 Things, my Cult of Hockey colleague Kurt Leavins floated the names of Raphael Lavoie and Sam Gagner as potential recalls, as good a guess as any.
Should that come to pass, the Oilers would temporarily have 16 forwards on the roster, dangerously assuming McDavid is available. Meaning all kinds of options for that 2-day roadie. Presumably back-to-back opportunities for all of Holloway, Lavoie and Gagner, with the potential to rest big-minute stars McDavid and Leon Draisaitl along with 30-something forwards Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane and Corey Perry.
While the Condors will clearly miss the likes of Broberg, Lavoie and Gagner in the short term, the squad has already clinched a playoff berth and the AHL regular season doesn’t conclude until Apr 20, 2 days after the NHL’s. Reasonable to expect all such recalls (though likely not Holloway) to return to active duty in Bako rather than hanging around in Edmonton in a taxi squad role. They can always be recalled again should the need arise.
We’ve seen similar before on the big club, though not to this degree. A recent example is the end of the 2021-22 campaign, when the Oilers clinched their playoff spot in Game 78. The final 4 games came in a 6-day slog with cross-continental travel (at Columbus, at Pittsburgh) before closing out with a back-to-back at home by which time they were locked in to second place in the Pacific.
Backup netminder Mikko Koskinen played both games of that back-to-back while ancient Mike Smith rested up for one last playoff run, which that season would extend right to the Conference Finals. In the season finale, interim coach Jay Woodcroft rested both of McDavid and Draisaitl and went with makeshift lines up front. On the back end, Brett Kulak led the way with 25 minutes, while veteran Duncan Keith was restricted to just 15. It was a weird game in which deployment took precedence over results, even as the Oil ultimately won it in the shootout.
Expect similar down the stretch this year, with the added benefit of extra players added to the roster. That wasn’t an option in ’22, what with the Oilers being locked in LTIR jail due to the career-ending injury of Oscar Klefbom.
Indeed, the current season is the first in the Ken Holland era in which the Oil will have a modicum of roster flexibility down the stretch. It will be interesting to see exactly how they use it.
Leave a Reply