The Edmonton Oilers season has been defined by one word: drama.
In the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts the Podcast, Elliotte Friedman spent the good first chunk of the episode going through the entire situation around the team. Whether that is on the ice, off the ice, or just about general trends he is seeing.
There was so much information covered in just under a half-hour, that it needed to be covered in more detail:
The Thoughts
The first subject covered was around the Oilers’ plans for the short-term, in terms of whether they are going to do anything to address their issues and how the last few games have gone for the team:
“I honestly believe the Oilers are going to try to weather this as much as they can without doing anything they will regret for generations. For example, when this Perry thing happened on Thursday afternoon I had a bunch of people sending me notes “You think it’s Perry and Mrazek to the Oilers?” When Anti Raanta left the game after the first period on Wednesday night, people were texting me do you think he will be traded to the Oilers?…It’s crazy around Edmonton now. A whisper on one end of the league is connected to “is this what the Oilers will do to facilitate a trade?”…I mean look Jeff watching that game, do you want Skinner to make a save? You want him to make a save, but some of those goals were ridiculous. They weren’t all on him…You take a look at this and there is not a lot of practice time right now. It’s Tampa, day off, Florida, day off, Carolina, day off, Washington Friday afternoon…It’s very obvious they haven’t fixed the problems that ailed them before the coaching change. They are still really leaky, teams are still getting great chances against them.
I look at them and I see a lot of things that still need to be fixed and I see a team that is determined not to make a really bad trade.”
So looks like anything that happens in the league is going to be linked to the Oilers moving forward, but they are not going to do anything significant. That is the worst mix for fans clamoring for a move, seeing the rumors, but knowing the team isn’t going to do something significant.
What was more intriguing about the overall situation was around the narrative that Connor McDavid is starting to influence the team’s decisions more. Friedman was adamant to address this head on:
“One of the things I think the Oilers are going to have to deal with is this narrative that because McDavid’s former agent is now the President of Hockey Operations, and his former junior coach is now the head coach, that McDavid is flexing his muscle and growing his power in the organization. I don’t think he likes that one bit. I will say this, I don’t presume to speak for Connor McDavid, he is capable of talking for himself, but one of the things I am hearing is that he resents the idea that he is flexing his muscle over the team and making organizational decisions. The comparison that I made in the notes is Mats Sundin…he would get really upset about stuff like that. He believes his job is to play…I don’t think McDavid is like that.
I don’t think he was behind Jay Woodcroft’s dismissal, even though he was consulted about what he thought was going wrong…I don’t think for a second that Connor McDavid said we need to fire the coach and bring in my junior coach. I just think that this is something the Oilers are going to have to deal with because I think McDavid hates that people would think he’s like that.”
The two continued to converse that regardless of where Jeff Jackson went as an agent, he made sure to highlight that Kris Knoblauch was going to be an NHL coach one day. It just so happened to be with the Oilers and McDavid. Friedman mentioned many times that this was not a McDavid decision, and although not speaking for him directly, wanted to dispel the thought that he was trying to make decisions behind the scenes.
The conversation continued around how the Oilers make themselves better in the short-term, while not making themselves worse in the long-term:
“This is the biggest thing that they have to weigh here…I don’t care what we have to give up, we have to do it. We have to do something. That is the danger zone. That is the desperation zone…their plan was to send Campbell down, hope he gets his game going, and then bring him back. He started out very poorly…but that was their goal. Part of them are like “no one is running away with this” we could get hot with these two guys and we could still make the playoffs. St. Louis did it, Florida did it, you plead to the patron saints of playoff miracles past. The problem is, they are playing so poorly, it’s not just goaltending that has to get better it’s their whole game that has to get better. Because the rest of the conference isn’t exactly pulling away from them, you have this belief you can do it.
I think right now, what you have to be thinking is you have to be weighing the long-term decision. Ken Holland is in the final year of his deal. Whoever is going to be the GM next year, Dave Gagner, or Mark Hunter, or someone else, you have to start to think “Maybe we will just hold play our hand, see how this unfolds the rest of the ear, and then we will make our decisions.”
I understand people saying you have to make a move to save your season, but again you have to have a line of what is acceptable. If your move is Sam Montembeault, or Cayden Primeau, or Petr Mrazek or something like that, you’re doing it but you’re not doing it at a cost where “I want you to take this contract too and a first-rounder is going to be part of it.” A buyout for Jack Campbell is $10M, what do you think the cost is in terms of draft capital? I don’t think you pay that right now unless someone gives you an unbelievable deal.”
They also touched on the impacts of a first-round pick and how that could turn into a lottery pick this season. Additionally, by applying protection to the pick for this year you are opening yourself up to more risk in future seasons without knowing the direction of the team. Speaking of which, Jeff Marek asked directly what does “long-term” mean for the Oilers:
“I think long-term means what do you think these players are thinking? That is what long-term is…If I was in charge and had McDavid and Draisaitl, I would not be giving up on my season. Especially with the way the West has gone this year…I would say to them “Guys I’m not waiving the white flag, I may not help you too much because I can’t make a dumb trade, but I’m not waiving the white flag. You’re gonna have the runway you need to show you can save this.” That is what I would do. Maybe you get them a little help in goal, but again I’m not doing anything crazy…A lot of this is they have to play better…they are playing terribly. You can say to them “If you really believe that we can rescue this, you guys gotta go out and do it.”
Friedman then finished off the Oilers section of the podcast talking about the fragility of the Oilers, and just how concerning that is:
“The other thing that makes me nervous about the way the Oilers are this year where there are times you thought they were going to pull themselves out of it. After the Heritage Classic, you thought they were going to pull themselves out of it. After they won three in a row, you thought they’d pull themselves out of it, that was last week and now they are back in it again. That is something that concerns me the most about them, they seem fragile. Colorado, they are going through a lot right now, injuries and things, but they are not fragile. They are un-fragile…Vegas is not fragile and maybe that comes with winning the Stanley Cup…Florida, they are not fragile, Boston, they are not fragile, there is a fragility to the Oilers I am very surprised to see. Watching that game the other night against Carolina, when they saw the weakness early they were like a dog on a bone”
Things are not great in Edmonton right now, but a few wins in a row and a return to form for McDavid and Draisaitl would change a whole lot of that narrative.
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