The Edmonton Oilers have been the NHL’s hottest team for an excellent lengthy whereas now. They’ve gained 13 in a row, and since that woeful 2-9-1 begin, they’ve gone 24-6-0, which over a full season could be a 131-point tempo. They’ve vaulted themselves out of the Motel For Males the place the Sharks stay, that they spent October residing in, to tied for one of many computerized playoff spots within the Pacific in nearly 10 weeks. As of proper now, they sort of really feel just like the Western Convention favourite, as they’ve one of the best participant on the planet, maybe one of the best second-line within the recreation, an influence play to tackle Galactus, and on high of that, the previous two months goalie Stuart Skinner has a .931 save-percentage. It’s all clicking.
So what do the Oilers must put them excessive? Based on GM Ken Holland, they want Corey Perry, a fourth-line winger who’s three days older than water and a pair months in the past acquired booted off the Hawks for getting gassed up and both getting handsy, scream-y, or each, with a feminine workforce worker. Welcome to HOCKEY THINKING!
Perry continues to be getting a ton of mileage out of being a fourth-line winger for 3 straight Stanley Cup finalists, even when each workforce misplaced that Last and two of them have been the house oddity of both the Bubble playoffs or the Covid season. He was additionally in a position to cobble collectively a bunch of energy play targets for the Lightning, despite the fact that the Tampa Bay energy play has been self-aware for an excellent six seasons now, and so long as a participant in entrance of the online can stay acutely aware, then Nikita Kucherov or Steven Stamkos or Victor Hedman will ping sufficient pucks off them to attain targets (it’s the Nuno Gomes corollary).
The Oilers don’t have any want for any of this. One, the spot in entrance of the online on the person benefit is taken by Zach Hyman, who’s sixth within the league in targets with 28, 9 on the facility play. The Oilers haven’t any want for web presence on their second unit both, as a result of the Oilers don’t actually use a second energy play unit. The highest unit of McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard, Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins common greater than three minutes of energy play time per recreation. Solely Evander Kane averages greater than a minute in any other case. The Oilers know they’ve a doomsday system with PP1, and use it as a lot as doable.
Second, the Oilers don’t want the assistance on the fourth line, which is the one place Perry might slot. Sam Gagner and Connor Brown have been greater than advantageous in these roles, and if it’s veteran savvy the Oilers suppose they want, effectively, Gagner can also be 700 years previous, identical to Perry. Besides he can nonetheless skate. He’s additionally much less more likely to take an unbelievably silly and egocentric penalty, like Perry nonetheless may, assuming he can nonetheless get anyplace close to anybody anymore to piss them off sufficient to goad them into one thing.
As for “veteran presence”, that continues to behave as Blue Chew to each NHL GM, the Oilers aren’t some wayward grouping of youngsters who simply giggle at every thing earlier than taking bong rips within the dressing room. McDavid and Draisaitl are of their late 20s now and have been round perpetually, and McDavid, at this level, has a singular deal with finishing his resume with the one factor he’s lacking that borders on scary. The Oilers haven’t misplaced within the playoffs the previous couple years as a result of they lack focus or dedication. They’ve misplaced as a result of their goalies sucked or their protection wasn’t deep sufficient. The latter should still be one thing of a problem, however Perry doesn’t assist with that.
However NHL GMs can’t assist themselves, particularly Ken Holland, who doled out an enormous contract to proven asshat Evander Kane, in spite of everything. Perry doesn’t have a protracted monitor file of being a douche canoe off the ice (very a lot so on it), however at his age and present use, he’s definitely not an computerized for the second likelihood that no entrance workplace can wait to dole out. He’s made tens of hundreds of thousands over his profession, has an MVP award and a hoop, and if his actions in Chicago ended his profession he wouldn’t actually be “lacking” something. He’s precisely the kind of participant the league can discard after they run afoul of office guidelines, and but right here he’s in Northern Alberta.
This screams of one thing Holland did simply to do it, whether or not to take credit score for some form of redemption or to indicate he’s a pleasant man or to do Perry a favor he most definitely didn’t want. It’s unlikely to price the Oilers something aside from McDavid and others having to reply some awkward questions for every week or two, if the baying hockey press may even be dropped at ask them. Nevertheless it definitely doesn’t achieve them a lot both, which makes you marvel what the purpose of it’s.
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