Game Day 63: Dallas at Edmonton
The two powerhouse clubs that faced off in the Western Conference Finals last spring will meet up again tonight in a game that marks the beginning of the stretch drive. For each, it will be Game #63, kicking off the final quarter of the season. More significantly, each will play their first game after the trade deadline.
Both clubs will feature one player making his debut for his new club after being acquired yesterday. Oddly, each newcomer will wear the rarely-used sweater #96. That’s the birth year of each player, though that’s where the similarities mostly end.
For the visiting Stars, the newcomer is Mikko Rantanen, a recognized star who is perhaps the most accomplished player still in his prime to be traded at the deadline in a decade. He’s certainly stands alone as the only one to be dealt twice within the same season; Rantanen was moved from Colorado Avalanche to Carolina Hurricanes just 6 weeks ago, then was dealt back to Colorado’s Central Division rival in Dallas yesterday. He’ll be the second Star to wear #96, following in the footsteps of the legendary Fabian Brunnstrom a decade and a half ago. His acquisition represents the ultimate home run swing by a serious contender already chock-a-block with excellent players, but with cap space to burn due to long term injuries suffered by Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen.
On the other side of the ice, #96 will be defenceman Jake Walman, technically acquired at the stroke of midnight Friday morning from San Jose Sharks. Walman too was acquired using LTIR cap space after the Oilers finally got clarification that forward Evander Kane will not be able to play before the end of the regular season.
Most observers agree that Walman is an excellent addition for the local squad, though he’s not the big name “get” that many in the fan base craved. Indeed, judging by the reaction of many out the in Oil Country, GM Stan Bowman’s deadline moves were a “huge fail”. Meanwhile, a clear majority of pundits doing the traditional “winners/losers at the deadline” pseudo-analysis branded the Oilers a “loser”.
From this distance, those generalizations seem a tad harsh. The Oilers didn’t address all their identified needs at the deadline — loosely identified as goaltending, a top-four defenceman, a top-six winger who can actually score goals, and some size and truculence in the bottom six — but it’s fair to say they ticked a couple of those boxes. Three players were added this week, while no roster players were traded away. All of which leaves coach Kris Knoblauch with a few more options at his disposal.
Walman, acquired for a future first-round draft choice, will be a welcome addition to the defence corps. He had emerged as the #1 d-man on an admittedly weak Sharks club, where he averaged over 23 minutes per game in all situations. He managed to keep his head above water, posting very creditable boxcars of 6-26-32, -1 in 50 games. He’s a puckmover who is rated for his zone-exit passing, a skill that will be most welcome on his new club. Oil fans should be excited to see how his skills translate to his new squad.
Up front, Trent Frederic and Max Jones arrived in the same trade that saw the Oilers deal a basket of Day 2 draft picks and B prospects to Boston and New Jersey. Each was a late first-round pick from the same 2016 Draft, needed some time to make the next step, but established himself as an NHL regular, playing 337 and 266 NHL games respectively. Each brings size and physicality to the mix along with bottom-six ice time and scoring rates, best expressed in rates per 82 GP:
- Trent Frederic (4.11 seasons): 13-13-27*, 75 PIM, 163 hits, 12:25 ATOI
- Max Jones (3.24 seasons): 10-10-19*, 68 PIM, 144 hits, 13:08 PIM
(* = rounding “error”)
Frederic was the main target of the trade, with Jones seemingly an afterthought. He was not issued a qualifiying offer by his original team in Anaheim this past off-season. Seeking what Craig MacTavish famously called a “second opinion” by signing with Boston, he received it in early November when he was waived by the Bruins after a poor start. That opinion became unanimous when he cleared through the league, suggesting his time as an NHLer might be done. Playing in the AHL for the first time in 5 years, he scored 13 times in 38 games before the Oilers came calling.
With Frederic heading straight to IR in Edmonton, the Oilers decided to give Jones a look with the big club, and he responded with an excellent game that featured flashes of speed, physical play and skill. More than enough to earn a second opportunity tonight. Going forward, who knows?
What we do know is that the three new Oilers collectively bring a couple of elements that were in short supply. All are experienced NHLers with over 250 games in the league, but are best categorized as “young veterans”, certainly compared with the rank and file of 30-somethings that the Oilers collected under Ken Holland and Jeff Jackson. Check out the current team roster, sorted from oldest to youngest [source]:
Those above the solid black line are 30+ years old today. That’s 14 players in all, 15 if one includes Kane, 33, who may yet join the active roster during the playoffs.
Leving just 10 players younger than 30, including all 3 of the newcomers. Each of them had a birthday in February, with Walman turning 29, Frederic and Jones each 27. They’re not exactly kids, but they still have youth on their side.
Indeed, this is an aspect Bowman has been addressing since being hired in late July. Other players added since then have their birthdates underlined in orange. That group includes the two youngest Oilers, Vasily Podkolzin, 23, and Ty Emberson, 24 along with another young vet in Kasperi Kapanen, 28. In all, 6 of the 10 players added by Bowman are younger than 30, while just mid-season signing John Klingberg, 32, is older. It’s a much more balanced group on that front.
Another shortcoming addressed by the recent trades is that of size. Here is that same roster sorted by weight. Other than big netminder Stu Skinner, the Oilers had just 2 skaters who weighed as much as 210 pounds at the beginning of the week. Now they have 5.
Compare and contrast to tonight’s visitors, the Stars, whose biggest player also happens to be their goalie, Jake Oettinger. He’s supported by 8 skaters of 210+ pounds.
The Stars also added size at the deadline, bringing on the 6’4, 215-lb Rantanen to take the spot previously occupied by Logan Stankoven (5’8, 165) who went the other way in the deal. But it’s nonetheless reasonable to conclude that the Oilers match up a little better in the “heaviness” department that they would have a week ago.
Suggesting that while Bowman didn’t solve all of his outstanding issues, he did address a couple of them in a manner that addressed team-wide shortcomings as well as those at specific positions.
None of which answers the final question in the headline. Did they do enough? Nobody, not the Oilers, not the Stars, not the Panthers nor any other NHL team, will know the answer to that question for a few months. But they can’t be accused of standing pat.
Tonight’s line-up
The big change is on the back end, where Walman is now installed in the spot occupied by emergency recall Cam Dineen last game. For now he’s listed on the third pairing with Troy Stecher, though it remains to be seen how Knoblauch and defence coach Paul Coffey might utilize their options in game. The good news is that even in the continuing absence of Mattias Ekholm, the Oilers have 3 proven options on the left side.
Same forward lines as Thursday, when the Oilers beat Montreal 3-2 in overtime. Jeff Skinner will be healthy scratched yet again.
The other Skinner gets the start in net, where he will almost certainly match up against Jake Oettinger in the Dallas cage. Skinner’s many critics might consider that a mismatch, though some folks with longer memories might recall Edmonton’s stopper decisively winning the goalie battle in the WCF some 9 months ago. Indeed, in the last 3 games of that series the Oilers outscored the Stars 10-4, with Skinner delivering an epic performance in the deciding game, won by Edmonton 2-1 despite being outshot 35-10.
No doubt the Stars will be looking for a bit of revenge for that playoff ouster, and will unleash their new not-so-secret weapon to that end. Rantanen will line up a pair of red-hot linemates, fellow Finn Roope Hintz (3-13-16 in his last 6 games) and Jason Robertson (7-6-13 over the same span). Not a bad landing spot.
The game occupied the late slot on Hockey Night in Canada with faceoff a little after 8pm MT on this winter’s final night of standard time.
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