With forward lines set, Oilers turn to D
Team’s forward units pretty much in place already, but still jobs to be won on blue line
A dozen days from now they’ll be taking a day off for a cruise on the Rhine River.
They’ll take pictures of Cologne attractions such as the twin spires of the magnificent Cologne Cathedral, see the legendary Hohenzollern Bridge with railings decorated with locked padlocks left by couples symbolizing their everlasting love, visit the medieval Old Town and view the famed Cologne Chocolate Museum.
But Friday, the Edmonton Oilers had a much more normal day off, the only one away from the rink during the traditional part of training camp.
It was the halfway mark, at least before heading overseas to play an exhibition game against Peter Draisaitl’s Kolner Haie of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, then opening the season against Hart Trophy-winner Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils in Gothenburg, Sweden.
With the Oilers having reduced their roster to 35 just before their 7-3 win over mostly Manitoba Moose players representing the Winnipeg Jets to go 3-0 in exhibition games, it was the perfect time to ask Todd McLellan to evaluate proceedings to this point.
“It’s hard and it’s dangerous sometimes because of the different levels of competition. I would just solely evaluate our team on concepts and work, on commitment level, the casualness versus the seriousness I’ve liked the first week. We deserve a day off here,” the Oilers head coach responded.
“Everybody from our elite leader all the way down the roster did their work during the summer and they’ve done their work so far in training camp,” he said in reference to captain Connor McDavid.
Good things have happened, like the performances of Ty Rattie, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto on right wing, that five-bell save by goaltender Cam Talbot in Vancouver, and a confidence-boosting goal by Milan Lucic.
“That doesn’t guarantee us wins or anything like that moving forward. But the opposite would probably guarantee us losses,” McLellan said. “So, seven days in, a check mark for work and everything we needed to do. Now we have to make it better as we go forward.”
With Rattie’s four goals and three assists in two games on the No. 1 line with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins that put up a combined dozen points in the win Thursday, it’s obvious the line is a lock to go into the regular season together.
And when McLellan rewarded second round draft choice Ryan McLeod with an extra game centring Puljujarvi and Jujhar Khaira in the game, he made it quite clear it would be Ryan Strome in that spot to start the season.
While Tobias Rieder didn’t show much with Leon Draisaitl and Lucic, it’s assumed that will be the second line, although it might be interesting to have a look at Yamamoto getting an audition there before proceeding with the perceived plan of sending him to Bakersfield.
The fourth line with Zack Kassian, Kyle Brodziak and Drake Caggiula looks set.
Talbot is going to get all the work he wants to get ready for the season in goal, and with the Oilers allowed to take three goalies to Europe in addition to the 23-man lineup to start the season, there’s no rush to make a decision between new US$2.5 million backup Mikko Koskinen and Al Montoya, if indeed there is one to be made.
Which, of course, leaves the No. 1 area of concern, the defence. And that’s what the next three pre-season games in Winnipeg Sunday and home to Vancouver Tuesday and Arizona Thursday will be all about. McLellan has already stated he’ll have his team picked before the getaway-day afternoon game against Calgary next Saturday.
“On the back end there is still a clump of players, a large group of players that we’re going to end up picking — now that Darnell Nurse is back — our 6th, 7th and eight defencemen from,” he said of the group behind Nurse, Adam Larsson, Oscar Klefbom, Kris Russell and Matt Benning.
Still in camp are the likes of Ethan Bear, Evan Bouchard, Jason Garrison, Kevin Gravel, Jakub Jerabek and Keegan Lowe.
“A guy like Gravel or Garrison — these guys need to play more before we can slot them. There are a lot of D -men that have only played one game. They’re going to get night No. 2 in Winnipeg.
“It’s a hard environment to play in. It’s a tremendous team, they play with pace and energy in their building and I think they’re going to have a lot of their stars in the lineup, so, there’s no better test than that,” McLellan said, referencing the Jets. “If (those defencemen on the bubble) can play well and execute in that building and that environment, that could be the separator, the separating game.”
As training camps go, this ultra-compact one has gone about as well as it could go.