Has the dam finally broken?
The Edmonton Oilers offence fired on all cylinders in Vancouver Saturday night, in a commanding 7-4 win. For the first time all season the Power Play looked (and was) dangerous at each opportunity. Twelve players had points. And especially in the third period, this club finally looked and played…free.
Leon Draisaitl, in his post-game interview with Jack Michaels and Bob Stauffer, called it “a can opener game.”
But it is an entirely different can of worms that we will open this week, in this edition of…
9 Things
9. I hear lots of “the big guys on the Oilers need to get going” and for the most part I tend to agree. But let’s be fair to Leon Draisaitl: He is on a 54-goal pace.
8. The Four Nations Cup rosters will be announced December 4th. We know Connor McDavid will be on the Team Canada roster. Had the Oilers started better we could have imagined three or four Oilers on that team. Can Zach Hyman still find his way on board? Evan Bouchard? Stuart Skinner?
7. The Oilers gave up on prospect Xavier Bourgault in the off-season. So far this year in Ottawa’s system, he seems to be proving Stan Bowman right: Just 1-2-3 in 9GP for Belville of the AHL. Since recovering from injury, the guy who went the other way Roby Jarventie is 0-2-2 in 2GP for Bakersfield going into action Saturday.
6. Daryl Katz has made the MacLean’s list of Canada’s Richest People for 2024. At an approximate worth of $5.84b, Mr. Katz is number 29 on the countdown. From the standpoint of hockey, surely it can not hurt to have an owner with that deep of pockets to help keep your franchise competitive. For what it is worth, my boss Jimmy Pattison ranked Number 9 on the list ($10b).
5. Eric Duhatschek is retiring. The Hockey Hall of Fame writer covered the Calgary Flames for years including while I was twice a member of the host radio broadcasts in the 90’s and Eric was a post-game analyst. A tremendous writer who was always helpful and courteous to me, Mr. Duhatschek was a “thinking man’s” sportswriter: Highly intelligent and knowledgeable but without ever putting on airs to his fortunate readers. Good luck to you, Eric. You deserve it.
4. Generally speaking, I do not place the Edmonton Oilers moribund start at the feet of the club’s goaltending. Going into Saturday’s action the team was tied with Nashville for last in goals scored. They have been mostly losing because they cannot score enough. But the Oilers leaky penalty kill does point a finger at the goalies and rightly so. The PK is sitting below 60%, after another short-handed goal against on Saturday. The short-handed SV% from Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard combined is .690. That can not continue. At 5v5, both guys have actually been decent enough to win most nights.
3. No shortage of venom for Evan Bouchard after a deficient performance against Las Vegas this week. Bouchard was directly responsible for two goals against. And to make matters worse, he was not beaten on 50-50 plays. That does not sit well in a blue-collar town like Edmonton that prides itself on hard work. I saw the same game as you and graded him a “3” in our Cult of Hockey Player Grades (out of ten, for those who may not be familiar). But the Oilers blueline issues overall may be to blame for some of that. Bouchard is averaging 24:20 per night. His career average is 20:09. Overuse can lead to both physical and mental errors, even for the very best.
2. In a season for the Oilers which has been mostly under-whelming so far, veteran D-man Brett Kulak has been one of the bright spots. Paul Coffey has elevated the fluid skater from “5” to “4” with Kulak’s hybrid role in both the second and third pairings with very good results…both for Kulak and his (mostly) partner Darnell Nurse. Kulak’s TOI average is up to 18:19, from a career average of 16:16. Over fifteen games at 5v5 Kulak’s CF is 58.1%, 15th among NHL D-men who have played at least half of their team’s games. There were those in the off-season who implored the Oilers to move Kulak. Good thing they did not. And Kulak scored yet again on Saturday.
1.Dante Fabbro was placed on waivers by the Nashville Predators on Saturday. That immediately caught the attention of Oilers fans who have quite rightly been critical of how things have gone. And at first glance, it is defensible to say that Fabbro (if claimed) might be the fifth best defender on the Edmonton Oilers right now. Yes, his right-handedness could be a potential match for Darnell Nurse on that second pairing. Fabbro’s ability at retrievals and exits would seem to fit a need in this blueline. And he can shoot. Defensively, he is only average but capable (his 5v5 WAR in 2023-24 was 76%) if you believe in that approach to the game. I believe he is an NHL player. But does he really make you better?
Fabbro’s $2.5m salary is one major issue. Money would have to go out to make it work. That, or go into LTIR, which would preclude the Oilers from accruing cap space that they are saving for a major deadline addition. Then, there is the fact that nine other teams are in line to make a claim before Edmonton will ever have a chance to (although two of those are tight to the cap). Unlike some waiver players on the league minimum, Fabbro would not be “a free player”.
But here is where the skate hits the ice, if you will: When you talk with a couple people who have actually been in the rink and watched this guy the past two seasons, they will tell you that Fabbro’s play has really fallen off. The Predators are probably waiving him for a reason.
The bottom line? In order to make the money work, Dante Fabbro would have to become the Edmonton Oilers main “deadline addition.”
Would you really be o.k. with that?
I think you have your answer.
Newly on Bluesky @kurtleavins.bsky.social. On Twitter @KurtLeavins, Threads @kleavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and even on Mastodon at [email protected]. This article is not AI generated.
Recently, at The Cult…
McCURDY: Veteran defender Brett Kulak climbs a pairing while playing some of his best hockey
STAPLES: The Oilers could be younger, faster, more agressive…so why aren’t they?
LEAVINS: Big mistakes cost the Oilers a win versus Vegas
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