Unless you’re a fan of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s Concordia Thunder, being an Edmonton hockey fan wasn’t fun yesterday. No game was a tougher watch, still, than the Edmonton Oilers’ 7–2 skunking on home ice. The Toronto Maple Leafs left little doubt as to who would be victorious last night. And Head Coach Mike Babcock left little doubt about what his message was after that game.
The good news is that players are starting to come back from injury for the Oilers. Even with Devon Levi going down, the team still expects Mattias Ekholm and Jason Dickinson back by the end of this week. Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have already returned from the injured list.
This poses a new question for the Oilers: Who will get sent down to the AHL as a result? Almost certainly one or two guys will have to go become Bakersfield Condors for a time once full health is achieved. We asked what you, the fans, see happening as far as an AHL send. And here’s what y’all voted.
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The Max Jones Experiment needs to end as soon as it can
Winning with a landslide akin to polls one province over from this one, is Max Jones. You forgot he was still an Oiler, didn’t you? He is still an Oiler, but still hasn’t made much of an impact on games.
Jones has failed to register a point in six contests so far, averaging a smidge over 10 minutes per game. His expected goals-for and Corsi For are both underwater (sub-50%). And he’s averaging a penalty minute per game while not drawing any penalties in return.
There almost certainly has to be someone who can at least make somewhat more of an impact. Fourth-line wingers don’t need to be scoring threats, but they still have to offer something tangible. Jones isn’t right now, and as such, he’s almost certainly winding up back on the farm when full health is achieved.
Formenton forms a secondary option for demotion
After an okay opening to the season stats-wise, Alex Formenton has started to taper off. He initially had three points in his first five games, including a goal against the San Jose Sharks. In the last six games, however, only once has he registered a point, or been noticeable at all, for that matter. And 19 percent of voters have caught on.
That lone point, an assist, was against the Minnesota Wild where he was denied goals multiple times by familiar Oilers foe Jesper Wallstedt. Outside of that game, zeroes across his “boxcar” stats. Last night, things came well off the rails as he finished -1 for the second night in a row. He also registered no shots on goal, took a penalty, and finished dead last among the forwards in Game Score.
That kind of game just can’t happen. More importantly, it’s closer to the trend of his recent games. The Wild game is appearing to be more of an aberration as of now. If that’s the case, it’s time to give him an AHL ticket.
This is a team that’s already top-heavy and had been relying on insane PDO numbers to some degree. Ideally, an Oilers team at full health keeps Owen Michaels up here with better linemates, and has no need for Formenton. But it becomes more of a fact of not being able to afford poor Formenton outings at this point.
Please don’t send down the youngsters anymore
One thing this poll determined is that the Oilers’ old modus operandi of sending all younger talents down to Bakersfield isn’t a good one. Fortunately, Babcock has gone against that grain, especially as it pertains to Michaels. And respondents in the poll are eager to see it stay that way.
New trade acquisition Filip Hallander received zero votes off this Survivor’s island, and less than 10% of the vote share went to Isaac “Ike” Howard. Howard is still just 22, while the late-blooming Hallander is a freshly-turned 26. Both are younger than Jones and Formenton, and for that matter several skaters on this Oilers team.
It might take moving somebody like Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins, or Kasperi Kapanen down to the third line to help out. Spread out the veteran presences, and open up a space on the second line to jumpstart a young guy. But the organization should be trying to empower the kids, not shove them down to the fourth line or send them off to Bakersfield. That has been said loud and clear by now.
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