Top Prospect Signings (May 2)

The Detroit Red Wings signed 2018 1st round pick Joe Veleno on Wednesday after completing a very successful season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the QMJHL in 2019, where he scored 104 points in 59 games and he also represented Canada at the World Juniors this year as well, picking up a couple of assists in five games played.  The Red Wings are trying to quickly overhaul their roster with some more youth, after a solid spring of signing NCAA talent as well.

If his size is any indication, 6'1" and 191 pounds, his offensive game could possibly translate fairly quickly into the pro game and that's the sort of thing that the Red Wings are looking for with this signing.  The 19-year old still has eligibility for the juniors next year, as he was an exceptional status player, joining the major junior ranks at an early age.

The Edmonton Oilers also put pen to paper with a 2018 draft pick, a 2nd rounder in forward Ryan McLeod, who split time with Mississauga and Saginaw in the OHL this season, finishing off a playoff run with the Spirit this week.  The Oilers signed the 40th overall pick to an NHL deal and sent him directly to their AHL affiliate for their playoff run, hoping that he can help provide a bit of a boost to their Calder Cup hopes.

McLeod had 62 points in 63 games in the OHL regular season, as well as 12 points in 17 playoff games and he'll bring his big frame, 6'2" and 206 pounds, to the AHL club in Bakersfield and could be a good depth player for their run, looking to crack the NHL next season.

Pool Outlook for Edmonton

The narrative in Edmonton remained the same in 2019... some top end talent in the entire league, some reasonably high expectations and the eventual belly flop into mediocrity.

The Oilers had a coaching change after a slow start to their year, which resulted in an increase of hope in and around the end of November and December, but the team reverted back to what it was earlier and it cost the General Manager his job and then it was a struggle through the rest of the season, somehow maintaining some hope into the New Year and it was an arduous stretch to the end of the regular season.

At the trade deadline, all they could do was rid themselves of a goalie, trying to lessen the controversy of the number one goalie on the club and right the ship in time for a big push, but it didn't work.

The Oilers were not short on top end talent again this year and for the first time since the 1990 season, did a team finish with two 100-point players on their roster and fail to make the playoffs.  One of those 100-point players was even a 50-goal scorer this year for the Oilers and they still couldn't win games and realize some of their potential.  Their depth and defense let them down once again and trying to improve upon those are going to run into some heavy cap barriers, but that will be the job of the new GM, whenever he gets hired.

It was year number four for Connor McDavid in an Oilers uniform and it was his 3rd 100-point season of his career, finishing with 41 goals and 116 points in 78 games this season, good enough for 2nd in the league and hockey pool in scoring this season.and now it's back-to-back seasons without a playoff appearance.  This does have the talking heads of the media questioning his patience level with this organization, but it still sounds like he's committed to being there.  Either way, in Edmonton or not, he's a dominating force for us poolies to cling on to.

Last season, since I have those windows open, the Oilers had 10 players worthy of a hockey pool selection and a true testament to their depth in the 2019 season, they only finished with seven, including McDavid.  Leon Draisaitl was the other big performer in the season, finishing with 50 goals and 105 points, but then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was next on the list at 69 points.  Alex Chiasson rounded out the worthy forwards, while Darnell Nurse and Oskar Klefbom were the only defensemen worthy and Mikko Koskinen was left to be the number one guy and he played (and won) enough to be worthy by season's end.

What I Said Last Year, At This Time...

The Oilers need to be faster and harder to play against. The Pacific Division is full of fast teams that work extra hard and in this new era of the Golden Knights, the Oilers do not keep up. Connor McDavid needs some help on his line, so he's not doing it all by himself and the Oilers need more depth, so they don't lean so heavily on their superstar. The Oilers will be busy in this off-season, they have to be. Is there enough out there to make it work for the Oilers? Not in the free agent pool, at least. The Oilers will have to make some more trades and if they can pull off a good one, two or three deals, then we'll talk about the playoffs.

The Oilers didn't get faster, they provided little help to their franchise player, didn't add any quality depth and with all of that, they didn't make the playoffs.  It was plain and simple here.  What they didn't do was very apparent and the result was very much of the same as it has been in years previous.  I haven't gotten down to the bottom of this page in the writing scheme, but I can assure you, it's probably going to be very much the same again this year.

How did my intriguing or breakout player fare?

Maybe Matt Benning isn't the player that I thought he was or maybe the team he's on has limited his ability to flourish as an offensive defenseman?  I don't think I can say definitively, one way or the other, but 17 points in 70 games and a healthy scratch at times this past season was an indication that he wasn't buying in to what the Oilers were selling as a whole and that may have gone for a number of players on this team.  Either way, he was also a disappointment this season.

2020 Pool Outlook

Forwards	Cap	Defense	Cap	Goalies	Cap
Connor McDavid	12.500	Andrej Sekera	5.500	Mikko Koskinen	4.500
Leon Draisaitl	8.500	Oscar Klefbom	4.167	Stuart Skinner	0.784
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	6.000	Adam Larsson	4.167
Milan Lucic	6.000	Kris Russell	4.000
Sam Gagner	3.150	Darnell Nurse	3.200
Zack Kassian	1.950	Brandon Manning	2.250
Kyle Brodziak	1.150	Matt Benning	1.900
Josh Currie	0.688
Colby Cave	0.675
Kailer Yamamoto	0.894
Tyler Benson	0.808

Looking ahead at 2019, the Oilers still have a goalie that will play a lot, their two pool worthy defensemen and three out of four worthy forwards.  This isn't a great sign and probably what makes things worse is that they have all seven defensemen signed on for another season (at least), which suggests that defense may not be getting any better, even if it is only on paper right now.  The Oilers are not showing a lot of promise at the moment, so the outlook is rather bleak.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

The salary cap will be an issue with some large contracts on that table above that don't have green names right beside them.  That means that they were not getting good value for the cap space taken up and against a potential $83 million cap ceiling, that 20-man roster above only leaves $8.6 million in cap space, which isn't enough to fix the issues at hand.  This summer may be more about trades than free agency, but that's another story altogether.

Alex Chiasson is the only pool worthy player on the list destined for free agency and he'll be an unrestricted free agent in July, along with a number of other underachievers.  None of the team's restricted free agents were worthy, but there are some notable names like Jesse Puljujarvi on that list, so some decisions will have to be made there.

The Oilers' best prospect in their pool is a defenseman and until they can clear up a spot for Evan Bouchard, he won't exactly be one to watch just yet.  They will need Kailer Yamamoto to finally step up and be a secondary scorer this season to help the team move forward in their attempts at the playoffs.  Yamamoto has lost his rookie eligibility after a couple of seasons of more than enough games, so as he enters his second full season as a pro, he will need his creative abilities to rise up to the forefront and the management team and coaches will have to find someone for him to play with.  He's definitely the one to watch today.

Needs at the 2019 Entry Draft

Teams that have spent a lot of drafts eyeing up and selecting top defensemen have done well in recent years, Nashville is a pretty good example of that.  The Oilers are in desperate need of a change in philosophy and there's hope that a new GM can bring that in for them.  If I'm installed as their GM, I'm looking for a top end defenseman again this year and will keep doing so, trying to develop a blueline factory and turn it all into asset gold.  This year, I'm looking at Cam York from the US Development Program, who will play for the Americans at the Under-18 tourney and is set for Michigan in the NCAA ranks.  He may not be tomorrow's answer to fix this team, but he looks like he has the size and the numbers to be a good investment for the future.

The fate of the Oilers in 2020 rests solely on the poor sonofabitch that take the job as the team's GM this summer.  This team needs someone who is bold and has his own direction and he'll be tasked with making hard decisions that may not have an immediate pay off, much to the chagrin of their fan base.  The way this team sits right now, they're not in line to make the playoffs, teams around them are better and improving, while this roster has very few directions to go.  If a new GM comes in and makes some sweeping changes, he'll likely have to pay extra for them, which may write-off the 2020 season for the sake of a better 2021, which is increasingly difficult in a Canadian market, which doesn't measure success against expectation, rather the wins and losses of today.  If they can find a GM that makes sweeping changes and still wants this job at this time next year, I would consider that a win.

Evening Preview (Apr 1)

The end of the tunnel is beginning to show some light and the NHL regular season is finally coming to a close this coming weekend.  We begin the last week of the season with eight games on the schedule and only a little bit to play for, by the look of things.

The race for 2nd place is alive and well, as the duo of Kristy & Don jumped up there with a monster week and Stacey M.'s team is probably still dizzy, wondering who or what just rushed past them last week.  Her team better get their asses in gear if they want the bigger prize.  Stacey's team does have a slight advantage in projected games this week, but will it pay off?

Grant, Jesse and Tony will all battle it out for 4th place and I'm sure all three teams are hoping that they all have really big weeks to not only separate themselves from the other two, but to possibly catch 3rd place, but it will take another one of those record weeks, one would think.

Let's not forget about last place... both Derek B. and Scott are fighting tooth and nail to sleep down in the basement all summer long.  Hey, it's much cooler and more comfortable in that summer heat.  That's got to be rather enticing.

Pheonix Copley (Brian) versus Roberto Luongo (John P.) 
The Washington Capitals need a win and some help, if they are going to secure their Metro Division title tonight, as they will need the Islanders to lose in regulation for that to occur.  Both games go early, so we'll know before we head to bed tonight whether or not they'll have the top spot there.

Brian and John P. get starts in this one, as these two go toe-to-toe.  John's team trails Brian's by 6 points in the overall standings and it is the last gasp to try and work their way up the standings before we close up shop for the year.  There must be a little bit of pride in there somewhere.  After a quick review of the rest of the games... this is the hockey pool game of the night!

Henrik Lundqvist (Scott) versus Mackenzie Blackwood (N/A)
Scott gets a shot at passing Derek B. using a single goalie, as if to say it was really that easy.  Henrik Lundqvist has been tapped to go for the Rangers, when they head to the swamp to take on the Devils, where he'll face the rookie keeper, Mackenzie Blackwood, who has no pool ownership this season.  This game doesn't carry very much value to the overall scope of things, as the Rangers are 7 points up on the Devils in the standings and this swing won't affect the draft lottery odds very much, if at all.

The New Jersey Devils are expecting to be without forward Kyle Palmieri tonight, due to a lower-body injury.  He's considered to be day-to-day right now, but there won't be any rush to get him back, if only to possibly pad his numbers, if possible.  This will be a missed skater game for Brenda & Seward.

Frederik Andersen (Wilton) versus Robin Lehner (Chelsea)
The Toronto Maple Leafs can claim their spot in the playoffs tonight with a point against the New York Islanders tonight, but that will be far from an easy task, because the Islanders are still in the race for the Metro Division title, if they can put 2 points up from a win.

Wilton's team leads the group of teams vying for a top 10 spot, sitting in 9th and is only 11 points clear of 13th, so his team is hoping that it doesn't fall out, because the fall can be quick and painful, if he isn't getting the participation he needs to hold on.  Chelsea, on the other hand, also gets a start, but is looking to fend off the possibility of dropping to 23rd before it is all said and done, so she'd like those 2 points too.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.) versus Craig Anderson (Mike)
The 1992 expansion cousins go head-to-head in a meaningless game, but it doesn't look like the Lightning are taking tonight off or at least their number one goalie doesn't seem to be taking the night off.  Dale C. and Mike are getting starts tonight in this game, which heavily favours the visitors, if they are not going to be resting anyone.  Dale's team is eyeing up the top 10, 4 points back, while Mike's team fell out of the top 20 and starts the night 4 points back of 20th.  Strange parallels at different points in the standings.

Lightning backup goalie Louis Domingue will not be dressing tonight, due to a lower-body injury.  You could argue whether or not this was a scheduled start for him, given the opponent, but he's unable to go, so Eric might have missed out on a chance at some extra minutes tonight.  His team has the tie-breaker on Dale's team for 11th, but won't get the start.

Philipp Grubauer (Jesse) versus Jordan Binnington (N/A)
The Colorado Avalanche could win themselves some breathing room in the wild card race tonight, as they open up the final week with only a 1-point lead over the Coyotes for the last spot in the west, but they get the tough task of the St. Louis Blues tonight.  The Avs have been running pretty confidently with Philipp Grubauer in net of late and he'll go again tonight, by the look of things, so that means Jesse's team gets that key start in his last gasp chase for 3rd place.

Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy) versus Corey Crawford (N/A)
The Jets are still vying for top spot in the Central Division and they can go clear of the Predators with at least a point, but preferably 2 points, from the Blackhawks tonight in Chicago.  The Jets are not taking any chances, wanting to take on Dallas, rather than St. Louis in the opening round, so they will go back to Connor Hellebuyck tonight in a battle of number ones, but where only the visitors have the pool selected goalie. 

Does Jeremy have anything left to play for?  18 points back of 18th... 16 points clear of 20th... not really, eh!

Mikko Koskinen (Tony) versus Malcolm Subban (N/A)
The Edmonton Oilers can officially be eliminated from playoff contention if the Avalanche get at least a point tonight against the Blues and they will be scoreboard watching a little bit in Vegas, as they try to help their own cause as much as they can against the Golden Knights, but hopes have to be awfully low at this point.  Tony is hoping that the Oilers still have a little bit of fight left in their game, since he has their starting goalie and dreams of some money back in this hockey pool, but like the Oilers, the odds are long for any return this year, but it's not over until it's over.

David Rittich (Ryan) versus Jonathan Quick (Brenda & Seward)
The Calgary Flames clinched top spot in the division and the conference last night in San Jose, so they will get onto resting some players ahead of the final week of the season, given that it's only the Kings tonight and their B team should be able to polish off a W on back-to-back nights.  David Rittich will get the nod for the resting Flames, while Jonathan Quick should be tapped for the Kings tonight, giving Ryan and Brenda & Seward starts.  Ryan's team starting in 13th, the duo chasing Chelsea's team for 22nd, not a lot to go with here.

The pool scratches for Calgary appear to be as follows: Mark Giordano, Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, T.J. Brodie and Noah Hanifin... which means that Derek B., Grant, Troy, Wes and Brian will all miss a game and the possibility of more in this last week.  I hope they aren't hoping for too much more this season.

Goalie Announcements (Mar 26)

Here's a quick little bit of goalie news today, we've got seven games on the docket tonight. 

Petr Mrazek (Stacey C.) versus Braden Holtby (Stacey C.)
The Washington Capitals have a chance at clinching their playoff spot tonight with a win against Carolina and losses for both Columbus and Montreal tonight.  They're pretty much in, but it's just worth noting.  It doesn't really matter to Stacey C., because it looks like he's getting 2 points out of this game, no matter what.  His team starts 5 points out of 10th, so he's hoping that one team shows up and the other one doesn't and I don't think he'd be too picky at which one is which.

Robin Lehner (Chelsea) versus Sergei Bobrovsky (Kristy & Don)
Remarkably, this goaltending match-up is the first of two between Chelsea and Kristy & Don, in theory.  In this one, the Islanders have not confirmed their goalie, so may not exactly be this pool match-up, but if it is, that's kind of a neat coincidence.  The Jackets are looking to get themselves back into a playoff spot with a win and a Montreal loss, so they are putting their number one back in net, Sergei Bobrovsky gets the nod once again.

James Reimer (Dale C.) versus Carey Price (Stacey M.)
The plan for the Panthers was to start Sam Montembeault last night in Toronto and then Roberto Luongo tonight in Montreal, but the rookie only lasted a few minutes against the Leafs before getting yanked, which calls into question the Panthers starter this afternoon.  Thankfully, before the post was published, James Reimer has been pushed into the crease for a start, giving Dale C. a surprise start.  We'll see, I guess.  Stacey M. gets a start in this game tonight, that much we know, as her team looks to defend 2nd place in the standings, which 2 or more points should go a long way in helping.

Carter Hutton (Wes) versus Craig Anderson (Mike)
It's a nothing game in the NHL standings, as both the Sabres and the Senators have been eliminated from playoff contention, so it will be about the points tonight in the hockey pool standings.  Wes' team has now fallen out of the top 10, now 11th, as Mike's team has fallen out of the top 20, now 21st, so someone might regain their spot tonight with help from a win in this game.  But who?

Jonathan Quick (Brenda & Seward) versus Mikko Koskinen (Tony)
The Kings took the Flames by surprise last night and they look to put another dent into Alberta, most notably whatever playoff hopes the Oilers have left in this season.  The Kings go back to Jonathan Quick, as he got the night off last night, while the Oilers will continue to ride Mikko Koskinen until he's raw, I'm sure.  At the same time, the duo of Brenda & Seward are hoping their goalie can play a bit of a spoiler on Tony's goalie, as Tony's last gasp of a hope for 3rd place is also waning, now at 19 points back.

John Gibson (Kristy & Don) versus Jacob Markstrom (Chelsea)
Not a whole load to play for between the Ducks and the Canucks and the only confirmed goaltender was for the home side, which doesn't have a great deal of meaning to the overall standings, as Chelsea's team is still 15 points behind Mike's team.  For the visitors, they had yet to confirm their goalie, but one would have to think that John Gibson will go, which would be good for the duo, they start the night 5 points out of 3rd.

Corey Crawford (N/A) versus Darcy Kuemper (Neil) 
Both the Blues and the Golden Knights are watching the Coyotes intently tonight, because if they lose in any fashion tonight, those two teams will clinch their playoff berth.  The Coyotes will be going back to Darcy Kuemper for his 18th straight start tonight, the only pool goalie to go tonight, which will be fine by Neil, I'm sure.  Neil's team is off to a rockin' start with 8 points this week and he has a chance at going to the top of the weekly standings with a good night tonight, including this start.