Welp here we are once more. The Oilers are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games. Dave Tippett was not behind the bench for either of the team's wins in their last 10 games and in fact hasn't won a game since December 1st. The Oilers are still hanging onto the last wild card spot but just by a thread. The forwards can't score, the defense can't defend and the goalies can't stop the puck.

The Oilers have some excellent pieces. McDavid and Draisaitl are elite players. Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Jesse Puljujarvi are all well above average top six forwards. Ryan McLeod and Kailer Yamamoto are younger skilled players who have inconsistencies but continue to improve. Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan have shown with previous teams that they are responsible 5 on 5 players. Darnell Nurse is a #1 defenseman and despite some of my early misgivings Cody Ceci has shown to be a reliable stay at home defender. Evan Bouchard is still a rookie but he is tied for 3rd among all defensemen in EV goals and 5th in EV points.

But then there are the things that simply are not working. Duncan Keith barely looks like a 3rd pairing player on most nights but is paid 5.5 million and is the team's second pairing left shot player. For the third year in a row the Oilers are utilizing Smith and Koskinen as a tandem which at best is league average and more often is well below.

Holland used up all of the cap space last summer to make this "his team" so there is no easy trade to fix things. Tippett remains squarely in my sights as the one change that may not fix everything but certainly could help shake things up.

Tippett's comments after the last game gave one more reason why I simply don't believe he is the best option moving forward. In short, after the 4-1 loss to the Rangers the Oilers coach threw Koskinen under the bus. Did Koskinen play bad and make a poor turnover? Absolutely he did but not once has Tippett ever come down like that on his golden boy Mike Smith. A couple games ago when the Oilers lost to the Devils 6-5 in OT when Smith was in net Tippett said that the guys in front of Smith needed to be better. The double standard is impressive.

Tonight the Oilers will be without RNH who we have just learned will be out 3-4 weeks due to injury and without McDavid due to COVID. I'm guessing the Oilers win this game only because it's going to mean some idiots online will get to post that "clearly McDavid was the problem."

Enjoy the game.

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