Wednesdays With Austyn - 03/10/21

The Oilers have found their stride once again this week. After falling 6-1 to the Leafs last Wednesday they were able to right the ship and pick up two crucial wins against the Flames and Senators. They need to keep the momentum going as they have two more games left against Ottawa before heading to Vancouver and then Calgary early next week.

Deep Dive on the Toronto Series.

I want to touch on the Toronto series as a whole prior to looking at the other games. The Maple Leafs pounded the Edmonton Oilers in a three game series. The Oilers were outscored 13-1 in that time which is embarrassing on all accounts. There was a collection of things that went wrong in that series; their poor goaltending, lack of offensive production, focusing on playing aggressive instead of playing smart, the non existent effort from special teams and not making the necessary adjustments quick enough.

Prior to the series Edmonton was emerging as a potential threat to snatch the North Division from Toronto. The Oilers demonstrated that they just are not on the same level as the Maple Leafs. Yes, Edmonton does have arguably the two best players in the series but, after that there would be a long list of Leaf’s players that are better than Edmonton’s third best skater. That gap is too large for the Oilers to make up. It wasn’t just the Oilers depth pieces that failed them, it was everything.

As stated above the gap between Edmonton and Toronto is extreme. Looking at the North Division I would separate the teams into tiers as follows:

Tier 1:

Toronto Maple Leafs

Tier 2:

Edmonton Oilers

Winnipeg Jets

Tier 3:

Montreal Canadiens

Calgary Flames

:Tier 4:

Vancouver Canucks

Ottawa Senators

The reason Toronto is so high above the rest of the field is because of their depth combined with star power and goaltending. This was all on display against the Oilers. They were able to get incredibly strong goaltending from not only their starter Anderson but also their backup Campbell and third string Hutchinson. Currently, the Maple Leafs are in another league and are the heavy favourites to run away with the North Division. Much like the last couple seasons Toronto’s main focus should be playoff success. I don’t know how this turned into a Maple Leaf’s blog post. I have clearly gone down a rabbit hole. The Oilers biggest takeaway from that series is the Leafs are really good and the Oilers cannot lollygag in any of the games they play against them.

Reuniting Draisaitl and McDavid!

We have seen Tippett rotate the lines much more frequently this past week. This included reuniting the dream second line (which I touched on last week). As he continues to tinker with the lines specifically the top six he ended up reuniting Draisaitl and McDavid alongside the fiery young RW Yamamoto.

I actually have mixed feelings about reuniting our two superstars together for 5 on 5 play. Looking at the positives, there are actually capable wingers to put beside Nugent-Hopkins as he centers the second line. Puljujarvi will be a mainstay in the top six and although I prefer to have him playing next to McDavid, pairing him next to Nugent-Hopkins will also help his growth and allow him to build chemistry with another (hopefully) long term Oiler. The second line LW has been an issue for quite some time as Edmonton isn’t quite able to find a suitable candidate for this position. Tippett has run Ennis out there frequently although he is constantly altering who is in this position; of current Oilers, Ennis or Kahun seem like the obvious choices. Foreshadowing: they could potentially find a solution for this position on the trade market.

My biggest concern with stacking the top line is that Tippett did not give the line of Nuge - Draisaitl - Yamamoto much run. He quickly switched off of them after two bad performances against one of the best teams in the league. He needed to let that line breathe a little more and find their rhythm. The decision to not give them more of a run when they were so successful last season was puzzling. Hopefully, Tippett is able to find a set that he is comfortable running with for a long stretch of time so those players are able to build chemistry leading into the playoff push and hopefully the playoffs.

Keep or Sell?

So I have heard the Oilers have interest in many different players including Jake DeBrusk, Eric Staal and Elvis Merzlikins. Jayson is actually going to touch on trades in a blog dropping later this week so keep your eyes peeled for that. Also, he and I will be collaborating and discuss a couple of names for the Oilers to potentially trade for and trade away. Right now, I’m going to focus on two names I have heard many individuals float for the Oilers to trade away to bring in a winger to fill the void spot in the top six (usually occupied by Ennis or Kahun).

The first name I hear being thrown around specifically for DeBrusk is Tyson Barrie. I often hear this tossed out in a 1 for 1 and I absolutely love this idea. Barrie is a player who the Oilers should not look to re-sign this offseason so it makes sense to ship him out for a LW who has potential to help on the powerplay and within the top six. Barrie has had a very strong season offensively for the Oilers (19pts in 27 games). He was signed to be a RHD to help move the puck more efficiently on the powerplay. With the emergence of Bouchard making Barrie less of a necessity for the Oilers it would make sense to sell high. Bouchard is more than capable of anchoring the first powerplay unit and if he doesn’t have Tippett’s trust there is hope that Klefbom will return next season and slide back onto the first powerplay unit. Moving Barrie for a piece that can help boost the top six forward core would be beneficial and a move that needs to be done sooner rather than later because of the quarantine rules for players moving from the United States to Canada.

Ethan Bear should not be traded. Period. Under no circumstances should the Oilers even listen to a trade that involves them giving up Ethan Bear. Just because Edmonton has the luxury of multiple capable RHD does not mean they should move one of their young ones. Look at the Oilers and their haste to move the now two time stanley cup champion Justin Schultz. What about when they were so eager to move Jeff Petry, who is second in points for defensemen this season. Ethan Bear will go through rough stretches but he is a player that should be a part of the Oilers long term future. Moving forward with a defensive core consisting of Nurse, Klefbom, Bouchard, Bear, and Broberg should be the goal. They should not sell Ethan Bear because he is having a rough stretch, they need to focus on his growth and development because he has potential to be a top four defenseman on a Stanley Cup Championship Team.

Hump Day Hot Take

Kassian does not Have a Place on this Team Anymore.

I know it sucks to hear. So many of us fell in love with Kassian because of his heart and energy. He is willing to drop the mitts with anyone and that is what the fans of Edmonton love. However, he is extremely overpaid and doesn’t have a spot on the team. The Oilers should look to move Kassian and one of the trades I have heard is moving him for Eric Staal. I think it would be smart to make this move to get off of his expensive contract and take the expiring Staal as a potential to answer the 3rd line center issue. Edmonton caught fire since Kassian has been out and I struggle to find a spot for him that’s not on the fourth line replacing Chiasson. I’d rather not pay Kassian 3.2 million to be a fourth line right wing. Unfortunately, I think the most beneficial thing to do would be to look to move him.