As game plans go, the No. 1 item last July 1 was to find Leon Draisaitl two wingers on the second line, if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was going to be the left-winger with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman was on right side on the top line.
Today? Major work in progress with only 30 games to go, and the trade deadline a little more than a month away.
Maybe they’ll need a bigger, more physical top 4 D (say Jamie Oleksiak) if John Klingberg can’t get it done. Maybe they’ll need a fourth-line right-shot centre if they don’t feel Noah Philp or Derek Ryan can do the job.
But should the No. 1 target be a left-winger for Draisaitl who is fast, thinks the game well, and can put the puck in the net, more than, say, the hard-working Vasily Podkolzin, favoured by Draisaitl because he digs pucks out of the traffic and keeps plays alive with his strength and bulldog style? All good things. But, Podkolzin has played over 40 games alongside Draisaitl, and while he complements Draisaitl nicely, he has six goals and 19 points in 52 games.
Game dropped off
In his last eight games, Podkolzin has just two assists, and is -6 with just nine shots on net.
His game has dropped by the eye test and the statistical barometer the last while. He admits it, so does coach Kris Knoblauch.
At practice Monday, he was on left-wing on the fourth line with Connor Brown on right side and either Philp or Mattias Janmark in the middle, preparing for the St. Louis Blues. Maybe only a brief change of scenery for Podkolzin, but maybe not.
They thought they were covered, when Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson signed Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner as free-agents for Draisaitl. Now?
Arvidsson? He’s got the hardest shot on the team (100 mph in the recent skills competition) and likes to shoot but he’s only got six goals as well and 17 points. He’s only played 37 games.
Skinner? That experiment ended early. He didn’t mesh, at all, with Draisaitl.
Knoblauch has trotted out Draisaitl on McDavid’s wing often the last few weeks, including last Saturday’s highly-anticipated match up with the Leafs here. Maybe because he knows Draisaitl needs a more offensive complement. Podkolzin was on the third line for that one, and only played 7:49, a season low. Until Saturday, the last time he had been under 10 minutes was Oct. 22 against Carolina, the seventh game of the season.
His coach says his game has dropped off the last bit.
“That’s true, fair enough,” said Podkolzin.
“I haven’t played my best the last two weeks.”
Podkolzin’s overall game just hasn’t been a thorough.
“Sometimes it’s how your body feels..it’s the details,” he said.
“Be patient, my game will come.”
All of Podkolzin’s goals and points have come even-strength but not much lately. He doesn’t shoot enough (81 shots) for a second-line player, deferring to Draisaitl. That’s not a bad thing; Draisaitl is the trigger-man on the line, as a centre. But, Podkolzin might have the best wrist shot on the team.
He just doesn’t use it enough.
“Of course I can shoot more, and the coach has said that,” he said.
Better third liner?
“Sometimes I’ve overlooking. But again I’ve said I haven’t played my best for the last 10 days to two weeks. Tired? Not really. Like the coach says, it’s more the simple details.”
Knoblauch values Podkolzin’s strength in traffic to push people off pucks in the offensive zone, also his smart defensive game when he doesn’t have the puck. But, something’s off.
Maybe he’s a better third-line winger in the long-term than a top six guy, anyway, because his stats don’t square with a top six winger. But, he’s also been a fine fit stylistically for Draisaitl.
But, it looks like he needs a bit of a reset. He got lost in the shuffle against the Leafs, just 4:28 over the first 40 minutes.
“Just circumstance. Other players were playing better,” said Knoblauch.
“I think he’s had a pretty consistent season. Maybe the last week or so, he’s had a bit of a dip but to say he’s going to be stapled on the fourth line, absolutely that won’t happen. I think other guys should get a reward for how they’re playing.”
Podkolzin’s demotion to the fourth line could be short-lived, but right now, Knoblauch wants to reward some other players, who have stepped up their game, while giving Podkolzin an opportunity to get his game back.
“Not keeping it as simple as he’s been doing. He has to clean up his puck play,” said Knoblauch.
“It’s hard not deferring to Leon, but he could be doing more (shots) of that.”
Against the Leafs, with Auston Matthews and John Tavares as their 1-2 tag-team in the middle, in the past they would have likely gone with McDavid and Draisatil on their own lines, but not Saturday, or recently with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as the second-line centre.
Knoblauch always looks at centre match ups on other teams.
“Absolutely I do. But also with the defencemen (against his top dogs). It’s just what our team needs (at the time),” he said.
“I think Nugent-Hopkins can play against Tavares. That’s not an issue.”
For sure. But Draisaitl needs a running mate who can score.
We get it that Draisaitl is a shooter and leads the NHL with his 36 goals but Podkolzin and Arvidsson on the wings have 12 goals total. That’s not nearly enough.
So is there a possibility the Oilers are looking for a rental winger for Draisaitl at the deadline? Maybe, but they are loaded with forwards already and who knows when Evander Kane will be back? Before the deadline, not until the playoffs?
The pickings are pretty slim on rental wingers.
There’s Rickard Rakell in Pittsburgh, who has been playing on Sidney Crosby’s line. Los Angeles, in need of more consistent offence on the wing other than their big gun Adrian Kempe could use Rakell more, though. There’s Jason Zucker in Buffalo. He’s fast and can shoot.
On Long Island, Kyle Palmieri could be dealt as a rental but their GM Lou Lamoriello is loathe to trade veterans if there is a playoff shot.
Oliver Bjorkstrand in Seattle has talent (15 goals, 34 points) and likes to shoot but he’s not a rental. He has another year a $5.4 million and the Kraken would have to eat part of that contract in any deal with the Oilers.
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