RSS Oilers Team Notes

[Edmonton Oilers]

Another offensive explosion sees Oilers down Jets 6-2: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

That’s two in a row.

On Saturday evening, the Edmonton Oilers played their third game on the five-game homestand, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 6-2. This came just two days after they smashed the Seattle Kraken 9-4. Safe to say they are officially back, so let’s take a look at what happened in this one!

The Oilers picked up where they left off immediately, as it took just three minutes to get on the board. Zach Hyman got hit at the blue line, but was able to get the puck over to Connor McDavid. The Oilers’ captain’s shot was stopped, but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was able to bang in the rebound.

Ryan on the rebound #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/ha0h0aQNLN

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 7, 2025

It took just 67 seconds to get their second goal of the game, as Leon Draisaitl went backhand on a breakaway for his team-leading 17th goal of the season. Nice pass by Evan Bouchard to set up the goal.

Savvy strikes again #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/EmOLh3KhCv

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 7, 2025

The game-winning goal was scored about seven and a half minutes into the first period. Draisaitl found Vasily Podkolzin in the slot, with the Russian winger passing it over to Mattias Ekhom. Once again, the initial shot was stopped, but an Oiler was able to bang in the rebound to make it 3-0; this time it was Matthew Savoie.

Savvy strikes again #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/EmOLh3KhCv

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 7, 2025

With six and a half minutes left in the first period, the Oilers made it a 4-0 game. On a power play, Bouchard was able to blast it past the Jets’ netminder for his fifth of the season.

Buried by Bouch #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/2rPtdwSYMa

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 7, 2025

The Oilers didn’t score again in the first period, but were back at it three minutes into the second period. Mattias Janmark made a nice button hook, finding Curtis Lazar all alone in the slot. Lazar made no mistake in scoring his second of the season.

Lazar beam #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/6RM1eVL4w1

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 7, 2025

In the third period, the Jets were able to score twice to ruin Stuart Skinner’s shutout bid. Thankfully, they were able to score one of their own to keep the pressure off, as Trent Frederic found David Tomášek all alone in the slot for his third in the National Hockey League.

Toma #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/7kwG6PHmnh

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 7, 2025

Takeaways…​

The emergence of Matt Savoie in the past few games has been huge for the Oilers. After scoring twice against the Kraken on Thursday, he was able to score his sixth of the season, the game-winning goal. He’s found chemistry with Vasily Podkolzin and Leon Draisaitl.

Trent Frederic picked up his first regular season assist as an Oiler. He was one of just three Oilers forwards not to pick up a point on Thursday. Only two Oiler forwards were held pointless in Saturday’s game, Adam Henrique and Andrew Mangiapane; the latter got the third assist on Curtis Lazar’s goal.

Getting the primary assist on Lazar’s goal was Mattias Janmark. He’s had an okay start to his season, picking up a goal and five points in 13 games. Janmark’s speed and penalty killing ability make him valuable, especially in the playoffs.

Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each had two points, giving them six points each in their last two games. The only other player with a multi-point game was Evan Bouchard, who scored a goal and picked up an assist. Darnell Nurse and Alec Regula were the two defencemen without a point, while the Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson pairing had a strong bounce-back game.

Regula was in the midst of a few scrums in the third period once the game was out of hand. It’s nice to see the Oilers stick up for themselves, something they were lacking early in the 2025-26 season.

Stuart Skinner had a shutout entering the third period, but it was broken up just four minutes into the final frame. That said, he stopped 19 of 21 shots for a .905 save percentage. His strong play in recent times has helped the Oilers turn their season around.

Next up for the Oilers is a home game against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at 7:00 PM MT. It’ll be their fourth game in their five-game homestand.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/anoth...nnipeg-jets-6-2-recap-highlights-and-reaction

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Why the Oilers might have a hidden gem in Connor Clattenburg

With the Edmonton Oilers lacking a physical presence and Noah Philp landing on the Long-Term Injured Reserve, the team called up left winger Connor Clattenberg.

He was been making a name for himself in Bakersfield in his first full time rookie pro season with the Condors, playing a mere 16 AHL games prior to his recall.

An Oilers fifth-round pick in 2024, it’s not like expectations were high for the guy. But at the tender age of 20, Clattenberg has quietly surprised everyone since he got the recall to replace Philp in the lineup as an injury fill-in.

Fifth-round draft picks only have a 34 percent chance to play one NHL game, never mind at the age of 20, so that tells you the odds Clattenburg was up against. Even if this is the only time he gets in the NHL — which is looking not to be the case — he’s already defied the odds.

But in this short cup of coffee, he’s done some amazing things for a 20-year-old fifth-round pick making his NHL debut. He scored his first NHL goal in only his second game and got into his first regular season NHL fight the next game. Best of all, he’s shown he can keep up with the defensive responsibilities of fourth-line play, as he’s a +1 in the early going. You can never gauge an entire player’s career based on so few games, but it’s so far, so good for Connor Clattenburg, and at this point. The player is trending up.

If he continues to show well, I’d bet he’ll get at least one more recall this season and next year has an excellent shot at a regular spot, which means the Oilers could let guys like Curtis Lazar or David Tomášk walk.

This has definitely been one of the more memorable NHL debuts for players in an NHL uniform in recent years that I can remember.

Although statistically I’m loath to further analyze a player with such a small sample size, there’s other skills that Clattenburg already possesses that will serve him well throughout his career. Clattenburg isn’t going to be on any special teams unit at this point, so I’m not going to bother looking at that. What I will look at is how Clattenburg is already taking advantage of his 6’2″, 205 lb. frame — hits and blocked shots.

In his five games, Clattenburg has 17 hits, good for 11th on the team. That might not sound impressive until you find out that he’s actually leading the team in hits per hour with 28.3. His next closest competition is Kasperi Kapanen, with less than half that at 13.02. Again, taking short sample size into account, even if that evens out a little more and decreases slightly over an entire season, I certainly wouldn’t object for sure, as it shows that with a full season under his belt Clattenburg would vault up to the teams top 2-3 players in hits. Hopefully, he would would be an absolute menace in the playoffs when more often than the not the refs put their whistles away.

The other skill of note for Clattenburg is blocked shots. It follows a similar pattern where he only has three all season for 21st on the team, but he’s currently sixth on the team in blocked shots per hour with 5, ranking second among forwards behind Adam Henrique. Again, with a full season the player would rocket up the standings to be a top 10 player in this stat line on the team. That, in part, explains his great +1 in +/-, a solid mark for a player in the infancy of his NHL career and on his first recall.

In this day and age it’s essential for a team to draft and develop well in order to have any success, and part of that means it’s critical that the scouts hit on their post-first round picks, especially in the fourth to seventh rounds. In Clattenburg it certainly looks like we’ve found a hidden gem from the fifth round. The fact that Clattenburg is the first player from his round in the 2024 draft class to play NHL games should tell you all you need to know about how he’s trending right now.

I can’t say exactly what we have here in Clattenburg long term, but again he’s trending up, and it looks like we have a heck of a player who even now has provided fantastic value for a fifth round pick. Keep looking like a hidden gem, Connor, we need this kind of truculence in our lineup.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-hidden-gem-connor-clattenburg

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Sunday Scramble: Oilers process continues to build 5-on-5 offence, the Tristan Jarry rumours and more

It’s amazing what practice will do for a hockey team.

You’d be tempted to say that practice may be overrated for a team that went to the championship twice in a row. But the Edmonton Oilers are prime evidence that sleeping in your own bed, getting into a practice routine, and playing in front of your home fans can help cure the team’s record woes.

Edmonton is now mid-way through this “hinge” stretch of the season, as I’ve dubbed it, and so far it’s hinging in the right direction. But maybe it’s these uniforms, which still don’t look very good, but winning in them makes them shine.

Record through the “hinge”: 3-2.

On deck:

• Home to Buffalo on Tuesday
• Home to Detroit on Thursday
• At Toronto on Saturday for Hockey Night in Canada

Welcome back 5-on-5 offence​

What’s refreshing is the return of dynamic 5-on-5 offence. While the Oilers’ goal share 5-on-5 is fifth worst in the league overall, sitting at 44.7 per cent, that changes dramatically if you look at the last 10 games.

They jumped up to 15th in the league in the past 10 games at 49.2 per cent (10 games ago was the Hurricanes game on Nov. 15th).

That is significant because their expected goal share during that stretch is also 15th, which suggests it isn’t just lucky, and it stands to reason Edmonton can continue climbing.

They have a -1 goal differential 5-on-5 in their last 10 games, which is also 15th in the league, and includes three games where they lost by three or more.

No doubt the Oilers’ home vibes have been soured by the dramatic no-show losses to Colorado and Dallas where they were outscored 17-4. As they should.

But overall, with the 6-2 victory over the Jets on Saturday, the Oilers are now 7-3-2 at home this season. Those three regulation losses are to the best teams in the conference in the Avalanche, Stars, and Wild.

As frustrating as it is that the Oilers have to scuffle, and drive some of their fans to the point of hysteria, the process seems to be building.

Their last four games are the longest stretches of continual emotional engagement combined with good play. There are fewer wild swings. And they are starting games extremely well.

So few division games still​

The larger dominant road schedule east also means the Oilers have only played six out of 29 games against the Pacific Division, with a record of 3-1-2 in division.

That isn’t changing any time soon, either, with their next seven contests out of division.

That means beginning Dec. 21 vs the Vegas Golden Knights, the Oilers will play 20 of their last 46 games against the Pacific, 43 per cent of their schedule.

Tristan Jarry​

How do you hold back laughter about the whole “Tristan Jarry is being traded to the Edmonton Oilers” rumour that sent some corners of Oil Country into a tizzy on Friday night? What a masterclass of engagement farming.

Look, I’m no insider, I have a couple “sources” but not many. I have no idea what Stan Bowman is doing.

So here’s Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman instead:

“I do think there’s legitimate Edmonton interest in Jarry, but I think it’s extremely complicated, and might not be possible,” Friedman said on HNIC Saturday. “Mainly because Pittsburgh has indicated it will not retain (any salary).”

I’ll just say this, I’m a little worried if the Oilers big goalie move is Tristan Jarry. Of course he’s better than Calvin Pickard, and most of the time a bit better than Stuart Skinner.

The injury concerns scare me, and I’m not sure how the Oilers get it done.

I would love a new goaltender. Believe me.

But any deal that includes Brett Kulak at the moment makes me leery. He isn’t well right now, that’s for sure. However, for a guy that has routinely stepped up in the big moments for this team logging a ton of minutes each post-season…I’m not certain taking out a lynchpin like that bodes well for the Oilers.

Not while Alec Regula and Ty Emberson have to play regularly and not while Darnell Nurse is Darnell Nurse.

Again, Connor Ingram is not lighting up the AHL at the moment with a 3-4-2 record, 3.56 GAA, and .872 save percentage. But the moment of Ingram being called up has to be nearing closer. We have to see Ingram in an Oilers sweater at some point, and I wager, it’ll be after Christmas.

Olympic Ice ​

In the fascinating world of best-on-best hockey, the news this week that the Olympic dimensions would be roughly three-and-a-half feet smaller length-wise, and only a couple inches wider, than NHL ice was a shocker.

Or was it?

There are some players and management, like Nathan Mackinnon and Doug Armstrong, that say they knew all along this was going to be the case.

Then others like Matt Boldy had no idea.

According to an agreement with the NHL and NHLPA, as well as the IOC and IIHF, the rink is supposed to be the same dimensions.

Team USA coach Mike Sullivan questions if that report was even accurate.

German Nico Sturm had the best quote in this piece by The Athletic:

“I’m just flabbergasted a bit of how they handled that,” Sturm said. “It’s just an arbitrary size. Either you make it Olympic or you make it NHL-sized. Now it’s neither.”

The Olympics is a fluster-cluck typically in the final eight weeks before the games begin. I found curler Marc Kennedy, who appeared on Oilersnation Everyday, talking about the set-up for curlers to be insightful.

He says they’ll be hours away from the main “village” setup in the equivalent to trailers on an airport runway.

It would be a dagger to the hearts of every hockey fan if some reason, someway, somehow, this doesn’t get done, or a Plan B isn’t executed if the arena isn’t up to snuff.

Long we’ve waited for the world mosaic of the best national players all together in one place to faceoff head-to-head.

How much leverage does the NHL have if they don’t like the “Plan B” of the IOC, which apparently doesn’t even exist. Meanwhile, the NHLPA is going to press to go regardless, unless the ice itself is so poor that the quality could lead to injury, either.

“It’ll change things,” Mackinnon said. “But who cares?”

The Powers That Be just may.

Regardless, it makes for a compelling strategic angle. Finland, for example, are no stranger to a trap game. You could see what lesser skilled nations might look to doing when playing against Canada, the US, etc.

World Junior A Challenge​

It is international hockey season, kicking off today with the World Junior A Challenge.

Organized by Hockey Canada, will feature Canada West, Canada East, the United States, and Sweden, it’s been an opportunity for Junior A players in Canada to don the maple leaf, while primarily being a U19 (each team can have a few).

The tournament is at a bit of a crossroads with the major changes to NCAA eligibility, the BCHL’s self-exile from Hockey Canada, and lessened overseas appetite.

At times as many as six teams, when I got the opportunity to broadcast the 2023 tournament in Truro, Nova Scotia, Slovakia was also in the mix.

Sweden leans heavily upon on the Hlinka-Gretzky roster to build this team – readying the best players to play in the World Juniors the years after.

The US is comprised of some elite talent from the USHL, with usually a handful of NHL draft picks in tow.

Although it’s a political hotbed, Russia is sorely missed from this tournament, as many 1st and 2nd round draft-eligible players would play.

Vasily Podkolzin looked like a man amongst boys at the 2018 tournament in Bonnyville, as did Yaroslav Askarov in goal.

Trois-Rivières, QC, gets the hosting duties this go-round.

It’s a joke​

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been throwing away points and wins this season. They can’t lock down a lead, and blew a two-goal lead to Florida on Saturday to lose 7-6 in overtime.

Head coach Dean Evason, who has resting mean face, was in mode. He called everything a “joke” in his post-game presser:

What a joke! pic.twitter.com/aE72U7N9qM

— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) December 7, 2025

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/sunda...5-on-5-offence-tristan-jarry-rumours-and-more

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

The World of Warcraft and Oilers crossover was something I never expected

It’s not often that when you attend an Edmonton Oilers game, the organization does a cross-promotion with a video game. In the past, the Oilers have had advertising for the latest Call of Duty or NHL title.

On Saturday night, however, it was World of Warcraft that was centre stage, with the game’s next expansion, Midnight, advertised throughout the Oilers vs. Jets matchup at Rogers Place. Hours before puck drop, it was announced on the game’s social media channels that fans should tune into the game for a lot of hockey and maybe a little Warcraft.

It's time for some PvP on ice!

Tune in to the @EdmontonOilers game tonight for a lot of hockey, and maybe a little Warcraft pic.twitter.com/r9V0gg6Yak

— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) December 6, 2025

This sparked curiosity among fans of both the game and Oilers fans, mainly because it was the first time World of Warcraft had been promoted at such a scale at an NHL game. If you do a simple Google search, there is zero connection between the game and the NHL, and the Oilers in this case, ever. If you’re a fan of both, you’d think this was some fever dream.

To get a better understanding, I asked Edmonton-based Warcraft streamer and partner, Kesslive, what this all meant.

Warcraft has been exploring innovative ways to expand its brand presence, and last nights collaboration with the Edmonton Oilers marked a bold and promising step into the hockey world. There was belief that many hockey fans north of the border also share a passion for warcraft, I can attest to this as my stream chat is full of viewers who enjoy both worlds, so the partnership proved to be a natural fit.

Oilers fans were treated to an impressive array of Warcraft themed experiences, from exclusive in arena branding, midnight game codes and cosplay showcases to a never before seen cinematic promoting the newly released player-housing feature, and what’s to come of it. On top of this the fans were also treated to a nice win from the Oilers as they start to heat things up in their season.

The success of the first collaboration was only the beginning. On March 6, Warcraft and the Oilers will reunite for a second special event, this time featuring limited edition crossover branded T-shirts available exclusively during the game for lucky fans. The game arrives just days after the early access launch of Warcraft’s newest expansion, making the timing ideal for fans eager to enjoy gaming, and hockey.

And what makes this so unique is that it has people talking?!

I’d say it’s just unique in the sense that Warcraft is one of the only MMO’s (Massively Multiplayer Online game) that’s been around for 21 years and continues to remain as successful as it is, and to see it continue to grow and expand into markets like the NHL is a sign that the game is healthy and won’t be going anywhere.

So for people looking to jump into a game that offers longevity it’s definitely the place to be. It’s also unique because these 2 worlds have never crossed over before, so for myself and the people who got to experience it last night- we were the first to see a collab like this and I think that’s pretty special for current and new fans that will come from last nights event

Usually, one wouldn’t tie hockey and a video game set in a fantasy world together, but the Oilers and WoW found a way. Now, let’s walk through exactly what unfolded at Rogers Place.

Before fans entered the gates towards the rink, Ford Hall had a banner advertising World of Warcraft: Midnight. Once inside, fans who picked up the game program would notice another advertisement, saying how this Oilers game is presented by World of Warcraft: Midnight.

Okay fine I’ll play Midnight @Warcraft pic.twitter.com/sw0mYQl4xm

— Woz (@itsWozzz) December 7, 2025

During a TV timeout in the first period, the Oilers gave away a small item to fans in the lower bowl. It was one of those activations where they look for the loudest fans and give them a prize, this prize being a game code for World of Warcraft.

Throughout the game and intermissions, there would be more advertising on the scoreboard for the upcoming expansion, with the call to action being “Pre-Purchase Now.”

Specifically, during the first intermission, there was a more extended promo on the Jumbotron, a trailer showcasing the game’s new prominent feature, player housing, which, for Blizzard Entertainment, is one of the main selling points of this expansion.

Another activation that happened was in the third period, where two people were cosplaying as Blood Elves, a playable race in the game, who will have a prominent role in World of Warcraft: Midnight. They were sitting in the lower bowl, near the glass, holding a sign that said ‘Glory to the Oilers’—a reference to the game.

I want that silvermoon house now @Warcraft !!!!! pic.twitter.com/rZC3eFDeo7

— Kesslive (@kesslive) December 7, 2025

As someone who was in attendance and has played the game over the past 20 years, I can’t remember the last time a video game was advertised like this at an Oilers game. It’s most likely when Connor McDavid was on the cover of NHL 18, but that made sense.

But in this instance, we have high fantasy and hockey. Of course, money talks, and whoever came to the Oilers to ask about a marketing opportunity got down to business.

When World of Warcraft reached its peak subscriber count in 2010, the game was more heavily marketed in mainstream media, with commercials featuring Mr. T, Ozzy Osbourne, and William Shatner. The game was even were featured episode of South Park called ‘Make Love not Warcraft’ about the game in 2006.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the game has been promoted at an Oilers game.

As Kesslive mentioned, the next cross-promotional event between the Oilers and Warcraft is scheduled for March 6th, 2026, when the Oilers face the Carolina Hurricanes.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/world-of-warcraft-oilers-crossover-something-i-never-expected

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Oilers prospect David Lewandowski named to Team Germany’s preliminary roster for upcoming WJC

It appears at least one Edmonton Oilers’ prospect will participate in the 2026 World Juniors.

Toward the end of November, Team Germany released their preliminary roster for the coming tournament. Oilers’ fourth-round pick, David Lewandowski, was on the roster and is expected to make the team.

Die Mannschaft um U20-Bundestrainer Tobias Abstreiter startet in wenigen Tagen in die diesjährige WM-Vorbereitung. Die IIHF U20-Weltmeisterschaft 2026 findet vom 26. 12. 2025 bis 5. 1. 2026 in Minneapolis und Saint Paul (USA) statt. Weitere Infos: https://t.co/1KnX0W7use pic.twitter.com/1dsXFzWFyp

— Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (@deb_teams) November 27, 2025

The 18-year-old has had a strong start to his 2025-26 season with the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades, scoring eight goals and 28 points in 27 games, with 20 penalty minutes. Lewandowski leads the team in goals as the Blades currently sit fifth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference thanks to a 14-13-2 record.

This isn’t Lewandowski’s first rodeo at the U20 tournament. Last season in Ottawa, the winger scored two goals in five games in the tournament, as Team Germany defeated Team Kazakhstan to stave off relegation.

That said, it’s going to be tough sledding for Team Germany at the 2026 World Juniors in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. They’re in Group A, which also features Team USA, Team Sweden, Team Slovakia, and Team Switzerland. This will be Team Germany’s seventh consecutive WJC.

Speaking of Team USA, another Oilers prospect, Asher Barnett, was named to their preliminary roster. Barnett was selected in the fifth round in the 2025 draft, and he has eight assists in 19 games with the University of Michigan as a freshman. The left-shot defenceman is much less of a lock to make the roster than Lewandowski.

If these two players make their respective rosters, it’ll be the second consecutive tournament that the Oilers have had two prospects attend, having Paul Fischer represent Team USA and Beau Akey represent Team Canada in the 2025 tournament. The Oilers didn’t have a representative at the 2024 tournament.

Moreover, former Oilers prospect Sam O’Reilly is heading to Team Canada’s camp, with their preliminary roster being announced on Monday morning. He was traded for Ike Howard during the summer and has put together a solid season for the London Knights, scoring 12 goals and 27 points in 27 games.

The tournament begins Dec. 26, and the gold medal will be awarded on Jan. 5. Team USA has won the last two gold medals and is looking for its first three-peat in tournament history. Since 2013, either Team Canada, Team USA, or Team Finland has won the gold medal. The last time one of those three teams didn’t win gold was in 2012, when Team Sweden won, preceded by Team Russia the season before.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/oiler...-germanys-preliminary-roster-for-upcoming-wjc

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

GDB 30.0: Oilers Can Add to the Sabres’ 15-year Pain (7 PM, SNW)

The last time the Buffalo Sabres made the NHL playoffs, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was playing with the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League and would be drafted first overall two months later. The year was 2011.

There isn’t a fan base in the salary cap era that relates more to the current struggles of the Sabres than Edmonton Oilers fans. But the Decade of Darkness (2007-2016), when Edmonton missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, pales in comparison to Sabres fans’ heartache as they’ve watched their team miss the playoffs the past 14 seasons, and today they are in last place in the Eastern Conference and well on their way to a 15th consecutive playoff-less campaign.

Of the 793 active players in the NHL (minimum five GP this season), 57 of them were in the NHL the last time the Sabres made the playoffs. Which means 92.82 percent of active NHL players haven’t played when the Sabres made the postseason. Here are some other things that happened in 2011.

Corey Perry led the NHL with 50 goals and 98 points in 2011.

Alex Ovechkin finished the 2011 season with 301 career goals. He now has 911.

Vancouver won the President’s Trophy with 117 points, 10 more than any other team, and lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers finished 30th with 62 points. New Jersey won the draft lottery and moved up from 8th to 4th, while Edmonton retained the #1 pick.

The terms LOL and OMG were officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

The top song was We Found Love by Rihanna.

Minecraft was released.

Steve Jobs, Amy Winehouse and Elizabeth Taylor passed away.

Osama bin Laden was killed.

The final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired.

Game of Thrones premiered on HBO.

Fast forward to today and the Sabres will play their 1,105th game (and counting) without making the playoffs. RNH will skate in his 980th regular season game. He’s also played 96 playoff games. Gilbert Perrault holds the Sabres’ record for most playoff games played with 90. RNH is tied with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for 11th most playoff games played in Oilers history.

Historically and recently Oilers fans have enjoyed much more success than Sabres fans. Oilersnation gets upset when the team has a slow start (which is understandable), but since the Decade of Darkness ended, Oilers fans have witnessed McDavid and Draisaitl produce the most regular season points, and most playoff points, as they rank first and second in both. Edmonton has played the fourth most playoff games the last nine seasons with 96 behind only Dallas (103), Vegas (106) and Tampa Bay (108) and will add to that total in April.

As you sit down to watch the Oilers and Sabres play tonight, be thankful your team managed to pull themselves out of the ditch after a decade of losing, while the Sabres continue digging themselves a deeper hole.

SNAPSHOTS…​

— Buffalo ranks 18th in GF/GP (2.97) and 30th in goals against at 3.55. They’ve lost the first three games of this road trip by scores of 5-2 in Philadelphia, 4-1 in Winnipeg and 7-4 last night in Calgary. Colten Ellis started in Philly, while Ukko-Pekka Luukonen started the last two games. Alex Lyon was the backup in all three and he played the third period of last night’s game after Luukonen allowed five goals on 22 shots in the first 40 minutes. Lyon has only started one of the Sabres past 12 games, even though he started 12 of their first 17 games. He got pulled in his 12th start after allowing two goals on the first three shots. He’s only started once since and allowed five goals on 23 shots. Will the Sabres start him or Ellis tonight? Ellis has seven NHL appearances on his resume. He’s made two starts since November 20th. Lyon leads the Sabres trio with zero goals saved above expected. Ellis is -1.5 while Luukonen is -2.4. The Sabres aren’t very good defensively.

— Alex Tuch leads the Sabres with 25 points and his second with 10 goals. If he decides not to re-sign, he’d be one of the most sought-after trade deadline acquisitions. If the Sabres retain 50 percent of his salary, he’d be a $2.375m cap hit in the playoffs. His cap hit will be very manageable for teams, including the Oilers, who would be looking to acquire him.

— The Sabres have given the Oilers problems during the McDavid-Draisaitl era. The Oilers have only won eight of 19 games going 8-7-4. McDavid has 19 points in 17 games, while Draisaitl has 18 points in 20 career games. They’ve had one dominant game, when McDavid had four assists and Draisaitl scored 1-2-3 and the Oilers won 8-3 in Edmonton on March 21st, 2024.

— The Oilers are 4-1-1 on home ice in their last six games against the Sabres and outscored them 28-15. However, they’ve only won once in Buffalo in their last six games. This is a game Edmonton should win, and needs to win, as starting this Saturday, they have a stretch of six games in nine nights in six different cities.

— Adam Henrique made his NHL debut the last time the Sabres made the playoffs in 2010-11. Henrique played one game on April 10th. He did score 25-25-50 in 73 AHL games that season.

— McDavid needs one even strength point to move ahead of Jari Kurri (724) for second most in Oilers history. Kurri had 724 EV points in 754 games. Tonight is McDavid’s 742nd game. He’s still got work to do to catch Wayne Gretzky’s 1,122.

— Kevin Woodley was on my show yesterday and brought up a talking point that was made last week, but Stephen Valiquette, regarding Jordan Binnington and Stuart Skinner.

I wanted to go back to some comments that were made by Stephen Valiquette last week, because a few of people got up in my mentions about my appearances here on your show. Steve went on a show and said that Jordan Binnington plugged into Edmonton’s environment would save the Oilers 16 goals this season.

Now listen, I work with the numbers at Clear Side Analytics, and Stephen Valiquette is frankly brilliant, and his systems are brilliant, and I’ve said for years, that if the Oilers listened to some of those numbers, they wouldn’t have done the Jack Campbell experiment, they would have had upgraded backup goaltending, they might even have a cup by now.

But the caveat I really wanted to throw out there, when Stephen comes on and says, hey, if they had Binnington, it’s based on a model they use called crease swap. And so, crease swap basically takes a goalie from another team, and statistically places him in the other environment, and sees what the results are.

Now, the part that doesn’t get mentioned is when you perform that crease swap metric, the goalie going into the current environment, he’s calculated based on this season, and last season.

So, when he said 16 goals, he meant that’s Binnington last year and this year. And at this point, that is basically mostly last year, right? Because we’re not even a third of the way into this season. Binnington last year and Binnington this year are not the same.

That said, he’s got a track record. For those who were all over me saying I defend Skinner too much, when he said it was 16 goals. Of those 16, six were Stuart Skinner, and 10 were Calvin Pickard in terms of what Binnington would upgrade.

I ran the numbers back on a napkin, manually and didn’t include last season. I only used this season and based on this season’s results, just Skinner, just Binnington, Jordan would have given up, based on shot quality and types of chances, 14 more goals to this point this season behind the Edmonton Oilers than Stuart Skinner has.

So, listen, I don’t think I’ve ever come on here and said that career-wise and overall, Binnington isn’t a better goaltender than Stuart Skinner. We saw what he did at the Four Nations, but this year has not been great for him. And there is a risk there. And when people sort of pounce on that one number and that one metric, you need to understand it’s based on last season as well.

— My take on Binnington is that he’d be a huge risk at this point. If you had him and Skinner, I could see it, but trading him for Skinner today makes little sense for the Oilers. Now, if Binnington goes to the Olympics, and plays —which is far from a guarantee the way Logan Thompson is playing — and plays well, then Edmonton would have to reconsider acquiring him. Analysis on players is always evolving and moving. Binnington had a great final game at the 4-Nations. His first three games he didn’t have a save percentage above .900. And this regular season he has not played very well at all. He’s near the bottom in goals saved above expected as well as save percentage. And he makes $6-million compared to Skinner’s $2.6-million. Until Binnington has a stretch of solid games, I see no reason why the Oilers would look at him. There are other goalies playing better, who have a lower AAV.

— I still think the more prudent move would be to add a goalie to push/challenge/complement Skinner, so they have two options in the playoffs. I’ve yet to see a goalie in trade rumours who is a guaranteed upgrade. Tristan Jarry has played very well this season, but he’s only started 12 games. I’d want to see more before I acquire him straight across for Skinner. Jarry has won two playoff games in his career. If you had Skinner and Jarry, that could work out well, but I’d need to see another 20 solid starts from Jarry before I’d even consider a swap of Skinner. Skinner has had ups and downs, no question, but he’s also had stretches where he’s played quite well in the playoffs.

LINEUPS…​

Oilers…​

RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Savoie
Janmark – Henrique – Mangiapane
Frederic – Lazar – Tomasek
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Regula
Kulak – Emberson

Skinner

No lineup changes for the Oilers. They are starting to get some bottom six contributions, while their top lines are producing much more. And the power play has been outstanding the past four games clicking at 63.6 percent with seven goals on 11 chances. Meanwhile the Sabres’ penalty kill is 69.2 percent in their last four games allowing four goals on 13 kills.

Sabres…​

Greenway-Thompson-Tuch
Benson- Norris-Doan
Malenstyn-McLeod-Quinn
Kozak-Krebs-Dunne
Samuelsson-Dahlin
Power-Bryson
Byram-Timmins

Lyon

Sabres didn’t skate this morning, but Jason Zucker was injured in Calgary last night, so Joshua Dunne will draw in and the Sabres will have to adjust their bottom six. The goalie is just a projection based on last night’s lineup and the fact Lyon hasn’t started in many games and today is his 33rd birthday.

TONIGHT…​

Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Edmonton wins three consecutive games for the first time this season and picks up a 6-2 victory.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers score two power play goals.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Andrew Mangiapane scores his first goal in 16 games.

MONTH OF GIVING…​

Thanks to Jim for his awesome bid on the A-1 Heating package yesterday.

DAY SEVEN: The Brick Fan Package

• A $2500 gift card from the Brick. https://thebrick.com/. Buy whatever you wish.​
• The 75 Inch LG UHD AI UA70 4k Smart TV 2025. Fantastic picture quality.​

You can bid via text between 2-6 p.m. on Sports 1440 by texting 833.401.1440 (can call the same number) and include your name and donation amount. All money raised will go Santas Anonymous.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/gdb-30-0-edmonton-oilers-buffalo-sabres-preview

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

A day late and a dollar short as Oilers third period comeback against Sabres fails: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

Well, at least the Edmonton Oilers got a point.

On Tuesday evening, the Oilers played the fourth of five games on this homestand, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Buffalo Sabres. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.

Late in the first period, the Oilers found themselves on the penalty kill. No one was covering the net front presence, Josh Doan, as he was able to deflect the puck downward and past Stuart Skinner for the 1-0 lead.

The Sabres open the scoring, 1-0.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/ZWqpnr13Nv

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

The Oilers got the benefit of a missed call, as Alex Tuch passed it with his hand to Tage Thompson, who banged it in. That may not have counted, but the second one did midway through the second period. It was a classic Evan Bouchard gaffe, as Thompson stole the puck from the Oilers’ defender and deposited it into the back of the net.

Evan Bouchard is going to want that one back

2-0 Sabres.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/Vd9gCClR12

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

A short time later, the Sabres made it 3-0 with Zach Hyman in the box. Doan was down low in front of Skinner and received the puck. Instead of passing it, Doan put it between his legs and shot it past Skinner.

Josh Doan sneaks one between the legs, and it's 3-0 Sabres.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/B1rGOIBU78

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

Down 3-0 heading into the third period, the Oilers found that next level. Just 10 seconds into the final frame, the Oilers got the benefit of a whistle on what should’ve been an icing. Zach Hyman got to the loose puck, passed it to Connor McDavid, and the Oilers out waited the Sabres’ netminder for their first goal of the game.

CONNOR MCDAVID 10 SECONDS INTO THE THIRD!

The Oilers have gained some momentum!

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/L29w34qhgl

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

It didn’t take long for the Oilers to make it a one goal game, doing so just a minute and 46 seconds later. Vasily Podkolzin had a few whacks at the puck, and eventually beat Alex Lyon to the glove side for his sixth of the season.

PODZ GOAL! And the Edmonton Oilers make it a one-goal game!

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/ddnNjiOTzR

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

A whole bunch of penalties came in the second half of the third period, grinding the Oilers’ momentum to a halt. In the dying seconds, a loose scramble ensued, with the puck finding its way to the weak side. The Oilers were first on the puck, and it was none other than McDavid to tie the game with 1.9 seconds left in the game.

WITH ONE SECOND REMAINING THE EDMONTON OILERS TIE THE GAME AND SEND IT TO OVERTIME!

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/o71vDJHwUp

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

Wouldn’t it be lovely if I wrote that the Oilers completed the overtime in comeback? Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be as the Oilers won the opening draw too clean, and the Sabres were able to capitalize on the Oilers’ poor defending. Former Oiler Ryan McLeod picked up the primary assist on the OT winner.

well that's an underwhelming finish, the oilers lose in ot.

: sportsnet pic.twitter.com/qjJndciYHZ

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 10, 2025

Takeaways…​

The good news is that at least the Oilers don’t get the distinction of being the first team to lose to the Sabres on home in regulation this season? They played a full 20 minutes and forgot how to defend in overtime. At least they got a point, I guess.

Thankfully, we still got an exciting finish to regulation, but some of those penalty calls in the second half of the third period were horrendous. In particular, the Alex Tuch “hooking” call and the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins “hooking” call. The officials really liked calling hooking penalties, as four of the 10 calls were hooks.

Vasily Podkolzin is burgeoning into a true top six player. On top of scoring his sixth goal of the season, he showed confidence in carrying the puck, something missing from his game last season. As it stands, Podkolzin is on pace for 16 goals and 35 points, which would blow by his eight goals and 24 points last season and be more inline with his rookie campaign.

Connor McDavid remembered that he can shoot and he now has 16 goals for the season. He’s now just 10 goals shy of matching what he did last season in 37 fewer games. Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were the other two forwards to pick up an assist.

Evan Bouchard picked up an assist, but that was a brutal giveaway on the Sabres’ second goal. Those gaffs happen a little bit too often, but his postseason production is absolutely worth it. Mattias Ekholm and Ty Emberson also picked up assists.

It was another sub-.900 save percentage game for Skinner, allowing four goals on 28 shots for an .857 save percentage. He didn’t really have much of a chance on any of the goals, the Oilers had a horrendous defensive game, but they needed a save.

The Oilers’ finish their five game homestand with a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday at 7:00 PM MT.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/day-l...lo-sabres-fails-recap-highlights-and-reaction

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

The Day After 30.0: Beyond blunder, Bouchard’s play back to elite level for Oilers

When Evan Bouchard coughed up a puck behind the Edmonton Oilers halfway through the second period of their 4-3 OT loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the reaction was swift.

Tage Thompson had all the time in the world to beat Stuart Skinner, and the pitchforks were out. The Bouchard haters surfaced. Everybody was ready to declare his chances of making the Canadian Olympic roster Dead On Arrival.

“Evan Bouchard’s Team Canada chances were on life support and this giveaway might be the final blow,” opined one popular X account.

You can imagine what the response to it was, as those who haven’t been paying attention to his game took aim. But this was just Side One, and when you Flip it and look at his recent body of work, you’ll see it’s the fan Favourite Record it’s always been.

In fact, if you look at his numbers in Edmonton’s 18 games since the start of November, you’ll see Bouchard’s back to his usual dominant ways. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Oilers have outscored the opposition 22-15 for a 59.5 percent goal share and a +7 mark that’s tied for ninth-best among 187 defencemen with over 157 minutes — half of what Bouchard has played — over that stretch.

Those 22 goals are tied for the fourth-most among 25 different goal numbers for the defencemen,, while the 15 goals against are the 13th-fewest among 21 different goal numbers. On a per hour rate among the same defencemen, his 4.18 goals for per hour rank fourth among 139 different goal numbers, while his 2.85 goals against per hour are tied for 98th among 136 different goal numbers.

That paints a picture of how impactful Bouchard has been compared to other blue liners around the league, but how do those goal numbers shape up with the rest of the Oilers roster? I’m glad you asked.

In nearly every major underlying statistical category (shot share, goal share, expected goal share, scoring chance share, high-danger scoring chance share and high-danger goal share), the Oilers’ numbers are significant better with him on the ice than off, and defensively, are at worst, slightly below league average.

To put it simply, the Oilers are among the best teams in the league over this stretch with Bouchard on the ice, and among the worst with him off the ice. And before you ask, these aren’t just boosted by him playing with Connor McDavid. While it helps, since November 1st his shot rates and goal rates are as strong with McDavid, playing 9:29 per night at five-on-five, as they are without him in 8:02 per night.

So how does a coach handle a blunder like that?

“Mostly a conversation the next day about what had happened on the play,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch after the game. “You know, to tear a strip off him in between periods or on the bench, I don’t think is productive.

“He knows he made a mistake. He knows that that’s not the right play. It’d be a different if Evan didn’t care, if Evan didn’t feel that he… a mistake. But he (has) pretty good self awareness that he understands what happened on the play.”

Bouchard isn’t solely to blame for the Oilers getting down 3-0 to the lowly Sabres, as Edmonton’s apathetic play through two periods cost them. Even on the aforementioned goal against, the three closest skaters to Bouchard were within feet, and all three were Buffalo Sabres. Talk about being hung out to dry.

The Oilers were able to battle back, at the very least, securing one point in thanks to McDavid scoring two beauties and Vasily Podkolzin banging one in, but third period penalties and another defensive miscue in overtime cost them.

“You’d like to play full 60, especially with the way that we’ve been trending — it’s been in the right direction,” said Zach Hyman. “First 40 wasn’t great, but I really like the group’s pushback.

“It’s easy (when) you’re down through nothing to just go away and write the game off. But we didn’t do that. We scored on the first shift and then another one in the next two minutes and you’re right back in the game. And you crawl yourself a point out of a game where you put yourself in a hole, so I think that’s a positive.”

The Oilers wrap their five-game homestand Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings where a win ahead of a five-game road trip will be key.

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Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/the-d...-bouchard-back-to-elite-level-edmonton-oilers

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Better Lait Than Never: Oilers win two beauties then lose to Buffalo… round and round we go.

It’s been another wild week around here with the Oilers rollercoaster making another loop, and I’ve got a fresh episode of Better Lait Than Never ready to recap it all. On today’s podcast, I talked about whether the Oilers are actually turning the corner, playing down to competition, some love for Vasily Podkolzin, and much more.

We were having a fun handful of days before last night’s loss to the Sabres, weren’t we? After demolishing the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets, Oilers fans were feeling pretty good about where the team was at. Unfortunately, feeling better about the team made last night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres land like a Looney Tunes-style anvil on the head. Despite being the better team, the Oilers were outworked for most of the first two periods, setting up another incredibly frustrating loss. And what started as a day filled with hope ended in a disappointing finish that should have been avoided from the start. Getting one point was nice, but missing out on the second sure looks like a problem.

Finally, I wrapped up this week’s episode of BLTN with a guest Righteous Sack Beating from Dooks, then closed out the podcast with another round of voicemails. The voicemail was hilarious again this week, and everyone’s takes were all over the map and very fun to listen to. The voicemail is my favourite way to wrap up the show and give everyone a chance to share their thoughts. Another hearty thank you to everyone who contributed to this week’s episode. Having all of you in the mix makes the show so much better.

Want to leave a voicemail for next week’s show? Do it here!

Subscribe to Better Lait Than Never for FREE on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you get your podcasts from! Better Lait Than Never is proudly presented by Sports Interaction, Star Mechanical, and Trilogy Oilfield Rentals. Without them, this podcast would not be possible.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/bette...ers-win-two-beauties-then-lose-buffalo-sabres

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Real Life Podcast: Philip Rivers’ NFL return, music vs. pop culture, and Jay’s traffic tickets

Thursday afternoon means a fresh episode of Real Life was recorded and edited, and it’s ready to help you wrap up the week. On today’s podcast, the guys discussed Philip Rivers’ return to the NFL, Morgan Wallen = Drake, Jay’s list of traffic tickets, and more.

The guys kicked off the Thursday episode of Real Life with a conversation about Tyler Yaremchuk’s wedding and how we’re finally able to release his Oodle Noodle ad from the ceremony. As you’ll see, Tyler nailed the ad copy to open up the speeches, and the video is hilarious. Shifting gears, the guys discussed Philip Rivers’ return to the Indianapolis Colts after a five-year absence. Needless to say, this is one of the wildest sports stories in recent memory, and we won’t have to wait long to see how the experiment goes.

Changing gears, the conversation turned to music after Wanye noted some dramatic weight loss in the music industry lately. With Ozempic so prevalent, it’s hard to imagine there’s no trade-off to losing weight so easily. That led to the boys talking about their annual Spotify wraps, and Chalmers’ theory that Morgan Wallen is basically the Drake of country music. Somehow, talking about music led to Jay telling the story of the recent run of tickets he got yesterday and how he now has to deal with a wide list of infractions.

Finally, the guys wrapped up the podcast with the Thursday episode of Real Life, covering a random collection of topics, including beefs of the week and anything that kept the conversation away from the Edmonton Oilers. Needless to say, when the team is as bad as they’ve been lately, talking about literally any other topic just seems more enjoyable. As always, the Thursday episode was all over the map, which is precisely what you’d expect from the Real Life podcast.

Listen to the Thursday episode of Real Life below:

Subscribe to the Real Life Podcast for FREE on Spotify here, on Apple Podcasts here, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/real-...urn-music-vs-pop-culture-jays-traffic-tickets

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Zach Hyman hat trick powers Oilers win, Connor McDavid’s heater, and the rise of Mattias Ekholm

After laying an egg for 40 minutes against Buffalo and costing themselves the chance at a second point, the Edmonton Oilers were back in action for a rematch against the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings took the first game 4-2 back in October, and there was no better time than a frosty Thursday night in Edmonton for the Oilers to repay the favour. And with Detroit rolling into Rogers Place for the second half of a back-to-back set, our boys controlled the pace of the game right from the opening draw, muscling their way to a 4-1 win. Unlike what we got against the Sabres, Edmonton didn’t need an invitation to take control of the game this time.

HYMAN’S HAT TRICK A LONG TIME COMING​

Don’t you think the mood around here is a little bit lighter when Zach Hyman is scoring goals? I do. If there’s one thing this city loves, it’s a guy who busts his ass on a nightly basis, and effort is something you never have to worry about when ZMH is on the ice. That’s why you love to see him starting to get rewarded with some goals after needing time to get back up to speed following six months off the ice. Over the last few weeks, Zach Hyman has started to look a lot more like Zach Hyman, and there’s no better proof than the five goals he’s scored in his last six games. That’s more like the pace we’re used to seeing from the best free-agent signing of all time. That’s our man being our man again.

Sometimes the Hockey Gods reward perseverance, and Thursday’s hat trick was a great example. Even though we’re only talking about goals three through five on the season, it felt like Hyman popping three and having the hats rain down was a long time coming. The guy battled for months to get back into a position to score his sixth career hat trick, and that made for a special result, even if it was “only” a Thursday game in December. After getting bumped out of the Western Conference Final, undergoing wrist surgery, and missing the first month of the season, a night like that must have felt incredible. Hyman has given everything he has to this team since the day he signed, and if the Oilers are going to keep climbing out of the hole they dug for themselves, they’re going to need him to keep on giving.

CONNOR McDAVID IS GOING SUPERNOVA​

With the four assists he picked up against the Red Wings, Connor McDavid has amassed an incredible 18 points (7G, 11A) in his last 10 games. That’s ridiculous, and we should all take a moment to remember it. Right now, we’re waist-deep in a McDavid heater that has him putting up points at a cheat code level, and it’s almost unbelievable how unstoppable he is when he gets into these zones. It’s like time slows down for him or something. I can only imagine he’s seeing the ice like the scene in The Matrix, when Neo sees the world in code and stops bullets with his mind. And when McDavid is rolling like this, it’s almost hilarious to think that there are ever moments we question what he’s doing out there.

The scary part for everyone else is that this still doesn’t feel like the ceiling. We talk about McDavid like we’ve already seen every trick he has in his bag, but casual four-point nights like this suggest we’re on the road to even bigger numbers, and more nights when the game seems to bend completely to his will. When he’s truly unlocked Game Genie mode, it feels less like he’s reacting to what’s happening and more like he’s directing it, pulling defenders into bad decisions before they even realize they’ve made one. If scoring 18 points in 10 games is what happens when he’s just getting hot, then it won’t be long until we’re watching games when he starts feeling inevitable. It may have taken Connor a little bit longer to get going than he’d probably like, but now that he’s here, I’m very much looking forward to watching him make grown men look ridiculous in the coming days, weeks, and months.

MATTIAS EKHOLM IS SO BACK​

Can I ask a question? Is this a safe space? I can’t be the only one who was worried about Mattias Ekholm early in the season, can I? Even though I know we all love our Big Viking Daddy, he didn’t look like the same guy who stabilized the blue line after being brought over from Nashville in the Tyson Barrie trade. He didn’t look like it in the Stanley Cup Final, and he didn’t look like it early this season. That’s not to say I was nervous about his ability to turn things around, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about whether Father Time had started to catch up with him. Not the best thoughts to have rolling around in your mind in the weeks following his contract extension, you know?

The good news is that Mattias Ekholm has really started to turn things around. While we heard about the significance of his groin injury, it’s hard to know precisely how hurt he was, given that the organization isn’t exactly forthcoming or accurate with its injury updates. But from my side of the TV screen, it sure looks like he was far more banged up than we realized. Either that, or he didn’t get much time to recover this summer, or there was some other factor keeping him from looking like the player we’re seeing now. With the goal he scored at the 2:46 mark of the second period, Ekholm has sneakily put up nine points (2G, 7A) in his last eight games while hovering around his usual 20 minutes a night. Not too shabby for a guy some folks thought was washed, amirite?

THE NATION VACATION TO LAS VEGAS​

We’re heading back to Las Vegas for the next Nation Vacation, March 24–27, and you’re invited to join the ultimate hockey fan getaway. Trip packages start at $2,400, with the option to secure your spot for just 20% down. Enjoy roundtrip flights, a premium three-night stay at Circa Resort & Casino, access to Stadium Swim, exclusive watch parties, a Nation Citizens pool party, a party bus to T-Mobile Arena, and food and drinks included at the Edmonton vs. Vegas game. Multiple travel options mean you can book the trip your way—so lock in your spot now at nationgear.ca and come be part of the chaos in Vegas!

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/zach-...cdavids-heater-and-the-rise-of-mattias-ekholm

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Oilersnation Radio: Oilers trade Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry and the boys needed to talk about it

It’s Friday afternoon, which means a fresh episode of Oilersnation Radio is ready to massage your eardrums with an hour of off-season Oilers talk. On today’s podcast, the fellas discussed the Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry trade, our new shiny toys, line combos, injury updates, line combos, and much more.

We kicked off the Friday episode of ONR with a delicious debate about whether the Oilers are better on Friday than they were on Thursday night when they beat the Red Wings. Given that the Oilers traded both Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak to acquire Tristan Jarry before sending a 3rd round pick to Nashville to land Spencer Stastney, it’s fair to wonder whether this was an upgrade or a lateral move.

Shifting gears, the guys continued their trade analysis by breaking down Stan Bowman’s post-trade quotes and whether making a change for the sake of change is the right move. While it’s true that Tristan Jarry’s numbers are better than Stuart Skinner’s this season, that doesn’t mean there aren’t risks, like injury history, ebbs and flows, and wondering how these guys will perform on their new teams. The guys also spent some time looking at Thursday’s win over the Detroit Red Wings and how it was a fantastic win after what was a disappointing outing against the Sabres on Tuesday.

Finally, we wrapped up the Friday episode of ONR with another round of Ask the Idiots, betting talk for our friends at bet365, and Hot and Cold Performers to look back on the week that was. With the 2025-26 season well underway and trades happening, the guys spent the bulk of the Friday episode moving through a range of topics, some related to the Oilers and others not, but that’s the way things go on a big news day.

Listen to the Friday episode of Oilersnation Radio below:

Subscribe to Oilersnation Radio for FREE on Soundcloud here, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts from!

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/oiler...an-jarry-and-the-boys-needed-to-talk-about-it

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Pre-Scout: Maple Leafs surprise goaltender steps up amidst injuries

The Toronto Maple Leafs have steadied themselves a bit, but do they have another gear to get in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference?

That’s the question, as the team has relied upon… checks notes… Dennis Hildeby between the pipes to win four of their last six games, and get points in their two losses.

The record? Almost identical to the Edmonton Oilers at this moment, with a 14-11-5 season approaching Christmas. Maybe the Oilers can look to the Leafs for goaltending inspiration as they expect Tristan Jarry to start.

Toronto has dug itself out of the cellar, and Hildeby is rocking a .958 save percentage and a shutout in his last three starts to keep the Buds afloat.

Injuries​

The injury bug is biting.

The former fourth-round pick in 2022, Hildeby has yet to surpass 100 professional games in North America, but he’s been thrust into the role after Anthony Stolarz is expected to be out long-term and Joseph Woll is hurt again.

Defencemen Brandon Carlo, Chris Tanev, and Dakota Mermis have been on the shelf for weeks, and another blueliner in Oliver Ekman-Larsson left Thursday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.

OEL projects to be a Saturday decision, said head coach Craig Berube, but Carlo and Tanev could be out for months yet. Meanwhile in the bottom-six, Scott Laughton didn’t start his season till November. He’s slowly coming on.

Auston Matthews missed time in November but has returned. Glimmers of the older, goal-scoring machine are starting to twinkle, with three goals in his last four games.

Our boy Troy​

Troy Stecher has seized the opportunity since being picked up on waivers. He has played no fewer than 22:12 in the past six games, and has 1-3–4 in his 11 appearances in Toronto.

Stecher made headlines when he said, “I just left the fire,” in response to a question about pressure in Toronto.

I think I speak for OilersNation when I say that fans are rooting for Stecher. He endears himself to a fanbase with the honest way he plays the game.

Marner’s absence​

Something has looked to be missed from this Leafs lineup this year…is it too easy to say Mitch Marner?

Toronto finished last season with the fourth highest goal share in the league at 5-on-5 at 55.4 per cent, according to Moneypuck. That has dipped to 9th. The expected goal share 5-on-5 has fallen from 16th to 25th. Their Corsi percentage was already bottom-5 a year ago, but fell even lower from 29th to 30th.

What about the powerplay? It’s putrid right now at 14.5 per cent, almost ten per cent worse. Only the Los Angeles Kings have a worse power play.

Marner provided 33 points on the power play alone a year ago, 11th best in the NHL. That has been a big hole to fill in the Leafs offence.

Oilers matchup​

Toronto succumbed 3-2 to the Sharks in overtime on home ice on Thursday. This will be the fourth game of the Leafs five-game homestand, before a four-game road trip to wind into Christmas.

If it wasn’t for their home ice efforts, they could very well sit last in the east. With that said, they only have a three point cushion.

The Leafs home record of 9-4-5 displays the fewest regulation losses at home in the Eastern Conference. They are collecting points at Scotiabank Arena.

Berube spoke about the Oilers during his media avail on Friday:

“They’re always a challenge with Draisaitl and Mcdavid and what they’re capable of doing obviously. Hyman is back. It’s a good team over there,” he said.

“Their powerplay is dangerous, we know that. We got to check those guys. We can’t give those guys time and space and limit their speed and opportunities.”

Notes:​

• Bobby McMann is able to return after a one-game suspension after high-sticking Oliver Bjorkstand against the Tampa Bay Lightning this week.
• McMann continues to elevate his game. The undrafted product out of Wainwright, Alberta had a career high 34 points last season. This year, he’s on pace to break it, scoring 8-6–14 in 29 games.
• Willy Styles aka Nylander leads the Leafs in scoring with 11-23–34. That’s 19th best in the NHL. He was dropped to the third line during the Sharks game, amidst a four-game pointless slump, but collected two assists.
• John Tavares took a paycut to stay with his hometown team, and the move is working for both sides. His 13 goals are tied for first on the club. It’s easy to forget that he scored 38 a season ago, his second highest total of his career.
• Embolden by a big raise in the off-season, Matthew Knies looks like the real deal. He’s hard to play against and is cruising into tonight’s game just above a point-per-game.
• Rookie Easton Cowan has stuck with the big club this year and has gone through his ups and down. But nine points in 22 games is a starting point.
• Matias Maccelli and the Leafs just haven’t fit. After spending a 3rd round pick to acquire him from Utah in the off-season, he can’t stay out of the pressbox. Elliotte Friedman suggested he may be traded. Maccelli had 58 points two seasons ago, but his numbers cratered hard in 24-25.
• All the eyeballs will be on this game as it’s the primetime Hockey Night in Canada offering. And overall, these matchups have not gone Edmonton’s way.
• The Oil have won just three of the last 10 vs the Leafs, and lost four in a row in Toronto. Their last win in Toronto was March 29, 2021.

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/pre-scout-toronto-maple-leafs-dennis-hildeby-steps-up-amidst-injuries

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Tristan Jarry’s first win as an Oiler, Spencer Stastney’s debut, and a whole lotta Connor McDavid

After wrapping up their home stand with a big win over Detroit, the Edmonton Oilers are back on the road for the next five games, with their first stop happening in Toronto for a matchup against the Leafs. And while Saturday’s matchup was listed as a battle of the stars with McDavid and Draisaitl squaring off against Auston Matthews and William Nylander, it was Edmonton’s dynamic duo that completely ran the show. Final score: 6-3 Oilers

WELCOME TO EDMONTON, TRISTAN JARRY​

I think it goes without saying that the reaction to Friday’s Stuart Skinner (and Brett Kulak) for Tristan Jarry trade was pretty split. Some people were fired up that Skinner was finally shipped out of town, while others were nervous that the Oilers made a lateral move for a goalie who is only marginally better. But with the Oilers squaring off against the Leafs and Jarry scheduled to start, there wasn’t much time to argue about who did what or how Edmonton could have handled the situation better. Just 30 hours after the news broke, Jarry was manning the crease for the Oilers in his first start with his new team. A start that, to me, featured a whole lot more good than bad, especially when you consider the tight turnaround.

You’d have to think Jarry was at least a little nervous heading into his first start with a new team, and I thought he delivered a solid performance. If we ignore the .893 save percentage for a minute — I’m not ragging on the guy in his first game as an Oiler — I thought Jarry made some massive saves on a few different occasions that either kept the game close or kept it tied. I’m thinking of the breakaway stop, the saves on the Toronto power play in the second period when the game was knotted up, and a handful of calm glove saves that had me starting to understand what Stan Bowman must see in him. Of course, no one is going to write home about a game that ends below .900 — he stopped 25 of 28 shots — but I do hope Oilers fans give the guy a chance to settle in before making a judgement. Jarry is going to be our guy for the next 2.5 years, and as much as we need wins right now, we also need to give him a minute to get used to his new surroundings. Either way, we’re undefeated in the Jarry era.

YOU INTRIGUE ME, SPENCER STASTNEY​

He may have only played 16:22, but Spencer Stastney did enough in his Oilers debut to have me feeling intrigued. Yes, he finished with a minus-one on the night and had four giveaways beside his name, but I also saw a guy with some wheels that I did not expect. Like everyone else, I’d read about how well Stastney skates, but seeing him fly around, get four shots on goal, and not shy away from contact to make a play made for a pretty solid first impression. I’m not saying he had a great night, as the fancies had him getting stepped on quite a bit, but you can tell there’s something there. I also thought you could see that he and Ty Emberson had played together for three years, as that duo had a reasonably quiet night for their first game together, which is exactly what you hope for from a third pairing.

Considering this was only Stastney’s 82nd NHL game, it’s going to take some time to figure out what he can be at the NHL level. He played parts of three seasons in Nashville before finally making the leap to full-time NHL duty this year, and without even seeing a minute of his play before Saturday’s game in Toronto, I can already tell it’s going to be a ride filled with ups, downs, and everything in between. Learning to play defence at the NHL level is a tough ask, but I also think he showed some of the skills against the Leafs that made him a trade target in the first place. Again, I’m not saying the guy was lights out or anything like that, but I am giving him credit for showing reasonably well in his first game with a new team he hadn’t even practiced with. Of course, it will be interesting to see how much patience people have after being so used to Brett Kulak’s steady play for so many years.

CONNOR McDAVID PUTS ON A SHOW​

When you think about how the Oilers beat the Leafs, one of the easiest ways to think about it is that Edmonton’s big guns were significantly better than Toronto’s. While Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combined for six points, Auston Matthews and William Nylander combined for two whole shots. It wasn’t even close. Comparing the two pairs would be like comparing a Ferrari to a 1987 Ford Escort GT. Both are vehicles, but they’re clearly not the same thing. And of the four players mentioned, none was better than Connor McDavid. Our captain shone bright in front of the Leafs fans who so desperately wish he were theirs, and that makes his two-goal, three-point night all the more delicious.

Not only did the best player on earth make the home side look foolish on more than one occasion, but he did it with the whole country watching. Connor McDavid was so good on Saturday night that he basically emptied the building by himself and drew boo birds from the fans that stuck around. Chef’s kiss, my friends. An evening of magic, and all in only 19:42 of TOI. With the three points he threw on the pile in Toronto, our captain has produced an incredible 21 points (9G, 12A) in his last 11 games. It’s the kind of heater that single-handedly wins hockey games, and he’s playing at a level so beyond everyone else that there’s almost nothing you can do to stop him. At this point, it stops being about systems or matchups and just becomes a reminder of what this team can be when Connor McDavid decides a game is over. When No. 97 is going supernova, the night feels inevitable, and all that’s left for the other side is to watch the wreckage happen.

THE NATION VACATION TO LAS VEGAS​

We’re heading back to Las Vegas for the next Nation Vacation, March 24–27, and you’re invited to join the ultimate hockey fan getaway. Trip packages start at $2,400, with the option to secure your spot for just 20% down. Enjoy roundtrip flights, a premium three-night stay at Circa Resort & Casino, access to Stadium Swim, exclusive watch parties, a Nation Citizens pool party, a party bus to T-Mobile Arena, and food and drinks included at the Edmonton vs. Vegas game. Multiple travel options mean you can book the trip your way—so lock in your spot now at nationgear.ca and come be part of the chaos in Vegas!

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/trist...stneys-debut-and-a-whole-lotta-connor-mcdavid

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Roundtable: Which middle-six forward and ‘Ekholm Jr.’ defenceman should the Oilers target in trade?

What a Friday it was for the NHL.

You had the surprise Tristan Jarry trade early in the morning, only for it to be outdone later that night by Quinn Hughes getting dealt to the Minnesota Wild.

There were certainly some smoke screens last week about a potential Jarry trade not happening due to the Penguins’ unwillingness to retain salary, couple with the fact that reports started to surface the Oilers were looking to address other areas of their team.

Among those areas, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta’s suggested, was that the Oilers could be looking to acquire a physical, “Ekholm Jr.” type of defenceman, and another middle-six forward.

I polled some of the Oilersnation crew about who could be the best target.

Who would be the best targets?​

Tyler Yaremchuk: The first defenceman that comes to mind is Mario Ferraro from the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have been a sneaky competitive team so far this season and have taken a big step forward, so it’s far from a guarantee that they sell but if the Sharks fall out and GM Mike Grier makes Ferraro available, then the Oilers should be all over it. Ferraro does a lot of things well and his $3.25m cap hit is very attractive. He can play both sides of the blueline as well, which the Oilers value. If the Sharks don’t want to move Ferraro and the Oilers need to check down… what about a reunion with John Klingberg? It wouldn’t cost a lot.

There are way more forwards on the market then defenceman, as usual, which means the prices should be lower and the Oilers would have options. Alex Tuch is at #1 on my list. It would cost a lot but I think there’d be interest from both sides in signing a long-term extension this summer and he’s a legitimate play driving winger and would make the Oilers forward group even scarier. I also like the idea of Boone Jenner. Low cap hit, positional versatility, and the ability to kill penalties. His game translates well to the playoffs.

Baggedmilk: I’m so bad at these games because I never know who is available unless they’re right in my face. That said, the defenceman I would love to see in an Oilers uniform is the one that will never actually happen. Of course, I’m talking about Rasmus Andersson. The guy is annoying, plays with an edge, has some offensive touch, and would add a different layer to the mix on D that the Oilers don’t currently have. That would be fun if Calgary would ever do it, or even the player for that matter. Up front, it would be amazing to get a guy like Ryan O’Reilly to really reinforce the centre depth. The math is almost impossible and the guy is getting older, but that’s the exact type of forward I’d love to see get added. Gritty, skilled, and able to defend? Perfect.

Apr 6, 2024; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) checks Edmonton Oilers left wing Evander Kane (91) during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Liam Horrobin: The Seattle Kraken have began to slide back down the standings after a good start to the season. If that trend continues, could Jared McCann become available? He’s a former 40 goal scorer but a consistent 20+ goal guy, which is precisely what the Oilers need. McCann has one year left earning $5 million annually with a 10 team no trade list. There was speculation over the summer on his future in Seattle, per David Pagnotta, so the will to move him has lingered before. Brock Nelson cost the Colorado Avalanche Calum Ritchie, a first and a third round pick, so would they be willing to move Isaac Howard in the deal or maybe they can get away with moving Quinn Hutson instead.

Caprice St. Pierre:

As desirable as an Ekholm junior defencemen would be — and rightfully so — let’s be realistic here, the Oilers can’t have him. Not because he doesn’t exist, or because no one wants to come to Edmonton, but because the return isn’t manageable. Ask yourself this: what do the Oilers have to give? We’re not talking about your run of the mill, third pairing D man here. We’re talking about a two-way defenseman who can move the puck, be responsible, keep a calm composure, slot guys into place, and if we’re getting greedy here, be physical.

So when recalling Zach Hyman’s hat trick against the Red Wings and the Edmonton Oilers redemption from another loss to Buffalo, think back to 20-year-old Axel Sandin-Pelika, because that’s the guy you want, and that’s the guy — baring any miracles — you can’t have.

If you’re looking for a middle-six forward the Oilers could add, he’s out there. Perhaps Josh Doan in Buffalo? Or Ryan O’Reilly in Nashville who still has some gas left in the tank and enough accountability to force a team through a rough patch? Marco Rossi would have been nice, though he’s just been spoken for.

All three would be fine middle six centres for the Edmonton Oilers. They range in age, 23 to 34, and salary cap, $925,000 AAV all the way to $5 million. They’re legitimate players that could help this Oilers roster now. But the problem hasn’t changed.

The Oilers still have no picks, their prospects still aren’t good enough to get a defenceman and centre, their salary cap situation is too tied up. And let’s not forget, Stan Bowman just doubled the salary for his starting goaltender.

In a perfect world, the Oilers could have ASP and Josh Doan without giving up star players like Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but it’s not, and Edmonton is forced to see it through with who they’ve got.

Oct 31, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly (90) skates with the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Michael Menzies: Finding a dance partner to trade with is difficult right now. There are so few defined sellers because the standings are so tight, especially in the eastern conference.

The San Jose Sharks are one point out of a wildcard as of writing, but you have to think they still want to acquire assets. They already own the Oilers first-round pick, for example.

The Oilers probably want another right-handed defenceman with only Evan Bouchard as the righty in the top-four. With that said, Mario Ferraro is a very intriguing name. He’s a 27-year-old, rugged, left-shot who wears an “A” with the Sharks. Playing in their second pair and top penalty kill, his contract of $3.25-million expires this year.

He’s been a lifer so far in northern California and doesn’t profile as a guy the Sharks would be in a hurry to part from, but they do need to make room eventually for Sam Dickinson and Shakir Mukhamadullin. I’ll add this, Vincent Desharnais is on LTIR right now, but since he’s big and a righty, I wouldn’t rule out a reunion, but he doesn’t have any top-4 upside.

Another name: Brandon Carlo. The Maple Leafs sunk a huge acquisition cost in getting him and he’s underwhelmed. Maybe a change of scenario would help for a guy, who with the Bruins averaged 4.66 hits a game. What about Nick Perbix on the Predators blueline? His underlying metrics are alright on a bad Preds team and he’s just 27-year-old.

If I could just wish-cast a middle-six forward, I can’t be talked off Ryan O’Reilly. His impact on the Oilers roster as a hard two-way center, who also won the freakin’ Conn Smythe, would be transformational. However, the asking price would be simply too much. So with nothing original to add, I’ll cast my vote into the Alex Tuch ballot.

Zach Laing: Mario Ferraro is a guy I’ve kept coming back to. There’s the San Jose connection there, with Stan Bowman picking up Jake Walman from Mike Greir last year, so it makes sense they could circle back for another deal. The Walman acquisition seemingly came out of nowhere. His name was never on any of the big boards, and that, too, makes me think the Oilers could try and target players whose names aren’t out there in a big way.

One team worth keeping an eye on is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have bigger names like Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, who each have two years remaining at $5.13-million and $5-million cap hits, which could be very interesting options, but the money would be tough to make work. But other guys like Kevin Hayes (UFA, $3.5-million cap hit) and Anthony Mantha (UFA, $2.5-million cap hit) could be options that make a bit more sense.

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Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/round...nceman-should-edmonton-oilers-target-in-trade

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Leon Draisaitl’s 1000th point has to wait, Calvin Pickard, and the Oilers lost on special teams

The Edmonton Oilers kicked off their five-game road trip with a decisive win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday, and they were looking to keep the good times rolling in their rematch with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs were rattled by how things went when these teams matched up back in October, and I was fascinated to see how Sunday’s game would shake out. Would it be spicy? Would both teams look tired since they were each on the second half of a back-to-back weekend? Unfortunately, it was the Habs who had all kinds of jump on Sunday, and used those wheels to lock in a lopsided 4-1 victory.

1000 POINTS FOR LEON DRAISAITL HAS TO WAIT​

Do you remember when the Oilers had the third overall pick at the 2014 NHL Draft, and everyone was talking about how the Oilers should take Sam Bennett? That was, of course, until he couldn’t do a pull-up. It’s wild to think about now, but there were a lot of people who believed Edmonton should avoid Draisaitl because he was too slow and likely wouldn’t score a ton. More of a passer than a finisher, they said. Well, here we are 11 years later, and Leon Draisaitl has developed into one of the best players on earth. No disrespect to Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett, all of those guys are doing very well with the Panthers, but there’s no way that Drai wouldn’t go first overall in that group if we did a re-draft with the benefit of hindsight.

And on Sunday night in Montreal, most of us were waiting for Leon Draisaitl to register his 1000th point and cement himself in history as one of the 100 players in the league to reach the feat. Unfortunately, Drai did not get the point he needed. And the reason I’m writing about this is because I actually thought the rest of the team tried to hard to get him there. There were moments on the power play when clear shots were being passed up to set Draisaitl up with a cross-ice one-timer, when a shot from wherever the puck was would probably have been the better choice. As much as I get why everyone wants to get him to 1000 points, I also think he’s so damned good that it’s going to come naturally without having to force it. Maybe it’s just me, but as someone who bet on Drai to get a point against the Habs, I legitimately thought Oilers were trying too hard to make fetch happen. Big Sexy 2.0 is going to get his point, but I just don’t think everyone around him has to try so hard to make it happen.

THE FUTURE FOR CALVIN PICKARD​

Calvin Pickard got his ninth start of the season on Sunday in Montreal, and in the hours leading up to the game, all I could think about was what the last couple of days must have been like for him. There’s a zero percent chance he didn’t know about or hear the noise about the team’s goaltending, and for a lot of people, finding a way to upgrade on Pickard was more critical than upgrading on Skinner. But now that Stan Bowman pulled the trigger to bring Tristan Jarry to town, I can’t help but wonder what the future looks like for our pal Cal. We know the guys in the room love him — they’ve defended him as recently as this season — but the NHL is a results-based business, and Pickard’s haven’t been nearly good enough. But when the team loves the guy and goes to bat for him with the GM, it’s fair to wonder how much the power of friendship comes into play with what happens to Pickard next.

Will Bowman still look to upgrade on the backup position, knowing full well how much our current guy matters to the players in the room? Does he care? Only time will reveal what happens between the crease, but for the time being, we have to hope Pickard can start to round back into form. Against Montreal, I thought Pickard was the best Oiler on the ice. And even though I know I’ll take heat in the comments for giving him love after allowing four goals on 27 shots, it’s hard to ignore that he was faced with multiple breakaways, odd-man rushes, and clean shots from in tight that he mostly handled with care. The guy was on an island for most of the night. Put another way, the Oilers probably would have lost that game regardless of who was in net, and I think it would be deeply unfair to hang this one on Pickard.

SPECIAL TEAMS WERE NOT SO SPECIAL​

It’s not often that we take shots at the Oilers‘ special teams, but I felt like last night’s performance deserved a few words. We all know how dangerous Edmonton’s power play can be, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way they handled their five power play opportunities. While scoring once on five chances with the man advantage isn’t horrible by any stretch, it’s hard not to feel like there were a few more opportunities that could have cashed with a few adjustments. And the first thing that pops to mind was the two-minute 5-on-3 that the boys got in the first period. Even though the Oilers were actually pretty damned good in those two minutes, they ultimately couldn’t score. It doesn’t matter how many looks you get if you can’t get any of them past the goalie. It’s hard not to imagine how different things might have gone had they been able to score there.

On the PK, the Oilers gave up a pair of goals in four shorthanded situations, and it doesn’t take a data scientist to figure out that running a 50% penalty kill is probably going to be a problem. On the first one, Ivan Demidov ripped the puck past Pickard with a perfectly placed shot. Honestly, I’d tend to tip my cap to the shooter on this one, but even if you do respect the finish, the Oilers actually had a chance to clear the puck only moments before. On Nick Suzuki’s goal, Alec Regula lost his position and allowed the Montreal captain to gain the inside ice. Once Suzuki was the first guy to get to the post, the tap-in he scored will likely go down as one of the easiest he’ll ever score at the NHL level. The point being that even if you give the Habs credit for the way they scored their two PP goals, both featured mistakes by Edmonton that should have been avoided. And when you lose the PP and the PK battle in the same game, it’s not hard to understand why the Oilers ended up losing the game.

PRESENTED BY VIVID SEATS​

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/leon-...in-pickard-edmonton-oilers-lost-special-teams

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

What do the Oilers have in their newest prospect Samuel Poulin?

Last Friday, the Edmonton Oilers sent out Stuart Skinner, Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick in exchange for Tristan Jarry and former 2019 first-rounder Samuel Poulin.

While all eyes were on Jarry in his debut win in Edmonton colours Saturday night, Samuel Poulin also had a strong debut with the Bakersfield Condors that night, finishing with two points on the second line with Finnish forwards in Roby Jarventie and Viljami Marjala.

Who is Samuel Poulin?

Samuel Poulin was a first-round selection in 2019 by Pittsburgh after having a great draft year, scoring 29 goals and 76 points in 67 games for the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix. The next season, Poulin stepped up his game, putting up 32 goals and 77 points in only 46 games played. So far, Samuel has put up some solid numbers in his AHL career with 137 points in 208 total games played. The main issue is that the Blainville, Quebec native has only 15 NHL games played on a Pittsburgh team that has been going through a transition period and playing a fair amount of young guys.

One of Poulin’s strengths in his game is the ability to put the puck in the net. Right now, the six-foot-two winger is on pace for 28 goals, and his ability to find the soft areas of the ice was on display in his debut, as you’ll see below in the first clip.

It was his first game as a Condor, but the former Penguin and Roby Jarventie were linking up early on plays. Poulin also showed the ability to find open space with Wilkes-Barre. In the next clip the left-shot forward scores off a broken play, but he makes a beautiful cut to the middle to be an open option as the F3. Poulin is rewarded by being the only player around the puck and finishing.

The next and final clip detailing his scoring ability shows off the pure velocity of Poulin’s shot. The 227-lb. winger opens up his hips before accepting the pass and ripping a shot knocking off the goalies helmet.

When I was first watching film of Stan Bowman’s newest acquisition I came into the process expecting a lot of shooting from any angle, but I was fairly surprised to see how well Poulin can hold the puck and move it around to his teammates at times. Having the six-foot-two, 227-lb. frame definitely helps with protecting the puck, but Poulin showcased a ton of trust and strength in his edges. In the clip below he is able to get the defenceman on his backside and even though he is falling down Poulin manages to make an excellent play to get the puck to his teammate in the middle.

In the next clip it is a bit more boring/simple than the past one, but I think it matters. Poulin shows the ability to do a smooth outside edge turn at almost 230 lbs. and he also shows the patience to not touch the puck till the opposition is blocked by his backside and his legs are protecting his stick. Great tendencies.

The final area of Poulin’s game I would like to highlight is his playmaking ability and more so the ability to get the puck from the boards to the middle of the ice even if it is a bit risky. This was even on display in his first game as a Condor as you’ll see below. Samuel Poulin is on the wall and threads a beautiful pass to Rem Pitlick in the slot who gets a shot on net.

Good things happen when you can get the puck off the boards and I came away impressed a few times with Poulin’s confidence to get the puck to the middle. The next clip is another example of the former Penguins prospect showcasing this ability. Poulin is on the wall with his back to the opponent (he loves to do this) under extreme pressure as another two defenders come into his bubble, but he finds a lane to a streaking Scranton player who makes a nice play to give Poulin the secondary assist.

Such a beautiful pass. Speaking of beautiful passes, in our next clip Poulin shows us he has a bit of deception to his game. The former Sherbrooke captain is on a two-on-two rush when his linemate starts pulling away from his defender Poulin recognizes this and drags the puck into his shooting form only to get the defender to open up a lane for him to put the puck through. Another excellent play.

Being 24 and turning 25 in February, Poulin is done developing physically and most players don’t see a ton of change in their play past this point. It would be a miracle if Poulin ever put up the numbers he had in juniors, but being on pace for 68 points in 71 games is another step up in his game.

I see a world where Poulin can give you some helpful minutes as a fourth-liner. He kills penalties, his work ethic on the forecheck and backcheck is consistent, and he can sometimes take a puck from the wall to the middle to advance possession. In reality this is more of a throw in for a Condors team who has been in need of a forward that is willing to play on the defensive side of the game.

However, I think he can have a bigger impact than we give him credit for. Building off my last point about Bakersfield needing help with a two-way presence on the forward group, Poulin’s game is the ultimate compliment at the AHL level. He is a jack-of-all-trades and can do the dirty work for a line if they need. I think his game will allow a lot of the other Oiler prospects play to their strengths whenever they are paired with Poulin.

Time will tell us how the trade pans out, but so far I like the addition and theory behind adding a Samuel Poulin.

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/what-do-edmonton-oilers-have-in-newest-prospect-samuel-poulin

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Pagnotta talks Jarry trade, the Oilers’ backup goaltender, and a GM change in Buffalo

NHL insider David Pagnotta believes the Edmonton Oilers got to the point where they were willing to “suck it up” and include Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak in the move to acquire Tristan Jarry, despite wanting to keep both of them.

Pagnotta joined Oilersnation Everyday with Tyler Yaremchuk and Liam Horrobin on Monday to discuss the Oilers and other league-wide moves.

He said that suggested trade targets like Juuse Saros and Jordan Binnington would be too expensive, either due to contract or in a trade package.

Pagnotta added that general manager Stan Bowman has been having these goalie conversations since the draft.

“They didn’t want to lose them. They wanted to make the money work, but they [Skinner, Kulak] were really the only way to do it,” said Pagnotta. “That’s what I mean by them having to accept the fact that, okay, we have to change our little internal philosophy a little bit and move forward with this.

“This isn’t something that just came to them on a whim. This wasn’t Minnesota and Quinn Hughes, where it took only a week and they got things going. This is something that they were kicking tires on going back to the draft.

“This is a guy [Jarry] that they zeroed in on, and they wanted. With two more years left in his contract and a palatable cap hit for a starting goalie, you kind of check that box.”

Pickard’s status​

Questions still loom about whether the Oilers will improve on their backup goaltending. Bowman said Calvin Pickard, “will remain with the team” following the Jarry deal. The Oilers could look to call up Connor Ingram, too, despite subpar stats with the Bakersfield Condors.

For example, Laurent Brossoit was placed on waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and there isn’t room to add him to their NHL roster.

The 33-year-old former Edmonton Oiler carries a $3.3 million cap hit in the final year of his contract. Liam suggested he could be a name to acquire.

“There are still creative ways to make money work here,” said Pagnotta. “If you send Pickard on waivers, and you clear out that million dollars, and then you have Tomášek, and other guys that you could possibly go that route, or other guys that don’t need to go through waivers.

“I just don’t know definitively if that’s the route that the Oilers want to take.”

Pickard started Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens, saving 23 of 27 shots, but didn’t get much support from the skaters in front of him in a 4-1 loss. The plan is to give Jarry the majority of starts.

“That’s probably an area that would at some point be addressed. But I still think there are other areas of this team, other holes on this team that they’d like to work on.”

Sabre-rattling?​

The Buffalo Sabres were carrying three goalies on their active roster until Colten Ellis was injured against the Oilers last Tuesday.

With general manager Kevyn Adams fired on Monday, and former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen promoted into the role, is there an appetite to move either Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen or Alex Lyon?

Elliotte Friedman believes the Oilers have been interested in Lyon before.

“I still think that one in particular is probably summer-related,” said Pagnotta. “But now with Jarmo Kekäläinen, and the aggressive nature that they want him to have, maybe those types of discussions pick up.

“The other one is Alex Tuch. What do they do there? What do they do with some of their other players? Is there enough now in your messaging that’s going to convince Alex Tuch to be confident enough that they can start to get through a competitive season. And that over the tenure of his contract, he’ll be comfortable in the notion that this is going to be a playoff-type team?”

Oilersnation Everyday with Tyler and Liam airs at noon from Monday to Friday.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/david...oilers-backup-goaltender-gm-change-in-buffalo

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Oilers’ Curtis Lazar helped off the ice with apparent injury in Tuesday game against Penguins

The Edmonton Oilers are down a man against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the second period Tuesday night, forward Curtis Lazar got tied up with Penguins defenceman Jack St. Ivany and fell into the boards, colliding with former teammate Brett Kulak in the process. Lazar then needed assistance getting off the ice, and did not return to the game.

Here’s a look at that play:

An unfortunate incident, Curtis Lazar falls into the boards after getting tangled with Jack St. Ivany.

Lazar would need help getting off the ice.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/gNR8aqpC3U

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) December 17, 2025

Lazar joined the Oilers on a one-year contract this summer as a free agent coming from the New Jersey Devils. So far this season, he has two goals in 17 appearances with Edmonton, averaging under 10 minutes a night.

The 30-year-old’s exit from the game is especially concerning considering his injury history. Last season, he played just 48 games with the Devils after suffering a knee injury that required surgery. Upon his return to the lineup, by his own admission, he wasn’t performing to the standard he expected of himself, finishing the year with five points. Edmonton took a chance on him this year, and after a goal against the Winnipeg Jets earlier this month, he spoke about getting another opportunity and finding his place with the Oilers.

“It’s the NHL, you can’t take a single day for granted,” he said. “Especially, you said you’re able to line up whatever, whatever happens, happens. But when you get the call, you want to be able to do a job. I know what I can offer and how I can help a team win. And I was glad to just kind of take that next step tonight. Doesn’t matter, you know, if you’re limited or your minutes are limited or whatnot, you still want to make the most of your opportunities. And a lot of that for me, it’s face off, defending, penalty kill.”

Official word on the extent of Lazar’s ailment is still to come. The Oilers currently have a number of players out with injuries, including Connor Clattenburg, Jake Walman, Jack Roslovic, Kasperi Kapanen, and Noah Philp.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/edmon...lped-off-ice-apparent-injury-against-penguins

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Leon Draisaitl’s 1000th point, a goodbye to Stuart Skinner, and Connor McDavid is on fire for the Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers landed in Pittsburgh for the third game of their five-game road trip, only four days after making the trade that sent Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak to the Penguins in exchange for Tristan Jarry and Samuel Poulin. And with both goalies still wearing helmets from their former organizations, all eyes were on the crease for the second-career head-to-head between Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner. Unfortunately, it was bad news for the latter as his former friends lit the lamp five times before wrapping things up with an empty-netter to close out a 6-4 win.

LEON DRAISAITL’S 1000th POINT​

Outside the strange goalie-wife-swap situation with Jarry and Skinner still wearing helmets for their old teams while starting for their new teams, the other big story was Leon Draisaitl’s pursuit of 1000 points. Sitting at 999 career points through 823 games, it was a matter of when and not if Draisaitl would become the 103rd player in NHL history to reach the milestone, but to hit the mark against his former teammate only four days after the trade is a twist no one would have predicted back in the summer. Did I mention Brett Kulak was in the penalty box for delay of game? Yeah, that happened too. It’s one of those wild stats that will end up as a future trivia question in bars around this city for decades to come. An unbelievable achievement by a world-class player, with the added bonus of a fun little side quest tacked on as the accoutrement.

It’s been such a pleasure to watch Leon Draisaitl go from being a third overall pick (!!!) to being one of the best hockey players on the planet. I remember the talk around Drai’s draft year being that he was too slow and didn’t score enough, which seems almost insane with the benefit of 11 years of hindsight. The guy is one of the premiere goal scorers in the NHL and has been for a while, and he’s collected almost every piece of individual hardware that you can for regular season success. It’s such a blessing that the Oilers were able to pick up such a stud in the year before the grabbing Connor McDavid with the golden ticket. We’ve been so blessed to have these two guys leading the charge over the last decade, and it was no surprise to see them connect on Draisaitl’s big moment. Draisaitl to McDavid to Hyman and in? Sounds about right for the occasion. Just like it was when Leon set Connor up for his 1000th point last season. These are the good old days, my friends.

GOODBYE, STU​

It was weird seeing Stuart Skinner in a Penguins jersey. After being drafted by the Oilers in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft, Skinner spent the last eight years in his hometown organization, and it was a story that was almost too perfect. Hometown kid develops into the team’s starting goalie? How can you not love that? The problem, of course, is that Skinner ended up as the start in the most Oilers way possible. Ken Holland went and signed Jack Campbell to a five-by-five, and it blew up in face almost immediately. Instead of having years to develop slowly behind a capable 1A, Stu was thrust into the starter’s role years earlier than he should have been. Even so, the guy was able to backstop the Oilers (most of the time) to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row. And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bum me out to see the story end the way it did. He was one win away from being a legend in this city. Damn.

But with Stu playing for the other side and the Oilers in need of points, it didn’t matter what could have or should have happened. Our former friend was now the enemy, and while it felt weird to see him in another jersey, I was also hoping the Oilers would use what they know about him to collect the win. As hoped, they did just that. Edmonton torched the Penguins for three goals on the power play, and it could just be me, but it seemed like the boys were especially aware of where they wanted to put the puck. Mix in Matt Savoie’s softy that slipped through the wickets and Vasily Podkolzin’s ninth of the year, and you’ve got the makings of a rough night for our moustachiod ex. But if I’m being honest, I felt bad for him. It was sad to watch. To get shelled in his first game with the Penguins like that had to be rough, and I feel for him. In the end, Skinner allowed five goals, stopped 17 of 22 shots, and finished with a .773 save percentage. At the other end, Jarry finished with 26 saves and a .867 save percentage.

CONNOR McDAVID MAY LITERALLY LIGHT ON FIRE​

Remember NBA Jam? Back in the day, my buddies and I used to play NBA Jam on the SEGA Genesis for hours and even days at a time. If you’re not old enough to know what I’m talking about, it was a two-on-two basketball game where the players would literally be set on fire if they got hot enough. Go on a heater, and Penny Hardaway would graze the roof on his dunks with a trail of fire following behind as he did it. It was awesome, and that’s what this Connor McDavid run reminds me of right now. Our man is a cheat code set to max power, and there is nothing anyone has been able to do about it lately. With the two goals and pair of helpers he picked up against the Penguins, No. 97 has put up a ridiculous 26 points (11G, 15A) in his last 13 games. Not only is that two-point-per-night pace almost alien in nature, but this heater actually pushed him past Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead in points. Remember, Nate was up like 10 points not that long ago.

When McDavid is running on full cylinders like this, the best thing any of his teammates can do is get him the puck and keep their stick on the ice. The turnaround has been incredible after a “slow” start to the season had him with “only” 14 points in his first 12 games, and it won’t be long before everyone else is in the rearview mirror if he keeps this run going for any length of time. But right now, it’s just such a blessing to be watching McDavid do his thing at such a high level. The guy has supernova, and I’m using this as yet another reminder to us all that nights like these aren’t normal. What Connor McDavid does on a nightly basis is worth cherishing. Case in point: Tuesday’s four-point night was the 44th of McDavid’s career, putting him one ahead of Sidney Crosby in only his 746th NHL game compared to 1384 games for Sid. And to do it on a night when he’s playing Crosby? How can you not be romantic about hockey?

THE NATION VACATION TO LAS VEGAS​

We’re heading back to Las Vegas for the next Nation Vacation, March 24–27, and you’re invited to join the ultimate hockey fan getaway. Trip packages start at $2,400, with the option to secure your spot for just 20% down. Enjoy roundtrip flights, a premium three-night stay at Circa Resort & Casino, access to Stadium Swim, exclusive watch parties, a Nation Citizens pool party, a party bus to T-Mobile Arena, and food and drinks included at the Edmonton vs. Vegas game. Multiple travel options mean you can book the trip your way—so lock in your spot now at nationgear.ca and come be part of the chaos in Vegas!

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/leon-...kinner-connor-mcdavid-on-fire-edmonton-oilers