In the midst of a death spiral that has seen them lose 5 games in a row the Oilers attempt to pull out against an equally struggling Florida Panthers team. Both clubs have only 3 wins on the season so far and both are giving up too many goals and struggling for offense of their own. After the embarrassing home stand that the Oil are coming off of there is little doubt that they are looking for a statement game tonight.
WINDOW SHOPPING IN NEW YORK
The Oilers brass has been spotted scouting a recent game between Carolina and New York. Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, and Special Advisor and VP of Leaderiness Mark Messier were all in attendance. The speculation is beginning to ramp up that the Oilers are on the verge of making a move. They desperately need Defensemen and a shake-up may be in order to snap some sense into this group. The Rangers happen to have bright young Defensemen by the bushel so they may well be a natural fit.
Veteran writer Jim Matheson floated a few Oiler names out there this morning via twitter by the way of Ales Hemsky and Nail Yakupov. Hemsky is having a very fine resurgent season with the Oilers but is a pending UFA making a significant amount of money. Even though I’m a fan I don’t see a potential suitor for him until the trade deadline at least but maybe he gets swapped out for Dan Girardi, also a pending UFA.
I just don’t see Sather aiming his sights on a player like Hemsky right now when the real prize that the Oilers may move would be Nail Yakupov. Yes, he’s struggling right now, but the talent level is undeniable. The Oilers would be asking for a lot in a Yakupov deal and the Rangers have the pieces they likely desire. There’s Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto, and Ryan McDonagh all patrolling the New York blueline, all young and on the rise. The Oilers probably wouldn’t do a straight up deal for any one of them despite their need for defensemen.
If the Oilers move Yakupov I imagine they are asking for a top Blueliner, a blue chip prospect, and a pick. What they get is a different story but they need a deal that works for them. The Rangers also have big winger Chris Kreider whom the Oilers would love to pry away from New York even if they are stacked at LW when healthy. There are a lot of different moving parts to navigate in this story. Messier’s connection to New York, the Salary Cap, and the needs of both teams. There appears to be something to this though.
UPPING THE IQ
Taylor Fedun will get his very first NHL start tonight after the team recalled the smartest player in their organization. The Rocket Surgeon and Brain Scientist (actually Princeton Educate Mechanical Engineer) has been through Hell and back to get this opportunity. It was in preseason a couple years ago that Eric Nystrom tripped the young man on a race to the puck that resulted in a shattered Femur. It was only after intensive rehab that Fedun was able to return to hockey at all.
Along the way back he has gained a lot of support from Oiler fans and the hockey community who want to see this young man’s dream of playing in the National Hockey League come true. Tonight he and his supporters will get the chance to see him do just that. He is an inspiring story of hard work and determination. He will play on the bottom pair with veteran Nick Schultz who can hopefully guide him through his first full-fledged NHL game.
Fedun has 1-3-4 in 12 games with the Barons this year.
LINEUPS
The Oilers have flipped Hemsky to the Left Wing and Yakupov back to the right. Yakupov has struggled on the port-side so perhaps moving back to a comfortable place will be best for him. Yak also finds himself on a line with Ryan Smyth who has been inserted back into the lineup. Smyth’s straightforward meat and potatoes game may help ground the young Russian who has been guilty of try to be too fancy at times. Eakins has also broken up the Smid/Petry pairing, putting Smid with Larsen an Ference with Petry.
Hemsky RNH Eberle
Smyth Gagner Yakupov
Jones Gordon Arcobello
Gazdic Acton Eager
Smid Larsen
Ference Petry
N. Schultz Fedun
Dubnyk
The Panthers feature two highly touted young players in Huberdeau and Barkov. The former beat out Yakupov and the rest of the challengers for Rookie of the Year and the latter comes into the NHL as an 18 year old who has already excelled playing against men in the Finnish Elite League. I for one am excited to see Barkov play. The Tim Thomas injury has meant that the Panther’s substandard goaltending has been exposed with Markstrom leading the way with a 3.29 GAA and a .881 Sv%. I anticipate a lot of goals tonight.
Huberdeau Barkov Fleischmann
Versteeg Goc Kopecky
Bergenheim Mathias Boyes
Upshall Bjugstad Winchester
Campbell Gilbert
Kulikov Weaver
Gudbranson Whitney
Markstrom
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Compete. I’ve competed harder playing Hungry Hungry Hippos than the Oilers did against Detroit. Their effort level is unacceptable at the professional level.
2) Play without Fear. I wrote about the Oil playing
scared yesterday. They need to go to the hard areas and quit trying to avoid contact at all costs. Games are won at the front of the net.
3) Shoot. For the love of all that is good, shoot the puck. The Oilers were pressed to shoot a ton against the Leafs and got nothing for it. Now it’s as if they took that loss to mean shooting isn’t necessary. I cant imagine how they came to that conclusion.
MOVEMBER UPDATE
My wife is begging me not to shave the beard portion. I laughed at her.
www.mobro.co/MattHendersonHB
Puck drops tonight at 5:30PM Mountain time on Sportsnet. Game on!
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Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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