The Edmonton Oilers Wish They Had This For Christmas

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Cult of Hockey

Published Dec 24, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 5 minute read

Oilers NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 22: Stuart Skinner #74 of the Edmonton Oilers reacts after a shot knocked his mask off during the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 22, 2023 in New York City. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

The Edmonton Oilers sled into the Christmas break on a 2-game winning streak, winners of ten of their last 13.

.500 is not exactly where this club surely intended to be at Christmas. But it beats the track they were on earlier in the season and sets them up well enough for a playoff run in the “second half,” if you will.

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Details on that and more in this Christmas Eve edition of…

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9 Things

9. ESPN televised all three games on the Edmonton Oilers’ New York road trip. Those American viewers were treated to some exciting hockey, including two Oilers 3rd Period come-from-behind victories.

8. Bakersfield Condors Center Lane Pederson has the Christmas spirit. He and some of his teammates joined with local radio station KUZZ and Mercy Memorial Hospital Cares for Kids to adopt a family of five this holiday season. I still think we may see Pederson and his right shot in Edmonton at some point.

7. I had a long and enjoyable association with The Christmas Bureau of Edmonton. It was where I got to see the contribution Oilers legend Kevin Lowe and his family always made to Edmonton’s oldest charity. I hope that, if you have the means, you can reach into your pocket this holiday season and assist like Lowe did.

6. A number of Edmonton Oilers displayed Pride Tape during warmup on the New York trip, including Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, and Stuart Skinner. It is great to see individual players making a choice in the face of The National Hockey League’s narrow-minded edict. Leaders lead.

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5. Sam Gagner has over-delivered on expectations. Gagner is 4-5-9 in 18 games, at a 40-point pace with largely fourth line minutes. There was little question whether Sam would be “good for the room.” But there is an old saying in hockey that “if they are so good in the room, maybe they should stay there.” Gagner has contributed significantly on both fronts.

4. The one thing that had been consistent about Connor Brown this season had been his defence. However, that had recently regressed a bit, too. I had spotted several instances of Brown taking odd routes to his man and found myself saying “where IS he going”? That is often a sign of pressing, of trying to do too much. The Oilers are going to need Connor Brown in the second half, even if it is as a Bottom-6 guy. And that can still happen. He just needs to continue to work hard but keep it simple.

3. I do not think it is a co-incidence that Ryan McLeod has come alive offensively since being promoted to the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl. McLeod brings serious pace to that trio, something I think Draisaitl thrives on. Ultimately, though, I believe the Oilers need Ryan McLeod at 3C. I wonder if once Dylan Holloway is back (probably around the second week in January) he gets a look with Leon, which would allow McLeod to swing back into the middle. Holloway has comparable speed to McLeod but with more size and grit.

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2. As the Oilers players go their separate ways for the Christmas break, it is an opportunity to talk about one of the most difficult aspects of being a professional hockey player. Some people like to believe that being highly paid athletes in 5-Star hotels and hopping convenient charter flights is ample compensation for being away from their families. But I would think few people would have a better grasp on what it is like to be away from your loved ones for long stretches of time than Albertans. Most players would tell you that it is the highest price they pay for their careers. They are real people with real spouses and real kids. Money is a poor substitute for family. And Christmas tends to shine an even brighter light on that fact. Here is hoping they all get some quality time with those closest to them.

1.Calvin Pickard has surely given the Oilers all they had hoped for and then some since his recall from Bakersfield. He currently sports a .898 SV% and a 2.99 GAA. Each of those are percentage points off his career averages. Not world-beating by any definition. But he has bought the Oilers precious time. And while Pickard has been quite good, the other bigger benefit has been a better-rested Stuart Skinner. Skinner was excellent in Madison Square Garden on Friday night. And I suspect that had a lot to do with the big man being relatively fresh. I believe Skinner is very capable of being this club’s 1A. But someone else needs to take four out of every 10 starts. Whether Calvin Pickard can deliver that over the course of the regular season is a big damn question. But the bigger problem is whether he could do that for the Oilers in the playoffs. Please do not get me wrong: I have a lot of respect for how Pickard has hung in there in his career, as well as the good pro he has been for the Oilers thus far into the 2023-24 season. But starting him in one playoff game would make me more than a little bit nervous, let alone more than that…either just for giving Skinner a break, or (god forbid) in the case of injury.

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I submit that is the more critical question that General Manager Ken Holland needs to consider as he weighs when best to try and acquire more goaltending help. Your current tandem “may” get you there. Skinner “may” well be your #1A. Pickard has prove to be reliable depth and “may” be capable of more than that. But if you are truly in win-now mode, “may” is not good enough. You need to be sure.

Just making it to the post-season ceased being an adequate benchmark for this organization a few seasons ago. Fans would rightly feel as if they had been gifted a lump of coal if that result is all they ultimately find under the tree.

Now on Threads @kleavins. Also, find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at [email protected]

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