When it comes to the waiver wire Oilers G.M. Ken Holland understands that you shouldn't buy things just because they're on sale: 9 Things - Edmonton Journal

Minggu, 06 Oktober 2019

When it comes to the waiver wire Oilers G.M. Ken Holland understands that you shouldn't buy things just because they're on sale: 9 Things - Edmonton Journal

The Oilers are 2-0 to start the season.

To be fair there are things to pick at in both wins. Fair to say Vancouver generally out-played Edmonton in the first one but the Oilers got better goal-tending. And Edmonton kind of out-scored their mistakes versus the Kings.

But hey…come March, they don’t ask “how” you earned these 4 regular points against Pacific Division rivals. And both are teams they’ll likely have to finish ahead of to have a chance at the playoffs.

So in the meantime, enjoy being tied for 1^st Place, enjoy a healthy Connor McDavid tied for 2^nd in league scoring, and please enjoy these…

9 Things

9. It is curious that the Edmonton Oilers decided to use “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora as their victory song. This 80’s disco/new-wave one-hit wonder receives such poor scores in audience feedback in 2019 that a large majority of radio stations in North America don’t even bother including it on their playlists anymore.

8. It should be fun watching the AHL Bakersfield Condors this season. The top 3 lines have all kinds of juice: Brad Malone with Kailer Yamamoto and Joe Gambardella, Cooper Marody with Josh Currie and Tyler Benson & Ryan McLeod with Kirill Maksimov and Sam Gagner. It’s feasible that half of them could play skill minutes in Edmonton before the year is out.

7. No doubt Evan Bouchard fans were excited when word of his (brief) recall came earlier this week. We know now that it was a “paper transaction” only, designed to benefit the Oilers LTIR situation. But really, it’s best that Bouchard stays in Bakersfield for now. His tool kit is undeniable. But the AHL (especially with good coaches like Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson) is a great place to learn proper practice habits among other little things that ultimately make you a good NHL-er.

6. You know its October when Jack & Bob are back on the air calling Oilers games. Radio remains a resilient medium in an otherwise uncertain media world. it is in large part because of it’s portability. You can take it anywhere. And it’s free. But the good ones also continue to make consistent emotional connections between broadcaster and listener. That’s where Jack Michaels excels: In the transference of adrenalin from the game on the ice into to the veins of hockey fans. And since he and Bob Stauffer bring such complimentary content, viewpoints and backgrounds…the chemistry is palpable.

5. The club sure misses Riley Sheahan (or any actual NHL 3C) down the middle and he hasn’t even played a regular season game yet. Leon Draisaitl has been flat-out terrific over the first two games of the year. But playing 26-28:00/game is not sustainable. Leon wasn’t supposed to have this big of a role on the PK (3:23 last night). The club needs both Sheahan’s minutes on the PK and his skill in face-off duty. I hear that Sheahan is very close to returning. Meanwhile, Gaetan Haas out-played Colby Cave Saturday on both sides of the puck. Based on that, even if Sheahan is back in New York Tuesday I think Haas stays in.

4. God love ‘em & the blood and sweat that they gave this franchise. But it is so refreshing to have Bottom 6 players with some speed & skill as opposed to just guys like Boyd Gordon and Matt Hendricks. As Gaetan Haas adjusted to the pace it has become evident that he has more than average NHL speed. Matt Roy is still looking for his jock after Tomas Jurco undressed him and fed Darnell Nurse for the 5-5 goal Saturday. To get 2 goals resulting directly from Bottom-6 players was something painfully absent last season. If teams have to mind more than just McDavid and Draisaitl every night it creates additional room for the big guys to operate. More, please.

3. With Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, Ethan Bear and Joel Persson all in the lineup the Oilers have one of their best transition D-cores in a long, long time. Bear had a few more defensive challenges against L.A. than he did versus Vancouver but he still head-mans the puck really well, even under pressure. Persson struggled with NHL speed early in the Kings game but he evened out as the game wore on and seems to see the ice well. Kris Russell moves the puck earlier and more crisply from his strong side as well. It not only makes the attack more dangerous. The D defend less as a result. Which is handy when arguably their best defender is out the next 6-10 weeks. Speaking of which…

2. In the wake of the Adam Larsson injury some have quite naturally wondered what might have been had the Oilers not bought out Andrej Sekera. For one, they wouldn’t have had the cap space with which they improved Bottom 6 and their goaltending. But watching the Boston-Dallas game this week, Sekera (who I have a lot of time & respect for) struggled mightily with the pace and with his own lateral movement. Had we been talking about the Andrej Sekera of 2+ years ago I would have agreed. Today? That ship has sailed. I’ll add this: Adam Larsson eats Top-4 minutes and will be hard to replace in that respect. But there are other D-men in the organization that move the puck far better than he does. The defence will (by the process of the Larsson subtraction ) take on a different composition that yes may be challenged to defend at times…but will likely also be much harder to defend against. And that fits the model of the new NHL.

1. We see it every single year: The October 1^st NHL waiver wire comes and goes and a bunch of us get excited over all of the names that could surely help out our struggling franchise. But the problem I always have with the waiver wire? All of those guys are on waivers for a reason. They either aren’t good enough to fill open spots on their own clubs or they make too much salary relative to the benefits that they may bring to a club on the ice. In essence: They’re “on sale”. And the thing with sales is…while you do occasionally find a bargain you most often get what you pay for.

Case in point: Josh Ho-Sang, who was waived by the Islanders and has since demanded a trade. The only way this player type could have helped the Oilers was if he could have played in the Top-6. Well, not only has he not displayed the ability to do so in the NHL to date. He hasn’t even looked like a consistent Top 6 guy in the AHL (8-35-43 in 56 games for Bridgeport last season). And besides: Who do you demote to make room? Zack Kassian? Joakim Nygard? Considering their performances 2 games into the Oilers season…I think not.

Could have the Oilers tucked Ho-Sang’s $874,125 under the cap somehow? Sure, there could have been a way. But remember, if they DO claim him…he also would have to clear waivers again if you need to send him to Bakersfield. And if Ho-Sang can’t play in your Top-6, that’s where he would belong until he can. Just ask the Islanders.

Besides: Logic dictates that the Oilers management would have asked Ho-Sang’s old Toronto Marlboros teammate for an opinion on whether or not to take a flier on the player. Right? Right.

Based on the evidence available I’d suggest Ken Holland is a pretty smart shopper.

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