Oilers players pleased Holland kept the group intact
It can be a stressful time when your team is selling: RNH
Nobody got traded.
Some fans, who had managed to get themselves lathered up with the idea that Ken Holland would figure out a way to get his Edmonton Oilers involved in an arms race with the Toronto Maple Leafs and maybe even bring back Taylor Hall were disappointed in that.
But the team?
Not so much.
Indeed, not at all.
The Oilers returned to practice having had back-to-back days off knowing it was highly unlikely any of them were going to get traded away. And there was no apparent disappointment on their part that their general manager didn't find a way to do more than the one deal, giving up a conditional fourth-round draft pick for veteran second pairing defenceman Dmitry Kulikov.
The thing about the trade deadline is it announces the beginning of the home stretch and tells everybody involved this is it — this is their team.
Defenceman Adam Larsson said his take on Holland making only one move is it was the equivalent of a vote of confidence.
“It shows they believe in us and that's a good sign. We have a big belief in this group and in this locker-room. We're feeling good,” he said. “I feel good about the home stretch and about the team.
“We haven't played our best hockey lately. We have to get our game back in order but we're both in a good spot with the standings and the boys looked fresh today. It's promising.”
Dave Tippett says he's good with the team he'll be coaching down the stretch and into the playoffs.
“I like our team,” he said. “Our goal at the start of the year was to keep improving all the way through and keep building our game and that was the discussion we had today — that this is our team going forward.
“There are some things that I think we have to improve,” he said, noting you want to get into the playoffs and when you do, “to make sure your game is in order.
“We talked about that today. We have 14 games left in the regular season and we have to use all 14 of them to make sure we are improving our game.
“For the most part, I've really liked the way our guys have pushed to improve and pushed to become a better team. We've done that to this point. Now we have to continue it.”
Tippett said the team having Monday off was great because they'd gone 22-9-2 in their last 33 games and they could all enjoy a day away from the game without the worries of being pulled off the ice to be informed they'd been traded, spared of any the awkward goodbyes or any logistics involved in relocation.
“I think there was very little anxiety in our group at all. We have some unrestricted free agents but it was never a case that we were going to move any of those guys,” he said of Larsson, Ryan Nugent-hopkins and Tyson Barrie. “It makes it cleaner when your team isn't selling. When your team is selling, it becomes a hard day all around.
“It just worked out that we needed the two days off and that we kept people away. We came back and we were in pretty good spirits. Between a couple days of rest from the travel and getting past the trade deadline, hopefully everybody is geared up for the final stretch around here.”
Tippett was never traded on the deadline in all his years as a player. But he had one deadline-day experience as a coach that he'll never forget.
“It's funny because I have Mike Smith here,” he said of his goaltender. “I was coaching in Dallas and we were on the road on deadline day and we made a trade. We traded Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen for Brad Richards. All of our management staff was back in Dallas, so I had to be the guy to tell them all. It's a lot easier for management to tell them than the coach.”
An interesting aspect of deadline day this year was the Oilers ended up being just about the only team that didn't have a morning skate and game or a practice.
The Oilers weren't on the ice at a morning skate worrying about being pulled off to be informed that they had been traded. They weren't concerned with any awkward goodbyes.
Outspoken agent Allan Walsh posted the following Monday on Twitter: “There are 16 teams playing tonight. I've long advocated for the NHL not having any games on trade deadline day and would reiterate again, give the players, management and the staff the day off from games.”
I suspect you'd find a majority of Oilers players today that would vote in favour of the Walsh proposition.
“It was definitely a big mental and physical refresh,” Jujhar Khaira said. “I went for a walk, enjoyed the sunlight, watched a few movies. That was it. Just kind of did things to turn off the brain. Nothing exciting at all, but enough to come back with a refreshed mind and body.”
And, no, he didn't watch either of the TSN or Sportsnet trade-deadline marathon television productions.